VoyagesAward Winning Publication of the Valhalla Union Free School District

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Dear Parents and Community Members,The months of December and January are particularly special at Valhalla, andnot just because of the holiday celebrations.

Many of our seniors apply for early admission to colleges, and the notificationsof acceptance often come during this time. I was recently sitting with Julian Guy,one of our talented seniors, as he was being honored by the Mt Pleasant Rotary.He was waiting on pins and needles to hear from Harvard University. Two dayslater, I received an e-mail from Julian telling me that he had been accepted toHarvard. He wrote:

"Valhalla is a truly great place to get an education."

Many of our seniors have been accepted by top universities, including Harvard, Cornell, MIT, GeorgeWashington and Northeastern and we could not be more proud of their hard work and perseverance.

These acceptance letters are a reflection, not only of our students, but of our dedicated administrators,faculty and staff. An acceptance to a top-flight university represents the culmination of years of supportand outstanding learning opportunities. When you hear that one of our students has been acceptedto college, take a minute to recognize this as a great accomplishment for the student and forour school and community. The vision of the Valhalla Union Free School District is to ensurethat every child is prepared to succeed and to follow his or her dreams.

Dr. Brenda Myers, Superintendent of Schools

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Young LeadersHave the Powerto PositivelyInfluence PeersThe mark of a true leader ishis or her ability to coura-geously stand up for their val-ues and influence their peersto make positive life choices.

That was the key message for the 175 seventh andeighth grade students, representing 19 WestchesterCounty school districts, who participated in theYouth Leadership Conference on Dec. 9 at theWestchester County Center.

The conference is funded by the WestchesterCoalition for Drug and Alcohol Free Youth and

conducted by Youth to Youth International, a drugprevention and youth leadership program based inColumbus, Ohio.

Among the teens were 11 VMS students who wereidentified by their teachers as possessing leadership

Happy Birthday, KensicoSchool!.....................................3

Meet Jenna Bregante, New KSStudent Council President .......4

Voyages and Victories..........6-8

Eighth Grader Dylan Gray Wins2012 GeoBee ..........................4

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Young Leaders Have the Power...

qualities, maturity and sound judgment,and who have shown a positive influenceover their school mates, said Susana Reis,guidance counselor for the eighth grade.

Students at this age are still vulnerable andimpressionable as they seek independenceand are exposed more to society, shesaid. “This is a good time for them to getinvolved with positive activities so thatwhen they’re presented with peer pressure,they can make good choices.”

The eighth grade VMS students includedErica Brosnon, Kaio DaSilva, ScottFreitsch, Francesca Guzzo, Jemy Paulsonand Vincent Radesich. Seventh gradersincluded Daniel Best, Christian Byrd, EricCiccotelli, Griffin Rossi and JennieYamazaki.

This is the first time Valhalla has participat-ed in the conference.

Catching Students Early“We want to catch kids at a young age sowe can impress them with moral valuesbefore they’re presented with peer pres-sure,” added school psychologist MichelleMcSherry, who chaperoned the studentswith Mrs. Reis. “It’s great to get studentstogether like this so they can meet eachother in a positive setting.”

After breakfast, the students spent the firstpart of the morning getting acquainted withthe team from Youth to Youth and doing funice breaker activities. They also participat-ed in interactive workshops to learn moreabout effective leadership.

VMS seventh grader Griffin Rossi said thathe thought the conference was a greatexperience. “All of the things they taught uswould definitely help you in the future tostay free of drugs and alcohol.”

One of the best tips Griffin and his peersgot for being good leaders in school, hesaid, is to reach out to students, especially

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Fan Us on Facebook, Watch Us on YouTubeThe Valhalla Union Free School District can now be found onFacebook at http://www.facebook.com/valhallaschools,on Twitter at http://twitter.com/valhallaschools, andon YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/valhallaschools.

those who are often alone. “We shouldsit and talk with students who are by them-selves, and be a friend to new kids atschool and show them around.”

Leaders Set the Tone at SchoolThe highlight of the day was speaker TySells from Youth to Youth, who had the stu-dents rolling with laughter with stories fromhis own youthful experiences and imitationsof awkward teen situations to which all ofthe students could relate. It was a humor-ous and clever way to illustrate the folliesof stereotyping and giving up your ownvalues to fit in with the crowd.

Mr. Sells told the students that he made thechoice to be drug- and alcohol-free in theseventh grade during his own first Youthto Youth rally, and that he stuck with thatdecision through college even as hewatched friends fall into the trap of drinkingand taking drugs to fit in.

He impressed the students with the ideathat the way they, as school leaders, treatand care for their friends can affect thechoices their friends later make.

“If we have the ability to tear peopledown,” he said, “then we have the abilityto build them up so they make choices thatare better for them. That’s the power youhave. You have the power now to helpothers look back and say that they lovedthis time in their life. We have to do thatfor each other. True maturity is the abilityto take care of others.”

Children’s Author Finds Success CombiningChina with FoodThe summer of 1972, danger began knocking on doors all over China.

So begins writer Ying Chang Compestine’sbook “Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party,” afictionalized account of her life under theoppressive rule of Chairman Mao duringChina’s Cultural Revolution.

The children’s author came to Valhalla toshare her love of writing, China and foodwith Kensico School students on Nov. 16.“I love children and that’s why I wrote chil-dren’s books, and I love food. That’s whyI put food in many of my books,” she tolda group of fourth graders, two of whom

had a chance to make dumplings with her.

Ms. Compestine recalled that growing upin Wuhan, China, she loved to read andwrite stories, learn English and listen toVoice of America on the radio with herfather. Both parents were doctors, dedicat-ed to treating the sick of Wuhan, one ofChina’s poorest cities.

When the Communist regime clamped

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But Nov. 27 was the tenth anniversary ofthe opening of the Kensico School, a mile-stone marked with a party and a readingof the book “A Fine, Fine School” byPrincipal Matt Curran.

Like Principal Keene in the story, Mr.Curran is proud of his “fine, fine” school,teachers and students.

Principal Keene, however, loves his school

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Children’s Author Finds Success...

so much that he wants to hold class onSaturdays, Sundays, holidays and over thesummer.

“It’s a cute story,” said Mr. Curran, whoshared with his students all the reasonswhy he feels KS is such a great school.

He also told the students the history of theirschool, which was designed by KG&DArchitects of Mt. Kisco. The firm described

the school’s design as “a contemporaryapproach to a traditional country school.”

It was important to the architects for theschool to have a home-like atmosphere,which they created with a traditional houseplan, individual grade-level wings,exposed timber framing to give the senseof a lofted space, glass-tile walls and bril-liant colors that reflect the spirit of children.

Mr. Curran showed the students aslideshow of photos from the constructionof the building and opening day, whenstudents, with a police escort, marched upthe street from their old Columbus Avenueschool in yellow rain slickers and up thehill to the new school. Neighbors and thestudents from VMHS came out to applaudand watch as the children walked by totheir new Kensico School. After a ribboncutting ceremony, the students entered thebuilding for the first time.

“I wanted the kids to get a look at thehistory of their very own fine, fine school,”Mr. Curran said.

Students who participated in the school’smonthly writing contest read their essaystitled “The Top 10 Things I Love AboutKensico School.” Then everyone sang theschool song, “Go, Go Kensico.”

Mr. Curran wheeled out a birthday cakeand everyone sang “Happy Birthday.”The honor of blowing out the candles wentto fifth grader Joelle Garner, who sharesa birthday with her school on Nov. 27.

KS Students Salute Their Fine, Fine SchoolIt isn’t every day you get to celebrate a birthday for a building.

down on ordinary citizens, life changeddramatically for 9-year-old Ying Chang,her two older brothers and her parents.Ying Chang’s father was arrested for open-ly disagreeing with Chairman Mao andwas accused of being an American spyand anti-revolutionary. He was forced towork as a janitor in the hospital where hehad been a surgeon, but secretly continuedhis medical work in his janitor’s uniform.

Then a spy was sent to live in the family’sapartment. Ying Chang learned to speakin a whisper, listen to the radio under ablanket to muffle the sound, and use her

imagination to make up the endings to themany books that were destroyed.

People everywhere were forced to wearthe standard dark blue Mao uniform – athree-button top and pants. “I dreamed ofhaving a red skirt one day,” she told thestudents.

That dream came true many years later,when Ying Chang, then 30 and living inCalifornia, posed in a beautiful, floor-length red skirt for a newspaper photogra-pher assigned to take her picture to accom-pany a story about the publication of“Revolution,” her first book. It had takenher seven years to write “Revolution” and100 rewrites of the opening sentencebefore she felt it was right.

Many more books followed, including“Banquet for Hungry Ghosts,” “CrouchingTiger,” “The Runaway Wok,” “BoyDumplings,” “The Real Story of StoneSoup,” “The Runaway Rice Cake,” “D isfor Dragon Dance” and several cook-books: “Cooking with Green Tea,”“Secrets from a Healthy Asian Kitchen,”“Secrets of Fat-Free Chinese Cooking,”and “Ying’s Best One-Dish Meals.”

She has also hosted a television cookingshow and authored numerous magazinearticles about cooking.

For more information about Ying ChangCompestine and her work, visit:http://www.yingc.com

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Jenna Bregante cantell you all about it.The fifth grader waselected president ofKensico School’sstudent council inNovember, becom-ing KS’s secondfemale president andproving somethingJenna knows: girlsmake great leaders!Jenna, who transferred to KS last year fromHoly Name of Jesus School in Valhalla,was a class representative in the fourthgrade. She liked the job a lot, and thoughtthat this year she might like to run forstudent council secretary.Jenna for President!Her mom, however, told her to go all theway and run for president. “I was not surewhat to run for, but I thought I could go forpresident,” said Jenna. “I thought I coulddo it, and I did.”Once she made the decision, Jenna joinedthe other students running for office in mak-ing campaign posters to display aroundthe school. Each poster had a photo of thecandidates and told for which office theywere running. Some even had funny slo-gans and catch phrases.On voting day, Nov. 21, Jenna and theother students who were running for presi-dent, vice president, secretary and treasur-er, read their speeches to the entire studentbody at a special assembly.Jenna told her fellow students about herselfand the things she likes to do – dancing,getting together with friends, and shopping– and said that she is an honor student,responsible and organized.She also talked about a few of her ideasfor improving things at school, like provid-ing recycling bins for every classroom andholding a holiday shop so students canbuy gifts for family and friends.The election was held on Nov. 28 duringthe lunch period for each grade level.As part of their math lesson on tallying, Mr.Singh’s fourth grade math class tallied theresults. Principal Matt Curran visited theclass during the vote count and swore the

class to secrecy until it was time to revealthe winners. “They were our Board ofElections,” he said, “and they did every-thing I asked of them.”And the Winner is…The announcement of the winners wasmade on the same day that the KensicoSchool celebrated its tenth anniversary.There was a big party, cake and lots ofactivities. It was like having two celebra-tions in one.

Mr. Curran called out the winning candi-dates’ names, and when Jenna heard thatshe had been elected president, she wasso excited she smiled and clapped herhands as her homeroom classmates sur-rounded her in support.

Fourth grader Marco Mazza was electedvice president; Kristen O’Sullivan, fourthgrade, was elected secretary; and SaraBartlett, a third grader, was elected treasurer.

Among Jenna’s duties as president is run-ning the monthly student council meeting,where she, Mr. Curran and the other offi-cers and class representatives (two studentsfrom each homeroom) talk about theirideas for improving the school.

In addition to getting recycling bins for allclassrooms and holding the holiday shop,Jenna also wants to introduce a MiddleSchool Buddy program at KS.

Current middle school students would part-ner with fifth graders to help them make thetransition next year to VMS. The middleschool students, Jenna said, “would showus how to open our combination lock onour lockers, show us around the sixthgrade wing, and tell us what to expectnext year as we make this challengingadjustment to the middle school.”

Jenna also will organize the student councilmembers to lead the school through thePledge of Allegiance each morning overthe public address system.

One thing the student council already hadplanned was Pajama Day on Dec. 20.Students got to wear pajamas in school allday and bring in a non-perishable food itemto donate to the Food Bank for Westchester.“I have plaid ones!” Jenna said about thepajamas she planned to wear.

Leadership Starts in Elementary SchoolThis is the third year KS has held studentcouncil elections, something of which Mr.Curran is especially proud. High schoolsand middle schools typically have a stu-dent government, but Mr. Curran said heread about an elementary school havingone and thought it was an excellent idea.“Our students have a voice and a differentperspective on the way schools run. Theyhave valuable insights,” he said. “Thesestudents have it in them to be leaders andit’s my job to foster that and help them todevelop leadership traits as they go intomiddle school and high school. That canstart right here in elementary school.”

Meet Jenna Bregante, New KS StudentCouncil PresidentWhat’s it like to run for your school’s student council president and win?

Eighth GraderDylan GrayWins 2012VMS GeoBeeCongratulations to 2012 VMS GeoBeeChampion Dylan Gray (8th Grade), andrunner-up Srishti Bagchi (7th Grade)!

Eighteen VMS students competed in the annualGeography Bee on Dec. 23. Social Studies teacherAndrew Tripaldi administered the competition, ask-ing the contestants a wide range of questions thattested their geographic knowledge.

The National Geographic Bee is an educational pro-gram sponsored by the National Geo-graphicSociety. The nationwide competition is open to U.S.schools with any grades four through eight. The con-test is designed to encourage the teaching and studyof geography.School winners from across the nation go on to takea qualifying test. The top 100 students in eachstate are invited to compete at the state-level compe-tition in the spring. State winners compete in thenational finals in late May for scholarships rangingfrom $10,000 to $25,000.Participating students included:

Sixth Grade:Shazre MohibChristian PetrilliStephen BavielloJames HarnedyJoseph RamalhoFrancisco Hernandez

Seventh Grade:Christian ByrdJake Nethercott

Jacqueline GonzalezMark EngGriffin Rossi

Eighth Grade:Eric KrederTerrence HartRosyln CatubigScott FritschEstie Forstbauer

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Musical Performances Set the Tone fora Cheerful Holiday SeasonStudents in each of the district’s schools put their singing and musicaltalents to work during the holiday season, performing for family andfriends at Winter Concerts and at community outreach shows. Singersand musicians from second grade up all dazzled their audiences with familiar holidaytunes, traditional songs given a unique twist, folk songs performed by the VHS orches-tra, and Big Band classics from the VHS Jazz Band that brought down the house.

The Kensico School’s Winter Wonderland Concert was on Dec. 15, the VMS HolidayConcert was on Dec. 20, the VHS Holiday Concert was on Dec. 22 and the second gradeHoliday Sing was on Dec. 23.

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Voyages and Victories

First Stop, Picadilly Circus, London! Haveyour passports and tickets ready! With alittle imagination, it was easy enough tobelieve that Kensico School’s thirdgraders were on their way to far flunglands, from England and Germany toIsrael, China and Brazil on Dec. 23.Handing their homemade “passports” toteachers acting as airline agents at theirclassroom door was just part of themagic on the school’s annual Day ofTradition, when students learn about holi-day customs around the world. The stu-dents took turns traveling to each countryand participating in an activity.

Candy Cane Volleyball Tournament RaisesFunds for Children’s HospitalVHS phys ed classes competed in theannual Candy Cane volleyball tourna-ment to raise funds for the Maria FareriChildren’sHospital.

Teams squaredoff in the semi-finals and finalson Friday, Dec.23, with theentire schoolgathering tocheer on theirfavorite teamsbefore headingoff for the holi-day break.

favorite foods from around the world atVirginia Road Elementary School’s annualInternational Food Festival on Dec. 22.

Thanks to parents who went the distancepreparing tasty treats for the party, the stu-dents got to sample rice and beans (theDominican Republic and Puerto Rico); plum

cakes (India); lasagna, manicotti, canoliand biscotti (Italy); empanadas and flan(Columbia); pogacsa (Hungary); kugel(Sweden); curry chicken (Jamaica); piero-gies, kielbasa and kapusta (Ukraine);fried dumplings (Philippines) and dishesfrom many other countries.

The food festival is the culmination of aunit on family heritage and culture the stu-dents work on, teacher John Battista said.

VRES Holiday Food Festival an InternationalCelebrationMoms, dads, teachers and their secondgraders celebrated the holidays with

Can Can Festival a Creative Lessonin RecyclingFourth grade teacher Trish Ward turned aunit on persuasive writing her class wasworking on into a lesson on going green.The subject of the final essay sheassigned in November was about beingenvironmentally friendly. The studentswrote and shared their essays and thencreated games using recyclable bottles,cans and pizza boxes.

On Dec. 21, the students set up theirgames in the Kensico School gym andchildren in all grades came by to trythem out. All students had donated a bot-tle or can to recycle at a local recyclingmachine. The money will be donated toKids for Saving Earth.

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Voyages and VictoriesMany of the games the students designedwere similar to those played at carnivals.Among them was the Can Can Bounce,where players bounce a ping pong ballinto a can, and Bottle of Bubbles, inwhich students blow bubbles throughbottles with the bottoms cut off.

Pajama Day at KSKensico students, teachers and staff cameto school dressed in their favorite pj’s andslippers for a bit of holiday merriment onDec. 20.

Plaid pajama bottoms and tees or hoodiesweatshirts were especially popular, aswere slippers with reindeer heads andother holiday characters. Even Principal

Proposed by the student council, PajamaDay also was agreat time to collectnon-perishable fooditems to donate tothe Food Bank forWestchester. Studentsin every gradebrought in hundredsof cans of food and

Matt Curran wore a pair of pajama pantswith shamrocks on them and a shamrocktie to match.

boxed items that will help feed those mostin need throughout the county this winter.

All About ButterfliesAs part of the art curriculum at VRES,kindergarteners learn about shapes andcolor with the help of butterflies.

The Brucemobile, a traveling educationaloutreach program sponsored by theBruce Museum in Greenwich, visitedVRES on Dec. 5 and 6, bringing alongsome beautiful butterflies for the childrento examine.

Working with museum instructor “Mr.Max” and using large, colorful shapes,the students learned about the butterfly’sphysical structure and camouflagepatterns, its life cycle, habitats and adap-tations. Mr. Max also showed the chil-dren real butterfly specimans and photo-graphs so they could see some of theinsect’s unique and colorful wing patternsup close.

Learning about shapes and colors is thefirst part of the overall VRES art curricu-lum, said teacher Sarah Elliot, and butter-flies are a perfect means for teachingthis lesson.

Holidays with Beth & Scott and FriendsVRES kicked off the holidays on Dec. 2with a 45-minute show called “HappyHolidays Around the World” performedby Beth and Scott Bierko, a husband andwife singer/songwriting team fromYorktown Heights. The duo engaged thestudents in stories and songs aboutKwaanza, Christmas and Hanukkah,

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Valhalla Union Free School District316 Columbus AvenueValhalla, NY 10595

Board of EducationWilliam Rosenberg, President

LaVerne Clark, Vice President

Valentina Belvedere

Joseph Garbus

Alan Higgs

Brian Macken

William McGuinn

Superintendent of SchoolsDr. Brenda Myers

School Business OfficialChristina Howe

Newsletter EditorSuzanne Davis

Contributing PhotographerSusan Rossi

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDWhite Plains, NYPermit No.9501

This district does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, creed, religion, maritalstatus, gender, age or disability in its educational programs and employment practices.

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sharing the music, history, culture andcustoms associated with each holiday.Children and teachers participated inmany of the songs, which are written tohelp students better understand andappreciate these worldwide traditionalcelebrations.

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Storytellers Take the Spotlight atTellebrationTelling tall tales is a good thing at theKensico School, especially duringTellebration – a family event wherestudents take center stage to tell storiestheir way, without notes or books. Thestudents are all participants in an after-school storytelling program run by thirdgrade teacher Bill Wright. This year’sTellebration was held on Nov. 16.

Animal Tales Teach Children to RespectAll CreaturesStoryteller, singer, writer and actor FelixPitre entertained VRES students on Nov. 9with his “Animal Tales” – a collection ofstories that teach children to respect allcreatures and their right to live happily onthe planet.

“Animal Tales” are crafted for children agesK-4 and include a repertoire of stories thatMr. Petrie acts out and accompanies with

songs and fables of kindness andreward.

The children get involved in acting out“The Boy Who Was Kind to the Birdsand the Animals” (a tale from Peru) andplaying instruments for a medley of famil-iar animal songs Mr. Petrie sings thatinclude “Alouette,” “The Lion SleepsTonight,” “How Much is That Doggie inthe Window” and “You Ain’t NothingBut a Hound Dog.”

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