A Look atActivities in the

LivingstonManor CentralSchool District

March 18, 2014Section L

Callicoon, NY

A Special Section of the

2L LIVINGSTON MANOR SCHOOL SCENE SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT MARCH, 2014

Brandon Sparkman becomesadept at memorization andplumbing the meaning behind

the lines. Nathaniel DePaul polisheshis public speaking skills and workson varying word articulation.

A school musical is as much aboutgrowth and skill building as it isabout fun — especially if you’re WillyWonka (Brandon) and the secondmale lead, Charlie the poor kid whowins a contest over arrogant rich kidsand inherits Wonka’s amazing choco-late factory (Nathaniel).

A huge gathering of 60 childrenfrom kindergarten through 12thgrade comprise the cast of “WillyWonka,” the school’s choice for itsspring musical.

“This is a highly anticipated event,”said teacher Daniel Smith, who co-directs the Livingston Manor DramaClub along with colleague KellyVanDemark.

“There are 40 oompa-loompasalone,” adds VanDemark, referring tothe wacky workers in Wonka’s world-famous candy business.

In choosing “Wonka” with its fre-netic and funny Disneyworld-typesets, the co-directors are targeting anaudience of younger children.

“We hope it will spark interest in

the younger kids so we can build ourprogram,” said VanDemark. “So theyoung ones can eventually beoompa-loompas.”

Rehearsals take place now for threedays a week from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., butthose days and hours will extend asthe spring season itself progresses.

The story features the adventuresof young Charlie inside the chocolatefactory of the eccentric Wonka, whois seeking a successor to take over hisbusiness. Charlie wins out over fourother children who are, in turn,spoiled, abrasive, gluttonous andtantrum throwing.

“It’s about character, about reallybeing respectful, and that spoiledkids don’t win out,” said Smith.

It’s also about the power of beingcheerful and positive, the groupagreed.

So it’s not a stretch to predict thatmost of Livingston Manor will finditself reporting to the school onopening night Friday, May 16.

That’s the evening when, aftermonths of practicing their lines,songs and dance steps, five dozenchildren will find themselves cos-tumed, made up and ready for thecurtain to rise on the first LivingstonManor staging of “Willie Wonka.”

Livingston Manor Drama Club co-directors Kelly VanDemark and Daniel Smith and leadactors Brandon Sparkman and Nathaniel DePaul agree that ‘Willy Wonka’ is a musical with amessage. The play is set to open on Friday, May 16.

Staging ‘Willie Wonka’ is hard work and all play

Focus on Common Core’s learning goals pays off at LMCS

Students at Livingston ManorCentral School are absorbed inhigher-level thinking, deeper

problem-solving and a greaterunderstanding of math concepts asthe District embraces the CommonCore State Standards.

“Our staff is working above andbeyond to implement the CommonCore,” said Principal SandraJohnson. “We’re really excited.”

Livingston Manor has given teach-ers extensive staff development ses-sions, including training by BOCESduring the summer. The District pro-vides staff with special time to col-laborate with their grade-level col-leagues and offers them release timeto study the new modules, or theactual lessons they teach to their stu-dents.

At an open house earlier in the

school year, a Powerpoint presenta-tion explained to parents theDistrict’s implementation of theCommon Core over the last two anda half years.

The hard work is reaping rewards,as students tackle depth in subjectmatter and develop critical thinkingskills.

“The amount of learning is escalat-ing as a result of the new teachingpractices,” said Principal Johnson.“Teachers are telling me that stu-dents are keeping up with the rigor ofthe Common Core. After giving a teston one module to her students, ateacher told me the students are(already) doing very well.”

“Other teachers tell me,” saidJohnson, “that they feel like newteachers — in a good way.”

Principal Sandra Johnson lauds teachers and students for digging into the academic stan-dards of the Common Core, which is boosting expectations and student achievement.

MARCH, 2014 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT LIVINGSTON MANOR SCHOOL SCENE 3L

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Join us for the 11th Annual

June 14, 2014

For some 210 Livingston Manorstudents, the hours after 3 p.m.and before dinner don’t involve

tons of TV watching or texting theirfriends.

Instead, they study the Japaneselanguage, or work on set design foran upcoming school musical, orlearn the ancient art of yoga.

And they’re engaged first in home-work completion and/or tutoringhelp — all part of the new after-school program called RISE.

Paid for by a federal 21st CenturyLearning Communities Grant, RISEstands for Rigorous InterventionsSupport Excellence. The nearbyRoscoe School District applied forthe grant with Livingston Manor andDownsville districts as part of thepackage. The $750,000 award isshared among the districts.

“In Livingston Manor, there arevery few opportunities for enrich-ment and recreation activities,”explained LMCS Principal SandraJohnson.

That is precisely the point of 21stCentury Learning Communities pro-gram, which is administered throughthe U. S. Department of Education.The intent of Learning Communitiesis to level the playing field for stu-dents in low-wealth communities byoffering the kinds of programs avail-able to children in high wealth areas.

With RISE, said site coordinatorPaul Favata, students get the extrahelp they need and the excitingenrichment opportunities they want.

In addition, working parents bene-fit from knowing their children are in

a safe after-school environment.“Our school and our families are

very excited,” said Favata, who teach-es science at LMCS.

“I really like it because it’s fun,”agrees seventh grader Annette Perez,who stays after school for a yoga classand is also learning ping-pong. “I getto do my homework and spend timewith my friends,” she said.

The District is also noticing thatbad behavior referrals have plum-meted by half since RISE waslaunched in November.

The program begins each after-

noon with a snack in the school cafe-teria. Students then report to class-rooms for an hour of tutoring andhomework help.

Then the K-6 grade students enjoyeducational and recreational activi-ties provided at the school by stafffrom the Sullivan County Branch ofthe Boys and Girls club. Games,crafts, dance, edible projects, singingand computer enrichment are allpart of the afternoon.

A special computer program allowsindividual students to boost theirstandardized test scores by engaging

in interactive learning similar to anon-screen TV show or video game.

At the same time, seventh through12th graders engage in activitiesoffered by Livingston Manor teachersand staff, along with some 20 com-munity members. All told, 60 adultsare involved in the program.

The 7-12 grade enrichment activi-ties include a competitive outdoorsclub called Envirathon, a JapaneseLanguage and Culture Club, art,weight training, set design, pingpong, an audio-visual club and aschool store/career club just starting.Auto mechanics is planned for thespring.

High School students Ashley Madi-son and Brent Carlson are studyingJapanese with Emily Lee, who is asubstitute teacher at the school. Bothteens are fans of the Japanese anima-tion comics Anime and Manga andthey wanted to learn more, they said.

“This is great,” said Carlson. “It’stoo bad that I’m a senior and won’t becoming back for more next year.”

Kids rise and shine at new after-school enrichment program

RISE coordinator Paul Favata takes attendance at popular after-school program assisted byfellow teacher Julie Bauer.

All photographs and stories for thisspecial School Scene are by

Sul livan County Demo crat Photo grapher/Reporter

Kathy Daley. The Democrat would also

like to thank the Livingston Manorand Roscoe School Districts for alltheir cooperation in this project.

www.catskillartsociety.org

4L LIVINGSTON MANOR SCHOOL SCENE SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT MARCH, 2014

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A healthy start for school’s expanded exercise center

So far, they have reached El Paso,Texas. The waist-band pedom-eters are the smallest piece of

new fitness equipment that’s got theschool buzzing with healthy activity.

“There’s been a big push in the pasttwo years for more staff wellness” inaddition to the initiative to get stu-dents physically active, said Districtphysical education teacher DavidEggleton, who is also the AthleticDirector.

Just as society recognizes theimportance of health and wellness tostudents’ reaching their full academ-ic potential, so does the ability forstaff to keep fit lower school spend-ing in terms of absences and healthinsurance costs, said AssistantPrincipal Chris Hubert.

So this year the wellness push hasspawned major changes at the

school’s previously small and agingfitness area.

“We doubled the size of the roomand created two rooms – a weighttraining room and a fitness room,”said Eggleton.

The rooms feature two new tread-mills, two new ellipticals for cardio-vascular workouts, two new recum-bent bikes and two new spinningbikes.

“Our Wellness Program invites stu-dents and staff to go in and use therooms, to get physical fitness eachday or a few times each week,”Eggleton said.

He added that at some point in thefuture, the center will open to thelocal community.

Students use the room during gymclass or, if they are athletes, for train-ing and conditioning. An Open Gymafter school attracts students, andschool employees use the school

after 3 p.m. as well.A new high school elective focuses

on the proper use of fitness equip-ment. Weight training classes arenow offered on the middle schooland high school level, pointed outPhysical Education and Healthteacher Adam Larson.

In the fall, a training session for theschool’s adults focused on theimportance of fitness and how to usethe weight and fitness equipment,Larson added.

“Some (staff) were experiencing aroom like that for the first time,” saidLarson. “It was great to see a lot ofstaff members utilize the equip-ment.”

As for students, “it’s really impor-tant for them to get in there and get abackground in weight training if theywant to play college sports,” Larsonnoted. “It’s important for everybodyto get physically fit.”

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Tenth grader Katie Spencer takes time to work out on a new treadmill at her school’s newly-outfitted and expanded fitness center.