schools

John Kennedy School hosted its annual Sons and Mothers Mud Run yesterday, with new obstacles, a DJ and a visit by the city fire department.

Sebastian Maroundit, a Sudanese Lost Boy who came to the United States as a refugee, spoke with students at Le Roy High School this morning.  

He is the cofounder of Building Minds in South Sudan along with his cousin Mathon Noi.

This was the school's final PRIDE assembly of the year.

Born in the rural Village of Mayen-Abun in Twic County, South Sudan, cousins Sebastian Maroundit and Mathon Noi were less than 10 years old when war came to their village and separated them from their families. They escaped to Ethiopia only to experience war again within four years. In 1991, they escaped from Ethiopia and spent a year walking across the hot desert to a refugee camp in Kenya. In this camp, both were educated through the eighth grade. In 2001, Sebastian and Mathon were selected as two of the 3,800 who would resettle in the United States. Mathon recently graduated from Niagara University majoring in Accounting, while Sebastian is pursuing his Business Degree.  

In the summer of 2007, they both returned to their village. Though Sebastian lost his father during the war and Mathon lost his mother, they were reunited with their surviving parents after 18 years apart. They were dismayed to find their village in poor condition, with no roads or clean water. The children of the village were being taught under a large tree, because the school had been destroyed.

Since that visit, they have been passionately committed to helping rebuild hope in their village by building a school to provide a basic education for the children. Their efforts have raised thousands of dollars through BMISS and built a new school that now serves more than 800 children. They have begun to build a second, eight-room all-girls school in Majok Keen, four miles from the Ajong Primary School. Three hundred girls are already signed up and it is projected that it will also house 800 girls.

The school's Rotary Interact Student Club organized the event and also made a donation to the BMISS at the end of the event. The Interact students will sell paper bricks the rest of the week in lunches to students or staff for $1 to raise more money to give to the organization. The sold bricks will be hung as a visual reminder about the support.

Photos and info submitted by Principal Tim McArdle.

Students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades of the Saint Joseph School in Batavia, all members of the National Junior Honor Society, collected useful items and monetary contributions for the PAWS Animal Shelter in Albion over the course of two weeks. All SJS students and their families donated pet items, pet food, cleaning supplies, and money to the fundraiser. Friday, the NJHS members delivered more than 300 items and $150 to PAWS.

Info and photo submitted by Alicia Palmer.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul attended a joint meeting this morning of leaders from three area community colleges, Genesee, Monroe and Finger Lakes, and encouraged them to find ways to work together cooperatively to help better prepare students to enter the modern workforce.

"I want to up the game," Hochul said. "I want to take it to a different level, and I cannot do it without all of you representing faculty, administration and students to say, 'you know what, we're buying into this vision.' It's going to force us to look beyond our own boundaries, just as the REDCs (regional economic development councils) forced us to say what's good for the other counties, what's good for the region, as opposed to just what's good for my little place on Earth here. That will be transformative. That is a whole new way of approaching community colleges."

The region is growing, Hochul said, new businesses are starting and coming in and they need a workforce trained for today's jobs. She encouraged the colleges to work with employers to develop curriculum and certification programs to get students job-ready, and rather do it in a competitive way, do it in a cooperative way.

Amidst concerns that the Genesee Community College Board of Trustees tends to pass budgets before consulting with local legislators on how much the county can afford to contribute, the Public Services Committee yesterday tabled a resolution calling for a $50,000 increase in the county's share of college revenue.

The college is planning a $40.5 million budget for 2016/17, with the county's share totaling $2,586,374.

That's a $50,000 increase over this year's county share.

"It really bothers me that your board has set the budget, rather than come to us first and say, 'hey, look, how much can you afford to come in with," said Ray Cianfrini, chairman of the Legislature and a member of the Public Service Committee. "It bother's me that the board has determined how much we're spending before we even had a chance to look at it."

The county share is mandated by state law, and it can't be reduced below the prior year's share. College President Jim Sunser said if the Legislature reduced the county share by even $1 from the prior year, the college, by law, would be forced to cut tuitions.

"We'd lose 20 percent of our revenue and we'd be out of business," Sunser said.

The college has until July 1 to present its final budget to the SUNY administrators, giving the county time to consider further what it might want to approve and find out if legally whether the county can approve the county share without an increase now, but add more to the pot later in the year when it adopts its own 2017 budget.

One issue, Sunser noted during his initial presentation, because it's come up before, is that the college and the county budget calendars are out of sync. The college operates on an academic year and the county operates on a calendar year.

Sunser suggested the county adopt a five-year plan, knowing in advance that the plan is to increase the county share by $50,000 each year, but that plan can be modified annually if circumstances for the county or the college drastically change.

He also suggested, but it didn't seem to get any uptake from legislators, that the county approve this year's budget with no increase but with a plan to increase the share by $75,000 each of the next two years and than $50,000 in each of the following two years, thereby averaging an annual increase of $50,000 over five years.

One concern committee Chairman Bob Bausch raised is that the county is looking at a mandated pay increase for the district attorney of $27,705. The county is fighting the mandate, but if it loses, the resulting property tax increase, if approved, would push the county to the state's 2 percent cap limit. There would be no room for an additional $50,000 share to the college.

Here are Tuesday's available election results:

Batavia City Schools:
The Budget - $44,366,439 (increase of $1,258,066 or 2.92%: $0.00 increase in tax levy)

• Yes - 407  (85.86%)
• No - 67  (14.14%)

Student Ex-Officio Board Member (non-voting) 

• Yes -  436  (92.57%
• No - 35  (7.43%)

Board of Education positions: three positions, with top two votes terms are full term from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2019 ,and the lowest vote is a partial term from May 17, 2016 to June 30, 2018 

• Patrick Burk 385  (May 17, 2016 - June 30, 2018)
• Peter Cecere - 427  (July 1, 2016  -June 30, 2019)
• Karen Tomidy - 424   (July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2019)

Elba Central Schools:

Proposition #1 - 2016/2017 Budget - $9,260,316  --   Passed  (129 Yes/38 No)

Proposition #2 - Purchase of one (1) 65 Passenger Bus   --  Passed  (130 Yes/39 No)

One Board of Education Seat, One Candidate: Michael Hare (142 Votes)

Oakfield-Alabama Central School District:

Proposition #1: Budget:  Yes:   293 / No:  44

Proposition #2: Buses:   Yes:  280 /  No:  52

Board Members:  

• Jeff Hyde (Incumbent) 248
• Matt Lamb, 170

Press release:

Horrifying. Terrible. Stressful. Horrible.

Emotions ran high as Cady Glor spoke to Byron-Bergen juniors and seniors on May 10 to share the long-lasting effects of how a drunk driver changed her life.

Glor was smitten with Chris Blake, her high school sweetheart and boyfriend of eight years. In 2014, Blake was a passenger in a vehicle and his friend behind the wheel was intoxicated. An accident occurred which put Blake into the hospital with a broken neck.

“I remember the moment my mom called me to tell me that Chris was in the hospital,” said Glor. “It was like what you see in a movie. I fell on the floor. I was screaming and crying.”

“Seeing someone lying in a hospital bed with a breathing machine, someone who was so strong, is just devastating,” added Glor. “I still see it in my nightmares today.”

Blake spent months in the hospital but was confined to a wheelchair, was a quadriplegic, and had a tracheostomy tube to help him breathe. His body deteriorated from the strong physique he once had.

Talks of Blake going home began to happen as the summer ended and Blake knew that he wanted to share his story with schools, and help students understand the impact their decisions could have. Unfortunately, Blake ended up passing away in Aug. 22, 2014, after an infection entered his blood. Glor has since taken on the task of carrying out his wish and speaking to schools.

Byron-Bergen Jr./Sr. High School Principal Patrick McGee invited Cady in to speak to students because he knew that her message would resonate with students.

“Cady is such a courageous woman,” McGee said. “She told a story that is unfortunately all too familiar in our society and did it in a way that hit home with our students. There were very few dry eyes in our auditorium.”

Glor told the students that while she doesn’t know any of them, she cares about all of them. She encouraged the students to not drive drunk, to not get into a car with someone who is drunk, and to call someone for a ride no matter what the time or circumstance.

“Knowing that his death was preventable makes it a thousand times worse,” Glor said. “He chose to get into the car with a drunk driver and he paid the ultimate price.”

The Kiwanis Club of Batavia today honored a dozen students from Notre Dame High School today for academic and artistic achievement.

Receiving awards were: Ethan Osborne, Vocal Performance; James Farmer, Instrumental Performance; and Bryan Moscicki, who received the Citizenship Award.

The top academics in the senior class are Luca Charles Zambito, John William Sutherland, Emily J. Sherman, Jessica Lynn Bukowski, Nichol Marie Salvador, Emily Elizabeth Fischer, Joseph Thomas Bergman, Stephanie Lynn Pingrey, Cindy Sophia Skalny and Bryan Alexander Moscicki.

Several parents of the students also attended today's lunch.

Students from Batavia High School will be honored next Thursday.

Pavilion High School hosted its annual DWI drill for seniors in advance of the prom to remind students about the dangers of drinking and driving.

The drill simulates a fatal DWI accident with the cooperation of the Pavilion Fire Department and Sheriff's Office. Mercy EMS, the coroner and volunteers from Bethany and Wyoming also participated.

Press release:

The deadline for Genesee County graduating seniors wishing to apply for the William F. Brown Jr. Memorial Scholarship, sponsored by The Jerome Foundation, is May 20.

The $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to a deserving high school senior residing in and graduating from a school in Genesee County whose intention is to pursue at least a four-year degree in the fields of Journalism, Communications or Public Relations (in print, radio, television or digital media).

William F. Brown Jr. was a noted Batavia author, broadcaster and journalist, and a charter member of The Jerome Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that distributes funds to benefit United Memorial Medical Center and other health-related purposes. He passed away on Nov. 29, 2014.

Brown also was president of the board of directors of the former St. Jerome Hospital and a trustee emeritus of The Jerome Foundation.

A committee of directors from the foundation will judge the scholarship applicants based upon academic merit, creative accomplishment, community service and leadership.

Applications are available at guidance offices at the nine Genesee County high schools or by contacting Martha Spinnegan, administrative assistant for The Jerome Foundation, at gspinneg@rochester.rr.com.

The completed application must be mailed to The Jerome Foundation, P.O. Box 249, Batavia, NY, 14020, and postmarked by May 20 to be considered.

Students at Alexander Central School tried to break three world records today, securing their own legacy in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The effort was the culmination of a class assignment from Miss Colleen McNamara for her fifth-grade class. The students researched potential world records and wrote essays on why their records should be attempted.

The records attempted were the most people doing sit-ups simultaneously, the longest pop-n-lock arm wave and the most high-fives in one minute.

These photos are from the sit-up attempt. We don't yet have the results of the attempts.

Officials from throughout Genesee County were at Genesee Community College yesterday afternoon to join in a celebration of the college's continued growth -- groundbreaking for the Student Success Center and Event Center.

The Student Success Center will provide a sleek new entrance to the Campus and the Event Center will be the area’s largest indoor event arena with 25,000 square feet of open multipurpose floor space.

One man was instrumental in envisioning the expense and is being memorialized in the Event Center.

GCC’s President Jim Sunser unveiled the Event Center's official title, in honor of a man he was proud to call his friend, Richard C. Call.  

"The Board of Trustees has also given me the great privilege of announcing that at the boards May meeting the Trustees' intent to dedicate the Event Center to Dick Call and forever inscribe his name above the doors to this wonderful new building that's helping to create our future. The Richard C. Call Arena will be a tribute to the remarkable legacy of a man that has given so much to our college and community. And as we look ahead to the future the Richard C. Call Arena will symbolize the strength of our community and the power that we all have to make a difference in other people’s lives.”

Craig Yunker, chairman for the GCC Foundation "Creating Our Future Together" Campaign, tied the entire endeavor together with a childhood memory of GCC’s foundation.  

“Fifty years ago I was 15; I remember my parents talking about this at the dinner table and going out and joining some other people in trying to get this referendum passed, and some of those people are here tonight.”

The celebration was as much about the community’s collaboration as it was about the facilities themselves. The college was asked to match $5 million of State funds and with many generous donations by local supporters it surpassed that amount raising $5.4 million.

Work on both facilities is expected to be complete sometime around July of 2017.

Our news partner, WBTA contributed to this story.

GCC President Jim Sunser.

Retired, longtime GCC President Stuart Steiner in the middle, then Craig Yunker and GC Legislature Chairman Ray Cianfrini.

Diane D. Torcello, chair of the College's Board of Trustees.

Eunice A. Lewin, SUNY trustee.

Craig Yunker, chair of the GCC Foundation's Creating Our Future Together Campaign.

Press release:

The halls at Byron-Bergen Jr./Sr. High School were full of colorful and imaginative artwork and pottery, and the cafeteria was filled with music as hundreds of community members, parents, teachers and students got their creative buzz on. The school’s third-annual Buzzin’ Bistro event showcased a wide range of talent and drew a huge, enthusiastic crowd on April 22.

The Buzzin’ Bistro began with the opening of the District Art Show, which featured visual arts from the elementary and jr./sr. high schools. Participating art teachers Melissa Coniglio, Sandy Auer and Justine Fritz displayed the best work from their classes in a variety of media, including several exceptional student portfolios.

The main event, however, was the music. The Buzzin’ Bistro is an opportunity for students from grades five through 12 to perform with each other in front of a community audience. They are also able to sing and play as equals alongside their music teachers and talented musicians from the Bergen community. This year, guest artist Johnny Cummings, talented songwriter and Byron-Bergen alumnus (2000), and his band entertained and inspired the young artists.

The musical portion of the evening began with the fifth- and sixth-grade Jazz Band and Jazz Choir, directed by teachers Robert Lancia and Karen Tischer, with impressive solos from students Cameron Carlson and Angel Heick. Teacher Kevin Bleiler directed both the jr. and sr. high jazz bands in several numbers that had the younger members of the audience on their feet dancing. The Singing Silhouettes, a select group of high school chorus members, led by teacher Laurence Tallman, swung a wonderful version of the classic “In the Mood.”

Students took a breather to let staff members Amanda Cook, Alyson Tardy, Amber Taylor-Burns, Jodie Vandelay and Megan Wahl, along with community musicians Steve Keenan, Chris DeValder and Bob Wilkins, join the music department to perform a few numbers. Johnny Cummings and his band, Something Else, followed with a showstopping 30-minute set that had all the students up and dancing. The evening concluded with a rendition of “Twist and Shout” involving the jr. high band, sr. high band and community members.

Buzzin’ Bistro was sponsored and supported by the Byron-Bergen Music Boosters, Todd Sloat from T.S. Lighting, LLC, Ralph Marsocci from McCullagh Coffee Roasters, Ralph & Rosie’s Delicatessen, and Greg’ry’s Bakery.

The Byron-Bergen Central School District’s Board of Education has named Mickey Edwards as the district’s next Superintendent. Edwards’ start date is July 1.

“The search process was rigorous and the Board of Education truly values the input we received from the various stakeholder groups, including staff, and community members who met with the candidates to help us make a final decision,” said Board President Debi List.

“With his dedication, enthusiasm, and professional background, along with a deep understanding of many aspects of educational leadership, our board feels that Mr. Edwards is an excellent fit for the students, faculty and staff of the district."

Edwards currently serves as the superintendent of Wyoming Central Schools located in Wyoming, NY. Previously, he served as the coordinator of Curriculum and Instruction for Orleans/Niagara BOCES, a position he held from 2009 until 2014.

Edwards began teaching in 1995 as an art teacher for the Hilton Central School District. In 1996, he began teaching at Albion Central Schools as an Art/Technology instructor. He continued his career at Albion Central Schools serving as the elementary school dean of students, middle school assistant principal and high school principal. Edwards is a veteran of the Marine Corp.

Edwards earned a Bachelor of Science in Art Education from Roberts Wesleyan College, and a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from The College at Brockport. He holds a School District Administrator certificate from The College at Brockport.

“I am very excited to join the Byron-Bergen Central School District team and meet the staff, students, and the community members of Byron and Bergen. Byron-Bergen Central School District should be proud of its many accomplishments and strengths. I look forward to continuing this tradition of excellence as we work together to ensure that our students are successful and prepared for tomorrow,” Edwards said.

Kevin MacDonald, district superintendent of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership, acted as search consultant. MacDonald said the Board developed and implemented a process that helped to determine the best candidate.

“Mr. Edwards understands the challenges and issues the districts in our region face. His breadth of experience, and educational leadership will greatly benefit this district as he works with the Board of Education, staff and community to provide a quality education for the children of this community,” MacDonald said.

Press release:

The Byron-Bergen chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) welcomed 15 new student members to their distinguished company on April 20.

The service included congratulations from Interim Superintendent Jon Hunter, Ph.D., along with the time-honored candle-lighting ceremony that acknowledges the high standards students in NHS must exhibit in knowledge, character, leadership, service and scholarship.

Inductees each received a yellow rose, which they shared with family members, and were presented with their traditional honor cords and certificates.

Jr./Sr. High School Principal Patrick McGee asked students to consider the question posed in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “Outliers”: Why do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential? He challenged students to work hard and use every opportunity they can find to fulfill their promising futures.

Students also heard from two inspiring guest speakers, Amy (Seward) Stacy (Class of 1980), and Helen Hulburt, the mother of Judy (Hulburt) Holly (Class of 1976). Stacy and Holly were this year’s Alumni Hall of Fame honorees.

The 2016 inductees to the Byron-Bergen National Honor Society are: Cameron Brumsted, Catherine Brumsted, Lauren Burke, Benjamin Chaback, Quinn Chapell, Brionna DeMichel, Margaret Graney, Justin Hannan, Hayley Hoehn, Brian Ireland, Daniel Jensen, Peyton Mackey, Makenzie Muoio, Leah Thompson and Dana VanValkenburg.

Current Members of the Byron-Bergen National Honor Society are: Olivia Audsley, Merrisa Bohn, Rose Bower, Bethany Ezard, Rider Farnsworth, Chase Felton, Clare Fraser, Brittany Goebel, Lauren Graney, Kaitlyn Harder, Ana Hubbard, Cora Ivison, Kelsey Maurer, Taylor McPherson, Celia Mercovich, Ashley Montgomery, Esther Musiyevich, Grace Pulcini, Brittany Rada, Brandon Reiner, Alexandria Rosse, Colby Savage, Adam Walter and Michael Zwerka.

National Honor Society membership not only recognizes students for their accomplishments, but also challenges them to develop further through active involvement in school activities and community service. The organization has chapters in all 50 states, Canada, and beyond.

Press release:

Imagine a classroom where students can design and manufacture an iPhone case, whistles or even a part for an RC car for pennies on the dollar.

It's happening at Elba Central School with the help of a 3-D printer, which the school acquired as part of Genesee Valley BOCES Make and Take Workshop back in February.

A 3-D printer works much like a more familiar 2-D text and picture printer.

"3D printers take a digital file and turn it into a three-dimensional object layer by layer," said Elba's Technology coordinator, Mary Beth Stacy. "Engineering classes can print their designs and see if they will actually work instead of just assuming that it will. The printer we have can actually print many of it's own parts."

"The students design the objects using CAD software and then print it," Stacy said. "Sometimes the design works and sometimes it fails. Great life lessons about learning from their mistakes and not giving up are being reinforced, along with critical thinking and problem solving skills."

Instead of ink, users can choose their own material. Most educators use a low-cost plastic filament.

"The students are really excited to see it," Kevin Rombaut, technology teacher at Elba Central School said. "It allows them to see rapid prototyping and modeling. It gives them actual objects that they can see and hold other than just a computer rendering or imagination.

"It allows them to create parts and/or objects and to re-invent. I had one student break a part on their RC vehicle. They took it, drew a new one, changed the design to offer more support, and printed a new part out."

Elba Central School is doing what it can in keeping current with technology to help their students succeed in the future.

As Stacy pointed out, "Our students' futures will have technology embedded in their daily lives."

Oakfield-Alabama Central School continues to innovate around the tech-education curriculum, and today students participated in a project to build a new 3D printer for the school.

The project was part of a class taught by Patti Buczek and Missy Lee.

Photos provided by the school district. ​

Students from eight area high schools were at Genesee Community College today to show off their sales and marketing skills in a virtual trade fair sponsored by the Accelerated College Enrollment (ACE) program.

The students applied skills they learned in their classrooms to try and convince others to buy their products using virtual credit cards. Students were required to interact with potential buyers by making pitches, showing off catalogs and demonstrating their products. The transactions were recorded and receipts deposited in virtual bank accounts. Students are judged on sales skills and sales results. The top three businesses were to receive awards.

Particpating schools were Batavia, Dansville, Elba, Le Roy (two teams), Livonia, Notre Dame and there was a team from Wyoming County.

Also coming up are the annual Tech Wars, which is March 17, starting at 9:30 a.m.

Le Roy's Wolcott Street School was evacuated this morning “due to an odor,” Brian Foeller, business administrator, said in an automated voice message to parents.

Students were not allowed into the building, and are being sent home.

Students who take the bus to school will be “reverse-bused” home. Those who do not have a parent to receive them will be taken to the junior-senior high school or to a sitter if one is on file, the message said.

Students who walked to school were being dismissed from the school auditorium, the message said.

Wolcott Street School houses students in grades K-6.

UPDATE 9:45 a.m.: Le Roy Fire Department and RG&E personnel are at the school to investigate a possible natural gas leak. Also, in a follow-up automated message, the district said the evacuation was completed by 9:30 a.m. and any students who have not been sent home can be picked up at the Junior-Senior High School. 

It was Family Reading Night at Jackson School on Thursday night, with parents joining their children for events at the school, including community volunteers reading to students.

Above, City Schools Superintendent Chris Dailey reading to a class.

Barbara Holder, who retired many years ago from teaching, but still regularly volunteers at Jackson School, was the reader in another classroom.

Batavia Police Officer Pete Flanagan.

Shaley Johnson plays a puzzle game with Jesse Higgins.