Let's Get Ready Prepares New Rochelle Students for College
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The college admissions process is difficult under the best of circumstances, and especially so if you don’t have an experienced network of family and school guidance. On August 11th, 63 New Rochelle High School seniors successfully completed seven weeks of SAT prep and college application assistance provided free of charge by the locally founded non-profit organization Let’s Get Ready (LGR). LGR was founded thirteen years ago by a Scarsdale High School alumnus, and strives to help students from all socioeconomic backgrounds gain equal access to the support they need to reach higher education.
In addition to twice a week prep sessions in Verbal and Math, students visited local colleges, attended a college fair at NYU, and worked with coaches to create lists of potential colleges and universities. Their hard work paid off with significant increases in practice exam scores (and lower stress levels!)
This progress was the direct result of both the hard work of the students in the program as well as the dedication of thirteen volunteer coaches. This summer, four Scarsdale High School alumni - Jacklyn Quartner (Vanderbilt University, 2013), Katie Mayer (Cornell University, 2014), Philip Gallagher (Brandeis University, 2014), and Annie Goldman (Bucknell University, 2014) - served as math and/or verbal coaches. These Scarsdale coaches, along with other local college students, worked in classrooms of 6-9 students where they taught the material and strategies of the SATs and elucidated (good SAT word!) the daunting college application process.
At the final ceremony students were joined by their parents to commemorate the students’ accomplishments as
well as learn about financial aid and scholarships. The program and final ceremony would not have been possible without the generous support of several local businesses.
A huge thanks goes out to Sammy’s Bagels on Weaver St., who kept our students fed and alert each and every LGR session (http://www.sammysbagels.net/). Villa Roma, new to Scarsdale Village, provided a delicious Italian closing dinner at reduced cost (http://villaromapizzeria.com/). For dessert Flourish Baking Company, located on Summerfield St., donated tasty chocolate chip cookies (http://flourishbakingcompany.blogspot.com/).
To praise our most outstanding students, local businesses in New Rochelle and White Plains provided generous gift certificates. Thank you to Chicken Joes (http://www.originalchickenjoes.com/), Tasti D-Lite (http://www.tastidlite.com/), Starbucks (http://www.starbucks.com/), Melting Pot (http://www.meltingpot.com/) and Haagen- Daz (http://www.haagen-dazs.com/).
To learn more about Let’s Get Ready please visit www.letsgetready.org.
Rachel Kroll (SHS ’10, Tufts University ’14), Let’s Get Ready New Rochelle Co-Site Director
Puppy Love
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I said goodbye to my puppy Jasper last week. I know I shouldn’t still be calling him a puppy; he was almost 15 years old, about 50 pounds and over 2 feet tall. My youngest child is still my baby (she may not like me to say it…. though there are those rare times she does) so I suppose it makes sense that I still think of Jasper as my puppy.
I always said I was not one of those obsessed dog people. I liked my dog but treated him like a dog. My dog ate dog food, slept in a cage and wasn’t allowed in my bedroom. So it really took me by surprise how hard I’m taking his loss.
Part of it is that he was an incredibly healthy puppy. We had spent years climbing the hills in Edgemont and walking our way through Scarsdale and White Plains. When I’d put the walkman around my waist, Jasper was already at the door knowing it was our time. We kept each other fit….. or at least he looked lean and mean! Jasper had a habit of running around the pool when I was doing my laps and when I tried to keep him out, he burrowed under the fence!
When I told my friends that Jasper was no more, I was so touched by everyone who had fond memories of this loveable but very intrusive pet. When Jasper was young, he used his long nose to open the refrigerator drawer and helped himself to whatever he liked. I remember when he grabbed a steak off the grill! One friend reminded me how he disrupted the Board of Ed meeting and we had Dr. McGill and others chasing Jasper around the house. Others recalled how Jasper insisted on licking toes and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Little did I know how much people connect with dogs, even if they’re not their own.
They say you start to look like your dog, well I don’t know if there were similarities, maybe the curly hair, but I had mine first. However I do think Jasper took on the personality of the family. He was very persistent and you couldn’t be in the house for 5 minutes without him making his introduction. Either he’d nudge you from the back or stick out his paw trying to get you to rub him behind the ears.
So I now understand those people who are so attached to their dogs. It’s a unique relationship. I even find myself doing what I never did….talking to other dog owners about their dogs. And when Jasper was sick last week, I would lay down on the floor with him. I cooked him all sorts of special people meals and I let him sleep in my room. I hated to see him in pain so I massaged his leg and carried him outside like a baby.
Now when I come down the stairs or walk in the door, I listen for the jingle of his collar. There’s an emptiness that I just don’t how to fill. The kids went on with their lives, the ex left but Jasper and I stayed on. We formed a bond that I didn’t know was so strong and I miss my buddy.
Runaway Girl Returns Home to Hartsdale: From the Greenburgh Police
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A 15 year-old Hartsdale girl ran away from home on Thursday July 21 and went on an incredible odyssey before returning home the following Monday. Police received a call from her mother on Joyce Road in Hartsdale at 9 pm on July 21 to report that her daughter had run away from home at 2 pm that afternoon. Police called the number of one of the daughter’s friends but there was no answer and they also left a message on the girl’s cell phone. In a report dated Monday July 25, the girl was found and told police where she had been for the last five days. Upon leaving on Thursday she took a Metro North train to the city and then a bus to New Jersey with an 18 year-old friend from Ardsley. They both returned to Penn Station and then caught a train from Grand Central to Beacon, New York where they got on a bus to Poughkeepsie. From there they walked to New Paltz. On Monday 7/25, the boy called his mother and she drove to New Paltz to pick them up. The girl reported that during their trip they had slept in local parks and on bicycle trails.
Shoplifters: On the afternoon of July 19, an employee from Rite Aid on Central Avenue in Hartsdale called the police when they saw a man leaving the store with 3 containers of baby formula without paying. Police found a man matching the description at the intersection of Columbia Avenue and East Hartsdale Avenue. Battisto John Tomasetti of Ardsley, age 49 was arrested for petit larceny.
At TJ Maxx, Kareema Braxton, age 31 of Yonkers was confronted by store security when she tried to leave the store with 10 pairs of flipflops and a handbag valued at $129.99 on July 19. When Braxton was stopped, she dropped all the merchandise and her own handbag and fled. Police were not able to find her or her companion.
Damage: A tree fell at the Hartsdale train station and landed on a 2000 Toyota Corolla owned by an Ardsley man on the morning of July 22nd.Missing: A Fieldstone Drive man reported that his 2000 Kawa motorcycle was stolen when it was parked in a spot on Fieldstone Drive. It disappeared sometime between Friday night 7/22 and Monday morning 7/25.An Irvington woman reported that her phone was stolen while she was at a doctor’s appointment at an office at 141 South Central Avenue on July 18th.
Scarsdale Residents Swim Across the Sound to Fight Cancer
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On Saturday, July 30 582 participants of all ages swam in the 19th annual Long Island Sound Swim, part of Swim Across America's campaign to raise money for cancer research, treatment and support. This is the biggest event for the organization and this year more than $1.2 million dollars was raised.
Among the swimmers were 6 Scarsdale residents who have been training every morning at the Scarsdale Pool. Joel Talish (Greenacres), Joe Kaufman (Fox Meadow) and Josh Glantz (Greenacres) all swam 7 miles, the longest distance in the event, starting in Glen Cove, Long Island and finishing in Larchmont. John Needham (Heathcote), Tim Callahan (Heathcote) and Peter Doyle (Greenacres) participated in the 4-mile distance. Collectively, these Scarsdale dads swam on Team Sandie in honor of Joel Talish's mother who passed away last November. The six members of Team Sandie have already raised more than $30,000 this year with more contributions still coming in. The 7-mile swimmers hit the water on the Long Island side at 6:30 in the morning while the 4-mile swimmers started from the middle of the sound an hour later. Swimmers began coming up on shore to loud cheers and music just after 9am and they kept on coming in a constant stream until 10:30.
In addition to setting a fundraising record, this year's event marked another Milestone. During a special ceremony
The Long Island Sound Swim was started in 1992 when 18 participants raised just over $12,000. Overall, Swim Across America has raised more than $30,000,000 to fight cancer.
(Pictured at top: "Team Sandie" from left to right: John Needham, Joe Kaufman, Joel Talish, Josh Glantz)
Meet Israeli Defense Force Soldiers at Congregation Kol Ami
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This summer, SHS graduates Julia Ferranti, Daphne Ben-Gurion, Maya Moskowitz and Sydney Stracher are working at the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) and have planned an event to allow friends, family and the community to learn more about the soldiers. On Monday July 25th at 7 pm they will hold a Friends of the Israel Defense Forces Parlor meeting, which will be an intimate gathering where wounded IDF soldiers will share their courageous stories. These dedicated soldiers are truly an inspiration.
Julia started working for Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) in February and Daphne, Sydney and Maya joined her this summer when they returned from school. Their parents have been involved in the organization for many years and helped them to understand how important it is to support the brave soldiers of the IDF. Some of their family members have gone on missions in Israel through the organization and were given the opportunity to meet and get to know the soldiers on a personal level. From organizing events to interacting with supporters, their experience with FIDF has shown them that hard work and dedication can help impact and improve the lives of the
soldiers
You are invited to meet the wounded soldiers of the IDF at:
Congregation Kol Ami
252 Soundview Avenue
White Plains, NY 10606
Monday, July 25th, 2011
7:00 pm -9:00 pm
Please RSVP by Friday, July 22. 2011 to Julia Ferranti at (646) 274-9646 or Maya Moskowitz at mgm40892@gmail.com.
FIDF is a non-profit organization that raises money to help support social, educational, cultural and recreational programs and facilities for the soldiers of Israel, as well as the families of fallen soldiers.
