10 MAC
EAGLE
EAGLE OBSERVER, MAY 11, 2011 From page 6
Shields reminded students that “what you do here in Marcellus is the foundation for your success. The experiences you have had in Marcellus are as good as anywhere in the nation.” He also expressed his appreciation to the Marcellus Central School District. “I think that it is fantastic that your school is recognizing your academic success,” he said. Shields is a 1980 Marcellus High School graduate who has gone on to serve as the Deputy Director for Science and Technology with the Central Intelligence Agency. He actively engaged the audience, every step of the way,
MCS BOE
as he connected his learning experiences in Marcellus to his success in Washington. He even went so far as to pass the “actual baton” from his Marcellus track days to current track star and MAC honoree Jesse Garn. Shields’ commended the students on their accomplishments and reminded them that “you are now the new leaders”. Here are the Class of 2011 High Honors and Honors students: High Honors: Alexa Ball Nora Barry Emily Brissette Ellen Brooks Christopher Charles Heather Coleates Anne Dailey
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Marcellus Board of Education? Julie Brissette: “Marcellus is a great district. I am seeking reelection because I enjoy being part of such an important aspect in the lives of children. That is what being on the BOE is always all about, what’s best for the students, while also being fiscally responsible to the taxpayers.” EO: What do you bring to the position? JB: “I feel my six years of experience along with my accounting background is an asset, especially in these tough financial times we are facing. I am deeply involved in this community, thereby aware of local issues.” EO: What is the biggest challenge you expect to face as a member of the school board? JB: “It doesn’t make sense to make the young people, who are our future, pay the price for a fiscal crisis they didn’t create. The challenge before us is to keep education moving forward with fewer resources. We have worked hard as a board to create more opportunities for the public to express their opinions such as the survey, the World Cafés and the town meetings. We overwhelmingly heard that most were very concerned with keeping and moving forward our educational opportunities. “The global competition our young people are facing isn’t going to let up. It is our obligation to continue to better prepare them for the outside world! We have and will continue to explore consolidation options and other ways to save money, thereby saving programs, and still keeping our per pupil spending one of the lowest in the state.” EO: Why should district residents vote for you? JB: “I would appreciate your vote because I would like the opportunity to use my six years of experience to continue to do what is right for the children and the taxpayers of this district. As a board we work together respectfully through our differences of opinion to do what is right for all involved. I have no agenda other than to keep the district moving forward in these difficult fiscal times.” David Locastro graduated from LeMoyne College and New York University School of Medicine before completing his surgical residency at SUNY Health Science center at Syracuse. He moved to Marcellus in 1997 after serving active duty with the US Air Force. He is self employed as a surgeon, with
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Nicole Dorio Jake Driscoll Emily Gascon Jacob Ginestro Sarah Anne Glose Heather Heinekamp Sophie Jackson Hayley Knox Aleksander Kostin Christopher Manke Eric Morris Zoe Mullan Stout Catherine Nonenmacher Joelle Orecki Karl Palmer Ryan Peers Mary Perry Edward Powers Veronica Raymond Emily Reilly Timothy Schneider Bryan Swierczek Kyle Tierney Honors: Jena Annable Adam Bailey Zachary Barner
Ian Bechteler Sophia Beratta Stephen Carroll Jenna Dedonato Corey DePerno Allan Donahoe Bailey Donovan Cara Dooley Michael Epp Rebecca Fabrizio Aubriea Francher Jesse Garn Megan Grosholz Rhianna Hickey Nicholas Huss Paige King Joseph Kraai Melissa Lee Robert Linder Emily Lobello Jessica Manahan Annie Micho Joshua Miller Chelsey Mollin Aaron Murphy Heather Peers Tyler Tomeny Matthew Tompkins Elizabeth Zimmer
offices in Auburn, Rochester and Fayetteville. David is married to the former Amy Merriman, a lifetime resident of Marcellus. They have four children: Maddy 12, Katherine 11, Lilly 8 and Ben 3. They all go to Marcellus, except Ben, who will when he is old enough. Eagle Observer: Why did you choose to run for election to the school board? David Locastro: “I chose to run for the BOE after attending the meetings of our board for much of the last two years. Our BOE is not interactive with the public, they vote in lockstep, and I feel they don’t think critically about the issues facing them. I want to change that.” EO: What do you bring to the position? DL: “I will bring to the position my love of education, my tireless work ethic and new ways to look at old problems. I will make the BOE realize that the superintendent works for us, and we work for the people. That relationship has become blurred in the last few years.” EO: What is the biggest challenge you expect to face as a member of the school board? DL: “The biggest challenge facing the school board is maintaining the high academic achievements that we expect from the students and teachers, while keeping costs under control. Our budgets may be getting tighter, but our greatest assets in Marcellus are the great community of students, parents and teachers that we have. We need to keep that in perspective.” EO: Why should residents vote for you? DL: “Residents should vote for me because I will work diligently to make the BOE in Marcellus more responsive to the people who elected them. I will work with other school districts and BOCES to find ways to cooperate and consolidate where we can in order to save money. I will not vote in lockstep with the superintendent, as the present BOE does, and I will not forget that the BOE works for the people who elected them.” Richard Finch is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel currently working at Fort Drum for Alutiiq Global Solutions, an American Native Corporation. He holds a BA in History and Political Science. Richard has been married to his wife, Terri, for 23 years; they have called Marcellus home for 10 years. They have two sons: Zachary, 21, serves with the 82nd Airborne, US Army, at Fort Bragg, N.C. and graduated from Marcellus in 2008; Joshua, 15, is a freshman at Marcellus High School. Eagle Observer: Why did you choose to run for election to the board of education?
Wax museum
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Katrina Ercole, Sandy Carey, Laurie Zoanetti, Tracie O’Connor, Donna Costa, Erin Mahoney and Kate Sheehan organized the traditional instructional project that involved elements of social studies, English language arts and information gathering curricula. The students then dressed in character and posed without a sound or movement for the hour long wax museum event. Families and community members were free to view the historical still life displays as they moved through the first floor hallways of DMS. The characters depicted at the wax museum spanned not only the planet but also the past/present areas of politics, government, invention, art, entertainment, music, athletics, and the military. Among the historical figures depicted at this year’s fifth grade
Richard Finch: “I choose to run for board of education because I feel called to do public service for my local community. The Marcellus school district has provided a great education for my children, giving them an opportunity to be a successful community contributor. I would like the opportunity to assist in maintaining and improving on our current school district, not only for our children but as an asset to the community.” EO: What do you bring to the position? RF: “I believe I bring a sense of community spirit, pride in Marcellus and its students and residents. I have 30 years of management and organizational skills, 30 years experience in meeting the needs of diverse and multiple groups of people and interests. I have fought many battles, I am not afraid to take a stand for what is just and right.” EO: What is the biggest challenge you expect to face as a member of the school board? RF: “I believe the biggest challenge I will face as a member of the BOE for Marcellus will be balancing the Marcellus School Districts vision for its students with the financial circumstances and fiscal responsibility expectations of the tax payers and residents of the Marcellus school district.” EO: Why should district residents vote for you? RF: “I believe I am a man of honor and integrity with a God given desire to serve the Marcellus community. I believe I am blessed with the experience and common sense required to make the difficult decisions that will arise and affect our community.” Lisa Valentine is running for reelection to her second three-year term on the Marcellus Board of Education. She is employed by The Reagan Companies in Marcellus as the Investment Management department coordinator and has lived in Marcellus for 16 years. Her husband, Ron, is a lifetime resident of Marcellus, and their daughter is in third grade at K.C. Heffernan Elementary. Eagle Observer: Why did you choose to run for reelection to the BOE? Lisa Valentine: “I chose to run for reelection for a lot of the same reasons I ran originally. I believe that all children need to be supported and not just one segment. I also believe that we need to do a better job communicating with the district residents as well as district employees. One of the initiatives I have been working so hard for, the World Cafe, is an avenue to opening up those lines of communications. After nearly two years of pushing for it, we had our first series of cafes this past spring. I
Con Clarke is Sir Edmund Hillary. wax museum were Abraham Lincoln, Mozart, Sacajawea, Cleopatra, Hernando Cortes, George Washington, Betsy Ross, John F. Kennedy, John Deere, Clara Barton, John Henry, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, Louis Armstrong, Lou Gehrig, Mother Teresa, Julia Child, Sir Edmund Hillary, Stan Lee, Bob Dylan, Elvis, Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Jane Goodall, Bobby Fischer, George Lucas and Temple Grandin.
was overwhelmed by the numbers of people who took time away from their families and were willing to roll up their sleeves and help us brainstorm ideas not only for this budget cycle, but also ideas for a changing vision of how we go about the business of educating our kids. Through these café lines of communication were opened not only with the community but also with district employees, students and the PTA.” EO: What do you bring to the position? LV: “I bring an open-mind and independent thought to the board. I feel it is important to continue to offer our children a strong and progressive education. I supported the creation of the elementary science labs and I am a strong advocate for our AIS department. I also bring 3 years of Board experience to the position. There is a large learning curve to understanding how a school district runs as well as the board’s responsibilities to the district and it’s employees. “ EO: What is the biggest challenge you expect to face as a member of the school board? LV: “We have many large challenges in front of us. I would say that our biggest challenge has been, and will continue to be finding a way to offer the best education and experiences to our children with an ever shrinking check book. Our children deserve to have programs and teachers available to them that not only push them to excel, but also support them. We must find a way to provide them the framework to be critical thinkers and problem solvers; we can’t do this by cutting programs and teaching positions. We must look forward and continue to grow with our academic curriculum; otherwise we have failed our children. Status quo is not acceptable.” EO: Why should residents vote for you? LV: “I am excited at the prospect of another term and not only because of what is written above. I am a strong advocate for the AIS services we have in Marcellus. The employees we have working with those children are incredible and not only do they help them understand the curriculum, but our children walk away with pride and self-confidence. You can’t put a price tag on a child’s smile. Many of the children who enter into AIS services in KCH are phased out or require fewer services by the time they go to DMS. Not only is that invaluable to the child and parent, but it also saves the district because fewer services are needed in the long run. Special Education costs are extremely expensive and a large part of our budget. I will continue to work towards clearing up lines of communication. In addition I will continue to work on finding alternative revenue streams to support our programming, and work hard to keep our educational standards at a high level.”