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Sullivan County's most populous public school system is full of inspiring, intriguing tales of innovation and education. Check out all that's going on inside our latest School Scene!
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School SceneA l o o k a t a c t i v i t i e s i n t h e M o n t i c e l l o C e n t ra l S c h o o l D i s t r i c t
A S p e c i a l S u p p l e m e n t t o t h e S u l l i va n C o u n t y D e m o c ra t
SECTION M,
OCTOBER 6, 2015
CALLICOON, NY
2M MONTICELLO SCHOOL SCENE SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT MONTICELLO SCHOOL SCENE 3M
Where the most important lesson is ‘education = opportunity’Seventeen-year-old Arianna Gial-
aboukis got paid to work at herschool district this past summer
because Monticello school officialsare passionate about creating “life-ready” students.
This school year, 56 Monticello HighSchool students will join in the newpaid internship program that inviteskids to work in the district’s buildingsand grounds department, at the mainoffice, with the principal, as lab assis-tant for the science department, inthe arena of food and hospitality, andfor the technology department.
“It’s a win-win,” said High SchoolPrincipal Stephen Wilder. “They getpaid [$8.75 per hour, minimum wage]and build their resumés. They gainexperiential, hands-on doing. Theydevelop valuable skills for the future.
“And,” he added, “we are benefitingby having the student perspective.This summer, I was blown away bythe students’ professionalism.”
Superintendent of Schools TammyMangus makes the district’s overallmission crystal clear: “At every grade
level, we need to give students thetools they need to move forward.”
SCHOOLING MATTERS
Education is the most powerful
weapon you can use to change theworld, said South African hero NelsonMandela, and Superintendent Man-gus continually brings home thatmessage: that education is the onlything in the world that will save a life.
Without education, people can lan-guish in a hopeless cycle of poverty,she said. Conversely, educationequals opportunity.
“That’s why we do what we do –because education equals opportuni-ty,” said Mangus. “That ‘why’ affectsall our decisions and actions.”
For example, Assistant Superin-tendent for Administration CatherineParsons, hired last year, makes surethat district policies, plans and proce-dures mesh with the mantra: “Doesthis program develop opportunitiesfor children?”
Even in hiring new staff, the missionstands out front and center.
“We’ve developed a new rubric forhiring,” said Parsons. “We ask: whyMonticello? Why do you want to come
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4M
Paid student intern Arianna Gialaboukis chats with High School Principal Stephen Wilderabout the new program to build up students’ work and career readiness skills.
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here?”The evaluation tool quizzes job
candidates not only on their skillsand experience but also on the “soft-er” skills such as their ability to col-laborate, their connection to thecommunity, their concept of self aslearner, how they view challenges,and how they tweak difficult situa-tions to resolve them.
On the financial side of life at theschool district, Assistant Super -intendent for Business Lisa Failla“keeps us fiscally responsible,” saidMangus.
Newly arrived this year, Faillaworked 14 years for the RoscoeCentral School District as businessmanager.
“Public tax dollars support our pro-gram, and my job is to make sure weare open and transparent in spend-ing money,” said Failla. “I focus onbudgeting towards the ‘why we dowhat we do.’”
All agree that the high school’s paidinternship program is a flagship proj-ect in the Education = Opportunity
campaign.Indeed, the initiative appears to be
groundbreaking. Typically schooldistricts may hire students for sum-mertime projects, but a year-round,full-out paid internship programwithin a school district itself isunusual.
Arianna Gialaboukis and threeother students piloted the program.They worked on a number of proj-ects, one of which was to developkid-friendly videos of the policiesand procedures in the student manu-al.
“We developed skits, acted themout and filmed them,” said Arianna.“We talked about the dress code. Wetalked about the prom and its rules –that you can’t bring a freshman toprom, and that you had to be aca-demically eligible to go. We talkedabout extracurricular activities, thehonor roll and the honor society.”
Along the way, they were strategiz-ing, collaborating and learning newsoftware.
“We want to create knowledgeworkers, who look at systems think-ing,” explained Principal Wilder, who
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added that the school planned to linkthe student-produced videos withYouTube.
FAILING? GET SERIOUSNot every student who wants a part-
time school job will be eligible, butteachers and guidance counselors arestanding by to help them succeed inqualifying.
Students must achieve passinggrades in all their classes. They mustget working papers and submit aresumé and a letter of interest beforethey are interviewed for positions.Staff assists the young people in thesupports needed for all aspects ofwork readiness.
Once hired, they work two hoursper day, after school, in 27-day cycles.After a cycle is completed, they canask to re-up and are okayed based onthe amount of student interest intheir particular job.
Wilder said adult staff in the schoolare intrigued and supportive of thenew project.
“And the excitement among stu-dents is palpable,” he said. “They aretaking it very seriously.”
Monticello’s team of top administrators try to keep their eye on the prize: readying studentsfor career, college or the military. Here, Superintendent of Schools Tammy Mangus is flankedby Assistant Superintendent for Administration Catherine Parsons, at left, and AssistantSuperintendent for Business Lisa Failla.
6M MONTICELLO SCHOOL SCENE SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015
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How to make school awesome and fun . . . for teachers, too
Middle School PrincipalNichole Horler had gottenthe word out that teachers
could paint their classrooms anycolor they wished, within reason.
So before school opened inSeptember, teacher Ann Carmecipainted her Home Ec classroom (nowknown as Family and ConsumerSciences) in a soothing asparagusgreen bordered by chocolate brown –appropriately tasty colors for a roomwhere kids cook.
With its café curtains and stenciledupbeat mottos like “The Time To BeAwesome Is Now!” the stodgykitchen/classroom now resembles aspread in a design magazine.
“You were here this summer?” herstudents asked Carmeci in disbelief.
But they are loving their world-classsurroundings.
At Robert J. Kaiser Middle School,and certainly elsewhere in the dis-trict, re-energizing school cultureincludes the atmosphere in whichteachers work and students learn.
“Everyone sends me a millionideas,” Horler says with a grin.
For instance, art teacher Trish
Callahan is “having a ball” afterHorler suggested she spice up theboring school hallways with cool say-
ings of her choice, like “We canchange the world” and “LoveNature – it will never fail you.”
Then there’s the school’s new iHelpCafé, a trendy little place at the meet-ing of several corridors. Café tablesand chairs, cozy armchairs, a coffeebar area (the coffeemaker is on order)draw students and teachers alike.
With the middle school now a one-on-one iPad school with each stu-dent “owning” his or her own tabletfor the school year, students seekhelp at the café, and teachers meetthere after school to work or chat.
Noting that teachers spend moretime at school than they do at home,often arriving at 6 a.m. and leaving at5 p.m., Horler said surroundings arevitally important.
“People want to love where theywork,” she said.
In other words, how do you makethis place more welcoming andinspiring?
This summer, Principal Horler andDistrict Superintendent Tammy
Ann Carmeci painted her classroom in a trendy asparagus green and hung café curtains, allat her own expense, and to the great delight of students and fellow teachers.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT MONTICELLO SCHOOL SCENE 7M
Mangus took the answers to thatquestion on the road.
In Atlanta, Georgia, they presentedto thousands of other teachers andadministrators the ways in whichthey are implementing positivechange in the school culture in gener-al.
The occasion was the four-dayintensive Model Schools Conferencehosted annually by the InternationalCenter for Leadership in Education.The conference showcases thenation’s most rapidly improvingschools.
RJK Middle School was selected forits increase in standardized testscores in both English Language Artsand Math, a percentage of studentgrowth that exceeded the state aver-age.
Mangus said the leap in scores issignificant, but there’s more to thestory.
“Tests show us what kids know, andthat’s important,” said Mangus. “Butthere are other more importantthings in life. We are about instigatinginnovations that are real-world rele-vant.”
Ideas come from everywhere, and iffaculty or a staff member has an ideathat upholds the goals of the Districtand “supports its essential habits andquestions,” go for it, they told theAtlanta crowd.
It’s always better to take a risk andfail miserably than to have nevertaken the risk.
Eliminate excuses, they said, tryeverything. Some ideas work andsome don’t. It’s okay. Failure is wherelearning takes place.
A principal must keep the doorsopen. Allow everyone to call and text.Buy new furniture. Get THINKposters, broadcasting the expandedversion of the adage to think before
you speak. In other words, before say-ing something, ask yourself:
T- is it true?H- is it helpful?I- is it inspiring?N- is it necessary?K- is it kind?Horler and Mangus said that what
seems to be working is simplification:that is, centering work around simpletargets and being accountable.
“Essential learning,” they pointedout, “revolves around three timelesspoints of knowledge that all studentsneed to master: reading, writing andarithmetic.”
But a teacher best moves forward bykeeping it simple with goals such as“This student will learn to read. Thisstudent will pass this course. This stu-dent will learn appropriate behav-iors.”
Be kind. Have a warm and welcom-ing front office. Hold potlucks. Buybagels. Send birthday cards to staffand faculty.
In other words, Mangus and Horlertold a spellbound crowd, inspire funand a sense of community every day.
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Credits:All photographs and stories for
this special School Scene are by
Sul livan County Demo crat
Photo grapher/Reporter Kathy
Daley. The Democrat would also
like to thank the Monticello Cen-
tral School District for all its coop-
eration in this project.
8M MONTICELLO SCHOOL SCENE SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015
Elisa Mendels engages a class of students in stretching and breathing exercises as part ofGeorge L. Cooke Elementary School’s Social and Emotional Wellness (SEW) initiative.
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Program ‘sews’ life readinessinto youngest students
‘What is anxiety? Does any-one know what thatmeans?” asks Elisa
Mendels before a classroom of stu-dents at George L. Cooke ElementarySchool.
“Too much stress on your mind!”responds one savvy student, who, atage nine, apparently has already expe-rienced that tied-in-knots feeling.
Mendels, one ofthe district’s Socialand EmotionalWellness (SEW)facilitators, thenwalks the class through some physi-cal moves to get peaceful. The chil-dren breathe deeply, they stretchbroadly.
“If students are not comfortablewith their surroundings, they’re notgoing to learn,” explains Lynn Selkirk,SEW facilitator at Kenneth L.Rutherford School. “When they’reopen-minded and happy, they canlearn more. Wellness is about giving
students the tools to keep themselveshappy.”
The SEW facilitator position wascreated last year in the district, withteacher Selkirk piloting the program.She worked in grades three throughfive at all three of the elementaryschools.
This year Selkirk is joined in theprogram byMendels, a socialworker, andteacher JosephPrestianni.
The SEW pro-gram, which now
reaches all children from kinder-garten through fifth grade, dovetailswith the school district’s mission ofcreating life-ready students.
“When students learn the socialskills necessary to work together andtreat one another with respect andkindness, they learn the skills neces-sary to succeed in life,” saidPrestianni, who works at Emma C.Chase Elementary in Wurtsboro.
Students slowly learn to recognizetheir own personal strengths and tovalue the same in their classmates.
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Selkirk, Prestianni and Mendelsmeet with every class in their schoolsduring a six-day cycle.
“The whole point of the program isto be able to see all the students in ourbuildings,” said Prestianni.
A teacher for 18 years, he has taughtin Monticello for 14 years.
“I have always felt that you need toteach students to handle themselvesappropriately in order to be success-ful academically,” he said. “LynnSelkirk and I worked many yearstogether [at Rutherford] and wouldalways engage the students in manysocial learning situations. One of ourbest collaborations is the yearly fifthgrade talent show.”
Mendels, a school social worker for19 years and a professional socialworker for an additional five years,has routinely gone into classrooms“for whole-class groups on social/emotional topics – for example, onbullying.”
“My plan for the program,” Mendelssaid, “is to complete lessons aroundidentifying and dealing with feelings,dealing with social conflict and bully-ing and practicing kindness throughwhole-school character educationinterventions – teamwork activities
and class meetings, for example.”Writing projects, field trips and
technology activities are all part of thelearning “fun” in Social and Emotion-al Wellness. Students slowly learn torecognize their own personalstrengths and to value the same intheir classmates.
“I am practicing yoga with the stu-dents every time I see them,” addsMendels. “My goal is to help them tolearn to ‘center’ and calm themselveswith deep breathing and mindfulnessactivities, and to help them to care fortheir physical wellness by practicingyoga poses. I use a program called‘Yoga 4 Classrooms.’ I piloted that witha second grade class last year. The stu-dents are very enthusiastic about it.”
Learning about and managing one’semotions and developing care andconcern for others help both individ-ual students and the collective “classfamily” at school, say the facilitators.
“Our objective is to help our stu-dents to regulate their emotions sothat they are able to deal with disap-pointment, anger, etc, in sociallyacceptable ways,” said Mendels.“With these skills, they will be betterequipped to go out into the world andbe productive citizens.”
10M MONTICELLO SCHOOL SCENE SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015
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‘Zonar’ easily tracks 3,000 students in-transit
Zonar also offers a component thatallows parents to use their smart-phones to “see” that the bus is, say,three stops away.
The technology is fully installed atthe district, and the system will becompletely functional by January.
Transportation safety and in-schoolsafety and security are vital concernsto districts everywhere. Monticellospent the summer working on newvisitor monitor systems at eachschool. The systems allow school staffto quickly identify “high-risk” individ-uals who might try to enter the school.
Electric locks, with main entranceintercom and closed-circuit televi-
sion cameras, will help keep build-ings secure. New striping and paint-ing took place in school parking lotsso that everyone knows where the all-important fire zones are.
Assistant Superintendent forSchool Administration CatherineParsons, who oversees safety initia-tives for the district, said Monticellois looking into installing energy-effi-cient lights so that parking lotsremain well-lit at night.
“We are making major changes tohelp ensure the safety of our studentsand staff, which is our district’s toppriority,” she said.
This school year also welcomed afull-time school security supervisor,responsible for coordinating activi-ties and supervising security person-nel throughout the district.
A veteran in securities managementand facilities management, NelsonQuinones oversees a team of schoolsecurity aides who, in turn, areresponsible for security control oftheir school building and the sur-rounding grounds.
School security aides are in place ateach school building.
“We hired seven more security stafffor a total of 15 throughout the dis-trict,” said Quinones, adding that “wehired the right people to work withchildren.”
“Eighty percent of what I do isaccess control,” Quinones said, “mak-ing sure that people in each buildingbelong there and have the proper per-mission to be there. And that we havethe right people ‘behind the board’ toregister visitors, parents and contrac-tors as they enter our schools.”
It’s 3:30 p.m. on a school day, andbus number 648 breaks down onJefferson Street as it makes its run
packed with school kids. Students will be late getting home.
But the district, which needs to be intouch with parents, can’t be sure whois still on the bus and who’s beendropped off already.
Enter Monticello’s new Zonarschool bus tracking system, which,among other things, helps monitorstudent bus ridership by means of a“Z pass.”
“Kids swipe cards when enteringand leaving the bus,” saidSuperintendent of Schools TammyMangus, adding that 3,000 childrenride school buses in the district.
The new GPS-based fleet trackingsystem notifies school officials if thereis a breakdown that requires anotherbus to be dispatched. They can alsoanswer parents who are concernedabout a late bus with accurate infor-mation about the child’s whereabouts.
New Monticello Security Supervisor NelsonQuinones supervises 15 staff membersthroughout the district.
Monticello school buses are being outfittedwith a special tracking system that ensuresthe district knows whether students are onor off the bus.
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12M MONTICELLO SCHOOL SCENE SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015
District boots up iPads for dynamic learning
Top-shelf education technologyis reaching down into theyounger grades at Monticello
Central School District, where, as ofthis year, all fourth and fifth gradershave access to their own iPads aslearning tools.
And school opened with kinder-garten through third grade childrenenjoying the benefit of groups of thetouch tablets at stations in theirclassrooms.
The technology boost helps bringeducation to life for today’s kids, whohave grown up with computers, saidWilliam Frandino, principal at EmmaC. Chase Elementary School inWurtsboro.
“Technology is another way for stu-dents to interact with learning,” saidFrandino, “and it really helps theengagement factor.”
Experts agree that diverse methodsfor getting information to kids andengaging students in exciting learn-ing are a necessity in the 21st century.Students are much more apt to learnwhen they play a role in their learn-ing process, studies show.
In Monticello, the schools arefocused on engaging the digital worldproductively, the principal said.
“We are trying to use it as much aspossible for really sincere academicuse in the classroom,” he noted.
For example, “iPads allow the use ofapplications that are math-orientedor that help with word skills, spelling,reading, problem-solving,” said theeducator.
Innovative instructional softwareencourages students to research
deeply, exploring the web for topicsthat interest them. Note-taking,interactive maps and virtual fieldtrips are all part of everyday schoolexperiences.
“They can make up skits and dovideo presentations through iMovie,available on the iPads,” Frandinoadded.
The devices allow students to learnnew skills, practice them and thentest themselves, keeping track ofscores. A teacher can question theclass with a multiple-choice prob-lem, students input their answer andfeedback is immediate.
Furthermore, for children whosefamily do not have a computer orInternet access at home, the iPads area boon, leveling the playing field.
It’s all about giving students theacademic and technological skillsthey’ll need for later on.
“We want our students to go furtherin middle school, to go further in highschool,” Frandino said. “We don’twant high-schoolers graduatingwithout expertise, and they can’tlearn all about technology in theirlast year of school. We are makingstudents life-ready.”
Monticello this year is providing fifth graders like Michael Davis with their own iPads foracademic use.
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“We don’t want high-schoolersgraduating without expertise,and they can’t learn all abouttechnology in their last year ofschool. We are making studentslife-ready.”
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT MONTICELLO SCHOOL SCENE 13M
BUSINESS: Family ties
aid successes. INSIDE
ELECTION CHALLENGE: Judge
dismisses Massey lawsuit. 2A
CATHY PATY: Officially named
president/CEO of Chamber. 8A
www.sc-democrat.comEARLYBIRD EDITION
Published twice-weekly
VOL. CXXIII NO. 64 2 SECTIONS | 26 PAGES | 1 INSERT
TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2014 ONE DOLLAR
The
lifeblood of
our economy
ALL in the FAMILY
A Special Section of the
Callicoon, NY • Section F • January 28, 2014Family-owned and operated since 1891
TAKE ONE F
The gift of life for Bryce
Neversink youth, 8, gets heart transplant
BY JEANNE SAGER
NEVERSINK — The Tues-
day night when life changed
for the Rogerson family was
just like any other.
With a planned two-hour
delay for the Tri-Valley
School District the next day,
8-year-old Bryce and 5-year-
old Bryan had been given a
pass to stay up late and watch
a movie together. Sixteen-
year-old Emily was doing
what teenagers do on a
school night. Dad Brian was
on a hunting trip in Alabama,
so mom Nicole was snuggling
in bed, watching TV by her-
self. And then the phone rang.
It was a pediatric nurse
familiar with little Bryce’s
congenital heart condition.
After nearly three years on
the transplant list, there was
a heart waiting for Bryce.
“I said ‘Are you kidding
me?’ ” Nicole recalls. “I was
literally skipping up and
down the hallway!”
It was a call the Rogersons
weren’t sure would ever
come. Bryce was diagnosed
with hypoplastic left heart
syndrome (HLHS) before he
was even born, after a routine
ultrasound at 18 weeks
picked up an anomaly.
HLHS – a syndrome in which
the left side of a child's heart
was underdeveloped – is one
of the three most common
heart issues a child can be
born with, but it can be fatal
if left untreated.
To increase the Bryce’s
chances, Nicole underwent
in utero surgery at just 26
weeks pregnant to open up a
hole in his heart to allow
blood to flow properly and
help him develop in the
womb. Ten days after he was
born in February 2005, Bryce
underwent his first open
heart surgery. At 8 months, he
had another, and in October
of 2008, a third open heart
surgery.
But in 2010 came a devas-
tating diagnosis. Bryce had
developed plastic bronchitis,
a condition of the lungs most
common in cystic fibrosis
patients. Rubbery chunks of
mucus had begun develop-
ing in his lungs, making him
struggle to breathe. Although
the issue presents itself in the
lungs, doctors put the blame
on his heart, which pumps
oxygenated blood to the
lungs. By 2011, doctors told the
Rogersons their best choice
would be to put Bryce on the
transplant list – for a heart. A
new heart, they told them,
would take pressure off the
lungs and hopefully allow
them to heal themselves.
On March 25, 2011, Bryce
was added to the transplant
list with what’s known as 1B
status, the second from the
top. At the time, doctors told
the Rogersons that listing
him at 1A – the highest and
most needy status – would
require Bryce to wait in a hos-
pital for a heart to be found.
But with Bryce able to take
his medication at home, the
Rogersons opted to keep him
in Neversink, to allow him to
continue attending school
and be with his family.
They were told it would
take six months to a year to
find him a heart.
On June 25, 2013, more
than two years later, his heart
hadn’t come. The Rogersons
moved their son up to 1A sta-
tus, the top of the transplant
waiting list.
At that time, doctors had
changed their mind and said
Bryce could stay home and
wait. They told the Rogersons
it would probably be a month
or two until a heart was
found. It was almost seven months
until the call came.
That was January 14, the
night Nicole called a friend to
watch Bryan and packed her
other two kids into the car to
fly over the roads to Morgan
Stanley Children’s Hospital at
Columbia Presbyterian in
New York City. Bryce was cry-
ing, Nicole recalls, but his
biggest worry was “how am I
going to turn in my home-
work?” “I told him your teacher
isn’t going to worry about
your writing assignment.”
Husband Brian had just
arrived in Alabama for his
hunting trip and couldn’t find
a flight north, so he rented a
car in Montgomery and
drove straight through the
night to Atlanta, Georgia, for
the earliest flight to
LaGuardia, a 6 a.m. that he
hoped would get him there in
time to see his little boy
before he went into surgery.
Brian’s plane left late, but
the fates aligned – because of
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
The Team Bryce logo is of the
local group of support for the
family.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Despite being born with a potentially fatal heart condition, Bryce
Rogerson has led as normal a childhood as possible. Here, he
proudly shows off a huge trout he caught.
PLEASE SEE BRYCE, 3A
Opposition to China City grows
BY GUY CHARLES HARRITON
MONTICELLO — In its
heyday, the Catskill resorts,
known as the Borscht Belt,
were a premier vacation spot
for those residing in the
northeast. Top notch acts
politicians have shown their
concern as well.
When the people of
Thompson heard about it,
they were “dumbfounded,”
according to Supervisor Bill
Rieber. The opposition was
immediate and strong he
Casino, throw of the dice
Mamakating cool to Shawanga
BY GUY CHARLES HARRITON
WURTSBORO — Gover-
nor Andrew M. Cuomo’s
plan to bring revenue to
would have amenities
such as a market selling
local produce, a food and
wine center and an out-
door performance space
Just $1.25Per Week
Just $1.25That’s all a subscription
to the Twice-WeeklySullivan County Democrat
andwww.scdemocratonline.com costs.
NOW YOU CAN KEEP UP-TO-DATEon all of Sullivan County’s News
via your newspaper, computer, cell or tablet!Just fill out this form and mail in today
to Sullivan County Democrat, PO Box 308, Callicoon, NY 12723or go to www.SCDemocratonline and click the subscribe button.
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14M MONTICELLO SCHOOL SCENE SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015
Children spend a substantialpart of their lives asleep. Infact, in early childhood, the
developing brain seems to needmore time asleep than awake. Thisunderscores the importance ofsleep to the overall well-being of achild. Teenagers need between 8.50and 9.25 hours of sleep each night –much more than commonlybelieved.
Adolescents and older childrenmay suffer from lack of sleep simplyby not sleeping an adequate num-ber of hours, or they may lack good-quality sleep.
With the typical school and after-school activities, homework andevening activities (e.g., TV watchingand Internet involvement), a lotgoes on in the older child’s life. Addweekend social obligations and,perhaps, a job, and you have arecipe for sleep deprivation.
Late bedtime hours are not, how-ever, due solely to these activities.With the onset of puberty, adoles-cents begin to experience a delay inthe “phase” of their biological clock.As a result, they fall asleep later inthe evening, which makes it moredifficult for them to wake up in timefor school.
In fact, the timing of the release ofthe sleep hormone, melatonin, isdelayed. No wonder then, despitebeing sleep deprived, adolescentscannot seem to fall asleep earlier in
the evening, even if forced to theirbedrooms.
Although the scientific literatureon childhood sleep disorders isadvancing rapidly, gaps remain inthe delivery of this knowledge to theend user: the child. For instance,only about half the physicians whocare for children address sleep-related issues in their clinics, andwell-trained pediatric sleep special-ists are still a rarity.
Dr. El Zarif is a physician withOrange Regional Medical Groupand is a member of the AmericanCollege of Chest Physicians (ACCP),American Thoracic Society (ATS),American Academy of SleepMedicine (AASM) and the SleepResearch Society (SRC). He can bereached at 845-333-7575.
For more information visitwww.orangeregionalmedicalgroup.org
Back to school, back to sleep
Dr. Samer El ZarifBoard-certified in Internal, Pulmonary
and Critical Care Medicine, Orange Regional Medical Group
“Teenagers need between 8.5and 9.25 hours of sleep eachnight – much more thancommonly believed.”
ABOVE: At George L. Cooke Elementary School, Nicki Wells works on reading skillswith her kindergarten class through the animated learning program called Superkids.Benefiting from interactive technological activities and charming cartoon characters,the children quickly learn to recognize letters and the sounds they make, and to puttogether sounds to make words. As the K-2 reading program is phased through thegrades, the District is seeing growth in children's reading skills. “Our kids are verystrong in phonics skills and fluency,” said Cooke Principal Sandra Johnson-Fields.
“. . . Only about half the physicians who care for
children address sleep-related issues in their clinics . . .”BELOW: Art teacher Trish Callahan got the go-ahead to paint the school corridorsgraffiti-like in essential proverbs and cool sayings. “I love it – it’s therapy for me,”said the talented teacher.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT MONTICELLO SCHOOL SCENE 15M
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