BOCES School Scene 2015

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SCHOOL SECTION S, APRIL, 2015 • CALLICOON, NY SCENE A Special Supplement to the Sullivan County Democrat A look at BOCES

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Sullivan County BOCES brings the region's students together like no other institution, drawing upon the combined power of the community to provide high-quality classes in both practical and academic skills. Find out how in our latest School Scene!

Transcript of BOCES School Scene 2015

Page 1: BOCES School Scene 2015

SCHOOL

SECTION S, APRIL, 2015 • CALLICOON, NY

SCENEA S p e c i a l S u p p l e m e n t t o t h e S u l l i v a n C o u n t y D e m o c r a t

A look at BOCES

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2S BOCES SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT APRIL, 2015

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APRIL, 2015 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT BOCES 3S

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School districts this year arerequired to demonstrate to NewYork State where they have saved

money and how they have establishedways to be more efficient.

For many districts, their relationshipwith BOCES is likely to head that list.

“We are an extension of our schooldistricts,” said BOCES Deputy Superin-tendent Susan Schmidt. “We are a col-laborator and help them meet theirneeds and their challenges – and helpthem develop high quality programsfor students.”

For example, “We assist our compo-nent districts with a variety of reportingrequirements,” Schmidt related,“including the new Tax Freeze legisla-tion that requires municipalities tocomplete a government efficiency plandemonstrating they have achieved costsavings and efficiencies equating toone percent of their 2014-2015 taxlevy.”

To put it simply, BOCES helps to keepSullivan County’s eight school districtsviable by providing services they can-not pay for on their own. Instead, dis-tricts share the services and pay only aportion of the costs.

BOCES offers, and various districts

use, the services of a cafeteria manager,transportation director, electrician,plumber and a heating, ventilation andair conditioning (HVAC) expert.

The Central Business Office atBOCES allows school districts to sharethe cost of business services such asaccounting, accounts payable, atten-dance, payroll and budgeting, throughthe centralized office. Help is availablewith bank reconciliation, financialstatements, treasurer’s report prepara-tion, state and federal reports, employ-ee benefits tracking and more.

Assisting districts in the rollout of theAffordable Health Care Act and provid-ing speakers on various topics, such asfiling for state aid, are also in BOCES’purview.

More directly related to the class-rooms is teacher training. BOCES hastaken the lead in getting districts upand running with the changes wroughtby the Common Core Learning Stan-dards in English Language Arts andmath. This year, new BOCES math andELA content specialists are workingwith the school districts, said Schmidt.

In addition, BOCES’ new Director ofSchool Improvement, Linda Oehler-Marx, works with districts to align their

science and social studies curriculumwith the Common Core. Specifically,BOCES will help teachers create a bodyof questions on the social studies cur-riculum that lead to students’ learningnew ideas and engaging in strategicthinking.

BOCES’ own direct services to Sulli-

van County children include teaching243 students with disabilities in specialeducation classes at the Rubin PollackEducation Center and the White Sul-phur Springs School.

Another 373 students ride schoolbuses from their home districts toCareer and Technical Education pro-grams at Rubin Pollack, while an addi-tional 37 attend the Alternative HighSchool there.

State-of-the-art-technology toenrich teaching and learning are allpart of the direct learning program,including the student use of iPadswhere possible.

With BOCES serving as the internethub for all Sullivan County schools, theneed to keep the complex systemdependable and up to date is fueling anew capital project, said Schmidt.

“We are rewiring Rubin Pollack Edu-cation Center to support technologyeducation, and we’re installing a smallgenerator as a back-up,” she said.

New staff at the helm for BOCESinclude Nicholas Millas as secondaryspecial education principal, and newassistant principals Patrick Sullivanand Laurie Yakawiak. Longtimeadministrator Dr. Debra Fuchs Nadeauis now Executive Director of Instruc-tion.

The mission stays the same, saidSchmidt: how can BOCES assist theSullivan County school districts in bet-ter meeting the needs of its school-children?

“These are challenging times forschool districts,” she said. “There’s thefiscal climate, unfunded mandatesand Common Core implementation.It’s important for us all to work togeth-er and collaborate and be successful inmeeting these challenges.”

BOCES Deputy Superintendent SusanSchmidt describes BOCES’ mission to edu-cate and to provide services that supporteducation throughout Sullivan County.

Smarter and cheaper: Districts save by ‘buying’ into BOCES

(845) 887-5200 Callicoon, NY 12723

April 7, 2015 • Vol. CXXIV, No. 84

School SceneA Look at Activities at BOCES

Publisher: Fred W. Stabbert IIISenior Editor: Dan HustEditor: Frank RizzoSports Editor: Ken CohenEditorial Assistants: Jeanne Sager, Kaitlin Carney, Kathy Daley, Guy Harriton, Allison Ruef, Alex Rau, Matt ShortallAdvertising Director: Liz TuckerAdvertising Coordinator: Sandy SchraderAdvertising Representatives: Cecilia Lamy, Barbara MatosMarketing Director: Tera LutyBusiness Manager: Susan OwensBusiness Department: Patricia Biedinger, Joanna BlanchardTelemarketing Coordinator: Michelle Reynolds Classified Manager: Janet WillProduction Associates: Ruth Huggler, Tracy Swendsen, Rosalie Mycka, Elizabeth Finnegan,Petra Duffy, Nyssa CalkinDistribution: Bill Holmes, Thomas Duffy

Published by Catskill-Delaware Publications, Inc.Publishers of the

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n Auto Body class, DysheikDowden is living out his dream.

“I used to watch TV shows withmy dad about fixing and restoring

cars, about repairing muscle cars,” saidthe Monticello student. “When I toldhim this is what I was studying, he wasjealous and said ‘You lucky dog, you.’ ”

One of 20 students in teacher FredMuller’s two-year program that focus-es on collision repair and refinishing,Dowden is among a cohort of studentsthat includes girls as well as boys.

“There’s a huge push for women inthe industry,” explains Muller.

And, he adds, there’s a real need forskilled young workers in general as thecurrent auto body workforce ages,

retires and often falls behind in newtechnology skills.

“The industry is at a crossroads,”Muller said, noting that one of the bigshifts is already here: finding workerswho understand the specialized partsand repairs demanded by lighter, moreenergy-efficient cars.

At the Auto Body Program at theCareer & Tech Center on FerndaleLoomis Road, students learn thenewest techniques in one of the fewindustries where the work simplycannot be outsourced to other coun-tries.

Today’s kids learn how to “read” thenumerous internal computers that runa vehicle. They learn new welding

techniques. They use “green” water-based paints, mixing it themselves asthey study the science and chemistrybehind paint.

Instead of reading out-of-date text-books, kids in Auto Body turn to thealways-new internet for research,either on a classroom computer or ontheir own Smartphones

Then there are the new ways theylearn to spiff up an old vehicle. Withdecals and vinyl “wrap” that covers thecar, “we can transform entire vehicles,”said Muller.

Enter the program’s robust commu-nity outreach. A few months ago, AutoBody students presented the SullivanCounty Veterans Coalition with a refur-bished van to help disabled veteransget to doctor visits and other appoint-ments.

Students worked inside and out ofthe donated out-of-service ambulette,finishing the vehicle with custom-made vinyl lettering and the vets’ logo“All Gave Some, Some Gave All.”

In the past, the program refurbisheda Corvette as a tribute car for aVeterans Parade and the War MemorialMuseum in Parksville.

“Students went on line to find thenames of veterans from SullivanCounty who were killed in action,” saidthe teacher. They then transcribedthose names onto the car.

The Sullivan County Sheriff’sDepartment has also benefited fromBOCES’ student work. Most notably,

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Auto Body teacher Fred Muller and studentJacob Dolittle prepare equipment in the pro-gram’s painting booth.

Auto body students use new skills to partner with communityAuto body students use new skills to partner with community

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APRIL, 2015 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT BOCES 5S

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the official DARE (Drug AbuseResistance Education) car – confiscat-ed from a notorious drug dealer –received new life through the skill andartistry of BOCES students.

Still, students learn more than howto use hand and power tools, how to dominor and major auto body repairsand how to refinish cars. They learnbasic welding and metal work, andgain an understanding of plumbingand electricity.

Communication skills are learnedalong with math and science.

“Thirty years ago, they’d go to workin a shop and not do much more thanthat,” said Muller. ”Now it’s veryimportant for them to have good com-munication skills, good customer serv-ice skills. They have to be able to com-municate and to do well on job inter-views.”

BOCES’ Auto Body Program usescurriculum from I-CAR, the not-for-profit training organization Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision

Repair. Students leave BOCES withbasic certification in I-CAR. They go onto jobs in the industry, or on to techni-cal schools or college.

For his part, Muller graduated fromOrange-Ulster BOCES’ auto body pro-gram. He went on to intern at a bodyshop, accepted a job there and stayedfor 14 years, working his way up fromhelper to assistant manager. He wasthen hired by an insurance companyto negotiate claims on cars.

During his career, Muller says, hewas frequently asked by body shopowners, “where can I get a good bodyman?”

Now the teacher is helping createworkers for the growing industry.Students like Dysheik Dowden arelikely to find themselves among them,although for the moment, Dowdenlikes just where he is.

“I enjoy this so much,” the studentsaid as he unrolled a sheet of vinylwrap for a car. “You paint, you weld,you sand. I never get tired of it.”

Credits:All photographs and stories for this special School Scene are by

Sul livan County Demo crat Photo grapher/Reporter Kathy Daley. The Democrat would also like to thank BOCES for all its cooperation in this project.

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For hundreds of children in thepast 15 years, BOCES’ SPARCprogram at its White Sulphur

Springs School has served as a strong,resilient safety net.

Students in SPARC (SupplementalProgram for At-Risk Students) strugglein their home school district with aca-demic, social or behavioral chal-lenges.

They might be resistant about goingto school or to working in their class-room. They might be angry, frustratedand easily distracted. They might dis-tract others in the classroom by actingup or making noise while a lesson isgoing on.

“Others are being bullied and needskills to help them,” added SPARCteacher Bonnie Peters.

Students in SPARC have not beendiagnosed as handicapped and, there-fore, in need of special education –and the object is to provide short-termeducational and clinical interventionbefore that happens.

Referred by their school districts andwith the approval of parents, theyreceive focused, comprehensive assis-

tance for a maximum of 90 schooldays.

“They arrive a little nervous,” saidschool psychologist ErinHadjstylianos, Ph.D. “But they get tolove us.”

Grade 3 to 6 students work withteacher Bonnie Peters; teacherJennifer Tyles handles kindergarten,first and second grade. The home dis-trict provides Peters and Tyles with itslessons, in order to ensure a seamlesstransition back to the district.

The teachers’ multi-grade class-rooms are like the one-room school-houses of old, where a student workson his or her assignment with theteacher supervising and helping.

For example, in Peters’ class, one stu-dent studies the metric system, anoth-er multiplies fractions, and anotherworks with algebraic formulations.

Peters delights in her students’ hard-won successes.

“One kid says ‘right, right!’ when hegets it,” she says with a smile.

The SPARC team also works to givestudents the tools they need to suc-ceed in the important arenas of good

behavior and emotional control.Hadjstylianos, who sees students

individually each day and also ingroups, works toward fostering effec-tive communication, increasing cop-ing skills and giving children thechance to discuss concerns, feelingsand behavior issues.

Recently, she shared a book withthem designed to reduce the worriesand anxieties that afflict so many. Thebook led the students through recog-nizing a particular worry, learning to“turn it off,” and adopting healingtechniques like relaxation and deepbreathing.

It’s the SPARC they need to succeed in schoolIt’s the SPARC they need to succeed in school

SPARC teacher Bonnie Peters works on a reading assignment with student Katelyn Sandersin classroom at BOCES’ White Sulphur Springs School.

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Many of the children arrive at SPARCsuffering from low esteem, said theexperts.

“When something happened in theirclass, often they got blamed for it,”explained Peters.

Child psychiatrist Dr. John Neanderobserves each student and consultswith the SPARC team weekly. He alsogives families the opportunity to dis-cuss the range of interventions avail-able for their kids.

SPARC professionals hold meetingson student progress after 30 days, 60days and 90 days, engaging with thehome district and family.

It is this strong line of communica-tion that makes the program soeffective.

“If parents participate, the childrenare successful,” adds Peters.

Sometimes, Dr. Neander diagnoses achild with an actual learning disability,and that student is then referred to theSpecial Education program.

But at SPARC, the small environ-ment and the one-on-one care lead tomany successes.

“We hear it all the time,” said BonniePeters. “One parent said ‘I am sothankful – before this, we were at ourwit’s end.’”

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