Today, we honor the veterans of our U.S. Armed Forces and extend our deepest gratitude for their service, courage and sacrifice.
Each of you has helped protect the freedoms we cherish every day. Thank you for your bravery, your resilience and your dedication to our country.
We owe you more than words can express.
We were honored to host Dr. Tyshawn Jenkins of the Wounded Warrior Project this morning in our District Auditorium.
Jenkins, now a captain in the Air National Guard, suffered physical injuries while serving overseas in Qatar in 2015.
One day, while inside an aircraft’s fuel tank making repairs, his ladder was moved — causing him to fall and badly injure his back. Though his physical wounds somewhat healed, his loss of trust in himself and others was difficult to overcome.
It was an invitation to attend a Veterans Day Parade with a friend that led Jenkins to the Wounded Warrior Project.
Being around other veterans helped him find the camaraderie he had been missing, feel honored for his service, and connect with people who truly had his back.
“It was one of the best experiences ever to see how veterans were celebrated,” Jenkins said. “Other warriors shared their stories and I shared mine. It allowed me to open myself up in a way that I had never done before and be transparent with people. It was a great experience.”
Jenkins shared his powerful message of overcoming obstacles with our middle schoolers, then participated in a Q&A session with students.
Fifth grade teacher Heather Smith was the driving force behind Jenkins’ Friday morning visit.
“Each Veterans Day I attempt to bring in different veterans organizations to speak to our middle schoolers,” said Smith. “It is important to me, as well as others on our faculty, to show gratitude, honor, and thank those who have served in the Armed Forces. They protect our freedoms with selfless service, with unwavering courage, and dedication to our nation and are the living, first-hand accounts of real history.”
The Wounded Warrior Project’s mission of honoring and empowering our nation’s wounded veterans is especially important to Smith, who hails from a long line of veterans.
“My Great-Grandpa Pixley was a Rough Rider during the Spanish-American War and the list goes on from all branches of the service. My favorite Veteran is my dad, William R. Smith, Jr. He served overseas in Vietnam with the Army until he was wounded on August 18, 1966,” Smith said. “If our students walk away from Dr. Jenkins’ visit today with a little more understanding, respect, and gratitude for our veterans then I feel that we’ve accomplished something worthwhile.”
Many thanks to all the veterans who came out to our Veterans Day Assembly yesterday down at Attica Elementary.
Our students and staff appreciated your presence and we appreciate your service!
This October, Sara Lewinski and her talented elementary school art students celebrated Farm to School Month in a creative and colorful way!
The students contributed to the school’s vibrant cafeteria hallways by creating a Farm Stand Mural, which helped bring the spirit of the farm to school program to life. In addition, they participated in a schoolwide Farm to School Logo Contest to create a new logo representing our efforts to connect students with local agriculture.
Students not only had the chance to showcase their artistic talents, but learned about the importance of Farm to School initiatives and how a well-designed logo can impact a program’s identity. The designs submitted were a true reflection of the creative potential of our student body, making the decision for a winner quite challenging!
In the end, Allison Houseknecht’s design stood out with its bright rays of sunshine and imagery of endless agricultural possibilities, symbolizing the hope and growth that Farm to School represents.
Congratulations to Allison! We can’t wait to showcase her artwork throughout our Farm to School program here at Attica Central Schools!
Thank you to all the students who participated and made this celebration a truly memorable Farm to School Month!
Ms. Alyssa Wright’s sixth grade career and technical education students greeted some special visitors this morning - a pair of 2-1/2-week old lambs Wright’s students have named Dippin’ Dots and Precioso.
Wright recently purchased the two lambs - one ewe and one ram - and brought them in for her students to study.
Students learned a bit about the lambs’ anatomy, then had a chance to feed them from a bottle using goat’s milk Wright had brought in from her family farm.
A great, hands-on learning experience for our students!
Shout out to our physical education students of the month for October - freshman Daniel Norcross and senior Robyn Szuniewicz!
Daniel and Robyn were selected for displaying positive behavior during physical education classes, showing a desire to learn new skills and putting forward their best effort 100 percent of the time.
They were presented with certificates (and Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards) in recognition of their selection.
Congratulations!
Join us in congratulating our October Middle School Students of the Month - Annabelle Kirsch, Madison Clark, Isabella Myers and Bryton Scripp!
Students are nominated for this recognition by their teachers for displaying character traits that shine within the classroom or school.
Annabelle, a fifth grader, was nominated by Mrs. Dominick and Mrs. George: “Annabelle is such a sweet person! She is cooperative and kind. She will do anything that is asked of her. She also advocates for herself and what she needs, which takes a lot of courage. Annabelle comes to classes prepared and ready to learn and is very hardworking.”
Sixth grader Madison Clark was nominated by Mrs. Glowney and Mr. Crowley: “She is so kind to every student and adult. She is working so hard, asks for help, and has set goals for herself.”
Isabella is a seventh grader and was nominated by Ms. Bauer: “She works hard and is resilient.”
Eighth grader Bryton was nominated by Mrs. Holt: “Bryton is acting with maturity and confidence in both his academic and social roles."
Congratulations to Annabelle, Madison, Isabella and Bryton - way to make Attica proud!
Mark your calendars, middle schoolers, because our National Junior Honor Society chapter’s Food Drive Dance is coming up!
The dance is open to Attica 7th and 8th grade students and will be held Friday, Nov. 22 from 7 to 9 p.m. in our Middle/High School Cafeteria.
Admission is 5 non-perishable food items such as canned fruit, soup or vegetables, dried fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, powdered milk or pasta.
Non-perishable food items must be dropped off in person to Ms. Heather Smith in room 230 by Nov. 20.
Our middle and high school students weren’t the ONLY ones to try out our new smoothie bike last week - our elementary schoolers got in on the fun, too!
Earlier this school year, Mrs. Kristin Janes’ kindergarten students and Mrs. Jessica Edwards’ fourth graders buddied up to plant a variety of leafy greens and other vegetables in our elementary school’s two grow towers, which students have lovingly named Norman and Nancy.
Students have been closely monitoring their vegetables' progress and, as it turns out, they were ready to harvest on Thursday, Oct. 31.
As Halloween isn’t exactly the BEST day to discuss healthy eating, Janes and Edwards decided to bring their students together on Friday, Nov. 1 to harvest their vegetables, blend up some smoothies and get back on track with their healthy lifestyles!
“We learned about the different food groups and how each food group helps our body,” said Edwards. “Then, my fourth grade class read a short nutritional text to their kindergarten buddy and discussed the kind of foods they like to eat.”
After a quick demonstration, Janes and Edwards called each buddy pair over for a turn on the smoothie bike while other pairs world on a craft with fruit and vegetable stickers.
Students were able to add some of the kale they’d harvested from Norman and Nancy to their smoothies too.
“Every student who tried the smoothies mentioned that they couldn't even taste the difference,” said Edwards. “We’re already brainstorming ideas for the next harvest!”
(Photos courtesy of Jessica Edwards)
When we chatted with her last week, Attica alum Katie Snyder (Class of 1992) said her goal was to complete the New York City Marathon in 4 hours and 39 minutes.
Well the results are in and Katie SMASHED that goal, completing the 26.2-mile race through New York’s 5 boroughs in 4 hours, 32 minutes and 56 seconds!
Congratulations, Katie - way to make Attica proud!
Students will have nachos grande with Burly Bros ground beef as an entree option tomorrow during lunch on our first New York Thursday of the month!
Our sixth graders had some fantastic, hands-on learning opportunities during their field trip to the Beaver Meadow Nature Center and Buffalo Audubon Society in North Java last Friday.
Students participated in three activities at the center.
First, students learned about the importance of shelter in outdoor survival situations before breaking into small groups to build a shelter of their own using trees, fallen branches and leaves.
Students also did a birding activity. They made hypotheses about what birds they would most likely see the most of in the area this time of year. Then, each student was given a pair of binoculars and taught how to use them before heading out with a guide to look for birds native to the area.
Finally, students were introduced to a screech owl named Zelda and learned about the bird’s anatomy, behavior and special super powers.
This experience supported student learning in their 6th grade science classes as they have been learning about the scientific method and weather.
(Photos courtesy of Ellie Durfee)
Students in Ms. Alyssa Allein’s first grade class practiced their sight words with third grade students from Mrs. Cheryl Allein’s and Mrs. Weber’s third grade class last week.
The buddies had a great time learning together!
(Photos courtesy of Alyssa Allein)
Mrs. Danahy’s 1st grade class learned about voting today.
Instead of candidates, students voted on their favorite cookie after taste testing chocolate chip and sugar cookies.
Students went into a voting booth, cast their vote and earned a voting sticker.
Then, students counted the votes together and created a bar graph to compare the cookies.
Chocolate chip won by a landslide!
(Photos courtesy of Marcia Danahy)
Join us in congratulating freshman Nola Clark, who represented Attica as a member of the New York State School Music Association’s Area All-State Symphonic Band this weekend at York Central Schools!
“Area All-State covers Genesee, part of Wyoming, Livingston and Monroe counties,” said Amanda Hofheins, Nola’s band director. “It is quite an honor to be selected to perform in this ensemble as selection is based on how well students performed at solofest last spring.”
Well done, Nola!
(Photo courtesy of Amanda Hofheins)
Each month, library media specialist Stacey Donahue tries to do a “This or that” activity in the High School Library where she asks students to vote which from a pair of related activities they’d prefer to do.
For October, it was whether to paint or carve pumpkins. Students voted throughout the month by dropping an orange or blue pom pom into a jar.
At the end of the month, the “painting” jar had amassed the most pom poms, so students stopped down at the library Thursday to paint their own pumpkins!
Shout out to A&A Maple for their generous pumpkin donation!
(Photos courtesy of Stacey Donahue)
Our fourth graders participated in an academic escape room yesterday!
After each academic task, students were able to “escape” each classroom and trick-or-treat to Mrs. Bennett, Mrs. Krawczyk, Nurse Dispensa, Miss Crowley and a grade level teacher.
Nothing like a little candy to serve as motivation!
(Photos courtesy of Jessica Edwards)
Our final featured Friday farm in honor of National Farm to School Month is Burley Berries & Blooms in Warsaw!
Owned and operated by Ryan and Megan Burley, Burley Berries & Blooms has many aspects to its business. It’s a boutique fruit and flower farm, a florist, offers a fruit and flower CSA, u-pick flowers and also operates a micro-creamery where Ryan and Megan produce a variety of flavored milks.
The Burleys have been big supporters of our food service department with Megan leading multiple professional development opportunities for our staff over the past year or so.
Thank you, Burley Berries & Blooms, for being such a fantastic partner!
On October 28, our Fresh Connections Club had an exciting Apple Adventure full of hands-on learning and tasty treats!
First, students learned how to peel, core, and cook apples, adding flavors like cinnamon or honey to make their own unique batch of applesauce to take home and share!
Then, to learn how to keep apples fresh, students tested lemon juice, salt water, and sugar water on apple slices, discovering which method worked best to prevent browning.
Shout out to Logan, for meticulously testing each browning method and sharing thoughtful insights; Jade, Shannon and Adriana who wowed everyone with their custom applesauce flavors and to Arley, who stepped up as a leader, helping younger students with safe peeling tips.
We love seeing our students excited about healthy snacks and food science!
Few shots from across our three school buildings yesterday, full photo album over on our Facebook page at the link below.
Congratulations to all our best costume winners and a huge thank you to all our teachers, staff and students who helped make it such a fun and memorable Halloween!
Link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=100057106403663&set=a.1064077965505740
