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Ossining MATTERS, Inc.
PO Box 1012
Ossining, NY 10562
914-510-9320
Or email us
info@ossiningmatters.org
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Below
are previous announcements from our website. Click on links to read more about past Ossining MATTERS activites. |
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| The 7th Annual Ossining MATTERS 5k Run/2 Mile Walk Helped Start the New School Year on a High Note
Race start 2009, in front of the Ossining Post Office - All photos by Neal Temple More than 260 runners and over 220 walkers turned out to participate in the 7th Annual Ossining MATTERS 5k Run/2 Mile Walk on Saturday, September 12. Ossining MATTERS, Ossining’s education foundation, funds enriching programs for students throughout the Ossining school district. This year’s event brought in over $18,000, which will go to support a wide variety of projects, programs, and materials for Ossining’s school children. Ossining MATTERS 2009 5K AREEP Chip Timing Results Many thanks to our sponsors
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Rosanne Cash Brings
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John Leventhal and Rosanne Cash and on stage at Ossining High School, Saturday April 18, 2009 All photos by David Silbert See more photos from the Ossining MATTERS’ gala benefit concert featuring world-famous singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash and her husband, guitarist-songwriter-producer John Leventhal, raised nearly $55,000, which the education foundation will use to supplement academic, cultural arts, and athletic programs in the Ossining School District. (More)
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School of Rock
Sponsoring teacher and coordinator Brandon Beck had this to say about the School of Rock program: “My entire class plays guitar during recess. They teach each other, they teach themselves, and they do not take any breaks! [With the HEROES class,] a total 61 students will be exposed to the guitar and given the opportunity to ‘rock their socks off!’ I am extremely proud of the impact of this program on my classroom. It has developed relationships, given students an outlet, and increased focus. I believe that these are the kinds of programs that are once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and I feel that Ossining MATTERS is truly to thank for that. Without you, a teacher would not be able to dream big, increase expectations, and reach all multiple intelligences. The opportunity to run a program like this, during an economy like this, that is actually seeking to improve the lives of others, is unforgettable.” |
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New Piano A music student tries out the performance-level piano an Ossining MATTERS grant brought to the OHS stage. District Director of Music and Cultural Arts Kate Mathews calls it a “wonderful instrument.” |
SPLASH Students in the Science Partners Learning about Animals of the Sound and Hudson (SPLASH) program study and learn about the ecology and habitats of the Long Island Sound and the Hudson River, in partnership with students from two other Westchester County schools. Thanks to a grant from Ossining MATTERS, five second-grade classes at Brookside are participating this year. They went seining in the Hudson River at the Palisade State Park in Englewood, New Jersey. With the help of Naturalist Christopher Letts and a class parent, they caught fish for their classroom aquariums. The students have also toured the Tarrytown Lighthouse, hosted students from their partner schools and created Hudson River murals with them. In addition, they attended a concert by duet Magpie at the Byram Hill High School with their partner school pen pals. Magpie sang songs of animal life and conservation.
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Large Format Printer at OHS For the past ten years, the talented and dedicated students in Ossining High School’s Fundamentals of Science Research Program have won accolades, prestigious prizes, and over $300,000 in scholarships for their highly sophisticated research on subjects as diverse as sociology and epidemiology, computer science and astrophysics. Beginning in their sophomore year, students in the program work endless hours, with the help of a mentor in their chosen field of research, to conduct original and independent research and to present their results in competition at local, national, and international contests, science fairs, and symposia To mark the tenth anniversary of the program, its directors, Angelo Piccirillo and Valerie Holmes, wanted to address a distinct disadvantage their students have faced in relation to their peers at many area high schools: They sought to obtain a large format printer, necessary for the production of professional-quality presentation boards. Until this year, students have had to send their projects to offsite specialty printers, at a significant financial cost. Through generous donations from Science Research Program alumni families and a matching grant from Ossining MATTERS, enough funds were raised to purchase the printer for the benefit of the next round of prize-winning OHS research scientists. |
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In January, actors Felix Pitre and Queen Nur, from Theatreworks USA, spent a week at Park School thanks to a grant from Ossining MATTERS. They visited each first-grade classroom three times, demonstrating storytelling techniques and helping the students develop their own stories to tell. At the end of the week, they performed in an assembly, holding students and teachers spellbound with their dramatic and involving presentations. Queen Nur’s “Sweet Potato Pie and Such,” incorporating African-American traditions, was a huge hit with students. Felix Pitre’s use of both Spanish and English words in his “Stories and Songs of Latin America” encouraged native Spanish speakers to see their language as an asset, and entranced everyone. The final component of their residency was a teacher training session. |
Kids Make Books for Kids
Claremont students have begun working on the books they’re creating this year for students in Nicaragua, through the Kids Make Books for Kids program. Before making their books, they learn about the destination country and its culture. They then choose their topic, and create picture books with simple English words and sentences. Kids Make Books for Kids is sponsored by Kids to Kids International, a Yorktown-based organization with a mission to “provide an opportunity for communications between young people of different cultures through student-created picture books.” The program is in its fifth year at Claremont School, though this is the first time materials, laminating, and binding have been paid for by a grant from Ossining MATTERS. |
Discover Dinosaurs and Fossils
Last November and December, Brookside students became paleontologists for a day, participating in hands-on activities that helped them learn about extinct creatures from the Mesozoic era. The “Discover Dinosaurs and Fossils” workshop, funded by a grant from Ossining MATTERS, generated tremendous excitement among the students, who thoroughly enjoyed touching and seeing real and replica fossils, and working with life-size dinosaur footprints. At the conclusion of the program, the students used reference books to write reports on the prehistoric age. |
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6th Annual Ossining MATTERS 5k Run/2 Mile Walk Hugely Successful Despite Hovering Hanna
Undaunted by forecast high winds and heavy rain from Tropical Storm Hanna, nearly 200 runners and over 150 walkers braved the soupy humidity and heat to participate in the 6th Annual Ossining MATTERS 5k Run/2 Mile Walk. Ossining MATTERS, Ossining’s education foundation, funds enriching programs for students throughout the Ossining school district. This year’s event brought in $16,400, which will go to support a wide variety of projects, programs, and materials for Ossining’s school children. More... |
Broadway on the Hudson Brings Fun and
Funds for Foundation
On Sunday, March 9, the bright lights of Broadway moved a little farther north up the Hudson, as Kerry Butler and Seth Rudetsky brought their star power to the stage of Ossining High School. Read More |
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Community Chips in for Fifth Annual Ossining MATTERS Run/Walk September 8, 2007 marked the fifth time that runners and walkers have taken to the Aqueduct trail to raise money for Ossining MATTERS, the community Education Foundation that funds enriching programs for students throughout the Ossining School District. (More)
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Ossining MATTERS 4th Annual 5K Trail Race / 2 Mile Walk
The first unofficial weekend of fall brought beautiful weather to Ossining, and a big, enthusiastic crowd to the 4th annual Ossining MATTERS Education Foundation’s 5k Trail Race / 2 Mile Walk, a community event that just keeps getting better! Runners’ and walkers’ entry fees raised nearly $8,000, which Ossining MATTERS will use to fund enriching programs for students throughout the Ossining School District. This year’s race drew runners from as far away as California, and featured competitors from five to seventy-one years old. Nine Ossining High School sports teams participated, with top race honors going to a brother and sister pair of Cross Country runners, Mike and Katie Poleski. More than 240 runners participated in the competitive portion of the event, scored by the Westchester Track Club, and more than 200 walkers enjoyed the scenery, the weather, and the good company of friends and neighbors. See Full Article . |
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Colonial Day at Claremont On May 24 th, the entire fourth grade engaged in eighteenth century activities to celebrate their colonial studies during the year. Claremont School became a colonial village as the villagers (students) wore tri- cornered hats and bonnets laced with red ribbon. A Westchester Arts Council performer sang many spirited songs and played multiple colonial instruments alone and along with the students. Fourth grader, Krystal Rondon said, “This was the best day ever! I not only had fun, but I learned so much about colonial times!” Each and every fourth grader participated in eight activities ranging from making hornbooks with quills and ink, creating colonial felt quilt pieces, weaving baskets, stenciling notecards, tinsmithing and making clay pinch pots. Each student indulged their appetite at the Colonial Bakery where they shared pumpkin pie, cornbread, ginger snaps, pound cake and apple cider. No rest for the weary, off to hat making, marbling, and chest decoupage! Besides enjoying all of the exciting activities, fourth grader Jordan Boatman added,” I realized today how difficult colonial life was! They had to make everything all by themselves! There weren’t any big stores to go and buy things.” This truly was an amazing day for all the colonial villagers, teachers and parents involved in making this day a success. Much gratitude to Ossining Matters for granting this event and to all of the wonderful parent volunteers who cheered “Huzzah” along with all of our enthusiastic students! |
Writemind at Claremont
We were very fortunate to have received a grant from Ossining Matters for Writemind in March, 2005! Writemind is a dynamic writing program led by Mr. Surface, a published fiction writer. Four fourth grade teachers, Mrs. Leslee Hammer, Ms. Cori Boss, Mrs. Eileen Kanganis and Ms. Ashley O’Hara received the grant. What distinguishes Writemind from other arts education programs is its unique professional development component, in which teachers engage in a five week intensive creative writing workshop with Mr. Surface. All four Claremont teachers took this adult Creative Writing Workshop at the Hudson Valley to think and work like a writer and acquire new insights. The teachers enjoyed a personalized hands-on experience with specific narrative technique methods of creative writing and acquired the teaching tools needed to encourage students to become more creative writers. The course enabled them to not only collaborate with each other, but have an empathetic affect on students. By taking the course, teachers were able to share their struggles and successes as writers with their students. One day, Ms. Boss told her students that it was hard for her to look at a blank page and be creative at a workshop. Once said, one of her students excitedly shot her hand up and said that she experiences the same thing and was so happy that her teacher shared the same experience! Beginning in March, Mr. Surface came into four fourth grade classes, once a week for four consecutive weeks, and led the students through diverse narrative techniques. The creative narrative pieces focused on deep, personal descriptions such as a student finding a “Lost place in Time” and reliving it through sensory imagery. Another piece was a personification of an emotion. Here, the students invented imaginative questions and answers for the one emotion. This led to a vivid personification of the emotion. Caleb Hersh from Ms. Boss’s class shares, “I like how we get to share our writing, and how he compliments it. I didn’t know that writing about things like emotions could be so interesting!” |
OHS - Park School ESL A Collaborative program between the High School and Park School to improve the reading, comprehension and pronunciation skills of young ESL students by providing them with a lending library of appropriate books on tape which are recorded by students at the High School who are bilingual or studying Spanish. Through a generous grant from Ossining Matters, Ossining High School students, under the supervision of Mrs. Morales-Rivera, hold a read with Park School English as a Second Language students in Park School Library Courtyard.
_________________________________ Fit Kids Elementary school health, nutrition and fitness program for grades K-5. This successful program is well-supported by the school district and the PTAs. The contribution from Ossining MATTERS will be used to purchase nutrition related books for the libraries at each of the participating schools to support the goals of the program. |
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Ossining MATTERS Benefit Raises Nearly $50,000 for Ossining Schools Ossining MATTERS’ March 11 gala benefit concert featuring Ossining High School’s Gimme the Microphone performers, student musicians, and the composer and performer Daniel Bernard Roumain with his nine-piece band, raised nearly $50,000, which will be used to supplement academic, cultural arts, and athletic programs in the Ossining School District. More
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Photos by David Silbert
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Ossining MATTERS Third Annual 5K Trail Run/2 Mile Walk See Race Results by Time |
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Ossining MATTERS Ossining MATTERS has announced the distribution of over $25,000 in grants to fund thirteen projects in the Ossining School District. In keeping with the mission of Ossining MATTERS, the projects will reach students from preschool through the high school, supporting academics, cultural arts, and health/athletics. |
Fools for Jazz Fills the House - April Fool’s Day may never be the same again. From now on, thanks to Fools for Jazz, it might just conjure up music rather than pranks. Ossining MATTERS’ April 1 benefit concert, featuring the Westchester Jazz Orchestra and a host of OHS musicians, was a smashing success, raising over $25,000. These funds will be used to supplement academic, cultural arts, and athletic programs in the Ossining School District. |
Welcoming the Drums
Kazi Oliver, a percussionist specializing in African music, brought his young students, performing troupe and dancers to the OHS stage in celebration of Black History Month. During the program, the OHS African-American Club, advised by John Grady, acknowledged the gift from Ossining MATTERS Education Foundation of six authentic African drums, handmade by Kazi Oliver, to the school district. |
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| Ossining MATTERS Distributed $21,300 in Fall Funding Cycle Awards Exceed $34,000 in Ossining MATTERS Education Foundation is very pleased to announce the distribution of $21,300 in grants to nine projects in the Ossining School District. In keeping with the mission of Ossining MATTERS, the projects will reach students from preschool through the high school, supporting academics, cultural arts, and health/athletics. |
Ossining MATTERS raised more than $25,000, at it's first benefit concert, "An Intimate Evening with Gil Shaham and Orli Shaham", to be used to supplement academic, cultural arts, and athletic programs in the Ossining School District. Many thanks to all who contributed to the success of the concert. |
Ossining MATTERS 2nd Annual 5K Trail Run / 2 Mile Walk
Ossining MATTERS |
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Ossining MATTERS first donation was made during the High School's Special Benefit Musical Performance of "The Wiz." A foundation check for $2,500 was presented to the school's cultural arts department. to be used to upgrade the lighting in the high school auditorium.
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RUNNING
FOR THE MONEY: Marathoning MATTERS for Ossining
On November 7, all of Ossining's schoolchildren and families had a good reason to pay attention to the New York City Marathon.and several families had extra special reasons to go. They were there to cheer for their moms, wives, sisters, or friends - all members of a group of Ossining women running to raise money for the Ossining MATTERS (Monetary Aid, Teaching Tools, and Enriching Resources for our Schools) Education Foundation. Read more
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Ossining MATTERS First Funding Distributions
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Ossining MATTERS President 
