From the Heart Fall 2017

FALL 2017

From the Heart Mount Pleasant — The Heart of Westchester County

The Mount Pleasant Central School District Newsletter

Volume 17, Issue 1

Mount Pleasant CSD is Moving Full STEAM Ahead!

Daniel Aurigemma (10th grade) and Joseph Miele (7th grade) take part in the Search and Rescue Engineering Workshop during the STEAM Symposium.

Mount Pleasant Central School District is picking up steam on the path to becoming an innovative, 21st century learning environment.

The two-day STEAM Symposium, held on August 15th and 16th, 2017 at Westlake High School, gave students the opportunity to delve into the world of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics and discover how it can guide their future.

The symposium was the brain-child of Superintendent Dr. Susan Guiney. “It all started with an idea to do something fun and engaging for our students that would open

their minds to the endless possibilities that come with a STEAM education” Dr. Guiney enthused. Doing a symposium outside the confines of the school year allowed for maximum creativity in organizing the event.

If Dr. Guiney was the inspiration behind the idea, Westlake Curriculum Leader, Janet Matthews was the driving force to make the symposium a reality. “Westlake has always had the mission to prepare students to think critically and creatively, to engage students in hands-on learning, and to understand how content knowledge

Science on the Go!

The BioBus is rolling in to Westlake! The Mount Pleasant CSD is excited to continue to “inspire possibilities” as a follow up to the successful STEAM Symposium by bringing the BioBus to Westlake! On November 2nd, the BioBus will be on campus thanks to a generous grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Tarrytown, NY. 8th grade living environment students, 9th grade biology students and all STEAM Symposium attendees will have the opportunity to engage in a 40-minute lesson on board the fully functioning, state-of-the-art science lab inside a refurbished school bus. The lesson will focus on the study of living organisms on a cellular level, a perfect compliment to the science curriculum.

Founded in 2008, the BioBus travels around NYC and Westchester County bringing hands-on science learning to students of all backgrounds. Inside the bus, masters and PhD scientists share their expertise and knowledge and give students the chance to experience the excitement of scientific discovery.

and skills apply to real life.” No stranger to workshops and symposiums, Ms. Matthews had a vision to offer a variety of workshops led by experts in the fields of STEAM. With the help of the STEAM committee, and especially Symposium co-chair, Mary Knopp, she was able to recruit a group of coders, forensic experts, science and math teachers, artists, and several engineers from IBM. Dr. Iris Pagan, the Executive Director of Westchester County’s Youth Bureau and part of the STEAM Advisory Board, said that “there are no other schools in Westchester County offering a program such as this” and that she was proud of all the hard work that brought it to fruition.

The excitement over this innovative event was evident with more than 40 students registering for the program.

Registrants were able to chose four out of eleven offered workshops over the two day period. Workshops covered such topics as forensic photography (Science), virtual reality (Technology), search and rescue (Engineering), the history of graffiti (Art) and making predictions based on mathematical equations (Math).

Registration was intentionally kept low so that there would be no more than 8-10 students per workshop in order to allow for maximum hands-on experience.

At the start of the symposium, students were treated to a nutritious breakfast, thanks to one of the many sponsors, while Continued on page 5

FROM THE HEART • Fall 2017

Looking forward to another successful year

Susan Guiney Ed. D. Superintendent

The 2017-18 school year is off to a great start.

As the weather starts to cool and the days become shorter, we are more than halfway through the first quarter and continue to focus on what makes Mount Pleasant a great school district.

Academically, I am proud to report that Westlake High School had a record number of AP Scholar award recipients this year as 42% of students in grades 10 through 12 challenged themselves with one or more AP courses. We had one student named as a National Merit Semi-Finalist and two achieved National Merit Commended Student status. These students scored among the top 1% and 3% respectively in the country on their PSAT last fall. Our rigorous Science Research program continues to grow and this year there are a record 23 students participating. We look forward to viewing their work at the annual Westlake Science Research Symposium and the Westlake Science Fair next spring. In the arts, we are proud to have one of our students representing Westlake at the NYSSMA All-State Mixed Chorus competition in Rochester at the end of November.

At Westlake Middle School, we are moving ahead with the IB approval status. We recently received the “End-of-Consultation Report” and are proud to share that WMS showed evidence of meeting or exceeding the planning timeline and goals of implementation across every IB benchmark. The school has now formally applied for IB status and we hope to be a fully accredited school by 2018.

In the meantime, after last year’s hugely successful inaugural Community Leadership Project, the current 8th graders are making plans for ways to give back to the community.

On the elementary level, the focus is on the

Tenure Eligible

The following staff are eligible for tenure in the upcoming year. Comments on their eligibility are welcome and can be made on the district’s ‘Feedback Form’ at www.mtplcsd.org Tenure Date

Name

School Position

4/19/18

Alison Leisawitz

CES

ENL

7/1/18

Dr. Adam Bronstein

WMS

Principal

Anne Stern

HES

Principal

Tara Albaum

HES

Elementary

Carolyn Blanchard Angelica Cusma Minda Glynn Elyjah Perry

WMS WMS WMS WMS

English Mathematics Special Education Technology

9/1/18

integration of technology. With the transition to Google Classroom in the district this year, and the addition of more chromebooks in all of our schools, teachers are better positioned to use the benefits of technology to expand their student’s knowledge of the core curriculum. Dr. Steven Chetcuti, an expert on technology integration who joins the district from BOCES, visits the classrooms at both Hawthorne and Columbus to work with teachers on various lessons, including STEAM related topics.

The goal is to infuse technology throughout the instructional day and give our youngest learners the opportunities to expand their knowledge, skills, and technological expertise.

There are so many exciting happenings in our classrooms, on our athletic fields and in the arts.

With a successful homecoming week behind us and an exciting fall drama to look forward to, I hope to see you at one of the many events in the district.

Happy 60th Birthday Columbus!

Columbus Elementary School celebrated it’s 60th birthday with style! Teachers, staff and students dressed from the year 1957, the year the school first opened. An assembly with music, trivia and videos of the era entertained all.

County Legislator Margaret Cunzio presented a plaque from County Executive Rob Astorino declaring October 5th as Columbus Elementary School Day. Special thanks to event coordinators Lauralee Chambers, Michael Hood and Barbara Schultz.

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Where is room 211? I can’t figure out my locker combination! How will I have enough time to get from one class to the next? Who can I ask for help?

These are just some of the concerns that students struggle with when they make the leap from 5th to 6th grade. They go from being the big fish in a small, comfortable pond to being the small one in a big, overwhelming ocean. It’s a very real source of stress for many new middle schoolers so this year teachers and administrators worked together to help set the stage for success.

Westlake Middle School’s 6th Grade University was introduced for the first time this year after many discussions among students and staff about what could be done to make the transition easier. Assistant Principal Christine

6th graders participate in team-building exercises.

Parrottino explained “there’s explicit skills that we should be providing for kids coming into the middle school so they can really understand the nuts and bolts and help them relax a little. If you don’t take care of their social-emotional needs first, the academics are going to suffer” The 6th Grade University took place the first four days of school. The week was thoughtfully planned with teachers taking different areas to focus on.

Students were taught such things as how to organize and maintain a locker, how to navigate the building, and how to find the nurse or guidance counselor. They also participated in team building activities to establish a school community and family environment allowing students to get to know their teachers and peers in a different light. When kids are connected to their community, they will do better in school.

The week ended with a class picnic and movie. It allowed the staff to observe the students in a relaxed setting to learn more about them as a group. It gave insight into groups of friends, which kids kept to themselves and which ones are more social. It helps the teachers understand the social dynamics between the students which in turn leads to better understanding in the classroom.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. 95% found the first week was

Students had the chance to perfect the art of opening a locker.

FROM THE HEART • Fall 2017

Keep Calm and Welcome to 6th Grade

better than anticipated while 85% felt they now have an adult they are comfortable going to for help. Mrs. Parrottino relays that the number of students showing up in the office feeling overwhelmed or panicked, or even crying, has been almost nonexistent this year compared to years past. One impressed parent let the administration know “My son had a lot of anxiety coming from the elementary school… this eased his concern and his transition.”

With the basics under their belts, week two had the students getting down to the business of learning. While one student claimed the 6th Grade University could be made better if it lasted two weeks, another said “I don’t know any other way to make 6th graders feel more welcome”.

Hanging Out with Google

Who knew geography could be so much fun? Courtney Angle, 7th grade social studies teacher, and Mary Knopp, Westlake’s Library Media Specialist, collaborated on a lesson using technology in a new and innovative way to teach geography and mapping skills to their students. They are making use of one of the many tools available in Google Apps for Education and recently introduced the students to a Google Mystery Hangout. Google Hangout is a communications tool that allows participation in video chats with others around the globe. It provides students with authentic learning experiences far beyond the four walls of the classroom without even leaving their seats!

What made this hangout a mystery is that the students on both ends of the chat didn’t know the location of the other school. Collaboratively, students asked questions and used maps, the internet and background knowledge to analyze answers and determine in what state the other school was located.

Questions such as “Are you east of the Mississippi?” or “Are you in the Great Plains?” helped them narrow down the choices. On average, students on both sides were able to discover the location of each other after about 10-12 questions. So far, the partner schools have been in Tennessee and Virginia with more planned in the coming weeks.

Google Mystery Hangout is just one more example of how Mount Pleasant students are able to take advantage of technology to bring their learning into the 21st century.

7th grade social studies students chatted virtually with their counterparts in Tennessee.

Social studies teacher Courtney Angle helps her students decipher clues.

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FROM THE HEART • Fall 2017

Welcome and Thank you

Tom McCabe BOE President

On the behalf of the Board of Education I would like to welcome back our students and staff to the 2017-18 school year. The Board is looking forward to a great year ahead and recognizes without the dedication, passion, commitment and support of our staff, our volunteers, and our community we would not have the great district we do.

To our staff: what you do, each and every one of you, from our administrators, to our teachers, teacher’s aides, nurses, guidance counselors, coaches, maintenance teams, and support staff, is what makes this school work. Your continuing passion and dedication to your craft is the driving force for making this a truly world-class district for our students and community.

To our many volunteer organizations including our PTA’s, the Westlake Athletic Club, and the Mt. Pleasant Education Foundation: the generosity of your time, talents and money have benefited our district and students greatly.

To our community: thank you for your continued support of our budgets and in particular your support of our facilities bond last year. It is because of your generosity that the district has been very busy this summer and will continue to be over the next few

years making needed repairs and improvements to our facilities and grounds.

And finally to my fellow board members including our returning BOE members Colleen Scaglione Neglia, who will serve as VP, Christopher Pinchiaroli, Vincent Graci, and John Piazza, and our newest members Maria Jost and Laura Michalec Olszewski: your passion and dedication to our students and staff is greatly appreciated and the community is lucky to have you serving as trustees. I would also like to recognize the tremendous contributions and years of service of former board members Laurie Donato and Eric Schulze who will both be greatly missed.

In closing, there are so many ways you can support our district and our students, from volunteering to supporting the fundraising activities, to attending the many student events including concerts, plays, musicals, athletic games, science and art fairs. There are also many opportunities throughout the year to learn about our educational strategies and programs through coffee hours, back to school events and, yes, even school board meetings. I encourage you to engage and voice your opinions and most importantly experience first hand how wonderful, talented and hard working our students are.

New faces in our schools and classrooms Jill Cook

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Supervisor of Secondary Special Education Jill Cook joins the Mount Pleasant Central School District as the Supervisor of Secondary Special Education rounding out the team in Pupil Personnel and Student Services. Jill comes to the district with over 20 years experience in the field of special education. Most recently she served as a Supervisor of Special Education in the Arlington Central School District, a district with close to 9,000 students. Previously she worked for 5 years with the Orange-Ulster BOCES as a Special Education School Improvement Specialist. In this position she worked with various districts and schools identified by the state in need of intervention. She provided professional development and workshops, and offered classroom support for strategies to engage students with disabilities. She holds a Bachelors degree from Colgate University, a Masters in School Psychology from SUNY Plattsburgh and is certified as a School Building Leader and School District Leader from SUNY New Paltz.

In her role, Jill will be chairing CSE meetings, supporting best practices for specialized instruction, supporting related service providers, and supervising programming for all students with IEPs at the secondary level. She is excited by her move here to a smaller district and looks forward to being part of the school’s community.

Her position gives her the opportunity to get into the classroom and support specialized instruction. Jill likes to use a strengthbased approach in her work. She supports teachers and students in their classrooms and helps facilitate learning strategies based on what works best for each individual student.

Please join us in welcoming Jill to the Mount Pleasant team.

Angela Bockino

Christine Free

Gabrielle Lamake

HES Grade 2

HES Music

HES Grade K

Christa Leighton

Thomas Lisa

Melinda Sheehan

WMS Grade 6

CES Grade 5

CES Special Ed

Francesca Turturro

Melinda Vilches

Raquel Dalrymple

HES Grade 2

WHS Spanish

CES ENL

FROM THE HEART • Fall 2017

STEAM workshop Continued from page 1

they listened to keynote speaker Karen McPhearson of Fullstack Academy tell them about how she got started in a career of coding. Finally, two-hour break-out sessions allowed students to delve deeper into their chosen subject.

In the workshop entitled “Hacker Hunt”, instructors used fun games and puzzles to teach students the basics of coding “language” and how to read and write basic code. Seventh grader Joseph Marrone said that it was his favorite part of the symposium. 8th grader Charlotte Catarina loved “learning about how robots can help people in crisis or in everyday life and learning how to control the robots” in Search and Rescue Engineering. The day concluded with a demonstration by the “FIRST” High School Robotics team, of which Westlake junior Sarita Servidio is a member.

Day two followed a similar structure and also included a lunchtime demonstration from IBM engineer Maryam Ashoori. Ms. Ashoori brought her latest invention TJ Bot, a robot that uses artificial intelligence to answer questions posed to it. Students got a kick out of asking TJ Bot to shine his

Zachary Katzman (9th grade), Noah Tarchoun (9th grade), Isaiah Ortiz (8th grade) and Sarita Servidio (11th grade) play with a robot created by the “First Robotics Team”.

light, wave his hand and answer questions.

Several lucky students won their very own TJ Bot kit so they could make one on their own.

The symposium concluded with a reception for all the presenters, students, and parents.

Each participant was presented with a goodie bag of swag donated by the generous sponsors and several students won more substantial prizes in the end of day raffles.

Alumni Giving Back

These distinguished Westlake alums took time from their busy schedules to share their experience and expertise with the students at the STEAM Symposium this summer. We thank them for inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians.

Elizabeth Kennedy, class of 1983, has spent much of her life immersed in science, from exploring her world as a young child, to her science education at Westlake, studying geology at Vassar, and later publishing her senior thesis. She has been teaching science to 6th graders at Mildred E. Strang Middle School in Yorktown for the past 26 years. As a life long lover of science, she strives to share her passion and expertise through handson experiences, which lay the foundation for higher science education. Her students often comment on the fun things they did in science class and pass their stories on to younger students. Because of her discovery and experiential approach, she has been compared to “Miss Frizzle” from The Magic School Bus.

Keith Mancini, class of 1994, is one of those people lucky enough to combine his passions for photography and science into a successful career. He works as a Forensic Photographer for the Westchester County Forensic Lab and has served in that role for approximately 17 years. Keith found his passion for photography while a student at Westlake under the guidance of his teacher Claudia Abate (then Palermo).

He continued his education at RIT where he earned a BS in Biomedical Photographic Communications.

He is a certified Forensic Photographer and Forensic Video Examiner by the International Association for Identification where he also serves on the Forensic Video Certification Board.

He recently co-authored the soon to be released, “Fundamentals of Forensic Photography”.

Dr. Guiney and the committee are already working on planning next year’s event and expect it to attract even more attention, “We want to be known regionally and nationally as a forward thinking, innovative district that provides infinite possibilities to our students”. As a district, Mount Pleasant is moving full STEAM ahead!

Throughout his 21 year career as science teacher at Hommocks Middle School in Mamaroneck, NY, Lawrence Perretto, class of 1983, has excelled at designing science lessons and curricula that provided a model for what has become the current STEM education movement in America. With the help of County Executive and Westlake alum, Rob Astorino, Lawrence founded the non profit STEM Leadership Center(SLC) in 2013 to redefine teacher leadership and to deliver STEM programs to Westchester’s underrepresented communities. The SLC partners with local businesses and universities to offer hands-on training to science teachers in the county. Lawrence designed a STEM Teaching Fellowship that annually provides graduate course work for local teachers through Teachers College of Columbia University and which places teachers in a professional science research experience at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Tarrytown.

This program has become a national model for science teacher training. Lawrence is a NASA Endeavor Distinguished Teaching Fellow, Siemens Foundation Research Fellow and NY State finalist for the 2016 Presidential Award for Excellence in Math & Science Teaching (PAEMST).

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FROM THE HEART • Fall 2017

In Case of Emergency…

Go to class, take a test, respond to a house fire, head back to school to finish the day and rush off to sports practice.

This might be a typical day for seniors Nick Izzo, Nico Karel, Jared Kratz, Nick Pippo, Tom Spedaliere and Larry Young and junior Vincent Spaziante.

These seven young men are Junior Corps members of the Thornwood Fire Department, an organization staffed 100% by volunteers.

The group of friends spend three hours every Thursday evening training as first responders, preparing themselves to be able to help in any situation. Each of them carries a pager with them and may be called upon at anytime to respond to an emergency, even during class. So long as the students stay in good academic standing and aren’t in the middle of an important lab or test, they are permitted to leave school grounds to participate in an emergency situation.

It’s an experience that they all say they love and plan to pursue as a career in the future. Tom, the Junior Corps Captain, got involved because his father is a firefighter with the department.

The others were recruited by friends and also influenced during the annual recruitment day at Westlake High School.

A Junior Corps member must attend weekly trainings that cover topics such as search and rescue, hazardous materials, extrication and handling of fire hoses.

They must respond to at least one third

Thornwood Fire Department Junior Corps: (L to R) Nick Izzo, Nico Karel, Vincent Spaziante, Nick Pippo, Tom Spedaliere and Jared Kratz. Inset: Larry Young

of the calls to remain in good standing.

Some weeks they may only receive two to three calls all week while other times they could receive two to three calls per day.

When asked about some of the memorable calls that they have responded to, Jared laughs remembering when he had to help rescue a cat from a tree. Nick Izzo said his most entertaining call was from a nervous homeowner claiming to smell smoke in his neighbor’s yard. It turned out to be just the smell of the old lawn mowers the landscapers were using.

Nick Pippo told of being nervous when arriving on scene where a diesel tank had been punctured. Hazardous material was leaking and threatened to spill into the surrounding water supply. Fortunately, the well trained volunteers were able to get the situation under control quickly and further damage was averted.

The commitment to serving the community and people in need is what drives these inspiring young men to give up countless hours per week in pursuit of their goals. Kudos to them all.

WHS AP scholars jumps 16% this year to a record 68!

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Sixty-eight students at Westlake High School have earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement (AP) Exams taken in May of 2017. This number is up 38% from 5 years ago and 16% from just one year ago.

According to the College Board, about 18 percent of the nearly 1.8 million students worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to also earn an AP Scholar Award.

The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement: NATIONAL AP SCHOLAR AWARD. Earning an average score of at least 4 (out of 5) on all APs taken and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more exams was 2017 graduate Alexandra Falkenberg.

AP SCHOLAR WITH DISTINCTION AWARD. Earning an average score of at

least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more exams were graduates: John Bastone, Brian Bennett, Chloe Burns, John Cristantiello, David DeLoughry, Brian Eng, Alexandra Falkenberg, Kelly Martin, Julia O’Connell, and Peter Psaltakis and current seniors Joelle El Hamouche, Brian Kelly, Charles Panzarella, and Christopher Panzarella.

AP SCHOLAR WITH HONOR AWARD. Earning an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams were graduates: Jetmir Asllani, Haseeb Azhar, Caleigh Carr, Jessica Kaplan, Angela Mangione and Valeria Venturini and current seniors Keira Donnelly, Michael Farina, Jennifer Hutnik, Isabella Joseph, Zachary Lubart, Christina Mangione, Erin McMorrow, Caroline Murray,

Terence O’Brien, Susan Pinchiaroli, Lauren Schneider, Christine Sharabun, and Seunghyun Austin You. AP SCHOLAR AWARD. Completing three or more AP Exams with grades of 3 or higher were graduates Natalie Alfieri, Michael Anderson, Manuel Corona, Kyle Dearborn, Kyle Donnery, Deanna Forella, Aidan Glendon, Alison Iannucci, Kelli Kinlen, Mia Malandruccolo, Meenu Mundackal, Matthew Orlander, Olivia Schettino, Jacqueline Siry, Ryan Stasolla, Nicholas Stivaletti, Peter Vogel and Ariana Zaimi and current seniors Talin Bedonian, Sally Bedus, Allison Brunetto, Sara Bruni, Julianna Buckley, Amelia Caston, Meghan Falahee, Philip Markuszewski, Maeve McArdle, Divya Mundackal, Robert Musial, Kelly Pierce, Danielle Porco, Kathryn Ross, Emily Rubino, Adam Rutkowski, and Megi Syku.

National Merit Commended Students Westlake has two National Merit Commended Students this year - Joelle El Hamouche and Terence O’Brien. Of the 1.6 million students who took the PSAT last year, Joelle and Terence scored among the top 50,000, or the top 3%. They are recognized for their outstanding performance and exceptional academic promise. Congratulations!

Students of the Month Brian Kelly and Luciano Giannini have been chosen as “Thornwood Lions Club Student of the Month” for September and October respectively. Students are chosen for putting “service above self ”.

The two seniors were nominated by their teachers and guidance counselors who cited exceptional service to their school and/or community. Students will be feted at a celebratory dinner in January. Read more about their accomplishments at www.mtplcsd.org.

All-State Chorus Congratulations to Bryan Mesquita for being chosen for the AllState Mixed Chorus as a bass 2. Thousands in the state auditioned last spring at the NYSSMA solo festival. Those with the highest scores were selected to perform at the state level. Bryan received a 99 on his vocal solo, Ol’ Man River. He will be in Rochester Nov. 30th - Dec. 3rd to rehearse and sing with other students from the state and perform at the Eastman School of Music.

Summer School Katie Burns attended Cornell University Summer College and earned 3 college credits during the summer. Katie is interested in studying veterinary medicine so she applied to the program and was one of about 30 students accepted to attend the class Animal Science: Sustainable Animal Husbandry. Here, she observed farm management and practiced animal

National Merit Semifinalist Brian Kelly is flanked by Principal Keith Schenker and Guidance Counselor Tania Greco.

Congratulations to WHS Senior Brian Kelly for being named a semifinalist in the 63rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

He scored among the top 1% out of approximately 1.6 million students nationwide that took the 2016 PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in junior year. Brian will now continue in the competition to become a National Merit finalist and be eligible to win thousands of dollars in scholarships and the title of Merit Scholar.

At Westlake, Brian has been on the Summa Honor Roll (an average of 95 or better) every quarter since 9th grade, and is a member of the National, Science, Social Studies (Secretary), and Spanish (President) Honor Societies. He was named an handling techniques with various species, including horses, sheep, goats, dairy and beef cattle, and pigs. She was able to explore disciplines such as genetics, nutrition, reproduction, grazing, toxicology, and different production and management systems.

Future Scientist?

Kudos to 11th grader Sarita Servidio for receiving recognition for attending the National Academy of Future Scientists and Technologists conference in Boston, MA for the second summer in a row. Students are nominated to represent their schools and states by teachers, counselors and principals. Nominations are based on academic excellence, leadership potential and commitment to entering careers in the STEM areas.

Outside of school, Sarita competes with First Tech Challenge, a robotics team made up of middle and high school-aged students that design, build, and program robots for competition.

AP Scholar with Distinction based on his AP test scores in spring of 2017. Last spring Brian was awarded the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Medal which is given to students who have distinguished themselves in mathematics and science. A four year scholarship worth $100,000 is available for the winner should they choose to attend RPI. In addition to his excellent academic record, Brian is the captain of the varsity soccer team, a member of the winter and spring track teams and is the 1st chair percussionist for the school’s concert band, jazz ensemble and wind ensemble.

Brian was chosen as September’s Thornwood Lions Club Student of the Month.

FROM THE HEART • Fall 2017

And kudos to …

Celebrating our Students Has your current student or Westlake graduate received a recognition or award? Let us know!

E-mail details to awalsh@mtplcsd.org

ALUMNI CORNER Congratulations to Youssef Sabha, WHS Class of 2014, for coauthoring an article for The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, a peer-reviewed science journal and a a key source for information on emergency medical care. The article, titled “Emergency department approach to QTc prolongation” was published online this summer and will be included in an upcoming publication of the journal.

Youssef was part of Lawrence McIntyre’s first group of Science Research students and is now in his 3rd year at George Washington University. Youssef ’s is the first article to be published by a Westlake Science Research student.

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FROM THE HEART • Fall 2017

Westlake Players present

Mount Pleasant Central School District Board of Education Thomas McCabe, President Colleen Scaglione Neglia, Vice President Vincent Graci Maria Jost Laura Michalec Olszewski John Piazza Chris Pinchiaroli Superintendent Dr. Susan Guiney

November 17 &18 @ 8:00 p.m.

November 19 @ 1:00 p.m.

At the John S. Whearty Theater Westlake High School

get tickets @ www.westlakeplayers.com

Non-Profit Organization US Postage Paid White Plains, NY Permit No. 9415

West Lake Drive, Thornwood, NY 10594

* * * ECRWSS * * * POSTAL CUSTOMER THORNWOOD, NY 10594

Correspondence Phone: 769-5500 • Fax 769-3733 Web: www.mtplcsd.org Editor/email contributions Alyson Walsh/awalsh@mtplcsd.org

Fall Sports... Varsity teams claiming a victory!

Congratulations Westlake! Homecoming week was a huge success with all

PHOTO BY OLIVIA CARTANO

PHOTO BY OLIVIA CARTANO

Follow your Wildcats!

The Westlake Wildcat calendar app for smartphones and tablets lets you be in-the-know about when, where and even how to get to your favorite varsity, JV or modified games.

Users can download single or multiple team calendars. And, the app is updated in real time to reflect any changes to game times or venues. The map feature gives you directions to all away games too!

The Wildcat calendar app is a convenient and fast way to get up-to-date information on your teams when you’re on the go. To get the calendar app, visit westlakewildcats.org.

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FROM THE HEART • Fall 2017