reflections from our schools

Reflections From Our Schools

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE MOUNT SINAI UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT

MOUNT SINAI ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Grades K – 4

Dr. John Gentilcore, Principal Ms. Linda Chase, Assistant Principal/PT Mr. Frank LaBianca, Assistant Principal/PT

Reflections From Our Schools

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE MOUNT SINAI UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Winter 2011 Volume 40 Issue 2

Halloween Parade O n Monday October 31st, the Kindergarten chil-dren took part in our annual Halloween parade

in the Elementary School. The children who were dressed in some very creative costumes walked through many classrooms to showcase their attire. The students even took a detour through District Office to visit our Su-perintendent, Dr. Bonasera who welcomed the children as they paraded through his office. Following the parade, the students returned to their classrooms to enjoy the Hal-loween party planned by their teachers and parent volun-teers.

Kindergarten Pumpkin Decorating

The students in Mrs. Christiano’s Kindergarten class enjoyed collecting pumpkin data this past week. Each “pumpkin scientist” worked in a group to find out more about their pumpkins. Students used science vocabulary such as compare, contrast, circumference, weight, pre-dict, sink and float to learn more about the pumpkins.

The students especially liked discovering that pumpkins float! They also counted pumpkin seeds. One of the pumpkins had over 567 seeds! At the end of the project the students compiled the information in a “Pumpkin Book” to share with their families. Great job boys and girls!

Bulletin Board Magic

Halloween is always an exciting time for students. Mrs. Scher’s class incorporated their targeted weekly reading skill, visualization, into a great class project that was displayed on the hallway bulletin board. After sever-al readings of the poem, “Help!” by Jack Prelutsky, stu-dents formed a picture in their own head (which they had drawn) of the “monster on their head.” No two pictures were alike even though all students used the same de-tails from the poem.

(Bulletin Board Magic Continued on pg. 2)

Mount Sinai Mirror 2

MOUNT SINAI ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Third Graders Take Graphing to another Level

M rs. Breutsch’s third grade class, teamed up with student teacher Mrs. Toner, to determine

how their class learns. Students were given the How I Am Smart checklist, in order to self-assess and identify indi-vidual strengths and preferred learning styles; such as Music Smart, Math Smart, People Smart, Self Smart, Body Smart, Picture Smart, and Nature Smart (based on Howard Gardner’s Eight Multiple Intelligences). Students shared their intelligence strengths with their class and compiled the data into a frequency table. Pictured class-mates, Anna Calabrese, Lorenzo Desidero, and Derek Takacs, helped to construct a class-designed pictograph, and interpret their results!

Everyone is invited to view the board, and take the sur-vey, to find out how YOU are smart!

It was a truly creative way for students to understand that creating pictures in their minds – visualizing – helps them to comprehend the text.

(Bulletin Board Magic Continued fm. pg. 1)

Facts About New York State

Wow! New York is awesome! Did you know that New York’s state flower is the rose? The school kids of New York State voted for the rose to be the state flower. New York has 62 counties. Do you know which county we live in? Well if you didn’t and you live in Mt. Sinai, you live in Suffolk County. The capital of our state is Albany and it’s the oldest city in the United States. The longest river in NYS is the Hudson River. The Hudson Rivers source is located high up in the Adiron-dack Mountains and the mouth is located in Manhat-tan Bay. These are some of my favorite facts about New York State!



Field Trip to Caleb Smith Park

3 rd grade students visited the Outdoor Learning Lab at Caleb Smith State Park. As junior naturalists, students hiked the Red Trail to learn more about the plants and animals found in various habitats. Students participated in activities in which they observed, measured, and conducted experiments to learn more about the natural environ-ment.

Did you know the bark from a red cedar tree can be pulled off in thin strips and twisted to make rope?

Students were fascinated to learn that this tree was over 150 years old before it collapsed. During Hur-ricane Irene, strong winds blew this tree over.

Students looked for evidence that animals had visited this stream

Students compared needles from different evergreen trees.



Author Visit A cclaimed children's author and illustrator Dan Yac-carino came to the Elementary School on Monday, No-vember 14th to present three workshops to our K-4th grade students. Students learned that Mr. Yaccarino has written and illustrated fifty-four books some of which have been turned into popular children's television shows like the Backyardigans. As Mr. Yaccarino spoke with stu-dents, he had two very important messages. You can be anything you want to be when you grow up and you al-ways need to use your brain for creating and thinking. As a boy he loved to draw. He continued to draw throughout high school and college to follow his dream of becoming an artist. Mr. Yaccarino's most recent book, All the Way to America, shares the story of how his own great-grandfather came to this country to follow his dream. Many thanks to the PTO for this generous gift.

Bookmark Designs

To further celebrate the Mount Sinai’s Children’s Book Week, the library sponsored a school-wide bookmark contest. Using this year’s theme, “Books are Fun! stu-dents were asked to design an original bookmark which was then judged on clarity, use of color, originality, and creative use of theme. After much deliberation, the final bookmarks chosen as the best of the best were:

Kindergarten – Sarah Mlyn, Sofia Edlund, Katelyn Holiday Grade 1 – John LaValle, Mikayla DeNyse, Matteo Spotorno Grade 2 – Ryan Narsingh, Isabella Hashim, Nicole Koepper Grade 3 - Abigail Passafiume, Alyssa Flanders, Lisa Greenspan Grade 4 – Aaron Mitchell, Jonathon Jacobson, Tristan Werner

Winning bookmarks were reproduced on card stock at SAV-ON Printing in Mount Sinai (thank you Sav-On) and printed for every student. All bookmarks were displayed in the hallways and on library windows and enjoyed by all during the entire month of November!

Third Graders Discover the Water Cycle

Have you ever wondered what happens to the pud-dles after a rainstorm? In order to gain a better under-standing of the water cycle, the students in Mr. Kadletz’s third grade class created a three dimensional project il-lustrating the water cycle phases. They discovered that water that is on Earth now is the same water that was present when dinosaurs roamed the planet. The children were able to label and define each of the important stag-es of the water cycle: evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. This project, along with other visual aids, was helpful in providing the students with a thorough un-derstanding of the water cycle process.



Courtyard Club

F or six weeks this past fall, first through third grade students met with Mr. Siani and Mrs. Poe-

rio for the Mount Sinai Elementary School Courtyard Club. Working together to beautify the courtyard, stu-dents first learned about weeds and why they are harmful to other plants. As weeds were picked, they were placed into the composter. Students learned that the job of a composter is to turn weeds into soil for future use. They also learned that “worms” play a big role in the process! Not every weed went into the composter. Some were used to help stuff scarecrows that were posted in the gar-den boxes. One rainy morning, the club met indoors to talk about sunflowers. They learned about the life cycles and parts of plants. After the discussion, students got to pull seeds from the sunflower heads and save them to plant in the spring. An unexpected, but very exciting visi-tor to the courtyard club – was a toad! Two of the groups found the toad and were able to observe it up close. Mr. Siani explained that the toad was getting fat because it was storing up food for the winter months ahead. Every-one is looking forward to the future courtyard club meet-ings which start back up again in April. Until then, enjoy the beautiful courtyard through the long, snowy, winter months!

Sneak Peak at Yearbook 2012

The fourth grade Yearbook Club is in full swing at the Elementary School. Eighteen fourth grade students, un-der the guidance of Mrs. Leiterman and Mrs. Schlosser, work hard each week to create a special keepsake for their fellow graduates. As their first order of business, the club presented to the entire class the different yearbook covers that had been designed by some of their class-mates.

A student vote was taken and this year’s cover won by an overwhelming majority! The yearbook staff also takes pictures of their classmates during recess and field trips which will be included in this year’s edition. The staff’s teamwork, dedication to detail and enthusiasm are helping make what promises to be one of the Elementary School’s most memorable yearbooks ever. Thank you Mrs. Schlosser, Mrs. Leiterman, boys and girls for all of your efforts!

Kindergarteners Enjoy a Magical Evening of Reading and Songs

In mid-December, the kindergarten students gathered one clear and starry night for an evening of reading, poet-ry and songs. Snuggling next to their mom, dad, grandma or grandpa, the evening began with children listening to a beautiful book entitled The Mitten Tree. The children loved this story whose main idea was about giving to oth-ers. The students already had this thought in mind when earlier in the night they had placed mittens and gloves on our own “Mitten Tree”. These colorful “ornaments” will be donated to a local charity to help keep children warm dur-ing the cold months ahead. Curled up on their blankets, the children read several books and drew a picture to il-lustrate their favorite story. While they were reading the Kindergarten teachers tiptoed through the blankets pass-ing out a yummy snack. The children enjoyed several more wintertime stories read by their teachers, Ms. Bellin-campi, Mrs. Christiano, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Jacobellis and our school librarian, Mrs. Christensen. The evening finally ended with several snowflake songs. Each child was given a beautiful sparkly snowflake bookmark as a remembrance of this wonderful evening. It was a truly magical night. Thank you Kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Christensen and the PTO for helping to make this annual event so special.



Fourth Grade Journeys into Native American History

E arlier this month, the Elementary School’s fourth grade students were treated to a special presen-

tation from guest historians Bob Vetter and Jaimee Rea-son who took them on a “Journey into Native American Territory”. Over the course of two days students learned about the history and culture of the Eastern Woodlands Tribes who had once lived throughout the mid-Atlantic region of the United States – including New York. Stu-dents participated in numerous hands-on activities includ-ing sitting on mock council meetings, learning about the art of Native American storytelling, playing Native Ameri-can games, creating their own miniature clay duck de-coys, and exploring an extensive collection of genuine Indian artifacts which even included a replica of a native longhouse! The presentation truly made this social stud-ies unit come alive. We would like to extend our gratitude to Bob Vetter and Jaimee Reason for their thorough and engaging presentation and to the PTO for their generous sponsorship of the program.

The Elementary School Gives Back to the Community

The Elementary School/Student Council Holiday Food Drive was an overwhelming success. To remind stu-dents about this extremely important effort, the Student Council members created posters, wrote and delivered announcements over the loud speaker, and assisted Mrs. Schlosser with the daily collection and organization of do-nations.

A HUGE thank you to all of our generous bucket-filling students! Many families throughout our local community will be enjoying a plentiful holiday season due to your ef-forts and thoughtfulness. In this time of thanksgiving and with a holiday spirit your generosity continues to help those who are less fortunate and we are truly grateful. Here are Student Council members making donations which will help several Mt. Sinai families as well as sever-al local food pantries.

Thanksgiving Bucketfillers

Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks and that’s just what Mrs. Poerio’s first grade class did! After brainstorm-ing things and people they were thankful for, students focused on how they were thankful for friends, especially their classmates in Room 209. Each student chose an-other student’s name out of a hat and wrote about why they were thankful for that person. After writing, students decorated their Thankful for My Friend paper. At the Thanksgiving feast, the students read and presented their cards to one another. Their papers were wonderful ex-amples of how to be true bucketfillers. Great job, boys and girls!



Emily Mlyn – Grade 4 Skylor Wong – Grade 2

Emma Wells, Gavin Russiello-Tous, Ellie Williams, James Williams, Christiana Mastrorocco, Cole Croston, Ryan McNeely, Tristan Werner, Kayla McFadden


MOUNT SINAI MIDDLE SCHOOL Grades 5 – 8

Mr. Peter Pramataris Ms. Elizabeth Hine Principal Assistant Principal

Utilize bus transportation to minimize traffic. Do not pass vehicles in the process of dropping off children Inform your children to be ready to exit from the passenger

side of your vehicle. Remind your children to cross at the marked crosswalks. When waiting to pick up your child, please park in marked

stalls.

We Need Your Help

The school parking lot is highly congested in the mornings and afternoons due to parents dropping off or picking up their children. Vehicles park or stand in the middle of the parking lot creating an unsafe environment for students and staff. To alleviate the congestion and the potential safety hazard, please consider the following:

On mornings of inclement weather, the auditorium will be open and supervised beginning at 7:45 a.m. in order to expedite the morning drop-off.

Promoting Tolerance

O n Wednesday, October 26, 2011, Student Council Representatives in grades seven and eight attended the Annual Middle School Tolerance and Anti-Bullying Con-ference at the Suffolk County Y/JCCC in Commack, NY. The goal of the conference, sponsored by the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County, was to encourage students to perpetuate acts of kindness and to teach about the benefits of leading other students to treat one another with empathy and tolerance. Students listened to keynote speakers, who were fellow peers, and engaged in small group activities that allowed them to share ideas on how to further promote tolerance and build networks of caring. Students at the conference were encouraged to act as facilitators in spreading the message of tolerance to each of their schools and to con-tinue to work together to uphold a climate in their school that is welcoming and safe for all.

Ms. Pomaro, Co-Advisor, Student Council; Edward Marrs, Stu-dent Council Historian; Samantha Floyd, Student Council Presi-dent; Hunter Tabile, Student Council Treasurer; Chelsea Cullin, 7th Grade Student Council Representative; Mr. Pramataris, Prin-cipal

Andrew DiDonato, 8th Grade Student Council Representative; Kaylee Orlando, Student Council Secretary; Kaylynn Juhas, Student Council Vice President; Emily Vengilio, 7th Grade Stu-dent Council Representative; Elizabeth Deller, 7th Grade Stu-dent Council Representative; Christopher Rode, 7th Grade Stu-dent Council Representative


MOUNT SINAI MIDDLE SCHOOL

Annual Food Drive

D uring the weeks of November 7 and 14, the Community Service Club and Community Out-

reach Club held Mount Sinai Middle School’s annual Thanksgiving food drive. All homeroom classes partici-pated in this year’s success. The clubs encouraged stu-dents from each grade to bring part of "the fixings" for a holiday feast - from potatoes to gravy to cranberry sauce to stuffing and desserts. The Community Service Club and Community Outreach Club filled each donation box with a variety of items. "It really makes you feel good to donate things you have to people who need it," said sixth grader Julia McElheron. This drive offered our students an opportunity to involve themselves in our community that benefited the less fortu-nate. Mrs. Thode and Ms. Allocca organized this collec-tion along with 53 club members. The students displayed enthusiasm and compassion as they filled seven large boxes with food items amounting to approximately 750 pounds. The majority of donations piled in toward the end of the drive, topping last year’s success! The food was donated to the Long Island Cares Or-ganization located in Bohemia, New York. Long Island Cares provides a Thanksgiving turkey and uses our food items to make beautiful Thanksgiving gift basket displays. Each gift basket will be donated to local residents in our area. Each gift basket weighs nearly twenty pounds and will make each family’s Thanksgiving meal more enjoya-ble.

Community Outreach and Service Club members posing next to their Food Drive donations.

Colors of Long Island: Student Expressions Mount Sinai Middle School

Showcases in Local Museum

From November 18 - December 31 an art exhibit will be on display showcasing student artwork from K -12. This year, seventh graders Lauryn Dudley, Chase Ather-ton, Jimmy Walter, James Catterson, Brittney Mojica, Kyle Pirone, Logan Jaeger, Ben May, Carlie Devlin, Alec Piergiorgi, Nick Conforti, Dara Sicurella, Evan DeBuccio, Veronica Venezia, Catlin Brajevich, Antonia Calamas, Jared Sofia, Alexa Diamond, Cristina Gulli, Missy Carpen-ito, Helene Marinello, and Tori Szempruch are the stu-dents selected. A 3-dimensional column includestheir antique clay tiles - a collaboration of ceramics represent-ing not only craftsmanship, but creativity as well. These students have shown great dedication and effort. Mount Sinai is well represented amongst other districts in Suffolk and Nassau Counties. Show your support and visit www.longislandmuseum.org and get directions to the Long Island Museum located in historic Stony Brook and plan your visit. The reception for Eastern Suffolk County students: Sun-day, November 20, 2 – 4 p.m. Congratulations artists and keep up the creative work!

Colors of Long Island: Ms. Trapani, Lauryn Dudley, Case Ather-ton, Jimmy Walter, James Catterson, Brittney Mojica, Kyle Pi-rone, Logan Jaeger, Ben May, Carlie Devlin, Alec Piergiorgi,

Nick Conforti, Dara Sicurella, Evan DeBuccio, Veronica Vene-zia, Caitlin Brajevich, Antonia Calamas, Jared Sofia,

Alexa Diamond, Cristina Gulli, Missy Carpenito, Helene Marinello, and Tori Szempruch.



A Very Different Celebration

Y es – the “holiday” is called “Day of the Dead” (el día de los muertos)! Rather than a time of mourning, Day of the Dead is a celebration of the “circle of life”, the unity between life and death.

The first and second of November is when the people of Oaxaca, Mexico believe the spirits of the lost loved ones return to earth. Altars honoring departed loved ones are built in homes. Offerings include candles, flowers, favorite foods and personal mementos of the returning souls, as well as decorative skeletons (calacas) and candy skulls (calaveras). Candlelight vigils are held in the cemeteries on November 1. Students in the Foreign Language Club learned about this holiday by creating an altar and making calacas and calaveras to decorate it. They also made candy skulls molded from sugar paste. Placed on an altar, the skulls represent the sadness of death, the sugar, the sweetness of life.

Students with the altar they created.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Fundraiser

Members of the Community Outreach and Service Club have the opportunity, throughout the school year, to participate in activities where they are developing skills that foster compassion, empathy, and concern for those in need. This month, the students learned about Type 1 Diabetes through a guest speaker from the Juveniles Dia-betes Research Foundation. The students were inspired to participate in a fundrais-ing event in support of finding a “cure.” Participants volun-teered their time, during lunch periods, to sell paper sneakers and bracelets to the student body. In addition, students raised awareness and sold paper sneakers to the community outside of school hours.

This event raised $2,023.00 for the Juveniles Diabetes Research Foundation. Ten percent of the total donations received will be given to the Mount Sinai Middle School.

Spelling Bee

“R-E-P-E-A-T” As Patrick Hanaj correctly spelled his last word he captured his second title during the Fourth An-nual Mount Sinai Middle School Spelling Bee. Seventh and eighth grade students watched their peers through entertaining rounds on Tuesday, November 22, as the finalists kept the audience on the edge of their seats with anticipation. Displaying poise and concentration, the final-ists displayed their knowledge as they attempted to spell the given words. In addition to listening and watching the spellers, the audience was able to see the correctly spelled word projected onto a screen. Patrick will contin-ue on to the Long Island Spelling Bee in March at Hofstra University.

3rd place winner Brittany Waite

2nd place winner Samantha Mena

1st place winner Patrick Hanaj



Student’s of the Month

October 2011

Student Subject

Jackson Law Grade 5 Matthew Sedillo Grade 6 Vanessa Repperger Art Kaitlyn Kaufman English Language Arts Abigail Solomos Family and Consumer Sciences Shane Walker Math Ross DiBetta Music Griffin McGrath Physical Education Brooke Li Rosi Science Samantha Van Sise Social Studies Jennifer Garcia Spanish

Nolan Kelly Technology

Citizens of the Month

November 2011

Student Subject

Michael Loguercio Grade 5 Phillip Roelofsen Grade 6 Veronica Venezia Art Sara Kaufman English Language Arts Helene Marinello Family and Consumer Sciences Julia Machado Math Andrew Rodriguez Music Edward Marrs IV Physical Education Patrick Loliscio Science Carly Tucci Social Studies Victoria Szempruch Spanish Alfred Bukofsky Jr. Technology

Brianna Pidoto Technology

October 2011

Student

Grade

Tyler Bendowski 5 Grace Burns 6 Sophie Looney 6 Russell Magnussen 6 Julia McElheron 6 Alexandria Sanatore 6 Kirsten Scutaro 6 Meaghan Scutaro 6 Kevin Kelly 7 Ross DiBetta 8 Leon Paul 8

Student

Grade

Nicholas Batuyios 5 Angelo Passafiume 5 Jameson Wessels 5 Nicholas Badamo 6 Patrick Connor 6 Delaney Kelly 6 Austin Kavich 7 Faris Furoogh 8 Peter Mastrorocco III 8 James Sarno 8 Robert Voos 8

November 2011


MOUNT SINAI HIGH SCHOOL Grades 9 – 12

Mr. Matthew J. Dyroff Assistant Principal

Mr. Robert Grable Principal

Mr. Chris Heil Assistant Principal

Safe Halloween

O n Saturday, October 29, 2011, Mount Sinai High School hosted its first annual Safe Halloween. On this day, children from the Mount Sinai community visited vari-ous high school classrooms for “trick or treating” in a fun and safe environment. From 12:00 – 3:00 p.m., mon-sters, goblins, witches and ghosts lurked throughout the halls in search of tricks and treats. And, to be sure, tricks and treats were found. Nestled in the hallways were vari-ous extracurricular clubs and organizations waiting to share their Halloween spirit. Best Buddies wrapped up the kids’ enthusiasm with the art of mummy wrapping. The costume-clad children had their appetite curbed by the Multi-Media Club who brought in cookies for decorat-ing. The National Honor Society painted children’s faces with spooky colors and graphics. The Freshman Class provided goodie bags while the Sophomore Class provid-ed three activities in one room. The Middle School Na-tional Junior Honor Society and Student Council provided pumpkin decorating. The History Club had children write letters to our troops overseas. These are just a few of the many activities provided by our clubs to make this day spook-tacular. Not only were the halls bustling with children full of holiday spirit, but also with members of the High School Student Government. The student Senate, advised by Mr. Cardo, was responsible for organizing the day. Sarah Catterson, Julia Michaels, and Hayley McLean chaired the event, and after four weeks of preparation, the Stu-dent Government delivered a fun-filled day that benefited the whole community. Over one hundred cans of non-perishable items col-lected during this event will be donated to local soup kitchens across Long Island to help families throughout the holiday season. In addition, over four hundred dollars was collected which will be donated to charity. The High School Student Government would once again like to thank the additional seventeen extracurricu-lar clubs and organizations from both the High School and Middle School for making Mount Sinai’s first Safe Hallow-een a successful event.

Children participate in Safe Halloween activities.

FBLA Fall District Meeting at Molloy College

On Friday, October 28, the following student officers attended the annual Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Fall District Meeting held at Molloy College: Jessi-ca Chebuske, Heather Johnson, Sean Sullivan and Pat-rick McKeown, along with club advisor, Ms. Clancy. The meeting provided valuable workshops for all participants. Jessica Chebuske brought back the wonderful pro-gram “Sweets for Soldiers” which was opened to the en-tire Mount Sinai School District. The FBLA Club, along with the History Club, packaged over twenty-five boxes containing cards and sweets for our men and women overseas. We greatly appreciated the support from all three buildings. This made the event a huge success. The program was a very rewarding experience for all of the History Club and FBLA members. Jessica also attended a workshop for the FBLA State Charity, Ronald McDonald House. She plans to be the chairperson for our FBLA Chapter. Sean Sullivan and Patrick McKeown attended workshops that focused on “Best Business Practice” and “How to Become a Better Public Speaker.” Both students plan to expand our cur-rent first grade career curriculum and design a second grade community career decision-making program. Heather Johnson attended “Parliamentary Procedures” which gave ideas on how to maximize our chapter’s po-tential. Heather plans to assist members in competing at the local competition scheduled for February 2012. Currently, FBLA members bring each meeting to order by beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance and having each officer provide a brief review of upcoming events.


MOUNT SINAI HIGH SCHOOL

AP Art Students Selected to Participate in Advanced Visions Exhibition

S tephanie Sheehan and Arianna Shaljian were selected to participate in the Advanced Visions

VII Exhibition. These talented artists will have their works featured in an exhibition of drawing, painting, photog-raphy, sculpture, and digital media from the top two stu-dents per high school in Advanced Placement, Interna-tional Baccalaureate or Portfolio Art students in Nassau and Suffolk County, as well as the boroughs of New York City. Sponsored by the Art Department of the Long Island University - C.W. Post Campus, the exhibition will run from December 20, 2011, through January 25, 2012. Arianna and Stephanie will be honored at a closing re-ception at the Hillwood Student Art League Gallery on January 25.

Artwork by Arianna Shaljian

Artwork by Stephanie Sheehan

Veterans Day Tutorials at the Middle School

On Thursday November 10, members of the High School History Club and advisor Mr. John McHugh visited eighth grade social studies classes to give tutorials about Veterans Day. The mini-lessons included a brief history of Veterans Day, issues veterans face at home and abroad, and a discussion of current overseas operations. At the conclusion of the lesson, students wrote out cards to members of the Mount Sinai community who are cur-rently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.



Treats for Troops

Tina Batinovic, Ankita Kamat, Jessica Chebuske, Ryan Kubik and James Mallinson.

D uring the week following Halloween, the high school History Club advised by Mr. John McHugh, and Future Business Leaders of America advised by Ms. Mary Clancy, collected

leftover holiday candy from all three buildings in the dis-trict to send overseas to our troops. The recipients of the nearly 500 pounds of treats collected include four alumni as well as the family members of four students and staff presently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Food Drive From November 14 through November 22, the High School History Club sponsored its annual Thanks-giving Food Drive. Each hom-eroom was provided with a list of food items to donate and students did not disappoint. In total, over seven hundred food items and over $1,100 were collected and donated to the Mount Sinai Congrega-

tional Church Food Pantry and the VIBS Battered Wom-en’s Shelter. The homerooms of Mr. Kulik, Ms. Bunster and Ms. Pizzuto earned a bagel breakfast for raising the most food / money during the collection. Congratulations!

Mount Sinai High School Turkey Trot 2011

(Turkey Trot Continued on pg. 15)

On Saturday, November 26, Mount Sinai High School’s Class of 2013 and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) hosted the First Annual Turkey Trot to benefit Holiday Magic. Holiday Magic is a non-profit or-ganization that supplies holiday gifts for needy children across Long Island. For the past nine years, Mount Sinai High School’s SADD members have volunteered to visit local department stores to shop for gifts that are present-ed to the less fortunate children at a holiday dinner. To celebrate this year’s decade of “Magic,” our students de-cided they wanted to raise the funds to purchase the gifts, as well as, facilitate the shopping trip. As a result, the Turkey Trot was born. With Mother Nature providing a beautiful day, over 400 runners descended on the high school campus ready to burn off their Thanksgiving calories. The participants in-cluded a mix of students, parents, staff and community members who ran, trotted, and walked the challenging course. Trophies were given out to the top male and fe-male runners, while medals were awarded to the top three runners in the various age groups. This year’s top female runner was Mount Sinai High School senior, Nina Volino. High school teachers, Mr. Read, Mr. Mees, and Ms. Blumenthal, all placed in their respective categories. As a result of the tremendous turnout, donations, and generous sponsors, Mount Sinai’s Class of 2013 and SADD will present Holiday Magic with a check for $5,000. This money will be used to purchase holiday presents that will undoubtedly bring smiles to many less fortunate children on Long Island. SADD’s tenth annual shopping trip took place on December 2 when our students invaded Wal-Mart and the Smith Haven Mall with lists from Santa Claus. Subsequently, SADD will once again host a holi-day dinner at the high school on December 14 for the children and their families. Congratulations to club advisors Mr. John McHugh, Mr. John Wilson, Mr. Steve Zummo and the student members for their efforts and a job well done. The Tur-key Trot proved to be a wonderful community event and provided opportunity for students, staff and residents to be a part of a great cause. If anyone would like to donate to Holiday Magic, please visit www.holidaymagicli.org. We look forward to seeing you at Turkey Trot 2012.



The race begins.

This year’s top female runner was Mount Sinai High School senior, Nina Volino.

(Turkey Trot Continued fm. pg. 14)

Crossing the finish line.

Almost, Maine

M ount Sinai High School’s fall drama production of Almost, Maine featured an ensemble cast who portrayed couples exploring love and loss in a remote, mythical place called Almost,

Maine. Through the nine acts, the audience was treated to moments of tenderness and heartache, as well as mo-ments of drollery and drama. The cast was comprised of seniors Danielle Dominici, Heather Johnson, and Alexandra Salerno, juniors Michael Giordano, Nicole Mastrorocco, Hannah Pawluk, Sean Sul-livan, Dylan Whelan, and Samantha Woo, sophomore Jacob Wright, and freshman Sequel DeFini. Devin Zac-chino, Matthew Thompson, and Samantha Sullivan partic-ipated in Stage Crew, and Patrick McKeown, Emily Abby, Jessica Martin, and Sean Viscount controlled the lights for the production. Senior Ryan Sarno acted as stage man-ager, assisting the director Ms. Sarah Zamorski and pro-ducers Ms. Kerri Herrmann and Mr. Joseph Cossack.

(Almost Maine Continued on pg. 16)



Pictured above is the cast of Almost, Maine.

(Almost Maine Continued fm pg. 15)

Jenna Ghidaleson and Dylan Whelan

Art Students Raise Funds for Hope House

M embers of the Mount Sinai High School Art Club and Art Department were delighted to participate in their se-cond annual fundraiser for Father Frank’s Hope House of Port Jefferson. Hope House provides a compassionate, residential environment for thousands of teenagers. Students sold ceramics at the PTO Craft Fair held in November. With a dedicated spirit, members Amanda Hoehl, Sarah Brand and Alexandra Monaco arrived early to set up the display before starting brisk sales. Custom-ers commented on the beautiful ceramics created in Mr. Giorlando’s ceramics classroom. Molly Presser, Erika Gillespie, Lisa Rudolph, Kaitlin MacDowell, and expert sales clerk Jessica L’Hommedieu staffed the booth and received donations. With this collaborative effort, the Art Club raised $1,000 for this worthwhile cause. Father Frank was grate-ful to receive the donation for Hope House Ministries. A special kudos to Mr. Giorlando and all the students in-volved.

Pictured above (l. to r.) are Ms. Romeo, Ms. Branca, Father Frank, Jessica L’Hommedieu, Shannon Juresich, Nicole Mastro-rocco, Emily Abby, Amanda Hoehl, Patrick McKeown, Alexandra

Monaco and Mr. Giorlando.


November 2011 Blood Drive

T he Peer Leaders and Student Council held another successful blood drive on November 2. The student vol-unteers recruited students and staff to donate blood and volunteered their time during the drive. These student volunteers helped set up the gym, explained the neces-sary paperwork to donors, and escorted them and made sure they had rest, drinks and snacks after donating. Many thanks to the students, staff and community members that donated. Fifty-one pints of blood were col-lected. The next blood drive will be held in April.

Brandon Edwards is feeling good about giving blood.

The Family and Consumer Sciences Department of-fers a Parenting class that students can elect to enroll in. As part of the curriculum, students become a liaison for the Junior Achievement High School Heroes Program. Junior Achievement is a program that promotes active learning and brings theory to life. The high school stu-dents teach second grade students about “Our Communi-ty.” This curriculum explores the interdependent roles of workers in a community and how communities work. The students spend five sessions at the elementary school teaching the second grade students about busi-nesses in their communities. Dr. Gentilcore, Ms. Chase and the elementary staff have been very supportive of this program. The curriculum includes many interactive activities including assembly line and unit production, how money moves through the community, how your tax dol-lars work and voting for a mayor. This has been a dynamic volunteer experience for our students. Many of the students are interested in a teach-ing career and this has been a positive experience for high school students to interact with elementary school students.

Family And Consumer Science

Junior Achievement High School Heroes

Mount Sinai High School Students Participate in International Ocean Beach Cleanup

Over forty-five students and volunteers from Mount Sinai High School under the direction of coordinator Ms. Nau-Ritter participated in this year’s International Ocean Beach Cleanup at Cedar Beach on Saturday, October 22, 2011. This annual event enables students to earn up to three hours of community service credit for college. The American Littoral Society sponsors the cleanup. Our students collected over four hundred and forty debris items over the 2.5 mile stretch of Cedar Beach including over nine hundred cigarettes butts. The data was collated by the Lei Kuleana Club and was then sent to an international publication by the Ocean Conservancy (see website for information on the 2011 Cleanup (http://www.oceanconservancy.org/). The International Beach Cleanups have been per-formed worldwide for over twenty-five years and Mount Sinai High School students plan to participate in the up-coming years.

Cleanup Volunteers



Mount Sinai Math Teams Advisor: Gary Kulik

T he Mount Sinai High School Math Team (grades 10 - 12) is off to a great start this year. After two meets, they are tied for second place (twenty-three teams) in League I. With Mount Sinai hav-

ing more than forty participants at each meet, we are well represented and anticipate a great season. The ninth grade Math Team is also competing well. They are currently in first place in Division I. They, too, are well represented with over twenty students participat-ing in each meet. The next meets are December 12 and 13. Good luck to the teams!

A Decade of Magic!

Mount Sinai High School Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) celebrated its tenth year of “Holiday Magic.” The magic began with the annual shopping trip to Wal-Mart and the Smith Haven Mall, where a bus full of SADD members shopped for holiday gifts for seventy less fortunate children. On Friday, December 2, the SADD members, with the children’s lists in hand, descended on the stores for a busy day of making wishes come true. By the end of the day, the bus was stuffed with gifts and exhausted stu-dents. Holiday Magic, a non-profit organization that sup-plies holiday gifts for needy children across Suffolk Coun-ty, made this annual event possible. For the first time, SADD was able to cover most of the expenses of the gifts. This was a result of a successful fundraising event. Mount Sinai High School held its first Turkey Trot, a community 5K run, this past November 26. This event generated a total donation of $5,000 to Holi-day Magic. The magic continued on December 14, when SADD hosted a dinner for these special children and their fami-lies at the high school. The cafeteria was transformed into a winter wonderland and the highlight of the evening was when Santa arrived with all the gifts for the children. The SADD members met and played with the children they had shopped for. This was a very special moment for all. Donations for this worthwhile cause are accepted all year round at www.holidaymagicli.org.

The Mount Sinai Christmas Magic Team

Santa Visits Mount Sinai

A Tasty Field Trip

On Monday, December 5, 2011, Ms. Amato, Ms. Soden and students from the Family and Consumer Sci-ence classes attended a field trip to Suffolk County Com-munity College (SCCC). The trip encompassed a tour of the new culinary facility at SCCC in Riverhead. The students participated in a culinary demonstration in the test kitchen and were given instruction on the prop-er way to cook crepes. Students prepared crepes with their own choice of toppings. The tour, given by Jim Fogerty, ended at the student run bakery on Main Street. Here, students enjoyed purchasing some tasty treats. Students then visited the center for edible education, Gingerbread University. While there, students had the opportunity to demonstrate their cake decorating skills by decorating their own gingerbread cookies.

(Tasty Field Trip Continued on pg. 19)


They met the owner of Gingerbread University and he spoke to students about the start of his business and his own culinary career path. He also shared his new book with students about gingerbread.

(Tasty Field Trip Continued fm. pg. 18)

Pictured above are our students in the test kitchen.

Best Buddies

O n Wednesday, November 9, the Mount Sinai Best Buddies Chapter had its inaugural “Parent Potluck” Thanksgiving celebration at their host organization, FREE, in Setauket. Students from both groups and their parents shared a holiday meal, while socializing and get-ting to know one another. Best Buddies will continue to celebrate this wonderful time over pizza and ice cream with two holiday socials in December. They will be playing games like Pictionary, making arts and crafts, building gingerbread houses and exchanging gifts. The relationships between FREE Buddies and Mount Sinai Peer Buddies continue to grow as the students get to know each other and become close friends. Everyone is looking forward to a rewarding, fun-filled 2012.

To Kill a Mockingbird

On November 18, the tenth grade honors English classes were afforded the opportunity to see Bay Street Theatre’s live performance of To Kill a Mockingbird. Six-ty-four students arrived in Sag Harbor to see a special rendition of the beloved novel. After the viewing, students passionately discussed the elements of the play, including casting choices, set inter-pretation, and character development. The students clearly showed an intrinsic ownership of the story. As the tale of the vigilant Atticus Finch unfolded in class, stu-dents became enamored by the protagonist’s bravery, courage and intelligence; a true hero standing up for goodness and morality in ignorance-raged Southern Ala-bama. The students thoroughly enjoyed the performance and appreciated the opportunity to enjoy the book they so diligently studied captured and represented on stage.

A.P.E.S. Classes create Sustainable Biodiesel Fuel at SBU

T he A.P. Environmental Sciences (APES) class performed a sustainability lab technique at Stony Brook University (SBU) in preparation for their A.P. exam in May. The field trip was part of a series of Green Chemis-try Sustainable lab experiences offered through a grant from the Dreyfus Foundation to the Chemistry Depart-ment at SBU. Ms. Nau-Ritter’s classes performed a base-catalyzed transesterification technique to produce the alternative energy biodiesel fuel through a series of titrations, centrif-ugations and viscosity testing. IR (infrared) Spectropho-tometry was also demonstrated once the fuel was syn-thesized in the newly renovated chemistry labs at SBU. A spring trip on photovoltaics will be planned as part of SBU’s Sustainable Chemistry program offered by Pro-fessor Katherine Aubrecht.

A.P. Environmental Science Classes at Stony Brook’s Chemistry Department


Students of the Month

SUBJECT STUDENT NAME GRADE

Art Raquel Lobato 10 Business Nicholas Lombardi 12 Citizenship Jacob Frank 10 English Jillian Juhas 10 Family & Consumer Science Shannyn Torbert 11 Foreign Language Seth Brand 9 Health Jessica Ingrassia 12 Math Gabriella Conceicao 10 Music Hannah Pawluk 11

Physical Education Joseph Barone 11 Science William Dwyer 12

Social Studies Alyssa Blasso 12

Technology Devon Gaynes 9 November 2011

SUBJECT STUDENT NAME GRADE

Art Ashley Delaney 12 Business Jessica Chebuske 12 Citizenship Jessica L'Hommedieu 12 Citizenship Alexandra Salerno 12 English Shannyn Torbert 11 Family & Consumer Science Lindsey Waite 11 Foreign Language Daniel Sullivan 11 Health Timothy Elgort 11 Math Jiawen Hu 12 Music Ethan Donowitz 11 Physical Education Carly Spano 10 Science Shahajahan Chowdhury 9 Social Studies Shannon Letscher 11 Technology Justin Abeles 10


MOUNT SINAI HIGH SCHOOL MUSIC & ART Mr. Stephen Mantone, Music & Applied Arts Director

MOUNT SINAI STUDENTS IN SPOTLIGHT

F ifteen students from the Mount Sinai School District have been selected to participate in the Long Island String Festival Association’s annual All-County Festival to be held on January 20-22 for the grades 5-7 and February 3-5 for grades 8-12. The students were selected through a highly competitive process based on last year’s NYSSMA Solo Festival scores

and teacher recommendations. Selected from grades 5-7 are Claire Cai, Lucas Capobianco-hogan, Kira Gresser, Jacob Ritter, Lindsay Stancampiano and Ryan Wilson. Selected from grades 8-12 were Kyle Cullin, Caroline Custodio, Ross Dibetta, Ethan Donowitz, Daniel Giordano, Caroline Hoeg, Emily Mantone, Tiffany Ong and Keegan Sabo.

The Mount Sinai High School Music Department will be presenting

“Little Shop of Horrors” on

March 1-3 2012, at 7:30 P.M. in the High School Auditorium, North Country Road, Mt. Sinai.

Tickets are $15.00 for adults and $7.00 for students and senior citizens

(senior citizens may reserve free tickets for the Thursday evening performance). For information or to reserve tickets, call 870-2882.


MOUNT SINAI HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS Mr. Scott Reh, Athletic Director

SCHOLAR/ATHLETE FALL TEAM AWARDS

The New York State High School Athletic Association has recognized Mt. Sinai High School Varsity athletic teams for achieving academic excellence while actively participating in Varsity level interscholastic athletics during the 2011-2012 fall season. Girls Cross Country 94.804 Girls Tennis 94.093 Boys Cross Country 94.066 Boys Golf 92.341 Girls Soccer 91.329 Football 91.256 Girls Volleyball 90.679 Boys Soccer 90.671

C ongratulations to the Girls Volleyball team and Coach Andy Matthews for being League VII champions and making it to the County finals for the fourth year.

C ongratulations to the Varsity Football team for being Division IV Big Four Champions.

C ongratulations to the Varsity, JV & Junior High Cheerleaders along with Varsity Coach Samantha Melella, JV Cheer-leading Coaches Michelle Roggemann & Amanda Roubal & Junior High Coach Kara Bochicchio & the Mt. Sinai

Booster Club and all the parent volunteers who helped host our fourth Rookie Competition on December 17th and made it a huge success. The Varsity Cheerleaders qualified for the 4thyear to compete in the Nationals in Orlando, Florida this February. The Varsity Cheerleaders also won first place in the Regional Competition.

PLEASE NOTE: Visit www.mtsinai.k12.ny.us ; go into high school and or middle school and click on Athletics: For current Athletic Schedules, directions, forms and other information.

VERY IMPORTANT: On the Athletic Website are links and updated information (as shown below) regarding the College Bound Student Athlete

Keeping track of core courses required by the NCAA is the parent and student’s responsibility. Please refer to the quick reference sheet when choosing your son/daughter’s courses they plan to take each year. * Please note High School credits taken in Middle School will not satisfy core course requirements.

Students must apply to the NCAA Clearinghouse the summer after their Junior year. They can do this by going online to www.ncaaclearinghouse.com. Authorization for release of records must be submitted to guidance upon applying to the clearinghouse.

It is the student’s responsibility to send their SAT scores through www.collegeboard.com. The CEEB code is 9999. For further information, worksheets, requirements etc. please go online to www.ncaastudent.org The Mount Sinai School District would like to congratulate Susanne Burhans, Secretary to Mr. Scott Reh, Director of Physical Education, Athletics, Nursing, Health & Grounds, who was just named the recipient of the Judith A. Martens Secretarial Award of Excellence. The New York State Athletic Administrators Association annually recognizes one sec-retary from each section who exemplifies the high standards required to assist a well-tuned athletic department. The Award of Excellence is presented by each chapter to any Administrative Secretary who has demonstrated outstanding contributions to athletics at the local level. Mrs. Burhans will be honored in March at the New York State High Public Athletic Association Conference in Saratoga and at the East Wind for a special luncheon in the spring.


Important School Information

December 26-Jan. 2 Winter Recess - School Closed January 16 Martin Luther King Day - School Closed January 24 HS American Music Concert 7:30pm High School Auditorium January 26 “Pops” Concert 7:30pm High School Auditorium January 27 End of Marking Period Grades K-12 January 31 All District String Festival 7:30pm HS Auditorium February 20-24 Mid-Winter Recess - School Closed March 1-3 High School Musical Production 7:30pm HS Auditorium

reflections from our schools

Documents