January to July, 2009

• Grant for Family Math Night

• D.A.R.E. graduation

• Students, coaches support Coaches vs. cancer

• Coach Phillips inducted into MV Baseball Hall of Fame

• Matt Soto writes play

• Hitting Camp a Success

• NHS collects books for Ghana library

• Fourth graders use SMART Boards

• National Honor Society induction

• District needs to plan for tough financial future

• Six teachers retire

• Tharp re-appointed principal

Teachers receive grant for Family Math Night (January)

      Mathematics teachers Susan Summerfield and Jamie Kohout have been awarded a mini-grant to expand Family Math Night to the ninth grade.
The $300 award was announced in December by the Greater Capital Region Teacher Center. The GCRTC awarded a total of $3,116.78 to 14 educators in five school districts in this round of funding. The program supports activities designed to raise standards for teaching and learning. The grants fund classroom projects that will benefit students, schools, and the community.
      A family math night for Fort Plain eighth graders and their parents was held this fall. The program featured math related games, activities and puzzles. Its purpose is to get parents involved with their child’s math education. The family math night for ninth graders will be held this spring, Summerfield said. The grant money will be used for materials and supplies.
The GCRTC is funded by the New York State Legislature through the State Education Department.
       The Teacher Center provides a variety of professional development services to 91 school districts, four BOCES, and 67 non-public schools and institutions in 13 counties in upstate New York.

D.A.R.E. concludes with graduation ceremony (January)

     Fifty-four sixth-grade students graduated from the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program Jan. 30. D.A.R.E. is a 10-week program designed to give students the life skills they need to avoid involvement with tobacco, drugs, alcohol, gangs, and violence.
      Montgomery County Deputy Sheriff Diana Callen was instructor for this year’s program. Guests at the ceremony included Undersheriff Jeffery Smith, Superintendent of Schools Douglas Burton, Harry Hoag Principal Linda Tharp, teacher Patrick Hanifin, and parents and family members of the graduates. Students Tabetha Strobel, Laurita Gushue-Troumbley, and Taylor Smith read essays to guests and their fellow graduates.

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Hilltopper coaches, athletes help ACS (January)

           Fort Plain girls and boys basketball teams joined other Section Two basketball teams in hosting Coaches vs. Cancer games: Girls JV and Varsity versus Northville on Jan. 30 and Boys’ JV and Varsity on Jan. 3 versus Mayfield. The games were played in honor of or memory of all those who have battled or are battling cancer. The normal admission fee on both nights was waved in lieu of a donation to the American Cancer Society. The Karker family donated four gift cards and a pink and white basketball for a raffle. A total of $716 was raised for the American Cancer Society. Photo shows basketball players Justin Smith, Ryan Kane, Tyler Barhydt, Heather Voght, and Kelsey Logan presenting a check to Fort Plain Athletic Director Charles Karker. Coaches vs. Cancer is a joint effort by the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches that empowers basketball coaches, their teams, and communities to help win the fight against cancer.

Phillips inducted into Mohawk Valley Baseball Hall of Fame (Feb.)

       The honors keep piling up for longtime Fort Plain baseball Coach Craig Phillips. On Feb. 6, Phillips l joined former Little Falls High School Baseball Coach Ted Schoff as one of the first two inductees into the Mohawk Valley Baseball Hall of Fame.
     This fall, American Baseball Coaches Association High School Division selected Phillips as Region I Coach of the Year. With 7,500 members, ABCA is the largest baseball coaches association in the country.  STORY
      Section 2’s winningest baseball coach, Phillips career baseball coaching record is 598-186. His win total ranks among the top five percent of high school baseball coaches in the United States. Phillips’ teams have won 20 league titles, seven sectional championships, and four regional championships. The Hilltoppers have played in the state championship finals four times, including 2008, and the team won the Class C state championship in 2007.
      Schoff, an outstanding baseball player at St. Johnsville High School and Brown University, spent 31 seasons coaching baseball at Little Falls High School. His teams won 533 games, 12 Section III championships, 14 league titles and a state championship in 1982. The Mounties reached the sectional finals 20 times during Schoff’s tenure, including six of his final seven seasons.

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Matt Soto writes play (Feb.)

     Freshman Matt Soto has written a musical play, "Nonagon," that will be performed by the Fort Plain Canajoharie Drama Club at the Capital Repertory Theatre.  FOR FULL STORY, CLICK HERE 

Hitting camp scores again  (March)

     The fifth annual Hilltoppers Hitting Camp at Fort Plain High School was a big success this month with 96 baseball and softball players participating on the two weekends. The camp emphasized fundamentals, progressive improvement, and proper mechanics. Hitting tees, soft toss drills, video analysis, and written evaluations were used. Tony Curro Jr. and Fort Plain Varsity Baseball Coach Craig Phillips were camp directors with other local coaches also instructing. Photo shows Curro and some of the campers.

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NHS collection of books for Ghana school a success  (March)

     The Junior/Senior High School National Honor Society members collected many books to help fill the shelves of a new school library in a small village located in Accra, Ghana.
     Patrick Petty, a 2007 graduate of Fort Plain High School and a student at Union College in Schenectady, contacted his former school on behalf of a fellow cross country team member Mike Clarke who recently completed mission work in Ghana. For full story and  photos click HERE.    

 4th graders use SMART Board for biographies (April)

     Students in Jade VanGorder’s 4th grade class at Harry Hoag Elementary School have been using SMART Boards to do something they traditionally did, often reluctantly, with pen and paper – biographies of famous Americans.  A SMART Board is a large, touch-controlled screen that works with a projector and a computer. The projector puts the computer's desktop image onto the whiteboard, which acts as both a monitor and an input device.   FULL STORY

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National Honor Society inducts 11 (April)

      Fort Plain High School National Honor Society inducted 11 new members during a ceremony and banquet held April 4 at the school. New members are Elizabeth Carpenter, Emily Dahlin, Jacob DeBoer, Ryan Gonnelly, Mark Hanifin, Nicholas Hoffman, Terence Petty, Ashley Smith, Kaitlyn Trembley, Amy Williams, and Evan Yacowenia. The ceremony featured singing of The Star Spangled Banner by NHS members Marie Sinchak, Samantha Steenburg, and Kristen Wolfe; lighting the candle of knowledge by NHS President John Resch; candle lighting and readings by Wolfe, Sinchak, and Justin Smith. Denise Smith is NHS advisor. The Fort Plain NHS Chapter was chartered in 1954.

District needs to plan for tough financial future (April)

        If the school tax levy rises by four percent each year for the next five years and basic state aid to schools remains the same during that time, the Fort Plain Central School District will be broke by 2014. That was the sobering message Dr. Rick Timbs of Bernard P. Donegan, Inc. financial consultants recently gave to the Fort Plain school community.
COMPLETE STORY

Six teachers retire

       Six valued members of the Fort Plain school community left their classrooms at the end of June to travel, relax, spend time with family, finally find time for hobbies and pastimes, and take on new challenges. Students, parents, colleagues, and staff all wish them the best in the future. We will miss them. FULL STORY AND PHOTOS

Tharp re-appointed principal of Harry Hoag    (July)    

      At its regular June meeting, the Board of Education re-appointed Linda Tharp principal of Harry Hoag Elementary School until June 30, 2011. Tharp has been principal of the school since being appointed on an interim basis in July, 2007 to replace Roger Bowley.
      Superintendent of Schools Douglas Burton said the board conducted an extensive search for a principal this spring, but received mixed reviews on the finalists from committees involved in the selection process.
        “As a result of the positive changes that have occurred under Mrs. Tharp’s direction, the board unanimously approved an extension of her contract,” Burton said. He cited on-going curriculum advances in English language arts, mathematics and writing that Tharp has lead. He also said that Tharp’s guidance would be important as the elementary school building undergoes extensive work during the next two years as part of the capital project.
         Before coming to Fort Plain, Tharp was superintendent of Sharon Springs Central School. She also has held positions as mathematics teacher, counselor, and principal in various area school districts.

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