SUMMER 2008 - Taconic Hills Central School District

WHAT IT TAKES:FIVE TH GRADS FACE THEFUTURE AND THE PAST4KRISTEN DAVENPORT“I’ve had a busy 18 years…”TH salutatorian Kristen Davenport lives on a140-acre farm in Ancramdale. The farm is managedby Kristen’s parents, her sister and whateverhelp they can get—currently a summering college student.Kristen, who keeps a pet goat named Charisma, can doalmost any chore that needs doing on the farm. But in thefall she won’t be there. She’ll be a freshman at Tufts.Will she miss the farm and family?“Ask me in six months,” she says. “Right now myexcitement is outweighing any potential feelings of homesickness.I really enjoy trying new things.”People who know Kristen know that she has been ubiquitousduring her school career. But a great deal of herenergy has gone into the farm and into another endeavorin which she has achieved remarkable success. She is thereigning New York State Dairy Princess. There’s only oneof those, and she’s it.“It’s pretty exciting,” she says. “First, I became theColumbia County Dairy Princess. You get nominatedand run for it and go through a series of challengesand tests. Then the 36 county dairy princesses competeagainst each other.”She went to Liverpool, a “charming” suburb ofSyracuse, for the competition. A panel of judges scrutinizedthe princesses.“They watched your every move. They made sure youknew your stuff.” She gave a prepared speech, was interviewedand took another series of tests.“On the night of the actual pageant, we all wore whitedresses—this thing is 60 years old, you have to understand.The top seven semi-finalists were chosen and we each hadto give an extemporaneous speech. Eventually, they choseme.” She recently went to Albany and was introduced tolawmakers and state officials in her new capacity.At Tufts, a school full of elite students from around theworld, will she be the only dairy princess?She laughs. Interviewed on a warm June evening, sheseems both excited and tired. Since the end of classes, shehas been putting in hard work on the farm and doing alittle reflecting.“During school, Dad takes it pretty easy on us. Butwe’ve always been pretty busy the rest of the time.”In fact, she likes a fast pace. “I’ve had a busy 18 years…I definitely function better that way and don’t do well havingnothing to do.”When interviewed, she was thinking about her salutatorian’saddress.“I’ve been thinking about how students and teachersboth learn at the same time. I look back on my years atTaconic Hills and realize what a great run I’ve had withteachers. There have been so many that I will alwaysremember. I think that really matters.” ▲

Around graduation time, the Titan Herald talks to some notable high school graduatesabout their experiences in school and plans for the future. There are always manymore interesting students than space in which to profile them. Here, in alphabeticalorder, are five recent grads, including this year’s class valedictorian and salutatorian,Raja Pillai and Kristen Davenport. Several of the graduates posed for photographswith the animals in their life.LUCAS DEFIORES“I’m the odd one, the onesurrounded by fields.”Lucas Defiores’ older brother and sister were born inNew York City. Then his family moved to CopakeLake and a house that had once belonged to hismother’s grandmother. Lucas was born and raised in a differentworld than his parents and siblings, and he took toit immediately.“My sister is now living in Manhattan working as ateacher. My brother is a computer technician. He’s becomingmore of an urban person. He tried horse riding once and gotbitten. He stopped with horses immediately.”Lucas started riding horses at age five and never stopped.“You could say I’m very much a part of this area. Andhorse riding is a big part of that. I just enjoyed being aroundanimals and being outside from the beginning.”At 14, he was able to try Western style riding at BerkshireFarm Center, where his mother was working. There he metCharles Sampson, an African-American rodeo pioneer. Twosummers ago, Lucas began working at Sky Farm in Copakein exchange for riding time. He loves both the work and theendless trail riding he can do in the winding, twisting hillsnear Copake.“I started working two days a week, then four, five daysa week. This summer I’m working seven days a week andactually getting paid.”He works out the horses on the farm, cares for the animalsand their stalls.In the fall, Lucas is entering a two-year program atSUNY Cobleskill that will lead him either to Cornell orTufts in a veterinarian program. From his work at the farmhe got to know vets in the area. A good science and mathstudent, and already sold on animals, Lucas felt his calling—andwas happy to be able to stick with the sciences.He has been able to spend time with local vets and observesurgeries and births.“I saw a cow’s uterus. That was very cool. I started to helpout more and more. And it kept getting more and more interesting.And at work at the farm I started to realize what wasat stake in areas like disease prevention.”An Eagle Scout, an active member of St. Bridget’s Churchin Copake Falls, Lucas has made time to do volunteer workin the community, including teaching a three-year-oldgirl how to ride a horse. He was also an avid memberof the school jazz band and was the proud recipientof Mr. Russell’s “Woody Herman Award” for musicalleadership. He plays the trumpet, guitar and a littlepiano, saxophone and clarinet.“School was good to me. I liked most of my teachersand tried not to fight it… My mom has helped me alot,” he said. “My whole family has helped me. I’m theodd one, the one surrounded by fields, and they’ve beenall right with that.” ▲5

6GARY MASON“Everyone was there.Family, friends. It felt good.”When Gary Mason receivedhis high school diploma inlate June, he was 20 yearsold. Academics might come easy tosome students; none of it was evereasy for him. Repeatedly, he hadto take classes over again: when hefailed a class, he signed up to take itagain. Two moves and two separatehouseholds complicated the matter.He was at Ichabod Crane until 7thgrade. He was in the Hudson schoolsystem for two years; then came toTaconic Hills in 2003. But through allthe ups and downs, moving betweenhis father and mother and sharing lifewith three sisters, Gary kept working.What might have been an incentivefor another student to drop outdid not seem to phase him. He neverconsidered quitting.“I just kept trying,” he said.“There was a time when I didn’t likedoing my homework. But then I realizedthat I just had to get it done.I didn’t consider dropping out thewhole time.” At several points duringhis academic career, he told guidancecounselors that his plan was to graduate.“I’m going to stay here until Ido it,” he said.In fact, Gary really liked being inschool. He liked the people he metand the social interactions.“I always hung out with lots ofdifferent people. I wasn’t in any onegroup. It wasn’t that big a problemfor me that I was older than otherstudents in my grade. I liked to helppeople when they were having problems—thekind of problems everyonehas.”Gary felt that a lot of people supportedhim in his effort to graduate.“All my teachers were supportive. Mymath teacher, Mrs. Wolfert, helpedme a lot. She always seemed to knowwhat was going on with me and didn’tjudge me. I felt like all my teacherswanted to see me do well.”Gary took several classes twice inorder to pass them. He repeated 7thgrade. He kept working and keptengaging with his fellow students.Before graduation ceremonies, ateacher said of him: “He’s someone I’llbe cheering for when he walks acrossthe stage.”Now, having made a hard climb toa high school diploma, Gary is givingthought to the future. He conceives ofgoing to college next year. He thinksabout a career as a paralegal, or inreal estate: using his natural sense ofease with people. First, he’ll look for ajob that pays enough to buy a car andget around.After graduating in June, Gary saidhe was the guest of honor at a bigfamily party at his uncle’s house inGermantown.“Everyone was there. Family,friends. It felt good,” he said. ▲RAJA PILLAIRaja Pillai is going to Yale inthe fall. The goal is discovery.like to be a researcher. I’dlike to pursue a career that“I’dwill help people. I’d like tohelp discover a cure for autism,” RajaPillai says, knowing full well the vastnessof the task. “My brothers and Iwent to New Haven 12 years ago tobe part of a research study. Now I’mgoing back as a student. It seems almostpoetic, as if my life were a story.”Raja’s brothers, Nitya and Satya,are both autistic. Raja describes thefeeling that comes when you live physicallyand emotionally close to someonebut sense an unbridgeable distance.“I don’t know what Satya hearswhen he hears music,” Raja says byway of example. “I have no idea whathe’s thinking when I talk to him.” Atthe same time, he senses autistic qualitiesin himself.“Socially, I’m not good at pickingup cues. I can’t understand humor. Ifsomething is said sarcastically, I usuallydon’t get it. I don’t feel I expressmyself very well at all.”It seems a contradiction that Raja,among his many accomplishments,has excelled in performing in schoolplays and Shakespeare productions as

part of the Shakespeare & CompanyFall Festival.“For me, theater is a way of takingyour mind off things. It’s fun tobecome another character.”Raja’s friends know that he has analter ego, Professor Legume. At a summerart camp, he made a film aboutthe professor: “Legumaniac.”School has not always been smoothsailing. There were social issues in 9thand 10th grade; he often felt like anoutcast. There was a divorce. Butthings got better. He lost weight,played competitive tennis and swamand found self-confidence. He now hasa close circle of friends and performsjazz music—he plays the tromboneand whatever other unusual instrumentshe can get his hands on—andlistens to classical music at his homein Copake. Last fall, Raja became oneof a few hundred students in the entirecountry to win a full college scholarshipthrough QuestBridge, a highlycompetitive entrepreneurial collegematchingprogram. This autumn, hewill leave Copake for the Ivy League.“When I started the applicationprocess, I didn’t think that was possible,”Raja says. “I just thought itwas worth a shot. When I got theletter, I was literally jumping up anddown and whooping… Lately I’vebeen thinking about the fact that I’llbe going to school with some of thevery brightest, most brilliant teenagersin the country.”“I am looking forward to it. But I amgoing to miss it here. I know I’ll comeback and see how everyone is doing. “This summer, he hopes to land a jobon a county road crew, hang with hisfriends and perform with his pick-upjazz band. ▲STEPHANIE YAKIR“What I always likedabout school was thelearning part.”How many TH students graduatewithout a computer athome, parents who speakthree languages between them and onegoal above all: to become a mad scientist?Stephanie Yakir qualifies. Hermother was born in Russia and immigratedto the U.S. when she was 30. Herfather was born in Italy and left at age20. When asked what language is spokenat her home, Stephanie answers:“Mostly really bad English.”In this age of technology, how didshe manage without a computer athome? “I spent every possible freeminute in the library,” she replies.Stephanie is ready to go—to leavethe family home outside of Philmontand begin a new chapter in her lifeat Drexel University, where she plansto pursue a career in biological sciences…on her way to becoming amad scientist.“I used to live in Brooklyn,” shesays. “We came here when I was 10. Itwas a culture shock. But it was actuallymore diverse here than where Iwas going to school in Brooklyn. Myparents were very protective in NewYork. I went to a small Lutheran privateschool and my parents didn’t letme go out on the streets.”How did she fare socially when shestarted school at Taconic Hills?“Pretty badly,” she said. “I was ahorrible misfit for most of elementaryschool. It got better halfway throughfreshman year. I guess I finally metthe right group of friends. They’rediverse. And I did different clubs—I was a misfit again at field hockeyfor a year. I learned to come to termswith being a misfit.” She sounds a littleproud of it.The constant in her life was anabiding sense that she not only had tosucceed academically at high school,but that she would be going on tocollege.“My parents talked about it allthe time. Education was stressed constantly.”Stephanie began to thrive in herjunior and senior year. She tookAP classes and college coursesoffered through Columbia-GreeneCommunity College.“The students in those classesreally wanted to be in those classes.What I always liked about school wasthe learning part.”She knows that more learning isahead of her and she chose Drexel notonly for its academic excellence in thesciences but because it is in a big city;she’s frankly anxious to get away.Meanwhile, for the summer, shewill be manning her register at theHillsdale IGA, earning money forcollege.Her parents are giving her a laptopcomputer as a graduation gift. ▲7

MOVING UP!MOVING UP On June 26, twodays before High School graduation,131 Middle School studentshad their chance in theP.A.C. to celebrate “moving up”into high school. Sandy Baker, amiddle school aide, helped the8th graders get ready. TH Boardof Education President RonaldMorales gave out Certificatesof Completion. And the 8thgrade chorus performed for thecrowd.8

MEV: GUIDING STUDENTSFOR 30 YEARSThis summer, guidance counselor Mary ElizabethVincent is retiring from Taconic Hills after 30 years.When she started, she split her time between TaconicHills, working out of a small room near the cafeteria atthe Ockawamick building, and New Lebanon. As shebecame a full-time counselor at Taconic Hills, she alsoacquired the nickname “MEV.”“That was started by the late Joseph Collins, abeloved history teacher here from 1976 through themid 1990s,” she said recently. “Since my name waslong, I always signed memos with my initials. He beganteasing me with MEV. It stuck!”(continued on next page)LOOKING BACK Mary ElizabethVincent, whose husband grew up ona farm not far from the Taconic Hillscampus, has been a TH guidancecounselor since 1978. In recent years,she has shared grades 10–12 dutieswith Kimberly Carlo while WendyWarfield works with 8th and 9th gradestudents.9

MEV: GUIDING STUDENTSFOR THIRTY YEARS (cont.)10One of the many things that a guidance counselor does is help the principalput together the master schedule. When Mrs. Vincent began her career, thiswas done by hand.“We filled out these ‘bubble sheets,’” she remembered. “We made all thesecareful marks on sheets of paper and then we had to send it up to BOCESto have a schedule generated. Inevitably, we were always pressed for time. Iremember filling out the bubble sheets with Bob Inglis, who was the directorof guidance, and Bea Snow, the secretary. Then one of us would get in acar and rush up to Albany. Then we’d wait anxiously for a courier to bringit back. I can’t remember how we made changes to the schedule afterwards.Probably by hand. At Christmas time, when there is always a lot of paperworkto do, everything would get bunched up at the typewriters and wewould all pitch in to get it done.”Some things, she said, haven’t changed. “To me, kids are still kids. Theycome in as 14 or 15-year-olds and leave as young adults. It’s quite a transformationand it’s four very quick years that we know them. One of the best partsof my job is staying in touch and hearing about their accomplishments.”Some students, she said, manage to sail through high school. Others comethrough “with a few nicks and bruises.”“Kids haven’t changed as much as the world around them has,” she said.“Besides obvious things like technology, the standards for graduation havebeen raised repeatedly. For some students, the challenge has gotten more difficult.Fortunately, we have a strong, caring faculty that has surrounded studentswith academic support and created new programs to help students earna Regents Diploma.”Her idea of an effective guidance counselor is someone who gets to knoweach student as a freshman and then becomes a “case manager” for them duringhigh school, making sure they take classes that are right for them, thatthey are challenged, that their schedules work and eventually, for those goingon to college, that they find a good match for their next educational step andget their applications out in time. She provides letters of recommendation tocollege-bound students.Now, Mrs. Vincent looks forward to playing golf, traveling and visiting hertwo grown sons. A native of Hudson who went to college in New York Cityand had her first teaching job in the Bronx, Mrs. Vincent can close her eyes andremember many faces and voices.“It’s a nice thing about this school that we really do get to know each student.We go through a lot together. Kids and families face big choices. There arelosses and crises where our job becomes to help hold the community together.As counselors, we’re the face of the district and I’ve always thought that is aserious role.”“There’s been a lot of personal contact in my career. I’m going to miss thatvery much.” ▲ON THE COVER Philmontnative Robert Lachance wasone of 139 TH seniors tograduate with a high schooldiploma in June. Always astrong student in math andsciences, Robert sought outa higher academic challengeby attending the New VisionsScientific Research and WorldHealth Program throughQuestar last year, commutingdaily to East Greenbushwhile finishing one class atTaconic Hills. This fall, Robertwill be attending ColumbiaUniversity’s Fu FoundationSchool of Engineering andApplied Sciences in New YorkCity.

High School art teacher Nancy Andell had her students use the schoolas a backdrop for their work. Sheena Baird juxtaposed some windowgeometry against the flowering school courtyard. Amanda Adornetto took aphoto of her friend Rebecca Maben through the folded cafeteria partitions;both photographs were developed and printed in the school darkroom.In Zachary Borge’s studio art class, 9th grader Blair DelDucco was inspiredto create this graphic piece on paper by her fondness for drama club. Thework is interesting to view from every direction.TH ART GALLERY11

CLEANING UP Studentsgave elementary aide ColleenMiller a hand in moving booksat the end of the school year.Groundskeeper Ronald Ernstworked on the landscapingaround the school.September 1September 2September 3Labor DaySuperintendent’s Conference DayNo School for StudentsClasses BeginSeptember 16 Middle School Grades 5–8Open House 6–8 p.m.September 17 Elementary School Grades K–4Open House 6–8 p.m.September 18 High School Grades 9–12Open House 6–8 p.m.October 13October 20Columbus DayNo School—District ClosedDATES TOREMEMBERSuperintendent’s Conference DayNo School for Students12THE TITAN HERALDis published by theTaconic Hills Board of EducationEditor: John SlotePhotographers: David Lee,Brodie KramerDesign: Toelke AssociatesPlease address correspondence to:The Titan Heraldc/o Taconic Hills School District73 County Route 11ACraryville, NY 12521TACONIC HILLSCENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT73 County Route 11ACraryville, NY 12521Please deliver to…BOXHOLDER—ORRURAL ROUTE RESIDENTof the Taconic Hills Central School DistrictNON-PROFITORGANIZATION U.S.POSTAGE PAIDHUDSON, NY 12534PERMIT #211