Today was a great day!
Members of our National Honor Society chapter and High School Counselor Erica Frongetta were tasked with cleaning up the Ellicott Trail, a walking and biking path that cuts through portions of the city of Batavia.
With the support of both the Town of Batavia and City of Batavia superintendents, the 4.3-mile trail is now free of garbage and debris. Students worked hard and supported each other through various sights and smells, though the beautiful weather made it all better.
We’re proud of our great group of students - Katherine Ewert, Claire Zehler, Alanna Pellicane, Delaney Almeter, Ace Hassenfratz, Ji Wheeler, Mason Seipel and Emily Peters - for participating in United Way annual Day of Caring. For several of them, this is their second year in a row participating - they may just be hooked for life!
(Photos courtesy of Erica Frongetta)
Throughout the school year, Elementary School students have been earning Champ Chips by committing an act of kindness, perseverance, cooperation or gratitude.
Today, students finally earned enough chips to fill the Champ Chips Jar!
For reaching their goal, students now get to vote on which Elementary School staff member - Interim Principal Sherry Bennett, Counselor Amanda Crowley or SchooL Resource Officer Deputy Sam West - will get a pie in the face, be slimed or have to do the ice bucket challenge.
We have a big bulletin board in the hallway where students can vote for who does what. Voting isn’t over yet but by the looks of things now, Deputy West had better watch out!
(Photos courtesy of Sherry Bennett)
SENIOR NIGHT: We celebrated our senior track & field athletes Wednesday during their home meet against Pembroke.
For our boys team, senior Colin Bannister had the performance of the night, clearing 12 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault and breaking the school record last set in 2009.
Senior Jeffrey Hawkes won the two mile while Simon Lamparelli put up a season’s best time in the 200-meter dash.
Jonah Clark and Jordan Anderson were both quadruple winners for the Blue Devils - Jonah in the the 100- and 400-meter hurdles and 4x400-meter and 4x800-meter relays and Jordan in the 800-meter run and the 4x100-, 4x400- and 4x800-meter relays.
PJ Tuttle had a personal record in the high jump, Jack Janes won the triple and high jumps and Geoffrie Eisensmith won the 400-meter dash and was a part of the winning 4x400- and 4x800-meter relays.
After earning the ‘W’ over Pembroke Wednesday, the Blue Devils will next travel to Eastridge High School in Rochester Friday for the Lancer Track & Field Invitational, their final invitational of the year.
Our apologies - the Attica Fitness Center will be closed tonight (5/9). We will reopen again tomorrow (5/10)....
Sixth graders wrapped up their unit on the Middle Ages in style last week with a medieval feast complete with a king (Middle School Principal Paul Clark), queen (Middle School Secretary Faith Erb) and, of course, a Royal Food Taster (Caleb Sabatino).
Three weeks ago, students chose a topic in social studies and researched it using books and databases in their classrooms and the Middle School Library with the help of Library Media Specialist Stacey Donahue.
Students took notes, wrote a rough essay draft then made changes based on feedback from Social Studies Teacher Allison Cali.
“Students made a project that went along with their essay and demonstrated what they learned from their research,” said Cali. “Then, on Friday, May 5, family members, staff, Mr. Clark, Superintendent Illg and fifth grade classes were invited to walk around the sixth grade classrooms to see students' work on their desks and ask students questions as they sat behind their projects and essays dressed in medieval clothing. Students were encouraged to share some interesting facts from what they learned from their research to their classroom guests.”
Students even had an Elizabethan language guide to refer to to help them sound more authentic.
Such a fun and informative day!
(Photos courtesy of Allison Cali, Ellie Durfee, Amanda Datzler and Ryanne Glowny)
We’re grateful every day - but especially today - for each and every member of our food service staff who make sure our students have the nourishing food they need to learn at their best.
Happy School Lunch Hero Day to all of our school lunch heroes - Jane Bartz, Laura Brueckman, Jesse Fiegl, Todd Ford, Margaret Nelson, Stacey Smith, Amber Blaszak, Amanda Brown, Kim Godwin and Kris Wicks.
Video of last night’s public hearing for our 2023-24 budget proposal is up on our YouTube channel and can be accessed at the link below.
Other questions about our 2023-24 budget proposal? Check out our budget newsletter and FAQ guide at the links below.
Public budget hearing link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdGknkpueVk
Budget newsletter link: https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/2319/ACSD/2980041/attica_2023-24_budget_newsletter_FINAL.pdf
FAQ guide link: https://www.atticacsd.org/article/1096171
Congratulations to Attica senior Libby Kibler as she has signed on to further her education and athletic career at NCAA Division 2 Gannon University.
Libby will major in Environmental Sciences and also be competing as a member of the Golden Knights women's swim team. She concludes her high school career as a 6-time Genesee Region Swimming All-Star.
Tractor Day has got to be one of our favorite days of the year!
Even our superintendent, Dr. Kiel Illg, got in on the action this morning, leading the procession of tractors from Memorial Park, up Exchange Street, down Main Street and into our High School parking lot.
For his first time ever driving a tractor, we’d say he did pretty good. No collisions, no squashed squirrels in the road - that’s a win in our book!
Give it up to the following students for getting up extra early this morning to keep our Tractor Day tradition alive: Curtis Daniel, Logen Spink, Noah Florian, Dalton Burnham, Evan Schlau, Ty Baker, Spencer Broughton, Kyle Carpenter, Jenison Wright, Carlene Domes, Tanner Day, Madelyn King and Dylan Mirrione.
AND a special thank you to the Attica Police Department for the official escort!
Some of our staff members take May the 4th a little more seriously than others.
Jedi or Sith, Empire or Rebels, First Order or Resistance, May the 4th be with you!
FARM TO SCHOOL: The beet hummus our culinary club mixed up last week was a HIT with our students.
Working under the direction of advisor Mrs. Becky Sphar, club members used beets donated by Love Beets and a recipe from Suzy Karadsheh, purveyor of The Mediterranean Dish food blog, to make the hummus.
Because Sphar couldn’t find any tahini at her local grocery store, the club made its own by toasting up some sesame seeds, then blitzing them in a food processor with oil and salt.
“This was super easy, the smell was incredible and it was another fun piece of this recipe,” said Sphar.
Use the link below to access the beet hummus recipe on The Mediterranean Dish and try making some at home - you’ll be glad you did!
In addition to the hummus, students sampled dry-roasted pumpkin seeds courtesy of Partyka Farms in Kendall, Orleans County. In addition to their original blend, Partyka donated some of their garlic parmesan variety of seeds for students to try - such a delicious day!
Link: https://www.themediterraneandish.com/beet-hummus/
(Photos courtesy of Becky Sphar)
FARM TO SCHOOL: A new month, a new New York-Grown Menu!
Check out the menu below to see what local ingredients our students will be enjoying in the cafeteria in the month of May and the local producers that, well, produced them!
Our 5th/6th grade chorus, under the direction of Mrs. Julie Daley, headed to Innovative Field last week to kick off the Rochester Red Wings’ game against the St. Paul Saints with the singing of the National Anthem.
Big surprise - they did a great job!
(Photos courtesy of Rob Crowley and Julie Daley)
Attica pride shined bright last night at the annual Attica Track & Field Invitational.
On our boys team, Colin Bannister won the pole vault and was a part of the 4x400-meter relay that was only three tenths of a second from breaking the school record with Jonah Clark, Jordan Anderson and Simon Lamparelli.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Noah Attebery, Jordan Anderson, Ryan Meides, and Simon Lamparelli broke its own school record.
Simon took second in the 100-meter dash competing against the top sprinters in Section V while Jonah cruised his way to another PR in the 110-meter hurdles.
Noah Wheeler finished second in the long jump and Hunter Meyers broke 2,000 points and took fourth in the pentathlon.
Attica came away from its home invitational in second place, behind only Batavia and ahead of 16 other teams.
On our girls team, Skylar Savage took third in the 100-meter dash and fourth in the 100-meter hurdles while Bailey Nixon took third in the 2,000-meter steeplechase.
Our 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay teams finished fourth and second, respectively, while our 4x800-meter relay team finished first by more than 23 seconds!
Our girls team finished third overall.
Thank you to all those who came out to support our athletes!
(Photos courtesy of Luke George)
The Attica Track & Field Invitational has been rescheduled for tomorrow - Thursday, April 27 - due to weather. Events start at 4:45 p.m. at Alumni Field.
FARM TO SCHOOL: Members of our Middle School Gardening Club rolled up their sleeves and got their hands dirty recently, planting seeds donated by Johnny’s Selected Seeds of Maine using equipment donated by Bootstrap Farmer of Texas.
Club members under the direction of Club Advisor Janelle Bauer have also been researching different types of plants and flowers and how they grow.
Some of the plants will remain at school to be planted in the district’s gardens and others were for club members to take home.
The club is made possible by the $100,000 Farm-to-School Grant the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets awarded to our district in 2022.
Many thanks to Johnny’s Selected Seeds and Bootstrap Farmer for their generous donations!
(Photos courtesy of Janelle Bauer and Alicia Spoth)
Shout out to sophomore Robyn Szuniewicz and junior Ethan Meyer, who were named physical education students of the month for March.
Robyn and Ethan were selected for exhibiting positive behavior during physical education class, showing a desire to learn new skills, demonstrating sportsmanship and discouraging bullying.
Bravo, Robyn and Ethan!
Track and Field athletes traveled east Saturday for the Rush-Henrietta Relays, an invitational where all the events - even the field events - are relays.
Our girls team earned 21 points en route to a 14th place overall finish. Strong performances came from the follow athletes:
• Mackenzie McLeod and Lauren Nelson took third in the pole vault relay.
• Skylar Savage and Ellie Cusmano took third in the long jump relay.
• Skylar Savage, Ellie Cusmano, Jaslynne Watts and Ashley Piorun took fifth in the 4x100-meter hurdles relay.
• Skylar Savage, Nichole Leitten, Aleah Brauen and Bailey Nixon took fourth in the 1,600-meter sprint (two team members run 200 meters, one runs 400 meters and one runs 800 meters).
• Bailey Nixon and Aleah Brauen teamed up with Mia Ficarella and Addison Day to take fifth in the 4x800-meter relay.
• Nichole Leitten, Ellie Cusmano, Annalyn Calmes and Lily Wheeler set a season's best in the 4x100-meter relay, finishing eighth with a time of 54.40.
Our boys team finished in 15th place with 11 points and put up its fair share of PRs.
• Jonah Clark had the fastest time in the 400-meter hurdles (59.01) and teamed up with Ryan Meides (1:03.49) to win the relay event. Jonah also finished fourth 110 hurdles, with a stellar time of 16.29.
• Jon Beck (1.62 meters) and Jack Janes (1.67 meters) had their best jumps of the season in high jump while throwing points came from Clayton Bezon (35.50 meters) and Taylor Zimmerman (32.94 meters) in the discus.
Both teams are next in action Wednesday at home starting at 5 p.m.
(Photos courtesy of Luke George)
FARM TO SCHOOL: Kristen Hess of Attica Partners for Agriculture stopped by Jill Pierce’s life skills students today to walk students through the chicken incubation process they’ll soon be starting in class.
Hess talked to students about chickens’ gestation period and different stages of development and some of the things that can go wrong during incubation.
Hess is bringing in eggs next week which Pierce’s students will place in an incubator. Then, in about 21 days’ time and if everything goes right, Pierce’s students will have a new clutch of chicks to welcome to the world!
Michelle Barber’s animal science students welcomed a special guest to their classroom this morning.
Katie Carpenter, a member of Attica Partners for Agriculture and co-owner of The Vintage Cow, brought in a three-day-old Jersey calf named EB - short for Energizer Bunny - to show Barber’s students.
Carpenter, whose family owns and operates All Bright Farms, walked Barber’s students through what goes into caring for newborn calves and spoke about some of the tools and strategies dairy farmers use during artificial insemination, to track medical information and genetics and to maximize milk yields.
Thank you, Katie, for coming to speak with our students and for bringing EB along - she’s super cute!
