High Schoolers Even More Stressed than Medical Students
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Dr. Stuart Slavin, Associate Dean for Curriculum at the St. Louis University School of Medicine brought surprising news to the staff of Scarsdale High School, who had gathered on March 24, their staff conference day, to listen to his findings on student stress and anxiety. Scarsdale teachers, deans and health professionals already knew that their high school students were stressed, but just how stressed?
Slavin reported that he had done surveys of medical students and high school students, and much to his surprise he learned that high school students suffer from even more depression and anxiety than first year medical students. His work began with medical students and in 2014 he presented findings that showed that depression among medical school students is significant, affecting between 20 and 30 percent of medical students in the U.S., and potentially compromising their mental health for years to come. More recently, a study of 1,403 high school students in the Bay Area revealed that 54% showed symptoms of moderate to severe depression and 80% had moderate to severe anxiety. Slavin said, ""This is so far beyond what you would typically see in an adolescent population ...it's unprecedented."
But Slavin didn't come to Scarsdale only to validate the issue. He also delivered a hopeful message. The stress is not something we're powerless to control. He shared some successful and low-cost strategies that were used to reduce stress at the medical school and challenged the SHS staff to think about how they could implement similar tactics to improve the quality of life for students at SHS and possibly improve their academic results.
At the medical school, Slavin and his team allowed students to take some of the hardest courses on a pass/fail grading system. Human anatomy is one of the most difficult for new students and the school switched to pass/fail and found that students' anxiety decreased while their retention of important information increased. They also gave students more time to pursue their own interests and created small learning groups to strengthen connections. They looked at the curriculum to see if they could teach less material. According to Slavin, teaching "more does not always lead to a better outcome."
By making small changes, the faculty witnessed significant decreases in the anxiety level of the student body while at the same time, there was an improvement in the students' national board scores.
Slavin was so excited about the results that he shared what he learned with the administration of his daughter's high school in St. Louis where he served on the board. They listened but made no changes in their policy. He then went on to survey students at Irvington High School – in the Bay Area of California where he found that levels of anxiety and depression were higher among high school students than medical school students.
What were the causes of high school students' anxiety? Not surprisingly, the number one factor was the pressure to get into a prestigious college, followed by time pressure, pressure students put on themselves, pressure not to disappoint parents, fear about the amount of material students need to learn and competition.
Slavin believes the antidote lies in "cognitive restructuring," which involves changing the way students think and feel. He contends that "adolescents are filled with cognitive distortions," and that parents and teachers need to help them to change their emotional reactions to events. He emphasized mindfulness, reflection and resilience. According to Slavin, "Perfectionists have a much higher rate of anxiety and depression because they set the bar unrealistically high."
Stress-reducing tactics for the high school could include limits on the amount of homework, less testing and giving students time in school to study. Slavin also said parents should make sure their children get enough sleep and even permit them to miss a deadline if it gets in the way of sleep.
This talk was just one in a series to address student stress. On Wednesday April 6 at 7:30 pm, Vicki Abeles, who produced the movie "Race to Nowhere," and recently wrote "Beyond Measure" will speak at the Scarsdale Middle School about systemic stress, the obsession with achievement and the toll on student's well-being.
High School and Middle School Math Students Excel in Competition
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Scarsdale and Edgemont Math Students Tie for First Place in County League:
Three Scarsdale students and one from Edgemont tied for first place in the Westchester-Putnam Counties math competitionon Monday March 14. Alan Chung, Dexin Li, and Richard Xu of Scarsdale and Victor Lue of Edgemont won in a four-way tie for the individual title as Westchester-Putnam Mathlete of the Year. In the team results there was also a first ever tie: Edgemont and Scarsdale.
The league is the Westchester-Putnam Interscholastic Math League and there are six meets per year. The sixth and final meet took place at White Plains High School on Monday, March 14. 23 schools, 92 teams and 574 individuals participated this academic year. A team consists of 5 students, so schools may have more than one team.
At the final meet, the teams from all the schools gather together at White Plains High School. For the first five meets, the schools are broken down into smaller local groups. For example, Scarsdale, Edgemont, White Plains, Woodlands and Rye form one group. The meeting place alternates among the schools. Following the meet, individual and team scores are sent to the league head, Lester Roby, who tabulates the standings.
The top students from this league are invited to the New York State Math League competition to be held Saturday, April 9 at Penfield High School in Penfield, NY, a suburb of Rochester.
What does it take to be a math champion? We asked tenth grader Richard Xu a few questions and here
is what he shared. "I've been quick in arithmetics since kindergarten, being able to solve simple logical puzzles and do simple additions and multiplications, but I really started learning more mathematics during third grade. I develop my aptitude for math through learning more materials related to it, and over time my knowledge of the subject increases. I prepare for competitions by doing extra problems, and learning how others approach the problems if I cannot solve them. The area of mathematics that interests me the most is combinatorics: graph theory, combinations, counting, probability, etc. I still haven't decided what I want to become for the future, but I hope I'll create something that can benefit our society. I might major in mathematics, or computer science; both fields interest me."
Dexin Li said, "I never thought and I still don't think that I have a talent for mathematics. I still remember in 5th grade I was still adding fractions by adding the numerators and then adding the denominators. Since then, I've just been putting more time into mathematics than my classmates did so I improved faster, which makes it seem like I have a natural aptitude for math.
I usually prepare for math competitions by going over the past tests for that competition. I would do one past test around once a week, go over the answers, and write my score in a notebook so that I could track my progress.
Throughout my years of doing math, I have realized how different competition math is from real math. I've also realized that I don't want to major in pure math in the future. However, I do agree that math is extremely important in almost any major (except the arts like English and History, of course). I find that applied math is more appealing to me, but anything more detailed than that I don't know yet.
I'm in 11th grade. My aspiration for the (far) future is to do something that would benefit our society, which goes back to why applied math is more appealing to me. Pure math is much harder to work on, so I think a lot of passion is needed in order to go down that path."
The Scarsdale team is coached by Laura Estersohn and Edgemont by Rachel Golub. About the students, Esterohn says, "They are a group of students who enjoy problem solving and have a good time being together as a team. The questions they solve reward clever thinking as much as straight-ahead math knowledge." See two sample problems and solutions here.
SMS Mathcounts Stand Out in State Competition
SMS students also performed well at the NYS competition. Math teachers Steven Weise reports that after taking first place in the Westchester/Putnam Mathcounts competition, the Scarsdale Middle School Mathcounts team went to the NY State competition. The team finished in 3rd place. Two Scarsdale students, Eric Wei (number 1 overall) and Deyuan Li (number 4 overall) qualified for the 4-person national team that will represent New York State in the national competition in May. Eric has made the national team 3 years in a row, a tremendous accomplishment.
Here is another sample problem from the high school competition:
Local Swim Coach Charged with Promoting and Possessing Child Pornography
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Rhony Sanchez of Yonkers was arrested at his home on Thursday March 3rd and charged with two felonies:
-One count of promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child, which is a d-felony
-One count of possessing an obscene performance by a child, which is an e-felony
According to Deputy Director of Communications for the Westchester District Attorney's office Robert Wolf, the charges relate to having pornographic material on the computer and storing it in a way that it can be shared.
Sanchez worked for the JCC of Mid-Westchester for 12 years, teaching swimming and coaching their swim teams. For the past ten years, during the summer months he worked at Beach Point Club in Mamaroneck where he taught swimming and certified lifeguards.
Sanchez is now free on $25,000 bail posted by a family member and due back in Yonkers City Court on March 11. We asked Wolf whether there was any indication that children at the JCC or Beach Point might have been involved, and Wolf said, "The matter is still under investigation."
Commenting on Sanchez's arrest, Karen Kolodny, the Executive Director of the JCC wrote the following to parents:
The JCC of Mid-Westchester recently became aware that a swim instructor was arrested at his home on Thursday, March 3, 2016. We have been in contact with the Westchester County District Attorney's office and have been advised that at this point they are not aware of any inappropriate acts occurring at the JCC. The JCC is cooperating with this investigation.
The individual involved has been suspended and is not permitted on JCC property.
Our goal, as always, is to make the JCC a safe place for everyone who comes through our doors.
Karen Kolodny,
Executive Director
Students Travel to the Dominican Republic to Study Sustainability
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Fifteen SHS students accompanied by science teachers, John Neering and Nelson Dasilva traveled to the Dominican Republic to study environmental science over the February break from Feburary 13- 20. The students stayed in a small villages called Jarabacoa and visited a college that specializes in resource management in order to protect the environment.
The goal of the trip was to teach both students and teachers about planting and utilizing earth's natural resources in a way that is beneficial to the environment. Group mentor Mr. Neering stated, "Students worked really hard on the property helping restore natural ecosystems by planting native species and preserving wetlands."
SHS senior, Eliza Auchincloss stated "Every day we would do something different. We weeded, planted, built a bridge, learned how their whole system worked and interacted with the local students. We had to speak in Spanish and my Spanish improved so much!"
The students who traveled on this trip went because 
they shared an interest in learning about the environment. Both of the teachers who organized and went on the trip are environmental science teachers which allowed the students to learn even more from them.
Overall the students felt that the trip was a great experience that created friendships that will last after the trip. Eliza explained "The hardest part about coming home was not being the with the same fifteen people, because we all bonded super well- there was not one person in the group who would complain or was left out of the group".
Students who went on this trip felt lucky to be able to learn from the students in the Dominican Republic and will be able to integrate the ideas they learned about sustainable living into their daily lives here in New York.
19 Faculty Members and Staffers Announce June Retirements
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At the Monday night (2-29) meeting of the Scarsdale School Board, Interim Human Resources Director Bernard Josefsberg made a surprising announcement: the district will lose some of their most experienced and senior faculty members this June. Nineteen staffers in all have announced that they will retire thus far, including some very popular teachers and administrators . Departing from Scarsdale High School are Ann Liptak - who chairs the English Department, veteran math teacher Roger Capucci, Beth Schoenbrun who handles the science research program, Larry Brown, Tom Conrad, Paul Sheehy, Ihor Szkolar, Sandra Cisco and Assistant Principal Sue Peppers.
And that's just the high school. See the complete list below. Interim Human Resources Director Josefsberg is already searching for his own replacement, and will have his work cut out for him this spring as he seeks to fill many open positions for the next school year.
Here's the complete list of retirements effective June 30, 2016
Ellen Anders, Teacher in Charge, Edgewood School
Larry Brown, Social Studies Teacher, Senior High School.
Roger Capucci, Math Teacher, Senior High School
Sandra Cisco, World Language Teacher, Senior High School
Dassi Citron, Elementary Classroom Teacher, Heathcote School
Nancy Closter, Art Teacher, Greenacres School
Tom Conrad, Science Teacher, Senior High School
Margaret Fox, English Teacher, Middle School
Dorothy Golden, Special Education Teacher, Middle School
Maggie Hoffee, Music Teacher, Greenacres School
Ann Liptak, English Department Chair, Senior High School
Sue Peppers, Assistant Principal, Senior High School
Wilda Savarese, Elementary Classroom Teacher, Edgewood School
Beth Schoenbrun, Science Teacher, Senior High School
Paul Sheehey, English Teacher, Senior High School
Ihor Szkolar, Science Teacher, Senior High School
Andrea Tripodi, Psychologist, Middle School
Sharon Waskow, Librarian, Middle School
Sarah Whittington, World Language Coordinator K-8, Middle School
