February News

Dear Students, Parents, and Community Members:
It's been a busy as usual at the High School.  Our students have done well in the classroom and in various extracurricular activities. Please check out the articles below.  I will be posting more in the coming weeks.  If you'd like  to see a particular topic covered, please let me know.  You can always email me by using thouseknecht@southseneca.org or by calling the office at 869-9636. Thanks for taking a look.
Mr. Tim Houseknecht, Principal

Success Story - Close Reading and Analysis


From Mr. John Robertson - 9th Grade ELA

With my 9th graders, I have put an emphasis on close reading and analysis.  This typically involves a directive to re-read an excerpt from a work that we are reading as a class, assigning open-ended questions related to the excerpt to be answered in writing using Google Documents, and providing feedback which usually encourages elaboration, further analysis and clarity.

I feel that this has helped students gain greater appreciation for characters, themes and details included in works like The Pearl and A Raisin in the Sun.  In September I had to "hold students hands" through this type of exercise, but now in February I feel that their ability to analyze plot, characters and writers' purpose has become more natural.  This feels like success to me.

Thanks Mr. Robertson for your hard work!

Time to Choose Classes for Next Year
In the coming weeks, students will be meeting with Mr. Anderson in the guidance office. Decisions made now can impact students for years to come.  I encourage all students to challenge themselves to their highest level. 

Class Newsletters Linked from this Blog

Check the links to class news on the right margin of this blog, or below since you might not see the margin on a phone. These news docs will be updated every month. The information is important to your students to stay up to date with what's happening in their class.   
Link to Class News


Honor & High Honor Rolls
Congratulations to all our hard working students.  Click here for our honor and high honor roll recipients.

Wagner on a Roll

Adam Wagner received his 100th career pin and his 200th career win at Wayne Finger Lakes. He won the tournament at 145 lbs. and received the Most Outstanding Wrestler award.
The South Seneca Wrestlers had 2 firsts (Adam Wagner, Holden Waid), 2 seconds (Damion Brown, Seth Denmark), 1 third (Keagan Carmenatty), 1 fourth (Quinton Wormuth-Mundell) and 1 fifth (Gabe Amisano). The team took an amazing 5th place out of 17 teams with only 10 wrestlers.
Way to go Falcons and Coaches Ken Sweet and Ian Wagner!

Ovid Community Garden - Come Grow With Us!

Who's involved?  The Ovid Community Garden is a collaborative effort of local groups and gardeners. Participants and supporters include the Village of Ovid, the SSCSD (South Seneca Central School District, Middle and High Schools), the Edith B. Ford Memorial Library, the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Seneca County, the Willard/Ovid Lions, and STEPS (Seneca Towns Engaging People for Solutions). Community members formed a Garden Committee in 2016 and met several times to plan the garden. STEPS is providing some funding for materials and we were awarded a 2017 Youth Garden Grant from KidsGardening, which includes some plants, supplies and tools.  We run largely on volunteer enthusiasm, labor, time and materials.

What's the goal?  Some residents in Ovid don't have a place to garden, or don't have the time, space or materials to build their own garden from scratch.  By spring 2017, we hope to have at least 20 raised beds ready for gardening!  We hope the Garden will provide a convenient location for families and residents to adopt a raised garden bed where they can grow healthy fruits and vegetables, provide a fun place for kids to learn about gardening, and to partner with library and school programs that teach South Seneca and Romulus kids about gardening, food, and healthy eating habits.  If you'd like to register for a Garden bed, please fill out a registration form.  Garden Representatives and registration forms will be at available at the Ovid Ford Library on February 4th, March 11th, April 8th and May 19th (the library's annual plant sale). Registration forms are also available at the STEPS Office at the rear of the Ovid Community Health Building, 7150 N. Main Street in Ovid.

Is the garden built yet?  Where is the garden?  Click here for our presentation. We reached out to the local community and businesses for volunteer help, selected the site (thank you Village of Ovid), planned the dimensions, laid down landscaping fabric (thank you SSCS) and wood chips (thank you VanHorn Heavenly Tree Care), built 6 raised beds (thank you SSCS and Ovid/Willard Lions Club) and set fence posts for the garden (thank you Wagner Vineyards).   The next Garden Build Day is March 4th, when we will place the raised beds and fill them with soil.  The garden is located on Ovid Village property, next to the red village barn on County Road 139, just north of the South Seneca Central School, and just west of Verona Village (senior housing) and the cell phone tower.

Several tasks remain but we hope to open the Garden for planting in Spring 2017!  If you are interested in donating your time or materials to help build the garden, please contact Maggie Passmore at 412-638-4949.

Senior High All-State Chorus

South Seneca is excited to announce the acceptance of two seniors, one junior, and one sophomore into Sr. High Area All-State Chorus.  Singers selected to Sr. High Area All-State are chosen based on their NYSSMA scores from Solo Festival the previous year.  They are picked from all the applicants in NYSSMA's Zone 3 in grades 10 through 12. Zone 3 is one of the largest zones in the state.  All of the participating South Seneca students contribute much to the Choral Music Department.  All participate in High School Chorus and have participated or currently participate in the award-winning, select ensemble, Vocal Jazz.

Congratulations to:
Sarah Albro, Soprano I, Treble Choir
Julia Diamond, Soprano II, Mixed Chorus
Madelyn Houck, Soprano I, Mixed Chorus
Krystofer Mosher, Tenor II, Mixed Chorus.

These students will be presenting a concert with guest conductors at Ithaca College this Saturday, February 4th at 4:00 p.m. Tickets are $7 at the door.  Dr. Julie Hagen, from Concordia College, will be conducting the Treble Choir and Mr. Edward Rothmel, a DMA student at Eastman School of Music, will be conducting the Mixed Chorus.



Julia Hubbard Scores Big in Area All-State
Congratulations to Julia Hubbard who was a recent participant in the 2017 Area All-State High School Symphonic Band.

The Area All-State Festival was held on February 3-4 at Ithaca High school under the direction of Ithaca Colleges Dr. Brian Diller.
Dr. Brian Diller is the Assistant Professor of Music education at the Ithaca College School of Music where he conducts the Ithaca College Concert Band and teaches courses in conducting and music education.  Dr. Diller selected very inspiring and challenging pieces of wind band literature including Armenian Dance Part 1 from Alfred Reed, Undertow by John Mackey, Black Horse Troop by John Phillip Sousa and Cointe Qui Rose.

Julia was selected based on her solo participation in NYSSMA (New York State School of Music) solo festival.  Julia was selected based on her NYSSMA solo score from many hundreds of applicants across New York State in Zone 3 which covers a large section of New York state including schools such as; Fayetteville-Manlius, Ithaca, Baldwinsville, Owego, Newark Valley, Auburn, Vestal, Jamesville-DeWitt, Port Byron and many other school districts.

During the two day festivals students in grade 10-12 came together to rehearse the pieces they were given to prepare.  Guest conductors skillfully brought the (4) ensembles to concert presentations on Saturday in Kupl Auditorium in Ithaca, New York starting at 2:00pm.  Students who participated in these ensemble worked with many motivated musician like themselves and received a unique opportunity and to work with guest conductors from exciting backgrounds.

Julia is a French Horn player and is a sophomore at South Seneca.  Julia is in the South Seneca High school concert band under the direction of Mr. Raymond Zajac, Jr.  Julia is also a member of the Falcon Marching band. Congratulations to Julia for her effort and hard work that led to her selection into this exciting extended performing opportunity.


STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
Scholarship Opportunities
Do you know a high school senior pursuing a degree in a STEM field?  If so, pass along these scholarship opportunities!  Some are two year, some are four year - the total value ranges from $2,000 to $20,000 and all include a paid internship.  CNY STEM Scholarship info & application

The CNY STEM Scholars program is a partnership between SRC, King + King, Schneider Packaging Equipment Company, C&S Companies, Carrier Corporation, the CNY STEM Hub, and Partners for Education and Business.  These scholarships are designed to support the best and brightest students in the Central New York Region in their quest to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields in college. All scholarships available through this website are not based on financial need; rather applicants are judged on their academic achievement and extracurricular activities, as well as the essay and an interview.

Scholarship applications for 4-year scholarships are due on Feb 28, 2017. Selections will be made in April and students will be notified the week of May 1, 2017. Scholarship applications for 2-year scholarships are due May 15, 2017 and students will be notified mid-June.

High Flyin' Falcons Invade Romulus