Big thanks going out to...

• All of our hardworking teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week
• SUNY Fredonia and all of the Blue Devils sports teams for hosting a fantastic Unified Basketball event vs. Dunkirk recently
• Miss Benchley and Miss Burnett for their creative collaboration on the Living Museum project, teaching our third graders about influential figures on a global scale
• Our MS Art Club and Miss Sheldon for participating in the Memory Project again this year
• Our ENL staff for putting on a fantastic gathering for our students and families
• Mr. Newell and Mr. Romans for taking some of our students to the JCC Leadership Conference
• All of our spring sports coaches, with a special shout out to new programs like Girls Flag football & the Trap team

Dear Fredonia School Community,

I hope this finds you well, and you are enjoying the start of the spring season.

Much of what you will see below was included in our budget newsletter that was mailed out to our residents about a week ago. I did want to take a moment to sincerely thank our taxpayers for their support over the past several years in Fredonia. We appreciate your willingness to help us maintain our educational programs and provide innovative, dynamic, and global learning experiences for all. Through these opportunities, we believe students and adults across the district can become their greatest selves. The articles below demonstrate the great work we are able to accomplish as a district as a result of our financial planning with your support. Please note the wide variety of opportunities across all grade levels that make Fredonia a great place to learn and work.

As you may have noticed through our recent Board of Education presentations, several expenses have increased over the past year making the process more challenging than in previous years. These expenses include increased costs in transportation, utilities, special education, occupational education, medical and prescription drug premiums, alternative education programs, and NYS teachers’ retirement rates.

As the budget vote nears, please keep in mind that all elements of the budget process are the result of a collaborative effort between faculty and staff at the building level, our Administrative Team, District Office, and our Board of Education. We also thank our community members who have taken the opportunity to have their voices heard, which allowed us to utilize their feedback to make adjustments.

Again, we appreciate that our community has been very supportive of our school district in past years, and we look forward to continuing our good work together.

Respectfully,

Brad Zilliox

The energy was electric last week as our Unified Basketball team played against Dunkirk at SUNY Fredonia. Both teams had a great game and an amazing time!

We would love to thank SUNY Fredonia for hosting this event to support Unified Sports, and having all their student athletes come out to watch the game! The cheering was loud, and the vibe was positive. They even got to have pizza and a dance party. We're so glad our neighbors at SUNY got to experience the fun of a Unified game!

Interested in supporting our Unified teams by buying some merch? Our new spring Unified store is now open! They have some exciting new items available like t-shirts, tanks, shorts, and other accessories. They even have car magnets and stadium seats!

The store closes on May 10, so follow the link to order soon.

Mark your calendars for our upcoming Fredonia summer basketball camps! This is a great opportunity for kids to learn basketball skills that will help them succeed in their future journeys in the sport.

Girls Basketball Camp: June 27-30
Boys Basketball Camp: July 5-8

10th Annual "Gym Rats Basketball Camp": July 10-14

Check out our newsfeed for more information.

Our FHS students spent time last month celebrating Women's History Month in many different formats. In art class, students nominated Sue Cobb, former teacher and Quest advisor, to be featured in a trading card project. Sue's many accomplishments and volunteerism were highlighted.

But that's not all. Each Studio in Art 1 student researched a local woman and researched the artist Rori, who created last years trading cards for the Woman's History Month Draft. From this research, they created a short bio, manipulated her photo digitally, and created a drawn trading card in the students selected medium. It was a great project to explore women's history both locally and on a larger scale.

Students in Miss Benchley's third grade class took part in an integrated Social Studies and ELA unit entitled "Heroes For All Times." As a class, they read multiple focal texts on a variety of individuals who fought for causes and change around the global. They learned about heroes in the areas of education, rights for the disabled, arts and entertainment, human and civil rights, sports, and environmental causes. They identified character traits of each activist and compared and contrasted them and their "fights" for their particular causes. They created multiple displays, outside and inside the classroom, showcasing their learning.

Each student was then asked to choose an individual that they wanted to learned more about. They read multiple books and articles and learned how to research using multiple sources. They practiced taking notes, using the writing process and learned all about text features. In class, each student created a display board showcasing the life and accomplishments of their individual. Their displays included: a written biography with text features, a photo gallery with captions, a timeline, meaningful quotes and ways we can continue to honor the work of each individual in our lives today. They also painted and designed background for their displays.

As a final project the class prepare a living museum exhibition for their classmates and families. At home, they created a costume and gather artifacts related to their individual to add to their exhibits. The morning of the living museum each student presented an oral presentation in the first person and shared their work with their peers and teachers. That afternoon the museum was open to visitors. During the museum visitors were able to interact, ask questions and learn more about these heroes for all times. We love this hands-on approach to history!

To see the full album of each student and their persona, click the button below.

This year, our middle school Art Club students created inspirational artworks for Syrian Children through the Memory Project. Our students were provided with the child's name, age, favorite color, and a word that describes them. They used this information to create an artwork for each project. The Memory Project is an amazing non-profit organization that connects people all around the world through art!

Once again, The Spectator has won a variety of awards from the New York Press Association!

The paper came in second place overall in the state with 95 points, only 15 points behind The Tower, a private school in Dobbs Ferry. These awards are for all school newspapers in New York State and our publication is the only school in Western New York to receive recognition. Overall, the paper was awarded first place for design, third place for general excellence, and honorable mention for the school website. Several students also received individual awards for their work.

The judges said, “The Spectator is a thoroughly enjoyable and seemingly comprehensive look at the life and times of Fredonia High School. Congratulations to staff and advisors on a job well done. Writing style: appreciate the short lead sentences and plenty of paragraph breaks. Most of the stories open with actual news, which is great. Like the use of attribution."

Full awards list:

Third place for General Excellence

First place for Design

First place - Columnist - Sophia Gullo

First place - Photography - Isaac Williams

Second place - Columnist - Josephine Tomaszewski

Second place - Sports Story - Alexander Weiss

Third place - Columnist - Claire Marshall

Third place - Photography - Isaac Williams

Honorable Mention - Columnist - Owyn Darrell- Sterbak

Honorable Mention - Best Web Site

Congratulations to our students who won individual awards, as well as our entire student staff and advisors for their many hours of dedication to this publication!

The Fredonia Flag Football Team attended an event hosted by the Buffalo Bills on Saturday at ADPRO Sports Training Center. The event consisted of football drills, three scrimmage contests, and, of course, meeting a few Buffalo Bills players!

Abby Roth, Francesca Pucci, Ella Koopman, and Keiliany Diaz are seen celebrating the first touchdown in Fredonia Flag History! A touchdown pass from Pucci to Diaz.

Thinking about checking out a game? Click the link below for the schedule!

For the eleventh year in a row, the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation has recognized the Fredonia Central School District for its outstanding commitment to music education with a "Best Communities for Music Education (BCME)" designation. Only 6% of the nation's school districts were honored with this designation.

Every year the NAMM Foundation collects data regarding public school music programs' student participation in curricular and extracurricular music, pupil and staff achievements, community engagement, district support, and more. NAMM and the Center for Music Research at the University of Kansas compare this data across districts nationwide and come up with a list of the "Best Communities for Music Education."

This prestigious recognition is not only a testament to the dedication of our student musicians and their families, but to the truly unique educational community that Fredonia offers in many curricular areas. This achievement belongs to us all. Congratulations!

In the past, the ENL department used to hold a Holiday Dinner Party around the December Holiday Season. We hadn't held this in a few years due to COVID. This year, we decided to bring this family dinner celebration back, but this time, hold it in the Spring!

The ENL Spring Gathering, organized by the Fredonia ENL Department and the Fredonia Hispanic Outreach Coordinator, brought our ENL students in grades K-12, their families, and some of their teachers to share food and fun times. We enjoyed pizza from Blasdell Pizza, a fresh fruit salad and veggie trays prepared by our Fredonia cafeteria staff, and a delicious piece of cake for dessert! Students and their families were invited to decorate cookies and make a spring craft. Spanish and English books were donated by our librarian and the Elementary PTO for families to take home. Each student won a gift card for The Big Dipper to enjoy an ice cream cone. The evening was a wonderful opportunity for students, friends, family, and staff to gather and enjoy time together.

Thanks to student Ryan Davis for another great video production, this time highlighting our musical!

The Fredonia Trap Club recently completed their first two weeks of practice at the Hanover Fish and Game Club. The 15 member team consists of students in grades seventh through twelfth, and competes in the USA Clay Target League with practice every Monday and competition every Wednesday. All students were required to have completed a Hunters Education Course prior to joining the team.

On April 12, students competed for their reserve score that can be used if inclement weather forces a competition to be canceled. The top five competitors combined scores consisted of Aidan Kinney (43), Mason Tomaszewski (39), Daniel Cook (39), Aidan Czekanski (37), and Ethan Willebrandt (36). Students will now compete every Wednesday until May 24.

Thank you so much to our awesome team coaches: Dan Tomaszewski, Joshua Czekanski, Jerry Kinney, Kevin Malkowski, and Brandon Mead.

Many of our students recently wore purple to support Mia Curtin, an eight year old from NCCS. Mia was diagnosed with a rare and uncurable brain disorder, Rasmussen's Encephalitis, in the fall of 2022. Mia underwent brain surgery to hopefully allow her to continue doing all the sports and activities she loves.

Children in Mrs. Rush's class wore purple to support Mia while on their trash walk near Wheelock for Earth Day. Other students wore customized or homemade shirts to show their support. The #fredoniafamily is with you, Mia!

Congrats Adrianna Lisa and Sophia Botticello for having artwork chosen to be displayed in the Legislative Exhibition!

The Legislative Exhibition showcases the artistic achievements of students in grades k-12 from across NYS. This thirty-two year tradition is in partnership with New York State United Teachers, supported by the NYS Legislators and is the flagship event for Youth Art Month. It is an incredible way to celebrate the amazing artwork of our NYS children and the importance of quality art programs for all students!

​On April 21, Mr. Newell and Mr. Romans took a group of 11 freshmen students, who are part of two of our leadership groups (Student Council and Student Ambassadors), to a Leadership Conference at JCC.

The group got to listen to a presentation from keynote speaker, Matt Bellace, and were able to participate in different breakout sessions on applied leadership, community leadership, and self-care and leadership. The conference was interactive and informative, and our students had a blast.

Some students had the amazing opportunity to attend the conference: Cooper Stenger, Katherine Fortna, Lillyen Phillips, Brady Crawford, Mariella Russo, RJ Koopman, Henry Warner, Brianna Whitfield, Allison Hellwig, Gracia Domenico, and Marla Henderson.

A special thank you to Dr. Kirk Young and the JCC team for putting on a fantastic conference and including Fredonia High School.

Despite the current weather, we had a great few days recently to celebrate Earth Day. Mrs. McAfee’s fourth graders prepared and planted their school gardens, and Mrs. Goot's students made Earth Day salt dough necklaces, enjoyed lunch outside, and made earth cake. They can't wait to see the fruits of their labor as things start to grow!

"Bucket Filling" is positive reinforcement in the classroom based off of the book Have You Filled A Bucket Today? A Guide To Daily Happiness For Kids.

Bucket Filling is based off the idea that everyone carries an imaginary bucket. The bucket is your social-emotional state. When you fill someone's bucket by doing kind, thoughtful things, you make others feel good, but you also fill your own bucket and feel good. Bucket dipping is the equivalent to being hurtful or mean. It's okay to make a mistake, but we have to learn when we slip up not to keep doing it. When we make others feel bad, our buckets are empty too.

In first grade we have actual buckets and pom poms to reinforce the concepts!