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Music teacher retires after 33 years
JUNE 2006—In
June 2006, students and staff said goodbye to an institution at Monhagen Middle
School. Fortune Esposito, music teacher and drama club
director, has retired after 33 years.
Esposito was best known in the
district for his passion and dedication to directing and
producing many concerts and drama production hits. His
accolades also include being named first runner up as the New York State Teacher of the Year.
“My time teaching in
Middletown, has left me with a multitude of wonderful
memories—concerts, talent shows, musicals, as well as
classroom successes,” said Esposito. “It's amazing how 33
years can go by in a flash.”
Students and staff have made
memories with Esposito too—Eileen Rivera-Shapiro, former principal at the
school, is one of them.
“As a new principal in 2004,
it was a great support to me to have encountered someone
like Forty Esposito. His experience, and wealth of
knowledge, as well as his love for children and love for the
arts helped us form a positive relationship right from the
start,” said
Rivera-Shapiro. “Having attended all of the drama
club productions and stellar concert series since then, it
is tough to say goodbye to someone who has done so much for
the entire Middletown community. It has truly been my
pleasure to work with a phenomenal educator like Forty.”
Esposito’s students past and
present joined Monhagen Middle School’s mixed chorus and
concert choir on June 14, 2006, to give him a memorable send off by
collectively singing America, The Beautiful. The
concert marked Esposito’s last, and according to the former
music teacher it was bitter sweet.
“It touched me deeply to be
able to look up and see the faces of students from
throughout my career, including one who I taught as a brand
new teacher here in Middletown, in 1973,” said Esposito.
“All in all, it was an evening I will never forget which
capped off a long, happy career.”
Clay Day—middle schoolers get lesson from
potter
MAY 2006—Using his hands and a bit of imagination,
Cliff Mendelson taught Monhagen Middle School children
how to create Native American inspired clay pots. The day-long workshop, “A Day in
Clay,” is being offered at the school as part of
Arts in Education programming.
Read more here.
MMS team takes
third at annual Quiz Bowl
MAY 2006—Twelve
Monhagen Middle School students participated in the
2006 Orange County Quiz Bowl Competition. Quiz
Bowl is a jeopardy-like contest for middle school
students. The annual competition was held on
Monday, May 8, 2006, at CJ Hooker Middle School in
Goshen.
Each year, Monhagen is invited to
participate and this year, James Higgins, Assistant
Principal, responded to the challenge and together
with Mrs. Suzanne Aleman, literacy teacher, formed
a team of knowledgeable sixth, seventh, and eighth graders.
Under Mrs. Aleman's coaching, students practiced and
prepared. Monhagen's quiz bowl team placed 3rd
in the competition.
Read
Aloud draws big
crowd
APRIL 2006—First sponsored
in 1958, National Library Week is a national
observance sponsored by the American Library
Association and libraries across the country
each April. This year's
theme is "Change Your World @ Your Library"
was incorporated into the Monhagen Middle School's
eighth annual Great New York
State Read Aloud held Wednesday, April 5,
2006,
in the media center. Read
more & see photos here.
Students recognized by Sojourner
Truth Awards Program
March 2006—Fourteen Monhagen
Middle School students were honored on Friday, March
10, 2006, at the 17th annual Sojourner Truth Awards Program
held at Orange County Community College. The
program recognizes the achievements of deserving
students and encourages consideration of college
attendance as an option for students from groups which
are traditionally under-represented in the college
population.
Students and their
families were invited to attend the awards ceremony,
which was also attended by many community leaders and
district personnel.
MMS
presentation of Scrooge a success
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Above: Monhagen's own David Dushaj as Scrooge,
practices for performances prior to opening day. |
DEC. 2005—Despite
some snow, the Monhagen Middle School drama production
of Charles Dickens’ Scrooge went on. The cast, made up of 55 MMS
students in grades 6, 7, 8, along with 20 stage crew
students, performed three shows Dec. 10-11, 2005.
Rehearsals for the show, directed and produced by Fortune
J. Esposito, began in the beginning of October 2005. Bette Bonitz, the school's Library/Media specialist served
as choreographer, and Janet Andrews-Coyle, an art
teacher at Monhage, was the artistic designer. This
was Andrews-Coyle fifth year as artistic designer with
the drama club.
Set
design was by former Middletown High School teacher Bob Broelmann, along with his set construction crew
comprised entirely of parents and staff. Costume
design was by Pam House, a MMS home and careers skills
teacher, along with her crew of parent-seamstresses.
MMS
teacher recognized by Who's Who
Among American Teachers®
OCT. 2005—Jennifer
Arceri, special education teacher at Monhagen, was
recognized in the 9th edition of Who's Who
Among American Teachers® published
October 2005. Who’s
Who Among American Teachers® honors those educators
nominated by students from
Who’s Who Among American
High School Students®,
Who's Who Among
American High School Students-Sports Edition,
and students
honored in The National
Dean’s List®, or because they are held in the
highest regard by their communities and peers.
According to the organization, because of the high
caliber of students nominating them, approximately
156,000 teachers featured in the current edition of
Who's Who Among American Teachers®
are among our nation's best and most respected teachers.
"This past year, Ms.
Arceri worked diligently with her students to
prepare them for the eighth grade mathematics
assessment. The students were able to narrow
the gap between their performance and the NYS standard considerably," said Eileen
Rivera-Shapiro, MMS principal. "We are very proud
of Ms. Arceri's recognition, and are extremely
elated that she is a member of the Monhagen Middle
School learning community."
This is Ms. Arceri
's second year in the district. She received her
Bachelors degree in Mathematics and Masters degree
in Literacy from Mount Saint Mary College in
Newburgh.
Middle school
instructional day extended by 30 minutes
SEPT. 2005—This fall the Middletown City School
District had one goal in mind when extending the daily
instructional day at Twin Towers and Monhangen Middle Schools to
6½-hours — to help ensure academic success.
“The additional instructional time will benefit our students
academically by allowing more time for teaching in the content
areas,” said Richard DelMoro, Director for Secondary Education.
“Increasing the instructional day will maximize student learning
time, which in-turn will help to maximize academic success.”
The extended day will bring the
schools up to the same 6½-hour instructional day as the other
buildings in the district. With standards and learning
expectations increasing, the additional half-hour of instruction
will also help to provide middle schoolers with the same
opportunities as other students in the district and ensure that
all Middletown students are reaching their full academic
potential.
Middleschoolers get introduced to the world of
engineering
SEPT. 2005—Twenty-two Monhagen
middleschoolers attended the fourth annual
New Faces of Engineering
Conference held by the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering, at SUNY New Paltz, to
celebrate National Engineers Week. The theme of the
event, "New Faces of Engineering," was designed to
introduce students to the exciting world of
engineering.
Throughout the day
students in grades 7-12, from 31 schools in Ulster,
Dutchess, Orange and Rockland counties, had the
opportunity to experience what engineers do by
participating in hands-on projects, including the
creation of their own fiber optic circuit system.
Students visited displays of state-of-the-art products
designed by professional engineers from more than 40
high-tech companies, including materials from IBM's
museum collection, NASA, Honda's ASIMO humanoid robot
and LEGO.
Seventh and eighth graders saw the "Lisa Lou Anti
Gravity Show," which included a floating beach ball to
explain flight; peacock feathers to explain balance;
and a madcap plate spinning routine that explains the
center of gravity. Lisa B. Louis is a graduate of
Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Clown College who,
over the last 15 years, has presented her circus
skills from Nagasaki, Japan to Atlantic City, N.J.
Students had an opportunity to learn how to do many of
the circus skills shown in this program, including
balancing, rope spinning, magic and more. |
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This
page is maintained by Melissa
Cortellini, public information specialist, according to Web
publishing guidelines used by the Enlarged City School
District of Middletown. All rights reserved. This Web site was produced
by the
Capital Region BOCES Communications Service. © 2003 |
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