Foreign Language Honor Society Newsletter

 Foreign Language Honor Society Newsletter Fevrier/Febbraio/
Febrero 2016 INSIDE THIS ISSUE A Visit from Stony Brook University…………..……………...…1 Meet Dr. Frank Scricco……….….3 Meet Mr. Stefano Massimo...…..4 Meet Ms. Patti Trombetta…....5­6 FLHS Information………………….7 Dr. Sarah Jourdain, Stony Brook Professor of French and the World Language Coordinator for prospec@ve teachers, gave a presenta@on to Sachem North students on December 4th. Dr. Jourdain highlighted the importance of second language acquisi3on not only for possible careers in teaching but also as a means to make oneself be5er equipped to meet the demands of today’s world. Having a substan@ve knowledge of a second language provides a prospec3ve job candidate an advantage with regards to job placement while providing both professional and personal growth. Cathy Rico, a graduate student at Stony Brook has spent several weeks observing and facilita@ng in several classes. She also was a resource regarding @ps for being a more successful college freshman. This could not have come at a more opportune @me as our students are preparing to leave the comfort of high school for colleges and universi@es across the country. Famous Quotes………..…………....8 FLHS President ……...Jacob Totten FLHS Induction Coordinators: V.P. for ASL….……….Erin Phillips V.P. for French….Felicia Coursen V.P. for Italian……...Kayla Polizzi, Marissa Volkmann V.P for Spanish……..Rosemarie Budhwa, Nidhi Shah, Sudip Paul and Jason Ennis Tutoring Coordinator…..….Sophie Berman Public Relations...Sudip Paul and Amanda Duspiva Yasaman Souroush, a former student of both Drs. Maria and Frank Scricco, shared her story and highlighted the importance of the college applica@on process. Yasaman underscored the importance of being one’s own best advocate. In addi@on, she expressed the need for students to reflect on his/her strengths and weaknesses as to make sure that the academic choices being pursued will lead to a good job, the opportunity for con@nued professional development and happiness. Apply for scholarships. There are many opportuni@es for grants, and scholarships . Do your research. Engage your guidance counselors and apply. You could win. 1 A teacher...
I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Frank Scricco for this edi@on of the FLHS newsleSer and I wanted to tell you a liSle bit about him. Dr. Frank Scricco is an Italian teacher at Sachem North. He teaches because it’s his natural giT. To him, teaching a language and culture is important because the more we learn about other people, the more we realize other people are like us. In the end, we are not so different. Even though he has spent many years teaching, he has not lost his drive to ins@ll knowledge into his students. He is determined to successfully teach as many students as possible. He gets joy from the challenge of finding a new approach to teach each of his students. He strives to teach the variety of students he has and cares about each and every one of them on a level other than just their grades. He shows his he is aware of his student’s and their personal circumstances with his simple, meaningful gestures every day. Whether it be him asking his students to “stay safe out there,” giving advice based on his own knowledge and experience, or simply ac@ng as a father to his students. He truly sees his students as his family and making that connec@on is pivotal to a student’s development as a person. Everyone needs to know that they are cared about and he definitely understands that. Also, Dr. Scricco is the President of Sachem Central Teachers’ Associa@on. He thought it was @me to become part of the solu@on instead of complaining about the problem. He believes other people should do this as well and the best way is to vote. Finally, there is a quote Dr. Scricco lives by and would like his students to know—“If you find a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” He truly lives by this quote. The job in his case, is teaching. Above all else, he is a kind, respec[ul, and caring man who would not trade his life for anything. effects eternity.
2 My interview with Mr. Massimo….
ATer growing up in Italy and working in America as a professional, Mr. Massimo, an Italian Level 4 & 5 teacher at Sachem East and North, is not only bilingual, but bicultural, too. At the close of his high school career at an interna@onal school in Italy, Mr. Massimo followed in his brother’s footsteps by moving to America to aSend college. In college, Mr. Massimo changed his major several @mes. Eventually, a friend told him he should try being a high school teacher, but he never thought he would have the ability to do it. He finally realized his giT for teaching when students started responding to his lessons. He said, “I know it sounds kind of cheesy and corny, but there’s nothing like how a good lesson feels to me. When I walk out of the class, having learned and had a good @me, and I hear kids walk out and say, ‘This class went by so fast,’ or ‘I love coming to this class;’ those sort of things make me feel good. The students are learning something that I love. I can’t ask for anything beSer than to teach Italian culture on the levels that I do. . . .it’s the dream job. . . . I'm so happy I made this choice.” Although Mr. Massimo is enthusias@c about teaching Italian in America, he believes “the only true way” for students to fully learn and appreciate another language is to study abroad so they can experience the culture. He feels that his job as an educator is to show the students that learning a language involves more than just skill building; it involves the culture too. Mr. Massimo notes that Italian specifically has had an immense impact on the western culture of Americans in art, architecture, literature, and cuisine. “Think about everything Italian gave to us,” he says, “Think of pizza! That should end the conversa@on on why kids should take Italian. Kids should appreciate that.” Massimo knows first hand that learning another language makes a person appreciate other cultures on a greater scale, become more open minded, and see the world from a different viewpoint. Because of his experiences, he is an advocate for language learning all around, with an understood personal bias towards Italian. “I just love it. Italian is beau@ful,” he says “I'm proud to be from there.” By Marissa Volkman
3 Getting to know our Principal, Ms. Trombetta
By Sudip Paul, Danielle Davis, Jenna Fardous, Christine Jacob and Jacob Totten Ms. Trombe5a, principal of Sachem North, as of September 2015, was interviewed by several students to discuss her new gig. Because she is the new head of administra3on here, your authors wanted to understand her goals for the high school, and make sure every student did too. Here’s what we found: The posi@on of a high school principal is tough but fulfilling, demanding but nurturing. But these pros and cons weren’t in the mind of North’s principal, Ms. Pac TrombeSa, who ini@ally studied business at University of Michigan at her mother’s encouragement. There, “I met with professors and student teachers, who got me interested in teaching,” she says, as she began teaching at a Pennsylvania school shortly aTer her gradua@on. Ms. TrombeSa, a 1986 Sachem graduate, comes from the small district of Harborfields in Suffolk County. While her @me there involved closely working with students and faculty, she felt the students could have benefiSed from a larger school district. “With a larger district, you have opportuni@es to reach out to more people. Harborfields has around 1,500 kids, with a gradua@ng class size half of that of Sachem’s.” With her move to Sachem, Ms. TrombeSa’s mission followed. Her vision is simple: to make North beSer for everyone. “Part of that involves secng new rules and boundaries, to help students prepare for college,” she maintains. The reason behind these, including the much‐impugned no‐headphones policy, was so students learn to respect new ideas and rules in future. “It’s not just a concern for safety (dangling headphone cords can become tangled to backpacks, etc.) but also for students learn to respect new things. Respect is only going to help you in life, and we want to make sure students understand its importance. New rules are only in place to ensure students overcome obstacles and have opportuni@es.” Con@nued on next page… R Respect * Responsibility * School * Home * Community 4 Getting to know our Principal, Ms. Trombetta
By Sudip Paul, Danielle Davis, Jenna Fardous, Christine Jacob and Jacob Totten Con@nued from previous page… Ms. TrombeSa wishes to work closely with students, to help each person individually since “life isn’t cookie‐cuSer, rather very personal,” she says. “Communica@on is key, because it lets us be open to change when we understand each other beSer.” It helps students be honest and trus@ng of each other and become invested in each other’s interests as one family. And communica@on should work in all direc@ons, regardless of age differences or posi@on. Ms. TrombeSa has two daughters, from whom she learns how to do a few things, such as working with phone apps. “I let my daughter(s) know when I don’t know how to work with a new app in my phone. They teach me since they are so much more tech‐savvy, and that helps me understand. Age groups really don’t maSer when it comes to things like this, because younger people know how to do things we older folks may not.” Ms. TrombeSa’s experiences here speak volumes to the rela@onship between teachers and students. The purpose of teachers is to make sure students become successful, produc@ve members of society. The only way this is possible is if students communicate their ques@ons and concerns so teachers can address and fix them. Ms. TrombeSa’s experiences here speak volumes to the rela@onship between teachers and students. The purpose of teachers is to make sure students become successful, produc@ve members of society. The only way this is possible is if students communicate their ques@ons and concerns so teachers can address and fix them. With the recent budget cuts, Sachem is faced with the decision to close certain elementary and middle schools in the upcoming weeks. Ms. TrombeSa remains op@mis@c with her responsibility of working with Sachem board members to fix the issues of a suffering district. But perhaps a bigger responsibility— aside from being principal at one of the biggest schools in Suffolk— is being a mother of two. When asked what she values in life, she says, “Family. I am responsible for my two daughters. I teach them to work hard, have trust, love what they do and laugh once in a while.” Her older, Ka@e, an East graduate, is a sophomore on the field hockey team at Michigan and her younger, Cara is a senior at East and headed to the University of Florida to play lacrosse. She hopes to help her daughters be successful, as she does with her Sachem family. R Respect * Responsibility * School * Home * Community 5 The academic requirement for acceptance into the FLHS is a solid 93 in the second language as well as a solid 88 average in all other subjects. In addi@on to the academic requirements the student must exhibit excellent classroom performance and be an asset to his/her class. The student must have at least one club ac@vity and be able to demonstrate service to his/her school community. Once accepted into the FLHS, the following will be required to maintain your status: 
ASend at least one mee@ng per month. 
Par@cipate in at least one ac@vity per quarter (tutoring, library helper, newsleSer, computer/website, FOTAL, Induc@on Ceremony, Interna@onal Luncheon, Guest speaker presenta@ons) 
Fundraise. 
Con@nue your world language study. Maintain an ‘A’ average in your world lan‐
guage class. 2016 Induc3on Ceremony is April 13th @ 7 pm in the Sachem North Auditorium Listen for informa3on regarding our Film Fes3val in conjunc3on with Dr. Jourdain and her students from Stony Brook University. The first film is scheduled for the end of March. Details to follow!!!! 6 Whenever you find yourself on the
side of the majority it is time to
pause and reflect.
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