The LINK March 2013 - Albion Central School District

2ALBION CENTRAL SCHOOL --- Achievement, Character, and Success for Life!A Message from ourSuperintendent…The seasons are changing at Albion Central! That’s nota weather forecast, but recognition of the transition fromwinter athletics to the spring musicals and spring sports.Our winter sports season ended with the boys’ andgirls’ basketball teams hosting well-played sectionalcontests. Unfortunately, despite their strong efforts,neither team advanced in the sectional tournament.Albion was also represented at the Section VI wrestlingtournament as several grapplers competed and one moved on to the state qualifier. Springsports, despite the current weather, are just around the corner!The music and theater seasons are in full swing as well. Our Middle School dramaprogram takes the stage March 8 and 9 with “Schoolhouse Rock Live!,” while the HighSchool program produces “Beauty and the Beast” on March 22 and 23. The All-DistrictInstrumental Concert on March 13 and the annual Jazz Band Dinner Dance on March 16showcase our students’ musical talents. The Eastman at Albion Courthouse Series kicks offon March 10 with the ACS Flute Choir performing along with artists from the Eastman Schoolof Music.March also finds us celebrating the induction of new members of the National HonorSociety, hosting the Middle School’s annual Empty Bowls event, scheduling Middle and HighSchools Parent-Teacher Conferences, and registering next year’s Kindergarten and Pre-Kindergarten students. It is a busy month!While our students are involved in all of these events, personnel are busy “behind thescenes” with several other activities. The safety review we began after the Connecticutschool tragedy continues. Law enforcement and safety experts are reviewing their pastrecommendations. I fully expect that we will see changes in their guidance that we willimplement here that will change our procedures. We are moving forward with ourAPPR plan for teacher and principal evaluation that was approved by the State EducationDepartment. And, while budget is a year-round process for us, we have moved into high gearas we prepare the draft plan for consideration by the Board of Education and, ultimately, atthe polls, by district residents. We remain committed to implementing a plan that balancesthe needs of our students with the ability of our taxpayers to pay for the plan.As always, I encourage you to contact the appropriate person at school if you havequestions or need assistance. I look forward to seeing you at many of our spring events!Albion Middle SchoolArt Students present:The 4th AnnualEmpty Bowls EventTo Benefit the Food Pantry at Community ActionThu., March 21, 2013 • 5:30 - 7 p.m.(Doors open at 5 p.m. to choose a bowl)Albion Middle School Cafeteria • $5 donationYour $5.00 donation benefits the Community Action Food Pantry. It gives you admissionto our event, a student-made pottery bowl to keep, a simple soup and bread supper, and ashort student-led service-learning program about hunger in our community and the world.The student-created bowls serve as a reminder that many people live with empty bowls,empty stomachs, and a lack of food every day. Please come out to support the students’efforts and our local food pantry.Geography Bowl WinnersGeography Bowl is a program where students in grades 3, 4, and 5 study continents,countries, capital cities and geographical features of our world culminating in a Jeopardytypequiz-bowl competition. The goal is to challenge and motivate children to learn moreabout the world where they live and celebrate that learning with a fun quiz bowl. After thegrade-level competition, a championship team was named for each grade and from that teaman individual grade-level winner.In the classroom competition, Tyler Gibson, Leah Kania and Zoe Cusson from Mrs.Diebolt’s class won for the third grade. Chris Shabazz, Olivia Morrison and Hannah Brewerfrom Mrs. Kania’s class won for the fourth grade. Mrs. Monacelli’s class team consisting ofEthan Hryhorenko, Taylor Phillips, Kolin Vangorder, Michael DiCureia and Patrick Rickerwon the Geography Bowl for the fifth grade.Third-Grade Individual ChampionsPhotographs of StudentsDuring the school year, students may be photographed for use in school publications. Ifyou do not want your child’s photograph published, please call Mary Ann Donnelly at 589-2050 ext. 2990 or mdonnelly@albionk12.org.Albion Central School HostsFFA State ConventionBy Alison O’Hearn, Chapter Vice President(l-r) Reuben Rivers (3), Tyler Gibson (1), and Loran Reid (2)Fourth-Grade Individual ChampionsFFA Officers pictured (l-r) Alison O’Hearn, Abigail Maines, Mariah Pepe, Logan London, SaraMillspaugh, Riley Kelly, Elizabeth Bentley, Jenny McKenna.Don’t be alarmed when you see hundreds of students clad in blue corduroy jacketsinvading Albion in May. The FFA State Convention is coming to Albion! On May 2-4, theAlbion FFA will be hosting the 88th Annual New York State FFA Convention at the MiddleSchool and High School. This annual event is expected to bring more than 1,200 FFAstudents, 100 chaperones and advisors, 200 career development judges, 200 or moreparents and many farmers and other agribusiness people from all over New York State toAlbion for an unparalleled gathering of potential agribusiness leaders. Attendees will stay atthe various hotels in nearby Batavia. The three-day convention will consist of workshops,competition in career development events, community service, and tours of local farms andbusinesses. The Albion FFA members have been working hard to prepare for this uniquegathering and excitedly anticipate May.FFA Advisor, Adam Krenning said, “This is a huge undertaking. As you can imagine,there is a lot of planning and organizing that goes into hosting an event of this size. Itdefinitely keeps us busy and helps develop the leadership qualities in students that areparamount to our organization. We are grateful to the district and our FFA Alumni for theircontinued support. Our organization has been working on this event since the moment wefound out that it would be here in Albion.” If you would like more information, please emailAdam Krenning at akrenning@albionk12.org.(l-r) Kyle Woolston (2), Derek Osburn (1) and Chris Shabazz (3)Fifth-Grade Individual Champions(l-r) Ethan Hryhorenko (2), Conner Hollenbeck (1), and Taylor Phillips (3)The LINK March 2013