the district news

Center Moriches UFSD529 Main StreetCenter Moriches, New York 11934

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On Friday, January 10, the packed gymnasium of the Cen-ter Moriches High School was the place to be! Thanks to the booking talents of the CMPTA’s very own treasurer, Donna DeLong, the PTA hosted a basketball game between the Harlem Wizards and our very own Center Moriches Red Devils. Our Red Devils team, led by middle school principal, Melissa Bates, consisted of a mix of Cen-ter Moriches’ teachers, coaches, administrators, principals, mainte-nance/grounds personnel, and even a member of our Board of Educa-tion! The Red Devils were great sports about going up against the antic-fi lled Harlem Wizards. Mr. Clancy was on hand to MC the eve-ning, while our Center Moriches and Seahawks cheerleading squads

cheered each of the teams on. The concession stand for the event, pro-vided by SEPTA, was packed at half-time while fans also purchased Harlem Wizard souvenirs. The Wizards defi nitely did not disappoint a single one of the 800+ crowd of all ages that packed our high school gym. They showed off their talent for the game, got the audience completely involved, and made everyone in attendance roar with laughter the entire evening. The Red Devils team de-lighted the crowd while doing their best to keep up with the Wizards, putting up a great fi ght to attempt to win the game. At the end of an incredibly fun game, the Wizards walked away with the win - 101 to 87. The Center Moriches PTA

would like to thank the fol-lowing people for helping to make the night a huge suc-cess: all team participants, our security team for keeping order, Chris and the custodial crew who worked hard to put our gymnasium together then back to pre-game status, and our administration and the BOE for supporting our efforts. The PTA would especially like to thank all of the Center Moriches community members and our surrounding neighbors who came out and supported the PTA. See you next year!

A Night of Fun & Laughter:: Red Devils Take on the Harlem Wizards

By: Gina Biamonte, CMPTA 1st Vice President

February 5, 2014 - Board of Education Workshop Discussions: Middle School, High School, Business, Technology, Art, Music, Physical Education, Health and Athletics February 12, 2014 - Board of Education Meeting Discussions: Special Education, Curriculum & Instruction/Computer Technology March 5, 2014 - Board of Education Meeting Discussions: Security, Plant Maintenance and Operations Central Services/Transportation/ Undistributed Expenses & Revenue March 12, 2014 - Board of Education Workshop Discussions: - TBD

March 19, 2014 - Board of Education Meeting Discussions: - TBD March 26, 2014 - Board of Education Workshop Discussions: - TBD April 2, 2014 - Board of Education Meeting Budget Presentation - Review entire budget and revenue estimates April 23, 2014 - Board of Education Meeting Property Tax Card and Budget Adoption May 7, 2014 - Board of Education Meeting Budget Hearing May 20, 2014 - Budget Vote and Election (Annual Meeting)

Upcoming Budget Workshops We welcome and encourage all community members to attend these meetings.

Please note: Presentations on both the Elementary School and the Parent Child Home Program took place at the January 29th Board of Education meeting. For information on these presenta-tions please contact the District Offi ce.

Volume 20 Number 2

The District NewsThe Newspaper of the Center Moriches School District

February 2014www.cmschools.org

FeaturedArticles

SCMEAHonorsPage 3

CH TakesFirst Place

Page 6

AthleticAchievements

Page 7

Jump Rope for Heart2

2 The District News February 2014


Board of EducationMrs. Wendy R. Turkington, PresidentMr. Daniel Finnegan, Vice President

Mr. Thomas R. Hogan, TrusteeMrs. Heather Schaub-Magill, TrusteeDr. Kristen Turnow-Heintz, Trustee

Mrs. Patricia A. Galietta, District ClerkMs. Diane M. Smith, District Treasurer

AdministrationMr. Russell J. Stewart, Superintendent

Ms. Lynda G. Adams, Deputy SuperintendentMs. Carol M. Perkins CPA, School Business Offi cialMr. John W. Allen, Assistant to the Superintendent

Mr. Ricardo Soto, Director of Pupil ServicesMr. Jeremy Thode, Director of Health, Physical

Education, Business, Fine & Applied Arts and Athletics

Mr. Edward Casswell, High School PrincipalMrs. Melissa Bates, Middle School Principal

Mrs. Kim Hardwick, Elementary School Principal

ContactCenter Moriches

Union Free School District 529 Main Street

Center Moriches, NY 11934

Tel: (631) 878-0052Fax: (631) 878-4326

Editors-in-ChiefMr. Russell J. Stewart

Mr. John W. Allen

Layout DesignStarboard Media, Inc.

www.cmschools.org

Students at the Middle School have been busy! During the hustle and bustle of the holiday season several stu-dents donated time, resources, and gifts to those in need. The Middle School Student Coun-cil ran a Thanksgiving Food Drive, challenging all second period classes to bring in a specifi c item to be donated to the Community Center and a local food pantry. Student Council collected over 1,000 food items and was able to make up twelve Thanksgiving baskets with all the fi xings. The students in Mrs. Connolly’s class won the contest with 180 food items and Mr. Voelger’s class in a very close second place brought in over 100 items. The winning class won a bagel breakfast sponsored by Student Coun-cil. Mrs. Porter’s class was also busy this holiday season and ran a toy drive for Nana’s house. Mrs. Porter’s students; Ernie, Aidan, Alec, Hector, Anna, Sa-brina, and Steven created ornaments with gift suggestions and placed them in the Middle School lobby. The stu-dents collected over fi fty donations of unwrapped toys and gifts. They were able to provide gifts for up to ten fami-lies. Three classrooms joined forces this holiday season to help a family in need. When Mrs. Lesiewicz, Mrs. Sigerson and Mrs. Porter’s classes found out about the schools Adopt-a-Family program they immediately jumped into action. The family they were given was a larger family, with a sizeable list. The staff members of room 214 got the shop-ping started by purchasing some items on the list. Mrs. Lesiewicz’s second pe-riod English class heard about the fam-ily and excitedly started brainstorming

ideas as to how they could help. Mrs. Lesiewicz mentioned that, “We were discussing helping with the gift drive for Nana’s house, coordinated by Mrs. Porter, and Samantha asked if we could adopt an entire family after hearing about her friend, Derek’s family, adopt-ing a family outside of school. That same day I heard that Tracy Sigerson’s class needed help with the family they had adopted because it was such a large family.” Mrs. Lesiewicz’s second peri-od class brought in everything from clothes, a big pink plush blanket, a puppy purse, to a remote controlled di-nosaur, digital camera, tennis racquet, and lava lamp. The class also brought in money that was used to buy a 6 in 1 game table to play hockey, foosball, table tennis, chess, checkers, and back-gammon for the entire family. Mr. Mishler heard that the fam-ily we adopted are New York Jets fans and he was able to obtain an offi cial game helmet signed by Gino Smith to donate. Mrs. Lesiewicz also mentioned that “When my other classes heard that we were adopting the family, many of the kids wanted to help as well. All of my other classes adopted children from Nana’s house and collectively we pro-vided gifts for fi fteen other children.” Lastly, the Middle School joined forces with the High School to take on the ultimate holiday challenge of col-lecting 1,000 pounds of food or per-sonal items before the holiday recess. The challenge was accepted and accom-plished. We did it! All of the items were donated to three local food pantries in Center Moriches. We are all so proud of the compassionate and giving students we have here at Center Moriches Mid-dle School.

By: Kira DePaolo

3The District NewsFebruary 2014

Box Topsfor

Education! Don’t forget to save your Box Tops! Box Tops can be brought to Clayton Huey El-

ementary School. Please include your child’s name and teacher’s name on the Box Tops Bucks or any other Box Tops Sheets. It is very helpful if they are attached to these

forms as it saves all the volunteers time when we sort and count. The CMPTA thanks you

for your support.

Congratulations to the students listed below, who have been select-ed to represent Center Moriches in the annual SCMEA All-County Music Festival in March.Division Ensemble Name Inst/Voice PartI East Chorus Marina Children’s VoiceI East Chorus Kylie Children’s VoiceI East Chorus Julianna Children’s VoiceIII East Band Jake Tuba/SousaphoneIII East Band Megan Trumpet/CornetIII East Chorus Erin SopranoIII East Chorus Ashley SopranoI East Band Marita Trumpet/CornetI East Band Jake TromboneI East Band Alexandra FluteII East Band Jenna FluteI East Chorus Jane Children’s VoiceII East Chorus William AltoI East Chorus Claire Children’s VoiceII East Chorus Julia SopranoI East Chorus Caroline Children’s VoiceI East Band Gillian Alto Sax

Congratulations to Jenna and Alyssa, chosen for the NYSBDA All-State Band!

Musical Honors: SCMEA

All-County Festival

Anthony ParlatoClass of 1987

An indispensable force in initiating youth programs, Anthony was a supreme volunteer and fundraiser for all activities to encour-age positive choices for our children.

Center Moriches Alumni of Distinction 2013David Mangiameli

DO, F.A.C.SClass of 1988

An innovative doctor and researcher who has ad-vanced the treatment of cancer, especially breast cancer. His published ground-breaking work is highly regarded and re-spected.

Center Moriches graduates are chosen for “outstanding contributions to the welfare of mankind and service to the community.” The gentlemen above were honored for their career achievements, community involvement and charitable works.


High School Students of the Month

By: Brad Turnow, Sixth Grade Science Teacher

The November/December students of the month, from left to right: Assistant Principal Ms. Ingoglia, Marissa: LOTE, Sarah: Band, Paige: Mathematics, Cassandra: Citizenship, Brianna: Social Studies, Ryan: Technology, Frankie: Art, Sean: Business, De’Ara: Science, Bran-don: Health, Anthony: Physical Education, Samantha: Guidance, Paul: English, Manuel: Chorus, Principal Mr. Casswell, and Elizabeth: Social Studies.

This year, our sixth grad-ers have been studying many great topics in science. Some of the most interesting units have been plate tectonics, mountain formation, and living life at high altitudes. As much as we can read about the topic, look at images of mountain ranges, and watch video clips about these topics, nothing can match a fi rst hand expe-rience. On January 15, our sixth grad-ers were treated to an assembly which featured a person who has climbed the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents. Mr. Robert Pospischil, a former fi ghter pilot in the United States Marine Corps and a Top Gun instructor, came in to speak and interact with our sixth graders. The sixth grade staff and stu-dents were treated to some amazing pictures that Mr. Pospischil took while summiting Mt. Everest in 2008. He taught the students about all the challenges that the climb-ers faced, as well as the interac-tions with the people of Nepal. We learned about the Sherpa people and how their bodies are well adapted to living at high altitudes. Mr. Pospischil also showed the

students the special suit he wears when he climbs. He emphasized the importance of wearing layers, apply-ing sunscreen, wearing special sun-glasses, and getting adequate sleep and proper nutrition. In addition to his gear, Mr. Pospischil stressed the importance of being physically fi t by training for many months to get ready for these dangerous climbs. The students were amazed to fi nd out that climbers that attempt to summit Mt. Everest must acclimate their bodies fi rst to the high altitudes by spending two months at base camp before beginning the climb. Of all the topics and subjects Mr. Pospischil covered, one of the most important messages he had was about overcoming adversity. He talked to the students about not making excuses and that they can accomplish anything, as long as they believe they can do it and push themselves both mentally and physi-cally. Mr. Pospischil stressed to the students how important it is for us all to respect mother nature and how we must care for our planet. We ended the assembly by having a question and answer session in which the students got the opportu-nity to ask questions of Mr. Pospis-

chil. This was a great opportunity for the students to make connec-tions to his presentation to what we have learned in the classroom. This was an assembly the students will never forget. The images we saw

and the stories he told will stick with them forever. We thank the Center Moriches PTA, as well as Contrac-tors for Kids and sixth grader Con-nie Alestra for making this assembly possible.

On Top of This World! Climbing Mt. Everest


On December 20th, just prior to the win-ter vacation, the sixth grade class celebrated with an all- day “Greek Festival.” The festival was an extension the sixth grade reading pro-gram, where the students read The Lightning Thief, and Greek mythology as part of the Common Core ELA module. It also connected to the Greek mythology unit that was studied in Social Studies. Each sixth grade student created a proj-ect to be presented or displayed at the festival. Some students took part in the “Living Mu-seum.” Each of these students researched a Greek God or Goddess and then came dressed in character to teach their peers all about them-selves. Other students designed and taught their classmates a game that had a mythological or “Lightning Thief” theme. Others designed a model cabin that represented one of the Olym-pian cabins described in The Lightning Thief. In addition, there was a variety of art pieces on display including paintings, sculpture, and jewelry. Students included a written descrip-tion and analysis of their project. To kick off the festival, each student was given a necklace with a symbol of one of the Greek Olympians. An industrious group of sixth graders stayed after school one day to help create these necklaces. The symbols represent-ed what group the students would be “tour-ing” with during the festival. The students that created games or were involved in the “Liv-ing Museum” were set up at stations around the library, along with stations containing the artwork and cabins. The students moved from

station to sta-tion interact-ing with their peers and viewing the artwork. Students were also given a ballot to vote for their favorites in each category. Everyone did such impressive work so the voting was very tight! Nicolette Haffey won for her rendition of Poseidon’s cabin. Aiden McGovern won for his game, “Bolt Quest,” and Jessica Ducoing and Kaitlyn Hines won for the interactive lightning bolt that they created. Lily Murphy, Makayla Hofmann, and Taylor Matos won the “Living

Museum” category with their portrayal of the Greek Goddesses, Athena, Aphrodite, and Demeter. Honorable mentions included Aleya Donnolo, Ethan Develvis, Nick Develvis, Liam Murphy, Jack Kelly, Colin Erickson, Joan-Marie Leone, Brendan Bernath, Dennis Hol-borow, Daniel Hughes, Patrick Murray, and Mike Koscinski. After the morning session in the li-brary, the students proceeded to lunch where they were given the opportunity to taste some Greek delicacies from “Greek Bites.” Then it was off to the LGI where we were able to watch student fi lms up on the big screen. “The Real Housewives of Mt. Olympus,” by Thea Flanzer and Makayla Hofmann, and “Percy vs. Ares,” by Joey Lyons and Dan Hillman were big hits! Some students also wrote songs or scripts de-picting a scene from The Lightning Thief or a Greek myth. Paige Brockmann and Maddy Rank wrote and performed an original script, “When Athena Met Poseidon.” The plays were performed on stage prior to settling in and watching the movie version of The Lightning Thief. Overall, the Greek Festival was a great success! The kids had a fun time and a qual-ity educational experience. As Stephanie Sty-pulkowski said, “The Common Core is stress-ful and confusing for some, so this a good way to educate kids in a fun way.” Joey Luongo added, “The Greek Festival was great. I enjoyed it a lot. It was very cool for everyone to make or do something. It was a fun way of learning.”

Sixth Graders Immersed in Greek MythologyBy Debbie Charne, Reading Teacher

Michael Koscinski is working on adding the fi nishing touches on his Perseus Jackson project.

LEGO League is a club for fi fth graders in our school. You may be fooled by the name, but it is more like robotics than LEGOs. We program a robot made out of LEGOs to do certain missions in a limited amount of time. We meet normally once every month. However, some kids are allowed to go to LEGO League during recess. Our coach, Mrs. Seitel-man, is kind enough to give up her lunch every day so we can meet and practice for our upcom-ing tournament which is the fi rst weekend in February. In December, we were lucky enough to have the mem-bers of the High School Robot-ics team come to work with our LEGO League team. The boys who came to work with us were

Anthony Roy and Max Christ. The High School Robotics coach, Mr. Roy, also came. I was overwhelmed by how much they knew. They showed us stuff that we didn’t even know was possible. We learned that two attachments can work si-multaneously. For example, we learned how to make both the wheels and the arms work at the same time or how to make one wheel go forward and one wheel go back at the same time. Mr. Roy seems like a great coach. He gave us terrifi c ideas and he was easy to talk to and learn from. I hope I get to work with him when I get to high school. It was really cool to listen to older boys teach us. One day, I’m going to come back to Clay-

ton Huey and help younger kids too. I want to thank the members of the High School Robotics team for coming to visit us. I know we are better prepared for our tour-

nament because they came. In photo: Kaitlyn, Logan, Jesse, Josh, and Alex, Nicolas, Sarah, Natalie, Donovan, and Co-lin.

By: Jesse DeMatteoFifth Grade Student

LEGO League: Building a Better Robot

Lily Murphy, Makayla

Hofmann, and Taylor Matos with

their “Living Museum”

entry.


By: Jodi Cameron, Physical Education Teacher

Hard work, dedication, and commitment all pay off in one form or another. For seniors, Emily, Mike, Will, and Pam, that is certain-ly true. All four seniors fl anked by family, Principal Ed Cassswell and their coaches Mi-chelle Ceraso (Girls Lacrosse), Mike Garafolo (Baseball), and Kevin Scott (Boys Lacrosse), signed letters of intent on November 20, 2013. Emily signed to play lacrosse at Caldwell College in New Jersey. Emily, a two-sport star and captain in both soccer and lacrosse, will bring her dynamic athleticism and relent-less effort to the campus of Caldwell. She is joined by Pam, also a two-sport star and cap-tain in soccer and lacrosse, who brings not

only a fi erce competitive fi re but also a strong physical presence which is bound to make it an easy transition for her to the college fi elds. To-gether, these two phenomenal student athletes make an incredible dual threat for Caldwell. Will signed to play men’s lacrosse at Division II Alderson Broaddus. Will, who participates in volleyball, wrestling, and la-crosse, offers Alderson an incredible physique that will benefi t him in the demands of men’s lacrosse. Not only does he have the skill and intelligence on the lacrosse fi eld, but also the heart of a lion. His hard work and physical toughness make him a valuable addition to Aldersons program.

Mike signed to play baseball at Long-wood University. Longwood, known as a baseball school, lands an incredible talent. Mike, who is not only an outstanding pitcher, can play anywhere and is just as dangerous at the plate or in the fi eld. Mike is a natural ath-lete, very poised, and extremely cerebral. He is an outstanding student-athlete who will be an impact player at Longwood. Congratulations to these athlete’s fami-lies!!! Thank you for sharing your children with the Center Moriches school district and community. We look forward to the remainder of their senior year and their continued suc-cess in college.

Center Moriches Seniors Sign

Letters of Intent

By Jeremy Thode, Director of Health, Physical Education, Business, Fine & Applied Arts and Athletics

In December, the Suffolk Zone Chapter of NYS AH-PERD held a contest called “Get Moving NY.” To enter the contest, schools had to submit a video, poem, song, or poster demonstrating what students do to get moving. At Clayton Huey Elementary School, the physi-cal education de-partment submitted a video containing clips and still pictures of students practicing var-ious jump rope skills during physical education class. The video also included an educational

component that described the health and skill related benefi ts of participating in physical ac-tivity. The students were excited to be a part of the video project. Once submitted, it was up the students, parents, staff and community to log on

and vote and wow, did they vote! Our school received 6,605 votes. What an honor it is to be part of such a sup-portive community! Our video was up against some tough competition from much larger school districts and communities, yet we were able to out per-form them all. Thanks to every-one who supported us. Clayton Huey Elemen-tary School will receive a check from NYS AH-

PERD Suffolk Zone for $1,000 to be used to buy equipment for the gym. If you missed the video, you can view it at the following link: http://ti-nyurl.com/PEVideoContest.

B J di C Ph i l Ed i T hClayton Huey Takes First Place in the Get Moving NY Contest!


Center Moriches High School Department of Athletics

Special AchievementsFall 2013

Name Grade Sport AwardBrady, Claire 12 Soccer All County; All StateBraithwaite, Nigel 12 Football 1st Team All DivisionBrantmeyer, Michael 11 Volleyball All Division Honorable MentionBurridge, Caitlyn 11 Tennis All LeagueCasey, Caroline 10 Volleyball All LeagueCastellano, Michael 12 Football 2nd Team All DivisionCerverizzo, John-Cody 12 Football All CountyConnolly, Peter 12 Soccer All LeagueCreen, Sean 12 Golf All LeagueDonegan, Ryleigh 11 Cross Country All League; All Division; All County; State

Qualifi er; Class C Individual Champion; Sportsmanship Award at State Meet; 26th Place at States; Honorable Mention All State

Fey, Emily 12 Soccer All LeagueFinnegan, Sean 12 Soccer All AcademicFlood, Matt 12 Football 2nd Team All DivisionFranchi, Daniel 11 Soccer All ConferenceGuerriero, Nick 11 Golf All League Honorable MentionKemp, JC 12 Golf All LeagueKennedy, Jospeh 12 Volleyball All Division; All TournamentLuongo, Casey 9 Soccer All CountyMarangio, Douglas 11 Volleyball All Division Honorable Mention; All StateMartin, Gabrielle 12 Volleyball All League Honorable Mention

Mockridge, Devon 11 Volleyball All County; All Division; All Tournament; All County Seventh Man

Monaco, Diana 11 Cross Country All Division; State Qualifi er; 98th Place at States

Nicholes, Georgie 12 Cross Country All League; All Division; Top Ten at State Qualifi ers

O’Brien, Kevin 12 Soccer All Conference, All County; All State; Ex-ceptional Senior

Parks, Kyle 11 Football 1st Team All DivisionParlato, Anthony 11 Soccer All ConferencePettit, Emily 12 Volleyball All League Honorable MentionRicci, Megan 10 Soccer All League; Suffolk Championship Player

of the Game - MVPRountree, Tarik 10 Football All CountyRubino, Jonathan 12 Volleyball All Division Honorable Mention; All Tour-

nament; All AcademicSaguto, Carly 12 Volleyball All League Honorable MentionSchaefer, Ryan 12 Volleyball All Division Honorable MentionSchenck, Pam 12 Soccer All LeagueSess, Trevor 11 Cross Country All League; All DivisionStankelis, Cameron 11 Soccer All LeagueSweeney, Jake 12 Soccer All LeagueThomas, Tyrell 11 Football All County; Honorable Mention All StateVaillant, Gabrielle 9 Tennis All LeagueVenturino, Dominic 12 Football 2nd Team All DivisionVetack, Katelyn 9 Tennis All League

Mike Columbi All State Baseball & Cierra Smith All State Softball (Spring 2013)

Energizing in the Morning

Each Thursday morning in the All-Purpose Room at Clayton Huey El-ementary School, Mrs. Cameron and Mr. Slifstein have been running a morning physical education program for students. Physical education teachers are also linked to the Common Core, and are help-ing to make this transition as smooth as possible. Students in grades K-2 are invit-ed on a rotating basis to work on various components of our program, including muscular strength, muscular endurance, hand-eye coordination, foot-eye coordi-nation, and cardiovascular endurance. Each week, one or two of these ar-eas are covered in a before-school class, making it fun and educational at the same time. During the year, our physical edu-cation staff will be testing certain seg-ments of the school population on SLOs (Student Learning Objectives), which do not have any impact on our students P.E. experience; they simply chart their progress, and it will enhance the students learning capability. With this in mind, the morning program gives the primary grades (K, 1, 2) a chance to move forward at a quicker rate with fl exibility, locomo-tor movements, coordination, and bal-ance, which ties in the fi ve domains of fi tness listed above. Mrs. Cameron will also be provid-ing the upper grade students this same opportunity later in the winter. Any Clayton Huey parents that are interested or have questions about our program please feel free to contact Mr. Slifstein or Mrs. Cameron at anytime. In addition, please check our eBoards to fol-low your student’s progress, as our pro-gram is updated daily on these sites. In the modern world we live in today, taking time to ensure our children exercise, and gain coordination skills cannot be more important.

By: Eric Slifstein & Jodi Cameron, Clayton Huey PE Teachers


By: Gillian Shrey, Art Club Member and Fifth Grade Student As you may have no-ticed already, every Hallow-een the windows of some shops in Center Moriches are painted. These works of art are all done by the fi fth grade Clayton Huey Elemen-tary Art Club. This project is the fi rst piece of art the fi fth grade creates. We only had two weeks to get our sketch on paper be-fore the day we would walk out of our school and paint the windows for our community. It seemed totally chaot-ic when we fi rst arrived. Kids were frantically gathering and painting to try to get all that had to be done in a little more than an hour. There was only one cart with all the paint

on it, so kids were dashing from the store that they were working at all the way to the cart and back, getting the paint their group needed. I had a fantastic time there be-cause you aren’t just paint-ing; you are having fun and doing what you love with some of your best friends. One of the parents even bought packs of ice cream saucers, enough for every-body in the art club. I had so much fun there and I really felt like a part of our com-munity. I felt like I was do-ing something good by mak-ing the place look nice for Halloween. If I was asked to do that again, I defi nitely would.

Who would have thought looking at the calm bay water that there was so much live action below the surface? Not too long ago, the fi fth grade went on a fi eld trip to the Bab-ylon Educational Sport Fish-ing Center. When we arrived, we got off the bus and went directly to the learning center. A lady taught my group of excited fi fth graders all about the animals in our local salt water. For instance, the blue mussel which is shiny and a navy blue color (that’s where it got its name) and the zebra mussel (that has stripe) which you can’t eat. Why? That’s because the zebra mus-sels are fi lter feeders and it would be like eating a little package of pollution. The blue mussel eats plankton so we can eat it. We also got to touch our local sea creatures in touch tanks. We touched sea stars, clams, oysters, live scungelli, snails and, of course, the two types of mussels. The back room was like a mini aquar-ium. There were fi sh of all

shapes and sizes. After our time was up in the learning center we head-ed out to the bay which was in walking distance from the learning center. When we got to the bay the lady told us the safety rules of putting on the waders and using the seine net to catch fi sh. One pair of kids after another put on the wad-ers and went out in the water with the net. The pair walked out into the water. One per-son stayed still and the other child looped around to make a half circle then the two chil-dren walked to the shore and laid out the net. The rest of the kids picked up the fi sh, shrimp or snails from the net and placed them in buckets of water. After everyone got a chance to use the seine net, we had lunch with a chaper-one at the picnic tables. After lunch we played on the play-ground. Then it was time to head back to school. This was truly an experience to see and touch the animals beneath the surface in our local waters.

CLAYTON HUEY ART CLUB PAINTS THE TOWN

By: Alexa Salvaggio, Fifth Grade Student


By: Pam Basile and Virginia Mesiano

The Fourth Grade Chorus

The Fifth Grade Chorus

The Clayton Huey Elementary School fourth and fi fth grade Band and Chorus had an outstanding Winter Concert. These students spent countless hours practicing, preparing, and growing as musicians. Their hard work and dedication was evident as they enthusias-tically performed for parents, teachers, and the

Center Moriches community. “Everyone worked together and tried very hard!” said fi fth grader Hayley. Fifth grader Julianna refl ected on the performance and stated, “I thought that it was great and all of our hard work paid off!” Fourth grader Emily said ”It was so

amazing!” These young musicians have come such a long way in a short amount of time. We are so very proud of our children and look forward to their spring concert performance!

The fourth and fi fth grade Ecology Club is up and run-ning. The Clayton Huey Ecolo-gy Club members are interested in learning how to help the en-vironment while having fun at the same time. At our initial meeting in October, the students discussed ways to promote environmental awareness in their school, clean-up the neighborhood as well as learn about the endangered spe-cies living on Long Island. One project they were en-thusiastic about was the need in the community to clean up the sides of the roadways in town. They decided to initiate a lit-ter pick-up project for the No-vember meeting. The students chose Brookfi eld Avenue as their roadway to clean up. As our November meeting rolled

around, the students geared up with their trash bags, gloves and pickers; many thought we would only fi ll one or two bags. They spent over forty-fi ve min-utes picking up trash on Brook-fi eld Avenue with Mrs. Montiel and Mrs. Esp. They walked up and down Brookfi eld Avenue and fi lled over eight bags of trash. It was a group effort and the students felt a sense of ac-complishment when the clean-up was completed. The Ecology Club students are on a mis-sion to make our community cleaner and better for the next generation. They are planning on another litter cleanup in the spring. In photo, Ecology Club members Dominique, Vanessa, Lillian, Brady, and Brandyn.

Ecology Club Litter Pick-up

A Wonderful Winter Concert

By: Ann Montiel, Club Advisor


Basic Qualifi cations for Consideration

Athlete• A minimum of four years out of high school• Must have graduated from Center Moriches High School• Outstanding achievements as a Center Moriches athlete in high school, college, or professional level• Minimum of two years varsity competition

Coach/Administrator• Retired as a coach for at least three years while still employed as a teacher or administrator• Retired from employment as teacher, coach/administrator, eligible immediately

Honorary (Community Supporter of Athletics)• Signifi cant long-term contributions and support to the athletic program

Team• Minimum of ten years since team accomplishment

Specifi c criteria for selection

Athlete• Varsity level competition• Leadership • Impact on athletic program• Awards and/or honors – Minimum 2 Seasons/Sports All County Recipient• School, County or State record holder

Coach/Administrator• Outstanding contributions and impact to the Center Moriches athletic programs• Signifi cant accomplishments• Leadership• Served ten years or more

Honorary (Community Supporter of Athletics)• Same as Coach/Administrator

Teams• Awards and/or honors• School, County or State recognition

Nominations forms can be found in the main offi ces of Center Moriches HS, MS, and Clayton Huey and on the district website under Athletics - Hall of Fame. This recognition will be bestowed upon the recipients at Homecoming in 2014.

WANTED: 2014 ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS

Center Moriches Girls Varsity Soccer 2013

Megan Ricci #0Hannah Monell #1Janine Ratti #2Brittany Washburn #3Megan Murray #4Casey Luongo #5

Emily Fey* #6Alexandria Krauss #7Paige Volkmann #8Pam Schenck* #9Claire Brady* #10Sydney Nankervis #11

Catherine Nolan #12Christina Schumchyk #13Samantha Gangi #14Nicole Nohilly #15Nicole Mangialardi* #16Rose DeMuth #17

Sara Falvey #18Sarah Volkmann #19Brianna Washburn #20Catherine Ringhoff* #21 *Denotes Captain

Coaching Staff:Head Coach: Lea BradyAssistant Coach: Debbie SemisaManager: Jesse Sawyer

Long Island Champions


On December 10, 2013, the Fifth Grade Chorus enjoyed per-forming their Winter Concert for the residents at The Cedar Lodge Nursing Home. We were welcomed by the staff and sang to the residents who cheered and applauded the children. On December 16, the resi-dents came to Clayton Huey Ele-mentary to perform an exchange Holiday Concert for the chorus under the direction of Rick Tren-to, Director of Recreation, who formed the Choral Group. The seniors arrived in red choir robes

with bells on! The concert includ-ed a sing-along with the chorus. The students were im-pressed and shared, “It seemed that they got great joy by sing-ing for us. They were always smiling,” remarked Alyssa. “I thought it was very kind of them to give back to us and I appreci-ated their hard work,” shared Kayla and Caroline. We hope to make this an annual event to connect with our local Senior Citizens in such a special way. By: Virginia Mesiano, Chorus Director

By: Helen Fechter, PCHP Coordinator The excitement was mount-ing in the all-purpose room at Clay-ton Huey Elementary School. The children and their families, friends and guests were arriving for the an-nual Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) Holiday Celebration. On December 11, 2013, the room that was transformed into a winter won-derland for the occasion received over 125 guests. However, the one chair prominently position on the stage still remained unoccupied. This chair was reserved for a very special guest who would be arriv-ing soon with presents for every girl and boy. The anticipation was sim-ply overwhelming. The holidays come and go and, hopefully, with each season the experiences we share with friends and family become etched into fond memories that remain with us for a lifetime. The Parent-Child Home Program Holiday Celebration has become an annual experience that delights the young and warms the hearts of all thanks to the tremen-dous generosity and goodwill of so many wonderful contributors. The Center Moriches Junior and Senior High School students who volunteered at the event along with the Hospitality Club and their

advisor Ms. Lisa Hession, helped the children create crafts to take home, served refreshments, and captured special moments on cam-era. Ms. Susan Brubaker and her 5th grade Art Classes at Clayton Huey Elementary School loaned us the beautiful snowfl akes they made, adding enchantment to our winter wonderland. On behalf of the Parent-Child Home Program families, we wish to express our most sincere gratitude to all the volunteers and to the Holi-day Magic organization and spon-sors Bob Vlahakis and Drew Peters who with the St. Joseph Woman's and Westhampton Beach Men’s La-crosse teams brought holiday joy to so many children in our communi-ty. In addition, we would like to thank the Moriches Communi-ty Center for including us in their “Help for the Holidays” program and St. John’s Episcopal Church for their bountiful Thanksgiving Bas-ket donations. Throughout the year the Par-ent-Child Home Program prepares preschoolers with the skills to enter school ready to learn. It is the com-mitment to literacy and ongoing sup-port of the Center Moriches School

Board, President of the Board Wendy Turkington, Superintendent of Schools Russell Stewart, and Dep-uty Superintendent Lynda Adams that provides our fi ve dedicated home visitors the privilege of visiting with the families in the Program twice per week for a period of two years. The home visi-tors bring books and educa-tional toys to the children’s homes as tools to stimulate verbal interac-tion and build readiness skills. The Program is certifi ed by

the national Parent-Child Home Program, Inc. and fol-lows a research method of success developed and tested for over 40 years. The Center Moriches School District is pleased to be able to provide this early intervention pro-gram to the families in the Center Moriches School Dis-trict.

What better gift to give our children than the gift of preparing them with the skills necessary for life-long learning?

Center Moriches Schools Host Parent-Child Home Program Holiday Celebration

Sharing Through Music and Song

CM PTA - Look What’s Coming UP!

• BLOOD DRIVE – CLAYTON HUEYFEBRUARY 5th, 12 – 8PMAppointments available / Walk-ins welcome

• PTA MEETING – ADMIN BUILDING FEBRUARY 11th, 7PM

• MIDDLE SCHOOL BOOK FAIR MARCH 12th – 14th

• COMMUNITY GARDEN MARCH 22nd - More information to follow

• GLOW RUN - SATURDAY, MARCH 29thMore information to follow

• PTA SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION DEADLINE - APRIL 11th (Parent/Guardian of student must be a member as of January 1, 2014)

• MOTHER’S DAY TEA - SATURDAY, APRIL 26th

• PLANT SALE - MAY 8th AND 9thShould you have questions, please email Annette Rank at

[email protected]

From the Heart - 32nd Annual Jump Rope Breaks Record Clayton Huey Elementary School is participating in its 32nd Annual Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser. Each year, the Physi-cal Education classes work with the American Heart Association (AHA) to teach our students and the Center Moriches community how to prevent heart disease. The students discuss the three prevention factors of heart disease and stroke: 1) eat properly, 2) exercise regularly and 3) see your doctor and dentist regularly. This year, each student who raised a minimum of $5 received a duck attached to a lanyard and a duck sticker with his or her name on it. The stickers were placed in

the duck pond hanging in the Main Street Gym. We raised a record breaking $3,216.46. Congratulations to the second graders, who had the most students in the pond, and to the top fund-raisers: (Second Grade) Robert, Hannah, Victoria, Tori, James, and (Third Grade) Abigail, Liam, Jacob, and Jillian. We will be running Hoops for Heart in March for the third and fourth graders and will combine all grade levels to represent our schools total fund raising amounts for the Clayton Huey Elementary School. The Physical Education Staff thanks you for all your support.

By: Jacqueline Esp, Clayton Huey Assistant Principal

Clayton Huey Elemen-tary School takes the issue of bullying very seriously. In doing so we have “Teamed up against Bullying” in a week long series of activities that began on November 4, 2013. The program was facilitated by Ms. Esp, Ms. Fuggetta and Mrs. Damrau. Each day was a themed event that helped to raise awareness about bullying and focused on treating each other with respect. We kicked off the week with the students wearing their sneakers that represented “kicking out bullying.” On day two the students “band to-

gether” and wore their headbands or sweat bands. On day three and four the students wore their craziest

socks and their favorite team shirt. They all “band together” and told the bullies to “put a sock in it.” As

the week came to an end the students were asked to wear their favorite sweat clothes as it represented, “Don’t sweat the Bullies.” It is our goal to empower students to fi nd their voice and handle confl ict in a posi-tive way. If we work as one, we can eliminate bullying all together. We are look-ing forward to another week long series that will begin in the spring of 2014.

By: Ruth J. Cardone, Elementary PE Teacher

CM Teams Up Against Bullying

In photo, with T-shirt, are:

Michael Russo, Physical Edu-cation teacher,

Delaney, Andrew, Julia, Jonathan, Al-exandria, Pe-

ter, and Physi-cal Education Teacher Ruth

Cardone.

Volume 20 Number 2 February 2014


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