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Written by: Marie Ceske

Published: 24 March 2016

Created: 24 March 2016

Last Updated: 29 March 2016

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This weekend, 359 Scarsdale third-, fourth- and fifth grade students participated in the PT Council's annual Young Writers' Workshop at the Scarsdale Middle School. The morning began with a presentation by keynote speaker and children's author Tommy Greenwald. Author of eleven books, Mr. Greenwald spoke about the challenges of getting children to read. He said the goal of his books is to make reading more appealing. The protagonist of his first, well-known series, Charlie Joe Jackson, named after his three sons, is a young boy who does not like to read – a character with whom many readers can relate. During the Q&A section, when asked why he writes, Mr. Greenwald responded: "Because it's awesome! I write stories to make kids laugh." He aspires to write books that are "funny, weird, and interesting." He also emphasized to the students that inspiration often comes from people and events that occur in real life and that much of his writing is realistic fiction and revolves around his own stories. As he said, "all writers should know that the things that happen around them could one day make it into a story." He also stressed the importance of resilience and editing – giving students a tangible example using the progression of a description about eating a French fries through three different drafts. He purposely misspelled the word "sundae" as "Sunday," imparting that computers can't fix every mistake. A writer needs to check his or her own work and shouldn't rely on computers. Lastly, he read a section from his new series Crime Biters, which turns his real life dog Abby into a crime fighter.

After the keynote speaker, each child attended two workshops of his/her choice from a list of more than thirty options. Among those options was a workshop on collage. Michael Albert, a famous pop artist, showed the students many of his works, demonstrating how he was able to visually represent different items of interest through magazine cutouts. Some of his featured works were a map of the USA, a map of different landmarks in New York City that took him 6 months to create, a list of the first 777 digits of Pi that took four years to piece together, the preamble, an animal collage, and a collage honoring the 13th Amendment. When asked how he decides what topics to explore, he said he usually picks a subject he's interested in, reads books or generally learns about it, and then makes artwork about that topic. After he showcased his works, the students had a turn creating their own collages.

In the workshop "Let's Add Emotion to Our Writing," workshop leader Scott Waxman spoke about the origins of emojis and how they can convey many different meanings. Using the saying "a picture is worth a thousands words," he asked the students to write down some ideas about what could be happening in response to different emojis and then had them create their own stories. When asked to share what they like about emojis, the students replied that emojis help express their feelings.

In another workshop, "How to Tell a Great Sports Story," Chris Raymond talked about the importance of setting a scene, developing a character, and using dialogue to convey ideas. He also instructed the young writers to use all of their senses so that people feel like they're actually there. He said that people are more interested when there are characters and dialogue woven into the story. A different sports story workshop, this one about creating your own fictional sports story, emphasized that as long as the story is fiction, you can start with something that happened and end with something that didn't so as to make the story more exciting.

Some other workshops included "Show Your Character," lead by Helen Bernstein, which asked students to create a character and then answer seven questions, such as what four words they would use to describe the character, so that students were able to more fully develop their descriptions. In "Passion for Fashion," students dressed up and then used descriptive language to describe the outfits of their peers. The last workshop visited, entitled "Imagine You're the Editor of Your Very Own Magazine," challenged students to write persuasive articles, such as one that argues for students having phones (his main point was safety). A final workshop discussed writing about food and challenged students to describe eating their favorite foods in descriptive and detailed ways.

The entire Young Writers' Workshop event ran smoothly thanks to the efforts of its co-chairs Isabel Finegold and Pam Fuehrer, the 75 parent volunteers, representatives of the SMS Student Organization and district custodial and audio/visual staff. Both parents and student volunteers commented that they had a lot of fun. As mother Jodi Cascade stated, "It's a nice thing to do as a parent because you get to be here with your children." Seventh grade S.O. representative Seth Jacobson talked about how he remembered the student representatives doing a good job when he was a student at the Young Writers' Workshop and now wanted to do the same. Scarsdale High School student Saadia Naeem decided to volunteer because the elementary students are so enthusiastic about the event. When asked, these students agreed that the event inspired them as writers and that they planned to attend the event again next year.

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 16 March 2016

Created: 16 March 2016

Last Updated: 17 March 2016

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On Wednesday, April 6th, the Scarsdale community will welcome education advocate and award-winning documentary film maker Vicki Abeles to speak about systemic stress, the obsession with achievement in America's schools, and the toll on our students' well-being. The event, jointly sponsored by the Scarsdale Parent Teacher Council, the Scarsdale PTAs, the Scarsdale High School Compact Committee and the Scarsdale Public Library, will take place at 7:30 pm at The Scarsdale Middle School.

Ms. Abeles is the creator of the 2010 ground-breaking education documentary Race to Nowhere, which called to challenge the current thinking about how we prepare children for success, featuring the heartbreaking stories of students across the country who have been pushed to the brink by over-scheduling, over-testing and the relentless pressure to achieve. On April 6th, Ms. Abeles will present the latest research and data on the highly charged topic of stress and will offer thought provoking solutions to reclaiming our children's education. Following her presentation, Ms. Abeles will answer questions and will be available to sign copies of her new book Beyond Measure.

"This program will continue to raise community awareness about the effects of stress on our students and dovetails with the in-depth work that has been going on at Scarsdale High School over the past two years regarding overall student wellness," says Scarsdale High School PTA President Margaret Smith. "The High School recently surveyed the entire student body on their experiences with stress. Discussions among faculty, parents, and students are underway to thoughtfully engage on addressing concerns about these topics."

Community members can view Ms. Abeles' award-winning film Race to Nowhere at The Scarsdale Public Library on Wednesday, March 30th. There will be 2 showings at 1:30 pm and 7:30 pm. High school students are welcome to attend.

In addition, residents can learn more about these topics in advance of Ms. Abeles' presentation by visiting www.beyondmeasurefilm.com or by reading Ms. Abeles' new book Beyond Measure, which lays bare the striking evidence that America's obsessive achievement culture is making our children sicker, not smarter. With in-depth research, personal anecdotes, and a dose of common sense, it shows communities how to realize their collective power to change the system to better reflect our true values: health, happiness, and genuine learning for our children.

For more information about this event, please contact Scarsdale PT Council program coordinators Amy Cooper ([email protected]) or Jennifer Rossano ([email protected].)

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 07 March 2016

Created: 07 March 2016

Last Updated: 08 March 2016

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The opening reception for an exhibit of the photographs of Greenacres resident Marnie Gelfman will be held on the lower east side of Manhattan on Friday night March 11 from 6- 9 pm. Titled, "The Ground I've Walked, A Year of Discovery" the exhibit chronicles a year in the life of the artist as she photographed her feet in their surroundings each day.

Discussing the work, Gelfman says, "The project started off as a random creative assignment and quickly became a daily obsession. Whether I was on the grass, sand, snow, water, pebbles, carpet, pavement, a yoga mat or in a garden, I found a way to record the day and where I landed. This exercise forced me to look hard and be present, to stop rushing and slow down. It enabled me to find the inner state that yogis hope to attain through relaxation."

She continued, "I focused and became aware of all the amazing details in my environment. Do we ever really look at the shape of a wave, the color of the grass, the texture of flowers, the pattern of a rug, the lighting on the floor, or the writing or markings on the pavement? In the process of recording these details, I also became aware of how I spent my days. Documentation makes the invisible moments of our lives visible and creates a record for review. Before this project, I never focused on what shoes I wore in different environments. My photographs record it all. In some I am barefoot, in others I am in high heels or flip flops, colorful ballet flats, wedges, sneakers or tall boots. The ground supported and carried me from one destination to another, gently one step at a time. It was a year of discovery, a journey of looking hard, recording my steps and moving forward."

About the artist:
Gelfman earned her BFA in painting and photography from Cornell 1987. From there she went to the Macy's training program and then into Private Label Home Furnishings Design from 1987-1994. She started Marguerite's Garden a hand painted children's clothing company and sold to upscale boutiques in NYC, and taught at Young at Art for ten years. She has also taught art at lunch recess programs and after school at Greenacres and Fox Meadow Elementary school's and taught at the Scarsdale Adult School. She is currently launching a new business idea called smART box adventures which is an online open source art class for kids that coordinates with a subscription art box of supplies.

Gelfman thanks Sabrina Wirth for her help with graphic design, Scarsdale Art and Frame for matting and framing over 70 pieces and Zachys for the wine that will be served at the opening.

See the photographs of Marnie Gelfman on Eldridge Street

Opening reception: Friday March 11, 2016 6-9 pm
Ground Floor, 88 Eldridge Street, New York, NY 10002
Additional gallery hours: Tuesday March 15, 12-2pm

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 29 February 2016

Created: 29 February 2016

Last Updated: 03 March 2016

Hits: 6718

I found out that I had a lot to learn at the Scarsdale Spelling Bee on Friday 2-26. I am an avid reader and spend my days writing, so I assumed that I was a better than average speller. But it turned out that I was flattering myself. Sitting in the audience at the Sixth Annual Friends of the Library Spelling Bee I realized that the problem wasn't just my spelling; I didn't even know what many of the words meant. Who knew that a D-H-O-W was a sailboat, that L-Y-S-I-S refers to the breaking down of a cell membrane and that A-F-F-L-A-T-U-S isn't intestinal gas -- but divine inspiration!

After I realized what a tough contest this was, I was doubly pleased that I had not given into temptation and volunteered to be a contestant when the organizers asked for a few more volunteers. That would have been embarrassing.

Luckily many brave souls did agree to participate, but most were not on stage long. The contest began with four "swarms" of five teams each, but since one misspelling knocked you out, the rounds were over quickly. The contest was judged by State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, Scarsdale Mayor Jon Mark and Library Director Elizabeth Bermel –--who had to quickly look up the correct spelling of each word while the contestants worked.

The event is usually emceed by the voice of the Mets, Ed Coleman. But since the spelling bee was postponed due to snow, Ed is at spring training and was not available. Stepping in for Ed was last year's spelling bee winner and Library Board President Terri Simon.

In Swarm A, one team was knocked out with the first word, when they left the first H out of the word E-I-G-H-T-H. The remaining four teams all spelled Counsel, Vigilante, Eczema, Innuendo and Complementary correctly, but two groups fell with D-H-O-W, the last misspelled C-O-I-R, leaving the Bee Bee Kings, including Chris Morin, Seth Ross and Sunil Subbakrishna as the swarm victors.

In Swarm B, two teams were knocked out with the word Humerus – which refers to the large bone of the upper arm -– not the class comedian. The remaining three teams all misspelled Afflatus so they all stayed in the context. Jodphur tripped up one team and Embouchure another, putting the Library Trust Bees – Marc Greenwald, John Harris and Frank Lichtenberg into the final round.

Swarm C was short-lived. All five team misspelled Googol – which is 10 to the 100th power – not the popular search engine. Another lost on Zori and three teams faltered on the word Muumuu. I remembered owning one when I was about four – but the spelling of it evaded me too. The Pres-Bee-Terians, Heather and Stephan Meili, won that swarm and were finalists as they have been many times before.

In the last round, which was intended for high school students, the Friends had trouble getting volunteers. However they did manage to get three teams to volunteer from the audience. This round was the quickest of all. It started with B-I-E-R – which is a stand for a corpse rather than a drink you'll find on tap. Three teams were knocked out on the first word. Next came A-B-H-O-R-R-E-N-T. One of the teams neglected the double "R", putting Josie and Louisa Blatt and Laura Clapp into the finals.

After a break for snacks and a trivia contest, the four teams returned to stage for the final round. Though the teams could use white eraser boards to write their words for the initial rounds, for this final stage it was an oral contest with each team given a word to stand up and spell. One team was knocked out quickly by the word Quiddity, another inserted the letter A instead of Y in Anaphylactic. That left the teens sparring against the Bee Bee Kings. It was very impressive for the teens to spell I-S-O-S-C-E-L-E-S correctly but ultimately they were flummoxed by the word T-E-S-S-E-L-L-A-T-E – which they spelled with a C rather than the double S.

The winners emerged. They included School Board member Chris Morin, past School Board member Sunil Subbakrishna and current candidate for Village Trustee Seth Ross, who scored a repeat victory. You can draw your own conclusions about what this says about the non-partisan system!

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There were gifts for the contestants, prizes for the winners and lots of great raffle give-aways for the attendees. The event was well-attended – especially by kids, and it was a good time for all.

Photo Credit © Nadide Goksun