Inside Yorktown CSD
October 2022
Welcome to the October edition of “Inside Yorktown CSD.” This newsletter will take you inside our schools by sharing photos, stories, announcements, upcoming events, and more — all with the goal of creating a more connected school community.
- October 14/15 — Homecoming Weekend
- October 14 — Homecoming Varsity Football Game
- October 19/20 — MESMS PTA Book Fair
- October 21 — Crompond PTA Fright Night
- October 22 — YHS Music Department Tag Sale
- October 24-28 — Red Ribbon Week
- October 24 — Board of Education Meeting
- October 28 — Mohansic PTA Trunk or Treat
- November 1 — MESMS Picture Make-up Day
- November 7 — Board of Education Meeting
- November 11 — Veterans Day (Schools Closed)
Cable Channel
In the coming weeks, the channel will be populated with announcements and replays of Board of Education meetings, sporting events, concerts, and other events.
Unless noted otherwise, all Board of Education meetings will be held in the middle school cafeteria. You can find agendas and upcoming meeting dates by visiting this link.
Please know that all meetings will be uploaded to our YouTube channel the day following the meeting. The latest video is enclosed for your viewing.
Good News: Student Wellness at the High School
An area of particular focus for our Board of Education this school year is student wellness. Our staff at the high school has taken this charge to heart. On behalf of the high school’s administrative team, Assistant Principal Cristina Criscione presented their initial work in fostering student connectedness to their school during the “Good News” portion of the October 3 school board meeting.
Ms. Criscione started off her update by borrowing a quote: “Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” In that mindset, the high school has made an effort to identify students who may be academically or otherwise at risk or have not yet developed strong, positive relationships with adults in the building.
Summing up the importance of the work, Ms. Criscione said, “If students feel connected and feel like they have relationships in the building, they will succeed academically and they will also be less involved in negative interactions and behavior. The hope is by really working on and building relationships, it’s going to really support our school community at large.” From regular check-ins to longer conversations after class, high school administrators and teachers began reflecting on ways to make students feel more comfortable by building meaningful relationships.
Ms. Criscione reported that staff members were “overwhelmingly” supportive of the work. School board members were also excited by the presentation, and said they looked forward to hearing updates.
Superintendent Dr. Ron Hattar agreed. “I love the concept of connecting all students to the high school and having students feel comfortable in their building. It’s their school. It belongs to our students. So, to have all of our students feel comfortable is a wonderful aspirational goal that we have.”
Pink Game
Our varsity football team's annual “Pink Out” game to mark the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month was another success — both on and off the field. In addition to raising funds for Support Connection, the team came away with a 35-6 win. Go Huskers!
You can view more photos from the night here.
Valedictorian and Salutatorian
You can read more about Ashley and Daniel here.
NYSSMA All-State
Yorktown High School seniors Parsa Abdollahi Tirabady (violin), Klara Kunz (cello), and James Madden (tenor saxophone) were selected as alternates for the prestigious 2022 NYSSMA All-State Performing Ensemble.
These talented musicians were among thousands from New York State who auditioned for the All-State Conference last year.
James was later named to Area All-State, with a cancellation changing his status from alternate to participant. He will now have the chance to perform on Dec. 1-4 at the Eastman School of Music.
You can read more about their terrific accomplishments here.
National Merit Semifinalists
Yorktown High School seniors Spencer Kitts and Daniel Sheinin have been named semifinalists in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
High school juniors entered the program by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, which represents less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
Yorktown High School’s Class of 2023 also produced 10 National Merit Scholarship Program Commended Students: Raka Bose, Hailee Carter, William Grossman, Katerina Kleinschmidt, Krishna Kumanan, Klara Kunz, Colin McCann, Jenna Scanlan, Ashley Song, and Ryan Tomeny.
You can read more about their incredible achievements here.
New York Giants Player Virtually Visits Middle Schoolers
Our middle school students had the special opportunity earlier this month to virtually meet with New York Giants rookie wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson.
The 30-minute question and answer session was part of the American Heart Association and the NFL’s Play 60 program, which encourages kids to get physically active for at least 60 minutes a day.
Our students showed tremendous curiosity, as teachers typed dozens of their questions into the chat. Wan'Dale Robinson stressed the importance of staying active, sticking to a good diet, taking care of yourself mentally, getting plenty of sleep, hydrating, being a good sport, and not succumbing to peer pressure.
The students were also surprised to learn that professional football players spend more time studying than practicing. Sometimes, they even get homework and get quizzed!
Special thanks to middle school health teachers Mr. Trager and Ms. Fernandez for helping to organize this wonderful experience.
Minecraft for Education
A popular game has become an educational tool at Crompond, where fifth-grade teachers Ms. Bako, Ms. Hyndman, and Ms. Vegilante are using the Minecraft Education version in their classrooms. To get started, students created their characters in Minecraft and then began logging in and exploring a world. District tech specialist Ms. Burns started them off with a world called “Our Empathy Village.”
In the village, students had to take ownership of a home and answer questions about themselves. They could then explore other houses to learn more about the people in their classroom. Next, they created their own worlds and used the resources in Minecraft (such as brick, straw, hay, etc.) to recreate the setting for the story “The Three Little Pigs.”
Pizza Party!
On Friday, September 30, the Mohansic School Community enjoyed a Kindergarten Pizza Party courtesy of the PTA. In addition to pizza, students were treated to an evening of dancing, games, ice cream, and temporary sparkle tattoos!
You can see more photos on our District Facebook Page by clicking this link.
An Exciting New Way to Play Music!
Last month, third-grade students at Brookside learned to play a new song by turning a piece of paper into a musical instrument.
After a lesson about notes, music teacher Ms. Berger taught the students how to play “Hot Cross Buns.”
District tech specialist Ms. Arroyo then used Makey Makey to connect the students’ Chromebooks to pieces of paper with piano keys printed on them.
The result was an exciting way to learn and play music! After mastering the technology aspect of the lesson, the students were eager to recite their songs for Ms. Berger and Ms. Arroyo.
You can see more photos here.
Welcome Back, Class of 1972!
Couch Douds started as a teacher and assistant coach in 1964. He was named head coach in 1966 and remained in the position until 1978. He went on to coach at Brewster, John Jay East Fishkill, and Our Lady of Lourdes. Coach Douds came back to Yorktown for the 1985 and 1986 seasons while the program searched for a head coach.
Coach Douds is the son of Forrest Douds, who was the first head coach in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise. He came to Yorktown in 1964 and brought with him a love and passion for the game, helping to change the culture of football in Yorktown.
Back to School Photos
Thank you to the dozens of people who have sent us back-to-school photos. We have included many of the photos we received on our website and/or social media pages. A gallery of the photos is available on our website.
If you have photos of your child (reading, playing an instrument, participating in a sport, etc.) that you wish to share with us, please send them to communications@yorktown.org. We hope to include the photos on our website, in an upcoming newsletter, and/or on our social media pages.
The District is always looking for talented individuals to join our team. You may search open positions and apply by visiting this link.
You can read more District highlights by visiting our website and social media pages, which are updated regularly with stories, photos, and announcements.
Yorktown Central School District
Website: www.yorktown.org
Location: 2725 Crompond Road, Yorktown Heights, NY, USA
Phone: 914-243-8000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YorktownCSD/
Twitter: @YorktownCSD