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May 23, 2024
Dear Hastings Families and Staff:
Our unique five-day Memorial Day Weekend has arrived. Here are several Hastings Hurrahs as you head out the door for rest and relaxation.
2024-25 School Budget Adopted
Notices have flowed since late Tuesday evening with news that the 2024-25 School Budget was adopted by Village residents by a vote of 1,206 to 313. District employees in total join me in expressing humble gratitude for this statement of financial support, ensuring that we can continue to do everything possible to advance the growth and development of every student in Hillside, FMS and HHS. Personally, I see the vote as a challenge to do even better in the coming year, to move the quality of our teaching, coaching, directing, support, counseling, managing and visioning, yes, visioning, to even higher levels. We can do even more, I believe, to validate the strong support of the Village represented by Tuesday’s vote. More on this commitment as we head into the summer and new school year. For now, two words: Thank you.
New Board of Education
The long-time (former) coach in me considers a team new when any of its membership changes. Tuesday’s Trustee vote brought us a new BOE team. Alexander Dal Piaz returns as Trustee; Catherine DiMartino and David Barone are new Trustees; joining Silvia Robles, Maureen Lennon-Santana, Theresa McCaffrey and Jodie Meyer to comprise the new BOE. The reelected and newly elected members will be sworn in on July 9, 2024 at the Annual BOE Organizational Meeting. Orientation and planning will take place over the summer so that the new governance team is ready for full work come the start of the 2024-25 school year.
We will thank departing BOE Vice President Doreen Bucher at the June 25, 2024 Board of Education meeting. Let me be the first to offer thanks and praise. For the past three years, I have deeply valued Doreen’s clear, insightful and open leadership, guided by her dedication to each and every student and family in Hastings.
Science Research at the Pinnacle
Themes in life matter–especially when good and powerful. Among several such themes this year has been the awesome results of Melissa Shandroff’s Science Research Program. The following announcement from Ms. Shandroff, sent to all staff on Tuesday, speaks for itself.
The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) took place May 11-17, 2024, in Los Angeles, CA, with 1700 students from 67 countries competing for monetary prizes. Two Hastings students, Justin Baldassarre and Miles Hamilton, were among the top 20 students out of 714 projects who qualified for ISEF through the Regeneron Westchester Science and Engineering Fair this past March.
On May 17, Society for Science announced the Grand Awards at Regeneron ISEF. Justin Baldassarre placed second in the category of Biomedical and Health Sciences and won $2000 for his project, "STING-Rich Ciliated Cells Protect the Fallopian Tube from Early Transformation in the Development of Ovarian Cancer." Miles Hamilton placed fourth in the category of Earth and Environmental Sciences and won $500 for his project, "Reconstructing Late Pleistocene Changes in the Western Equatorial Pacific Thermocline and Analyzing the Viability of Coarse Fraction as a Temperature Proxy."
Congratulations to both Justin and Miles for these amazing achievements! Attached are photos of both students with their medals at their poster boards at ISEF.
We have posted the news on the district's Instagram. Kudos to Justin and Miles!
From Science to Art – Renaissance Hastings
“So wonderfully Hastings, voting and art, all in one gym.” Voters on Tuesday could go from voting to admiring hundreds of art pieces by FMS and HHS students as part of the Annual Art Show. My amateur eye was taken by the breadth of creativity, insights, tears, laughter, scenery, physicality, shapes, dimensions, darkness, light, fear, hope, joy and life conveyed through ceramics, sculpture, drawing, painting, sketches, sewing and textiles and video displayed across half of Cochran Gym. Ezra Elliott, Department Chair, offered this overview, bringing an expert interpretation to the show:
How important it is to celebrate this community's greatest gift, our amazing and talented young artists. With the focus in schools becoming more and more digital every year, it's refreshing to see how our students can show mastery of expression with "analog" approaches. Darkroom film photography, sewing and textiles, and the classics like drawing, painting, ceramics and sculpture were all on display at the show. And one of the annual highlights is our digital animation station, surrounded by the work cultivated in our Media Arts and Digital Photo classes. The breadth and depth of our art program is always impressive. I have such a high level of gratitude for our art staff. They encompass everything I think a great art teacher should be. I was talking with Senior Emma Gelman yesterday about what makes art from Hastings so special, and she shared that "students are allowed the room for expression, given a wide berth for experimentation, while also having the focus on technique and skill." I couldn't agree more.
A special treat to kick off this year’s art show was the Annual National Art Honor Society Induction. Under Lorienne Solaski’s guidance, the group focuses on service projects in local and global communities, using their artwork to benefit populations in need. Congratulations to this year’s inductees: Tess Humphreys, Kaleigh Maloney, Sienna Radley, Lisa Ramos, Macey Renzin and Spencer Vishab.
Kudos to the FMS/HHS Art Staff for fostering a “wide berth for experimentation…and the focus on technique and skill.” Thank you, April Browne, Ezra Elliott, Cory Merchant, Nate Morgan and Lorienne Solaski.
More to See – The Hastings Happenings
Before you jump to vacation, take a look at yesterday’s Hastings Happenings (May 22, 2024) for news about Mr. A’s celebration at Reynold’s Field, Bob’s Bees at Hillside, the 6th Grade Debate Team Awards at the American Debate League Championship, 31 HHS students earning top scores on the National Latin Exam, the upcoming Multicultural Book Fair (May 29-30), and Dr. Ken Cotrone’s 8th Grade Class meeting with Barbara and Michael Lissner, daughter and son-in-law of Mr. Sol Urbach, a Holocaust survivor and employee of Oskar Schindler. Hastings sets the pace for taking on, learning about and succeeding with topics, issues and history small, large and profound.
Final Word – Memorial Day: Remembering the Ultimate Sacrifice
Please take a moment over the long weekend to honor American military members who gave their lives while defending our nation. We are stronger for their ultimate sacrifice. Memorial Day is their day, their time–to be remembered.
Be well.
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