JANUARY 25, 2024

Bedford Road School Kindergarteners Learn How Animals Adapt to Winter

Julia King holds a pelt as she explains how animals get through winter months

Kindergarteners at Bedford Road School learned how animals survive through the winter when Julia King, a naturalist with Putnam | Northern Westchester BOCES Center for Environmental Education, visited their classrooms last week. She explained how animals engage in three primary behaviors to get through the cold months: dormancy, migration or staying active. While many were familiar with hibernation, King clarified the different types of sleep, and which animals engaged in each.

Sharing a painted turtle named Mona, Kim Vecchiariello’s class mimicked sleeping while King allowed students to gently caress the shell of the shy reptile. Students were able to touch bear, rabbit and deer skin, from animals who had died of natural causes. The curious class wanted to know details about deer antlers (did you know they shed antlers every year?) and why foxes eat rabbits (they are carnivores).

In case your curiosity is piqued, hibernation is a deep sleep from which animals do not awaken, and it is how bats and groundhogs spend their coldest seasons. Though many believe that bears hibernate in the winter, they actually engage in torpor, sleeping and waking up frequently. (As King pointed out, how else would the mama bear feed her cubs?) The final napping pattern is one adopted by reptiles and amphibians called brumation. It is like hibernation and is characterized by a slow heart rate.

Kindergarteners mimic sleeping before petting a painted turtle

Students in Kim Vecchiariello’s class feel the softness of rabbit fur

Pleasantville High School Celebrates Wellness Week

Joan Lloyd (pictured right) with Dr. DeSa and students as they make earrings to donate

While snow days and school delays sidelined some activities, Thoughtful Thursday saw students turn out in large numbers during their lunch periods to engage in crafts for worthy causes. At one table in the cafeteria, students made Valentine’s Day cards to send to troops serving overseas. In the three 40-minute periods, over 75 cards were made!

Pleasantville High Schoolers making cards to send to troops for Valentine’s Day

Over 75 Valentine’s Day cards were made for troops overseas

A second table had supplies to make jewelry. For several years, Joan Lloyd, a retired middle school math and science teacher, has volunteered her time to lead workshops teaching people how to make earrings to donate to over 50 battered women’s shelters across the country. She has been conducting workshops for about 12 years, and asks participants to make a pair of earrings for themselves and one to donate. She often purchases the beads herself, though this time Pleasantville Strong made a generous contribution for Lloyd’s time and supplies.

Several staff members joined in the fun, including Dr. DeSa, and members of the school counseling office: Joyce Connell, Allyson Winston and Mary Ann Flately.

On average, Lloyd donates over 1,400 pairs per month. At PHS, students created over 100 pairs for donation! If you’d like to further support this cause, Lloyd regularly conducts workshops at local libraries. Learn more on her Facebook page, Bling’s The Thing.

Dr. DeSa consults with a student about jewelry design

Pleasantville High School Students Submit Essays for National Freedom to Read Contest

Gaffney Murray (pictured right) with her English 10 Honors Class

Students in Gaffney Murray’s English 10 Honors Class were encouraged to submit essays to the New York Public Library’s (NYPL) Freedom to Read Teen Writing Contest. After reading "The Catcher in the Rye" and discussing banned books, students wrote passionate pieces for the national writing contest using the prompt: why is freedom important to you?

In her entry, Eliana Genitrini asserted that, “Not only does banning significant books cause the repression of unique thinking, it causes shame and promotes the idea that people who are struggling don’t have the right to speak out…”

Another student, Sara Agabob, noted: “Ironically, the same reason why a book is banned is usually the point in the novel that needs to be discussed the most.”

Winning entries will be published in NYPL’s Teen Voices magazine, which will be available in print and online. The grand prize-winning entry will be announced in the spring.

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