Board Report – April 2021 Dawn F. Young, Principal Art • Vestal took many awards (three of the Five awards) at The Emerging Artist Broome County Arts Council Show.

Hannah Goldberg Salwa Nadeem Madison Haynes Best of Show Blue Ribbon: Excellence in Blue Ribbon Excellence in Originality Line & Color

• IB Art Show looks a little different this year with small mini viewings in the Art Gallery outside the Auditorium. Thursday is opening of the show with guests visiting from 3 until 6 p.m. (Invitation Only). Students are allowed 20 guests and we will follow COVID procedures with rotating viewers. Sign-in,

temperature screening and dedicated entrance/exit for flow of people.

SHOW WEEK IB STUDENTS ART SHOW April 19th – 23rd Miah Barnard, Katherine Potter & Grace Talbut April 26th – 30th Anna Bishop, Meghan Eames, Madison Haynes & Julianna Morrales May 3rd – 7th Maggie Restuccia, Kirsten Cherevko, Will Scheel & Logan Messina May 10th – 14th Gabriella Vega, Allie Bowen & Hannah Goldberg

• Miah Barnard’s National Winning Piece – Gold Medal and American Vision Medal (In a “normal” year, American Visions pieces tour major cities in the United States of America for up to two years. This year the tour the tour is virtual)

1 Biology • In Mrs. Singlar’s Classes: In Anatomy & Physiology we just completed the Cardiovascular System Unit, with labs including understanding/measuring blood pressure, reading EKGs and a cow heart dissection video (in-person dissections planned later this spring). Our next topic will be the Lymphatic System, with a focus on how our body responds to pathogens.

• In Living Environment, we are well into our Genetics Unit. In one lab for the unit, students became parents (on paper only!), partnering up and flipping coins to determine which allele they each passed on to pair with their partners and potentially creating new combinations of traits in their offspring! Other labs this unit have included investigating their own inheritable traits to determine their own genetics and extracting DNA from strawberries.

• Mrs. Donlin's classes also extracted DNA from strawberries in Living Environment and finished up our Genetic Engineering Unit right on time for Spring Break! The AIM Bio class utilized DNA models borrowed from Cornell to study how DNA bases pair to form a double helix.

Business • 14 Vestal High School students will participate virtually during April 5-7 in NYS competition, which allows them to compete in Nationals in late June if they place 1-3.

• The students take Objective tests in a variety of Business topics.

Chemistry • Seven IBHL/AP Chemistry students competed in the Local American Chemical Society Chemistry Olympiad on March 27th; results are pending.

• IB and AP Chemistry classes are wrapping up the third marking period preparing for a cumulative exam. Both classes are exploring the topic of Electrochemistry "currently".

Counseling & Guidance • Counselors hosted a Junior College Parent Night on March 2nd via zoom with representatives from SUNY Broome, Binghamton University, Colgate University, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Delhi, Rochester Institute of Technology and

2 Syracuse University. Approximately 80 families attended this virtual event to start preparing for the college search process.

• Binghamton University will be hosting a zoom for their College Link program on Wednesday, March 31st for students interested in taking college level courses while in high school. Similarly, SUNY Broome will be meeting with students in April for their Early College Program.

• Counselors finished the scheduling process for all students in 9th – 11th grades. We have a record number of over 25 sophomores who have expressed an interest in pursuing the full International Baccalaureate diploma.

• 20 out of the 25 students that applied to the BOCES New Visions Program have moved on to the interview round.

• All of our BOCES CTE ½ - day students were invited to return to in person learning 5 days a week

• We are also excited to have our BOCES Youth Apprentice opportunities back. Counselors are advertising to find students that would be interested.

• Summer school planning under way. Will be in person this year.

• Dollars for Scholars Applications are due on April 1st.

• Visions Federal Credit Union is hoping to open soon as well.

• Nina Muto presented to the HS faculty about Self-Care planning and resources during the Faculty Meeting.

Elementary News: • Mindful Mondays at ARE are still going strong! It is a PTA sponsored event and occurs afterschool hours for our students, families and staff at ARE to help reduce stress, anxiety and stay focused! We have had 4 sessions with 4 more to go! Earth Science • On Saturday, March 13th, two Science Olympiad teams from VHS competed in their annual Regional tournament. The Vestal A team took 1st place in 8 out of 15 events securing them 1st place overall and the Vestal B team placed 4th overall. The Vestal A team will move on to the statewide tournament held on April 10th. We are incredibly proud of all their hard work in this unusual year- awesome job, everyone! Coaches Caitlin Pointer, Chris Rockhill, Ryan Brembs and Denelle Chantry.

• Garden Club has started their seeds to sell plants later this year to the public. It was good to physically be together to plant the seeds, while still maintaining social distancing practices. We also were able to take advantage of the nice weather we have been having lately and planted peas in our raised bed gardens.

• Ms. Smith's Earth Science classes finished the Astronomy Unit and have been working on the Meteorology Unit. Forensics 2 classes are working on the Firearms/Ballistics Unit before moving on to the Anthropology Unit.

3 • Ms. Pointer's Intro to Earth Science class constructed Lego buildings and tested how they performed on the “shake table” to simulate how earthquakes can impact man-made structures.

English • The ninth-grade students of Mx. Martin are beginning their research paper unit. The students will be utilizing the online database to use research to form an educated opinion about historical accuracy in modern adaptations of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to conclude our media adaptation theme after the break.

• The IB English grade 11 students of Mrs. Benjamin and Mrs. Datoush are doing a variety of outside readings of works in translation texts from all over the world. Students will write an essay detailing the merits and literary features of their texts. Then, each student will “pitch” their book in a creative way to their fellow classmates. This may be in the form of a traveling salesperson, a filmed commercial, an infomercial, or as a Ted-talk type hard sell.

• Mr. Malejs and Mr. Marcin are piloting a co-taught unit on Existentialism and Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis for their English 12 students. They hope to be able to combine one or two of their classes in a Zoom discussion of the text at the end of the unit.

• Mrs. Drexler-Smith’s IB English 12 students composed original poems that emulated the craft of professional authors. In a class publication, we pulled together their personal voices toward significant influences on their lives. Mr. Dunham’s students were also invited to contribute their poems to this publication. Health • In March, students in Health Education completed a unit on Mental Health. We studied stress, depression and anxiety and practiced healthy habits like deep breathing, mindfulness, gratitude, meditation, and exercise. Students completed an advocacy project to help dispel the stigma surrounding mental health issues so that all students feel more comfortable seeking help.

• We are in the middle of a Goal Setting project. Each student has set a health goal that they are working on and tracking for the next 3 weeks. Many have fitness or nutrition goals. Lots of students are trying to drink the right amount of water for their body size and activity level. Many are working on getting 4 more hours of sleep. We also looked into health apps that can help us track our goals and send us regular reminders to help us stay focused. IB • IB Theory of Knowledge (from Mrs. Drexler-Smith): In our thematic unit on "Knowledge and Politics," students were exposed to aspects of the scope, perspectives, methods/tools, and ethics of political knowledge. Students are currently engaging in a project for which they organize facts, statistics, reasons, and linguistic phrasing for a particular agenda and then reflect upon their self-awareness toward such influences on others' packaging of information.

• As students prepare for their IB and AP exams that will begin in May, teachers are completing the remaining Internal Assessments for their IB courses. World Languages have recently completed their Individual Oral assessments, in which students demonstrate productive and interactive skills (a presentation by the student and a follow-up discussion based on a visual stimulus linked to one of the prescribed themes of the course, and a general conversation with the teacher based on at least one additional theme of the course).

• IB and AP exams will be given in person as much as is logistically possible. Research has shown that students perform better on high-stakes tests when they are in person and in school. Best of luck to our students on their exams! We officially begin with IB German on Thursday, April 29, 2021.

Math • The Math Department is continuing to work diligently to provide the best learning experience to both their remote and hybrid students. We are currently wrapping up marking period 3 and looking ahead to start off the last marking period strong.

• Kim Schofield, Amanda Reid, Chelsea Northrop, and Abby Rieben represented the Math Department in the Lip Sync Battle put on by Student Government. The “Math Divas” won their first round and are looking forward to creating another exciting video for round #2!

• Late breaking news on VHS Mathletes, 21 Vestal students participated in the American Mathematics Competition on February 4th and now the results are in. Grace Zhou and Gustav Gebbie scored within the top 5% of all students in the nation and are moving on to the next level - the American Invitational Mathematics Exam. On Wednesday, March 10th they took a 3-hour test to try to advance to the next level. The Math Department is extremely proud of Grace and Gustav!!

Music

Physical Education • Spring has sprung!!!! We are thrilled as the weather turns nicer to be able and utilize the outdoor facilities for a variety of socially responsible lifetime leisure and fitness activities. It is been tremendous seeing the return of more students into our setting. The energy is rising, and we hope to continue with that trend.

Physics

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Technology • Introduction to Engineering Design students are currently studying different materials and their properties including new cutting-edge materials. Principles of Engineering students are learning about fluid systems. Civil Engineering students are learning about different soil types and the desirable properties, in order to put a proper foundation for a building in. Social Studies • Social Studies teachers continue to collaborate on new, engaging, and interactive lessons which are suited for both online and in-person learning. On Wednesdays, there are multiple grade level/team meetings taking place to allow for teachers to work together to create lessons and activities to support both in-person and remote learners.

• Students in Ms. Doolittle’s Global History & Geography II course Zoomed with students in Romania again on Wednesday, March 31st. They discussed important lessons of the Holocaust and how it should be remembered.

• Students in Mr. Gierlach’s Global History & Geography II course spoke through Zoom with Asad Rahman, co-founder of Project Enlighten. He spoke about his charity and took questions from students regarding his work building schools for children in Cambodia, his charity as a whole, future projects, and his perspective on issues facing Cambodia.

• Students in Global History & Geography I have completed three units on the Middle Ages. The culminating assessment included identifying and defining “Enduring Issues” from this thousand-year time period. Practicing these skills prepares them for the Global History & Geography II Regents exam they will take at the end of next year.

Special Education • Special Educators at the High School continue to work collaboratively with stakeholders to develop IEPs and 504s for the coming year. The district is switching to rolling meetings, meaning we will have Annual Reviews spread out throughout the year instead of all concentrated in the spring. We are hopeful this will be a more manageable system for teachers.

• Ben Greene was nominated to participate in the Teaching in Remote Learning Environments (TRLE) Initiative. This is a group of Special Education teachers from across the area who are working to develop resources and training materials to meet the needs of Students with Disabilities (SWD s) in a Hybrid/Remote Environment. Their goals are as follows: • Create a resource for NYS teachers of Students with Disabilities to access strategies/exemplars which allow Students with Disabilities to demonstrate their learning in the remote/hybrid environment • Use the resources developed to inform classroom practices and provide feedback to the leadership team • Identify resources that would be helpful to support classroom practices in meeting the needs of Students with Disabilities

• In the TRLE workshops Ben attended this month, they took a close look at "High Leverage Practices for Teaching Students with Disabilities" and examined 6 major barriers: 6

1) Keeping Students Focused and Engaged 2) Addressing Students' Social/Emotional Needs 3) Helping Students manage their Workload 4) Supporting Student Learning to Process and Retain New Content 5) Addressing Students Wide Range of Skills/Experience with using Technology 6) Facilitating Family Engagement Up to this point they have reflected on strategies for Addressing Social/Emotional Needs and Facilitating Family Engagement and how these can be applied in a remote/hybrid learning setting.

World Languages • There will be 22 Vestal students that will present on April 28th, in hopes of receiving the State Seal of Biliteracy. The students will be doing this on Zoom to a panel of 3 that are not affiliated with Vestal. We are happy to report the following; there are 9 candidates for Spanish, 7 in French, 1 in German, 1 Gujarati, 1 Hindi, 1 Japanese, 1 Urdu, 1 Mandarin and 1 in Punjabi. Of these candidates, there are 4 students that will be presenting in 2 languages. A big thank you to all the following staff members who have mentored our students and helped them to be successful in their goal of attaining the New York State Seal of Biliteracy: Beth Ait Oumessaoud, Andy Blaine, Jeff Dunham, Patrick Clarke, Dawn Young, Kate Singular, Sandy Flesher, Rachel Moses, Janna Bickoff, Chelsea Northrop, Jennie Drexler- Smith, Kalindi Naslund, and Nicole Ewing. Best Wishes to all of our candidates!

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1 Board Reports Due from Dept. Chair 2-9 No School – Spring Break 14 Department Chair Mtg. @ 3 p.m. via. Zoom 14 PTO Mtg. 6 p.m. via. Zoom 15 Music Booster Mtg., 6 p.m. Zoom 16 Last Day of the 3rd Marking Period 17 ACT’s (Area Schools) 17 Junior Class Prom - Cancelled 21 ERT Mtg. @ 10 a.m. via. Zoom 21 Faculty Meeting @ 2;50 p.m. via. Zoom 23 3rd Marking Period – Window Closes @ 4 p.m. 28 BPT Mtg. 12:30 – 3 p.m. via. Zoom 29 Academic Awards Night – 6:30 p.m. 30 Secondary Report Cards Mailed

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