I appreciate everyone’s patience with tonight’s soggy dismissal. A couple of significant accidents on major roadways in our community snarled traffic and slowed our buses – which were already taking it slow because of the weather.

After so much sadness last week, it was encouraging to start this week with a moment of joy, courtesy of a Robbins Lane kindergartner. On Tuesday while greeting students at arrival, a pint-sized young man hopped off the bus and surprised me with a big hug. He released me, gave me a wide smile, and then bounded toward the building before I could even get his name. I don’t ever remember being so happy to come to school, so we must be doing something right!

Math is EPIC at Syosset middle schools! As an outgrowth of a collaborative summer curriculum writing project, student mathematicians at both middle schools are creating EPIC Problem Solver Tool Kits. EPIC stands for Engage, Persevere, Iterate and Communicate–the core principles that will guide students as they collaborate to create digital portfolios of problem-solving tools to use throughout the year and beyond. This “problem solver performance task” enables students to develop a set of skills, body of knowledge, and key content understandings.

The foundation for the EPIC Problem Solver Toolkit lies in work at our Syosset elementary schools where students learn to take ownership of their education. Due to our integrated approach across grade levels, seventh and eighth grade math students are letting their creativity soar through the use of various platforms to design their Toolkits including Wakelet, Padlet, Google slides, Google sites, Scratch coding, and Book Creator.

This approach puts students in the driver’s seat, steering their own learning. They’re excited to be creative, gather tools, and organize their kits on the platform of their choice. The best part is that students can show off their kits to one another!

Here are a couple of awesome examples:

Seniors Riddhi Jain and Emily Su came up with a plan to help our planet – and then swung into action. The two partnered with the Town of Oyster Bay’s Department of Environmental Resources to establish a pilot backyard composting program. Composting kitchen scraps and other organic materials creates nutrient-dense soil, reduces pressure on landfills, and lowers greenhouse gasses. After researching other successful composting programs on Long Island, Riddhi and Emily implemented their plan, canvassing our community for participants.

In order to make the project a reality, they needed at least 60 participants. They were able to get 140 residents involved! They educated everyone who signed up about how to compost – and ran a Syosset library program teaching younger children about composting, too. The objective of the ongoing pilot program is to gather data that will inform future decisions about the Town’s composting efforts. The Town of Oyster Bay is so impressed with the program, the two students will be recognized by the Town Supervisor and its Board at their next Board meeting. Congratulations Riddhi and Emily!

We continue to keep our neighbors in Farmingdale in our thoughts and the Nassau Police asked us to share a flyer for a fundraiser they are holding. I’ve been asked by many people how to contribute and I know our NCPD is an organization we can trust.

Hoping for brighter days ahead and maybe some more hugs.

#SyoSunshine

Tom Rogers