Rye Neck Middle School seventh grader Charlotte Geary has won the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Lions Club’s Peace Poster Contest for expressing her vision for this year’s theme, “Journey of Peace.” 

“To create my project I used watercolor pencils, glitter paint and sharpies,” said Geary, whose project depicts a roller coaster. “The roller coaster is made up of flags that represent that people go through the journey of peace together. For the people who are riding the roller coaster, they are going on the journey of peace together. The top left corner is ultimate peace. Peace is a journey like a roller coaster; it is never a straight path, with bumps on the road and backwards moves at times.” 

Approximately 70 seventh graders from the middle school submitted their artwork for the schoolwide competition. High school art teacher Karen Fontecchio narrowed down the entries to eight finalists – Geary, Sasha Jarmillo, Lilah Martelli, Lucia Monreal, Tara O’Reilly, Shelby Preisser, Sasha Reshetnyak and Maya Wintermantel – to represent Rye Neck Middle School at the local branch contest. A panel of judges at the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Lions Club selected Geary as the winner based on originality, artistic merit and portrayal of the theme, while Monreal and Wintermantel were named runners-up. Geary’s poster will now be submitted to the district-level competition for further judging. 

For her poster, Monreal used markers, watercolor paints and acrylic paint to complete her painting. 

“I’m showing a journey of peace by a dove traveling to Earth surrounded by flags,” she said. “I used a dove, peace sign, flags, the Earth, and used white paint to make stars.” 

Wintermantel’s poster features a complex piece with different components, including a dove flying behind a heart-shared Earth. 

“There is a tree growing out of the dove, symbolizing family, roots, growth and life,” she said. “To symbolize a journey, I used a path or ribbon of flags dancing across the page. Underneath everything are two hands of people holding hands. To me, all these things together created a sense of the journey of peace.” 

The students were honored for their participation and received recognition certificates during a ceremony on Nov. 7 at the Larchmont Village Center. The winning posters are displayed at the library and Bott Shoppe in Mamaroneck until the end of the month.

The Larchmont-Mamaroneck and New Rochelle Lions co-sponsored the local contest, in cooperation with five middle schools and the Community Resource Center. The Lions Club International Peace Poster Contest provides children with the opportunity to express their creativity and visions of peace through art. As part of the contest, students’ posters advance through several rounds of competition before an international winner is declared in the spring. 

As part of the Counseling Department’s Invisible Line program, Rye Neck Middle School eighth grade students collaborated in groups and participated in interactive activities on Nov. 6 to reflect on values within their belief system.

Throughout the learning experience, the students defined 10 values – creativity, happiness, love, wealth, respect, friendship, popularity, integrity, acceptance and power – before participating in a mock values auction where they bid on items, or values, based on their bidding strategy, or belief system. 

“The purpose of the Values Auction was to have students participate in an interactive group activity to bid on values that the groups identified as important,” high school counselor Frank Gizzo said. “Over time, we are molded by our values. The influences that impact our value system can come from anywhere: family, friends, school, work, sports, religion or media. Furthermore, our values can change over time depending on the experiences we have in our lives.” 

Gizzo said the activities were designed to help students recognize how the prioritization of values may vary from person to person, and how to collaborate in a group when each person has a different perspective.

“As facilitators of the activity, we focus on how people within the group work together, communicate and ultimately arrive at a bidding strategy,” said Gizzo, who facilitated the activities along with high school counselors Susan Hannon and Amanda Mahncke and middle school counselors Samantha Chu and Meegan Lawlor. “We look to see how students use conflict resolution techniques when disagreements arise, especially as their personal processes or values may conflict with that of the rest of the group.”

For the second part of the program on Nov. 15, the students will discuss how values connect to goals, expectations, pressures, relationships and responsibilities. The boys’ groups will be presented with various social media scenarios and challenged to physically represent decision-making processes that could have someone cross the line and not even know it. The girls’ groups will engage in a conversation about pressures and expectations and tie it back to redeemable values and behaviors. 

“The Values Auction ties together what is important to a person and how that impacts their decision-making processes,” Gizzo said. “The boys will line up across the room and listen to a scenario. They will advance one step every time they think a line has been crossed in the situation presented to them. The important parts of this exercise will be the reflection and application in everyday life.”

Chu said the girls will reflect on the previous session's values auction activity as it relates to real life values.

“The goal of the discussion is to connect values with actions and the higher expectations in high school and beyond in the real world,” she said. 

Principal Dr. Eric Lutinski said the sessions were part of the school’s ongoing efforts to develop students’ social and emotional learning through group work and reflection as they learn to become responsible young adults in their community. 

Two students from Rye Neck Middle School and three students from Rye Neck High School were recently honored for their accomplishments in and dedication to the Italian language and culture. 

Seventh grader Abigail Weidemann, eighth grader Tyler Sergio, sophomore Emelin Echeverria, junior Matteo Renda and senior Giulianna Miceli were recognized during an awards ceremony on Oct. 21. Accompanied by their Italian teachers, Davide Bianco and Rosina Martinelli, they were among students from throughout the county to receive the recognition. 

“The world language department at Rye Neck is extremely proud of all of the hard work and dedication that these students put into the Italian language and culture,” Martinelli said. “We are very fortunate that we are able to celebrate these students and their accomplishments.” 

In addition, Miceli was among 20 students who received a scholarship during the awards ceremony. She was chosen to receive the scholarship for her outstanding achievement and excellence in the Italian language and culture. 

The awards were given by the Westchester Coalition of Italian American Organizations to outstanding students who study the Italian language in Westchester County.

Seventh graders – who have been studying the engineering process and exploring forces, speed and energy transfer in their science classes – recently put their knowledge to the test by building vehicles that could sustain a collision while protecting their fragile passenger, an egg. 

After conducting extensive research, the students worked in groups to design their cars and construct a safety restraint system for their passenger using a variety of materials, such as cardboard, bottle caps, sponges, straws, paint, cotton balls, plastic wrap and bags, bubble wrap and rubber bands. 

“They have been very creative with their designs, and it has been great to see how they work together to design, organize and build their projects,” science teacher Jessie Vega said. 

Students said they enjoyed the hands-on learning experience that allowed them to collaborate with their peers. 

“Some of the vehicles’ best features are bumpers and seat restraints,” Vega said. “Keeping the egg in place and having some material at the front of the car can absorb the energy from the collision.” 

To test their designs, the students will push their vehicles down an 8-foot ramp, record the time it takes them to reach the end to determine the speed of their cars and inspect their egg for any “minor injuries” to “fatal injuries.” 

After Rye Neck Middle School students gathered in their school’s dining hall, they collaborated in groups to imagine and react to different scenarios, identify emotions and gain the necessary tools they need to thrive in school. 

Under the direction of Principal Dr. Eric Lutinski, school counselor Meegan Lawlor and teachers Chris Macli, Allison Reynolds and Cathy Toolan during grade-level assemblies on Oct. 15 and 16, the students participated in activities and lessons on why emotions matter. The assemblies were the first major step in student training as part of the schoolwide RULER program. 

“The name RULER is an acronym for recognizing, understanding, labeling, expressing and regulating emotions,” Dr. Lutinski said. “Mastering these skills has been proven to make teaching and learning more effective, and to help improve students’ decision-making, as well as physical and mental health. These benefits have been directly linked to success in school and in life. RULER is not a quick fix, a one-time assembly or class presentation. It is the foundation to develop a community where students feel safe, are encouraged to make good decisions and work cooperatively.” 

Rye Neck’s involvement with the RULER program, which is an evidence-based means of bringing social and emotional learning to the school community, has progressed from staff training to students’ education. Throughout the school year, Rye Neck Middle School will put last year’s professional development to work by entering phase II, where RULER is introduced to the student body and shared with families.  

“We are excited to create an environment where students learn the soft skills that they need in order to be successful in school and in life,” Lawlor said. “In order for students to learn, they must be emotionally available. If they are upset, anxious, angry or even too happy or excited, the best teaching in the world won’t get through.” 

Developed by Dr. Marc Brackett at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, the program is based on the idea that if students can correctly identify emotions, they can effectively work through them.

More than 80 seventh graders at Rye Neck Middle School have been diligently working to create peace posters, depicting this year’s Lions Clubs International Peace Poster Contest theme of “Journey of Peace.”  

As part of the project, students discussed what peace means to them before sketching out their ideas and incorporating a dove and peace signs within their work. Some students also used roller coasters, bridges, hot air balloons, airplanes, dirt paths and ribbons, among others, to visually depict a journey. 

“What has impressed me the most is their creativity with showing a journey and what it means to them,” said art teacher Trisha Appel, who along with fellow art teacher Jennifer Dallow encouraged the students to enter the competition. “Some students are portraying a journey as peace overcoming hatred within their work by depicting sad or hurtful imagery being replaced with peace moving throughout a path. Others have chosen to show a journey throughout the world by using the Earth, different flags and a variety of people or cultures.” 

Appel said the students have been excited about the project because it allows them the freedom to express their ideas. 

“I love how they have been brainstorming by talking with each other and gaining inspiration from what others are working on in class,” Appel said. “Each poster is so unique in how the idea of a journey is being visually portrayed. The students’ attention to detail in their work has been amazing, and they are using their artistic skills to enhance their work exceptionally.” 

Once their posters are completed, the seventh graders will submit their artwork in the schoolwide competition, in which judges will select the finalists. Their posters will then be submitted to judges at the Larchmont Mamaroneck Lions Club, who will select local-branch contest winners to advance to the district-level competition for further judging.

Rye Neck Middle School sixth graders – who drew inspiration from Pablo Picasso’s famous antiwar painting called “Guernica” – recently created their own original paintings that incorporated a white dove, the international symbol of peace, at the center of their work. Under the leadership of art teacher Trisha Appel, the project was designed to help students spread kindness and peace throughout their school. 

Using pencils and paper, the students first sketched out their ideas and doves before outlining their work in black Sharpie and painting their compositions with watercolor paints. Then, they painted their dove white with tempera paint to make it stand out, and later outlined it in black oil pastels or black pencils to further emphasize the dove. They also incorporated different words of encouragement to express their messages of peace and kindness.

“Each student’s work was different, yet they were all using the same subject matter,” Appel said. “I liked how they were able to take a theme and be as creative as they liked, and how they were able to use the skills that they learned to create wonderful works of art.” 

In addition, the students’ work directly aligned with the No Place for Hate program at Rye Neck Middle School, which was spearheaded by sixth grade guidance counselor Meegan Lawlor a few years ago.  

“The program helps to create a school environment that reminds students to be inclusive of each other, to be kind to each other, and to value and respect everyone,” Appel said. “Our art project was designed to remind students to continually promote kindness, peace and acceptance throughout school and wherever they go.”

The sixth graders’ artwork is on display outside the main office.