Sectional Level Academic Decathlon - February 5, 2011

On Saturday, February 5, 2011, approximately 60 students from the Cazenovia, Liverpool, North Syracuse, Tully, West Genesee and Westhill school districts will compete in the 2011 sectional competition of the United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) at Westhill High School (4501 Onondaga Boulevard) in Syracuse. The sectional level competition is coordinated each year by OCM BOCES as a service to districts. The theme of this year’s event is The Great Depression.

The Decathlon will begin at 8:30 AM, with students engaging in a series of paper and pencil tests through 1:00 PM. At 1:40PM, the “Super Quiz” (oral relay) portion of the Decathlon will commence, with students responding to questions in front of an audience. The Awards Ceremony will be held following the Super Quiz. This year's Super Quiz is being moderated by Liverpool Central School District Earth Science teacher and New York State 2010 Teacher of the Year, Jeffry E. Peneston.

The two highest scoring teams will advance to the New York State Competition on March 11 and 12 at Onondaga Community College. The National USAD Competition will be held April 27 - 30, 2011 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Districts participating in the 2011 sectional level Academic Decathlon at Westhill High School are:
Cazenovia – (Coaches: Susan McKillop and Martin Kelly) Students: Maxwell Blair, Alexandra Cameron, Hannah Gravelding, Robert Louis, David Martellock, Darren Mihaich, Kyle Polhamus, and Cullen Singleton. Alternates: Sam Medbury and Avery Stone Fish.

North Syracuse – (Coaches: Theresa Rice and Shannon Brisson) Students: Alia Abuqube, Anthony Arena, Lauren Emigholz, James Froio, Brian Hertzberg, Andrew Houghtaling, Daniel Martin, Brian Sweeney and Jacob Wildin.

Liverpool – (Coach: Daryl Burrer) Students: Jon Carpenter, Nate LeClair, Ahmed Mahmoud, Lawrence Nguyen, Raj Patel, David Purvis, and Carina Sorrentino. Alternate: Sherice Simpson.

Tully – (Coach: Eufemia Gallipeau) Students: Dave Barry, Cody Bertolo, Chris Cook, Leo Doody, Ashley Evans, Erich Gauss, Zach Kennedy, John Langley, and Marcus Warner.


West Genesee – (Coach: Scott Duda) Students: Thomas Brogan, DJ Campbell, Abigail Hard, Alec Kearns, Mike McCartney, Caitlin Nolan, Kaitlyn Richards, Matt Serrao, and Kevan Spencer. Alternates: Martin Leff, Jerry Roy and Jenny Smacher.


Westhill – (Coaches: Nancy Rein and Sarah Fleming) Students: Brendan Eicholzer, Andrea Golembiewski, Carrie Griffo, Jordan Roach, Juliana Thompson, Kate Wawro, George Wong and Kalia Zell. Alternate: Rachel Berry.


Since it began as a local academic competition in California in 1968, the United State Academic Decathlon has grown to become an international event.  The local Academic Decathlon is coordinated by the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES.  Students in ninth through twelfth grades will comprise district teams of three “A” students (Honors), three “B” students (Scholastic), and three “C” students (Varsity).  The Academic Decathlon promotes well roundedness by providing competition for each team in several events.  The students will take objective tests in art, music, language and literature, social science, mathematics, and economics.   They will also participate in a “Super Quiz”, which consists of an individual written test followed by a team oral relay conducted before an audience.  For 2010 - 2011 the Super Quiz topic is “An Introduction to Geology”.

For more information about the 2011 sectional level Academic Decathlon at Westhill High School, call Steve Saya, OCM BOCES’ Coordinator of Educational Services and Academic Decathlon Sectional Coordinator, at 315/431-8598.

OCM BOCES' REACH Program Helps Salvation Army

Students in OCM BOCES’ REACH Program are involved with several charitable events to benefit the Salvation Army this holiday season. Throughout the month of November, students collected food for the Salvation Army and toys for the agency’s Christmas Bureau Donation Day on December 21. On Monday, December 20, students and staff will be participating in the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign at Carousel Center by acting as bell ringers and they will also help organize gifts at the Christmas Bureau Distribution Day.

REACH students Jameson Kissane and Jesse Miles with Renae Montroy, school social worker, stand beside one of the school’s food donation barrels.

TEP Program Raising Money and Donations for Francis House

For the third year in a row, students and staff from the OCM BOCES TEP (Transitional Education Program) have been working hard to make the holidays a little merrier for residents of Syracuse’s Francis House, a supportive home for people with terminal illness. Under the direction of School Social Worker Meghan Gould and TEP Teacher Gina Morabito, students have been brainstorming ways to expand their charitable efforts. In addition to collecting food and household items as was done in previous years, the students this year also made blankets for Francis House residents and held a pizza sale to raise money. The students were fortunate enough to receive pizza donations from several local restaurants including Pizza Hut, Wegmans, Mark’s Pizzeria and Bagozzi’s Pizza. More than $200 was raised by the pizza sale and that money will be used to purchase Wegman’s gift cards for residents. On December 17, three TEP students, one Stellata student and several TEP and Stellata staff members will personally deliver the gifts to Francis House.

Pictured: OCM BOCES' Transitional Education Program student Kayla Barclay dishes a slice of pizza for BOCES’ Adult Education HVAC student Kyle Cook.

OCM BOCES' STAR Program Students Serve-up Smiles!

On Friday Dec 3, 2010, seven students from OCM BOCES’ STAR Program, in Amy Whittington's classroom at Homer Intermediate School, made and packed 20 lunches for the Cortland Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen. The students learned how to make protein-rich peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to share with patrons of the kitchen. Students packed the meals in bags that they had decorated brightly. The children were very proud of their hard work and the lunches were greatly appreciated by those to whom they were served!

Cortland Alternative Featured in Cortland Standard

On Wednesday, November 24, 2010, students and staff from OCM BOCES' Cortland Alternative School were featured in the Cortland Standard newspaper.

The entire news story can be viewed by following the address below:
http://www.cortlandstandard.net/articles/11242010n.html

Cortland Alternative Students and Staff Pitch-In to Help Out

Nine students and two staff members from OCM BOCES’ Cortland Alternative School recently donated their time and effort for two good causes to help their community. Through the Family Essentials Program of the Cortland County Community Action Program (CAPCO), students and staff assisted with the 2010 Cortland County Coat drive. This is the second year that the CAS has helped with the drive by organizing coats according to the various sizes donated.

In addition to providing assistance with the coat drive, the same group also helped make the playground at a local day-care safer for the children who will play there. The group recently spent time at the day-care spreading recycled rubber tire bits around the center’s newly installed playground. The children who attend the center will have opportunities to use the playground in the spring.


The CAS students involved with these community services projects were: Amber Lee, Kiersten Doupe, Jamie Coville, Gage Mitchell, Jacob Lansdowne, Brad DeGroff, Chanel Stroman, Meagan Dwelly and Tyler Thomas, all 8 through 12 grade students. The two CAS staff members were Sue Sperger and Stacy Young.

Many thanks to everyone involved!

McEvoy Students Inducted into National Technical Honor Society

Thirty-five seniors were inducted into the National Technical Education Society, on Thursday November 4, 2010 at the McEvoy Campus in Cortland. Students inducted into the technical honor society represent the “best of the best” in McEvoy’s Career and Technical Education Programs. In order to be inducted into the technical honor society students must have an 85 average or higher, 12 or fewer absences from their program for the year and receive a teacher endorsement. Students must also demonstrate attributes that include: respect, honesty, skill, responsibility, leadership, service and citizenship. Congratulations to the students and their families!

Pictured (left to right) are: Richard Hansen, McEvoy Career and Technical Education Principal; Douglas VanEtten, Homer Central School Principal; Karley Brown, Inductee; Nathan Parker, Inductee; Andrew Gallagher, Inductee; Carly Riehlman, Inductee and Rebecca Robertson, McEvoy School Counselor.

The complete list of inductees from the McEvoy Campus is as follows:

Cincinnatus Central School District: Philip Clark (Automotive Technology), Nicolette Otto (Health Occupations Technology), Chelsey Palmer (Graphic Communications Technology) and Brendon Wehner (Culinary Arts).

Cortland City School District: Troy Beckwith (Construction Technology), Noah Bishop (Construction Technology), Thalia Ortiz (Cosmetology), Daniel Southwick (Computer Technology), Shane Stiles (Automotive Collision Technology) and Jesse Towers (Graphic Communications Technology).

DeRuyter Central School District: Aaron White (Automotive Collision Technology) and Steven Wilcox (Automotive Collision Technology).

Fabius Pompey Central School District: Alexander Knapp (Construction Technology).

Homer Central School District: Karley Brown (Graphic Communications Technology), Jennifer Daniels (Graphic Communications Technology), Andrew Gallagher (Computer Technology), Nathan Parker (Construction Technology) and Carly Riehlman (New Vision Medical Professions).

Marathon Central School District: Benjamin Griep (Construction Technology), Jerry Hence (Computer Technology), Brandon Marsh (Construction Technology), Erik McGowan (Construction Technology), Steven Perry (Construction Technology) and Makayla Pixley (Culinary Arts).

McGraw Central School District: Lacey Fisk (Computer Technology), Dakota Malison (Computer Technology), Christopher Moffitt (Criminal Justice), Justin Rowley (Automotive Technology) and Adam Williams (Culinary Arts).

Tully Central School District: Brian Clukey (Automotive Collision Technology), Steven Crawford (Automotive Collision Technology), Taylor Fisher (Culinary Arts), Jazmine Muir (Culinary Arts) and Joshua Norton (Cosmetology).