Around+School

NEWS FROM AROUND THE SCHOOL by Ali ** On a cold day in December, Pocantico Hills brought warmth to the hearts of the local senior citizens. The morning started with giving the seniors a nice breakfast made by Nina and the kitchen staff. Madeline Misuraca came and ran the seniors’ breakfast and luncheon. They had come around 9:30 and stayed in Mrs. Lebenson’s room until the band was ready. At that point, they were brought to the auditorium and escorted to their front row seats. After a big show from the band, the chorus came and welcomed the seniors with loving Christmas songs. After listening to the joyful voices, the seniors came in to a lunch of chicken, veggies and other great foods. Some students who helped serve were Brendan, Robert, Landy, Malik, Jessica, Jackie, Josiah, and Ali. Also Jessica, Asma, Jackie and Ali had come the night before this all happened and decorated the room and got it set for everyone. While everyone was eating, we listened to some Christmas songs and Mr. Lucadamo and Ms. Stanton visited. There was also a raffle and three of the seniors had won great prizes. One senior had come up to us at the end and said, “Thank you so much for the great service and the food.” Hearing this brought joy to our hearts knowing that we had done a great job and made the seniors happy during this holiday season.
 * Senior Citizens Luncheon a Wonderful Event

**Get Ready for Guys and Dolls** By Lila

This year, the middle school students will be performing the musical, Guys and Dolls. The play is going to be directed by Mrs. McCann, Ms. Stanton, and Mrs. Lupi. Students have already auditioned for their parts. The main characters for the girls are Adelaide and Sarah. Adelaide is a comical character who can make anyone laugh. The boy main characters, Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson, were very popular tryout parts. All of the students tried their hardest and gave it all they could to try and get the role they wanted.

__ A Trip to the Buddhist Monastery __ by Sabine 12-10-09 The 6th grade took a trip to the Chuang Yen Buddhist Monastery in December and they had a great time. In Social Studies, they were studying Buddhism, so it was a cool learning experience to be able to see it in action. “It was a fun trip, and we learned a lot about Buddhism, too.” Says a 6th grader.

On the trip, they went inside two different buildings, one where the Buddhists meditate and one where there is a giant Buddha surrounded by 10,000 little Buddhas. Buddha is a very important figure in the Buddhist religion.

At the end of the trip, the 6th grade got to take home books about the Buddhist religion. It was an interesting trip, and all of the students got something out of it.

__Sweet Reviews For Sweet Potatoes__ By Maggie and guest contributor Emma 12-5-09  This year the 4th grade harvested sweet potatoes planted last year and now they have transformed them into delicious dishes. All of these dishes were grown at the school garden at Pocantico Center.

First, Mrs. Doane’s class made outstanding sweet potato pecan muffins! Making the muffins, 4D got divided into four groups and made their own individual muffins with the help of their teachers.

Ms. Lapicki’s class made a magnificent dish also! Instead, they decided to make sweet potato pies, which everyone devoured. Even Emma, a 4th grader, liked them and she said, “I enjoyed the sweet potato dishes and I honestly don’t like them that much!” Some people may agree with her opinion but it isn’t every day you get to have fresh sweet potatoes.

The 4th grade would like to thank Mrs. Doane, Ms. Lapicki and Mr. Brown for organizing the activities. They would also like to thank the current 5th graders for planting the sweet potatoes last spring.  By Charlotte //** Recently, Brian Ceilinski, an architect designing Pocantico’s renovation project, visited Pocantico to talk to the 5th grade about, well, architecture! He talked about a site called //SketchUp// and said anyone can go on, young or old. Brian showed us how to create a building, and it was really appealing to many of the 5th graders. Brian made the site sound really fun. But for his work, he uses a real architect website, only for professionals. He also showed us some blueprints of the school that looked amazing. After that, he showed the 5th grade all the cool tools architects use on the site. He even cut the school in half to show us the inside! All the kids had a great time learning about designing buildings and about what’s going to happen to our school this year and next. We are going to find out soon what’s the school is going to look like, so stay tuned for more on the school !
 * //A Day in the Life of in an Architect

__Student Government Elections a Hit!__ by Sabine and Molly 12-3-09
It was a close call this year for student government positions. There were many unique speeches and candidates. Even though everyone knew that there could only be one winner for each position, the all fought until the end. There were four pairs of 8th graders running for vice president and president. After all the votes were counted, Nick K. and Austin G. won the positions. Way to go, guys! For school secretary, Alexandra P. and Chris R. ran, and Chris won. The winner for school treasurer was Marcelo R., but it was a close call between him and Maja G. The 8th grade senator is Lila W., while the 8th grade representatives are Manasa G. and Cindy D.

The two 7th grade senators are Frank T. and Asma A., and the representatives for that grade are Olivia S. and Elena V.

Another close call was between Brian D. and Nick M. for 6th grade senator. Nick M. ended up winning. but Brian Danuff said, “It’s tough to lose but in the end it was a great experience." And finally, the two 6th grade representatives are Josiah C. and Nick B. Everyone did a great job, and good luck to the new members of student government.

Go Pocantico!

Read about and enjoy images from the Halloween Parade

__Middle Schoolers Taught About Internet Safety__ October 9, 2009

As Friday rolled around and a long 3-day weekend beckoned, Pocantico middle schoolers were taught a very good lesson about internet safety by the Assistant District Attorney of Westchester County, Mrs. Bailey.

Mrs. Bailey told Poco's 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders all about the internet and how it can be dangerous during 8th period. She expressed to students with Facebook and MySpace accounts that you should never trust anyone you don't know, and not to put personal information on your page, such as your address, date of birth, and other things, because when you put it on your page, everyone is able to see it, and some people may use your personal information to blackmail you or even create an account posing as you by using your personal info.

She also told students about harrasing or bullying others on the internet. Posting comments that are insulting and that you know you would not say to that person's face are wrong, and you can and most likely will be caught. Dr. Smith closed out the assembly by telling students not to enter chat rooms of people you do not know, because you never know who could be on the other side of the computer.

Thank you Mrs. Bailey for teaching us a valuable lesson.