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Learning How the Kids are Doing with iLearning

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March 31, 2020, Chappaqua, NY-– Chappaqua School Superintendent Christine Ackerman stated the Chappaqua Central School District took steps in February to “get ahead of” COVID-19 with an iLearning System “and had prepared for it well” hopefully minimizing potential pitfalls and maximizing its potential for success now and in the months to come. Ackerman shares more in this 3/28 interview about how iLearning has been faring.

An End Note of Encouragement to HGHS Seniors, too.

Christine Ackerman prior to the District’s closure on account of COVID-19. PHOTO by Grace Bennett

A soft launch of the iLearning System began on March 19th; a full implementation took place on March 23rd.

GB: So you had a lot of work to do as this crisis unfolded. Your letter and video to the district’s community is an excellent summary about iLearning. I’m looking for what you might wish to add to our readers about how the teachers and students are doing with it.

CA: Back in February we started talking about this as a possibility and we started to consider how we would transition to online instruction. If we had to ask ourselves: How could we do that? How could we make that work being that, the faculty are all in different places in how they deliver instruction?  Our current system allows for certain pedagogical freedom in terms of how you present your concepts and content. We were faced with trying to honor this in the virtual system while ensuring students had meaningful experiences. 

We began talking with our teacher leadership team about if we had to move online, what that would look like for our district? We came up with a plan with parameters so we could have a level of consistency across grade levels and enough autonomy for people if we had to move to iLearning instruction.

Our plan was approved by our board before we even had a close up of what this would look like in real time. We started offering professional development to help faculty get ready for the eventful closure–which we anticipated was coming based on our analysis of the map, even though there were no decisions made yet from the health department or governor ordering a systematic closure. 

In the end I believe we were ahead of this closure with enough time to prepare for this well. This was an enormous lift for our faculty as they had to deliver instruction differently–so we created the framework in order for that to work with them.  As the weeks press on, the instructional system will get stronger and better because the faculty will be more used to using these tools with fluidity. I do feel like the district is in the best place we possibly could be given the circumstances that we are in.

GB: That is a very positive statement. I appreciate it and I am sure others will appreciate hearing this too. Can you tell me how many teachers and faculty, a general number of who is involved in participating–are all the teachers accessing this system?

CA: Every class and every teacher is online delivering instruction. How they are doing that is different depending on which class they are teaching. For example, supporting our students who have special services, obviously looks different from what a middle school English class might look like.

GB: Are you finding, or are the teachers and faculty finding cooperation among the students, or are there more loopholes for them? How is iLearning being monitored in terms of homework and expectations?

CA: That is a great question! Our families in this community place a significant value on education. The partnership between the district and our families enables this to work well for a lot of children. For students who we are concerned about, before we left, we created systems with our clinical staff, so they would be able to support those students in a more individualized way. The clinicians have daily interactions with the administrative teams in each building to monitor and address children who need support in a different way because we moved to an online system.

GB: When you say clinicians, do you mean (the students’) getting emotional support?

CA: Our school counseling team, our psychologists, our social workers, our assistant principals, our principals are all working to make sure that students we are concerned about have support. That support looks different depending on who the child is and what their needs are. We had a system for reporting abuses and maintaining attendance. We have procedures and protocol to monitor student engagement. 

GB: Are there any special anecdotes about any of this you might share?

CA: The amount of work that the faculty is engaged in to support our students is tremendous. They are in the midst of not only supporting the instruction of the Chappaqua school’s community, but also supporting what is happening in their own homes. I just couldn’t think of a finer faculty to be able to move to online instruction than the teachers in this district. I also want to share that the visionary leadership provided by our assistant superintendent, Dr. Adam Pease,  has been extraordinary. What he has been able to accomplish in partnership with our faculty in such a short amount of time is unbelievable.

GB: How long do you see this system being in place or I guess you must just be consulting and getting information as it goes on. Is this indefinite right now? Where are we?

CA: The governor has provided an anticipated reopening date of April 15, but we will be able to sustain this for as long as we need to for our kids.

GB: How do you see this as changing the face of education after this is over, too?

CA: Well this is what I think it will do, when we finally return to school – I think faculty will be leveraging technology now in very different ways because of this experience.

GB: Do you think it may become a more part and parcel of how they teach?

CA: I do think that there will be an increase in the integration of technology and resources based on this virtual experience right now.

GB: What has the feedback been like from kids?

CA: This is the iGeneration and they are very accustomed to online technology, so our delivery method is not outside of the comfort zone for many.  They already access content over social media or online and use these tools. The feedback that I received when I met with the high school students this week on Zoom was that the online instruction, in their minds, is very effective. The piece that they are missing, of course, is the interaction with their classmates and the interaction with their teachers. Even though we have opportunities for our faculty and our children to interact in many classes over Zoom, it doesn’t take the place of what we are able to do in our classrooms. So, even though this is, in a sense, working for a lot of kids, it does not take the place of being in the building and being able to interact with each other, face-to-face.

GB: I will share that! Thank you. I am also wondering about the seniors, in particular. I have already posted something from a high school student saying that this is really upsetting for them because they are thinking of graduation and prom and all that. So I’m wondering if you can address that. What can you say to those students? Are there contingency plans in place for all that or are we hoping for the best that everything gets back to normal and nothing’s changed after April 15th?

CA: We will have a moment where we will celebrate our seniors. Whether that takes place in June or not, at this point, I don’t know, but I will share with you that our seniors deserve to have their accomplishments acknowledged and we will find a way to do it when the time is right.

 

Special thanks to Inside Press Intern Kiran Sheth who assisted in preparing this interview.

 

District Parents Weigh in About iLearning

New Castle Volunteer Match: Reaching Out to Those Impacted by COVID-19

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Volunteers such as Town Board Member Jason Lichtenthal are Helping Community Members Impacted by COVID-19

With the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, families all across the country have been quarantined in their houses, unable to leave. As a result, they are not able to receive some of the basic supplies previously available to them, including toilet paper, soap or disinfectant spray. However, the town of New Castle has recognized the urgent need for many of the community members, and spearheaded “The New Castle Volunteer Match” on Facebook to alleviate many of the pressures at home and personal challenges caused by the coronavirus.

Since the Town Board created the  program on March 22nd, Town-Board member, Jason Lichtenthal has been an active participant, delivering supplies to residents all over New Castle. “We were hearing so many people between Facebook, text messages and emails to the town asking how they can help,” Lichtenthal stated. The program utilizes Facebook as the medium, in which “some people post what they need and some people post what they can offer.”

Lichtenthal described how members of the community have embraced the program, willingly offering a hand to those in need. “The ultimate goal of the program is to recognize that in this time of crisis there are needs that exist beyond the scope of town programs and services. We wanted to make sure that the needs of our community were fulfilled.” When asked on how people get matched together, Lichtenthal stated that “It’s mostly to match people with whether they have special skills, time or resources to help anyone in the community.”

It is also important to recognize the necessity of staying safe during the deliveries. This includes wearing gloves and keeping a safe distance between others. Lichtenthal explains that when he makes deliveries he has “reusable gloves, Lysol, disinfecting wipes “and so forth. However, as Lichtenthal describes, “it is not an exact science by any means.”

With many other programs stretched thin during this time period, including the Recreation and Parks Department as well as social workers, Lichtenthal acknowledges that “there are only so many things that they can do, so this is something we can do to help supplement this.”

The generosity of the community has inspired Lichtenthal to help support others during this stressful period. “Anything that we can do to help support our community, to make sure we can continue to help our businesses thrive and have our people is key.

To access the New Castle Volunteer Match page on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/235308037530428/?ref=share

 

Former Chappaqua Family Opens Award-Winning FENCES Winery in Oregon and Expands Business

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Deciding to move cross-country wasn’t an easy decision for the Lennon family. Jody and David Lennon had lived in Chappaqua for 16 years in a lovely house on Pond Hill Road and were busy raising their three sons, Spencer, Jeremy and Ethan. David worked as a commercial litigator in the city and Jody who also had a law degree had decided to take a pause from the work world to focus on raising her sons. They had many close friends and strong roots in the community.

David had a client who was based in Oregon and suggested that the family move out there for a simpler life but they were happy staying put. However, with David’s client roster becoming increasingly West Coast-based, the hectic lifestyle was beginning to take its toll. The Lennons would occasionally look at farm properties in Massachusetts and further north in the Hudson Valley as second homes but they never pulled the trigger.

Finally, in 2011 they decided to pack up their belongings and head to Oregon. As Jody says, “we flew across the country and landed on a vineyard.” The vineyard is in the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon, an area close to the California border with green valleys producing high-quality wines. Their property contained eight acres of vineyards that had never been harvested before. With the advent of their first harvest they selected the name FENCES Winery, a name that is derived from the fact that they were feeling “fenced in” before their move.

An Education on Viticulture

“Timing is really everything but if you told me we’d be doing this years ago, I would have laughed,” says Jody, a self-proclaimed oenophile (Cabernet Sauvignon is her favorite) who handles a variety of jobs including sales, marketing, warehouse and delivery. David who still practices law focuses more on specific vineyard duties such as mowing, pruning and deciding which trellis system is best for the grapes to grow. “David really immersed himself in learning about the industry by reading viticulture course books from the UC Davis School where many leading vintners graduate from,” explains Jody.

The couple in the beginning also attended monthly barrel tastings. This is where Jody began to discover that winemaking is “really an art and science.” “It is amazing to me that from the time the grapes are harvested and then put into barrels, the winemakers can pretty much tell how it will taste in two years.”

She learned terms such as “barrel program” meaning that the type of barrel that the wine is aged in plays a large factor in the nuances of the wine’s flavor. For example, American oak barrels impart vanilla undertones whereas French oak barrels tend to add more spice, and even the “toast” of the barrel is selected to contribute different attributes to a wine’s flavor.

Ignoring the Naysayers

Besides having to learn everything about the wine industry from scratch, they also had a lot of naysayers who suggested that growing Cabernet Sauvignon was a mistake due to the climate in Oregon and that it would be best grafting over to a different varietal. But Jody exclaims with a chuckle that she was determined to “drink her way to happiness” with Cabernet Sauvignon. The grape is the last to be picked in the valley usually around the third or fourth week in October. Due to climate change, the weather has gotten warmer and they’ve been successful with their grapes.


Seven years later, they just grafted ½ acre to produce Sauvignon Blanc starting next year, and this May they debuted a limited release of 25 cases of Rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon. But Jody insists that they will stay focused on Cabernet Sauvignon. “There are wineries here producing 28 varietals and I don’t want to do that. We want to make the best wine we can and doing that requires focus.”

Accolades for Their Wines

And clearly their focus has been paying off. Wine Enthusiast Magazine, a leading authority in the industry just rated their 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon a 90 and listed it as an Editor’s Choice in their upcoming August 2019 issue. Their Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon received a 91 in the same edition.

In addition, their 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon was awarded Best of Class at the 2018 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. The 2014 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon received a Silver Medal at the 2018 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, a Gold Medal from SIP’s Best of the NW, and then a Platinum in the Wine Press Northwest Wine Competition, where it was named “one of the Northwest’s top Cabs.”

Despite the success of their small winery, the Lennons still miss Chappaqua dearly. Jody misses simple things like getting lamb chops at the local butcher to more important matters like the strong emphasis on education in our community. While the family enjoys the slower pace of life in Oregon, they still consider Chappaqua as their home.

Jody recounts a very proud moment on one of her many trips back to the 10514 she took her cabernet sauvignon to Dodd’s Liquor Shop for a wine tasting. Although their products are only available online at www.fenceswinery.com, the wine buyer at Dodd’s was very impressed with the product and offered her recommendations for distributors who could help get the product into stores. “That was the ultimate compliment!”, she exclaims.

 

Five Essential Ingredients at Home and Beyond

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Crystal and Neel during a visit to New York last Thanksgiving.
Crystal and Neel during a visit to New York last Thanksgiving.

By Bal Agrawal

After raising an older teen with special needs, I believe I have narrowed down the bare essentials of what your child needs to prosper at home and also once he or she is grown.

1  Unconditional love

2  Structure

3  Activity

4  Medication and 
 Psychological Help

5  Positive Vision and Hope

When my son Neel was 18 and diagnosed with mental illness at the University of Southern California,  my world had come apart. He was hospitalized with serious psychotic episodes. He was catatonic and not even taking food or medicines at times.

I made a vision and etched it in my head. Through ups and downs over the last 10 years,  and all sorts of challenges, I never let my vision fade away.

The vision was that someday he will ring my door bell and there he will be with his wife and children. He has done so much hard work in the last 10 years. He gave up drugs 10 years ago, smoking and drinking eight years ago, junk food, five years ago, and sugar and soda, three years ago. He also now walks three to four miles a day, has lost 50 lbs and looks great.

The best part is that he got engaged a year ago, and his fiancé , Crystal, has a daughter. They also got a dog recently–Sasha! His meds have been reduced from four daily to two! He goes to college, and helps me in my business as well as making movies.

I just love him dearly and the way it all worked out and he has worked so hard to get there. God bless him and the power of positive thinking…

Bal Agrawal is the founder and CEO of LifeWorx, a Greater New York company. With its beginnings in the basement of Bal’s home in Chappaqua, LifeWorx has now grown to four offices in Westport, CT, Manhattan and  Englewood NJ. LifeWorx is the premier child care, elder care, nanny and chef service provider with a mission is to enhance the overall quality of life for Clients. It has provided over 40,000 services to hundreds of clients throughout Westchester, Fairfield and NYC. LifeWorx trademark is flawless customer satisfaction with a personal touch. The 250+ LifeWorx experts are chosen from thousands of applicants, and are simply the best.