December 2015 Newsletter Final

Sachem Central
School District
SenecaMiddleSchool
SenecaMiddleSchool
Principal’sNewsletter
Principal’sNewsletter
Volume 11, Issue 1
December, 2015
Dear Parent/Guardian:
In this Issue you will find:
• National Junior Honor
Society
• Veterans Day
• Students of the Month
• Turkey Trot
• 10th Annual Empty
Bowl Dinner
• Grade 6, Team 1
• Dates to Remember
• Sound of Music
The start of the 2015-2016 school year has been very exciting! Our students have
all acclimated themselves to their schedules and to middle school life. They have
immersed themselves in various activities and sports during the last few months,
meeting new friends and giving back to their community. Many of our students
also became involved in several fundraisers such as the Empty Bowl Dinner and
Turkey Trot. Giving back to the community is an excellent way for our students to
stay connected and contribute time and resources to helping those less fortunate.
With that in mind, the PTA continues to be a valuable asset to Seneca and the
community. They have been very involved in helping us acknowledge all those
students who participated in the Summer Reading Program; all of our fundraisers,
including the Giving Tree, the Turkey Trot, the Food Drive, and our Beautification
Project that will be ongoing throughout the year. Many thanks to April Mott and
Kathy Sidito for all their help with the School Store each week and for running the
Fun Books Fundraiser. We appreciate all the dedication and time our parents give
to the students at Seneca!
We would also like to acknowledge our Students of the Month and the members of
the National Junior Honor Society. All of these students have gone above and
beyond and are congratulated for all their efforts. Keep up the good work!
Again, we encourage your children to take part in the many clubs and intramurals
that take place at Seneca throughout the year. Keeping your children involved in
life at school promotes good character, ethics, and pride in themselves and their
school. Additional information on sports, clubs, and extra-curricular activities can
be found on our website.
As we leave the holiday season behind us, there are many things that we are
thankful for. We are extremely grateful that the Seneca Family has always been
generous and caring when it comes to helping others. We look forward to your
continued support.
We hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday and a happy new year.
As always, please feel free to contact us anytime via phone, e-mail, or in person.
Respectfully,
Gemma M. Salvia
Gemma M. Salvia
Principal
Happy Holidays!
Veterans Day 2015
On Monday November 9th Seneca Middle School honored fallen heroes and veterans
who have served in past wars throughout history. We held our ceremony
outside in front of the school during periods 4, 5, and 6. As we preceded
the ceremony, my peers and I met a great man who is a veteran of World
War II named Salvatore Nicosia. He was very inspiring. Veterans Day is
when we honor the noble and the brave, women and men who have
risked their lives to gain United States freedom. Armis)ce Day was the
original Veterans Day. Armis)ce Day was founded by signing of the
armis)ce, which ended World War I.
Our outdoor celebra)on was Mrs. Salvia’s vision and a team of students and staff
helped make Veteran’s Day 2015 truly meaningful. The band performed at each assembly
and Patrick C. played Taps on his trumpet. Social Studies classes had a contest for
students to create a meaningful reflec)on on what Veteran’s Day Means. Student speakers
included; Johanna S., Brigid M., Elizabeth K., Megan C., Alexa C., Colin J., Gianna D.,
Samantha W., Dana E. and Celeste S.. An excerpt from Elizabeth K.’s speech men)ons that
“freedom isn’t free.” She also goes on to say that “ Veteran’s Day is a day in which we can
all put aside our differences and say “thank you” to those who have and con)nue to serve
in the armed forces.”
The assembly closed with the plan)ng of American flags in the front of the school to the
beau)ful sounds of the band performing “You’re a Grand Ole Flag.”
Wri@en by Megan C. from Mrs. Bowman’s social studies class.
The “Sachem Supports the Troops” tee-shirt fundraiser was a tremendous success again
this year. The social studies department runs this annual event first started by Brian Harvey. The
Seneca community raised $540 which was donated to the “Team Jesse Founda)on.”
The mission of The Team Jesse Founda)on is helping families of fallen soldiers in honor of
SSG Jesse Williams. We are also commi@ed to suppor)ng the efforts of other charitable
organiza)ons helping military families more broadly.
Team Jesse was started in 2007 by Sachem alumnus, Kevin Mincio and Ma@ Corry to honor
Kevin’s fallen friend and comrade, SSG Jesse L. Williams. Shortly aEer the 9/11 a@acks, Kevin leE a
Wall Street job to join the Army and served a tour of duty in Iraq with Jesse, where they became
close friends. Before Jesse leE for his second tour of duty, aEer earning a Purple Heart in his first
tour, he asked Kevin to “look aEer” his daughter Amaya in the event Jesse did not make it back.
On April 8, 2007, Staff Sgt. Jesse L. Williams, 25, of Santa Rosa, CA died in Balad, Iraq, of wounds
suffered from small arms fire while conduc)ng combat opera)ons in Baqubath, Iraq. Williams was
assigned to the 5th Ba@alion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker
Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, WA. Kevin obliged and Team Jesse is one of the ways Kevin is
fulfilling his promise. Inspired to do more in the Fall of 2010, Kevin and Ma@ founded the Team
Jesse Founda)on, a 501(c)(3) charitable organiza)on, with the help of Kevin’s sister (and Sachem
Alumnus) Eileen Tang and Heather Hager. The vision of the leadership team is to assist in helping
as many families of fallen soldiers as possible by raising money through awareness and events.
We are extremely proud of the Mincio family and the work they are doing to help the
families of fallen soldiers. As our staff and students par)cipated in our Veteran’s Day celebra)on,
there was a sea of people wearing the Sachem Support the Troops shirts while honoring our men
and women in the armed forces. For the families of the brave soldiers who did not make it back
home, we hope to help organiza)ons like Team Jesse con)nue to make a difference.
Do you think you’re hearing things? Don’t be concerned it’s just that
“The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Music”
On March 4th and 5th Seneca’s Drama Club is presenting a middle
School version of Roger’s and Hammerstein’s
The Sound of Music.
Starring the featured couple of Captain Von Trapp (Joey Albano) and
the young governess Maria (Jacqueline Chirichella). This production
promises to be a treat for the whole family.
Set in WWII time Austria you will delight in hearing your
favorite songs performed by Seneca’s finest theatrical talent.
So even if you have to “Climb Every Mountain” to get here
Come see a show that for years you will describe as one of
“My Favorite Things”
Seneca Middle School hosted the Ninth Annual Empty Bowl Dinner and
Eleventh Annual Turkey Trot on Thursday, November 19th 2015. The Turkey
Trot consisted of a one-mile run/walk around the Seneca campus after school.
The Empty Bowl Dinner followed the Turkey Trot in the Seneca Middle
School Cafeteria. Many students and faculty participated in the fall festivities.
Students made signs and helped to organize raffles. They sold tickets and promoted
the event to each other and the community. Seneca’s faculty and wonderful PTA
prepared and donated soups, bread, desserts and drinks for the event. Seneca staff
donated fantastic items for the raffle. The event was a huge success! We are very
proud to announce that this year our fall festivities raised just over $3000. All of the
money from the turkey trot donations, Empty Bowl ticket sales and raffle go a long way to help local
families that struggle to make ends meet during the holiday season. Specifically, the funds are used
to purchase food and gift cards for our Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets. These baskets go to
families within our Sachem community. A big “thank you” to everyone involved. We are Sachem!
Music Newsletter
The music students at Seneca have had a busy start to the year! Members of the
8th grade band and a few members of the orchestra performed at the Veteran's Day
assembly on Monday, November 9th. "Taps" was played by Patrick Clancy followed by
the "Star Spangled Banner" and "You're a Grand Old Flag" played by the Band.
Additionally, all Seneca performing groups had their Winter Concerts in the month
of December. The 6th grade Concert was December 15th, the 7th Grade was December
17th, and the final performance was the 8th Grade concert on December 21st. The
Seneca students put on great performances.
The NYSSMA paperwork has been distributed and can also be found on the
Sachem website. Forms and checks are due back on Friday, January 8th. The festival
will take place on Monday, April 11th at Sachem North. Save the date!
We recently found out that a number of our students were accepted into the
SCMEA (All County) Festival. Those students are: Patrick C., Joseph G., Joseph M.,
Sebastian R., Aaron B., Alicia C., Elizabeth K., Samantha M., Ava M., Michael B.,
Shannon D., Mili D., and Vincent
P.. We also had two students accepted into LISFA
(Long Island String Festival) and those two students are Miranda G.C. and Mili D.
Congratulations to all!
National Junior Honor Society
On Sunday, October 18th the National Junior Honor Society walked
in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk at Jones Beach
along with other staff members and students. Donations were
made and sent to the American Cancer Society.
6th grade:
Team One
ELA
Ms. Faron, Mrs. Reardon, and Mrs. Elliott’s sixth grade ELA classes have been busy adjusting to life in middle school! In September, we participated in many “Getting to Know You” activities
that helped us get to know our new school and meet new friends. A scavenger hunt helped us
navigate our way around the school and provided the opportunity to learn about all the exciting
things Seneca has to offer.
Team One’s ELA journey began with the exploration of different genres of
literature. During our study, we focused on realistic fiction, poetry, science fiction, and horror
fiction. Throughout our studies, we have compared poems to song lyrics, written original poems,
and made connections to the text by writing responses in our notebooks. As we move throughout
the year, we will continually revisit these genres to study, read, and write using a diverse
amount of literature.
In November, we started reading our first novel, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The
Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan. It is the first novel in the series, which charts the adventures of
modern-day twelve-year-old Percy Jackson as he discovers he is a demigod, the son of a mortal
woman and the Greek god, Poseidon. Percy and his friends go on a quest to prevent a war
between the gods Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. The students have enjoyed reading various myths
as we delve into the wonderful world of Greek mythological gods, goddesses, heroes, villains, and
monsters.
In addition to our genre studies, we are on our way to becoming better writers. Using the
proper paragraph structure, we are practicing our writing skills to include a lot of specific details
from the text. We are applying these strategies to our daily writing routines in order to enhance our
skills and to develop multi-paragraph essays. With our newly-acquired writing skills, we are excited
to take on future reading and writing endeavors.
6th grade:
Team One
Social Studies
Ms. Faron, Mrs. Portanova, Mrs. Elliott, and Mrs. Woll’s historians have been hard
at work uncovering the secrets of the ancient world! In September, we kicked off the
school year with a Map Skills Unit in which the students learned the important life skill
of reading a map. We became experts in the parts of a map and learned how to find
coordinates on the global grid.
After studying map skills, we were ready to delve into the exciting ancient world
and reveal truths about prehistoric people and the way they lived. The students were
fascinated to learn about the Ice Age, a time when glaciers covered huge portions of
the earth. We also studied the transition from the Ice Age to the New Stone Age and
the Old Stone Age and its effect on people and animals. The students really enjoyed
creating personal cave paintings to depict this interesting time in history.
The students also had a great learning experience about Mesopotamia, the
“Cradle of Civilization,” as well as Ancient Egypt. Students had the opportunity to
practice writing in cuneiform as well as hieroglyphics. The true highlight of the
Egyptian unit was having the opportunity to participate in the mummification process.
The students completed a hands-on activity where they were transformed into
curators dealing with the bodies of the deceased pharaohs. With this activity, our
young historians had a memorable and valuable experience that helped them
remember important information about this exciting civilization.
While learning about Early Man, we learned and practiced important study skills
such as note-taking and studying. Students will utilize these important habits
throughout their school years to become more successful in their future endeavors. We
look forward to uncovering the past as we further our studies of ancient civilizations.
In the Classroom …
Mrs. Perry’s science classes started this year learning about chemistry. The students have learned
about the four different phases of ma@er, how all ma@er is made up of atoms and how there are over
100 different types of elements in our universe.
The students recently submi@ed an atom project where they had to create a model diagram of an
atom of a specific element. For the project, students were required to use the Periodic Table to determine the correct number of protons, electrons, neutrons and energy levels that were in their element. The projects turned out
great and below are some examples of the projects that the students completed.
Currently, the students are learning about the Periodic Table and how the elements are arranged by groups and
periods. Later in the year, the students will be studying physical science and that is when we will learn about gravity, mo)on
and forces, electricity, magne)sm and waves. Throughout the year, the students will be par)cipa)ng in various labs, centers,
and interac)ve ac)vi)es. To find out more informa)on, please visit Mrs. Perry’s website at www.protopage.com/cperry2.
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To our Seneca Families,
As this year seems to rushing by, I wanted to let you know of some exciting things the
Seneca PTA has done so far this year. The PTA made donations to Seneca to help support the
Empty Soup Bowl event, which was the most successful to date. The PTA has been hosting the
school store biweekly since September with much success. Again this year we offered holiday
items for the children to purchase as holiday gifts. The kids love to come out and shop during
their lunch periods. We had two very successful sales, the Kid Stuff Books and the Spirit Wear
sale. Thank you to all who participated. Our membership is up from last year which is wonderful,
and it's great to see all of your support. The PTA thanks all our members. We had a very successful Reflections Contest. The students are so talented, and we thank all who participated.
We look forward to our upcoming events, the Book Fair, the continuation of the school
store and the Spring Spirit Wear sale. We always need volunteers so feel free to contact me
at [email protected] for information on how to help.
Best Regards,
April Mott
PTA President
The 39th Na)onal Junior Honor Society Induc)on Ceremony took place on Wednesday, November
18th. This year the following sixty-nine students were inducted into the Pride of Seneca Chapter:
Joseph A, Katelyn A, Tamanina A, Anika B, Michael B, Jack B, Ryan B,
Anthony B, Deanna B, Brenna B, Jessica C, Madison C, Kaylee C, Jacqueline C,
Jenna C, Julia C, Carolyn D, Ashley D, Peter D, Laura F, Lily F, Bre@ G,
Andrew G, Miranda G, Melissa G, James H, Skylar H, Elina H, Louis H,
Clint J, Victoria K, Madeline K, Michael K, Christopher L, Cooper L,
Julia L, Tiffany L, Nicholas M, Amanda M, David M, Mackenzie M, Liam M,
Brigid M, Kaitlynn M, Samantha M, Cassidy M, Mickayla M, Jessica M,
Anthony M, Chris)na M, Allison M, Chase M, Amanda N, Joseph N, Liliana P,
Cassidy Q, Sahana R, Julia R, Isabella S, Johanna S, Joseph S, Lianna S, Mason S,
Brianna T, Emily T, Alena T, Eric W, Hailey Z, Alexandra Z
Mrs. Woll, Janazia R. - 6th Grader,
Mrs. Reardon, Mrs. Ciancarelli
Mr. Coffey, Mrs. Dragotta, Taryn W. - 6th Grader,
Mrs. Surdi, Mr. Carruthers
Sophia N. - 7th Grader,
Ms. Bowman
Mrs. Aronow, Mrs. Marrone, Dominick S. -7th Grader,
Mrs. Proctor, Mr. Kazmark
Isabella S - 8th Grade,
Ms. Haines
Mrs. Combs,
Joseph N. - 8th grader
Mrs. Reardon, Mrs. Ward, Madeline G 6th Grader, Mrs. Woll, Mrs. Dolan
Mr. Coffey, Mrs. Drago@a, Dana E - 6th Grader,
Mr. Carruthers, Mrs. Dolan
Mrs. Emmanuel, Jacob K - 7th Grader,
Mrs. Dolan
Mr. Demeo, Jordan D - 7th Grader,
Mrs. Dolan
Mrs. Dolan, Ron D - 8th Grade,
Mr. Enright
Mrs. Perun, Ava S - 8th Grader ,
Mrs. Tietjen, Mrs. Dolan
Trial of Columbus
As part of our study on the Age of Explora)on, social studies students in grade 7 put Christopher Columbus
on trial for the devasta)on and destruc)on of the Taino people. Students were assigned roles and had to
research the charges brought against them and also place blame on Columbus’ men, the King and Queen of
Spain, and the System of Empires. Students also played the role of judges and had to render a verdict.
Classes were divided by period and teams were made up from students in Mr. Kazmark, Mr. LaBella, and
Mrs. Bowman’s classes. Students worked hard and each period had a different verdict. Great job, social
studies 7!
Mr. Kazmark as Christopher Columbus
and Mrs. Bowman as Queen Isabella
“In my period 1 class social studies class, Alex V., Corey R., Aus)n M., Megan C. and I, came up with an
award that no)ces good behavior called the Ci)zenship Award. With the Ci)zenship Award, you get
nominated by your peers if they see you are being nice or helping someone out at their )me of need. We
put our nomina)on box and forms on the desk for student use in our classroom. At the end of the week,
the judges count up the votes and see who had the most votes. With Mrs. Bowman’s help, we make a
cer)ficate for the person who won and then present the award on Friday’s. The team meets during their
lunch period and brainstorm other ideas for class. We feel that the Ci)zenship Award is an important one
and will hopefully mean something to others.”
Wri@en by Michael P.
January 18
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Schools Closed
January 20
7:30 pm - Board of Education Meeting @ Samoset Middle School
January 22
7 pm - 9 pm - Student Government Activity
January 25
Late Winter Sports Begin
January 29
Second Marking Period Ends - Grades 6 to 12
February 3
7:30 pm - Board of Education Work Session @ Samoset Middle School
February 5
Report Cards posted on Parent Portal Grades 6 - 12 after 3 pm
February 15 to 19
Schools Closed - Presidents’ Day
February 24
7:30 pm - Board of Education Meeting @ Samoset Middle School
March 2
7:30 pm - Board of Education Work Session @ Samoset Middle School
March 4 & 5
7:30 pm - “Sound of Music” Production
March 15
Progress Reports Posted to Parent Portal after 3 PM
March 16
7:30 pm - Board of Education Meeting @ Samoset Middle School
March 24*, 25, 28
Schools Closed for Easter Recess
March 29
Spring Sports Begin
(*School will be in Session on March 24 if there are 5 Emergency Closings)