The Mohawk Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) recently announced that Shaker High School senior Aaliyah Hussain was selected as the SHS Good Citizen for 2019-2020. The National Society of DAR sponsors this annual award to encourage and reward the qualities of good citizenship among high school seniors. The qualities include outstanding dependability, service, leadership and patriotism.

Aaliyah will be recognized for her achievements at an awards ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 12, at the Pruyn House in Latham.

Congratulations, Aaliyah!

Shaker High School senior Varun Mondaiyka was recently named a Volunteer of the Year by Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan. Varun was among 24 individuals awarded at the Ignite Volunteer Festival on Sunday, Nov. 17 at the Albany Cap Center. 

More than 45 non-profit organizations that are making a big difference in communities in and around Capital Region gathered at the festival to share their mission. While celebrating the achievements of the past year, Varun was awarded for his work in the field of Literacy, Culture and Art. He was nominated by the non-profit organization he is involved with, WithOurVoice, Inc.

The awards were hosted by Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, Brian Cody of WGNA and Heather Kovar from WRGB CBS 6 News.

Congratulations, Varun!

The high school concert that was snowed out on Monday night, Dec. 2, will be merged into the other two high school concert programs.

The high school concert on Wednesday, Dec. 4 will now include: p.3 Symphonic Band, Jazz Ensemble, Bella Voce, Dixieland Jazz, 8VA, 9-10 Orchestra, World Music, Counterpoint Strings, and 9-10 Chorus.

The high school concert on Monday, Dec. 9 will now include: Resolving Suspenders, p.1 Symphonic Band, Shaker Select, Wind Ensemble, 11-12 Orchestra, and 11-12 Chorus.

Some of the musical selections will be cut, and staging will be planned carefully to reduce the program length each night. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

SAVE THE DATE! The Shaker JHS GSA and the SHS GLASS clubs are hosting: “Safer & Seen: How to Support our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Questioning Children” on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the Shaker Junior High School Library. This workshop, presented by Lyndon Cudlitz (www.lyndoncudlitz.com), is for the loved ones of LGBTQ children. Attendees will be given space to ask tough questions and the opportunity to learn more about LGBTQ identities.

Shaker High School welcomed eight Russian students and their two teachers at the end of October. The group was from Moscow’s School 1158, located in the southern part of the city. This was the third exchange Shaker students had the opportunity to participate in. Shaker previously hosted students from Costa Rica and France. 

Prior to arriving in Latham, the group spent two days in Washington, D.C., where they visited monuments and learned about our nation’s capital. Once the Russian students arrived at Shaker, they stayed with host families and experienced many fall activities, including bonfires, pumpkin carving, Fright Fest and, of course, Halloween. Our Russian guests participated in the Halloween parade at the high school and other Halloween-related activities in the evening. Halloween is not widely celebrated in Russia and the concept of trick-or-treating was completely new to our guests.

During their time at Shaker, the Russian students shadowed their host students, visited classes and followed the daily schedule. They also visited the Russian classes at Shaker Junior High School where they shared information about their school, their city and their life in Moscow. The group also took a field trip to Hancock Shaker Village to learn about where our school got its name. In addition to activities in the Capital Region, the group went to Boston to learn more about our country’s history. They took a walking tour of the Freedom trail and spent time at Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market.

“The Russian student who stayed with me presented a side of life that I didn’t know existed,” Shaker senior Chris Garretson stated. “It feels like I had been oblivious to a whole other world.”

The group departed early on Friday, Nov. 1 to go to New York City, where they spent two days exploring and sight seeing before boarding their plane and saying до свидания to the United States.

“We are so thrilled that we were able to offer this exchange opportunity to our students and families. I took part in an exchange with this very school when I was a junior and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life,” Russian teacher Sara Detmer said. “It gives students and families the opportunity to learn about another culture and to build meaningful relationships.”

“I was honored to welcome Russian students Maria and Anna into our home,” Shaker senior Marisa Dreibelbis said. “I loved learning about life in Russia and, in turn, sharing our American traditions. They both brightened our home with their own talents of music and knowledge, making their goodbyes all the more heartwarming. It is an experience I will never forget and it will always be in my heart.”

Grade 8 First Quarter Merit, Honor and High Honor Rolls

8th Grade Merit Roll

Alhusein Alzabidi, Rhyme Anwar, Andrew Beeler, Ryan Berdar, Lauren Bradt, Kevin Clark, Moira Connolly, Jayonna Dean-Hamilton, Grace Dupuis, Duaa Elmahdi, Tallulah Fininen, Sophie Gilchrist, Logan Goldsmith, Alani Greene, Kaili Groff, Mohammed Hameed, Shannon Hockford, Caleigh Hogan, Conor Hughes, Wajahat Hussain, Zeshan Khan, Zahraa Mohammed, Rishi Patel, Maria Puglisi, Eric Rodriguez, Justin Santiago, Jaiden Stith, Isabel Torres-Connors, Andrew VanVranken, Christopher Vitas, Morgan Walion, William Walsh, Tanner Winter

8th Grade Honor Roll

Aima Abbas, Kainaat Abdul, Charlie Abdullaeva, Alexis Adkins, Thomas Alber, Ilianis Alvarado-Reyes, Rajay Alvarenga, Saboor Amjad, Malachi Annan, Zeeshan Anwer, Sarayu Arvapally, Michael Audino, Genevieve Austin, Matthew Bancroft, Matthew Bennett, Vanessa Bermejo, Hannah Bouchard, Sarah Brown, Alyssa Camilli, Michael Carrothers, Bradley Cavanaugh, Ally Cavosie, Ava Celeone, Nicholas Cerrone, Chessa Chernosky, Liam Chudzinski, Sarah Conroy, Pierson Davis, Dylan DeBiccari, Michael DeFelice, Tyler DiNuzzo, Rachel Dwyer, Stephen Dybas, Miles Ehrlich, Tessa Forcucci, Victoria Gildersleeve, Jenna Grinnell, Lorenz Guzman, Kathryn Harrington, Roque Fabian Hernandez-Merino, Eric Huneau, Giada Iannacone, Ilyas Irfan, Tyler Kearns, Aiden Keevern, Joshua Kurian, Madelyn Lambert, Mia LaPorta, Brendan Lev, Rhys Lewis, Isabella Lue, Ahyaan Malik, Noah Marinucci, Matthew Maron, Ethan McGarry, Daniel McGlynn, Gabriella McGrail, Jackson McLain, Riley McLaughlin, Alexa Mikulec, Evan Miles, Isabella Molano, Marisa Mullen, Mohanad Nahhas, Samiullah Neyazy, Lucien Niemi, Ezekiel Nikiforov, Christian Nunez, Casey OConnor, Karley Ouderkirk, Elizabeth Paruszkiewicz, Sam Penubothula, Erika Petersen, Amanda Petito, Jayden Phoenix, Cesia Pino-Mercado, Gabriel Pitts, Alexander Polsinello, William Preston, Aayan Rahman, Sean Rhatigan, Braeden Rhatigan, Sophia Richardson, Mohammed Ridoy, Claire Romania, Logan Royce, Meghan Russo, Ava Scattareggia, Troy Serao, Jared Smith, Evan Stadnik, Luke Steenburgh, Isabella Storms, George Sutphin, Ava Thompson, Maeve Tobler, Rohith Tummalapalli, Henry Unser, Jannett Vazquez Lopez, Kali Wall, Tobias Wasserman, Ella Wicklund, Dina Zilvere

8th Grade High Honor Roll

Sameer Abbaszadeh, Leila Adelstein, Carleigh Ahl, Toshin Ahnaf, Arshaq Alamgir, Ryan Baccaro, Ronald Bailey, Aidan Bailie, Sana Bargeer, Lucas Bell, Benjamin Belliss, Braeden Bellmore, Isabel Beyer, Zainab Bibi, Sarah Biddle, Addison Borst, Kaitlyn Bradley, Caroline Brown, Natalie Bullington, Andrew Calderon, Cara Calicchia, Mark Cannistraci, Connor Carey, Lexi Carrington, Sierra Carter, Kimberly Castro-Ortega, Ava Catalfamo, Hsuan-Cheng Chen, Christina Cheng, Schuyler Chlopecki, Robert Connell, Zachary Cox, Connor Cunningham, Mahimn Dave, Walaa Dawood, Jennifer DeSantis, Colin DeVoe, John DiMarino, Payton Donovan, Jackson Doolittle, Cailan Drake, Nicholas Duncan, Gabriella Dunham, Leina Dunn, Khalafalla Elkersani, Selma Fabregas, Tayab Faisal, Dorothea Farrell, Nathan Fazzone, Isabella Fink, Kaiya Fraley, Riwa Frangieh, Madison Fraser, Geena Fratangelo, James Gabor, Aidan Garland, Sanvi Gawad, Olivia Gilbert, Mark Ezekiel Gobres, Leonni Griffin, Caitlynn Grimmell, Tyler Groeber, Alexa Gross, Arhant Gupta, Hridaanshu Gusain, Ayat Hag-Elsafi, Kumail Haider, Payton Harding, Samuel Harkavy, Colby Haver, Relani Hicks, Connor Hughes, Cai-Lin Hughes, Kyle Hume, Jonah Hymes, Aiden Jenkins, Julia Johnson, Amelia Kabalian, Jack Kalteux, Maya Kantimahanthu, Alyssa Kearns, Jack Keegan, Gavin Kelly, Annabel Kelsey, Ishan Khambete, Soha Khan, Salman Khan, Sameya Khan, Arisha Khawaja, Hyunseo Kim, D Kimbler, Elizabeth Koa, Jack Kraft, Paige Kruegler, Lidia Krylova, Casey Kunin, Zahi Ladkhan, Nathan Lajeunesse, Myah Lamour, Sarah Hannah Langdon, Khang Le, Olivia Liang, William Liburdi, Kate Loffredo, Noah Lowe, Diego Luna, Ryan Lyons, Deen Magdon-Ismail, Satvik Malneedi, Lorenzo Marra, Lindsey McCulloch, Caden McLaughlin, Isleny Mendez, Kevin Mendez, Macey Meyers, Connor Mitchell, Sebina Mo, Michael Moffre, Brennen Mone, Gabriella Montalto, Samantha Morlitz, Matthew Mostert, Naveen Mufti, Edward Mulheren, Evin Mullins, Amalan Narashimman, Brooke Naylor, Dawud Nazir, Phat Dang Nguyen, Coey Ni, Sarah Nune, Nicholas Nystoriak, Sara Oakley, Annabelle OConnor, Isabella O’Donnell, Henry O’Donnell, Anna Orlioglu, Tatum Passonno, Ava Pasterchick, Gia Patel, Mason Perry, Rachael Petromelis, Kelly Pfeiffer, Lindsay Pilla, Estelle Porter, Melaunie Porter, Kaylie Quinn, Scott Randall, Lucien Rappazzo, Dylan Reichl, Madelyn Rempel, Vittorio Renda, Julia Repko, Leah Ricci, Abigail Rice, Luigi Riggione, Claire Riley, Connor Roberts, Emma Rosekrans, Madinah Rosen, Constance Roumier, Jackson Rueckert, Sean Salvi, Isabella Sawyer, Anneliese Schneider, Myalin Schnitzer, Lauren Schrom, Lola Shippey, Imran Shukralla, Aden Siegfeld, Jonathan Skawinski, Audrey Smith, Siyeong Song, Madeleine St Pierre, Likhita Sai Tamanampudi, Nino Tedesco, Manahil Tehseen, Abhinav Thati, Shreya Thimirisetty, Prakriti Timalsina, Michael Tong, Jordan Townsend, Anthony Valenti, Solomiia Valihunda, Anabelle Vasquez, Gabrielle Verchereau-Greco, Genevieve Vincelette, Sreeram Vudayagiri, Tommy Vuu, Dominic Walker, Handy Wang, Brenna Welling, Giovanni Wellington, MacKenzie Wellington, Blake Welty, Angelina Wu, Edward Xu, Jolin Yang, Matthew Yunck, Aliza Zehra, Mohammad Zia

Grade 7 First Quarter Merit, Honor, and High Honor Rolls

7th Grade Merit Roll

Humza Afzaal, Waheed Alam, Kayden Belleard, Charles Bonsu, John Casson, Rhea Frangieh, Shea Hegarty, Hyebin Jung, Sean McAdoo, Hamzh Nagi, Katherine Noon, Elham Osman, Alyssa Perez, Arden Sampson, Stephen Schaefer, Joseph Treffiletti, Malorey Villeneuve, Ethan Watson, Alan Yanson

7th Grade Honor Roll

Samaita Ahmed, Shaira Areeba, Selene Armstrong, Ashlyn Arnold, Sezuti Banik, Sophia Biel, Calleigh Boord, Emylie Brizzell, Kathleen Buffaline, Ryan Buffaline, Sophia Calacone, Zachary Caprara, Melina Carroll, Sophia Celeone, Iris Chang, Elizabeth Clarke, Lillian Coler, Ava Connelly, Shawn Curtin, Elyssa Cusack, Brian Darwak, Robert DeLaCruz, Dominic DiBacco, Makayla Diblasi, Nicole Dillenbeck, Isabelle Dischiavo, Emma Donovan, Madelyn Easton, Mia Ferracane, Nicholas Graziano, Stephen Guba, Paul Harley, Mia Hernandez, Lillian Horn, Meghan Jesmonth, Bruce Jurman, Manjinder Kaur, Mackenzie Kelly, Azan Khan, Olivia LaBarge, Isabelle LaBree, Thomas Lanahan, John Mardigian, Vincent Milano, Jaydan Miles, Charlotte Mitchell, Zachary Montimurro, Blake Nazarian, Fintan Nelson, Everest Nelson-Holder, Noah Nethaway, Lily Nichols, Logan O’Brien, Ryan O’Donoghue, Eliza Perez, Kacie Pilla, Theresa Rheingold, Lorenzo Rizk, Alyssa Rose, Kylie Rose, Shawn Scherzer, Gianna Schillinger, Vibhuthi Semsetti, Devraj Singh, Madison Sole, Chasten Spencer, William Stalker, Samhita Surapally, Yusra Tahari, Abagael Taylor, Thomas Tedesco, Joshua Twumasi, Olivia VanDervoort, Rowan Waite, Gabrielle Wood, Aidan Zajesky, Justin Zhang

7th Grade High Honor Roll

Shriyan Ahuja, Kathryn Alber, Akil Keerthan Anbukannan, Hritish Ancha, Tanish Arique, Zainab Asad, Saad Ashar, Joshua August, Caroline Austin, Lila Bazargan-Lari, Mya Becker, Vandy Benson, Sarah Bette, Charles Bevevino, Zayd Bhatti, Mikayla Biance, Heidi Bilger, Zoe Bloom, Carlye Ana Boenau, Shashank Boosa, Djulia Borceanu, Timothy Bossard, Owen Brant, Garrett Bulatao, Jack Bunaes, Sarah Byun, Alyssa Caiano, Caden Carr, Dylan Carron, Thomas Case, Catherine Cheng, Dominic Cioffi, Dominic Corey, Cadence Coughlin, Juliana Crisafulli, Meghan Cummings, William Cunningham, Clare Cunningham, Jack de Roziere, Alexander Deeb, Alana DeLaCruz, Mckenna Denave, Alyssa Dheeradhada, Tierra Diaz, Charlotte Dunkel, Anisah Edgehill-Geter, Lorenzo Fernandez, Patrick Flaherty, Kristen Foglia, Madison Fosmire, Aidan Froehlich, Jack Gallagher, Joseph Gecewicz, Sydney Geracitano, Brenden Gilooly, Mira Ginsburg, Zackory Giordani, Akshaj Golyalla, Gianna Greco, Dominic Greco, Ian Gu, Hans Gupta, Isabel Guzman, Amanda Halko, Luke Hanley, Samer Hasan, Mallory Heider, Eleanor Helm, Hannah Hipwell, Angelina Hoang, Audrey Howell, Isabella Hu, Mackenzie Hunter, Sriman Iyer, Sakthi Jagannath, Pavithra Jayakumar, Lillian Johnson, Namrish Karthik, Mary Keniry, Ava Keville, Suhana Kiran, Dea Kolgega, Clayton Koonce, Harsha Kota, Everest Kuang, Case LaChance, Madison Lacouture, Alina Lagace, Catherine Lanahan, Matthew Lau, Andrew Lawler, Katelyn Lencewicz, Sydney Leone, Neko Lin, Olivia Lovly, Kevin Lu, Kyle MacPherson, Tyler MacPherson, Tye Mariano, Ryan Mayer, Luke McCormick, Riley McKeen, Molly McKinney, Brendan McLoughlin, Josiah Mo, Abdelrahman Mohamed Elazab, Meghan Molloy, Anakin Morris, Regan Morrissey, Phineas Moustakas, Sophie Mulheren, Cole Murley, Margaret Murphy, David Musser, Elizabeth Myers, Aaliyah Naina, Aachal Nalabothula, Jack Nickson, Maya Niles, Alexandra Odell, Nina Page, Krithi Pala, Hannah Park, Yoon Park, Alex Passino, Ayush Patel, Conor Peltier, Vidun Perera, Alice Pipe, Thomas Polemeropoulos, Helen Powell, Archana Prajapati, Divyansh Pramanick, Jordan Prusky, Matthew Psomas, Keira Quinn, Alexander Raghubar, Victoria Raghubar, Vaughn Rainsberg, Dominic Razzano, Jane Regan, April Ren, Gracie Rigney, Ella Roberts, Mahala Rootes, Jordan Ross, Marley Ruberti, Elizabeth Rys, Sabrin Sadek, Nafisa Salam, Peter Sandomire, Anna Sandul, Gopika Madhurima Sarvepalli, Zachary Scavo, Hannah Scheu, Katelyn Scorzelli, Faiz Shaikh, Vladislav Shargorotski, Grady Shea, Noah Sheldon, Katherina Shimick, Adam Singaporewala, Ann Smith, Kylee Snyder, Chloe Soller, Mia Sorrentino, Angelina Spinelli, Ema Stano, Emylie Stanton, Tahlia Stefanik, Peter Strand, Spencer Subik, Hyeonseo Suk, Evan Sullenberger, Sarah Syden, Alexa Tahoe, Selena Tang, Graeme Teal, Lina Terra, Tom Truong, Nicholas Vinci, Kristina Vu, Dominic Waters, Eric White, Maxwell Winglosky, Jakob Womer, Allison Wu, Luke Wygel, Pranjal Yadav, Vivian Yang, Bowen Yu, Samantha Zitofsky, Benjamin Zuchelkowski

The Board of Education has appointed Ms. Denise Towne as the district’s new director of transportation. Ms. Towne was appointed at the Nov. 18 board meeting. She will be taking over for John Myers, who is retiring after 18.5 years with the district.

Ms. Towne is coming to North Colonie from the Albany City School District, where she has served as the director of transportation since 2016. Prior to her work in Albany, Ms. Towne served as the transportation supervisor for the Schenectady City School District, the location manager for First Student, the shared transportation director for Berne-Knox-Westerlo Central School District and Schoharie Central School District and the transportation supervisor for the Rensselaer City School District. 

“I am confident that Ms. Towne will successfully lead the transportation department as we move forward with changes throughout the district,” Superintendent Joe Corr said. “Ms. Towne’s experience will be a great asset to the department and we look forward to having her on board.”

Ms. Towne will start in the district on Dec. 23. 

Grade 9

High Honor Roll

Aditi Agni, Varun Appalaneni, Ridika Badshah, Yervant Bardakjian, Saurav Bavdekar, Nicholas Bennett, Joshua Blake, Lauren Brissette, Bryan Chae, Ajalay Christopher, Katherine Conjalka, Giancarlo Conti, Lauren Curley, Brian Devendorf, Regan Doherty, Darren Duan, Bess Dunsker, Rosila Elebyjian, Ishrar Eusha, Eloise Gall, Raina Gandhi, Maria Gauna, Jack Gialanella, Max Ginsburg, Ani Gregori Asadourian, Yassin Hag-Elsafi, Brianna Hardwick, Kaleigh Higgins, Minh Ho, Jason Iancu, Daniel Jung, Andrew Kang, Isabel Kats-Rodgers, Lilla Korniss, Vincent Lau, Hannah Lee, Chaehyeon Lee, Ryan Martinkat, Jamie Martino, Bridget McLoughlin, Abigail McManus, Roshan Mehta, Christina Mezza, Yuktha Milukuri, Julianna Mirabile, Mia Momot, Owen Niles, Danil Orlioglu, Olivia Pardo, Saraaga Poka, Roshni Ramesh, Sudhanva Rao, Sophia Rayburn, Mason Roberts, Annika Robin, Pradham Rodda, Kyla Ryan, Steven Sadek, Shashank Sekhar, Mariya Shareef, Harry Shen, Christopher Smith, Kaitlyn Stanton, Jongmyeong Sung, Milen Tesfaye, Aarya Tyagi, Ethan Valente, Shivangi Verma, Sahana Vinothkumar, Noa Wacholder, Alex Xu, Hannah Yu, Yaoxuan Zhang, Toby Zheng, Lauren Zhu

Honor Roll

Aabidah Afzal, Caitlyn Asher, Claire Beshaw, Samantha Bogert, Aiden Burns, Ethan Cadet, Andrew Caiano, Lucy Catalano, Alexa Cavosie, Andrew Church, Cassandra Clovis, Annabella Coluccio, Grace Cometti, Grace Commisso, Victoria DAmico, Edward David, Mason Dils, Thomas Egan, Ilhan Eser, Nathaniel Fesel, Katherine Field, Isabel Fowler, Elijah Gach, Stanley Gao, Abigail Geffrey, Claire Gordon, Neil Gupta, Jeffrey Guzy, Charlie Hansel, Afia Haque, Hailey Hayes, John Hoblock, Abigail Hotaling, Nahian Huda, Sabrina James, Alexandra Joslyn, Michael David Josol, Benson Jovel-Truong, Caitlin Justice, Anna Karpen, Zainab Khan, Christopher Lawrence, Gabriel Lee, Brian Li, Bret Lortie, Stela Loshi, Lara Luczak, Dharini Madadi, Zain Majid, Thomas Marino, Aldion Markocaj, Connor Martin, Bridget Martinkat, Karleigh Mirabile, Prapti Mishra, Aditya Nayak, Kaitlin Neumeister, Lauren OHagan, Conner Orr, Isabella Pafundi, Janna Pervaiz, Jillian Pierone, Trista Polsinello, Pranav Puviarasu, Raina Rahman, Markus Rankins, Zain Raza, Cristiane Richardson, Evelyn Rigney, Joshua Ryan, Romeo Salcedo, Eric Schlaeg, Jacob Shapiro, Aytin Shariq, Isabella Stanfield, Haroon Syed, Micaela Tahoe, Alyssa Turcotte, Alexandra Wallace, Thomas White, Brody Williams, Eric Zheng

Merit Roll

Jackson Abraham, Tabish Alam, Caleb Alemu, Kelly Alexander, Mir Ali, Ajwad Aloraifi, Julia Alvey, Ryon Audino, Aviva Banks, Victoria Bender, Natalie Bennett, Isabella Bermudez, Peyton Bobersky, Alex Brunco, Lillian Buresh, Cameron Butler, Jadyn Castracani, Tess Chabot, Sydney Cody, Liam Condon, Kevin Conjalka, Lucas Cook, Emily DeVoe, Corey Ditzel, Joshua Duke, Lauren Foglia, Hudson Garber, Abbigayle Gorman, Emily Guba, Ally Guzy, Waqas Hagali, Grace Harris, Lindsey Hatlee, McKenzie Horton, Timothy Kelsey, Pranav Kumar, Alicia LaBarge, Grace Landy, Nayib Mall, Kamira Medford, Samira Mohamedali, John Montalto, Benjamin Montimurro, Annaliese Myers, Hisham Naina, Iqra Naz, Stephanie Nguyen, Victoria Omotayo, Somida Oruganti, Nicholas Palladino, Diya Patel, Ahmad Ramay, Caleb Ratigan, Ryan Razzano, Ibraheem Ropri, Ava Roth, Shashank Salgam, Angelica Sandul, Lesedi Sekhobo, Ryhan Shaik, Layla Shipley, Cooper Sidoti, Ella Smith, Angelina Sokaris, Jaren Stivers, Sandesh Thapa, Maura Gyan Thukral, Joseph Trombley, Matthew Valoze, Madylin Victorin, Jameson Vincent, Kaylee Ward, Emmet Weller, Emily Yocum, Yehji Yoon, Madison Zenzen, Vincent Zhang, Edwin Zhang, Steven Zhao

Grade 10

High Honor Roll 

Wesal Adam, Joanna Andrews, Gage Antifaiff, Avi Bagchi, Labesh Baral, Ayaan Bargeer, Sara Bawla, Emily Bette, Hannah Byun, Aidan Caplan, Sydney Carron, Karly Cavanaugh, Minyi Chen, Hsuan Yi Chen, Isabella Connell, Patrick Dai, Lily DeBellis, Ibrahim Faisal, Harrison Fazzone, Evan Fecko, Emily Flores, Jason Giambertone, Madeline Green, Aditri Gupta, Ashley Halko, Kathryn Hanrahan, Mahnoor Hasan, Christian Haver, Sean Hong, Dean Hood, Fiona Houghton, Jason Isiguzo, JoAnna James, Jacob Joslin, Kalyna Karpishka, Allison Kunin, Aidan Lafnitzegger, Vuong Le, May Le, Lily Luper, Dylan Mattison, Jacob McCormick, Christopher McGarvey, Grace McManus, Juana Merino-Lopez, Louis Meunier, Kevin Mieu, Mary Moryl, Vivian Nartey, Rajani Nimma, Madison OConnor, Uriel Olayinka, Jaaziel Olayinka, Dylann Palmer, Hyerin Park, Nicholas Passino, Prapti Patel, Alisha Patel, Zachary Paton, Aidan Pelon, Victor Petitti, Jemma Pipe, Abigail Poole, Mia Raiti, Jared Randall, Christina Savastio, Elisabeth Scheu, Safwan Shikder, Mary Sullenberger, Victoria Swider, Isabelle Tedesco, Ying Zhi Zheng

Honor Roll

Zoha Ahmed, Jessica Andrews, Gabrielle Audi, Kaydance Baumes, Samuel Bevevino, Lucy Beyer, Sarah Clare Biazon, Jacob Biel, Timothy Braman, Aryn Bucci-Mooney, Ciara Bullington, Asher Carlin, Kaelah Carter, Esther Chang, Jack Chudzinski, Grant Covington, Miah Curtin, Makayla Cusack, Sage Dirtadian, Jordyn Doran, Abigail Dranichak, Sana Fazlani, Natalie Fox, Hanna Fraley, Anthony Gilchrist, Sean Gilday, Sydnee Hanrahan, Nolan Horn, Skylar Hults, Maaz Hussain, Seung Heun Joung, Aidan Justino, Grace Keane, Miles Kear, Sai Shreeya Kollapudi, Michael Krupitza, Alexa Labella, Jeremy LaParl, Alyce Lavoie, Vicky Lin, Alexander Liranzo, Zain Magdon-Ismail, Ryan Mahoney, Faith Malo, Ryan Mazzariello, Olivia McCabe, Zierra McMillan, Christian Naclerio, Mahad Nasir, Olivia Papa, Keara Papa, Satyam Patel, Tristan Peloquin, Rachel Peregrim, Abigail Powell, Joseph Razzano, Akeana Rootes, Eleonore Roumier, Isabelle Rowley, Sagar Sahu, Isabella Scavo, Abigail Schneider, Justin Schulte, Nicholas Segarra, Liam Shaw, Aaron Sittig, Peyton Strand, Naasiah Syud, Ansley Teal, Ciara Torrey, Thanh Tran, Ryan Unser, Kishore Venkatarajan, Marina Walsh, Schuyler Wang, Olivia Wilson, Pranav Woody, Cadence Young, James Zhang

Merit Roll 

Andrew Alexander, Ahad Al-Hemyari, Robert Arvin, Allison August, Lili Bazargan-Lari, Myah Bermudez, Stephen Bruno, Kaylynn Buonpastore, Kendra Burke, Stephen Calderon, Samuel Case, Adam Comolli, Mary Jane Contakos, James Cook, Alexis Cornwell, Matthew Cristiano, Sarah Cuerdon, Emilie DeGroff, Jaya Dixon, Jacquelyn Driggs, KaeLin Duncan, Gabrielle Durivage, Ian Edgar, Carter Emerson, Jessa Engelmann, Yasmeen Faiz, John Charles Favreau, Colin Fish, Amitai Goldmeer, Ryan Goronsky, Alannah Gottehrer, Mia Greco, Yashwitha Gunji, Arietta Hallock, Andriana Harding, Lyla Hasan, Meredith Hayes, Jashon Holmes, Nadia Hotaling, Zackary Howe, Arrianna Johnson, Joseph Karpierz, Berat Kuruca, Allison Luks, Isabella MacNiven, Ronan Malga, Avery Marshall, Dur E Shahwar Mehmood, Lizbeth Mejia, Angelina Merolle, Benjamin Miller, Nicholas Montalto, Ryan Murphy, Killian OConnor, Abigail ONeill, Viraj Patil, Sohan Pattanaik, Stephen Petersen, Ella Raiti, Gabriella Reagan, Anthony Rizzo, Corinne Rosi-Moon, Christinelle Santos, Christalline Santos, Julia Schrom, Andrew Sennoga-Kimuli, Rizwan Shaik, Logan Shaw, Sandra Sheedy, Tyler Shelmerdine, William Sheppeck, Victoria Silverstrim, Justin Smith, Shadea Stone, Dillon Teger, Emma Testa, Nicholas Tsaggari, Christabel Twumasi, Cierra Walker, Caraline Warren, Demetrius Washington, Sadie Weiss, Sydney Wells, Mayah Wheeler, Natalie Wolf, Andrew Yocum

Grade 11

High Honor Roll 

Karim Abouzeid, Ethan Andrews, Lauren Beshaw, Dolly Bhashyam, Dani Bhashyam, Emory Blanchet, William Buono, David Clemenzi, Ava Connery, Dylan Conroy, Jacob Contois, Isabella Cowan, Aislinn Dailey, Gage DeLair, Zackery Diehl, Connor Doherty, Bryn Fecko, John Graney, Andrew Huang, Micah Juman, Sara Jurnak, Emma Loffredo, Reth Lopes, Frances Marino, Salema Nabi, Veda Nandikam, Calista Orlyk, Alexander Phillips, Dylan Pollay, Anna Ryu, Scout Santoro, Gabriella Schaefer, Kendall Schilling, Luca Spadinger, Nathaniel Spence, Jessica Sweet, Cindy Sze, Maya Terry, Hunter Trifaro, Alvira Tyagi, Catalina Varela, Maya Villanueva, Jeremy Wernick, Kirari Yokoyama

Honor Roll 

Victoria Adediran, Atharv Agashe, Taha Ahmad, Wasif Ali, Muhammad Ali, KayLee Alix, Ashritha Annam, Julia Barker, Victor Botti, Mikayla Brunell, Angela Bulone, Adam Buresh, Jake Burleski, Sharon Charles, Tess Cody, Mina Conklin, Brynn Connors, Hailey Cook, Taylor Crain, Devin Cuthbert, Jacob Daniels, Logan Drake, Jesse Duke, Sienna Dunham, Sophie Dvorak, Abby Fay, Alexandra Felt, Mackenzie Ferris, Joshua Foglia, Robert Fratangelo, Shashank Garg, Patricia Gomez, Aftab Gondal, Kathleenjoy Gordon, Anna Hallock, Sarah Hamilton, Jordan Hansen, Eva Hymes, Grace Isernia, Sarah Jamil, Baylee Johnson, Jacob Karpen, Rhianna Kester, Sunmin Kim, Drew Kolaya, Ananya Kothapally, Emma LaChapelle, Matthew Lammon, Jamie Lau, Jethro Ronald Lee, Jordan Lev, Shannon Lipscomb, Sameeha Liton, Kara Martin, Abbey Martin, Dominic Martuscello, Joseph Mirabile, Peter Mostert, Kate Musser, Ammara Nazir, Zachary Novkov-Bloom, Francisco Oh, Alex Page, Anavi Parikh, Anna Pustay, Michaela Ridley, Kayla Robbins, Alexei Robin, Laura Romania, Connor Ruberti, Angelina Schaefer, John Schneider, Samuel Shurin, Ariel Siegfeld, Soniya Singh, Istan Slamet, Davlon Smith, Emily Sprague, Elise St Pierre, Jewel Tanksley, Saikalyan Thimirisetty, Owen Tobias-Wallingford, Aarohi Vasavada, Hayley Whitsett, Jalen Wu, Il Young Yang, Shahd Yasin, Runa Yokoyama

Merit Roll 

Fahad Ansar, Gabriella Audino, Maliyka Aziz, Caroline Bae, Nathaniel Bancroft, Alexah Bedard, Madeline Beretvas, Mahnoor Bibi, Sarah Blake, Logan Blind, Jackson Bogert, Annabella Britt, Kate Bunkoff, Matthew Calicchia, Amanda Carey, Benjamin Casler, Ashley Cheffolway, Carl Christian, Kaleb Christiansen, Amaya Cozzy, Amber Crain, Gozde Dagci, Owen Doorey, Alyssa Dortch, Fatima Dosso, Kayla Dragon, Matthew Ferris, Alexandra Feurer, Ian Fitzgerald, Emma Forcucci, Michael Ford, Sheldon Gallagher, Leah Geel, Michael Genito, Isaiah Greene, Christian Grimmick, Nolan Harris, Dean Hartl, Brennan Hedderman, Riley Hegarty, Mary Hessinger, Alexis Insero, Sarah Jacob, Maya Jenkins, Naomi Jurman, Shaheer Khawaja, Thomas Kita, Surya Krishnakumar, Kelsey Krissel, Arpana Kumari, Aika Kuroki, Bria Labella, Christopher Lane, James Timothy Langdon, Khoi Le, Juha Lee, Sneha Malneedi, Braden Martell, Nathan Mattison, Kierstyn McClements, Zachary Mein, Francisco Mendonca, Geena Motto, Bridget Munro, Michael Palladino, Lilith Phelps, Liamell Quezada, Giannina Resciniti, Salwah Riaz, Armando Ricci, Taylor Ross, John Ross, Madeline Santore, Aayan Sayed, Jae Young Seo, Darby Shaw, Michael Simkulet, Jonathan Smith, Connor Strand, Brian Tenney, Zainab Thaleb-Al Sallami, Whitney Thomas, Victoria Travis, Isabella Tronco, Coddy Vuu, Sunny Wang, Mackenzie Ward, Demetri Williams, Jonah Wygel, Sinthia Xhabej, Ethan Zhang

Grade 12

High Honor Roll

Fatima Alarcon, Gianna Aquino, Rohan Bagchi, Chloe Baldwin, Labika Baral, Heather Baran, Shreya Bavdekar, Elizabeth Bernardini, Jahnavi Bonagiri, Eric Brunco, Tara Bryan, Sydney Bulatao, Emily Bunkoff, Emelene Burek, Molly Burns, Kanakaharini Byraju, Kimi Canete, Ihunanyachi Chimezie, Seo Rim Choi, Ava Clemenzi, Kayleigh Collins, Emma Commisso, Kevin Cozzolino, Sophie Crehan, Emma Crisafulli, Brian Cunningham, John Curley, Rachel Dentinger, Meadow DeRusso, Conor Desmond, Anthony DiIanne, Raymond Eah, Margaret Enila, Jenna Fazzone, Bridget Felt, Keeley Frazier, Christopher Garretson, Heather Giordano, Joseph Green, Emily Grinnell, Vaishali Gupta, Justine Hulbert, Aaliyah Hussain, Maximillian Jackson, Apurva Jakkani, Eric Ji, Aarya Kaushik, Alexander Kelley, Michael Kelsey, Meghan Kennedy, Ruchika Kilaparty, Virag Korniss, Molly Langevin, Kristen Leach, Haejin Lee, Andrew Lenart, Roya Lewis, Edward Lo, Alyssa Lortie, Emily Masline, Lauren Massry, Reilly McCarthy, Mary Kate McGuirk, Natalie McLaughlin, Olivia Merolle, Marie Miller, Lana Mohamed, Varun Mondaiyka, Kaitlyn Montimurro, Madison Murray, Chloe Opperman, Margaret ORourke, Justin Osborn, Ashley Owens, Tanya Pai, Grace Papa, Rose Petitti, Meghan Piser, Alexis Plouff, Michelle Quiachon, Brendan Rafferty, Davis Ratigan, Jarred Reepmeyer, Abigail Rys, Sabrina Salam, Zaidalyn Schiappa, Brenna Schilling, Victoria Shamlian, Elizabeth Shamlian, Bridget Sheppeck, Tia Snyder, Isabella Snyder, Yun-Woo Son, Nidhi Vadnere, Nikolai Walion, Patrick Walters, Stephanie Warner, Claire Wu, Agnes Yang, John Yin, Jiqian Zhao

Honor Roll

William Acquario, Samantha Allen, Emily Allocco, Saad Aloraifi, Tierney Amodeo, Sierra Basco, Ashley Blodgett, Brooke Bogart, Samuel Bunkoff, Thomas Burek, Madeline Butler, Emily Butler, Cassidy Careccia, Mia Ceccucci, Isabella Chiesa, Cater Ciavardoni, Kaeleigh Commisso, Anthony Commisso, Alexia Cusack, Ryan Daniels, Gabriela Daumont, Madison Davis, Garrett Drake, Jenna Eagan, Avo Elebyjian, John Flint, Gabriel Formica, Sophia Fusco, Emory Garber, Fiona Gassett, Emily Geel, Leah Giambertone, Angela Gross, Harmony Hamilton, John Harting, Connor Horn, Joshua Hume, Kristen Iancu, Blake Iftiger, Devin Jackson, Lily Jerome, Carina Joslin, Ian Justino, Bhanu Kakulla, Julia Kane, Junseo Kim, Caleb Kromrey, Austin Kwon, Brittney Lanne, Angelina Lanni, Zhaoxin Ma, Alan Majo, Bailey Malo, Kyla Mansfield, Tori Mariano, Stephen Martino, Anthony Mezza, Olivia Miles, Abdelrahman Mohamedali, Alexandros Moisidis, Varun Morishetty, Keenan Mulroy, Kayla Na, Yewon Park, Joseph Peregrim, Julia Phelan, Isabella Provost, Thomas Randall, Mishal Razi, Mariam Rehman, Benjamin Richardson, Hunter Ritchie, Brady Rudnick, Ellianna Sarratori, Kassandra Savage, Jennifer Shields, Matthew Sullivan, Nicholas Szesnat, Tiffany Tang, Jack Tervay, Emine Turkoglu, Kseniia Valihunda, Michael VanWormer, Tatiana Varela, Fergus Younger, Emily Yu, Angela Zheng, Ying Qi Zheng

Merit Roll 

Khawaja Abdul Rafeh, Olivia Ames, Bianca Anastasio, Zohaib Anwer, Nikit Arora, Evan Austin, Ariana Becker, Olivia Botelho, Mackenzie Brewer, Claudiu Calbaza, Hardhik Chirra, Francesco Congiusta, William Cook, Evan Czolowski, Lindsey Domenick, Sydney Donovan, Angela Etienne Maitre, Jonathan Feliciano, Angelica Flores, Logan Francis, Nathan Gach, Raymond Gifford, Azka Hasan, Grace Holodak, Madeline Ives, Noah Johnson, Abigail Karpierz, Roy Kippins, Kevin Lee, Jonathan Leroy, Cathleen Mahoney, Meena Mall, Elizabeth McGovern, Gregory Milano, Mehvish Munir, Jake Nelson, Eden Nestler, Rachel Palladino, Joshua Pinchinat, Robert Pisinski, Kara Quackenbush, Micaela Robinson, Danielle Roemer, Olivia Rowley, Kateri Ryan, Juan Jose Salazar, Nazeer Sarwar, Daniel Schneider, Meghan Schramm, Dominic Schrom, Gabrielle Seebold, Zachary Shapiro, Hannah Sharlow, Hyo-Jean Shin, Matthew Snyder, Tyler Stanton, Ana Stiso, Andrea Swenson, Lily Tarantino, Tahira Tariq, Sadie Valente, Kristina Vant Zelfde, Sarah Vatalaro, Rufino Vazquez Lopez, Ava Wasula, Aidan Williamson, Allison Woodhouse

On Monday, Dec. 16, Shaker High School senior Aarya Kaushik was honored at the Board of Education meeting as the Kids Care recipient for December.

Aarya writes poetry and last month she was asked to write a poem for the veterans memorial ceremony held at the high school. At the Board meeting, Aarya read the poem and received a standing ovation.

For Aarya, this poem had meaning, as she has a special tie to veterans. Aarya has been volunteering at the Albany VA hospital in the inpatient nursing home and the hospice wing since she was 11 years old. Both of Aarya’s parents work at the VA as well.

“Some of my favorite times are just when I can sit down and spend time with the veterans, when I get to know them and hear their stories,” Aarya said.

Aarya has also written a book of poetry called “Stardust,” which was published over the summer and can now be bought on Amazon. 

Congratulations, Aarya!

Shaker High School senior Cat Mahoney was recently honored by the board of education as the North Colonie Kids Care recipient for the month of November.

Cat completed the New York City Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 3 and placed 26th out of 59 in her age group, with a finish time of 4:43:22.

Cat ran in honor of Best Buddies, an international nonprofit organization that creates opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Cat also ran in honor of her best buddy since first grade, Hank Masson. Cat and Hank met through the Best Buddies program in North Colonie when they were both students at Southgate. Hank, along with his parents, attended the board meeting to support Cat. The pair performed their “secret handshake” and Hank also presented Cat with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Congratulations, Cat! The entire North Colonie community is so proud of you! 

The North Colonie Central School District is looking for school bus drivers. A school bus driver makes a big difference in a student’s day – they are the first and last district employees the kids see in a school day. That’s why we seek positive-minded people who love kids, and who want to be part of that positive difference. As a school bus driver, you will:

• have a great schedule (6-9 a.m. or 2-5 p.m.);
• have holidays, school vacations and summers off;
• be a part of the New York State retirement system; and
• make $21.01 an hour.

All drivers start as substitute drivers and will have the option to become full-time as positions are available. 

Interested? You can apply here!

For more information, contact Transportation Director Denise Towne at denisetowne@ncolonie.org.

Congratulations to our very own Kurt Hassenpflug on recently earning his National Board Certification. Hassenpflug teaches English as a New Language (ENL) and English Language Arts (ELA) at Shaker High School.

National Board Certification was designed to develop, retain and recognize accomplished teachers and to generate ongoing improvement in schools nationwide. It is known as the most respected professional certification available in K-12 education.

“The certification process was very demanding and I am incredibly grateful to my colleagues, administrators, cohort group, and family for supporting me throughout the process, as well as the State of New York for providing me with an Albert Shanker Grant to help afford it,” Hassenpflug said.

After 11 years in the North Colonie Central School District, Hassenpflug earned the profession’s highest mark of achievement through a rigorous, performance-based, peer-review process, demonstrating their proven impact on student learning and achievement.

“National Board Certification really does represent the gold standard for what it means to be a reflective educator and achieving it has helped me gain both skill and confidence in my reflective practices,” Hassenpflug said. “Ultimately, I feel that going through it has improved my pedagogy in the classroom and has helped me work toward being the absolute best teacher I can be for my students. As teachers, I don’t think we are ever finished products – there is always more to do, more to learn, new mountains to climb, new challenges to face, etc. But I do believe that becoming an NBCT has helped me get closer toward achieving these goals.”

This year, there were 3,831 new National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs), who are helping students reach their highest potential in 2,914 schools across 46 states.

There are currently 2,115 NBCTs in New York state, including 14 in the North Colonie Central School District.

Congratulations to our Winter 2020 Athletes of the Week for Week 1! This week we honor the varsity wrestling team.

Shaker varsity wrestling took first place at the Stan Elinsky Tournament, 208 points ahead of second place Green-Oxford in the 13 team invitational! Individual champions were Austin Sill (120 lbs), Tyler Stanton (152 lbs), Bassir Rezek (160 lbs), Ghassan Chehade (195 lbs), and Ryan Stein (220 lbs). Congratulations!

Save the date! The Forts Ferry Learning Fair will take place on Wednesday, March 18 from 6-7:15 p.m.

View more information about the Learning Fair.

On Tuesday, Jan. 7, sixth grade math enrichment students from across the district participated in Math Experience Day at Siena College hosted by Computer Science Professor Jim Matthews.

Students were divided into teams in order to complete a variety of challenges using both their mathematical and logical thinking skills.

Congratulations to the winning team: Everett Li (Latham Ridge), Pranali Rodda (Boght Hills), Layla Mohamed (Forts Ferry) and Teddy Gialanella (Loudonville).

Everett Li (Latham Ridge), Pranali Rodda (Boght Hills), Layla Mohamed (Forts Ferry) and Teddy Gialanella (Loudonville).

Local author and former professional basketball player Willie Deane visited with students at Blue Creek and Latham Ridge on Friday, Jan. 10. Deane, a Schenectady native, read his book called “Love” and shared not only about the book but about his life and what it’s like to travel around the world as an athlete.

The main character in “Love” is named Sara and she uses the word love often but doesn’t understand what it means. Sara then asks her parents to explain it and they give her examples from her own life and show her different ways to express and recognize love. Sara soon understands how powerful love is and realizes that she shows and receives love all the time.

Deane originally came up with the idea for “Love” during his oldest daughter’s bedtime routine, where he would make up different stories for her every night.

“This is one of the stories I told my oldest daughter and she continued to request this story over and over again,” Deane said. “After a while, I decided I need to write it down so it would be more organized and she would be able to absorb the message and have these words with her, even long after I’m gone.”

Since the book was released last Valentine’s Day, Deane has been traveling to schools to share the book and its message, which he says is important for not only kids but adults as well.

“The most important thing that I want kids to understand is when they’re being loved,” Deane said. “For example, some students may have family members who aren’t able to express love verbally or via touch. If these are the only forms of love that kids understand, then they may not think they are loved. That is one thing that I would hate to happen and that is one of the big reasons why I decided to publish this book.”

Deane plans to continue traveling around to schools to share “Love” and its message. He also has another book coming out next month.

“I want to continue to push this message. Not only to love but to also encourage kids to read.”

About Willie Deane

Deane is originally from Schenectady and currently resides in Guilderland with his wife and two daughters. He played high school basketball at Schenectady High School and college basketball at Boston College and Purdue University, where he was an English major. In his professional career, Deane played for more than a dozen different teams and lived in 15 different countries. He also spent time in the NBA with the Washington Wizards.

On Saturday, January 11, seven teams of North Colonie elementary students competed in the Future City-Albany Regional Competition at the Armory at Sage College in Albany. The teams included a team from Boght Hills and six teams of sixth grade students from the North Colonie Learning Enrichment Program. This year, our teams brought home a total of 9 awards, including for the first time ever, a top five finish.

The Capital District Future City Competition is an opportunity for students in 6th, 7th and 8th grade to use their creative imaginations to design a city of the future. The students work with their teacher coach and an engineer-volunteer mentor from the community to design and build the city. The students apply math, science, engineering and technology, as well as enhance their writing and presentation skills, through this project. Students spend approximately four months creating cities that exist at least 100 years in the future and represent the team’s solution to a citywide sustainability issue.

The regional competition is in it’s 19th year locally and is organized by volunteers, with support from local engineering/technology professionals, businesses and organizations.

Congratulations to our teams on earning the following awards:

• Fourth Place Overall, Sponsored by American Society of Highway Engineers (ASHE), Albany Section, North Colonie Learning Enrichment Program – Maineland Bay
• Best Utilization of a Transportation System, Sponsored by Foit-Albert Associates, North Colonie Learning Enrichment Program – Cydro City
• Most Innovative Transportation Infrastructure, Sponsored by Barton & Loguidice, DPC, North Colonie Learning Enrichment Program – Hydroville
• Best Green Roadway Design, Sponsored by Valley Paving & Construction, North Colonie Learning Enrichment Program – Leerica City
• Most Innovative Water Supply, Sponsored by Bayly’s Rentals, North Colonie Learning Enrichment Program – AquaKay City
• Innovative Recycling in Public Places, Sponsored by County Waste and Recycling, North Colonie Learning Enrichment Program – Leerica City
• Best Use of Recycled Materials in a Model, Sponsored by Capital District Planning Committee, North Colonie Learning Enrichment Program – Maineland Bay
• Excellence in Efficient Energy Applications, Sponsored by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Schenectady Section, Boght Hills Elementary School
• Best City Skyline, Sponsored by Screen-It, Ltd., North Colonie Learning Enrichment Program – Hydroville

Team AquaKay City

Team Cydro City

Team Hydroville

Team Leerica City

Team Maineland Bay

Congratulations to our Winter 2020 Athlete of the Week for Week 2! This week we honor Joe Peregrim III from the varsity bowling team.

Joe’s leadership and hard work in practice helped the Bison beat league rivals Niskayuna and Troy. Against Niskayuna, he rolled a 621 triple and followed it up with an impressive 628 at Troy. The bowling team is 8-2 and Joe always keeps the team focused and motivated with his pep talks and technical suggestions. Congratulations, Joe!

The North Colonie Central School District’s frequently asked questions webpage regarding changes in the fall of 2020 has been updated. Please view all questions and answers here.

Twenty members of the North Colonie community were joined by family and friends as they were awarded tenure at the Jan. 27 Board of Education meeting at Blue Creek Elementary. All were announced by Superintendent Joe Corr and recognized by the Board of Education. Congratulations to the following (listed in alphabetical order):

• Tamara Adams, Latham Ridge, Special Education
• Mark Ambrosio, Junior High School, Physical Education
• Michael Bruni, Shaker High School, Guidance
• Christine Connor, Shaker High School, Foreign Language
• Lauren Dickinson, Forts Ferry, Special Education
• Cherilyn Faraci, Junior High School, Special Education
• Paige Goldberg, Shaker High School, Special Education
• Laura Haley, Shaker High School, Teaching Assistant
• Angela Heath, Junior High School, Science
• Courtney Hilliard, DOL, Special Education
• Megan Hoffman, Shaker High School, Science
• Jennifer Jacques, DOL, Speech
• Jennifer Janczak, Southgate, Special Education
• Lauren Mazzotta, Forts Ferry, Special Education
• Lauren Sheeler, Shaker High School, Administrative Dean
• Maria Southworth, Loudonville/Boght Hills, Music
• Deborah Ungerer, Boght Hills, Reading
• Colleen Vignola, Shaker High School, Science
• Jessica Voerg, Boght Hills, TESOL
• Nicole Weimer, Shaker High School, Librarian