Paulin Introduces Legislation Requiring Inspectors of Child Care Facilities Be Trained to Detect Controlled Substances
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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Assemblymember Amy Paulin has authored legislation which would amend Section 390-a of New York State Social Services Law to require inspectors of day care centers, programs, and facilities to be trained in the detection of controlled substances. “It is critical to the safety of our most vulnerable that we start to train New York State inspectors to look for controlled substances during inspections of child care centers,” said Assemblywoman and Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin. “The law must be updated to reflect the society we live in, where these facilities and other seemingly unsuspicious places are being used to hide fentanyl and other illegal and deadly drugs.”
On September 15, 2023, a kilogram of fentanyl was found at a Bronx day care site after the owner of the day care called 911 to report that four children in her care, all under the age of three, were unresponsive. One child was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly thereafter, and the other three children were hospitalized with serious injuries and given Narcan.
Just a week prior, on September 6th, inspectors made an unannounced visit to the day care to inspect the site. The inspector found the day care center to be in full compliance with all laws and regulations and no violations were found.
A few days following this horrific tragedy, the Commissioner of New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene stated, “one of the things my childcare inspectors are not trained to do is look for fentanyl, but maybe we need to start.” Further explaining, “that has not been a part of our thinking for decades or years in doing this work.”
Sadly, this is not the first time a licensed day care center has been used as a front to traffic drugs. In 2013, more than a kilogram of cocaine, over 1,000 pills of oxycodone and 150 grams of crack-cocaine were found in a house licensed as a day care center in New York City.
“By training our inspectors to look for fentanyl, cocaine, or other controlled substances during inspections,” continued Paulin “we can protect children and prevent senseless tragedies like this from happening again in the future.”
2023 Procedure Committee Invites Residents to Run for CNC
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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To the Editor: The Procedure Committee (PC) invites Scarsdale residents to run for a position on the nonpartisan Citizens Nominating Committee (CNC). Thirty voting members on the CNC, six representing each of the five elementary school districts, will interview, evaluate, and select candidates running on the nonpartisan slate for open Village offices in the March 19, 2024 Village Election.
A candidate for membership on the CNC must be a qualified voter (18 years of age or older) and a resident of Scarsdale for at least two years. The CNC application is simple, consisting of a biographical form and a 10-signature petition signed by the applicant’s neighbors. Instructions for filing can be downloaded on the PC’s website at www.scarsdaleprocedurecommittee.org. The deadline for submitting the CNC application is Saturday, September 30, 2023. The CNC election will be held on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 from 7 am to 9 pm or by mail-in ballot.
The CNC meets 5 or 6 times on weekday evenings at 8 PM at the Scarsdale Library. CNC meeting dates for 2023-2024 are Tuesday, November 28, 2023 (Organization Meeting); Wednesday, December 13, 2023; Wednesday, December 20, 2023; Wednesday, January 10, 2024; Wednesday, January 17, 2024; and if necessary, Wednesday, January 24, 2024. By its last meeting date the CNC will nominate a nonpartisan slate of candidates for the open positions on this year on the Scarsdale Board of Trustees.
For more information contact PC Chair Peri Zelig, perizelig@gmail.com, or Vice Chair Heath Sroka, hbsroka@gmail.com. The other members of the 2023-2024 Procedure Committee are: Kay Eisenman, Dana Fisher, Carly Grossberg, Mary Pat Jones, Elena Kanner, Laurie Medvinsky, Elizabeth Lashbrook, Rachel Schwartz, Emily Shteinhauz, Jared Stern, Omer Wiczyk, Richard Wingate, and Matthew Zik.
Peri Zelig, Chair
Heath Sroka, Vice Chair
Procedure Committee
Tennis and Pickleball Classic to Benefit Gilda's Club
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Gilda’s Club Westchester is excited to announce their First Annual Tennis and Pickleball Classic event! The event will be held on Thursday, September 7th from 5-8pm at Sunningdale Country Club in Scarsdale.
Guests of the inaugural Tennis and Pickleball Classic will dine on a variety of Tapas treats, toast with a glass of sangria and enjoy a variety of games in between Pickleball and Tennis matches. This is a co-ed event, so grab your spouse, friends or family and join us for friendly competition on the court.
Gilda’s Club Westchester’s FREE programs are sustained through fundraising, grants, private donations, and corporate contributions so they rely on events and major donors to keep their red doors open. This event would not be possible without the commitment of their generous sponsors including: Eve and Brant Brooks, Eye Gallery Scarsdale, Pam and Paul Rubin, Gerri and Andrew Sommers and In Kind sponsors: CandyRox, Vintolgy and Three Birds Printing.
Gilda’s Club Westchester provides individual counseling, support groups, workshops, education and social activities all FREE of charge. Their innovative programs are an essential complement to medical care available to those living with a cancer diagnosis, their family and friends, and those who have lost a loved one to cancer.
For more information or to attend the event please contact Kristen Harris at (914) 644-8844 x 122; kharris@gildasclubwestchester.org or visit our website to purchase tickets: www.gildasclubwestchester.org.
National Merit Names 25 From Scarsdale and 14 From Edgemont as Semifinalists
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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Officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®) announced the names of more than 16,000 Semifinalists in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,140 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.
Semifinalists from Scarsdale and Edgemont are:
Scarsdale High School
Nathan H. Breslow
Patrick P. Chen,
Bryan Chung
Kevin V. Daniel
Bryanna Huang
David R.Huang
Adelina Jiang
Harley J. Koch
Allegra Kong
Thomas E. Kornfeld
Thomas R. Kronenberg
Janghee Lee,
Jihao Liu,
Apollonia F. Lulgjuraj
Arianna Makrakis Toniolo
Raza Malik
Sajiv Mehta
Thomas F. Peng
Natasha R. Pereira
Tara M. Pillai
Alexander Rizk
Leon J. Rode
Yejin Sung
Cayden Yang
Edgemont High School
Henry Brinberg,
Bhavani Gopalkrishna
Isabella Jabbour
Eliza M. Kaeding
Kristen E. Lau
Iris Liang
Jiahe Liu
Alexander J. Merzon
Evan D. Merzon
Avantkia Singh
Fiona Stern
Derek Sun
Sophia S. Woo
Donghyun D.Yeo
Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
To become a Finalist, the Semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the Semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
From over 16,000 Semifinalists, more than 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.
National Merit Scholarships
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2024. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit® $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 840 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 160 corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 160 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2024 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join nearly 375,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.
Are Kids Playing Enough Sports?
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- Written by Sameer Ahuja
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(Submitted by Scarsdale Village Trustee Sameer Ahuja)
“Wait kids, whoever said you had to be good to play football? You play football because you want to. You play football because it’s fun. You play football so you can go out there and pretend you’re Joe Montana throwing a touchdown pass, or Emmett Smith going for a long run. And even if those Cowboys are better than you guys. Even if they beat you 99 times out of 100 that still leaves… one time.”
~Little Giants (1994)
Have you seen the 90’s classic, Little Giants? I’m reminded of it (and its 2000s copycat Kicking and Screaming) when it comes to youth sports.
Here’s a quick recap of the plot: Danny O’Shea (Rick Moranis) is a gas station manager living in the shadow of older brother Kevin (Ed O’Neill) a coach for the local youth football team. Trouble arises when Kevin's team turns down Danny's daughter Becky (Shawna Waldron) because she’s a girl. Danny creates a competing team though the town can realistically support just one. To prove his worth against his brother, Danny coaches his misfits in a crucial playoff.
This film emphasizes how success isn't solely determined by winning. After all, sports are supposed to be fun!
Not only are youth sports a joy to many, but they also provide untold benefits like teamwork and time management skills. Student-athletes must learn to manage school, practices, travel, homework, a job, and more. In many cases, their schedules can become more complex than those of some adults.
Despite so many positives, it seems as if sports have lost some of its spark in recent years. The very fun (Little Giants evokes) appears to have vanished to an extent.
What’s to blame for this turn of events?
Until lately, the pandemic was to blame. Stuck at home, youngsters missed entire seasons after years of hard work. In fact, according to a study by Project Play, kids spent 60% less time playing sports during COVID-19.
But while youth sports definitely took a hit in the past two years, there’s also been a steady decline for at least a decade now—long before social distancing was ever a thing.
So why are kids hanging up the cleats? First off, youth sports have become prohibitively expensive for some. This can create a rift between the haves and have-nots. Meanwhile, community sports programs shuttered in recent years, as they simply can’t compete with increasingly prestigious travel leagues. (This is partly due to how excelling in marquee level sports can earn young people coveted college scholarships.)
When I was growing up, college was more affordable. Many kids didn’t go to school on a sports scholarship or even seek this option. Now with so many higher entry barriers, some parents see sports as a golden ticket to higher education. No longer are good grades and high SAT scores enough. Now, their kids feel pressure to supplement these with sports achievements.
This development may expose another problem: pressure. In a hilarious tryout scene, one dad from Little Giants, describes his over-muscled son, “Won the eight-year-old division of the pass, punt, and run when he was five years old.”
As ridiculous as this scene is, there’s a kernel of truth to it. Children are often expected to start extracurriculars and sports at much younger ages.
Returning to the Project Play study, the author explains, “The more money parents have, the less interest their child has in sports.”
So, it’s not always about finances. Sometimes it’s due to kids’ own disinterest. Certainly, when playing becomes more about achieving other outcomes, the fun melts away. A sport becomes a job. And the magic is gone.
Other critics blame the decline on increased intensity. Thanks to the higher-stakes environment student-athletes now face, injuries are more prevalent. In an interview with Bryant Gumble, sixteen-year-old Emily Gervais explains how an ACL tear ended her soccer career before it ever took off.
Starting her sport at age 4, Emily soon joined a club team. This ran for 11 months out of the year. As Emily details, “There are girls out there that are practicing all day, every day, and if you're not one of them, they will beat you to the spot you want.”
Due to such extreme strenuousness, Emily had to retire from soccer after three— yes, three—knee surgeries. All before reaching 16.
This begs the question: Are we putting too much pressure on our kids? In this same interview, Gumbel talks to Dr. Min Kocher, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in pediatrics. After collecting data from other surgeons, Kocher was shocked to discover youth surgeries skyrocketed nearly 500% in just 10 years.
All this pressure is understandably leading kids to alternatives like video games. Mostly a sedentary activity, it behooves us to understand their appeal. Today’s games are no longer the same mindless side-scrollers of decades past. More akin to works of art, they offer entire worlds, where kids can now socialize, create, even seek the freedom to actualize themselves.
Should kids be more active? Yes, of course.
But we should also realize video games may offer the last (largely) adult-free frontier for children. It’s a space of relief for many kids who are buckling under increasing pressure to perform at school and extracurriculars. All while being forced to continually compare themselves to others on social media.
Our solution may lie here.
As mentioned in my recent TikTok article: today’s kids crave autonomy. Many seek out spaces where they can be themselves, uninhibited by the adult gaze, whether it be parents or teachers. Kids are also highly proficient with digital tech, including tools that haven’t yet been integrated into sports. Imagine a world where kids use digital tech to help each other improve how they play even more. Might there be a healthy way to marry analog and digital even more for youth sports? (I, for one, think it could be a real game-changer.)
Remember, sports come with health benefits baked in.
These can’t be easily replicated by indoor activity. In that spirit, let’s bring back the joy of sports. After all, before we know it, our kids will be grown, out of the house, and most likely… not Lebron James. And that’s okay! Here’s to appreciating the chance to explore such interests without any burden attached to the results. Playing this way just might bring back the fun.
