May 2023:
Nottingham HS students use their artistic talent to raise money for Upstate Cancer Center:
Happy 175th Anniversary to the Syracuse City School District! Come celebrate with them Monday May 8th. Hear more here:
April 2023:
This month we hear from Benjamin Steuerwalt who is the Director of Health, Physical Education and Athletics for the Syracuse City School District.
33 SCSD seniors graduate with a New York State Seal of Biliteracy!
We celebrate Brighton Academy Music in their Schools month!
March 2023:
This month we focus on Say Yes Syracuse which helps students and their families prepare for college and afford its expense. We talk to Executive Director Ahmeed Turner.
Good news this month includes a program at all Syracuse City School District Middle Schools to help build positive relationships between Syracuse Police and the students.
Congratulations to Seymour Dual Language Academy Music Teacher Kevin Dorsey, who was inducted into the Syracuse Area Music Award (SAMMY) Hall of Fame.
February 2023:
This month we focus on a program called The Building Men Program and talk to Coordinator Joe Horan!
Celebrating more Good News with details on the Language Ambassadors at Grant Middle School and see more here:
Students at Dr. King Elementary School learn gardening!
Dr. King Students Learn Hydroponics, Become Garden Ambassadors | The Syracuse City School District | Syracuse, NY (syracusecityschools.com)
January 2023:
This month we focus on the district’s Fine Arts Programming with an interview with the Director of Fine Arts Rory Edwards!
SCSD Elementary School Students are using fun activities to build math fluency!
Read more here:
Syracuse STEM @Blodgett Students Celebrate their Family’s Cultural Identity
Syracuse STEM @ Blodgett took part in a class project, aimed at helping students celebrate and share their family’s cultural identity.
English as a New Language teacher Alysha Bates said she was hoping her students would gain a sense of self-awareness by engaging in some introspection. The lesson, which she titled “Place and Displacement Podcast,”
It was a month long project that required students to use a poem to help write their own “I Am” poems. Students were asked to identify places their family is from, considering how those places have impacted who they are and how they think about themselves.
After writing their poems, students were tasked with recording it as their own ‘podcast.’ Their recordings were then uploaded to an online map, where students could pinpoint where their family is from; as well as listen to their classmates’ recordings. On a separate webpage, they were encouraged to leave podcast reviews – feedback in response to hearing their classmates’ pieces.
See the press release here:
December 2022:
Impressive honors at this year’s NSBE Fall Regional Competition and Conference!
Students in the SCSD National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) program earned impressive honors at this year’s NSBE Fall Regional Competition and Conference. The Syracuse City School District has one of three programs in NYS and is the largest in the State.
We continue focusing this month on Good News with the Syracuse City School District and this month’s interview is with Nancy Bailey, their Director of Health Services.
SCSD students are exposed to fine arts!
Syracuse City School District students experienced CNY’s finest art and music recently. 5th graders from across the district traveled to the Everson while HS students were treated to a special performance from the Syracuse Opera.
The SCSD Fine Arts Department sends every SCSD fifth grader to the Everson, where they spend two hours exploring the museum and learning more about art in an up close, hands-on way. After two years of cancelled field trips due to the pandemic, the students were thrilled to have the experience this year.
On the field trip, students discovered amazing things. From the museum’s iconic stairs to a painting that used squares to create an optical illusion, changing from a 2D piece to a 3D piece.
Students toured the museum with a docent- learning all about the art featured or participated in an arts activity. After an hour, they switched to experience the other activity. When not touring the museum, students had the opportunity to paint with watercolor using techniques developed by local artist Dan Shanahan, watch a history of hip hop performance by traveling dance troupe Versa Style, or watch an age-appropriate educational video about art theory.
Over the course of a month, more than 1,300 SCSD fifth graders walked the galleries of the museum.
SCSD Students participated in the NSBE Fall Regional Competition
Students in the SCSD National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) program earned impressive honors at this year’s NSBE Fall Regional Competition and Conference. There are 127 different chapters in Region I with 467 NSBE total Jr. members. The Syracuse City School District has one of three programs in NYS and is the largest in the State.
This year students competed in the Ten80 racing challenge competition, the Technical Innovations Competition (TIC) and the Try-Math-A-Lon (TMAL)
In the Ten80 racing challenge, students were tasked with fixing and driving a race car, without crashing, through a rigorous course. Aleda Guerraro (ITC) won first place; Kellen Hicks (Nottingham) won second place; and Adrian Alnutt (Grant) was a runner up.
In the Technical Innovations Competition, students were asked to conduct research using scientific methodology to organize data and explain their findings. Angela Kumah (Nottingham) and Sarah Kapalanga (ITC) came in first place for their combined project, “Tidal Disruption and Stellar Evolution.”
Finally, in a math skills and drills competition, Angela and Sarah placed first at the high school level and Elizabeth Kuman (HW Smith) placed first at the middle school level.
November 2022:
Keeping The Students Well Fed
Keeping the kids well fed so they can focus on learning the main goal for the Food and Nutrition program within the Syracuse City School District. We continue focusing on good news with Syracuse City Schools with a talk with the Director of Food and Nutrition Rachel Murphy. Learn more about the nutrition program and more by visiting SyracuseCitySchools.com.
SCSD Students Recognized Among Syracuse.com ‘Best and Brightest’
Congratulations to PSLA at Fowler student Benedicte Owanga and ITC student Isaiah Goodrich – they have been selected as Syracuse.com’s Best and Brightest students of 2022! The Best and Brightest award recognizes the accomplishments of Central New York seniors who have at least a 3.0 grade point average and who have exceptional academic successes, extracurricular activity, and service to their school and community. Just 21 local students were selected for this achievement, including Benedicte and Isaiah
For the complete story, click HERE.
Special Education Students Experience College – and Independence – through SCSD and SU Partnerships
Emilio Smith, a 2022 Corcoran graduate and former SCSD Special Education student, experienced college life during his senior year of high school as part of the OnCampus program. OnCampus offered him the opportunity to spend a year on the SU campus, attending classes and seminars and receiving real-world experience, all in an effort to help him gain independence.
For the complete story, click HERE.
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October 2022:
Corcoran CTE Program Helps Lead SCSD Graduates Back Home – as Employees
When Aariana Shortell and Isabella Pascale enter Roberts Pre-K-8 School as Teaching Assistants, they are excited to jump right in and help with whatever students are working on.
Ari, a Corcoran junior, and Isabella, a Corcoran senior, are both studying in their high school’s Urban Teacher Prep program – a Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathway intended to help students prepare for a career in urban education.
For the complete story, click HERE.
SCSD Classrooms Offer ‘Time Away Spaces’ to Support Student Mental Health
This year, if a SCSD student – of any age – acts withdrawn, shows anxiety, is tense or agitated, or just needs a few minutes to themselves, they are invited to visit a Time Away Space… right in their own classroom.
Each SCSD classroom was provided with $500 to facilitate the creation of their own unique classroom Time Away Space, intended to be a place for students to reset and manage their emotions so they are prepared to return to the learning environment.
For the complete story, click HERE.
The Syracuse City School District continues to work with us to focus on Good News coming out of the district as we enter this Fall. Bruno Primerano is the Director of Career and Technical Education for the Syracuse City School District.
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September 2022:
We continue spreading Good News with the Syracuse City School District with a talk with Monique Wright-Williams – the Chief of Staff for SCSD!
SCSD Staff Inspired at District’s Version of TED Talks
More than 130 staff were inspired by their colleagues at the first-ever Syracuse Excellence and Desire (SED) Talk – an SCSD version of TED Talks – this August.
The District’s Coordinating Committee for Professional Development (CCPD) organized the event, which they hope to become an annual occurrence, to help unite District staff in a shared positive mindset as the new school year begins.
With the theme “Rekindling Our Purpose: Why We Are Here,” more than a dozen SCSD teachers, administrators, psychologists, and others aimed to motivate their colleagues by sharing their own personal stories of experience, passion, inspiration, and triumph.
For the complete story, click HERE.
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Syracuse STEM at Blodgett Students Empowered through Student Administrator Roles
For the second year, STEM at Blodgett Principal Harry Valentin has selected student leaders to serve as the school’s Student Assistant Principal and Student Assistant Bus Coordinator. The student administrators each have their own ID badge with their name and title, and they even have their own “mini office” within the principal’s office.
The student administrators also have the opportunity to lead a lunch bunch in the school’s main office, where they are offered quality time with their classmates who may be having a difficult day.
The goal of this opportunity – and others being offered throughout the school – is to help students feel empowered to be positive role models in their school.
For the complete story, click HERE.
