Category: Jr./Sr. High News

Fort Plain High School students and staff performed 75,776 push ups over 22 consecutive school days, completing their 22Challenge to raise awareness of veteran suicide on Nov. 10, 2021, with VFW Commander Tom Ellwood on the gym floor leading the push-up count.

Fort Plain VFW Commander Ellwood and Jr. Vice Commander Laurence Maynard visited with students in their physical education classes the day before Veterans Day for the culmination of their challenge. Twenty-two veterans die by suicide each day, thus the name 22Challenge.

Commanders Ellwood and Maynard talked to the students about the stresses on veterans, including PTSD, that can lead to suicide, and shared their own experiences in the military and as veterans. Both have lost fellow service members and veterans to suicide and are close to individuals currently struggling with PTSD. They told the students that their actions were meaningful.

“Your participation in the 22Challenge made a difference,” Ellwood told the students. “You put a smile on the faces of veterans who are dealing with PTSD.”

“I’ve lost a lot of friends to suicide and it’s not a good thing,” Maynard said.

Ellwood and Maynard also engaged the students, most of whom have service members in their families, in a conversation about opportunities in the armed forces. Maynard shared that he’s been “all over the U.S. and around the world” with the military, visiting different places and learning about different cultures.

At the end of their class period, the students were given red silk poppies by the VFW commanders in honor of fallen veterans.

Fort Plain Physical Education teachers Casey Russom and Allie Swing, along with social studies teacher Brad Niles and art teacher Geoff Snyder, led all of the school’s 7-12th grade students through the 22Challenge during October and November, and Commander Ellwood sent the students inspiring daily video clips.

“Our veterans really appreciated your participation,” Ellwood told the students and their teachers. “Hopefully we are turning the corner on veteran suicide. Thank you.”

Read Oct. 20, 2021 article

Fort Plain Jr./Sr. High School’s 7th Grade Team has developed a monthly award for students who are caught “doing their job.”

According to teacher Dale Smith, “Students who most demonstrate characteristics in one or more of the following categories will receive a Most Valuable Student award for the month:

• Responsibility/accountability
• Kindness
• Academics
• Good citizenship
• School pride
• Perseverance
• Self-control
• Helpful to peers/teachers, and
• Accepting of new challenges.”

September 2021’s award winner is Faith Narzymski. October 2021’s award winner is Aubry Brant. Congratulations!

Faith Narzymski

Aubry Brant

Oct. 18-22, 2021 is New York State School Boards Recognition Week, and when Fort Plain’s Board of Education met on Oct. 20, the students in Cory Cooley’s Cheap Eats – Eating on a Dime class made sure they were properly honored.

The high school class prepared a spread of affordable yet tasty food for the Board and presented them with a combination thank you message and menu that read:

“In recognition of all your efforts and dedication to the students, staff and community of Fort Plain, we thank you and welcome you to celebrate with a few bits of delish! Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to show you just what we can do with a little time, some creative thinking and a budget.

The principle premise for our class is to make our food dollars stretch, while minimizing waste, maximizing resources, and eating delicious and minimally processed food. The items that you are sampling today are the combined efforts of donated items, grocery sales and comparison shopping.

On behalf of Cheap Eats,
THANK YOU & ENJOY!

Amber Hayes, Amber Dillenbeck, Lauranne Chambers, Kerri Johnson, Jaden Hillsgrove, Michael Harris, Tyson Nichols, Kaitlyn Dodson, Cameron Kaye, Tyler Mykel

MENU ITEMS

• Pepper jelly cream cheese with crackers – Cost: $2.97
  -Students made pepper jelly with donated Jalapenos from a colleague.
• Warm Autumn Brie with Apricot and Jalapeno Salt Cost: $4.23
  – Students dried Jalapenos in the air fryer and made a seasoning salt for the Brie.
• Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread  – Cost: $1.93
  -Students processed donated zucchini from MANY sources and froze it for later use.
• Apple and Walnut Coffee Cake – Cost: $5.42
  -Students processed donated apples and took advantage of sale items.
• Apple and Bacon Scones –  Cost: $4.50
  -Students processed apples, took advantage of sale items and used what we had on hand.
• Sweet and Sticky Bacon Roll Ups – Cost: $6.37
  -Students took advantage of sale items to come up with a reasonable and tasty treat.
• TOTAL: $25.43″

According to their Cheap Eats – Eating on a Dime teacher, “Students are painfully aware that food budgets are the first expense to be cut short when everyday expenses and emergency expenses crop up. The problem . . . the need to feed your family doesn’t change,” said Cooley.

“With convenience and highly processed foods swamping the market, it is imperative that students learn the skills to not only manage their food dollars, but learn skills to avoid nutrition pitfalls and cook easy and nutritious meals.”

Cooley added, “This experience starts our holiday ‘entertaining on a dime’ units. With the holidays and festivities approaching and all the supply chain shortages and hold-ups, we are taking what we have in stock, what we have processed from the fall harvests, and what is available, and making our food dollars stretch.”

What’s next for the class? Pot Luck Party Planning on a Budget, Thanksgiving leftovers make for great meals . . . soup to stew and beyond, a cookie exchange and appetizer swap from scratch, Game On! (game dinners for a crowd) and more.

Fort Plain Physical Education teacher Casey Russom is leading all 7-12th grade students in doing 22 push-ups for 22 consecutive school days as part of the 22Challenge, which raises awareness of veteran suicide and supports projects to assist veterans.

They’ve teamed with Fort Plain VFW Commander Tom Ellwood on the challenge, which culminates on Nov. 10, just before Veterans Day. Ellwood sends daily video clips to the students, and he and another veteran will be visiting FPHS.

“The student feedback has been great,” Russom said. “Some students do regular push-ups, some do modified, some do more than 22.” Russom does 22 with every class – and he’s doing great, too, even if he might get a little tired at times!

Their push-ups tally to-date: 20,636!

Imagine creating a perfect society where everyone is happy and no one would want to leave. This was the challenge issued by Fort Plain English Language Arts teacher Louise Clute to her 7th grade class, as a pre-reading assignment for the novel, “The Giver,” by Lois Lowry.

“At first, the students thought it would be simple to create a utopia everyone would want to live in,” said Clute, “and then they learned how difficult it actually is. They did an amazing job on their Utopia Project.”

Utopias can quickly deteriorate into dystopian societies full of injustice and suffering, like the one described in “The Giver.”

“A utopia is a perfect place, but it will turn into dystopia, because everybody’s idea of perfect is different,” said Lilly, a student who worked on the project and who had already read the novel on her own. “I’m reading another book about utopias, and it’s pretty cool,” she added. “I like reading books like this.”

“The students worked hard on the project and learned a lot about utopias,” said Clute. “They found that a utopia can’t be maintained, as we are all imperfect, and that societies are not utopian when everything is done for you and no one has to make any of their own decisions.

“I give the students a shout out for a job well done,” she added. “I am very proud of the work they’ve done, and they are equally proud of themselves.”

Students and staff alike can explore the Utopia Project through the students’ hallway display outside high school room 210.

Photo at top and above: Students point to their Utopia Projects, which are displayed outside their classroom.

Ms. Clute and Lilly

When students in Kreig Heroth’s Technology and Design class at Fort Plain Jr./Sr. High School were challenged to design a product to assist individuals with operating a zipper, their project pulled in a lot more skills than the device itself.

The central task was to design and fabricate a product that makes it easier to pull a zipper for individuals affected by arthritis or other factors that could make using a standard zipper difficult. The students created their assistive zipper pulls from wood, wire, and even a magnetic hook and handle design.

Then they went further. Considering their potential customers and their needs, the students named their products, created logos and branding, and designed packaging to hold and market their creations, using recycled computer boxes. A student also crafted a wooden display box for his product.

“They had a lot of creative ideas, not only for their zipper pulls, but for their product packaging and marketing,” Heroth said. “The class is really enjoying this project.”

View our complete photo album on Facebook

They like to brew it, serve it, sell it, and some like to drink it. Coffee is a hit with Dorene Goodwin’s Life Skills class at Fort Plain High School, where the students officially rolled out their Hilltoppers Coffee Cart business on Friday, Sept. 24.

Under the tutelage of Ms. Goodwin and teacher aides Kim Phillips, Brittney McIntosh and Brittney Allen, the students started on the first floor of their building on their first day of business. Each Friday, they will be serving up coffee, tea and hot chocolate, after preparing the beverages in their classroom’s kitchen and stocking their cart with sweeteners, creamers, flavors, cups and lids. On their first Friday in business, the students also offered free blueberry muffins to customers.

Throughout the week, the students take orders from school faculty and staff, prepare their products and build skills beneficial not only to the success of their business, but to school and life in general. “They are learning about dealing with people, taking orders and handling money, among other skills,” Ms. Goodwin said.

When asked about their favorite part of the business, the students gave a variety of responses. “It was good; I liked it. My favorite part of it is we are all working together,” said Page, who worked as a cashier on day one. “In my old school, I collected money in our grocery shop, where we also sold school supplies.”

Dustin said his favorite part is “putting the lids on the cups.”

Raul “likes to do the checklist,” checking off teachers’ names when the students delivered coffee orders to classrooms.

Zach said he likes “to push the cart and work together” with his classmates. “He was captain of the ship,” Ms. Goodwin noted.

The best sales people love their products. Zach said he likes coffee, as does fellow student Liberty. “I wanted some coffee because it looked so good!” she said.

As the year continues, the class will be growing their business and bringing the Hilltoppers Coffee Cart to more sections of their school. While the venture is a new one, it is already a hit in the hallways of Fort Plain High School.

“This is a wonderful learning experience for them, and they are having fun!” said High School Principal Dr. Deborah Larrabee.

Update October 13, 2021:

The students are now serving their whole school

The students’ venture is such a success that they have expanded to serve the entire high school building. They are enjoying running their new business and their new customers, like Mr. Elliott on the third floor, are very happy as well.

Congratulations to the following golfers for being chosen as Western Athletic Conference (WAC) All Stars:

Girls—1st Team: Jordan Brown
Boys—1st Team: Austin VanGorder
2nd Team: Seth Rivkowich and Owin Landry

Great job, Hilltoppers!

What can you learn from a t-shirt that has been worn every day for a week without being washed? Plenty!

Students in the Forensics and Criminology class at Fort Plain H.S. recently conducted a lab involving the Locard Principle. “The principle is a famous forensics fundamental idea that when two objects come into contact with each other they exchange material,” explained Kevin Bogus, who teaches the class with Dale Smith.

Mr. Bogus and Mr. Smith ran an experiment where their students wore white t-shirts, which they designed themselves, for an entire week. The students first made predictions of what kind of fibers, materials or substances they would find on their shirts. Then they examined  the shirts with hand lenses and microscopes to identify, as Mr. Bogus said, “what fun and interesting things they picked up all week.”

Check out their Facebook photo album for more photos.