Author: heather.nellis

Congratulations to the Students of the Month for September at the Harry Hoag Elementary School!

Oct. 8 was an unofficial holiday for the pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and Head Start classes at Harry Hoag Elementary School — Fire Truck Day!

It’s better known as Fire Prevention Day among the adults, but the students’ enthusiasm for the event takes over. Some of the young learners couldn’t help but press their noses to the classroom windows as they excitedly watched members of the Fort Plain Fire Department roll up in two engines.

“The trucks are big and the sirens are loud, but this event helps eliminate the fear factor some children might have,” Chief Bill Ehrenreich said.

The importance of having smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in the home was impressed upon the children. They were also urged to go home and talk to their parents about having a plan for an emergency, such as identifying a gathering spot in case they ever need to evacuate.

And, of course, they needed to have a little fun. Students got to spray a fire hose and ride in a truck.

Ehrenreich was joined by department President Joe Hanifin and firefighters Jeff Jones of the Fort Plain school board, Dawson Nare, Trevor Brownell and Bud Waner.

All in a week’s time, the students in Lisa Petty’s Life Skills class learned how to launch rockets, to prepare a brunch for the entire staff of the Fort Plain Jr./Sr. High School, and to write thank you cards to the New York Yankees after receiving free goodies from the organization.

The special education program focuses on helping students develop the skills they need to succeed in every day life, such as cooking, doing laundry and managing money.

Preparing a brunch for almost 50 people isn’t a simple feat. It ranges from grocery shopping, creating and mailing invitations and completing food prep, to learning about food allergies, cooking terminology, and hygiene, sanitation and safety. And that just scratches the surface.

“They develop their fine motor skills, work on teamwork and learn about the importance of following directions,” Petty said.

Student Jose Papero joked that the project brought him to tears.

“I didn’t like cutting the onions because it made me cry,” he said, smiling.

For the brunch, the class made eight crust-less quiches, a French toast bake, yogurt parfaits, muffins and more.

“My belly is still full,” student Raul Rivera said the next day.

Some of the students have asked for recipes so they can cook for their family at home, Petty said.

“Some of them have never zested a lemon before or measured baking powder, but now that they’ve done it, they can try making some of these recipes at home,” she said.

Students bring other lessons home, too, like the science lesson they learned from teacher Patrick Petty. The class went outside to learn how to launch rockets.

That weekend, student Dustin Welch practiced the project with his parents at home. They sent Lisa Petty a video.

“They didn’t go very far like the ones at school, but it was fun,” Welch said.

The class was inadvertently awarded for all its recent hard work. Classroom aide Lori Shults surprised the students by writing to the New York Yankees and sharing how the students are huge fans (well, Nicholas Blowers is a Mets fan, but he was still a good sport). The Yankees organization in turn sent each student a hat, pencil, stickers, baseball card, tech gear and more.

Petty is turning that into another opportunity to learn a valuable life lesson.

“We’re going to learn how to write thank you cards this week so they can express their appreciation,” Petty said.

It’s not every day you get to learn from a renowned NASA engineer in your science class, but the prestigious opportunity was bestowed upon the eighth graders of Fort Plain Jr./Sr. High School last week.

Students video chatted with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill, who has been employed by NASA for over 50 years and designed the emergency alarm system for the Apollo Spacecraft. Woodfill shared his experiences about working on the Apollo 11 and Apollo 13 missions, particularly his efforts in successfully rescuing the crew of Apollo 13. He was one of the team members who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his efforts.

Science teacher Patrick Petty, who attended a highly-competitive NASA institute for educators this summer, said classes have been learning about NASA, astronauts and the science skills that astronauts use, and how students can use them in their every day lives.

“We watched Apollo 13 in class last week and this week wrote letters to current astronauts,” Petty said.

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For senior Hayley Hart, the caretaker role comes naturally.

“I have four other siblings I take care of,” she said. 

It puts her in the perfect position as the upperclassman in her EPIC group at the Fort Plain Jr./Sr. High School. The Every Person is Connected Program groups about 10 students from each grade level 7-12 with a staff member who is a mentor. The program aims to help students build relationships with the staff and their peers.

“If a student is not connected otherwise to the school, either through a sport or an extracurricular activity, everyone has EPIC in common,” school counselor Kayla Mahoney said.

This is EPIC’s second year at the high school. Kickoff for the program was celebrated on Friday, Sept. 20. Groups met and welcomed the new seventh graders who moved up from the Harry Hoag Elementary School this year. 

Eighth grader Delana Tracki said EPIC helped her transition between buildings as she moved up last year from the elementary school to the high school.

“Our group is a place to open up,” she said.

“The older kids are more mature, and they are easier to talk to, so we can trust them more,” eighth grader Scerenity LaValley said. 

Junior Cameron Tamsett said Mahoney, his group’s mentor, is someone he feels comfortable asking for help. He says she helps him stay on track with his school work.

“She makes sure we’re taken care of,” Tamsett said.

The teams will stay together year after year. They meet about once a month on a rotating basis. A typical session might include a team-building exercise to build trust, an artistic activity to spur creativity, or a discussion aimed at exposing the students to new ideas, new activities and new people.

Friday’s events featured lunch in groups, an ice cream social, outdoor team-building exercises, and an assembly with the group Sweethearts and Heroes. Students heard from motivational speakers Tom Murphy and Rick Yarosh about the impacts of bullying and messages of bystander empowerment, empathy and leadership.

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Fort Plain Jr./Sr. High School students were exposed to more than 70+ institutions at a College Fair held at Fulton-Montgomery Community College on Tuesday, Sept. 17. This event is held annually by the Tri-County Counselor’s Association.

“This is a great event because it’s important for our students to see what opportunities are available to them after graduation, ” School Counselor Colleen Cushing said. “They also benefited from being exposed to a collegiate setting.”

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Do you have a bubble gum brain, or do you have a brick brain?

Sixth graders in Paula Colvin’s guided reading group at the Harry Hoag Elementary School considered this question before they set their reading goals for the year. Why? Because attitude is everything.

Students are learning about having a growth mindset. People who have a growth mindset believe their abilities can be developed by working hard and persevering—brains and talent are just the starting point.

Students listened to a read-aloud of the book “Bubble Gum Brain” to help them learn about this way of thinking. If you have a bubble gum brain, you “chew” your thoughts, you can expand the way you think, and you understand that making mistakes helps you learn. If you have a brick brain, you believe things are the way they are, and they won’t change much.

Students practiced the growth mindset by rewriting brick brain statements into bubble gum brain statements. They also wrote lists of things they can do, and things they can’t do yet.

“It’s about changing your thinking from, ‘I can’t do this,’ to, I can’t do this yet,‘” sixth grader Chanel Jefferson-Frye said.

Colvin said it’s already working to change students’ minds about their abilities.

“I had a parent tell me their child was at home working on something and they were saying, ‘This is not impossible. I can do this,'” Colvin said.

Safety and security has been bolstered at the Fort Plain school buildings with the installation of a new Raptor visitor identification system in the main offices. The system requires all visitors to be vetted by a background check before they are allowed to enter the rest of the building.

“The safety of our students is our highest priority, and the Raptor visitor management system allows us to quickly identify those who may present a danger to our students,” interim Superintendent of Schools Kathy Dougherty said.  “The Raptor system will better allow us to screen visitors, contractors and volunteers in our schools and provide us with a safer environment for our students and staff.”

When a visitor enters the main office, school staff will ask them for a government-issued ID (driver’s license or permit, military ID, etc.) and instruct them to insert the ID into the Raptor system. Raptor will scan the ID and use it to search local and government databases, including the sex offender registry. Office staff will be able to see the results from the scan on a computer before approving the creation of an ID badge that identifies the visitor, the date and the purpose of their visit.  A visitor’s badge will not be necessary for those who visit our schools simply to drop off an item in the office or pick up paperwork.

Visitor information will be stored locally, so returning visitors will not have to scan their ID each time they come to the school. Returning visitors will still have to give their name and wear a photo ID badge when they are in the schools.

The registered sex offender database is the only official database checked by the Raptor system.  No other data from the ID is gathered or recorded and the information is not shared with any outside agency.

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Fort Plain Jr./Sr. High School science teacher Patrick Petty’s summer was out-of-this-world. He attended a prestigious professional development program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He was one of just 50 educators from across the nation who was selected for the opportunity.

Petty attended the LiftOff Summer Institute in late June. The theme of the institute was Legacy of Apollo, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the U.S. moon landing.

“I cannot speak highly enough of this outstanding opportunity,” Petty said. “In addition to meeting world-class educators from around the country, we had the opportunity to meet Apollo XIII astronauts, crew members and engineers, and countless other NASA employees.”

Petty said highlights of the experience included presentations by Fred Haise, who is one of the surviving Apollo XIII astronauts, and seven-time space walker Jerry Ross, who is NASA’s record-setting frequent flyer.

Petty also heard from several scientists and engineers, including retired NASA engineer Norm Chaffee. He was a propulsion specialist who worked with NASA for more than 50 years on the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space shuttle projects.

“He was part of the team that designed the propulsion system for the Saturn V and gave us an in-depth tour of the rocket,” Petty said. “Listening to him was like listening to the people who made Columbus’ ships.”

Petty also increased his knowledge of working and living in space by touring various laboratories, and he toured the mock-up facility where astronauts do a majority of their training.

One of the exercises that Petty participated in stationed him in mission control of a simulated space mission.

“Our group was monitoring the status of the ‘spaceship’ and crew from the ground, while the other half of our team was in ‘space’ carrying out a mission,” he said.

The opportunity was sponsored by NASA’s Texas Space Grant Consortium, which selects teachers from across the U.S. who will increase their knowledge of space education through the professional development program.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I’m excited to incorporate it into my classroom instruction,” Petty said.

Fort Plain students have already benefited from Petty’s experience. He hosted a week-long space-themed day camp in July for elementary students, with his high school students serving as counselors.