Thomas Edison Elementary School fifth graders partnered with Port Chester High School students to solve a variety of mathematical challenges on June 11. A group of 23 fifth graders from Carrie Poulos’ class visited the high school to work with teacher Anton Raskin’s Advanced Placement Calculus students.

The enrichment activity was designed to empower students with the essential skills needed for higher-level math, nurturing an appreciation for math and science and an understanding of how math and science are related in the real world. Designed by the high school students, the activities challenged the fifth graders to coordinate plane plotting, use advanced formulas to find the area of various shapes and basic calculus formulas to solve problems for slope and speed.

“Some of the high school students programmed their own video games to make these math activities more engaging for the fifth graders,” special education teacher Colleen Cahill said. “The students enjoyed this special activity, and it was so much more meaningful to be able to do it in person. Several of the fifth graders said it was their favorite field trip this year.”

Earlier in the school year, the fifth graders virtually connected with the high school students as part of the program. As a culmination to their work, they met in person under the guidance of Cahill, Poulos and Raskin, who collaborated to create the Buddy Class, intertwining the realms of math and science and providing the younger students with exposure to higher-level math concepts. The three teachers received a grant through the Wipro Science Education Fellowship Program at Mercy University, further supporting their mission to provide students with enriching educational experiences.

Click here to view the photo slideshow.

Date Added: 6/27/2024

The Thomas A. Edison Elementary School community celebrated the grand opening of the newly established Clara Jones Kindness Gardens on June 10, honoring the late Clara Jones. Surrounded by students, teachers, administrators, friends and family, Jones’ mother, Ela Navarro, and son, Cody, unveiled an interpretive sign dedicating the gardens to the beloved teacher.

“Clara Jones was a beloved teacher at Edison for 25 years before her passing in September 2022,” Thomas A. Edison Elementary School Principal Paul Roncagliolo said. “Her joy and kindness inspired Edison teachers to establish memorial garden spaces at the school that would reflect her loving and giving nature and provide hands-on learning opportunities for the entire Edison community.”

The Clara Jones Kindness Gardens include raised garden beds for vegetables and herbs, fostering a lifelong interest in gardening, nutrition and environmental awareness. The gardens also feature beds of daffodils and crocuses, along with native plants pockets designed to create a pollinator-friendly habitat for hummingbirds, butterflies and other pollinating insects.

The project was made possible through the generous support of Clara Jones’ friends and family, the Tamarack Tower Foundation, the Port Chester-Rye Union Free School District, the Thomas A. Edison Elementary School community, the Port Chester Sustainability Committee, Edison’s Garden Angels and Mercy University’s WIPRO Science Education Fellowship. The Tamarack Tower Foundation contributed $10,000 toward the establishment of the gardens, which was followed by a gala fundraiser hosted by Edison teachers to secure additional funds.

The dedication ceremony included a performance of an original song, “Spring Gardens,” which was composed by orchestra teacher Michael Caprino, and a rendition of “Dos Oruguitas.” The green spaces celebrate the kindness, joy and love that Clara Jones generously gave to her school community.

Click here to view the photo slideshow.

Date Added: 6/20/2024

Second graders from across Port Chester-Rye Union Free School District’s elementary schools drew a variety of birds during an interdisciplinary project that intertwined science and art.

“The students have been learning about birds from a scientific perspective, but then they turned their discoveries into a work of art,” said Alie Gallagher, art teacher at Thomas Edison Elementary School and J.F.K. Elementary School. “They created their own birds by either creating it entirely from their own imagination or combining several parts of birds that already exist.”

During the experience, the students worked with artist and bird naturalist Christina Baal, who inspired the students to create their own artwork and become aware of the different types of birds in the world, both locally and internationally. During the lesson, Baal shared with the students that there are 10,000 different types of birds in the world.

“One student created an eagle with a pelican beak,” Gallagher said. “What stood out the most to me was that each student created a different work of art.”

Click here to view the photo slideshow.

Date Added: 6/4/2024

All Port Chester-Rye Union Free School District fourth graders had a meaningful experience learning new ways to observe the world around them during a recent field trip to the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah, New York. Thanks to a generous grant from the Friends of Caramoor Center for Music, the students were treated to an enriching arts program, which focused on seeing, hearing, and feeling and allied with New York State Arts Standards.  

Led by Caramoor teaching artists and music teachers, the students explored a variety of locations at Caramoor Center, including an open field, a pergola, a forest and outdoor music installations. At each area, the students learned to focus on what they saw, heard, and felt. In addition, they learned how to construct movement sentences that were invented by the dance pedagogue extraordinaire Rudolf von Laban. The fourth graders enjoyed learning to communicate their observations nonverbally by positioning their bodies in shapes based on their observations and creating movement sentences to communicate what they saw, heard, and felt. 

“It was a joy to see my students observe the world in new and unique ways,” Thomas Edison Elementary School music teacher Abigail Young said. “They were quick to point out the sound of birds chirping and masterfully matched their bodies to the sounds. Their eyes filled with glee as they found a chipmunk in the forest.”

As the students departed the estate, they received a small journal to continue recording what they see, hear and feel.

The Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is an estate founded by Lucie and Walter Rosen, who began hosting concerts on the estate after their son was killed in World War II. The concerts have grown to encompass music of all varieties, including classical, jazz, pop and folk. Musical installations on site include “in C,” a large structure with 24 tuned tubular bells; “Nafasi Yako Ni Ya Kijani (Your Place is Green),” a rocking chair where listeners can enjoy sounds from Caramoor and Tanzania; and “Stone Song,” a stone sculpture that emits a drone sound affected by the humidity, temperature and the weight of listeners who sit on it.

Click here to view the photo slideshow.

Date Added: 5/16/2024