Board Report – February 2021 Dawn F. Young, Principal Art • The Scholastic Results are in: • Seniors Miah Barnard and Anna Bishop along with junior Delaney Schoenfeldt are Gold Key winners…

• Altogether, Miah received four Gold Keys in the categories of Editorial Cartoon, Mixed Media, Painting and Printmaking. In addition, she garnered a Silver Key for her entire Art Portfolio and a second Silver Key in Printmaking.

• Miah also received two Honorable Mentions in Editorial Cartoon and Painting. Anna Bishop received a Gold Key in Drawing & Illustration, as well as a Silver Key in Painting and an Honorable Mention in Printmaking.

• Our third Gold Key winner, Delaney Schoenfeldt, received her award in the Fashion category.

• The winning art of all regional winners will be on display at Elmira’s Arnot Art Museum February 2 – March 6, 2021. In April, Miah’s, Anna’s and Delaney’s Gold Key pieces will go to City for the National Scholastic judging.

• Also winning Silver Keys in Painting and Sculpture, respectively, are Meghan Eames and Magdalene Restuccia. Finally, these students will receive Honorable Mentions for their artwork: Alexandra Bowen (Drawing & Illustration), Hannah Goldberg (2 - Printmaking and Sculpture), Magdalene Restuccia (Painting), Jori Tate (Painting). The Vestal High School art educators who taught these student artists include Melissa Restuccia, Vestal Central School District Art Chair, and Peter Durham.

• Art Teacher, Melissa Restuccia will be having a One Woman Show at the Broome County Arts Council in the month of February. “CrowTalk and Winged Whispers” will be up for the entire month - social distancing will be enforced - check out BCAC website for gallery hours. An artist talk is scheduled on February 5th at 6:30 p.m. (First Friday).

• On Wednesday, February 10th at 7 p.m. the Art Department is hosting via. Zoom a presentation and discussion on Art Careers. Our first career presenter is Hannah Ward (2008 alumni). Hannah is a prosthetic hand/finger technician/sculptor. The event is being advertised in Art and Life Science classes.

Biology

Business • Several Vestal High School students participated virtually on Jan 27 in our Spring competition, which allows them to compete in the State competition in April if they place 1-3. 1

• The students were given prompts on January 27th, and had to write a response, video tape themselves and submit within 24 hours. • Students which were chosen to compete, and the events that they are competing in are as follows: o Job Interview- Ashley Baek o Client Services- Harshjeet Singh o Impromtu Speaking – Samer Salim o Introduction to Decision Making- Grace Yoon o Intro to Public Speaking- Banshika Mangal o Public Speaking- Samson Wong • We are anxiously waiting for the outcomes during the first few weeks in February

Chemistry • Chem Club (formerly known as the Chemistry Magic Show during pre-Covid times) is off to an exciting year. Chem Club is open to all interested students and zooms together on the 3rd or 4th Monday of each month. This year’s Co-Captains are Angelina Consolazio and Shruti Venkatesh. The November meeting, titled It’s Elemental, focused on elements, with demonstrations, videos and games on zoom. In December we sent home materials to make Holiday Ornaments with Borax (laundry booster) and pipe cleaners. December’s demonstrations performed by Angie and Shruti included the properties of supersaturated solutions and opening a can of Pringles with a hydrogen combustion reaction. January was extra fun with a TikTok theme of Debunking Viral Videos.

• The next Chem Club zoom meeting is Monday, February 22 at 3:15-4:00. The theme will be Household Chemistry, focusing on demos and experiments that can do safely at home with children. Contact Mrs. Suggs in the Chemistry Department for more information.

Counseling & Guidance • National School Counseling Week 2021, “School Counselors: All in for All Students,” sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), will be celebrated from Feb. 1–5, 2021, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems and how students are different as a result of what school counselors do. National School Counseling Week highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. The Vestal Counseling and Guidance Department sends “Many, Many thanks” to the Administrators, District and staff members for their continued support of our program and commitment to our students. • Counselors visited 30 English classrooms during the month of January to schedule both 9th and 10th graders into courses for next year. Counselors had their own Zoom link that students joined in small groups to accomplish this task. Counselors will now meet individually with all 11th graders to plan their senior year schedules during the month of February. Many of these meetings will take place via Zoom unless the student is in person on the day of scheduling.

• The High School welcomed the Class of 2025 during their high school orientation via Zoom in early January. The Administrative team and counselors were on hand to present the most important information regarding graduation requirements and having a healthy balance of courses and extracurricular activities in their schedule.

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• 12 Vestal Alums came back to Zoom with current 12th graders in English classes to discuss doing to college during a global pandemic. We had representation from College, Binghamton University, SUNY Broome, University of Vermont, Cornell, SUNY Oneonta, James Madison University and several more.

• Nina Muto will be offering yoga sessions to 9th grade students during the Re-Orientation program on Wednesday during one of their scheduled events.

Middle School • School Counselors have been busy in 8th grade classrooms helping students with their transition plan to 9th grade. Counselors are meeting with hybrid and remote students to help with their course selection and answer questions about the high school.

• Counselors attended the High School Orientation and supported the high school counselors and Administrative team with answering questions families had regarding the transition process.

Elementary News: • As we come upon a year of this pandemic, and of socially isolating ourselves, we are slowly (or quickly!) becoming more frustrated or lonely. We need to continue being creative and safe in ways to connect with others, which usually helps our mental health substantially. Here are some tips! o -Even though it’s cold: get outside. o -Connect safely (through zoom or by social distancing). o -Care for your body by eating well, sleeping and moving! o -Help someone in need. o -Keep a routine, but make changes that are necessary! o -Give yourself (and others) a break!

• Let’s remember that we’re all still working on figuring this all out. Offer forgiveness and understanding to others and give compassion to yourself! Keep up the good work!

Earth Science

English • Library Media Specialist Mrs. Sweeney and Mr. Malejs will be working together with sophomores on a hybrid research unit. This research unit is an assignment that they developed together a few years ago, but this will be their first attempt at teaching it in a hybrid model.

• IB English 11 students of Mrs. Benjamin and Mrs. Datoush just ended the Nikki Giovanni poetry unit with a creative poetry assignment. Students could craft a poem using Giovanni’s style, structure, or themes or complete a detailed explication of Amanda Gorman’s presidential inauguration poem “The Hill We Climb.” These writings have truly been amazing!

• IB English 12 students of Mr. Dunham and Mrs. Drexler-Smith will soon complete the Internal Oral assessment, in which students will orally analyze two extracts of their choice from works studied in the course. Students will then connect the extracts to a larger global issue. Global issues might include cultural, educational, political, artistic, or scientific issues on a transnational scale. 3 Health • Health students spent most of January studying and discussing healthy sexuality and healthy relationships. Topics included reproduction, pregnancy, birth control, STIs(sexually transmitted infection), sexual identity, healthy relationship skills, consent, boundaries and dating violence.

• For their final projects in Health, some students chose to record “TED Talks” on a health issue they feel passionately about to educate their peers and inspire them to healthy action. Topics for these videos include: OCD(Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), diabetes, social media, gender stereotyping, bipolar disorder, fitness and nutrition for teens among others.

• I will be saying goodbye to this wonderful group of young people today, and starting 2nd Semester with new students the week of February 1st. The students have worked very hard, and I’m proud of their efforts and their learning in this difficult year. IB News • Prospective full IB diploma candidates in grade 10 are currently developing their course schedules for the 2021-2022 school year. Students will choose six courses from among the following groups: Language & Literature, Individuals & Societies, Mathematics, Sciences, Language Acquisition, and Art. Over the two years of the IB diploma program, students will take at least three courses at higher level and two or three courses at standard level. They will also register for Theory of Knowledge, Creativity/Activity/Service, and the Extended Essay. Mr. Dunham will be accompanying counselors as they meet individually with students to choose their courses.

• IB English and World Language (Language B) Internal Orals will begin in February and continue into March. Students are currently preparing for these critical oral assessments in their classes.

• May exams are now just two months away! Please refer to the Counseling & Guidance Google Classroom page as updated information about IB and AP exam schedules becomes available. Math • The Math Department is finishing up Marking Period 2. As we approach the 2nd half of the year, we are continuing to work through providing the best learning opportunities for our students in both a hybrid and remote setting. We like having more students back in the building, and hope that students continue to come on their designated cohort days. Wednesdays are still extremely useful for planning and collaborating purposes, as well as, providing a day for many of our students to receive extra help. We are extremely thankful for our Wednesdays. We are looking forward to moving ahead to the 2nd half of the year. Physical Education • In grades 9-12 Physical Education teachers have taken on the task to motivate our learners to engage in appropriate activities due to COVID. With reduced class sizes and remote learning, it has provided the department with the ability to engage the student with a deeper understanding of these games. Strategy, motor skill analysis (how do I do that?), and rule application are just a few of the topics we have been able to discuss. Currently grades 9 & 10 have experienced Badminton and Pickleball while grades 11 & 12 have been working on Darts and Outdoor Shuffleboard. In the coming weeks, the popular Archery Unit will be offered as well as Table Tennis and Walking Fitness. Go Bears!

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Social Studies • Social Studies teachers continue to collaborate on new, engaging, and interactive lessons which are suited for both online and in-person learning.

• Students in IB History of the Americas are continuing to conduct research for their internal assessments and have begun a new case study inquiry into Single Party States in the 20th Century. Students will be learning about Cuba and Fidel Castro and then will research their own leader of their choice.

• Students in Global History & Geography I have been working on Enduring Issues, which will culminate with an essay on the Middle Ages in Europe in early spring. The Enduring Issues essay is a component of the new Regents exam in Global History and Geography.

Special Education • The Special Education department is seeing the benefits of having students in the building for in- person learning more often. Our AIM students (9th and 10th grade 12-1-1 students) are now able to attend in person 4 days a week, an increase of one day. More importantly, several students who were attending 100% remote returned to in-person instruction and attending between 2 and 4 days a week. This is very exciting, especially for the 9th grade AIM team, as their group had been primarily remote for the first half of the school year. Seeing students in-person, helps us to build relationships and a sense of community, as well as deliver more effective instruction. Teachers will now look to pivot their instructional approaches to meet the needs of a classroom with more “Roomers” than “Zoomers”.

• We hope more families will be comfortable sending their students back to school for in-person instruction in the coming months. Students with executive functioning deficits are having a particularly hard time with remote instruction. We see a vast difference between their performance on in-person days and remote days. We look forward to welcoming more of these students back starting February 1.

• Bernice Thompson’s Life and Career Readiness class had two guest speakers this month. Charlane Scozzafava, former Director of Recruitment and Retention from Warren Washington Albany ARC, participated in a Zoom meeting with the class to discuss interviewing skills. The students were able to ask her questions after hearing her presentation and practice answering different kinds of interview questions with her. Ron Weber, retired manager of a Walgreens store, spoke to the students about the next steps after getting hired for a job. He highlighted soft skills and spoke about making sure they do the job right. He stated that the competition doesn't end after the interview and staying on top of the game often leads to growth and promotion in the business. He spoke about disability disclosure as well as accountability, accepting constructive criticism and the need for good communication skills.

• Finally, with the end of quarter 2, special educators are busy updating progress reports on IEP goals and preparing for Annual Reviews.

Technology • Students in Introduction to Engineering & Design have been getting the hang of using Onshape and just finished up designing a toy truck. Here’s some student work from that project:

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• Principles of Engineering students are finishing up the truss unit in which they determine different forces that effect each member of a truss under load and they are building sample trusses that will be tested shortly. Here are a couple of student examples:

World Languages

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9 Board of Education Mtg. 6 p.m. 10 PTO Mtg. 6 p.m. via. Zoom 11 Vestal Voices Valentine’s Day Singing Grams - VIRTUAL 11 Music Booster Mtg. 6 p.m. via. Zoom 12-15 No School – Presidents’ Day 13 Emerald Fire Winterguard Show, VHS – 5 p.m. Cancelled 17 ERT Mtg. 10 a.m. via. Zoom 17 Faculty Mtg. 2:50 p.m. via. Zoom 19 BCMEA Festival I, Binghamton Central Cancelled 20 BCMEA Festival I, BU Anderson Center Cancelled 23 Board of Education Mtg. 6 p.m. 24 BPT Mtg. 12:30 – 3:00 p.m. via. Zoom 25 VHS Chamber Music & Cookies Concert @7 p.m. via. Zoom 26 BCMEA Festival III, M-E Cancelled 26 Board Reports Due from Dept. Chair 27 BCMEA Festival III, BU Anderson Center Cancelled

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