SARATOGA SPRINGS —The 2020 Saratoga Hospital Golf Invitational presented by A.O.W. Associates, Inc. raised $157,552 for the hospital’s Nursing Scholarship Program. 

The tournament exceeded what was raised in 2019.  And the support of the community provided funding for 53 nursing scholarship awards this year.

Since the scholarship program was launched in 2002, 135 recipients have earned their associate’s, bachelor’s or master’s degree in nursing. 

The first in the Capital Region to become a Magnet organization, Saratoga Hospital has maintained the designation since 2004. In August, the hospital earned Magnet recognition for the fourth consecutive time. Approximately 8% of U.S. hospitals have been awarded Magnet recognition, and less than 2% have earned the distinction four or more times.

For six years, the Scholastic Book Club’s Patterson Partnership Grant has been awarding schools throughout the country with books that educate and inspire children. This year, five regional educators were winners.

It’s all a matter of luck. The Scholastic Book Club partners with mystery and young adult author James Patterson to award 5,000 prizes randomly each year from the more than 100,000 entries they receive annually. The grant awards $500 and 500 points to be used towards new materials from Scholastic to each winner. 

“I’m super excited and can’t wait to order. It’s like winning the lottery,” said Katie Fleming, 4th grade teacher at St. Mary’s School in Ballston Spa. 

She plans to order supplies that will help to supplement her classroom’s novel studies, that have great figurative language, and that coordinate with their social studies curriculum.

PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF
Because less than five percent of entries are chosen as winners, it pays to keep trying. 

That’s what Meredith Andrews, 4th grade teacher at Karigon Elementary School in Clifton Park discovered. She’s entered to win the grant before and has known colleagues who have won, but this time, luck was on her side. 

“Of course, I’m very excited. I plan to purchase things the whole grade level can use,” she said.

This includes multi-cultural books that feature characters of different races and abilities so that every child can see themselves reflected in what they read. Andrews also hopes to secure fiction and mystery sets for the classroom.

PROVIDES NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Engaging materials make learning fun and help to enrich transitions for teachers. Their enthusiasm is then shared with their students, so everyone feels like a winner. 

“I switched from teaching kindergarten to first grade this year and thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to build my classroom library. I was so surprised and excited to receive the notice in the mail that I had won! I plan to use the money to buy high-interest fiction and non-fiction texts to enrich the educational experience of my first-grade students. What a wonderful opportunity!” said Alison Leclerc, teacher at Skano Elementary School in Clifton Park. 

Studies have proven that the more contact children have with books, the better readers they become. The most successful classroom libraries offer students immediate and frequent access to a variety of different books while also providing a venue where teachers and students can easily recommend books to each other.

According to the American Library Association, classroom libraries should contain between 300-600 titles, depending on grade level, be supplemented from a well-stocked school library and from other sources. Additional new books should be added each year. Materials should span a range of difficulties, languages, topics, genres, and perspectives to best tell the story of our diverse world. 

Additional local winners of the Scholastic prize also include David Bassani from Schuylerville Central School and Darci Carril for the Saratoga Springs YMCA.

COOKING UP CHANGE – BOTH IN AND OUTSIDE OF THE SCHOOL CAFETERIA
Like so many others this year, school cafeterias are doing things differently. Providing free lunches has been one of them.

Since March, in a move meant to ease the financial toll the pandemic is having on families, the US Department of Agriculture has been reimbursing school cafeterias for the meals they serve through their National Lunch Program. Then, in August, it was decided that free lunches would be made available to all students until December. In Schuylerville, there are approximately 1500 students enrolled. 

On October 1, legislation authorized the USDA to extend National School Lunch Program waivers through Sept. 30, 2021. The costs of these free lunches, however, are already rolling in.

“School food services are struggling all over country. We were operating on a shoestring budget already, so we rely on the reimbursement of meals and on a la cart sales – and these sales are way down,” said Sarah Keen, Schuylerville’s Food Services Manager for six years. 

THE HIDDEN COSTS
The price tag of providing free lunches for so many kids are substantial. As they stand now, the Federal and State reimbursements are not going to be enough to balance the school food budget. These reimbursements are $1.99/breakfast and $3.57/lunch. 

“That’s the flat rate, regardless of what we put in it,” said Keen. 

It also doesn’t factor in that fewer students are choosing school meals.

“We’re desperate for kids to come back in and get school meals,” said Keen.

In September, Schuylerville’s food services revenue was down $20,000 in a la cart, and down $20,000 in meal sales. 

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FEEDING THE PROBLEM
So why aren’t kids getting school food? People are choosing to bring their lunch, and many students just aren’t hungry at lunch time now because schedules have some eating as early as 10:15 a.m. It also doesn’t account for the additional safety precautions that have been put in place to meet health guidelines. 

These are mainly in the form of additional staff time, lots of packaging and trash. 

Pre-plated and packaged items have replaced traditional options for meals served both on-campus and off, devastating greening initiatives that had previously been in place.

“It’s just a juggling act to make it work,” said Keen.

FINDING BALANCE WITH FARM-TO-SCHOOL
Choosing to create a more closed system with farm-to-school has many benefits. It was announced this week that Schuylerville will be the recipient of the Farm-to-School Project Grant administered through Cornell Cooperative Extension. 

A participant in farm-to-school projects for more than a decade, Schuylerville spends 30 percent of their district food budget on NY products. They partner with seven NYS farms, including neighbors Kings Dairy, Saratoga Apple, Thomas Poultry, and Old Saratoga Maple. They’ve received food donations from Old Saratoga Mercantile and Irving Tissue, among others. The grant will help Pitney Meadows Farm in Saratoga build a new greenhouse while also awarding $2,000 to the school for new kitchen equipment. 

“What I’ve heard most about the program now is the sense of normalcy that kids feel – they can still have that Stewart’s chocolate milk and the pizza that they’re used to,” said Keen.

SARATOGA COUNTY —The Saratoga County 4-H School Outreach Educator, Mrs. Julie Curren, has readapted the 4-H program to offer “kits” through socially-distanced drop-offs supplemented with LIVE lessons through online platforms.

Kits are now available to all Saratoga County families through the inaugural launch of the 4-H Homeschool Outreach Program.

Beginning in October and rolling out throughout the school year, current offerings include “Eat a Rainbow” snacks, “Think Your Drink” beverages, “Label Literacy” with the MyPlate guide, taking a walk and building a birdhouse with “Bluebirds of NY” and building a plastic bottle rocket with “Rockets Away” kits. Prices are $5 – $15/each. For more information go to ccesaratoga.org/ccesaratoga-and-covid-19/4-h-school-outreach-homeschool-hub or call Kim Wilbur at 518-885-8995.

SARATOGA SPRINGS —Saratoga Springs High School students Cristina DeMeo, Nathan Krackeler, Lily Rosan, and Julian Silva-Forbes have been named National Merit Semifinalists. 

More than 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2019 Preliminary SAT Test (PSAT).  Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, include the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Semifinalists have the opportunity to compete in the National Merit
Scholarship competition.

In addition, Jonathan D’Alonzo, Jackson Ellnor, Wesley Griffiths, Kara Hausam, Ava Herzog, Nicholas Leanza, Joseph Mergen, Joseph Prostick, Jason Schwartz, Vania Sih, Alexander Ucci, and Jason Zheng have been named as Commended Students in the National Merit program. Commended Students are also recognized for the exceptional academic promise demonstrated by their outstanding performance on the qualifying test.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Students throughout Saratoga are spending more class time outside this year. 

Open-air classrooms were utilized more than a century ago as a way to prevent the spread of tuberculous and are being reintroduced this year as a healthy way to adhere to social distancing guidelines. 

When Fred McNeary, a Saratoga Springs High School alum and the CEO of Prestwick Chase at Saratoga, saw that NYRA loaned 175 picnic tables to the Saratoga Springs School District for courtyard seating, he got an idea.

This week, Prestwick Chase donated 75 Adirondack chairs to the district to further expand their outside seating options. The chairs were left over from an outdoor event the retirement community held on Mother’s Day this year. 

“With the pandemic, everyone’s changing how they are having classes. We were happy to do it and the kids were happy to have them,” said John Rowe, Prestwick Chase Marketing Director.

BEING OUTDOORS BECOMES SECOND NATURE

For the children at Saratoga Independent School, being outside more is already becoming second nature.

“We’ve always incorporated some outdoor learning in our classes. We have this beautiful 60-acre campus with trails through the woods, so there are always things for students to see and learn outside. Now, we’re increasing our time outside and having it on a more regular basis for a lot of classes,” said Lisa Brown, Principal of Saratoga Independent School.

Under the school’s three large shade sails, students sit in a circle on foam pads or beach towels for morning meetings, language arts, snack, lunch and more. There are picnic tables, portable easels and whiteboards set up, as well. 

The school purchased microphones and speakers so remote students could connect with the outdoor classrooms, and for Kindergarteners, sitting inside hula hoops serves as a visual and tactile social distancing solution.

“One of the best things that’s come from this whole experience is that the kids are taking it very seriously. Our school motto is to take care of ourselves, each other and the community. This allows the kids to be independent. Kids really do want to do the right thing,” said Brown.

PREPARED FOR PREVENTION

Grounded in the philosophy of hands-on learning, the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs was already running an all-outdoor Forest Kindergarten and is adding another following the same outdoor model.

Waldorf’s 1st through 7th grade students are now spending 75 percent of their school day outside, said Waldorf teacher and Faculty Chair, Astrea Ravenstar. 

High school students are outdoors for half the day studying English, foreign languages and the practical arts. 

Folding chairs equipped with supplies and even cushioned tree stumps have been set up to create outdoor classroom spaces. As the weather cools, the school will be setting up tents and heaters, as well.

When the weather is too wet, classes will be inside but the school’s big windows will remain open for increased ventilation.

“Kids need to dress in layers with hats on. They need to be a little more prepared to stay outside as much as possible. That, combined with the sanitation processes we have in place, really will help keep COVID at bay,” said Ravenstar.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — This week mothers who are residents at Prestwick Chase will be donating 75 plastic Adirondack chairs to the Saratoga Springs High School. John Rowe, director of marketing at Prestwick, said they had many chairs left over from their Mothers Day event this year and wanted a way to help out the school district. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Anxiety and nerves have been placed on hold across families in the Saratoga Springs Central School District as their students stepped into their second week of classes. 

The school began the year with two days of online orientation, where parents, students and teachers were introduced to each other in addition to the technology that will be used for the school year. The two-day orientation allowed students to connect both socially and emotionally.

Last week students in grades Kindergarten through third grade attended in-person learning for five days of instruction. In addition, students who were transitioning to a new building, such as sixth graders who are elementary going into middle school, attended five days of in-class instruction as well. The ninth and tenth graders were allowed to attend in-person as well, but were divided into
two sections. 

The school selected an education plan that combines in-person and online learning. They divided older students into two different sections according to their last name; to ensure proper social distance protocols can remain in place. 

Board of Education President Anjeanette Emeka believes that the school year will become smoother as it progresses. 

“I think as the kids get used more to things and as the teachers and parents get more comfortable with technology and the new normal, I think it’s going to become more smooth,” Emeka said. 

She added: “From what I’m hearing the school year has been going really well so far. We are having the normal bumps and adjustments that you have doing something so drastically new, but everyday it sounds like they mange and adjust and continue.”

With so many nerves entering the school year, Emeka has noticed her neighbors and friends have been pleasantly surprised and have kept a positive attitude as they entered the school year.

“The teachers rightful so had a lot of concerns going in, and nerves. I can’t imagine… there were so many unknowns,” Emeka said. “The unknown about teaching online and teaching in person as well. Once the unknowns start to get whittled down, the anxiety goes down.”

The district had four advisory committees that met every week this past summer to develop the school year plan. Emeka participated in one of the committees, and noticed how meticulous the district was in considering what would be best for their students. 

“I’d like to emphasize the phenomenal work of the district over the summer…its just been this huge undertaking,” Emeka said. “The things that I have seen, I could not be prouder of a district.”

An entirely different school-learning model is not the only change at the district. The school also offers free breakfast and lunch to any interested student. Normally, families would have to fill out a form to apply for free meals, but the district has since done away with any forms. 

“If [a student] wants food they can simply go and get it,” Emeka said. “It takes food to feed the brain and allow you to learn.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Skidmore Encore, a survey of liberal studies presentations by Skidmore College faculty for adult learners, will be offered online this year to community members age 55 and over.

The lecture series, which is traditionally held on the Skidmore campus each fall, will feature 10 Skidmore College faculty speakers from a variety of disciplines, ranging from computer science to psychology. The professors will discuss contemporary topics and themes, such as the impacts of the pandemic, political polarization and even conceptions of humanness. A detailed schedule of presenters and topics is available on the Skidmore Encore website. 

Online registration begins at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29. Those interested should visit the Skidmore Encore website at that time for a registration link. The registration fee is $95. 

Scholarships are available to participants whose annual income is below $22,000. All scholarship requests must be made to Coleen Stephenson at cstephen@skidmore.edu or 518-580-5447 and are subject to verification. The 2020 lectures are available at no charge to current Skidmore faculty, staff and students as well as College retirees.

“Skidmore Encore has been a staple of the fall season in the Capital Region for 40 years. Encore brings the exceptional teaching that is a hallmark of Skidmore to the local community,” said Auden Thomas, managing director of academic programs, residencies, institutes and community programs at Skidmore College.  “We are thrilled to make the lecture series available during a time when people need connections more than ever.”

Because the series will be delivered online this year, participants must have a computer, laptop, tablet or cellphone and internet service to see and hear the presenters. Participants may call into the webinar by telephone but will not be able to see any visuals that may be presented. 

“Tech-check” practice sessions are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 22, and 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, for those who wish to confirm that their technology is suitable. For a link to the session, submit your email here.

Questions regarding the 2020 Skidmore Encore program may be directed to Coleen Stephenson at cstephen@skidmore.edu or 518-580-5447.

CLIFTON PARK — In this mobile age, technology has become increasingly valuable in supporting new generations of lifelong learners and readers. Now, Shenendehowa Central School District and Southern Adirondack Library System (SALS) have formed an innovative new partnership to increase access to more ebooks and e-audiobooks for students. 

This collaboration strives to promote literacy and digital learning by combining the schools’ and the library’s digital reading resources in one app. As a result, students can learn anytime, anywhere because of the convenience, ease of reading on-the-go and the inherent popularity of technology.

The school-library partnership provides safe access to thousands of age-appropriate titles for students’ use inside the classroom, at home and anywhere 24/7. Students of Shenendehowa Central School District, which is a member of Capital Region BOCES, can now borrow from the school’s digital collection of classroom and pleasure reading through the “Sora” app, and also access SALS’s juvenile and young adult digital collection. In addition, “Sora” supports teachers by offering education-specific tools like achievements, exportable notes, and reading progress that encourage individualized learning.

“It is beneficial for our students to be able to search both the school library and public library’s online holdings through Sora with one simple login,” said Susan Kirby-LeMon, school librarian. “By offering this feature, we’ve magically increased our collection to support all our learners. It will certainly help us foster their curiosity and love of reading. Additionally, information is power and it is demonstrating the importance of public libraries. I am hopeful our students will become lifelong users of these precious resources.”

Jack Scott, SALS Technology & Youth Services librarian, added, “we at SALS are excited to provide students more access to reading opportunities. So read, think big and Imagine Your Story”

The “Sora” app was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions 2019 and is available for Shenendehowa Central School District students to download through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and on Chromebooks that support the Google Play Store. It is also available for use in web browsers at soraapp.com on any computer.

Members of Saratoga, Warren, Washington and Hamilton counties can also borrow and read SALS’s complete ebook and e-audiobook collection with a valid library card through the award-winning Libby app. The library’s tailored collection offers ebooks and e-audiobooks including bestsellers and new releases. Readers of all ages can select from virtually every subject ranging from mystery, romance, children’s, business and more. Libby can be used on any major device or computer, including Apple, Android, Chromebook and Kindle.

Both reading apps are built by OverDrive and OverDrive Education. To learn more, visit meet.soraapp.com and meet.libbyapp.com.