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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 12 June 2018

Created: 12 June 2018

Last Updated: 14 June 2018

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Joshua Klein, Larry Brown and Allison Weiner Heinemann with Provost Michael Kotlikoff Scarsdale native, Joshua Klein, was recently honored as a Merrill Presidential Scholar - an outstanding graduating senior at Cornell in the top 1 percent of his class. Each Merrill scholar is selected by their college deans for their intellectual drive, leadership abilities and potential to contribute to society. Klein was one of only three students recognized from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Each scholar is also given an opportunity to recognize the high school teacher who most inspired his or her scholastic development and the Cornell faculty member who most significantly contributed to his or her college experience. Klein honored his high school teacher, Larry Brown and Allison Weiner Heinemann in the Department of Labor Relations, Law and History.

To further honor the high school teachers chosen by the Merrill Presidential Scholars, a one-time, $4,000 scholarship is awarded in the teachers’ names to incoming Cornell freshmen or current students with financial need from the teacher’s high school or geographic area.

 Girl Scouts Gold and Silver Award Ceremony

Sydney Vleck, Grayson Rosenberg, Marykate Gorham, Katie Belbusti, Theresa Alarcon, Amy Paulin (NYS Assembly), Danielle Duffalo, Gillian Duffalo, Angelina Clark

The Scarsdale/Edgemont Girl Scouts (SEGS) held their 2018 Girl Scout Gold and Silver Award Ceremony on Sunday, June 10th. Nine Gold Award recipients as well as five Silver Award recipients were honored. Several local officials came to recognize the Scouts. Amy Paulin (NYS Assembly, Scarsdale), Benjamin Boykin II (Westchester County Legislator), Dan Hochvert (Scarsdale Mayor) and Kathie O’Connor (BPOE-Elks) were all in attendance. In addition, Erik Anderson, president of the Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, came to present the girls with their Gold Award pins.

The Gold Award is the highest honor a girl can receive within Girl Scouts USA. In order to earn this distinction, the scout has to spend a minimum of 80 hours on her chosen project, including hours earmarked for leadership within the project.

The projects for 2018 were all very interesting and wide-ranging in scope:

- Theresa Alarcon, in her project Crestwood Library Connections, worked to increase awareness of the library’s offerings by promoting the use of press releases, articles, blogs and social media.

- Katie Belbusti, with her project Stay Healthy, Limit Screen-Time, focused on promoting individuality, healthy electronic habits, and awareness of cyber-bullying by holding a screening of a documentary regarding internet addiction.

- Marykate Gorham’s project was titled Good Food for Good Soil. She created a program at a local nursery school to teach young children about composting, reducing, reusing, and recycling to help eliminate what is going into landfills.

- Emma Kornberg created a project called Art for the Heart. For this project, she wrote a guide containing various craft projects and helpful hints to aid new volunteers when working with the elderly in nursing homes.

- Gillian Duffalo, in her project Nutrition 101: Live to 101, concentrated on getting the message to all socioeconomic communities that affordable and nutritious meals could be easily prepared at home. To do this, she worked with boys from Children’s Village, both cooking and practicing de-stressing activities.

- Danielle Duffalo’s project was called Passport Around the World. The goal of the project was to create greater diversity acceptance by giving girls an opportunity to experience other countries by tasting international foods and working on crafts, activities and movements native to other countries.

- Paige Panessa, in her project Donating to the Humane Society, facilitated the donation process to the pet shelter. Paige built a donation bin enabling people to drop off goods at any time, as well as printing a Wish List to make it easy for donors to know what is needed at the shelter.

- Grayson Rosenberg’s project, Staging a Change, addressed many of the renovations that needed to be done to her high school auditorium. She raised money to purchase new carpeting, paint and supplies and repaired and painted the façade of the stage. Grayson also created an arts information pamphlet for new community members to use as a reference.

- Sydney Vleck created a project called Diabetes Education in Food Pantries. Sydney noticed a high rate of diabetes in the population that frequents food pantries. Consequently, she focused on teaching a nutrition class for 3-6 graders at Don Bosco Community Center as well as creating an indoor herb garden for the center and assembling and distributing a Diabetic cookbook utilizing food commonly found in pantries.

- Angelina Clark, the Silver Award recipient, worked on a project Molly Bochner and Laura Paternoter called Dance to Discover. This project involved creating a fun and educational dance program for the children staying at the Coachman Family Center.

- Julia Genin’s Silver project, Lend a Paw, involved providing Pet Therapy to nursing home patients

- Lindsey Kaufman’s Silver project was called Gardening at Home. This project educated people about gardening in small spaces.

Congratulations to all of the Silver and Gold Award recipients.  

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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 21 June 2018

Created: 21 June 2018

Last Updated: 21 June 2018

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Fox Meadow parents learned this week that both the principal and assistant principal of Fox Meadow Elementary School will resign to move to Briarcliff Manor where Colleen Mangan will become Principal of the Todd Elementary School and Principal Duncan Wilson will be the next Director of Curriculum and Human Resources for the Briarcliff Schools. Parents received the news about Ms. Mangan last week, and only learned about Mr. Wilson’s plan in an email on Tuesday June 19.

As Drew Patrick notes in his email below, Wilson is leaving Scarsdale to fill a vacancy in Briarcliff Manor that was created when that district’s Director of Curriculum was hired away by Scarsdale to fill a similar position in Scarsdale due to the retirement of Lynne Shain.

As the Scarsdale administration will not have time to do a full scale search before September, Drew Patrick announced that the district will retain an interim principal who will be “drawn from the ranks of retired principals with experience in this region.”

The district already celebrated the retirements of tens of retiring faculty members and these departures came as a surprise. Both were very popular with kids and parents and the void will be felt.

The news makes one wonder if Wilson applied for Shain’s position? If so, we might have retained both Mr. Wilson and Ms. Mangan who might have served as Fox Meadow’s next principal.

Commenting on the departures, Fox Meadow parent Mayra Kirkendall-Rodriguez sent the following to the district administration:

Dear Messrs. Hagerman and Patrick,
….. I write to express my disappointment that Duncan Wilson is resigning. Of course, he deserves to pursue his career in whatever way that he chooses. No doubt he will excel wherever he goes. It is too bad that the Scarsdale school district could not have found a way to keep him.

I have had the opportunity to work with Duncan for three years on matters related to multiculturalism, since I have been a co-chair in that committee for that time period. I have found him to be incredibly global in his outlook of education matters. He is also very sensitive to the great differences in cultures and education traditions in our student body. He has also been so open-minded about changes that the Multicultural Committee has recommended on events that we run. His ideas on how we can improve multicultural events have also been very creative.

Even more important to me has been all the good guidance that he has given Brice and me on education matters related to our son and daughter. He has been very approachable on any matter related to our children, and he has also been very generous with his time.

I hope that if there is a committee to be convened to look for his replacement, that the committee really will include a diversity of parents both ethnically and professionally, who can help choose the next principal.

Below are the texts of emails from Drew Patrick and Thomas Hagerman as well as Duncan Wilson about the news:

(From Superintendent Hagerman and Assistant Superintendent Drew Patrick)

Dear Parents,

We are writing once again to share some bittersweet news about one of our Administrators. Duncan Wilson, Principal of Fox Meadow Elementary school for the past nine years, has been selected as the next Director of Curriculum and Human Resources in Briarcliff, NY. Duncan was appointed by the Briarcliff Board of Education last evening, June 18. You will recall that our own appointment of Edgar McIntosh as the successor to Lynne Shain in the position of Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment is the reason for the vacancy in Briarcliff. We congratulate Duncan, thank him for fifteen years of service to the District, and look forward to seeing Duncan succeed in his new leadership role!

As we wrote last week with the news of Colleen’s departure, we want to assure you that we are already in the planning stages for a search process to select a one-year Interim Principal for Fox Meadow Elementary School, most likely drawn from the ranks of retired principals with experience in this region. The two most important reasons for the decision to appoint an interim are 1) it is very late in the school year to conduct the kind of search that would cultivate a candidate pool with the depth and breadth we desire, and 2) an Interim appointment allows us to recognize and thoughtfully plan for the possibility that there may be candidates within Scarsdale that warrant due consideration for a probationary appointment in 2019-20. We are confident that we will be successful in finding an individual to serve during the 2018-19 school as Fox Meadow transitions to a new leadership team.

Finally, we want to assure you that we will be supporting Debbie Vellozzi, Fox Meadow’s secretary, Michael DeSantis, Head Custodian, and the entire staff during this transition. We look forward to sharing more as June proceeds, and to introducing a new leadership team in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

Dr. Thomas Hagerman
Superintendent of Schools

Dr. Drew Patrick
Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources and Leadership Development

(From Fox Meadow Elementary School Principal Duncan Wilson)

Dear Fox Meadow Families,
Last week, you heard that Mrs. Mangan will be leaving Fox Meadow for the opportunity to become the Principal of Todd Elementary Schools in Briarcliff Manor. It is with a tremendous mix of emotions that I share with you my plans to leave Fox Meadow to take on a District Office position as the Director of Curriculum and Human Resources coincidentally in Briarcliff Manor. On a professional level, I know it is time for me to pursue this new challenge. But on a personal level I am saddened to leave a community that I have served proudly and have truly grown to love.

With that said, I am heartened to know that I leave behind a faculty as well as parents and children who have the strength of tradition and of community to move forward confidently. As a student and teacher of history, I want to remind everyone that this great school thrived for 81 years before I arrived, and on the eve of our 90th birthday, it is poised to do so for years to come. I am grateful for what you have taught me and for how you have allowed me to strive to be a better educator and a better leader. In truth, schools like ours thrive because they are lead not by one person but by many. Teachers, parents, support staff, and even students lead our school proudly everyday.

On a much more practical note, I want to assure you that I will work with Dr. Patrick and the new team to ensure a smooth transition for the new FM Team this summer.

Finally, a thought about saying goodbye. I have always said at graduation, "You never really leave the Meadow." I will hold onto that thought since I really hate goodbyes. Beside, I will still be your “friendly neighbor to the North” up on Ridgecrest West. I will still do laps at the pool (look for me in lane 4), and I will still stay in touch through my village work on sustainability. So just as Christopher Robin will always have “that enchanted place on top of the Forest,” I hope to see you around the Meadow in the weeks and years ahead.

Your Friend,
Duncan Wilson

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Published: 07 June 2018

Created: 07 June 2018

Last Updated: 07 June 2018

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On May 7, 2018, Senior members of the Scarsdale High School Varsity Ice Hockey team presented long time trainer Tim Tyler with a custom hockey jersey to commemorate his final season with the team. Since 1999, Trainer Tim has been a Trainer, Mentor, and Coach to hundreds of Scarsdale high school varsity ice hockey players and has been a big reason for the program’s long time success.

When told about the presentation of the jersey to his long time team trainer and friend, Jim Mancuso, Scarsdale High School’s long time varsity ice hockey coach had this to say, “Tim was All In from day one. When he first stepped on the ice with us to his last day with me he was 100% contributing to the betterment of our players and our team. Tim has no halfway effort in him. He was a very passionate guy for our team and always gave his best for our players both for their athletic improvement and for their health issues. He was often times so involved his voice would jump up a few octaves when he yelled encouragement to our players from our bench.”

Seniors Sam Seltzer, Anthony D’Ambrosio, and Mike Schur representing the entire 2018 Scarsdale High School Varsity Ice Hockey team, presenting Tim Tyler with his custom jersey.This past season marked Mr. Tyler’s final season with the ice hockey program. He will be sorely missed.

Nordic Edge Grand Opening

A demonstration of Nordic Edge’s whole-body cryotherapy machineNordic Edge, a premier modern health and wellness center, celebrated its official grand opening in Scarsdale, NY (58A Christie Place) on Thursday, May 31, 2018, marking the third location for the growing company. Nordic Edge also has stores in Eastchester, NY and New Canaan, CT.

Nordic Edge offers a variety of cutting-edge health treatments, including whole-body and localized cryotherapy; infrared heat therapy; compression therapy; salt therapy; vibroacoustic therapy and the Nordic Facial. It offers the latest advances in cryotherapy and innovative solutions to help individuals achieve their wellness goals.

“Nordic Edge is thrilled to join the Scarsdale community,” said Dr. Marie O’Connor, President of Nordic Edge. “We are excited to provide our modern health and wellness treatments to help people look and feel their very best.”

Dr. Marie O’Connor provides a Nordic Facial“One of our treatments is cryotherapy, a rapidly growing and advanced therapy that’s become very popular with top athletes and celebrities. We are now making it more accessible for everyone to enjoy its many benefits – such as reducing pain and inflammation, improved blood circulation, boosting metabolism and energy, reducing stress and anxiety, tightening skin tone and much more,” added O’Connor.

Nordic Edge offers its signature “Freeze Parties” – which includes services for groups to reserve and enjoy together. It also provides “On The Go” wellness programs for businesses seeking to have a healthier, happier and more productive workforce.

For additional information about Nordic Edge, please visit: www.thenordicedge.com.