001When I'm getting you. Cry when you. You already know that. Please have a motion to this item. It's my grandma. And see what you can buy. All the major cities and. All those things are shifting. But you places everyone. Sounds nice, but it might go okay. I hear a little bit about you also want to hand it over to try to read over this support. Yes, yes. Thank you, President Valon, welcome to our families and getaway retirees. And for tenure. Candidates for tonight candidate. No longer you candidate. So congratulations on behalf of our Board of Education. And now the fun part of our board meeting. And so I'm gonna ask the board if we can make your way to the first row, and we will get the show on the road and celebrate our, uh,
002retirees and our ten year staff members as well. Is. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. What? Watch yourself. Yuck! And now you know why we are here. Good evening everyone. I'm David Mauricio, the very proud superintendent of the Peekskill City School District. Uh, I want to recognize our Board of Education members, our president, and also, uh, administrators who are here today. All of our staff, our family, uh, for this very important occasion. And before I get into that, I would like to take the opportunity just to show you who is in the room, because it's important to know who came out today. And so, obviously, you've met our Board of education, committed, uh, volunteers who really, uh, set the vision for our school district, give it the support we need, and then also make really important
003decisions like budgeting and, uh, who we bring on as tenure candidates, which, you know, is a long commitment from us. And that speaks volumes to who you are. And so with that, um, I know we have family members here. We have spouses and family and children. I'd like all of you to stand up because you are part of this celebration as well. Let us thank our families for being here for all that you have done. Thank you. Thank you. Family members. We know that this is a family commitment. And the people who are retiring today, and those who are receiving tenure today, beginning their career in many ways. Uh, this is a long term commitment, but it is a full family commitment. We appreciate all of your support. We also have, uh, amazing staff members,
004administrators and staff who came out to see you. And so all of our administrators and staff, please stand up. Let us recognize you for coming out today. They are here to recognize and celebrate you. Excellent. And you see people from teachers to staff to administrators, principals and central office. And that's because this day is so important to all of us, and we really appreciate that. I know we'll bring you up, uh, individually, but I would like all of our retirees, please stand up. You deserve this moment. You have committed your career to our children. Congratulations. Congratulations. It is wonderful. Uh, this is the, um, end of a chapter in the beginning of a new chapter for many of you. And we know that it is important you've given your life to education, your life to
005children, your life, to the parents you serve. And communities like Peekskill, where you have served your career. And for that, we say thank you. Another big round of applause for our retirees. To our retirees. We have a, uh, sheet here. I'd like you to put your name and cell phone number, because we need substitutes, and HR is always looking for individuals. So please sign this on your way out. And, uh, and with that, we also have wonderful Tanya candidates. These are individuals who we deem and we present to the board. The board has voted to say that we believe in you so much that we're willing to give you tenure. And you are a lifelong employee for the Peekskill City School District because you believe in the promise and you give them your heart, your
006soul, your energy, all the resources that you have. And we know that commitment is not easy, and we value that commitment. Our children deserve the very best and we don't give tenure lightly. Some get it, some do not. We are unapologetic about making sure that the people that we tenure are those who meet the highest bar of standards for our children because they deserve the very best. And you are the very best. Stand up. I tell you, candidates, let us recognize you. And without further delay, we are going to get this celebration going. And with that, I'm going to call up our assistant superintendent, Doctor Moody. Let's give him a round of applause. Let's get this celebration going. Thank you everyone. Good evening everyone. Oh good evening everyone. Thank you, thank you. Special. Special time.
007Uh, a special place with special people. Family all together. I was looking at trying to figure out what to say this year. Because every year I get to speak about retirees. And I don't want to repeat myself from last year, but I think there's going to be something that will be very similar. But I wanted to know, how many of you remember? Some of you do. How many more days we have left? I figured that would happen. So I said to myself, what is it about 17 that is special? So I looked it up and it says that the number 17 symbolizes spiritual awakening, inner strength and new beginnings. It could not have been more appropriate for the people that have served hundreds of children in the Peace Hill City School District, or if you
008came from another space as well. You are still supporting children, their families, your your colleagues as well. Um, and those are special things that come across when it comes to education. You're never alone. You're never doing anything alone. And you're doing always something for everyone. You give up your hearts, your special talents that you all each have. You think you come just a teacher in a classroom, and then you become surrogate parents. You become clinicians, social workers. You become the leaders that you are in your space. It is an extraordinary field. I will not give it up for anything else. And I know that you wouldn't either. So today we honor you. Those of you that are retiring to savor a special time under either a coconut tree in some hammock somewhere, and you will
009be counting down those 17 days. And right now, you feel extraordinary. Wow. 17 is going to come. And by the time 15 is there and 13 and then seven, and now you're going to start looking like me because because you don't know what you're going to do with yourself because of the time that you spend with children. You'll start reminiscing about the time that you were either in pre-K with, uh, children running around the classroom trying to figure out how to manage the class, or when you were in middle school. And this student is trying to find themselves and you're trying to find yourself to with them, or when you're in high school and you're you're getting ready to make them depart to a different chapter in their lives. But this time is about you
010looking for your chapter, the next one. And you should unapologetically know that it should be special for you because you've given special to everyone else. So congratulations to all the retirees on behalf of the superintendent, administration, and the Board of Education. We are so proud of you for your time and commitment, but definitely wish you the very best in your next endeavor. Congratulations! And now, no further ado, I will ask Doctor Vilas Rodriguez to come up. She will say the names and we're going to be calling you down. We have approximately 15 of you, and I know some of you were not here because you feel some some kind of way because you don't want to see this happening. But we honor those people that are not here as well. And I know who they
011are, but we want to make sure that we also give them a round of applause for their time as well. So thank you. All right, let's get ready to clap out loud for our retirees. All right, you ready? Okay, so we want to ask the Board of Education to come on up alongside Doctor Mauricio to honor our individuals. All right, let's give a big round of applause for Patricia Dunn. Let's hear from Patricia Duncan. I feel like I'm graduating. Because you are so right. We're going to ask you to stay because we're going to take a photo at the end. All right. Let's hear it from Matilda Broadbent. De. Come on down. Come on, let's keep it coming for my building. Come on. So stay tuned. That's the. Okay, let's hear it for last, Senora
012Luiz Cardona. I to sister. Hey, let's hear from Skopje. Come on, Scotty P. Let's give it up for Elizabeth Irving. The amazing. Thank you. Okay. Miss Tanya Sharrock, are you in the house? Okay, so let's give it up for time. She's not here. She retired halfway. But thank you for your service. Love you. OOP! Oh. Too fast. Right. What's happening? Rachel. Right. Carol back. On my calm. Stacey Beane. Keep it going for safety. This is amazing. It's like the price is right. Come on, let's keep it going for Stacey. Come on. Debbie Monico. I don't think Debbie is here. Also retired early, but come on, let's give her a big round of applause. She's going to hear it down in Florida. We love you, Debbie. Heather. Norman. Tampoco. Heather Norman. Amazing librarian. Heather, if you're
013watching online, we love you and we wish you the absolute best. Lenore. Viola. No. Okay. Godspeed, Lenora. Noel Cobb I saw. Well. Congratulations. Thomas. Malcolm. Congratulations. Dan Moran, are you here today? Okay. Congratulations to Dan Moran. All right. And that concludes our retirees. Let's give them one more round of applause. Whoo hoo! Come on. Let's give it up for them. And we need to. We need a photo op. But. So. I know. I know you can't. Oh, it's remarks first. So the Board of Education can take their seats. Yep. You can take your seats. My apologies. We're going to do remarks first. Okay. Wonderful. All right. So how amazing is tonight? Come on. Amazing, right. So much amazing energy. All right, everybody. So good evening, Board of Education. Doctor Morris, your friends, family, and the
014Peekskill community. It is an honor to welcome you on the best night of the year, where we get to present and recommend our superstars. Right. Which you voted for already. So let's clap for that. So here we are. So when I thought about the quality of the remarks I was going to share with you all this evening. I thought I would start with a quick little story just to kind of help contextualize the evening. Are you with me? Is everybody okay with that? Okay. So a teacher says to her husband, darling, I had a dream about my ten year celebration last night. And in the dream, I dreamt that I got sparkly earrings and a beautiful diamond bracelet and a diamond necklace. What do you think that means? So he smiles and he says, oh,
015sweetheart, just wait until you tell me a celebration. So she patiently waits and dreams. And on the night of the ten year celebration, he gave her a beautifully wrapped gift. And she opens it. And what do you think is in there? Time to take this. It was a book titled How to Interpret Dreams. All right. So the idea is that sometimes those around us, they just don't get it right. But tonight, I'm here to tell you that you work for a district that knows and recognizes where real superheroes show up every day. So let's cut for that. They're not in movies. They're not flying over cities. They are not way up high in the Avengers Tower. They're right here in Peekskill. Wearing lanyards every day instead of capes. But tonight. You wearing capes? They're sitting
016right here. Because let's be honest. Right? No superhero has ever faced what you face on a daily basis. At least, no Marvel character has had to differentiate instruction, manage a classroom of 20 or more, respond to emails, attend meetings, call parents, manage student conflict, deal with last minute changes, conduct safety drills, continuously learn and evolve. Look beautiful. And continually professionally. Evolve and learn and still smile at 801 sharp every single day and serve students or his students. So tonight we gather to celebrate something extraordinary. You made it. So I want to encourage you to think about some things in a new light tonight. This isn't just tenure. It's transformation. It's not just endurance, but it's excellence. It's not just teaching, but impact, because what you have accomplished is nothing short of heroic. But here's the
017one truth about tonight this is not the origin of your story. This is your power reveal. That's why you're wearing capes tonight. And with that comes a new calling, a new responsibility, a new identity. I'm so excited. So beginning tonight, I leave you with this, and I want everybody to stay together with me. Come on. We'll have some church. Cape on Cape Cod. Nice. And cape on. Hey. You're up. You are now officially activated. Oh. Not you like that. Not just as educators, but as protectors of potential, protectors of equity and builders of futures. They keep on. They got to see the greatness in students before they see it in themselves, and to remind them that their future is fun, limited. Come on, everybody came on board to elevate your craft, to push beyond what
018is comfortable. Don't forget, I said that to innovate, to refine, to lead. Because tenure is not a finish line. It's a launch pad. Aim to build bridges with families, with colleagues, with the community. Because in Peekskill, we know that together we rise in time to stand firm in moments that matter when challenges arise and they will. Your presence, your consistency, your courage will shape outcomes for children who are counting on you. Your integrity matters. You need to take care of yourself. Even superheroes need to recharge. Your wellness matters. Your growth, your balance because you can't pour into others if your well is empty. And finally cape on and on to protect the heart of this profession, to remind the world that teaching isn't a job, it's a calling. And that is your primary job. It's
019not just instruction, it's inspiration. It's not just a job. It's legacy. So tonight, as you step into tenure, understand this. You're not just receiving a title. You're embracing a mission. And so know this, that the students of Peekskill, the families of Peekskill, this entire community is better because you are a part of it. Let's clap for that. Come on. It's better because you are here. You and you and you and you and you. So I want you to stand tall. Stand proud. And when you walk into your classroom tomorrow, I want you to know your value, your immense value. Because you are a hero. Come on. You are a hero, right? One more time together. Let me hear it. Come on. Right. So on behalf of the Peekskill City School District leadership team, we congratulate
020you and we thank you for being the heroes that our students need you to be every single day. We love you so much. Congratulations. Doctor Blue Dog. You're going to read the names and we're going to call all attendees up. Oh. Our first and not the most Maria on yet. Florida's. What a way to start. Following with our teaching assistant, Astrid Mazany. From Woodside Elementary School Melanie Bryant. Carbon. From Woodside Elementary, Karen, India. Moving in Allied Woodside. Laura. Esposito. How are you? NLP teacher in Woodside. Cindy. Nice. Molina. Neymar elementary teacher Claudia Gonzalez Ruiz. Our music teacher, Jennifer Goucher. Goucher. A teaching assistant at Woodside. She loved shiny looking. Our elementary teacher in Woodside, Nicole Loreto. Our reading teacher but administrator now, Melissa mack long. Our speech teacher would say Marilyn Rosa. Starting at Oak
021Side Elementary. Teacher. Is that beneath this? Following it oxide Benny Glasberg. Our special education teacher, Angie Murcia. We. Keeping it going. Special education teacher Achiara term. All right. Teaching assistant is Randy Albarino. Keep on. How are you not teacher Hillcrest. Nicole. Compelling. Moving it along. Elementary teacher at Hillcrest. Harry Molina. At Hillcrest. Hillcrest Elementary special education teacher Alison Kaplan. Our teaching assistant at Hillcrest, Bridget Lopez. Moving it along. Elementary teacher at Hillcrest. Jane. Assisi. How are music teacher? Phenomenal. Doctor. Elizabeth. Oh, Heather. Our elementary teacher at Hillcrest, Lindsey Owen's. Moving it along that hill Chris elementary. Santo Polanco, Rosario. I know. Our guidance counselor. Hill. Cristiana. Suarez. Messi. At Peekskill Middle School. Special education teacher Miss Sarah Barnett. Here she comes. Came on. At Peekskill Middle School special education teacher Denise Chevalier. Moving it along.
022Elementary teacher Pasco middle school. Alexis Conti. You learn a lot of science from this one here at Peekskill Middle School. Paula Koehler. She had to move it along with her six month old. He was getting a little restless, so we understand. Let's give him a round of applause. Our Peekskill middle school. Miss Nicole the husky. At Peekskill Middle School, Mr. Justin Maldonado. Moving along to Pisco middle school. Miranda matyas. To join. Happy school. Middle school, Mr. Diego Rendon. I'd. Moving into the Peace School. Middle school special education teacher Jessica Walton. Happy school. Middle school alum and elementary teacher Andrea Winston. And now moving on to Peekskill High School math teacher Valerie Machado. At Peekskill High School art teacher Miss Melissa Cooper. Nominee. Oh, she didn't have. AP school, high school physical education teacher, Mr. William
023Piano. Our science teacher at Peekskill High School is Jessica Evans. And up. School. High school. Last but not least, our NLP teacher Miss Anna Starley. Congratulations on your tenure. To all the tanneries. Congratulations. Let's give a round of applause. Madam, take a seat by organizing first. I haven't done. I'm going to half. Take a look at you. All right, let's give Doctor Vilas Rodriguez doctor out his good eye. Big round of applause for organizing this wonderful event. When you stand right where you are. And one more round of applause for our ten year candidates. Our ten year. We have a bit of a dilemma. There's about 1700 of them and we only have space for 100. So we're going to figure this out. So what we're going to do is we're going to have Mrs.
024Olivet Flores work. Make your way down just about there. And yes, please go ahead. Aren't those caves amazing? Yes, yes. And then we're going to have right from. Keep going, keep going. And if we can have you start the second row up on the top of the stage, if you make your way up the stairs, here you go. Perfecto. I think that's going to work out. Uh, yeah. I didn't know how to, uh, unplug it. Uh, Mr. Brown, are we able to unplug this camera so it isn't in the way? Oh. That's perfect. Okay. Uh, you know, it's going to end up in the photo. So we'll have him, uh, unplug it if you can. Unplug that. We're going to move it out of the way. All right. Great. Okay. Excellent. Okay. Yes. Thank you.
025Uh, this one here. All right. Now, if we could have our board trustees, if you could make your way on flanked either side on the upper stage or on the lower level as you see fit. How are we doing, Mary? With whiskey. Okay. Uh, you probably have to go to the to the front of the building. Probably, yes. You let me know how that looks. Got everyone, Mr. Frank. All right. And I have one more special announcement. We have a brand new board member who was just voted in, and I saw her walk through the door earlier, whereas Kinga party comes. Let's give her a round applause. Let's have you come on up. She is a parent of two of our students in our school district, and Doctor Wood I and Doctor Velez. Um, if
026we could have our to, uh, assistant superintendent as well. If you can find the spot, we are going to take this photo, and I'm going to move this out of the way because I don't want anybody to be blocked. Great. Thank you. How are we doing that thumbs up camera. We look good. Let's give them one more big round of applause. Thank you so much for listening to. Oh, if she can get this selfie, it'll go down in the Guinness World Book of Record. All right, all right. Uh, tenure, new tenure. Individuals always come here. Then we lose. All right. Okay, we're going to do one more photo because we got these amazing cards for you. So I want you to turn around and show those great capes and put your thumb up towards the
027back, or tuck them up in the air. Look at that, look at that, look at that. That is you got to come this way. Grab that photo. I'm going to get out of the way. All right. I'm okay. Okay. I do what I'm told. Just like. All right, another round of applause for our tenure individuals. If you could please make your seat. We're going to close out right now. Thank you. If you could please make your seat. We're going to close out. Good to see you again. Yes. Thank you. Before getting to my candy bar. Dancing to your feet. You are just like a small thing. Because we don't. So Rebecca and Camera send those pictures to me and um, and I think the media may want that. I guess you gotta be. And I
028have never seen you get down on it that I. Honestly, I got something else out of it. Okay, great. Um, so just a couple of updates, uh, for you. First of all, I want to say welcome again to, uh, Kinga for, uh, joining us, I saw. Oh, did she just leave you? Okay. Hold that. We're going to come right back to that one. Uh, I did want to say, um, I know we're a small group, but we do record this, and some people do watch online. I do want to say, uh, very special thank you to our, uh, Iris velvet. Uh, and, uh, Kamari as well, who has, uh, pitched in the second half of the year and Melanie, um, as well, Roman, Doctor Roman and the entire team of staff. You see some of
029them here? Uh, Doctor Ferris was there this this, um, weekend attendance, uh, initiative with Doctor Daniels as well. We had Doctor Carmel Higa there. We had a planetarium that we're going to bring now to a new projector. You know, I was going to bring it up to our, uh, high school, uh, because we needed updated technology, updated 4K videos. And so we found a way to do that and partner that will help us make that happen. So we do want to say thank you. Yes. To all of our, um, team. So yes, thank you. And, uh, when we get that new projector, we're bringing all of our Uriah Hill all the way up to the high school, uh, to come see, uh, the greatest videos, uh, that we can about steam and technology in our
030space, in our planetarium. So that is coming soon. And I hope, um, that president is appreciative of that. Uh, Mike, who headed My Brother's Keeper, my Sister's Keeper event, uh, just today. And all of the mentors came with all of our students. They went to spins on the Hudson, had a special meal and, uh, opportunity. But this is one of our mentors, um, and and I speak about him. The previous mentor actually brought a celebrity chef to teach our students, uh, and became students, um, how to cook. And I spoke to them about dreaming big and living their realities. And so this MBK mentor, who is also a teacher at the high school, is a car enthusiast. And so he brought one of his vehicles. This is, uh, for those of you who are car
031individuals, this is uh, oh, the Mustang and brought it to them, talked about the restoration process. And he is someone that wanted to bring his passion to our students and ignite that passion in our students as well. So we appreciate our MCC initiative and all the work that, uh, my Sister's Keeper and, um, staff do and, uh, making sure that their part and our kids have mentors who look like them and also inspire them each and every day. So a big round of applause for them as well. Oh, there you go, Kanga. We want to recognize you and say thank you, uh, for, um, stepping up when we needed someone to step up. And we are so excited to onboard you on July, uh, and beginning of July. And so we will be reaching out
032to you and Kamari will make that happen. And so looking forward to having you on the board as well. All right. Spring concerts. This was amazing. I know Brandon McDonald was there to the bitter end, uh, with other uh, board trustees as well. And this was a high energy night we're so excited about, uh, the the talent. We're going to send this video to Doctor Lake, hopefully, uh, because this was part of his vision to Mary Foster, part of her vision as well. And to the board trustees who were here, uh, when this began in third grade, many years ago. And now to see our students come to that senior level and be able to perform the way they did, it was absolutely amazing. So big round of applause to our talented students and to
033the music teachers. Uh, we thank them for all they do and we will get those videos out to everyone also. Yes, yes. Also, I want to make note that we no longer have, uh, lights that are not LED. And so that night you may have noticed all the different light shows we had going on at different colors. You see some of it in the middle there. And that is because we now have all LEDs in our, um, in our, uh, auditorium here. Thank you, Cynthia Hawthorne. Carmine, Chrissy, for making that happen. And you will notice that about halfway through the board meeting when you're not sweating because the other lights used to, uh, be so hot. These LEDs are great, and they're great for the the, um, for our country and for the Earth as
034well. Our, uh, middle school students, uh, had their trip to Lake, uh, compounds and had an awesome time. So I want to thank our middle school team, Doctor Bedi, for making that happen. Board, thank you for approving it. And our students had a wonderful time. And we'll continue. Look how many of them were able to make it to their trip. And so we thank, uh, our middle school team for making that happen. And that is Miss Silverman there on the left, who is a board trustee in Henwood and one of our amazing math teachers at the middle school as well, uh, City Singers, uh, Doctor Ferris and I had the opportunity just a few, uh, days ago. Uh, to see our students, our city singers, but also our dance troupe as well. They performed at
035the grand reopening of Walmart. Uh, you can see it there has been remodeled, um, from the outside, in the inside. It was a great event. The mayor was there. Many individuals were there from other communities as well, and our students shown well, and they sang a beautiful song. Uh, for everyone who was in attendance. So thank you again to our music program. Thank you again to our board for supporting that effort. Um, also want to recognize our students who received scholarships. These are seniors from the Peekskill Rotary. The rotary is amazing. Um, supporter of ours. And you see here Doctor Magicka and also one of our teachers as well. Uh, with the amazing Maria Gordon year, who always helps make, uh, make sure our kids get the scholarships they need to move on to the
036secondary world and, uh, really, uh, uh, happy to see them. And big thank you to a rotary will be there on Thursday, and we'll thank them again as our athletic students get recognized as well. Uh, varsity sports for tonight. Uh, was it was a great, um, event. Uh, Mr. Frank Robinson was there. Mr. Jenkins was there. High energy as well. And just, uh, just an amazing night. Our coaches, um, uh, ran a wonderful program led by our, um, athletic director. And Austin Goldberg, did a phenomenal job with trophies and special, uh, gifts for our souls, for our students as well. Just a great night. Packed house here last night and, uh, full of energy like tonight, we shared these, uh, uh, photos. Board. I want to thank you for supporting, uh, the most recent, uh,
037request for Capitol work. Uh, this is the middle school locker room, uh, that we have at the, uh, middle school. And now what we have is a dance studio. Yoga studio? A workout facility for our students. And this is great for, uh, students. The the, uh, people in the audience applauded for this. They're so excited to see this coming. And it is already. This is not a rendering. This is actually there was done over spring break. And, uh, thank you, Cynthia Horton, for bringing that forward with Carmine. Chrissy. And that's what our kids deserve. This will be our athletic hallway leading into our gymnasium. That is a, uh, TV screen that will show highlight videos of our, um, athletes. And, uh, also, it'll be totally remodeled. The pictures on the wall will be our, um,
038athlete scholar athletes as well. And so we're really excited about representing all of our students and, uh, and renovating this entire space, this high school, within the next year and a half to two years is going to be a totally new space, totally renovated and, uh, latest technology, wonderful, uh, floor plan for us. And so really looking forward to that renovation as well. This is the gymnasium. And it will, um, these are hallowed halls where so many wonderful things happen. One of our board trustees, Allan Jenkins, uh, played on this court as well as a varsity athlete, um, went on to college and now works in this space. And Monroe College and so many others who have gone on to professional athletics support fields as well, and just, um, uh, making sure that they had
039the memories that are here. And we want to honor that as we move forward. And so we are delicately, uh, bringing down the, uh, bleachers, as you see there on the left. That already happened July 1st, uh, which I believe they began, um, uh, July 1st, um, June 1st on Monday or so. And they've already begun that work. And, uh, trustees and for our public, this is the, uh, this was a crowd pleaser last night. Um, this is the. Yes, this is the gymnasium that we will have for our students, uh, very modern, state of the art. You see the replay video, uh, up there on the wall as well. And so we were really excited to bring this forward as well. Um, June is pride month, and Peekskill, uh, City School District is a
040proud supporter of Pride Month. And, uh, many activities will take place in the high school and want to make sure that we support our students, uh, for who they are and making sure that we uplift every single one of our students as well. And to close, uh, want to thank the PTO for the color run. It is this Saturday. Uh, it's free to all families. And it begins, uh, the run begins at 11 a.m., but please arrive, uh, at ten a am just to get ready. Uh, registered as this is in our Friday letter. And I want to thank the Peekskill, um, PTO for all of their support, in particular Vice President Sandra, who is really leading this effort. Um, so this is going to be a fun activity happening this Saturday at Torpy Field.
041That concludes, uh, very short, uh, Peekskill Pride. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Doctor Vilas Rodriguez and, uh, Doctor Bedi. Doctor Buda is going to kick us off, and he's going to talk about a very important, uh, statewide initiative, uh, New York inspires. And along with that, the portrait of a graduate. And so with that, uh, Doctor Bedi, if you can join the stage and, uh, share the information that is coming forward from the state level. Thank you. Thank you. So, um, as you may be aware, New York State is has created a new form of what graduation is going to look like in the next number of years. And New York inspires is the umbrella of what they consider is innovating for the future, a plan to transform education for
042all of our students in New York State. So there was a blue ribbon commission that was convened that had approximately 84 members across the state of New York. They held forums, uh, with students. They held forums across the state with families and educators and leaders to kind of come up with a vision of what this would look like in New York State. The idea was to give more access and opportunity for students to graduate in a timely manner, and then decide what is their goal in the future, College or career readiness? Um, to do this, they did have a comprehensive vision for all New York State graduation. They wanted to make sure that the at the core was culturally responsive education for all children, and that there were six interconnected competencies that align to that
043during the portrait of a graduate. There were four transformational, uh, shifts that they're going to be having. Um, this this has already begun in New York State, and it's in phase one currently. Um, so the first thing is adopting the New York State portrait of a graduate, and we'll talk about that a bit later on. The second is redefining credits and learning experiences for our students, for the different pathways that our students could use to graduate. Currently in our schools, we have a number of pathways. We have our seal of Biliteracy. We have our, um, seal of civic readiness. We also have the career development in Occupational Skills, which is the seat of, uh, career and technical education. And we also have the individual arts assessment pathway that we just passed last year. And we
044started it this year with our students. Then we have a sunset of diploma assessment required requirements, which is going to shift. Transcript is going to shift how students, um are going to the requirements that are going to be needed to graduate from high school. So currently we do have um for instance regions, um and all students must pass region diploma. There are some waivers with that. But that will start shifting as students will start seeing those changes from the state. And then the last one I see moving to a single diploma. Now I want to make sure that people understand moving to a single diploma does not mean that students will not have access to Regents examinations, so the Regents are not going away. Students will still have access to it, but it will not
045be required for graduation in 2029 with the first cohort that is coming in okay. So currently, the New York, uh, diploma types are like IDs indicates your local diploma. You are required to have 22 credits and region exams with approved safety net options. And these are for students that are receiving special education services that can can graduate either scores between 55 and a 64. You have the Regents diploma, which also requires 22 graduate credits with five reaches exam with scores of 65 or higher using the four plus one, which are the, uh, the different pathways that we have. And then they have to demonstrate proficiency in core academic subjects, like passing their regular courses that are required in school. That is followed by the Regents diploma with advanced designation, again still needing the 22 credits
046that are needed. But now you have eight Regents areas, including three in math, two and science and the language. Languages other than English demonstrate advanced academic achievement across multiple disciplines and reflect college and career readiness for the higher level, which is usually at 85 and above on these regions. Examinations the current graduation credit requirements. Again, if you see the four required regions examinations, you have one additional of the four plus one of these pathways to do it to succeed in that area. And then the requirements in the side here I just placed different courses plus the amount of credits needed, which equals to 22 at the end of your college of your high school career. Moving forward now, New York inspired planning for success in phase 124, the fall of 2024. Summer of 2025. It
047was our planning year. We were starting to think, how are we going to move forward with this pathway that the state is having us do? However, during this time as well, we are still waiting on guidance from the state Education Department to provide us with, um, information that will lead us to that success. Um, during that time, we're already having conversations in our schools about what it would look like. What are some of the courses that we have in our class in our schools, college level courses that we have already implemented in the last two years above what we've had in the past? And thanks to, um, our principal, uh, Doctor Ferris, um, and the team there, they have. Really had an extraordinary mindset of increasing the amount of stuff. Of courses that will lead
048towards college credit so that students can enter. College. With that experience and with a savings of the financial stability that they have. But at the same time, also looking at the careers that we have. So we've had career fairs. We have courses that are also leading towards those careers as well. So you know that that is going to set the students up for a great pathway. Phase one installation 2025 to 2027, which is where we are now. Um, we're in the process of looking at various, um, and I'll go over the different pathways as we move forward. Um, and this year, um, in the implementation timeline for personal finance and climate education are going to be required within our curriculum in our schools in New York State. Um, this this is visionary. Of course. Um,
049it is something that occurs in our schools, but now this is more intentional. We want our students to be financially literate upon leaving our high school and understand understanding the global aspect of how our society and our environment works with us. So and beginning in grades five through eight and 9 to 12, in 2026, which is next year, the students will have to have personal finance within their curriculum. In addition to that, in high school and in grades 5 to 8, climate education will have to be introduced in 2027 and 2028. In elementary grade band K through four, beginning with 2728, they'll have personal finance, and by beginning of the 2829, they'll have climate education. Those are the three methods in which you could introduce climate education and personal finance. So we are probably ahead
050of the game currently. We have already looked at our instructional options for climate education, meaning we've taken a look at all of our courses, taking a look at the units of study that we have within our curriculum to determine if there is an alignment within our current curriculum and what the climate education looks like. And we have an abundance of units that really align to this. Similarly, we're doing the same thing with personal finance. Next year we're going to have a new course of entrepreneurship course that is going to be aligned to this as well, is going to be talking about pitching an idea with a problem of practice, understanding what is necessary to solve that problem within your community, outside of your community, locally, statewide or national. It depends on the students and what
051is their idea on how to solve that problem. And it's going to take finance a whole board. Students are going. It is going to be a magnificent quarter for our students in addition to that, that and thank you. Thank the team because it takes a team to be able to have that vision for students to have that. Um, we also have our standalone courses. So currently we already have financial literacy courses. We have courses that are dealing with climate education. So we have an a combination of all three. We have standalone courses. We have courses that are embedded units of study embedded within our current courses. And then we also have what is not in our course curriculum, which is the extended day programs that also support our students. With all of these things, our
052clubs have, uh, an alignment to them as well. We have Horticulture Club. We have all these things aligned to the the personal finance as well as the climate education. And now I will have Doctor Avila speak to the KK5 developmental progression of those two items. This. You. You're not. Um. It. So I just want to give you a succinct overview of how it's how this is impacting the elementary world. So we're going to start with personal finance. So the integration of financial literacy and climate education into elementary instruction represents a significant instructional shift. Um, which I spoke about. It's really going to be more so intentional. We have been touching upon these things. But what I what my goal is for you tonight is to just kind of give you some, uh, an overview of
053how that could be possibly represented in the elementary world. So these are areas that no longer are viewed as isolated special topics, but as into disciplinary competencies connected to civic engagement, problem solving, sustainability, decision making, and future readiness. The beauty of this is that we are esteemed district. And so, due to the visionary work of our superintendent and the board, we are leagues ahead. Um, already, I mean, if you will, just to look at the fact that each one of our schools has a garden, you know, um, we're working on and we're gonna talk about that later. pre-K, what we're gonna do there by our one building has a 21st century greenhouse. And so for years, our kids have been learning about sustainability and ecology and how, you know, all of these things impact the
054climate. So, you know, when I, when when this came about, um, we're really not concerned at all. We just actually see it as an opportunity for us to make our opportunities for our kids. Are learning opportunities even more so robust in what they already are. But I'm going to just give you some examples. So with personal finance, for example, you can see in the k one band. So for example personal choices and responsibility is the overview. Right. And so the focus of the shifts would be simply identifying money uh economic vocabulary towards helping young students understand responsibility and choices thereof. So an example of that might be like students participating in a classroom store, which we've seen already, where they use tokens to make choices between wants and needs and explain why they selected certain
055items. Right. So does that make sense? So like for example, in the second and third grade, band planning, problem solving and systems thinking. So we're going to move more. So. And again there's evidence of this already in our classrooms all throughout even pre-K, all the way up to fifth grade, where kids are engaging in more of a Socratic process during the workshop model. But again, the specific focus would be shifting from isolated money skills towards helping students analyze choices right and problem solve. So an example of that might be students creating a simple budget for a classroom celebration, um, and justifying spending choices within a limited amount. Okay. And then with the 4 or 5 grade band, um, the overview is civic economic analysis and long term decision making. So that focus, um, the shift
056for that is basic financial understanding towards developing financial responsible students who can analyze systems. So you see an overarching theme, right, of that language, of that verbiage in terms of analytical skills. And then a, uh, an example of that might be, um, students analyzing a mock monthly budget, again, analyzing, um, and determining how to, um, plan for unexpected, um, expenses. Okay. Any questions about that before I move on to climate? Okay, cool. All right. So the overview for the climate would be, um, for elementary grades K to five. The New York State um Education Department portrait of a graduate um climate education pivots the represent and represents helping young learners become curious, responsible and solution oriented global citizens to understand how people and the environment are connected to have the quicker. Oh yeah. So let's
057go to that. So the okay. Perfect. Thank you so much. All right. So for the K one the focus would be simply learning about um weather and nature towards helping students develop environmental awareness responsibility and habits of stewardship. And again I'm very pleased to say that through our, our greenhouses, um, we are already teaching our, our students this. And an example of this would be students are sorting, um, classroom waste into recycling, um, and trash bins and explaining why materials belong in each category. And again, I'm pleased to say that at Woodside, kids are already doing that. The component that we're going to shift towards again is to towards that more Socratic process where kids are engaging in thinking, discussion, debating, um, about these topics in grades two and three. Stewardship and inquiry is the
058overarching focus. And the focus of this shift is, um, from environmental awareness towards inquiry, conservation and helping students identify solutions to environmental problems. And an example of that would be students designing posters or campaigns, encouraging recycling and conservation within the school community. And then lastly, um, in the 4 or 5 band, the um the overarching band is sustainability advocacy and global citizenship. And that focus shifts from learning about environmental systems towards empowering students to think critically about sustainability. Um, advocate for solutions and understand their role as informed global citizens. So an example of that. Would be students perhaps writing persuasive letters, um, or creating presentations and advocating for environmental sustainability. And again, our kids are doing this already, so we're super excited to be able to kind of deepen the work. Um, and we're excited
059about the possibilities. But this is, again, just a brief overview. Um, as I said, we're looking at our units of study. We are ahead of the game with the curriculum that, again, you sanctioned, uh, a wonderful investment in and it has actually catapulted us forward in this work. So we're not behind the eight ball. We're able to deepen it and continue to buy additional books and amplify our libraries, and again, push our teachers to engage in a more Socratic process with our kids. So we're excited about the future. Thank you. And just thinking about one of the ways that we are connecting, even personal finance and climate education is with our energy performance contract. Right. So we are we are in in our buildings. We have created a system where we are saving finances from
060funding through saving on energy. And so our students could actually be participants of that savings and understanding the climate controls. And what how much does it save us in the long run? I think that that was part of the presentation when we did our energy performance contract, which is a specific alignment to what we're doing here. So with that, the full implementation will start in fall of 2029. In 2029, as you can see, the cohort phase in the first one, the new system will be phased in, beginning with the ninth graders entering the high school in that year. So 2029 ninth graders will be the first cohort that will graduate in that. In that cohort, with the new system of accountability for graduation, new statewide transcripts that they're going to be releasing and prioritizing, giving
061us guidance on what that's going to look like moving forward. So if you recall that, um, sheet in the side that gave you the credits and at the end it was 22 credits, that will probably change as well. It's going to be more performance based for our students than it is just achievement of a course audit or an assessment that is given by the state. And then the support networks is there going to highlight and disseminate best practice as districts implement the portrait of a graduate, which we'll talk about next. So a portrait of a graduate uh is aligned to six attributes. Or as they also call it, competencies. And these competencies are exactly what's here. Academically prepared building a strong foundation for students academically aligned to the New York State Learning Standards. Um, great
062creative innovator, uh, students that are that have imagination, that they can have curiosity to problem solve and think critically about adapting to the evolving challenges in our world today. Then it goes to a critical thinker, which we want all of our students to be at the core is to think critically about any issues that may occur, but also, uh, think critically about innovation. So we all know that creativity, once you flip one little thing in something that exists, that creative, uh, energy will almost design something new. Our students here do it every day. You can see it across every classroom. This also is often in literacy and even in our English class, where our students are trying to define what is the problem in the in the story, the climax and what happened in the
063past and what it's going to happen in the future. So they start predicting and things of this nature. That's what we want our students to do. Uh, moving forward, effective communicating. A student that articulates is able to speak clearly about what it is that they are conveying to their public and understanding how to listen intentionally to what is being conveyed to them so they can respond, articulate as well. And moving to a global citizen, uh, student that is, is, uh, you know, we live we, we believe we live in, in Peekskill right now, but Peekskill is just part of a pie of the world. And, uh, Peekskill happens to be a very diverse community in certain ways, whether it be in our schools or out in the community and learning from those experiences from different
064people. I mean, this board itself is an example of what what a global citizen is. Uh, the energy right here you can see the different facets of what a mosaic place looks like. And you learn from each other. You're able to connect with each other. The energy that comes with is smiling at each other right now, which is great, which is what we want our students to do as well. And then, uh, ending with reflective and future focused. So a person that is self-reflective, uh, and we want our students to be self reflecting what we on a daily basis try to model that, um, we are not perfect. We are learning every single day. And in fact, we learn from our students more than anything else because they pretty much put the conditions that they
065would like to see in their building. Right. Um, and that is that is a perfect example of what New York inspires to do with our kids. And that's why they called it New York Inspires. And if you look at the, the, the circle on the other side, the core of portrait of a graduate is having a culturally responsive and sustaining education focus, which aligns to the inner area, which is the six competencies. And at the end, the idea is that they learn, grow, create, work and contribute to society. So that is, uh, a general view of what New York inspire is with portrait of a graduate and at the center of. Um, it is uh, it is much more complex than what it seems, but it is very simple as well. So simplistic also becomes
066complex. And I think that we as a district have already evolved into something that the New York inspires us to do. We're on our way, and we have a lot, a lot to learn from each other, from individual states and individuals, uh, districts here. And, uh, I think we're visionary when it comes to that. And thank thank the board for supporting all of this, and definitely with the vision of our superintendent of schools. Any questions? Yes, it. So, uh, thank you for that. Uh. Oh, yes. I can't even see you guys anymore over there. Oh, yes. You can make your way over this way. Yes. Oh. Uh oh. We. Uh oh, if you could us if the cabinet can sit in the center because we can't see you. Oh, yes. Thank you. Oh, table in
067the way. Yeah. I'll stay tonight. It's okay. Oh, thanks. Me? Get some. See? Okay. Thank you. And I'll turn it over back to our board, president and board trustees for any questions that you might have on. Yes. Oh, um, we'll turn it back over to our board trustees and our president. Any questions or comments you might have related to this evening and, uh, the presentations we just shared? The questioning starts at a couple. Um. Oh, sorry. Oh, no. The, uh. The mikes. He's going to make one. Yes. Oh, okay. Is it working now? Yeah, I can hear you. Oh. Okay. Great. Um, so I just wasn't clear on, um. Are they going to. Are they going to be required to take any regents or. Okay. And, um, produce. Are we going to look at producing
068some kind of, um, thesis or, you know, portfolio? I know we've like, looked at consortium schools and things like that. And we were seeing some of that evidence of like that more, um, intense, deep education. So are we going to be either required by the state or required by ourselves to produce something like that at the end? So this is the it is. Hello. Not yet. Not yet. Miss Brown, if you could turn on that podium. Michael. Hello. Okay. So this is a type of forward thinking that, um, already exists. The fact that you're asking the question is important because the state has not developed yet, um, what it would look like. But they do know that they would like to have some type of performance based assessment and have multiple pathways for students rather
069than the one pathway, which is regents, and maybe one pathway of that we currently have in the future. We don't know what it looks like at the current time, but we do know that they're moving in that direction of portfolio and assessment and making sure that we can look at student's growth and performance based. And then, um, this is like more of a comment and just a discussion for the for everyone, for the board. We don't get granular into, um, curriculum. That's not really our role. But I do find for me personally, and I think for all of us, a North Star is, um, kind of community and how our individual actions, um, either affect or are affected by the world around us. So it sounds like you have a lot of that already going
070on in your, um, personal finance curriculum and, um, in your environmental curriculum. It's interesting because I think the environmental one lends itself a little more immediately to thoughts of, you know, the world at large. And sometimes when we think about personal finance, especially in the past, it was all like, well, are you going to do the right thing? And if you do the right thing, you'll succeed. And I think something that we're seeing is that, you know, people who dedicated themselves and went to college, you know, got stuck in debt and it wasn't really their fault. They were trying to do the right thing. Um, it was more what the world at large had to offer. So some of it and I like that you had this in your curriculum, but some of it is
071the decisions we make together. Are we deciding as a community to keep our water clean so we have water to keep our roads, you know, uh, kept up so we can drive to work or wherever we're going. So as much as you can be personally, financially responsible, it's not responsible to act as if one person is an island alone. And I always like to emphasize that we're in this together and that we do make a lot of financial choices together, whether we always think about that or not. It is political, it is advocacy. It is showing up at your town hall if something's going on that you don't like. And it's also just sort of keeping an eye out on the world and being aware of what's going on, because you can do the right
072thing, but sometimes there are larger forces at work, so that's why we have to continue to work together. Um, well said. Boston. And I think, um, Mr. McDonald, to your point, um, both points, uh, one is, uh, the, the, the and we work with both these to get, um, information from the state, and we know they're, uh, developing that, but how are the arts? How are, uh, different, um, uh, experiences our students have in different brilliance that they have. Uh, how is that manifested in, in, um, assessment of a graduate? And so capstone projects and a variety of other spaces is going to be critically important. And so we're waiting on that information. But they also getting information at the state level as well. So will continue to be part of that dialog. And uh,
073in relation to civic mindedness and um, the, the, the ecology that we're all part of. So something that happens way across the world, uh, impacts us locally. And likewise, something we do locally can impact, uh, individuals, whether it's food or energy or other aspects, um, as well. And so making sure that all of our courses have that opportunity to think critically about the world we live in and that we are all part of it together. Yeah. Very important. So thank you for sharing that as well. I think I also talk, I think, a lot about how we tie different things we do together or tie different things we do together with each other. So, uh, as I think of our entrepreneurship class as it launches and as our kids do things and as the personal
074finance content, uh, continues to push into the elementary education piece. And then we're talking about the ecology and the greenhouse and things like that. We have our Saturday Academy. It's a great way to open up those opportunities to some of our students. And maybe towards the end of the year, we have a student marketplace at a Saturday academy where they talk about their entrepreneurship opportunity, and then they sell whether they're selling products or services or anything like that, they can have that opportunity to present it in a safe environment where we already have the schools open and staff supporting them. Um, I think that that's something to look at as well. Absolutely. So does anyone else have any thoughts, comments, any other board reflections? Oh, um, I have a policy committee report. Uh, we did
075go over, um, a couple of athletic policies. Are they on for tonight? Uh, tonight is the resolution, uh, for equity, uh, for, uh, public schools to play in postseason, um, athletic events leading up to the state championships, to be only for public schools and have private schools to play them themselves amongst themselves and have their own championship stream. And so that'll be up for a resolution vote tonight. Um, and want to thank miss, uh, Trustee Jenkins, who's been, uh, spearhead of making sure that our students have the best experiences and athletic programs. Eligibility is coming up at the next board meeting. Uh, that was discussed. Yes. Yeah, that was that's an important advocacy point for the whole state, I think, was separating out the private schools from the public schools. As you get higher, uh,
076up into the, uh, the competition. That's right. Because the public, the private schools can recruit from all over the nation. Exactly, exactly. I just wanted to it out on that. Yes. Thank you. Um, I guess we'll do with hearing of the citizens we haven't done yet. But I don't think there's anyone here. But we're always open to people coming out and speaking. So if anyone would like to, um. We're always here. Uh. Consent agenda. Are there any comments, questions or thoughts? So I see we're voting on the elementary playground grant resolutions, so I'm always excited about that kind of thing. So hopefully we can get one of those. Yes. Um, and continue the improvements that we've been doing. I know the we have the new playground at Hillcrest and that's beautiful. And that has been
077a wonderful addition. So the more we continue working on that, the better. Um, and then we're doing some summer work. So there will be staff in the buildings. We have our summer program. So those will be great for students. Um, was there any other thoughts about. And I want to thank everybody for the donations, particularly the parent teacher organization. Um, so can I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? So moved. Moved by Angel. Second. Second by Christina. All in favor? Hi. Any nays? Any abstentions. And if there's no further action, can I have a motion to adjourn? I feel like, oh, it took the session to finish one more conversation. So moved. Second. Okay. Move by Franks. Second by bringing. All in favor? Hi. Hi. Good night everyone. Good night.