Bird's Eye View

Hello Larrie Community,

Welcome back to our first full year of a “Bird’s Eye View”. For some it’s a quick read and/or look at some of the great activities we have going on here at SLC.

As most of you know, it was a hectic summer trying to plan what our Pre-K to 12 return would actually look like. Despite the hope we would all be back to a “normal” school day, we all learned by the middle of August that “normal” was not going to be here just yet. Despite all of this, we are trying to approach the year with a “glass half-full” attitude.

Being removed from what our “normal” daily expectations are for 18 months has set us all back a bit, both educationally and socially. Realizing that school rules are here for a reason and often look different than at home rules is a challenge some are still struggling with a bit as we return to full time, in person learning days. Please be assured we are taking every opportunity we can to help get everyone back on the same page together again.

In an effort to keep our community informed, I want to share that we had a last minute opportunity this past Friday, to have 42 SLC staff members receive the Pziser booster shot. Public Health was on campus completing our 4th vaccination day and had the ability to bring us the newly approved booster.

In closing, I want to send an extra thank you to all the families that have had to keep a child(ren) home in quarantine this school year. This call is not one that our two nurses look forward to making when positive cases arise. Despite the message that comes (child needing to stay home), both Ms. Hallahan and Mrs. Tuper says that 99% of the calls come with complete understanding from you as parents. Please continue to know that our nurses will be as honest and transparent as they can be with each call home that they need to make. Our hope is that these calls will soon be fewer and farther between.

Thanks once again for your patience and resilience through these challenging times.

SLC High School Welcomes New Staff!

We are proud to introduce a few new faces to the high school this year!

First, though she is not “technically” a new face, we would like to officially welcome Ms. Kayla Huey. Ms. Huey started with our district last November of 2020, teaching Living Environment. Ms. Huey began her first full year as an SLC HS staff member this year. Ms. Huey is from Pennsylvania and has been living in the North Country since 2017. She loves being outdoors and spending time travelling and looking for new adventures. Ms. Huey hopes to build meaningful relationships with students and staff, and she can’t wait to get students thinking like scientists! Ms. Huey will be teaching Living Environment 9, Living Environment Regents, and Living Environment Lab.

Mr. Jeremy Thomas is another new face to the high school! Mr. Thomas will be teaching Algebra I and Math 9 this school year. Mr. Thomas grew up in Colton, NY and taught in South Carolina for 7 years. Mr. Thomas currently resides locally with his wife and three children. Mr. Thomas always leads with the intention of making students think for themselves and is looking forward to having students become resilient problem solvers!

Ms. Jerusha Chapman-Hirsch is another staff member who is a familiar face, though is in a new role this year. Ms. Chapman-Hirsch has spent the last three years as a substitute teacher for the district and now joins us in the capacity of a Teaching Assistant. Ms. Chapman-Hirsch will be running the Greenhouse and is hoping to design a program that will allow for a lot of integration and collaboration! She additionally will have sections of Academic Intervention Services.

Ms. Elizabeth Burke is our new PE teacher that is working in our district. Ms. Burke is currently shared between the middle and high school on days when she is in our district and is at Norwood-Norfolk District the other days. Ms. Burke is a longtime native of Northern New York and spends her time as a volunteer in the Madrid Volunteer Fire Department.

Ms. Annette Van Brocklin is our new Art Teacher she is shared with the elementary school and is currently teaching a new art course called Design Drawing for Production. Ms. VanBrocklin comes to SLC with over 15 years of experience from her work in Franklin County.

Finally, Mrs. Kim Miller is our new Guidance Counselor working with students with the last name L-Z. Mrs. Miller recently retired from her work as a Guidance Counselor in the Potsdam Central District and is covering for Mrs. Roldan while she is out on her maternity leave. We are thankful to have such a veteran counselor be able to seamlessly transition into the role!

We hope the St. Lawrence Central community will help us in welcoming these new faces to our school!

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

Brandie Halley was the "Golden Apple" Award Winner for the Month of September.

I nominated Brandie for the Golden Apple as she is always willing to go above and beyond for this school district - no matter the task, she takes it in stride, always willing to help. Brandie took on the large task this summer of converting our website and entering all of the data for our new app, so that everything would be set to go for the start of the school year. This isn't the first time that Brandie has done this as she previously converted all of our staff management system during a previous summer. The summer before Brandie coordinated a hybrid schedule with SchoolTool and helped to convert all of that attendance data, so the students and staff would be ready.

Brandie gives all of her time and energy into making the district a better place. Though we all know how amazing she is, I felt it was important to yet again recognize her for her efforts.

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

Students taking a new high school course offering, Music in Our Lives, work on their own music goals. Gabrielle Keese learns to sing and play Riptide on the ukulele, Chloe Debyah learns chords on guitar, Jeffrey Riley researches the life and music of Johnny Cash, and Merlyn Bordeleau learns songs on the piano.

On November 12 and 13 students in grades 7-12 will present All Together Now, a musical theater revue courtesy of Music Theater International.

Twenty-one students from SLC had the pleasure of participating in the 2021 Clarkson IMPETUS Rollercoaster camp this past summer with their advisor, Mrs. Bissonette.

The following awards were given out to SLC students:

• Most engaged for their age group: Griffon Bunnell
  

• Best Coaster: the team of Charlie Hill, Sophia Hartson, Rebekah Dibble, Zaida Sweeney, Kristen Crump, Jessica Horner, Hannah Richards, Gabby Facey, Ruby Passon, and Meegan (Kai) Besaw

• Best Presentation: 11th-12th grade division - Kristen Crump, Jessica Horner, and Hannah Richards

• Best Presentation: 7th-8th grade division - Draton Roberts and Skyla Kruseck

• Cornhole Challenge: 7th-8th grade division - Draton Roberts
  

• Roller Coaster Kinematics Challenge (Toy Car) 7th-8th grade division - Kylie Gibson, Sophia Hartson, and Zaida Sweene

Congratulations to all participants!

Dear SLC Community,

We have had a busy, but positive beginning to the school year. It has been wonderful to have students in the building every day again.

With having everyone back after such a long period we have been experiencing some growing pains with students struggling to interact with each other both inside and outside school. We appreciate your help with this.

Here are some tips:

1. Monitor what your child is doing online, and their communication with others.

2. Ask your child about their day. If they are having trouble getting along with other students, give them positive solutions for working through it.

3. Encourage your child to look at school as their job. Let them know that they should dress the part, talk to others respectfully, and work their hardest.

4. Model and require kind behavior, respect and appropriate language at home.

5. Let your child know often that how they treat others matters to you.

6. Email teachers, myself, or counselors if there are issues so we can help address it.

Activity Period:

Please encourage your child to stay after with any teachers that they need extra assistance with. Students staying after for sports have been asked to use that time to make appointments with teachers as well to get extra help.

Absence:

If your child is absent from school, they can view our Remote learning plan on the Middle School Webpage. https://www.bfcsd.org/o/slcms/article/530338 Please encourage them to contact their individual teachers through email if they have any questions.

Our 5 week period ends on Friday, October 8th. This is a great time to review how your child is doing with them, and make a plan with them to start staying after if they have any classes that they are struggling with.

Finally, please make sure that you are checking your email and keeping your information updated so we can contact you. We are sending a lot of important information home through email so it reaches parents more promptly.

Thank you for your continued support,
Mrs. LaBarge

We, in the Middle School Counseling department, hope that all students and parents have gotten off on a positive foot for the start of the year. We have already been in the classroom to introduce ourselves to students and to make sure that they know who we are and what we can do for them. We are here to support them and their families as we navigate these stressful and uncertain times.

Below is a handout that students received from us as a part of our Meet The Counselors classroom presentations.

What do scientists/engineers do?

Mr. Clark's 7th grade science class worked together to complete a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) challenge. Students were told to use a few plastic straws, an index card, a small piece of aluminum foil, and a little duct tape to construct a working boat. Students only had 20 minutes to design and build their boats and the design that held the most weight was declared the winner. This activity allowed 7th grade students to see how they can work as scientists and engineers to solve problems.

Our middle school students in the Extended Day Program have been busy with academics and fun enriching activities.

Clarkson has partnered up with the after school program and they are working on building toothpick bridges. We will have a contest at the end of October to see who has the the strongest bridge.

We are now a full month into the school year and are settling into our new routines. It sure is nice having everyone in the building five days a week again!

An exciting update is that we have a brand new sign in front of the elementary school. I would like to thank Kiel Fukes, Mr. Brown, Mr. Newtown, Mrs. Warner, and the PTO for their shared efforts in making our vision a reality.

On Friday, October 8th, Brasher Falls Central will be holding our mandated Evacuation Crisis Drill at dismissal. All elementary staff and students will participate in the on-site evacuation drill, which will begin with a fire drill. Once classes have evacuated the building, attendance will be taken, and students will proceed to the bus garage. Once in the bus garage, attendance will be taken again and students will board their regular bus to go home.

If your child is a permanent parent pick-up or needs to be picked up for an afternoon appointment, you are asked to pick up your child before 1:45.

Students will not be allowed to leave once the evacuation drill has begun and will be put on a bus.

There will be no school on Monday, October 11th for Columbus Day. School will resume on Tuesday, October 12th and it will be a Day 2.

You can expect five week progress reports to be sent home on Friday, October 15. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your child’s teacher.

We are planning to have Halloween celebrations at school on Friday, October 29. Students are encouraged to dress in their costumes. Rather than having visitors attend the parade, as has been done in the past, we will be sharing a “virtual parade.” More information will be coming soon on this. On this day, Friday, October 29th, we will also have a 12:30 early dismissal.

The month of September went by quickly. For a second time, we have adjusted to changing expectations. I would like to thank all school staff members and SLC families for their efforts in helping us get off to a great start for the 2021-2022 school year.

The 2021 theme for Fire Prevention week is “Learn the Sounds of Fire Safety”. This year we are having several local volunteer firefighters come to our school to help our Little Larries learn, experience, and practice their fire safety skills! We plan to have in-person sessions for firefighters to discuss and model Stop, Drop, and Roll procedures to prepare students in the event of an actual fire. Firefighters will also talk about the importance of having smoke detectors in our homes and knowing the sounds and reasons for the sounds. Volunteers will be using smoke detectors that are commonly found in homes to ensure the students are aware of their role in fire safety.

We would like to personally thank all of our local Fire Departments for their dedication to their jobs and for their unwavering support of SLC students during fire prevention week each year.

Check out our new school sign at the Elementary School! Thank you to Kiel Fukes, Mr. Brown, Mr. Newtown and his Woodworking students, Mrs. Warner, and the PTO.

A big thank you to all of the families who have been so understanding, so far this school year. We are very appreciative of everyone who has been keeping kids home when they are sick and getting the testing when Covid symptoms are present. It has been helpful in keeping all of our kids as healthy as can be. We have some of our older kids (12 and up) vaccinated and hope to get more of them vaccinated also.

Please be sure to pass along any paperwork you receive from Public Health to us, so we can ensure the right return to school dates for your child. Please continue to keep sick kids home and reach out to us through email or through Dojo in the Elementary School. Let us know if you have any questions, or need any assistance.

The Comfort Closet items are available if you need anything. The next distribution will be the beginning of December. Please reach out if you need anything.

Thank you,

Ms. Hallahan & Mrs. Tuper

During the lunch break on Staff Development Day in September, the administrators grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for all of the SLC staff.

October is Cyber Security Awareness month, so we wanted to share some safety tips provided by the FBI on their website https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/cyber/national-cybersecurity-awareness-month.

Cyber Safety Tips

• Keep software systems up-to-date and use a good antivirus program.

• Examine the email address and URLs in all correspondences. Scammers often mimic a legitimate site or email address by using a slight variation in spelling.

• If an unsolicited text message, email, or phone call asks you to update, check, or verify your account information, do not follow the link provided in the message itself or call the phone numbers provided in the message. Go to the company’s website to log into your account or call the phone number listed on the official website to see if something does in fact need your attention.

• Do not open any attachments unless you are expecting the file, document, or invoice and have verified the sender’s email address.

• Scrutinize all electronic requests for a payment or transfer of funds.

• Be extra suspicious of any message that urges immediate action.

• Confirm requests for wire transfers or payment in person or over the phone as part of a two-factor authentication process. Do not verify these requests using the phone number listed in the request for payment.

Catch up with the latest student stories, events, and news updates. It’s everything Brasher Falls CSD, in your pocket. Download the app on Android or iPhone.

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