Students in kindergarten, first and second grade at Northwest Elementary School performed in a year-end music and movement showcase, under the direction of music teacher Nicole Altamura.

Cohort 1 Performances:

 

Cohort 2 Performances:

The Board of Education of the Amityville Union Free School District recognized nearly 40 staff members who are either retiring or have achieved a milestone level of service to the district. Staff Recognition Night, which was held on June 9, is an annual tradition to honor administrators, teachers and support staff for their dedication to Amityville’s students. 

Retirees include teachers Joan Peshler, Elbert Platt, Christine Quigley, Laurette Roddin, Deborah Ross and Susan Rutigliano; teacher assistants Susan McDougall, Alfreta Lidge, Patricia Monaco, Kathleen Rousseau and Yuko Suzuki; custodians James Carrington, Bernard Ricks, Anthony Tolliver and George Williams; and clerical staff Barbara Miller and Karen Petermann.

Several staff members were also recognized for milestone service anniversaries with the district.

20 years: Mary Abbruscato, Nicole Altamura, Daren Aversa, Michelle Eastwood, Steven Gafarian, Selina Gibbons, Francine John, Ronnie Johns, Mary-Ellen Loiacono, Joan Peshler, Susan Rutigliano, Lauren James Seubert, Diane Stokes and Colleen Vanni.

25 years: Sherefer Arrington, Angela Gibson, Adriana Gray, Michael Greco, William Maisel and Sikes Reese.

30 years: Donnell Lewis, Karen Petermann, Deborah Ross, Steve Wexler and Gail Wittke.

The Board of Education also presented a certificate of recognition to boys cross country coach Stephanie Barnes, who was named the League 7 Coach of the Year by the Suffolk County Track and Field Coaches Association. 

Instead of just reading about it in books and on websites, students at Northwest Elementary School experienced animal life cycles first hand. Kindergartners recently raised butterflies and second graders welcomed baby chicks to their classrooms. 

Every kindergarten class received a cup with five caterpillars and some food. Children watched each caterpillar grow larger and eventually transform into a chrysalis. They were relocated to a small, soft cage and soon butterflies emerged. Students placed cut up oranges inside as a nutrition source. Teacher Christine Bloom said the butterflies were then released on a nice day. 

In second grade, every class received an incubator with several eggs. After 21 days, the eggs started to hatch and the baby chicks were born. Teacher Ada Harris said her students checked on the incubator to make sure it consistently provided the warm and humid climate needed for the eggs. 

Second grade teacher Annette Fox taught her students the candling technique, so they could use a light to see inside the eggs and check on the progress of the chicks. She said that it was an exciting moment for her students to watch one of the chicks hatch, as they gathered around the incubator as it broke out of its shell. 

After the chicks arrived, they were moved to the brooder, where children made sure they had a steady supply of food and water. Students also learned how to carefully hold the small fluffy birds.

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month and the speech therapists at Northwest Elementary School are raising awareness about the services they deliver to foster language development.
 
Patrice Scavo and Katherine Thorn explained that they provide a wide range of support to children. Much of the work focuses on language enrichment, such as helping children improve their grammar skills and understand sentence structure. They also discuss good communication practices – ears listening, eyes looking and brains thinking – and show students how to follow directions. Noting that teachers spend much of their day talking, they support their colleagues by sharing vocal care techniques.    

For Better Hearing and Speech Month, each of Ms. Scavo’s and Ms. Thorn’s students drew a picture based on the prompt, “What Good Communication Means To Me” which were hung together in a collage near their office. 

Only in second grade, students in Maria Cottone’s class at Northwest Elementary School can already call themselves published authors. The class created a book, with each child receiving a copy, as a culminating activity in the personal narrative writing unit.

Each student wrote a small moment story, about a special memory in his or her life. Ms. Cottone said that children could write their stories in either English or Spanish, and also included an illustration. The stories were compiled together in a bound, hardcover book as a memento for every student.