Minisink Valley Central School District -

Kudos to members of the High School's National Honor Society, who delivered handmade cards and cookies to local veteran posts to mark Veterans Day!

There’s always important ELA work for first-graders to complete, such as for Lindsay Kane’s Otisville first-graders, who were recently working on answering comprehension questions for the story "Lunch at the King's Pub." Once that work was completed, students worked on their “Pausing Point” pages that review skills they have learned throughout this unit.

Here's another great school food drive that will welcome your support: The Elementary School PTO/Intermediate School PTO Food Drive!

Kudos and well-done to the 14 members of the Minisink Valley Chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) , who recently participated in the annual Highway Cleanup Event. FBLA members picked up over 75 pounds of refuse that was found along U.S. Route 6. "The club takes pride in helping to keep Minisink beautiful," said Advisor Seth Johnson. "This is one of several community service events that FBLA participates in throughout the course of the year."

FOOTBALL FANS: Here's the ticket information for the Nov. 15 Section IX Class A championship football game against Cornwall. Tickets are $7 each. https://gofan.co/event/2221575?schoolId=NYSPHSAA9 Can't make it to the game? You can watch it on the NFHS Network. Important note: A NFHS subscription is required to watch the game. https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/nysphsaasix/gambffca9081e

Sunday afternoon news! While it's not the outcome everyone hoped for, we're beyond proud to share that our Varsity Cheer Team placed 8th in New York State at today's NYSPHSAA Game Day Cheerleading Champion meet at Hudson Valley Community College! Please join us in congratulating the team for a job well done! This team had tenacity, grit and determination in a field of competitors that Varsity Coach Patti Archiere called very tough. "Eighth in the state, we'll take that," she said. "Our girls were amazing. They worked so hard and they did a magnificent job. I'm so proud of their efforts and I know everyone at Minisink is, too."

Breaking Friday night news! We're going to the Section IX finals! Minisink Valley beats Our Lady of Lourdes in a fantastic 42-7 win! Next up: Minisink Valley will meet Cornwall in the Section IX championship game at FDR High School on Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. Watch for ticket information soon!

Sally Mankoo’s and Katie Bendykowski's ES kindergarteners recently had the unique experience of learning how pickles can be experienced through each of the five senses! They listened to Rachel Isadora’s “I Hear a Pickle” and learned “all the tea”… rather, “all the dill” more about this humble cucumber and what they could hear, taste, smell, touch, and see! Ask them about this! Then, they recorded their sensory observations in their graphic organizers to capture their experiences. What a fun, crunchy lesson! In kindergarten, graphic organizers can be used to visually support young learners in organizing information, brainstorming ideas, understanding key details in stories, building vocabulary, and even planning their writing by providing a structured framework to capture their thoughts through simple drawings and key words.

Checking work done in class is important! And, raise your hand if you know the answer! Erica Alders’ and Alexa Roach’s Otisville fourth-graders are ready to share what they know!

Congratulations to the Varsity Volleyball team, which swept Washingtonville in the Section IX Class AA semi-finals tonight: 25-18; 25-13; and 25-8! Next up is the Section IX Class AA championship match, where the team will play the winner of tonight's Valley Central vs. FDR matchup on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 12:30 p.m. at Mount Saint Mary College! WE GOT THIS! GO MINISINK VALLEY! GET TICKETS NOW: Tickets are $7 each https://gofan.co/event/2141159?schoolId=NYSPHSAA9

Please join us in thanking and saluting Otisville School Resource Officer (SRO) Sean Burke, who is retiring from the Mount Hope Police Department. His last day as Otisville's SRO is today, Nov. 7. Officer Burke has been a trusted, calm, caring and professional face at the Otisville campus who has always put the safety and security of Otisville students, faculty and staff as his first and most important priority. The school community will miss him tremendously, and wishes him much good health, happiness and fulfillment on his next adventures in life. Today, Nov. 7, the Otisville school community honored Officer Burke with a special school celebration, with students, faculty and staff presenting him with notes, cards and signs.

Good morning! Angela Dombal’s and Bridget Kelly’s ES kindergarteners have been practicing learning how to greet each other, which includes learning about eye contact, handshakes, and saying good morning to a friend! This has helped the students learn each other's names and promotes a feeling of community in the classroom.

Alyssa Pagano’s and Mary Louey’s Otisville fifth-graders are using differentiated math games which work perfectly for students who have different needs in math! Students who need to work on their multiplication facts are playing a multiplication game called “Multiplication War,” while other students are playing a division game with remainders called “Remainders Wanted.” It’s a fun and innovative way to meet the math needs of all students! Math games like these help students in many ways, including: Improving math proficiency, developing problem solving skills, building computational fluency fostering collaboration, personalized learning and even reducing math anxiety!

Instrument lessons are an important part of a student musician's success! (But! They also need to practice at home!) Take a peek at Laura Hulle's middle school flutists having their instrument-specific music lessons! In the U.S., flute players are generally known as flutists. But, another word often used is "flautist," which comes from the Italian word "flautista," which is a combination of flauto (flute) and -ista (-ist).

Lindsay Kane’s Otisville first-graders have completed a very important class election: Which fruit they liked best! Congratulations to WATERMELON! The lesson tied perfectly with current events and civics. Students learned that voting is how they say what they want (which fruit they liked best); that when a group of people vote, it’s called an election; the “candidates,” in this instance, were different fruits; when people vote, they use ballots, or forms that show voters the choices they have in an election (sometimes paper, sometimes a machine); and people mark their ballots so they can indicate their choice – their vote. But there was also an important math, data compilation, graphing and ELA component, too! Students had to count and tally up the results, graph those results and then write a sentence about the results of their fruit election And of course, just like adults are offered at their polling locations, every student voter received a “I voted” sticker! See more photos on the district's Facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/MinisinkValleyCSD

Cheers to members of the High School’s Career Achievement Program (CAP), who can be found at the Elementary School assisting staff in a variety of ways, such as with School Security Aide Kevin Murphy; basketball court painting for Physical Education Teachers Ross Potter’s Leyla Johnson’s students; and in the classroom, such as their recent assistance to assemble an easel for second-grade teacher Kimberly McDermott.

Karen Ruoti's ES kindergarten students are chaining letters to make, blend and read words as part of their ELA work! Her young students are building words with letter cards. This technique improves phonemic awareness as well as decoding (reading) and encoding (writing) skills. Kindergarten word chaining is a reading practice that helps students learn to decode words with specific spelling patterns. It involves creating a series of words that differ by one phoneme, or sound, at a time. For example, a word chain might start with "bat" and then continue with "cat", "can", "man", and so on.

A huge game is coming up for the Varsity Volleyball team this week! On Thursday, Nov. 7, the team hosts Washingtonville in the Section IX Class AA semi-final game! Our team is the #1 seed! The game starts at 5 p.m. in the Middle School gym…don’t miss out on this game. Come out and cheer on the team! Let’s do this! This game’s winner plays the winner of the FDR vs. Valley Central match-up in the Section IX championship on Saturday, Nov. 9 at Mount Saint Mary College at 12:30 p.m.

Instrument lessons are an important part of a student musician's success! (But! They also need to practice at home!) Take a peek at Maria Fenfert’s Otisville “trumpeters” having their instrument-specific music lessons! The trumpet is a versatile instrument that plays a central role in many types of music, including jazz, pop, and classical. It's often the lead instrument in a band or orchestra, carrying the melody. Trumpets are also known for their loud, bright sound and ability to project over long distances! The trumpet has a long history, dating back to 1,500 B.C. It was originally used as a signaling tool in wars, and later for entertainment. The trumpet has also been associated with royalty and celebrations, such as announcing the arrival of royalty.

Maureen Cardinale’s ES first-graders are enjoying partner reading, sitting “elbow to elbow, knee to knee” as they perfect their reading proficiency! Partner reading is a cooperative learning strategy where two students work together to read a text, take turns reading, and provide feedback to each other. It's often used in first grade to help students improve their reading fluency and build confidence!