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VIRTUAL ART SHOW 2020-21
Please watch the video of the wonderful works created by our young artists.
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Learning Center Students Inducted into Middle School Honor Society
Two students from the PNW BOCES Learning Center Program at Somers Middle School were among the 85 sixth grade students inducted into the National Junior Honors Society this month. “My parents were really proud,” says Maggie del Puerto-Vitti, who was inducted along with classmate Francisco Duran. Students are invited to apply for the NJHS based on their excellence in leadership, scholarship, attendance, effort, and character. Seventy-nine seventh-grade students and 74 eighth-grade students were inducted this year as well.
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Flora Finds Smiles
“Look, she found one!” exclaims a first-grade student on the playground at Primrose Elementary School. The children are watching as Flora, an explosives detection dog, goes to work to find the objects placed around the playground by her handler, Sergeant Frank Pagliuca of the Westchester County Police Department. The visit and demonstration at Primrose is part of the police department’s community outreach program. “One of the things I love about the job is showing what Flora can do. It thrills the children, and they relate her to their dogs at home,” says Pagliuca. ”When they see a dog that actually works and they understand that a dog can do things that are beyond what a human can do, it’s a thrill to me.”
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Please, Write on Your Desks
Three sophomores are chatting and scribbling on the tables with markers during math class. The teacher notices what they are doing and quickly walks over. “Do you need help?” asks high school teacher Lauren Pizzolla. The students are in an Algebra 2/Trigonometry class and writing on the desks has become not only acceptable but encouraged. The three small tables have whiteboards for surfaces and the students finding working together much easier. “They’re easier to write out work and to help someone else without ruining their paper,” says Sara Murphy. “In the past we’d have to walk over with our notebooks and lean over to help.” Pizzolla got the idea for the whiteboard tables from a teacher she follows on Instagram. She applied for and received the tables through a mini grant from the Somers High School Parent Teacher Association, all within six weeks.
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The Pulsera Project
The International Club at Somers Middle School held the Pulsera Project sales for the month of April. The Pulsera Project is a nonprofit organization that educates, empowers, and connects Central American artists with students in the U.S. schools through the sale of colorful handwoven pulseras (bracelets) and bolsitas (purses). The funds raised go towards education, employment, healthcare and housing in the communities of Guatemala and Nicaragua. We are happy to announce that we surpassed our goal and raised a total of $1310! Way to go SMS!
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Stitching Class Together
Stitching together a semester’s worth of fashion when you have not spent a semester’s worth of time in school is difficult. Typically, at this time of the year the students in the Fashion Marketplace class at Somers High School would be putting finishing touches on their creations for the annual fashion show. But like so many traditions, this one had to be modified. “Some of these students were in the Fashion Fundamentals class last year when we shut down for COVID, so they didn’t have a lot of sewing experience to begin with,” says teacher Chrissy Brooks. “It would be asking a lot of them to create outfits now, so we are making the most of it.” The students who are not yet ready to design and sew articles of clothing are instead working on a beauty and fashion blog, www.SomersStyle.blog.
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Mammal Madness in Middle School
The debate was heated - would it be the thorny devil versus the dugón or the blue-capped ifrit versus the anchovy? This isn’t a science fiction book that middle school science students were analyzing; rather it was a March Madness-style bracket featuring mammals instead of NCAA basketball teams. “I really liked this project because it was a mix of work and fun,” says Santiago Robles, the ultimate winner of the Mammal Madness competition at Somers Middle School. The fun lesson was created by professors at Arizona State University, who run the competition annually. They select 64 animals to compete in virtual combat and keep a running commentary on a website and social media channels. The students in Monica Manko and Tim Wilbert’s classes researched the animals together, then submitted their individual picks by filling out the competition bracket.
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Digging in for the Earth
Green thumbs were abundant on Earth Day at Somers Intermediate School. Students celebrated the day by weeding and planting their school garden. “It was fun to be outside and know that we were helping the earth,” says Isabella Ciavardini, a fourth-grade student in Beth Monteleone’s class. Students in several different classes helped prepare pots of flowers that were to be planted for every class in the school. Each class then had the opportunity to head to the garden to plant their class’s special flower. “We put some new soil in the garden and dug some holes and took weeds out,” says Matthew Van Tassell. “It is caring for the earth and it makes it a better place.”
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Mrs. Jacobellis' Students Win Read-a-thon
Congratulations to all the Somers Intermediate School students who participated in the PTA Read-a-thon. The results are in and Mrs. Jacobellis' third grade class took the top prize. As a school, SIS raised more than $2,000. The results are based on books read and were tallied by the reading logs that were turned in. The students in Mrs. Jacobellis's class read a total of 209 books. The grade level results are listed below.
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