May 22 BOE meeting recognitions

A familiar face returned home was one of the highlights of the recognition portion of the Middletown Board of Education May 22 meeting in the high school’s library media center.

Elisha Hodges, a 2019 MHS graduate, was honored as a new City of Middletown Police Officer. He spoke about positive experiences within the district, as praised as an up-and-coming police officer by Chief John Ewanciw.

Twin Towers scholar Jarissa Nunez, along with MHS scholars Valeria Hoyos Gomez and Talaya Miller, were recognized for their essays in the Orange County “Stop the Hate” challenge. Jarissa and Valeria finished first in their respective school level categories and each received $200. Talaya received honorable mention and was awarded $100.

The Youth in Government club was recognized for its work during the 2023-24 school year, which included a trip to Albany for the NYS conference. Congratulations to Anthony Barone, 

Carol Cartuche, Laila Carty, Shanel Carty, Efrain Cedeno, Brianna Cleary, Jose Antonio Contreras, Lawrence Hendrickson, Jenny Lin, Melissa Parker, Zacchary Pierre, Trinity Prioleau, Troi Roberts, Ethan Sartillo and Gabby Soto.

The City of Middletown’s crossing guards, who serve the scholars and families of our district, were acknowledged and certainly appreciated. Also, two long-time guards who recently passed away - Susan Crance and Joseph Kovacs - were remembered fondly. We certainly appreciate all our crossing guards, including those honored on May 22: Robert Warner, Giovanna Rubillo, Marva Daniels, Nicholas DiRenzo, William Gardner, James Masi and Cal Wisher.

Maple Hill National Elementary Honor Society scholars were recognized for helping Maple Hill Annex at Truman Moon scholars by creating adaptive books. The NEHS scholars were taught how some Annex scholars communicate and learn, and how sometimes we need new ways to help us communicate and interact while learning. So the NEHS scholars worked together to make these adaptive books so all kids can participate in reading a book and can interact with the pages to show they understand. It truly was a terrific presentation.

The Special Services Department gave a presentation that was an overview of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices. These are communication devices utilized by some scholars at the Maple Hill Annex at Truman Moon. We shared the stories and progress of two scholars in the program who use AAC devices. We were honored to highlight and share their growth and progress in several different areas since they have begun using their communication devices, including growth in verbal language, academic skills, and social/emotional skills.