Attica Central School District

Give it up for our spring Genesee Region Athletic Association All-Stars - all 17(!) of them! Girls Track and Field: Amy Ennis, Mariah Gorski, Anna Martino, Nichole Leitten, Bailey Nixon, Addyson Zawilski, Aleah Brauen and Blakely Pratt. Softball: Hailey Mills and Morgan Jackson. Golf: Luke Behrend. Boys Track and Field: Tim Lamparelli, Carter Gorski, Elijah Crandall, Taylor Zimmerman and Preston Bannister. Baseball: Justin Stockweather.

Exciting things are happening in our Farm-to-School Program! Thanks to a generous donation from the Wyoming County Youth Bureau, we’ve added a rain barrel to our school garden! Students in Ms. Alyssa Wright’s class, members of our FFA chapter and our Farm-to-School team have begun assembling the barrel. A special thank you to our intro to ag students for getting hands-on and assembling it themselves! We also want to give a big shoutout to Kelly Nickerson for her support and efforts in securing a grant from the Air & Waste Management Association – Genesee Finger Lakes Chapter. This project is another great step toward sustainability, conservation, and student-led learning. Stay tuned to see the barrel in action!

Chromebook Collection: As we approach the end of the year, we will be collecting student Chromebooks for the summer. Please help us by reminding your students that they need to have both their Chromebook and their charger ready to be turned in according to the following schedule. Thank you for your assistance in this matter. MS Grade 5: June 17 Grade 6: June 20 Grade 7: June 10 Grade 8: June 11 HS Grade 9: June 20 Grade 10: June 18 Grade 11: June 20 Grade 12: June 13

Fun day at Breezyhill Dairy for our 1st graders yesterday! Our students saw cows, chickens, took a tour of the farm’s milking parlor and went on a wagon ride - what’s not to like?! Full photo album over on our Facebook page at the link below. Link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=100057106403663&set=a.1221128789800656

June is National Dairy Month and to celebrate, Attica Elementary School is welcoming guests to the library media center this week for a series of read alouds with our kiddos! We stopped by this morning for McKenna Almeter’s read aloud to Mrs. Sue Wangelin’s 2nd grade class. A senior in our high school, McKenna boasts an impressive agriculture pedigree as, in addition to raising lambs, she also works on her family’s 6th generation dairy farm, Breezyhill Dairy, in Strykersville. McKenna read two books aloud this morning - “Tales of the Dairy Godmother: Chuck’s Ice Cream Wish,” by Viola Butler, and “Right This Very Minute: A Table-to-Farm Book About Food and Farming,” by Lisl Detlefsen. As it turns out, McKenna’s younger brother, Zander, is in Mrs. Wangelin’s class which just HAPPENED to have library during McKenna’s read-aloud time. It was a fun surprise when the two saw each other in the library! A huge thank you to Attica Partners for Agriculture for working with our local ag community and helping line up a terrific slate of readers who’ve been sharing their passion for dairy with our youngest students!

Our varsity track and field athletes traveled to Sodus last week to compete in the Section V Class C2 Track & Field Championships. Our boys team placed 4th overall. Leading the way were Preston Bannister and Elijah Crandall, both of whom earned sectional patches - Preston in pole vault after clearing a height of 13 feet and Elijah in the pentathlon with a score of 2,669 points. Other top finishers for the Blue Devils were: • John Alfiero, who took 4th in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:41.02. • Tim Lamparelli, who took 2nd place in shot put with a throw of 47 feet, 6.5 inches and 4th in the discus with a throw of 138 feet, 3 inches. • Taylor Zimmerman, who took fourth in shot put with a distance of 41 feet, 3 inches and 7th in the discus with a throw of 119 feet, 10 inches. • Carter Gorski, who took second in high jump, clearing 5 feet, 11 inches. Our girls team finished 5th. Our 4x100-meter relay team of Jaslynne Watts, Amy Ennis, Nichole Leitten and Blakely Pratt had one of the day’s best performances for the Blue Devils as they broke Attica’s school record and took 3rd in the event with a time of 51.93. Other point scorers for our girls team were: • The 4x400-meter relay team of Nichole Leitten, Amy Ennis, Bailey Nixon and Aleah Brauen, which took 3rd with a time of 4:17.86. • Aleah Brauen, who took 3rd in the 400-meter run with a time of 1:02.05. • Natalie Dobbs, who placed 4th in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 5:24.55. • Nichole Leitten, who took 3rd in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 11:11.10. • Bailey Nixon, who took 3rd in the 2,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:08.65. • Jaslynne Watts, who took 6th in the long jump with a distance of 15 feet, 7 inches. • Anna Martino, who took 6th in the triple jump with a distance of 32 feet, 3.25 inches. • Lauren Nelson, who took 3rd in pole vault, clearing a height of 9 feet, 6 inches. • Addyson Zawilski, who took 4th in the pentathlon with 2,125 points. Congratulations to our track and field athletes on a strong sectionals showing! And a huge thank you to Attica junior Robert Beck, who traveled to Sodus alongside our athletes and captured the incredible photographs you see in this post.

Shout out to junior Avery Schmidbauer and sophomore Lauryn Wescott, who graduated from the Wyoming County Youth Leadership Academy last night in Varysburg! An offering of the Business Education Council and Wyoming County Youth Bureau, the Academy aims to develop leadership skills within the area’s youth through hands-on experiences. Participants meet up several times throughout the school year for sessions centered on different leadership topics that also include opportunities for participants to hear from local business owners and entrepreneurs about career opportunities available in Wyoming County. Congratulations, Avery and Lauryn!

This past Friday, our students participated in a fun and delicious taste test right in their buildings — and the items were an absolute hit! Thanks to Kay Foods, an Albany-based company known for their high-quality K-12 products, our students got to try exciting new items like Sunrise Waffles, made out of carrots, cheese omelets, made with New York-produced eggs, crispy onion rings and broccoli nuggets that had everyone asking for more. We love providing opportunities for our students to explore healthy and tasty menu options, and we can’t wait to see what comes next! (Photos courtesy of Alicia Spoth)

Little sun, little kickball, little food - not a bad senior picnic! (Photos courtesy of Sheryl Travis and Matt Struzik)

Congratulations to our Middle School Students of the Month for April! Savannah Vetter is our Student of the Month for 5th grade. Savannah is described by her nominator, Mrs. Krystal Dominick, as a kind, empathetic young lady who cares about others and their well-being. “She is a hard-worker, always putting forth effort to do her best,” said Dominick. Eva Cook, our Student of the Month for 6th grade, was nominated by Mrs. Melissa Mitchell, who called her a conscientious student. “She works really hard and is good at advocating for herself when she needs it,” said Mitchell. “I couldn’t be prouder of the tremendous progress she has made this year!” Garth Ralston was nominated by Ms. Melanie Nowak as our Student of the Month for 7th grade. “Garth is a great student, friend, always wears a smile, and works hard,” said Nowak. “He cares about others and brightens the days of teachers and peers.” Nowak also nominated our 8th grade Student of the Month, Shawn Piorun. “Shawn is a wonderful, respectful young man. He works hard and treats others with kindness and respect,” she said. “He is patient with others in class and works to build connections with peers and teachers.”

Our Attica Blue Devils are at it again! Mrs. Jill Pierce’s class stocked the Farm Stand today with fresh, local products from Fenton’s Produce in Batavia. We’ve added rhubarb, asparagus, lettuce, and potatoes — all ready for you to enjoy! Thank you to our awesome students for keeping the stand full and fresh. We can’t wait to see what goodies come our way later this week for the next restock. Stay tuned! (Photos courtesy of Jill Pierce)

As we wrap up the school year, we just couldn’t pick one Food Service All-Star — because this month, our entire Food Service Team deserves to step out into the spotlight! In these final days of the 2024-25 school year, this incredible crew has gone above and beyond — serving students with care, supporting special events, and working together to finish the year strong. Their dedication and teamwork have brought magic to every meal. To celebrate, the team enjoyed an end-of-year ice cream social and some well-deserved laughs with Paper Plate Awards — a fun recognition of the joy they bring to one another! Thank you to every one of our Food Service All-Stars - we’re grateful for each member of this amazing team. It’s been a privilege to celebrate them all year long and we are lucky to have such hardworking, compassionate staff feeding and caring for our Attica students. If you see one of these fantastic team members in the coming days, be sure to say thank you — they’ve more than earned it!

Thanks to everyone who participated in our first grade family paint night Friday at Attica Elementary! And a huge shout out to our own artist extraordinaire, Mrs. Sara Lewinski, for leading the painting! (Photos courtesy of Sherry Bennett)

FUTURE PIONEER: This afternoon, senior Nolan Rzepka signed his National Letter of Intent to attend Alfred State College this fall! Nolan plans to study cybersecurity at Alfred a play soccer for the Pioneers, who compete in the NCAA Division III State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC). Nolan was a three-year varsity member and two-year starter at goalkeeper here in Attica. During his senior season this past fall, he recorded 1,240 minutes between the posts for the Blue Devils, making 83 saves and allowing just 36 goals to earn an Exceptional Senior recognition. Congratulations, Nolan!

Given the fact that our elementary school food service staff started the day off with a 10-lb bucket of maple cream courtesy of Merle Maple and ended the day with 8, 1-oz containers of it left, we’re going to go out on a limb and say our Merle Maple Cream taste test was a hit with our elementary schoolers!

Mrs. Kristin Janes’ kindergarteners are in the midst of an alphabet countdown to the last day of school. Today was ‘F’ so to mark the occasion, Janes’ kindergarteners got together with their 4th grade buddies in Mrs. Jessica Edwards’ class and headed outside to help Ms. Brooke Schery plant flowers in our elementary school’s beds, pots and planters! They look great and are sure to brighten many a morning as summer approaches! (Photos courtesy of Kristin Janes and Brooke Schery)

Your Attica Blue Devils have quite the drive ahead of them Thursday afternoon as they travel to Sodus for the Section V Class C2 Track & Field Championships! Both squads are coming off successful outings at the Genesee Region Athletic Association Championships last week in Holley as our girls team captured its 5th consecutive GRAA title and our small but mighty boys team took 3rd. In Sodus, our boys team will be seeking its 3rd sectional title in the past 4 years while our girls team will be seeking its 4th title in the past 5. Events start at 5 p.m. at Sodus High School, 54 Mill St. Tickets are $7.30 and can be purchased online through GoFan at the link below. You got this, Blue Devils. Bring home that brick! Link: https://gofan.co/event/3573377?schoolId=NYSPHSAAV&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=rst&referrer_name=activity_scheduler&utm_campaign=rst_schedule_page

We are hiring for a substitute cleaner position. See the flier below for more information and visit the 'Open Positions' section of our website at the link below for application instructions. Link: https://www.atticacsd.org/page/open-positions

Our 4th graders were hard at work this morning, advertising the Maple Cream taste test tomorrow during lunches down in the elementary school! A huge shout out to our local provider, Merle Maple, for the sure-to-delicious maple cream - we (and our students) can’t wait to give it a try! (Photos and footage courtesy of Jessica Edwards)

Our 7th graders took a field trip to Letchworth State Park on Thursday, where they explored the natural environment and the rich history of the region. Their day included guided visits to the Letchworth Museum, Council Grounds, the Middle Falls and Upper Falls, learning about Mary Jemison, indigenous American life in the area and the contributions of the Civilian Conservation Corps to the park and surrounding region. In the afternoon, students visited the Humphrey Nature Center, walked the Autism Nature Trail, and participated in a nature scavenger hunt around the Trout Pond (with a quick roll down the hill at the Trailside Lodge). These activities helped students apply what they’ve been learning about in science and social studies, particularly in the areas of ecology, conservation and local history. The trip gave students a chance to connect classroom learning with real-world experiences in a meaningful and engaging way! Full photo album over on our Facebook page at the link below. Link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=100057106403663&set=a.1212452694001599 (Photos courtesy of Janelle Bauer and Katie Kelsey)