Busy Times at SCS

By David Avitabile

SCHOHARIE - As the school year reaches its mid-way point, it remains busy at Schoharie Central School.

Teacher Anne Ringuette.updated school board members on the doings inside and outside the classrooms at the board's December meeting.

Among the December "doings" were:

* Schoharie staff and their families took the Polar Plunge to support the Special Olympics in the frigid waters of Lake George. Participating from the elementary school were: Ms. Ryan, Mrs. Caruso, Mrs. Thalheimer, Mrs. Dutcher, Mrs. Ebert, Mrs. Gathen, and Mrs. McKenny.

* The students in Mrs. Donzelli's Family and Consumer Science class made winter accent pillows using kitchen towels using sewing machines and hand sewing techniques. They also worked on making ornaments for Christmas.

* More than 50 third, fourth, and fifth grade elementary students participated in a sing-a-long at the Schoharie firehouse pancake breakfast for Christmas in Schoharie.

* Members of the 10th grade organized a Career Exploration event with nine speakers from a variety of career fields from the performing arts to graphic design for computer games and public works to K-9 law enforcement.

* Members of the student government presented a trivia night on five subjects.

* 20 students all excelled in their classroom spelling bees and will be competing in the school-wide bee on January14 in the high school auditorium. Members of the high school student government will be sponsoring the spelling bee.

* SCS alumni and current students played in the Hoop Dreams game at Middleburgh on December 14. Among those participating were: Tobias Ball, Nathan Kuehnle, Sadie Dutcher, and Lawrence Zuefle. Key Club volunteers sold refreshments at the event.

* Mrs. Oakes' fifth grade class celebrated the end of a fiction-writing unit with a publishing party. Many of the students wrote fractured fairy tales.

* Students in Mrs. Oakes' class learned about hippos and wrote essays trying to persuade pre-K students in Mrs. Ferguson's class whether or not a hippo would make a good pet. They also played hippo-themed counting games with the younger students.

* Mrs. Styles and the high school treble choir gave a special performance for fifth graders and students shared their "grown-up Christmas lists" for a better world.

* After reading part of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and having conversations about the Jim Crow era, justice, law, and morality, ninth grade students prepared for the murder trial of SpongeBob SquarePants in their English class. The students practiced their persuasive skills and learned how a trial is set up.

* 12rh grade English students got a sample of what a college English class looks like. Students read some Victorian literature. They also used a Monster Theory to analyze the role of the monster as a personification of society's fears in Dracula.

* 10th grade English students read the novel Sold, set in modern-day Nepal and used watercolors to depict symbolistic images from the text. They also wrote a paragraph describing the author's use of symbolism.

* Algebra II students wrote children's books on sequences and series.

* Students in calculus wrote Calculus carols.

* Thanks to the generosity of the Schoharie Teachers Association, they were able to provide all of the gifts on the wish lists of six students from four different families.

* For Underground Spirit week, the elementary school teachers dressed up for beach day.

* For Underground Spirit week, the elementary teachers dressed up for Throwback Thursday.

* The Junior High School Council hosted a Short Holiday Movie Night. Students voted to show Frosty the Snowman, and enjoyed popcorn during the cartoon.

* Students from Mrs. Caruso and Mrs. Hannan's second grade classes read books to students in Mrs. Ebert’s kindergarten class.