Sullivan BOCES Edge Newsletter - Winter 2021

S U L L I V A N

BOCES

W H E R E

F U T U R E S

WINTER

(845)

B E G I N

&

D R E A M S

A R E

A C H I E V E D

2021

295-4000

|

SCBOCES.ORG

INDEX Alternative Education Program Celebrates a January Graduation Community Generosity Creates a Lasting Impact What Does Physical Education Look Like with a Hybrid Schedule?

Innovative Solution Connects Kids to Online Classrooms Blending In-Person & Hybrid Learning to Train Future Teachers

Mar. 19

Conference Day (No Students)

Mar. 29-Apr. 5

Spring Recess (No Students)

Apr. 8

BOCES Annual Meeting

Apr. 20

BOCES Admin Budget Vote

May 31

Memorial Day (BOCES Closed)

Collaboration Between Core Curriculum and Art Enhances Student Engagement There is Nothing Like Hands-on Learning at the Career & Tech Center Marveling at the World Through a Looking Glass Adapting Teaching Methods to Meet Student Needs

The Edge is a publication of Sullivan BOCES Communications Division

BOARD OF EDUCATION Linda Berkowicz, President - Fallsburg Linda Fisk, Vice President - Livingston Manor Carol Bliefernich - Eldred Susan Horton - Monticello Kenneth Hilton - Sullivan West Carol Park - Roscoe Cathy Russo - Tri-Valley Anthony Sinacore - Liberty Simmie Williams III, - At-Large

Where Futures Begin & Dreams Are Achieved!

ABOUT SULLIVAN BOCES Sullivan County BOCES delivers a wide-range of instructional and management services to its eight component school districts and several other districts outside the county. Our three hundred staff members collaborate with our partners to create solutions to educational challenges, increase operational efficiencies, and reduce costs.

We improve student success by providing quality educational experiences, helping students achieve their goals, learn skills, increase knowledge and develop a work ethic for the 21st century.

THE EDGE | PAGE 01

ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM CELEBRATES A JANUARY GRADUATION

On January 29, the Alternative Education program virtually celebrated Marina Schneider’s early graduation. Miss Schneider, a student from the Eldred Central School District, recently completed all requirements to achieve a Regents Diploma and was on the Honor Roll for both the first and second marking periods.

Marina is in the process of applying for a job as a Resident Associate at Crystal Run Village.

She hopes to pursue college in the future to study Forensic Science to become a detective or work in a crime lab.

“We are extremely proud of Marina and all her accomplishments,” said Linda Blanton, Executive Principal of the Alternative Education Program at Sullivan BOCES. “We wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”

THE EDGE | PAGE 02

COMMUNITY GENEROSITY CREATES A LASTING IMPACT

Students in the elementary program at the White Sulphur Springs School recently received winter hats from two of BOCES retired employees, Ms. Marion Lair and Ms. Shirley Townsend. The two have been busy knitting the hats to surprise the students with a special gift. The students were excited to see Ms. Lair, when she delivered the hats, and thrilled to receive a new hat as well.

THE EDGE | PAGE 03

The Sullivan County Chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) donated $500 to Sullivan BOCES to support school community programs to help families over the holidays.

“This year has been exceptionally hard on families,” said Michael Williams, AOH Member and Tri-Valley CSD Superintendent, “We offered supportive aid to all school districts in the county this year because we wanted to make a difference locally and help those who need assistance.”

According to Megan Becker, Executive Principal of the elementary program at Sullivan BOCES, BOCES dispersed the funds across all instructional programs to help fund the school’s food backpack program and purchase winter clothing for families in need.

Megan Becker, Sullivan BOCES and Michael Williams, AOH Member and Tri-Valley CSD Superintendent,

“This donation came at the perfect time for us to help more students and families that have been affected by 2020,” said Becker. “We are truly grateful to the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Mr. Williams.”

The Rotary’s Million Mask Challenge is a perfect depiction of the Rotary’s mission, “Service Above Self.” When masks are an essential part of everyone’s life, this initiative is helping individuals across the country. In Sullivan County, the Liberty, Monticello, and Livingston Manor Rotary Clubs have donated 12,000 masks to schools and various youth and civic organizations.

Susan Schmidt, Deputy Superintendent of Sullivan BOCES, and Jesse Morrill, Director of Facilities, Susan Schmidt, Sullivan BOCES, and Jesse Morrill, Sullivan BOCES

accepted the masks on behalf of the BOCES. According to Schmidt, “We are extremely grateful to the Rotary Club. Their contribution of the masks is a reminder of how our community works together to support students and staff. We are extremely fortunate to have such a dedicated Rotary Club, and we can't thank them enough for their ongoing support of our local schools."

THE EDGE | PAGE 04

WHAT DOES PHYSICAL EDUCATION LOOK LIKE WITH A HYBRID SCHEDULE When schools closed in March of 2020, physical

Prouty knew that on a larger scale, she could

education teachers at Sullivan BOCES knew that it

multiply the number of people she could reach and

was time to get creative. As with other teachers

share her mission of being physically active every day!

across the U.S., physical education teachers had to reevaluate how they would teach Physical Education (PE) virtually and find ways to keep students physically active.

According to Ashlea Prouty, Physical Education Teacher at Sullivan BOCES, she realized that thinking out of the box was her only option to reach her students. There were hurdles to overcome, as many of the activities in the traditional PE curriculum were not an option due to lack of equipment, space, and motivation. “I found sparse amounts of resources to provide families, so I decided it was time to create my own,” said Prouty. "I had to learn as much as I could about creating amateur videos and tried to make them as engaging as possible for my students.”

To watch the video, please click on the picture or this link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F4ANy5njReLYVSSMefr-

THE EDGE | PAGE 05

B0XQdC2ZOJAA/view?usp=sharing

Little did she know that her efforts would have a snowball effect. After she shared her first video on April 2nd, students and parents quickly sent feedback about how much they liked her lessons and videos. The staff at BOCES also started to participate in the PE lessons and even asked for more videos.

Physical Education is essential for students. It gives them the tools to live a physically active life and experience all the physical and mental benefits. "Together, we have focused on minimal equipment activities that work on our fitness and

To watch the video, please click on the picture or this link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SZ7YhyRTEdMKghz56HzI 7Szc7shyxP6k/view?usp=sharing

strength. Dance parties, leisure activities, and themed workouts have been the biggest hits," added Prouty.

“I am happy to know that even ami dst a pandemi c, our students, fami l i es, and facul ty are fi ndi ng ways to be physi cal l y acti ve and move thei r bodi es every day, ” Ashl ea Prouty.

To watch the video, please click on the picture or this link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1guVWoA6trJgBqJiAbYezTBG0lKiv-f4s/view?usp=sharing

THE EDGE | PAGE 06

INNOVATIVE SOLUTION CONNECTS KIDS TO ONLINE CLASSROOMS Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, Rolling V Bus Corp., Sullivan 180, and Sullivan BOCES have partnered to create an innovative remote-learning environment providing Internet access for students in need: a mobile classroom in a converted school bus.

Development of the concept began when the group discussed the need after the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools in the spring of 2020. The project came to fruition when Assemblywoman Gunther obtained $7,000 for the initiative, and Rolling V repurposed a school bus. In October, Rolling V and BOCES started the modifications to convert the bus into a mobile classroom.

“The partnership among my office, Rolling V Bus Corp., Sullivan 180 and Sullivan BOCES has been a fantastic example of how we can work together to provide innovative and vital services to the students of Sullivan County,” Assemblywoman Gunther said.

“Thanks to the Mobile Classroom, students throughout the county will be able to access highspeed Internet to help them learn remotely as we make our way through the pandemic.”

Most students and teachers use Google classroom, requiring consistent, reliable online access.

THE EDGE | PAGE 07

However, some students in rural communities lack online access to their classrooms due to no broadband, poor connections or insufficient hotspots. Hurdles for some also include the inability to travel to where Internet access is available. Students facing these obstacles are left with no online learning options – an unacceptable situation for Assemblywoman Gunther, Rolling V, Sullivan 180, and Sullivan BOCES. This is a creative short-term solution to help our children meet the new demands of schooling while we continue to push for a more robust broadband infrastructure in the County. I am always proud to see the productive and inventive collaborations that our community creates in response to crisis and I am proud to be a part of this project,” added Assemblywoman Gunther.

“At Rolling V, we’re fully invested in our students and could not sit by and let the COVID-19 pandemic impair their opportunities to learn,” said Rolling V CEO Phil Vallone. “This bus will provide an educational haven for students who may have nowhere else to turn to gain online access to their classes and studies."

“We are proud to collaborate with Assemblywoman Gunther, Rolling V and Sullivan 180 to create educational access in this new, exciting way. This project builds upon our mission to support learning opportunities within our community,” said Robert M. Dufour, Ed.D, District Superintendent/CEO at Sullivan BOCES. “Our teams worked well together and were thrilled to come up with this innovative mobile classroom. Students and staff from our career and technical education (CTE) welding and construction programs were instrumental in conceptualizing and creating the workstations for the mobile learning environment.”

Timothy Dirie, a CTE Welding student from the Liberty CSD, was one of the students who built the workstations’ frames. “I enjoy building things with my hands, and it was an added bonus that I could help other students and the community with this project. I think the mobile classroom is a perfect solution for those who do not have Internet for their classes,” said Dirie.

Dufour said that it’s exciting that this innovative mobile classroom is available to all Sullivan County students, not just BOCES students. School districts can reserve use of the mobile classroom on their remote instruction days through the communications department at Sullivan BOCES. The vision for the mobile classroom’s use stretches beyond the pandemic. Rolling V and BOCES plan on continued access to the bus for schools and community organizations like Sullivan 180, the Center for Workforce Development, Cornell Human Resources Cooperative Extension, Sullivan Allies Leading Together (SALT) and Sullivan Renaissance. Other options for the bus include job fairs, education tours, showcasing of community programs and other considerations that would benefit the community.

“The solution BOCES has worked out with Rolling V is wonderfully creative and collaborative, and it will provide a much-needed service,” said Legislature Vice Chair Michael Brooks, who also chairs the Sullivan County Broadband Local Development Corporation (LDC). “But it’s also evidence of why we need to provide high-speed wireless Internet service across Sullivan County, so that our kids get all the educational opportunities they deserve, right where they live, 24/7.”

THE EDGE | PAGE 08

INNOVATIVE SOLUTION (CONT.)

“I’m so grateful that the Liberty Central School District was chosen to pilot this innovative approach to bringing much needed technological resources to our students,” said Liberty Central School District Superintendent Augustine E. Tornatore, Ed.D. According to Tornatore, the district has been providing “hot spots” to Liberty students without Internet access, but that isn’t always enough. The WiFi signal can still be weak, and some local students lack a proper place to do their school work. Isolation has also been a challenge for many children. “This bus brings us a step closer to leveling the playing field,” he said. “The pandemic has exposed many inequities faced by students throughout New York, and Liberty is no exception. I know our students will benefit greatly, and I thank everyone who helped to make it happen.”

THE EDGE | PAGE 9

BLENDING IN-PERSON & HYBRID LEARNING TO TRAIN FUTURE TEACHERS

"The Early Childhood Education program at Sullivan BOCES, has strengthened my skills and furthered my aspiration to become an elementary teacher." ~ Abigail Simmons Liberty CSD

The Career & Tech Early Childhood Education (ECE) program began the year learning about curriculum and how to develop program goals, themes, and lesson plans. Throughout the year, in-person and remote students have been collaborating on each aspect of the curriculum giving them experience planning in-person and hybrid lessons.

The collaboration didn’t stop there. When the class had to present their projects, groups of hybrid and remote students had to work together to create a story and then deliver their story and projects as a group to the rest of the class.

According to Early Childhood Education program instructor Nicole Park, the class only has two days a week to work on projects, and the rest of the week is remote. During remote days, students learn new curriculum and complete workbook tasks and assignments. “I have done my best to make the program as rigorous as it has been in previous years, but the pandemic has influenced what can and can not be done in the classroom,” said Park.

“Attending CTE and the ECE program has benefited me in so many ways! When I have school, I’m always looking forward to this class. It makes my whole school experience so much better,” said Hailey Siegel, an Early Childhood Education student from the Sullivan West CSD.

A significant component of the Early Childhood program is working with the Liberty Elementary School to complete classroom internships. This year the students will participate in remote internships.

Students will join a Pre-K, Kindergarten, or 1st-grade classroom one day a week remotely. When inperson internships are possible they will transition to being in the classroom. At that time, ECE students will be ready and familiar with the classroom routine, their mentor teacher’s teaching style, the expectations/classroom routine, and the different student personalities in the classroom.

During their internship, each student journals their observations to record daily lessons, how the teacher handled situations and any questions that they might have.

“Throughout my experience in ECE, I have learned so much about working with children. When I began this class, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a teacher, but now, I’m sure. This class has helped me find my path,” said Siegel.

THE EDGE | PAGE 10

COLLABORATION BETWEEN CORE CURRICULUM AND ART, ENHANCES STUDENT ENGAGEMENT As the Country muddles through this ongoing pandemic, individuals of all ages realize that the things they took for granted are now the things that bring a sense of normalcy.

Although technology has been a vital tool, teachers are finding that students are benefiting more than ever from hands-on learning and sinking their hands into clay, coloring or painting, building wood sculptures, and creating things of interest.

At Sullivan BOCES collaboration is a significant component of their approach. Currently, Art is taught virtually but it is also being incorporated into core curriculum classes to bring a hands-on element to the lesson.

According to Doreen Diorio, Art Teacher at BOCES, “This collaboration and appreciation for the value of art in education has been invaluable.” Students are using their creative abilities to make items to support their core lessons.

Several students have worked hard on a recent collaboration to create ‘Many Hands Together’ - a project they came up with on their own. The students cut and colored paper hands of many skin tones and glued them around pictures and quotes of Martin Luther King, Jr. Another student painted a bulletin for Black History Month.

Throughout these social studies projects, the students brainstormed ideas and engaged in peer mentoring by bouncing ideas off one another.

“Art gives me a break from online work and is relaxing and fun for me,” said Jadin Suarez, a 10thgrade student from Port Jervis CSD. Science creates a perfect collaboration platform.

Brian Detzauer, a 10th-grade student from TriValley CSD, consulted with his science and art teacher to create a clay volcano for his science class. He used his problem-solving skills to put the project together and explode its lava.

THE EDGE | PAGE 11

High School Art student, Daniel Ellington, drew this in conjunction with a music album of original rap songs he’s also creating. He is submitting his drawing, “The First Music Album,” to the Fearless Art Contest in Newburgh.

“I’ve been drawing since fourth grade and started writing music three years ago. The pandemic has helped me to delve more deeply into my creative work.”

“We have found that creating projects can be so healing for our students,” added Diorio. “Many of my students, appreciate the tactile process of artmaking as an alternative to the remote instruction, which can be so helpful during this trying, often stressful time.”

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE HANDS-ON LEARNING AT THE CAREER & TECH CENTER Students attending the Career & Tech Center at Sullivan BOCES look forward to the day they are back full-time. Until that day, the CTE programs are using every minute the students are in-person to get the most out of the time they have together.

Remote learners also have the opportunity to sign up for select dates to attend in-person hands-on kitchen

For the Culinary Arts program, the instructional

labs on days when other students are remote.

team has come up with various instructional methods to appeal to different learning styles.

“Taking the time to create chef instructor videos of

Allowing students to be fully prepared when

hands-on demos allows both remote and hybrid

they are in-person.

students to review materials multiple times if necessary,” said Chef Chistina Jergens, Culinary Arts

“Hybrid and virtual learning has been difficult for

Instructor at Sullivan BOCES.

many students. We are doing all we can for our students to keep them engaged and learn the

According to Amber Spear, a remote student from the

necessary skills to succeed. We have designed

Tri-Valley CSD, “Virtual has been hard, but my culinary

several tools for our virtual learners and use

teachers always go above and beyond. If the lesson is

Google Meets to allow virtual students to be

going too fast, the teachers will stay after class to help. I

active observers in the kitchen,” said Chef Kathy

love that I can pick up ingredients so I can cook at

Poppo, Culinary Arts Instructor.

home while it is being prepared in school. It helps me feel like I am part of the class.”

The culinary team created a website covering each unit of study with photos, video links, a

“To fully understand what working in a kitchen is like,

recipe page, and other resources. The instructors

one needs to feel the energy of rushing to meet

live stream working in

deadlines and the overwhelming sense of camaraderie

the kitchen to allow

after an event; this cannot be taught online. Striving to

remote students to

create an atmosphere online for a student to feel

follow along with a

supported and comfortable enough to ask/answer

demo and hands-on lab.

questions and interact in a group has been one of the

The program also offers

biggest challenges with remote instruction. On a

ingredient boxes for

positive note, streaming live in the kitchen during class

pick up so remote

and creating videos of demonstrations has been one of

learners can cook

the most useful tools that we have relied on during the

alongside their peers

pandemic,” added Jurgens.

and instructors.

THE EDGE | PAGE 12

Remote learning has been a challenge for all students and teachers across the globe. For many new teachers, the challenge is to engage a student that they have never met in person. For Living Environments teacher, Felyluz “Bobbie” Laguio, it was no different. Although Ms. Laguio has an extensive background in higher education, bringing remote instruction to middle/high school students was challenging. Still, her passion for science and its marvel has students eager to learn.

MARVELING AT THE WORLD THROUGH A LOOKING GLASS

According to Ms. Laguio, it is essential to demonstrate that students use and see science all the time, from the kitchen to the bathroom, to modern technology. It is also important to recognize that modern science has humble, simple beginnings in curiosity and investigation. Traits that she hopes to foster in her students. “I want students to understand that science is an ever-developing, evolving, living character. What we learn today will be the basis for our scientific future,” said Laguio.

Ms. Laguio uses several resources to enhance her lessons. like using broccoli to explain the respiratory system. Aside from assignments, she regularly provides links to pop culture or science news stories. She likes to link her lessons to stories from Livescience.com and CNN science.

Laguio also uses a website called Nearpod, which utilizes various entertaining methods like rap music and games to encourage learning. To engage her visual learners, she also incorporates links to PBS videos and YouTube.

“I prefer that we grow together as a class. With my guidance in the history and hard facts of science paired with a spirit of inquiry. I hope that my students develop scientific appreciation and marvel at the world through the looking glass of knowledge,” concluded Laguio.

THE EDGE | PAGE 13

ADAPTING TEACHING METHODS TO MEET STUDENT NEEDS

Math is a subject that many people struggle with.

For Sullivan BOCES Math Teacher Michael Small, he has found a way to adapt his lesson plans to utilize multiple tools and platforms to meet his students’ needs.

During his classes, he monitors how each student is doing throughout the lesson. Utilizing the Desmos platform, he can adjust the pace so each student can move through the interactive exercises at their own pace, allowing students to stay engaged because they are not bored or frustrated when other students need to move slower.

"I have found that universally students miss being in school and are frustrated working remotely," said Small. Fortunately, Google Meets has helped him bridge the gap so his students can interact, share material, and work through problems in a live setting.

“As the year progresses, I have asked my students to reflect on what works best for them to understand the lesson. At times I can implement their feedback to improve my lessons. This practice not only helps them learn, but it also gives them ownership in the process, which improves engagement and instills a sense of pride, and in some cases, helps them learn math,” concluded Small.

THE EDGE | PAGE 14

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