Lauren Rosh

Lauren Rosh is a sophomore journalism major at The University of Maryland, College Park.

‘Getting to Know’ & Celebrate Some of the Wonderful Seniors of the Pleasantville High School Class of 2020

May 30, 2020 by Lauren Rosh

There are many reasons to celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2020 at Pleasantville High School. I just finished my second year of college at The University of Maryland so it seems fitting to have the opportunity to reflect on the special milestone as I am approaching two years since I graduated. Seniors, although this day may look a little different than how it has looked in the past for previous graduating classes, this does not diminish your successes. In fact, you have accomplished more than just graduating from high school- you completed your senior year during a global health crisis. Something we know was a challenge. As cliché as it may sound, I have learned that graduation is truly just the beginning. No matter what your plan is for after high school- college, work, travel- graduation signifies the start of a new chapter in your life. Below, is a sampling of this fantastic class from which we had the opportunity to ‘pair’ parent/student words with photographs taken by Pleasantville-based photographer, Donna Mueller, www.greatkeepsakes.com. Take the time to read about what makes each of these soon-to-be high school graduates special, as described by their respective families. Congratulations to the entire Class of 2020 from everyone at The Inside Press. – Lauren Rosh

Aidan Canfield

“Aidan Canfield will be graduating from Pleasantville High School and will continue his education at Bucknell University. Bucknell is a perfect fit where he will challenge himself academically and athletically. Aidan played football and wrestled for the Pleasantville Panthers throughout high school. He was awarded “All Section” for three years, won the section title his junior and senior years and placed in the New York state competition. Aidan will wrestle for the Bisons and plans to continue his passion for playing the guitar and fishing while he is in college. Pleasantville High School has prepared him well for this new and exciting chapter in his life.”

Ryan Dirgins

“A lover of music since birth, Ryan enjoys songwriting, playing the guitar, piano, saxophone, ukulele and the occasional kalimba solo. He ran outdoor track and cross country for the Panther and was named “All Westchester County” in 2019. He is also passionate about the visual arts. When not filming and editing humorous YouTube and TikTok video, he can be found at Rockwood Hall photographing his friends. Ryan sang in the Razor’s Edge acapella group and appeared earlier this year as King Triton in “The Little Mermaid.” This year’s Pleasantville High School’s salutatorian, Ryan plans to attend Wesleyan University this fall.”

Lauren Drillock

“To know Lauren is to love Lauren. With a zest for life, Lauren is a special girl who works tirelessly to excel academically and in sports. As a captain of her soccer team, she helped lead her team to a state championship this year. As a two-time captain for lacrosse, she has demonstrated great leadership and resilience over the last few years. In addition, as vice president of youth group, she donates much of her time to community service. More importantly, she exemplifies all that is good in a person and friends are essential to her. Lauren will play lacrosse at the College of the Holy Cross in the fall.”

Ben Fischer

“Ben has made the most of his experience at Pleasantville High School. In addition to enjoying his studies, Ben has been a member of the track team and Pioneer Sports League. He has also been actively involved with the garden club and peer to peer club. Outside of school, Ben is an avid hiker. Great friends and great memories have been made at Pleasantville High School.”

Norah Foley

“Norah is a caring and gentle soul. She is competitive yet sympathetic. Norah is reflective and amusing. Norah is the voice of reason in our large, chaotic Irish family. Norah has always chosen to do things in life not because they are easy, but because they are hard. We love you and as you begin the next chapter of your life in Loyola, Maryland, remember “we busted out of class, had to get away from these fools…” Go Greyhounds! Congratulations Norah!”

Megan McLane

“Meg is an amazing girl with a heart of gold. She is a hard worker, diligent, patient, funny, thoughtful, honest, quirky, compassionate, kind and optimistic. Her smile lights up a room and she has an infectious laugh. She loves music, theater and people! She is loud and excitable. Her voice can fill a room and melt your heart. She is a good friend and dependable. She is fair, true, generous and empathetic. She is someone you like to be around. The present may be on pause but the future looks bright for this senior.”

Sean Mueller

“Sean is kind and rarely complains. He is a hard worker when he cares about what he is working on. He is ‘loyal, kind and true’ to his friends and family. His favorite sports are football and lacrosse. This year, he was the captain of the Pleasantville varsity football team but what he enjoys most is playing the game of lacrosse which unfortunately could not happen this season. He will be attending Mount Saint Mary College in the fall and is looking forward to brighter days and playing on their lacrosse team. Go Pleasantville Panthers! Go MSMC Knights!”

Molly Perrine

“One of Molly’s greatest accomplishments at Pleasantville High School was to be selected to represent her school and participate in the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership program where she attended conference at Adelphi University and Loyola University in Chicago. In school, Molly was the captain of cross country and track and field. She participated in various clubs such as “Familiar Faces” and “Echo” that allowed her to be an active member of her community. Outside of school, Molly has studied acting for 13 years, and in her free time, she loves to hang out with her friends. Molly is very excited to attend Skidmore College where she plans to pursue a double major of acting and marketing.”

‘Books In Hand’ Initiative Aims To Bring Books to Students Across Westchester

May 13, 2020 by Lauren Rosh

The Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival (CCBF) is teaming up with Barnes & Noble, End Book Deserts and One Book Westchester to bring books to students in pockets of Westchester as part of a campaign called Books in Hand.

CCBF founder Dawn Greenberg said these three initiatives are using their platforms to raise money to create book packs for students.

“We know some kids have no books in their home and we will make sure the kids have books through the end of the school year and into the summer,” Greenberg said. “Normally they would go to the libraries after the school year but now it isn’t looking likely that they will be able to do that.”

The group will start by distributing books to Mount Vernon and White Plains. Books in Hand also hopes to expand their reach to Ossining, Yonkers and Mount Kisco public schools.

Literacy Initiative

CCFB is a volunteer group made up of members of the community that gives both families and kids the opportunity to meet authors and illustrators. On their website, the mission statement below their logo is “putting a book in the hands of every child.” CCFB and the Board of Cooperative Educational Services launched a literacy initiative in January called One Book Westchester. This group’s goal is to hold events around the county and form a county-wide book club.

Also passionate about providing books to students is educator Dr. Molly Ness. She founded “End Book Deserts”, a podcast about the importance of building book oases in high poverty communities. Her main goal is to advocate for the value of books in communities and raise awareness according to her website.

Greenberg said the groups are collaborating by working with teachers and literacy experts to put together a list of books and authors that will appeal to different grade levels. They are also working toward possibly getting Skype visits from authors to some of the kids. Barnes & Noble will then sort the books by grade, Books In Hand will distribute to the district and the district will distribute to the students.

Dr. Gayle White-Wallace is the Director of Pre-Kindergarten and Standards Administrator- ELA/Literacy, Reading and Social Studies at the Mount Vernon City School District. White-Wallace said that when the district receives the books, they will either send them to the student’s homes or offer them for pick up at some of the schools.

The students will then use the books for a number of different activities possibly including making a social media account for a character in a book and posting on their page as if they were the character tagging the school in the posts so administration and teachers can see the work students are doing.

These books will also be used for the Superintendent’s Reading Challenge, a Mount Vernon City School elementary reading initiative that encourages students to read throughout the year. The purpose of the challenge is to instill good reading habits in children and show students how enjoyable reading can be. According to New York State guidelines, students are mandated to read 25 books by the end of the academic year.

The superintendent’s challenge reading goals are as follows:

Prekindergarten: 15 books read with parent
Grades K-2: 40 sight word books and/or leveled readers
Grades 3-6: 30 chapter books

Students are encouraged by their teachers and administration to complete the challenge through the use of after-school book clubs, a book of the month and a bulletin board in class indicating the number of books each student has read.

Upon completing the challenge, students can receive a raffle ticket to win prizes at a celebration where everyone who met the goal can attend.

“The libraries are closed, so the kids are not able to go to the library and there are students who do not have access to technology,” White-Wallace said. “So we want to make sure we can get books in the hands of students that way they have material to read that will support their reading level and fluency.”

All funds raised by the Books in Hand initiative will go toward purchasing books for schools like the Mount Vernon City School District. The group hopes to distribute books to the districts by mid-May. If you have additional questions about the Books in Hand initiative, please write to: Chappbook@yahoo.com

If you would like to contribute to Books in Hand, the fundraiser link can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/books-in-hands-in-westchester-county

Individual Mask Making Efforts are Making a Difference too

April 27, 2020 by Lauren Rosh

Last in a Three-Part Series Spotlighting Mask-Making Efforts

Stopping the Spread of COVID-19 One Mask at a Time

As the first two parts of our series on the efforts to create ‘PPE’ communicated, there are tens of thousands of masks and now additional gear being produced in highly coordinated efforts by Tri-State Mask Making and Masks and More. Over the course of writing this series, we also learned of impressive individual efforts taking place. Arlete Chaves and Mara Antonio are among those who did not expect to be sewing masks for family, neighbors, employers and friends. Chaves and Antonio donate to those urgently in need, or for the most minimal fees. Each day, they are still fielding requests from many eager to have every day protection.

Arlete Chaves is a babysitter and dog sitter in Ossining. She learned there was a mask shortage and knew people were in need of them. She took matters into her own hands and began making masks. The skills she developed from sewing doll dresses as a young girl translate well into making secure and sterile masks.

She has made over 100 so far, primarily donating the masks to elderly people in her community, those who are immunocompromised and those working in essential businesses such as supermarkets.

Chaves is also selling them for $10 a mask to people locally. She needs to sell in order to continue to buy materials for the masks she sews and donates. She advertises mainly on Facebook.

“I want to help as much as I can and that is why I am sewing masks. I see people in need and this way I can give them an opportunity to not get sick or if they are sick to not spread it to others,” said Chaves.

With big heart intentions too, Mara Antonio of Chappaqua began sewing masks after she heard about the Joann Fabric Make-to-Give initiative which encouraged people to pick up curbside kits to make masks and donate them to those who need them.

Antonio went twice to Peekskill to pick up the kits in the morning, completed them within a day and returned them the next morning ready for more.

From 2001 to 2011, Antonio worked at Susan Lawrence. As she was using the kits from Joann’s, someone close to her from Susan Lawrence asked if she would consider making masks for their employees.

“I agreed and I realized that I needed to re-organize my sewing/craft corner and be ready for more demand,” said Antonio.

She started by making the masks for Susan Lawrence and one of her friends who is a firefighter who posted the masks on the Chappaqua Moms page on Facebook. From that moment on, her initiative took off. She fulfills orders and makes an extra mask per order to donate to the Cancer Center at Northern Westchester Hospital.

Antonio wakes up at 8:30 a.m., quickly eats breakfast, turns on her favorite radio station from Argentina which is where she is from and begins sewing. She responds to questions, requests and sends pictures to her customers with fabric designs they can choose from.

Antonio takes occasional breaks to eat brief meals or take her dogs for a walk. She sews until about 3:30 a.m. then packages the orders, organizes her materials and places orders for materials that are running low. Antonio does not go to sleep until about 4 a.m. She has personally sewn hundreds of masks now.

“I don’t like to rush, I like whatever I make to be neatly made and presentable. It is a process from sourcing the materials, washing and drying fabrics prior to cutting for shrinkage and sanitation,” said Antonio.

Antonio sells the masks for $15 each to people locally. She purchases all materials out of pocket and places all of the fabric orders herself. She uses the money she makes from each mask to buy more materials so she can keep making them.

Antonio ensures that each time she puts a delivery out in the mailbox she disinfects the mailbox in order to avoid cross contamination. She runs this whole operation herself and is devoted to this initiative.

“It’s just me making these babies and I am loving every minute of it,” said Antonio.

Tri-State Mask Makers Seeking New Recruits

April 25, 2020 by Lauren Rosh

Second in a three-part series focusing on community efforts to provide healthcare personnel and individuals protective masks against the coronavirus.

Nurses at White Plains Hospital wearing masks from Tri-State Mask Makers

Cristina Lee of Chappaqua is the driving force behind the Tri-State Mask Makers. She started the group locally and was joined by Faina Tsipenyuk and Paty Bella at the beginning. From the first day, people from New Jersey, Connecticut and other parts of New York joined the initiative.

Lee is originally from Taiwan and has access to news from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. In January, she was informed about and was driven to communicate the need to wear masks to stop the spread.

“I tried to tell people to wear masks but I was deemed panicking or alarmist because it was against CDC’s recommendation. So, when I saw healthcare workers crying that they cannot get N95, I jumped in and started our group on March 20th,” said Lee.

Originally, the fabric masks were not taken by hospitals. In order to make masks more acceptable, Lee created a slideshow with all the information to help people better understand the importance of these fabric masks. Soon, hospitals began taking them.

The group has been continuing to develop different models of masks and covers and partnered with Sew-for-NY and Sew-for-CT, websites developed by Jeanhee Chung. These are organizations that people can contact if they would like to volunteer or are in need of masks. After signing up, they are connected to their local groups. All masks sewn by the members of Tri-State Mask Making Group are made by 100% cotton fabric, mostly new fabric. The cost of these materials is high, so they are fundraising to get materials for local sewists and groups.

As of the morning of April 25, Tri-State Mask members reported sewing about 15,000 masks–bringing the total of masks made by groups locally to about 50,000.

The mask total includes about…
10,000 made by Larchmont/Mamaroneck Masks for New York
3,000 made by Neighbors For Refugees
7,000 made by Masks & More
6,000 made by Cotton Candy Fabrics (CT)
7,000 made by Croton Mask Makers
11,000 by Kim Mulcahy, Sew Happy Members and Rye Moms
1,560 by Project Face Masks in New York City
1,000 by Nita DV and her team
1,000 by Westchester County Mask Makers led by Ivy Eisenberg
2,200 masks and 350 caps by Pleasantville group, lead by Carolyn Ramsey
2,370 by Sew-for-CT
and still counting.

Tri-State Mask Making group members distributes their masks to hospitals, group homes, nursing homes and prisons. Some of these include the White Plains Hospital, Brookdale Hospital, the pediatric nursing division at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, Cerebral Palsy of Westchester, Richmond Community Services, Bethel’s Nursing & Rehabilitation Center and Cedar Manor.

Lee publicized that she was looking for people who sew in the area to help out. That’s when Jane Sheinfeld jumped on board. Sheinfeld is the owner of The Pieced Palette, a gift store that sells fabric gifts and accessories.

Her strengths involve buying the fabrics, sewing prototypes and typing up instructions. Sheinfeld also has access to fabrics at a wholesale price.

The group is now moving in a new direction. They are planning on serving as a funnel for new recruits to connect them with local leaders or assigning them tasks, serving as a place for people to share new ideas and innovations, facilitating access to materials, purchasing in bulk to then donate to groups and fostering local groups.

“Our sincere goal is to facilitate anyone who wants to volunteer, no matter their abilities. They can all help,” said Lee.

The motto with these initiatives is the more people involved the better. Sheinfeld said there is no pride in ownership in this community, it is all about helping others.

“If you want to start a group, start it. It’s very fluid as long as everyone has the goal in mind that people need masks and they should be made correctly,” said Sheinfeld.

This group is continuing to grow by pairing up with other people such as Lina Serpico who is offering pre-cut kits and guides to new sewers and Alexandra Rosenberg who has been working on spreading the word to the PTA.

All materials are donated so if you would like to contribute to the cause you can find their fundraiser link for supplies here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/7fu6e-mask-making-supplies

If you would like to get involved or would like a copy of mask making instructions please email: maskmakerstristate@gmail.com

If you would like to donate sewn masks, please bring them to Toni Magnotta at Chappaqua Cleaners & Tailors. Curbside pickup is available.

MASKS & MORE: A Heartening County & Community Response is Helping Provide Personal Protective Equipment

April 23, 2020 by Lauren Rosh

The Demand for Personal Protective Equipment is High and People from Every Corner in the County are Helping Out.

FIRST in a Three-Part Series about efforts underway to protect those on the frontlines.

Right now, people are searching for ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus. In Westchester, and across the world, people are coming together to make masks and other PPE for their neighbors, those who are immunocompromised and frontline heroes. Despite being separate groups, there is no sense of competition among them. They are their own unified community; all just people who want to help those around them. Here’s a look at one such initiative that started in Westchester County that you can be a part of.

Masks & More: A Group Effort

Aparna Paladugu and Morris Mayer organized a Westchester-wide mask making effort called Masks & More. Armonk resident Laurie Anderson joined their team as a Northern Westchester coordinator. “It is unbelievable to me that our healthcare workers had to throw a plea online to get what they need. We just want to help,” said Anderson.

Mayer owns Park Plaza Interiors and when he closed his shop in Mamaroneck due to the pandemic, he devoted the space to making masks and transformed his home into a distribution center. His shop sews about 1,000 masks a week for health care workers on the frontlines and others in need.

Paladugu is a retired psychiatrist who now coordinates, organizes and communicates with everyone involved with Masks & More. Paladugu was contacted by Mayer’s neighbor who wanted to start making masks. After talking to Mayer, the two decided to combine their efforts. All masks that Masks & More makes go to Mayer’s home to be distributed.

“We make sure we have a contact at the hospital or health care facility. It is key so the masks make it to where they need to go,” said Anderson.

Medical residents Drs David Iffy and Ashish Goel at Brookdale University Hospital, Brooklyn, wearing efforts of Mask & More volunteers. Cotton Masks go over and help protect scarce N-95 masks.

Caroline Loeb of Mount Kisco in her home sewing masks for frontline warriors.

They have distributed more than 6,000 masks in Westchester, New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Tennessee. As of April 18, via a nationwide network of upholstery shops that Mayer is a part of, 70,592 masks were made and distributed across the United States.

“We would not be so successful today in making masks and distributing without the enthusiasm of so many volunteers who selflessly started sewing using their own funds to buy material and make masks,” said Paladugu.

The group makes two different types of masks: one with a pocket for frontline workers and one without for seniors or health care workers not on the frontlines. Anderson’s main responsibility is a runner. She makes sure everyone has what they need and delivers the masks.

Nextdoor is an online platform where people can link up with others in their area to get information about goods and services. Anderson got involved with Paladugu and Mayer’s efforts after seeing a doctor post on Nextdoor asking for masks.

Since transforming his store into a distribution center, Mayer has been paying his employees and paying for materials out of pocket and funds are running low. For more information and to donate, please visit: https://www.smilesforsaige.com/plaza-park-interiors

If you would like to get involved, please visit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1F_04aoZ7Af09yAJ9rAAS0I57Fqg3BIUlOTMU78s6NI8/viewform?edit_requested=true

Plus, here, a video on how to make masks for health care workers. Volunteers Katie and Eric Rauch created this for Masks & More.