BOCES

Press release:

Earlier this month, hundreds of high school students from across New York state attended the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) State Leadership Conference, which was held in Binghamton.

Students from the Mount Morris and Batavia Career and Technical Education (CTE) centers attended this competition and earned the highest awards in their events. These students proved to be the top student technology experts in the state. As a result of earning these awards, four students have qualified to attend the National FBLA Leadership in Baltimore in late June.

“FBLA is a great learning opportunity for our students, they gain confidence in their abilities and develop valuable networking skills to aid them in their future,” said Maggie Poray, Batavia CTE Center Programming and Interactive Media instructor.

Angel Felix and Spencer Herring are Computer Information Systems students who attend the Mount Morris CTE Center. Both are students from Geneseo Central Schools. This team won first place in the Computer Game and Simulation Competition.

This is the second year that Angel has competed in this competition. Last year, he also earned first place in the Computer Game and Simulation Competition. This year’s game has a theme, “A Day in the Life of a FBLA student.”

“It is a two-dimensional game that is played on a computer. The characters have different activities such as competing in FBLA events and even fundraising. In our game, the characters are also developing a game. We spent six months working on this project which includes two main and 10 other characters,” Angel said.

Spencer said, “This was my first year entering the FBLA Competition, Angel and I are a great team. It’s an open-world game, which means the player can roam a virtual world and approach objectives freely.

"Angel and I thought about some of the things we do as FBLA students and we put that into the game. We had some programming glitches to work through but we worked together to fix these issues.”

“Angel and Spencer put a lot of hard work and dedication into their Computer Game and Simulation competition. They were able to build on the experience from last year to develop their skills in programming, design and problem solving to develop an amazing computer game to present to the judges this year,” Poray said.

Larry Harvey, Mount Morris CTE Center Computer Information Systems instructor said, “We are incredibly proud of our students for competing and producing results that will enrich their lives for years to come.

"The Genesee Valley Educational Partnership along with the Future Business Leaders of America organization, believe that the most important skills that we teach are the ones that the students will use far beyond school and into everyday life.”

Taylor Tyczka is a Batavia CTE Center Programming and Interactive Media student from Attica CS. She is a junior and was elected as NY FBLA District 10 State Vice President. This is the first time that a student from the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership has been elected as a state FBLA officer.

“I am very excited to be elected for this position," Taylor said. "I worked very hard on my campaign. I will attend state FBLA meetings and serve as a liaison between the schools and chapters in District 10 and the state FBLA.

"I’m very thankful to my advisors and my teacher, Ms. Poray, for providing me with this opportunity to attend this state conference. This is an honor for me to serve.”

Donovan Kelley is a Batavia CTE Center Programming and Interactive Media student from Caledonia-Mumford. He earned fifth place in the Computer Applications Competition.

About a year ago, after Brooks Hawley moved into a family home in the Town of Batavia, with the help of Brian Kemp, Kemp asked if there was anything on the old farm that might be suitable as bike racks for Downtown Batavia.

Two weeks later, Hawley showed up at Kemp's shop with four hog farrowing pens in his pickup truck.

Kemp, co-owner of T-Shirts Etc., is an artist who specializes in turning found objects into art and he thought the pens just might work.

Kemp started talking to anybody he could about helping out with the project. He knew he needed people who could work with metal and weld and had the equipment to do it.

"As with all of my projects, mention it to enough people and sure enough, someone will bite," Kemp said.

One day, Tim Gleba, a machine shop instructor at Batavia CTE (BOCES) came into Kemp's shop to pick monogrammed shirts and Kemp told him about the bike rack project.

Gleba immediately saw the potential for the school to get involved, so for the past several weeks, students in four different programs have been converting the pens into bike racks to be placed around downtown Batavia.

The project brings together students from the machine shop, welding, auto body, and conservation.

James Roggow, a student from Byron-Bergen, designed and fabricated finials to cap the bench arms, and other students are fabricating other parts for the racks and bench, including filigree end pieces for the bench (only one of the racks will have a park bench attached); welding is putting the pieces together; auto body students will paint the metal; and the conservation students logged a tree and made planks from it for the bench seat and back.

Auto body instructor Jeff Fronk saw the project as a perfect community contribution for his students.

"I thought it was cool," Fronk said. "These are going to be around the city for a long time. When these guys become young adults and have families of their own they can say, you know what, I did that. We did that in our class."

Fronk said he's really into color and what colors mean. He said he's always associated the color blue with Batavia, so the benches, he said, will be painted in a metallic blue that fades into a metallic orange.  Blue, because it symbolizes peace, harmony and unity, and orange because it symbolizes balance and warmth.

Kemp said he's looking forward to seeing the bike racks installed Downtown.

"I’m excited to see the progress of this project, along with the amount of collaboration it has taken to pull this together," Kemp said. "We are blessed to live in a community like this."

Graham Manufacturing is also assisting with the project.

Top photo: Three of the machine shop students who worked on the project with the first bench that is near completion, Arden Schadt, left, Evan Bartz, and James Roggow.

Below, one of the finials for the bench and a picture of the design on a computer.

This is what the pen looked like when it arrived at the machine shop (photo courtesy Tim Gleba).

The point -- at least at first glance -- of the auto body shop at Batavia CTE (BOCES) is for students to learn how to repair dings and dents and apply primer and paint to fenders and doors.

On a short tour today, Instructor Jeff Fronk told The Batavian that the kids in his class learn more than just restoration and bodywork.

"I tell my kids in here that we are fix it, men and women," Fronk said. "What I mean by that is we can fix everything but a broken heart and a cobweb. We fix everything teachers and our customers bring to us. You name it, we've fixed it. It's more than just cars -- furniture, metal trade stuff, clear coating, we do fix it all."

Members of the class present today pose (top photo) with a 1953 Mercury owned by a Batavia resident who started the restoration project but then brought it to Jeff and his students when he needed more help. The class is pretty proud of the project, which is near completion.

Below, a photo of Fronk with a mailbox painted by a student.

Fronk loves colors and he loves painting stuff.

"Everything in the world is painted, right?" he said.

In another picture below, a student buffs a go-kart body with a Corvette design. Fronk said the body was rescued from a dumpster and was cracked and broken. He challenged the students to turn it into something special, something they could be proud of when they were done. Besides a shiny paint job, the colors of body change depending on what angle you view it from. He's already obtained another banged up go-kart body for the next group of seniors who come through the class.

Here is a list of students in the class. They all participated in the Mercury project. Not all were available today for the picture at the top of the story.

• John Achatz – Attica
• Adrien Anderson – Oakfield-Alabama
• Taigon Baker – Batavia City (absent)
• Arin Bannister – Attica
• David Boyce – Pembroke
• Hannah Cathcart – Batavia City
• Nathan Hamilton – Batavia City
• Jarod Kates – Attica
• Jeremy Kimanski -- Le Roy
• Trinity Liles – Batavia City (absent)
• Damin Rautenstrauch – Attica
• Connor Tracy-Graybeal – Attica
• Alyssa Virgilio – Batavia City
• Dylan Walker -- Adult

Photo: Bob Yates, Batavia CTE Center Auto Technology instructor, with Ryan George and Cassidy Cater.

Submitted photo and press release:

Despite a tough contest, Cassidy Cater and Ryan George, Batavia Career and Technical Education Center Auto Technology students, placed fourth in the Ron Smith Auto Tech Competition, sponsored by the Niagara Frontier Automobile Dealers Association.

Cassidy and Ryan are seniors from Attica Central Schools.

Beforehand, Cassidy and Ryan worked every school day for two weeks at Basil Ford in Cheektowaga. There they practiced with a technician on a 2018 Ford Escape.

During the competition, Ryan and Cassidy worked through timed stations where they were required to complete tasks such as precision measurement, drop voltage, balancing a tire, splicing a wire, and soldering. In order to receive points, these assignments needed to be completed in less than 10 minutes.

“I was comfortable doing these tasks because I was familiar with this work,” Ryan said. 

“These are things that we learned in our class. Mr. Yates prepared us for what we might have to do during the competition,” Cassidy said.

A total of nine teams competed, all from schools and career and technical education centers across Western New York. Cassidy and Ryan were in the senior division. The daylong event was held at Erie Community College Vehicle Technology Training Center in Orchard Park. 

Competition was fierce said Bob Yates, Auto Technology Instructor at the Batavia Career and Technical Education Center.

Ryan and Cassidy were required to diagnose and repair a 2018 Ford Escape that was bugged with many mechanical issues.

“There were very intricate and technical bugs that were set up in the car," Yates said. "Even a seasoned technician would have struggled with some of these problems. The rear hatch would not open and Ryan had to reprogram it and he got it to work. Very few teams got the car to operate and Ryan and Cassidy got the car to start and run."

“We also had to do a pinpoint test, which is a step-by-step procedure on how to fix the car. We got a perfect score on the alignment and the alignment test,” Cassidy added.

“The competition was scored on a total of 1,000 points," Yates said. "The difference between the first-place score and fourth-place was only 21 points." 

Ryan described the event as a great experience.

“It was fun, hands-on and taught me a lot about electrical systems in cars.” Cassidy said “It gave us a taste of what working in the real-world will be like.”

About Batavia CTE 

The Batavia Career and Technical Education Center is a program of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership. The Partnership operates as a Board of Cooperative Educational Services offering shared programs and services to 22 component school districts located in Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston and Steuben counties in New York State.

A BOCES student is suspected of making threats of violence at the Batavia campus and he is currently undergoing a mental health evaluation in Buffalo.

The name of the student is not being released and he has not been charged, though Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster said that if there is sufficient evidence for charges against the youth, he will be charged.

Brewster said local law enforcement takes these kinds of threats seriously and will act on them when they come to the attention of local officials.

"We're still trying to pin down what he said and to whom," Brewster said. "If anyone is going to make such threats about something they're going to do at a school, they are going to get arrested."

Superintendent Chris Daily confirmed he was made aware of the threats and notified local law enforcement.

"We look into any kind of threat and work with local law enforcement to make sure it is not credible, and if it is we act accordingly," Daily said. "We take any threat very seriously. The safety of our students is of utmost importance."

It's unclear if the student made verbal threats or if he had written anything down. Brewster said investigators are still looking into it. 

Daily said he was only aware of statements the student reportedly made at BOCES.

Brewster characterized the threats, based on information available so far, as vague threats to hurt students with no reference as to how he would do it.

The youth is somebody with prior criminal charges.

Batavia PD was notified of the alleged threats and has offered to assist in the investigation, Chief Shawn Heubusch said.

It's important, Brewster said, for parents, teachers, fellow students, and others who come in contact with somebody making threats against schools to notify authorities.

"Unfortunately, we live in a day and age when the rule is, if you see something, say something," Brewster said. "Police can't act on anything if they don't know about it."

Parents of students and parents of prospective students were able to tour Batavia CTE (BOCES) last night and see firsthand what some of the course offerings are that help prepare students for careers in law enforcement, welding, manufacturing, agriculture, auto repair, cosmetology, culinary arts and other careers.

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It was an emotional moment when Jodie Hebdon radioed dispatch to sign off, signaling his last shift as a deputy with the Genesee County Sheriff's Office after 35 years of service.

Hebdon spent the past 16 as resource officer at the BOCES campus on State Street in Batavia. And it's leaving that job that is particularly difficult he said.

"I'm going to miss these kids," Hebdon said. "You know, there are some kids here that have been through horrible lives, horrible living conditions. Trauma, PTSD, whatever you want to call it. The ability to at least interact with them and make something happen for them is good."

Hebdon started his law enforcement career in the Army and when he came home after a hitch in Germany, he enrolled at Genesee Community College. After a stint as a corrections officer, Hebdon was transferred to road patrol before being asked to apply for the resource officer position at BOCES.

The majority of the students at BOCES don't have issues, Hebdon said, but it's dealing with the at-risk kids and helping them is what made the job worthwhile.

"I was the one person they interviewed (for the job)," Hebdon said. "Why I gravitated to the job is I like helping at-risk kids. Today I had six girls at different times who came up to me who were victims of severe abuse, sex abuse, rape. They see me as a safe adult, a safe male. They have the ability to speak in a good way to a man without being extorted or taken advantage of. They gave me some long embraces. They don't want me to go."

When it was time for Hebdon to leave, his coworkers both within the ranks of the Sheriff's Office, other local law enforcement officers and staff at BOCES formed two lines outside the BOCES entrances and saluted and applauded Hebdon.

Then it was time to sign out.

"This is hard," Hebdon said, brushing back a tear before informing dispatchers he was saying goodbye.

Press release:

Officials from the Batavia Development Corporation, the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce and the Batavia Business Improvement District, collaborators on the Foodie Challenge, recently presented the proceeds from the People’s Choice Tasting Event to Chef Burgio and Culinary Arts students. Chef Tracy Burgio noted how this $750 donation would support student activities.

“This contribution to the Culinary Arts Club will help to enrich our students’ culinary education by helping to fund field trips, projects and student competitions,” Chef Burgio said.

“We appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with the Batavia Development Corporation and the freshLAB project. It is our hope that this partnership sparks more involvement with our community partners,” said Jon Sanfratello, executive principal of the Batavia CTE Center and Campus.

Photo: Barb Shine, front, left, and Pierluigi Cipollone from the Batavia Development Corporation; Mary Vandenbosch, student; Steve Pies, Batavia Development Corporation; Chef Tracy Burgio, Culinary Arts instructor, Batavia CTE Center; Danny Pernesky, Debra Moore, students. Back left: Austin Deck, student; Jon Sanfratello, executive principal, GVEP Batavia Campus; Julie Pacatte, Batavia Development Corporation; Tom Turnbull, Genesee County Chamber of Commerce.

More after the jump:

 

“I want to leave a legacy of Puerto Rican cooking to my family. I want to leave that legacy to my kids,” said Victor Figueroa, of Batavia.

Figueroa will get that opportunity after being named the People’s Choice winner and Selection Committee Top Contestant at the freshLAB’s Foodie Challenge, held at Batavia Career and Technical Education Center (CTE) on Sept. 23.

Figueroa was one of eight competitors who created a sweet or savory dish for the challenge. He found inspiration from his culture’s love of finger food by creating Puerto Rican Cheeseburger Empanada with passion fruit chili sauce – a secret family recipe.

As the winner, Figueroa will be offered free tuition to attend the freshLAB restaurant ownership Boot Camp and the opportunity to win $30,000 to open his own restaurant on Main Street, Batavia.

Local restaurant creativity advocates conceived the freshLAB restaurant incubator to strengthen the local food service industry and to capitalize on more that $20,000,000 that leaves Genesee County each year when residents eat, drink and pay for entertainment elsewhere. The project is funded, in part, by USDA Rural Development to intentionally link regional agriculture to the menu.

The proceeds from the Foodie Challenge, $750 in total, were donated to the Culinary Arts Club at the Batavia CTE Center.

Chef Tracy Burgio, the Culinary Arts instructor at the Batavia CTE Center, and four students guided the contestants through all-day cooking preparations.

“I hope this will open the door for my students in seeing the path from the classroom to an actual career,” Chef Burgio saida.

During the competition, the kitchen was open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for contestants to prepare their dishes. They were required to create at least 150 samples, with one ingredient being locally sourced.

Gina Bianco, of Middleport, created Eggplant Busiolo -- her mother’s recipe. She enjoys cooking homemade, authentic food that comes from the heart. In fact, Bianco’s confident she could open a restaurant using family recipes.

“I’ve always wanted to have my own restaurant. I have my own food truck. My mom was a cook and my dad was a cook, and I have good, traditional family recipes,” Bianco said.

At 5 p.m., the contestants had to stop cooking and plate their food. Ticket holders were then invited to sample the food and cast their votes for their favorite dish.

“I read an article about this competition and I thought it would be fun to support people who want to start their own business,” said Janice Spiotta, a counselor at Churchville-Chili Central Schools.

Her friend, Catherine Johnston, a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at Pavilion Central Schools, also enjoyed the event.

“I’m a foodie and this is a great event,” Johnston said.

Friends Andrea Fetterly, from Batavia, and Wendy Bailey, from Churchville, have been on a weight-loss journey together. They chose to attend the Foodie Challenge because they wanted to get food ideas for their families and be able to sample food, instead of sitting down to eat a large meal.

Andrea enjoyed Figueroa’s dish, while Wendy raved about Bianco’s eggplant and a dish called “Bahama Mama” made by Daniel DelPlato, of Batavia.

Ronald Smith, of Rochester, is a roofer by trade but has always dreamed of opening his own restaurant. He wanted to bring diversity to the competition with his dish of Pollo de Miel.

“So many cultures have good food but people don’t travel far to eat,” Smith said. “People don’t get that exposure and I want to bring that to them.”

Additional contestants included Lisa Casey, Judy Hysek, Christopher Hysek and Rob Rudnicki, all of Batavia.

Officials from the Batavia Development Corporation, the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce and the Batavia Business Improvement District, collaborators on the event, recently presented the proceeds from the People’s Choice Tasting Event to Chef Burgio and Culinary Arts students.

Chef Burgio noted how this $750 donation would support student activities.

“This contribution to the Culinary Arts Club will help to enrich our students’ culinary education by helping to fund field trips, projects, and student competitions,” Chef Burgio said.

“We appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with the Batavia Development Corporation and the freshLAB project. It is our hope that this partnership sparks more involvement with our community partners,” said Executive Principal Sanfratello.

A pet therapy dog, flying doves, a butterfly, a tree with a swing, a meditation bench, a lilac bush and a drum, these are just some of the metal sculptures that were handcrafted by area career and technical education students. More than 100 students from four career and technical education centers located across Western New York have created more than 70 metal sculptures that will be auctioned to benefit The Mental Health Association.

Welding for Wellness is a collaborative project that includes students from 65 school districts, which span 10 counties in Upstate New York. Students in the Metal Trades Programs at Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES, Monroe 2- Orleans BOCES, Monroe #1 BOCES, the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership (GV BOCES) have worked since December to craft this artwork.

In June, these sculptures will be auctioned to benefit The Mental Health Association. The auction will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, June 2, from at Village Gate on the 2nd floor Atrium, 274 N. Goodman St., Rochester.

Auction tickets may be purchased online at Weldingforwellness.com or by contacting the Mental Health Association at (585) 325-3145.

The American Welding Society – Rochester section is a sponsor of this project.

Getting to work on parts that NASA will actually use on the International Space Station is definitely something to brag about, said Dominick Brown, a senior at Batavia High School (at right, in photo above) and a student in BOCES precision machinery program.

Brown and about a dozen other students are part of a program begun this year at BOCES by teacher Tim Gleba, who persisted in his pursuit last year to get Batavia's machine shop course accepted into NASA's HUNCH program. HUNCH is a nationwide program started in 2003 that gives high school students the chance to design and manufacture hardware for NASA. The program has since expanded to include culinary arts as well so that students can come up with ready-to-eat meals for astronauts.

Students have made single-purpose storage lockers to hold experiments being taken up to the space station and one of the next projects is new handrails.

Brown's reaction was like a lot of students in a video presented by NASA scientist Florance Gold, Ph.D, yesterday at a press conference about the program in Batavia. The students all said the program inspired them to think about engineering, science and aerospace careers and gave them the confidence to think it might be something they could pursue.

"It’s really awesome that we actually get to work for NASA and it’s something I can put on my resume," Brown said. "I’m always bragging to my friends, ‘OK, I work for NASA now.’ It’s kind of cool. I’m definitely very grateful for everything my teachers and NASA have presented to me to be part of this amazing program. I’m crazy grateful. Unlike test hardware, we’re making actual hardware that is going into the space station, so it’s something that I can say, ‘I made parts that are in the space station.’ ”

Tim Gleba with the first part his precision machine students made for NASA.

NASA scientist Flo Gold

Nancy Hall, an aerospace engineer with NASA, who works at the Glenn Research Center in Ohio.

A couple of weeks ago, BOCES students were able to visit the facility. Hall said it's special getting to work for NASA.

“One thing I want to pass onto the students is think about the opportunity you have in front of you," Hall said. "You’re going to be making parts for NASA, which is just neat in itself. Even myself, working for NASA, I still pinch myself."

Amanda Phelps, a HUNCH support machinist with one of the storage lockers designed and made by high school students.

Automotive techs are in demand and the demand is growing, according to Peter DeLacy, owner of DeLacy Ford in East Aurora, which is why the WNY Ford Dealers started a program three years ago to donate cars with "real world" experience to local high schools.

The goal is to help and encourage high school students with an interest in auto repair to stick with it as a career choice and gain valuable experience working on cars with some of the last technological advancements.

"They're often working on 15-year-old cars and there isn't much interest in working on cars that don't have the latest technology," DeLacy said.

Yesterday, the dealers donated at 2014 Ford Fusion to the automotive shop at BOCES.

"We rely on donations like this in order for our kids to get the best training possible so that when they leave school, they can go right out to the workforce and do the best they can," said BOCES in Batavia Principal Jon Sanfratello (speaking at the podium in the photo above).

The dealers pool their resources to acquire cars from Ford Credit that have come out of the lease program. Delacy said auto teachers want cars with some mileage on them and in need of some maintenance, not brand-new cars, for their students to work on. Once the dealers have ensured all auto shop programs in the region have cars, they will start a three- or four-year rotation process of providing newer slightly used vehicles to the schools so students always have close to the latest technology at their fingertips.

There isn't much about a Ford or a GM or a Toyota that is so proprietary that a student can't learn a broad range of applicable skills, regardless of which car it is, Delacy said. Many car components, and the technology today that enables and manages them, are built to government-mandated specifications, so when a tech hooks up a diagnostic computer to a car, the readout is the same regardless of the make or model.

"The diagnostic codes, how you access the primary powertrain control module, how you do all of these things is pretty much the same for all manufacturers," Delacy said.

The goal for the Ford dealers, of course, is to ensure as many young techs come out of high school and two years of college with an interest in working at Ford dealerships, but as long as there are more techs in the market, it's better for everybody.

"The technicians we have now, they’ve put their time in and they want to retire," Delacy said. "There’s not a big pool of talent to choose from, so knowing that the Ford dealers of Western New York, including myself, decided to ask, ‘where do we get technicians? How do we get them interested?’ Because a lot of people don’t want to get into that. They want to be other things and this is a very good pay program when you get into the dealership level."

It's a good career choice, Delacy said, because it's stable, it pays well and dealership jobs are good jobs, and since the only college required is couple of years at a community college, so the career makes sense financially.

"The great part is it's not a huge investment," Delacy said. "They don't have student loans to pay for five or 10 years. They’re out in the real world, earning real money, keeping their money and investing it, so we’re on the ground floor of great opportunity, allowing students to get a good education and they’re ready to go when they get out of college and they don’t have a huge debt load, so it’s a win-win-win for everybody."

Press release:

The 2017 Cougar Classic Golf Tournament is just a few months away and registration is now open for the second annual event scheduled for Monday, July 24, which will once again take place at the prestigious Stafford Country Club, 8873 Morganville Road, (Route 237) Stafford. With 88 golfers, 22 teams, 60 sponsors and tons of fun the inaugural event in 2016 raised approximately $25,000 for student scholarships!

The registration deadline is June 16, so don't wait until the last minute!

"We're looking forward to building on last year's success," Jerry Reinhart, who is returning as chair of the Cougar Classic Golf Tournament. Reinhart is member of GCC's Class of 1971, founder of Access Rentals and president of Reinhart Enterprises Inc.

"Although we saw a few raindrops last year, we're anticipating another day of quality golfing among friends and colleagues, and all for a great cause," Reinhart said. "As an alumnus myself, I can attest to the value a GCC degree and the important contribution the College makes to our community overall."

Up to 36 foursomes will once again take part in the 18-hole event, which tees off in "shotgun" style at 12:30 p.m. New this year will be a bocce tournament, welcoming more than just golfers to join the fun. Registration will begin at 11:30 a.m. with a light lunch available. Beginning at 5:30 p.m., participants are invited to attend dinner in the club house where a silent auction and prize drawings will conclude the event. Games including Skins, Beat the Pro, Longest Drive (Men's and Women's), Closest to the Pin and a Putting Contest add excitement to the day and gives everyone a chance to walk away with one of a number of prizes.

Sponsorships of all kinds are currently being sought to support the event and student scholarships. The sponsorship levels are: Platinum $3,000; Diamond/Dinner $2,000; Gold/Lunch $1,500; Silver/Beverage Cart Sponsor/$1,000; Titanium/Tee $500; and Bronze/Hole $100. In-kind support, golf games, and clever or creative sponsorships are also appreciated. The first gracious sponsor is the John W. Danforth Company, which pledged at the $1,000 Silver Level.

The cost per foursome is $500, or $125 per individual golfer. The cost to participate in the Bocce Tournament is $200 per team of four or $60 per individual player. For anyone interested in attending the event and supporting local students but cannot make the golf tournament, the dinner-only option is only $20 per person.

To receive a Cougar Classic printed invitation, participate as a golfer, bocce competitor, sponsor, volunteer or dinner guest, please contact Jennifer Zambito at (585) 343-0055, ext. 6265 or email the alumni office at alumni@genesee.edu. For further information, including golf and sponsorship registration and event updates, check out the Cougar Classic website at www.genesee.edu/home/offices/alumni/cougar-classic/.

Press release:

The Genesee Valley Educational Partnership recently celebrated the graduation of 28 students from its School of Nursing program.

This class graduated 22 students with high honors – a 90-percent or above average.  Students took part in this 12-month, 1,200-clock hour Licensed Practical Nursing program that is certified by the New York State Education Department.

The program is designed to prepare graduates for the NCLEX-PN Examination for licensure as a Licensed Practical Nurse. It is offered at three different site locations: Batavia, Greece and Leicester. 

For more information about this program, contact the Adult Education/School of Practical Nursing at (585) 344-7788.​

Pictured: Instructional coaches of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership with Jim Knight, director of the Kansas Coaching Project. (Courtesy of Jim Thompson.)

A new program for the improvement of teaching techniques has begun to take root in the Genesee Valley Boces school districts. The new program connects educators with trained coaches who review video footage of teaching sessions and provide commentary and advice to improve quality and effectiveness.

Jim Thompson, director of Instructional Coaching Services at Genesee Valley Educational Partnership, began installing the program during the 2014 school year. The program has since grown from 10 teachers in its first year, to being used in over nine districts in the area. Jim has worked as the primary coach since its inception, and is currently working on training educators in each district to become coaches themselves.

“We strive for excellent instruction, every day, in every classroom, for every student. That is our true north.” Thompson said, quoting his mentor Jim Knight, director of the Kansas Coaching Project at the University of Kansas.

The program itself involves several stages. First, teachers will meet with coaches, in order to establish goals and develop a positive relationship between them. Next, the teacher submits a 15-20 minute video clip from a teaching session. The coach will then review the video multiple times, implementing time-stamped commentary, concluding with a meeting and review session with both the educator and coach in person.

Thompson emphasized the importance of the teacher-coach relationship in the program, as well as the program’s non-evaluative nature, confidentiality and volunteer basis.

“The program is built on strong relationships and trust. We set up a relationship with teachers which not only generates trust, but also promotes a willingness on the part of both the teacher and coach to reflect on instruction and help improvement.”

One school in which the program has found a receptive home is in the Byron-Bergen district, where superintendent Mickey Edwards has instituted it in both the secondary and elementary levels. As of now, 40 percent of teachers in the school have participated in video coaching, and the school has begun training its own coaches.

“We offer it to teachers to help them improve on their craft and delivery,” Edwards said. “At Byron-Bergen, teachers are not done learning yet.”

Edwards compared the program to the model presented by sports film study, saying that watching yourself teach and seeing what you do well and what you need to improve on – terms which the program refers to as “glows and grows” – is an eye-opening experience.

Diana Walther, an eighth-grade English teacher from the school, is currently being trained as a coach for the district. As an educator who has seen the program from the perspective of a teacher as well as a coach, she claims that it was one of the most effective professional development programs she has been a part of.

“It draws your attention to things you’ve never thought of before,” she said. “Personally, I speak very quickly, so slowing down was something I needed to improve a lot.”

Walther also echoed Jim Thompson’s emphasis on the teacher-coach relationship. “Each session begins by getting to know each other,” Walther said, “in order to identify goals.”

Deborah Slocum, another coach from the Byron-Bergen district, says that her experience in the program also led to her desire to get involved.

“I had an epiphany, it was the most valuable professional reflection I’ve had over the past 24 years of teaching.”

The school has enjoyed the benefits of the program, so much as to implement it into their quarterly evaluation process. Each teacher goes through four annual evaluations, which often include a supervisor sitting in on a class. This option allows teachers to present a video session with a coach as one of their four evaluations.

“This ties into a growth model, where teachers can hone their craft,” Edwards said.

In the future, Edwards hopes to increase the size of the program to include many more coaches within the district.

“I’d like to see one in each content area, and a few at the elementary level.”

The program is in what Edwards referred to as a “fledgling stage,” and it will be evaluated at the end of the school year.

Paulie Guglieamo, owner of Guglieamo's Pasta Sauce and a radio personality in Rochester, was the celebrity chef at the Culinary Arts Program at BOCES yesterday.

Guglieamo shared with students how he started his business and talked about some of the challenges and pleasures of starting and owning your own business. He then took the students into the kitchen and showed him how he makes his pasta sauces, which are based on recipes developed by his grandmother during the Great Depression and use garden-fresh ingredients.

He encouraged students to follow their passions as they set themselves on a path toward their eventual careers.

"If you have passion and you truly love it, you can do it," Guglieamo said.

Guglieamo's sauce is now sold in Wegmans, Tops and other retail outlets throughout the northeast. He said he's succeeded because of the passion he has for his product.

"When you actually have something that is an extension of you -- that's my brand, that's me, that's my actual phone number, I put my cell phone number on every jar we sell -- you can't possibly fail," Guglieamo said. "I cannot not sell this jar of sauce. I can't walk into a store and not sell it."

When Guglieamo was first starting his radio career, he was in sales.

"I was very, very, very bad (at sales)," he said.

If a customer offered an objection, he didn't have an answer, but now, selling his own product, he has all the answers.

"I have the answers to everything because this is my life, this is my baby right here," he said.

Press release:

Genesee Valley Educational Partnership Drag Race Club will be hosting a car wash from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 22. The profits from the car wash will benefit the Drag Race Club.

The car wash will take place at the BOCES Genesee Valley campus, located at 8250 State Street Road in Batavia. Upon arrival, follow the signs through the campus.

Students from the Conservation, Metal Trades, Health Dimensions, Automotive Technology and Collision, Custom and Repair are working together to build a drag car.  The students have been working on disassembling a Ford Ranchero. 

Nick Grasso is battling cancer and he's the honoree for the 2016 Genesee Cancer Assistance Golf and Bocce Tournament.

The first time Nick was diagnosed with cancer was soon after the birth of his daughter, Gia, in the fall of 2014. He had surgery to remove the growing "retroperitoneal cystic mass," which was found after testing following a visit to the doctor for abdominal pain.

Later, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Meanwhile, little Gia, while still an infant, was found to have two tiny holes in her heart and had to undergo open heart surgery at Strong Memorial Hospital.

It seemed a long time in coming, and sometimes touch-and-go, but on Memorial Day, 2015, dad and daughter enjoyed swimming for the first time together. They have a special bond.

For one thing, both are certifiably "Grasso Strong," the apt motto adopted by friends, family, neighbors, caregivers, supporters -- all those who've rallied around this fierce family of cancer-slayers and heart-menders, outfitted in T-shirts bearing this bragging right.

If you would like to help them and others like them, consider taking part in the upcoming golf and bocce tournament. The fun is a given. The goodwill is guaranteed. The time is worthwhile. The cost for this cause is priceless.

The fundraiser will be held at Batavia Country Club on Friday, Aug. 19. It is located at 7909 Batavia Byron Road in the Town of Batavia.

This is a four-person Scramble Tournament. While foursome registrations are encouraged, individual registrations are welcome. You will be asked to name your desired teammates at registration.

There will be hole-in-one-prizes on all Par 3 holes, as well as a putting contest. Mulligans (can be used anywhere EXCEPT Par 3 holes) and Skins available for purchase at the event.

Golf -- Entry fees are $95 per golfer and include: green fees, cart, lunch, dinner, T-shirt and prizes.

• Registration opens at 10:30 a.m.
• Lunch is at 11
• Shotgun start -- noon
• Dinner, awards, prizes, raffles immediately following golf

Bocce -- Entry fees are $50 per player and include: Lunch, dinner, T-shirt and prizes.

• Registration opens at noon
• Game starts at 1 p.m.
• Dinner, awards, prizes, raffles immediately following game

For more information, contact Genesee Cancer Assistance at 345-0417. "Working Together to Make A Difference." Office hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. Or register via the nonprofit organization's website by clicking here.

Representatives of Z&M Ag and Turf presented a donation of tools to the conservation program at BOCES yesterday as part of a two-day seminar by Z&M and John Deere on some of the latest farming technology.

The first day was focused on dealers from throughout New York and yesterday the farms and shop techs came in to learn about technology advances from John Deere and the new precision GPS planting system.

John Duyssen is one of the conservation instructors -- concentrating on diesel and hydraulics repair and maintenance -- and he said the job of being a farmer is getting a lot more sophisticated as technology becomes more embedded in the process of planting and harvesting. The conservation program provides that instruction along with instruction on soil and water conversation.

Top photo: Carson Decarlo, left, Tom Klaeper, Tarra Shuknecht, John Tyx, Keith Conwa, Branden Cerefin, John Duyssen, and Ed Swain.

Press release:

Four students from the Batavia Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center recently competed in the Niagara Frontier Automobile Dealers Association (NFADA) Ron Smith Memorial AutoTech Competition. This event was held on Jan. 16 at Erie Community College.

Santiago Deluna, from Batavia CS, and Tyler Weaver, from Pavilion CS, both juniors, competed in the tire rodeo. This timed event tested the students’ speed and accuracy as they demonstrated their expertise on the Hunter TC3700 tire changer. Both students were required to take an exam about tire theory. This team placed second. Tyler took first place for the highest test score and won a Best Buy gift card.

Seniors Dylan Binnert, from Caledonia-Mumford CS, and Dan Cone, from Pavilion CS, participated in a three-part competition. The first section of the competition was comprised of workstations that included front-end alignment, wheel balance, brake systems, electrical repair, precision measurement, and noise and vibration diagnosis. The second phase of the competition included debugging a 2016 Ford F150 Truck. The competition concluded with a mock employment interview.

Dylan and Dan, the senior team, earned first place and will advance to the national competition in New York City at the end of March. This trip is an all expenses paid trip funded by the Niagara Frontier Automotive Dealer Association. Dunn Tire, LLC, sponsored the competition.

All four young men are students in the Auto Technology Program at the Batavia CTE. Bob Yates is the instructor.

Photo: Scott Bieler, president of West Herr Ford; Dylan Binnert; Dan Cone; and Bob Yates, celebrate the team’s first-place win in the Niagara Frontier Automobile Dealers Association (NFADA) Ron Smith Memorial AutoTech Competition.

Students with the Agri-Business Academy from the Batavia CTE assisted in a demonstration with the FFA Mobile Maple Syrup Exhibit at Alexander Elementary Schoool this morning.

About the exhibit:

The New York FFA Mobile Maple Exhibit is an interactive display depicting all facets of the maple industry. Housed in a 28-foot trailer, visitors are offered a firsthand look at: how maple syrup was discovered; how maple sap is collected from maple trees; and how the liquid sap is then processed into pure, sweet maple syrup. The presentation concludes with a sampling of pure maple syrup and/or other maple products.

The presentation is broken into five segments, with the first being a whole-group depiction of the discovery of maple syrup. Visitors are asked to imagine a time when only Native Americans inhabited our lands and how one day the sweet, clear maple liquid was discovered coming from a maple tree. Next, participants learn about tapping a tree, whittling an old-fashioned maple spout, and using a modern tubing system to collect the maple sap.

In these segments, students may have a chance to use a bit and brace to “tap” their own maple tree and install a metal maple spout. After tapping the maple tree, participants help “collect” the sap from metal buckets. In the third portion, students become a mini-forest of maple trees and learn how gravity helps collect the maple sap using a modern plastic tubing system.

As groups enter the trailer, they view an actual scene from our school’s woodlot and imagine a winter’s day in February. Here, we demonstrate how the maple sap is processed into fresh maple syrup by viewing an actual mini maple-syrup evaporator. Learn how the maple sap is transformed from a clear liquid into a sweet, golden syrup.

Our explanations include how water is removed from the sap, how the finished product is graded, filtered and packaged, and how maple syrup is used as a food and natural sweetener. Finally, sample the sweet results of hours of work with a tasting of pure maple syrup or other maple products. 

Above, Assemblyman Steve Hawley takes in the demonstration. Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer had visited the exhibit earlier.