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What's Right with Spackenkill!
December 14, 2018
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Dear Spackenkill Community,
Hopefully, many of you attended the holiday music concerts over the last two weeks. You should be very proud of your children, and we are equally proud of them and our music teachers!
The BOCES Capital Project passed resoundingly this week by a vote of 3,746 for and 698 against. Our students and their families who benefit from the BOCES programs must be very grateful and so am I. Many of you took the time to vote, and that speaks well of the voters in our district. In fact, of all of the polling locations, our high school received the second greatest amount of voters.
As I visit all of our schools, I am struck by the number of efforts to help less fortunate families in our community. The coat drives received a great response, and as I left Hagan today I noticed the Toys for Tots box (sponsored by the Marines) was filled to the top. You are modeling great values for our students and your children.
My best,
Mark Villanti, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
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Todd Student Receives National Honor
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Todd students had a nice surprise on Wednesday at lunchtime when representatives from Altice USA came to the school to announce that eighth grader Katie Kaylor is first runner-up in the company’s annual Hispanic Heritage Month Essay Contest. Middle and high school contestants were asked to name a Latino, past or present, with whom they would choose to spend a day and explain why. Katie wrote her essay about Dominican volleyball player Winifer Hernandez as an activity in teacher Norma Vazquez’s Spanish class. She received a certificate and an iPad. Kudos on this honor!
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Family members, district staff, and representatives gathered to congratulate Katie. Pictured in top photo left to right are Altice USA Senior Director of Government Affairs Dan Ahouse; Spackenkill alum Pavan Naidu, representing Assemblywoman Didi Barrett’s office; Paula Kaylor; Samantha Kaylor; Sean Kaylor; Katie; Erin Kaylor; Dr. Lori Mulford, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Pupil Personnel; Spanish teacher Norma Vazquez; Todd Principal Dan Doherty; and Superintendent Dr. Mark Villanti.
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Coding Just For Fun
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Mrs. Robinson’s precalculus classes participated in Hour of Code this week. The students watched a video about coding, which encouraged them not to be intimidated. “It’s more about the process of breaking down problems. You don’t have to be a genius to code,” said one speaker in the video. The video also cited a statistic that 90 percent of high schools don’t teach coding. Afterward, the students (shown below) worked on coding activities individually and in groups. Popular coding themes included Star Wars, Food Frenzy, and Harry Potter.
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| Todd Library opened its doors to coders at lunchtime last week. Students visited the site code.org. Sixth grader Max Victor is an accomplished coder and prefers to use the MIT site Scratch. Max has created a few of his own games. Eighth grader Aiden Taylor (shown below) is also an experienced coder who enjoyed this activity at lunchtime. |
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Hagan Holds Festive Concerts
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The Hagan In-School Holiday concert took place Wednesday, followed by an evening concert. Some of the highlights of the daytime event included teachers playing percussion instruments, Principal Farrell doing a guitar solo on “Rock n Roll Snowman,” and Superintendent Villanti reading “The Night Before Christmas” accompanied by Gold Strings. Thank you to all of the directors!
Click here for a link to the evening program
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Todd Makes Beautiful Music
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| Todd’s concerts took place this week and last, and all agreed that they perfectly captured the holiday mood, especially with all the vibrant poinsettias on the stage. Orchestra, band, chorus, jazz band, and cadenza orchestra performed. Thank you to all of the music teachers and accompanists. |
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| Above: a scene from the 7/8 grade concert. |
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| Above: sixth grade performers. |
Lighting Up the Night
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The Spackenkill Marching Band dressed their festive best for the Celebration of Lights Parade in Poughkeepsie on November 30th. Spectators said it was worth braving the cold to hear them play.
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In Search of the Gingerbread Man
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| Ms. Drummond’s kindergarten class baked their gingerbread men this week, but the cookies somehow escaped from the oven and hid at Nassau School. The students went on a hunt through the hallways and found evidence that the gingerbread men had been there, including crumbs and a note that they read together. Fortunately, when they returned to their classroom, the cookies were waiting for them. The students enjoyed a delicious snack! |
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Peaceful Crafting
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| High School Library Media Specialist Ashley Joy recently taught students how to make origami cranes. Principal Malkischer joined in on the fun, too! |
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15 Croft Road, Poughkeepsie, NY
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(845) 463-7800
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Mission: Inspired by a tradition of excellence and a spirit of continuous improvement, the Spackenkill School District will provide all of our students with the academic and social skills necessary to pursue their goals and become responsible citizens in an interdependent global community.
Vision: All Spackenkill graduates will be lifelong learners who are inspired to pursue their dreams and contribute to the global society.
Please submit story ideas to [email protected]
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