NOVEMBER 2014  VOLUME XXXII.2

Home of the Eagles Published monthly by Downsville Central School, Downsville, New York 13755 607-363-2100 Fax 363-2105 Board of Education Gary Champlin Dale Stone Brian LaTourette Christian Towsley Chuck Dunlap Nancy Haynes, Clerk Administration Mr. John Evans, Superintendent Timothy McNamara, Principal

School and Community Working Together to Make a Difference

Superintendent’s Message PARENTS, IT’S OK TO SAY NO “I just want my child to have it better than I did.” “I want them to have nice things.” All parents want what is best for their children. However, wanting what’s best for your children and giving them the world on a silver platter are two entirely different things. Whether we’re talking about material items or privileges, children want and need boundaries. They need to understand the value of a dollar and understand that they don’t always get their own way. Parents it is ok to say no. You really aren’t doing them any favors by caving in all the time. Granted, sometimes it’s easier to say yes. How many of us have had screaming children in stores. In the midst of their temper tantrum, you know if you just concede and let them have that toy or candy, they’ll be quiet, and the other customers will stop looking at you. Don’t do it! You will send a message that all your child has to do is make a ruckus and you’ll say yes. It’s ok to say no. Don’t be concerned with what other people think; it’s your child and it’s your responsibility to train them how to behave. Fast forward a few years and your pre-teen has plans to go to a friend’s party or a special school event, but they didn’t bring their grades up, like you had agreed. You told them that if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be allowed to go to the party or special event. If you haven’t experienced a rant from an eleven year old girl? Trust me it’s not pretty. You know she had her heart set on it. The tears are flying, and it’s breaking your heart to have to stick to your guns and keep her from going. Maybe she could start her punishment after the party? Don’t do it. Stick to your guns! Remember when your parents had to punish you, and Dad would say, “This hurts me more than it does you”? As a kid you could never quite understand what he meant by that. But now as a parent, you know how hard it is to say no to your child. No one said raising children was easy or pain-free. Children can bring you the most joy you’ve ever experienced—as well as the most pain. Do the right thing. Parents, it is ok to say no. As many parents have told their children before us, “trust me”; your children with thank you when they are older for setting boundaries and establishing rules when they were kids. We are all in this parenting thing together. Good luck! Educationally yours, John Evans

Annual Thanksgiving Dinner

On Thursday, November 20, SADD will be hosting the Annual Thanksgiving Dinner. Dinner starts at 6:00 p.m. This is a school/community event, and everyone is welcome. Please bring a dish to pass, and if you can donate and/or cook a ham or turkey, it would be much appreciated. Contact Betty Early at 363-2104 to make reservations and discuss details. It is always a great time of fellowship and family night out. —Betty Early, SADD Advisor.

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Board Minutes

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014 Present: Board Members Brian LaTourette, Chris Towsley, Dale Stone, Chuck Dunlap and Gary Champlin; Board Clerk Nancy Haynes; Administration: John Evans, Superintendent; Others: Janet Champlin, Betty Early, Jamie Mabery and Walter Meier Absent: Administration—Timothy McNamara, Principal and Rob Rhinehart, Admin./Director of Guidance BOARD ITEMS • DCMO BOCES Educational Forum—Wednesday, October 8, 2014 —Superintendent Evans, Board Members Brian LaTourette, Chris Towsley and Dale Stone will attend. • NYSSBA—Annual Convention—October 25-28, NYC— Superintendent Evans, Board Members Gary Champlin, Dale Stone and Chris Towsley will be attending on behalf of the District and Brian LaTourette will attend on behalf of NYSSBA (as he is the Area 8 Director) and will also represent the District. • Audit Committee Meeting—Thursday, October 30, 2014— 6:00 p.m. (prior to regular meeting) VOICE OF THE VISITORS • Downsville Support Staff—Janet Champlin spoke on behalf of the DSS requesting that the board amend Policy #5133 Non-Resident Student Policy to include that children of all employees be allowed to attend the district as non-resident, non-tuition paying students regardless of residence as the current policy reading children of teachers only. BOARD ACTIONS • Approved: Change in date of the October regular meeting of the BOE from Monday, October 27, 2014 to Thursday, October 30, 2014 due to a scheduling conflict. • Approved: Amendment to Policy #5133 Non Resident Students—change in wording from Children of Teachers to Children of All District Employees.

T he Dow nsville gi rls’ modified soccer team would like to thank all of our families and supporters throughout the season. We worked hard, improved our soccer skills, built relationships with all of our Roscoe and Downsville teammates, and enjoyed our Annual Lock-In at the DCS auditorium from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.!

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• Approved: Amendment to bus run rate—increase of 10 minutes per day for a total of 200 minutes and a rate of $130.27 per day for the Miller Hollow Run. • Approved: Addendum to the Shared Superintendent’s contract (with Roscoe Central School) for the 2014-2015 school year. • Accepted: Resignation 2014-15 School Photographer— Melissa Frisbee • Appointed: • Substitute Teachers—Crystal Wood (with long-term elementary assignment) and Kristie Schubert • 2014-2015 Extra-Curricular Positions: K-6 Curriculum Coordinator: Lynne VanValkenburg Class of 2018 Advisor: Michelle Pattison School Photographer: Sandy Shaver Drama Club Advisor: Hope Jennings Jr. High Drama Club Advisor: Amy Thibodeau Girls’ Varsity Basketball Coach: Dustin Keesler • 2014-15 Mentors: Karen Alers—Juliane Erwin Michelle Pattison—Amy Thibodeau Laura Wahlberg—Hope Jennings Claudia Townsend—Christopher Odell Alicia Fifield—Crystal Wood Rebecca Lillibridge—Diana Rocklein • 2014-2015 After School Monitors: Sandy Banker, Betty Early, Phyllis Leone, JoAnne Keesler, Goldie Mills, Sandy Shaver USE OF FACILITIES Downsville Youth Soccer Club—fall and spring soccer seasons for practice and games ANNOUNCEMENTS AND INFORMATION: Board and Administrator—Newsletter

Girls’ Modified Soccer

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Santa’s Helpers

The DCS Alumni Association is pleased to sponsor the Santa’s Helpers program again this Christmas season. We will be soliciting donations of toys/clothes or money to help ensure all children in our community have a gift this Christmas. Eligibility for the program is for children residing in our school district from ages birth to 18. If you would like a gift for your child(ren), please complete this form and return it to Mrs. Shaver in the Guidance Office at school no later than Friday November 14. If you would like to make a donation, please make your check out to DCS Alumni Association and note that it is for Santa’s Helpers. You can drop it off at school in the guidance office or mail it to the Alumni Association at PO Box 205, Downsville, NY 13755. We accept donations all year long. If you prefer to donate toys, games, clothing or gift items, we have drop-off locations at Head To Toe Fitness Studio, the Community Bank on Main Street, or in the DCS Guidance office. If you want to purchase specific requested items for a child contact Sandy Shaver in the guidance office at 363-2106, and she will give you a clothing size and/or a child’s toy wish. Pick-up date will be the week of December 15. The DCS Alumni Association thanks you for your support of this worthwhile program to help make a child’s Christmas a little merrier! Parent/Guardian Name: ______________________________________________ Child’s Name: ______________________________________________ Gender:__________________ Age:__________________ Phone:_________________________________________ Email:_________________________________________ Clothing Size:___________________________________ Toy Wish:______________________________________

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Yearbook Sendoff Messages

Attention Family and Friends of the Class of 2015: Now is the time to start thinking about your senior sendoff message for the 2015 yearbook. This is a personal message from you to your senior that will remain a surprise until the book comes out. Samples may be seen in the last few yearbooks. If you are interested in dedicating a message to that special senior in your life, please send the following information to Heather Kaja via email ([email protected]) or through the mail (14784 State Highway 30, Downsville, NY 13755): • the student’s name, as you’d like it to appear (this is used separate from the actual message) • a brief message (the whole space is approximately the size of a business card) • a photo, if you wish to include one • $15 for each message—checks should be made payable to Downsville Central School Deadline for all sendoffs is Friday, December 19. Thank you, in advance, for your support and for helping to make the 2015 yearbook memorable for the Class of 2015!

Increase Your Business

Looking for a way to increase your business and support your community, all at the same time? Advertising with us not only brings more patrons to your business, it also helps us keep the cost of our book down for our students and community members. Ads are available in a variety of sizes and price points. Our 1/8 page business card size ads are only $30 and are in color. If you’re interested in advertising in the 2014-2015 yearbook, please email Heather Kaja, yearbook advisor at hkaja@ dcseagles.org for more information.

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We will be publishing an all color book again for the 2014-2015 school year. World books will be included in all books this year.

Order after February 13, 2015

$50 + tax = $54.00

Payment in full is best! A $5 deposit is required to hold a book for you in the spring. Please return this completed order form with your payment. Mail to: Heather Kaja, DCS, PO Box J, Downsville, NY 13755 Please make checks payable to Downsville Central School.

Name__________________________________ Phone #___________________

Grade______________

homeroom teacher ___________________

$_______________ cost of yearbook (tax included) $_______________ Name Stamp

$5.00

*Free for Seniors*

___________________________________________ Name as you’d like it to appear on your book $_______________ Patron’s Page $5- Show your support for the class of 2015 ___________________________________________ Name as you’d like it to appear on the Patron’s Page $_______________ Total

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Local Information (limit 30 lines)

Teen Drinking and You

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THINKINGLocal ABOUT HOSTING A TEEN Information (limit 30 lines) PARTY WITH ALCOHOL? THINK AGAIN. Some adults are tempted by the notion that if they “host” or “supervise” a party where teens are drinking, they can control the dangers. Experience shows that this isn’t the case, and that adults who do so can be financially and criminally liable. There are criminal penalties for serving alcohol to those under 21. Depending on where you live, aside from the embarrassment and humiliation of an arrest, you could end up in jail. Under New York State law if you serve alcohol to teenagers you could be civilly liable if they hurt themselves or someone else. That means you could be sued for damages and therefore whatever you have managed to save or accumulate could be sold or collected to satisfy a judgment. It is no defense to these charges that you did not think the teenager was drunk. You are responsible as the property owner. COUNTY

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Open House and the Promoting Student Success Family Picnic Dinner

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Meet VGO!

Students may see VGO wandering the halls of DCS occasionally and may even be spending time with it in their classrooms. VGO is 100% remote controlled, like a robot. It allows a person to replicate themselves in a distant location and has the ability to move around as if they were physically here at school. With VGO, the controller can see, hear, talk and interact wherever they go. Our plan here at Downsville is to utilize VGO for students who cannot make it to school for extended lengths of time. Rather than being at home with a tutor and having little to no interaction with peers and teachers, VGO allows for the same opportunities as other students. Students won’t have to worry about missing lessons and assignments; students can be present without physically being in school.

Spanish Class News

WE’RE OFF TO A GOOD START! Spanish classes are working to review old information and begin adding new information. Each class always has material to study. We recently worked on locating the 20 countries that have Spanish as their native language, and some classes are even learning the capitals! [*Belize is on the map below, but is not a Spanish-speaking country.] Do you know your Spanish-speaking country geography?

Map courtesy of: http://idt.purduecal.edu/student/macortez/ Language_ Page.html

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Music Notes!

IMPORTANT DATES ARE COMING UP • Area All State Festival—November 21-22 at SUNY Oneonta • Holiday concert—December 10, 7:00 p.m. (Snow Date - December 15, 7:00 p.m.) • Elementary Holiday concert (PK-4)—December 19, 1:00 p.m. Where words fail, music speaks. ―Hans Christian Andersen —Mrs. Wahlberg and Ms. Jennings

FIRST Learns Their Colors

The two- and three-year-old program explored colors during a two week period in class. Ten colors were explored. Students enjoyed making butterfly prints for the color black, and then finished their butterflies during the color orange day. The early learning class has enjoyed watching the life process of a butterfly as it starts out a caterpillar, turns into a chrysalis and then becomes a beautiful butterfly.

Pictured around the circle: Elizabeth Odell, Finnley Kane, Landen Reed, Harper Kinch, Jarett Ackerely, Riley Emerich, Wyatt Emerich, Hannah Barnes, James Noviello, Danica Winner, Lanette Bartow and James Gardner Back l.-r.: Paige Elmore and Marcella Noviello

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RISE Program visits the FIRST Program

Guest speaker Karen Bowers, a retired kindergarten and PK teacher from Roscoe visited the FIRST program on Friday, October 3 and again on October 10. During the first part of each session, Karen presented information specific to language development, to the parents, grandparents, and caregivers. The children were provided other activities (a walk and time in the gym), while their caregiver became the learner. During the second session, students were provided a snack, a story, and small activity. Mrs. Joyce Steflik, Colchester Town Librarian contacted Mrs. Jody Reed to arrange this very informative RISE program. Special thanks to both Karen and Joyce.

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Downsville Town Library Program News

We’ve been busy since our last installment in this newsletter! On May 10, the theme was Memorial Day. Six students were present learning fun facts and trivia about the holiday. Everyone made patriotic wreaths to take home. A special program was held on May 17 for PK-6 grades. Local author, Dayette Zampolin, came in to read her two books, Sparkie Wyk and Snomoette and the Glitter Fairies. Fourteen students were present along with helpers, Jonny Gardner and Myles Liddell. Everyone enjoyed the books and the BINGO games Dayette made up of vocabulary words from them. Four BINGO winners each received one of Dayette’s books as a prize. The group also made fire breathing dragons to go along with Sparkie Wyk. Coloring and adding glitter to sketches made by Dayette of her “fairies” rounded out the morning of fun. In June, two programs were held. Flag Day was the theme for the younger group. The history and care of the flag were talked about in our books, and students made a musical stars and stripes wind chime. The other group learned about Native American legends of the dream catcher according to different tribes. Students made dream catchers to take home. In July both groups explored fun facts and trivia about the history of America and the writing of the Constitution. Books by Lynne Cheney, Callista Gingrich and Dick Morris were read. Crafts made were patriotic windsocks, pinwheels, paper lanterns, patriotic magnets, and star men with other activities available. The younger group in August read books by Marcus Pfister and made their own Rainbow Fish with a no fuss fish aquarium to put it in, and a fish hand puppet. The older group concentrated on dinosaurs, each putting together one of several wooden skeleton models and a jointed dinosaur puppet, while picking up some interesting facts and trivia. Our first program of the school year was held on Sept. 13 with Kyra Barnhart, Day-Leigh Disbrow, Lilly Temple, Everet West, Riley Ziemba and Girl Scout Gabrielle Ryan. Adults present were: Susan Early, Laura Ziemba, Amanda Temple, Brandy Stauffer, Joanne Gruettner and Joyce Steflik. Reading material included The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds by Joanna Cole, The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-Ups by Gina Ingoglia and fact and trivia sheets about trees. An information sheet on recycling was also handed out since two of our crafts used recycled items. Crafts included bird houses made from gallon milk jugs, a caterpillar seed planter, and seeds, using egg cartons and a leaf print picture. The program in November is for all ages, from 10:00 a.m. to noon on Saturday the 15. The theme will be Thanksgiving, with books, crafts and other activities to enjoy. SEE PICTURES NEXT PAGE!

The Downsville Times PICTURES FROM LIBRARY PROGRAM

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Girls’ Modified Soccer

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Boys’ Modified Soccer

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Boys’ Modified Soccer

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Cross Country

Girls’ J.V. Soccer

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Girls’ J.V. Soccer

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Downsville Central School Downsville, New York 13755

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 5 Downsville, NY 13755

Current Resident or ECRWSS Postal Patron

Pre-K Supports Senior Class Helper

On Thursday, September 25 some of the students from the PK class met Mrs. Jody Reed after school to support and cheer on senior class helper, Chance Byington. The students used pom pom’s, a megaphone and signs to show their support for the varsity team. This is a tradition started by Mrs. Reed to help the PK students understand team spirit and for the senior helpers to feel the “small” support given by those who look up to them daily. It is a win-win situation.

DCMO BOCES Printing Service • Norwich, NY

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