to the complete January 2016 issue of the Beacon

January 2015
The Official Newsletter of the Bellport Teacher’s Association
January 2016
Hopes for 2016
As we think of another year when things are rushed or not thought
upon us, most of us have hopes and through, students will truly suffer.
dreams for this new year.
As
May of us have hopes for oureducators we are forever hopeful,
selves:
that education as we know it will

better health
improve.
Talking to many educators, 
there are common threads that most 
seem to embrace. Most educators
want:





a better mindset
the ability to handle stress

more time to relax

to spend less
More freedom to teach what
they believe their students need. 
to have more money
body needs to be at it’s best.
If you need to work on a
more positive mindset, surround yourself with people
who have what you want.
Positivity breeds positivity. If
you need help handling stress,
turn towards the EAP program and sign up for a workshop. You could also seek
out a friend, who handles
stress well, and ask them for
advice. If you want more
Though
we
are
hopeful
for
time to relax, you could write
The ability to follow a scope and
sequence tailored to their these things in education and for our- it in to your busy schedule.
individual classes, not the selves, we can not simply hope for it. If Maybe try to put in 5 minutes
we want these things to happen we a day to decompress. Spenddistrict’s as a whole.
have to actively seek it.
ing less and having more
The freedom to slow down the
As for our hopes in education, money, go hand in hand. Perpace when students are not
we must be present. We must stay haps, you remove an App
ready for what’s next.
informed and be driven to participate from your phone, that you
The time to meet student’s social
when called upon. We must under- usually spend a lot of money
and emotional needs.
stand what decisions are being made on or take your credit card
A disciplinary program or style and how to get our voices heard. We off the site. If you actually
that works and is supported must be willing to put ourselves out have to take out your credit
card each time you pay, you
throughout the system.
there for our students.
might not purchase as much.
Assessments that help drive
As for our personal hopes,
There are many
instruction.
these are more like resolutions. These
things out of our control but
There are many other hopes you have the most control over. If it is
we can take control of what
that educators have this year. They better health, than fix what is in your
is. Good luck and Happy New
hope that the government continues control. Eat better, exercise more,
Year!
on a better page, understanding that take vitamins, or do whatever your

A Message from Our President
To my Sisters and Brothers,
Happy New Year!!! I hope it brings you joy and happiness for you and your loved ones. This past year was the year of
hard fought struggles that came with many successes for the BTA and public education in NY and nationwide. We have protested corporate reforms for public education, including excessive testing along with the inappropriate roll-out of the Common
Core. We also fought hard to decouple teacher evaluations with the state and local assessments. Locally, we worked on creating
better working conditions at FPL as well as establishing a liaison committee with the town of Brookhaven. We also settled many
grievances and continued to establish a better working relationship with Central Office. In the end, all of our hard work led to
President Obama signing the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, a long overdue reset of ESEA that fixes many of the problems
created by No Child Left Behind and Race To The Top. The State's Common Core Task Force report included recommendations that was brought by parents and educators working together with organizations like NYSAPE. This included the creation of
developmentally appropriate New York State standards by New York State teachers for New York State students; de-linking
state test scores evaluations for a minimum of four years with less time on testing, and more time on learning. For local involvement, our presence in our community led to the signing of a new contract!
Even with all the successes, we still have a lot of work to do because the fight is far from over. The attacks on public
education continue in the form of receiverships along with the threats to destroy public unions. In 2016 we need to stand together to eliminate these threats so that we can focus on what's most important to us; the education of our children. I am asking
you to stay informed in order for us to be aware of what to do to eliminate the threats to public education. Our goal in 2016 is
to make sure that we all work together to keep the pressure on Albany and Washington to finish fixing what the reformers have
broken.
In the meantime, I want to wish all of you the happiest of Holidays and an even happier New Year. As always, I am
proud to represent you. Stay safe!
Wayne White
President -Bellport Teachers Association
Office 631-286-7511
Cell 516-983-5599
[email protected]
Bellport Teachers Association has been participating every June in the Reebok Spartan Race for the past several years. For June 2016 we decided to make it extra special. We would like other Long Island teachers to join us and
represent their union. Events such as these are always better with larger groups!
We have created an LI Teachers & Friends Team this year. Therefore we are reaching out to all Long Island
teachers, family, and friends to join us for the June 2016 Spartan Race!
Here is what you need to know:
Event date is June 18, 2016
Cost is now around $99
Spartan Sprint is 3+ mile obstacle ridden course. Even though information is at www.liteacherspartan.com, this
event is our annual facilitated event by Dave Perkins.
The BTA Gives Back
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer
Honoring Our Colleague and Friend Donna Warshaw
The annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk took place this year once again in October. As always, the BTA came together and made a difference! This year the BTA honored their friend and colleague Donna
Warshaw. They raised money together and walked together to honor their dear friend and to continue the fight.
School
Frank Long
VWC
Brookhaven
Kreamer
Koman
$310. (includes shirt money)
$50.
$160.
$192.
American Cancer Society
$125.
$300.
$190.
$440.
High School—Special congratulations to the High School, their ‘Dig Pink’ volleyball game raised over $2,500. Over
the past 5 years, they have raised over $10,000 through special events, staff, student, and teacher donations. Way to
go everyone! As always thank you to those who collected in each building and to Chris Belford for ensuring all
funds get donated.
The BTA Gives Back
Lighthouse Mission Christmas Event
A Letter to the Elves from Bill Champlin
I would like to commend our staff on helping to make the 5th Annual Lighthouse Mission Toy Giveaway a tremendous success. The BTA alone had almost 40 volunteers, and district-wide staff brought us over 50! It was such a
warm feeling to see everybody present working together with the volunteers from the Lighthouse Mission, many in
their elf costumes, ALL with smiles on their faces as they helped serve their community. After all was said and done, we
had 227 families (which equaled 580 children) receive toys, gifts, clothing, games, and stocking stuffers for their children. The Lighthouse Mission does an amazing job putting this event on every year, and it’s such an honor to be asked
to participate year after year. Again, thanks for making the toy giveaway such a huge success once again this year, and I
hope that you will all be inspired to participate again next year as we continue to help serve our community.
Special Note: The Lighthouse Mission is not just at work during the holiday time. As our members know, the mission could always use a helping hand. Please think of reaching out to this selfless organization. Check out some of their good works at their website:
www.lighthousemission.net
Highlights of Education
BHS- Thanks SCEF
Kelly Scotti and Elina Romero, Special Ed. Teachers at Bellport High School were
awarded a grant from the South Country Education Foundation. The money from the grant
will help fund field trips for the Career and Finance Class for the Special Education students. This first trip was to the Cornell Learning Extension Farm in Yaphank. The students
learned about how the farm operates and the different jobs that are done at the farm.
Our next trip is to the Bayport Flower house where the students will be taught to make
their own floral arrangements. They will be able to take their arrangements home with
them. Contributed by, Kelly Scotti and Elina Romero
Kreamer Kingdom
Kreamer Street staff and students are increasing positive school behavior
and learning through a new initiative named Kreamer Kingdom. Students and staff
were assigned a “House” to be a part of working together to support one another in
our quest for a safe, respectful and responsible school community. Students earn
points, attend pep rallies (as shown in this picture), earn MVP status, wear their house
color each Thursday, cheer on their members during class when points are earned,
and at the end of each trimester win a Mega Party for their house based on total
points earned. The SCEF has awarded a grant for each classroom to have a djembe
drum to incorporate rhythm and movement into the recognition of positive behavior.
Increase in student engagement and attendance has been noticed since the implementation of this new initiative! Keep up the great work Kreamer Street!
Contributed by, Christine Daniels
Hands-On Learning
The 5th grade students in Ms. Behl’s & Mrs. Tietjen’s class worked
together through hands-on learning during Social Studies class. The students
created 3D landform molds, labeling the major landforms and waterways of
the United States. These fifth graders collaborated on a carousel review activity as well.
Contributed by, Ms. Behl and Mrs Tietjen
Highlights of Education
Cheers to Brookhaven
On November 9th, the Bellport JV Cheerleaders hosted a cheer
clinic at Brookhaven Elementary school to raise money for their upcoming competition. The team invited girls from Brookhaven, Verne W.
Critz, Kreamer Street Elementary Schools and Frank P. Long Intermediate
School to come learn some cheers and a dance. It was a wonderful turn
out. The JV Team showed the girls their routine and some stunts. The
girls loved it and wanted to get up and start moving right away. The girls
learned two cheers and a dance. Parents came to watch and enjoy the
fun too. We are looking forward to another cheer clinic after such a good
turnout!
Contributed by, Alexandra Azzurro
Helping Others
Kudos to Mrs. Ellen Hoffman and her Student Council at Bellport
High School who organized a successful food drive for Thanksgiving. These are some of the many boxes of Thanksgiving food that were
delivered to local families by the Social Workers at Bellport High School
(pictured with Mrs. Hoffman). Along with the food, were the many
Thanksgiving turkeys generously contributed by the Bellport Rotary Club
and also by members of the community. Sometimes, it takes a village... and
we are fortunate to have a great one!
Contributed by, Ann Haddad
Teaching Citizenship
To commemorate Veterans Day, and in conjunction with the social studies curriculum, third grade students at Kreamer Street created cards and letters
for residents of the Long Island Veterans Home in Stony Brook, NY. The students learned about the brave actions of these individuals and the sacrifices they
made during their military service. The students wanted the Veterans to know
that they have not been forgotten.
In addition, students in Ms. Leonardi, Ms. Bartkewicz and Mrs. Volk’s
third grade classes recently collected items for a care package and sent it to
members of our military who are currently deployed overseas. The students and
their families collected snacks, games, writing paper, toiletries, and many other
items to help our troops know that we appreciate all that they do to keep us
safe. Some students even enclosed personalized notes to the service members.
After everything was gathered and collected, a package weighing 30 lbs. was sent
to members of the United States Marine Corps 6th Communication Battalion. They
are based out of Brooklyn and are currently deployed in Afghanistan.
Contributed by, Ms. Leonardi
Letters from the Editor
Dear Loyal Readers,
Happy New Year! Again, it is going to be a year of diligence. We must be diligent in our jobs, to keeping ourselves
healthy, to taking care of our families, and in creating an educational system that is for the child. Beyond this, there are many
other things that people must be diligent for their own lives. Together we must motivate each other to keep up the momentum.
Letters to the Editor
This space is reserved for letters from our members. Please help
fill this spot. THANK YOU!
SCSD Pride Cup
Here are the current rankings for the SCSD Pride Cup.
6pts.- First Place – Bellport High School 3-0
As always I welcome “Letters to the Editor” where you 5 pts.- Second Place – Bellport Middle School 2-1 (direct win
can voice your opinion on the happenings in our district. Of over Verne Critz)
course I will respect your anonymity if you wish. Contributions 4 pts.- Third Place – Verne Critz 2-1
can be sent to Stephanie at [email protected]. Please send
information from your home email address. I can also be reached 3pts.- Fourth Place – Kreamer St. 1-2 (direct win over FPL)
by pony at Kreamer Street. Thank you for all of you support and
contributions.
2 pts.- Fifth Place – Frank P. Long 1-2
1 pt.- Sixth Place – Brookhaven 0-3
Yours in Unity…Stephanie Pirozzi
Our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provides free services
for you and your family 12 months a year and is here during
school vacations and throughout the summer. Both daytime and
evening hours are available.
Medford Office: 289-0480
Commack Office: 858-9177
Hampton Bays Office: 728-2008
Executive Board, Committee , and Representative Members
Executive Board:
Burmeister, Heidi Devito
Community Relations: Mark Nolan
President: Wayne White
Frank Long: Tracey Behl (Senior Rep),
Cari Negri, Toni Giresi
Elections: Keri Gimpel
Vice-President: Pat Brady
2nd Vice-President: Teri PalermoRobinson
Treasurer: Don O’Hanlon
Recording Secretary: Christine Napolitano
Corresponding Recording Secretary:
Donna Snyder
NYSUT/Ed Delegate: Joe Tortora
NYSUT/Legislative Delegate: Debbie
Brookhaven Elementary: Victoria Suarez
(Senior Rep), Jeanine Madrigales, Annmarie O’Sullivan
Grants: Rodney O’Neal
Kreamer Street: Nicole Albrecht (Senior
Rep) and Alissa Walters
Sick Day Bank: Debbie Becht, Kelly Scotti
Verne Critz: Sue Giustino (Senior Rep),
Erica Watson, Bill Pettit
Southaven: Lori Barrie (Senior Rep)
Grievance: Sue Hartmann
Becht
Educational Problems: Teri Palermo,
Andrew Budris, Jill Carrabus
Building Representatives:
Public Relations: Camille Masem
Bellport High School: Wendy Palladino,
Matt Feddern (Senior Rep), Marc Nolan,
John Romashko, Joe Malandro, Dennis
Pluth
Social: Jayne Quatrale
Middle School: Matt Kinigson (Senior
Rep), Ann Metz, Eric Kramer, Jason
Bellport Teachers Association
SCOSH: Trish Gallina
NYSUT List: Michelle Stiriz
Negotiations: Donna Lynch
PO Box 443
Bellport, NY 11713
(631)286-7511
Negotiations Team: Christine Belford,
Patricia D’Ambrosio, Matthew Feddern,
Keri Gimpel, Barbara Muller
Constitution Review: Andrew Budris,
Rob Ancipink, Judi Lindo, Alissa Walters
LAP: Joe Malandro
LAP Team: Dave Perkins, Matt Bux,
Corinne Figueroa, Wendy Palladino
Newsletter-Beacon: Stephanie Pirozzi
APPR: Jean Gray, Nicole Casserly, Ellen
Plain, Aimee Volk, Cari Negri
Budget: Don O’Hanlon
BTA Website: www.bellportteachers.org