001okay moving right along we're making good time um i would like to turn the podium over to introduce mr richard schaefer the principal of east roy junior senior high school who's going to speak on behalf of our valedictorian lucy temple and salutatorian emma polikov good evening it's my great privilege to be here tonight to celebrate the accomplishments of our valedictorian and salutatorium these two young ladies have proven themselves both in and out of the classroom and have perfectly represented the east rockaway junior senior high school and the east rockaway community in all that they do first lucy temple is the 2021 erhs valedictorian by virtue you can call by virtue of her 102.5 weighted gpa in the classroom lucy has continually challenged herself by taking eight advanced placement courses over the past three years even
002with this rigorous course load lucy achieved high honor roll during every quarter of her high school career she is a leader in the classroom taking charge of tasks at hand in a way that is supportive often going out of her way to help her classmates she is laser focused on accomplishing goals and creating and executing a plan to accomplish them outside the classroom lucy is involved in a variety of extracurricular activities she has been an active member of the soccer team since seventh grade she has played the clarinet as part of our band since the fourth grade participating in just about every department event and ensemble over the last nine years according to mr seglio our music department chairperson and band leader lucy is an asset to the music program and our present has been
003impactful additionally she is a member of the national honor society stage crew was rock rivalry chairperson varsity basketball team manager and is the secretary of the class of 2021 [Music] in all of these endeavors lucy not only participated but showed a level of commitment and dedication to these activities that distinguishes her from her peers even with a full academic program and a host of extracurricular activities lucy has held two jobs over the past few years perhaps her passion is most seen in her role as a counselor at camp integrity having been a camper at camp integrity it has always been important to lucy that our campers know how much she has invested in them her time at this camp impacted her greatly and her goal has been to provide the same positive experiences for our
004campers lucy is a natural leader with an intuitive ability to solve problems and a great sense of humor lucy's sense of commitment and pride is evident in everything that she does she operates within independence integrity and purpose in whatever she puts her mind efforts and heart into and we are sure that she will be endlessly successful at the university of connecticut with plans to study engineering and beyond congratulations lucy [Applause] um hey one two three thank you [Applause] next emma polikov [Applause] emma is a 2021 erhs salutatorian by virtue of her 102.13 weighted gpa emma also has managed to be successful at the highest level while enrolled in the most challenging courses we offer since 10th grade emma has taken eight advanced placement courses and one college level course she has shown a passion and
005has excelled in the sciences aspiring to take classes that would promote her knowledge in the area she is dedicated reliable and incredibly mature and has continued to persevere and thrive through adversity her talents also extend beyond the classroom she has been a three sport athlete for all four years at erhs competing in volleyball basketball badminton and softball she has been a member of the music program in the district for 10 years both in chorus and playing the flute in the band culminating this year by being selected for the highest of performance honors the nisma all-state festival and the national association for music education's all eastern conference additionally emma has proven to be a leader as a member of the national honor society a triam music honor society officer and a president and the president of
006the class of 2021 for four years emma also has been generous with her time volunteering to work with students with special needs she supports her peers through unified unified sports and physical education classes she also volunteers her time at camp anchor a camp for students with special needs she regularly babysits for three children one of whom has autism she loves being a big sister to her four brothers she has she has been an important part of their lives and she takes pride in being a fantastic role model for them on top of all this emma has a part-time job as a waitress at a local restaurant emma is genuine and has a heart of gold during the school closure last spring emma raised the spirits of her fellow musicians by coordinating silly photo collages and
007helped to raise the spirits of our community by participating in various virtual performances she always finds a way to put the greater good above her own needs for these these reasons and many more there is no doubt in our minds that this courageous ambitious and determined young lady will be successful successful at moravian college studying neuroscience and beyond congratulations emma [Music] okay yes [Music] hmm foreign it's coming on okay um retirements are always bittersweet in contrast to last month's 10-year celebrations where we celebrated beginnings tonight we will be celebrating an ending and saying goodbye to two of our most beloved and successful colleagues who will both be irreplaceable frankly special education teacher donna smith and technology education teacher nick sim cimarrelli in total ready for this in total they served our school community for 67
008years now i'm not saying they're 67 years old in total they worked here 67 years that's really incredibly admirable and shows their dedication to this wonderful community so i'd like to turn it over to mr shaffer just give me a moment to grab my clicker okay switching gears to our honorees on retirement it is now my honor to speak on behalf of two revered members of the east rockaway junior senior high school teaching staff donna smith and nick cimorelli have combined for almost 70 years of dedicated service to the students of east rockaway junior senior high school although they are both moving on from our school their impact will be everlasting donna smith began her career as a special education teacher at erhs in 19 in september of 1988. from the beginning donna was all
009about building relationships with her students she has the unique ability to get the most out of our students believing in them when they do not necessarily believe in themselves her students seek her out as a resource not only for academics but for any problems that they may have perhaps most impressive of all she has made math relatable and ensured that it did not feel like a chore for so many of our students through our expertise in differentiated instruction and modifying curriculum her students regularly achieve success both in her classroom and on standardized and regents exams she constantly communicates families regarding student progress through a variety of methods and keeps them informed about what students are learning in her class and she is a valuable co-teacher who helps create a nurturing and productive learning environment for
010our integrated co-teaching classes beyond the classroom donna has worn many other hats she served as a coach for flagline volleyball and softball she was the yearbook advisor for many years was the class advisor for the class of and spent countless hours supporting the production of our yearly district musicals even acting in a few donna has not only supported her students but also her colleagues she has been a mentor both formally and informally to so many of our teachers she was a champion she is a champion for anyone that needed someone in their corner serving various roles within the erta executive board donna was a known advocate for the well-being and rights of all teachers and she would never let you forget it as a close colleague said donna has an amazing gift to see problems
011before they arise but more importantly she offers solutions to problems she would never expect something from someone that she would not do herself this applies to her colleagues her students and her administrators thank you miss mignola donna is a straight shooter with an amazing gift to inspire motivate rally and most importantly to unite donna we wish you all the best in retirement congratulations you have to come up [Applause] will that work well with the background or should we pull out again we're doing such a good job and moving along quickly that's the easiest thing thank you you think i would know that after eight years [Music] like yes [Music] one two three okay one two three thank you [Music] hmm [Music] energy [Music] oh okay [Music] there we go yes okay our second retiree tonight
012is nick cimarrelli nick also began this began his career at east rockaway junior senior high school over 30 years ago as a technology education teacher nick not only taught classes he created them transitioning his department from an industrial arts program to a modern technology program over the years his students have built wooden mirrors with shelves wood bridges wooden gumball machines co2 cars storage sheds and even work with hydroponics these projects served as students well and provided fond memories and important real-life experiences co-director of the hofstra university center for stem education research dr michael hacker noted the following about mr cimarrelli i've had the distinct pleasure of working closely with closely with mr similar mr cimarrelli on nsf projects that broke new educational ground in offering students new opportunities in areas such as computer game design
013exploring how global and community based food and water problems can be addressed by secondary school students and by implementing numerous hands-on design projects as contexts to teach stem concepts in a way that relates these concepts to the real world thanks to the efforts of mr cimarrelli along with his partner in crime mr howard the east rockaway technology department has served as the model for several other districts and has been at the forefront of technology education for years beyond the tech building nick will forever be known as mr rock rivalry after serving as great adviser to the class of 1992 and winning the cup twice he served as the rock rivalry coordinator from 1992 up until last year during this time he helped the most important tradition not only live on but flourish he has also
014served as the advisor for our robotics teams and organized yearly vex robotics meets in which dozens of other districts compete competed right here in our large gym he helped to organize several trips to europe and the eighth grade trip to washington dc and contributed to the set construction of many district musicals nick's mark on east rockaway high school is undeniable and he will be sorely missed we wish you nothing but the best in retirement congratulations so [Music] keys off on the same day when you're gone when you go home we're gonna miss you when you're gone we're gonna miss you down the halls thinking perhaps on your we're gonna miss you when you're gone you've taught us so much for the long way round with every subject every view we learn science we learn math
015and how history left its path and it sure was fun to learn because of you when you're gone when you go home we're gonna miss you when you're gone we're gonna miss your caring smiles we're gonna miss you all the while oh we're gonna miss you when you're gone [Applause] [Music] you've got your ticket for foreign why not yes [Music] just one more word our retirees already received an engraved clock in recognition of their years of service a clock is the most appropriate gift for retirement as its recipients have given up so many of their golden hours and a lifetime of service to our children on behalf of our board of education i wish our retirees all the best that life has to offer a long happy healthy and productive retirement we thank you for
016your many years of service to the children of our community and for the joy that their teeth that your teaching has brought to our schools through the years may you be retired for at least as long as you have worked but hopefully longer so that's at least 30 some odd years so get started thank you [Applause] so i would like to call up miss kalia kelly our principal of center avenue school who is going to introduce two of her students who engaged in a very very unique and very effortful community service project that was recognized i believe at our village at village hall and our board of education was so impressed by it we thought we should also recognize the efforts of these students so mrs kelly good evening today i'm so proud to announce
017two center avenue students who truly exude american citizenship and dedication to our school and east rockaway community freddie and christopher devine are committed to volunteering their time to honor our american heroes and veterans where i hold a very special to my own heart thank you because of their dedication to our community we would like to share with you the amazing work that they have done and they are the ones that are going to share this with you freddie christopher can you please come up [Applause] when a society gets forgets its history it loses its culture when a society loses its history it loses its culture our family has been a part of east rockaway's memorial day tradition since our aunt first marched with st raymond school almost half a century ago our dad has been
018a part of this division for years as a child with cub scouts boy scouts cyo baseball and saint raymond more recently we have launched as he marched as a member of liberty host company number two while some years reign has put a damper on festivities we have always been taught to remember do you remember a memorial day those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country like many of our grandfathers friends and fellow soldiers did in vietnam this year when we heard there would be no parade we were saddened but not deterred this year was a special anniversary it was the 100th year since our country made an extraordinary effort to the request of families to repatriate the remains of forty thousand servicemen who made the ultimate sacrifice in world war one one of
019those men was l vincent higgins in fact he was the first casualty of the great war for me strongly killed in action he died on the front lines on august 22nd 1918 while manning his postering and enemy artillery barrage he was buried in france and his death according to reports from the time shook this little village in may of 1921 his body along with 5160 others was brought home aboard the usat wheaton after service from american legion and a mass at st raymond's return the catholic cemetery in lawrence a hundred years later in his honor and as a part of homecoming 21 we visited his grave on memorial day we left this stone and posted an american flag we each took a small bag of soil from his gravesite and then an american flag held
020high rocked the five miles back to memorial park we walked from lawrence through cedarhurst woodward hewlett in the harbor to extract light along the way we kept count 74 people acknowledged our efforts with honks waves words of encouragement and salutes when we got back to memorial park we placed the soil collected in the memorial bearing his name just as america made an effort to return him to us 100 years ago we like to think we brought a little of him back to east rockaway actually the last bits of soil we collected were given to someone who now lives on martin street the black vinson and his parents john and jenny called home a person dies twice in their lifetime once when they shed their mortal coil and pass from this earth but again the last
021time their name is spoken now l vincent higgins and the memory of his sacrifice lives on with you thank you i just i just like to ask these young gentlemen what what gave you the idea to initiate this project that's amazing that's really really amazing that was an unfair question you're amazing and we're so grateful for our young minds to be honoring our veterans and our american heroes because that is just such a place that we should be continuing to honor so thank you for that because it's absolutely one two three again one two three [Music] one two i just like to add another note um our own mrs kelly's husband i'm sorry john kelly is a social worker at northwell health who works in a special unit that supports veterans and right around memorial
022day weekend i had the pleasure of watching it um it was so impressive he was featured as part of the northwell health side by side supporting veterans um special there were a lot of celebrities singing but the best part was to see mr kelly interacting with the veterans that he's helped and so this really does i know have a very special place in mrs kelly's heart because he yes he's a veteran himself and has chosen to continue to support veterans like himself upon returning so thank you to your husband for his service as well [Applause] okay and moving right along we're nearing the end of our presentations i think we're making great time i'd like to turn the podium over to mr david barth who will recognize our student athletes [Music] wow what a great
023night of celebration congratulations to all of our honorees thus far good evening everybody i'd like to start by thanking the board of education and superintendent ruiz for giving me the opportunity tonight to honor some of our best and brightest student athletes from this year as a school and community we have a lot to be proud of on and off the field of play in the classroom and in the community tonight i'm here to honor our individual student athletes who are able to achieve excellence in both the classroom and on the field or court from our fall and winter seasons the athletes that we were that we are about to honor represent both the best in both areas each of these athletes were selected by their respective coaches associations as a section 8 award winners for
024the on the field or court performances on top of this honor each one of these athletes achieved the distinction of a individual new york state scholar athlete holding a minimum of a 90 gpa during the season achieving one of these honors is an accomplishment all to itself however receiving both truly represents the excellence that we as an athletic department and the district aim to achieve unfortunately due to the late end of our spring season we will not be able to honor those spring athletes tonight but however we'll make sure that they receive their recognition and certificate athletes when you are called up i asked you to come up receive your certificate from dr krauss and if you can sit towards the front we can uh when everyone's up we will take a group picture so
025first up is robert staubens robert is a sophomore and first year varsity player on the soccer team he held over a 90 gpa during the season and was selected by the coaches association as an all-conference player according to his soccer coach coach anderson robert is the epitome of a team player he is tenacious on the field robert is dedicated to helping his teammates become better players and he cultivates an atmosphere of trust and dedication robert is a player that a coach can count on and any coach would be fortunate to have on their team congratulations robert next up is justin mcguire justin is a senior and two-year varsity football player he held over 90 gpa during the football season and was selected by the coaches association as an all-county honorable mention player according to coach
026pager justin is a quiet leader he lets his work on the field do the talking a success on the field and in the classroom justin is respected by his coaches teachers and peers he was one of the main reasons our team was successful this year and a pleasure to coach congratulations justin next up adriana palizzi adriana is a senior and two-year varsity player she held over 90 gpa during the volleyball season and was selected by the coaches association as an all-county honorable mention player according to coach britto this is the second year in a row that adriana is being recognized for her athletic and academic performance which is a testament to her success as a setter she leads the volleyball team with her decision making and really controls the pace and tempo of the game
027based on these decisions she uses her competitive nature to better herself and her teammates both on the court and in the classroom and was a crucial part of our success over these past seasons congratulations adriana [Applause] next up is megan mcmahon megan is a senior and two-year varsity player she held over a 90 gpa during the volleyball season and was selected by the coaches association as an all-county honorable mention player according to coach britto megan is a quiet leader leader who also who shows up to do her job does it well then moves on to the next thing to excel in she has worked very hard over the past years to develop her game by focusing on what she was being taught and practicing these skills repeatedly which made her an important and reliable piece
028of our championship team congratulations megan next up is aiden greene aiden is a junior and first year varsity player he held over 90 gpa during the basketball season and was selected by the coaches association as an all-league player according to his basketball coach coach collins aiden is a true competitor who always wants to get the best out of himself aidan's addition to the program has only made it get better at practice in each game very good player and a great sportsman too congratulations aiden [Applause] next up is matthew makovic matthew is a senior and two-year varsity player he held over a 90 gpa during the basketball season was selected by the coaches association as an all-league player according to coach collins matt is a player that has grown each year he puts in a lot
029of hard work to maximize his ability that never shies away from a challenge and always rises to meet them congratulations matt next up is emma poland emma is a freshman and first year varsity player she held over 90 gpa during the basketball season was selected by the coaches association as an all-conference player according to coach poland emma's a wonderful young girl who is new to lady rocks she brought athleticism and the competitive spirit to the team she strives for success in the classroom is committed to being her best in everything she does emma has a bright future ahead congratulations emma [Applause] next is haley velasquez haley is a freshman and first-year varsity athlete for the cross-country team she held over a 90 gpa during the cross-country season and was selected by the coaches association as
030an all-conference player according to coach ken anderson haley is an outstanding scholar athlete who is already an elite runner she was a member of the varsity cross country team and the varsity track and field team for the first time this year haley was the only freshman girl on the team she earned all-conference for a cross-country and just competed in the county championship meet for track last week she is an exemplary student on and off the track and the role model to other student athletes congratulations hallie next up is franklin and fonte franklin is a senior and earned the award of excellence in both the fall and winter season he's a two-year varsity football player and three-year varsity basketball player he all held over a 90 gpa during both seasons and was selected by the respective
031coaches associations as an all-county football player and all-league basketball player according to coach pager franklin is everything you want from a student athlete dedicated hard working caring and respectful on the field he's a fierce competitor always giving 110 percent more importantly in the school community he is a role model to his peers coach colin collins goes on to say franklin has a love for competition that has grown exponentially over the last four years while franklin has achieved many personal goals over the last few years he's always been about the program first he is always trying to help those players younger than him to grow their games and develop their love for basketball that he already has congratulations franklin so our next three athletes i appreciate their attendance here tonight russian over here from uh the
032class bc uh championship softball game where's tremendous effort tonight fun to watch so thank you three for being here next up is riley o'hagan riley is a junior and earned the award of excellence in both the fall and winter season she's a two-year varsity volleyball player and three-year varsity basketball player she held over a 90 gpa during both seasons and was selected by the respective coaches associations as an all-county basketball player and an all-tournament team volleyball player according to coach pollin riley is our go-to she is a born leader and she makes everyone around her better riley has worked throughout the pandemic to better herself in the game of basketball she is focused in the classroom strives for excellence in everything she does riley's commitment to her education is amazing coach britto goes on to
033add riley thrives on competition so it was no surprise that she has pushed herself to be successful both in the classroom and on the volleyball court every time she steps in the game she's ready to work to better her both herself and her teammates a trait that is every coaches and teachers dream congratulations riley [Applause] next up is katie howard katie is a junior and earned the award of excellence in both the fall and winter season she's a two-year varsity volleyball player and two-year varsity basketball player she held over 90 gpa during both seasons and was selected by the respective coaches associations as an all-county honorable mentioned basketball player and an all-county volleyball player according to coach polin katie is a fierce competitor she has improved her game tremendously over the years katie has become
034the top defender with her tenacious athleticism she is a coach's dream because she will compete and take on any test that is needed by the team katie is a true athlete and is involved in many extra curriculars her dedication to her school community and her desire to be successful in all areas should be commended coach britto goes on to say aside from her overall athleticism katie's best asset on the volleyball court is her intelligence and vision she reads the other team and is able to capitalize on smart decision making which which makes her more successful than most she is dependable and consistent so that any coach or teacher can rely on her as a leader congratulations katie next up is teresa lynch teresa is a junior and earned the award of excellence in both the
035fall and winter season she's a three-year varsity volleyball player and two-year varsity basketball player she held over a 90 gpa during both seasons and was selected by the respective coaches associations as an all-conference basketball player and an all-conference volleyball player according to coach pollin theresa is an amazing young girl she is hard working in all that she does on and off the court teresa is extremely involved in the school community teresa's dedication to her academics and sport should be honored she is a quiet leader leader who is an integral part to the team's success coach britto goes on to say what separates teresa from most other players is her well-roundedness as a student-athlete she's involved in almost every aspect of the school from academics to athletics to music and beyond it is this involvement that
036makes teresa such a pleasure to have around she is dedicated and loyal and is able to juggle her responsibilities seamlessly she has always she always has a smile on her face and is always up for a challenge whether it is a new skill in the game or a new concept to learn congratulations teresa [Applause] thank you once again for giving the opportunity to honor our student athletes it is a tremendous accomplishment to receive one of these honors but to receive both in the same season uh is truly incredible so one more round of applause for our student athletes and yep and we ask the student athletes to come on up to right again maybe you could have some of these young ladies in the front if you're a little shorter sorry yeah ready one two
037three thank you so much mr barth and congratulations to all of our students thank you mrs hecht or mrs fria would you like would you mind assisting us with our flower distribution so hagen has the plan she knows what to do well we just need to close this yeah okay so now we come to our thank you so much for everyone for your patience for being here we know that this was a long uh board meeting but um june is an important month and we should be just so proud to be able to have so many recognitions um after such a difficult school year so um now it's time to to honor another group of unsung heroes and that is our pta executive board so as has been the tradition over the last number of
038years in east rockaway we have um conducted a flower installation ceremony in order to install and honor our new slate of officers for each of our ptas at center avenue rheme avenue and the east rockaway high school pta they will be installed using a theme of flowers flowers in addition to being fragrant and beautiful are often given given special messages and meanings the flowers you will see today both human and botanical were selected because they are the best suited to their jobs in our pta will the newly elected officers of the center avenue rheme avenue and east rockaway high school pta please come forward and if you want to just line up in the um aisles that would be great [Music] and um in order to be a little distanced and best for photographs i
039would ask that the center avenue and so we can do one large picture but we can also do each building picture separately which would get we would get to see your lovely faces a little bit better in our photos so first off joanne harvey and gina master giacomo first vp for cultural arts they're receiving a yellow carnation the meaning of the yellow carnation is the state of being intensely interested which means that you are going to be working hard in keeping our students interested in school with many programs next melissa verteri and alicia farrell second vp for fundraising ways and means and nicole nestro third vp weighs in means they will be receiving [Applause] a tiger lily or white lily whatever we were able to get the meaning of the lily is wealth you will
040be working on raising money for our pta and we know how important that is next elizabeth d stefano nicole lynch linda carman vp for membership membership chair they will be receiving a sunflower the meaning of a sunflower is pride as membership chairperson you're going to show everyone their pride by getting everyone i'm putting in the plug everyone to join our ptas next year and i know that's a lot of hard work next linds lindsey joyce stephanie nostromo samantha yagnesis recording secretary they will receive a yellow rose the message in the yellow rose is welcome back as recording secretary you will always be there to welcome us back and let us know of what happened in the past meetings with your minutes okay uh next we have lindsey joyce jean-marie margolis samantha yagnosis as corresponding secretary
041oh my goodness we have people doubling up um the meaning they will be receiving a daisy the meaning of a daisy is i share your sentiment as a corresponding secretary you will be making sure we know when meetings are and sharing the sentiments of others next dana cowan susie travia and wendy serchia treasurers they will be receiving stock with green leaves i guess we got cowardly's this year these green leaves are symbolic of the treasury you will supervise be sure the money is used wisely and for pta purposes uh karen spiegel special education liaison you'll be receiving a gladiola or a snack snapdragon as we were able to get a gladiola is the chinese symbol for many children gladiolas are perfect for you because you take care of our many children and snapdragons mean the
042same kathleen mccutie junior high school representative and second vice president a chrysanthemum the meaning of this flower is cheerfulness and optimism may you remain happy and positive in your new endeavor next jen hickam regina buckman amber tobia victoria gallagher and amy kelly presidents and co-presidents you will be receiving a mixed bouquet in this bouquet is in this bouquet is each of the flowers that i have given to the other officers as co-presidents said of center avenue rheem avenue east rockaway high school ptas will enjoy the beauty of working with this lovely board and we'll need a little bit of each of these characteristics to pull off a great year there is a chinese proverb that says all the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today strong healthy well-educated children carry forward our heritage
043we present all of these flowers as a symbol of faithfulness loyalty and harmony your clear judgment and sincerity will enable the center avenue rheem avenue and east rockaway high school ptas to grow spread and sew itself anew will each of you separately and in united voice work toward the fulfillment of our pta objectives in the service of children and youth and you may say i will will well i i present i'm sorry i present to you next year's officers of the center avenue raim avenue and east rockaway high school ptas [Applause] to the new officers there is a definite challenge that confronts each of you do you accept sticky pages do you accept the challenge and the responsibility it involves yes will you be loyal to each other tolerant of opinions and suggestions and set
044an example of dignity and self-control in the performance of your duties i now declare you duly installed officers of the center avenue raym avenue and east rockaway high school ptas may you find great joy in helping to make this a better world for children and youth especially here in east rockaway congratulations stay where you are and last but not least to our retiring officers kim elliott danielle palumbo and tara elias i would like to present to you this bouquet of flowers to thank you for all of your hard work and dedication in your very important roles we appreciate all you have done and we will miss your dedication it has been truly a pleasure to work with all of you thank you so much for all you have done and for your support throughout coving
045thank you come on up yes we're not letting you off we're not letting you and i apologize we have one more edition maureen brower can you please come up and join us and your bouquet will arrive tomorrow as you are retiring from the executive board and i know you have given many many many years of dedicated service and it's been such a pleasure to work with you wow needs an extra large one thank you very much and i'm sorry about that okay so um maybe can we take three pictures okay [Music] sure richardson uh okay one two three one more one three now we're gonna do uh high school sorry one two three yes [Music] oh all right thank me [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and we ever and that finally concludes our presentations and we will
046continue on with our meetings yep first okay what what a lovely lovely lovely time tonight thank you everybody all right for everything that we saw tonight and heard um exceptional moving along with the agenda public comments on agenda items is agenda item number three we do have one i'd like to call mr keith gamache up to the podium thank you mr bulpas um i was keith gamache 231 ocean avenue i was watching the work session um this past week and was excited to hear that a lot of the bond projects are coming in under the budgeted amount and you start to talk about potentially coming back and asking um for additional money not beyond but like with that savings to do some additional heating and ventilation work i just wanted to make sure that the
047two contingency projects that were approved as a part of that are funded before there's any talk of that there and that was the the floor of the multi-purpose room at center avenue as well as the nurses office here in the junior senior high school okay thank you uh we we have not really begun discussions at this at the board at one of our work sessions we did start looking at the overages and possibilities that what could happen with those overages and uh mrs creo i don't know if you wanted just comment on any of the items that we did talk about but we certainly did not cover all the items yes sure um we are at this moment um significantly under budget approximately 2 million dollars which is really very exciting we have a very
048large project the heating and ventilation here in the high school as well as the renovations in the technology building are out to bid currently and we expect to open that on july 1st so we're hoping that this will continue so the discussion last week was that we are significantly under budget and our hope or our discussion was perhaps we might want to consider expanding the scope of the work to include the balance of the ventilation in both the elementary buildings therefore all three buildings would have all new ventilation district wide we thought under the conditions of the pandemic this might be the time to start to think about it again it depends on what our bid comes in we certainly are not looking to incur any additional cost to the taxpayer our goal would be
049to maintain what was approved by the voters but if we could do that while staying within the proposed budget we may consider again it's only just the beginning of the discussions we may consider asking the voters to allow us to expand the scope as long as we stay within the amount that it was originally proposed and that would also include the two contingency projects as far as which order in which we complete them that's all still yet to be determined the discussion did just start last week um and it was just something i wanted to bring to the board's attention into the community because we are in fact under budget and we are in the middle of we just we're still in the middle of a pandemic and ventilation is something that the community has
050expressed the concerns put about the two contingency projects have already been approved by the voters as a part of the first condo so those will be taken care of before anything else right well the the order in which if we expand it the order in which we determine um whether we're going to do the two contingencies or the expanded expansion of the ventilation would be a decision by the board of education but again let's wait until we get the next vote the the bid opened and let's see where we stand before we are nowhere near that decision at the moment you know one of the most important things as i think you just saw it tonight is continuity so when you have a community that keeps continuity it's very important mr gamache is on the
051board of education when we laid these out his comments tonight brings continuity that the board should be remembered and we do remember that and we have talked about those so i thank you for your comments tonight because that's one of the biggest things that we pride ourselves on is that continuity is very important in the community okay so we will be addressing that as we move forward alrighty thank you everybody for that next one approval of minutes may 25th 2021 regular meeting of the board of education have a motion to approve so move by ms o'hagan second second by mr d matteo and we're all in favor aye tonight we're a little light on the board we did know that two of our members had previous engagements and they did tell us that okay so
052we're going to move this and we're also going to move the agenda a little differently tonight just so you know okay it's called the consent agenda and we'll what will be we group the our items everybody out there does know what's on the agenda if you didn't get your copy there are extra copies okay here all right and we'll move that agenda because we had such a meeting in the beginning a free meeting okay acknowledgement of monthly reports and correspondence to receipt of financial reports april 2021 which all the board did receive uh were there any comments on any members okay and correspondence we did have some cars of one item and i apologize to mr gamache because he did say that he uh wrote to the board of ed and when i went through
053it i did not find that email but i certainly will research it again okay when we get home we unfortunately don't have access to tonight and cut out on us okay but i will check out and why we didn't get that this one did come from now michael hacker and this came from hofstra university and since it was part of tonight's um retirement celebration i did want to read it to everybody because i thought it was significant for somebody of the esteemed hofstra university to write this about mr cimarrelli for many years in fact over decades our center of stem research has benefited from the expertise and professionalism that your colleague mr nick cimarrelli has provided as we have together implemented numerous national science foundations funded projects in support of stem education at the secondary
054school level i have had this distinct pleasure of working closely with mr simarelli on nsf projects that broke new educational ground in offering students new opportunities in areas such as community game design exploring how global and community-based food and water problems can be addressed by secondary and school students and by implementing numerous hands-on projects as contacts to teach stem concepts in a way that relates to these concepts to the real world the east rockaway program which i have visited several times is a model that is state-of-the-art technology education program should be it includes new technologies 3d printers laser engravers and contemporary programs such as introduction to engineering the focus of the program has always been to engage all students not just those who are college bound in activities that will encourage them to continue their
055study in fields that were both personally and professionally rewarding technology education is unique in that it is integrating discipline one that is appropriate mathematics science language and art are brought to bear on design problems that have real meaning for students and are completing these problems students are left not only with the sense of personal accomplishment but with the feeling that they are capable of making a difference in the world as mr simareli approaches retirement i encourage that the east rockaway school district to build upon the legacy to continue to support contemporary technology education and to help fulfill its promise and engaging hands-on design and build educational programs that will continue to inspire another generation of learners with sincere thanks to you for your service you are offering on t2 teaching and learning at each rockaway
056tremendous uh efforts on that letter of acknowledging mr cimarrelli and just so you know the board has been you know looking and the superintendent i should say has been interviewing candidates for this position it's a tough one to fill because when you build a legacy like that mr cimarrelli did not come into east rock with all those skills as was said in here what he did is he took the time to cultivate those skills and then in cultivating cultivate that into this community of learners here that students really pride themselves in an educational foundation with the technology program and with this board of education will make all efforts to replace that okay even though nick you could be a tough guy to replace that's for sure you may want to come back maybe next year
057if we don't get somebody out there that's right at any time the offer is there but if we can't get that going you know we might be tapping on that door over there all right south shore you never know but thank you again for all you've done and i think it deserves a round of applause a letter like that [Applause] okay recommendations uh recommendations of the student superintendent of schools okay tonight uh we'll be recommending that the board approve the request of sarah perrone for a leave of absence effective august 31st through june 30th 2022 recommending the board approve the request of christina renee for an fmla leave of abscess absence effective august 31st through november 19 also recommending that the board approve a change in the appointment of francine hernandez to the position of
058senior typist clerk in accordance with the district's request for promotional examination recommending that the board approve the appointment of linda riccardi to the position of summer bus monitor effective july 6th through august 13 2021 also recommending that the board approve the following temporary assignments and that is christopher mormondo substitute cleaner kristin smith athletic supervisor and wesley mailman athletics supervisor any questions by the members of the board you have a motion to approve agenda item number six a through so moved by mr d matteo second second by miss o'hagan all in favor aye any opposed and we know there's no abstains thank you very much okay now moving on to our consent agenda we're going to cover items number seven a through e right now board members if you have any questions on agenda item 7
059a through e please let us know now i have a motion to approve agenda items number seven a through e so moved so move my miss o'hagan second second by mr d matteo all in favor aye opposed staying so moved looking at agenda items number seven f through j are there any questions on agenda items number seven f through j you have a motion to approve agenda items number seven f through j so moved so moved by mr d matteo second second by ms o'hagan all in favor any opposed any abstain so moved agenda items number seven k through o you have a motion to approve agenda items number seven k through o somewhat so move by ms o'hagan second second bye mr d matteo all in favor aye aye aye any opposed any of
060saying so move agenda items number seven p through t correct yes okay are there any questions you have a motion to approve agenda items number seven p through t so so moved by mr d mateo second second all in favor any opposed and the abstain gender item number eight approval of the cse and cpse recommendations that were sent home do we have any questions on that okay no questions so we have a motion to approve agendum item number eight so moved by mrs o'hagan second second mr d matteo all in favor aye any opposed any abstain so move budget transfers 9a we had three four budget transfers were there any questions i have a motion to approve agenda item number nine a one through four so so move by mr d matteo second second my
061miss o'hagan all in favor aye any opposed any abstain so moved policy matters i'll turn this over to mrs o'hagan okay so i met with superintendent ruiz on thursday june 3rd to discuss policy 0105 equity inclusivity and diversity in education we will bring the policy and regulations to the entire board in july for further discussion of the draft there are two policies up for adoption this evening policy number one is 8131 pandemic planning this policy was initially developed to address pandemic planning for schools districts this is a new local policy that has been updated to address education laws that require the inclusion of specific pandemic preparedness protocols referenced in section 27c of the labor law in the district-wide school safety plans this policy speaks to a new component of the school safety plan that was
062presented at the board of ed meeting in march second policy up is zero one zero zero non-discrimination and equal opportunity this is a required policy that has been updated to reflect various amendments to state executive law education law and civil rights law regarding protection against discrimination on the basis of traits associated with race such as hair texture and styles religious practices and gender identity we will continue to review the following policies zero one zero five equity inclusivity and diversity in education 9150 non-fraternization new 6705 federal funds purchasing 8130 school safety plans and teams 5151 homeless children 1900 parents and family engagement five student harassment and bullying prevention and intervention five three zero zero code of conduct 6240 investments and 6 700 purchasing the date for our next meeting is to be determined okay i have
063a motion to approve agendum item number 10 b 1 and 2. so move by miss o'hagan second second by mr d matteo all in favor any opposed any abstain so moved okay turning over to agenda 11 report superintendents report thank you mr volpis i'm going to post my uh report on the website in the interest of time there are so many exciting end of year activities as well as more recognitions for our students so please read it but in the interest of a very long meeting but there are just a couple of items i'd like to note um we would like to thank the lindbergh school district for a few things actually tonight they're very good neighbors and um because of the construction of our field and the inability to hold our graduate high school
064graduation in the auditorium here due to covert restrictions uh the limb brook school district has been kind enough to share offer us their um marion street school athletic field and so we will be able to have one graduation which was really important for our seniors i know mr schaefer had pulled parents and students and i think that was one of the strongest uh voices that we heard was that the kids wanted to graduate altogether rather than in two graduations and so now we are able to do that at marion street school we did have to change the date to saturday uh june 26th instead of friday which is when their graduation is we wouldn't have expected them to give up their own graduation for us but um so with a rain date of sunday so
065we're hoping for good weather i'm very appreciative we've also approved an agreement to use the linbrook schools as an alternate evacuation site should we need to evacuate our buildings for an emergency so we're very appreciative of the partnership and uh the the neighborliness that they are showing us and i just wanted to acknowledge that today we um held our universal pre-kindergarten lottery we had 43 families apply for 30 spots um i felt it was it was a little nerve-wracking to do it we actually had cards folded in a basket thank you to mrs moran for her help and mary velino who i called vanna white as we opened up um the names and listed them in the order that they were called we were able to accept 30 students the grant covers 26 students but
066thank you to the board of education for making this a priority and to mrs creo for finding some additional funding so that we could uh maximize the classes at on the district's dime really to add the add six um i'm sorry four additional spots from the 26 that the federal grant covers to 15 in each so we will have one class at center and one class at raim families may not get their own home school but we pretty much had a pretty even split but we don't know yet uh of those 30 families that were selected out of the 43. the 13 families who did not make the cut will remain on a waiting list and if anyone moves or chooses to not accept their spot we will then go down to the waiting list
067and offer it to those uh families who were picked so we were required to keep an actual list of how those names were sorted so i know we will be notifying parents uh probably tomorrow if they weren't we did live stream it as well as i had it here in person in the auditorium we did have some trouble with the audio but the names were posted on the screen live so everyone could see who was selected for the upk classes and finally i'd just like to wish mrs hecht good luck in her new position she'll be leaving the district as of june 30th to take a position in cold spring harbor and i want to thank her for all of her work for being a partner and a supporter of everything that we've done in
068the district for the last 10 10 years so thank you for your dedication and i wish you all the best and everything else will be on the website thank you superintendent ruiz good welfare congratulations to jim malesio and family on the arrival of her daughter jade elizabeth on may 25th 2021 and condolences on dawn o'shea and the family on the passing of her father mortimer o'shea public comments i do have a public comment uh from a student natalia wilkerson natalia please come up okay um so because of covid um hybrid learning has just been very difficult and although i know a lot of students haven't been very positive about it and so my teacher my ear science teacher mr kimball he makes it very easy to learn in class and he just makes the all
069the lessons so fun and everyone has an amazing bond with him that is honestly like no other like i don't have a very strong bond like that with a lot of other teachers and he um what's it called he he just makes the class like you walk into class and you just feel all his good vibes and he's just always smiling and he's a very genuine person and um i feel like we really do need a lot more teachers like that because if we don't then like i don't know how we really expect to learn very well like i feel like the enviro the environment of the classroom has a lot to do with how we learn and i think he just sets a very good environment for the classroom and i also made a
070petition for him on change.org that already has signatures for him to stay and even if if even if um he may not be able to stay i just still think we should have a lot more teachers similar to him because i think it's important for a lot of the kids to get taught the way he teaches so thank you natalia thank you very much and for having number one yes let's let's applaud her you know as we all know it's not easy to get up in front of a an auditorium of adults all right and really speak your mind and your heart and you did a great job speaking your heart natalia and just so you know executive sessions is where we discuss personnel issues as a board of education okay so thanks for expressing
071that we will have discussions as we always do an executive session on that thank you 28 ocean avenue east rockaway so i just wrote something down um so black men make up two percent of the country's teaching force but their presence in the classroom improves outcomes outcomes for students black male teachers can provide hope inspiration advice and compassionate listening especially for kids of color representation matters it's important for children to see black males in their lives especially on a daily basis who are in respectable positions of authority even if they don't become a teacher it gives them something to strive for this is what i thought of when i saw her petition i'm not a teacher so i don't know about the ola system because i watched your meet the candidates but i hope we
072can think about creating a diversity equity and inclusion committee um so that we can have transparency and accountability for the future we thank you for that and thank you for coming up that's very important and a superintendent like to say something so we generally do not discuss personnel issues in um in in public but um you know what what has happened is that the staffing needs at the high school have changed in the science department and so we will be hiring a science chair and that really kind of changes the needs for the different teachers in the different subjects um so in science teachers are certified in specific areas so they're certified whereas math teachers can teach any level of math except middle school they need a middle school extension i think and then uh
073spanish teachers teach spanish at any level but science teachers teach chemistry or earth science or a living environment they have a special certification and so because the um programming has has changed somewhat um and the needs of the department have changed and that's that really is the reason so it's it's nothing poor that reflects on mr kimball um and and we were really happy to have him and we hope that he can stay on and sub and and possibly in the future be another opportunity and thank you thank you for your words um and we appreciate to know that um how you're learning and what works for for you as a student and so thank you very much for sharing that that you guys go through next time maybe look at other aspects um the
074certification has to be like you said man spanish anything like that um something that the students can relate to you know it's up i went to the school it was tough for me um thank you so much for expressing that uh to the board because it's important that we hear that okay and and moving forward as we have and taking our time as you saw on the agenda the policy agendas we've been working a long time with our equity issues okay as every district has been and right now with that happening you know we are in a very positive way supporting what you're saying there's no question about it okay it's not only about credentials it's about what a teacher brings to the stage every day how they could touch your life and the way
075they touch a life is the most important part and we know that one of the things that we pride ourselves on east rockaway is that we're able to do that because of our district being small and because we get to know the individual students and the administrators get to know the students as well as teachers here so it is there there and we thank you for expressing that tonight thank you in the district we do also have a policy for hiring that does really encourage us to hire diverse candidates and the equity and diversity inclusivity policy reiterates that as well um it has it is a challenge um and and we are looking at uh changing um which platform we're using for advertising because it seems olas we are not getting diverse candidates um applying
076for positions and most districts do use olas but there are some new uh platforms that are um coming about and um there's been a lot of talk in in the same issue because many districts are developing their policies and also trying and setting a goal to diversify their staffs in in all ways because our children really should experience life through windows and mirrors so mirrors we need to provide experiences and staff that they can see themselves reflected in the teachers who are teaching them as well as um you know their peers um and then uh windows because we want those children who are don't don't have diversity in their lives to be able to look out and see the world as it is and our world is definitely becoming very diverse long island is becoming
077very diverse and the board is committed and we will be forming um a committee as we move forward thank you we have one more uh i see mr gamache wants to come up one more time to podi so first i just want to congratulate you and thank you for starting the universal pre-k um i know that that was a goal of dr mars um a long time ago and the fact that you're able to accomplish that i think is just incredible um second miss hecht congratulations on your new position um thank you for all your service and work here and you will be missed and that leads me to my comment this evening and that is that over the last year we have lost a principal a technology director and now an assistant superintendent of
078curriculum um i'm just curious have you been conducting any exit interviews yes the exam fields are there all right each time the superintendent asks an employee if they would like to fill out the exit interview and that as you know i brought that into the board okay two years ago and that is still present on the board okay um and as you know mr gamache during your tenure on the board there's also many administrators and teachers who have left throughout the years and it's it's all about as we know getting that information the data collecting it and seeing if we have anything that we should really be looking at okay so thank you and in september of the board told the community that they would develop a policy on um exit interviews to do it
079in a systematic and organized and consistent fashion do you know if there's any progress on developing such a policy since that time with colvin hitting we have not had any progress whatsoever with that okay thank you you're welcome okay moving along now uh gender item number 14 board member comments uh i just wanted i could start this evening because i have one for mr kilgus who is not here and he asks if this be read good evening i unfortunately had to miss tonight's meeting due to a working engagement but i do not want to miss the opportunity to recognize the retirement of nick cimarrelli or as most of us know him as sim in our time attending high school all teachers made an impact in our lives however there's always one or two that are
080extra special sim is that special teacher for me in my time at erhs i took every single tech class offered when i was woodworking design draw computer design it didn't matter as long as sim was teaching it and is taking it senior day 2001 you guessed it i was sim 20 years later i'm thankful to be once again a part of this great district and have the opportunity to recognize the career of a teacher that had such a big part in the man i am today here's to you sim congratulations and best of luck on the next chapter of your life joe kilgus you're welcome [Applause] good sect i want to wish you the best of luck as you move forward with your career i cold spring harbor thanks for all you've given to east
081rockaway um pta members that are still here and those who are home right now there's not a greater night that i love to watch as the installation ceremony because to me it's grassroots america what pta is about and pta empowers parents um in in the district to make sure that their children are receiving the education that they want okay from the community and we we implore you to keep the torch going 20 how many years were you 22 22 years i i i need to stand unemployed you know it's just to think and i'm sorry if we embarrass you but please don't don't feel that way because you've earned every minute of it uh sacrificing that kind of time you know and away from your family and things and giving back to the community that
082that obviously you love so thank you for that and again uh ptas thank you for all you do for us and these rockaway schools and and as you know we had a fruitful meeting uh several about a month ago about reinvigorating the role of ptas you know and welcoming new parents into the community and letting them know the traditions of each rock way and how and how we do things so i thank you for taking those challenges along with that and my my last two to two uh retirees tonight who had uh my colleagues for many years worked side by side for them no two finer people that's all that puts it right out there thank you so much that's okay we're going to allow you if you want to because do you still want
083to say something why don't you come up now before yes before i we got your name and address we know where you live so okay first of all you know i appreciate all the kind words that um were said about me and my colleague donna smith i mean we came in together as young kids and we grew up here we really did and we grew up with um many people in this community and as evidenced by mr kilgus i'm teaching his son um you know it's just an amazing community and i was really happy to grow up here and be here um i've been told that i've been i'm irreplaceable and that's very kind of everybody to say but that doesn't mean i shouldn't be replaced um i really feel that the technology uh program
084was built up um over many years through my efforts and then mr howard's to bring us into the current state of where we need to be we know that there have been many schools that have come here to check out our program and we've gone to many schools to check out their program we try to bring the best here um the way this um it's hard to find kids it really is this pandemic caused a big backlog in the teacher preparation programs we know there are there are people out there they not they they might not be ready there are a lot of other districts that are looking for people and i think we got a little bit of a late start um i think that you know advertising um tech and art i know
085that's a backup plan but i really think that it really should go to a tech a classic technology trained teacher you guys came up with some great terms cimarrelli style technology at that meeting and again it may be cimarrelli style but i learned it from people like mr hacker who happened to be at the state ed department in charge of the technology and career and technical education department before he was you know the hofstra sem center uh person so i really implore the board do whatever you can to keep this program going there is a foundation that has been built and we don't need to knock down the house we need to just build upon that foundation whatever you have to do even if it's something that has to be you know a bridge to
086the person that is the right fit i i believe there are people that are going we've been in contact with people from oswego which is the big a big you know technology teacher preparation uh college there are people in the pipeline that probably will be ready in the middle of the year okay we can we can make contact with those people i feel like we kind of got a little bit of a late start with putting it out in may but um i think there's something that that's going to be there okay you guys said it at the meeting you know the tech teachers have you know brought this program up and and i think that it can still it still needs to be there okay i think the community um has a lot of
087people that would be benefit from that and uh thank you for everything else i appreciate it thank you i think mr howard has a couple little things to say if it's okay with you yeah but go ahead [Music] yeah no and i know and it's a problem so whatever the district does now doesn't mean that it's going to be set in stone and so in this um in september uh in the position in september and there's going to be some classes and there's a new certification that is going to be important that we will be required to have a computer science uh people who are certified to the clients as we go forward so it gave you something that evolves over time um just because there may not be a person there's no person to
088fill that spot [Music] i think we need to expand our reach possibly look at some of the programs um yes certainly but i just wanted to make sure um yeah again like you said you know you know my passion for for my subject area and obviously the good of this community which honestly i grew up in so thank you but we'll talk more tomorrow hi good evening um i just did the computer science uh certificate i i watched the video from the may 11th um board meeting and just uh my concern with the computer science certificate that was being discussed for a while at the meeting is computer science yes that certificate is going to be required in september of but as a teacher of computer science i would be grandfathered into that so and
089i would be grandfathered for 10 years down the road so that would bring me through the year 2032. so with that being said i don't think there has to be that much emphasis on finding an art candidate or technology candidate that would have to go run out and get that certificate within two years of the of the state mandate for computer science computer science uh the the program that the certificate is going to be for is specifically for teaching computer science and computer science covers five areas and they call it the five big ideas it covers algorithms and programming computer systems data and analysis impacts of computing networks and the internet that is the computer science course and that's what the certificate would be for computer science certificate doesn't cover teaching adobe photoshop for video
090editing gaming or all that those are you're just teaching the students a software in a class whether it's in the multimedia class or whatever class it may be you're using software for that's teaching the software that's not computer science so i i just i did want to discuss that because i was watching that go back and forth about the certificate and about gaming and the multimedia class where that certificate is not required to teach those that certificate is strictly for computer science class which i currently teach right now is an ap teacher of that class ap computer science principles and again i would be covered for 10 years starting in september of 2023 through september through september of 2032. so i'd be grandfathered so i don't think there has to be that much emphasis on
091will this what if we get a prospective candidate will this candidate be able to go out and and get this uh requirement from the state down the road i'm sure you know someone would be uh i know tech teachers are eager to do that myself as a tech teacher to this day i'm still eager to go out learn something new and bring it back to the community as mr simareli and myself have been doing together here in east rockwood for the last 17 years together uh we revamped what was industrial arts and we brought this robotics program uh architectural ddp all that we brought to east rockway and just lastly i just um you know about i know there's a gray area that we talk about like art can teach this class like ddp or
092architecture and in my mind and i think the feelings in the tech community is that i don't think that could be taught by anybody else but a tech teacher because there is so much that goes into it yes someone can teach someone how to draw blueprints and sit down and draw with a student but after that there's the engineering part that goes into it there's the there's the building that goes on behind it the tech program itself that goes behind drawing it's not just drawing it's it's building models it's using the machines it's understanding the engineering principles principles behind it and that is not learned in any other certificate but a technology certificate whether it's oswego buffalo state or brooklyn tech right now that's that's where all those technology traits are learned and that comes
093all from a technology teacher and that's that would really prepare student technologies whereas the greatest number of a lot of high schools are offering teachers coding these are our teachers and there are training programs that we can send whoever it is that we hire to to be prepared to teach those classes because they are important programming is important um you know the text that we were looking to work with to develop a tech specialist program we need to offer course secrets to kids and so you know that's where applications will allow us to grow across the course about a lot of the other careers that were out there and i think we have an obligation to expose students to as many opportunities as we possibly can um so i think we offer elective courses and
094course sequences in the computer scientists i think it's really important moving forward that we consider that we're not going to wait until 2023 um to hire somebody but we would hope that someone would be willing to become certified in that area or what might happen is that we might need to um access the person and then rehire somebody with that dual certification down the road and he will be more successful but we have to really do what we need for our students one of my sons is an architect of the other ones in ours and they both have many approaches unless somebody who's an artist has had many courses in um architectural design a new part of an art program in the school and that's actually the concentration of his work this uh specific architectural
095art and so um you know i think it's really about finding the right candidate not necessarily in this certification and i understand that possibly maybe deterred some people who can always do posts and set up two separate postings again there is a shortage of educational technology teachers out there um and we have to continue to evolve to make our school competitive and to meet the needs and interests of students as we prepare them to become essential so i we don't disagree whether or not there's going to be somebody that's viable and capable of coming into the role um and what we have to do then if you know um we can't hire people when they're following up because that's not their goal so um um yes i i've been in touch with oswego myself uh
096dr mark hardy he's in charge of the technology education and he emphasized that um up in oswego they you know a lot of the kids couldn't do their student teaching which the which delayed which delayed graduations for a lot of students and um he did send a letter out to potential people graduating in 2020 in december of 2021. uh one of them already contacted um dr hardy he forwarded my email addressed him and the student contacted me that he would be interested and then also he did emphasize too that oswego is having its largest graduation of tech teachers in many many years so the program is growing up there too the tech ed program for education okay all right thank you i'm not going to reiterate everything that you shared i'll keep it nice and
097short um tonight was very special with so many individuals being honored and recognized as the school year comes to a close i would like to congratulate all students on all they have accomplished in a most challenging year to the sixth graders graduating and moving on to middle school the eighth graders transitioning into the high school and the senior class of 2021. i wish you luck on the next step in your life journey continue to find your passions and pursue them follow your dreams and make every moment count have a wonderful and relaxing summer my turn your turn i just want to start off by saying congratulations to all of our award-winning students this evening it gave me great pride and admiration to to see all of the academic and athletic awards i mean that is
098outstanding to be one thing that's good but it's amazing to be great at multiple things so hats off to all of those children um i was also very impressed by the valedictorian and the salutatorian being so close that it was a fractured like a percentage very small percentage point so i'm making yeah right so amazing amazing job and i love to see some kind of a competition between the two of them it was so impressive i'm going to leave you with a quote uh so close to graduation so many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality you can fill or you could fail at what you don't want so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love thank you thank you everyone and have a motion to
099adjourn at 9 29 p.m so move by mr hagan second second bye mr d matteo all in favor aye thank you very much everybody for coming out