The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

writing

‘Say Something’ Curriculum at Seven Bridges Promotes Young Advocates Voices

by

Pauline Daglio, 6th Grade Teacher at Seven Bridges Middle School in Chappaqua, here together with ‘Say Something’ letter writers Natalia Kochut (left) and Grace Nocca. Laura Triglia (not pictured), also a teacher at Seven Bridges, collaborated on the project. 

 

 

“A recent project-based learning initiative called ‘Say Something’ at Seven Bridges Middle School centered around the notion that while everyone has a voice, it is critical to teach kids how and when to use theirs. Say Something was born from the lessons  learned while reading the novel The Giver. The story teaches that our voices help to shape the communities we live in and if we do not speak up, as was the case in the novel, our world will become a colorless if not meaningless one to live in.

“Through classroom investigations and parent/child conversations, students uncovered that they do have opinions and ideas that are worth sharing on a wide variety of issues. To that end, each of them learned features of argument writing (the focus of the unit) to develop a formal letter to an individual or agency regarding a concern or a change that might be worthwhile. 71 letters were sent!  While the students’ ideas are wide reaching and varied, their intent was the same. I celebrate their efforts and assure them that even if they do not hear back, they made a difference because they took the time and effort to Say Something!”  — Pauline Daglio, 6th Grade Teacher, Seven Bridges 

Editor’s Note: The two letters below, for example, were sent here to The Inside Press to address, and we plan to! Dozens more letters have been sent to: Andrew Corsilia, principal; Greg Steifel; assistant principal-Jason Semo, director of physical education, health and athletics;  Josh Block, director of technology and innovation; Dr. Christine Ackerman, superintendent; Chappaqua School Board; Chappaqua Town Board; Robert Greenstein, Town Supervisor; Senator Kristen Gillibrand; New Castle Parks and Recreation;  President Trump; Mayor DeBlasio; Senator Chuck Schumer; Maria Ferrari Children’s Hospital; Norwalk Hospital; Yorktown Parks and Rec and to several government agencies in Washington DC including the Children’s Bureau and the Department of Public Health, and to several other local business owners as well.

“If nothing else, each student hopes to receive a response that acknowledges his or her request and that provides some form of feedback about his or her cause,” said Daglio.  (The Inside Press plans to answer these letters too!)

How Can we Help Families Struggling with  School Supplies?

By Natalia Kochut

School supply shopping should be fun and carefree, but not all kids have this experience. Some families don’t have enough money to buy pencils, pens, and textbooks and kids need these necessary supplies. Many people aren’t aware of this problem and we need to start making a change. On the other hand, we can ignore this issue but, what if we take a moment to think about the children’s futures? Do you really want them to live difficult lives? We need to call attention to this issue because, without basic school supplies, kids aren’t able to learn. Families in poverty can barely provide food so most times they aren’t thinking about school supplies. Old school supplies can also cause embarrassment to the child.

About 15 million children in the U.S.A live in poverty. Families who live near or below the poverty line usually struggle to get basic items such as soap, food, or clothes and most times they don’t focus on getting their children new school supplies. If we add more organizations that will donate free supplies to families in need, then children won’t have to worry about saving the one pencil they have. Furthermore, parents won’t have to worry about not being able to provide fundamental objects to their child’s learning. It may be a bit embarrassing going back to school with old, used backpacks and pencil cases. This can also lead to teasing and bullying and no child should have to go through that.

Moreover, kids have trouble learning without proper supplies. The average price for middle school supplies is $520-$1,000. Most families in poverty can’t afford this. For instance, most districts require textbooks which are around $60 each. Without this it is difficult to complete homework assignments and study for tests. Calculators are also another expensive thing on the list. The TI-84 plus CE (usually the one preferred for school) is between $115.59-$150 on Amazon. Above all, kids may suffer and get worse grades because they don’t have good supplies. This can hurt their future of getting into a good college. More donations for necessities in school will make students in poverty feel much better. We need to help their futures and make a change.

Actions need to be taken for kids to have school supplies and people need to become more aware of these issues.                     

What Can we Do about Girls Being Treated Differently than Boys?

By Grace Nocca

Girls have not been treated the same as boys in sports. This treatment against women who cannot play in the MLB and NFL has to stop. In other words, clearly women have not been able to live up to their full potential, and that is because they have been told they can’t.

Aside from the fact that women are technically allowed to be in the NFL, people keep telling them they cannot. According to the article “An Equal Opportunity League,” Greg Easterbrook said that he checked with the league spokesman Greg Aiello who said, “The NFL has no male-only rule.” That is to say that women are eligible as long as they are three years out of high school and have a usable skill set. So even though women can play, they are not encouraged to do so.

Despite the fact that there has never been a woman in the NFL, Becca Longo could be the first. She is already the first to get a football scholarship to a university. Besides Becca Longo, not every woman has the courage to stand up and take charge, so we need to encourage them. While it may seem like a different approach to professional sports, empowering women to try would make a positive difference.

Caitlin Gailagher, author of “Can a Woman Play in the MLB? Fox’s ‘Pitch,’ “ examines the history that women were once banned from being signed in 1952. Then in 1992 that rule was overturned. In addition, Frances Melissa Mayeux became the “first known female on the MLB registration list” which shows that it is possible to break the chain that has kept females from some professional sports.

In contrast to boys, girls have been told that they are not as good or as talented as boys in some sports. This has to stop! With attention given to this matter, we clearly need to do something about it. Thank you for considering sharing my ideas so that I can help to promote this thinking.

 

 

 

 

 

Chappaqua Summer Writing Program for Girls

by

A SUMMER ACADEMIC PROGRAM FOR YOUNG WOMEN AGES 14-17 WHO LOVE READING AND WHO WANT TO STRENGTHEN THEIR WRITING SKILLS OVER THE SUMMER.

Ages 14-17
July 11-July 22, 2016
2PM-5PM, Monday – Friday
Horace Greeley House
100 King Street, Chappaqua NY

The literature to be studied includes poetry, fairy tales, drama, and 19th-century novels. Modeled on the First-Year Writing Seminars at Princeton University, the program also includes elements designed to prepare students for the college application process, with half of each class meeting devoted to the study of literature and the other half to workshops and exercises geared at building critical reading and writing skills. Students will emerge from the course with a draft of a college application essay.

Meetings will be held in the Horace Greeley House in downtown Chappaqua. The program fee is $575 and enrollment is capped at 15. For enrollment information please visit chappaquasummerprogram.weebly.com or contact: chappaquasummerprogram@gmail.com or 914.314.7009.

The Chappaqua Summer Writing Program for Girls is directed by Keri Walsh. Dr. Walsh has taught at Oxford and Princeton University, and is now a professor of English Literature at Fordham University. She is the editor of The Letters of Sylvia Beach (the first publisher of James Joyce’s Ulysses and the owner of the Shakespeare and Company bookshop in Paris). Dr. Walsh is now completing an edition of Joyce’s Dubliners.

Chappaqua Girls Summer Writing Program poster 2016 jpeg

Chappaqua’s Newest Novelist Lynda Cohen Loigman Debuts “The Two-Family House”

by

IMG_3320

By Debra Hand

On March 8, 2016, surrounded by friends, family and admirers at the Chappaqua Library Theater, New Castle resident Lynda Cohen Loigman officially launched The Two-Family House, an engrossing family saga about two brothers and their families living in postwar Brooklyn that has drawn rave reviews for its compassion, thoughtfulness and complex, vivid character development from the likes of the Associated Press, Publisher’s Weekly, Bookreporter, Booklist Reviews, RT Book Reviews and the Jerusalem Post.

“I am so grateful for the tremendous community support I have received, both from the Chappaqua Library and our town residents,” Loigman said, after reading several passages from the book and answering attendees questions about its background. “It was a thrilling night!”

From Idea to Manuscript

Loigman, who lives in Chappaqua with her husband Bob (“my biggest advocate and Googler”) and children Ellie, 17, and Charlie, 13, did not set out to be a novelist. A graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School, Loigman practiced trusts and estates law at a large Manhattan law firm for eight years, and was then a legal recruiter. She had written poetry throughout high school and college –and considered writing children’s songs because of her facility with rhyme–but had never even taken a creative writing class. She had a story in her head, though, that would not release its grip for 16 years.

Loigman’s mother grew up with her sisters in a two-family house in Brooklyn shared with their three cousins, also girls. The mothers got along well, the six cousins practically siblings. But Loigman’s grandmother always spoke of how she would have liked a boy. Loigman wondered: what if one family only had girls, and the other only boys? Would each crave what the other had?

After losing her mother, Loigman decided to finally write the story that had been evolving in her mind and which she had been bouncing off friends. She registered for “The Writer’s Essential Selves” course at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, a weekly, unstructured class in which the students wrote and discussed whatever they chose. Six and a half years later, Loigman remains a student in the class.

That first class “was a magical, unbelievably talented group of people,” said Loigman, crediting it with truly teaching her how to write. When she began, she had only written the “hook” of her story, yet was encouraged by her teacher and classmates to continue until the story was told.

The Path to Publication

Loigman acknowledges her luck in getting her book noticed and eventually published. Nearing completion of The Two-Family House, she registered for Sarah Lawrence’s June 2014 Publish and Promote Your Book Conference, which included interactive panel discussions with literary agents, editors and publicists and three “pitch sessions” for each registrant. Coincidentally, she was assigned to meet Marly Rusoff, the agent for an old acquaintance. Rusoff liked that Loigman’s story had that “hook” as well as a clear beginning, middle and end, and asked to see the manuscript upon its completion.

Loigman sent the manuscript in late July 2014; two days later, Rusoff called after reading the book in a day and offered to represent her. At Rusoff’s suggestion, Loigman wrote an essay about the inspiration behind the book, which with the manuscript was sent to editors that August.

The Two-Family House was bought that November by editor Jennifer Weis of St. Martin’s Press. The book would be released at the end of winter 2016 (one of three publication periods); cover art was chosen, and advance copies were sent out for feedback and cover “blurbs.”

Promotional Tour and Future Plans

After a launch-week book signing at Scattered Books in downtown Chappaqua, scheduled spring promotional events included (at press time) author readings at Sarah Lawrence, UJA-Federation of New York, the Museum at Eldridge Street, Temple Israel in Westport, and Brookline Booksmith in Massachusetts. Loigman has also received a great deal of support–interviews or “guest blogging” appearances –from writing and book club blogs and websites. The Jewish Book Council has even created a discussion guide for The Two-Family House, which was listed under “Best Books of the Month” in the Goodreads March Newsletter.

Loigman has already started work on her second novel. But in the interim, she hopes to meet someone with a connection to Natalie Portman, who she envisions as the perfect “Rose” in a film adaptation of her debut!

You can “Like” Lynda Cohen Loigman, Author, on Facebook. Also, please visit: lyndacohenloigman.com

Debra Hand is a longtime writer and editor for Inside Chappaqua, thrilled for her friend’s successful debut and inspired to follow in her footsteps!

Cheers to Good Health!

by

012-(2)By Beth Besen

When Inside Chappaqua’s esteemed publisher/editor Grace Bennett advertised for a Guest Editor, I jumped at the opportunity! Not because I love the magazine (though I do!) or because I love writing (though I do that too!), but because I COULD! Jump, that is.

A year ago, such was not the case. Based on the results of an otherwise routine mammogram, I was diagnosed with a rare form of Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Cancer, the Big C. I underwent intensive chemotherapy followed by radiation. The future looked uncertain, and it was all I could do to get through each round, make the best and most of each day. Jumping for anything was out of the question.

Happily, things turned out very well for me. Love, support and care came from near and far as family and friends joined and kept company on my journey; I am eternally grateful to every single one of them. Likewise, I am grateful to the doctors, nurses, therapists and technicians who, quite frankly, saved my life; it’s worth noting how very lucky I was–we are–to live as we do here in Westchester, so close to many of the world’s finest medical centers and communities.

I hope you’ll never need the Cancer and Wellness Center at Northern Westchester Hospital. But, if you do, you’ll find comfort, as well as great care, there; take a tour through this issue with Vicki de Vries.

Do you worry about heart disease? Suffer from headaches? Get S.A.D. at this time of year? Flip forward through the magazine as we share info that may help you or someone you love.

On the lighter side of health, there’s always the hope that a much needed break from routine restores us to our best selves. Let Kate Stone Lombardi inspire you to volunteer, follow Heather Skolnick’s lead and plan a family vacation.

You’ll also find smart insider tips of all kinds (visual “soundbites” if you will) throughout the magazine; just look for our Rx and pushpin note to advise, inspire and help you help yourself!

All those exclamation points in my lead paragraph? Not poor editing, deliberate editorial choices; they represent excitement and happiness, grateful appreciation, humility and even honor. While Descartes gave us I think, therefore I am, I suggest I exclaim because I can! Like many survivors before me, I’ve learned that life is for living. Exclamation point!

As I approach the one-year anniversary of my official remission date, I simply can’t imagine better payment forward than jumping into this issue 
of Inside Chappaqua!

Be well, and enjoy!

Credits: Beth’s hair styled by Aura Salon owner Leticia utilizing 
AVEDA products’ “pure flower and plant essences’’;  aurasalonchappaqua.com. Beth’s makeup provided by Kathryn (formerly Kathryn Ellen Makeup Studio); kathrynwbg@aol.com including “botanically based, vegan and toxin-free” Arbonne makeup; sharonh.myarbonne.com.

 

rx-noteBarbara Daniel, Local Dog Walker: Dog hikes can be enjoyable in every season when you’re prepared. My favorite winter hiking tool is Yak-Traks. These ‘snow tires’ or ‘chains’ for shoes make it possible to navigate over, or through, snow or icy surfaces. Many local stores sell them or similar brands.

—

rx-noteBarrie Wolfe, MS RD: Snacking is actually GOOD for you! But there’s an art to it. Instead of grazing on high-calorie junk, my clients eat a “calculated snack”–ideally something with protein and fiber to provide fullness and energy. Indulge in holiday goodies occasionally, but eat a “calculated snack” often. BarrieWolfeNutrition.com

Cheers for Gary Portnoy

by

Photo by William Smiles
Photo by William Smiles

Sometimes you wanna go
where everybody knows
your name
And they’re always
glad you came
You wanna be where
you can see
Our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where
everybody knows your name

By Sarah Ellen Rindsberg

This is the first half of the chorus of the theme song from “Cheers,” a popular show which debuted in 1982 and continued for 11 seasons. This catchy tune was co-authored by two-time Emmy nominee, ASCAP honoree and Chappaqua resident, Gary Portnoy.

Portnoy receives countless emails from all over the world about the song. “It imparts some sense of belonging. It seems to touch some place in people that is comforting, uplighting,” he observes. This sentiment is echoed by Dr. Jane Greer, a huge fan and supporter. “It captures the essence of what we all feel and experience,” she relates.

Shobha Vanchiswar, a friend of Portnoy’s, appreciates the empathy he shows in his writing as well as in life. When her mom passed away, he expressed his sympathy. “It was almost like he could feel my pain,” Vanchiswar says.  She also highlights the reason why his songs have a universal appeal:  “He tunes himself into what someone else is all about.”

How does someone “stumble” into a songwriting career as Portnoy says he did? In his case, quite simply –by being born into a “dysfunctional household.”  Luckily, his grandparents had given a piano to the family. The keyboard became his “oasis.”

Musical influences include Paul Simon, James Taylor, Carole King and Elton John. He listens to his favorites while driving his jeep. “I love to crank it up with the top down,” 
he says.

Portnoy also acknowledges watching a lot of tv and being “inspired by early tv themes,” (what a surprise!) One of his favorites is the Mary Tyler Moore theme, “It wraps its arms around you,” he says.

When describing his work, Portnoy notes that it has undergone a tremendous evolution. “When I was young I was much more concerned with having someone sing it. It was less about me than who I was trying to get it to.” In his work for tv, the writing imparts “the needs of the script, the story line.” The script for “Cheers,” was particularly inspiring. “I knew who these people were,” he recalls. The characters were so well conceived. I felt this bunch of losers, looking for validation.” Today his work is “informed by me, my thoughts, joys, worries.” The famous theme song and others are featured on his CDs.

Portnoy’s path to Chappaqua is linked to friendship. He came to visit Bill Smiles and his wife for the first time in the late 80’s. For many years Portnoy maintained apartments in Manhattan and Nashville and continued to visit the Smiles. Then, in 2001 after “walking into walls” during the night–forgetting which place he was in, Portnoy made the move to Chappaqua. Today, he resides in “a quasi-wilderness” on the side of a hill with a rambling brook, reveling in his surroundings.

Portnoy is currently pursuing two of his passions: planting Japanese maple trees and working on his collections of British and American studio pottery. Teaching and performing are in the realm of possibilities for the future. And, of course, when inspiration hits, the writing begins.

So the next time you see a Blue Arctic Jeep Wrangler cruising through the hamlet, give a wave and say “Cheers!”

The “Cheers” theme song is having a positive effect on the dopamine levels in Sarah Ellen Rindsberg’s brain.