It's ULTIMATE DISCOUNT CARD time!
Support the great work of the Minisink Valley PTO by purchasing a card....or two! Order by May 15 by scanning the QR code!
Or: click here: https://mvpto-discount-cards.square.site/
Jennifer Bittner’s eighth-grade social studies students recently participated in an exciting, hands-on simulation game designed to teach them how the U.S. stock market works and how its dramatic crash in the 1920s helped trigger the Great Depression.
During this activity, students became investors, buying and selling “stocks” while tracking prices that rose and fell throughout the class period.
At first, the market was booming! Students eagerly traded shares, watched their profits grow and felt the thrill of success.
But just like in the late 1920s, things quickly took a turn. Prices suddenly dropped, panic spread, and students rushed to sell before losing everything. By the end of the simulation, many experienced firsthand the confusion and financial loss that investors felt during the real stock market crash.
This immersive experience helped students better understand complex economic concepts like risk assumption, speculation and market instability. More importantly, it allowed them to see how the actions of individuals can have widespread consequences—one of the key causes of the Great Depression.
The U.S. stock market is a platform where shares of ownership in public companies are bought and sold, allowing firms to raise money and investors to potentially profit. Major exchanges include the NYSE and NASDAQ. Stock prices fluctuate based on company performance. Investors aim to buy low and sell high.
•Buying a stock (share) means you own a small piece of that company.
•A "bull market" means prices are rising, while a "bear market" means prices are falling.
•The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the world's largest, while the NASDAQ is known for technology stocks.
•The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) track the performance of groups of stocks to gauge overall market health.
•The most famous day of the crash, known as “Black Tuesday,” occurred on Oct. 29, 1929. Many investors had bought stocks using borrowed money, which made the losses even worse when prices fell. Panic selling during the crash caused widespread fear, leading people to rush to banks and withdraw their savings.
Nichole Gaucher's eighth-grade Living Environment Regents students took part in a recent strawberry DNA extraction lab as part of their genetics unit.
Strawberries were used because they are “octoploid,” meaning they have eight sets of chromosomes, which makes it easier to extract and observe large amounts of DNA.
During the procedure, students crushed the strawberries to physically break down the cell walls, then added soap to dissolve the cell and nuclear membranes, releasing the DNA from the nucleus. Salt was used to neutralize the charges on the DNA molecules, allowing them to clump together. The mixture was then filtered to create a filtrate, and isopropyl alcohol was added, causing the DNA to precipitate and become visible as white strands.
This hands-on investigation helped students understand the structure and function of DNA and highlighted the importance of DNA extraction in scientific research, medicine, and identifying organisms. When students grasp both the structure and function of DNA, they start to understand how life actually works at a molecular level. Highlighting DNA extraction makes this knowledge more concrete. Instead of DNA being an abstract idea in a textbook, students see that it’s a real substance that can be isolated and studied. That connection is powerful for learning!
DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a double-stranded molecule shaped like a double helix and is made of nucleotides arranged in a specific sequence that forms the genetic code.
Participants who qualify get the chance to compete during lunch at the end of the Physical Education Department’s badminton unit. These shuttle-smashing superstars brought the heat, the hustle, and some seriously slick footwork to the court! Both champions showed incredible focus, agility and sportsmanship! WELL-DONE and congratulations!
And they didn’t just show up—they delivered! With grit, determination, and incredible imagination, our team rose to the challenge of designing original solutions to the question posed to them! They earned an impressive 8th place finish in their division for Problem 1/“Off the Rails.” That’s huge!
Please join us in congratulating Ashton Gibbs, Christian Hines, Jemma Marsala, Quinn Murphy, Victoria Papp, and Alicia Suen for their hard work, infectious enthusiasm, and imaginative spirit. They represented Minisink Valley with pride, honor, and distinction—and inspired us all along the way!
While brackets are busting and buzzer-beaters are dropping this March Madness season, give your own future star a shot — sign your 4th through 8th grader up for our FREE Girls Basketball Spring Instructional Clinic!
• Open to all district girls in 4th through 8th grades
• DATES: Saturday, April 11 and Saturday, April 18
• 9 a.m. to 12 noon in the High School Gym
The clinics will be directed by Coach McDonald with assistance from players in the Minisink Valley Girls Basketball program. The camp’s goal is to provide quality instruction and inspiration for young district athletes. The camp is free of charge, though donations towards the Girls Basketball Program are optional, but welcome. Activities include individual skill instruction and competitive team play. The players may be separated into two levels according to their age and ability. Participants will be expected to wear sneakers and dress appropriately.
Here's the registration link: https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLScQbIcAlyC6xV.../viewform
They’re fueled, fired up and ready to shine!
This morning, our Middle School Odyssey of the Mind team kicked off their journey to Syracuse with a special bagel and donut breakfast, hosted by Principal Michael Larsen. With full stomachs and even fuller spirits, they’re officially on their way to the New York State Odyssey of the Mind competition at the New York State Fairgrounds!
For those who may not know, Odyssey of the Mind is all about creativity, teamwork, and out-of-the-box problem solving. Teams spend months designing original solutions to long-term challenges — often building elaborate props, engineering clever devices and performing skits that blend humor, storytelling and innovation. And here’s the twist: part of the competition includes a “spontaneous” challenge, where students must think on their feet and solve a problem in real time. No pressure, right? But, we know they got this!!!
It’s been many years since a team from our district has advanced to the state level, making this achievement even more exciting. These students have already proven their imagination, dedication and resilience — and now they’re ready to take the “state stage” and represent us all!
Break a leg, team! We’re cheering you on every step of the way and can’t wait to see the magic you bring to the competition!
YOU GOT THIS, MIDDLE SCHOOL ODYSSEY OF THE MIND TEAM!
The Middle School’s Odyssey of the Mind team has completed the final touches on the refinements for its performance at the New York State Odyssey of the Mind Tournament at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse this Saturday, March 21! The team leaves tomorrow, March 20!
Team members are Ashton Gibbs, Christian Hines, Jemma Marsala, Quinn Murphy, Victoria Papp and Alicia Suen with Coach Madison Wyman.
The team will present Problem 1/“Off the Rails.”
• For this problem, the team becomes conductors and engineers as they continue to design, build and operate a train vehicle.
• As the train travels the course it will have a new car attached at each stop.
• Along the route, it will encounter challenges that make the train travel in different ways.
• After all of its cargo is picked up, the items will be unloaded and assembled into a work of art.
• The performance will also include the use of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda, a humorous conductor character and a villain character that tries to prevent the train from getting to its destination.
Using simple, classic ingredients like flour, baking soda, salt, butter and raisins students learned the basics of mixing, kneading, and shaping their dough watching a hands-on tutorial. Afterward, they headed to their stations to begin baking, carefully forming their loaves so they can come to life in the oven.
Soon, students will be enjoying their golden-brown creations, sliced and served with butter—a perfect way to celebrate the holiday!
At the same time, learning a foreign language broadens students’ perspectives by exposing them to different cultures, traditions, and ways of thinking, including building empathy and global awareness. In an increasingly interconnected world, the ability to speak more than one language is not just an academic asset; it is an essential skill that allows individuals to communicate effectively, collaborate across cultures and thrive in a global society.
The Middle School recently celebrated National Foreign Language Week by inviting five students to share their native language or language spoken at home with the school community via morning announcements with some sentences in those languages! They did great!
Thank you to:
--- Taras Pylpchuk, Ukrainian
--- Adrien Kusztykiewicz, Polish
--- Christel Toussaint, French
--- Santiago Valencia, Spanish
--- Andrew Suen, Mandarin Chinese
Among the words he nailed were passage, prism, hipsterism, and nutation — no easy feat. Noah’s impressive run came to an end on the word “caudex,” but not before showing incredible skill and composure.
“We are all so incredibly proud of Noah and what he accomplished at the Spelling Bee,” said Middle School Librarian Maggie Spicehandler, who annually organizes the Middle School's Spelling Bee.
In addition to serving as a busy middle school principal, Mr. Rickard is also a SUNY Orange associate professor of mathematics and head men’s basketball coach. With his family, he helped establish the Paul Rickard Memorial Scholarship Fund in honor of his father, a SUNY Orange professor and coach, whose legacy continues to support students pursuing education, nursing, mathematics and athletics.
As head men’s basketball coach, Mr. Rickard has built one of the region’s most successful programs, leading the Colts to multiple conference titles and a national semifinal appearance while fostering teamwork, discipline, and character among his student-athletes!
The team became conductors and engineers as they continued to design, build and operate a train vehicle. As the train traveled the course it needed to have a new car attached at each stop.
Along the route, it encountered challenges that made the train travel in different ways. After all of its cargo was picked up, the items were unloaded and assembled into a work of art. Their performance included the use of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda, a humorous conductor character and a villain character that tried to prevent the train from getting to its destination! WELL-DONE, everyone!
The closing ceremonies to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics were yesterday, and many district faculty have incorporated the Olympic games into classroom activities. This included Noelle Ferguson and Jaclyn Lockett and their sixth-grade social studies students, who are currently studying Ancient Greece.
Combining hands-on geography with physical competition is a fantastic way to bring the world of Ancient Greece to life! Their recent project bridged the gap between the rugged terrain that shaped Greek city-states and the athletic culture that defined Ancient Greek spirit. Students created a 3D map to demonstrate the geography of Ancient Greece and completed in their own Classroom Olympics. Each group was given a city-state to research and create a flag representing their city states.
Reminder: The Minisink Valley school community can now use the new Activity Scheduler App to access the district's sports schedules.
The The app is available in the Android Google Play and Apple App stores!
Soundtrap’s interface is intuitive, which means students can start making music quickly — even if they don’t read music or play an instrument. Students can create beats, songs, and soundscapes; record vocals or instruments; and use loops and virtual instruments and can be real creators of their own genre of music! Not only can they create their own music, they can express themselves through original lyrics, podcasts and storytelling!
Take a peek at Matthew Finck’s sixth grade music students, who were recently working on centering the verse/chorus song structure, commonly referred to as AB form. After listening to four popular song examples, students were tasked with composing their own verse/chorus songs using Soundtrap on their Chromebooks.
Mr. Finck demonstrated editing techniques with his Smart Board, sharing his own original music compositions using Soundtrap. Students will apply their newly acquired skills to record themselves narrating scary stories, complete with sound effects.
Soundtrap also offers students an opportunity to further refine their creativity, problem solving, listening, editing, collaboration and communication skills --- all important abilities for them to master as they advance in their academic careers!
Students in Jackie Mazariegos’ eighth-grade Spanish 1 class often practice speaking with each other in Spanish. During this recent session, students were given the roles of waiter and customer. Students followed prompts for each role and had to complete in order. Then, they switched roles. The speaking activity allowed the students to practice with their vocabulary from the food unit. Bien hecho, todos!
Speaking is one of the pillars of the Spanish 1 Final Year End Exam along with listening, reading and writing. But there’s more important reasons, too: Practicing Spanish with peers is crucial because it transforms language from an abstract academic subject into a practical communication tool, fostering faster fluency and confidence. It’s also creates an immersive, low-stakes environment where students can also reduce their fear of mistakes while strengthening cognitive skills, cultural awareness and social interaction.
