The Elephant Hotel is featured in the August edition of Car & Travel magazine, a publication of AAA New York. The article Driving Into History highlights “5 perfect places to explore our regions history.” Among the five is the Elephant Hotel and its third floor occupant the Museum of the Early American Circus.
Check out the story on the web at http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aaa_ny/ct_201008/#/25/OnePage.
(Hat tip: Jacob Bergmeier and Somers, NY Facebook)
Looking for literature to read? Check out our local high school reading lists for some ideas.
Ninth graders entering Somers High School and Kennedy Catholic have these summer assignments.
Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
9R – Students must read Animal Farm (Orwell)
and also read one of the following:
Captain’s Courageous (Kipling)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Twain)
Downriver (Hobbs)
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café (Flagg)
My Sister’s Keeper (Picoult)
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter (Edwards)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian (Alexie)
Ender’s Game (Card)
9H
Students must read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Smith) and Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury)
Tenth Graders at Somers High School are reading:
10R
Students must read one book from each of the following pairs:
Feed (Anderson), or Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury)
and
The Sledding Hill (Crutcher), or The Giver (Lowry)
10H
Students must read Jane Eyre (Bronte)
and also read one of the following:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Angelou)
In Cold Blood (Capote)
The Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas)
White Oleander (Fitch)
At Kennedy Catholic:
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Farwell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki
The Overcoat” (a short story by Nikolai Gogol)
Available in PDF format online at: www.horrormasters.com/Text/a0857.pdf
Our Town (by Thornton Wilder)
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (by Robert Louis Stevenson)
A Separate Peace (by John Knowles)
Next week we will see what the 11th and 12th graders are reading.
The New York Civil Liberties Union says 139 school districts in New York, including the Somers Central School District, “may be” unlawfully barring or discouraging enrollment of children who are illegal aliens. The NYCLU released its findings on July 23 and also sent a letter to New York’s Commissioner of Education asking him to take action. No Putnam County districts were named. In Westchester County, in addition to Somers, the NYCLU named public school districts serving Eastchester, Tarrytown, Rye, Rye Neck, Pelham, Mamaroneck, Hastings-on-the- Hudson, Harrison, Elmsford, Dobbs Ferry, Croton, Harmon, Bronxville, and Perry.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1982 in the case called Plyler v. Doe that undocumented children have the same education rights as U.S. citizens. As reported in NCNLocal.com, the Somers enrollment application asks whether the students are citizens and for visas and passports, which is against the Supreme Court ruling, according to the NYCLU. Somers Central School District stated that no children had been denied enrollment.
# # #
Here is the North County News story written by Mary Dempsey and first posted on July 23, 2010.
NEW YORK - The Somers, Croton-Harmon, and Wappingers Central School Districts are three of the 139 New York state districts named in a report by the New York Civil Liberties Union released Friday, claiming the schools may be unlawfully barring or discouraging immigrant children from enrolling.
An analysis, released July 23, claims 20 percent of school districts statewide may be unlawfully barring or discouraging the enrollment of immigrant students by asking for information that would reveal a parent or child's immigration status as a prerequisite for school enrollment.
"The Supreme Court ruled 28 years ago that all children have an equal right to a public school education, regardless of their immigration status," said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman.
Read the rest of the story here
http://ncnlocal.com/ncnlocal_news/article_c9e5f87c-96a4-11df-4d3-001cc4c03286.html
Swimming, boating and fishing were once popular pastimes on the approximately 14-acre Lake Shenorock. It was a beautiful spot full of family activity. Swimming stopped in 1977 and fishing is in decline. Some residents of the 650 home community want to revitalize the lake by having the Town designate the area a “Park District”. That designation would allow the Town to tax Shenorock residents, with the funds collected dedicated to improving and maintaining the lake and its beaches. Estimates are that the tax would be about $200 to $400 per year. Crest Drive resident Anne Corneck wrote a wonderful recollection of the “good old days” in and about Lake Shenorock. Her reminisces can be found here.
LoHud has a July 26, 2010 article about the efforts of the United Owners Association of Shenorock to revitalize the lake. The United Owners of Shenorock apparently hold title to this community resource but have no money to maintain it. Hence, its desire to have the Town declare it a Park District. The organization has a Facebook page with information and commentary.
The task is not impossible. The residents at Lake Lincolndale, an approximately 20-acre lake in Somers, have banded together and maintained the swimming beaches for a number of years. The web site is here.
The Somers Conservation Board has three new members, Eric H. Evans, Michael J. La Gue and John Purcell are new appointees replacing departing members. In addition, Shoshana Hantman was reappointed. The Board's meeting agenda for July 27 is here.
The next Conservation Board Meeting is August 10. Dr. Michael Rubbo from Teatowhen Lake Reservation will speak about the Environmental Leaders Learning Alliance Program.
