Bell Middle School Archives - The Inside Press

Maggie sipped her tea, then said, “But I’ve lived here for 45 years. This is my home. All my memories live here.”

This is just a scene from my recently published novel, Memories Live Here. Maggie is just a fictional character.

Despite its title, Memories Live Here (available on Amazon and locally at Scattered Books) is not a book about “memories” of my life in Chappaqua or Brooklyn or Chicago or any of the other places I’ve lived. It’s a thriller mystery and family drama about three brothers who uncover their dead mother’s diaries (her friend Maggie’s been keeping them), and how a “rendezvous” with artificial intelligence helps them discover the hidden truth behind their father’s mysterious death. While not autobiographical, each character does seem to carry traits of the people I’ve known throughout my life.

Two years removed from our life in Chappaqua, I realize the title of my book is very much true. Our “memories” do reside in the places we’ve lived, ready to jump back into our heads.

My wife Hildy and I raised our two children on Deerfield Road, where we lived for over twenty years. In Chappaqua, I often thought my nickname was “Oh, you’re Hildy’s husband!” After all, Hildy was the recognizable figure around town: Board member of the Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund, substitute nurse at Roaring Brook, car-pool mom, not to mention head lice checker. Hildy was everywhere.

As for me, I had the typical crazy, high pressure job. Even if you didn’t know me, you had to recognize the pattern. You know, I was the one who worked long hours; hosted too many client dinners; amassed frequent flier miles.

But when my day or week was done, I was always comforted to come home to Deerfield Road, turn everything off, and just be “Hildy’s husband” and “Noah and Perri’s dad.” Our home in Chappaqua was a place to decompress, do the dishes, play in the snow, go for long walks, drive the kids around to whatever activity of the day, enjoy family meals. I felt so fortunate. It was a great time in our lives.

Every time I return to town, whether to pick up food at Old Stone or eat with friends at Le Jardin (“outside, please, Joe”), memories from the past are “triggered,” and multiple scenes emerge from the recesses of my mind.

I blinked my eyes and the children became adults and moved on to follow their own passions.Yet still, every time I return to town, whether to pick up food at Old Stone or eat with friends at Le Jardin (“outside, please, Joe”), memories from the past are “triggered,” and multiple scenes emerge from the recesses of my mind.

Driving down King Street, I can still see Noah and Perri coming out of the old Chappaqua diner, or running around the baseball and softball diamonds in front of Bell Middle School. Making my way up route 120, I can see my two dogs, Pixie and Clyde, racing and splashing through the wooded trails of Gedney Park; and that’s my family cruising up the north county bike trail. On the ballfield behind Rocky’s, there I am with the neighborhood guys playing touch football (I still have my “Deerfield and Dave” baseball cap).

Even scary memories can conjure up positive reflections. For me, it’s the scene of my car accident where Reader’s Digest Road crosses the Saw Mill Parkway (Please, everyone. Look both ways, even after that light turns green)! While I walked away with minor bruises from that collison, I can still see those professional and dedicated volunteers from the Chappaqua Volunteer Ambulance Corp. coming to help. I will always be grateful.

These days, in the words of John Lennon, I’m “no longer riding on the merry-go-round.” While Hildy started a private geriatric care management practice, I get to spend my time traveling on a path full of stories and characters and ideas, certain there are more books to write in the years ahead.

As far as the past, well, I’m comforted to know my memories will always be there, waiting for me in Chappaqua.

Friends outside school as well as close colleagues Eileen Kenna (left) with Ann Marie Scalici (right)

By Miriam Longobardi

When people imagine teachers in the summer, they would not envision someone spending six hours on a hot August day rejuvenating old desks with multiple coats of primer and write and wipe paint, yet this is exactly what Ann Marie Scalici was doing. Scalici was recently transferred to Roaring Brook fourth grade from Bell Middle School fifth grade ELA, where she and colleague Eileen Kenna (they refer to themselves as Work Wives), were named Innovative Teachers of the Year.

With adjacent classrooms, Scalici and Kenna transformed their learning environments. They spent hours after school rearranging furniture, cutting legs off old desks and bringing in items from home to create an environment to maximize student engagement and learning. Scalici said,

“Our students are nine and ten years old and they definetly need to move to learn. They are not meant to be confined by physical spaces that bind their intellectual and physical freedom.”

The following year they were awarded a grant from the Chappaqua School Foundation (CSF) for new furniture allowing students the freedom to choose seating best suited for their individual learning as well as team collaboration and student presentations.

Teaching extends far beyond the brick and mortar of a building, and Westorchard Elementary School teachers Liz Morhardt and Erin Posner turned loss into legacy. When their beloved colleague and dear friend Alison Caso Guerra passed away suddenly and tragically last February, our school community wasdevastated, but this was especially painful for the students and staff at Westorchard.

BEFORE - Scalici’s room before its makeover — BEFORE – Scalici’s room before its makeover

AFTER - Scalici’s room working with what she had — AFTER – Scalici’s room working with what she had

Scalici’s room transformed with creativity and a grant funded by the Chappaqua School Foundation

Erin Posner (center), Westorchard Elementary Principal Jim Skoog (far right) with Go Stride participants.

Wanting to maintain the memory of Alison’s passion for teaching and dedication to her students, Morhardt and Posner, together with Alison’s husband, Philippe, established the Alison Caso Guerra Memorial Scholarship Fund to be awarded to a Greeley senior who had her as a teacher and embodies such qualities as well-respected, hard-working and compassionate, among many criteria.

Their original goal was to award $1,000 each year for the next ten years, thus covering the classes of students who would have had her as a teacher. Last spring alone, the Go Stride for Alison event as well as a clothing boutique raised enough money to cover the next ten year’s recipients, far surpassing their original goal.

Alison’s legacy will reach far beyond the students and lives she touched personally.

In my new role as president of the Chappaqua Congress of Teachers I have had the opportunity to get to know colleagues in all schools and witness collaboration across grade levels. Leading students to investigate problems individually and problem-solve collaboratively is only part of what Horace Greeley teacher Mike DeBellis teaches in his Intro to Engineering course.

DeBellis co-teaches Technology and Design Integration classes with Kevin Kuczma and Paul Bianchi where students grow from learning introductory skills such as sewing, electronics, robotics and 3-D printing first semester, to designing their own problem using a well thought-out plan to solve second semester. Examples of their work include designing watch gears using computer-aided drafting (CAD), creating a fully automated greenhouse, and building a working model of an airplane. Robotics students learn how to code solutions a robot may encounter and investigate real-world problems that may be solved using robotics.

DeBellis, Kuczma and Bianchi work closely with middle school Technology Education teachers Chris Stasi and Bob Raguette.“They run terrific programs; the students they send us are fantastic,” DeBellis reports.

The district has made a huge commitment to this work and staff developers Zach Arnold, Josh Block and Ellen Moskowitz are spearheading the STEAM initiative. With all these moving parts working together, Chappaqua is moving full STEAM ahead!

These teachers are merely a few examples of the hundreds of outstanding and dedicated educators that define the excellence of the Chappaqua Central School District. Their passion, innovation, and commitment to children inspire me daily and I am honored to be among them.