le roy hs

Le Roy Fire Department, with assistance from Le Roy PD and Le Roy Ambulance, staged a simulated DWI fatal accident to help make seniors at Le Roy High School more aware of the dangers of distracted driving, and drinking and driving.

Le Roy beat Wellsville 7-1 on Sunday to win the Class B2 Section V Championship.

Video and photo by Tim McArdle.

Le Roy High School presents the musical "Once On This Island" this weekend.

A description of the story:

Ti Moune, a peasant girl, rescues a wealthy boy from the other side of the island, Daniel, with whom she falls in love. Unbeknownst to Ti Moune, the pompous gods who preside over the island make a bet with one another over which is stronger, love or death, the stakes being Ti Moune's life.

When she pursues Daniel, who has returned to his people, Ti Moune is shunned because of her lowly status. Her determination and capacity to love, though, is not enough to win Daniel's heart, and Ti Moune pays the ultimate price; but the gods turn Ti Moune into a tree that grows so strong and so tall, it breaks the wall that separates the societies and ultimately unites them.

Lead cast members:

• Ti Moune -- Marlena Pencille
• Daniel -- Lukas Austin
• Agwe -- Xach Carr
• Asaka -- Alexis Pfendler
• Erzulie -- Hailey Grasso
• Papa Ge -- Megan Privatera
• Mama Euralie -- Emily Overacker
• Ton Ton Julian -- Daniel Ferrara
• Little Ti Moune -- Ashlyn Puccio

All show times are at 7 p.m., opening tomorrow with shows on Friday and Saturday.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at leroycsd.org or at the door.

Girls indoor track teams from Le Roy and Batavia, and the boys team from Batavia came away with sectional titles after competing at meets at RIT on Friday and Saturday.

Le Roy garnered 78 points, far outpacing second-place Warsaw at 38 points in Class D.

In Class C, the Batavia girls team also finished well head of the next closest team with 132 points to 47.5 points for Palmyra-Macedon.

For the boys, they notched first with a dominating 152 points to 56 points for Wayne Central.

First-place showings for Le Roy:

• McKenna Cone in the 55 Meter Hurdles with a time of 9.03.
• McKenna Cone in the Long Jump with a distance of 6-07.25

The Le Roy Boys Track Team finished second to East Rochester with 43 points to 53 points.

First-place finishes for Batavia girls:

• Arianna Brown in the High Jump with a height of 4-08.00
• Emily Caccamise in the 1500 Meter Race Walk with a time of 9:04.69

First-place finishes for Batavia boys:

• Zakariah Jantzi in the 1000 Meter Run with a time of 2:40.24
• Garrick Havens in the 1600 Meter Run with a time of 4:46.34
• Garrick Havens in the 3200 Meter Run with a time of 10:25.96
• Batavia won the 400 Meter Relay with a time of 9:03.44
• Daemon Konieczny in the High Jump with a height of 6-01.00
• Alex Rood in the Shot Put with a distance of 53-10.00
• Matt Grover in the Weight Throw with a distance of 51-02.25

Batavia Coach Nick Burk also sent along this meet report:

The Batavia Indoor track and field team competed in Sectionals last night at RIT and came away with the double championship (boys and girls) for the third year in a row. The boys team won their eighth overall Sectional Championship and seventh title since 2008. The girls' team won their 15th Sectional Championship in 17 years with this being their sixth consecutive title. Both teams came into the meet very confident and excited to continue the high level of excellence that our program has developed.

For the boys' meet, our dominance in the throws continued with Alex Rood winning the Shot Put (53-10), while Jaheim Smith (48-7.25) and Evan Bartz (44-4.5) took second and fourth, respectively. Not to be outdone, our boys' Weight Throwers were even more impressive taking the top four places with Matt Grove (51-2.25) winning the event, followed by Evan Bartz (50-0.75), Alex Rood (49-11.25), and Cody Eisenberger (48-6.75).

Batavia's distance crew certainly shined in this meet, particularly Garrick Havens who won the 3200m (10:25.96), the 1600m (4:46.34), and was part of the winning 4x800 Relay (9:03.44) with Zak Jantzi, John Bruggman, and Mario Rosales. Zak Jantzi also won the 1000m (2:40.24) and Mario Rosales took second in the 1000m (2:43.32) and fourth in the 1600m (4:57.67). John Bruggman finished in fourth in the 600m (1:28.77).

Daemon Konieczny had a phenomenal meet as well winning the High Jump (6-1), placing third in the Pole Vault (12-0), and fourth in 55 Hurdles (8.52). Also in the Pole Vault, Andrew Lin placed fifth (11-0) and Matt Adams placed sixth (11-0).

Senior Taiyo Iburi-Bethel had a very impressive meet with a fourth-place finish in the 55m (6.76) and second-place finish in Long Jump (20-11). Other scorers for Batavia were Joey Gefell finishing fifth for Triple Jump (38-9), Terrez Smith finished fifth in the 55m (6.78), Troy Helsdon finished fifth in the 3200m (11:12.23), Brock Every finished sixth in the 600m (1:31.89) and the 4x400 Relay with Joey Gefell, Colton Martin, Leo Liang, and Zack Anderson finishing fifth (3:49.80).

Batavia's boys finished first out of 17 scoring teams with 152 points, followed by UPrep with 71 points and Wayne with 56 points.

The Batavia girls' indoor track team had a truly gritty performance last night led by a group of seniors that have been a part of our success for a long time. Liz Cohen had an incredible meet placing second in the 55 Hurdles (9.20), second in the Pole Vault (9-0) and third in Triple Jump (33-3.5). Emily Caccamise earned a repeat championship in the 1500m Racewalk (9:04.69), Jalesa Smith placed second in the High Jump (4-6), second in Long Jump (16-4), and fourth in the Weight Throw (32-8.75), and Caitlin Kingston placed fourth in the 600m (1:45.96) These four athletes finish their indoor track careers having never lost a Sectional meet and contributing 56 points toward last night's team championship.

Arianna Brown earned a Sectional Championsip in the High Jump (4-8) while also running on the 4x200 Relay with Sarah Adams, Jadin Vasciannie, and Caitlin Kingston, which placed third (1:56.04). Sarah Adams also place second in the Triple Jump (34-0.5). The girls' 4x400 Relay of Caitlin Kingston, Noelia Ventura, Aurelia Colby, and Piper Harloff finished third (4:30.43), and the 4x800 Relay of Sadie Loria, Maddie Taggart, Sam Davis, and Makayla Andolora finished sixth (11:14.87).

The girls' Throwers also had a tremendous meet! Along with Jalesa Smith's fourth-place finish in Weight Throw, Maggie Andersen finished in second (41-7.5) and Rebekah Daniszewski finished sixth (32-2.25). Rebekah also earned a second-place finish in the Shot Put (32-2).

Other scorers for the Blue Devils last night were: Melanie Quinones-Santiago, who finished fifth in the 3000m (12:05.91) and fourth in the 1500m (5:40.03); Sydney Konieczny, who finished fourth in the 1000m (3:20.56); Elizabeth Kingston, who finished fourth in the 1500m Racewalk (9:22.23); Gavin Konieczny, who finished third in Pole Vault (8-6); and Camryn Buck, who finished third in High Jump (4-6).

Batavia's girls finished first out of 19 scoring teams with 132 points followed by Wayne with 72 points and Pal-Mac with 47.5 points.

This performance really demonstrates the tremendous effort by our Blue Devil athletes and also the guidance from our incredible coaching staff. Dan Geiger (Throws), Rich Boyce (High Jump/Distance), William Buckenmeyer (Hurdles/Distance), Eric Allen (Jumps), Alex Veltz (Sprints), Wayne Wadams (Pole Vault), and Brandon Stevenson (Sprints) provide our athletes with the essential skills and motivation necessary to continue our very successful tradition of track and field at Batavia High School.

Between indoor and outdoor track, we've been blessed with so many great athletes and great individual performances, which have directly led to 33 Sectional Championships (Indoors and Outdoors) for our program since 2003. Batavia's Indoor Track Team rose to the occasion once again to represent our community and our school as a tough and dedicated team! Go Blue Devils!

Submitted photos.

Press release:

On Monday, Oct. 29, Le Roy Jr.-Sr. High School hosted a Senior Citizen Knight. Seniors were treated to a pasta dinner and dessert prepared and cooked by our students, and enjoyed live student music entertainment, games, and companionship!

This event was organized by a committee of students from our Emerging Knights Leadership Team.

Students reached out for donations, advertised the event, and organized the student volunteers and entertainment.

More than 70 senior citizens attended the evening, which was hosted in the Le Roy Jr.-Sr. High School Cafe. More than 30 student volunteers prepared the dinner, cooked, greeted, served, washed the dishes, performed live music, led bingo, played games, and, most importantly, interacted with the guests.

We would like to thank the following people/businesses who graciously donated their time or goods for this event: Laurie Locke, Barilla, Jeff Condidorio, Wegmans, CH Wright, Le Roy Rotary, and Netsins Ice Cream!

From two of the guests:

"Thank you so much for all your hard work on the Senior Knight Dinner. My family and I really enjoyed ourselves -- great food, great service, great music, you covered it all, thanks again for a wonderful evening!"

"The meal was delicious. The conversations wonderful. And your students were very polite, courteous, personable, and considerate. What a pleasant experience for us and hopefully for them also."

From Maria Cacho, Emerging Knights Leadership Team member:

"I thought the Senior Citizen Knight helped the students reconnect with the community. It made us realize that our community cares about us and they're always driving us into finding more opportunities in leadership and kindness."

From Tim McArdle, Le Roy Jr.-Sr. High School Principal:

"It was a true pleasure to host this event and welcome so many seniors from our community. Many of them were alums who have supported our school for many years. We are so proud of our students and how well they represented themselves and our school. It is in these type of events that all of their skills are put to the test and we cannot be more thankful for their leadership and efforts. We never underestimate our students and these events continue to be a reminder that when given the chance, our young people do not disappoint. The compassion and respect that was on display was nothing short of impressive. We look forward to continuing these types of events moving forward!"

Press release:

Le Roy Central School is proud to announce that Jr.-Sr. High School Math teacher Taryn Nole was one of the 275 educators from across the state selected to join the New York State Master Teacher Program.

Mrs. Nole is in her 17th year teaching at Le Roy and has taught eighth-grade Math, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, and AP Calculus over her years with the Oatkan Knights. For the last five years, she has served as the 7-12 grade Math Department chair. 

Taryn Nole
"When I learned of the work the NYS Master Teacher program was doing I made it a professional goal of mine to become a part of the program. Through collaborations with other teachers, I will be able to strengthen my pedagogical skills and deepen my math content knowledge. This opportunity will allow me to share best practices with other educators as I continue to look for ways to improve my students' experiences in the classroom."

Merritt Holly, Superintendent -- Le Roy Central School
"Congratulations to Taryn Nole on being selected to join an elite group of educators in the New York State Master Teacher Program! Taryn's dedication to teaching, especially in the area of mathematics, has been a great resource for our District as she continues to encourage more students to pursue STEM studies and careers. To join a list of 275 new members and 980 total Master Teachers across New York State is a great individual honor for Taryn and for our Le Roy Central School District students."   

Tim McArdle, Principal -- Le Roy Jr.-Sr. High School
"We are beyond excited to have Taryn be selected for the NYS Master Teacher Program. Taryn's willingness to grow as an educator and as a lifelong learner has allowed her to continue to expand her instructional skill set and serve our students at a high level every day. She is also a teacher leader willing to work with colleagues to enhance educational practices both in our district and regionally. Taryn positively impacts students in a myriad of ways in and out of the classroom year in and year out. Congratulations to Taryn and her family!"

Aaron Leone, a sophomore at Le Roy High School, is now one of the top clay target shooters in the nation after finishing 73 among 1,331 competitors this weekend at the USA HS Clay Target League Championships. He shot 194 of 200. He finished sixth out of 49 competitors from New York. The competition was held in Mason, Mich.

Photos and info submitted by Tim McArdle.

Le Roy High School celebrated the graduation of 93 seniors today in a ceremony in the school's auditorium.

Gavin Luckey (top photo) was the valedictorian.  

He noted that now he and his classmates will have more freedom and the time they have in front of them will be filled with choices about how to spend that time. He said, make choices to fill it with memories.

"We are now able to do what we want with our time. By far one of the greatest resources we have is time. For this reason, I want to take this moment to talk about it, more specifically, to never take it for granted.

"Unfortunately, time does not work in our favor. Time is limited, unlike other resources, time can only be lost; it can never be gained, therefore, once time is past it can never again be attained. However, the one extraordinary thing about time is it can be stored within us as memories we can revisit again and again."

The salutatorian address was delivered by Lydia Borrelli, who marked the time of her class by recalling some of the cultural touchstones of the past four years, such as Michelle Obama's healthy lunch initiative, the Harlem Shake, the blue or gold dress, the break up of One Direction, and clowns.

“Clearly, we’ve overcome many obstacles during our time here at Le Roy," Borrelli said.

The class selected James Thompson, elementary principal for 20 years, to deliver the faculty/staff address. He recalled that he had known many of the students since kindergarten and advised them that what they learned in kindergarten will always serve them well in life.

"Share everything, play fair, put things back where you found them, clean up your own mess, say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody, wash your hands before you eat, flush, and when you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together," Thompson said. "All good reminders, my friends, the Class of 2018, especially that last one. As we go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and please stick together."

Lydia Borrelli

James Thompson

Donald Hobart, president of the Le Roy Board of Education

Among the young artists with featured displays last night at Le Roy High School's Fine Arts Night was Austin Hampton.

Austin is a senior and plans to pursue a career in art, with a focus on fine art and perhaps becoming an art teacher.

He said he always loved art but the teachers at Le Roy helped that love bloom into a passion.

"They're great teachers," Austin said. "They always help me with hands-on activities. Their techniques help me with mine, as well."

He said when he's not at school, at home, his focus is art. He spends at least five hours a day of his own time on art.

"I’m always making art, doing something," Austin said. "I always have to have a pen in my hand."

Photos and info submitted by Le Roy Principal Tim McArdle.

Over the past four days, the Le Roy Oatkan Knights have won three Section V team championships in boys track & field, tennis, and softball, and nine individual titles in track & field.

Saturday at Avon High School the boys' track & field team ran away with the Section V Class CC Championship, scoring 111 points and winning by 45 points. This is the 11th Track and Field Title since 2007 for the program. 

Tuesday night at Naples Elementary School the tennis team defended their Section V Championship by dominating Wellsville 5-0. The Knights are undefeated on the season at 13-0. The win is the third title in tennis in school history. 

Tuesday night at Bloomfield Elementary School the softball team won its seventh straight game upsetting #1 Gananda en route to the Section V Class C1 Championship, 5-3. The team knocked off the third, second, and first seeds to win their second title in three years. The Knights have now won four softball sectional titles in school history. 

"A huge thank you to our Le Roy fire and police departments for welcoming home our Champions," Le Roy Principal Tim McArdle said. "We can’t thank them enough for always bringing out the entire fleet for our Oatkan Knights."

The 2017-2018 school year has brought home six Section V championships (volleyball, winter cheerleading, boys winter track & field, spring boys track & field, tennis, and softball) which is the most team championships won in a sports year in school history. The Oatkan Knights also brought home 13 individual titles (winter track & field, wrestling, and spring track & field) this school year. 

Photos and statement submitted by Tim McArdle, principal at Le Roy HS.

Today was an amazing morning for our seniors! The day began with our annual Senior Yearbook Breakfast where the Class of 2018 received their yearbooks and enjoyed a breakfast. Seniors enjoyed many laughs and conversations looking over the Oatkan!

Big kudos to yearbook advisors Ms. Castro and Mrs. Curtis and our student staff for an awesome job on this year’s yearbook! The senior dedication went to Mr. Crowe & Mrs. Brotherton! 

Next, we boarded the bus and traveled to Wolcott Street School for our third annual “Decision Walk.” Seniors wore T-shirts or sweatshirts representing the college or career they are going into next year and created a poster showing a visual of their chosen career. The elementary staff and students lined the hallways and sidewalks as the seniors paraded past all grade levels.

It was a very powerful experience as it represents one of the major reasons we do what we do; guiding students through years of education and creating a launching pad for them to use for the rest of their lives. It was great for the elementary staff to see their former students and the directions they are taking in the future. We also had our staff wear their own college gear representing their alma mater!

It was a great way to celebrate the future of the Class of 2018! Check out @LeRoy_Knights on  Twitter and Instagram for more videos and pics! 
 

This year, for the first time, Le Roy High School has fielded a team to compete in trap shooting competitions but if a Downstate assemblywoman has her way, it will be their last.

Assembly Bill 10428 is aimed directly at high school shooting competitions and courses that teach gun safety where students handle weapons. It would prohibit high schools from participating in all such activities.

"This (trap shooting) is what I do so it turned my gut when I heard about it," said Jacob Armitage, a senior at Le Roy, who along with Zachary Boneberg, helped get the team started. "I didn’t like it but some people’s views are different than mine."

The Le Roy team has 10 volunteer coaches, all experienced shooters from Le Roy, and they both practice and compete at Oakta Fish and Game Club on Circular Hill Road in Le Roy. The team is sanctioned by the New York State High School Clay Target League.

Before yesterday's competition, Bill Fox, one of the coaches and local president of SCOPE, told the team members they need to write letters expressing how they feel about the proposed bill so he can distribute them to members of the assembly.

"This is your future," Fox said. "It’s not mine or the other coaches. It’s yours. If you let this happen to you, and it’s been happening over the years, going back 50 years ago or before, they’re just going to keep taking. We can’t allow this to happen."

The bill was introduced by Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal, who represents a district in New York City. The bill would also ban high school archery.

Fox said the kids and their parents need to speak up because Downstate politicians don't care about the interests of rural New Yorkers.

"That’s what they’re ripping apart right now, the Constitution, our Bill of Rights," Fox said. "They think we should live the way they do down in New York City. They just don’t think that anybody should be allowed to carry a firearm at all."

Armitage and Boneberg first proposed the school join the Clay Target League last year and the board was ready to approve it but the team couldn't find a faculty-member coach in time for the season. This year, they had more time to get things together and start the team.

They said they did it because hunting, target shooting, it's who they are.

"It brings us all together," Armitage said. "I don’t play sports, personally. This is what I do. I shoot. I’ve been shooting as long as I can remember. It’s my get-a-way, is the best way to put it."

Boneberg can't compete this year because it conflicts with his commitment to the National Guard but he said he's pleased to come out to the range and see so many kids participating in a team sport they clearly enjoy.

"I thought this was a great thing for the kids," Boneberg said.

The team competes in a conference with six other teams: Alexander, Gouverneur, Marcus Whitman, Midlakes, Taconic Hills, and Webster Schroeder. During the regular season, teams shoot at their home range and scores are tallied by a computer to determine winners. The top teams will be invited to compete in a statewide competition in June.

Other Genesee County teams are Elba and Byron-Bergen, according to the league website.

Thomas Mellon said people who are against high school students participating in firearm sports really don't understand guns or the people who are attracted to the sport and what it can do for them personally and socially.

"It’s just like anything else," Mellon said. "Forget the guns. Forget anything like that. It’s a club. It’s a team, and it brings people together. There are people here, they have nothing else to do. This is what they do. This means a whole lot to them and to us. It’s almost like a family.

"It’s important to us," he added "We feel it promotes character, team building, leadership, and it also teaches us how to properly and safely use guns so there never is an accident.

Mellon has been shooting since he was nine and his father is one of the team's coaches. He emphasized the range is a safe place for everybody there.

"Everyone is starting to believe guns are the problem," Mellon said. "As we're proving here, as you can see, everyone is safe, our muzzles are all down range; we have not had a single safety incident because if you teach someone how to safely and properly use a firearm they are not a danger. Everyone thinks we just need to take them away, but really, you need to teach, everybody needs to know, it’s not a bad thing. It’s not spooky scary."

NOTE: The link to the bill above is actually to the Senate page on the legislation, which allows for public comment.

At yesterday's competition, Genesee County SCOPE presented a check for $662 to the students from Le Roy High School who organized a "Hometown Heroes" project.

The students raised money to buy banners to hang in the Village of Le Roy with pictures and names of Le Roy residents or high school graduates (regardless of hometown) who are serving active duty in the military.

The students researched the project, including determining material and costs and presented the idea to the Village of Le Roy Board, which approved hanging the banners once they're ready.

In the photo are members of the students who participate and SCOPE members. Holding the banner are Courtney and Quinn Kacur. On the banner is a picture of their brother, Reed Kacur.

Statement and photos by Le Roy HS Principal Tim McArdle:

On Thursday we inducted 32 new members into National Honor Society. This is a wonderful honor and accomplishment for our students and their families.

These students have maintained an overall GPA of 90 percent and possess the five qualities that make a model student: scholarship, service, leadership, character and citizenship.

Sr. High ELA teacher Mr. Crowe was the guest speaker and shared wonderful advice to our Knights including: “No matter what job you choose, choose it because it will touch lives; it will make a difference not just to yourself but to others around you.”

Current members participated in the evening by running the ceremony and reading the new inductees’ biographies.

I would like to thank rookie advisor Mrs. Curtis and the NHS officers for organizing a quality program for our students.

I challenge these students to use their talents and reach out to other students who need a boost or support to make our school the best it can be!

We would like to congratulate the families of our new members. We all know it takes a team to be successful!

Le Roy High School presents three performances of "The Little Mermaid" starting tonight.

The current goes up at 6 o'clock and tickets are $10 at the door or available online (click here).

There are also performances at 6 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday.

Yesterday, the cast and crew of 115 students performed twice for students in grades 7 through 12, and grades 1 through 6.

"We hope you will join us in celebrating our amazing hometown talent and enjoy a night of great laughs and fun," said Le Roy Principal Tim McArdle. "This show is going to be so spectacular and, as always, the Pat Patton backdrops take this show to the next level."

Photos by Don Dessert, except bottom photo, by Tim McArdle.

Le Roy's Alex Wynn is Yale-bound. The high school senior has won a full scholarship to the prestigious university from QuestBridge.

Wynn is among 918 students selected by QuestBridge for a 2017 National College Match scholarship that sends high-achieving, low-income students to top universities.

U.S. News and World Report ranks Yale as one of the top three universities in the nation. Yale counts among its graduates presidents (both Bushes, Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford), world-renowned actors (Meryl Streep, Paul Newman, Jodie Foster), and business leaders (Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsi, John E. Pepper Jr., CEO of Walt Disney Co.), along with leaders in many industries and professions.

Alex said she learned about QuestBridge during her junior year and decided to join more than 15,000 other high school students who would seek a QuestBridge scholarship.

The process included a visit to Yale, which helped convince Alex that Yale was where she wanted to go if given the chance.

"Yale has been my top school ever since I was afforded the opportunity to visit last June," Alex said. "Despite my love of the school, its low acceptance rate made me believe that I never would actually be accepted, let alone be offered a full scholarship. Words cannot describe how grateful I am to be able to attend my dream school for the next four years, nor can they describe how incredibly excited I am for this amazing opportunity."

She will major in Chemical Engineering.

"I feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to work with a student of Alex's caliber in the first year of my career as a school counselor," said Austin Dwyer, a counselor at Le Roy High School. "On the very first day of school, Alex introduced herself to me and informed me she was applying to a National College Match Program that included some of the most selective schools in the entire country.

"Alex has been an outstanding self-advocate for herself, especially throughout the extensive application process of this program. Alex is truly a 'go-getter' when it comes to accomplishing something, whether it is in the classroom or an extracurricular commitment, and has been a great role model for our students."

Principal Tim McArdle said Alex has worked hard and the school is proud of her.

"Alex's commitment to academic excellence coupled with a passion for participation in music, athletics, and other extracurricular clubs, along with service in our community has made her an ideal Oatkan Knight whose journey is inspiring," McArdle said. "She has pushed herself in the classroom to always challenge her intellect and fulfill her love of learning.

"Evidence of her success can be found all over our school from helping launch our Knights' Tech Desk to excelling in her AP courses to performing in our marching band and musical pit. We are very excited for her and her family; it is truly life-changing, and we are so proud! I would like to thank QuestBridge for their commitment to college-bound students across the country."

Photo: Alex Wynn, taken Saturday night at Le Roy's Christmas Tree lighting.

John Jakubowski, workforce development consultant for the Genesee County Economic Development Center, and Chris Suozzi, VP of business development for GCEDC, visited Le Roy High School today as guests of the Business Education Alliance's Career Lunch-N-Learn Series.

Jakubowski and Suozzi talked about career opportunities in STEM (Science, Tehcnology, Engineering and Math) fields, advanced manufacturing and nanotechnologies, and what it takes for a student to enter those career paths.

"The BEA Career Lunch-N-Learn Series is a tremendous opportunity for our students to interact with professionals in different fields, and we can't thank Karyn Winters enough for her organizing efforts and partnering with us," said Principal Tim McArdle. "It is these experiences that allow our students to focus on their future and learn about the many options they have.

"Today's speakers from GCEDC gave our students a chance to learn about amazing opportunities right here in our backyard so that we can retain the talent we are developing. I really commend Mr. Suozzi and Mr. Jakubowski for their efforts in promoting the WNY STAMP and also educating our students on career advice."

The purpose of the series, McArdle said, is to expand beyond the traditional career day and expose students to information about various careers throughout the year.

"We have taken the traditional one day 'career day' and infused it in and throughout the school year," McArdle said. "Each of our teachers are tasked to host one professional to speak to their classes in an experience we call Career Chats.

"Each Career Chat speaker also stays for an after-school session in the library open to all students. Our students also participate in off-campus field trip opportunities visiting local business/industries through our Student Success Center and staff initiated opportunities."

Another resource available to students and parents is Naviance, in which counselors work with students on career and self-exploration throughout the school year both at school and at home. 

To prepare the local workforce for jobs like what is anticipated at WNY STAMP -- Western New York Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park -- the district has partnered with Byron-Bergen Central School in a Soft Skills Training program.

The program is being funded through a grant from an America’s Best Communities Award that the Towns of Le Roy and Bergen won in 2015 and is coordinated with Jakubowski and Loren Penman. Seniors in both districts are exposed to four different lessons from local professionals this spring.  

"Our goal is to not have one week go by without our students having a chance to hear from a professional in the field. It is vital we maintain this important commitment for the development of our graduates."

Press release:

This fall, Le Roy Jr-Sr. High School, in conjunction with our Le Roy PRIDE Character Education program, ran our 5th annual Thanksgiving Feast Drive. This seventh-through-12th-grade effort supported 45 of our own families, equaling close to 200 people. Staff participated in four Turkey Tuesday Dress Down days by making a weekly monetary donation. Close to $1,000 was raised and used to purchase the turkeys, milk, eggs, bread and ingredients for pumpkin pies made by our FACS teacher and students! 

Students participated in our Stuff The Turkey Food Drive where grades partner up and compete against each other bringing in food under different theme days - Day 1: Macaroni Madness, Day 2: Can Jam, Day 3: Baking Bonanza, Day 4: Starch Fest, and Day 5: Kitchen Sink. The competition was fierce this year with the ninth- and 10th-graders making a huge final day push to win with 706 donated items. Grades 8 and 11 brought in 702 items and grades 7 and 12 had 675 items for a grand total, and new Stuff The Turkey Food Drive record, of 2,083. 

Last week, our counseling staff, school resource officer, principal, and assistant principal made the deliveries to our families. We would like to thank ALDI in Batavia and Tops and Save-A-Lot in Le Roy for their donations and contributions as well! 

From Principal Tim McArdle:
"We cannot thank our school community enough for their ongoing support of this effort. Five years ago we started by supporting 12 families and each year the need continues to grow in our community, and our students and staff step up and meet this need head on. Our staff continues to go above and beyond when students are in need, and we are so appreciative of their ongoing support of ALL students!"

"This effort is a great lesson for our students about giving back and the importance of helping others in their community. This focus is a common theme in our school and a character trait that is so important."

From Science teachers Sherri Lovria and Mike Chiulli:

Science classes at Le Roy Jr. Sr. High School have current technology available to them. Digital microscopes provide students with an easier and more accurate way to view the microscopic world. Digital microscopes contain cameras for easy viewing through a software interface.

Images visible through the eyepiece are accurately viewed on a computer allowing for students to view specimen together so they can collaborate on identification and analysis. Images can be captured and saved as still photos or as videos. 

Thanks to an alumni technology donation, a classroom set of digital microscopes are being used by students in Sherri Lovria and Mike Chiulli’s Living Environment, AP Biology and Infectious Disease classes to explore and more easily observe the natural world. For example: the process of osmosis in onion cells; cell structure comparison; cyclosis in elodea; microscopic organisms in pond water; chromosome spreads from HeLa cancer cells to identify abnormal chromosomes; simple stains of bacterial smears and Gram stain results to identify bacteria; sickle-shaped red blood cells to detect the presence of malaria parasite; human cell comparison due to gene expression; and Daphnia as a model to design and perform experiments to detect environmental effects on organisms.

Students have found the microscopes to be much easier to manipulate. Mrs. Lovria’s Living Environment classes recently performed a lab investigation that introduced the microscopes to the students. Students were gathered around laptops and adjusted fields of view to follow the progress of several microscopic pond organisms as the organisms fed on algae and detritus.

The students were fully engaged in exploring the microscopic world with exclamations of “Whoa, look at that!”, “Oh, this one is different,” and “That one is really weird -- it’s a vorticella!” throughout the classroom.

For many years students were unenthused about using microscopes; it was an individual experience and not always one in which all students actively engaged. In addition, since only one person could view a specimen at a time, teachers were not sure of the students’ understanding of what they were observing.

Having this more up to date technology is a definite benefit. Because the students enjoy working with them they use the microscope for longer periods of time and Mrs. Lovria reports that they already have a better understanding of the microscope parts and functions. But, just as important, they are finding their curiosity to explore!

From Principal Tim McArdle:

"We are very fortunate to have a community that supports our endeavors in the classroom and beyond!"

"Our teachers are always ready and take great pride in implementing new and exciting opportunities for our students. I cannot thank them enough for their efforts and willingness to learn and grow professionally to better our students."  

Photos submitted by Tim McArdle.