The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Students

Byram Students Shine in Music & Art

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The Byram Hills school district has many good reasons to tout the accomplishments of its music and art students.


BHHS senior John Skiera was recently invited to play the cello as a member of the All-National Symphony Orchestra.

“It is an honor to be selected for this group and I understand it is somewhat rare. I am looking forward to playing in the orchestra and with other students from around the country. It will be quite an experience,” he said recently.

This year’s students (L-R) are Shea Gordon (Mixed Chorus), Dominique Karanfilian (Treble Chorus), and Brent Perlman (Symphonic Band).

The All-National Honor Ensembles performers represent collaboration and creativity in its highest musical form. The All-National Honor Ensembles consist of a concert band, symphony orchestra, mixed choir and jazz ensem-ble. Students were chosen through an audition process.

Three BHHS students have also been selected to participate in New York State School Music Association All-State Ensembles. They will perform in concerts to be held at the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York and work with renowned conductors and educators during the annual Winter Conference of the NYSSMA to be held from December 1-4. Students were selected based on their All-State solo performances which were adjudicated by music professionals from throughout New York State.

Some of the selected art students are shown above

Finally, adjudicators from the Armonk Outdoor Art Show, a juried show of artists, selected 22 BHHS students to display their artwork at the popular annual event, which was held Sept. 23 & 24 in

All of the students selected by the AOASH are listed here: Abby Kaiser, Angelique Sarro, Kyra Aronne, Gillian Banaszek, Ben Matza, Cameron Bremner, Carley Hershaft, Chloe Perline, Sofia Corpina, Farran Horowitz, Taylor Kirkwood, Jason Knoop, Lily Moss, Michaela Milano, Olivia Johnson, Jason Roden, Rachel Ruscigno, Sarah Huang, Dina Sokol, Danielle Stein, Sydney Chilewich, Danielle Fliegel.

VOX Summit Shows Byram Hills Freshmen Ways to Help People Far and Near

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The freshmen at Byram Hills High School were treated recently to a wealth of information on ways to help people in countries around the world, and also close to home. At the school’s first VOX Summit, 10 service organizations made presentations to the 200 first-year high school students on projects that provide for children’s badly needed heart operations in developing nations, educate at-risk girls in Kenya and help immigrants build new lives here in Westchester, among other missions.

Students watch slides of children helped by Heart Care International, which provides free surgical and medical care for children with heart disease in developing countries.

“My eyes are open,” freshman Cole Picca said near the end of the BHHS VOX summit. “I learned a lot.”

Organized by Melissa Stahl, chairperson of the World Languages Department, the summit was a key event in the District’s initiative to build students’ “global competency.” Stahl was joined by social studies teacher Ruben Torres, who enlisted his Student Leadership Board members to help with the event.

“The summit is intended to give students an idea of how they can use their voices to help other people,” Stahl said.

The event began with a keynote speech by Justin Buttar, founder of the British Columbia-based group Running for Hearts.

He told the students of his transformation from “a sheltered kid in White Rock, Canada” to the head of an organization that raises money through running events to fund care for children with heart defects in developing countries.

Starting Running for Hearts, he told them, “was my toughest project, but also my proudest achievement.” In breakout sessions, presenters told the students that the efforts make a difference, and can bring about change throughout a whole society. Ruthie Rosenberg of KEEP–the Katonah Education Exchange Program–described a boarding school in Kenya that protects and educates girls at risk of violence and other troubles. The school, the Kakenya Center for Excellence, is changing the way people see their community, she said.

“Really, they’re changing the thinking of the whole culture, and that’s not easy to do,” she said. The summit’s organizers plan to make it an annual event, ideally with students taking over more of the leadership in the future. Students said they came away from the presentations with ideas on how to help.

Materials brought by KEEP, the Katonah Education Exchange Program, supporting the Kakenya Center for Excellence, a boarding school that educates and protects at-risk girls in Kenya.

Cole said he was affected by a presentation by Bridges to Community. In the session, he heard from peers who took a service trip to Nicaragua, and who talked about how much they had learned from the people who lived there.

The residents of Nicaragua, he said, “got to teach you what their culture is about. I had never thought about it that way, so it was really eye opening for me.”

Student Taleen Postian said a key benefit of the day was in raising awareness about the ways that people can aid others.

“Now that you know that there’s some way to help, if you can’t start your own project, you can always help someone to help someone else–you can always help another organization.”

Another freshman, Jake Wild, said he was thinking of ways of using his talents –he plays guitar and sings– to help others.

“I’m happy that our school is getting into thinking about this more,” he said. Principal Chris Walsh said the event was a success.

“This fits squarely into the general direction that we are going to go in as a district and a school,” he said. “We are going to continue to find positive ways to improve our global competency.”

The organizations that took part were:

Abilis
http://www.abilis.us/

Bridges to Community
https://bridgestocommunity.org/

The Cookstove Project
http://www.cookstoveproject.org/

KEEP Girls in School
http://keepgirlsinschool.org/

My Brother’s Keeper
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/my-brothers-keeper

Neighbor’s Link
http://www.neighborslink.org/

Ronald McDonald House
https://www.rmhc.org/

Running for Hearts
https://www.runforhearts.com/

SHARE the Project
https://sharetheproject.org/

Chappaqua’s Thoughtful ‘Robochaps’ Move into Semi Finals!

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Our Robochaps Team (L-R): Coach Ajay Dhanawade, Neel Roy (5th grade), Arnav Roy (7th grade), Aniruddh Dhanawade (7th grade), Rohan Malik (6th grade), Ellie Slive (6th grade), Jordan Zeiger (6th grade), Benjamin Millerman (5th grade), Daniel Stankiewicz(6th grade), Arjun Dayal (8th grade), Coach Rajeev Malik

An ‘Animal Allies’ Topic for the Group’s Robotic Project Work Brings the Team Closer to the Finish Line

Editor’s Note:  Congratulations to the amazing Chappaqua ‘Robochaps’ for their robotics projects and a recent exciting tournament win that moves them into a semi-final competition!  Here, a note from the participants to Inside Chappaqua:

“We are a group of 5th to 8th graders from Chappaqua, NY who are participating in the FLL. The FLL or First Lego League is an organization where kids from 4th to 8th grade build robots and projects based on a particular topic. This year’s topic is ‘Animal Allies’ (see link below to read more about the project) where we have to find a way to help animals and humans coexist peacefully. We chose coyotes as our project as it is local and affects our residents. Our team won the Sleepy Hollow tournament championship and are moving on to the semifinal with other Hudson Valley FLL teams.”

Animal Allies Brochure 

 

Making A Difference

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The Many Ways in which Greeley Students Help Our Community

By Rachel Schelling

Executive Leaders from Horace Greeley High School’s SADD Club.
Executive Leaders from Horace Greeley High School’s SADD Club.

You are standing in a crowd. Pushing and shoving, kids of various ages rush past you; there is an overwhelming noise, the noise of people advertising and friends chatting and officials planning. You are surrounded by organized chaos. Where are you? A circus, a carnival, a street fair? No – you are at the Greeley activity fair! The Greeley activity fair is a tradition at the high school that features one of the school’s most prominent features: clubs. At the fair, each club is assigned a booth; club members bring signs, flyers and candy to attract new members, who can sign up and get more information regarding club activities and events.

While some people just come for the sweets, clubs do gain new members this way, and it demonstrates just how important clubs are to the Greeley community; so many students get involved in this event because they genuinely care. An incredible variety of clubs, from the engineering club to Make a Wish to the opera club, can be found at Greeley. If a club does not exist, students can apply to form a new one. With such a broad range of clubs, it is easy to see why almost all Greeley students are involved in some way. The largest percent of students are members of SADD or SHARE, two of the most popular clubs at Greeley.

Don’t Be Sad, Be SADD

SADD, or Students Against Drunk Driving, is a national organization that Greeley has become a part of. The Greeley chapter aims to “raise awareness within Greeley about the dangers of drinking and driving, texting while driving, and driving high,” explained one of its presidents, Evan Baitch. This past year, SADD organized a drunk driving simulation to show the student body what happens during a drunk driving accident. SADD helped students to not only actually see what happens at an accident itself, but also to understand the ramifications of such an event.

Other events include D’s Day, where 30 or more volunteers dress up in all black and remain silent to represent the tragedies due to drunk driving every day, and the pledge campaign, when SADD gets hundreds of teachers and students to sign pledges that state that they will drive safe over the holidays; the pledges are then displayed around school to remind students of their promise. The difference between SADD and so many others clubs is that students actually pay attention to the various events SADD holds throughout the year; the Greeley chapter has really spread understanding of the many dangers of driving while under the influence or distracted, which has hopefully made a difference out on the roads here in Chappaqua.

SHARE-ing is Caring

SHARE is the largest community service club at Greeley. It includes 11 ‘projects’: the Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund, Casa de Lengua, the Pinwheel Project, Boys & Girls Club, Midnight Run, Bunches of Lunches, AFYA, Blood Drive, Food Bank, Blythedale, and Think Fit for Kids. These all center around hands-on involvement in helping the community. Most students involved in SHARE have a hand in many different projects. Lizzy Pott, one of the club’s presidents, said, “To me, the appeal of SHARE is its incredibly wide scope of service and the amount of involvement it influences. Countless students– including me–have joined SHARE with the intention of participating in only one project and have ended up being an active participant in multiple organizations due to the excitement and inspiration the club exudes.”

Since SHARE is so far reaching, it organizes many different events throughout the year that attract a variety of students. Some of these events include two blood drives, the Scholarship Fund’s annual spelling bee, and a night of ice cream scooping at Ben & Jerry’s to benefit Think Fit for Kids. SHARE strives not only to get students involved but also but the entire community, so keep an eye out for upcoming events!

Many clubs at Greeley are either headed by or founded by the Class of 2014.  The students of this class are involved in clubs as far reaching as Students for Social Justice and Global Schoolhouse and as close to home as the Tribune and the Quake, two of the school publications. All students in clubs have chosen to get involved in this way because they are passionate about what the clubs stand for. For those in positions of power in these clubs, there is the added benefit of leadership experience and an increased role in the actions, organization, and event planning of the clubs.

The popularity of clubs at Greeley is due to the incredible things they have to offer. Clubs give students the opportunity to explore and find their passions while making friends, learning new skills, and getting involved in something they believe in. Greeley is fortunate to be home to so many successful clubs that, year by year, work tirelessly and truly make a difference in our community here in Chappaqua as well as in the world beyond.

harold bookRachel Schelling is a senior at Horace Greeley High School. Growing up, her favorite book was Harold and the Purple Crayon.

Healthy Food and Exercise Choices inside Chappaqua’s Schools

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By Gina Faustini

For the parent or guardian who wonders whether their child is making healthy choices in the school cafeteria or changing into sneakers for gym class – you may not need to wonder anymore. It appears that students in the Chappaqua School District are consistently being trained in how to lead a healthy lifestyle.  The district says they have made great strides toward creating a wholesome environment, whether in the classroom, the gym, the cafeteria, or even after hours during extracurricular activities.

Each school has unique and original ways of keeping their students fit and healthy.  And although it got off to a slow start, there has been a huge reform period regarding health standards within the district over the past few years. “When I first started in the late ‘90’s, it was common to see burgers, fries, and soft drinks in the cafeteria,” said Martin Fitzgerald, head principal of Robert E. Bell Middle School, “Today, if I saw a student drinking from a soda can, it would stick out to me, because it’s just unheard of.” What the district seems to have learned is: if you offer the students a side of French fries, they will eat it and enjoy it. However, if you offer them a baked potato, they’ll eat it and enjoy it as well–just in a different way than the French fries. “This is where the district has been amazing,” said Fitzgerald, “We have excellent healthy fare here.  We have taken it to another level.”

Toward Balanced Lives

Consumer science classes teach Chappaqua students how to prepare nutritious meals and lead a balanced life in terms of healthy eating and physical activity.  This is where the students would learn, as per French fries vs. baked potato example, why it’s good to enjoy the baked potato and how it is beneficial for their health, when chosen over the fries.

It’s safe to say that ‘Sloppy Joe Day’ is either extinct or very rare in the Chappaqua cafeterias.  However, it 
was not a quick transition, according the Fitzgerald.  It took years of research, assimilation and nutritional education before the conversion could really be complete.

Part of that conversion is how the district embraces sustainability.  Bell, Seven Bridges Middle School, and Douglas E. Grafflin Elementary School have all had a garden or greenhouse available to students.  Bell students had the chance to top pizza with their very own veggies grown right in the school garden.

The district says it is taking initiative and working to embed a healthy mindset in their students at a very young age, in hopes of instilling that mindset for life.  Students are encouraged to embrace community involvement and support local establishments, which makes for a healthy way to keep busy when school is out.

“Many of our students involve themselves in community service, either through school clubs such as SHARE (Students Have A Responsibility Everywhere) or on their own,” said Andrew Selesnick, former principal of Horace Greeley High School. “Their contributions to the community are just one more way that the students stay healthy of mind as well as body.”

Just as a healthy evolution has taken place within extracurricular activities and the school cafeteria, physical education has made quite the transition.  With less focus on victory and more on physical health gym class in the Chappaqua district is no longer specifically for those with a competitive edge.

“Walking For Life”

“For next year, a course that previously focused on meditation techniques has been reworked and is now titled ‘Walking for Life, Mindfulness, and Relaxation’,” said Selesnick. “The change was made in response to the latest research on the value of something as simple as walking.”

District-wide, it appears that there is one common theme for the recent changes in the physical education department.  There is a strong emphasis on encouraging a mind-body connection with every student.  Also, Chappaqua schools want to encourage inclusion and connecting with one another–even when they are on opposing dodge ball teams during gym class…

“We make sure we don’t blur the line between physical education and coaching,” said Fitzgerald, “We want to give the students a range of exposure to a variety of activities.”

The environment of after-school sports has changed just as much as gym classes have.  In the Chappaqua schools, especially in the lower grades, competition is not as much a concern as having an enjoyable and social experience is.  It may be stereotypical for school athletic departments to say that they care about the “team experience” more than winning, but in the case of the lower Chappaqua schools, it appears to really be what goes on, with good reason.

“At the middle school we have a non-cut policy; we are all about inclusion and giving a range of opportunity,” said Fitzgerald.  “I believe, philosophically, that having a program that highlights being active, social, and connected rather than competitive brings more kids to the team.”

Chappaqua’s lower schools believe that by taking every student who tries out for a team, they are more likely to come out of their shell and advance both physically and socially.

The more students that are encouraged to play sports while in middle school, the more that will move on to participate in high school–simple as that. This could account for the fact that, according to Selesnick, Greeley students are involved in the athletic program “in very high numbers.”

“The children are coming up more and more with awareness of sustainability and overall health,” said Fitzgerald, “It’s a K-12 experience in the district.”

Gina Faustini is in her junior year at Quinnipiac University. She is majoring in Media Studies, and worked for Ruby Media Group this past summer.