Library Newsletter April 2016
Niskayuna High School Library
Retirement Announcement: Betty Ferencik, 35 Years in the Niskayuna HS Library
A huge part of Betty's job from 1986 - 2013 was organizing and distributing private school textbooks, and many will remember her as the Pep Club adviser for 18 years. Betty says that she has enjoyed the recent changes to the set-up of the library, and she also feels that in the past 2 years students have become more respectful of the adults in the library, which she describes as "refreshing."
After retirement, Betty plans on going out to lunch, subbing in the library, and spending lots of time with her children and grandchildren. She also hopes to play golf and ski with her husband, Dick, and "maybe do a little travelling." Betty has always brought a high level of class and kindness to the library, and she will be missed.
April 5 ARC School Board Presentation
Special thanks to Nancy Czachor for presenting with us and sharing information on the connection between the ARC and the SCOPE club (SCOPE helps us publicize our services and they assist with creation and maintenance of tutor schedules). We'd also like to than Brian O'Connor for his tireless and enthusiastic help with the production of our NED Talk.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the following students who impressed the Board with their intelligence, compassion and professionalism: Rose Parisi, Molly Nealon, Christopher Stroud, Devin Massari, Jackie Yao, Auerman Atif and Gabriel Kammer. These seven tutors, along with our 85 other tutors on staff, have instituted a "new normal" in our library space - one that embraces collaboration among peers without judgement and encourages a sense of pride in one's learning.
Busy days in the ARC
BEES IN THE LIBRARY? Coming soon!
Inquiry at Niskayuna High School
- students in Carol White and Nancy Czachor's 10th grade English classes explored genocide and crimes against humanity worldwide, and they will soon start examining current events topics in preparation for debates
- students in Kristin Richard and Jill Fountain's 11th grade English classes examined a variety of topics related to the criminal justice system and presented their findings during panel discussions on April 20.
- students in Meagan Hughes's Chem classes are exploring the uses of chemistry lab equipment used in professional and research labs to develop an understanding how how data from these tools is used in real research
- students in Rich DeSimony's Senior R&D classes explore problems and develop solutions based on a real-world needs.
- Katie McCarty and Nancy Czachor's Forms of Writing classes prepare for argument writing by researching topics of choice using a variety of library resources.
- Lisa Thomas' 10th grade English students are researching famous people who they are interested in knowing more about.
- Robin Gibelius' 9th grade English students are exploring countries from around the world
- James Edgar's 9th grade English classes are exploring topics related to their reading of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre
Don't see your class's Inquiry Project on the list? Let me know what you're working on so I can feature your students in our newsletter!
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Contact Us
Library Media Specialist: Donna McAndrews
518-382-2511 x 21744
Library Assistants:
Julie Lohre, jlohre@niskyschools.org
Betty Ferencik, bferencik@niskyschools.org
Carol Venezio, cvenezio@niskyschools.org
Kelly Kress, kkress@niskyschools.org