Message from House Principal

Mr. Peter Parisi:

The school year ends but the work does not! As we all make the final sprint toward graduation there is still much to do.

Summer school prep is moving along. If your student wants to improve a grade and needs to gain credits to graduate please encourage them to attend Summer School. Attending Summer School can help a student who has struggled during the year to get back on track! Please contact the Guidance Office for details about Summer School.

Let me include one final thought as we close out the year. No community can thrive unless the members of the community trust, respect, and support one another. Yes, at times we may disagree about some detail, idea, or action but in the end we all have the same end in mind.

Good luck to our graduating Seniors!

GE TOP TEN Senior Scholars

Jennifer Nechamen, Alexandra Weisee, Aliyya Christiani, Ethan Brooks-McDonald, Marcia Rahiman, Hemavattie Ramtahal, Haley Vanbellingham, Amanda McLean, Jami Russell, and Peter Shapiro.

Students of the Month

March:
9th Sean Brown
10th Nick Colangelo
11th Mariah Rosenberger
12th Eric LaMalfa

April:
9th Ashmini Singh
10th Sandra Delvalle
11th Kervin Alcindor
12th Taylor DeThorne

May:
9th Rebecca Doodnauth
10th Zoeliz Santos
11th Shana Joseph
12th Samara Butler

GE House provides Senior with Shadowing

Mrs. Valerie Palmieri’s Introduction to Psychology class inspired Kendall Delgado to learn more about the field of School Psychology. After discussing this interest with Mr. Parisi, an internship experience was created with GE House School Psychologist, Mr. Rafael Medina.

Over the past year, Kendall has spent 3 hours per week shadowing Mr. Medina. He has been exposed to all aspects of psychology and its application within the school and community setting. According to Mr. Medina, “Kendall Delgado has defined himself within the high school milieu as a natural leader. Kendall’s ability to apply what he has learned regarding theory and practice has been formidable. Kendall has shown deep interest in the causes of human behavior, including social, biological, and psychological factors.” This experience has inspired Kendall to pursue his interest in the field as he will be attending Union College this fall majoring in Psychology. Kendall added, “Mr. Medina really knows what he is doing. Mr. Medina is persistent with students and goes the extra mile with students. Mr. Medina’s passion for his job has motivated me to get involved in the field of School Psychology. I really thank Mr. Parisi who made this happen for me.”

Awards

Several GE House Seniors and Undeclassmen received awards on May 27th or June 3rd. The GE Top Ten Senior Scholars (see above list) walked away with several awards. Jennifer Nechamen and Alexandra Weisse were also in the Class of 2009 Top Ten Scholars and along with Aliyya Christiani and Ethan Brooks-McDonald received a Scholarship for Academic Excellence Award. Nechemann added the Biology & Wind Ensemble Awards, Weisse added the Nelson Ripley ’51 Memory Book and Blue Roses Awards, Christianni added the Business Law Student of the Year Award, and Peter Shapiro added the national Merit Scholarship Commended Students Award. Hemavattie Ramtahal and Christia Shelton received the Girls Inc. Scholarship with Ramtahal adding the Citizenship Award, Ethan Brooks-McDonald earned the French Speaking Award. Other GE Seniors earned awards: Kendall Delgado (Rotary of Schenectady, Ralph Boyd), Bojana Jankova (Kiwanis, American Red Cross), Katarina Lassiter (Pat Wolcott), Marse Pulley (Phoenix), Haley Van Bellingham (SSFA Creativity), Davon Williams (Business Department of the Year, Financial Literacy), Marcia Rahiman (Financial Literacy), Arielle Turner (Hudson Valley Book). Athletic awards went to Amanda McLean, Samara Butler, Dan Desbians, Mark Blair, Megan Devlin, Heather Joslin, Nick Ottati, Joe Ripp, Ryan Zielinski, and Taylor DeThorne. At the Undergraduate award ceremony, students taking home awards included: Kervin Alcindor (RIT Computing Medal), Grace Janiszewski (St. Lawrence University Book Club), Grace Liebers (Brown Book), and Stephanie Mariapen (Wellesley Book Club). We are so proud of the accomplishments of the GE House Scholars! This list is not exhaustive– the awards are still being given out!

FACS

Children have participated in the GE House’s Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) Life Studies core classes: Child Development or Pre-K where high school students have direct observation/experiences with young children. This Spring, newborns, infants, toddlers, and pre-school children provided hands-on learning for students enrolled in these classes.

FCCLA Team headed to National Competition

GE House’s own Johanna Stone and Meranda Bell from the School of Global Commerce will compete in the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) National STAR (Students Taking action for Recognition) Events Applied Technology category in July at the National FCCLA Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Good luck!

International Women’s Writer’s Guild

Ivan Cruz, Fatima Elibass, Crystal Keenan, Katarine Lassiter, and Amanda Avuso have been invited to the Skidmore College writing conference June 15-17th. This conference supports creative writing and gives girls healthy creative exchanges with adult women. They will be exposed to published authors, artists, and poets who use writing for social action and personal development. The students experience campus life and many workshops within the literary genre.

Pointbreak

GE Students participated in a nationwide program designed to help develop student leaders on Friday May 1st and May 11th. The training took place on Ontario Avenue, in Schenectady. The daylong session bonded most that attended as a family away from home. There were lots of hugs and tears which doesn’t work for everyone, but got a lot of students in touch with their emotions

High School Students Tour State Museum Thanks to Target Grant

Thanks to a grant from Target Field Trips, 41 SHS students had an opportunity to visit the New York State Museum last month. GE Students from Ms. Michelle Lax’s special class (SC) enjoyed many exhibits: the Rockwell Kent Great Arts series, the Adirondack wilderness, and the 911 Rescue and Recovery exhibit. The group also enjoyed the interactive discovery center where they participated in hands-on learning experiences and utilized state-of-the-art technology.

On June 5th, GE students enrolled in SC classes went to Collins Park in Scotia for a picnic. They enjoyed a day of fun, games, and food. This day was a celebration for the students in the program to show what a successful school year they had. An event across High School Houses, there were over 70 students who participated. Fortunately the weather cooperated and everyone had a great time!

THE COUNSELOR’S CORNER

Summer School registration will be held on June 29th from 9 am- 12 pm and 5 pm—7 pm at Schenectady High School. You need to be present in order to register for summer school. We can not do it for you. If you fail any classes, you should attend summer school so that you can stay on track for graduation.

If you don’t get your report card by June 29th, please call the Guidance Office at (518) 370-8200 to see if you need to attend Summer School.

You should be reviewing your course requests for next year. See your Guidance Counselor ASAP or call the Guidance Office over the summer at (518) 370-8200 to make any changes before the next school year begins.

Try and get a summer job if you are old enough. If not, then consider volunteering or enrolling in an educational summer camp.

For college bound Juniors, about to be Seniors, the summer time is a good time to research and visit colleges and explore your career interests. Don’t wait until the last minute! We suggest that you get your college applications out by December 1st.

Key Club

Congratulations to the SHS Key Club for sponsoring the American Red Cross blood drive that collected 194 units!! Because of the dramatic increase in collection since the last drive, the Red Cross offered a scholarship to Boni Jankova, a deserving Key Club member. Congrats!