Displaying items by tag: ballston spa

BALLSTON SPA — As a result of the positive response to the “Save Brookside Museum” campaign, the Saratoga County Historical Society/Brookside Museum Board of Directors has announced that the museum will reopen in February 2020 after its normal January closure. With significant contributions from the Towns of Ballston and Milton, as well as support from the community, over $65,000 has been received to date. SCHS/Brookside Museum is now entering the next phase of the campaign to achieve its goal of raising $100,000 by March 2020 to ensure the continued operation of the museum and support of its extensive collections and educational outreach programs. 

To ensure the long-term viability of Brookside, a team has been formed to re-envision the operations of the museum, seeking to expand our capacity to present local history to the community.  An important aspect of this initiative is to work together with other historical organizations in Saratoga County on this shared desire to inspire a love for our past, and its importance in providing perspectives for our daily lives. SCHS/Brookside Museum will be in the forefront of this effort during 2020 and in the years to come. 

To contribute to the campaign, donations may be sent to Saratoga County Historical Society, 6 Charlton St., Ballston Spa, NY 12020 or visit www.brooksidemuseum.org. Contact K. Michelle Arthur, Ph.D., Executive Director, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 518-885-4000 for more information.

BALLSTON SPA — In collaboration with the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, the district launched the Scotties BackPack Program in 2017 at Milton Terrace Elementary School and has now expanded to all four elementary schools. The program provides a bag of easy-to-prepare food to selected students each week to eat throughout the weekend. The program started with providing weekend meals to 30 students and the goal is to provide food for 175 students this school year. The cost to provide weekend meals for one student for the school year is $183. Revenue to support the program is raised by individual and corporate donations as well as through any available grant sources. Brookside Museum, Ballston Spa Rotary, and Malta Sunrise Rotary recently joined together and sponsored a Chicken BBQ to benefit the Scotties BackPack Program. Through their efforts and contributions from many local businesses, they raised over $3,000 to donate to the program. They have also placed collection containers in businesses throughout the district. Please contact Ray Otten at 518- 852-2642 for additional information on the community support efforts. Other major contributors to the program have been Applied Materials, The Saratoga Hospital, Ballston Spa Elks Lodge #2619, and Global Foundries/Town of Malta Foundation. Individual and corporate sponsorships are always welcome! For a link to donate online visit https://www.bscsd. org/domain/28. Donations by check should be made payable to the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region or CFGCR and may be sent to: Kelly Delaney-Elliott, BSCSD. 70 Malta Ave., Ballston Spa, NY 12020 Anyone interested in volunteering to support the BackPack program, please contact 518-884-7195, ext. 1369.

1st place Level 4 & Bronze Teams Level 4 Team:from left to right: Priya Raso, Julia Gillson, Angie Pierre, Gianna Milo, Cailyn Bodkin, Ayla Skinner Bronze Team: From left to right: Hailey Delgado, Neville Zampier, Lexie Dobson, Bianca Marchesiello, Ryleigh Ostrander, Madelyn Green, Gabrielle Farrow, Isabelle Green, Natalie Ostrander, Olivia Mennillo 2 of our girls made top 100 in the country. Ryan Stark: Vault score 9.675 and all around 38.525 Isabelle Green: Bars score 9.875 and Floor score 9.8

The Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association hosted its annual Ballston Spa Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting on Friday, December 6. The parade included fire trucks, floats, animals, kids and performances from the Union Fire Company band members and Ballston Spa High School students. Santa also made an appearance and visited with kids. The parade highlighted the Toys for Tots campaign, in partnership with the Ballston Spa Community Emergency Corps, Saratoga County Sheriff Department and U.S. Marine Corps.

Photos provided.

Ballston Spa Schools to Host Qualifying FLL Tournament

BALLSTON SPA — Ballston Spa High School’s FIRST Robotics Team 3044 will be hosting a Hudson Valley FLL Qualifying tournament on December 14, 2019. There will be nine FIRST LEGO League (FLL) teams representing area schools competing in the tournament. The top teams have the opportunity to advance on to a Championship Tournament at Dutchess Community College on February 8, 2020. This year’s FLL challenge, City Shaper, requires students to design a LEGO robot that can be programmed to operate independently on the competition table and accomplish several space-related tasks. The teams will be judged based on the robot’s performance, design, core values and on a project. The theme of this year’s project asks students to think like architects, engineers, and construction workers to identify a problem with a building or public space in their community and design a solution to the problem. Through the donations of corporate sponsors, the Ballston Spa Central School District has fielded five FLL teams for the 2019 season. Teams from Gordon Creek Elementary, Milton Terrace Elementary, Wood Road Elementary and the Ballston Spa Middle School will be participating in the competition. The tournament is funded by Hudson Valley FLL, Dutchess Community College and their Foundation, IBM, and NY Tech Valley FIRST. FIRST programs are growing in New York Tech Valley as a result of the overwhelming support of industry sponsors to engage more students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and develop the needed workforce to support their businesses. Sponsors for New York Tech Valley include GLOBALFOUNDRIES, GE, ASML, National Grid, KLATencor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Lam Research, Applied Materials, AMD, Turner Construction, SCREEN USA, infrastructure, Edwards, Regeneron, Pickett Family Foundation, Acumetra, Tokyo Electron and Westerwood Global.

Fun for All Ages at Galway's Hour of Code

GALWAY — Galway Central School District invites the entire Galway School Community to its second annual Hour of Code on Monday, December 9 from 6-7:30 p.m. All ages are welcome. Participants can expect to have fun and learn about computer coding, play with robots and drones and experience Virtual Reality travels, and more! The Robotics Club will be selling food and baked goods in the High School Cafeteria.

Children's Programs at Saratoga Arts are Back!

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Arts is again offering art programs for kids during school breaks. There will be varying programs for ages five through 14. Imagination Rules for five to seven-year-old children, and Camp Creativity for eight to 14-year olds. Both programs will run December 26-27 and January 2-3. To learn more or register, visit www. saratoga-arts.org/education/ school-break-summer-camp.

Essay Contest for Capital Region High School Students

SARATOGA SPRINGS/ ALBANY — Capital Region high school students are eligible to enter “How Our Veterans Protect Our Constitution and Why” essay contest, which is being sponsored by Capital Region Patriot Flight. Patriot Flight is a hub of the National Honor Flight Network that provides World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War and Cold War veterans with a free one-day excursion to visit war monuments and other historic sites in Washington, D.C. Patriot Flight participants fly to and from the Albany International Airport. The writers of the two best essays will win a one-day all expense paid trip to visit memorials and historic sites along with the veterans in Washington, D.C. Deadline to submit an application and a 300 to 500-word essay is Jan. 30, 2020. Applications are available at schools or can be downloaded from Patriot Honor Flight website at www.patriotflight. org or contact Lois Wilson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 518-732-2793. Winners will be announced on March 20, 2020 at the Gateway Diner in Albany

The Kindness Closet

SOUTH GLENS FALLS — The South Glens Falls (SGF) Kindness Closet will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 9 a.m. The Kindness Closet, started by Tanglewood Elementary School teacher Jamie Metivier in the building a few years ago, was initially created to address the changing socio-economic dynamics at Tanglewood. But last fall, Metivier won a $100,000 grant from Farmers Insurance through their Thank America’s Teachers® Dream Big Teacher Challenge® to expand the Kindness Closet for all families in the district. The money was used to build a freestanding structure for supplies and will enable the district to offer household items to families who need them. Families in need are invited monthly to shop at the closet for the items they need, no questions asked. Items include everything from gently used clothing to household supplies. In addition to household items, the Dec. 7 Grand Opening will include toys for holiday gifts. Anyone interested in donating to the SGF Kindness Closet can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

“The Kindness Closet is a perfect example of the lessons we are trying to teach our children on a regular basis.

Ballston Spa Students Present Annual Winter Concerts

BALLSTON SPA — The Ballston Spa Central School District Music Department is presenting several winter concerts during the upcoming weeks. The concerts are free, and members of the community are welcome at all venues. The High School Winter Concert series began with performances by the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Orchestra on Thursday, Dec. 5. The series continues with performances by the Concert Band and Orchestra on Monday, Dec. 9. The final concert features the High School Choirs and Jazz Bands and will be held on Thursday, Dec. 19. All performances begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. and will be held in the Ballston Spa High School Auditorium at 220 Ballston Ave. The Middle School Winter Concerts will begin on Tuesday, Dec. 3, featuring the 7th Grade Band, Chorus and Orchestra. On Tuesday, Dec. 10, the 8th Grade Band, Chorus and Orchestra will perform. The middle school concerts conclude with the 6th Grade Band, Chorus and Orchestra performing on Monday, Dec. 16. All middle school concerts begin at 7 p.m. and are held in the High School Auditorium. The Milton Terrace Elementary School will host a Winter Concert featuring the Orchestra, Band and Chorus on Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. in the Cafetorium, 200 Wood Rd. The Gordon Creek Elementary School will host their annual Winter Concert featuring the Orchestra, Band and Chorus in the Gymatorium, 50 Wood Rd. on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. The Wood Road Elementary School will host a Winter Concert featuring the Orchestra, Band and Chorus on Jan. 9, 2020 at 7 p.m. in the school’s Cafetorium, 300 Wood Rd. The students from Malta Avenue Elementary School will present a Winter Concert on Jan. 14, 2020 at 7 p.m. in the Malta Ave. Auditorium at 70 Malta Ave.

Parent University Programs at Saratoga Springs CSD

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Springs Central School District (SSCSD) puts on Parent University programs, a series of free, informative topics yearly, beginning in the fall of the school year and merging into the new year. Programs generally benefit the parenting adult, but teenagers may find some of the programs beneficial as well. These programs are open to all community members, district staff, and teachers. SSCSD is also open to suggestions for any university topics you’d like to see and they can be sent to Maura Manny at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. There are five classes left and they are as follows:

Thursday, January 23: “Being the Grownup: Love, Limits, and the Natural Authority of Parenthood” with Author Adelia Moore. In partnership with Northshire Bookstore, Clinical Psychologist and author Adelia Moore will discuss her book Being the Grownup in the Maple Avenue Middle School Large Group Instruction room at 6:30 p.m. If you are a parent, it is your job to provide shelter and safety, to make decisions about education, childcare, health and nourishment, and to create the habitat that is the context of family life. The book helps parents translate their determination to care for and Photo provided. protect their children into the clarity they need to communicate authority with a firm confidence, whether for bedtime, screen-time or mealtime. Just as she would in a clinical conversation, the author shifts the focus away from disciplinary strategies and back to the core of parenthood, the relationship between parents and children as it evolves, moment to-moment, from the dependence of infancy to the autonomy of young adulthood.

Monday, February 3: Managing Technology: presented by Dr. Randy Cale.

Thursday, March 5: "Battling an Eating Disorder: An 11 Year Old’s Journey to Recovery" with Flutters of Hope Inc. This program will be held in the Maple Avenue Middle School Large Group Instruction room at 6:30 p.m. A current SSCSD student will share her journey through an eating disorder, how she recovered, and the tools she used to do it. Her mother will discuss the myths of eating disorders and the tools she used as a parent. Both speakers will share how hard it was to overcome, but that recovery is possible and that there is hope.

Tuesday, March 31: A Discussion about Anxiety and Depression with Jaimen McMillan. This program will be held in the Maple Avenue Middle School Large Group Instruction room at 7 p.m. Depression is not about being sad. Depression paralyzes the will. Sufferers feel powerless…hopeless…and see no possibility of moving on. Anxiety is gripping a growing number of children who instead of joy and wonder, experience unfounded fear and trepidation. Among the many factors involved in depression and anxiety, perhaps the most overlooked component is the element of space. The prevailing definition of the human being is so narrow and confining that its delineation is a likely cause of depression. This lecture on Depression and Anxiety will expand this constricting concept. We will experiment with Spacial Dynamics® exercises and experience that the human being is meant to be a free individual who can learn to live in many different spaces. Each space allows for opportunities and possibilities that the others do not. Depression and anxiety do not know age-barriers. Children, teens, and adults all suffer from these afflictions. They share the complaint of feeling trapped. It is for those who want to create and establish new spaces and dynamics that allow for healthy choice, wholesome human interaction, and ultimately, to unrestricted use of their own wills.

Tuesday, April 28: "Talking about Consent" presented by Wellspring. This program will be held in the Saratoga Springs High School Library from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. This program is designed for parents and guardians of graduating seniors going to college on how to talk to them about consent. The program provides participants with an understanding of consent as a concept and provides context as to why having discussions with young people about consent is crucial. Facilitators will provide information on when and how to have these discussions.

Ballston Spa National Bank announced Tuesday that support of $36,000 has been awarded to local Capital Region organizations, including more than $10,000 in donations from the Bank and its customers to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.

“Today’s donations are estimated to provide more than 40,000 meals to those in need. This would not have been possible without the generosity of our customers,” said Christopher R. Dowd, president and CEO. “We’re also incredibly proud of the BSNB staff members that rallied their communities to address the need.”

The remaining $26,000 in Bank donations is provided to 31 additional organizations, including but not limited to, those that provide support for addiction recovery, veterans and active-duty soldiers, children and youth programs, and programs addressing poverty, hunger and homelessness.

BALLSTON SPA – A season that kicked off with the largest attendance for tryouts, and four players injured, Coach Brian Retersdorf is confident this self – driven group of athletes will achieve great success this upcoming season.

This is Coach Retersdorf’s ninth season coaching soccer at the school, and with each year he notices the team grows whether it be in participation or skill. This year’s team has 16 seniors, a majority of whom were players in preceding years.

"Last year we made it to the semifinals in sectionals. I would like to see a sectional final game and honestly, I would like to have a sectional final win,” said Coach Retersdorf. “We were one-off from being the Grey Division Suburban council leaders."

The Scotties are making their way through the season currently with a 4 – 2 League standing and a 6 – 2 overall standing.

With ambitious goals for the upcoming season with two starting players out for the season, one would think that would create some worry, but Coach Retersdorf believes that this group of athletes is adaptable and can power through a less than ideal circumstance.

“What's been amazing about this group of girls is that they all step up. And with the amount of depth and talent that they have - yes we miss those girls and yes those girls play a critical role to our program…I think yes, it's a big loss but we have such an amazing group of girls that we can make up for it."

Coach Retersdorf is sure to stress each year at tryouts that school comes first. The girls are keeping up with their high standards off the field as well. Each year Coach Retersdorf’s team has made the Scholar – All – Athlete Program and received recognitions for their academic achievement.

The support he and the team receive from the community, the administration and family, are part of what coach Retersdorf attributes his team’s fortunate success to. But alongside that, he states that his athletes are the driving force of the direction the team is going.

“I think that one of our biggest team successes is how the girls interact with each other on and off the field, and I think their team chemistry is one of our biggest strengths. Especially with our team captains,” said Coach Retersdorf. “And that I think is why we've had such success early on, and why I think we will continue to have success throughout the season.”

The girls take on Saratoga Springs at home Tuesday, October 1.

BALLSTON SPA — Coach Amanda Fifield heads into her 7th season coaching a sisterhood of varsity softball players.

In 2016 the Scotties softball team won their first ever section championships. That win solidified Fifield’s new approach to selecting her team each season. Uniquely her team tryouts are open to all softball athletes from grades nine through twelve, and the best players, regardless of age, will play on her varsity team. She makes sure her team knows that it’s not about age, but about talent and attitude.

Having a flexible attitude is important for Fifield as each year her athletes may not play the same position they did the prior year or a position they play on their travel team.

One player that comes to Fifield’s mind as an example of a positive attitude is her senior first baseman and co-captain, Megan McMahon.

“I tell anybody, I’m looking for people like Megan McMann,” said Fifield. “She’s the first person in a practice, last one to leave.”

Off the field, she holds her athletes to a high academic standard with a goal of having a 95 average grade point average for her team.

“I tell them we are student-athletes. Student comes first,” said Fifield.

In order to achieve her athletic goals for her team, she teaches her players accountability for not only themselves but for the team. At the beginning of the season Fifield asked her players to find a personal goal, and a team goal and to figure out how their personal goals can help the team achieve the team goal – which is to win another championship.

“The biggest focus for our team is to be able to communicate and be united like a family,” said Fifield. “If we can do those things one pitch at a time, we should be able to achieve our goal.”

Photos provided.

BALLSTON SPA STUDENTS  BEGIN ANNUAL PENNY HARVEST
BALLSTON SPA — Students in the Ballston Spa Central School District have started the annual district wide penny harvest in each of the six schools. The schools will hold various activities in the coming weeks to gather up pennies which will be collected by the SEFCU mobile branch on December 4, 2018. During the last ten years students have collected and successfully donated $89,747 to local nonprofit organizations through participation in the annual SEFCU Penny Harvest program. The Penny Harvest student leaders in each school are responsible for researching local community issues and the non-profit organizations before deciding how their funds could be used to further support these non-profits. The annual SEFCU Penny Harvest is implemented in grades K-12 and has proven to be successful in educating students in service learning and financial literacy. This program teaches students about the importance of philanthropy and service as well as teaching math, communication, and team building skills. The program is implemented in the fall of each school year and monetary awards will be presented to the local charities in May. Students collected over $9,400 in pennies during the fall 2017 harvest and donated the funds to eight local non-profit organizations. The district is very grateful to SEFCU for sponsoring the program and processing over 940,000 pennies.

The awards for 2019 will be presented at a ceremony on May 21, 2019 at the Ballston Spa High School. For more information,
please visit the individual school websites or contact the BSCSD Office of District Advancement at 518-884-7195.

Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect  Visits Ballston Spa Middle School
BALLSTON SPA — Over 100 Ballston Spa 7th grade Orchestra, Band and Choir students recently attended an interactive presentation with visiting musicians from Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect program.  Ensemble Connect is a two-year fellowship program for the finest young professional musicians in the country, designed to develop the artistic values and skills necessary for careers that combine musical excellence with education, community engagement, advocacy, and leadership.  The program reflects the belief that today’s artists require both the ability to perform at the highest level and the capacity to give back to the community, inspiring the next generation of quality musicians and music lovers. The visiting musicians included the students in their presentation and provided minilessons about their musical performance. They also provided all students with free tickets to their concert on October 19, 2018 at Skidmore.
Ensemble Connect musicians are in residence at Skidmore for one week each October and February working with Skidmore students in classes, lessons, and coaching, presenting world premiere performances, and also offering interactive visits to local schools and human service organizations that involve student engaged performance. For additional information, please contact the Ballston Spa Music Department at 518-884-7150.