Whitesville Central School Blue Jay By-Line October/November 2018 Newsletter We Choose Success New WCS Faculty & Staff My name is Jeff Acor and I am the new high school social studies teacher. I am a 2005 graduate of Canisteo- Greenwood High School. I went to SUNY Brockport for my Bachelor of Science degree in History and then received My name is Joseph Chapman and I am happy my Masters degree from Alfred University. I am an avid to be joining you all here at sports fan and enjoy learning more about the world we live in. Whitesville Central School as the Transportation I am excited for the opportunity to work with the children Supervisor, Mechanic and of this community. I believe students can grow and Bus Driver. develop by examining the issues we will cover in my classroom. In addition to learning about historical and current issues, the skills of writing, critical I graduated from Wellsville Central School in 1989 thinking, and research will be emphasized in the classroom. with an ASE certification in autobody. I worked full time at Giant Food Mart until 1991 when I Hello, I’m Tiffany Crittenden, the new Special Education joined the Army as a heavy wheeled vehicle Teacher for grades 5-12. As a native to Potter County, mechanic. I married my wife, Karen who is from I graduated from Whitesville School, so it is an honor to Belmont and then went to Germany and be back in the walls that got me where I am today! deployed to Iraq for the tail end of the gulf war. I traveled to such places as Bosnia, Turkey, Italy, After graduation, I attended Lock Haven University for France, Japan, twice to Korea and two more Fine Arts and then transferred to Mansfield University deployments to Iraq where I have gone through where I changed courses to obtain my BA in Business two explosions, one deployment to Afghanistan Marketing. For the past 10 years, I had worked to build and traveled through and lived in many states. I up a photography & graphic design business in the have jumped from airplanes, dangled from Greater Pittsburgh Area where I evolved as a Wedding Photographer and helicopters. I’ve completed many job skill Marketing Coordinator designing promotional material for local businesses. trainings and such schools as Sapper and I have a passion for the arts, as well as the outdoors. I enjoy landscaping, Ranger. After 23 years, I retired as a Senior long 4-wheeler rides in the woods, and DIY home facelift projects. My two Non-commissioned Officer. I was then hired as wonderful children, ages 8 and 3, have helped me transform my career into a bus driver for Carthage Central School which what it is today! is in the Watertown/ Thousand Island area. I drove bus for about five years there before After returning to my roots in Genesee towards the end of 2017, I’m looking deciding to move back closer to friends and forward to being part of the WCS team again! family here in Allegany County. Hello Whitesville Central School Community! My name is Miss Chironna and I will be teaching in the art room with Mr. Brown for the first 8 weeks of this school year. I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about myself. Firstly, I am a student at Alfred University, and at the end of this semester in December, I will be officially graduated with my Bachelor of Fine Arts/minor in art education and on my way to completing my certification for teaching art in K-12. I have primarily concentrated in photography, painting, and drawing, but I am eager to be in a choice-based classroom where learners will have a variety of options for materials to use. I am grateful to have the chance to work with students at Whitesville to help them make strides with their creativity and skills. One of the things I look forward to bringing into the classroom an awareness of why inspiration can be valuable for art. Inspiration can come from role models, other artists, classmates, and countless other places. My hope is to help students harness what inspires them so they can channel that into their art. Most of the community knows New WCS me, but for those of you that do Faculty & Staff not, my name is Rebekah Hixson. I am the new Universal Pre-kindergarten aide. I have lived in Whitesville since I was 8 years old. I am a 2001 graduate Hello! My name is Rebekah of Whitesville Central School. Lewis. I am the new Special Education Teacher's Aide. Last My husband Cory and I have a year I was a substitute here at son who is currently a senior and a daughter who is in Whitesville Central School, and I 5th grade at Whitesville Central. I enjoy gardening, look forward to working with a music, art, reading and animals. Thank you for giving variety of students this year. me the opportunity to help your child succeed and learn as it is wonderful watching children grow and learn. I I graduated from Towson believe knowledge is power. University in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a minor in business administration. Since then, I worked as an My name is Ms. Brooke, administrative assistant before starting a family and I am currently filling the being a stay at home mom. position as an afterschool aid. I am In my spare time I enjoy being outside, playing any sport already enjoying the with my boys, snowboarding, and reading. I love time I have spent with spending time with family and traveling to Maryland this great group of often to visit with mine. children. Seeing their I am thrilled to be a part of the Whitesville staff and look sparkling smiles and forward to getting to know more of the students and experiencing their families here! caring personalities I have found myself loving my job more and more! My goals for this year are pretty simple, keep the children Greetings! My name is Mrs. Schultze and I am happy and entertained. Each day they get to the new Student and Family Support Specialist play new games, and make new friends. here at Whitesville Central School District. Also to keep them coming back to the after Some of you may remember me from when I school program! helped run the afterschool program through ACCORD’s 21st Century Grant. I am happy to When I was still in school we had an after report that I am here to stay, as is after school school program called ‘kid zone’. I programming. I look forward to building that absolutely loved it! And that’s my goal, to program back up, as well as working to make such a big impact on children that support such a wonderful community! I am they’ll remember this program long after very excited to support your children’s needs in the school setting, they have graduated! I graduated from WCS myself! Most of the children know my and helping them be the best Blue Jays they can be, with understanding and encouragement. In the time since I left my position familiar face so it is comforting for most of here, I worked as a Health Homes of Upstate New York, Child and them to spend some time at the after school Youth Care Manager at The Counseling Center in Wellsville. My program! I’m really fascinated by art and fun previous educational background has been varied and while things that make messes so the little ones supportive of multi-cultural and diverse social programming, I am and I get along great! I look forward to looking forward to working on my Masters of Social Work at University making this school year great for everyone! of Buffalo starting this coming January, to best serve this district and community. I enjoy various creative ventures including creating and appreciating art of many types, reading, performing music in local bands and community choirs, and outdoor fitness activities. I am a huge animal Cassie Whitney lover and have a 5-year old husky, 5 cats (mostly ginger rescues) and School Nurse our family recently added a ball python to our “zoo.” I couldn’t be more pleased to be back in this community and look forward to reacquainting myself with all of you. A message from Superintendent Sanders… It has been a terrific start to the new school year! It was nice to see so many of you at Open House and I’m glad to have our students back in the building. I really miss them when they are not around in the summer. We have great things in store for the coming year at all of our grade levels as we work to develop students who can work together, have empathy, problem-solve, think creatively, lead others and learn about themselves. Sometimes these skills are considered the “soft Skills” in education but they are critical skills to have in the workforce and in life. We are looking forward to working closely with families in the coming year as well. Please free to call whenever you have any questions or concerns throughout the school year, 607-356-3301. School Safety: I want to thank you all for being so cooperative with our entry door changes in the beginning of the school year. Using two main doors in the morning helps us monitor those entering the building. Please do not drop your child off at school prior to 7:15 a.m.