Health Reserve Fund for Scarsdale Schools Okayed by Governor Cuomo
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Thanks to State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin the Scarsdale School District will again be permitted to maintain a health reserve fund. After considerable lobbying Paulin and State Senator Andrea Stewart- Cousins were able to get the bill through both legislative bodies in NYS and have it signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The bill will allow the Scarsdale Union Free School District (the District) to maintain its insurance reserve fund for the self-insured health insurance plan the District provides for employees. The District established the reserve fund more than 25 years ago to mitigate the potential negative impact of large and unanticipated health claims in excess of budget.
Through the combination of self-insurance and maintaining a reserve fund, the District and its taxpayers have obtained substantial cost savings over the years, saving approximately $5.7M over the past five years.
The District had maintained the reserve fund without incident until a few years ago when its external auditors questioned its appropriateness. Without this legislation, the District would have been required to eliminate the reserve fund and explore options, including whether to continue self-insuring its health insurance.
"Knowing how important it was that the District be permitted to maintain this reserve fund and use it as a practical tool to stabilize costs, I am so pleased that we were able to get this legislation passed and signed," Paulin said. "The school board and the administration should be commended for its patience in working through a legislative solution to this issue. It took a little time but I think it was worth the wait. This is a win-win for the District and the taxpayers."
SparkTruck Brings Creativity to Learning
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Design thinking .... maker spaces.... 3-D printers ... creativity .... these have become the new catchwords at school board meetings of which I have attended my fair share. I thought I understood what these words meant but quickly realized I did not when I attended a presentation by UVM Design Initiatives Coordinator Eugene Korsunskiy to the faculty of the Scarsdale Schools on Thursday November13. The lecture was the first Michaal McGill lecture, sponsored by the Center for Innovation and like Dr. McGill, Eugene Korsunskiy is a graduate of Williams College.
Eugene also attended the Stanford University d-school where he founded SparkTruck, a mobile classroom that helps students create tangible examples of their creative potential. Through fun, hands-on workshops using 21st century maker tools like 3D printers and laser cutters, SparkTruck is bringing a "buildy" confidence back to the masses.
He highlighted why today's students will need to innovate to solve difficult problems like global warming, diminishing water supplies, civil unrest and food shortages. Quoting a TED talk from Sir Ken Robinson he said "Creativity is as important as literacy" and we should treat it with the same status. He also quoted educator and innovator Cathy Davidson who claims that "65% of children now entering grade schools will go into career we haven't invented yet."
Eugene believes "that creative capacity lies at the heart of innovation," and is therefor working to
help students develop confidence in their creative skills. To those who claim they are not creative, Eugene says, "creativity is something you can learn to do. When you are building or taking things apart you are being creative. Creative behaviors and design thinking lead to creative confidence."
In order to demonstrate the design thinking process, Eugene took the audience through the development of SparkTruck, his project while a student at Stanford. The process began with brainstorming and the formulation of hundreds of ideas. The group decided that they wanted to make something for kids and researched their ideas by paying visits to schools and speaking to teachers and students.
They found that rigid curricula and mandated standardized tests were taking the fun and the creativity out of learning. They also determined that kids prefer hands-on learning where they can make things and get excited. The challenge became how to facilitate building creative projects in tight spaces with limited budgets. The group decided to build a mobile classroom in a truck outfitted with fun tools for hands on learning. The raised $31,000 for the truck through a kick-starter campaign and that was the beginning of the process of building this novel classroom.
But rather than read about the adventures of SparkTruck, watch the movie online here:
Once you see how excited these students are about building and learning, you'll understand why many at the Scarsdale Schools want to outfit Scarsdale's facilities to accommodate hands-on learning using the design process. By teaching students the design process of brainstorming, prototyping and storytelling, educators can foster innovation and creativity. The process helps students tackle the unknown, improvise, try, fail and try again.
Scarsdale has already jumped on the bandwagon by installing maker spaces in all five elementary schools – and by including an initiative to transform the old auto shop at Scarsdale High School into a Design Lab. Learn more about this compelling educational initiative here and then go create something yourself. Also, watch the presentation in it's entirety here!
Stuff a Bus at Heathcote
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Heathcote students wore pajamas to school on Friday November 7 in honor of "Stuff a Bus," a campaign to donate pajamas to children in need in Westchester. Heathcote students and staff donated close to 500 pairs of pajamas to the non-profit program that has distributed over three million pairs of pajamas since it was founded in 2001.
At Heathcote, they collected new sleepwear for both girls and boys, in all sizes and gathered outside on Friday wearing their own pajamas to watch the teachers "stuff" a decorated bus with their donations.
Approximately 20 schools throughout Westchester will participate in Stuff a Bus this year, hoping to collect 5,000 pajamas. Donations will be distributed to local children in foster care, group homes and temporary housing, as well as to those living below the poverty level. Stuff a Bus Week is particularly important, as cold weather is approaching and the need to sleep in something warm is even greater.
Photo credit: Kathy Gorelick
Thanks to the Scarsdale School Board
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(This letter was sent to Scarsdale10583 by Pam Fuehrer, President of the Scarsdale PT Council)
To the Editor: Governor Andrew Cuomo proclaimed the week ending October 31th as School Board Recognition Week in New York State.
The proclamation states "members of school boards are dedicated to children, learning, and community and devote many hours of service to elementary and secondary public education as they continually strive for improvement, excellence and progress in education."
This perfectly describes Scarsdale's Board of Education (BOE) and on behalf of all parents and students in our district the PT Council would like to thank the members of the BOE for all their work, commitment, transparency and responsiveness to the community.
Each BOE member generously volunteers his or her time and energy to improve the education offered to students in Scarsdale while also balancing the cost to taxpayers. The challenges they face are enormous; their tasks are substantial. Strong schools help to build strong communities, and the members of our BOE devote countless hours to making sure our schools are helping every student achieve full potential, within our school walls, and beyond.
We deeply appreciate the BOE's steadfast commitment to our children. The PT Council will be making a donation to the Scarsdale High School Scholarship Fund for College in honor of our Board of Education.
Pamela Fuehrer
Scarsdale PT Council President
Magical Season Ends in Disappointing Playoff Loss for the Scarsdale Raiders
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The town of Scarsdale was brimming with anticipation on Saturday October 25 --a beautiful fall day for the first home playoff game for the Scarsdale Raiders in 25 years. Longtime coach and local legend Rippy Phillips, was spotted in Scarsdale Village early on Saturday morning exhorting shoppers to support the team for its Class AA quarterfinal matchup with neighboring Mamaroneck High School.
At the field, a packed crowd roared with excitement as the Raiders jumped out to a 14-6 lead behind the shifty running and pass catching of co-captain, James Nicholas, who evoked memories of former Jets star, Emerson Boozer, and the accurate passing of junior quarterback, Michael Rolfe, who ended up throwing for 167 yards and two touchdowns. The former Brooklyn College gridiron great, Marvin Schrier, whose grandson, Harrison Wirth, is a highly effective and dangerous two way player for the Raiders, appeared to be prescient with his pregame observation that it was pivotal for the Raiders to get off to a strong start and put pressure on the high powered Mamaroneck offense.
Unfortunately for the legion of Raider fans at the game, Schrier underestimated the power and breakneck speed of Mamaroneck halfback, Marquez Jackson-Allen, who continued his record-breaking season by piling up 240 yards on the ground against the heretofore stout Raiders defense. With the score knotted at 14-14 and time running out in the first half, longtime Raiders fan, Rich Baumer, correctly anticipated that the Tigers would turn to their top player on a crucial fourth and one call and Jackson-Allen galloped to a 16 yard touchdown to provide the Tigers with a 21-14 halftime lead.
usan Jureller in attendance to watch the Raiders including her nephew, Harrison Wirth, observed that it would be crucial for the Raiders to stop the Tigers on their opening second half drive in order to reassume control of the game. The Tigers, however, responded with a long 63 yard touchdown pass that gave them a two score lead and forced the Raiders to rely heavily on their passing game in the second half. A crucial Raiders turnover and the continued strong running of Jackson-Allen enabled the Tigers to build a big lead and hold off the Raiders 45-20 despite a late Raiders touchdown. Clive Berkowitz, father of former Raiders star, Jacob Berkowitz, noted that the late score epitomized the Raiders seaso- long relentless effort and impressive play and offered promise for the 2015 Raiders squad that should be strengthened by the addition of a strong sophomore class, led by junior varsity quarterback, Barry Klein.
Photos courtesy of Allen Berman. See more photos of the game here.
