Bird's Eye View

Hello Larrie Community,

I would like to thank everyone (over 1,000 views when I last checked) who took the time to read our first “untitled” Digital District Newsletter. Over the past month, Mrs. O’Gorman and Ms. Paine helped create a contest in which students submitted creative titles for our new newsletter...details on the winner can be seen below.

Each principal will update our progress with getting more students back to school for in person learning and more students coming to school 4 days a week. With the new CDC guidance of 3 feet spacing being a possibility in the future, we are patiently awaiting word from our own Department of Health. With that said, if 3 feet spacing does become a reality, our district will still have a few issues with spacing in our cafeterias (6ft spacing will still be required) as well as bus space. Parents who have agreed to bring your children to and from school this year, we THANK YOU and need your support in continuing to do so.

I want to thank all our winter sports athletes, coaches, and parents for what was a successful winter season, despite all the Covid-19 challenges. Our “new” Fall 2 season began with practices on March 22nd and will run through April 18th. Although a much shortened season, it gives our football, modified basketball, cheerleaders, and swimmers a chance to compete for a short while. Attendance at these indoor events will stay the same as the winter season and no spectators will be allowed in the buildings to watch the events. Modified basketball games will be played in the high school gym, so parents and other spectators may watch on the NFHS video system. As of today, we are still discussing amongst the other football schools on what to allow for attendances at outdoor football games. At this point, we are leaning toward two spectators per player and names will need to be given to the coach and/or athletic director at least one day in advance of the game (more information to come).

As you read through our “Bird’s Eye View” you will see a number of other extracurricular activities that are slowly coming back for our students. I’d like to thank all the staff for their willingness to take on these responsibilities and for giving our kids more opportunities to look forward to.

Speaking of our staff (all 187 that work for SLC in many capacities)...they have all been asked to do things they have either never done before or have never thought to try before. Salman Rushdie once said, “The only people who see the whole picture are the ones who step outside the frame.” Over the past year, our SLC Staff have been asked to step outside that frame more than they ever could have imagined. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, not only have our staff conquered the challenges, but so have those families at home who have been doing the same, that said...we thank you too!

The winning title for the new Larries Newsletter is “Bird’s Eye View”. Bladen Sweeney, a junior in Ms. Dean’s ELA class, was the winner of the contest to name our new newsletter. Bladen and her peers in second period were treated to breakfast the week before spring break.

Thank you to all students who offered up a name for the newsletter---there were some really cool ones in there! Congratulations to Ms. Dean’s class and to Bladen!

It is hard to describe the energy that has been in the air of the high school this week as we welcomed back our in-person students to four day-a-week learning! The students were anxious and excited to see members of their class who they have not seen in over a year. It was so wonderful for us to listen to the students reconnect with their classmates and progress towards a return to our “normal.” We are proud to report that (including our Seaway Tech students who have attended five days a week the whole year) 95% of our high school students are in person at least four days a week with one remote day. Our hearts are happy as we move into the spring and the final ten weeks!

We continue to have many unknowns on the NYSED level and will seek additional guidance and clarification on what the requirements will mean for our students. Be on the lookout in our 30 week report card mailing for additional guidance on Regents Exams and summer school offerings! As always, we encourage our parents to stress the importance of class credit and getting their work done for their teachers to successfully complete the “class credit” mandate of the NYS Diploma credentials.

We have started many activities and look to planning many of our annual events that have happened in the past. Our graduation committee has been formed and will begin planning the details of what the event will look like on June 25th. I will be meeting with the senior class on Wednesday, April 21st at 1:00 PM via Google Meet to discuss the remainder of the year and all of the fun options we have planned for them. Seniors should plan to attend this meeting in place of their Advisory for that day. Senior parents will receive an email update after this meeting occurs.

Finally, in the below picture, John Snyder and Jace Dutch return to their “John and Dutch Morning Show” that they started pre-pandemic last year and continued through our closure bringing us the daily announcements. We are thankful these two gentlemen have continued this Morning Show tradition throughout the pandemic and are excited to hear them back together again!

As always, please let me know if I can assist your child in any way!

Mrs. Zender

High School Principal

The "Golden Apple" Award is a special recognition of a High School staff member who goes above and beyond the call of duty.

Ms. Kayla Huey was the "Golden Apple" Award Winner for the Month of March. She was nominated by two of her colleagues.

"Kayla stepped into a new position in the middle of a very difficult school year and has done an excellent job. She has shown willingness and even eagerness to collaborate with colleagues. Her lessons are educational and engaging and have led to a significant increase in student participation and achievement in science. Though Kayla is a new teacher, many of the qualities she has demonstrated are those of a veteran teacher. She is the kind of teacher I would want for my own child."

"Not only has Kayla taken on the daunting task of coming into a teaching load in the middle of a school year, but she has done an amazing job of taking on those classes with a smile and a fantastic attitude. She reaches out to colleagues everywhere she can to learn and grow her educational capabilities every day. For creating such a positive learning environment for herself, her students, and her colleagues in the midst of so many difficulties, and for still striving to grow and learn when many in her position would likely be struggling just to stay afloat, I think Kayla is the best candidate for this month's golden apple award."

Congratulations, Ms. Huey!

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

Congratulations go out to Emily Colby and Mason Frary for being named the February Students of the Month for the Character trait of Compassion/Empathy.

The following high school students were nominated by their peers for a Shout-Out last month:

Tala Clookey

Ryan Brothers

Celeste Gardner

Jonah Burnett

Robert Houle

MaKenna Bowles

Congratulations to each of you!

Students please nominate your peers for their good deeds by dropping off a nomination form to Mrs. Andrews in room 105 or by completing the form in your Advisory Google Classroom.

Students have been creating their own Jackson Pollock inspired paintings using sticks and brushes to drizzle and splatter paint onto the canvas.

Pictured below are Alexis Neault and MaCaleb Earle working on their paintings and Kristen Crump's finished product.

Great work students!

High school chorus students have each completed at least a verse of a blues song, with the choice to only create lyrics or to create accompaniment to go with their lyrics as well. They chose topics, constructed original lyrics, or created new lyrics to go with an existing blues song.

The chamber choir students had the opportunity to study a music theory topic of their choice over the course of 2 weeks. The students chose to learn more about rests, the circle of fifths, chords, minor scales, compound time signatures, and more. Many of the chamber choir members are also busy learning solos for NYSSMA solo festival which is virtual this year. Great work, Chamber Choir Members!

The high school music students are enjoying an afterschool Broadway Bootcamp 2 days a week. They started meeting this month, and will continue through May. They are working on acting skills, choreography, singing, theater technology skills, and more. Pictured below are students working on Hand Jive from Grease to brush up on their dancing skills for next year with Jessica Patrick.

The following students won a Stewart's Shops gift card from the virtual Pi Day event held by Clarkson University.

Congratulations to Dylan Bodway, John Barney, Rebekah Dibble, and Alyssa Barney!

The high school robotics team's robot is shooting rings over 6 feet! They recently learned how to strip and connect wires to make a battery box, so they can test motors without coding them.

The Liberty Partnership Students had a fun Sledding Activity on March 6. The students enjoyed perfect sledding conditions, hot chocolate, snacks, and spending time together.

Pictured below are: Noah Bunnell, Tyler Donalis, Mrs. Burnett the current LPP Educational Consultant, Mrs. Goodrich the past LPP Educational Consultant.

The grade 9 Living Environment class recently played a science game called Camouflage with Ms. Huey in the woods near the school.

Dear SLC Community,

It is hard to believe that we have reached April. We are enjoying the spring weather in the middle school. We are also excited that we now have 91% of the middle school students in person at least 2 days a week! Soon we hope to be able to have students for 4 days, if the guidelines change to 3 feet.

We recently received updates regarding state testing, which will occur in April (ELA) and May (Math). An update will be going to parents soon.

In term 3, we have been celebrating the many students who have been working hard. Below is our current list of school-wide CORE students that have been recognized this term. CORE students display strengths in Communication, Organization, Respect, and Effort. Individual grade levels have been also celebrating with students. Congratulations!

This year the middle school has been working our CORE (Communication, Organization, Respect, Effort). Each week students who demonstrate the four CORE attributes are nominated to receive a special treat from the principal. Each grade level also has their own way of recognizing and rewarding these hard working students. In the 6th grade, CORE students receive an AWESOME t-shirt with the four attributes on the back and SLC on the front.

Our students have been diligently striving to master online and hybrid learning during this stressful school year. We as the sixth grade team are proud of their efforts and hope by the end of the year to see ALL of our students sporting snazzy new shirts that let everyone know they are CORE students.

The t-shirts are made possible with help from the Extended Day program; thank you Mrs.Nezezon!

Students in Ms. Aldrich's class had a lesson on the history of St. Patrick's Day and then made leprechaun traps in a plan to get rich quick, sorry folks, they were not successful. Other students participated in a St. Patrick's Day escape room. The fully remote students are pictured on a remote group Google Meet.

Ms. Murphy's fifth grade students are pictured working concurrently with their remote classmates on science experiments. In class, they have been digging right in as they plant flowers to learn about the transfer of light energy within the world's ecosystems.

Fifth graders who received a passing average in ELA at the twenty-five week mark were treated to a Glow Party after school. Glow bracelets, disco lights, music and t-shirts to decorate kept students busy. Many chose to just dance around the room and be silly. We have focused so much on ‘what we can do better’, or ‘content to get through’, it was nice to see everyone just enjoy themselves, and each other!

Ms. Chapman’s classes have been working toward their classroom bingo rewards. Some groups will earn a movie and ice cream while others get the chance to play dodgeball with donuts, or while eating doughnuts… either way will be awesome!

When students come back from spring break, Nabrika Miner will be filling in for Ms. Chapman while she steps out to bring us a new baby boy! Our hearts have melted day after day as the students shower Ms. Chapman with their gifts for her family's new addition.

This past year the St. Lawrence County Youth Bureau held a Design-a-Mask contest supporting the theme: "It's Your Task to Wear a Mask". The 2nd runner up was our very own Jennah Strawser, an 8th grade student here at St. Lawrence Central!

The top three winning designs were featured on products and sold to raise funds for the North Country Art Teachers Association. Here are a few of us with Jennah showing off our NCATA gear in support of her accomplishment.

Our middle school students in the Extended Day Program have been busy with academics and fun enriching activities. This month students made soup with Miss Frary and competed in fun math activities with Miss Gadway.

Happy Spring!

Spring is in the air, and our classes have been able to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather during recess. Many classes have also enjoyed extra outside time with walks around the school grounds.

Though we have had approximately 80% of our students with us in person, four days a week, we are pleased to have that number up to 90% within the last month. The students and staff have continued to do a fantastic job at following health and safety protocols, which has allowed us to continue to provide in-person learning.

Mrs. LaBarge and I have been working on a plan for NYS Assessments. The State is allowing many flexibilities in assessments this year. The ELA and math assessments will be reduced to one day (previously two) and the science test will only have a written component. There will be no performance based component. Please click the link for additional information regarding testing dates: https://elementaryschool.bfcsd.org/apps/news/article/1414761

Mark your calendars! On Tuesday, May 11, our school will host a virtual magic show for our SLC families! More information to come on this... stay tuned!

Thanks to all who participated in our March Madness Battle of the Books! The winning book is "The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake!" Each week, the students who voted had their names entered into a final drawing. Our winners are as follows:

Pre-K: Talis Mackey

Kindergarten: Everly Pike

1st Grade: Garrett Tuper

2nd Grade: Mia Peryer

3rd Grade: Ava Peryer

4th Grade: Lily Benton

We had a lot of fun in the elementary celebrating Read Across America Week! Thanks to those who participated in Reading BINGO. Our winning classes, with over 50% participation are Mr. Sharp's class, Ms. Brockway's class, Mrs. Davis' class, Mrs. Masuk's class, Mrs. Craft's class, and Mrs. McHenry's class. Nice work, readers!

Mrs. Hahn’s Kindergarten class participated in a Neon day to celebrate their learning so far this year. Students wrote stories with highlighters, spelled words on glow in the dark plates, read books with flashlights, and decomposed numbers using number bonds. It was GLOW Crazy!

Pictured are Mrs. Flanagan’s Word Builders!

It was cloudy with a chance of meatballs in pre-k! We were all meteorologists deciding what our favorite food would be to fall out of the sky, but enjoying spaghetti and meatballs was our favorite part of the day!

Students are having fun in Physical Education in the new gym and from home on remote learning days. Keep up the great work!

Miss Caramia's class recently held their Parallelogram Party. Who said geometry wasn't fun?

Four students from the elementary school have been selected to participate in the 37th Annual Elementary Art Show through the Frederic Remington Museum.

The art show will be virtual, with an opening reception April 3rd from 2-3pm. The artwork will be displayed online from April 3-May 9, 2021. The four students who will be participating are:

Claire LaMora, Kindergarten

Hunner Donnelly, 3rd Grade

Kendra Sturgeon, 3rd Grade

Alora Sweeney, 4th Grade

Congratulations on your great artwork!

The third grade team recently completed a pilot training on a new program called FRAX. By completing the pilot program our teachers were able to get a free 45 day trial to test with our students.

FRAX teaches fractions through a game based program that the students really love. We have been using the program for a few weeks now and have had students begging to play throughout the day. We are so impressed with the students' learning and active interest in fractions! We have even had students "playing" FRAX on their own time. A family recently shared this picture with us of a third grade student and younger sibling practicing fractions with the program in the evening!

As always, Mrs. Braun is available to families and students during school days and she can be contacted at (315) 389-5131 ext. 29353 and by emailing mbraun@bfcsd.org.

St. Lawrence Elementary sends five huge thank yous to Chip George and the Elks Club in Massena for making and delivering student desks for some of our students, who happily accepted them at their homes in March!

The Counseling Department is excited to announce a school partnership with Akwesasne Holistic Life Foundation (AHLF) to benefit our students and our staff in a variety of ways for the remaining months of this school year!

Holistic Life Foundation is based out of Baltimore, MD, with one satellite office, Akwesasne, located in our region. The organization's goal is to integrate mindfulness practices into a variety of settings (https://hlfinc.org/about-us/). The opportunity to bring AHLF sessions to Brasher Falls Central School District was made possible by grant funding from the Massena Memorial Hospital Foundation and North Country Wellness Resource. The purpose of the grant is to provide mindfulness opportunities to every student this school year. As you may know, mindfulness has been linked to improved attention, strengthened emotional regulation, and stress reduction (https://www.mindfulschools.org/about-mindfulness/research-on-mindfulness/).

We are honored to be working with AHLF and we look forward to welcoming them into our school culture!

One day this month, Mr. Redmond had a couple of helpers for bus duty.

Over the past decade and especially the last year the world has become more globalized thanks to advances in technology. As we have experienced with the onset of the pandemic technology has taken an even more significant influential role in our daily lives. This has caused our children to become more dependent on technology at an earlier age than ever before. As a result of this increased influx of technology into our children's lives it is important that we help them learn safe ways to succeed in a digital world.

As adults we need to model a lifestyle that incorporates communication and interpersonal relationships using both technology and in person human contact. To assist with this process, family members need to develop a media use plan. This plan should include time spent with family and friends away from the screen. This is a key to helping children develop their language skills as they participate in face to face conversation compared to the passive listening on social media.

Over the past year, education has driven a significant increase in the amount of time spent in front of the screen. As a result, it has become even more vital that adults set limits on screen time. One positive step parents can take to help promote bonding, social interactions and learning is to take the time to participate and play with their children when they are online. These online sessions are also a great time for adults to teach children about online safety and security and life away from the screen.

A key concept in the role of adults helping children to balance their online and offline lives is to remember that kids will always be kids and that they will continue to make mistakes when it comes to technology. When these mistakes happen, we need to remember to make these mistakes teachable moments. This is especially true if these mistakes are related to cyberbullying. This type of activity should not be taken lightly and needs to be dealt with stern actions.

As our world continues to change with new technologies, we must remember that while technology provides numerous benefits in our children's learning that technology cannot replace real time experiences with family and friends. These face to face interactions are a key to promoting the development and proper learning of our children.

If you need further information on creating a Family Digital Plan please visit:

• Safe Search Kids: https://www.safesearchkids.com/

• Healthychildren.org: https://www.healthychildren.org

• Media Mindfulness Blog: http://media.pauline.org/

• Nature Play: https://www.natureplaywa.org.au/digital-wellbeing/strategies

Each month we will generate a QR Code for the Bird's Eye View digital newsletter. We will be posting the code in local businesses for any community member to easily access the monthly newsletter. Please keep an eye out for it. Simply scan the QR code with your smartphone and you will be directed to that month's newsletter.

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