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MEDINA, NY- Ten years ago, Aaron Grabowski, Music Director of Holy Trinity RC Parish in Medina, decided something was badly needed to draw the community together at the joyful and spiritual season of Christmas; something to celebrate the true meaning of the season and bring people back from the brink of rampant commercialism. So began what has become a growing and beloved annual tradition in Medina: A Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols.
"As I've said many times in the past, I think people are hungry for this kind of spiritual respite at Christmastime and more so with each passing year," said Grabowski. "In a restless world, this evening of Christmas music and scripture brings a measure of peace and hope. I know for many, it annually revives the true spirit of the season. It does for me too- that's why we continue to do it."
Students in Joe Wilkie's Certified Personal Trainer Program, at Orleans/Niagara BOCES, recently got a lesson in boxing.
Lori Grabowski is a personal trainer at SNAP Fitness in Medina. She stopped into the class, at the Royalton-Hartland High School, to show the students some moves and talk about its uses to help clients reach their physical fitness potential. Mrs. Grabowski has been a personal trainer since 2011 and has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do as well. Mr. Wilkie says it was a great experience for his class. "She really shared a lot of knowledge with my class and talked about how boxing is a different modality that people can use to achieve their fitness and health goals. She really wore them out with her routine!"
The Medina Teachers Association, the Medina School District and the Medina Business Association are proud to announce the November selections for Students of the Month. This award is a combined effort of these organizations to recognize students who go above and beyond to help teachers and fellow students succeed and enjoy school.
Filomena's Favorites has graciously sponsored the award for November. This month students are being honored with this article, a Certificate of Achievement from the Medina Teachers' Association presented by President Joseph Byrne and Medina CSD representative, Daniel Doctor, presented a special pen and pencil. In addition, Filomena's Favorites representative Danette Oakes presented each of this month's winners with an Avanti gift card, a large candy bar, and various other candies.
The Oak Orchard Elementary School Student Council rallied their classmates to share some of their Halloween treats with troops overseas.
Teachers Natalie Scott and Sue Lehman delivered the candy, along with cards that the students made, to an organization that packages the candy and sends it to deployed soldiers. "The students and staff at the school were incredibly generous with sharing their Halloween candy," says Ms. Scott. "We ended up collecting 285 pounds of candy! We are always glad to participate and thank the military for protecting our country."
It's that time of year again. The holiday season is filled with Christmas festivities, traditions and family gatherings. But for many of our servicemen and women, they will be spending the holidays very far from home and their loved ones.
Thankfully, the Warrior House of WNY puts together stockings full of items to send to those serving overseas. Several boxes of the items were collected to send to our brave men and women who will not make it home for the holidays.
Sigmamotor Inc. has donated seven Haas CNC machines to the Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME) Program at Orleans Career and Technical Education Center.
Bill Rakonczay, who teaches the Orleans/Niagara BOCES program, says he is very appreciative of all the support that Middleport based company has given his students throughout the years. "It gives my students more of an opportunity to work with the latest equipment in our field. It will help prepare my students for the workforce or continuing their studies. I cannot thank them enough for their generosity."
Students in the Orleans Career and Technical Education Center's Computer Technology class recently spent a day at Yahoo! in Lockport. Teacher Paul Herrmann and his class were able to tour the data centers and customer care centers. "The students got to explore the server rooms, switch rooms, shipping and receiving and of course how they heat and cool the building," says Mr. Herrmann. "Just a great experience for the Computer Technology students. They get a taste of Information Systems at its grandest scale."
Yahoo! has over a billion consumers and employs over 10,000 around the world. Student Seth Feigel says, "It was interesting to walk around the building and see how they operate everything. They have server rooms filled with racks. A really big shipping and receiving department with things coming in constantly. There were tons of parts." Asked what he wants to do when he graduates he said, "I want to work there!"
Orleans/Niagara BOCES Security and Law Enforcement teacher Dudley Gilbert recently had a special guest in class. Seaman Apprentice Ryan Burbee, who graduated from Mr. Gilbert's class at the Orleans Career and Technical Education Center, stopped in to talk to the current students about his enrollment in the Coast Guard. "I knew before high school that the Coast Guard is what I wanted," he told the class. "I chose Coast Guard because they are 100% dedicated to saving lives and protecting people. Even if you are stopping drug smugglers you are still saving lives. I reached out to my recruiter my sophomore year, so I knew what was expected of me and then I began to study and prepare myself."
The Medina Teachers Association, the Medina School District and the Medina Business Association are proud to announce the October selections for Students of the Month. This award is a combined effort of these organizations to recognize students who go above and beyond to help teachers and fellow students succeed and enjoy school.
Bank of Castile has graciously sponsored the award for October. This month students are being honored with this article, a Certificate of Achievement from the Medina Teachers' Association presented by President Joseph Byrne and Medina CSD Superintendent, Mark Kruzynski, presented a special pen and pencil. In addition, Bank of Castile representative Patrick Weissend presented each of this month's winners with a Halloween basket full of goodies.
Make sure to mark your calendars for the annual Orleans/Niagara BOCES SkillsUSA Craft Show on November 16th!
There will be over 50 vendors at our Orleans Career and Technical Education Center - located at 4232 Shelby Basin Road in Medina. The event will run from 9:00am to 3:00pm and a $2.00 donation would be appreciated to help fund activities for SkillsUSA students.
Medina High School students recently took part in the annual Community Day at their school. Todd Bensley and Jennifer Ossont, Participant in Government teachers, coordinate the event by inviting various community organizations to come in to talk to students about what they do and see if they would like to volunteer. Each student has to complete ten hours of community service each year towards their graduation requirements.
The organizations included: YMCA, Community Action, Medina Area Association of Churches (MAAC), GCASA, Salvation Army, FFA, PAWS Animal Shelter, Lee-Whedon Library, Medina Historical Society, PTSA, ERC, Shelby Fire Department, Parade of Lights and the Medina Railroad Museum. "The organizations that participate are always excited about the number of students who volunteer," says Mr. Bensley.
October 5th is the Medina High School's first ever FFA Toy Show and Sale. Doors at the High School opens at 7:00am for Pancake Breakfast that will run until 11:00am. The cost of the breakfast is $5 and that includes entrance into the toy show. The actual toy show is from 9:00am-3:00pm and the cost of admission is $3 if breakfast is not purchased. "We have quite a few collectors and sellers that will be there," says FFA advisor/Agriculture teacher Todd Eick. "Some will have antiques, some will have toys that are brand-new and never been out of the box. Some might be older and used toys, but they will still have the box. One guy is coming just to set up his display and show off his collection."
Mr. Eick says he has been wanting to have a toy sale for over the past ten years and with the help of Medina and FFA alumni, Bill Nice and Cliff Barber, they decided this would be the year that they start it. "Bill and Cliff know the value of this sort of thing for our FFA kids. We also decided that our inaugural show would be in memory of Mr. Lee Roberts, he was an avid toy collector, Medina Farmer and a huge supporter of agriculture in the community."
Medina High School will begin to give out a new scholarship this year in honor of a former teacher. Ed Grabowski, attorney for the estate of Mariann R. Holcomb, presented a check at the Medina Central School District's Board of Education meeting on September 26th. It was in the amount of $35,274.86, for a scholarship in Mrs. Holcomb's name.
There is a new School Resource Officer (SRO) in the Medina Central School District and he is already making an impact on the students. Police Officer Stephen Gross has
Security and Law Enforcement teachers, Steve Browning and Dudley Gilbert, invited retired medical examiner Neal Hodgson to speak to their juniors at the Orleans Career and Technical Education Center.
Mr. Hodgson talked to the students about his former career and showed the students an autopsy video and some photos from cases that he worked on. He talked to them about cases that made an impact on him and what they may encounter as law enforcement when attending accidents or crime scenes.
There is a new School Resource Officer (SRO) in the Medina Central School District and he is already making an impact on the students. Police Officer Stephen Gross has been busy acquainting himself with staff and students. "I am really excited about being here. I love getting out and being in the community and working with the kids has been very rewarding and I am enjoying getting to know them all," he says. "As far as the school district is concerned, safety is their priority and I felt ready to step into that role and I am excited about that."
Social Studies teacher, Joe Byrne, asked Officer Gross to come to his 8th grade classes and talk to the students. "I wanted to give him a chance for the students to become more familiar with him and show off his impressive knowledge of school district law," says Mr. Byrne. "Today we are talking about how we balance civil rights in our society with school safety," explained Officer Gross. "I think it is very important that they know their civil rights as students, but also the concerns that we, the government, have for school safety."
