Message from House Principal: Mr. Peter Parisi

On behalf of the GE Scholars House faculty and staff I would like to wish you the very best, for the new year! As we move into the new year and the second half of the school year, I would like to encourage all of our students to focus on doing what it takes to finish out the school year with success. A strong finish can make a successful year even better and it can transform a not so successful first-half of the year into an overall successful year.

Seniors need to remain in their courses and continue to challenge themselves for the remainder of the year. Colleges can and will place incoming freshmen on academic probation if they, the college, have evidence that after admission a student decided to take a vacation from learning. Do not let this happen to you! If you have already been accepted into college, I congratulate you. I encourage all underclassmen to continue to work hard and to seek out support when you need it. If you are working hard to be successful, you will experience success. Set goals. Do not give up! And, as Greek Poet Hesiod said in 700 BC, “ If you add a little to a little, and then do it again, soon that little shall be much.“

Student of the Month

The GE Scholars Student of the Month Award is a monthly award that honors a total of four students (one for each grade) who consistently display the traits of studiousness, positive citizenship, and leadership. The GE House Grade Level Teaching Teams work together to select each of our award winners. Each award winner receives a letter and a ten dollar gift certificate to our local Barnes and Noble Bookstore. Our September honorees were cited in our last newsletter. Our October and November honorees include:

October- Rebekah Egnaczyk, Mandakine Jaggersaul, Isaiah Mastrioanni and Larissa Rogers
November- Kyle Stafford, Jessica Tyree, Parvinie Persaud, Sebesany Rios

Nominees and Winners from Team 9 for Students of the Month were recognized at an Ice Cream Social event on December 23, 2008. Each student was nominated by one of their teachers as a result of their effort during one month this past autumn. What are you doing to win this nomination by your teachers?

GE Exchange Student

GE House is proud to introduce our foreign exchange student Bojana (Boni) Jankova. Boni, 17, who is from Skopje, Macedonia. She is living with a host family here in Schenectady with two other exchange students from Korea and Columbia. Boni says she is having an awesome experience and has always wanted to come to the United States to improve her English, go to college, and for the incredible experience. Boni has met so many new people and has enjoyed experiencing the cultural differences in and out of school. Boni’s favorite class here is AP Psychology and her new favorite food is Hershey Chocolate Bars! Boni misses her family and friends but is enjoying every minute here- she even celebrated New Years’ Eve in New York City at Times Square! Welcome Boni!

Schenectady High School has been fielding a Mock Trial team for many years

For the past seven years, GE faculty member Mr. Gerry Chapman has been one of the advisors to the team along with Polly VanNostrand of Global Commerce. Sponsored by the Schenectady County Bar Association, the teams from SHS and other schools in the County usually begin the season with a friendly kick-off dinner at the Glen Sanders Mansion. The schools then spend the remainder of the season trying to win competitions with one another in a real-life setting – the court rooms of the Schenectady County Courthouse. The students and advisors spend many hours preparing both sides of a hypothetical (“mock”) court case in the roles of attorneys and witnesses. The team follows a schedule that determines whether the Plaintiff’s side or the Defendant’s side is going to be represented by SHS on any given night. The trials are presided over by actual Judges and attorneys who score the performances and determine which side is the winner of each trial. The trials are open to the public and usually take place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings between February and April, ending with a playoff round much like the NCAA’s “Final Four” to determine which team will represent the County in the Regional and State competitions. This year’s team consists of a number of returning veterans of the mock trial process, but new members are always welcome. See Mr. Chapman in Room AB20 for more information or contact him at chapmang@schenectady.k12.ny.us.

The Counselors’ Corner

Attention COLLEGE BOUND GE SENIORS. It is that time of the year where you should be working on your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA can be done online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ or you can find a printable FAFSA at www.federalstudentaid.ed.gov/fafsa/fafsa_options.html. Make sure that you are filling it out for the 2009-2010 school year. The FAFSA needs to be done with your parent/guardian. Guidance Counselors are always willing to help you should you have any questions. Seniors should also continue to send out their college applications.


Attention JUNIORS. It is highly recommended that Juniors take the SAT/ACT once in their Junior year.


Upcoming SAT test dates and locations below:

• March 14th at Albany High School or South Colonie High School


• May 2nd at Niskayuna High School


• June 6th at Schenectady High School

Upcoming ACT test dates and locations below:

• April 4th at Schenectady High School


• June 13th at Schenectady High School

Students can either register online or registration packets
can be found in the Guidance Office. Fee waivers are
available for students who receive free or reduced lunch.
See your Guidance Counselor if you think you qualify.

Mrs. Sarah Curio- cursio@schenectady.k12.ny.ny.us
Mr. Scott Trottier– trottiers@schenectady.k12.ny.us
Ms. Chelsea Crandall– Crandall@schenectady.k12.ny.us

Annelid Analysis – Ever wonder which foods worms prefer?

Earlier this year while studying soils in Ms. Collette McCarthy’s class, the question came up “Which foods do worms prefer as they convert waste plant material into soil?” So an experiment was set up, 9 foods were offered in separate containers within the classroom wormery.

After a month, interested students stayed after school to determine which foods the worms preferred. The winner? A tie between carrots and apples. The least favorite by far was celery. It may have been a messy job, but counting those worms was worth extra credit! If you need science points in Ms. McCarthy’s class, try your hand at making an electric poster or creating classroom habitats.

GE Scholars Standouts on Fall Athletic Teams

Congratulations to GE Scholars Senior standouts on fall athletic teams:

Football:
Daniel Desbiens
Nicholas Ottati

Soccer:
Taylor DeThorne

Volleyball:
Jessica Brockmyer
Meghan Devlin
Luciana Dominquez
Heather Joslin
Amanda Mclean

Golf:
Ryan Zielinski
Dante Shafer

Cheerleading:
Jennifer Curtin

GE Team 9’s 1st Assembly for this School Year

On December 19, 2008, Team 9 teachers and administrators put together an informative presentation on the importance of making the right choices and focusing on setting individual goals. 250 GE Freshman were in attendance to learn about the difference a plan for success can make.

Mr. Vincent Kittle, Lead Trainer from the Schenectady Boxing Club and motivational speaker spoke about his long road to success. A key point was to become involved in your school & community! Many of the after school programs were discussed along with mentoring and support options during the day. Students should look for postings of the programs available to GE students.

GE Electives

The GE House offers several electives taken by students in all houses of the high school. One elective is its Environmental Architecture and Design course offered in the Family and Consumer Sciences Department. In this Art course, students examine housing needs and choices, design basics, and career opportunities in the wide-ranging housing and interior design fields.

While practicing some design skills, students participated in a local contest. Bibi Alley (11th grade Global Commerce) and Devaney Jimenez (10th grade Fine Arts) were selected as winners of the 2008 holiday greeting card contest sponsored by 1st National Bank of Scotia. On December 11th, a presentation took place at Schenectady High School where each student received $250.00 worth of EE US savings bonds along with their original artwork framed. Other students who participated in the contest received a personalized certificate along with a $10.00 gift certificate- they included Kenya Finn, Alexis Hariprashad, Ashley Horton, Tabitha S. King, Anita Parbhudial, Cortney Phillips, Melissa Rusnica, and Anthony Samoroo.

Back Row: Gary Comley, Associate Superintendent, Melissa Rusnics, Kenya Finn, Alexis Hariprashad, Tabitha S. King, Anita Parbhudial, Bank Representative: Kelly Gibbons, Cortney Phillips, Ashley Horton, Bank Representative: Karen Poole. Front Row: Devaney Jimenez, Anthony Samaroo, Bibi Ally.

Students in the Community

The 2008 Thanksgiving Basket Drive went very well! Nine of our students worked the weekend prior to Thanksgiving packing boxes for Concerned for the Hungry serving Schenectady County. There were over 2900 Thanksgiving Food Baskets packed over the course of the weekend, feeding more than 10 thousand people. Overall, our students donated 102 hours in community service.

Five students spent the morning setting up and serving the Thanksgiving Brunch at the United Methodist church on Thanksgiving Day! Glen Butler, Danielle D’Ambrosio, Lance Ayuso, Matt and Shane Batease had an eventful morning, and were rewarded with the appreciation of those being served!

Four students were in Chancellor’s Hall of the New York State Education Department Education Building, Albany for the Troops to Teachers event - Songs for Troops. Nine schools, with over 1,000 New York music students entertained troops in Najaf, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Landstuhl military hospital in Germany for the 2008 Holiday Season. The concert used video conferencing technology enabling the schools to bring this concert directly to the soldiers serving on the front lines; the two-way connection also allowed students in each of the districts to see their audience. Glen Butler was a member of the multi-service Color Guard; Ms. Holcomb gave opening remarks; Dylan Boyer, Marcel Parsons, and Michael McLean were ushers.

The Songs for Troops concert is organized by Chester Middle School Principal Mr. Ernest Jackson, a retired Army lieutenant colonel. Songs for Troops is a way of getting a large number of students actively involved in a community service project to bring a holiday concert to a large number of soldiers - many of whom were away from their families for the first time.

Consider a Donation

Consider a Donation: During the holiday season, the Family and Consumer Sciences Department graciously accepted a MyLock 334D overlock sewing machine donation from community resident, Claire Covey. During these difficult economic times, donations are certainly appreciated. If you have items like sewing machines, sewing or knitting needles, crochet hooks, yarn, material, or kitchen items (utensils, silverware, pans, appliances) that you no longer need and are in good condition- please consider donating them to the high school. To donate contact Mrs. Lori Rosamino at (518) 370-8191 or Mrs. Kris Foote at footek@schenectady.k12.ny.us.

Peer Mediation

Peer Mediation has taken off with a running start this school year. As of December 17, 2008 we had 135 mediation referrals. Of that number, 113 cases reached an acceptable agreement. Last year during the same time frame, 124 cases had been referred.

On May 21, 2008 Peer Mediation was recognized by the Schenectady County Human Rights Commission in “grateful appreciation of our untiring efforts and contributions to the cause of human rights in Schenectady County.” At the same ceremony, we also received a Certificate of Appreciation from Mayor Brian U. Stratton.

On Thursday October 23rd we held our all day Peer Mediation training for all returning and new mediators. Duke Fisher was our trainer. Duke is a mediator and trainer who has been exploring the cutting edge of Conflict Management and Mediation for the last 15 years. He currently is the lead trainer and co-founder of Learning Laboratories, an educational training and consulting business out of Upstate New York.

Peer Mediation attended the Harvest Leadership Conference hosted by Schenectady County SADD & STOP DWI on November 25. This was a day filled with workshops for area school Peer Leaders and was held at the Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia. We heard from local law enforcement on issues of responsible driving by teens and safety on the Internet highway to learning how to de-stress or to do public speaking and presentations.

Several Peer Mediators helped pack food baskets for the Thanksgiving Food Drive on Saturday November 22nd in the freezing cold!! December 15th ended another successful year of the Toys for Tots collection that Peer Mediation has been affiliated with for several years.
Peer Mediation currently has 40 members of which 20 are from the GE house. We have been very busy and have some great activities planned for the future!!