Bird's Eye View

Hello Larries Community,

Welcome to the January edition of our 2022-23 school year's “Bird’s Eye View”. Each month's information will continue to give you small snapshots of the great things that are happening here at SLC along with a few things we occasionally may need to ask for a little help with. Our hope is you will continue to follow us every month, so we can continue to connect our great community with the students, staff, and programs that are here to help maximize our students’ futures.

A few shout outs and reminders:

• Congratulations to all those that have been recognized, in this January issue, for the outstanding work you are doing and fun you are having!

• Congratulations to our musical departments for the great music they provided our community during this past holiday season. It was a pleasure to see so many faces come out to support our SLC students during those events. We hope to see you continuing to support the great efforts our students and staff have been putting in academically, musically, artistically and athletically.

• Keep an eye out for upcoming announcements on this spring’s Drama Club presentation of, The Wizard of OZ. Production dates are set for March 3rd & 4th.

• Our student athletes continue to show great efforts during this winter season. Dates and times for events can be found on our SLC website and SLC app.

• Please be on the lookout for a date in January where SLC will be hosting a walk-in, on-site interview/information day for anyone interested in being hired as a substitute (teachers, aids, cafeteria staff, cleaners, drivers) in our district. Hourly and daily rates will be shared in the advertisement (email being sent to every SLC family shortly) as well as job descriptions. For more information, please reach out to 315-389-5131 ex. 29108.

This month's “support statement” from me centers around the word “GRIT”. After enduring the past two years, we are finally starting to regain some normal routines here at school, just as I hope you are at home. Learning has always come hand in hand with “frustration”, and a desire to give up easily after only one attempt. My ask is to please continue to support the fact that “adversity” in anything can build strong character, and a much more independent teenager, and eventually adult. Frustration is OK, but giving up is not! Our staff continues to stress the importance of needing to have “GRIT”, that ability to push through tough things, and find an answer in some way. We are ALWAYS here to support your children in any and every task or challenge they have, but just solving the issue or problem for them is not going to help them in the long run.

Please consider sharing this edition with any neighbors, relatives, friends, or alumni you may know that would like to keep updated on what goes on here at SLC.

Thank you for following us!

It is hard to believe that we are almost halfway through our school year!

The end of the 20 week marking period will be quickly approaching, moving us into the second half of the school year. As a reminder, some students in New York State will sit for the Regents Exams in January for specific courses. Though the exams will be given, school is still in session during this week. All students will be required to attend throughout the week. Students who are testing will be excused from their classrooms to the main testing site. All students enrolled in 11th grade ELA will be sitting for the exam on January 24th. Our tests begin at 8:15 AM and students are required to sit for the universal testing time of two hours at minimum, but have up to three hours to complete the exam. Students with IEPs and 504 plans will work with their case manager specific to their needs.

Please see the schedule below for the January and June Regents Exams. Be sure to reach out to your teacher, school counselor, or myself if you have any questions about the exams.

• January 2023 Regents Examination Schedule | New York State Education Department
• June 2023 Regents Examination Schedule | New York State Education Department

Mrs. Zender

Belinda Martin-Stone was the High School "Golden Apple" award winner for the month of December.

Belinda was nominated for the Golden Apple award by a colleague. "My nominee for Golden Apple is a person who is always early to work, always creating or sharing something for her students, and always connecting with students in the district. She’s known for her backpack program, for bringing in clothes and prom dresses for kids, for always having snacks and personal items available, and for making sure no one goes hungry. Even when times are tough, she has a smile on her face and a kind word to share. She is an institution here and deserves to be recognized."

Congratulations, Mrs. Martin-Stone!

Would you like to recognize a staff member? Stop in and see Mrs. Zender or email her at kzender@bfcsd.org.

St. Lawrence Central High School students were presented with medals and scholarships during a Pearl Harbor Day ceremony at the Massena Veterans of Foreign Wars post. For the Voice of Democracy contest, students were asked to write and record their delivery of a speech on "Why the Veteran Is Important". Sophia Guerard won first place ($200), Nekoda Barse won second place ($100), and Aubrey Plumadore won third place (not pictured, $50).

Congratulations to each of these students who were encouraged to participate in the contest by their 9th grade ELA teacher, Mr. Ruddy.

The SLC Greenhouse has been living up to its name. The Service Learners and Greenhouse

Gardening Club have been working hard to grow a wide range of plants for food production as

they explore how food makes it from the farm to our table. This includes carrots, peas, watermelon, lettuce, sweet bell peppers, and tomatoes.

When growing peas, service learners connect them to strings so they grow upwards, and not bend towards the sun. The first batch of peas grown this way yielded harvest for 2.5 weeks.

The carrots are grown in a big pot inside, so they are accessible to anyone to watch their growth. Once these plants are fully grown, the Greenhouse is planning to give these vegetables to the cafeteria, students, and food charities.

The middle school Technology classes have been assisting with two of the lettuce Grow Towers (TM). Once the lettuce and chard is grown, the Greenhouse gives it to the cafeteria staff who then use it for the salads and wraps. We have five Grow Towers total. Three of them are in the lobby outside the Greenhouse, and the other two are in the Greenhouse. The Services Learners and the students are responsible for the Grow Towers. There is a pump in the Grow Tower that makes the water run up through the machine and pumps water to each individual cell. We have to test the water by checking the Ph level to see if the water is too acidic, or too base and adjust the minerals based on the plants’ needs.

Moving forward the Greenhouse will continue to teach farm food to table, but will also be exploring herbal tea plants, native pollinator plants, and plants used for dyeing textiles.

All-County music festivals are finally back! We had many students perform at our first festival on Saturday, January 7th at Hosmer Hall on SUNY Potsdam campus. High school chorus, junior high band, and elementary band all performed. Tickets were $5 and benefited local music student scholarships.

SLC students that participated in the St. Lawrence County High School All-County Chorus were Nekoda Barse, Zorah Barse, Meegan Besaw, Truman Burnett, Jonathan Fraser, Sophia Guerard, Gabriel Knouse, Andrew LaMora, Emma Montgomery, Kaleigh Recore, Emma Stevens, Emily Taylor. The chorus was directed by SLC Alum Jonathan Burnett.

SLC students that participated in the Junior High Band were Lydianna Burnett, Brianna Williams, Abe Snell, Stella Todd, Avery Marcil, Liam Marcil, Thomas Liberty, Cooper Aslanian and Aiden Haverstock.

The following students participated in the Elementary All-County Band; Leah Stauffer, Graclyn Clary, Nadia Cootware, Ryder VanSleet, and Claire Todd.

All-County B

On February 4, the second All-County Festival of the year will be at Ogdensburg Free Academy at 2 pm. Tickets are $5.

Two SLC students are in the High School Vocal Select Ensemble. They are Nekoda Barse and Zorah Barse.

These students are in the Junior High All-County Chorus; Aysha Bunnell, Lydianna Burnett, Bella Fedonick, and Mathias Straight.

The following students are playing in the High School All-County Band, chaired by Mr. Matthew Snyder, SLC Band Director. The students participating are Kalissa Young, Renae Kelley, and Ruby Passon.

Congratulations to all the musicians on your dedication and hard work to earn this honor.

Many of our Chamber Choir students were able to sing carols at LBSH just before winter break. The students had a great time spreading holiday cheer through song.

We are halfway through the Winter Sports season. Due to the sickness we had in early December, all teams have a lot of games to get in before the end of the season. Schedules will be changing frequently due to the weather, and lack of officials, so remember you can get updates at www.sectionxboces.com or download the "rSchoolToday" APP to your phone.

Scholar athlete teams for the Fall were recently announced by Section X. Congratulations to Varsity Girls Soccer, Varsity Boys Soccer, and to the Varsity Swim Team for all being named Scholar Athlete teams!

The annual Coaches vs Cancer Basketball day with Brushton-Moira Central will be held on January 21st this year. It is Brushton's turn to host the event this year. All levels of our programs will play on this day to raise money for local families impacted by cancer.

Spring sports sign ups will be January 30th through February 3rd. Anyone needing a physical to play in the Spring can obtain one at school on Tuesday, March 14th.

Dear SLC Community,

I hope that you all had a wonderful break and were able to spend some quality time with your families over the holidays.

We are getting ready to take on the second half of the year in middle school. When we returned back to school, I met with all of our students to do a reminder of school expectations some of the big things we discussed were:

• Encouraging positive behaviors of ourselves and others
• Doing what you know is right
• Cell phone policy
• Chromebook care and use
• Dress Code
• 2:30-3:25 protocols
• Cleanliness of our school
• Grades, Summer School, Upcoming Scheduling and Honors

I encourage parents to touch base with their children about the items above to discuss how they are doing. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the school. We appreciate any help from home if your child is not working up to behavioral and academic expectations at school.

Reminder: Any honors paperwork for grades 6-8 was due last Friday. If you received information and have not returned it, we would love to have your child apply. Please turn it in by the end of this week.

Upcoming in January:

• iReady MOY
• 1/30 Half Day for Staff Development
• 1/30 Wacky Science Show
• 1/31 and 2/1 DiMarco Team Building in Mentor Groups

I am looking forward to a great second half to our school year.

Mrs. LaBarge

As students entered the building the last day before Holiday Break, they were greeted with some sweet sounds of the season.

Flutists included: Mrs. LaBarge, Mrs. Burnett, Mr. Snyder, and Mrs. Martin.

Mr. Niles A-K

Mrs. LaVoie L-Z

Happy post-Holiday season! We hope that you enjoyed your winter break and that everyone was healthy. Hopefully you had a chance to be with family and friends. Speaking of family, this is my (Mrs. LaVoie) last time addressing my SLC family in the newsletter. My last day of work before I retire will be January 27th.

I am leaving with many mixed emotions. Obviously, I am looking forward to sleeping in, having more time for myself and my family, and being able to pursue my hobbies and interests, but I am also a little sad. SLC has been a big part of my life for 25 years. I have seen many of you struggle and ultimately grow up and start families of your own. I have even had the pleasure of working with many of your children.

I have been blessed to work in such a tight-knit community that values education and places their school and children as a top priority. You have allowed me to be my quirky self. I felt valued and cared for right from the beginning of my career. I will never be too far away as I live in West Stockholm, and I think of us as sister communities.

SLC is a very special place, and I will miss being here every day. I will probably pop in now and then to help out. My replacement will be introduced at a later time. In the mean-time, if you need anything, feel free to reach out to Mr. Niles or Mrs. LaBarge.

“We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere.” - Tim McGraw

Extended Day 6th and 7th graders went to SUNY Potsdam to watch a Men's Hockey Game. Drew Rose scored the 1st goal of the game!

A special thank you Mrs. Warner for making the posters!

Happy New Year SLC Family,

It's crazy to believe that our second quarter will end this month, on January 27. How quickly the first half of the school year has flown by!

Prior to the New York State Math and ELA Assessments, schools are required to hold a computer based testing simulation. This gives the school an opportunity to ensure our technology can support the testing, and also gives our students an opportunity to practice with the online tools. Our teachers also provide opportunities for students to practice with these tools outside of the simulation period. This simulation will take place the week of January 23. Students in grades 3 and 4 will spend approximately a half hour that week working on math and another half hour working on ELA. If you have any questions about the simulation, please reach out.

Starting in February, we will be bringing a new after school program to our building, which will serve some of our second and third graders. We have established a partnership with the Police Activities League of Massena. We acknowledge that our population is greatly impacted by trauma and many of our students would fall under the category of being “at risk.” Along with the Police Activities League of Massena, we share a common commitment to providing our local youth the support they need through assistance with homework, mentoring, recreational opportunities, STEM Education, life skills workshops and various other programs and activities. Police Activities League of Massena will offer their services through after school programming right here in our school building, in collaboration with district staff, Massena Drug Free Community Coalition and the Village of Massena Police Department. Our common goals are to enhance the quality of life and provide a safe place for youth to be after school, while also engaging kids with law enforcement and their community in a positive way. We very much look forward to sharing resources and collaborating with the Police Activities League of Massena.

Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten registration will be taking place in just a couple short months. When you see the advertisements, please do not wait to register your child. Spots are limited in UPK and much of our planning for kindergarten hinges on numbers. In order to best prepare for your child's kindergarten experience, we request that you register them sooner than later.

Dates to Know:

• There will be no school on Monday, January 16, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
• On Monday, January 30, there will be a district-wide early dismissal for staff development. MS/HS will dismiss at 11:30 and Elementary will dismiss at 12:30. Please plan accordingly.
• On Friday, February 3, there will be an early (11:30) dismissal for the elementary ONLY. Again, please plan accordingly.

I wish you a safe, happy, and healthy new year!

Respectfully,

Mrs. Colterman

The Larries Spotlight Award was created to recognize Elementary Staff who demonstrate a specific trait each month! This award is voted upon by peers who want to give a shout out to one of their colleagues for doing an outstanding job!

Nancy Dimick-Fregoe was The Larries Spotlight Award winner for the month of November. November’s trait was gratitude and Ms. Dimick-Fregoe got the award from her peers based on her smile and giving personality. She tries to show how appreciative she is of everything in her life on a daily basis and inspires others to do the same. Almost everyone said that her smile and giving personality was what made her perfect for this month’s award!

Thank you, Ms. Dimick-Fregoe, for being so giving!

A CHARGE TO BE BRAVE

Perry’s Pals received their December Scholastic Sponsor book, Sheila Rae the Brave by Kevin Henkes. It’s about a mouse who thinks she’s not afraid of anything, but soon realizes she does have to overcome her fear. Mrs. Nancy Hammill was our guest reader who talked to Perry’s Pals about being brave both in and out of the classroom. She challenged them to be brave when writing and reading! Little did Mrs. Hammill know, Perry’s Pals were in the midst of writing about plans to catch one of Santa’s elves. Many students were working on overcoming challenges such as sounding out tough words and explaining exactly how their plan would work…requiring being brave writers! Perry’s Pals can’t wait to share their writing with Mrs. Hammill!!

📚💙Thank you, Mrs.Hammill, and all of our Scholastic Book Sponsors!!! 📚💙

The fourth grade Extended Day students recently went on a field trip to the St. Lawrence Centre Mall in Massena to play mini putt and play on the bounce houses at BD Entertainment.

Fun was had by all!

Welcome to a New Year, and may it be a good one for you and yours.

Many people get excited to start new projects or improve their health and that’s great, but as parents there is one thing we can do to help our children live their best lives, it’s establishing ROUTINES. “Research shows that children who follow bedtime routines are more likely to go to sleep earlier, take less time falling asleep, sleep longer, and wake up less during the night. These benefits to sleep quality are still seen years later in children who followed bedtime routines when they were younger.” A good night’s sleep will also help with working memory, attention, and other cognitive skills - these are essential skills for school or work.

Please check out this article from the Sleep Foundation’s website about, How To Build a Bedtime Routine for Kids

We are excited to teach this month’s Life Lab lesson and the Character trait will be on Goal Setting. Students in grades 2-3 will learn about the Goal Staircase. We will teach them how to break their goals down into smaller “steps” and the action required at each step. They will also learn about creating S.M.A.R.T. goals, an acronym for Specific, Measured, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.

We will also spend a few minutes going over the Three Simple rules of our school: Be Safe, Respectful, and Responsible. Educating children involves more than having obedient students, we need to develop TRUST both ways, this leads to better relationships. When students feel safe, respected, and eager to learn, we are in the “sweet zone”, and that’s where students excel. Please talk with your Elementary students about these rules.

Have a great 2023!

Ms. White and Mr. Dinan

It’s GAME TIME! The preliminary hockey games for the FISU World University Games are January 11-19 in Canton and Potsdam. The full slate of activities and sports are scheduled from January 12-22 across the North Country (Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, North Creek). All information, tickets and schedules can be found on www.LakePlacid2023.com and local promotions, attractions and activities can be found on www.VisitSTLC.com. This is a unique, perhaps once in a lifetime opportunity for the North Country. Please see below for more information.

HOCKEY SCHEDULE: You can filter this schedule by venue to see the schedule for the Western Venues. This is the shortcut to the page on www.LakePlacid2023.com – but the ticket page is also helpful. https://bit.ly/3ZdZl0W

TICKET PROMO for LOCALS: There is a coupon code for locals to purchase tickets 40% off - until 1/11 - code WESTLOCALS40 when you click ‘redeem coupon’ on the ticket page checkout on www.LakePlacid2023.com. Offer available for a limited time only. No refunds or exchanges. All sales are final. No price adjustments for previously purchased tickets.

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to get in touch with Brooke Rouse, Director of Tourism, St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce. Brooke@slcchamber.org, 315-386-4000, www.VisitSTLC.com

Catch up with the latest student stories, events, and news updates. It’s everything Brasher Falls Central School District, in your pocket. Download the app on Android or iPhone it is the best way to get notifications of school closings, delays, and cancellations.

Email: crose@bfcsd.org
Website: www.bfcsd.org
Location: 1039 State Highway 11C, Brasher Falls, NY 13613
Phone: 315-389-5131
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrasherFallsCSD