Student-Journalists Honored With State Senate Empire Award
Members of Port Chester High School’s newspaper, The Port Light, received the prestigious New York State Senate Empire Award for serving their community. The students – who revived the paper after a decade hiatus – were presented the award by State Sen. Shelley Mayer on Dec. 7 at their school.
Sen. Mayer said the award is not traditionally given to students as it typically recognizes nonprofits or organizations that have been exceptional to the betterment of their community, but she thought the students deserved the recognition.
For more details, visit the district's website.
Kindergartners Demonstrate Acts of Kindness
A group of kindergartners quietly tiptoed around their Thomas Edison Elementary School hallways to secretly deliver chocolate, an ornament and a handwritten note to their school nurse. The special delivery was part of the students’ 12 acts of kindness toward different members of their school community.
Having discussed how they could broaden their acts of kindness from the classroom to the building, teachers said they made a list of different individuals – from custodians to the school nurse, principal and assistant principal, lunch monitor and other classrooms – to be the recipients of their kindness throughout the holiday season.
Third Graders Create Temperature Graphs of Port Chester Weather
John F. Kennedy Elementary School third graders – who have been studying about water and climate in teacher Jeni Vogel’s science classes – created graphs of Port Chester temperatures from different months.
The students examined their community’s temperatures for last January, April, July and October before comparing them in a graph. As part of the multipart assignment, they will use the graphs to determine patterns in the weather and temperature that they see throughout the year. As a culmination to their weather and pattern lessons, the students will learn about climate and how it’s different from weather.
Fifth Graders Observe Virtual Model of Earth and Sun
John F. Kennedy Elementary School fifth graders – who have been learning about the Earth’s rotation and orbit around the Sun in science teacher Karla Purcell’s classes – used a virtual model to further their understanding.
As they observed the virtual model of the Earth and Sun, the students took notes and made observations about the phenomena that causes day and night, seasonal changes and varying amounts of daylight throughout the year.
Fourth Graders Create Original Projects on Native American History
As part of their Native American history studies, Thomas Edison Elementary School fourth graders engaged in authentic literacy-based learning and created original projects to demonstrate their understanding. They read articles, books and web content, and examined videos, primary and secondary documents and maps to study how the local geography and native people have shaped New York State and to learn about the Iroquois and Algonquian people.
To further synthesize their understanding, the students visited the Museum of the American Indian in Manhattan, where they engaged in guided, team-based explorations to tie together their classroom and real-life learning. As a culmination to their studies, the fourth graders created original projects supported with written reports and presented in front of their peers.
Park Avenue Students Display Artwork in Virtual Exhibit
Talented PCHS Artists Display Artwork in Virtual Exhibit
Port Chester High School students Joseph Alvarez, Emely Cervantes and Kimberly Nicolas have their artworks on display in the virtual New York State Art Teachers Association exhibit.
Alvarez, a junior, created his “Godzilla” piece with pen and ink as part of an “Art as Storytelling” class project, which challenged students to create an illustration with a narrative. Cervantes, a senior, created her “Carousel Frog” in watercolor as part of a class project that encouraged students to explore the whimsical nature of carnival and circus themes. Nicolas, a junior, created her artwork as part of an eye study project that challenged students to develop techniques with watercolor and create a realistic eye.
JFK Students Display Artwork in Virtual Exhibit
John F. Kennedy Elementary School students Daniel Aguilar, Yuri Guaman and Carlos Trujillo have their artworks on display in the virtual New York State Art Teachers Association exhibit.
Aguilar, a third grader, created his “Steaming Hot Chocolate” piece using oil pastel, paper and tempura paint as part of a class assignment that drew inspiration from folk artist Heather Galler. He learned about patterns and used cut paper and oil pastels to create the background and cup and saucer, while the steam in his work is painted with tempera paint.
Guaman, a fifth grader, created her “Self-Portrait” in colored pencil as part of a class assignment where students learned about drawing a human face and focused on proportion and placement. Drawing inspiration from Mary Cassatt portraits, it was Guaman’s first attempt at a self-portrait.
Trujillo, a fourth grader, created his “The Jungle” with oil pastel after drawing inspiration from jungle paintings by Henry Rousseau. The assignment challenged him to build on previous knowledge about creating a sense of space in a work of art with a foreground, middle ground and background, and use oil pastels and cut paper to create his own jungle scenes.
Port Chester Public Schools
