Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper
There are more than 300 standards that nursing homes strive to reach. Each year, state officials show up unannounced to check that each nursing home is meeting every last one.
Southwestern Vermont Health Care’s Centers for Living and Rehabilitation (CLR) is proud to announce that they have received the best possible rating, deficiency-free, on their 2014 survey.
by Steve Bradley
The Panther boys basketball team held the Hoosic Valley Indians to three points in the second quarter and went on to win 65 – 40 last Friday evening. [Read more…] about Panther Boys Basketball Gets Dominating Win Over Hoosic Valley
The Hoosick Falls Central School District and the JLS Foundation are preparing to launch a new program later this school year called Hometown Mentoring. The program will pair college-bound graduates with adult mentors to help ease the academic and social transition from high school to college for Hoosick Falls graduates beginning with the Class of 2015.
Why Hometown Mentoring?
A recent study by Complete College America suggests the overwhelming majority of students attending public colleges do not graduate on time; in fact, the report found that only 19 percent of full-time students earn a bachelor’s degree in four years. Currently, less than 40 percent of Hoosick Falls Central School graduates complete college.
To reverse this trend, this year Hoosick Falls Central School (HFCS) is piloting its College Completion Project, a program that introduces students to career options and helps them develop the skills and the knowledge necessary to successfully complete post-secondary studies and attain a degree or professional certification.
The Hometown Mentoring program is a companion program to the College Completion Project and will utilize a previously untapped resource: successful HFCS graduates from around the country who are willing to share their experiences, time and insight with college-bound high school graduates. Hometown Mentoring will provide every interested HFCS student who is pursuing a two- or four-year college degree or professional certification with a mentor from their hometown who can help them complete college and transition to a successful career path.
HFCS is partnering with the JLS Foundation, a non-profit organization that has been providing mentoring and college scholarships to a small group of HFCS students for the past 10 years. The Foundation was founded by HFCS alumnus John Liporace, Jr. (Class of ’84). Mr. Liporace and another HFCS alumnus, Dr. Todd Wysocki (Class of ’83), who serves on the JLS Foundation Board of Directors, will help lead the Hometown Mentoring effort. As Hoosick Falls Central School graduates, Mr. Liporace and Dr. Wysocki believe strongly in the power of mentorship to help high school students make the often daunting transition to college.
“Having a mentor can be a game changer,” Mr. Liporace said, “especially for students from small communities like Hoosick Falls. For many, attending college is their first experience away from home and they often struggle with that transition.”
Dr. Wysocki says while increasing college completion rates for HFCS graduates is a priority for the Hometown Mentoring program, there are other equally important goals.
“For many students, college is an exciting, yet uncertain time in their lives. Through this mentor program, students will learn to avail themselves of all the opportunities that are offered, which will help enrich the college experience and make it more effective,” he said. “Mentorship presents opportunities for making connections and networking, which will help put students on a trajectory for success after college as well.”
Mr. Liporace has worked with HFCS students through the JLS Foundation, created in 2005 to honor the memory of his father, John Liporace Sr. (JLS), whose passion for education and community service in his hometown of Hoosick Falls served as inspiration for the Foundation. Over the past 10 years, the JLS Foundation has worked closely with five HFCS students each year to help them realize their fullest potential. The Foundation introduces students to inspirational leaders who can show them career possibilities and help them build a professional network while in college and in careers post-college. One student each year is awarded a partial college scholarship. The most important benefit, Liporace has noticed, is the relationships that students build with the professionals who mentor them along their journey.
Inspired by the success of many JLS Foundation finalists, Mr. Liporace decided to mark the 10th anniversary of the Foundation this year by expanding its activities. In late spring, he and Dr. Wysocki, in conjunction with HFCS, will launch the Hometown Mentoring program.
“We are really pleased to be partnering with John and Todd on this initiative and to have the ability to offer our students additional support in their transition from high school to higher education,” said Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Facin. “Many of our graduates are first-generation college students and will benefit tremendously from this mentoring program”
How It Will Work
The Hometown Mentoring program will pair HFCS graduates with mentors from their own hometown. Mentors must be from the Town of Hoosick, enjoy a high-level of success in their profession and be willing to invest the time needed to mentor a student.
Mr. Liporace and Dr. Wysocki are securing HFCS alumni to serve as hometown mentors and expect to have approximately 50 quality mentors enrolled in the first year. It is anticipated that mentoring will happen virtually via phone, Skype or other communication technology; in-person mentoring is not a requirement.
Mentors will participate each year in leadership training provided by Dr. Wysocki’s Reframing Leadership Consulting. The training will occur via phone or video conference.
Hoosick Falls alumni who are interested in becoming a hometown mentor should email jls@thejlsfoundation.org for more information.
HFCS is developing a list of students interested in the mentoring program and will finalize the list to ensure that every interested college-bound senior is assigned a hometown mentor in the spring. Students will be matched with mentors based on criteria such as college choice and field of study.
February is American Heart Month! The number one factor in improving survival in sudden cardiac arrest is early recognition and early CPR. You have heard this over and over again. Are you trained? Would you know how to recognize sudden cardiac arrest or know how to initiate CPR? Here is your chance!
In conjunction with American Heart Month and in observance of Valentine’s Day, The Cambridge Valley Rescue Squad will sponsor the American Heart Association’s Friends and Family CPR program. This program is perfect for those that want or need to know CPR, but do not have a lot of time for more in depth training. Friends and family emphasizes “hands only compressions” and takes just a little more than an hour to complete.
The program will be held at Cambridge Central School on Saturday February 14, 2015. There are two sessions; 9:00 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. The fee for the course is $15 per person, or if you “bring a family member or friend”, it is $10 per person.
For more information or to register for the program, please contact CVRS at 518-677-8211 or training@cambridgeems.com.
Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in other American Heart Association CPR or First Aid courses or are interested in becoming an EMS volunteer.
The HFCS PTA is pleased to host its annual “fun-for-the-whole-family” Family Fun Bingo on Saturday, February 7, from 9 to 11:30 am in the Hoosick Falls Junior-Senior High School Cafeteria. Come one, come all – kids with their moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, and more, join the fun — play BINGO with your family and friends and win great prizes donated by many local vendors!
Snacks and beverages will be served and school spirit items will be for sale. Paper bingo cards will be used this year, so please bring blotters if you have them. Folks are also welcome to participate in the raffles. Don’t forget to bring your Box Tops for Education, and Campbell product labels that help the PTA purchase school supplies and equipment.
For more information about Family Fun Bingo, please contact Sarah Bushey- Chair, at 518-686-9492 ext.1010 or busheys@hoosickfallscsd.org.
Families interested in nature-based, out-of-the-box education are invited to an Open House at Mountain Road School on Tuesday, February 10, from 9:30 to 11:30 am. Prospective families (kids are welcome too) can enjoy a cup of tea, learn about the school, tour the classrooms and campus, and meet with teachers and students.
[Read more…] about Mountain Road School Sets Open House For February 10
Frederick and Nancy Dignon of Niskayuna, NY, announce the engagement of their daughter, Kelly Virginia Dignon, to Zachary Allan Goyer, son of Bruce and Delinda Goyer of Grafton, NY.
George Lamb Chosen As Rensselaer County Scholarship Winner
George Lamb was chosen as the Rensselaer County Farm Bureau winner by New York Farm Bureau’s Promotion and Education Committee.
George is the son of Terry and Christina Lamb of Buskirk, NY. George is a very well rounded student and is a senior attending Hoosic Valley High School. He has participated in a range of extracurricular activities: Schaghticoke Fair, 4-H Cornell’s Dairy Discovery, 4-H President, Past Vice President and Past Treasurer. He works on a local farm where he is responsible for night chores.
George plans to attend college and major in Agri-Business, Environmental Studies or Science for Agricultural Purposes.
The competition began at the county level where George and other students competed against one another for the right to be named the Rensselaer County scholarship winner. George was required to write an essay answering the question “If you had the power to change something in your community or on your farm, what would you change and why?” His application and essay were both reviewed by the judges, and both factored into his final score.
“The world of agriculture has many bright young leaders,” said the NYFB Promotion and Education Committee. “George and all of the other finalists have clearly demonstrated their depth of knowledge and commitment to agriculture. With such talented and intelligent leaders on the horizon, the future of New York agriculture seems particularly bright. We are thrilled that our scholarship money will be put to good use in helping these students to reach their full potential.”
The Friends of Dyken Pond are seeking to purchase a parcel of land bordering the existing nature preserve, that will help protect wildlife habitat for river otter, great blue heron nesting sites, fox, beaver, coyote and bobcat. This parcel will connect two existing parcels and add an additional mile of trail.
The Friends of Dyken Pond completed purchase of a 40 acre parcel on Newcomb Pond in the spring of 2014. A new trail is in place connecting the Center’s existing trails to this first Newcomb Pond parcel, although permanent trail markers still need to go up in 2015.
With the purchase of this second parcel, the Friends of the Dyken Pond Center will protect high quality beech, maple and hemlock forestland, a 9 acre pond, emergent wetland and forested shrub wetland. And there’s more! With the additional fifty-six acres, the trail to Newcomb Pond will be extended to connect to the existing Spring Trail forming a complete looped trail.
With this additional purchase, the protected open space corridor around the Dyken Pond Center will include 489 acres of private and public conservation lands. Acquisition of the new parcel also ensures that it remains a component of the open space of the Rensselaer Plateau, home of one of the largest forest blocks in New York State. These large forest tracts provide habitat for wildlife found at the Center that require large areas of unbroken forest, such as fisher, bear, moose, and porcupine.
Visitors to Dyken Pond will have access to fifty-six more acres for hiking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, birding, and Dyken Pond Center educational programs.
The Friends need help paying for it. They need to fundraise $100,000 to purchase this land, and are asking the public to help. Donations can be made by making checks to Friends of Dyken Pond and mailing to: 475 Dyken Pond Road, Cropseyville, New York 12052.
For more information about the Friends of Dyken Pond and the Dyken Pond Environemental Education Center, please visit our website at: http://www.dykenpond.org.
If you would like more information, please contact Friends President, Leonard Tremblay at bones0655@aol.com or 518.429-0393.
