Volume 2, Issue 7Volume 2, Issue 7

March 2013March 2013

North Colonie Central School District

Take a look around your work space. Is there furniture that you don’t use or don’t want anymore? How about the supply cabinet? Is it bursting with more supplies than you will ever use? North Colonie, in an effort to reduce expenses, has developed our own system to recycle items that are still in good condition but are no longer serving a purpose in their current location. After months of hard work, we are excited to announce the launching of REPURPOSE NC! The goal behind Repurpose NC is to provide a forum for resources to be redistributed within the District from departments that no longer need them, to places that could use them. In essence, it is a “Craig’s List” TM just for North Colonie. Found on the web, at https://repurposenc.pbworks.com/w/page/50268115/FrontPage , this site is designed to allow all staff members to view the items currently available for repurposing and request the item for use in their job. The categories of items include:

Furniture

Storage Units

Supplies (Desk and Paper)

Equipment

Décor

Requesting To request an item is simple. Just visit the website and review the available items. When you find what you need, click on the link to request the item, and fill out the form. If you have items that you would “like to give new purpose to”, complete the form on the website with all the pertinent information, attach a photo and send it in.

For everything other than desk and paper supplies, the item must be approved by the administrator/building principal prior to the item being repurposed. There is even a page for items wanted and for items that you don’t want to give away, but are willing to loan out. We ask that you look around your work area and do some “spring cleaning”. The more we can repurpose supplies and equipment that we already own, the less we have to buy, which saves the District money! Any unneeded office supplies can be boxed up and sent directly to Pam Duffney at Central Office for immediate repurposing. For equipment and furniture, please complete the form on the website and email it in (don’t forget to get prior approval). The item will not be moved until it has been selected by another employee for repurposing. Please note that this site is not for personal items that you wish to get rid of, it is only for District business. Also, computers, printers and other electronics cannot be repurposed through this site, please contact Information Technology for these items. Special recognition goes out to Angel White, Central Office Keyboard Specialist, who designed the site and will manage it. She took responsibility for this huge project and ran with it!

March

April

UPCOMING EVENTS

Have something old?

List it on Repurpose for

someone who may consider it

gold.

Need something new?

We may have a link for you.

Consider borrowing, loaning or

sharing?

Please do! Salvaging is caring

Page 2 The Ins ide Resou rce Volume 2, I ssue 7

GOT QUESTIONS??? Do you have questions about getting your

professional certification? What constitutes

professional development hours? How to obtain

additional certificates? How to navigate the

muddy waters of the State Education

Department???

Never Fear!

We will be holding an informational session with

Ken Ziegler, Regional Certification Officer from

Capital Region BOCES on Friday, March 22nd at

3:30 pm at Forts Ferry.

Come to the seminar and have all your

certification questions answered!

Our annual Employee Recognition Celebration (formerly Staff Recognition Tea) will take place on March 26th in the

Junior High auditorium. Celebration starts at 3:15 pm, with the formal presentation at 3:45 pm. We are

recognizing those employees who have achieved the milestones of 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years of service!

We hope that you will be able to attend the celebration!

”

Our semi-annual

presentation for

all interested

NCTA members

and partners will

be held on March

22nd at 3:30 PM at the Junior High

School. Specific topics covered

include: maternity, child care, and

unpaid leaves; FMLA; payroll;

seniority; and more.

Here’s an interesting piece of

Shaker High School trivia!

When Shaker High School first

opened in 1958, it was the first high

school in the nation that had wall-to-

wall carpeting!

The American Carpet Institute chose

Shaker as an experiment to see if the

educational experience for the

students was improved with

carpeted floors. They also wanted to

look at the wear/tear on the carpet

compared to tiled floors.

At the time, one wing of the new

building was the high school and the

other wing was the Junior High.

They covered the HS wing in carpet

and the JHS wing in conventional

asphalt tile.

After two years of use, students and

teachers reported the carpet had a

positive impact. Also, only six square

feet of carpet had to be replaced.

403(b) Online Information

Looking for online access to the 403(b)?

https://www.ebenefitsresource.com

User name: NCGUEST

Password: NCGUEST (case sensitive)

Volume 2, I ssue 7

North Colonie Inspiration Stories

Page 3 The Ins ide Resou rce

New Hires & Job Changes

The staff at Blue Creek gathered afterschool and used their creativity to decorate

river rocks for Jean Bassett. The rocks depict images which reflect their thoughts of

Jean or have inspirational messages on them. The idea to create the rocks came from

the building wellness committee as a way to give Jean a truly tangible form of

support. The hope is that Jean will take one or two with her on her trips to the

doctor or keep one in her pocket for an inspiration pick me up. The rocks

represent a great big hug for a staff member who is dearly missed.

Blue Creek Supports Jean Bassett In a Very Creative Way

Karen Marsh, Maryann DeSacia & Maya Trawinski

Barbara Phelps

Have news that you want to share? email: hr@ncolonie.org

Page 4 Volume 2, I ssue 7

Retirements

Terri Bernarde, Teacher Aide, LR

In Memoriam

Eleanor McCauley

Eleanor “Ellie” McCauley passed away on January 30th, at the age of 101. Miss McCauley was a kindergarten teacher at Loudonville Elementary for thirty-five years. On the occasion of her 100th birthday, a celebration in her honor was held where many of the guests were former students, some dating back to 1954. What’s even more remarkable is she knew many of them by name! In lieu of flowers, donations were made to the Loudonville Elementary School library, in her memory.

Tenure Appointments

The District is proud to announce the

following tenure appointments recently

approved by the Board of Education:

Sheri Popkoski, Mathematics Teacher, SHS

CONGRATULATIONS!

New Arrivals It’s not often that North Colonie has new arrivals,

where both mom and dad work for the District.

Even more rare is when new arrivals happen at the

same hospital, at the same time! We are pleased to

announce the following additions to the North

Colonie family!

Jim Gorman, Teaching Assistant at SHS (currently

filling a LT leave as a Special Education teacher at

SHS) and Heather Gorman, Teacher Aide at SHS,

with their daughter Isabella Vera, born January

30th. Congratulations also go out to Belle Gorman,

Account Clerk at SHS, who is Isabella’s grandma!

Garrett Couture, PE teacher at SHS, with his wife

Erin Couture, Teacher Aide at the JHS welcomed

their new son, Jackson Brady, born February 6th.

Keith Weiss, SHS Science teacher and his wife

Deanna welcomed their new baby girl Evelyn Ann,

born February 8th.

Garrett and Erin Couture with baby Jackson (left) shared a

hospital stay with Keith, Deanna and baby Evelyn Weiss Jim and Heather Gorman with baby Isabella

The Ins ide Resou rce