School Notebook: Athletes Lending a Hand; Celebrating Science Awareness

Athletes Lend a Helping Hand. Ward Melville High School's Peer Athletic Council Team has much to be proud of: In recent weeks, the PACT, which is a course under the direction of Shannon Watson that meets throughout the year on days alternating with gym class, collected more than 50 shopping bags of personal care items for the St. James Food Pantry. Others created more than 20 blankets for soldiers serving in Afghanistan. In addition to the PACT's accomplishments, physical education students from throughout the high school took part in the annual handball tournament, in which teams helped to raise more than $200 for student scholarships.

Teacher Becomes Published Author. Gelinas art teacher Mike Sacco has composed an article printed in the April edition of School Arts Magazine, titled "Social Media and the Visual Journal." In the article, he discusses ways for teachers to see students' electronic devices as a teaching tool. "I think it’s important for us as teachers to get into our students’ heads and see the world as they see it," Sacco said. The article details the Visual Journal Project he does during his classes; a Studio Art Blog used as a teaching tool; and the use of Voice Thread for students to discuss each other's work. Click here to view Sacco's article.

Murphy Students Celebrate Science Awareness Day. The inaugural Science Awareness Day at Murphy Junior High School was a success. Approximately 100 students in seventh- through ninth-grade science research classes teamed up or worked individually on projects that went before a panel of judges including teachers from Murphy and from Stony Brook University and St. Joseph's College. The projects were also on display at an evening Science Awareness Day event. "These students are already very inclined to learn about science so it seemed only fitting that we provide them with an outlet to conduct original research,” said Dawn Nachtigall, a science teacher and program coordinator at R.C. Murphy. “It is our hope that today’s event will germinate a seed of knowledge and interest that will bloom in the future, especially as they enter high school and can continue in the district’s research program."