Newly
Tenured Teachers and Teaching Assistants
Congratulations to
our newly tenured staff! They
are an excellent group of individuals
and we wish them a successful career
here in the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns.
Tenured This
Year:
| Sylvia Brabham |
Monica Meibauer |
| Vianney Remple |
Lourdes Cellante |
| Carol-Ann
Cristella |
Lorraine Garcia |
| Michelle Gentile |
Abbey Gilligan |
| Christine Groven |
Elisabeth Hickey |
| Kathleen Jones |
Xiomara Kluge |
| Christine Markey |
Kathy McDermott |
| Maureen Salazar |
Tawn Turnesa |
| Alia Yeater |
Karen Cook |
| Julie Calderon |
Carol Guzman |
Poet
Patricia Smith Visits Sleepy Hollow
Middle School
On Thursday, June 12th, poet Patricia
Smith visited all 7th grade English
classes. Ms. Smith shared her published
work with the students, read aloud her
poetry, and gave students ideas to begin
writing their own poetry with voice,
style, and freedom.
She helped to illustrate the oral
importance of reading poetry aloud, and
she also demonstrated the melodic,
singsong rhythm that poetry offers. Ms.
Smith has written various anthologies of
poetry, and she is currently working on
a young adult fiction text. Thanks to
all that participated!
(Posted 6/12/08)
Sleepy Hollow High School
Students Participate in White Plains
Invitational Science Contest
Sleepy
Hollow High School sophomores who are
currently part of the Science Research
Program presented their projects at the
White Plains Invitational Science
Contest. This contest was held at White
Plains High School on Saturday, June 7,
2008.
Tara Bonanno and Jill Moshman placed third in the category of
Medicine and Health; Sam Dilthey placed
second in Mathematics; Adam Fry placed
third in Environmental Science; Aidan
Young placed second in Behavioral
Science; Lauren Zallo placed third in
Behavioral Science.
These dedicated and talented students will continue to work
on their projects until 2010 when they
will enter the Westchester Science and
Engineering Fair (WESEF) in their junior
year and the prestigious Intel science
competition in their senior year.
(Posted 6/12/08)
It
was a festive occasion on May 30th.
The Kindergarten students participated
in a cultural learning experience about
Spain-- its artists, music and history.
Mrs. Sanchez-Zhu, E.S.L. teacher,
presented a power point presentation
about her culture. She showed the
students various artifacts that were
made in her country. The children were
especially excited about the pictures
that showed a “human tower” in the
festival La Merce in Barcelona. This
involves teams of people wearing
traditional costumes trying to build the
tallest human tower. Also, Mrs.
Sanchez-Zhu showed the students a
picture of her family dressed for
Carnaval in Overa, Spain. They were
wearing large paper mache heads and
oversized clothing. In Spain, we call
these costumes “gigantes”. In other
words, giants.
Mrs.Sanchez-Zhu was also dressed up in a
typical Flamenco dress. She even taught
the students how to Rumba. Everyone
clapped during the dance and had a great
time!
During the slide show presentation, Mrs.
Sanchez-Zhu showed paintings that were
painted by Spanish artists. Goya,
Velaszquez, Picasso, and Miro were among
the artists. Mrs. Sanchez-Zhu even
showed some of her paintings that she
has in Spain.
The students at Tappan Hill enjoyed
learning about Spain and culture.
Viva Espana!
(Posted 6/11/08)
Family Science Night
Thrills Elementary Students
The Sleepy Hollow Science Department
along with the
Elementary PTA hosted the first Family
Science Night on Wednesday, June 4th in
the newly constructed science wing of
the high school. The high school
science teachers enthralled the young
elementary students and their parent
with a series of engaging activities and
demonstrations.
After the Family Science Night, a second grader commented that he
"can't wait to go to high school so he
can study chemistry. I love it!"
Ms. Leana Peltier and Mr. Eric Rinaldi
thrilled the student using Glo-Germs and
showing a fetal pig dissection. In the
session titled “Operation” Ms. Janet
Longo-Abinanti and Ms. Olga
Fernandez-Cabrera challenged the
students to identify internal organs and
reassemble a model of the human torso.
Mr. Carlos Franco introduced the
students to forensic science by taking
their fingerprints using magnetic dust
in the session titled “CSI: Sleepy
Hollow.” Ms. Chris Adamo showed the
inner working of a volcano and then had
the students build a model of a
volcano. Ms. Leila Madani and Ms.
Francesca Zimmer excited the students by
helping them build their own simple
circuit using copper foil. Mr. Hank
Conklin and Mr. Jason Choi delighted the
students by demonstrating the combustion
of ethyl alcohol and making ice cream
using liquid nitrogen. The teachers
were assisted by student volunteers from
their classes and from the Science Honor
Society. A special thanks to Nancy
Checchi, Rachelle Gebler, and Jason Choi
for organizing this exciting event.
All the participants – the teachers, the
student volunteers, the parents and the
elementary students - thoroughly
enjoyed themselves.
The high school
teachers had a great time and their
efforts were rewarded by the smiles on
the faces of their future students.
(Posted 6/11/08)
The Foundation For The Public Schools Of
The Tarrytowns Raises More Than $65,000
At Its Annual Dinner Dance And Auction
The Foundation for the Public Schools of
the Tarrytowns annual fundraising event:
the 2008 Dinner Dance and Auction,
raised more than $65,000. The
money that was raised at this event,
will be used to support 2008-2009
programs for all students, pre-k through
12th grade.
The Foundation would like to thank the
more than 60 volunteers who made
this event so successful. Despite the
hard economy that we are facing, 267
community members came out and supported
our schools to participate in our annual
event. We are also grateful to
businesses in Tarrytown and Sleepy
Hollow who donated so many of the
auction items. Proceeds from the dinner
dance and auction came from advertising
in the Dinner Dance Journal, the tickets
to the event, the live and silent
auctions, raffles and donations.
Please find out how you can help us with
our mission to: encourage and
enhance academics, athletics, the arts,
technology and other programs of the
Public Schools of the Tarrytowns.
Contact Shelly Colley at 366-8457 or
email Foundation@tufsd.org, for more
information. (Posted 6/8/08)
Sleepy Hollow Middle
School Orchestra, Chorus, and Band
ensembles net three excellent ratings!
Congratulations to the Orchestra,
Chorus, Concert and Band for winning
excellent ratings at the Trills and
Thrills Music Festival, May 30!!! The
Music Department is very proud of your
hard work and dedication!!
(Posted 6/10/08)
WordMasters 
A student representing Washington Irving
School recently won highest honors in
this year’s WordMasters Challenge – a
national language arts competition
entered by over 230,000 students
annually, which consists of three
separate meets held at intervals during
the school year.
Competing in the very difficult Gold
Division, fifth grader, Jordan B. earned
perfect scores in all three meets of
this year’s Challenge. He is one of
only ten fifth grade students in
the entire country to achieve perfect
cumulative year-end scores. Also,
but competing in the year’s third and
final meet of the Challenge, fourth
graders Karthik R., Spencer S., and
Nikhil S., fifth graders Heather B. and
Austen P. and and sixth graders Katie
C., Dhruv S., and K.T. T. all earned
perfect scores. Nationwide, only 351
fourth graders, 130 fifth graders and 80
sixth graders did so in this meet.
Other students at the school who also
achieved outstanding results in the
year’s third meet of the Challenge
included fourth graders Caleb G., Sere
P., Julia S., Elizabeth S., Heather C.,
Mark J., Juliet L. and Dominique M.;
fifth graders Colin A., Jason C., John
C., Sara F., and Katy K.; and sixth
graders MacKenzie H., Lily S., and Julia
R.. The school’s students were coached
in preparation for the Challenge by
Karen Cook.
The WordMasters Challenge is an exercise
in critical thinking that first
encourages students to become familiar
with a set of interesting new words
(considerably harder than grade level),
and then challenges them to use those
words to complete analogies expressing
various kinds of logical relationships.
Working to solve the Challenge analogies
helps students learn to think both
analytically and metaphorically.
Congratulations WordMasters!
(Posted 6/9/08)
Middle School
Students Collaborate to Create Entrance
Mural Where the Legend Begins...!
The new middle school entrance has been
transformed by a
colorful
mural designed and painted by the Sleepy
Hollow seventh and eighth grade students
under the guidance of international
artist Pedro Ospina. Pedro, who is a
Sleepy Hollow High School graduate of
1982, has work with the students of
Sleepy Hollow on two previous school art
projects Totems and Cultural
Mosaic. Born in Bogota, Columbia,
but raised in New York City and the
surrounding area, Pedro received his
academic training in the US and then
traveled to varied apprenticeships with
artists in Wales, Mexico, Brazil and
Columbia. Because he sees the
importance of art and how it can impact
individuals’ lives, Pedro is dedicated
to working extensively in marginalized
communities and in inner city schools.
Delighted to see the new construction
and additions to his alma mater, Pedro
was eager to work with the middle school
students helping them design and paint
their collaborative legend. Pedro
had the students focus on their
villages, culture, future goals and what
they valued as individuals. All the
middle school students participated by
making sketches, refining drawings,
transferring the images onto the wall
and finally painting the entry hall
wall. The final product is a mural of
colorful imagery that helps instill
cultural pride and dignity. The
students are excited about their
creation.
We are extremely grateful to the
Foundation of the Public Schools of the
Tarrytowns and the Art Boosters for
sponsoring Pedro Ospina’s latest Sleepy
Hollow Art Project.
Come and see our Hudson River Town, New York City and all the
many images and dreams of our middle
school students. (Posted
6/8/08)
Egg to Chick
Project
John
Paulding School recently completed our
annual Egg to Chick life cycle. Every
class went to Stone Barns in April as a
kick-off to the project. BOCES
Environmental Education Funds helped to
fund the trip. At Stone Barns, the
children were able to see hens,
roosters, eggs and baby chicks in their
winter environment. In May, we received
our eggs. Each class had almost a dozen
eggs. The children made their
predictions on how many of the eggs
would hatch. It took 21 days for our
chicks to grow and finally hatch! The
week after Memorial Day Weekend, 77
chicks hatched! The children were
excellent caregivers. They gave the
chicks food and water and even were able
to play with them. Sadly, our feathered
friends returned to the farm on June 5,
2008. The Egg to Chick project
continues to be a wonderful way for a
life cycle to come to life!
(Posted
6/8/08)
Summer Arts Camp 2008
The
Summer Arts Camp 2008 is now accepting
registration. The Multi Arts Camp will
meet for three weeks, starting Monday
July 14. The camp meets
Mondays-Thursdays from 9am until noon
for students grades K-4. You can sign
up for 1, 2 or 3 weeks. Scholarships
are available. Peter Royston will lead
a theater camp from June 30-July 3 for
students entering grades 4-6. Click
here for flyer and registration
form.
(Posted
4/12/08)
Celebrating Poetry at
Tappan Hill
On May 29, the Kindergarten students
participated in a poetry celebration.
The hallways were beautifully decorated
and the classrooms were charming and
inviting, welcoming the poets in the
school. Throughout the month of May,
students listened to, responded to,
created and wrote poems. They wrote
list poems, free verse poems, and
cinquain poems. Each class also created
a class poem together. These young
poets gathered with one another from
different classes and shared their
unique poetry. The poetry celebration
was a huge success!!! (Posted
6/8/08)
John Paulding
Reading Partnership with Hitachi America
On Friday, May 30th, John Paulding School
wa
s
invited to Hitachi America, Ltd. to
celebrate our year-long reading
partnership. Each class was greeted at
the front door by the Hitachi employee
who had been their special reader all
year long.
The children were then given a brief
tour of the facility. The children were
intrigued and excited by the large flat
panel televisions in the lobby and the
amazing video conferencing technology in
some rooms. They were also impressed by
the calm, professional working
environment and the gorgeous views of
The Tappan Zee Bridge. After the tour
we gathered outside in the back for ice
cream and photos of everyone. The
children were given some very cool
pencils and handmade origami-style hats
made by Hitachi employees as souvenirs
of the event. This reading partnership
has been an ongoing success for a number
of years. We look forward to our
continued collaboration again next
year! (Posted
6/8/08)
Author/Illustrator
Aliki Visits Morse
On
Monday, June 2nd the hallways
at W.L. Morse were abuzz with tales of
dinosaurs, wooly mammoths, mummies, and
much more! Students assembled into the
auditorium to meet world-famous
children’s author/illustrator Aliki! For
the past couple of weeks, second and
third grade classes did mini author
studies on Aliki and her books. Thanks
to the EPTA, every classroom was given a
copy of Aliki best-sellers such as My
Visit to the Dinosaurs, The Two
of Us, and Milk from Cow to
Carton. During the assembly, Aliki
discussed the writing/illustrating
process and used her picture book,
How a Book is Made, to describe the
stages of publishing. Students were in
for an extra special treat because they
were one of the first to see the final
proofs for Aliki’s soon to be published
book, Quiet in the Garden. Aliki
spent the rest of the day at Morse
holding intimate writing workshops and
Q&A sessions with classes.
Aliki, who had traveled all the way from
England to visit her family, made a
special visit to her “other family” at
Morse. Throughout the year she had been
corresponding with the students in Ms.
Cristella’s second grade class.
Students gave the day rave reviews. One
second grade student commented, “I’ll
never forget it and now I am going to be
an author just like Aliki when I grow
up!”
(Posted
6/8/08)
Middle School / High School Summer
Reading Lists
Summer reading lists, assignments
reading records have been posted on the
middle and high school websites for your
convenience. Please be sure to follow
the directions that are written at the
bottom of each list depending on which
grade and level of English you will be
taking in September. Have a great
summer and don't forget to do your
summer reading!
(Posted
6/8/08)
Oceanographic Trip
This past week has been an exciting one
for our 7th grade science students as
they made three trips to The University
of Connecticut's Project Oceanology
Center in Groton, Connecticut. Our
students boarded the Enviro-Lab III
research vessel on the Thames River and
sailed out into Long Island Sound.
The students set a fishing net in which
they caught sea stars, winter flounders,
lobsters, soft shell and spider crabs,
fluke, sea robins, squid, shrimp, and
windowpanes. Along with studying the
marine life of Long Island Sound, the
students using laboratory skills learned
in class performed many experiments
testing water quality, oxygen and
salinity content, pH, and ocean floor
sediments. The students enjoyed the
experience of working in a floating
classroom and studying the world of
Marine Science.
(Posted
6/4/08)
John Paulding's New Garden
This
past Thursday and Friday the students of
John Paulding School were working hard
in their new garden. The results are
amazing! Thanks to the coordination by
Liz Kaplan and the staff and parent
volunteers at John Paulding, there are 4
new planting beds in front of the school
filled with beautiful flowers and
plants. The children worked together as
a team to dig holes and put these plants
in the ground. They added their own
touch by putting their names on paint
stirrers that were then used to make a
picket fence for their new garden. With
help of volunteers and teachers at John
Paulding and the support from the
administration, this experience has
given the children the opportunity to
connect with their environment in a very
tangible and meaningful way.
(Posted
6/3/08)
Sleepy Hollow Jazz/Stage
Band and Washington Irving Stage Band
will perform at Pierson Park
The fifth annual Jazz in the Park
performance will take place on
Wednesday, June 11th at 6 pm
at Pierson Park. The Sleepy Hollow Jazz
and Stage bands will perform alongside
Washington Irving Elementary School
Stage Band.
Food will be provided by Main Street Sweets
and Hollywood Pizza North.
In the event of rain the concert will be
held at Washington Irving Elementary
School.
(Posted
6/3/08)
Washington Irving's No Junk Food Week
Washington
Irving will celebrate No Junk Food Week
June 9th to 13th.
Events to include: special menus in the
cafeteria, special activities at recess
such as fear factor, trade in you
unhealthy snacks for a healthy one, and
so much more!
Get rid of that junk food and take a
ride on the healthy side.
(Posted
6/3/08)
Tappan Hill Visits Tarrytown Lighthouse
On
a bright, blustery mid-May morning
students from Tappan Hill took turns
receiving a guided tour from Mr. Miller
at the Tarrytown Lighthouse. The
lighthouse is a white, conical cast-iron
tower on cast-iron caisson that sits
just beyond the old GM parking lot.
After crossing the grated bridge
overlooking the Tappan Zee Bridge, Mr.
Miller introduced us to the interior of
the lighthouse to share historical
insights. Students were interested to
learn that this lighthouse was a home to
families twice in history. In Mrs.
Magliano’s class, Mr. Miller stated that
the light house is cone shaped and asked
if they thought the rooms would appear
smaller or bigger as we climbed
upstairs. The students used their math
knowledge of cones to answer “smaller.”
Since the visit, students have written
both poems and stories about their visit
and they have drawn pictures of this
important landmark only a stone’s throw
away.
(Posted
6/2/08)
Upstanders Day
Celebrated at Sleepy Hollow High School
Thursday,
May 29 was Upstanders Day for Human
Rights, celebrating the 60th
anniversary of the United Nations’
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and the use of UN Peacekeeping Forces.
Spearheaded by five 10th
graders who attended Human Rights
Institute workshops on March 12
sponsored by the Holocaust and Human
Rights Education Center located at
Manhattanville College, and supported by
Mrs. Heskestad’s Global 10 students, Ms.
Graham’s Senior Contemporary Issues
students, and members of the Model UN
Club, posters were created to raise
awareness about Human Rights issues
around the world.
High School students were encouraged to
view pictures and read information
located in Upper West Hall and North
Hall. Social Studies teachers were also
provided with a Scavenger Hunt handout
to motivate their students to seek
pertinent information. All students were
invited to “Be the Change” and get more
involved in modern global issues. (Posted
6/2/08)
On
Thursday, June 5th,
each Tappan Hill kindergarten class was
treated to a presentation by children’s
author Colleen Carroll. Ms. Carroll is also
a former teacher and educational consultant
whose clients include MTV, Bravo, the
Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of
American History, Black Entertainment
Television, CNBC, and the Edison Schools.
Ms. Carroll, a parent of students in our
district, is the author of the How Artists
See series published by Abbeville Kids, a
Division of Abbeville Publishing Group.
recipients of a generous gift from Tiana, a
girl scout, working on her Gold Award.
Tiana, daughter of Evelyn Rivera, a teacher
at the John Paulding School, has been
working for a year and a half on her Gold
Award Project requirements. Tiana decided
that she wanted to give back to the
Tarrytown community. Tiana created a
program called “Bookworms” which took place
at Warner Library. She spent eight
Saturdays volunteering at Warner Library
reading a story to the children and doing a
craft related to the book. All of the
students from John Paulding were invited to
attend and the activities were also open to
the children at the library. “Bookworms” was
such a hit that by the last session at least
18 families were in attendance. 
New
York Times
