Bainbridge-Guilford Central School District the Blue and White School News & Notes October 2018 • Volume 38, No
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Bainbridge-Guilford Central School District The Blue and White School News & Notes October 2018 • Volume 38, No. 1 High School Capital Project Destruction and construction at the High School this summer! What great fun watching the terrain change daily! Many thanks for the professional courtesy extended by the construction workers and managers to all who were working in the buildings this summer. Check out more pictures on the BGCSD website and Facebook page! Next Issue–Playground Progress at the Elementary Schools! Look inside for more photographs. High School Capital Project 2 1 3 5 4 6 7 8 9 10 12 11 2 THE BLUE & WHITE Adult Basic Education/ Superintendent Message High School Equivalency Welcome fall! It seems the warm summer days have given way Are you interested in earning a high school equiva- to chilly evenings and foggy mornings. Our school year is off and lency diploma, or improving your reading, writing running! What a tremendous opening we had this year. Our sports and math skills? There are free, educational services teams are enjoying much success on the field and in the gymnasium, available through Afton Central School’s Adult and and the classrooms are buzzing with teaching, questions and the Continuing Education program. excitement of a new school year. Afton Adult Education sponsors two classes per Perhaps the biggest change to the BG District is our ongoing week in many area schools and libraries. You may Capital Project. Work over the summer included new roofing on all join a class at any time. Classes are free, and work is three school buildings, new drainage, walkways, handicap acces- individualized. sibility, parking and new playgrounds at both of the elementary For those unable to attend a class, there is a program buildings. Students, staff and community members seemed most offered through the mail called GRASP (Giving Ready impressed with the speed at which the grass was put down in front Adults a Study Program). This program is designed for of the buildings. Work will be ongoing until the fall of 2020. Look motivated people 21-years-of-age or older who work for future updates in upcoming issues of the Blue and White. well on their own and possess good reading skills. This year’s theme for the District is “Mental Health, Social/ For more information on high school equivalency Emotional Wellness and establishing strong relationships to combat classes and home study programs, contact: ACES.” What are ACES? ACES stands for “adverse childhood June White, Director experiences.” Some of our students have experienced situations Afton Central School that could be viewed as traumatic. Childhood experiences, both Adult Continuing Education Program PO Box 5 positive and negative, have a tremendous impact on lifelong health. 29 Academy Street As such, early experiences are an important issue. Surveys show Afton, NY 13730 that most people in the U.S. have at least one ACE, and that people (607) 639-2811 or 1-800-792-2145 with four ACEs—including living with an alcoholic parent, racism, Fax: (607) 639-2929 bullying, witnessing violence outside the home, physical abuse, Email: [email protected] and losing a parent to divorce—have a huge risk of adult onset of chronic health problems. Toxic stress caused by ACEs damages the AHERA Notification function and structure of kids’ developing brains, which in effect, The Bainbridge-Guilford Central School Dis- then changes a student’s ability to cope, learn and function in life trict has completed the inspection of its facilities and in a school setting. ACEs are common . nearly two-thirds to determine if asbestos is present and if any (64%) of adults have at least one. People have an ACE score of 0-10. action is needed to avoid potential health hazards. Each type of trauma counts as one, no matter how many times it A management plan has been developed in occurs. All staff members will be trained to recognize those stu- compliance with the Asbestos Hazard Emergency dents who might be struggling and lacking the necessary coping Response Alert (AHERA) to insure that the school strategies to navigate through this stress. Continued information district continues to provide and maintain a safe on ACES will occur in upcoming issues of the Blue and White. environment for students, employees and visitors. Part of the District’s focus on mental health will be our new THE PLAN INCLUDES: relationship with Chenango County Mental Health. We will be • Training of maintenance staff to prevent able to offer students and families services four days a week. BG disturbance of asbestos; will continue working with Lourdes Hospital Mental Health for • Provisions for periodic re-inspection and sur- a second year. veillance; provisions for abatement activities Calling all Veterans—Our third annual Veterans Day break- performed by trained personnel. fast will be Friday, November 9 at 8:00 a.m. in the Greenlawn • Annually school districts are required to notify Elementary School Cafeteria. Last year we were proud to serve parent, teacher, and employee organizations of over 50 veterans and hope to increase that number this year. Please the availability of their management plans. invite all veterans and have them RSVP Sue Weibel at 967-6321. A copy of the management plan is available for I would like to invite all of you to email, stop in or call me during inspection at the Main Office of the High School the year. I welcome your ideas, questions and concerns. We truly and Guilford as well as at the Director of Facilities Office at Greenlawn. Any questions regarding are a school community that thrives on the investment of all. Have this matter may be directed to James Rideout, an outstanding school year! Director of Facilities II at 967-6322. —Timothy R. Ryan, Superintendent of Schools THE BLUE & WHITE 3 Welcome to Bainbridge-Guilford Central School! CAT RINELLA enrolled at Canisius College for my Masters degree in Special Education Teacher, Sports Administration. My hobbies include exercising, Greenlawn Elementary School racquetball, and running around with my two dogs. I look Hello, my name is Cat Rinella. I am forward to being a part of the B-G family! very excited to be the new special edu- KELLY O’ROURKE cation teacher at the Greenlawn building Kindergarten Teacher, and to be part of the Bainbridge-Guilford School District. Guilford Elementary I went to The College of Saint Rose for my undergraduate Hello! My name is Kelly O’Rourke program as a dual major in Childhood and Special Education. and I’m thrilled to be the new kinder- I continued at Saint Rose for my Masters degree in Cur- garten teacher at Guilford Elementary. riculum and Instruction. While this is my first year here at I grew up in Levittown and graduated with a Bachelor of Bainbridge-Guilford, this is my 6th year teaching. I have Arts in Childhood/Early Childhood Education from The had a variety of experiences from the capital district to State University of New York at Potsdam. I also minored Syracuse. Last year I worked in Sidney as a special educa- in Social Sciences/History. I began my teaching career as a tion teacher as well. This May, I am getting married, so I pre-kindergarten teacher at a private school on Long Island. will have a different name next year. I am so excited to be I taught there for two years before making the move upstate working here at B-G and I look forward to making many to the Bainbridge-Guilford area. Since moving to the area, I memories here and changing your child’s life for the better. have enjoyed sight-seeing and taking in all of the beautiful CATHRYN MERCURIO scenery. I also enjoy cooking, watching movies, and spend- ELA Teacher, ing time with friends and family. I am beyond excited to be Greenlawn Elementary School a part of the Bainbridge-Guilford School District this year! I am happy to introduce myself as the SARAH NEZELEK new 5th grade ELA teacher at Green- Social Studies Teacher, lawn Elementary School. Since I was Jr.-Sr. High School in elementary school, I dreamed of becoming a teacher. Hello, my name is Sarah Nezelek. I followed that dream by entering the world of education. I am very happy to have joined the BG In 2012, I graduated from Oxford CSD. In 2016, I gradu- family and I am looking forward to ated from SUNY Oneonta with a bachelor’s degree in Early getting to know my students and sparking their interest Childhood and Childhood Education as well as Spanish. in social studies! I am a graduate of Mansfield University In 2018, I again graduated from SUNY Oneonta with a of Pennsylvania, Class of 2018, with a bachelor’s degree master’s degree in Literacy Education. As an undergradu- in History Education and a minor in leadership. While at ate student, I had the honor of first joining the BGCSD Mansfield I was a NCAA DII soccer player and captain. I community as a student teacher in 5th grade ELA. After am currently the Girls’ Varsity Soccer assistant coach in graduating, I again had the honor of joining the BGCSD my hometown of Johnson City. I am a very active person community as a substitute teacher. After substitute teaching and I enjoy being outdoors, playing and watching sports, for a year and a half, I had the greatest honor of all, joining sleeping and reading. the BGCSD community, or shall I say, family, as a teacher. I am truly happy to become a part of this family as the staff, LORRAINE KECKEISEN the students, and everyone involved in the family have made 1:1 Teacher Aide, me feel at home.