Category: District News
Celebrating National Heroes Week with Sergeant Smith and K9 Bud
Harry Hoag Elementary students enjoyed an extra-special morning program on October 8, when they celebrated National Heroes Week. Teacher Ashley Bargstedt introduced Sergeant Smith with K9 Bud to the students. Sergeant Smith then showed them what Bud can do and talked about Bud’s role in police work. Thank you to our local heroes!
Fire Prevention Day teaches important lessons to Harry Hoag students
You are never too young to learn about fire prevention. Thank you to our local Fort Plain firefighters for teaching important lessons to Harry Hoag students on Tuesday, Oct. 5. It was a great day for all, including these Pre-K students.
Rabbits, turtles and paper plates help little Hilltoppers learn music
Mrs. Kennedy’s Pre-K class at Harry Hoag School recently skated to Johann Strauss’s classical music during their lesson in Mrs. Sincavage’s music class. The students are learning about different tempos in music and comparing fast-like-a-rabbit and slow-like-a-turtle beats. “Skating” slowly on paper plates worked just great!
Students roll out Hilltoppers Coffee Cart and it’s a hit
They like to brew it, serve it, sell it, and some like to drink it. Coffee is a hit with Dorene Goodwin’s Life Skills class at Fort Plain High School, where the students officially rolled out their Hilltoppers Coffee Cart business on Friday, Sept. 24.
Under the tutelage of Ms. Goodwin and teacher aides Kim Phillips, Brittney McIntosh and Brittney Allen, the students started on the first floor of their building on their first day of business. Each Friday, they will be serving up coffee, tea and hot chocolate, after preparing the beverages in their classroom’s kitchen and stocking their cart with sweeteners, creamers, flavors, cups and lids. On their first Friday in business, the students also offered free blueberry muffins to customers.
Throughout the week, the students take orders from school faculty and staff, prepare their products and build skills beneficial not only to the success of their business, but to school and life in general. “They are learning about dealing with people, taking orders and handling money, among other skills,” Ms. Goodwin said.
When asked about their favorite part of the business, the students gave a variety of responses. “It was good; I liked it. My favorite part of it is we are all working together,” said Page, who worked as a cashier on day one. “In my old school, I collected money in our grocery shop, where we also sold school supplies.”
Dustin said his favorite part is “putting the lids on the cups.”
Raul “likes to do the checklist,” checking off teachers’ names when the students delivered coffee orders to classrooms.
Zach said he likes “to push the cart and work together” with his classmates. “He was captain of the ship,” Ms. Goodwin noted.
The best sales people love their products. Zach said he likes coffee, as does fellow student Liberty. “I wanted some coffee because it looked so good!” she said.
As the year continues, the class will be growing their business and bringing the Hilltoppers Coffee Cart to more sections of their school. While the venture is a new one, it is already a hit in the hallways of Fort Plain High School.
“This is a wonderful learning experience for them, and they are having fun!” said High School Principal Dr. Deborah Larrabee.
Update October 13, 2021:
The students are now serving their whole school
The students’ venture is such a success that they have expanded to serve the entire high school building. They are enjoying running their new business and their new customers, like Mr. Elliott on the third floor, are very happy as well.
Congratulations All-Star golfers!
Congratulations to the following golfers for being chosen as Western Athletic Conference (WAC) All Stars:
Girls—1st Team: Jordan Brown
Boys—1st Team: Austin VanGorder
2nd Team: Seth Rivkowich and Owin Landry
Great job, Hilltoppers!
Well-worn t-shirts tell a tale of forensics
What can you learn from a t-shirt that has been worn every day for a week without being washed? Plenty!
Students in the Forensics and Criminology class at Fort Plain H.S. recently conducted a lab involving the Locard Principle. “The principle is a famous forensics fundamental idea that when two objects come into contact with each other they exchange material,” explained Kevin Bogus, who teaches the class with Dale Smith.
Mr. Bogus and Mr. Smith ran an experiment where their students wore white t-shirts, which they designed themselves, for an entire week. The students first made predictions of what kind of fibers, materials or substances they would find on their shirts. Then they examined the shirts with hand lenses and microscopes to identify, as Mr. Bogus said, “what fun and interesting things they picked up all week.”
Check out their Facebook photo album for more photos.
Interim Superintendent: Our nurses follow established COVID-19 protocols
September 23, 2021
Dear Members of the Fort Plain Central School Community:
As we move into the fall season, Fort Plain remains committed to keeping our schools safe for in-person learning for all of our students, all of the time. To continue to meet this goal, we must protect the health and well-being of everyone on our campuses by limiting their exposure to possible illness, including COVID-19.
Our school nurses follow established COVID-19 protocols to determine whether a student or staff member needs to be sent home. If a student or staff member exhibits any of the symptoms or signs listed below with no other explanation for them, they will be sent to the health office for an assessment by the school nurse.
If the school nurse determines that the student or staff member exhibits the following symptoms indicative of the COVID-19 virus, they will be isolated from others and sent home immediately:
- Fever over 100 degrees
- Vomiting or diarrhea
- Loss of smell or taste
- Persistent cough
- Headache, congestion, sore throat
Please be reminded to keep everyone safe and healthy, students or staff members should stay home when they have signs of any illness, and they should contact their healthcare provider if symptoms do not resolve after 48 hours. Individuals may be asked to provide a doctor’s note to return to school.
If a student or staff member has been tested for COVID-19, they should remain home until the test results are confirmed negative. If a student or staff member is diagnosed as being COVID-19 positive, before returning to school, they must satisfy isolation protocols (typically 10 days) and have improving symptoms. They also must be fever-free for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medication, per the New York State Department of Health.
Our goal remains to keep our schools open and safe places for teaching and learning. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Sincerely,
Jeffery Ziegler
Interim Superintendent of Schools
Sept. 10 visit with “Ground Zero” author inspires and informs students
A virtual visit with an award-winning author has inspired Harry Hoag students to delve into a history-based novel. They also gained an insider’s view of how a book is researched, organized and written.
On Friday, Sept. 10, 2021, Mrs. Colvin’s fifth grade Guided Reading class participated in a virtual visit with Alan Gratz, the author of “Ground Zero.”
“We learned how long it took Mr. Gratz to research information to write this book,” Colvin said. “He also showed us how he separates all the information he collects and sorts it into the chapters of the book.
“He also talked about the storyline of the book. After Mr. Gratz’s presentation, my students are ready and very excited to start reading ‘Ground Zero’.”
Information about “Ground Zero” is posted on Alan Gratz’s webpage.
Meet Harry Hoag’s new teachers
New elementary school teachers are among the new staff at Fort Plain Central School District this fall. Harry Hoag School Principal Lauren Crisman and all at FPCSD extend a warm welcome to:
Stephanie Boyer
Harry Hoag welcomes Stephanie Boyer as a new first grade teacher. Mrs. Boyer earned her master’s degree in education from Utica College. Before joining FPCSD, Mrs. Boyer taught second grade in West Canada Valley CSD. When she’s not working, she enjoys going for a run, lifting weights or spending time with her husband and son.
Ashley Searles
Harry Hoag welcomes Ashley Searles as a new first grade teacher. Mrs. Searles earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from The College of St. Rose. Before joining FPCSD, Mrs. Searles taught kindergarten in Richfield Springs CSD and first grade at Cherry Valley- Springfield CSD. In addition to teaching, Mrs. Searles loves spending time with her three kids and husband while sipping on her favorite drink, iced coffee.
Miranda Dornburgh
Harry Hoag welcomes Miranda Dornburgh as a new music teacher. Ms. Dornburgh earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from the College of St. Rose.
Ms. Dornburgh shared with us, “Last year, I filled a long-term music position at my alum where I taught general music. As a college student, you always hope to experience the light behind the student’s eyes when what you were teaching them finally clicks. I experienced that during a 6th grade general music lesson when a student finally got the concept I was teaching. He yelled ‘I love music!’ and jumped out of his seat and did a happy dance. This is why I teach. I want to share my love music and inspire others to love it too.”
Her passion for, and support of, music education made her the ideal candidate to join our FPCSD team.
Shannon Cechnicki
Harry Hoag welcomes Shannon Cechnicki to the team. Ms. Cechnicki has dual certifications in the area of Childhood Education 1-6 and Special Education 1-6. She became a teacher because she loves watching students learn and grow. Prior to joining FPCSD, she taught special education in Johnstown CSD. When she is at home, Ms. Cechnicki enjoys going on hiking trips and attending youth sports with her sons.
School menu items may change due to supply chain issues
September 16, 2021
To Our School District Families:
As many of you are already aware, our nation is experiencing major supply chain issues, especially in the food service industry. Most all of our local food distributors are also experiencing driver shortages, and have cut back their delivery routes drastically.
Because of this, only one food distributor is servicing our school district this year. That distributor is experiencing product shortages due to all of Fulton and Montgomery County schools getting their food from the one source, as well as the products not arriving from the manufacturers.
This is to let you know that due to these facts we are being shorted many products, and aren’t aware of it until the truck arrives. There are going to be frequent menu changes. Please know that students will not always be receiving the items that were published on the menus. Menu changes will be posted on our website weekly.
This is an unfortunate circumstance of these challenging times and I apologize for the inconvenience, and thank you in advance for your understanding!
Sincerely,
Lauri Broady
Director of School Nutrition