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Inside Press

Chance to Hear ‘Songs for a Cause’ Singer-Songwriter Elizabeth Erin Kemler

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Performing this Friday at Chappaqua Station

Local singer-songwriter and social artist Elizabeth Erin Kemler performs at Chappaqua Station on Friday February 24 at 7 p.m.

Elizabeth will showcase songs from her new album, The Weight of Mortal Skin, joined by Dave Hart on guitar and Jay Militscher on bass. 

The songs, a luscious blend of country, folk and blues, will take you on an intrepid​ journey through the rocky terrain of the human heart. With a rich, chocolaty voice and unwavering emotional intensity, Kemler shares stories of anguish and elation, revelation and deliverance–songs that feel at once deeply familiar and wholly new. Learn more about Kemler at elizabetherinkemler.com

Elizabeth also co-produces, together with Beth Blatt, the benefit concert series ‘Songs for a Cause’ on behalf of Hope Sings, an organization which celebrates the social justice work of not-for-profits advocating for women and children such as Hour Children and Girls Inc, Westchester. Please visit hopesings.net

Greeley Grad’s Passionate Plea to Reject Choice of Trump National for Senior Prom

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Calls Prom Venue Choice “A Short Sighted Loyalty”

Editor’s Note: On Friday, February 17, Horace Greeley High School (HGHS) Principal Robert Rhodes sent a letter to HGHS seniors and their parents explaining the reasons as put forth by a Senior Leadership Council behind the decision to hold this year’s prom at the Trump National Golf Course in Briarcliff Manor.  HGHS  grad (Class of 2012) and Harvard grad  (Class of 2016) Aemila Phillips immediately sat down to write a response–in the form of an open letter to HGHS students–and asked if Inside Chappaqua would publish it. Here’s Aemilia’s letter which speaks for itself. Rhodes’ letter follows as a reference point; Rhodes states that the Council has scheduled a meeting on March 2 “for any students from the Class of 2017 who feel that attending Prom at Trump National is not something they are comfortable with.”

Aemilia Phillips

By Aemilia Phillips

Dear HGHS students,

Eleven years ago, my Dad began a tradition of speaking to Bell Middle School’s fifth grade class during their annual Latin America unit. He’d bring artwork and family photos, piñatas and the ever popular Carlos V chocolate bars, all the while laughing and joking with kids he’d coached on the baseball field, and kids he’d met only a few minutes prior.

A Mexican immigrant himself, he used his story to provide a cross-border snapshot, to answer any and all questions from a bunch of bright-eyed 10 year-olds. That first year, he came to just my classroom. A year later, he presented to four more classes. And for the eight years after that, he spoke in front of the entire fifth grade.   

These are the values I choose to remember about my time in the Chappaqua school system – an emphasis on not only learning about other cultures, but celebrating them. Encouragement to embrace and welcome the diversity of the student body. Teachers who see education as not only a compiling of facts, but as a way for students to become intelligent and active citizens of this nation and the world.

The recent decision to hold this year’s senior prom at Trump National Golf Course stands in complete opposition to those supposed values. It shows a short-sighted loyalty to a single night of partying instead of a commitment to stand by the principles and values taught to students over the course of their 12-year education.

This decision is not about party politics. This is not a partisan debate regarding the nation’s controversial immigration policies. This is about the President of the United States, a man holding the highest office in this country, referring to Chappaqua students, to members of our own community, as murderers, rapists, and criminals. As not the best and brightest this country has to offer. As people who should be embarrassed to come from diverse backgrounds.

As we’ve seen play out on the national stage, the President’s business ventures and executive actions are one and the same. Money flows from Trump properties into Trump bank accounts, into the Trump campaign and into Trump national policies. The decision to hold senior prom at this location is an implicit endorsement of the President’s blatantly racist policies, and his exclusion of people we should be proud to call our own.

And so now, I’m calling on Greeley students to take a stand, in a way that I never had to during my time there. Say no to racism. Say no to the exclusion of your friends and family. Hold the prom in the gym, or under a tent on the soccer fields, if money is that big of a concern. Laugh, dance, and celebrate in a way that you can look back and be proud of. Next year, tell your college roommates that you had your prom in a ragtag tent with handmade decorations and stood up for what you believed in, rather than compromise your values for a party at a golf course. 

Now is the time to show up. Now is the time to ask how you as students and we as a community want to be remembered. And if I’ve learned anything from my time in the Chappaqua Central School District, it’s that Greeley students are more than up for the challenge – Now is your time to change the world.

In Solidarity,

Aemilia Phillips

Douglas G. Grafflin Elementary School ‘04

Robert E. Bell Middle School ‘08

Horace Greeley High School ‘12

Harvard University ’16     

 

Here is the letter sent by HGHS principal Robert Rhodes to Greeley Seniors and their parents with the subject line: Important Senior Prom Information for Seniors

Dear Seniors, 

Second semester of Senior year is upon us, and we are very excited for all it has in store for you.  We truly hope that you are able to fully experience the many moments to come!  We also realize that the arrival of Senior Prom may create a range of feelings given the Senior Leadership Council’s decision to hold the event at Trump National Golf Course in Briarcliff.  With our country already divided over political issues, we want to prevent the same divide from interfering with the Senior Class enjoying your experience.  Our hope is that the Class of 2017 can unite and leave Greeley remembering a great Senior Prom.  Typically, we see just about the entire class attend; it is a very special occasion for us as well.   

Regardless of your feelings about the Presidential election or current national climate, we hope that everyone will be able to attend the Prom.  We acknowledge that the heightened emotions carried by our current political climate may spill over to the selection of your prom venue.  On behalf of the Senior Leadership Council, we also want to share the process for selecting the venue so that everyone has the same information about how the decision was made. 

Every year the Greeley Senior Prom is sponsored and organized by the Senior Leadership Council.  This group of twenty to thirty students has been committed to working on class activities including: bonding events, charity events, fundraising, and planning for the Prom.  This started when you were in 9th grade; many of these students have dedicated the last four years to representing your class and promoting unity.  When it came time to decide on your Prom venue back in April of 2016, the Senior Leadership Council participated in a vote to decide whether to explore other venues or continue with Trump National as many previous senior classes had done before.  Students based their decision on:  1) financial information that was collected; 2) the seating capacity of the venue; 3) the close proximity to Greeley; and 4) the overall aesthetics of the venue.  If the Senior Leadership Council had one-third or more of the students ask to explore further options, the Council would have opened up the conversation to the full Senior Class.  The results showed overwhelming support to keep the venue at Trump National Golf Course based on the four factors listed above.   

The Senior Leadership Council students also carefully weighed the controversy around the selection of this same venue by the previous year’s seniors, the Class of 2016.  That class had systematically reviewed as many venues as possible without finding a suitable alternative, let alone one that matched their criteria.  The Class of 2016 did all this during the time that President Trump was a candidate running for election.   When it was time to make a decision, both Senior Leadership Councils, those of 2016 and 2017 decided that the venue was the best choice for their respective classes.  A deposit was paid months ago for the Class of 2017 Prom, prior to the election.  Large venues book quickly, months and sometimes over a year in advance during prom and wedding season.   

There are students in the Class of 2017 who support the President and those who dissent from him.  What unites you is that you are the Horace Greeley Class of 2017.  We want to both be mindful of individual feelings and decisions and support you as a group.  The last thing we would want to see is your class in conflict with itself.  The Senior Leadership Council has been hard at work planning for the Prom.  On their behalf, we are encouraging any students who feel uncomfortable with the venue decision to still attend because we would not want you to miss out on the memories.    

We also believe that there may be ways to maintain personal beliefs and still attend the Prom that would allow the Class of 2017 to remain unified AND support all its members.  The Senior Leadership Council has scheduled a meeting on March 2 at 7:45 a.m. in F1 for any students from the Class of 2017 who feel that attending Prom at Trump National is not something they are comfortable with.   The goal of the meeting is to help brainstorm ideas or action(s) that will support anyone who wants to attend and feel like they are being true to their beliefs.  That can only happen when people are talking with one another.  The Senior Leadership Council wants to support everyone and we encourage anyone with concerns to attend. 

Respectfully, 

Robert Rhodes, Principal 
Lyn Stewart, Acting Assistant Principal

 

Violate Railroad Crossing Rules…and Lose Extra Points on your License

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With growing recognition of the dangers at-grade railroad crossings, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has increased the points assigned to motorists who violate the rules of the road at the nearly 2,700 railroad crossings around the state.

Now, two years after the deadly Metro-North train crash in Valhalla, New York, drivers will be on notice that every effort should be taken to ensure safety at roadway intersections with railroad tracks. For many years, motorists who disobeyed traffic laws at railroad crossings risked, other than their lives and those around them, a fine and a modest 3-point penalty on their license, the same value as for speeding 1 to 10 miles per hour above the speed limit.

The DMV has now increased the points for railroad crossing infractions to 5 points, to better reflect the seriousness of the risk people are taking when they do not behave lawfully while at these locations. News of the DMV’s action became clear at a legislative budget hearing yesterday when Assemblyman David Buchwald (D-Westchester) asked the Department’s Executive Deputy Commissioner, Theresa Egan, about the topic, and she reported that the change was put into place in August.

Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund’s March 10 Spring Gala to Honor John Re and Pat Pollack

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The Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund invites the community to its 8th annual Spring Gala. This event will honor John Re with the Ed Habermann Award for volunteer service to the community and Pat Pollock with the Horace Greeley Award of Distinction for student support that goes above and beyond the role of a school nurse.

Great food and drinks will be served, and we’ll have an amazing jewelry raffle and select live auction prizes, as we celebrate our honorees.

Event Details:

DATE: Friday, March 10, 2017

TIME: 7 p.m.

PLACE: Mt. Kisco Country Club, 10 Taylor Road, Mt. Kisco

TICKETS: Available online at: www.hgsf.org.

RSVP: By February 27, 2017

John Re

John Re, Ed Habermann Award

John Re began coaching soccer for AYSO in 1997, and continued coaching for 14 years as his children (Samantha, Matthew and Jason) progressed through the AYSO and CYSC programs, often coaching more than one team, and winning three WYSL Division 1 championships. John has served as AYSO board member, division coordinator and Regional Commissioner.  In 2007, John was given AYSO’s Grishman Award, for his long dedication to youth soccer in Chappaqua. 

In January 2008, John was appointed to New Castle’s Recreation and Parks Commission, and then re-appointed for an additional term. In June 2015, he was honored by the Westchester Recreation and Parks Society, receiving their E. Mario Cribari Voluntary Service Award recognizing his years of service in New Castle.

In honor of his wife Dawn, who lost her brave battle with cancer in 2011, John (along with family and friends) founded Dawn’s Ray of Hope, a charitable organization supporting cancer patients.  Their signature event, the annual all-night softball tournament called Dusk to Dawn, has already raised nearly $50,000.  Look for them out on the Rec Field, or form a team and join them, on September 8-9, 2017.

Pat Pollock, Horace Greeley Award of Distinction

Having left nursing to be a stay-at-home mother when she moved to Chappaqua in 1988, Pat joined the PTA, where she combined volunteerism with her nursing background.  She was a member of the DAPC (Drug Abuse Prevention Council) and the Health Advisory Council, and she chaired Health and Safety, a committee that, among other activities, sponsored elementary school health fairs and the Great American Smoke Out. 

Pat Pollack with students

In 1997, Pat co-founded New Castle Cares, a group of community-based organizations that spearhead programs and activities that enhance the social and emotional health of children and families. She particularly enjoyed contributing to the successful publication and distribution of Parent-to-Parent Handbook, What Parents Need to Know About Alcohol and Other Drugs.

In 2003, Tom Cardellichio, a former Bell Principal and Director of Human Resources for CCSD, asked Pat to be a substitute nurse at Bell.  There, she found her passion working with middle school students, and in 2004, she became Bell’s full time nurse.  Pat spends countless hours supporting students as they navigate the volatile waters of adolescence. She is the go-to person for students and faculty at Bell, providing a safe place and sympathetic ear in times of need.

 

 About the Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund:

Established in 1946 by Horace Greeley High School students, the Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund exists to make up “the difference” between the actual costs of college and all other financial resources available to students and their families. Over the last seventy-one years, hundreds of Greeley students have been awarded need-based grants from the Fund.

Last year alone, we were able to award $223,000 in grants to 29 applicants, but we still had applicants with unmet need. Each year, we strive to meet more of the demonstrated need with your help. The Board hopes that in the future, no qualified Greeley graduate who needs financial assistance for college will be turned away.