Local news and notes, and our presidential poll

School Trip to Six Flags and a Graphic Novel Super-Fan!

Oct 23, 2024

The results of yesterday’s poll are coming in. It looks like our e-readership, at least, wants political endorsements.

Of course, these endorsements shouldn’t just come from one person, so we’ll see if our regular writers want to chime in in an editorial board type of way.

We’ll also poll YOU and come up with a variety of scores, like Rotten Tomatoes does.

We’ll test the waters today with the Presidential race — see poll at the end of this post!

Who doesn’t like breakfast? Only $12/$6.

Ashlar Masonic Lodge #584, 2543 State Rt 40, Greenwich, NY, invites the community to “Good Sunday Morning Breakfast Buffets” the first Sunday morning of each month. Prepare your taste buds for a menu of pancakes, waffles, farm fresh Thomas Poultry eggs, Ruts Ridge sausage, crispy bacon, home fries, and all the fixings you desire. These start on Sunday the 3rd, 7:30 to 10:30. Adults $12, veterans and children (12 and under) $6. They are also raffling off a 58” flat screen TV, drawing in December.

Enroll at HVCC

Hudson Valley Community College will host an Open House for prospective students from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 9, on the college's main campus.

Attendees will be able to tour the campus and speak with representatives from academic departments as well as the college's student services and academic support offices, including Admissions and Financial Aid.

Hudson Valley enrolls nearly 9,500 students in more than 80 degree and certificate programs each year. Tuition for the current academic year is $2,528 per semester, plus fees, for New York State residents.

For more information, contact the Admissions Office at (518) 629-7309, or register to attend Open House online. Pre-registration is recommended.

View Online: http://hvcc.meritpages.com/news/HVCC-Welcomes-Students-for-Fall-Open-House/45441

Or at ACC

SUNY Adirondack will host an Open House event from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 26, at its Queensbury campus.

Attendees can learn about the college’s more than 40 degree and certificate programs, including dual acceptance and transfer agreements; meet professors; ask questions about the financial aid process; tour campus; and attend workshops.

“This is a great opportunity to see what amazing opportunities SUNY Adirondack offers,” said Jenny Postlethwaite, director of College Access and Student Success. “The experience we provide our students is incomparable and really surprises people who think they have to attend a large, four-year institution to obtain a high-quality education.”

The day kicks off with light refreshments and mingling from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. in Northwest Bay Conference Center in Adirondack Hall. President Kristine D. Duffy, Ed.D., will offer a welcome address at 9:30, then attendees can choose from three workshops — Student Support Services; Living on Campus; and Paying for College and Financial Aid Overview.

From 10:30 a.m. to noon, SUNY Adirondack offers academic breakout sessions to provide more information about degree programs; campus tours will be offered; college offices are open to answer questions; and College Access and Student Success advisors are available.

Graphic novel super-fan

CCS elementary student Aubrey Pacher was recently selected as a nationwide winner of a Storyworks Magazine graphic novel contest. Pacher is one of five individuals to receive this recognition.

In the spring, Pacher read the story Nat Good Enough in Mrs. Smith’s 4th grade ELA class. The story is part of a series and based on a graphic novel by the same author, Maria Scrivan. The story focuses on someone’s “doubt gremlins” (i.e. bad thoughts). Students then took the story and wrote about their own “doubt gremlins”, asking Nat for help solving them, changing bad thoughts to positive thoughts.

Students created their own graphic novel page. Pacher’s graphic novel page included illustrations of her with Nat where she talked to her about her thoughts and insecurities.

The award letter stated the following:

Aubrey’s submission showed a strong understanding of the text along with the ability to illustrate a well-organized and engaging response. We receive hundreds of entries for each of our magazine’s contests. Winning entries require students to demonstrate critical reading skills and apply these skills to a rigorous writing activity.

“Aubrey took the project and really put in a lot of thought and insight into thinking about negative thoughts (doubt gremlins) and how to turn those nefarious thoughts around in a positive way – especially when thinking about ourselves and the good we all have within us,” said Aimee Smith, 4th grade ELA teacher. “I never felt like I had a group be as successful as they were with this project, in grasping the concept of writing dialogue. Using a graphic novel format was very helpful.”

Nat’s story and the graphic novel page project taught Pacher and her classmates some important lessons.

“Nat talked about thinking differently to push those negative thoughts away and just loving yourself and who you are,” said Pacher.

FBLA Heads to Six Flags

The Greenwich Chapter of FBLA had an incredible trip to Six Flags, the Great Escape for their 2024 FBLA District 5, Fall District Meeting. Eleven GCS JSHS students traveled to Queensbury, NY to participate in the meeting. The meeting was hosted by the Lake George Chapter and Role Call included 3 chapters and over 85 students from around the region, including Lake George, Greenwich, Queensbury and Peru.

The meeting was opened by the District 5 Officers at the Six Flags/Great Escape Human Resource Training Center. Students then heard from the President of Great Escape Resort and Park President, Rebecca Wood. Becky spoke with the students about her background and how she came to be president along with the overall day to day operations of the park. We then heard from the Director of Human Resources, the Director of Operations, the Entertainment Supervisor, the Business Manager, and the Director On In Park Services. Included in the presentations was how they added another Haunted House to their Fright Fest and the detailed management of building and executing the attraction (from permits to working with local fire departments and code enforcement). Students then got a "Lights On" background tour of their newest Haunted House. During lunch at the park students heard about the food service side of the park. How they feed so many park patrons and employees to the most popular items was discussed. Students also got the opportunity to ride their newest roller coaster, the Bobcat. (New York State's newest all wooden roller coaster).

The chapter will attend the Spring District Meeting in February and compete in districts to qualify for states in April.

FBLA is an education association with a quarter million students preparing for careers in business and business-related fields. FBLA is the largest business career student organization in the world. The Greenwich Chapter is advised by Christine Belden - if you have a student in grades 7 - 12 that would like to join they should contact her at the school. The Greenwich Chapter participates in the Chamber Halloween Parade, the Lighted Tractor Parade, Breakfast with Santa, Operation Rudolph, and the Whipple City Festival locally for community service and we compete in local, regional and state competitions and national conferences as well as numerous fundraisers to support our endeavors. Follow us on Instagram GCS FBLA.

GCS FBLA Members that attended the conference:

Ella Smith, Treasurer
Clare Smith, Historian
Wyatt Cary
Jason Carlo
Rylee DeLuca
Gabe Kurland
Catharine Johnson
Sarah Sievers
Isla Shaw
Brayden Stutzman
Sage Yeager

OK, here’s that presidential poll we promised…

And Now for the Comics — ‘Filbert’ by LA Bonte

Until tomorrow!