OCM BOCES students among millions from across the world to participate in World Education Games

On Tuesday, March 5, 2013 and Wednesday, March 6, 2013, more than 100 OCM BOCES Career and Technical Education (CTE) students at the Irvin E. Henry Education Campus in Syracuse, are participating in online World Math Day activities with millions of others from across the world. This is the first year that OCM BOCES students have participated in the event, which is part of 3P Learning’s World Education Games. 

The games allow students to compete online with others from across the world. According to a press release, students from 236 countries and territories are expected to compete in the 2013 World Education Games. 

Each student registered receives a unique username and password allowing them to play whenever they are available during the official game period. When students sign-in, the program picks real opponents from around the world for them to compete against. Each game lasts just 60 seconds with the goal of answering as many math questions correctly as possible. 

The actual Math Day competition takes place whenever the date anywhere in the world is March 6. For students at OCM BOCES, that means competition can begin at 5:00 AM on Tuesday, March 5 and will continue through 5:00 AM on Thursday, March 7. OCM BOCES CTE students will compete as part of their applied math classes on Tuesday, March 5, and Wednesday, March 6, 2013 from 9:30 AM to 10:15 AM and from 1:30 PM to 2:15 PM each day. 

Teachers at OCM BOCES are excited about participating in the games this year saying, “Participating allows students to have fun doing math and helps address the need for mental math practice so students aren’t always reaching for their calculator to do basic math computations.”

During the competition on March 5, students from OCM BOCES answered almost 12,000 questions correctly, which is more than all the questions they answered correctly during the previous two weeks of practice! Great job!

OCM BOCES students compete in the World Math Day competition on March 5, 2013.

Students use a map to select their opponents from around the world.

Each competition lasts for 60 seconds with students answering as many questions as possible before selecting new opponents. 

Students are able to see their progress in comparison to their opponents as they answer questions. 

OCM BOCES Students Participate and Place in Regional SkillsUSA Competition

More than 55 students from the OCM BOCES McEvoy Campus in Cortland, NY and the OCM BOCES Henry Campus in Syracuse, NY recently competed in the SkillsUSA (Area II) regional competition at Morrisville State College. A great number of OCM BOCES students placed in the competition, giving OCM BOCES more medals than any other school in attendance!

Photo: Alexa Mentel, an OCM BOCES Pastry Arts senior from the Liverpool Central School District, is pictured in class practicing for the regional SkillsUSA competition. Alexa entered and placed first in the Commercial Baking competition, which challenges contestants to meet production and quality standards expected by the baking industry. Students must scale, mix, prepare and bake three or four products (including breads, rolls, Danish, cookies and pies) and demonstrate cake-decorating skills. They are expected to deliver a quality, salable product while working efficiently and under job-like conditions.

OCM BOCES students who placed at the regional competition are:

• Emily Arthur (1st place Job Demo) – OCM Laboratory Tech senior from Baldwinsville CSD
• Christine Beckhusen (2nd place Commercial Baking) – OCM Pastry Arts senior from North Syracuse CSD
• Paige Bell (1st place Occupational Health & Safety) – OCM Laboratory Tech senior from Baldwinsville CSD
• Maya Bey (1st place Nail Care) – OCM Cosmetology senior from Jamesville-DeWitt CSD
• Sarah Brown (3rd place Related Technical Math) – OCM Laboratory Tech junior from Baldwinsville CSD
• Dylan Cochran (2nd place Food Prep Assistant) – OCM Culinary Arts senior from Homer CSD
• John Flanagan (1st place First Aid/CPR) – OCM Medical Professions senior from North Syracuse CSD
• Jenna Griffo (3rd place Job Interview) – OCM Pastry Arts senior from Baldwinsville CSD
• Kevin Hernandez (1st place Customer Service) – OCM Laboratory Tech senior from Syracuse City SD
• David Hines (2nd place Auto Service Tech) – OCM Auto Tech senior from Cortland Enlarged City SD
• Kaylie LaFlair (2nd place Job Demo Open) – OCM Laboratory Tech/Career Academy senior from North Syracuse CSD
• Alexa Mentel (1st place Commercial Baking) – OCM Pastry Arts senior from Liverpool CSD
• Tyler Shepard (1st place Auto Tech Service) – OCM Automotive Tech senior from Cazenovia CSD
• Leah Simon (3rd place Job Demo) – OCM Pastry Arts/Career Academy senior from Tully CSD
• Noelle Webster (3rd place Customer Service) – OCM Pastry Arts senior from West Genesee CSD

SkillsUSA is a national organization serving high school and college students preparing for careers in technical and service occupations. The organization provides quality educational experiences for students in leadership, teamwork, citizenship and character development. SkillsUSA offers annual regional, state and national competitions through which CTE students vie against each other for the competition’s top honors, scholarships and prizes of tools for their trades.

Following is the complete list of OCM BOCES students that participated in the regional SkillsUSA competition, by home district, and the programs in which the students are enrolled at BOCES:

Baldwinsville Central School District: Emily Arthur (Laboratory Technology senior), Daniel Belair (Computer Technology senior), Paige Bell (Laboratory Technology senior), Sarah Brown (Laboratory Technology junior), Jenna Griffo (Pastry Arts senior), Tyler Myers (Automotive Collision Technology senior)

Cazenovia Central School District: Tyler Shepard (Automotive Technology senior)

Chittenango Central School District: Drew Atkinson (Automotive Technology senior), Kaleen Cole (Cosmetology senior), Duncan Preeman (Computer Technology senior)

Cincinnatus Central School District: Anthony Allen (Culinary Arts senior), Alexia Cavanagh (Health Occupations Technology senior), Kasey Price (Health Occupations Technology senior)

Cortland Enlarged City School District: Julie Dellow (Culinary Arts senior), Bethany Hall (Culinary Arts senior), David Hines (Automotive Technology senior), Megan Howard (Health Occupations Technology senior), Irina Khrushch (Cosmetology senior), Darien Ostrander (Culinary Arts senior)

DeRuyter Central School District: Brad DeGroff (Culinary Arts junior)
East Syracuse Minoa Central School District: Karly Kwasigroch (New Vision Medical Professions senior)

Fabius-Pompey Central School District: Lucas Volo (Welding junior)

Homer Central School District: Chaylyn Cleveland (Culinary Arts senior), Dylan Cochran (Culinary Arts senior), Connor Munn (Computer Technology senior)

Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District: Maya Bey (Cosmetology senior)

Liverpool Central School District: Alexa Mentel (Pastry Arts senior)

Marathon Central School District: Marjorie Torres (Cosmetology senior), Timothy Wilmarth (Automotive Technology junior)

McGraw Central School District: Colby Barnhart (Automotive Collision Technology senior)

North Syracuse Central School District: Christine Beckhusen (Pastry Arts senior), Michelle Cross (New Vision Medical Professions senior), John Flanagan (New Vision Medical Professions senior), Samantha Holzapfel (New Vision Medical Professions senior), Kaylie LaFlair (OCM BOCES Career Academy Laboratory Technology senior), Danaysia Rucker (Cosmetology senior), Joshua Sackett (Computer Technology senior), Koty Schwenn (Automotive Collision Technology senior), Matthew Stone (Computer Technology junior), Jessica Wanke (New Vision Medical Professions senior), Nicolette Wing (Cosmetology senior)

Solvay Union Free School District: William (Buddy) Chasteen (Culinary Arts senior), Karen Harris (Early Childhood Education senior), Cody McCarthy (Automotive Collision Technology), Da’Shawn Procks (Pastry Arts senior)

Syracuse City School District: Kevin Hernandez (Laboratory Technology senior)

Tully Central School District: Kara Catherman (Culinary Arts junior), Samantha Crawford (Culinary Arts senior), Jessica King (Early Childhood Education senior), Leah Simon (OCM BOCES Career Academy Pastry Arts senior), Michael Spain (Automotive Collision Technology senior)

Westhill Central School District: Travis Lomberk (Automotive Technology senior), Aaron Negus (Computer Technology junior)

West Genesee Central School District: Roman Hevko (Culinary Arts senior), Noelle Webster (Pastry Arts senior)

Congratulations to all OCM BOCES students!

The New York State SkillsUSA competition will take place at the Syracuse Fairgrounds on April 25, with OCM BOCES students competing with nearly 2,000 others from across the state. Students and their advisors will join over 1,000 industry and education partners from across the northeast participating as industry advisory members and judges for the skills contests.

For more information about OCM BOCES Career and Technical Education Programs, contact Robert Leslie at 315/431-8407.

OCM BOCES students and Parkrose Estates residents partner for intergenerational art show

On Thursday, February 28, 2013, the collaborative artwork of students from the OCM BOCES REACH program (grades 7 & 8) and senior residents of Parkrose Estates Retirement Community was on display at the senior living facility in Liverpool. The intergenerational art exhibit, “Freedom of the Arts,” was open for two public viewings that day; one from 1:00 to 3:00 PM and one from 5:30 to 7:30 PM.

For two months leading up to the exhibit, the senior living facility and the school had been working together to present a truly intergenerational and unique art exhibit. On multiple occasions, students visited the facility and worked with residents to create shared pieces of art. Those joint creations were displayed at the show, along with a variety of artwork in various other media and photographs of the student/resident teams.

Earlier this year, Carolyn Lincoln, the Director of Fun at Parkrose Estates, sought out Renae Montroy, a School Social Worker at OCM BOCES, about the project. The school and retirement community have successfully worked together in the past and Lincoln thought the art show collaboration would be a good fit between the two. She said, “Spectrum [Retirement Communities, LLC.,] who owns Parkrose, hosted art exhibits at all 25 of their facilities across the United States this February. At Parkrose, we wanted our intergenerational art show to include students from OCM BOCES.”

Montroy was excited about the idea of the students’ collaborating with Parkrose residents. She said, “We’ve done a lot of things with Parkrose in the past where the kids were able to interact with and learn from residents. I think this project has been the best collaboration so far. The students really had a chance to spend time with residents as they created artwork together. Even when some students appeared unsure about participating in the event, they truly enjoyed the time they spent with the residents. As one student talked about his apprehension, he said that he thought it wouldn’t be fun or interesting but in the end he didn’t want to leave. He connected well with the ladies he worked with and he really enjoyed his experience.”

Students in other OCM BOCES programs have also contributed to Parkrose Estates’ Freedom of the Arts show and had their works displayed along with their peers. Many of these students were guided and supported by their OCM BOCES art teachers, Leah LaChausse from the Career Academy in Liverpool and Pamela Macnabb from the STARS Alternative High School in Solvay. Additionally, artwork from residents, family members and also preschool students from the Child Time day care facility in Liverpool was exhibited at the show.

Carolyn Lincoln extended an invitation to the community to attend the special event. She said, “We really wanted the kids to be able to come to the event and to have their families present also so we decided to offer two viewings. We’re very excited about this and can’t wait to see the reactions of everyone involved when they see the awesome work!”

For more information about OCM BOCES alternative education programs, contact Karen Clark, Director of Alternative Education at 315/952-7847 or kclark@ocmboces.org.

Two Financial Aid Nights at OCM BOCES

OCM BOCES is hosting two financial aid nights in February, one at the Henry Campus in Syracuse and one at the McEvoy Campus in Cortland.

On Tuesday, February 5, 2013, OCM BOCES will host a Financial Aid Night from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at the Henry Campus in Syracuse.  Financial Aid representatives from Onondaga Community College (OCC) will present an overview of the financial aid process and will be available to assist parents and students with completing the FAFSA forms.

To ensure computer availability at the February 5 event, please RSVP by calling 315-431-8503 or emailing mmuller@ocmboces.org.


On Tuesday, February 12, 2013, OCM BOCES will host a Financial Aid Night from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at the McEvoy Campus in Cortland. Financial Aid representatives from Tompkins-Cortland-Community College (TC3) will present an overview of the financial aid process and will be available to assist parents and students will completing the FAFSA forms.

To ensure computer availability at the February 12 event, please RSVP by calling 607-758-5232 or emailing ccolasurdo@ocmboces.org.

Cazenovia and West Genesee Advance to State Academic Decathlon

About 60 students from six Central New York school districts recently took part  in the 2013 sectional U.S. Academic Decathlon sponsored by OCM BOCES.

The team from Cazenovia High School took first place in the daylong competition. The West Genesee High School team came in at second place and Liverpool High School at third. 

The teams from Cazenovia and West Genesee have qualified and will advance to the state competition on March 15 and 16 at Onondaga Community College. The state winner will go on to the national competition April 25-27 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

The following awards were also presented:

Overall - 

First place: Darren Mihaich, Kyle Polhamus and Robert Louis (all Cazenovia).

Second place: Sean Fitzpatrick (Tully), Danielle Axelson (Cazenovia) and Emma Ryan (West Genesee).

Third place: Megan Nolan (West Genesee), Kevin Zalewski (Liverpool) and David Martellock (Cazenovia).

Art - 
First place: Emma Ryan (West Genesee), Danielle Axelson (Cazenovia) and Darren Mihaich (Cazenovia).
Second place: Robert Louis (Cazenovia), Kyle Polhamus (Cazenovia) and Sean Fitzpatrick (Tully).
Third place: David Martellock (Cazenovia), Kevin Zalewski (Liverpool), Megan Nolan (West Genesee), Michael Wasnik (Liverpool) and Jacob Haley (Liverpool).

Economics - 
First place: Raj Patel (Liverpool), Tatyana Shakhov (West Genesee), Kevin Zalewski (Liverpool), Jonathan Carpenter (Liverpool), Nathan Clapper (North Syracuse) and Darren Mihaich (Cazenovia).
Second place: Emma Ryan (West Genesee), Jamie Kuppel (Liverpool) and Sean Fitzpatrick (Tully).
Third place: Eric Perdew (North Syracuse), Robert Louis (Cazenovia), Kyle Polhamus (Cazenovia) and Kevin Shane (North Syracuse).

Language and Literature - 
First place: Emma Ryan (West Genesee), Juliana Thompson (Westhill), Danielle Axelson (Cazenovia) and Megan Nolan (West Genesee).
Second place: Nicholas Serrao (West Genesee), Tatyana Shakhov (West Genesee), Madeline Pierce (Tully), Kyle Polhamus (Cazenovia), Evan Janes-Rouse (West Genesee) and Sean Fitzpatrick (Tully).
Third place: Megan Petty (West Genesee), Marley Cummings (Tully) and Kevin Shane (North Syracuse).

Math -
First place: Eric Perdew (North Syracuse), Jamie Kuppel (Liverpool) and Alex Coombs (Westhill).
Second place: Stephen Burgay (Westhill), Tatyana Shakhov (West Genesee), Nathan Clapper (North Syracuse), Sean Fitzpatrick (Tully) and Schuyler McGregor (Tully).
Third place: Michael Schug (North Syracuse), Marley Cummings (Tully) and Aden Orzell (Westhill).

Music -
First place: Emma Ryan (West Genesee), Jonathan Carpenter (Liverpool) and Darren Mihaich (Cazenovia).
Second place: Megan Petty (West Genesee), Robert Louis (Cazenovia), Kyle Polhamus (Cazenovia) and Megan Nolan (West Genesee).
Third place: David Martellock (Cazenovia), Danielle Axelson (Cazenovia) and Alex Coombs (Westhill).

Science -
First place: Robert Louis (Cazenovia), Kyle Polhamus (Cazenovia) and Sean Fitzpatrick (Tully).
Second place: David Martellock (Cazenovia), Juliana Thompson (Westhill), Alex Coombs (Westhill) and Michael Wasnik (Liverpool).
Third place: Nicholas Serrao (West Genesee), Kurt Guass (Tully) and Darren Mihaich (Cazenovia).

Social Studies -
First place: Robert Louis (Cazenovia), Kyle Polhamus (Cazenovia) and Darren Mihaich (Cazenovia).
Second place: Nicholas Serrao (West Genesee), Kevin Zalewski (Liverpool) and Sean Fitzpatrick (Tully).
Third place: Anastasija Useva (Westhill), Vadim Shakhov (West Genesee), Danielle Axelson (Cazenovia), Evan Janes-Rouse (West Genesee) and Joseph Jackson (North Syracuse).

Cazenovia High School

West Genesee High School

Liverpool High School

OCM BOCES Sponsors Sectional-Level Academic Decathlon

On Saturday, January 26, 2013, approximately 50-60 students from the Cazenovia, Liverpool, North Syracuse, Tully, West Genesee and Westhill school districts came together to compete in the 2013 sectional competition of the United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) at Westhill High School. The theme of this year’s event is Russia.

The two highest scoring teams will advance to the New York State Competition on March 15 and 16 at Onondaga Community College. The state winner will go on to represent New York State at the national USAD competition, which is scheduled for April 25-27 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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, science, social science, mathematics, and economics. They will also participate in a “Super Quiz”, team oral relay conducted before an audience.

Participants and coaches are:

Cazenovia – Coaches: Christie Brenneck and Martin Kelly
Contestants: Danielle Axelson, Emma Dudley, Gaevin Froio, Robert Louis, Riley Lloyd, David Martellock, Darren Mihaich, Kyle Polhamus, and Schyler Rochelle
Alternates: Remi Boissonnas, Caden Boone, Brock Houghton, and Joseph Mavec

Cicero-North Syracuse High School – Coach: Matt Harbinger

Contestants: Matthew Barnell, Nathan Clapper, Natalie Dicosta, David Hess, Joseph Jackson, Heather Parzych, Eric Perdew, Michael Schug, and Kevin Shane
Alternates: n/a

Liverpool – Coach: Daryl Burrer

Contestants: Jonathan Carpenter, Christopher Daucher, Jacob Haley, Jamie Kuppel, Andrew Mashayekhi, Raj Patel, Michael Wasnik, and Kevin Zalewski
Alternates: n/a

Tully – Coaches: Kim Cameron and William Ralbovsky

Contestants: Marley Cummings, Sean Fitzpatrick, Kurt Guass, Julie Kunnumpurath, Schuyler McGregor, Cassidy McGinn, Sara Reppenhagen, and Katie Warner
Alternates: n/a

West Genesee – Coach: Scott Duda

Contestants: Evan Janes-Rouse, Kablan Kouakou, John Lisi, Megan Nolan, Megan Petty, Nicholas Serrao, Tatyana Shakhon, and Vadim Shakhov
Alternates: Callie Campbell, Rachel Gdula, James Hickey, Melissa Schiff, and Eric Wolfe

Westhill – Coach: Sarah Fleming

Contestants: Stephen Burgay, Alex Coombs, Aidan Kelly, Aden Orzell, Madeline Pierce, Jordan Roach, Jennifer Root, Juliana Thompson, and Anastasija Useva
Alternates: Rachel Berry, Christine Kosciewicz, Chandler Loyd, Emily Scholl, and Molly Spinek

For more information about the 2013 sectional level Academic Decathlon at Westhill High School, call Elaina Renfrew, OCM BOCES’ Coordinator of Educational Services and Academic Decathlon Sectional Coordinator, at 315/431-8598.

Next Generation Science Standards Draft Review

On January 11, the OCM BOCES Science Center held a Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) work session for teachers, administrators, and curriculum specialists. With the January 8th release of the second draft of the Next Generation Science Standards, this session gave participants the opportunity to get together, review, and discuss the drafted standards. Forty participants  from a variety of districts explored the performance indicators, cross cutting concepts, as well as key vocabulary included within the standards. Some important goals of the work session were to familiarize teachers with the NGSS and to obtain feedback on the second draft version. An interface was created by the Science Center to collect feedback comments using focused criteria. The feedback will be shared with Achieve (the company leading the writing of the new standards) as well as NYSED.

The timeline for the Next Generation Science Standards is as follows:

• The standards opened for review at 3:00 p.m. EST on January 8, 2013.
• The review period will end on January 29, 2013.
• The standards and the survey can be accessed at www.nextgenscience.org 
• Final Release – March of 2013
• NYSED will have to decide whether to adopt the NGSS and, if adopted, make decisions concerning curriculum development, implementation and testing.