Tag Archives: Schools

News from the schools

4 Aug

back-to-school-school-clipart

It’s August. We can officially start talking about school again.

First, if you’re new to the district, or if you have an incoming kindergarten student, make sure to remember to register your children. School starts on September 4, so It’s important to do that right away.

Children who will be 5 years old on or before December 1 are eligible to enter school. Students are assigned to schools based on their primary residence. If predetermined class sizes have been reached, a new entrant or an existing student whose family has moved to a new address within the district may be assigned to an alternate Webster school for the school year. (That’s another reason to register early!)

Registrations are taken by appointment at Webster Central School District’s Central Registration Office, located on the third floor of Spry Middle School, 119 South Avenue. Call (585) 216-0029 to schedule an appointment. A completed registration packet, along with all required documents, must be provided during the meeting. Packets are available at all WCSD school buildings and here on the district website.

Remember, children will not be able to start school in the fall without being registered.

And if your new student is a kindergartner, don’t forget to attend the Strive for Five for School Bus Safety Program next week to help your young’un get used to riding a school bus. For more information, check out my blog here.

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Changes are happening at Webster Thomas High School

Clark-Susan web photo

Dr. Susan Clark

Dr. Susan Clark, a former Thomas math teacher and most recently one of the school’s assistant principals, is moving on. She’s been appointed the new Webster Central School District Director of Mathematics and Business. She’s taking over the position vacated by Eric Blask.

Replacing Dr. Clark at Thomas as new assistant principal is Kylene

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Kylene Anson

Anson. Anson is currently assistant principal for Willink Middle School’s Blue House. Before coming to Webster, she was a special education teacher in East Irondequoit, and then assistant principal at Victor Senior High School.

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Finally, I snapped this photo yesterday at Plank Road North Elementary School, where it looks like the new playground is almost complete. All of our elementary schools are getting playground upgrades this summer, which will make the start of the school year even more exciting for the kids.

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Work means play at the elementary schools

20 Jul
plank north 2

A view of the work happening at Plank North Elementary (photo courtesy H. Balsamo) 

School’s out, the teachers are taking a much-needed break, and students are spending their days riding bikes, traveling and hitting the pool.

Nevertheless, there’s exciting stuff happening at the elementary schools.

If you drive by your school in the next few weeks, chances are you’ll see a lot of work going on near one of the playgrounds. Each one of the district’s seven elementary schools is getting new equipment this summer.

At Plank North, principal Craig Bodensteiner said the installation should take only about two weeks. “It’s been so long since we provided our ‘wish list’ of the additional equipment, I’m not sure of all the details,” he said, but he thinks the project includes some additional swings and “green/gold fun stations for our kiddos.”

Bodensteiner added that each of the seven buildings asked for different equipment to add some variety throughout the community.

Click here to see several more photos from the Plank North and Plank South work.

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter and Instagram

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Schlegel students get real-life lesson in charity

7 Dec

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If you happened by Walmart on Wednesday night to do some holiday shopping, chances are you saw a very festive group of elementary school students. They were fifth graders from Schlegel Road Elementary School, manning the Salvation Army’s red kettle, ringing bells and singing Christmas carols.

According to fifth grade teacher Jill Mancini, this is at least the sixth year the classes have taken a bell-ringing shift for the Salvation Army.

“We do it to teach students about giving to others,” she said, adding that the volunteer effort was integrated into a lesson about charitable agencies.

“(The students) have been researching community organizations including the Red Cross, Salvation Army and UNICEF,” she said. The experience “also helps introduce our upcoming lesson about human rights, getting them thinking about that,” she added.

You can find a short video of the kids singing on the Schlegel Elementary School Twitter page. Click here to see that.

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Photo courtesy F. Leggett
Photo courtesy F. Leggett

email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter and Instagram

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Webster Community Mailbag

3 Mar

mailbagLots of great events and good news to share with everyone today!

If you’ve got nothing to do tonight, consider enjoying a basketball game, courtesy the Webster Willink and Spry Middle School Student Councils. Their annual benefit basketball game takes place TONIGHT, March 3.

The game pits Willink and Spry students and staff in several entertaining and occasionally competitive contests.

This year the Spry Student Council will be donating their proceeds to Autism Up, and the Willink Student Council will be donating their proceeds to the Veterans Outreach Center.

The games take place at the Webster Schroeder High School gym beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door for $5. Refreshments and other concessions will be available for purchase.

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Andrew Kennedy

Boy Scout Troop 110, sponsored by St. Martin Lutheran Church in Webster, has proudly announced that Andrew Kennedy has earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

Andrew’s Eagle project was in two parts: An Interfaith Youth Day of Service and an Interfaith Festival. As a part of his Eagle Project, he selected four possible work sites that youth volunteers could work at. These sites were the Islamic Center of Rochester (ICR), the Baber African Methodist Episcopal Church (Baber AME), Asbury First United Methodist Church, and Foodlink. He also recruited work site leaders to lead the four different work crews, because he clearly would not be able to be everywhere at all times.

For the Interfaith Festival, he recruited and selected eight faith-based musical groups to perform and 12 community service organizations to have information booths around the stage. On August 10, he split up 30 volunteers into three groups, dropping Foodlink as a work site, and completed the projects at Baber AME, Asbury First and the ICR. Respectively, he created and distributed back to school supply bags, sorted over 100 5-gallon bags of clothing for the Asbury First Storehouse, and did serious landscaping.

Wow.

In addition to now being an Eagle Scout, Andrew is an accomplished trombone player and soccer player.

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The Community Volunteer Fair returns to the Webster Public Library on Wednesday March 15 from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Residents can connect with the following organizations that have volunteer opportunities available in the Webster community:

AutismUp, Challenger Miracle Field, Friends of the Webster Public Library, Friends of Webster Trails, Heritage Christian Services, Hill Haven Nursing and Rehab, Hope Ministry, Maplewood Nursing Home, Never Say Never Foundation, WASP Webster Association of Senior Program Supporters, Webster Arboretum, Webster Central PTSA, Webster Comfort Care Home, Webster Community Chest, Webster Museum and Historical Society.

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The Webster Lions Club’s semi-annual Texas Hold’em Tournament takes place Friday March 31 at 7 p.m. at the Webster Columbus Center, 70 Barrett Drive. Doors will open at 6:30, with the tournament starting promptly at 7. Buy-in is $40 ($45 at the door), and re-buy is $20. There will be a cash bar. All proceeds will be used to support Webster Lions Club charities.

First place winner will receive $500, $150 for second place and $50 for third. ‘

For more information, call 585-234-5480 or email websterlionsclub@gmail.com.

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Pledge not to use the “R-word”

2 Mar

rword

I missed an important day yesterday. March 1 was officially the day to pledge to Spread the Word, to End the Word.

The “word” is the “R-word,” offensive enough that we don’t even like to write it, let alone say it out loud.  And a few days ago I received an email inviting me to log onto the R-Word.org website  and sign a pledge to stop using the word.

As the website explains,

The R-word is the word ‘retard(ed)’. Why does it hurt? The R-word hurts because it is exclusive. It’s offensive. It’s derogatory.

Our campaign asks people to pledge to stop saying the R-word as a starting point toward creating more accepting attitudes and communities for all people. Language affects attitudes and attitudes affect actions. Pledge today to use respectful, people-first language.

I don’t use the word, and I can also say that I haven’t recently heard anyone else use that word. But I do remember hearing it at least once within the last year, and I recall saying something about it. But I also remember I didn’t do so with as much conviction as I should, because I don’t like personal confrontation.

But I’ve found myself this year working in a school with a large population of children with challenges, and I love them to pieces.  So if I ever hear someone use the R-word again, I will definitely speak up and defend their dignity.

Today more than ever, we need to  stand up for our differently-abled adults and children, and help work toward inclusion instead of division.

You can still sign the pledge here, and visit the website for more information. Plus, check out this great student-made video if you want to get inspired and perhaps even shed a tear.

Thank you to the Edison Best Buddies, Thomas LINK Crew and the YAC and Unified members and players for helping to spread the word.

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Vote for the Warrior Crew NOW!

16 Feb

warrior-crew

You may recall a few days ago when I posted a blog about Webster Schroeder’s Warrior Crew. That’s what the school’s uber-peppy student fan section calls itself. Last year the Crew took first place in the annual New York State Public High School Athletic Association “Battle of the Fans” competition, which recognizes top student cheering sections.

Well, the contest is on again and the Crew is once again a finalist, hoping to become the contest’s first-ever back-to-back winners.

Voting is now in progress and only runs through noon tomorrow (Friday). I’m told that it’s a pretty tight race right now, so every vote counts.

You vote by “liking” their entry on social media — Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Here are the links:

https://instagram.com/p/BQilxXyhJp1/

https://www.facebook.com/NYSPHSAA/posts/1001072033358041

https://twitter.com/nysphsaa/status/831911588198223872

So get online (wait, you already are.) So click through and make your vote right now!

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The Yellow Brick Road leads to Spry Middle School this spring

14 Feb

wizard-of-oz

The spring musical season continues in just a few weeks when Spry Middle School presents The Wizard of Oz on March 10 and 11.

Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion will all be there, searching for the Wizard and the glowing Emerald City. Adapted from the famous movie starring Judy Garland, the stage version incorporates all of your favorite songs, like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “If I Only Had a Brain,” and “King of the Forest.” Plus, you’ll also enjoy a rarely-seen dance number, “The Jitterbug,” which was cut from the original movie.

The production is based on the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, with a book adapted by L. Frank Baum. The story is a familiar one: When a tornado rips through Kansas, Dorothy and her dog, Toto, are whisked away in their house to the magical land of Oz. They follow the Yellow Brick Road toward the Emerald City to meet the Wizard, and en route they meet a Scarecrow who needs a brain, a Tin Man missing a heart, and a Cowardly Lion who wants courage. The Wizard asks the group to bring him the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West to earn his help.

The Wizard of Oz will be presented in three shows, Friday March 10 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday March 11 at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., in the Spry Middle School auditorium, 119 South Ave. Tickets are $7, and these shows often sell out, so it’s a good idea to get your tickets early. They’ll be available beginning Feb. 24 at  http://www.ShowTix4U.com. If any tickets remain, they will be sold at the door.

Bringing The Wizard of Oz to the Spry stage would not be possible without the hard work of Artistic Director Bill Ambler, Production Manager Tricia Mungo, Choreographer Jackie Collins, and Music Director Ron Strong.

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Community Arts Day in photos

26 Apr

Judging from the crowds which filled the Webster Schroeder hallways Saturday, this year’s Community Arts Day was a success yet again. I spent the afternoon making laps of the school, reacquainting with old friends, making new ones, talking with community representatives, checking out the artwork, and taking lots and lots of photos. If you were there, you know how much fun it was. If not, check out these photos of some of the kids I met, and make sure to make a point to attend next year, because it’s a terrific event.

(Click here or on any of the photos below to see a gallery with lots more.)

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