http://www.westhillschools.org Hill & Vale Vol. LXXXIX • No. 3 • February 2018 • A Publication of the Westhill Central School District Scholastic Art Award Winners Congratulations to OHMS artists who had their artwork selected to be in this year’s Scholastic Art Awards. Gracelyn O’Connell was awarded a silver key for her owl sculpture, Abby Miggiani received an honorable mention for her batik and Kate Heinrich also received an honorable mention for her ceramic piece. The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is the largest annual art competition in America, and the participating Central New York awards program has been honoring the creative work of junior/senior high school students for over 70 years. The program encompasses 13 Central New York regions, representing over 90 area schools. An exhibit of winning works is open through March 2, 2018 at OCC’s Whitney Applied Technology Center. Abby Miggiani, Kate Heinrich and Gracelyn O’Connell Walberta Park School Gymnastics Fun Learning About Differences The site-based team at Walberta Park is pleased to have Students in Mrs. Byrne’s class studied Martin Luther King, Jr. West Side Gymnastics School providing classes this winter They learned that even though we may be different on the before school to our students. The children are enjoying outside, we are all the same on the inside. using a springboard, learning tumbling, flips, cartwheels and handstands. Such a fun and healthy way to start the day! Kindergarten Students Study Penguins John Farrell Visits WPS The kindergarten students at Walberta Park School are John Farrell, singer and songwriter, visited WPS. John writes studying penguins. Students will be comparing their height to and performs songs about working together. He engages the height of an Emperor Penguin, learning about their cold students through singing and sign language. The students home of ice and water, how the parents feed their young and enjoyed his visit very much! many other interesting facts. Pictured is Mrs. Byrne’s class enjoying a Critter Cam video on Emperor Penguins. 2 February 2018 Walberta Park & Cherry Road Schools First Grade Visits Hospital Land First grade classes had the opportunity to visit “Hospital Land” located at Crouse Hospital’s Marley Education Center. Students learned about what an overnight stay at a hospital might be like. One of the Marley Education Center nurses conducted a play that the students participated in to show the students what would happen if they had to stay overnight in the hospital. The students then explored some medical equipment such as a wheelchair, crutches, stretcher, casts and stethoscopes. They also had the opportunity to tell the nurse about a personal medical story or experience from his or her own lives. Pictured are Madelynn O’Brien, Gianna Scheirer and Alex Zuckerman from Mrs. Stanton’s class. WPS Raises Money for a Good Cause During the month of December, WPS students collected over $300 in spare change to donate to a good cause. The money raised went to support the Syracuse Challenger Baseball team. This Little League baseball team supports children with special abilities so they can enjoy the sport of baseball. Accepting the donation is League Director, Mr. Cambareri, and Westhill employee, Mrs. Georgiadis, who is a parent volunteer with the league. P2 Team Time At our last P2 Team Time, a brave group of 4th graders faced a team of teachers in a competitive game of Kahoot. Each question was a scenario focused on one of the strengths already taught this year. The 4th graders won the friendly match by answering all the questions correctly and quickly. Outside of P2 Team Time, students and teachers are reading books, doing activities and learning about new strengths. The hallways are filled with hard work and positivity! 3 February 2018 Cherry Road School Erosion Projects Bricks 4 Kidz This year, for the first time, the whole second grade is being Third grade students took a field trip to Bricks 4 Kidz to exposed to a new science unit all about erosion. The unit expand their knowledge of motion. Students learned about comes from the Smithsonian and is very hands on for all how motion works, and then had to work together to create students. Our second graders became engineers faced with a motorized teeter-totter. It took the important character solving real life problems. The students learned the effects strengths of teamwork, curiosity and perseverance in water and wind have on our earth. The first few days of the order to complete the task. In addition, students had the unit focused on finding the best models to use for our in opportunity to create a 3D model, mosaic or car that they school erosion projects. We then tested our models to find could race down a track. In the end, each student created out which worked the best under the real life conditions. In a small figure that they got to take home. The students had teams of 3, our scientists had to choose their top 2 materials fun while learning at the same time! Thanks to W.E.S.T. for and build a design to stop the sand from eroding. We had a sponsoring this field trip. variety of designs and the students were able to test each. We then added a castle on their hill and tried to stop the erosion of the castle. As many of the engineers watched their design succeed, their cheers could be heard all around the halls. The culmination of our experiment allowed the students to reflect on their own designs and dream about making changes for the future. It was awesome to see how the students applied their learning in such a practical way! Recorder Karate To earn their white belt in Recorder Karate, 3rd graders must read and play the notes “B” and “A” on their recorder, read and perform half notes, quarter notes, half rests, and quarter rests, understand and perform a multi-measure rest, and understand and perform a repeat sign! It takes a ton of character strengths to earn a white belt, including: Purpose, Bravery, Creativity, Hope/Optimism, Humility/Modesty (after they’ve earned it), Leadership, Open-Mindedness (to try something new), Perseverance, Perspective, Self Control and Teamwork! 4 February 2018 Onondaga Middle School Students of the Month November December 5th grade: Austin Getz has become a responsible and 5th grade: Emma Murphy is a very conscientious student. organized as a student. He is on task and truly displaying She is focused and very motivated in the classroom. She uses great effort in the classroom. her time well. Her friendly and polite disposition make her a very enjoyable student. 6th grade: Cade Caloia is kind, caring, responsible and respectful. He is always doing the right thing and doesn’t 6th grade: Molly Thompson is a very responsible girl in class hesitate to help his classmates out. Cade models the Positivity and always willing to help out a classmate when needed. Project character traits on a daily basis. It is obvious that, to She listens very intently, completes all assignments and gives Cade, Other People Definitely Matter! her best effort on every task she attempts. 7th grade: Chloe Ward is a polite, kind and hardworking 7th grade: Sean Stephenson is a responsible student, who student. She constantly goes above and beyond with always contributes in class discussions and works well with schoolwork and for others. others. 8th grade: Sofia Benderski is a great student and has a ton 8th grade: Robbie Phillips is a good student who works hard of school spirit! She is kind-hearted to others and accepting in class. He has a great sense of humor and makes it a point of everyone. to get along with everyone. Are You a Teen Zone Saver? Onondaga Hill Middle School students are saving their money and taking advantage of our in-school banking program with Empower Federal Credit Union. Empower’s Teen Zone in-school banking program helps our students learn about the importance of saving. Every other Wednesday as students arrive for school, an Empower Federal Credit Union representative accepts students’ monetary deposits. Our Empower representative verifies all deposits and students receive special Teen Zone surprises to reward their positive saving habits. A receipt of their deposit is printed and mailed directly to home. Saving is important! If you would like your son or daughter to be a Teen Zone saver, please contact the main office for more information. 5 February 2018 Onondaga Hill Middle School Positivity Project in the Art Class 6th Grade Art Gets a Little Messy The 5th graders in Mrs. Feyerabend’s art classes have been Mrs. Feyerabend’s 6th grade classes have just finished making designing and building self-portrait “superhero” sculptures plaster masks, inspired by masks from around the world. The that exemplify the character traits of our Positivity Project. students applied plaster strips to a classmate’s face and then The students brainstormed possible ways to help humanity, the masks were built up into the desired designs. The artists using their “super powers” while keeping bravery, honesty used cardboard, aluminum foil and plaster to construct the and hope/optimism in mind. These creative artists used wire, 3D version of their plans. The masks were then painted and fabric, clay and paint to construct these wonderful artworks. embellished for a beautiful outcome. Shown here is Patrick Shown here with her superhero wire sculpture is Eva Tarolli. Sheridan plastering Vincent Amorese’s face. Cultural Presentation on Italy During IA, 7th graders, Charlotte Roth, Iris Markham and Katherine Bendall, shared their knowledge and experiences on the country of Italy to their fellow classmates.