Sunday afternoon news!
While it's not the outcome everyone hoped for, we're beyond proud to share that our Varsity Cheer Team placed 8th in New York State at today's NYSPHSAA Game Day Cheerleading Champion meet at Hudson Valley Community College! Please join us in congratulating the team for a job well done!
This team had tenacity, grit and determination in a field of competitors that Varsity Coach Patti Archiere called very tough.
"Eighth in the state, we'll take that," she said. "Our girls were amazing. They worked so hard and they did a magnificent job. I'm so proud of their efforts and I know everyone at Minisink is, too."
Breaking Friday night news!
We're going to the Section IX finals!
Minisink Valley beats Our Lady of Lourdes in a fantastic 42-7 win!
Next up: Minisink Valley will meet Cornwall in the Section IX championship game at FDR High School on Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.
Watch for ticket information soon!
Sally Mankoo’s and Katie Bendykowski's ES kindergarteners recently had the unique experience of learning how pickles can be experienced through each of the five senses! They listened to Rachel Isadora’s “I Hear a Pickle” and learned “all the tea”… rather, “all the dill” more about this humble cucumber and what they could hear, taste, smell, touch, and see! Ask them about this! Then, they recorded their sensory observations in their graphic organizers to capture their experiences. What a fun, crunchy lesson!
In kindergarten, graphic organizers can be used to visually support young learners in organizing information, brainstorming ideas, understanding key details in stories, building vocabulary, and even planning their writing by providing a structured framework to capture their thoughts through simple drawings and key words.
Checking work done in class is important! And, raise your hand if you know the answer! Erica Alders’ and Alexa Roach’s Otisville fourth-graders are ready to share what they know!
Congratulations to the Varsity Volleyball team, which swept Washingtonville in the Section IX Class AA semi-finals tonight: 25-18; 25-13; and 25-8!
Next up is the Section IX Class AA championship match, where the team will play the winner of tonight's Valley Central vs. FDR matchup on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 12:30 p.m. at Mount Saint Mary College! WE GOT THIS! GO MINISINK VALLEY!
GET TICKETS NOW: Tickets are $7 each
https://gofan.co/event/2141159?schoolId=NYSPHSAA9
Please join us in thanking and saluting Otisville School Resource Officer (SRO) Sean Burke, who is retiring from the Mount Hope Police Department. His last day as Otisville's SRO is today, Nov. 7.
Officer Burke has been a trusted, calm, caring and professional face at the Otisville campus who has always put the safety and security of Otisville students, faculty and staff as his first and most important priority. The school community will miss him tremendously, and wishes him much good health, happiness and fulfillment on his next adventures in life.
Today, Nov. 7, the Otisville school community honored Officer Burke with a special school celebration, with students, faculty and staff presenting him with notes, cards and signs.
Good morning! Angela Dombal’s and Bridget Kelly’s ES kindergarteners have been practicing learning how to greet each other, which includes learning about eye contact, handshakes, and saying good morning to a friend! This has helped the students learn each other's names and promotes a feeling of community in the classroom.
Alyssa Pagano’s and Mary Louey’s Otisville fifth-graders are using differentiated math games which work perfectly for students who have different needs in math!
Students who need to work on their multiplication facts are playing a multiplication game called “Multiplication War,” while other students are playing a division game with remainders called “Remainders Wanted.” It’s a fun and innovative way to meet the math needs of all students!
Math games like these help students in many ways, including: Improving math proficiency, developing problem solving skills, building computational fluency fostering collaboration, personalized learning and even reducing math anxiety!
Instrument lessons are an important part of a student musician's success! (But! They also need to practice at home!) Take a peek at Laura Hulle's middle school flutists having their instrument-specific music lessons! In the U.S., flute players are generally known as flutists. But, another word often used is "flautist," which comes from the Italian word "flautista," which is a combination of flauto (flute) and -ista (-ist).
Lindsay Kane’s Otisville first-graders have completed a very important class election: Which fruit they liked best! Congratulations to WATERMELON!
The lesson tied perfectly with current events and civics. Students learned that voting is how they say what they want (which fruit they liked best); that when a group of people vote, it’s called an election; the “candidates,” in this instance, were different fruits; when people vote, they use ballots, or forms that show voters the choices they have in an election (sometimes paper, sometimes a machine); and people mark their ballots so they can indicate their choice – their vote.
But there was also an important math, data compilation, graphing and ELA component, too! Students had to count and tally up the results, graph those results and then write a sentence about the results of their fruit election
And of course, just like adults are offered at their polling locations, every student voter received a “I voted” sticker!
See more photos on the district's Facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/MinisinkValleyCSD
Cheers to members of the High School’s Career Achievement Program (CAP), who can be found at the Elementary School assisting staff in a variety of ways, such as with School Security Aide Kevin Murphy; basketball court painting for Physical Education Teachers Ross Potter’s Leyla Johnson’s students; and in the classroom, such as their recent assistance to assemble an easel for second-grade teacher Kimberly McDermott.
Karen Ruoti's ES kindergarten students are chaining letters to make, blend and read words as part of their ELA work! Her young students are building words with letter cards. This technique improves phonemic awareness as well as decoding (reading) and encoding (writing) skills.
Kindergarten word chaining is a reading practice that helps students learn to decode words with specific spelling patterns. It involves creating a series of words that differ by one phoneme, or sound, at a time. For example, a word chain might start with "bat" and then continue with "cat", "can", "man", and so on.
A huge game is coming up for the Varsity Volleyball team this week! On Thursday, Nov. 7, the team hosts Washingtonville in the Section IX Class AA semi-final game! Our team is the #1 seed! The game starts at 5 p.m. in the Middle School gym…don’t miss out on this game. Come out and cheer on the team! Let’s do this!
This game’s winner plays the winner of the FDR vs. Valley Central match-up in the Section IX championship on Saturday, Nov. 9 at Mount Saint Mary College at 12:30 p.m.
Instrument lessons are an important part of a student musician's success! (But! They also need to practice at home!) Take a peek at Maria Fenfert’s Otisville “trumpeters” having their instrument-specific music lessons!
The trumpet is a versatile instrument that plays a central role in many types of music, including jazz, pop, and classical. It's often the lead instrument in a band or orchestra, carrying the melody. Trumpets are also known for their loud, bright sound and ability to project over long distances! The trumpet has a long history, dating back to 1,500 B.C. It was originally used as a signaling tool in wars, and later for entertainment. The trumpet has also been associated with royalty and celebrations, such as announcing the arrival of royalty.
Maureen Cardinale’s ES first-graders are enjoying partner reading, sitting “elbow to elbow, knee to knee” as they perfect their reading proficiency!
Partner reading is a cooperative learning strategy where two students work together to read a text, take turns reading, and provide feedback to each other. It's often used in first grade to help students improve their reading fluency and build confidence!
Intermediate School students, faculty and staff may have noticed that IS/ES School Security Aide Kevin Murphy had a very able assistant helping him make rounds in recent days! IS third-grader Kinsley Starkey won a recent IS PTO contest which allowed her to go on patrol with Mr. Murphy. She was presented with a special badge which allowed her to accompany Mr. Murphy and provide her valuable assistance, observations and counsel! That also included a stop by Superintendent Monahan’s office, where she shared some of her suggestions!
Ilana Kaufman’s ES first and second-grade art students have been studying Austrian artist Gustav Klimt’s “The Tree of Life.” They identified his unique use of the color gold and spiral lines. Inspired by his work, her student artists experimented with gold paint to create their own beautiful spiral line trees with repeated shape and line designs.
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian painter and a prominent figure in the Vienna Secession movement. He is known for his symbolic and decorative paintings that often include hidden meanings. His painting The Tree of Life is a masterpiece that exemplifies his artistic style and is considered a symbol of the complex nature of life.
Kara Welsh's Otisville third-grade art students are learning about "Surrealism," studying the work of surrealist artists Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, and Rene Magritte.
They were challenged to create a surrealist work, where the objects are drawn realistically, but what's happening is dream-like or irrational. Students were able to choose what art material best suited the completion of their work- paint sticks, colored pencil, marker, or oil pastel. Most used a combination of materials!
Surrealism is an artistic, literary, and philosophical movement that originated in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. Surrealism is a style in art and literature in which ideas, images, and objects are combined in a strange way, like in a dream.
The High School's Key Club focuses on upcoming volunteer opportunities and small events that help a big cause. Club members are always looking for ways to support or school and community. If there’s a project you think the Key Club may be able to assist with, please reach out to advisor Amy Colella at acolella@minisink.com
Take a look at the club’s recently created bulletin board, detailing what students feel makes the High School strong!
BREAKING FRIDAY NIGHT NEWS! It's a huge Homecoming win!
Minisink Valley beats Warwick in a 34-7 victory which assures the Section IX Class A semi-finals come to Minisink Valley! (Warwick will play Cornwall in the other semi-final match at Cornwall). This is a big deal!
This great night was also SENIOR NIGHT for the football players, cheerleaders and scorekeepers! (Photos are coming soon!)
At tonight's game, Charlie Olsen was crowned Homecoming King; and Sara Delmar was crowned Homecoming Queen! They were members of the Homecoming Court which also included Addision Cole, Patrick Cherry, Emma Kostic, Shawn Crowe, Audrey Guido, Michael Hughson!
