Attica Central School District

Dear Attica Central School Community, Please see the attached message from Superintendent Dr. Kiel Illg on the passing of a former Attica student.

We’d like to congratulate our teachers who were granted tenure at last night’s Board of Education meeting! • Gina Stefani, Elementary School Special Education Teacher • Courtney Staerr, High School Teaching Assistant • Jennifer Wiatrowski, 3rd Grade Teacher (not pictured) • Austin Matson, Districtwide Music Teacher (not pictured) (Photo courtesy of Jamie Niziol)

19 members of our Future Farmers of America chapter traveled to Buffalo last week for New York FFA’s 99th Annual State Convention. While they were there, our members got to enjoy Niagara Falls, the NY Power Vista, competitions, sessions, the expo, vendor bingo and workshops. We had many members compete, including two senior quiz bowl teams, one junior quiz bowl team, a maple team and a tool ID team. Congratulations to Tanner Day for placing 10th in the Maple Career Development Event and a special shout out to our senior quiz bowl team of Olivia Bernacki, Ruby Baratta, Ellie Gominiak and Brooke Luck for making it to the fourth round! During Friday's session our FFA Advisor, Mrs. Michelle Barber, received her Honorary Empire Degree for her years of service in Attica’s Ag program. While our FFA members only stayed in Buffalo one night, a few had the opportunity to ride back on Saturday to be recognized as an FFA Chapter of Distinction and watch Chapter Vice President Madelyn King receive her Empire Degree. Congratulations, Maddie! We are so proud of everyone's accomplishments over the past three days and we can’t wait to see what the 100th convention has in store for our chapter! (Photos courtesy of Ellie Gominiak and Attica FFA)

Have questions about our capital project proposal? Well our Superintendent, Dr. Kiel Illg and Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations Meaghan Matuszak have answers! They led a public presentation on our proposed capital project earlier this week. You can watch it at the link below! Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b5E8pWwJfQ

Did you miss our public budget hearing last night? Not to worry! You can watch the hearing over on our YouTube channel at the link below. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o16dek0pRlY

Our varsity tennis team put up a good fight against visiting Wheatland-Chili yesterday, but it was not to be. The Wildcats came out swinging, with Ethan Hallock topping Attica’s Joaren Anetrini 6-0, 6-0 at 1st singles and Eli Orloff getting the win over Jace Anetrini 6-1, 6-1 at 2nd singles. Our 1st and 2nd doubles teams of Elli Gominiak and Ruby Baratta and Zachary Richardson and Joseph Tarapacki fought hard, but similarly fell by scores of 6-1, 6-3 and 6-2, 6-1. Then there was Pedro Atensia at 3rd singles, the last Blue Devil standing and Attica’s only hope of avoiding a 5-0 sweep. Pedro dropped the first set, 3-6, to Wheatland-Chili’s Kyle Otto, before storming back to take the second, 7-5. The third set came down to a tiebreaker, which Pedro won 7-5 for the 3-set win.

PLEASE SHARE: Our public budget hearing is tomorrow - Tuesday, May 7 - at 6:30 p.m. in our Middle/High School Cafeteria, 3338 East Main Street Rd., Attica. In addition to providing information about the budget proposal, district representatives will give a presentation about the capital project and take questions. You can learn more about our 2024-25 budget proposal and capital project proposal at the links below. We hope to see you tomorrow night! Budget proposal link: https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/2319/ACSD/4270549/attica_budget_newsletter_FINAL_DRAFT.pdf Capital project proposal link: https://www.atticacsd.org/page/capital

We’ve got new Total Body Workout dates for the month of May. These classes are FREE and open to ALL staff and community members. Please see the attached form for available sessions. Use the link below to sign up or send an email to Laura O’Donnell at lodonnell@atticacsd.org. Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScuoCZ8g24DJyZ_Y092c7HCL6x2yvl2nfOdaLJZBcleCkTI2A/viewform

BREAKING NEWS out of Attica today - read all about it in the special edition of the totally real, not at all made up Blue Devils Bulletin below! All kidding aside, today, on National School Lunch Hero Day, we want to recognize the people who make sure our students have the delicious, nutritious food they need to learn day in and day out. A huge thank you to members of our Food Service Department - Kris Wicks, Amanda Brown, Amber Blaszak, Donna Sell, Jane Bartz, Jesse Fiegl, Kayla George, Laura Brueckman, Shawn Drysdale, Stacey Smith, Todd Ford and Kim Godwin - for all you do! And a shout out to our substitute food service staff - Brittany Sidell, Nicole Houseknecht, Jennifer Meyer and Rick Pestlin - who step in and keep our operations running smoothly whenever we need them. We appreciate you!

Our elementary school kiddos let members of our food service staff know how much they’re appreciated today for National School Lunch Hero Day! Mrs. Susie Baker’s class made a pizza banner to thank our food service staff for making their favorite foods while Mrs. Gina Stefani’s class delivered School Lunch Hero Survival Kits to help our heroes out when the going gets tough! (Photos courtesy of Sherry Bennett)

PLEASE SHARE: Our budget newsletter will be delivered in this weekend’s edition of the Attica Penny Saver. It contains important information about our district’s 2024-25 budget proposal and Capital Project 2024, both of which district residents will vote on May 21. You can also access the newsletter on our website at the link below. Link: https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/2319/ACSD/4270549/attica_budget_newsletter_FINAL_DRAFT.pdf

Good morning, Recently, we have had a change in leadership in our Special Education office. If you have any questions related to your child's special education program or questions related to our Special Education Program, please contact Sara Cropp at 585-591-0400 x 3009 or scropp@atticacsd.org. Thank you.

SAVE THE DATE: Our Scholastic Buy One-Get One FREE Book Fair is THIS MONTH in the Attica Middle School Library! Our fair begins Wednesday, May 15 and will run through Tuesday, May 21. You can check out the fair’s homepage, set up an eWallet for your student and review a digital flyer for featured fair titles at the links below! Fair homepage: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/atticamiddleschool?fbclid=IwAR2O8dUYsddO_OygwtX71QqdzEJ2BlBdJTwXk9T88_AJr7q_lmaI7DWIxsM_aem_AbTjEK01tWMFJF92Ih3lgmTYQdC6LKfkExFSfdqPhi45bjN_9audo9SqaLopEHRu_827Kc8q1PaXNiqkJsppJWGJ eWallet setup: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/content/fairs/hub/ewallet.html?fbclid=IwAR2evAnrRfZy99MJZJEp3FarCZ2k7Y_QYnT_gJNVgG03d2VXHvuFFByEDIc_aem_AbQoe7g_vPDly7aWZS29v9TF-Y6QZtNWqzb67mBBH7KZlkJCXfH_owfzW6L730GxndhHTJv5YRMnUayp6rOBQFgc Digital book flyer: https://bookfairsfiles.scholastic.com/homepages/flyer_bogo_middle/flyer_bogo_middle.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1J7VIFdPA1Hp0vlPSYvYPl-X1uwUROla9x1oa2TgIczsoGtu78-sJDuO4_aem_ATap-8JJ2ijUYb-HP1cUA4wmo9bpTGw7O_CCi2GdGhl-yoAaWsMou2oF_qHFBOwDJN5LSMoixtpISo9kHdTEAxjx#p=1

Stacey Donahue, our Middle School Library Media Specialist, is an Attica All-Star! Donahue was nominated for this recognition by Erin Holt, a middle school teacher. “I nominated her because of the way she is with students,” explained Holt. “ For example, a young lady in the 6th grade came into the library during 8th period the day before a science project was due. She was sheepish when she admitted to Stacey that she hadn't even started it yet. Without missing a beat, Stacey quickly said, ‘Alright, I've got some ideas. Let's see what we've got.’” Instead of wasting time chastising the student who was asking for help, recalled Holt, Donahue immediately jumped in to help. “Though I'm sure once the project was all set, she probably counseled her on time management,” added Holt. A fun fact about Donahue - she is, among many other things, the coach of our New York State champion Odyssey of the Mind team that will travel to Iowa State University next month to compete in Worlds! Congratulations, Stacey, on this well-deserved recognition and good luck next month in Iowa!

Earlier this month, our Future Farmers of America chapter hosted a luncheon for Attica FFA alumni that graduated in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s. The hope for the luncheon, said FFA Advisor Michelle Barber, was to fill in some of the missing information about the chapter's history and the types of events and projects that its members participated in decades ago. “We had 7 alumni attend the event in person: Walter "Bud" Youngers, Archie Snyder, Ike Boss, Nick Kirsch, Larry LaWall, Wayne George and Denny Kibler,” said Barber. “They answered a lot of questions from our FFA members and shared many interesting stories. One of the comments that was made the most often was the high regard they had for their Ag teacher, Mr. Floyd Macomber. Mr. Ike Boss also made sure to let us know that he is the oldest surviving Attica FFA alumnus at the very young age of 90!” Gaining a more robust understanding of the chapter’s history has been a recent point of focus for current FFA members. To that end, Chapter President Larissa Hyman and Vice President Madelyn King recently traveled to the Skilled Nursing Facility in Warsaw to interview Robert Calkins about his memories of Attica’s FFA when he was a member in the 1950s and to look through some old newspaper clippings Calkins had saved from that time. Another FFA alumni, Mike Raynor, recently reached out to our current chapter members from his home in Missouri. Raynor was the Attica FFA President in 1971 and sent us photos of his FFA jacket from the time. “It was such a fun event,” said Barber of the alumni luncheon. “The stories these gentlemen told were wonderful - it was such a pleasure to have them share with our current members what it was like to be part of such a great organization so many years ago.” (Photos courtesy of Michelle Barber)

Attica’s and Alexander’s varsity softball teams are teaming up for a 2nd Annual Softball Palooza Community Game! This is a great way for the Attica and Alexander teams and communities to come together, have some fun and support our softball programs! Palooza activities start Saturday, June 8 at 3 p.m. with the Community Softball Game set to begin at 5 p.m. To register for the community game, applicants must be 18 years old and an alumni, resident or staff member of the Attica or Alexander school districts. Attica residents must play on the Attica team while Alexander residents must play on the Alexander team. There is a $25 fee to register for the community game. The deadline to register is May 15. To register for the Attica team, send the information listed below in an email to Attica Softball Head Coach Lauren Kocher at lkocher@atticacsd.org. To register for the Alexander team, send the information listed below in an email to Alexander Softball Head Coach John Goodenbury at john.goodenbury@gmail.com. Registrants will be advised of payment options after emailing their information. Registration information* • Name • Email • Phone number • Shirt size *Please note in your email whether you’re a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, whether you have any veterans in your family and how many will be attending the game.

April’s almost over - can you believe it? That means our first New York Thursday of May is nearly upon us! Check out our May menu below to see what local grub we’ve got coming up this month!

FUTURE VIKING: This afternoon, Attica senior Joe Parkhurst signed his national letter of intent to attend Cleveland State University where he’ll compete in the Horizon League as a member of the university’s Division I Men’s Swimming & Diving Team. A member of Attica’s varsity swim team since he was in 8th grade, Joe ends his high school swim career as the most accomplished swimmer Attica has ever seen. He holds all or part of every school swim record except the 200- and 500-yard freestyle or, as Joe likes to call them, “those stupid long-distance ones.” This past season, Joe scored the most points in dual meets of any swimmer in any class in Section V and capped his career with a third place finish in the 50-yard freestyle and a 4th place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke at the New York State Swimming Championships in Ithaca. Congratulations, Joe, on this important and impressive step. We can’t wait to see what you do at the next level!

PLEASE SHARE: Attica’s Future Farmers of America chapter is hosting a workshop on berry growing Wednesday, May 15 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in our Performing Arts Center, 3338 East Main Street Rd., Attica. The workshop will be led by Don Gasiewicz, a natural resources and horticulture program manager with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Wyoming County. The workshop is free, though attendees are asked to register ahead of time. Use the link below to register or contact Gasiewicz directly at (585) 786-2251 or drg35@cornell.edu. Link: https://pub.cce.cornell.edu/event_registration/main/events_landing.cfm?event=BerryGrowerUpdate2024_256

Mamma mia - we almost forgot to share these from students’ trip to Shea’s Performing Arts Center earlier this month! A group of 50 junior and senior high chorus students and teachers headed to downtown Buffalo April 9 to catch a performance of the National Tour of the hit, Broadway musical and major motion picture, “Mamma Mia!” Shout out to Mr. Austin Matson for the photos!