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Knight Line Newsletter
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Fall 2011 Issue Winter 2011/2012 Issue Spring 2012 Issue
2011-2012 Knight Line Online
Below is the Knight Line Online. This content is updated on a rolling basis. No need to wait for the next printed edition - please email information to be posted as needed. Please email your Online Newsletter content to fpmhsknightline@verizon.net
The online announcements will be posted here on a weekly basis.
The Spring 2012 print edition of the Knight Line, featuring department news, a letter from Ms. Sottile, plus much more, will be available at the PTSA Meeting on May 8. Be sure to attend! Download the pdf at the link above.
Footloose at Floral Park Memorialby Maria Stagnitta
Students preparing for Footloose
“Cut loose!” This year, Floral Park Memorial presents Footloose, a modern classic about the clash between teenage rebellion and small town values. Featuring a combination of music and dance, this year’s show was sure to captivate the audience.
The story begins when lead character Ren (played by Christian Alvarez) arrives in the small town of Beaumont. He faces a town “protected” by an ordinance that outlaws dancing. With the help of his new friend Willard (played by Tom Hagan) and love interest, Ariel (played by Maria Stagnitta), Ren tries to overcome this law by bringing everyone together and showing them how important dancing can be. Will he triumph over the people who seek to keep Beaumont a quiet town?
The production was held at Floral Park Memorial High School in the Hayden Auditorium on March 22nd at 4pm, and 23rd and 24th at 7pm.
Math Family Fun Night at Floral Park Memorialby Marcella Fini
On February 15, 2012, Floral Park Memorial’s math department hosted the first annual "Math Family Fun Night" for 7th and 8th grade students and their families. It was an evening of fun math activities where parents were able to participate in some of the challenging tasks in which their children engage everyday. There were over 150 people participants.
Mrs. Clark and FPM students creating cubic bubbles
The student cafeteria was set up into working stations. Each teacher had a station with a mathematical activity. The activities included a presentation on cubic bubbles by Mrs. Clark, a presentation on the Baravelle Spiral by Mrs. Silberstein, a presentation on The Seven Bridges of Koenigsberg by Mr. Drivas, a presentation about Hands-on-Equations by Ms. Abbott and Ms. Bach, and a presentation on The Four Color Theorem by Mrs. Curcio. Other activities included Mrs. McBride and her helpers presenting Discovering Pi, Mr. Wachs playing the 5 number game and Mr. Paganucci teaching math tips and tricks.
Students 'Discovering Pi' at station 8 during Math Family Fun Night
Special guest, Sophie, a licensed therapy dog, made an appearance at this exciting event. Her owner, Ms. Perlzweig who is also a math teacher at FPM, brings her dog to hospitals a few times a week to visit adults and children. Therapy dogs have been known to provide stimulation, comfort and companionship. Sophie has recently been approved to visit the autistic children in FPM’s PALS (promoting academics and life skills) program. Her Math Night appearance helped remind us of the importance of helping others.
Ms. Perlzweig, Sophie and some students at Math Family Fun Night
The math department teachers had lots of fun developing these creative math activities that were set up at their stations. Students circulated around the cafeteria visiting each station and learned some fun things about mathematics. Students were rewarded with extra credit for each station that they completed. In addition to that, students who brought a parent with them to the event earned free homework passes. A special treat for the participants was a raffle for a new iPod Nano. Eighth grader, Paul Valencia, won the prize.
In the future, the department hopes to hold the event on Pi Day which is March 14th. Pi is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any Euclidean circle's circumference to its diameter. It is approximately equal to 3.14, which why Pi day is March 14th (3/14).
It truly was a mathematical magical night! The turnout and responses were overwhelmingly positive. One eighth grader said, "That was so fun, are we doing this again next year?" The answer is that we can’t wait to do this all again next year.
FBLA GOES TO MOLLOY
By Kathleen Muller
FPM FBLA Participants
Linda Stibrany and Billy Lauria and their awards
Members of the Floral Park Memorial High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) competed in the Spring District Meeting on February 10, 2012, at Molloy College in Rockville Centre. The purpose of the competition is to help members transition from their educational development to their career paths by demonstrating their mastery of essential business concepts, skills, and knowledge.
Our members competed against FBLA chapters from all across Nassau County. Chapters from every school in the Sewanhaka CHSD, as well as chapters from districts such as Jericho, Valley Stream Central, Garden City, and Bellmore-Merrick, came to Molloy’s RVC campus to test their mettle against one another.
Each of our members was dedicated to performing his or her best. It is because of that positive work ethic that the Floral Park Memorial FBLA was able to achieve excellent results. William Lauria placed first in Personal Finance, Anne Mendis placed second in Impromptu Speaking, Linda Stibrany placed third in Introduction to Business and Amanda Slutsky placed third in Public Speaking 1. Additional events in which the FBLA members won awards included: Javed Khan fifth place for Public Speaking 2, David Seuling fourth place for Job Interview, and Brian Lauria fifth place for Client Service.
We are looking forward to the Spring Leadership Conference which takes place from April 18-20 in Rochester, New York. It is here that our members will compete against other FBLA chapters from across New York State. We look forward to another successful year for the members of the Floral Park Memorial FBLA.
CHRIS HERREN DELIVERS A POWERFUL MESSAGE TO FLORAL PARK MEMORIAL STUDENTS
By Dustin Demmers
Chris Herren (photo courtesy of basketballjunkie.net/about/)
Chris Herren, an NBA star who played for both the Denver Nuggets and the Boston Celtics, had his life torn apart by addiction. Having learned a powerful lesson from his devastating experience, Herren has made it his mission to go out and speak to people to help them avoid the same destructive decisions that brought about his own downfall.
On March 30th, Herren will come to Floral Park Memorial HS to speak to 9th, 10th, 11th & 12th graders to deliver his message and lessons. Sponsored by the student council and the athletics department, the event will take place in the gymnasium. FPM’s substance abuse committee organized the event to help raise awareness and bring a valuable message to the student body.
FPM SPELLING BEE WINNER 2012By Cindy Gray
Fiona Calberson, FPM Junior High Spelling Bee Winner
Congratulations, Fiona Calberson, winner of the Floral Park Memorial School Spelling Bee. Each seventh and eighth grade student competed in a class spelling bee. The winners then moved on to compete in the Floral Park Memorial School Spelling Bee held in the library on Wednesday, January 11, 2012. Fiona, a student in Ms. Gray’s seventh grade English class, won the spelling bee. Fiona will now move to the next level to compete on the next level, the Nassau County Spelling Bee held at Hofstra University in March. Congratulations again, Fiona!
HIGH SCHOOL HEROES
By Margaret Nelson 
Floral Park Memorial's High School Heroes
This winter, twenty four Floral Park Memorial High School students went to Floral Park Bellerose Elementary school to teach the 3rd and 4th grade classes various concepts of business as part of the Junior Achievement High School Hero program.
Students were trained by a member of the Junior Achievement staff so they would have a clear idea of how to effectively teach the Floral Park Bellerose students. They discussed how to interact with the younger students and to be a role model. The FPM students also worked diligently on lesson plans to present to the younger students. The members of the Junior Achievement High School Hero program wanted to make sure that they would make the most out of the time they had at the elementary school.
When the students arrived at Floral Park Bellerose, they were greeted enthusiastically by both the 3rd and 4th grade students. They held welcome signs as the high school heroes walked in to the school. It was a warm return for some of Floral Park Bellerose alumni.
Once everyone was introduced to each other, the 3rd and 4th grade students were split up with their FPM students and they all began their day. Two or three high school heroes were assigned to each class and they presented their carefully planned lessons. This was both a beneficial and enjoyable experience by all students involved.
Sewanhaka District Board Art ExhibitThe Floral Park Memorial High School art department is proudly displaying the artwork of Ben Alfonso, grade 11 and Brittany Pereira, grade 11 from Ms. Glasser’s Advanced Placement 2-Dimensional Design class, Emma Annuziato, grade 11, and Mike Nelson, grade 10 from Mrs. Lucey’s Drawing and Painting class, Dan Mahedo, grade 11, from Mrs. Caporale’s Digital Design class, Victoria Buckley, grade 9, David Cabuenas, grade 9, Kai McManus, grade 9 and Laura Rostkowski, grade 10 from Mrs. Papajohn-Shaw, Mrs. Martinez and Mrs. Caporale’s Studio Art classes respectively. The artwork of our talented students is currently on display at the Central Administration Board room at Sewanhaka High School for the months of February and March.
The range of artwork illustrates how students progress in the Floral Park Art Department. Art courses support vertical teaming through Art 8, Studio Art, Art Electives and Advanced Placement Studio Art courses. The art department’s vertical teaming begins teaching advanced problem solving skills to students at the very beginning of our students’ artistic experience, then expands on the experiences, knowledge, and skills at each level. Students begin to build a foundation of cognitive and technical skills that can be applied in art as well as other subject areas. Great job art students!
Advanced Placement Drawing Senior Artist ExhibitionBy Cassandra Papajohn  
Lock | Buckle by Andrew Borghese Last school year, seventeen Floral Park Memorial Art Students were enrolled in Advanced Placement Drawing. Under the careful guidance of their teacher, Mrs. Lucey all seventeen students received mastery scores on their final portfolios from the College Board! These seventeen students are now eligible to earn college credit depending upon the university. Additionally, the students have a professional portfolio that can be submitted for college and scholarship applications. To celebrate the accomplishments of our Advanced Placement Drawing students, solo artist exhibitions will be scheduled throughout the school year. Our first exhibiting senior art student was Andrew Borgese. Andrew’s solo exhibition entitled “Fasteners” was on display in the Floral Park Memorial High School Art Gallery, located in room 103, until October 28th. Andrew is currently working on his second art portfolio for Advanced Placement Two-Dimensional Design. Gemma O'Connor was featured November 1-30th and Eugene Kim’s work is currently on display from Feb. 1-29th. We are all very proud of the accomplishments of our dedicated art students.
National Recognition for Floral Park Memorial’s Advanced Placement Studio Drawing ProgramBy Cassandra PapajohnIt is no surprise that Mrs. Lucey’s skillful teaching has achieved national recognition by having one of her students’ artworks chosen by the College Board to be printed on the Advanced Placement Studio poster. The College Board states that “Each year, some of the most outstanding works created by AP Studio Art classes from around the world are showcased on the AP Studio Art poster. Artworks featured on the poster represent the diversity of subjects, media, styles and techniques explored within exemplary AP Studio Art portfolios.” The Advanced Placement studio poster is distributed nationally by the College Board to every student that is enrolled in Advanced Placement Studio Art Drawing, 2-Dimensional Design and 3-Dimensional Design courses. Advanced Placement Art Teachers from around the country use this poster to both inspire and teach students what is expected of them for their final portfolio.
Each year that Mrs. Lucey teaches AP Drawing, she inspires her students to do their best and gives them the tools to create phenomenal artwork. The amazing body of artwork produced by her students serves as testimony to her hard work and dedication to the teaching profession and her students. She has always strived to have work from one her students printed on the Advanced Placement Studio Art poster. This year, Mrs. Lucey’s aspirations were met when Anna Kuhlmey, a student in her 2010/2011 AP Drawing class had her artwork chosen and printed by the College Board for the 2011-2012 Advanced Placement poster! Floral Park Memorial’s Advanced Placement Art program is now prominently featured alongside the very best Advanced Art programs from around the country. To further add to the pride Mrs. Lucey felt from this honor, all seventeen of her Advanced Placement Drawing students received mastery scores on their final portfolios from the College Board!
When Mrs. Lucey began teaching Advanced Placement Drawing at Floral Park Memorial in 2002, the Sewanhaka District established that students enrolled in an Advanced Placement course would be required to submit a portfolio that demonstrated competence in understanding visual concerns and methods to the College Board. As per College Board requirements, the portfolio is broken down into three sections. The first part of the portfolio, the Concentration Section, asks students to demonstrate a depth of investigation and process of discovery through independent study of a subject in the Concentration section. In the Breadth section, the student is asked to demonstrate a serious grounding in visual principles and material techniques. The Quality section, permits the student to select five works that best exhibit a synthesis of form, technique, and content. In total, students are required to submit 24 original pieces of artwork that they have created during one academic year to the College Board for review. Realizing this great task, the art program at Floral Park has evolved in many ways through vertical teaming.
Vertical teaming begins teaching advanced problem solving skills to students at the very beginning of our students’ artistic experience, Art 8. Each subsequent course then expands on the experiences, knowledge, and skills of the previous level. As part of the art department’s vertical teaming initiative new courses were added to further enhance our art program. In 2003, Mrs. Papajohn-Shaw began teaching Advanced Placement Art History. In 2005, the art department began offering Mrs. Caporale’s Digital Design course in order to advance our students’ technology skills. In order to allow Photography, Digital Design and Drawing and Painting students an additional AP experience Ms. Glasser was hired in 2007 to teach our newest Advanced Placement Studio course: Advanced Placement 2-Dimensional Design. In 2008, Mrs. Papajohn-Shaw began teaching Media Arts and established the course as alternative preparation for Advanced Placement 2-Dimensional Design. In 2010, Illustration and Design was offered as a semester course so that Ms. Glasser could continue to develop the drawing and design skills of her students. Mrs. Lucey has offered high quality art education to her students at every level. Artwork that is produced from Mrs. Lucey’s Drawing and Painting courses continues to be exhibited and receive numerous awards. Additionally, Mrs. Lucey shares her passion, knowledge and talent with her colleagues. Mrs. Lucey has been a peer mentor, hosted many student observers and teachers, provided district in-service classes for fellow art teachers and was a team writer for the Sewanhaka High School District’s Advanced Placement Studio curriculum guide.
With all that Mrs. Lucey has achieved, you have to wonder, what will she do next? Congratulations Mrs. Lucey!
artwork by Anna Kuhlmey
Advanced Visions 8:
High School Artists of Excellence From December 20, 2011 through January 25, 2012 Long Island University/CW Post held Advanced Visions 8: High School Artists of Excellence exhibit at the Hillwood Student Art League Gallery. The exhibition featured artwork by approximately sixty current Advanced Placement Art Students from high schools throughout New York City, Nassau and Suffolk counties. Andrew Borghese, grade 12 from Mrs. Glasser’s AP 2-Dimensional Design class and, Gemma O’Connor from Mrs. Lucey’s AP Drawing course represented Floral Park Memorial High School’s art department. At the artist reception on January 25, 2012, Andrew Borghese’s portrait drawing received a proud honorable mention.
Arachnophobia by Andrew Borghese
Advanced Placement Art Students Go APE!
On January 15, 2012 the Long Island Art League hosted it’s fifth annual Go APE! artist reception and awards ceremony to celebrate exceptional artwork of Advanced Placement art students from Nassau and Suffolk counties. The reception was well attended by students, parents, art educators, administrators, and community members. Caroline Cerina, grade 12, and Frecelyn DelaPena, grade 11, from Ms. Glasser’s Advanced Placement Two-Dimensional Design class and Eugene Kim, grade 12, Gemma O’Connor, grade 12, and Will Cangialosi, grade 12, from Mrs. Lucey’s classes had their remarkable artwork on display. Winners in various categories were chosen by a prominent art educator and received their own Go Ape statuette designed by Dan Christoffel. Our very own Will Cangialosi received an Award of Excellence for his three dimensional sculpture created from toothpicks! Student artwork will remain on display until February 5, 2012 at the Art League of Long Island's Jeanie Tengelsen Gallery in Dix Hills. The Floral Park Memorial art department is once again very proud of our students’ artistic accomplishments!
REFLECTIONSThe PTSA would like to thank all the participants of this year’s Reflections program. The theme was “Diversity Means…” Students entered in the dance choreography, visual arts, literature, and photography categories. We would like to congratulate the school winners. In the Visual Arts category the winners are Abid Khan, Anne Cresci, and Megan Schoen. In the category of Photography our winners are Emma Annunziato and Caroline Cerina. Katarina Fradenburg is our winner in the Dance Choreography category. In the Literature category our winners are Dan Morgan, Darlene Hodge, and Amanda Tracey. Be sure to come to the Poetry Coffee House on Tuesday, April 17th at 7:30 pm this spring to view all of the winning entries.
We also would like to recognize the five students from our school who were selected to represent Nassau County at the state level—Emma Annunziato, Caroline Cerina, Katerina Fradenburg, Dan Morgan, and Amanda Tracey. This is truly a tremendous achievement! We wish them luck at the state level of competition!
A special thanks to Emma Martin who was our teacher coordinator once again this year!
Peggy Schlechter
Reflections Chairperson
2011 Knight Line Editor’s Introduction Letter
Click on the link above to read about this year's submission details, deadlines, and news about the online newsletter and Facebook page.
Quarterly Printed Newsletter
2011- 2012 Content Submission Schedule -
Fall Issue – Submission Deadline: Sept 23, 2011 Publication Date: October 11, 2011
Winter Issue – Submission Deadline:Dec. 16, 2011Publication Date:January 10, 2012
Spring Issue – Submission Deadline:March 23, 2012Publication Date:April 17, 2012
Summer Issue – Submission Deadline:June 29, 2012Publication Date:July 16, 2012
Archive: 2010 - 2011 newsletters
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Floral Park Memorial High School PTSA
210 Locust Street
Floral Park, New York 11001
516-488-9300
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