Raider Report April 2024

The Red Hook Central School District presented a first draft of its 2024-25 budget, and the Board of Education approved propositions to put in front of voters, as the process of finalizing a spending plan and filling school board seats continued in March.

In April, the budget and slate of board candidates will be solidified in advance of a May 8 public hearing and budget expo, and ultimately the vote on May 21.

Five propositions were approved by the board at the March 20 meeting including the budget itself, the acquisition of electric school buses, a $14.95 million capital project, and appropriations for the Red Hook and Tivoli Free libraries.

The board is scheduled to vote on adopting a final proposed 2024-25 budget April 10. April 22 is the last day for submitting nominating petitions for one of the three school board positions; each would be elected to a three-year term. Voters can begin requesting absentee ballots April 23.

A budget newsletter, which will contain the specific language for each proposition on the ballot, will be available May 2, with the newsletters scheduled to arrive in mailboxes throughout the district May 9-14.

A public hearing presenting the budget is scheduled for the Performing Arts Center at Red Hook High School 6:00 p.m. May 8. It will be followed by a budget expo, at which residents can register to vote and pick up absentee ballots, and walk around into classrooms and other spaces to learn about the clubs, programs and educational offerings at the district.

The proposition regarding the acquisition of electric buses asks voters to approve the expenditure of at most $500,000 for the purchase of vehicles which, after grant funding and other assistance, may not cost more than $250,000 each.

The $14.95 million capital improvement proposal would improve the lighting, air conditioning and safety of several of its schools, renovate its athletic facilities to expand access, and install a multipurpose artificial educational and athletic field.

For more information on the proposed project, or to read the specific language for each proposition, visit RedHookCentralSchools.org and access the Board of Education page.

I hope that everyone had a restful and enjoyable spring break. As we resume, I am pleased to update you on the progress of our ongoing capital projects across all our buildings. You may have already noticed the installation of ice storage tanks adjacent to the high school, marking significant progress in our HVAC enhancements. At Linden Avenue, the gym roof, HVAC digital controls and window work are almost completed. Additionally, window replacement work has commenced at Mill Road Elementary School, a crucial step in improving our facilities. Furthermore, I commend our dedicated custodial staff for their diligent efforts in cleaning and painting over break, ensuring our buildings remain safe and welcoming environments for all. It is essential to acknowledge the considerable effort and resources invested in upgrading and maintaining our facilities to meet the needs of our community.

Looking ahead, I am excited to announce our upcoming Budget Expo on May 8th at 6:00 PM, to be held at Red Hook High School. This event will provide an opportunity for community members to learn more about our budget, the proposed electric vehicle initiative, and capital projects. Attendees will have the chance to explore our educational programs and gather additional information on the proposed electric buses and capital project renovations. Please stay tuned for more details as we continue to strive for increased communication and community engagement in our initiatives.

Leopold Pflaum doesn’t believe in the continued use of coal as an energy source.

But, when the Red Hook High School sophomore stood up to be heard in a room of a couple hundred students from around the world, he wasn’t speaking for himself. He was speaking for Bosnia-Herzegovina. And if Bosnia-Herzegovina was going to adopt more environmentally friendly energy policies, it was going to need help. “Bosnia’s a coal-producing country,” Leopold explained. “I was advocating for other people paying for Bosnia, which is a relatively poor country.” Mr. Pflaum was among eleven Red Hook students who took part in the International Model United Nations Conference in New York City March 13-16.

The Red Hook delegation was among roughly 2,300 students, about half of whom are from outside the U.S., who came together to discuss resolutions to global issues such as human rights, affordable housing, labor standards, transportation infrastructure and, yes, environmental awareness. The students worked in committees to debate and come to agreements on each issue, with the Red Hook students spread among them. In total, the students spent roughly 18 hours in their committees, where they worked closely with students from areas ranging from Italy and Sweden to China and Ethiopia. “It was just fascinating, meeting people from around the world, learning how they live,” Leopold said, noting students from different cultures brought a variety of styles and perspectives to the discussions. “Even though you were supposed to represent your (assigned) country, there were just inherently different views of the world for people from Asia, Africa.”

In the preceding months, the Red Hook Model UN group researched their assigned country of Bosnia-Herzegovina and wrote a “country paper” in which they detailed its history, culture, infrastructure and geography. They then chose on which committee they would want to serve in New York City and each wrote position papers on those subjects.

Club adviser and social studies teacher William Decker noted students had to know their facts entering each committee meeting. While they could bring laptops, they could only use them to write resolutions.

On the second day of the trip, the students visited the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Permanent Mission and spoke with Ljilja Grgic-Stojanovic, the assistant secretary to the ambassador. That, Mr. Decker noted, offered three-dimensional perspective. “She said when she was 16 and 17 she spent those two years in a basement, under fire, during the Balkan wars,” Mr. Decker said. “They asked really good questions on specifics about her nation and how we could best represent the goals of Bosnia, and brought it back to the committee.”

Leopold Pflaum said he gained a greater understanding of how the conflicts of 30 years ago continue to impact the country. “They’ve tried their best to recover, but trying to balance environmental issues and rebuilding Bosnia is very difficult, if not impossible,” he said.

After the meetings were over, each committee wrote resolutions to send to the UN. Mr. Decker said they “came up with some really good ideas,” noting Red Hook students were sponsors of three resolutions and sponsored amendments for the other two. “The kids spoke up,” he said. “It can be intimidating. In some committees there are 300 people in the room.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker were the keynote speakers opening and closing the conference, respectively. The four-day event ended with a dance for the students. Mr. Decker said taking part in Model UN encourages students to “look at the world through the lens of a different cultural group,” in addition to teaching public speaking and social skills. “For a lot of these kids it’s just being worldly,” he said. “These are the things they’re going to remember after high school.”

Elementary students don’t always simply say when a lesson worked. Teachers have to follow clues and cues to know which resonated. In Garden Instructor Doug Keto’s case, the students asked for seconds on the pancakes. “I take that as, essentially, good job,” he said.

The garden instructor for the Mill Road elementary schools this winter led the students in tapping maple trees and making syrup, as part of lessons in how trees work and the differences between processed and homegrown foods. The reward at the end of the lesson were pancakes, which Mr. Keto made fresh on an electric griddle, topped with their syrup. The remaining syrup – which this year is especially dark and robust with a crisp taste – will be sold as a fundraiser later this year, Mr. Keto said.

The lesson is one Mr. Keto revived last year, his first with the Red Hook Central School District, after it was taught for a handful of years over the last decade. The trees Mr. Keto tapped stand outside of Mill Road Intermediate School. He brings the students outside and teaches them how to identify whether the trees are sugar maples – every class was able to go outside this year thanks to a mostly mild winter – but he handles the drilling and tapping. The sap is collected through tubes threaded into closed five-gallon, food-safe buckets. Keto and his garden assistant then cooked it down during off-hours to create the final syrup product. As the sap was roughly 97% water, it took about four hours to cook five gallons down to 16 ounces of syrup. About 168 gallons of sap was collected in all, which yielded roughly four gallons of syrup. Mr. Keto said he hopes for next year to be able to either get an evaporator, permission to build a fire or a field trip to a sugar shack to show the students how the sap cooks. “The most exciting part of maple syruping is seeing all that steam come off,” he said.

Sap was collected throughout February, with collection cut short by a couple of weeks due to the mild temperatures. This, though, was also an opportunity to educate the students on how temperatures impact sap production. "You want below-freezing temperatures at night, above-freezing during the day,” Mr. Keto said, noting 25 degrees during the night and 40 during the day is ideal. “The freeze-thaw cycle pumps the sap through the tree. As it thaws, that pressure pushes the sap up the tree into the new buds it’s trying to produce. Once our nights are above freezing, then sap production kind of stops."

But, that also means it’s time to eat. The Mill Road Primary students were brought outside to identify the trees and taste the sap before going back inside for pancakes. The Intermediate students had to work a little harder. Mr. Keto said there was first a lesson on the tree’s cambium layer and how it can move water up through the tree, using a long tube over a doorway to simulate the suction. Only then did he turn on the griddle. “I had a couple parents, who actually work at the school, they said, ‘My kid came home, they never tell me about school. They said that you made pancakes and they were delicious,’” Mr. Keto recalled. “I think it went really well. I think they got it. They were asking great questions.”

Mr. Keto said he showed the students labels of popular store-bought syrups, which do not actually contain maple anymore, and did a taste test. “Maybe 85-90 percent choose the real stuff. … That was rewarding,” he said. “Part of what we’re trying to do in the program is give them access to fresh produce, like fruits, veggies, nuts, foraged things, and products like syrup and eventually honey – when do they get to try real maple syrup, real honey?”

Avery Marsh enjoyed the empanadas and street corn. Teagan Rose learned she liked flautas – meat and cheese rolled in a corn tortilla and covered in guacamole and lettuce. Anna Roombergh lit up talking about Ice Spice – not a food, the rap artist. But, she did also praise the flautas.

Linden Avenue Middle School students were immersed in various aspects of Latin American life, history and traditions on Feb. 29 when the school held its Latin Culture Fair. In the gymnasium, Alex Torres and his Latin Orchestra performed while teaching the history of their instruments and sounds; six classrooms in the world language wing presented a variety of research project posters for students to read; and the cafeteria was a hub of activity with tables filled with authentic dishes, trivia and games. Each grade rotated through the sections in three sessions at the end of the school day. “We have more than 50 community members in the building today,” Liz Lowney, middle school Spanish teacher and event organizer, announced to students in the cafeteria. “Ask them questions. Learn from them.”

The event, she said, was not only meant to introduce students to cultures outside of their own, but for Latin students to see their culture celebrated outside of the language classrooms. One key theme of the event was the differentiation in cultures and traditions found in Latin countries, rather than treating them as one entity. Karina Powers, who has been in New York for one year after moving from Baja California in Mexico, brought a collection of photos, clothing and artifacts tied to Mexican dancing. She showed students the differences in dance attire you may find in one part of the country versus another. “I believe this is a wonderful event,” she said. “We have 32 states in Mexico. Each state is different.”

Nearby, Phil Cordero was serving pastelillos and empanadas from his Puerto Rican restaurant, Café Con Leche. In addition to food supplied by professionals, several district parents and teachers cooked such items as cups of flan and tacos. “There’s a major difference in different types of cuisine and culture,” Mr. Cordero said. “It’s very important to show that, so they can taste that, understand that. … Some people, you talk to them as adults, they don’t know the differences between a Mexican dish or a Peruvian dish.”

Some tables in the cafeteria focused on teaching students about individual Central and South American countries to emphasize those differences. Upstairs, the poster projects created by Miss Lowney’s eighth-grade students did the same. Some of the posters focused on famous places or pop culture touchstones, others on individual people and their home countries. That’s where Anna Roombergh and many other students were delighted to learn more about Ice Spice, whose mother is from the Dominican Republic.

After enjoying a cup of arroz con gandules – rice, peas and pork – Skye Griffiths said she learned some Spanish words for colors and shapes, with a game of Bingo helping the lesson to sink in. “It’s cool seeing all different kinds of food we don’t normally get to try,” the seventh-grader said. Next to her, Teagan Rose added, “I’m glad we get to do this. It’s nice to learn about culture.”

The weather didn’t cooperate for the Fresh Air Fun after-school class this season. While many around the community were happy about a relatively tame winter, a lack of snow largely kept the kindergarten and first-grade students in the Crossroads program from the sledding, snowman building and snow painting teacher Jackie Forrest had planned. But, that didn’t stop the kids from enjoying the outdoors. “Students created their own games, tried new playground equipment and challenged their social skills,” Ms. Forrest said, noting the eight class members were allowed to use the 3-5 playground, “which was a big deal to our little ones.”

Teachers overseeing the Crossroads classes at the Mill Road elementary schools declared the six-week enrichment program a success as the winter session wrapped up last week.

In addition to the Fresh Air Fun class, eight K-1 students participated in Let’s Paint, 13 K-2 students joined the Creators Club, six 3-5 students attended Intro to 3D Printing, and 18 total students joined a chess class, nine each in the beginner (grades 1-3) and intermediate (3-5) chapters. “I think the programs went very well this session,” said Crossroads Director and Teaching Assistant Jordan Hassett. “I think it is important to offer the kids an opportunity to expand on their interests, since there aren't as many clubs or extracurricular activities for the younger age groups.”

Fourth-grade teacher Stephen Hart taught the intermediate chess class, which he said was “productive” for the players. “In each session, a strategy was introduced and practiced,” he said, “for example, learning to scan the board carefully before making a move and resisting the impulse to move right away.” He noted chess “incorporates many life skills,” such as patience, problem-solving and sportsmanship. “In a time when video games are the predominant form of entertainment, these kids are applying intellect and strategies to compete with one another,” Mr. Hart said.

At the Creator’s Club, students met each Tuesday to experiment with different art mediums, executing art projects with such materials as clay, puffy paint and beans. Creator’s Club teacher Courtney Skeen said she would show an example of what can be made with the day’s material, but encouraged the students to create freely. “I loved having everyone come up with their own creations, finding new or different ways to use the various materials and proudly sharing their completed work or ideas with everyone else,” Ms. Skeen said, noting some children wanted to take their projects home, “others just enjoyed the process of creating and working with materials, having no end goal – and that was ok, too.”

Forrest said the Fresh Air Fun class played games, such as one designed to improve hand-eye coordination called “Flip Toss,” and explored the nature trail to observe signs of the seasons changing. “Students also played basketball and we noticed some were teaching an ENL student how to play,” she said, calling it “a sweet and memorable moment. “Time for fresh air and play is always valuable,” Ms. Forrest said, “especially when talking about young learners that are full of energy and curiosity.”

Crossroads is offered three times a year to the Red Hook Central School District’s elementary students. The spring session is planned to begin around the end of April. Mrs. Hassett said the teachers and classes change from session to session, which “gives the students an opportunity to meet many different people who work in the district and experience lots of different classes, materials and ideas.”

For the Red Hook High School girls basketball team, the winter season began in the summer. Three days a week, the two-time sectional champion Raiders got together to practice with new head coach Matt Hayes. Then came a fall league hosted at Bard College. The real work, six days a week of practices and games, started the week after Veterans Day. “The big goal for them was to win the sectional title. They kept talking about a three-peat,” Coach Hayes said. “I’m glad they were able to do that. And there were a lot of great moments along the way.”

Throughout the school, hard work paid off for athletes in the 2023-24 winter season. In addition to the girls basketball team’s sectional title and a player of the year award for junior Emilie Kent, Owen Daniels stood on the podium at the state boys swimming meet, and Ewan Celestine and Mark Paschal won matches at the state wrestling championships. Taiia Mokii won a sectional championship in the girls race walk, others set indoor track and field school records, and a trio of ice hockey players from Red Hook, Adam Jurkowski and Liam and Owen Maroney, helped Franklin D. Roosevelt win the Hudson Valley High School Ice Hockey Association championship.

Here is a look back at a successful winter season for Red Hook:

Girls basketball

The Raiders, led by tri-captains Kent, Katie Boyd and Liv Christensen, defeated top-seeded Marlboro, 58-42, to win the Section 9 Class A championship, after earning Class B crowns the previous two years. They ended the season at 16-7, losing to eventual state finalist Walter Panas. Kent was named Section 9 Class A Player of the Year. The 6-foot-1 junior averaged roughly 22 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. “Clearly everybody was targeting her, because everyone knows who Emilie is,” Coach Hayes said. “She’s a heck of a player.”

Katie Boyd, who Coach Hayes called the team’s “floor general and emotional leader,” and Emilie Kent were both named to Section 9’s Top 50 list and Mid-Hudson Athletic League all-stars. “She is one of the most competitive kids that I’ve coached at any level,” Hayes said of the senior Katie Boyd. “She was all about winning.”

Liv Christensen hit two of the biggest shots of the season in the final against Marlboro, Hayes said, a 3-pointer to extend the Red Hook lead to 10 before halftime and another coming out of the break. “I was happy she had those moments,” Coach Hayes said. “Liv was not one of our leading scorers, but she did the intangibles.” Though they lose Boyd and Christensen to graduation, Coach Hayes said the team has “the potential to have another good team next year.”

Boys basketball

After starting the year 9-3, injuries and youth caught up with the Raiders, who held a perch atop the division until a loss to New Paltz late in the season. They finished 11-7, losing to Beacon in the Class A playoffs. “By the end of the year, we saw great growth individually and collectively. Everything we accomplished, we did so as a team,” said first-year Coach Kevin Cayea, a longtime Assistant to former Coach Matt Hayes. He noted the sophomore-heavy group did not lose a game by double-digits. “From top to bottom this team competed every minute they stepped on the floor together, including practice.” Coach Cayea said the goal next season is “to build on the growth and development we achieved this year in order to take our next step toward being a championship contender.”

Boys swimming and diving

Red Hook’s roster ballooned this season, with nine of the 17 swimmers new to the team, and the Raiders compiled a 9-2 regular-season record. Ten individuals qualified for the Section 9 championships, with junior Owen Daniels winning a title in the 100-yard backstroke. Owen Daniels (100 backstroke and 200 individual medley), Sam Button (100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley), Edmund Wilson (50 freestyle and 100 backstroke) and the 200 medley relay of Daniels, Button, Wilson and Keizo Chen-Suzuki all qualified for the state championships. There, Owen Daniels placed eighth in the backstroke and Wilson finished 18th in the backstroke and 26th in the freestyle.

Owen Daniels called sectionals the highlight of the season. “It was just a great vibe,” he said, noting how many of his teammates qualified this year. Though, he admits making a state final “was a lot of fun. Walking out and hearing everyone cheering, it was a great experience.”

Coach Mackenzie Dabo praised Owen Daniels as the team “MVP who stepped up as a team leader in the water and on-deck,” but said the program’s third season “was incredible at every level.” She noted Wilson, a SUNY Geneseo-bound senior, became the program’s first member to sign a National Letter of Intent to swim in college. “With a strong group of six upcoming seniors, next year may be better than this year if things go right,” she said.

Indoor track and field

In addition to winning the Section 9 championship, Taia Mokii had the 55th fastest time in the 1,500-meter race walk in the nation this season, 8:48.6. Five school records were broken: Vincent Smaldone set the marks for the boys 1,000- (2:44.89) and 1,600-meter (4:43.38) runs; Taylor Kabat reset the record for the girls 55-meter dash (7.8 seconds); Izzy Faraldi broke the girls high jump mark by four inches (4 feet, 6 inches); and Gianna Wanzer took the record for the girls weight throw (25 feet, 10 inches). “Athletes were able to set and make personal goals, such as increasing distances and reducing steps between hurdles. I am very proud of all of them,” coach Kim Goldhirsch said, noting she expects another strong year in 2024-25.

Wrestling

In a rebuilding year after graduating seven Raiders, Red Hook took second in the Section 9 meet and earned a 9-5 dual-meet record. Ewan Celestine (124 pounds) and Mark Paschal (285) both won Section 9 Division II championships; for the junior Ewan Celestine it was a second title in as many years. Mark Paschal, a senior, won three matches at the state meet in Albany and Ewan Celestine won two.

Shane Cranna, a senior who was recovering from a football injury, placed second at 138 pounds, and Emanuel Celaya Lavariega – who “came out of nowhere this year,” coach Nick Fredericks said – finished third at 285. “We saw a lot of growth for each wrestler, between November and February. It was a year of ups and downs, which you expect from such a young team, but they continued to work hard,” Coach Fredericks said. “Next year, I expect a lot of success from our returners and a solid group of wrestlers coming up from the modified team. The goal is to win a sectional championship as a team, and send wrestlers up to states in Albany and place.”

If you’ve been to a Red Hook High School athletic event in the last 20 years, you’ve likely seen Tom Cassata. The Raiders Athletic Director for the last two decades is a familiar figure on fields, running around ensuring contests run smoothly. But, just because you’ve seen him, it doesn’t mean you’ve seen all he does. “There’s lot that he does behind the scenes people don’t see,” longtime basketball coach Matt Hayes said, “where he’s helping take care of kids who may need something.”

Cassata himself is not keen to the spotlight, preferring to praise the accomplishments of his student athletes, or the raucous atmosphere the student body creates in support of his Raiders teams. His peers are another story, though. In mid-March, members of the New York State Athletic Administrators Association voted Cassata Athletic Administrator of the Year for Section 9. “I’m humbled,” Cassata said. “I like to just quietly do my job. I like to recognize our kids and our coaches in our community.”

Cassata, who also won the award in 2016, was honored not only for his contributions to Red Hook but to the section and New York State Public High School Athletic Association. Among his roles, he’s on the Section 9 executive committee and is chairperson of the eligibility committee; he’s a co-chairperson for Section 9 football; and for the Mid-Hudson Athletic League he’s chairperson for girls basketball and chair or co-chairperson of the safety, eligibility and constitution committees. He made sure to point out, most athletic directors serve various roles to make sections and leagues operate properly. That doesn’t make it any less of a time commitment. He pointed out, he’s in attendance for the state football championships, regardless of when Red Hook’s season ends. “Our team’s done, but I’m still running football games week to week up to the state championships,” he said. “But it’s good work. I enjoy it. I enjoy working with my colleagues in other districts. It’s important work that needs to be done.”

Coach Hayes said there are times Cassata smooths over problems that may arise without troubling the coaches with them. “He is very supportive, not only of our athletes, but also of coaches,” the girls basketball coach said. “You might have a parent who is unhappy with something, playing time, etc. He’s very quick to support his coaches and often won’t tell the coaches about the conversation he had.” Coach Hayes noted he only found out about Cassata’s award from a third party. “That’s Tom in a nutshell,” he said.

The Red Hook Central School District recognized Cassata’s honor at its Board of Education meeting March 20. Superintendent Janet Warden called him an “exceptional administrator,” saying he is a “complete genuine person (who) cares about every student, every teacher, every program we have in the district. We are so lucky to have you.” Cassata, characteristically, was reticent to speak on the award, but thanked his wife and family for their support and understanding given how often he works nights and weekends in service of the athletes. “It’s a challenging job. There’s a lot that happens. The time commitment alone,” he said. “It’s nice to be recognized.”