There was a crime to solve out in nature and Kent Elementary third-grade students were quick to take on the case.

The young investigators recently participated in a Wildlife CSI training course, or lesson, under the direction of Julia King, a naturalist from the Putnam | Northern Westchester BOCES Center for Environmental Education. The lesson gave students an overview of the diverse types of evidence that animals leave behind out in the wild. The students learned how to decipher clues left by elusive animals, such as tracks, fur, feathers, scat, food remains, bones and more.

“To be a good detective, we are looking for evidence,” King told the students. “We are looking for clues that tell us what happened. We are looking for things that can prove our theories, our ideas or our stories.”

After the lesson, it was time for hands-on investigating at four crime scenes throughout the classroom. At the different stations, students used their critical-thinking skills and helpful resources to collect evidence and make notes on their observations. Among the evidence left behind was a snakeskin, feathers, a fallen bird’s nest, animal tracks and scat.

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From left: Emmanuel Manny Henry, Lucas Sanchez, Lia Palumbo, Josh Gaillard, Autumn Jacobs, and Aidan Buckler.

Three Culinary alums are again on common ground—or actually Common Grounds. 

Emmanuel Manny Henry, Autumn Jacobs, and Josh Gaillard, all Peekskill High School grads, are working together at Common Grounds, a café/lounge that opened in Jefferson Valley on March 26. Co-owner Henry is the head chef; Jacobs is a cook; and Gaillard is the pastry chef. Current BOCES Culinary student Aidan Buckler, Somers, is also a cook. The three alums graduated from the Career and Technical Education Center program at PNW BOCES several years ago.

Henry, along with Lucas Sanchez, Lia Palumbo, and Christina Bucalo, are the café’s owners.

Henry, Sanchez, Jacobs, and Gaillard grew up and worked together in previous settings. “Lucas and I always wanted to open a café,” Henry said, “and it is great to have us all together now.”

The alums’ training didn’t stop with BOCES. Jacobs and Gaillard are graduates of Johnson and Wales’ culinary program, and Henry trained with Certified Executive Chef Michael Matarazzo at Bear Mountain Inn and Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, VA. Buckler will attend the Culinary Institute of America in the fall.

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College Fair Draws 1,000

Nearly 1,000 local high school students visited Putnam | Northern Westchester BOCES this week with lists and dreams in hand. It was the first time both the daytime and evening sessions of the Regional College & Career Fair had been held at the PNW BOCES Yorktown campus.

The School Services Building and the Walden School gymnasium were abuzz as the students met with representatives from about 300 colleges.

“I had a list of schools I wanted to look at, to prioritize who I wanted to see,” said Walter Panas High School junior Mare Newcombe.

Mare and her friends, Lauren Kim and Kiah Edwards were prepared to meet and greet admissions folks from their choice schools, but kept open minds.

“There are more colleges added to my list that I wasn’t sure about, like Sarah Lawrence,” said Kiah, also a WPHS junior. “I was on the fence about it, but now I really like it.” 

“It’s an event we plan with our component districts to allow all of our students to visit colleges from around the country,” said Deborah Lividini, program coordinator at PNW BOCES.

Students not only got face time with school recruiters, but they had a chance to learn how to ace an audition and write the perfect essay, as well as receiving application tips and financial aid advice.

“It was very eye-opening,” said Pawling High School junior Rileigh Feery. “I haven’t narrowed down a list of colleges yet, that’s why I was happy to find some new information.”

Fairs like these are as helpful for the colleges as they are for the students.

“We find that students are making decisions earlier and earlier, so seeing juniors and sophomores in the spring makes a lot of sense. It’s good practice,” said Dave Frohman, assistant director of regional admissions at Ohio Weslyan University.

“It’s nice to have substantive conversations with them and introduce them to the opportunities they could enjoy at our institutions,” Frohman said, moments after telling a student about his school’s nursing program.

“The pre-med track has been very popular here,” said Jason Cohen, undergrad addmissions counselor for Pace University. “There are a lot of aspiring doctors and medical professionals.

Pawling High School junior Jimmy Fannuele wants to go into environmental engineering on a pre-law track. He has specific goals but is keeping his path wide.

“I thought it was fun and I got to see schools that I never would have considered.” 

PNW BOCES Education Technology Coordinator Dr. Jennifer Harriton-Wilson was chosen by national online learning management system D2L, along with 11 other professional learning (PL) leaders throughout the country, to author a guide to support K-12 leaders and educators. The authors were chosen for their abilities as future-oriented professionals whose work is modernizing professional development for educators. 

After surveying 1,000 educators who sought professional learning targeted to their interests, D2L tapped Harriton-Wilson along with the other leaders to brainstorm new models for PL. 

Over the course of six months, the group came up with a guide, which was published by D2L in March and can be viewed here: The K-12 Guide to Personalizing Professional Learning | D2L  

“Our work was informed by the survey answers,” said Harriton-Wilson. “We wanted to produce a guide for leaders to use to meet the needs of their teachers. We met several times and came up with eight recommendations that we felt would meet those needs.”

Among those recommendations are prioritizing, incentivizing, and communicating professional learning opportunities, as well as creating hybrid methods of learning.

Harriton-Wilson, along with two colleagues from the group, discussed the guide in a D2L webinar on April 18.

Ellen Lane

Communications Director

Putnam|Northern Westchester BOCES

914.248.2235

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