From Fall 2018 through Spring 2019, the Refuel With Chocolate Milk program by the American Dairy Association North East has provided over 10,000 samples of chocolate milk for NY State high school athletes participating in championship events and looks forward to the next school year! Checkout REFUEL Highlight Video.

Have a happy, healthy summer – from the American Dairy Association North East!

Check out the latest edition of the NYSPHSAA Captains Club. In this edition, presented by the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, we introduce you to Joseph Girard III. He is a three time state champ, the all time leading scorer in boys basketball and a young man who will never forget where he comes from.

Reminder, we are always looking for story ideas please contact Chris Watson if you have a suggestion.

George W. Hewlett High School (Section VIII) has been named the spring 2019 community service challenge champion.

Hewlett was selected as the winner by the NYSPHSAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. They were one of 78 projects submitted by member schools during the spring season. A total of 3,239 student-athletes were involved in projects that volunteered 22,137 hours during the spring season alone.

For the 2018-19 school year, a total of 274 community service projects were submitted through the Team up 4 Community partnership. A total of 13,459 student-athletes volunteered 156,157 hours and $418,039 was raised for charitable causes.

To read about Hewlett High School's efforts at their 5th Annual Leader's Club Field Day, click here for the complete release.

A reminder that the deadline to submit for School of Excellence and School of Distinction is fast approaching.

Schools can earn School of Distinction status by having 100% of its varsity teams qualify for and receive the Scholar-Athlete team award during their respective sports seasons

Schools can earn School of Excellence status by having 75% of its varsity teams qualify for and receive the Scholar-Athlete team award during their respective sports seasons. 

To apply for either award please use this link.

2018 NYSPHSAA Hall of Fame inductee Tracey Fuchs will be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame on Sunday, June 30 in Indianapolis.

Fuchs was one of field hockey’s top stars at all levels, setting national records at Centereach High School (Section XI) before leading the University of Connecticut to a national championship and playing in four World Championships.

You can watch her press conference and induction ceremony from the NFHS summer meeting online at no cost:

Hall of Fame Press Conference (Saturday, June 29, 12 p.m. EDT)

Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (Sunday, June 30, 6 p.m. EDT)

Currently, NYSPHSAA is accepting bids to host one future state championship.

If you know of a site that would be interested in hosting one of these state championships, please use the link here and submit a Championship RFP.

Check out the officials page on nysphsaa.org. It has important information for current officials and information on signing up if you are interested in becoming an official.

Click here to visit the officials page

Did you know the NFHS offers free on-line educational courses on a variety of topics?

The latest course is focused on Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. For a complete list of the courses available click here.

Don't forget to tell us #MyReasonWhy on social media. Tell us why you participate in sports, after school activities, coaching, officiating or other ways athletics have made a difference in your life.

The Brain Injury Association of New York State (BIANYS) was recently awarded a grant by the New York State Health Foundation to provide educators throughout New York State with Return to Learn training for when they are working with concussed students. BIANYS is a statewide, non-profit membership organization that advocates on behalf of people with brain injuries and their families. BIANYS provides education, advocacy and community support services that lead to improved outcomes for individuals and families impacted by brain injury.

These presentations are completely free for all participants and can be done at any teacher training day, staff meeting, etc., during the 2019-2020 school year. The presentation has been created by Dr. Brian Rieger and Dr. Andrew Hess, BIANYS Concussion Initiative Co-chairs, and by Michelle Kellen, M.Ed., a former Teacher, Coach, Associate Principal and Athletic Director, who also gives the presentation.

For a training that requires an overnight stay, the presenter will be available to do a free presentation for parents and students about Concussions and Concussion Management during an evening program. 

Each training is 75-90 minutes long. BIANYS is a New York State approved CTLE provider. Please contact Michelle Kellen at 518-459-7911 or [email protected] to schedule a training. The schedule will fill up fast, so please reach out today!

Access to financial aid is a key factor in whether low-income students – including many of New York’s student athletes – have the opportunity to attend college.

Yet across New York, low-income high school students are more likely than their wealthier peers to attend schools with low rates of completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

The New York FAFSA Completion Project aims to raise awareness of the importance of completing the FAFSA and provide easily accessible resources to schools so they can help more students through the process, drawing on national research and best practices already being used in New York schools.

Those resources include an interactive data tool that allows users to track the progress of New York high schools, with new FAFSA completion estimates updated weekly and comparisons to similar schools and top performers

.

The “3 Steps Every High School Can Take” resource at NYFAFSAChallenge.org encourages schools to:

1. Help their seniors make a plan to complete the FAFSA;

2. Hold a FAFSA completion event; and

3. Set targets and track the data.

At the end of the school year, Ed Trust–NY’s FAFSA Completion Challenge will recognize schools with high completion rates and that show improvement. Twelve awards will be granted to schools across the state. Each award will consist of $750 granted to the winning high schools for the purpose of providing a scholarship to one of its students.

Explore the data, read more about FAFSA completion strategies being used at New York schools, and find additional resources at NYFAFSAChallenge.org.