Two From SHS Accepted To Summer School of Orchestral Studies

Jemmin Chang and Alicia Wu from Somers High School in Somers, NY were accepted to the prestigious New York Summer School for the Arts, according to the June 2011 edition of the Trumpeter published by the Somers High School PTSA.  The two teens will be rehearse with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Saratoga Center for the Performing Arts this summer.  “This is the first time a Somers student has been accepted for this honor, and this year we have two!” says the Trumpeter.  

The online Trumpeter is available here. 

The examiner.com for Albany, NY in a January 21, 2011 article described the program as follows: 

The New York State Summer School of Orchestral Studies is accepting 115 New York State High School students to study and rehearse with the Philadelphia Orchestra in residence at Saratoga Performing Arts Center under the artistic direction of Russell Stanger. Students will have the opportunity to work side by side with first-chair members with the chance to work for four weeks, coached in small groups and in sectional rehearsals, performing repertoire while attending elective classes in the history, literature and theory of music. The orchestra program is co-sponsored by the New York State School Music Association, The Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Auditions will be held at 10 different locations throughout the state, student must audition successfully in order to become a member or alternate. 

LINKS:

http://www.somersptacouncil.org/SHS/Newsletters/SHSJune11.pdf

http://www.examiner.com/arts-education-in-albany/new-york-state-summer-school-of-the-arts-education-funding-cuts

Are Grads Ready For College? NYS Grades Somers High School

Only 60% of Somers High School grads are "college-ready", even though over ninety percent graduate. Those are some of the findings in the June 14 report issued by the NYS Board of Regents.  Somers beats the state-wide average by a huge margin, but its college readiness percent is in the bottom half of public schools in Westchester County.  Seven high schools in Westchester County scored over 80% on the college-readiness standard.  Locally, Carmel High School is at 60%, Fox Lane, 69%, John Jay, 78% and North Salem, 78%. Mayor Bloomberg of New York City said of that city’s rates:  “There is no percent under 100 percent that we are satisfied with.”

According to the Board of Regents, "Students who graduate high school – but do so with a score below 80 on a math Regents exam and below 75 on the English exam – are likely to require remediation in college." 

This standard -- percent of students scoring at least 75 on English and 80 on math Regent exams -- was once referred to as the "college and career ready" graduation rate.  The Board's new terminology -- perhaps designed not to offend school boards but to keep parents and taxpayers in the dark -- is “ELA/Math APM” with APM meaning "aspirational performance measure".  

The Board of Regents press release of June 14 is here.

Data for Westchester County schools is tabulated by LoHud.com here.  State-wide data and by schools is available at the NYSED web site under Graduation Rate Data - June 14, 2011

Read the following news stories: June 14 in the New York Times, College-Readiness Low Among State Graduates, Data Show and June 14 in LoHud.com, N.Y. graduates not ready for college, according to new state standards.

See our earlier posts on this topic, Are Grads Ready For College? Somers High School Report Card - English Regents Exam [March 15, 2011] and Are Grads Ready For College? Somers High School Report Card - Math Regents Exam [March 30, 2011].

LINKS:

http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/pressRelease/20110614/GradRatesRelease-FINAL.2011.pdf

http://www.lohud.com/assets/htm/BH175618614.HTM

http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/pressRelease/20110614/home.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/nyregion/37-of-new-york-graduates-meet-college-readiness-standard.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=sharonotterman&adxnnlx=1308421962-fqboLcW2IT/+7Akbx3nLRw

http://www.LoHud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011106150340

http://somersspectator.blogspot.com/2011/03/somers-high-school-report-card-english.html

http://somersspectator.blogspot.com/2011/03/are-grads-ready-for-college-somers-high.html

Megan Doyle And Matt Carroll: One Of A Kind High School Seniors

Hats off to Matt Carroll and Megan Doyle, high school seniors at Somers High School.  They are two of 36 high school students in the Tri-County area featured for their “inspiring stories” in a series of articles in LoHud.com.  

Somers senior Matt Carroll is a skier and former football player who is very active in the community. Carroll works with developmentally disabled students at the high school; coaches in the Special Olympics; serves as a volunteer firefighter; and builds houses for Habitat for Humanity. 

Somers High School student Megan Doyle is partially deaf but has overcome her disability to inspire dozens of students through deaf education. As part of the district's WISE senior internship program, Megan uses sign language to mentor others, including developmentally disabled kids and preschool kids. Megan will major in Deaf Education and specialize in Autism at Radford University. 

Read the June 9 LoHud.com story, Matt Carroll, Somers High School.

Read the June 9 LoHud.com story, Megan Doyle, Somers High School.

Profiles and photos of all 36 senior are here.

LINKS:

http://www.lohud.com/article/20110612/ENTERTAINMENT/106120335/Matt-Carroll-Somers-High-School

http://www.lohud.com/article/20110612/ENTERTAINMENT/106120331/Megan-Doyle-Somers-High-School

http://www.lohud.com/section/ENTERTAINMENT&template=theme&theme=xgrads&keywords=standoutgraduates&title=Standout%20High%20School%20Graduates

Somers Rotary Inspires High School Writers From Inner-City And Suburbia

A book launch party was held last week at Somers High School, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Somers, NY.  The book -- On My Mind 2011 --  brings together the writings of suburban and inner-city high school students.  Somers and Kennedy Catholic High School students participate as well as a Rockland County suburban school.  This year the three inner-city high schools are from the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens. The student writers celebrated together at the book launch.   
The New York Times raved about the writing and the concept in the project’s first year, saying: 

Still, when a busload of kids and parents from Brooklyn head for the green glades of northern Westchester tonight to celebrate a collection of writing by high school students from Brooklyn and Westchester, they'll also celebrate a great idea that goes far beyond words on a page. And even if their separate planets, 50 miles and many galaxies apart, fully align for only one night, that's one more than most of them would ever have experienced without it.
The collection, ''On My Mind: Student Writings from Somers and Brooklyn, New York,'' bears the unlikely imprint of the Rotary Club of Somers ... . The club wanted to do a project about literacy, and what began as a local effort with Somers High School and John F. Kennedy Catholic High School soon came to include [two schools] in Brooklyn ... .  And before long, a modest idea turned into a handsome book and quite a remarkable effort to bridge the void between poor and rich, urban and suburban, in a way that almost never occurs.
The book is available for purchase by mail for a suggested donation of $11 (postage included) by writing to:
The Somers Rotary Foundation
PO Box 561 
Somers, NY 10589
The web site for the Rotary Club in Somers is here.  See On My Mind 2011 book launch photos.   


Read the New York Times story, Our Towns; Worlds Apart, But Bound In Softcover.  A blog post by Barbara Nackman about the 2011 project and book launch party is at LoHud.com at Somers Rotary publishes student writings.


LINKS:
http://somersrotary.club.officelive.com/default.aspx
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D03E7D71F3EF932A05756C0A9609C8B63
http://northernwestchester.lohudblogs.com/2011/06/01/somers-rotary-publishes-student-writings/

Kennedy Catholic and Somers High Receive 11 Nomination For Theater Awards

Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, NY is nominated for seven High School Theater Awards for its spring 2011 production of On the Town, while Somers High School garners four nominations for the Drowsy Chaperone.  The Helen Hayes Youth Theatre makes the nominations for the “Metro” awards.  The Awards Ceremony is June 6, 2011, at the Paramount Center for the Arts, Peekskill NY.  Last year Kennedy Catholic won two Metro awards.  
Here are the categories in which each school is nominated:

Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role
Kennedy Catholic H.S. – On the Town – Kim Galaraga (Hildy Esterhazy)

Outstanding Duet
Kennedy Catholic H.S. – On the Town “Come Up to My Place”
Kim Galaraga (Hildy) and Anthony Ruperto (Chip)
Somers H.S. – The Drowsy Chaperone “Cold Feets”
Tom Oliverio (Robert) and Ricky Hvisch (George)

Outstanding Stage Crew
Kennedy Catholic H.S. – On the Town

Outstanding Dance Performance
Kennedy Catholic H.S.- On the Town- Jena Lynn DiFrisco (Ivy Smith)
Somers H.S. – The Drowsy Chaperone -  Emma Klipstein (Kitty)

Outstanding Orchestra
Kennedy Catholic H.S. – On the Town

Outstanding Instrumentalist
Kennedy Catholic H.S. – On the Town - RJ Aprile (Timpani)

Outstanding Stage Crew
Kennedy Catholic H.S. – On the Town

Outstanding Lighting Achievement
Somers H.S.- The Drowsy Chaperone - Bob Geronimo, Dominick Belmont

Outstanding Choreography
Somers H.S. – The Drowsy Chaperone - Linda Duci

Technical Merit Award (Teacher Nominated)
Kennedy Catholic H.S. – Christina Oros (Choreographer/Assistant Director)


Created in 1998, the High School Theater Awards shine a spotlight on the exceptional musical theater productions, talented actors and actresses and devoted creative teams who take to the stage every spring in local high schools. High Schools in Rockland and Westchester Counties in New York and Bergen County in New Jersey are invited to participate in this competition.
Throughout the spring musical season, judges evaluate participating shows. In June, all of the participating schools are celebrated in an awards ceremony modeled after Broadway's Tony Awards. Broadway stars hand out the awards, top nominated schools and actors perform live, and the theater students in our region receive support and recognition.


For more information see the High School Theater Awards web site.  A full list of the 2011 nominees is here.



LINKS:
http://www.hstheaterawards.com/index.html
http://www.hstheaterawards.com/docs/2011_noms.pdf

SHS And Borders Are Having A Book Fair