North Castle’s favorite event of the year will be here soon! And that’s none other than the Armonk Outdoor Art Show which returns for its 61st year on Saturday, September 30 and Sunday, October 1, rain or shine. States its promoters: “This highly regarded annual show is ranked among the top fine art shows in the country and is proud to showcase work from 140 exceptional, juried artists from across the country and abroad.” Some 40 artists are expected, and the exhibitor works span 12 different mediums, including: oils/acrylics/watercolors, mixed media, printmaking/drawing/pastels, sculpture, photography/digital art, wearable art, and fine crafts. Expect children’s activities in a tent and a full range of complimentary hands-on projects, including a scavenger hunt, collages, clay, story time, and much more. For more information, visit armonkoutdoorartshow.org
Hillary Rodham Clinton on Inside Chappaqua
I’ve been known to say, “It takes a village,” and I still believe that’s true. In a world where negative forces are everywhere, nothing gives me more cause for optimism and hope than Americans coming together with their neighbors to celebrate joyful moments and care for each other in hard ones. That’s why Inside Chappaqua’s mission to “share the heart of the community,” is so urgent and so meaningful.
Local news is an increasingly rare resource. Since 2005, about 25 percent of America’s newspapers have shuttered. Today, nearly 70 million Americans live in communities without a local news source – also known as “local news deserts.” Our communities and country suffer for it.
When Bill and I first moved to Chappaqua 22 years ago, the only local media outlets were school and town newsletters. Grace Bennett, a longtime Chappaqua resident and graduate of Columbia University’s journalism school, knew that a community as remarkable as ours needed more local coverage. So she did what all gutsy women do when they identify a problem: she came up with a solution. That solution was Inside Chappaqua.
I’ve been fortunate to be interviewed by Grace, and to read her coverage of everything from extraordinary Chappaqua residents to forgotten local histories to the Democratic National Convention. She even came with me to Africa when I was Secretary of State. She and her talented freelance staff make sure that no Chappaqua story, small or large, goes unnoticed. Since 2003, Grace has maintained and expanded readership through huge changes and difficult times in the world, by keeping our communities connected and informed.
The events reported in local press may seem small, but these happenings are the stuff of our lives. Memorials, performances, local traditions and histories: these are the things that bring us together and remind us of our shared humanity. And local reporting has a measurable impact on how we relate to and care for each other. Research shows that places with less access to local news have lower voter turnout and greater polarization.
For 20 years, Inside Chappaqua has been one of the positive forces that help keep our town vibrant and big-hearted. Under Grace’s leadership, this mighty news magazine helps us stay connected to our neighbors, our community, and to the world outside our village. Here’s to the next 20 years!
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Chappaqua, NY
Caramoor Fall ‘23 – Spring ‘24 Highlights: A Preview of the Adventurous Programming!
Caramoor’s longstanding commitment to adventurous programming – encompassing an expansive range of genres and outstanding artists – continues indoors all year round in the intimate setting of the Rosen House Music Room. Fall 2023 – Spring 2024 season tickets are on sale now. Highlights include the Emmet Cohen Trio with special guest Lucy Yeghiazaryan presented in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center (Sept 29), genre-bending South African cellist Abel Selaocoe (Oct 22); a benefit concert with Juno Award-winning and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Allison Russell (Dec 2); superlative period-instrument ensemble The English Concert led by Harry Bicket (Dec 8); Grammy-winning baritone Will Liverman (March 24); dynamic saxophonist and bandleader Lakecia Benjamin with her quartet (April 19); and Chopin International Competition-winning pianist Seong-Jin Cho (May 15).
Also highly anticipated: the multi-Grammy winning Pacifica Quartet (April 14); a holiday program featuring TENET Vocal Artists (Dec 10); two programs from this season’s Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence, the Abeo Quartet (Nov 12 & May 5); American Roots music from Alisa Amador (Nov 3) and Jake Blount (May 11); jazz from the Emmet Cohen Trio with special guest Lucy Yeghiazaryan (Sep 29); cabaret singer Carole J. Bufford (Oct 20); performances by young artists from Caramoor’s Evnin Rising Stars and Schwab Vocal Rising Stars programs, and more.
Caramoor will also present a lively celebration of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, for the third year as a free outdoor community event. Expect traditional music, dance, arts & crafts, and storytelling at this event in which loved ones are honored. Featured artists include the Calpulli Mexican Dance Company (Oct 15).
December will mark the return of Caramoor’s series of Holiday Tea Musicales, featuring holiday music followed by tea service. As always, Caramoor’s grounds are open to explore and enjoy for free, from Thursday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Info and tickets at caramoor.org.
Information Presented in Partnership with Caramoor
Behind the Scenes of Horace Greeley’s First Science Olympiad Invitational
Over the past few years, Science Olympiad has become a major extracurricular activity for many students in Chappaqua. Science Olympiad is considered the premier team STEM competition in the nation, providing standards-based challenges to 6,000 teams at 425 tournaments in all 50 states. Teams of 15 students compete in pairs in 23 different topics, called “events”, which cover a wide array of science areas. The competition not only gives students opportunities to learn about areas of science that would not normally be covered in traditional school curriculum, but also emphasizes the importance of collaboration and problem-solving in STEM fields.
After witnessing the impact of COVID-19 on Science Olympiad tournaments, Chloe Ng and Erin Song, longtime Science Olympiad competitors as well as current rising seniors at Horace Greeley High School, founded the Horace Greeley Invitational (“HG Invitational”) in summer 2022. HG Invitational is an online tournament for the middle school division that acts as practice run for teams preparing for their regional and state tournaments. It was one of the few sanctioned Science Olympiad tournaments in New York State this year. One of the most unique characteristics of the invitational was that home-schooled students were able to compete as well, an opportunity usually not provided.
“We wanted to create a competition that replicated the Science Olympiad tournament experience that we missed out during the COVID-19 pandemic while also providing an opportunity for competitors to gain a deeper understanding of their Science Olympiad events,” says HG Invitational Co-Organizer Chloe Ng.
Ng and Song spent about nine months organizing and preparing to host the tournament. In addition, they managed a team of sixteen other Horace Greeley students who volunteered to help write and grade tests and act as event supervisors for over 20 different events.
One major challenge of creating HG Invitational, according to HG Invitational Co-Organizer Erin Song, was that “We had to build the tournament from scratch.” This type of tournament had never been done in the Westchester area before, so the team had to figure out everything, from competition week logistics to team finances, on their own.
Although the planning process was challenging, Song and Ng’s hard work paid off, as the tournament was a massive success. Over 500 students participated from schools in New York, California, Washington, and more. It also raised over $2,000 from tournament fees for Horace Greeley High School’s Science Olympiad academic team, of which Ng and Song are captains.
Meadow Zhang, a test creator and grader for the invitational, explains that her main goal was to “give students a variety of question types to prepare them for Regionals and States.” Zhang mentioned that the HG Invitational was well run and the team was thoughtful to make it intuitive and well designed.
In some ways, Ng comments, organizing this tournament was like creating a startup. “We had an idea, pitched it to school administrators who had to sign off for it to be sanctioned by New York State Science Olympiad, raised capital to jumpstart the tournament, and had customers (middle school Science Olympiad teams) for whom we had to provide a good experience,” says Ng. “In many ways, this was not just about Science for me but also gave me insights into business management and administration.” Incidentally, the Seven Bridges Middle School Science Olympiad Team which placed 1st in the HG Invitational did amazingly well this past season, placing 2nd in the New York State tournament, thereby earning a spot for the National Tournament for the first time in all of Chappaqua Central School District history.
Song and Ng are looking forward to repeating their Invitational tournament in 2024 and have been thinking about ways to improve the student experience even more. For next year, “Setting a timeline is one of our main goals,” the two have stated. Additionally, Song says, “We look forward to potentially expanding our team. We also hope to inspire Greeley’s incoming underclassmen so they can pick up after we leave and make the HG Invitational an annual tradition at Greeley.” Ultimately, the pair is excited for the future of the Science Olympiad in both the middle schools and high schools!
A #1 Spot At Regional Tournament for the PMS Science Olympiad Team
The Pleasantville Middle School Science Olympiad team participated in a springtime Lower Hudson Regional Tournament. Competing against 30 teams throughout the region, the Pleasantville A Team ranked 1st overall. Across the 18 qualifying events, Pleasantville achieved 27 Top Ten finishes.
The 39 students who competed on March 4 were:
8th graders: Miikko Cascardo, Caitlin Chiong, Julian Giebelhaus, Prerna Gupta, Julian Jacinto, Siya Kapoor, Neave Traymore, Marco Schares Suarez, Carla Schober-Gonzalez, Yasmina Shouery, and James Vukelj
7th graders: Lexie Boyce, Alec Cochran, Aiden Crowder, Nick Davidson, Caydence Liu, Akshay Malhotra, Lea Nasr, Elias Neuman, Connor O’Brien, Ryan O’Malley, Cameron Pattinson, Nehla Sauthoff, Alex Sayed, Myla Silver, and Xander Tsilikoudis
6th graders: Aryan Bhat, Asher Dundas, Ean Freitas, Anton Gardner, Jordan Herst, Wyatt Marzec, Tanvir Matharu, Nihal Matharu, Thomas O’Brien, Praneeth Pothuganti, Dante Ramsey Lavoie, Colin Rhatigan, and Kellan White
The Science Olympiad program is coordinated by parent volunteers Lana Pattinson and Dr. Kristine Cochran, and PMS teachers Jake Sablosky and Leanne Benson. They all also coach a challenge (or two).
Also serving as coaches are Dr. Lisa Brown, Artie Carlucci, Dr. William Cochran, Katie Cusack, Dr. Bill Cusack, Dr. Scott Crowder, Yasmine Falk, Sonia Fujimori, Allyson Kwan, Dr. Christian Lavoie, Dr. J.D. Lewis, Dr. Gaurav Malhotra, John Marzec, Chloe O’Brien, Ross Pattinson, Mary Ellen Santare, Charyl Santiamo, Angela Sgobbo, Prashanth Suresh, and Jonathan White.
In addition, multiple students from PHS coach the team, including Dana Balin, Camilla Browand, Megan Chiong, Evan Cochran, Harshini Pothuganti, and Hanifa Thein.
For more information on Science Olympiad please contact Ms. Benson at PMS, BensonL@pleasantvilleschools.org.