BALLSTON SPA — All students enrolled in the Ballston Spa Central School District will be eligible to receive free breakfast and lunch meals beginning December 1. No action is required for students to be eligible.
The cost-free meals are the result of the USDA’s expanded Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). CEP rules dictate that free breakfast and lunch offerings must be complete meals. A complete meal consists of protein, fruits, vegetables, milk, and grain.
Saratoga Springs City School District began offering the free meals on November 1.
Photos provided by Schuylerville Central School District
SCHUYLERVILLE — Schuylerville’s Black Horse Stadium just got a facelift. The school’s arena officially re-opened on November 20 after a new synthetic turf field was installed.
In a statement, Superintendent Gregg Barthelmas said that the field’s preservation was important for both students and the community. “We look forward to the continued benefits the new turf field will provide,” he said.
The field cost $684,785 to install, according to the Schuylerville Central School District.
BALLSTON SPA —If you’ve ever wanted a personal tour of the WNYT studio, tickets to an Adirondack Thunder game, or VIP seats to the Ballston Spa High School graduation, now is your chance.
The Ballston Spa Education Foundation is hosting an online auction to raise funds for enrichment grants for teachers in the school district. According to a statement provided by the organization, funds go “directly to programs and technology for the use and benefit of students at the Ballston Spa schools.”
The bidding began will close on Dec. 3 at Noon. Other items available at the auction include a senior portrait photoshoot, a three-month membership to Adirondack Taekwondo, and a batch of Duck donuts.
The auction is currently live at www.32auctions.com/BSEF2023.
SCHUYLERVILLE — Schuylerville High School has had a robust agriculture program for decades. But now, after an 18-month process, the CTE (career and technical education) program has been approved by the state.
“Going through this certification process was almost seamless because of the high quality of the program currently,” said Sarah Battiste, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Development.
“The CTE endorsement that we have now allows our students to use that as a pathway to graduation,” said Principal James Ducharme. “If students go through this pathway, take these courses, these four courses prescribed over this timeline, that is the equivalent of them going to the Meyers Center and completing a CTE-certified program over there. We now have our own program in agriculture.”
“We’ve intensified our offerings, we’ve intensified our rigor in the classes,” said Mary Elizabeth Foote, an Agricultural Education teacher. “We really solidified that we are meeting state and national standards, and that our students are really pursuing a speciality here in-house.”
The program provides a diverse array of classes, according to Agricultural Education teacher Carlyn Miller. These classes range from business to plants to animals to food science. “We cover just about all of it at this point,” she said.
“The diversity in the classes that our kids have the opportunity to take, you would not expect from a small school like us,” said Principal Ducharme.
As part of the program, students get a taste of what a career in agriculture might be like. One initiative allows students to take sap from maple trees and turn it into maple products such as syrup, candy, and cream. During this process, students learn about the maple industry, as well as the importance of conservation.
While some graduates do immediately enter the workforce, most pursue higher education. Recent Schuylerville grads have continued their agricultural studies at institutions such as Cornell University, SUNY Cobleskill, and Delaware Valley University.
Schuylerville’s agriculture program is open to all students, and according to Foote, an estimated 65% of them are enrolled in at least one agricultural class.
“This is not a gender-specific study area,” Miller said.
“There’s not a mold of what anyone in agriculture could look like,” said Foote. “It’s just someone who has an interest that develops into a passion, and then the rest is going to be history from there.”
For more details on the program, visit www.schuylervilleschools.org.
Photos provided by Saratoga Springs City School District
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga High School welcomed 127 of its seniors into the National Honor Society on November 14. According to the school, the students “exemplify citizenship, leadership, and character development through community service and academic excellence.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Two little libraries were vandalized last month in Saratoga Springs. The public boxes contain banned books that can be borrowed and returned for free.
One box, located near Caffe Lena on Phila Street, is stewarded by Nancy Weber. When she found the library vandalized, she said she “kind of did a double-take because it was so shocking.” Weber discovered that dozens of books had been taken from the library. Only one remained: “The Hate U Give,” a novel about race relations in the wake of a police shooting.
“We knew that it was just a matter of time before something like this would happen,” Weber said. “We’re living in very volatile, polarized times.”
The identity of the vandal or vandals is unknown. “It could’ve been a prank, or it could’ve been someone intentionally doing it,” Weber said.
Weber said that no further vandalism has occurred since the initial incident, but there was one odd book exchange.
“Curiously, one book came back: The Bible,” Weber said. “A few days ago, that copy of the Bible left and another copy of the Bible came in, which I thought was sort of pointless.”
Weber said that since the vandalization occurred, there’s been an increase in book donations to the library. But many of the donated books are not actually considered banned books. Donated books should be included on the American Library Association’s list of banned and challenged books, or the PEN America Index of School Book Bans.
The second vandalized little library of banned books is stewarded by Julie Holmberg. She said that one of the congregants at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Saratoga found the library’s contents under a nearby bush.
“There had been a rainstorm, and all of the books were destroyed,” Holmberg said. “They were all hidden away underneath there and had to be trashed.”
“It’s very frustrating that people would destroy property like that, especially books,” she said. “It just feels like right now things are so discouraging.”
Unlike Weber, Holmberg has not received a significant increase in book donations since the vandalization occurred, leaving the little library with an uncertain future.
“I just encourage people to open their minds, read things. If you don’t agree with it, that’s fine. But keep the conversation going so that we can figure out a way to live together,” Weber said.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Dozens of people huddled together in the frigid darkness. With glow sticks and cell phones to light the way, they marched towards downtown Saratoga. Thus began a dramatic and emotional night for Saratoga Springs City School District teachers and their supporters.
The march began and ended at the Caroline Street Elementary School, where a Board of Education (BOE) meeting occurred on Thursday, November 9. The demonstration was in support of the teachers’ union, which has been negotiating a new contract with the district for two years.
During the board meeting, teachers criticized the current state of their schools.
“In all my years here, morale is at an all-time low,” said Robin Chudy. “I see a huge change. I see good, young teachers leaving this district; good teachers looking for jobs in different districts that pay more, and I can’t blame them.”
John Mishoe, a 2005 graduate of the district, spoke of teachers experiencing “nights of tears, searching for new careers, and early retirement.”
“I implore the board to take action in securing and maintaining teachers,” said Katie Cole. “It’s what our current and future students deserve.”
At a previous BOE meeting on October 12, teacher Melissa Deutsch said she has not received a “true raise” in over eight years. “Each contract that provides more salary also increases our healthcare contributions, wiping out any significant increase in take-home pay,” she said.
At both BOE meetings, teachers said that the district was struggling to hire and retain employees.
In a statement to Saratoga TODAY, Saratoga School District’s Director of Community Outreach and Communications Maura Manny said that “teacher retention and recruitment are ongoing priorities for our district, and we continuously strive to create an environment that attracts and retains professionals who are dedicated to the success of our students.”
“Like many school districts across the nation,” Manny said, “the nationwide teacher shortage makes teacher recruitment and retention more challenging each year. Despite these challenges, our district has been fortunate to consistently attract a talented pool of applicants for our open positions.”
According to a November 2021 report from the U.S. Department of Education, New York State “has faced geographically widespread and persistent teacher shortages.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS —It was a chilly afternoon, but that didn’t stop a dedicated group of high schoolers from honoring Veterans Day with a flag replacement ceremony at Veterans Park.
The Saratoga Springs High School Military Club, led by sophomore Kelly McMurtrie, hosted the event on Thursday, Nov. 9. Attendees included veterans, fellow students, and New York State Senator James Tedisco.
“I always like to say that all good things emanate from the 44th senatorial district, and you certainly exemplify that,” Tedisco said of the military club. The senator said the students’ involvement in the club helped them understand why “we’re the greatest nation in the world, hands down.”
McMurtrie, whose father served in the Navy, said she loved growing up in a military family. “I liked being part of something that was bigger than just myself. The military was a huge community. But I also know that some families weren’t as fortunate as mine.”
McMurtie encouraged attendees to donate cash to the nonprofit organization Disabled American Veterans (DAV). Boxes were set up to collect donations. There were also Veterans Day cards made by local elementary school students available for veterans to take home.
SARATOGA SPRINGS —Empire State University celebrated the opening of its Veteran and Military Resource Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday.
“At Empire State University,” said school president Lisa Vollendorf, “we are very proud to serve military and veteran students. We serve more of this population than any other four-year public university or college in the State of New York. And here’s what I want to say to that: we want to serve more.”
According to Empire State University, the new center will offer both in-person and online services for the school’s veterans and military-affiliated students. It’s located at 111 West Ave in Saratoga Springs.
Notable attendees of the event included New York State Senator James Tedisco, a representative who spoke on behalf of Congressman Paul Tonko, and school mascot Blue the Bluebird.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The truth is out there. It might also be on Route 50 in Saratoga Springs. A group of freshmen from Skidmore College went to find out.
Students from a seminar called “The Fantastic: Seduction of the Strange” toured the X-Files Preservation Collection in Saratoga as part of their course study.
The students “thought it was cool to see the original props,” said Assistant Professor Juliane Wuensch, who led the excursion. “They were very fascinated seeing these original things that were in the show.”
The collection includes props of monsters, human corpses, and space aliens used in the hit series The X-Files, which was originally broadcast on the Fox network from 1993 to 2002.
Given that the series aired before any of the Skidmore students were born, 90s-era technology was also a source of fascination for them.
“It was interesting to see their reactions to all these memorabilia from a time they can’t even really imagine anymore,” Wuensch said. Students were interested “to see the technical side. How was this made? How was it done before digital?”
The freshmen were especially intrigued by X-Files creator Chris Carter’s laptop and floppy disk, which he used to write the first episode of the show.
“I think it’s piqued their interest as well for the show,” Wuensch said. She even heard a couple of her students saying, “I have to watch more of this show” and “let’s have a watch party.”
“The Fantastic: Seduction of the Strange” explores all forms of fantastical art, literature, and media. In addition to The X-Files, Skidmore students can study Edgar Allan Poe, Franz Kafka, The Twilight Zone, and German fairy tales.
The X-Files Preservation Collection opened last year and bills itself as “the world’s largest collection of screen-used props, costumes, and set dressings from The X-Files.” It’s located at 4284 NY-50 in Saratoga Springs.
