OCM BOCES Student Shares His Inspirational Story at Adult Literacy Celebration

Maynard Bland was among the 150 students receiving diplomas from OCM BOCES at their Syracuse-area Adult Literacy Programs celebration on May 25 at the Palace Theater in Syracuse.
The students were graduates of the OCM BOCES GED, External Diploma and other literacy programs. Bland was one of three students to give testimonials illustrating their personal and educational struggles prior to coming to OCM BOCES. Other student speakers were Kathleen Maser and Shamika Surrey.

Sam H. Stedman Sr., owner and landlord of the Children’s Consortium, was recognized as the OCM BOCES 2011 “Partner in Literacy” for his donation of space for the OCM BOCES Even Start program.

For more information on Adult Literacy Programs at OCM BOCES, contact the Adult and Continuing Education Program Offices at 315/453-4466 in the Syracuse area or 607/ 758-5111 in the Cortland area.

Click here to read the Syracuse Post Standard story on Maynard Bland and the graduation.

Photo (Mike Greenlar/Post Standard) and caption courtesy of the Post Standard - Pictured above: Maynard Bland (left) stands with his former GED class teacher Celia Volbrecht in the lobby of the Palace Theatre, site of the OCM BOCES graduation. Bland was named Student of the Year and gave the commencement speech.

OCM BOCES Career Academy Holding 4th Annual Festival for the Cure - Saturday, June 4

On Saturday, June 4th, the OCM BOCES Career Academy will be holding their 4th Annual “Family Festival for the Cure” from 1:00 – 4:00 PM on the campus of the Lee G. Peters Career Training Center (4500 Crown Road) in Liverpool. The festival will include food, beverages, games, raffles, a bounce house, crafts and displays. Students, families, friends and the community are encouraged to come to this fun, family event, which benefits the Carol Baldwin Breast Cancer Research fund. Admission and parking for the event are free, with tickets being sold for food, games and raffles. Prize raffles will include gift certificates to several local restaurants and shops.

The OCM BOCES Career Academy students and staff became actively involved in the fight against breast cancer in 2008 when an attendee of the school was diagnosed with cancer. Since that time, the school has raised hundreds of dollars to fight breast cancer and has made several donations to the Carol Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund.

About the Career Academy:
The Career Academy, located at the Lee G. Peters Career Training Center in Liverpool, began in September of 2006, with input from OCM BOCES’ component districts. The Academy currently serves approximately 150 students from several of our component school districts including North Syracuse, Liverpool, Fayetteville-Manlius, Marcellus, West Genesee, Westhill, Tully, LaFayette and Baldwinsville. The mission of the Career Academy is to provide students an opportunity to explore different career paths while completing their academic course work to graduate from high school. Career themes are woven into the academic courses to make them more meaningful and engaging for students. The program inspires leadership and confidence in students as they become motivated to take ownership of their learning.

About Carol M. Baldwin:
Breast cancer survivor Carol M. Baldwin has dedicated her life to finding a cure for breast cancer. A Syracuse native and graduate of Syracuse University, she and her husband Alexander raised their family in Massapequa, Long Island. In 1983, after 29 years of marriage, her husband died of lung cancer and, in 1990, Carol was diagnosed with breast cancer. These experiences led to her taking a leadership role in the formation of the Central NY Chapter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in Syracuse. Carol is joined in her efforts against breast cancer by her children: daughters Jane and Elizabeth, and sons, actors Alec, Stephen, Billy and Daniel. Asking others to join her crusade for a cure, Carol Baldwin is, she says, positive that, "together, we can and will find a cure."

For more information, or to get involved, contact OCM BOCES Career Academy Instructor, Leah LaChausse at 453-4473 or by email at llachausse@ocmboces.org.

12 OCM BOCES Students Awarded with Tools for Success

Congratulations to the 12 OCM BOCES Automotive Technology and Automotive Collision Technology students recently recognized for their outstanding achievements through Snap-On Tools for Success awards program. The students, selected by their OCM BOCES classroom instructors for their excellent automotive technology, math and science skills, as well as outstanding classroom participation, attendance and attitude, each received a certificate of excellence and a Snap-On Tools screwdriver, valued at over $50. Of the four from each classroom, one student was chosen to receive a black-handled screwdriver award, representing the “best of the best” in their field.

The following OCM BOCES students were recognized with Tools for Success awards. Those marked with an * were selected for the black-handled screwdriver award:

Automotive Collision Technology (Instructor, Matthew McGiveny):
Robert Hansen (North Syracuse Central School District)
Brett Megerell (Chittenango Central School District)
*Shelby Nodine (Baldwinsville Central School District)
Sean O’Brien (North Syracuse Central School District)


Automotive Technology (Instructor, Samuel Azria):
Joseph DeMaria (Chittenango Central School District)
Clifford Jackson (Chittenango Central School District)

*James Kellogg (Baldwinsville Central School District)

Joseph Lehner (Chittenango Central School District)

Automotive Technology (Instructor, Erick Dodge):
Stephanie Tucker (Marcellus Central School District)

Jacob Wilcox (North Syracuse Central School District)

*Jacob Worden (Baldwinsville Central School District)

Maxim Zhuravlev (Liverpool Central School District)

For more information about the OCM BOCES Automotive Technology, Automotive Collision Technology or other Career and Technical Education Programs, contact Robert Leslie, Director of Career, Technical and Adult Education at 315/431-8407.






Pictured: OCM BOCES Automotive Collision Technology instructor Matt McGivney shakes the hand of Shelby Nodine, a student from his class that he selected to receive the Snap-On Tools for Success black-handled screwdriver award.

OCM BOCES Students Take First and Fourth Places in Ford/AAA Auto Skills Competition

Congratulations to the two teams of OCM BOCES students that recently placed first and fourth in the Ford /AAA Student Automotive Skills competition at Morrisville State College! Teams were selected for the competition based on scores in an online qualifying exam. The team from the OCM BOCES Henry Campus in Syracuse, students in Erick Dodge's Automotive Technology classes, Christian Dorn and Codee Yount, placed first in the entire competition and will go on to compete for the national title at Ford World Headquarters this June in Michigan.
Christian is a senior Automotive Technology student from the North Syracuse Central School District.
Codee is a senior Automotive Technology student from the LaFayette Central School District.

Students Ethan Allen and Thomas Johnson, from Hervey Forward's classes at the OCM-BOCES McEvoy Campus in Cortland, finished fourth in the competition.

Ethan and Thomas are both senior Automotive Technology students from the Homer Central School District.

Click here to read the April 13, 2011 Post Standard news story on the competition.

OCM BOCES Syracuse-Area Adult Literacy Celebration - Wednesday, May 25

This Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 7:00 pm, OCM BOCES will hold its 28th Annual (Syracuse-area) Literacy Celebration and program graduation at the Palace Theatre (2384 James Street) in Syracuse. Nearly 200 graduates of the OCM BOCES GED, External Diploma and other literacy programs have been invited to attend and be recognized for their accomplishments. Testimonials illustrating their personal, educational struggles prior to coming to OCM BOCES, will be given by three student graduates, Maynard Bland, Kathleen Maser and Shamika Surrey.


Sam H. Stedman Sr., owner and landlord of the Children’s Consortium, will be recognized as the OCM BOCES 2011 “Partner in Literacy” for his donation of space for the OCM BOCES Even Start program.
The public and media are invited to attend this celebration.

For more information on the 28th Annual Adult Literacy Celebration, contact OCM BOCES Adult and Continuing Education Program at 315-453-4466.

OCM BOCES Collaborates to Bring Danny Forster, Host of Science Channel's Build it Bigger, to Central New York

The OCM BOCES Central New York Regional Information Center (CNYRIC), in cooperation with the Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District and Discovery Education are pleased to be able to host Danny Forster, designer, noted speaker, professor, and host of Science Channel’s Build it Bigger, for a series of special events on May 13 and 14.

On Friday, May 13, from 1:15 to 2 p.m., Forster will address more than 200 students, teachers, and district administrators at Wellwood Middle School (700 S. Manlius Street) in Fayetteville. He will share with students his education and experience with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and his most recent work as executive producer of the new documentary series, Rebuilding Ground Zero. As a passionate educator, Forster will also give students insight into possible STEM careers.

On Saturday, May 14, from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m., Forster will keynote a day of free professional development for teachers across Upstate New York. The event will take place in the auditorium of F-M High School (8201 East Seneca Turnpike) in Manlius. Designed specifically for New York educators, the interactive “Day of Discovery” will highlight creative ways to engage students and invigorate curricula using the latest 21st century tools. Forster will share his unique perspective on the role of teachers in an ever-changing educational world.

Forster, Discovery Education, the OCM BOCES CNYRIC and F-M Board members, administrators, and educators share a commitment to engaging today’s students in all academic disciplines through the effective integration of educational technologies and dynamic digital content into school curricula.
Recognizing that one of their core missions is to develop an academic program of study that is rigorous, relevant and challenging, the F-M is dedicated to empowering educators with the professional development opportunities they need to infuse cutting edge technology into classroom
instruction.

OCM BOCES Member Library Named School Library Program of the Year by American Association of School Libraries

Congratulations to the OCM BOCES School Library System's member library at Pine Grove Middle School in the East Syracuse Minoa Central School District for recently having been named School Library Program of the Year by the American Association of School Libraries.

The National School Library Program of the Year award is 
sponsored by Follett Library Resources, and recognizes school library 
programs that meet the needs of the changing school and library 
environment and are fully integrated into the school's curriculum.



Pine Grove librarian Sue Kowalski says she takes advantage of every 
opportunity to reach out to stakeholders. The awards committee chair 
says that Sue is a leader in learning, and strives to always be where 
the students can receive and learn information effectively.



To read the full story please go to 
http://ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pr.cfm?id=7084

Coordinators of Local Teaching American History Grant Sponsoring Mini Conference for Social Studies Teacher - May 16

Coordinators of a local Teaching American History (TAH) grant from the Federal Department of Education are sponsoring a mini conference for Social Studies teachers from K-12th grade. The event is scheduled for Monday, May 16 from 4-7PM at the OCM BOCES  Rodax 8 Building (6075 East Molloy Road) in Syracuse. There is no charge for the mini conference but participants must register by emailing Karen Pfanenstiel at kpfanens@ocmboces.org.

The main feature of the conference will be a keynote address by Dr. Bob Bain, Associate Professor of History at the University of Michigan and former 26-year veteran of public school teaching. His topic will be “Toward a Logic of History Teaching: Teaching History as Thinking Practice”.  OCM BOCES and SUNY Cortland are partners in this grant.

Following Dr. Bain’s lecture, teachers may enjoy refreshments from the Carnegie Café while learning about some of the projects teachers completed while part of an earlier TAH grant called The American Dream Project. The current grant completing its first year is called First Person America and it is directed by Dr. Kevin Sheets, Associate Professor of History at SUNY Cortland and Daryll Wheeler, Staff Development Specialist at OCM BOCES.

The Onondaga Historical Association & Museum, partners in the grant, will be present at this mini-conference. Mr. Scott Peal, Education Associate, will answer questions about the OHA. Teachers who might be interested in participating in the second year of the TAH grant will have the opportunity to ask questions and learn about the all-expense paid field experience to Williamsburg in October. Teachers receive a stipend for attending monthly meetings with noted historians, for completing a curricular project appropriate for their students, and for participating in book chats. Teachers also earn three graduate credit hours at SUNY Cortland as a result of the culminating Summer Institute. The number of teachers is limited to twenty-four for each year so prompt registration is important.

Unlike other grants of its kind, the project directors encourage teachers and librarians from elementary as well as middle and high schools to participate. Seldom do teachers have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of our country’s history, to immerse themselves in historical thinking, and to reflect on their practice. This makes the TAH grants unique in character and purpose. It is critical that teachers elevate the thinking of their students, encourage the questioning, debate, and discussion in order to raise student achievement and to bring about a more informed citizenry.

To register for the mini-conference, please email Karen Pfanenstiel at kpfanens@ocmboces.org.