Willets Road Participates in the TNH Anti-Bullying Walk

On Saturday, April 6th, over fifty students from Willets Road and Wheatley participated in the 1st Annual Town of North Hempstead Anti-Bullying Walk.  The event was held at the town beach in Port Washington.  The students listened to event organizers, local politicians, musical performances, and keynote speaker John Halligan to further solidify the need to stop bullying both in our schools and our communities.  I would like to thank our event organizers, Mrs. Harrison, Mr. Stander, and student Michael Baltzer for their leadership.

 

 

 

Nassau County Police Department Cyberbullying Workshop at Willets Road

On Thursday, February 7th, Officer Sharon Glavin from the Nassau County Police Department's Community Affairs Division presented a cyberbullying workshop to our 5th grade class. The primary focus of the workshop was to teach our students how to make good decisions while communicating on-line.  She stressed the importance of keeping your personal information, picture, and location private.  Officer Glavin also spoke of recent instances of cyberbullying that were reported to the NCPD Crimes Division and how they were tract and resolved. She reinforced the concept of being a cyberbullying "up-stander" rather than a "by-stander."  The up-stander speaks out against cyberbullying and reports the bullying to an adult (parent, teacher, counselor, etc.) who can help.  The students were taught the following acronym to help combat cyberbullying: S.B.T. - Stop It! Block It! Tell!

Random Farms Kid's Theater Presents: "The New Kid" at Willets Road

Westchester based theater company, Random Farms, visited Willets Road on Thursday, February 7^th, and presented their musical production "The New Kid” to our 6th and 7th grade classes. The production was a 55-minute musical staring middle school kids that dealt with themes of bullying, peer pressure, and learning to be true to one's self.  The cast was amazing and our students really enjoyed the production and understood the message.  At the conclusion of the performance the cast took questions from the floor.  Many of the questions our students asked were reflective of the themes and issues that were brought to light in the play.

Willets Road Visits the Ronald McDonald House

 The Willets Road School is proud to announce a newly formed partnership with the Ronald McDonald House in Lake Success.  The students of Willets Road will be involved in community service projects, fund raising, and volunteering opportunities to support the RMH.  For the past two weeks, representatives from the house have visited Willets Road to teach our 6th grade class about the RMH and how they can get involved and provide support.  This week, our entire 6th grade class visited the house to get a first hand look at how their community service work will be put into action.  Our students dropped off donated food and homemade baked goods (baked by Ms. Duffy's Family and Consumer Science classes), and plenty of smiles during their visit.  We look forward to the many great activities and events that our Willets Road students will develop to help support this amazing organization.  A very special thanks to Ms. Duffy and the 6th grade teachers, Ms. Brew, Mrs. Kandel, Mrs. Linick, Mr. Roaldsen, Mrs. Viola, and Mrs. Sepe for all of their leadership and support.

Willets Road Wins First Place in Town of North Hempstead Recycled Materials Art Contest

On Monday, January 7th, Mr. King and his sculpture class students attended a gallery exhibition and awards ceremony sponsored by the Town of North Hempstead Recycling Program.  Mr. King's students were awarded First Place in the middle school division recycled materials art contest.  Their project, Peace, Love, Recycling was comprised of a colorful mosaic of recycled bottle caps mounted on a large, painted, peace sign. Congratulation students! Thanks Mr. King!

Willets Road Celebrates Anti-Bullying Month

Willets Road Anti-Bullying Pledge

Be an Upstander!

In recognition of National Anti-Bullying month, all the students at the Willets Road School are attending a workshop presented by our guidance counselors Mr. Stander and Mrs. Stein.  The workshop offers students strategies to combat bullying in school, in our community, and in cyber-space.  The central theme of the workshop is to Be an Upstander not a bystander.  Students learned that they need to develop the courage to report bullying to a trusted adult at school and to their parents at home.  Additionally, bullying may be reported anonymously via a link on our school's website or by written form in the drop box located in the guidance wing.  I'd like to offer a special thank you to our counseling staff for their dedication to this terrific program and to Mrs. Hardy for creating the fantastic pledge banner that our students are signing.  When you visit Willets, please stop by our guidance wing to take look.

 

6th Grade Student Government Election Assembly

 

 

During the second half of lunch today, our 6th grade students had the opportunity to hear the platform speeches of our four outstanding candidates for the position of 6th grade Vice President. Each candidate delivered a superb speech. The candidates were poised, confident, and well versed on the issues that affect 6th grade students. Additionally, all the candidates spoke of the charitable efforts they would like our school to participate in. After the speeches, I offered my praise and best wishes to the candidates. I expressed, regardless of the election outcome, they are all leaders within our school and their future commitment and leadership is invaluable.