Blue Streaks Awarded Scholarships
Saratoga Springs student-athletes Ryan Clancy and Ethan Conn were awarded scholarships from the DiFusco Foundation on November 14. Photo provided.
Saratoga Springs student-athletes Ryan Clancy and Ethan Conn were awarded scholarships from the DiFusco Foundation on November 14. Photo provided.
Greenfield Hosting Sip & Shop Event to Benefit Elementary School
PORTER CORNERS — The Town of Greenfield will hold a “Sip & Shop” event at Brookhaven Golf Course at 333 Alpine Meadows Rd. in Porter Corners from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 30. The new holiday bazaar will combine a winter market and a holiday social opportunity that is free to the public. The event will benefit the Greenfield Elementary School Home School Association, its parent teacher group.
Booths will be sprinkled around The View Restaurant, which will be transformed into a winter bazaar. There will be food and drink specials so that patrons can enjoy a snack or lunch before, during, or after they shop. The event is for all ages. Booths will feature stocking stuffers and specialty gifts including art, jewelry, artisan wood products, local food items and more. The town will sell a new “TOG: Better TOGether” apparel, as well as Brookhaven Winter Park merchandise.
Saratoga Student Nominated for Nonprofit’s Champion of the Year
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Madi Warmbier, a senior at Saratoga Springs High School, has been nominated as a Champion of the Year for Best Buddies, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Best Buddies will be hosting its third annual Champion of the Year Gala on November 22 at Brown’s Revolution Hall in Troy. During the gala, champion candidates and their mission partners will be recognized for the work they’re doing to create a more inclusive world.
“It’s important to me that everybody gets the opportunities they deserve, no matter their abilities,” Warmbier said.
Warmbier had previously been involved with the Special Olympics and unified sports before attending the Best Buddies Leadership Conference in Indiana. This summer, someone anonymously nominated her to become a Best Buddies Champion of the Year. Now, she will be competing against seven other nominees to see who can raise the most money for the organization. Thus far, Warmbier has secured a number of donations from friends and family, as well as items that will be submitted to an auction.
Warmbier has enjoyed the experience so much that she hopes to continue being involved in Best Buddies even after she graduates.
“I’m going to major in psychology and maybe a little bit of social work too,” she said. “Right now, I want to work for Best Buddies on the organization side, like planning things, because I just really love the organization.”
Warmbier is one of more than 1,750 students and adults that are participating in Best Buddies programs throughout the Capital Region. The gala on November 22 will raise funds to support and expand local programs, including the new adult-based Friendship Program.
Those interested in donating to Warmbier’s Champion of the Year campaign can do so here: https://www.bestbuddieschampion.org/albany/supporting/#madiwarmbier.
For more information about Best Buddies and the nonprofit’s local programs, visit bestbuddies.org/newyork.
Coding for Cancer: St. Clement’s & Spa Catholic Join Forces
Coding for Cancer logo provided.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Sherry Knotek has been the Technology and STEM teacher at St. Clement’s School in Saratoga Springs since 1995. Each year, during National Computer Science Week, St. Clement’s students participate in the worldwide “Hour of Code” by writing computer code for one hour.
This year, St. Clement’s is joining forces with Saratoga Central Catholic to create “Coding for Cancer,” a fundraiser that will benefit both the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund.
Knotek was diagnosed with cancer in September 2021 and still continues her treatments.
“I know I can combine my role as a technology teacher as well as a patient to make a difference,” Knoteck told Saratoga TODAY. “As a patient at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, I not only see the increased impact that technology continues to make on cancer research, but it inspires me to encourage the next generation of learners to pursue a career in technology. The opportunity to tie this all together has become my mission and Coding for Cancer was born.”
Coding for Cancer will culminate on December 10 when students will spend an hour writing computer code during National Computer Science Week. In its first year, Coding for Cancer hopes to raise $25,000 for the Jimmy Fund.
“The Jimmy Fund was built on grassroots fundraising,” said Katherine Bahrawy, Associate Director of Event Fundraising at the Jimmy Fund, in a statement. “We are grateful for the efforts of our Jimmy FundRaisers, like Coding for Cancer, who are bringing their communities together to support groundbreaking research and extraordinary patient care at Dana-Farber. Every penny makes a difference.”
To support Coding for Cancer, visit https://charity.pledgeit.org/codeforcancer.
New Music Scholarship Honors Beloved Jam Band Fan
Justin is pictured with his wife Melissa and their two children, Allison and Dylan. Images provided.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Before Jerry Garcia stumbled upon the term in a dictionary, “Grateful Dead” originally referred to a folktale about a person who received karmic repayment for the good deed of resolving the debt of someone who had died. Perhaps it’s fitting then that the family and friends of Justin Kreider, a Grateful Dead and jam band fan who passed away in 2022, have honored his memory by providing scholarship money to student-musicians.
“[Justin] had this crazy memory,” said his wife Melissa Kreider. “He would memorize setlists. He knew all the lyrics, all the stories of where the lyrics came from and who wrote the songs.”
“We’d be at shows in the 90s and he would just be able to meet people,” said Justin’s friend Mark Scirocco. “He’d get their addresses and be trading [cassette] tapes with people. Next thing you’d know, he’d have hundreds of tapes.”
The Justin Kreider Music Never Stopped Fund logo incorporates many of Kreider’s passions, including the Grateful Dead, the New York Yankees, Phish, and live music.
Justin’s love of music led to Melissa and Mark co-founding the Justin Kreider Music Never Stopped Fund, which began its mission in earnest earlier this month with a cornhole tournament at the Saratoga Winery that raised $1,500. The money will go to a graduating Saratoga Springs High School student-musician who is looking to further their music education in college. The school’s music department will be nominating students for the prize.
Justin grew up in Saratoga Springs and graduated from the city’s high school in 1993.
His first job at the Trattoria Restaurant resulted in a nearly three-decade-long career in the restaurant business that took him to Park City, Utah and Portland, Oregon. He became the head chef of his own family in 2009, when his first child, Allison, was born. He also had a son, Dylan.
The Music Never Stopped Fund’s logo sums up much of Justin’s interests, incorporating a dancing turtle (his nickname was Turtle), a Yankees cap (he was a devoted baseball nerd), and of course the Grateful Dead’s signature “Stealie” skull and lightning bolt design.
Justin’s love of the Grateful Dead also helped to sum up his life philosophy, which in turn led to the creation of the music scholarship that bears his name. He’d often listen to Big Steve Parish, a former Grateful Dead crew member who now hosts a radio show devoted to the Dead.
“We’d be driving around town and you know the way Saratoga traffic can be, you’d be grumpy or whatever and Justin would be like, ‘hey, you gotta be like Big Steve and be a little nicer to everybody,’” said Scirocco. “For me, [the Music Never Stopped Fund is] like fulfilling that part of things. It’s like, let’s make things a little bit nicer for some people. I don’t want to be too tree hugger-ish or whatever, but it’s like let’s spread the love around. So it’s trying to live up to that ideal a little bit while remembering him.”
The Justin Kreider Music Never Stopped Fund will next host a Mandala Drawing Workshop at Next Door Kitchen & Bar on November 24. For more details, visit the charity’s Facebook page.
WWII-Era Aircraft Fly Over Local Schools to Celebrate Veterans Day
Public domain photo of two U.S. Army Air Force North American AT-6C-NT Texan trainers via the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
BALLSTON SPA — On the morning of Friday, November 8, a formation of World War II-era T-6 Texan aircraft soared over local schools in celebration of Veterans Day. The planes could be seen above Ballston Spa High School, Caroline Street Elementary School, and Maple Avenue Middle School.
The spectacle was arranged by the Prescott Foundation, along with local warbird operator Mark Murphy. The aircraft flew in a circular route that began at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School around 9:30 a.m. and ended at Galway Central School District about an hour later.
According to the National Museum of World War II aviation, the T-6 Texan is an American single-engine aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and United States Navy during World War II and into the 1970s.
The last known military use of the Texan was by the South Africa Air Force as a trainer in 1995, which gives it a working history of 60 years, a figure virtually unrivaled by any other WWII-period aircraft. Today, the T-6 remains a popular warbird aircraft used for airshow demonstrations and static displays.
Ballston Spa Library to Hold Groundbreaking Ceremony
The Ballston Spa Public Library will be adding a new reading room and local history room. Photo via the library.
BALLSTON SPA — The Ballston Spa Public Library will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday, November 17 at 1:30 p.m. to celebrate the start of construction of a reading room and local history room. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own shovels. Light refreshments will be served. The library is located at 21 Milton Avenue in downtown Ballston Spa.
Ballston Spa School Psychologist Wins Presidential Service Award
School Psychologist Chelsea Cangeleri is recognized by the Ballston Spa Central School District Board of Education at a November 6 meeting. Photo via the event livestream.
BALLSTON SPA — Chelsea Cangeleri, the Ballston Spa Middle School psychologist, was recognized by the district’s Board of Education last week for receiving the New York Association of School Psychologists’ (NYASP) Presidential Service Award. The honor recognizes NYASP members who exceed duties and services to the organization.
“[Chelsea] is a true leader in our department,” said Director of Secondary Special Education Daina Sisk at the board meeting. “She’s a leader, she’s a collaborator, and I am very grateful to have the opportunity to work with her every day.”
Cangeleri won the award at the annual NYASP conference held last month in Syracuse. The event brings together hundreds of psychologists from across New York and nearby states.
Cangeleri previously won the NYASP Chapter F School Psychologist of the Year award in 2022.
Empire State University Student Invited to White House
Danielle Emeny, an Empire State University student, appears at the White House for the National Partnership for Student Success. Photo via Empire State University.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Danielle Emeny, a student in Empire State University’s Doctor of Education program, was recently invited to the White House by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to celebrate the National Partnership for Student Success and paint the way forward for educational equity across the country.
The National Partnership for Student Success is a public-private partnership led by the U.S. Department of Education, AmeriCorps, and Johns Hopkins University, that focuses on evidence-based student support. The partnership connects school districts with local, state, and federal agencies and resources while connecting students to community and service-oriented activities. Emeny helped pilot the program at SUNY Upstate as a member of their professional staff, in collaboration with staff at SUNY Onondaga Community College and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
Educational equity is at the center of Emeny’s personal, professional, and academic goals. At Empire State University, Emeny is working toward a Doctor of Education degree and focusing on research surrounding graduate students with disabilities in higher education. This is a personal mission for Emeny, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2022 shortly before her studies began.
“This changed how my brain processed data as well as nearly obliterated my ability to read printed text,” Emeny said in a statement. “Fortunately, I can read for short periods of time on a computer if the text is inverted white on a black background, but this sudden shift in my adult life made me realize that accessible does not necessarily mean equal. I wish to focus on this topic to make sure that other students who need support services can get services that are useful in a timely fashion and to make accessibility mean access.”
As this work continues, Emeny said she hopes to bring the program to other campuses and bring financial resources to other students that could help keep them in school.
Saratoga School Bus Cancellations Cause Parent Frustration
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Recent bus cancellations by the Saratoga Springs City School District caused some parents to vent their frustrations in a local Facebook group.
On November 6, one parent posted to the group “What’s Going on Saratoga” that she was notified that her son’s bus was canceled less than 90 minutes before dismissal. “I have no idea the procedure, can’t seem to find it in the handbook, and no one is answering the phone there,” the parent wrote.
Screenshots of Saratoga Springs school district notifications stated that “due to the school bus driver shortage and employee illness,” buses 461 and 466 were both canceled, along with all after-school late buses.
Earlier this year, the district cut two full-time transportation department positions as part of its 2024-2025 budget. Although neither of the positions were technically drivers, they were a dispatcher and mechanic, both of whom sometimes served as substitute bus drivers when necessary.
At an April 25 budget adoption meeting, bus dispatcher Dean Musgrove expressed his opposition to the cuts. “It’s really going to do a lot of damage to our department and I don’t think you realize the extent of it,” Musgrove said. “I have a hard time understanding why $180,000 can’t be located to cover these two positions that you’re talking about cutting…Even though they’re not technically driver positions, they are actually drivers.”
In April, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Patton said there had been “significant sacrifices” in order to achieve a balanced budget. “We truly appreciate the feedback that we do receive from transportation,” he said. “Mr. Musgrove and I had several conversations.” Dr. Patton also noted that other similarly-sized school districts had fewer dispatchers and routing specialists than Saratoga Springs.
Bus driver shortages have been an ongoing issue both locally and across the country. Data from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) indicates that from September 2019 to September 2023, there was a 15.1% decrease in the total number of K-12 bus drivers nationwide. Private school bus driver employment also declined by 21.5% over the same four-year period.
Several factors have contributed to the shortage, including low wages. According to the EPI, school bus driver wages are significantly lower than most other workers. Drivers earned an average of $20 per hour in 2022, which is nearly 17% less than the median wage for all workers. Drivers only work an average of around 32 hours per week, which means their weekly wages are also below average. Many drivers also don’t work during summers, which decreases their yearly income.
The Saratoga Springs school district currently has a bus driver job opening that pays $22.15 per hour, which is below the median wage for all workers in the economy ($24.04), according to data from 2022.