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Tools TradeA Publication of the Southern Westchester BOCES Center for Career Services

May 2009

of the

Culinary Arts StudentBrings Home aSkillsUSA Trophy!Congratulations to Brandon Dunkley,a Culinary Arts student on our campus,who took home a coveted first-placetrophy in Extemporaneous Speakingfrom the New York State SkillsUSAcompetition, held recently inSyracuse, NY.

Brandon, a senior at New RochelleHigh School, will now go on to repre-sent New York State in the national

SkillsUSA competition, which will be held inKansas City in June. In addition to Brandon's win,most of the SWBOCES students participating atthe state tournament placed in the top five in theircompetitions.

Extemporane-ous Speaking,said Brandon,requiredstudents toprepare anddeliver a 3- to5-minute speechon a topicthat is randomlyselected byjudges. Bran-don was askedto speak abouthow his educa-tion prepared him for competing at SkillsUSA.

SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organizationserving teachers and high school and collegestudents who are preparing for careers in trade,technical and skilled service occupations, includ-ing health occupations. It was formerly knownas VICA (Vocational Industrial Clubs of America).The SkillsUSA competition is considered the topcompetitive event for Career and TechnicalEducation students in the country.

A Message from the DirectorDear Friends:

Spring has sprung, and here on the Career Services campus you cansee the winter jackets and hats finally being shed and the crocusespeeking through the soil.

But even though winter is largely behind us, you should know that yourstudents and our staff did not hibernate during the winter months.Far from it – they were as productive, creative and successful as ever.

In this issue of Tools of the Trade, we document that success and creativity with articles aboutnumerous student awards, including the prestigious first-place SkillsUSA award won by NewRochelle High School’s Brandon Dunkley. You’ll travel to Broadway with our Fashion Designand Merchandising students, and learn about our campus security team. And join us incelebrating an extensive list of college acceptances for our students.

Be sure to mark your calendars for Thursday, June 11, the date of our important CareerServices graduation and awards. It will take place at the Westchester County Center at 6 p.m.

Sincerely,

Linda Maria SuarezDirector, Center for Career Services

Automotive Competition . . . . . . . . . . .2

Technology Across the Curriculum . . . . .3

BOCES Goes to Broadway . . . . . . . . .4

Off to College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Skills on Display at Open HouseJessica Shaw, left, a senior at White Plains High School, and Sara Lapolice, a seniorat Irvington High School, prepare a breakfast in the kitchen at the Southern WestchesterBOCES Center for Career

Services in Valhalla. The two studentswere among others demonstrating theirskills in March when the Valhalla campusopened its doors to the public for its an-nual spring Open House. Student proj-ects were also on display and teacherswere available to answer questionsabout the program from visitors. Shawand Lapolice are both students in theBOCES Culinary Arts Program.

Brandon Dunkley and hisSkillsUSA trophy.

Tools Trade

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A Publication of the Southern Westchester BOCES Center for Career Servicesof the

SWBOCES Students Take Home Awardsin Automotive CompetitionSouthern Westchester BOCES took home second, fourth and fifth-place awardsJan. 14 after competing in the 2009 Greater New York Regional AutomotiveTechnology Competitions at the General Motors Training Center in Ardsley.

Five SWBOCES students participatedin the competition with 19 other stu-dents representing Mount Vernon High

School, Rockland BOCES and Orange-UlsterBOCES. The Greater New York Automobile Deal-ers Association sponsors the competition, which isdesigned to measure the technical/diagnosticabilities of students and evaluate their academicpreparation in the automotive technology field.

Winning a second-place trophy in the competi-tion were Roberto Cervantes of New RochelleHigh School and Douglas McGirt ofWoodlands High School. Taking home a fourth-place award were Isaiah Garcia of HawthorneCedar Knolls and Neil Vassel of New RochelleHigh School, and winning a fifth-place awardwere Victor Arpi of Sleepy Hollow HighSchool and Philip Mendola of WoodlandsHigh School.

Neil Vassel of New Rochelle High School competes.

Paola Carbone

Matthew Adorno

Jean-Thony Dussuaud

SWBOCES Students Win Awards at Regional Media FestivalValhalla, NY -- Congratulation to six Southern Westchester BOCES students who earned Audience Choice Awards at theLower Hudson Valley Youth Media Arts Show held recently at Westchester Community College.

Commercial Art students – MatthewAdorno of Edgemont High Schooland Paola Carbone of Valhalla High

School – received awards for graphic designwork they created in BOCES Commercial Artteacher Damian Powers’ classroom. Their selected

works were on display at the Media Arts Show.

Four of BOCES TV/Video Production studentswere also recognized for videos and short filmsthey have produced. The students, who takeclasses with BOCES teacher Tony Ely, were: JeanThorny Dussuaud of New Rochelle High School,and George Petrescu, Richard Arce and Grayson

Bevil, all of Eastchester High School.

The Youth Media Arts Show, sponsored by theLower Hudson Region of the New York StateMedia Arts Teachers' Association, which offersstudents the opportunity to exhibit their work andsee the work of peers. The show has been apopular annual event for more than 20 years.

Students in the regional competition, which ismanned by judges and monitors, are required

to demonstrate their automotive skills usingtechnical information and hands-on repair. Eachteam of two students also took a written test. Inaddition to trophies, students win Snap-On tools,scholarship offers from the Lincoln TechnicalInstitute and the Ohio Technical College, andGNYADA T-shirts and hats.

Tools Trade

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A Publication of the Southern Westchester BOCES Center for Career Servicesof the

Technology across the Curriculumat Career ServicesThe teachers and administrators at the SWBOCES Centerfor Career Services campus are often spinning manyplates in the air, serving a population of more than650-700 students in two different daily sessions, meetingstate regulations and maintaining a solid record in thefield of Career and Technical Education.

But the staff has re-mained steadfast aboutone goal in particular

over the years -- the full integration oftechnology throughout the Valhallacampus, and enhancing the waytechnology is used both by teachersand students.

Today, technology is a key factor innearly every classroom, from auto-motive diagnostic software used byMichael Ward’s automotive technol-ogy students, to the gleaming whiteiMacs used by Carmen Galiano’sfashion design students and DamianPowers’ commercial art students.

The transition of the Career Services campus into the 21st century hasbeen a decades-long process, but has gathered steam in the past threeyears, according to Clement Ceccarelli, supervisor of the SecondaryCTE Programs.

In that time, the Career Services team has spearheaded a multi-prongedtechnology effort that has included:

• Installing SmartBoards into every classroom, and trainingteachers in their use

• Installing new campus-wide servers to handle the increasedtechnology load

• Upgrading fiberoptics lines serving the campus

• Installing eSchool Data, a web-based student informationsystem that makes it easier and more reliable to trackstudent attendance and grades

• Implementing a campus-wide email system

The campus has also installed a new Mac server, along with fullintegrated Mac computers in all arts, multimedia and fashion classrooms.To complement the hardware and software, the campus fully integratedits arts curriculum this year by “clustering” arts classes and launchingteam-driven student projects, including a recent project that broughttogether students from four classes – Commercial Art, Fashion Design,TV/Media Production, and Multimedia Production – to work togetheron business logos, clothing and videos that represented “companies”they developed as teams.

Students participating in the arts program were introduced to softwarelike Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop and Dreamweaver, and many canreceive industry certification in the use of that software.

The digital media project culminated in lively final presentations thatincluded the creation of actual clothing and accessories, videos, andlogo presentations on business cards and web pages. In noisy and activecollaborations, students from disparate classes got to know one another,work hands-on, and look at business from a design standpoint.

“The kids are eating it up,” said Dr. Ceccarelli. “It’s hands-on, less aboutlectures and more about doing.” The arts curriculum will continue to

develop over the nexttwo to three years untilit’s fully integrated.

The integration of tech-nology on the campus isno accident, but waspart of a five-year plandeveloped by CareerServices Director LindaSuarez and her team.

Dr. Ceccarelli noted thatmore than 70 percent oftoday’s Career Servicesstudents move on totwo-year and four-yearcolleges and universitieswhen they graduatefrom high school, andthat only 30 percentmove directly into the

work force. That’s far different from the image of the old “vocationaleducation” model of years ago, and today’s curriculum needs to keepup with the changes.

Because SWBOCES integrates “as much technology as possible intoour curriculum now,” said Dr, Ceccarelli, students graduating fromthe program are often overqualified in the area of technology whenthey enter colleges.

“Our students often have a clear understanding of the technology justbeing introduced to college freshmen,” he said. “In fact, they oftendisplay mastery and fluency in their field of study, when it comes to thetechnology that’s required.”

For that reason, Career Services has been able to establish articulationagreements with a number of colleges and universities that permitstudents to enter with credits either already earned or with credits thatwill be earned after a successful first year on campus. Such articulationagreements have been established with SUNY Delhi, Marist College,Monroe University and the Universal Technical Institute, an automotivetrades school with campuses around the country.

In 2009 -10, said Dr. Ceccarelli, the campus plans to begin a virtualenterprise curriculum, in which students will work at a virtual onlinecompany that will include the development of business plans.

Commercial Art teacher Damian Powers speaks withparents at Open House. Commercial Art studentswork on iMacs in Powers' classroom.

Tools Trade

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A Publication of the Southern Westchester BOCES Center for Career Servicesof the

The Life of an Actor: BOCES StudentDevon KrobetzkyIn spite of the fact that the life of an actor can be tumultuous, notable forego-boosting highs and heart wrenching lows, SWBOCES studentDevon Krobetzky loves life on the stage, amassing a professional actingresume nearly as long as his lanky arms.

The 16-year-old Fashion Designand Marketing student, a junior atHarrison High School, has been in

front of the footlights since he was a toddler,having made his stage debut at the age of 6 ina show at his older sister’s high school.

Since that first curtain call, Devon’s life in the the-ater has become nearly a full-time job. He re-cently starred in The Pulse Theater Company’sproduction of the hit Broadway rock-opera,RENT. Playing Mark Cohen, one of the musical’sleads, he said, was one of his dreams. He alsowas costume supervisor for the show, which gavehim the opportunity to learn more about that field.

Now Devon is excited about traveling toEurope with Pulse’s Infinity Repertory Co. inAugust, when the Bedford Hills acting troupewill perform an original rock musical at theEdinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, and inother European cities. They are also expectedto perform in a preview of the musical at the Eastto Edinburgh Festival, held earlier in the summerin New York City.

Westchester County, including Pulse, the YoungArtists Repertory Co., The Edge Repertory Co.,and the Times Square Group. He has performedin venues that include the Tarrytown Music Hall,Westchester Broadway Theater, the White PlainsPerforming Arts Center, and others.

Devon, like many young actors in Westchester,sees the theater community here as “a smallerNew York City.”

“It’s a small world,” he says, “but it never stopsgrowing.” Some of the same young actorsaudition and perform for several of the region’stheater groups, said Devon, so there are alwaysfriendly faces at auditions.

Devon also spends nearly as much time inManhattan, both to see new Broadway and off-Broadway shows and to audition for upcomingprojects. With a mother and sister both workingprofessionally in theater costuming, the stage is inDevon’s blood, and he wants to keep it that way.

Like most high school juniors, Devon has aspira-tions for college; and plans to apply to CarnegieMellon and New York University, among others.The challenge for him is squeezing auditions,rehearsals and shows into an already hecticpace that includes college applications andvisits. The frantic schedule, though, keeps himdisciplined.

“When you’re doing a show, you’re easily outuntil 11 p.m. on school nights,” he said. “So it’snot easy. But if you love it, you find a way.”

The young actor landed his first lead role at theage of 11, as Pippin at the White Plains Perform-ing Arts Center, and has appeared in more than15 productions with theater groups throughout

BOCES Students Get a Taste of BroadwayThe fascinating, whirling-dervish life of a Broadway costume mistress left a last-ing impression on a group of SWBOCES Fashion Design and Marketing studentsrecently, who traveled to Manhattan to get a behind-the-scenes lesson from botha costumer and an actress currently working at “Phantom of the Opera.”

Students in Carmen Galiano’s classsat in on a class with costumer VickyPlummer and actress Kris Koop,

both from “Phantom,” to learn more about theelaborate costumes created for the long-runningBroadway show and the chaos that often goesalong with the job.

Ms. Plummer told student she started her careeras a seamstress in New York’s Garment District,then eventually moved on to working as a seam-stress and costume assistant behind the scenes at“Phantom.” Staging each performance, she said,requires dozens of costume assistants because

of its frequent costume changes, numerous castmembers and elaborate, heavy costumes. Thestudents had a chance to see bead-laden cos-tumes and pass around a number of accessoriesfrom the show while Ms. Plummer spoke.

“Phantom,” which just celebrated its 21st yearon Broadway in late January, requires costumeassistants who can run fast, carry heavy gownsand maintain their cool under intense pressure,said Ms. Plummer.

“Sometimes, when I’m picking up smelly socksafter a show, I remind myself that I’m a collegegraduate,” she said. “But the work is so much fun.” Continued on page 5

Most costumers, said Ms. Plummer, pay theirdues by beginning as “swing” dressers, workingbehind the scenes as stand-ins and assistingactors in costume changes. Most “swings” needseveral months of shadowing another dresserbefore they understand all the scene changes,costume changes and cues.

Anyone who works in wardrobe on Broadwaymust be a member of the Theatrical WardrobeUnion, and membership in the union requires aminimum of 30 days of work, she explained.

Kris Koop, an actress and member of the“Phantom” ensemble, explained to the studentsthat actors also wear microphone packs andwires, making the dresser’s job more complex.According to union rules, she said, costumestaff are not permitted to touch microphones, ajob for the sound crew.

Devon Krobetzky

Tools Trade

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A Publication of the Southern Westchester BOCES Center for Career Servicesof the

College Acceptance Letters are Rolling in…Like high school seniors everywhere, dozens of BOCES students have spent the spring months opening letters

from colleges and universities around the country, hoping for good news.On the Career Services campus, dozens of seniors have received that good news with acceptance letters from some of the country’s top-notchcolleges and trade schools. Here is just a sampling of the students who have received good news:

TiffanySpagnuolo ofWest LakeHigh School, astudent in theFashion Designprogram:

Fashion Institute of Design andMerchandising, Los Angeles, Calif.

GinaPezzolanti ofValhalla HighSchool, astudent in theFashion Designprogram:

Fashion Institute of Technology,Manhattan.

Andrea Nesciof NewRochelle HighSchool, astudent in theFashion Designprogram: State

University of New York at Oneonta’sthree-in-one program, which includes

three years of study at Oneonta andone year of student at the FashionInstitute of Technology.

ChristopherD’Ambrosio ofEastchesterHigh School, astudent in theCulinary Artsprogram:

Johnson & Wales University andSUNY Delhi.

Latoya Smith ofNew RochelleHigh School,a student inCulinary Arts:Johnson &WalesUniversity.

Lisa Abdalla ofNew RochelleHigh School, astudent in Culi-nary Arts: John-son & WalesUniversity.

RobertoCervantes ofNew RochelleHigh School, astudent in theAutomotiveTechnology

Program. Universal Technical Institutein Pennsylvania, on a scholarship.

DouglasMcGirt ofWoodlandsHigh School, astudent in theAutomotiveTechnology

Program. SUNY Morrisville andUniversity of Northwestern Ohio.

Eric Young ofHarrison HighSchool, a stu-dent in CulinaryArts: Westch-ester CommunityCollege

Jackie Petixof New RochelleHigh School,a student inCulinary Arts:WestchesterCommunity

College.

GennaroServillo of NewRochelle HighSchool, a stu-dent in CulinaryArt: MonroeCollege.

Jessica Shaw of White Plains HighSchool, a student in the CulinaryArts program: State University ofNew York at Delhi

Continued from page 4

BOCES Students Get a Taste...

But sometimes, when you’re dealing with hoopskirts and long trains, she said, “you do whatyou have to do.”

Ms. Koop, who has played the role of Carlotta,the diva in “Phantom,” said that some of the

character’s costumes cost upwards of $750,000to make.

BOCES students who attended the costumingclass, along with Ms. Galiano and EnglishRich Grizzuti, then attended a matinee of“Phantom of the Opera,” which is playing atthe Majestic Theater.

SWBOCESFashionDesign andMerchandis-ing studentsand teacherswith Phan-tom of theOpera starKris Koop,kneeling,center.

�

SWBOCESMedia Show

The Career ServicesMedia show, showcasing

the works of ourstudents, will be held onThursday, May 28thfrom 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.at the Valhalla campus.

Tools Trade

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A Publication of the Southern Westchester BOCES Center for Career Servicesof the

SWBOCES Center for Career Services65 Grasslands RoadValhalla, NY 10595914-761-3400

Linda Maria Suarez, DirectorDr. Clement Ceccarelli, Supervisor, Secondary DayCareer & Technical EducationDr. Colleen Murray, Supervisor, BasicOccupational EducationEileen Bloom, Supervisor, Alternative EducationEvelyn McCormack, Newsletter Editor

Southern Westchester BOCES17 Berkley DriveRye Brook, NY 10573914-937-3820www.swboces.orgBoard of Education

President, John DeSantisVice President, Beverly A. LevineNancy FisherRichard GlicksteinJames MillerGeorgia RiedelJoseph WooleyRobert Monson, Ph.D., District Superintendent

Sandra Simpson, Deputy District SuperintendentAssistant SuperintendentsRaymond Healey, Ph.D., Special EducationNancy A. Jorgensen, Ed.D., Human ResourcesMarcel Vales, Business and Administrative Services

The Southern Westchester Board of Cooperative EducationalServices, its officers and employees, shall not discriminateagainst any student, employee or applicant on the basis ofrace, color, national origin, creed, religion, marital status,gender, age, handicapping condition or sexual orientation.This policy of nondiscrimination includes access by studentsto educational programs, counseling services for students,course offerings and student activities, recruitment, appoint-ment and promotion of employees, and employment pay andbenefits, and it is required by Title IX of the Education Amend-ments of 1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of1973, as amended and then promulgated thereunder, notto discriminate in such a manner.SWBOCES IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Title IX CoordinatorMichael Gargiulo, Director of Human Resources

Section 504 CoordinatorThomas DiBuono, Director of Facilities and Operations

“The Mission of Southern Westchester BOCES is tocollaborate with school districts and communities to meettheir educational challenges by providing regional lead-ership and cost-effective, high-quality services.”

Mr. DeCaprio, who provides campussecurity and monitors the whereaboutsof the campus’ 800 students, is

retired from the New York City Transit Authority,where he worked for more than 13 years. Inaddition to his years with the Transit Authority,Mr. DeCaprio has held a variety of jobs, fromproviding security in the New York Yankees teamlocker room at Yankee Stadium, to working as acamp counselor in Eastchester.

While his job at Career Services sometimes callsupon his security experience, said Mr. DeCaprio,he prefers to deal with students in a friendly,respectful away.

“Sure, some of the kids make siren noises whenthey see me coming,” he said. “But it’s all ingood fun and I deal with them diplomatically.I have to be firm with students who should be inclass, but most of them are good kids.”

Mr. DeCaprio worked his way up the ladder inhis years with the Transit Authority, starting asa cleaner, then moving on to maintenance andfinally, to operating the A, B, C, D, F and J linesof the city’s vast subway system.

A Bronx native, he grew up playing in the VillaRoller Hockey League there, where he occasion-

Campus Monitor Uses a Gentle TouchJoe DeCaprio has become a familiar face on the Center for Career Servicescampus in Valhalla, where he was hired in the fall as a campus monitor.

Joe DeCaprio

ally played against an older kid, Ray “Junior”Sulla. Mr. Sulla now teaches in the Emergencyand Protective Services Program at CareerServices.

Mr. DeCaprio still lives in the Bronx, now inWoodlawn. He is married to Jacquelou De-Caprio and they have a five-year-old son, Robert.In his spare time, he enjoys fishing at the Crotonand Kensico Reservoirs and hunting in upstateNew York.

Four students from the SWBOCES Culinary Arts program were presented to regional school officialsApril 15, after cooking and serving for the SWBOCES Annual Meeting. Working that evening were, left toright, teaching assistant Jack Palevic, Jessica Shaw of White Plains High School, Mayron Vazquez of SleepyHollow High School, Eric Young of Harrison High School, Gennaro Servillo of New Rochelle High School, andChef Peter Tomaskovic.