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Students and teachers from Rye Neck Middle School and Rye Neck High School worked together to create winter scene masterpieces during the middle school’s Paint Night event on Nov. 30, which served as a fundraiser for the junior class.

Using a white canvas, acrylic paint and brushes, sixth- through eighth-grade students followed step-by-step instructions from art teacher Dara Goodman to paint the winter scene, which included a moon and white conifer trees.

“The students successfully created a glowing, radiating moon in their sky using beautiful cool colors,” Goodman said. “They worked in layers, creating blended colors, winter trees and snow to complete their seasonal paintings. Each student created their own unique piece of artwork that they were proud of. It was so exciting to see how each person’s own interpretation and style was portrayed throughout the different details, colors and styles within each individual painting.”

Meanwhile, Rye Neck High School junior class officers and their adviser, Linette Milo, helped the students with their supplies and the overall organization of the event. Volunteers included freshmen Khaleema Bogan and Jake Diamond, and juniors Sonia Finkenberg, Grace Kujawski, Robert Miller, Lucas Pasquina, Juliana Silva, Maxwell Thurer and Lucas Vienne. 

“The students had a lot of fun while working and were very attentive to details and the techniques being presented to them,” said art teacher Trisha Appel, who, along with fellow teachers Jennifer Dallow and Karen Fontecchio, answered students’ questions about different art techniques. “You could see how proud they were of their paintings while they were working and at the end when they finished.” 

At the end of the night, event organizers raffled off prizes, which included a small canvas and paints for students to continue to paint at home. 

“The students were smiling, laughing and helping each other,” Appel said. “It was nice to see such a large group of students having fun, being creative and finding inspiration from each other’s work.” 

The art department’s Paint Night raised money for the high school junior class. The fundraiser is held twice a year to benefit students as they raise money for their respective classes.

Sixth- and seventh-graders – who have been writing their own fictional stories in Jenny Theall’s Creative Writing classes – welcomed published author E.J. Flynn to their school to gain new skills and knowledge about the writing process.

During her visits on Nov 14, 27 and 30, Flynn – who is also a marketing and business professor at SUNY Purchase, founder of ILF Publishing and the parent of a middle school student – helped the students discover the power of their imagination. She also encouraged them to turn their own ideas into stories and empowered them with the confidence that they, too, can “make it happen” and get their stories published. 

“I love creative writing because it’s a safe place to express who you are through your writing,” said sixth-grader Willow Edwards, who has written descriptive poems, short snippets and fictional stories in her class. 

As part of the interactive workshops, Flynn challenged the students to keep organized, write down their ideas, start an outline, set goals and deadlines, do extensive research and partner with a friend or mentor who will keep them accountable. She demonstrated how a real-life experience or observation can be turned into a story and taught the students how to keep their readers invested by creating a believable world and robust characters, building suspense and writing a distinct beginning, middle and end to their stories. 

Sixth-grader Natalie Silva said she learned the importance of drawing inspiration from real-life experiences to develop a compelling story. 

“It’s such a creative and fun way to express yourself because you’re creating your own world, what happens in it and your own characters,” Silva said about the art of creative writing. “Obviously, life isn’t perfect, but this story is to you. And it becomes a reality to you and the readers who read it.”  

Theall said she invited Flynn to speak to her students because it was an opportunity for them to participate in a discussion with a published author, ask questions and envision the endless possibilities of creative writing. 

“Creative writing is student-generated and stems from their imagination,” Theall said. “Bringing in an author makes writing real. Hopefully, it also inspires them to continue writing, take it to the next step and have their work connect to art, current events and news. That’s the beauty of creative writing; it can connect all other topics.” 

From light tunnels to sound boards, a remote-controlled vehicle that zips through the hallways and a helicopter that flies 10 feet up in the air, Rye Neck Middle School students have been channeling their inner electrical and mechanical engineers as part of the school’s newly founded Snap Circuits Club.

Each Friday after school, members of the club get to explore in a student-driven environment and strengthen their teamwork and critical thinking skills. Using snap circuit kits and 3D construction components, the students can choose from more than 150 different projects that incorporate sounds and light and build upon their own ideas to create an original project. 

“These are the students who are really dedicated to it, who just want to have fun for an hour,” said Jenny Theall, who founded the club at the beginning of the school year. “It has nothing to do with homework. The students love being independent and working hands-on, and the activities directly stimulate their creativity.” 

Ryan Varga, a sixth-grader and the club’s president, said his favorite part has been building the rover, or the remote-controlled vehicle, and figuring out ways he and his partner could attach a projector to it. 

“We have to connect all the wires and we have to take everything and snap it together,” Varga said. “You need the positive and negative currents to go the right way and everything to be hooked properly, otherwise it won’t work.” 

Meanwhile, sixth-graders Lucia Monreal and Sarah Spiral used laser pegs that light up to create their own project, which they interpreted as a winter wonderland, complete with Christmas trees and a village. 

“You can create anything with this,” Spiral said. “My favorite part was figuring out how to put it all together.” 

Theall said the Snap Circuits Club was created to provide students with a space where they can further explore their interests, learn how to be flexible, promote teamwork and build upon their strengths. 

Rye Neck Middle School students Lara Auffarth, Nathaniel Findlay and Josef Zyngier were recognized for their accomplishments and honored with Student of the Month awards. 

Auffarth, a sixth-grader, is a conscientious, kind, respectful and courteous student. According to her teachers, she puts her best effort into all assignments, participates in class discussions daily and is always willing to help her classmates. Her hobbies include playing soccer, basketball and reading.

Findlay, an eighth-grader, is a motivated, responsible and hardworking student. According to his teacher, he has shown excellent academic success. Outside of school, he plays the piano, sings and runs triathlons.
 
Zyngier, a seventh-grader, is a kind, hardworking and responsible student. According to his teachers, he earned the recognition due to his strong work ethic and great personal traits.  

Rye Neck Middle School seventh-grader Dylan White has won the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Lions Club’s Peace Poster Contest for expressing her vision for this year’s theme of “Kindness Matters.”

“I drew a girl holding the earth with doves next to her,” White said about her peace poster project. “There were flags spiraling around her and a story of kindness on each side of the page. The message was that everyone, the whole world, has to be kind to stay together.”

White’s art teacher Trisha Appel praised her student’s understanding of the theme and artistic skill of adding realistic details in her work, as well as simplified and stylized figures to tell two different stories that show different acts of kindness. 

“Her work can reach all different types of people and connect to everyone from children to adults,” Appel said. “I love how she used different materials in a way to help emphasize different areas of her work. I think she truly showcased the message that kindness is important all around the world and even simple acts of kindness can go a long way for lasting peace in the future.”

A total of 71 seventh-graders from the middle school submitted their artwork for the schoolwide competition. They used a variety of materials – from markers to colored pencils, oil pastels, watercolor paints and tempera paint – to express their ideas. As part of the project, they also discussed what peace means to them, and many of them depicted flags from around the world as ways to express their messages. 

In addition to White, judges selected seventh-graders Blathnaid Grenouillon, Monica Kosakowski, Mana Newman, Megan Ronan and Sarah Sandberg as finalists to represent Rye Neck Middle School. Their posters were submitted to judges at the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Lions Club, who selected White as the winner of the local branch contest, while Kosakowski and Sandberg were named runners-up. White’s poster will now be submitted to the district-level competition for further judging.

For her poster, Kosakowski’s drew two hands coming together to form a heart over the earth and a white dove with flags from different countries in the background. 

“The flags represent different regions of the world and are spread out to show that kindness is everywhere,” she said. “The hands forming a heart are different races to show everyone is involved, the hands are forming the heart in the earth because kindness is important everywhere and the dove is in the heart because kindness can help create peace around the world.”

Sandberg’s poster is made up of many hearts that encompass different scenes, animals and people that are surrounded by different flags from around the world. 

“I mainly used hearts because they represent love and peace,” she said. “I thought a lot about how people and animals can positively connect with one another. I chose to use animals because they are all so different from one another.”

The Lions Club International Peace Poster Contest has been in existence for more than 30 years and provides children with the opportunity to express their creativity and visions of peace. As part of the contest, students’ posters advance through several rounds of competition before an international winner is declared on or before Feb. 1.

Kindergarten through 12th-grade students across the Rye Neck Schools participated in a variety of activities and engaged in meaningful conversations about cyberbullying, online communication, internet community and respect during Digital Citizenship Week from Oct. 15-19.

Having implemented a districtwide digital literacy curriculum this year, teachers and administrators used the platform to jumpstart their lessons and empower their students as the next generation of responsible digital citizens. In partnership with Common Sense Education, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children thrive in a world of media and technology, the lessons focused on the power of positive words. 

“As a Google Reference District, we have chosen to incorporate technology into our classes and with that comes the responsibility to teach our students how to use it responsibly, as well,” Instructional Technology Coordinator Mary Lanza said. “We chose to focus on the power of positive words because the basis of our participation online, regardless of age, should revolve around respect and compassionate communication. What it takes to be a good citizen in real life are the same skills needed to be a good citizen online.” 

At Daniel Warren Elementary School, Principal Tara Goldberg introduced the idea of an internet community to all students during her morning announcement on Oct. 15. Throughout the week, librarian and media teacher Leigh Ann Kowalchick-Porphy and teacher Dara Goodman continued the conversation with students during their library and computer classes. Kindergartners and first-graders discussed what an internet community is and how we connect with people online, while second-graders discussed cyberbullying and how to be kind online. 

“Having these conversations now is sort of laying the foundation, the building blocks of what we want them to think and understand in the future,” Goldberg said. “We’re embedding the idea of being kind, thoughtful and intentional with what they’re putting out there, via texting or emails. They still want to be a good person and be kind.”

At F.E. Bellows Elementary School, all lessons connected to the schools’ theme of being a superhero as the students discussed the impact of positive words and what it means to be a good digital citizen. In addition, fourth-graders drew comic strips to illustrate how to stand up for someone who is being cyberbullied. 

At the middle school, students participated in mixed grade-level conversations with their English teachers and guidance counselors about being an upstander online. They linked their discussions to their summer reading book, “Bystander” by James Preller. Meanwhile, at the high school, freshmen and sophomores discussed the effect of their comments and relationships online, while juniors and seniors reflected on how online behavior can affect relationships and reputations. 

Lanza said the conversations during Digital Citizenship Week served as a great opportunity to encourage positive online behaviors.

“We believe this is a responsibility that falls on our entire community,” said Lanza, who added that parents received family resources to support what was being taught in the classroom, so they can continue the conversations at home. “How often do students in our high school discuss the same topic as children in Daniel Warren? We loved the idea of this being a conversation an entire family could have at home.”

For more information, visit www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship.