001All right. Hello everybody. Welcome. Um, please rise for the pledgece to the flag of the United States of America and to the republics, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> All right. Thank you. I just want to remind everybody that this is a workshop meeting which means public session. U when we get to it will be um for items related to um tonight's presentation um or or agenda items. Um and I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Ferris. >> Thank you very much and uh welcome everyone. Thank you for coming those in the audience and thank you for those watching at home. We are excited in this planning session to have a very special presentation from our very own Dr. Gusto and Mr. Decker of the middle school. I'm also
002glad to see some middle school people in the audience uh to help celebrate the great work of our schools. Before we begin, I just want to take a moment to thank the board of ed. Last month was board appreciation month and uh some students made some nice uh artifacts in the art classes for you guys and I just want to uh publicly say thank you. Uh our board members volunteered their time uh to come and to serve the district and we all appreciate it. So if we could just give him a round of applause. Thank you. [applause] >> Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Um you know three and a half years ago we started a journey where we did a 100 day study of the district and we surveyed parents, teachers, students and um
003we came up with disabled outcomes. The things that we want our students to be able to do when they graduate. In addition to understanding the content that they learn, we want them to be independent. We want them to be caring citizens. We want them to be able to communicate in writing and in verbal terms. We want them to be able to collaborate with others, be critical thinkers and joyful learners because we believe that these are the skills they will need to be successful and happy in their life long after they leave us. Um, as we did that, we asked the principles to kind of set out on their path to figure out how are they going to align with those goals and let the teachers in those schools design their own thing that they can
004kind of hang their head on that this is who we are and this is what we're about. So at the high school we have core. At Cherry Avenue we have back to basics. At Sunrise Drive we had core values. At Lincoln we had Lincoln learns. We all kind of came up with what was valuable to us. Why do we become teachers? Why do we become educators? And how are we going to make sure that we impart that on our students? Tonight we're going to hear about the middle school which came up with the path. Um and that is persistence, accountability, teamwork and honesty which was developed by the staff with the principal and uh the journey they've been on both the last three years to get to where they are today and also the goals
005they have moving forward to enhance the quality of instruction, the quality of experience and the quality of engagement on a continuing journey for the middle school. It's not because there's anything wrong, but because there's something so right about our schools and a great school is one that continues to grow and develop on a path. So, uh, without further ado, I'd like to introduce Dr. Castoro, Mr. Decker of the middle school. >> Thank you very much, uh, Dr. Ferris. Thank you to the board. It's great to be here tonight. Uh, would be remiss if I didn't say good evening also to, uh, my colleagues at the middle school. It'd be hard for me to put into words, uh, what it means that you're here tonight. So, thank you for for joining us. Um, and really to
006celebrate the work that collectively that we have done, uh, together over the past few years. And as I was, you know, Mr. Decker and I putting this presentation together, um, it kind of brought me back to some of the last few times that I spoke here uh, for the board. And I I it's funny when we did that, um, we titled it sort of laying the groundwork for the future, like what these are some things that we wanted to change. They were some were minor changes uh but they were going to open up a host of opportunities for our building u that could really uh just enhance and unleash the power and creativity of our teachers which uh really has made an impact on our students. So uh we started with a very simple change
007to our bell schedule. If some of you might remember we had a uh a bell schedule that was sort of like had this time vortex in it where you would jump from like fifth to 7th period. Uh lunch was about a half hour. um things. It was very very difficult to track uh but it was also very different difficult to make certain changes because you you were limited by that every grade level was operating on their own separate bell schedule within the building. >> Uh because of that we were able to institute in the sixth and the seventh grade a block which allowed uh for more in-depth uh instruction, collaborative group work, all of the things that we want to see in our classrooms. Uh it also allowed us to focus on middle school philosophy
008which is that academic teaming piece which is so very important and vital. It's you're you belong to Sable Middle School. You belong to a grade level but you also belong to this team which is that smaller family within the school. Uh and something that we've we've really seen grow over the past couple of years. Uh and we added recess. Um I think that's been an amazing addition to our building. I think three years ago it was very very difficult for us to con conceptualize what that was going to look like and what recess would look like. And I think we can all now agree we're always like we Brian and I get more often is like you know it kind of rained in the morning but can we still take them outside because we you
009know what the research show about the data show about uh when kids go out and play and what that means for their afternoon classes ex exactly what we saw in the middle school. Um so it was just an awesome uh awesome experience. So we laid that groundwork and as Dr. Farah said then we kind of set out on you know what are some things that we believe are important for students and that uh our staff kind of came together collectively and uh certainly persistence I think uh it's all that's woven within everything that you see here in Sable whether it be through strides um but that that idea of kind of pushing through uh failure and when you're not getting what you want the idea of being accountable whether it be heling held accountable for
010your actions or decisions but also your accountability to one one another, your accountability to your community, uh, working as a team. It's not like a soft skill anymore. It's something that's absolutely required is that kids know how to be part of a team. And honesty, that who you are when no one is watching is just as important as it is when they are. Um, and instilling those values in a time in particular with honesty in an in an era of AI, um, when things are at kids' fingertips. So, you know, how do we how do we instill those values? So, we've tried and I think we've made some great strides in bringing that path to life and just having it all over our building. Um, it's not just in words, it's woven into uh our
011curriculum. If you look at any curriculum that's been written over the past two years, there is a column about how uh path is related to the activities that or things that they are setting out and that they are doing. Uh, one of the uh a piece of curriculum that I'm super proud of and many of the people in this room helped write is our Frost Valley curriculum. So that we we looked at some of the activities that we were doing there and we said, "Well, how can we weave the path into those activities while they're away and while they're at Frost Valley, uh that's something that was really really amazing. It's woven into our classroom discussions. The the clothing that we wear, the good news postcards that we send, we don't send just good news
012postcards. We have path postcards. If a student is displaying persistence, they get a postard postcard. I got a uh a note from Miss Pacy the the other day. I think she sent home like 30 something or 40ome different uh good news postcards this year. Uh and and for different reasons that she she was sending them home to students. It's that's something that's absolutely amazing. Um giving out we don't give student of the month awards, they're path awards now. Uh the student that you know exhibited persistence or that show that they were honest uh or worked well on a team. Um so we're recognizing you know those traits and we're weaving them into the things that we do throughout our days in the middle school. And then kind of going into this year and when we
013sat down in the summer uh with uh as a leadership team uh Dr. Ferris asked all the buildings to come up with some goals and some things they wanted to accomplish and actually that just kind of sometimes like the stars align like we had kind of set that out like we knew some of the things we wanted to do uh when we got back to school this year. Uh we certainly wanted to continue that path and and that uh instruction that's focused focused on collaborative based project- based activities. Uh but we also wanted to go after some stuff in regards to our advisory program. Um it's been something that uh we felt was lacking uh but something that we felt like we could uh we could attack and go after because that gives those kids
014that sense of belonging in our school. And we want every kid to know uh that they belong, that we love them, that we care for them, and that they belong in our school. And you know, it leads you to that kind of basic question. It's like what and why does advisory matter? Why should we make that our building goal? Um, and that's it. It it does those basic four things are research-based reasons why you need to have a a well functioning and robust advisory program. Um, that overall school climate. Um, the self-esteem that uh it provides, it gives students an opportunity to talk about things about themselves in their lives in a very safe and welcoming environment. Um, it absolutely has a meaningful impact on outcomes, on student achievement. um and providing a sense of
015belonging and I think it really is summed up best by uh you know probably one of the quotes that just drives me and that is this is that significant learning does not occur without a significant relationship when we are connected with our kids when our kids are connected with us um that fosters an environment where kids can soar and they can learn uh in a in a tremendous way so knowing that last year on superintendent's conference day um we'll get to a little bit of what that looks like for us but I ran a workshop on superintendent's conference day and it was aimed at answering six questions about advisory. And what it really turned out for me was almost like a mini mini qualitative study where I took all of this information that all of
016the teachers were giving and I kind of came up with these three themes that emerged of things that are barriers right now to our current program or lack of program at the middle school. They were time, right? We feel like we might want to have some more time with these kids to do some things. Uh we want to make sure that every kid has a shared experience, right? so that if they're in my advisory, they're in Mr. Decker's advisory or Mr. Hutter's advisory that um that every kid is kind of sharing some experience. Not to take away the uniqueness of that relationship with the teacher, but we're kind of doing something similar. And then what resources can we draw to make that happen? So with that, um we formed a committee. Um we invited anyone
017on the middle school staff to be part of that committee. Uh many of those folks are here tonight. I just want to thank you to Miss Pacia, Miss Termato, Miss Lane is here, Mr. Hutter, but also Mr. Carropolley, Miss Rhymer, uh, Miss Vogle is here. Thank you for being here, Miss Vogle, and being part of this committee, Miss Van Fleet, and also Zach Gallow from the high school has come down and participated in our advisory committee to be part of it. Um, and that started right around December and it led right into uh, the New York State Middle School Conference is at uh, St. Joseph's University every year and while we were there we were there to support our colleagues who were presenting about some great work they were doing as a team. Uh but
018also we got an opportunity because it was a kind of a hot buzz topic at so we got to go to different workshops and learn about what other places were doing in regards to advisory um and take some of those ideas back uh to what we wanted to create. I know Mr. Decker wants to talk a little bit about. >> So in the past, [clears throat] excuse me, in the past, our advisory period was used to take attendance, hand out and collect schoolwide materials and a holding place for students before they go into first period. This year, our [clears throat] advisory committee has created an easy an easy guide for our teachers to follow to engage students in conversation, debate, and different topics such as if we were given an extra hour in a day,
019how would you spend it? Do you like Taco Bell or Chipotle? fried wanttons or steamed wanttons. I've seen advisories working together to expand these topics and conversations. Our teachers often digress off topic, but they still continue to engage with the students for the entire 10 minutes. We have the flexibility to extend the advisory for an extra 10 minutes if needed for more time. Last week during Red Ribbon Week, we all had our advisories write a message on a cup and created a sign outside on the fence with say no to drug messages. The teachers know that Dr. Castor and I visit at least two to three advisories a week, so it's automatic and is part of their daily routine. Getting into these advisories makes for a great start to the workday for us and it
020gets us involved in conversations with students and teachers and has also changed dynamic of advisory and allows staff and students to connect with each other on various topics in a safe space. I think uh like just this morning I had an opportunity I was in Miss Lutz's advisory the prompt today was uh would you rather be able to speak every language on earth or communicate with animals and it was actually some of the coolest conversation just listening uh to what and it's it's some of those questions but then the questions do uh take off and they do start to get a little bit deeper uh in the conversation. So what we did was we take we took those three barriers that we had to our advisory program um and that group that I just mentioned
021came up with uh the solution on how we would so we have our structure uh but once a month we're committed to doing an extended advisory activity to address that time factor where we can get closer and do something that you know is kind of meaningful. Um we have uh and we make sure everyone has equal access. So I you know a shout out to Mr. Cowder. He made sure for example we have two advisories in the gym. Um, we've got a Prometheian board now on wheels so they can wheel in if they uh need to watch or they need to pull up anything that's on there. Um, and they create a monthly calendar of the prompts that we give out sort of like a month ahead so that if there's anything that is going
022to come up that you know we can get out ahead of it and everybody knows what the question is. And then what you see is sort of in these images some of the outcomes of what we've decided to do. Um, that November there is kind of our monthly calendar. It's the daily prompts and the things that we'll be doing. That's the SMS that we made from the uh from the cups outside. Students wrote, you know, positive affirmations. Uh you can see on the bottom there the two those are uh three three images from the bottom. The the extended advisory in September was a huge hit. Uh we used Gemini to create like sort of an advisory logo. Um and it was it took a piece of every kid in the advisory. Um and you know
023they they indicated with the teacher what was what they wanted included, put it into the prompt and then it would spit out an image. And for me, it was kind of one of the more fun days because I would be in I could go into Mr. Hutter's advisory and I'd watch, you know, his his logo and crest come up and the kids would be like, "Oh, it's the coolest thing ever." And then we put them in a shared uh slideshow and then I'd go from like his advisory to Miss Pacia's and they would see his crest come up and then they would get all upset that theirs wasn't as cool and then they wanted to go back and do theirs again. It was it so it was a really really fun um and it's really
024fun even though that you we're giving these prompts. um like every teacher putting their spin on it. So like the the fireplace there, that's Miss Badberry. Um she it's um uh warm it up Wednesdays in in her advisory where they turn on the fireplace and they kind of set the mood uh for just an absolutely uh awesome awesome conversation. Um another new feature just to follow up and to give our you know students some agency this year uh we formed uh the principal advisory committee. So, this is a committee where I asked all of our academic teams to select two representatives uh that meet with me, Mr. Decker, uh the grade level counselor on a monthly basis to just get feedback on like what's going on. Do you like like our eighth graders, this is
025a whole new experience for them, right? Our sixth graders advisory right now, this is all they know and and what it's going to be and how are they seeing it and what are they liking. I want to share one of the the things that stuck out to me most on that conversation was how much one of the rules this year for advisory is that there's no Chromebooks. Um so that students have to kind of talk to one another. And I was really surprised to learn how much they like that. Um they like that they can't open up and take out their Chromebook. Um they like that they're learning about their friends and even it's if it's some of the more ridiculous questions. Um and then uh uh that that communication communication piece is so vital
026and so important and you know we're able to foster that. Um and I just had an awesome conversation out in the hallway with Anthony about maybe having him come down and meeting with that advisory council so he can bring some information from from that back to here and back to you all here at the board. Um which I think would be an opportunity for for him also. I mean he's such a role model but certainly to serve as a role model for our for our students. are looking forward to uh trying to figure that out with Miss Bricker. >> So, we have changed the format in which our staff meets to plan lessons, modify lessons, and collaborate with each other. This year, we have set up a designated team meeting with everyone who teaches on
027an academic team. The team meets for 40 minutes every other day. Teachers take turns recording the minutes of these meetings, which is shared in a running document. Our [clears throat] teams have taken it one step further and created multiple tabs in the document which include ideas on inter interdisciplinary projects, information from instructional support team meetings, helpful student information from the people personnel staff, 10th period schedules for students struggling academically and for our path awards. One of our teams even presented their ideas for the rest of the staff during our conference day earlier this week. Their session talked about how to run the meetings, how to organize the information, and how to effectively communicate with parents and family. These meetings have increased family contact times, allows for opportunities to share good news with parents about their
028children, helps organize different interventions used to help students get what they need both socially and academically. They also allow our families to be more involved in their child's learning process. These meetings allow staff to share ideas, create strong team environment, and make school more fun for everyone. It's been an absolutely awesome structure and for the first time we've given this time and devoted this time. I mean certainly we've had the academic teaming although uh the last two years of the LA as eighth grade has been teamed and that's been relatively new for our building. Uh but what you start seeing is when the teams have those time and have that time together they start doing things for that team. So we had the first ever one of the eighth grade teams they named themselves the
029Wolfpack. Um they had a movie night the other night. It was based on Halloween. They had pumpkin carving. They had uh popcorn. Um the Seahawks is the other uh eighth grade team they did. I was in uh their team activity the other day. They had it was almost like an inschool field trip. Um it was a STEM actually I would call it a steam activity because they had uh English uh an English component woven into a a bit of poetry into what they were doing. Um although we had to postpone it this year. Uh the beach cleanup that the seventh grade does every year is such an amazing activity. Uh last year the sixth grade uh put together a great bingo night. these team activities and these team time more importantly that they that they're
030devoting to being together um I think is paying dividends. I think what we're seeing is a lot like to to my point earlier about Miss Pacia sending postcards. I was looking at actually some of the minutes uh for one of the other teams. They had reached out at this point to 30 almost 40 parents have received some sort of good news phone call or good news message home. Um th those I I think are so important um for for parents to receive because on a regular basis our kids are amazing like on every single day and for a parent to get that message like man your kid is just crushing [snorts] social studies or math or whatever it is. I think that's something that's so important for uh for them to receive um a superintendent
031conference day again and now this speaks to us as learners. So like our kids are learning but so are we. Um for the past three years we've uh used the workshop model for for superintendent conference day. So every single staff member at the middle school um either taught facilitated or attended three separate workshops on a variety of different topics and they move throughout the day. Um it's I think it's a a great format that we've used. It's uh the feedback that I usually send out just for I sent out a Google form for some feedback and uh it has been great. Um, also we want to know what do people want to learn about? Is there a topic that wasn't there that we can provide in the future? Uh, so this year we had the
032most ever. We had seven different workshops um at this year's superintendent conference day which allowed for the first time some of our presenters to present maybe for one session and then attend two others. And that's that's something new because in the past we had very we had maybe three or four um and we'd need them to present for you know at least two maybe three of the sessions. Uh so this allowed them to be learners as well as facilitators. Uh last March on superintendent the March superintendent conference day we had uh Phil Dtori um he was uh someone a group of teachers had gone to a workshop he focuses primarily on group work and strategies for using it. Um we were able I worked with Miss Demiola to bring him in for the staff. Super
033wellreceived. He was an amazing PD. Um that that time together went by so fast because he was so so engaging. Um, and then at the end of uh the superintendent's conference day, um, I like to focus a little bit around us and our staff team building and having fun because I believe if we're going to believe something like uh for kids, we believe it for us, right? So I believe fundamentally that significant learning occurs when there is a significant relationship and I think that means between our staff and all of us together. It means me and Brian and our staff. Um I think that is something that is very very important to me and something that um you know this day allows that to happen. Um these are some of the workshops uh and some
034of the experts you can see up there. So uh deescalation Miss Lloyd Matthews uh she used her expertise in uh CPI and deescalation and um a lot of it is really just how to approach a situation and situational awareness. It was great. Um our advisory committee uh worked together and got input from the whole building. It was absolutely awesome. uh Miss Vogel and Miss Van Fleet uh did a great workshop on ENL one 101. It's kind of like uh some new ang English language learners when they come to us and some of the struggles they have and ways that we can connect with them. Uh Miss Savage and Miss Latangio Miss Savage is committed to this and I love this that she does this. She she conducts a workshop every year and it's focused primarily
035on staff wellness and making sure that like as the adults like everyone's taking care of themselves and I think that's such an important thing and I'm grateful for her for that for every year. Uh the team efficiency one is the one that Brian was talking about that was um actually great. It was really actually really exciting because uh Miss Miss Eubanks turned into like a hype person in the background because she was so excited by the things that were like being in there. She was awesome. Uh Miss Hawkch did a Gemini for how to differentiate how to take something you might be doing and level it make a tiered lesson um and how we can use AI because that's one of the things we want to do is utilize it to help us. Um and
036Mr. Deepman I think showcased like his just incredibly broad knowledge of u like music history. Um a lot of social studies staff uh attended the classical music and nationalism workshop and it was absolutely awesome. And then we wrapped that up uh with just some fun because again that significant learning takes place when we have a significant relationship. So these are some pictures from years past. Um, so, uh, you know, I would say that what probably one of the funnier moments of superintendence conference day for me, um, was as we're getting started, um, and I don't, she maybe she's watching, I don't know, but we'll, we can, you know, tell her tomorrow. Uh, Mrs. Lcalzo, as we're in the library, she said, um, I woke up at like 2 in the morning because I didn't know
037what to wear because I had no idea what you were going to make us do today. And uh you know because again it could this one was uh a little bit more uh of a physical challenge this year but we've got a couple of different experience. So we this year was I don't know if you've ever seen the box uh stacking challenge. Take seven Home Depot boxes and just put tape on them and just watch how long it takes to get seven on top of each other. Uh it's pretty pretty amazing. But for me, you know, aside next to watching our kids and and our students enjoy and being around one another. I love like when I'm in Frost Valley and just watching them be around one another. I would say another joy to me
038as a principal is watching these people around one another um and enjoying their time together. Um it is like it's something amazing uh to watch and to be part of and to see and to hear them um to laughing and just enjoying and having fun as they're doing that. Um you know and and clearly making a pro promise at the end that I would not show any video of it um after the fact. [laughter] I had to promise. So they're all like what's going to come next, Joe? like what's uh but you know there won't there won't be any video of it but it it was a great deal of fun. Um if I don't point out that Mr. Papalia is on there because he was a former champion um he's going to get all
039mad so I want to make sure [laughter] that I point out that he was uh he was one we had a a really great day one year in the commons where we did some just general trivia. It was it's just so much fun and just so much fun to watch them enjoying themselves and being together as a group and as a staff. It's something that uh that I find so rewarding. We also have our I think and probably the most important thing that's taking place in our school every day is what's happening in their classrooms every day. And we said we wanted to be committed to um to group work and working in smaller groups and working on collaborative type activities. And what I think is the most and one of the more impressive things
040about um the middle school staff is they say they're going to do something and they do it. I mean that's how we kind of operate. So when you look at you know sort of the pigraph you can see some of the data just from the start of the year that we've collected but roughly 65% of the time that you walk into a classroom now in the middle school kids are seated together in some form of group sometimes they might be receiving direct instruction but they are seated that's directly from the PD we receive Phil Dtori said that's exactly how you should do it if you're going to they but they can see one another and see the things that they're doing. Um, so these are numbers that I'm super proud of and I think the
041staff should really be really proud of because they um they said they wanted to do something and then they they went out and they did it. We had an amazing conversation today. Uh, Miss De Miola and and uh the English and the math department were in an I Ready training um and just had some really really productive and I think fruitful conversation about u what does that look like? What does small groups look like? What does the station activity look like? um you know as we're working through that and I think that's something that uh I'm looking forward to continuing to advance uh you know as the building moves forward [snorts] but that you know again here's just scenes from it happening so uh you you kind of walk around and you can see that
042um you know teachers have kids up and moving and that's so middle school like I I think it's really for all kids I think just kid movement is good uh but certainly in middle school there's a lot of scientific and biological changes that are happening to children at that age um that required them to stand up and move from time to time. Uh so you can see them here just collaborating, communicating, working together. Um and there's that T in our path and that teamwork looking ahead and some things that we want to maybe uh start working towards. Uh we certainly as a building want to start working on a survey uh that give our learners kind of a platform for feedback. like we know that the um the principal's advisory committee loves the advisory program,
043but like um let's make sure that all the kids are loving it or is there something that we're missing or something that we could be doing differently um and give them some agency and ownership on the things that we're doing. Uh we want to carefully create a plan that makes I I I do believe um just worked having worked in other middle schools um our seventh grade world language program does need to move to a full day program. I do think that we're um just looking at the size of cohorts. You know, I I would say maybe about two years from a conversation because our small cohorts at the middle school are then going to hit the high school very soon. Um and that might give us an opportunity to, you know, we don't want
044to hire people to then not have them if we, you know, uh have tight budgets. But I I do believe firmly that um this is putting our students at a disadvantage when it comes to ac, you know, acquiring a second language um in our building. And I want to move to uh to doing that and exploring ways where we have to find a place in the schedule. Um because if we're going to add a half a period of something, we got to you know something's got to come out. So we got to figure out and I want to work together with the staff um certainly with Miola and Dr. Ferris and the district office team on where that where that comes from. Um in our technology had a great conversation with uh Mr. and um
045actually Mr. Goodman. I want to explore ways to get more of the skilled trades into our technology courses. Um I I watched this uh I saw this headline the other day. It was one of these big uh AI CEOs. Um he talked about how the next batch of millionaires in the United States of America are going to be the skilled trademen, the the skilled trades people um that know how to build. They know plumbing, they know electricity. Um those are the because there if we're going to build these massive data warehouses to house the AI u someone has to build that facility so that it can be there and that that's kind of where we're going. Um it's also just an art that is being lost and we and I think that's something that if
046we can introduce them and even just give students a um a sprinkle of what that looks like for their life, I think that uh that might spark an interest in them that could change the course and the trajectory of of kind of where they want to go. Um, and a continued updating of our instructional spaces. I think when I look at some classrooms, I go in uh Kim Pacia's room and she's got flexible seating and uh kids have the ability to move around a little more freely than they do with the old um sort of like one-armed bandit desk, right? We could uh uh that that allows them to get up and move around and and do a little bit more. Uh certainly our science labs, I I'd love to, you know, discuss ways to
047to grow them. I think those are, you know, bigger and broader conversations, but things certainly that we want to move ahead with. >> Yeah. I think also just just I think Doc Tasuro deserves a little credit for what he's done with the workshop for the superintendent's conference. Um, [clears throat] it is not easy to get in front of staff during a conference day when they're there for a few hours. I think I've earned the right to say that. Um, there's definitely a it's a it's a tough crowd. And we when he told me we were going to do this, when he told me we were going to do this, I said, "No way. they're not going to sign up for these workshops. We got double the amount of workshops that we did and wa walking
048through all of those workshops and watching the whole gamut of teachers that we have in the building, getting up there in front of everybody and and sharing the most professional things that I've seen in years. um new teachers that are doing computer science degrees outside of of this you know the scope of the day sharing their their you know the Gemini the AI and not just how to use it but how to use it in effective ways how to create podcast it was just incredible um and even some of our senior teachers um just sharing those things with with with everybody um I was driving home I know most of you know I have a long ride home and when I was driving home yesterday I participated in a dissertation focus group and in the
049focus group I was so excited about what happened. I was talking about it for the whole ride home on the on the um on the focus group and everybody was just really excited about that workshop format and just saying how like wow that's a really cool thing and I think you know hopefully some of the other teachers some of the other principles you know in our district and you know some of the districts it it's really worthwhile. I think the teachers got a lot out of it. I think it's it's a great great structure. It was it was surprising to me that it worked as well as it did, but it's kudos to the teachers that we have who got in front of all of those staff members and just put themselves out there and
050and did what they did. I have one more thing that I want to read off of here just as far as our students and staff have embraced our path mantra and it has made a tremendously positive impact on how we all learn and grow. It is extremely gratifying to watch all of our teachers collaborating and working together to provide the best middle school experience for our students. Our students have bought into it and really seem to enjoy coming to school. There is an overwhelming sense of belonging and school pride in the building lately and it makes coming to work more enjoyable and rewarding. Being one of the senior staff members, it is really exciting watching other senior members sharing ideas, using different materials from the newest teachers, working together to improve instruction, competing with each
051other, laughing together, making fun of each other, listening to students, and being more empathetic towards them. getting together for breakfast, going out after work, acting silly, dressing up, and the list goes on. I'd also say a special thank you to Dr. Castor for seeing all this through, making our program more meaningful, and for making our building a fun place to work. He continues to put our students first, which is only makes our school better for everyone and be for everyone to become a better person. I am very excited to see where this takes us in the next few years to see both our students and staff flourish. Thanks, Brian. Um, I'll leave you with this and I leave this, you know, this is kind of the I've shared this a number of times with the
052staff. Uh, just three things. My kind of philosophy on how I approach every day is very very simple. And I think one of the reasons that we as a staff connect so well because it's the things that they believe. They may word it differently. Um, people word it uh, you know, in fancier ways, but I believe that every day we have fun. um when we have fun and kids see us having fun, they realize that they can do it too and that school is a fun place. I believe we have to learn every day. Um that it doesn't matter whether it's learning more about one another or learning something new or something different every day. And at the very core of everything, we love them all. Every single kid that walks uh you know through
053that door um you know we love them, we care for them, and we send them home the same way that they came to us in in each day. Um that is the the status I guess of our path and of the middle school. Um I'm happy to take any uh any questions or anything. >> Yeah, I just want to start by opening to the board questions, but I also want to just say thank you to Dr. Castorro, to um Mr. Decker, and to the entire middle school staff. Uh when everybody gets together in a room and says, "What do we believe in? Let's come up with a path." and you actually came up with literally a path [laughter and clears throat] and then you join and row in the same direction, it leads to great
054things and so you guys are creating wonderful things and we thank you all for that. So it's it's a really great job to all of you in the middle school. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> And open to the board. >> Um I have a a few comments just one question. Uh the only question that I had was on the graphs. So it says 34 responses. Are those responses from teachers or is that you in individual rooms? >> That's me in in individual classrooms. >> All right. So that makes >> me and Brian. Yeah. >> Okay. >> All right. And um my my comments were just first of all I love own your path. >> Okay. [snorts] So I I love how that ties into the accountability, right? Because the the students need to be
055accountable for their for their own learning and their own future. Um so I I think that's that's huge. I love recess. Um there are countless studies that at the middle school age recess improves everything. Social emotional awareness, it improves their academic um skill and when they come back in and they're refreshed and they're ready to go. So I I love that you're not scared to do that because that's been like a taboo for decades and decades. So um I I love that. Um and then I I just I I think your total approach is strong because in middle school, you know, kids are still trying to find their identity. Uh they're switching to the becoming abstract thinkers, all right, from the concrete elementary. Uh they have increased self-awareness and um you know, middle school success
056is a is a predictor for life success basically. And there's there's countless studies that prove that and show that. So I think it's important. Um and I think you highlighted a a lot of things that are important not just e educationally um but you know personally and socially and just in overall life. Uh and so it seems like that uh you've created a nice environment there uh where I I know your teachers are happy there and uh like you said I I think that it's like a trickle down and and they see you guys enjoying teaching and they see you guys having fun doing what you're doing and I think that trickles down to them. So, uh, those are just the things that I took off of that. So, I appreciate >> Thank you. Yeah,
057that the recess thing is I has been a game changer for us. >> Yeah. And I and I believe that if we took like quantitative data that our that that you would see that our scores in whatever measurement you want to use would would be improved. >> I just even in just anecdotal like like behavior >> six months into it, everybody would be like the afternoons are so different now. you know, they just get that opportunity. And and I think also there's an element of um >> like just free play is important. And then, you know, we we uh >> um actually what was that quote I sent the other day? We we uh actually at the end of the box activity, two of our staff members stacked all the boxes and then ran through
058it in like slow motion. And I, you know, I kind of said, well, you know, um we don't uh we don't stop playing because we get older. We we >> play different. We we I forget the other half of that but [laughter] we get older because we stop playing and uh it was you know uh and it's a perfect indicator for that. So for sure thank you. >> Sure. >> Thank you. >> Um we know the middle school is a special place. So thanks. Um one thing I really love is good news notes home. Big fan of those. And that's awesome because >> we all know as educators there's more good than bad. So we we really need to focus on that. So, I think that's really good. And I'm with you with um foreign
059language, world language seventh grade. >> Yes, >> we're gonna get there. >> Yeah, I'm with you. >> Yeah, we've been talking about that since um it's part of the five-year plan that we're rolling it up through the elementaryaries and then we want to get to sixth and seventh grade and talk about a full day in seventh grade and then choosing at the end of fifth grade. So, you can have French or Spanish every other day in sixth and then a full day in seventh. Yeah, >> I just wanted not to cut you off, Kathy, but um a big wave. Um we'd be remiss in not mentioning Mrs. Dolan when we talk about expanding world language. >> So, hi Moren. We hope you're listening. >> Someone send her a clip of this. [laughter] >> I'm good.
060Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Um I just wanted to say I'm excited. Um I'm probably still covered in paint because my daughter wants a big girl room and she's going to middle school next year and it looks a really exciting place to go to. So, I do appreciate that. And for being a teacher that spent 15 years at the middle school, I know that can be such a a drastic developmental time in in a person's life, especially like that. Seventh, sixth into seventh grade is a big one. Um, so kudos to all of you and uh I'm looking forward to it next year. >> Awesome. >> Appreciate it. Thank you. No, I I will just add that um I'm just um very glad to be a part of uh the district and um how you
061know this concept of a shared vision and connected autonomy how it's actually living in the different schools and uh we you know we've had presentations from the elementary school and then now from the middle school and it's it's just interesting how we we're all basically rowing in in the same direction working together and I I also want to thank Dr. Ferris for bringing the concept to our district and u you know but all the administrators and team have really you know taken on to it and really done incredible things. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay, my turn. I took a lot of notes. I'll try not to talk too much, but my the burning question I have is if you learn every language on Earth, does that include the language of animals? >> If
062it does, then you >> you should have been in the advisory this morning. This is [laughter] >> I really I've been thinking about that this whole time. >> All right, I I need you to get back to me on this. >> Now, is that all animals or just one animal? >> All animals. Well, like the It's funny like as si silly as a as a question can be to watch kids go, "Yeah, like to be able to hear with animals like we look at a a litter of puppies and we're like, "Oh, and how cute they are." He's like, and then one of the kids like, "I wonder what they're thinking about us." Like when they were looking at them, like what are these people doing? [laughter] >> Um, so I just want to touch
063on uh a few things. As a pediatric physical therapist, I agree with Desmond, movement is paramount. The kids need to move. they need movement breaks. It's so important. So, I'm glad that that's going um on in the middle school. As far as the advisory committee, I'd just like to thank everyone who volunteered for that. I'm not surprised with these reoccurring names that I'm hearing. Miss Pacia Termato, um Miss Vogle, Miss Lascazo, like Mr. Hutter, like I these are all wonderful teachers. I'm sure I'm leaving off a bunch of them, but um I've just seen what they do for my own children and then on the board just hearing about all the wonderful things that you in addition to to teaching going above and beyond to be on these different committees. So, I want to say
064thank you to everyone for that. I I think they need a round of applause again um because it's really important, you know, um where they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right? So, that can tie in with advisory. If you have a good advisory, you'll have a good day. I'm happy the kids are being engaged. They're they're waking up. They're getting ready to rock and roll for the day. So, I'm I'm so happy to hear that that advisory piece is coming along so nicely. Um and I think I agree with the world language and I also just want to give a shout out to Mr. Hutter because um he has like completely elevated the school experience with the games um with his announcing. We thought about having him come up and
065announce us. [laughter] >> We were like Joe come up here. >> Dr. Cassuro, you're you're really good, but you know, I think he mightate the whole thing. >> But thank you. You you've done such a great job for the um students. Um Mr. Van Boxel having the um pep band come to the games. It's just been such an elevated experience for not only the parents, but the athletes and the um student section and just everyone. So again, just going outside of what your regular day job is. Um, so thank you for that as well. >> I also just want to add, having walked through the middle school, it's funny because when I go down the hall into classes, I think you guys are like sitting in order of where your classes are. [laughter] >> But
066that's funny, >> but whenever I walk into those rooms, I've said this to you a million times, Joe, but I've never said it to you, like the engagement level is so high. The kids are up. They're doing things. They're engaged. They're looking at their Chromebooks for some parts of it, but then they're up at the wall writing. And um you have to have that at a middle level and it's just really so heartwarming when I walk in and not only does Mr. Hutter do a great job announcing but he's also a very involved guidance counselor and doing great work with the kids in the building as well. So thank you all. Yeah, [laughter] >> but it's really just wonderful. >> Um I just wanted to say um I agree with what everybody else said. Um,
067your focus on relationships, especially at the middle school age, is so important, especially in a world where we see people rip each other apart on a regular basis. It's a good counterbalance. I'm I think probably um we need to realize how lucky our students are that we do things like recess, but I'm also really glad to see like Frost Valley continues. So many districts have done away with those kinds of things. So, so valuable. Um the superintendence conference day, the learning from your colleagues is probably I know 18 years as a teacher, those were my best conference days ever. Um just knowing and recognizing the professionalism and the expertise in a building is so valuable. Um and um I am always amazed at how lucky you are as administrators that you have such buyin from
068the teachers because um they're really what helps you and um reach the students and make these things work. >> Listen, they they make it they make it happen every day. Um I I always jokingly say like right a principal like me like a leader without anyone following is just for me a guy taking a walk. So, uh, you know, the fact that, um, I've got a a great group, uh, across the board, both here, but maybe watching, but, you know, maybe just, you know, life's busy. They could be doing a million things tonight. But, um, you know, the middle school staff, I think, I'm so incredibly proud of them. I know and I I would imagine I know you as a as a as a as the community, but certainly as a board have a
069lot to be proud of in in what they're doing for kids each and every day in those classrooms because they are making um those connections like those relationships that are going to last, you know, for years. A kid never came back as I was a high school teacher for 11 years. A kid never came back to tell me like what an amazing way I taught about the American Revolution. Um they came back to tell me that, you know, they had a I was fun in my class. I was funny. I I was there for them when they needed something like it was those kinds of things. I think those are the things that you know um that are important. >> And I want to add um to [snorts] the point you made about the teachers
070being involved uh from the beginning when we set out on this path literally four years ago. We talked about faculty meetings and what can those look like when you're an instructional leader and Joe has stepped up and said I want the faculty meetings to be where we're growing and learning together. But also asking the teachers what do you believe in? what do you value and what are we going to create together so because this was created by the staff with the staff there's buyin and that's happening in the middle school uh in spades and I just want to congratulate and thank you for following that path um and it's happening in all the buildings because it's really exciting to see they have that connected autonomy that ability to kind of choose their own adventure under
071the umbrella of the district beliefs that we've come up with and I think it's been really really well done by you guys. Yeah, I don't want to um not mention some of your looking forward. I think there was some really good things there. I mean, obviously the support for world language is is big. Um I fully support and really love the idea of the tech like the I I might kind of call the tech wheel like that. They get a little bit of you know maybe a little auto mechanic, a little bit of HVC, you know those kind of things. >> That's exactly what you know kind of our our thinking was. I actually mentioned it to Mr. Goodman the other day, one of our technology teachers, and he said there are some older projects
072that they kind of moved away from that might be good to kind of like reinvent and bring back that were exactly that. Like, you know, you think about in just in a a modern day like how many >> forget kids like how many adults don't know how to change a tire like if you get a flat tire. Yeah. >> Right. That's something that um you know is a is a very very valuable skill that um I think would be great for you know a 13 or 14 year old to know that you know transitions and and just something as simple as that like one of my sons you know went through the Boseis program and he found his passion like there and I and I I think that's uh as we do that more I
073think it also can help reduce the stigma that it's okay also to go in that route for life and maybe not go to college and go to a trade school that's Okay. Um, and I think that's something that, um, there might be, you know, in in 2025 a stigma attached to, but I think we can work to, you know, try to reduce that. So, we we normalize that for kids so they can do the things that they truly have a passion for. >> Yeah. And I think sometimes kids don't always choose it as a path because they've never been exposed to it. They don't know what it is. Right. Asking them in 10th or 11th grade, you want to be an electrician or, you know, do HVAC? And they're like, I don't really know what
074those things are, right? Um, I just because I get into a lot of districts. Um I was just recently in um in Westbury um and uh they have built and it's I mean when you see it it's that's not really all that big of a deal what they built but um an electrician lab electricity lab where the students are learning to wire um like boxes and those kind of things and alarm systems and they're leaving high school with their certificate and some of their graduates had moved on to Boseies as a postgraduate and they were told that what they the level that they came in was greater than they were going to get out of the program and they they're ready to go out into the field. Um and Farmingdale and a couple of other
075districts have brought back in like um cosmetology or um you know uh um culinary, you know, so we're starting to see that move back towards >> CTE programs are making their way back into into district as opposed to outsourcing them. >> My district has a a monster CTE program. other thing that I think that's really nice is the the middle school [clears throat] has a very big footprint and they have lots of spaces for technology that whole wing we have an upstairs and um we really want to talk about over the next couple of years as we're getting ready for you know passing budgets and then looking at our capital lines uh really looking at the classroom spaces the technology labs the science labs the um the CTE programming at the middle school and high
076school and creating spaces that our kids could do that in uh so that's going to be part of our our planning in the next two to three years Yes. >> So, go ahead. >> I just had two more things. One, um, let's hear from Anthony. Two, uh, but after me. >> Okay. [laughter] Um, I second was that I've actually had discussions with, um, James about the, uh, James Burch with with and the alumni uh, association about connecting alumni to current students. if we could somehow, you know, we've been just spitballing things like somehow connect um all the not only the alumni but the community like there have been community members who have stepped up to the microphone. Um I'm just thinking of Ryan Curran off the top of my head who has come up to
077the microphone and offered to come in and help teach plumbing and offer those types of courses. And I think that would be a good way to like improve community engagement and and um connect uh the alumni to the current students. Um that could help that and I think the middle school would be the perfect year because then they could like you said >> find that interest at that younger age and then say maybe this could be a path. So >> yeah, that's the place to do it. 678 is the place to get kids excited and interested and then you head into the high school with more um like rigorous. >> Absolutely. Yeah. All right, Anthony. >> Absolutely. >> Um, so [laughter] >> so like the skilled trades thing caught my eye. Um, I think like
078everybody was saying, it's important for kids to know that like you don't have to go to college. You don't have to be funneled into college, go to high school for four years, then go back to college for like four years. That's not for everybody. >> Um, I was fortunate enough that my dad worked in construction his whole life, so I've like been exposed to all these things. But I think it's important to know that you have options in life. But also, I think it's important to have like those basic skills, right? Like changing tires. Like one of my friends, I remember, he got like a flat tire recently and he's like, I had to like call a tow truck and I'm sitting there [laughter] whatever >> anymore. >> But I think it's important for kids
079to be exposed to these things from like an early age. Um, and just for you to have all those basic skills like coming into high school and then when you get like a car and everything and then you go to college and you're by yourself and now you know all these things, right? >> Um, and then the focus on group work. I can speak to I've spoken about it before, but especially like in the math department now I can tell you that even in advanced courses like I'm in calculus right now, what we do is group work every day in the beginning and then you formalize after. >> Yeah. And I think what that lets you do is you can you figure everything out yourself and then you kind of think of it in a
080way that makes sense to you instead of just having the teacher tell you what it is and then you write it down and then whatever. So I think group work is it's been great. It's helped me understand like complex subjects like calculus makes it much easier. um you connect with your teacher more I feel and with the other students and it's just it's more like individualizing I think that's agreed >> that should be the goal of education >> agreed thank you Anthony yeah I agreed you're talking exactly the um the building thinking classroom book that a lot of the math department is reading and pacia did she's her room is designed after it it's just kind of finding it's trickling out uh and it's amazing to see some of the things that uh that are
081going in those rooms >> what I also love is every conversation that I'm having with people whether it's students or staff is almost the same. Like I was in Miss Pacy's room literally two weeks ago and she said exactly what you said tonight to me. Like in my years of teaching I used to tell the kids how to do it and then they would do it but then they wouldn't think. Now I'm letting them figure it out and they're actually thinking of better ways and then we kind of and you everything you said like you said two weeks ago as the teacher and that's when you see synergy like happening across the district and when it's happening K through 12 it's a beautiful thing. Yes. Well, thank you. >> Thank you all very much. Thank
082you. >> I want to go back to [applause] middle school. Not really. >> Okay. Um that concludes uh the superintendent report. If there's any other discussion you'd like to have related to the district or anything else, please let us know. >> Ask I have a hard copy for you. >> Oh, yeah. That'd be great. Sorry. Um okay. Board discussion. Uh we have two things on the board discussion. The NISSBA conference and the VFIT dinner. >> Before Before you go to that, just if we could send maybe a thank you uh to the art students from the board maybe. >> I got you got that. Okay, >> that'll be awesome. And thanks again for the u >> the ceramic poles. >> Yes, they're awesome. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um so um Mark Tom and I um
083went to the Nisba conference like two god to me it was like a year ago because I've got so much going on but um last weekend the weekend before um >> and Kathy participated >> online we we were talking earlier and her schedule was more rigorous than than than ours. [laughter] >> Yeah. So actually virtually um we had little snippets of every single conference and um we had breakout rooms to interact and work together. >> The full day we worked from 8 a.m. until 5 o'clock straight. >> Wow. >> I mean I have uh should I bring them all? These are all of my notes. >> I was busy. Oh, >> so for me um just in quick notes uh there were there was great information about seal dignity um community connection which made me
084think of what you were talking about Desmond um because communities always really want to be more involved. I went for that one. >> They talked about brain health which um I loved. What are we feeding our brains? That was great. Um let's just algorithms and the negative impact of those. A whole session on that district goal setting but you've done that. Um board of ed always asking why how and what to be your main thing. Superintendence evaluation the state of AI in schools. I wrote down 40% of the educators feel negatively about it. Um and 53 either don't know how they feel or feel positive about it and just the impact of um AI talked about the zero emission school buses. Really a lot [laughter] a lot. >> What was the percentage of teachers that
085didn't like AI? Um >> 43 >> 47 you felt [clears throat] negatively about it. 53 either don't know or feel positive. >> I I mean I feel like there is no better time to be a teacher than 2025. I mean I can read a chapter of in any book with my kids. I can go to my computer and Google AI dive and I can immediately create a 10 question quiz. I can differentiate the questions. I can do multiple choice or short answers. I can vary the levels. um and I can have it done within two minutes and in the Google class in three like AI is the wave of the future. That's why I was I like to hear that they're moving that way. Um it's incredible what we can do as teachers now and
086the speed at which we can do it with um you know it makes a good teacher great. It makes an average teacher good. It makes a great teacher next level exceptional. Mhm. >> If I can [clears throat] jump off that, for the teachers, something I found really interesting is that um the surveys they took showed that students are confused um about how much and how they can use AI in each class because it varies for school districts or school buildings to create something so that the students know you can use it for this but cannot use it for that. um yeah to clarify for them so that they can use it even more >> which has got to be hard you're right because uh AI changes daily right >> and and the and the ability
087of AI also changes daily so what what could be allowed one day >> and what can be allowed tomorrow like tomorrow might not even be created yet >> um yeah so that makes sense >> yeah 42% of the students were confused as to what can I use and not use >> wow >> so that was great >> and this has been a big discussion with the high school as well. So, when you hear from Miss Bricker uh in January, she's going to have a >> a piece on that as well. >> Yeah. They suggested sending a letter home about AI making it districtwide, not schoolwide. That was just >> Yeah. >> And I guess that 53% of the teachers that don't like it um >> that don't know how they feel or feel positively, >>
088right? And I that's probably ties into they're probably also confused. They're not have enough information about it. So maybe that >> 44% of the teachers are using it for research. 38% are using it for classroom resources. >> Um >> yeah, >> it was great. >> Oh my just add to give you an update on how that's going. >> We are talking right now about sort of like a three-stage process for getting to the place that you're describing. Um, one is just getting like alleviating some of the concerns that um, teachers may have. You know, anxiousness about what what AI might do to their teaching and and what does this mean? How do I use it? I feel overwhelmed by it. All of that. So, I think what's happening at the middle school is like a
089perfect example of um, a a positive experience with AI in practice. And all of a sudden, every single one of those teachers has one more notch in their belt of like, okay, I'm I'm a practitioner who knows how to use AI. So, that's like part one. Part two is um while Miss Bricker is definitely uh running this like spearheading this conversation at the high school level, we're we're trying to expand it to to district level as well. um that those broad strokes of um uh you know almost like a a a red yellow green approach to like what's acceptable, what's you know uh proceed with caution and what's definitely not acceptable and we're looking at some other schools who've done that successfully as models. So I I want to thank this burger for really starting
090that conversation in earnest. Um and um then once we have that established, I think what will be um sort of the next level beyond that is allowing teachers to kind of take a look at like okay here are our district defined broadstrokes but is there a nuance for my class for my course for my grade level for the demographic that I teach and then and then having that you know finer uh grain for like on a per course level. So, it's it's going to be a process, but we're we're making moves in that direction. >> Yeah. I mean, like just to hammer home the thought, in the time you were talking, I was able to create a 10 slide PowerPoint outline on the importance of AI in the middle school classroom. That includes what is
091artificial intelligence all the way down to teaching AI concepts so teachers could understand it, the benefits of the teachers, the challenges and considerations, the future of AI um education. And that took me 37 seconds. So I think like this is the wave of the future and I we we always talk about like wanting to be ahead of the game and wanting to be leaders in Seville and and wanting Seville to you know to be you know like a beacon and this is the wave and I I you know that's why I was excited to hear them you know participate in it. I it was awesome to hear what you brought back from the NISBA confer conference. So >> AI board meetings five minutes long [laughter] could easily we could wrap it up in a hurry.
092>> Yeah. And and as long as we're like, you know, AI can't um >> it it should supplement not supplant. Yeah. All right. And um of the teachers in general and if it can free up some of the time consuming tasks that they do and then focus on things like relationships, I mean that's only going to benefit our students. >> Um so back to the conference and I'm really um jealous, Kathy, because I tried twice to get into that AI and it was closed out both times. [laughter] And we get to the door the first time, they're like, "Nope, room's full." And then I went 15 minutes early the second time and they're like, "Nope, room's full." I'm like, "What time did they get here?" It was like buying tickets. The ticket master in the
09380s. >> No, it didn't work. That woman was They scan you. >> Some of them are tougher than others. That one was tough. >> That one was tough. >> Um, the other uh seminar I went in was um uh regarding the billetry program. You know, you have it at the graduate, you get like a seal, right? by last week they talked about just uh trying to bring it down to the elementary level uh and raising awareness. They called it a junior seal program and uh it was just pretty interesting how this district was really just you know again trying to get the early interest in language was called. Yeah. >> I just think in contrast to last year's last year's I was very disappointed in it. felt like it was an AI um you know
094sales pitch like the entire weekend. But this one I thought the workshops were >> very well done and and over a broad um spectrum of of topics. I'm also thought the keynote speaker was it Tim Shrivever? >> Yes. >> Um the program that he brought I mean that I really enjoyed like listening to him speak and um I'm sure we all said it. I don't know if any of us did it. We're going to share that with Jillian because we thought that there was it was a really good like SEAL program and he had some really just some neat ideas and he was very pleasant to listen to. So I asex index. Yes. >> Yeah. It was well he's the one who's developed it. It was really good and um as opposed to the AI
095robot last year was a bomb. Um >> any test the dignity index at um two years ago in uh but I went to New York. >> Okay. Yeah. at the national conference. >> I actually printed it. I could have very interesting. >> Sure. >> Yeah. I know. We were able to down I was trying to remember the app it was because you could download his um >> Yeah. the program >> his info. Yeah. It was really >> in the breakout rooms we were given little scenarios and we had to decide where that you know fit in. Yeah. So I can share that. >> Yeah. That's really that's really interesting. Like it does sounds like hers was more interactive than us and we were sitting with people. >> Well she was describing [laughter] to me earlier
096with the breakout room doesn't really seem to make any sense. talk to anybody to 100 people but nobody talked to anybody but she's talking to all the people in the breakout room. >> That's interesting. Um or anything else on the conference? No. >> Nope. Okay. Uh Refit dinner. >> It was pleasant. Um that was my first time attending. Um so Refit is a group that has been together what was it 51 years. 51 years. And they uh their major focus is about equity of funding across districts and regions in the state. Um, so they kind of highlighted some of the work that they're doing. Um, and then not gonna give any credence to their keynote speaker. [laughter] >> John always used to go. >> Yes. Yes. Um, >> so >> that was that was it.
097All right. >> Sorry. Um, okay. Um, opening [snorts] up for public comment um about today's workshop or agenda items. Is anyone going to comment? [snorts] Nope. Thank you. Um, all right. >> Okay. Going through the action items. I My computer will not hook up to the internet. So, >> 6.01. >> Um, motion to approve 6.01. >> Motion. >> No, no, hold on. Through >> 7.05. Chris. Motion. >> There's been second discussion. Good. Um so for 7 for 702 um for 702 uh let me just read it I'm sorry the approval of surplus items from the library books which I always ask the question if we are disposing of something we are so fortunate in sable that other districts are not um so I called Dr. Ferris, he explained to me something which is wonderful news
098that we have Sable High School library collections maintenance. So it states it's it's a policy. It states the purpose of weeding criteria for removal handling of removed material and it states that there's donation of use usable books. Um because I know we can go to the Goodwill, local charities, books through bars, Salvation Army and thrift stores. And also an idea was for every child's dream to make a bookstore and put those books there. So there are readers out there in the world that don't have access to readers. So >> yeah, in this case, we went to the book fairies and they took a lot of the books that we have, but the um the ones that we throw out, I've been told and I spoke to Miss Burger, they're either moldy and they're not like
099appropriate to keep in the library, they've got damage. So, like you'll see on the list some books that are are being thrown out and you say, "Why are we throwing out a classic?" >> We're not throwing out all the classics. There's a whole bunch of classics, but this particular group of four or five are damaged. So, those are thrown out. >> Um, and even some of the books, um, I was told they reuse for craft projects. So, they like take the binding and they'll take the papers and they'll create collages, collages or something for the art program or something like that. So, so we do exhaust all avenues and then we have a group of books that just needs to be thrown away. So, Slaughterhouse 5 was on the list because I looked through the
100five pages of books. >> Yeah, I was upset about that. >> That's a [laughter] classic. Are we assuming that's our only copy though? >> No, no, that's what he had said. We had >> we still have in the library, but that particular copy or group of copies, >> it can't be tossing Kirk Bond, right? >> No. [laughter] No. So, as I had shared with Dr. Ferris also, I did a little research and New York City Public Library actually does not discard anything. They have a vault and they put it in there. So if someone comes in looking for it, takes a little longer to get it, but they have it. >> So I'm glad we're not throwing out the books. >> Me, too. >> And then I have one more. I'm sorry. Well, not I'm
101sorry. I just Whatever. Um 703, which is approval of donation from Friends of Sable Education Foundation. >> That one. >> Um so I also called Dr. Paris about this and he clarified for me. So, I am happy to hear um that the Sable Ed fund can and is going to donate $1,137 to a field trip to defay the cost for the students. And that's wonderful to know that teachers can go to the Sable Ed fund for help. >> Yes. >> Love it. >> Yeah. And it's a great organization. >> I never knew that that you could go. I think we need to acknowledge the the the foundation does so much supportive work for this district and um it it there's always great support for it. Um and I know we're having some other conversations, but
102their major fundraising sources are the um the camps they run over the summer for for sports, but they donate back to education, classroom, field trips, sports, like all different things. There's some things we noticed around the district that were paid for by the the funding the foundation like some of our signs and those kind of things. >> You have such great ideas and like where they want to put the money too. >> Yes. Um yeah, I'm obviously they think they must work with the staff and and identify where that money could be well used. So we are grateful for the for the foundation. Not every district has something like that. Um and the amount of uh give back that that they are able to do is is extremely appreciated. thing I want to point out
103is there's a large amount of our faculty and staff that contribute to that foundation through paycheck um distributions which they sign off on to give away or give to the foundation. So I just want to like a lot of that funding comes from our staff and that that's unique. Uh I don't think a lot of districts do that and I think we need to acknowledge our staff. >> Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. >> Any any any >> No. Um yeah, I just want to uh mention that um it's mid year, so it's a little um unusual, but we um are what? >> No. >> Oh, then the next part. Sorry. Sorry. Um okay. All in favor. >> All right. Motion passes. All right. Motion to um approve 801 and 802. >> Motion Kelly. >> Second. Tom.
104>> All right. discussion. All right. Now, I just wanted to say um we um had a retirement. Um Keith Felosia is our food services director and has decided to retire 15 years in Sable. We want to thank him for his service and and the great food that he um has has provided to students um and staff and and board um across the uh you know throughout those years. So, we want to thank him. And I think he left the room, but um S um our amazing network and tech um specialist is um is leaving us. And we just want to wish him the best of luck and congratulate him on his new job. [applause] All right. Any other discussion? All in favor? Motion passes. >> 901. >> Last one. Just 901. I need a motion.
105>> Kelly, Desmond. Sorry, Chris, I missed you. Um, and then discussion. All in favor? >> Motion carries. Upcoming dates. Oh my god. No, I can do it. Um, so the, um, high school has its fall comedy tonight, tomorrow night, and Saturday. Laughing stock. Uh, there's several chances to go and get it. They're always really fun. if you have a chance, please go see it. Uh, Veterans Day um is November 11th. I know that a lot of the almost all the schools are doing something to honor our vets. Um, and we'd of course as a board would like to to thank them for their service. Um, and um um if you if you are in Seville or living or near Seville or live here, there's always um on the 11th month at the 11th hour on
106the 11th day a big u ceremony at um Sparrow Park in in town. So, it's always worthwhile going to. So, um I highly recommend that you do that. Um and then our next board meeting will be a uh business meeting, awards, um actions and um public session um um open and that will be November 13th >> at the middle school. >> Got a question. Does anyone know if Laughing Stock is going to be in the auditorium or is that the Little Theater? >> I believe it's the Little >> Theater. >> I love those shows. >> All right. Am I a motion to adjurnn? >> Yep. >> Okay. Motion to adjurnn. >> Motion. >> Chris, Kelly, Chris, I don't think we need to go into exact. I think we covered everything we needed to. [snorts] >>
107Okay. All right. Thank you everyone for coming. >> All in favor? I thought we did that. [laughter] >> Now you can leave. Oh, we can leave.