“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” was performed on August 18, 2011, in the Henry Viscardi Gym. The Elementary Music and Art classes worked very hard during the summer school session. Songs included “On Top of Spaghetti”, “Food Glorious Food”, and “Meatballs!” The props composed of giant meatballs, hotdogs, French fries, pies, and pancakes, were constructed entirely by students.
News
Cougars vs. Elmont
On Saturday July 16, the Henry Viscardi Cougars played the Elmont High School Basketball Team in a game of wheelchair basketball. The game was a great success with the Cougars defeating Elmont 70-53. We would like to thank all those that came out to support the Cougars as well as the Elmont Basketball teams for taking part in this great event.
Below please find some further information about the day:
Highlights From the Historic Game Between Elmont Memorial High School and the Henry Viscardi School
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/athletic-tournament-honors-firefighter-1.3030315
Henry Viscardi School SEPTA Board Member Honored
Debbie Cuevas the mother of a Viscardi student and a SEPTA board member has been honored as a “New York State Woman of Distinction for 2011”.
To see more about this please visit: http://www.liherald.com/stories/Rockville-Centres-woman-of-distinction,33190
We congratulate Ms. Cuevas and are proud to have her and her family as members of the Viscardi community!
The Ride to Montauk
The Ride to Montauk
By: Team Viscardi
Team Viscardi was created with the idea that a group of colleagues can come together and attempt something that they individually thought of as a dream. Twenty-six Henry Viscardi staff members and up until now, strangers, teamed together to not only train and compete in the Ride to Montauk but to raise money for the students of the Henry Viscardi School.
We have been training together since March, where we started simply with a 10-mile ride and each week increased the distances by 5 miles at a time training finished on June 5 with an 80-mile practice ride.
The Ride to Montauk was held on Saturday June 18, 2011. The ride had two specific starting points. The 100-mile ride began at the Babylon train station at 7 a.m. and the 65-mile ride began at the Mastic-Shirley train station at 8 a.m. Both rides ended in the town of Montauk. All riders from team Viscardi finished successfully and safely.
Thank You for your Support
Team Viscardi Bike Club
Ride Details
3,000 Participants
26 members from Team Viscardi
1= 30 miles 12= 100 miles 13= 70 miles
Angelo Zegarelli- First Male- 70 miles
Amanda Paollella- First Female- 70 miles
Shaun Cardenas- First Male- 70 miles
June Macdonald- First Female- 100 miles
Joe Slaninka- Only Hand-Cycle Participant
Team Viscardi Roster
Joe Slaninka- Captain
100 miles |
Shaun Cardenas
100 miles |
Stephanie Cohen
70 miles |
Jake Wisey
100 miles |
Maura Ryan
100 miles |
Samantha Whiteman
70 miles |
Kerri Roloson
70 miles |
Matt Volpe
70 miles |
Barrie Johnson
100 miles |
Kyle MacCourtney
100 miles |
Jessica Biondo
70 miles |
Amanda Paollela
70 miles |
Lauren Hayslip
70 miles |
Frank Paollela
70 miles |
Megan McNeely
70 miles |
Claudia Choi
100 miles |
Len Scarola
30 miles |
Angello Zegarelli
70 miles |
Danielle Dobranski
100 miles |
June Macdonald
100 miles |
John Dagostino
70 miles |
Lorraine Williams
100 miles |
Mike Woo
70 miles |
Shawn Shariati
100 miles |
John Biondo
70 miles |
|
Dina Levanti
Team Fitness and Nutrition Expert |
Nicol Dietz
Team S.A.G. (Support and Gear) Member
|
Assemblyman Lavine Visits Viscardi
On Friday May 6, Assemblyman Charles Lavine visited with Henry Viscardi School students. He visited a tenth grade English class and accepted a special citation from the students, thanking him for his support of our school and other 4201 schools. One of our elementary students used his DynaVox, expressing a special welcome to Assemblyman Lavine.
Assemblyman Lavine also took a tour of the museum dedicated to our founder, Dr. Henry Viscardi, and he spoke about meeting Dr. Viscardi many years ago. We would like to thank Assemblyman Lavine for coming to visit Viscardi and look forward to his continued support.
Talent Show
From High School Student Council Talent Show |
You can see photos of the show at the link above.
Islanders vs. Viscardi- April 4, 2011
From Islanders vs. Viscardi- April 4, 2011 |
On Monday, April 4 2011, the New York Islanders visited the Henry Viscardi School and played our students in a game of floor hockey. The Islanders originally visited our school in December and promised to return with more of their teammates to take on our students in a game of floor hockey. When they returned they brought several of their teammates, the Islanders that came to our school included some of their biggest stars: PA Parenteau, Matt Moulson, John Tavares, Josh Bailey, Blake Comeau, Zenon Konopka, Micheal Haley and Matt Martin.
The game was action packed and fun for all involved. The Islanders and Viscardi traded goals back and forth and ended regulation in a tie. The game then went to overtime where Viscardi scored the winning goal in sudden death to win the game 4-3. After the game the Islanders spent time signing autographs and talking with our students.
Our students enjoyed the Islanders visit to our school and look forward to them returning for a rematch!!
Media Coverage:
Success After Graduation: Stories from Viscardi Alumni
On Friday March 25, several alumni visited our school to speak about their experiences after graduating from Viscardi. They covered such topics as getting their first job, changing careers, self-advocacy, seeking and navigating support agencies. Parents and students participated in a Q&A session following the presentation and all agreed that alumni have valuable experiences to offer Viscardi students.
We thank the alumni for taking the time to come and speak with our parents and students.
Viscardi’s Participation in Bookshare Wins National Award
Our school has been an “institutional member” of Bookshare since January 2009. Diane Stern, our teacher of the visually impaired, who is designated as the “Primary Contact” person, was invited to participate in a Bookshare Mentors program in September 2010. The mentor program included a contest to encourage schools participation. Our school’s active participation in Bookshare enabled us to win third place recognition and receive a Flip Video Camera.
Ms. Stern dedicated time to learning about the benefits and use of Bookshare and then trained others. She met informally with parents on two evenings, one in New York City and one at the school. She presented a 90-minute workshop to a large group of vision teachers at their annual New York State AER Convention (Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired), held in Syracuse, and a similar workshop to the Viscardi staff on Superintendent’s Conference Day. She has prepared “how to” guides for parents, coached them by phone, and met one-on-one with students and staff
To date, there are now over 100 students registered with Bookshare in school, many of whom are also registered at home. In addition, there are 36 sponsors (teachers, OTs, speech and hearing, tech support, administration). Ms. Stern hopes that the sponsors will be able to manage their own classrooms (search and download their own books, use them during lessons – shown on SMART Boards or individual computers). Therapists can support students during therapy sessions, such as working on vocabulary in context or improving mouse skills with the Read:OutLoud software tools. Parents can download books so students have the books ready for homework, even if a child is absent, and have access to a library of thousands of books at their fingertips to encourage leisure reading.
Ms. Stern recommends the following websites to teachers and therapists, so they can learn more about Bookshare and accessible instructional materials (AIM), a vital part of the universal design for learning (UDL):
http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/bs/challenge.htm
http://aim.cast.org/experience/training/aim_implementation_guide
For school staff, technology gurus and parents, check out the Online Learning Guides, Online Learning Modules or webinars. From the homepage, click HELP then “Training”: www.bookshare.org
Check out Bookshare 101 for Educators, Bookshare 101 for Parents, How to read Bookshare books with Read:OutLoud and many more.
Officer Dockswell Cyberbullying Assembly
On Monday March 7 2011, Officer John Dockswell of the NCPD visited our school to speak with our students about Cyberbullying. He gave a PowerPoint presentation about Cyberbullying and discussed what students should do if they are a victim of Cyberbullying. Officer Dockswell stressed to the students the dangers of Cyberbullying. Officer Dockswell used stories, pictures and videos to illustrate this for the students. In addition, he answered questions from students about Cyberbullying and other concerns that they have. We thank Officer Dockswell for visiting our school and providing our students with an informative and important presentation.
Below find further information about Cyberbullying and what you can do to prevent it or actions you can take after it has occurred:
Facebook safety page: Facebook recently introduced a new section to its website concentrating on web safety, especially as it relates to social networking. They provide information for parents, students and educators. http://www.facebook.com/help/?safety
http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/cyberbullying-tips
http://www.ncpc.org/cyberbullying