The Senior class of Cheri Baron and the Junior classes of Sue Grasso and Randa Dobrayel participated in the annual program sponsored by the State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Estuary Program, the “Day in the Life” event in its eighth year. Environmental education centers and school classes all along the Hudson River estuary collected scientific information to share and create a picture of “A Day in the Life of the Hudson River.” The annual program helps participants understand how their piece of the river fits into the larger Hudson estuary ecosystem. Sue Grasso attended a pre-event workshop to learn how to advise the children beforehand, choose individual teachers to staff various workstations, and learn the hands-on techniques to describe their sites, seine for fish, collect water and invertebrate samples, and examine water chemistry parameters. As part of her science project with the children, Cheri Baron worked with the children beforehand explaining the experiments they would be doing.
The children, teachers, and chaperones packed their lunches and spent almost the whole day along the river. The weather gave them a marvelous opportunity for even more observations as it was calm and sunny in the morning and then turned cloudy and windy in the afternoon so they could see variations due to the weather change. One child noted that they threw an orange into the water to see which way the water was flowing, “but it was very windy and it just came back to shore.” The children weren’t able to catch any fish, but they did get crabs and shrimps! At the various stations the children studied and recorded in their journals their field observations regarding their physical surroundings (on a pier, grassy, forested, parking lot, shoreline conditions, plants observed, any commercial traffic on the river, e.g. tugboats,) and then their exact location, tides, currents, weather conditions, etc. physical setting data (including tides and currents, and weather conditions). They also did tests for sedimentation, salinity, pH, water temperature and turbidity. The best part of the day was that they were getting to do in person and on site what they would otherwise be studying in the classroom and they thoroughly enjoyed the venture. Getting to see some of the teachers out in the river in waders was also a favorite sight of the day!
We want to thank all the parents who did double duty as chaperones that day as the teachers were occupied at the various workstations. We were also pleased to hear from others overseeing the entire project of how well informed and well behaved our children were. A surprise maybe to them, but not to us! It was a great day!
Above: Holly Bauschard, mother of Ryan in Susan Grasso's junior class and Brendan in Tamiko O'Reilly's n/k class, helps Tom O’Dowd, a volunteer for the “Day in the Life of the Hudson River” project with seining.
Senior class student Bryce Edwards gets the “thumbs up” for his hypothesis on the pH testing results.
Below: Senior class teacher, Cheri Baron, holds the hydrometer while J2 class student, Owen Pietsch, interprets the results.
Tom O’Dowd explains seining to J2 class student, Joseph Diaz, and seniors, Sydney Schwartz and Jack McDaid, as they collect data.
WE JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH
We just can’t get enough—of the Hudson River, that is! Not only did the Seniors and Juniors have their two field trips on and near the Hudson River, but they also studied and emulated the Hudson River School of Art. Students created their own individual pieces of art and also collaborated as a class on a very large representative painting. All of this artwork was put on display for parents to view and a special presentation was given on Monday evening, November 8. Along with the artwork the parents perused poetry and essays about the Hudson River and were also able to view photos of the two recent field trips. The artistic talent and accomplishments of our students drew awe and admiration. The artwork along the hallway, some of which was unrelated to this specific topic, also drew admiring nods and reflected the eager work of our students on a daily basis. We thank all those parents who were able to come out and support the children’s efforts and know that your reward in return was a delightful, fulfilling and maybe surprising evening.
Sydney Schwartz
Sanath Kumar and James McDaid.
Right: Susie Martin & Natalie Hromulak.
REFLECTIONS ON SEPTEMBER IN THE INFANT ROOM
by Angela Carr
For most teachers at OMS, September marks the beginning of a new year with all its hopes and aspirations. There is excitement in the air! At this time in the Infant Program, these feelings are usually accompanied by an overwhelming sense of loss as our little ones are just moving up. We didn’t have the summer to soften, manage, regroup and settle our feelings. It is a “here today, gone tomorrow” situation, predictable and necessary but still emotional. Our little ones, who spent half their lives riding on our hip, must now attach to someone else. And it is cold turkey! We spend the next few months trying to function in our room while being invisible to “our” babies who are thriving in the next one. Quite a feat!
These babies started in the Infant Program as tiny bundles to be fed, burped, napped and snuggled on a schedule that was absolutely non-negotiable. We were lucky enough to celebrate all the milestones with their parents: reaching for objects, turning over and back over again, sitting up, pulling up, getting up on all fours, crawling backwards and then forwards, standing, taking steps and eventually doing that ever-popular “monster walk”—and all this while simultaneously trying to master a language—huge goings-on in the Infant Room where we see the most growth of all the classrooms at OMS. The metamorphosis is astounding. Here personalities emerge that become even more evident as they move on. We have the explorer, the nurturer, the scientist, the negotiator, the musician, the architect, the dancer and the artist to name a few. We have to chuckle when we see them later on and realize how true to themselves they have remained.
Our little ones leave and are aware of being part of a very special community: they offer each other comfort when there is distress, share their favorite objects, make sure no one is forgotten and put things back where they belong. The pleasure they get when they first see one another is priceless and just when you can understand them, it’s time to let go. It gives us such pride to see them navigate the next program with such confidence and ease. It is obvious that they trust the adults in their lives to take care of them. New worlds open up and they are more than ready for the challenges even if they don’t quite understand them yet.
Before we know it, they have graduated again and by the time they are ready to leave nursery/kindergarten, the tables have been turned. They now read a story to us, remind us to put things in order, acknowledge accomplishments, negotiate disagreements, offer encouragement and consolation and have mastered all manner of complicated tasks and assignments. In short, they have turned into people you take pleasure in being with and of whom you are so proud.
If asked if they remember the Infant Room, they will have a far-away look, as if they do remember something, and that’s okay. We know we have had a hand in setting them on this path of self-discovery. Who knows what steps they will take and where it will lead them? It has already been an incredible journey and this is just the beginning. By their parents’ choosing OMS, they have been given such a wonderful start!
FIRST AND FOREMOST—HALLOWEEN SAFETY
We were privileged to have a visit from Yorktown Youth Officer Richard Finn on Thursday, October 28. He visited both the Methodist and Lutheran Church locations and spoke to all the classes about many safety issues related to Halloween. He told them the importance of staying on the side of the road, not running across the street to meet a group of friends, staying close to parents or guardians, having well-identified costumes (using reflective tape or stickers along with flashlights or glow sticks), not eating anything you collect until you get home and you check it out with your parents, throwing away anything that is already open or in the least bit ripped, and knowing that the local police will be out patrolling to make sure that everyone is as safe as possible. Every child received a special AAA bookmark with reminders of costume tips and road rules. Officer Finn asked the children what characters they were dressing up as for Halloween, and when he asked them what they thought he would be, one child replied, “A donut.”
Former OMS students Joseph and Marc DeSanctis are companionable hobos at the Halloween Costume Ball.
Yorktown Youth Officer Richard Finn explains Halloween Safety to Tamiko O'Reilly's n/k students at the United Methodist Church site.
GETTING TO KNOW OUR STAFF—ROBYN MABUS
She comes bounding into a room with a limitless energy normally reserved only for the very young. She is a breath of fresh air, exuberant, excited, happy, tall, fit, slim and beautiful. She is our “phys ed” (gym) teacher, Robyn Mabus. BUT, she is quick to say that she wasn’t always as fit as she is now. As a child she was quite overweight and had a lot of headaches and nausea. She also had a hard time focusing in school. She remembers eating a lot of TV dinners and processed foods. Living in a house of smokers was also a big disadvantage. One saving grace was that she loved to read and she discovered, through magazines and newspapers, the importance of sound nutrition and the realization that poor nutrition was a contributor to her health problems. On her own, at the age of 12, she became a vegetarian and even shopped for the foods that were more nutritionally sound. And so, her journey to fitness and good health began.
Robyn grew up in California. She started swimming in high school (over two hours a day which helped her to lose most of her excess weight) and at the age of 15 even started working in a gym and fitness facility. She got so involved in it that she became a co-owner in a similar establishment when she was only 18! She made sure that in addition to racketball courts and the usual exercise equipment, it also included a wellness clinic where good nutrition was taught. Robyn believes that nutrition affects everything in your body and people who are striving to be their best eventually realize that good nutrition is not just a question of “Should I?” but a necessary requirement on their journey. Robyn says that when someone feels better (which is a result of good nutrition) they are better able to handle stress, solve problems more easily, and have a much better quality of life overall.
At the same time she was signing people up for her health club, Robyn attended Mesa College in San Diego and earned a degree in nutrition. She loved all the nutrition courses and exercise science classes involved in that program. She said that she also continued to do as much research and study as she could to better and further educate herself regarding diet, fitness, exercise and good health. While in college, she had continued swimming and was actually training for the Olympic swim team but was sidelined by illness and had to drop out of that program. Robyn said she had the privilege and good fortune to work with Arthur Jones, the owner and designer of Nautilus equipment. She even got to do exercise shows in Las Vegas and demonstrate the Nautilus equipment.
Along with her love of nutrition and fitness, Robyn also had a strong desire to travel. At one time she thought she would never leave the west coast, when an opportunity to work for Midway Airlines out of Chicago presented itself, she found herself moving to the midwest. Midway was just starting up and they interviewed 2000 people for only 50 jobs, and Robyn was one of the 50! She had six roommates, was adjusting to the culture changes in the midwest, and was enjoying life. Not only was she traveling as a flight attendant, she was also teaching aerobics classes at John Daley Jr. College and this continued for a few years. Midway was a domestic airline, so when the opportunity to work for an international one came her way, she made another move to the opposite coast from where she had been raised and worked for Global Airlines, a charter airline, in New York, and got to travel all around the world.
If the culture shock from the west coast to the midwest was somewhat daunting, the culture shock when she got to New York on the east coast was “another whole thing.” Robyn likes to say that what differentiates the east coast from the west coast is “tradition.” The change of seasons also makes a huge difference. The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are that much different and better and have so much more meaning. She is truly happy that she has raised her children here and feels that with all its culture and tradition, New York “makes your life move that much faster and better.”
After working for Global for a few years, Robyn met her husband, Steve. She says, “it was love at first sight and he became my best friend.” After her first child, Rich, was born, she knew that she didn’t want to leave him and felt that she had had her share of travel and seeing the world. At one time they lived in the Hastings area, then Peekskill, and now Yorktown. During a lot of that time, she did various babysitting jobs. And then one day Robyn saw an advertisement in the Pennysaver asking, “Do you want to work? Do you want to work with your kids?” It was for an extended day position with Our Montessori School. Robyn’s answer to both questions was a resounding “yes” and she says that she always knew she definitely wanted to work with children and help children and families that might have problems similar to some of her own in her past. That was back in 1986 or so. She worked for OMS for a few years right up through her pregnancy with her second child, Brittney. Her son Rich had entered Tamiko O’Reilly’s N/K class by then. Shortly thereafter her third child, Justin, was born. During these years, even while working at OMS in the extended day program (from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.), Robyn was also holding several other part-time jobs. She took one position as an au pair that allowed her to bring her own children as well, and it included a little housekeeping and sometimes preparing dinner (healthy ones of course). She then worked for another woman in Chappaqua taking care of her child from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. And then, when her son Rich started two full days at OMS, on those days she worked in a restaurant during the lunch shift so she could pick him up by 3:30 p.m. She also worked for several years at Camp Kiwi and additionally gave children’s swimming lessons on the side.
So, her own children were just the beginning, and Robyn has been
surrounded by children ever since. At OMS, in addition to the PE classes she conducts for all the N/K, Junior and Senior classes (at three locations—two in Yorktown and one in Carmel) and the traveling in between locations (hah! She still gets to travel!), Robyn is also a teaching assistant in Tamiko’s N/K classroom. She also helps with lunch and extended day. In previous years she has also worked as an assistant teacher with the Juniors.
But, remember all that energy noted above in the opening paragraph? Robyn is also certified for SPIN classes. Per Robyn, it’s a very heavy cardio workout but great if you have ACL repairs or meniscus problems (and is doctor recommended). It burns a lot of calories, and is easy on your joints. In addition to all her time with the children at OMS, for the last seven years she has been working at two different gyms teaching SPIN classes (Club Fit and Solaris). To her it’s not that much—only four mornings a week and Thursday evening! Robyn says that one of her greatest pleasures is getting to see young adults whom she taught as children show up in her exercise classes. “You don’t always get to see how the children you’ve worked with turn out and how what you’ve taught them applies to their lives, but when you run into some of them and see the results, it’s gratifying. If I have added anything to their lives, I have to say that they have added so much to mine. How blessed am I that I get to travel, work with children, teach nutrition, diet and exercise—everything I love—AND, get paid for it!”
Robyn says that what she is most grateful for in her life is her family and close friends. She and her husband spoke early on about how they wanted to raise their children and they gave them that united front and have been blessed with a strong family bond. Her husband Steve is the General Manager at the Doral Arrowwood Conference Center in Rye. Her son Rich (with an undergraduate degree from SUNY at Cortland and his Ph.D. in Physical Therapy from Nazareth College in Rochester) has recently moved to Colorado Springs with a great job in a great area—he loves to hike, bike and climb and has climbed Pike’s Peak and about 15 other mountains in North America so far. Robyn’s daughter Brittney is in her second year at Iona College and is interested in early childhood development education. She enjoys playing lacrosse at Iona. And her son Justin is in his senior year at Yorktown High School where he too plays lacrosse and is also a quarterback on the football team (which has just won its first ever playoff game in the AA division). Justin has just been accepted to Townsend University in Maryland where he will continue playing lacrosse.
Robyn says that in her lifetime she has moved about 14 different times and she credits her faith in God that got her to where she is today, for which she is very grateful. Towards the end of the interview for this profile, Robyn said that she also loves to garden, plant and read. When the interviewer told her, in jest, “You’ve obviously found the fountain of youth with all you do and you’re not sharing it with anybody,” Robyn quickly and excitedly replied, “Oh, but I am—I’m sharing it with everybody.”
And there are many of us that can attest to that. From watching her discussions with the children at the lunch tables, seeing the children’s responses to her great PE classes, and just enjoying time in her company, OMS is blessed to have her and we’re happy to be a part of her journey which she so gladly shares.
HISTORY AND A BOAT RIDE
On September 22, an exceptionally hot and humid day, the Senior and Junior classes boarded a ferry in Garrison and journeyed up the Hudson River to Constitution Island located near West Point. When they disembarked, they were met by a volunteer, Yankee Doodle, who gave them a tour of the island and spoke to them about the War of Independence and the importance of this small island in controlling access to the Hudson River all during the Revolutionary War. They learned about the cannons that were once there and fired to warn others of approaching ships. A video detailing the history of the island was shown. The children also enjoyed seeing the original house still on the island. Yankee Doodle, at the end of the day, said he was “blown away” by how well-behaved the children were (especially on that very hot, uncomfortable day).
CLASS HAPPENINGS
The Senior and Junior classes had a ball at their October 23 Halloween dance. Children arrived at 6:30 in full costume regalia (and some costumed parents also) with snacks to share and danced the night away until 8 p.m. “Best” costumes were voted on in several categories and everyone had a ghoulishly good time.
Randa Dobrayel’s Junior class has a new assistant teacher this year, Deniz Soyeur (formerly in Rosie Scholl’s N/K class). Deniz was our featured staff member in the February 2010 newsletter, so most of you know that she is a native of Turkey. To better introduce herself to her new class, Deniz prepared several board presentations of her native country and instructed the children regarding its history (the different Turkish empires—Ottoman, Hittite, Byzantine, etc.), its culture (architecture, foods, clothing, jewelry, Turkish carpets, etc.) and its geography (did you know that Istanbul is the only city in the world that resides on two continents?). She brought in several books on Turkey including two children’s books, “The Hungry Goat” and “Goha, the Wise Fool.” Additionally, the class did some special Turkish art projects with Joan Meagle and enjoyed some Turkish music with Krystyna Seweryn. It was a great beginning of a new school year. Randa’s class also wants to thank Owen Pietsch’s mom, Janet, for the science and geography books she gave to OMS (these being Owen’s favorite subjects). Thanks go out also to Chris Graco, caregiver for Alex Kowel, not only for the large box of books she gave to the class, but for all the help she gives whenever chaperones are needed for class field trips.
The children in Enza Moschetta’s Stepping Stones class are enjoying the fall. Everyone loved a beautiful autumn day outside, gathering different color leaves and then later gluing them onto a paper tree. The class would like to thank Jill Csordas, mother of Jake and a culinary professor at BOCES, for coming in and teaching the children how to bake apple pies. Surprisingly, even with a lot of new young students in the class, their little hands did very well helping to make apple pies. They especially loved cutting the apples and learning all about the different parts.
Enza Moschetta helps Jake Csordas (left) and Jonathan Gallino (right) get apple slices ready for making apple pies.
Alice Lee’s Stepping Stones class sends out a big “thank you” to all who attended the Open House. New parents enjoyed meeting parents of children returning to the class and it made the evening that much more interesting and enjoyable. One of the children’s favorite fall activities was baking apple pies. Sophia Ramoino’s mom, Emelyn (Missy) came in and helped the children make their own individual apple pies in a muffin pan. They also learned the different colors of apples (red, green and yellow) and their various tastes (sweet, tart, etc.) and noted that when you cut them open, they are white inside with seeds. Thanks go to Natalie Porter’s mom, Nicole, for supplying the apples. The next day the children again made apple pies but this time they were square-shaped. The children even had their own plastic knives to help cut up the apple slices prepared for them by the teachers. They did quite well! The children had a great time and they really enjoy it so much when a special mom comes in to help. On another day, with the wind blowing in their face, the children went outside to collect leaves that they placed in colorful little baskets while they sang a special song about leaves falling down. When they came in they glued the leaves onto paper and noted the various colors and the names of trees from which the leaves came, e.g. birch, oak and maple. They also used tracing paper to make leaf impressions and learned about the letter “L” for leaves.
Mr. Allan Simmons, father of Andrew (Jake) in Linda Teach's N/K class demonstrates firefighting gear for the students and teachers at the Lutheran Church site.
Linda Teach’s N/K class wants to thank Jake Simmons’ dad and mom, Allan and Lorraine, for visiting them at the Lutheran Church with equipment from the Garrison Fire Dept. Capt. Wendy brought into the building “Freddie the Fire Engine” whose eyes lit up and who sprayed water out of his nose and talked to the children and answered their questions. The children were shown all the fire gear and how it is put on and also taught the importance of listening to the firemen. Seeing them in their gear firsthand showed them there is nothing to be fearful about should they ever encounter them in an emergency situation. When they went outdoors, they saw the Garrison Fire Rescue truck and were shown all its compartments and equipment. All the classes at the Lutheran church were invited to attend this special presentation.
A HEARTFELT THANKYOU
Dear Parents, Teachers and Administrative Staff of OMS,
Thank you so much for all of your generous gifts and thoughts. Everyone has and still is helping me through this rough time in my life. Thank you so much for always asking and offering to help, and thank you for being there for my family and me. It means a lot to know that you all care and are there for support.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Krystyna, Patryk and Karolina Seweryn
TRULY REMEMBERING OUR VETERANS
A group of teachers at Our Montessori School of Yorktown and Carmel was sitting together and discussing the upcoming Veterans’ Day holiday. One of them mentioned that as a child she was always saddened by the fact that while she had the day off, her father, a veteran of World War II, had to go to work. That seemed so contradictory to the purpose of the day. In an ideal world, all veterans would be given the day off with pay, but most likely that fact would not change.
But what could they do, if even in some small way, to recognize all the veterans of our country? They decided to work with the children in their school in age appropriate class lessons. They spoke about who and what veterans are, the different branches of all the services in which they participate, their duties in peacetime and periods of war, their benefits (and sometimes lack thereof), and the respect, honor, praise and thanks that should be given to them.
So, in addition to the classroom discussions, each class (covering ages 3 through 12 in pre-K through sixth grades) put together their own small tokens of thanks. Some wrote individual thank-you letters, some made posters, others drew individual pictures of their perceptions of veterans, and one class (since Halloween was so close to Veterans’ Day) decorated bags red, white and blue with a big “Thank You” written on it and filled them with hard candies to share with the veterans.
And how could they reach the most veterans to let them know they were not forgotten and still appreciated? They called the Veterans’ Administration Hospital in Montrose, New York and arranged to have someone come to the school and receive the efforts of the children which included a large poster board of several selections from the children, a folder of individual letters and pictures, and of course, the goodie bags prepared by the class mentioned above. These would be brought back to the hospital, displayed in the most appropriate place (and routed around where possible), and be seen by the greatest number of veterans that could be found in one place.
Recently, Ms. Yvette Rodriguez, Director of Voluntary Services at the FDR VA Hospital Campus in Montrose and Mr. Sheldon Rector, one of the hospital volunteers, visited Our Montessori School. Mr. Rector, a Vietnam Veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force, spoke briefly to the children about his time in the service, his various duties and how wonderful it feels to be recognized and appreciated at this time. He advised them that this was not the case for returning veterans from Vietnam at that time, but his happy smile and gentle demeanor spoke more than a thousand words could about how he now felt. He assured the children that all the veterans appreciate anyone reaching out to them and every letter and card is read and enjoyed, especially since many residents at the hospital are from all over the country and some are far from home. The children posed some very insightful questions that he was happy to answer. When asked how old he was when he went in to military service he said that he was 18 and was there until he was 23, almost five years. When asked how his family felt about his serving and going overseas, he reminisced that they were very proud, especially his father, a military man himself. When asked what it was like being in a war, he replied, “That’s still an experience I am dealing with now.” He smiled when replying affirmatively to the question, “Do they still celebrate your birthday when you’re over there?” It was a truly beautiful experience watching the interaction between the children and this generous veteran willing to share his time and his story.
It is our greatest hope that everyone will recognize the veterans around them, whether they are members of your immediate family, a neighbor, an out-of-work veteran standing on a street corner, those in the VA hospitals near you (the Montrose location has a marvelous volunteer program in which people as young as 13 can participate), and especially those actively serving our country today. Happy Veterans’ Day and may that happiness be applied to those that deserve it the most—OUR VETERANS!
Ms. Yvette Rodriguez, Director of Voluntary Services at the FDR VA Hospital Campus in Montrose and Mr. Sheldon Rector, one of the hospital volunteers, visited the junior and senior classes at the Methodist Church site.
