YOUTH ON THE GO: JULY 14, 2019
Onteora High School student Thea MillensonWilens was a national winner in the Letters About Literature writing contest sponsored by the Library of Congress.
Millenson-Wilens’ letter to Gayle Forman, author of “If I Stay,” won one of two National Prizes awarded in the Level 2 (Grades 7 and 8) category. The prize includes a $2,000 award.
Millenson-Wilens, who initially wrote the letter Forman as part of an assignment for Denise Maltese’s eighth-grade English class, will be entering ninth grade in the fall.
Millenson-Wilens qualified for the national round of the competition by winning at the state level. As a winner in the New York State Letters About Literature competition, she had the opportunity in June to attend the New York Writers Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony, which honored new inductees Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jennifer Egan, James Patterson, Larry Kramer, Ntozake Shange, Richard Peck and William Cullen Bryant.
••• Amara Wilson, Caitlin Van Loan and Edward Donahue, members of the Catskill High School Class of 2019, were selected for the 2019 High School Honors Performance Series at Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia.
They will perform in August with the Honors Mixed Chorus. Participation in this Honors Ensemble is limited to the highestrated high school performers from around the world.
Last summer, Wilson, Van Loan and Donahue auditioned for the Honors Performance Series and were accepted after a review by the Honors Selection Board. Acceptance to the elite group is a direct result of the talent, dedication and achievements demonstrated in their application and audition recording. The students will join other performers from 46 U.S. states, Guam, several provinces of Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Qatar and South Korea for a special performance at the Sydney Opera Hous.
Donahue, Van Loan and Wilson all began their music studies in fourth grade, beginning with chorus. Throughout the years, they have expanded their exposure to music.
All three students, under the direction of Catskill choral teacher Michelle Storrs, participated in Concert Chorus in high school. In addition, Van Loan and Wilson performed with the Treblaires, under Storrs’ direction. Each of the finalists performed at Carnegie Hall with the Honors Performance Series. Donahue performed in February 2016, Van Loan in February 2017 and Wilson in February 2018. All finalists have participated locally in the Greene County Music Educators Association AllCounty Festivals.
Van Loan and Donahue have performed in the New York State School Music Association Zone 9 Area AllState. Additionally, Donahue participated in the association’s All-State festival, the National Association for Music Education All-Eastern festival and its All-National festival.
Finalists will come together in Sydney for six days at the end of July and early August. They will have the opportunity to learn from world-renowned conductors, work with other finalists and get a taste of Sydney. The Honors Performance will take place Sunday, Aug. 4, and is open to the public.
The Honors Performance Series was created to showcase accomplished individual high school performers on an international level by allowing them to study under master conductors and perform in world-renowned venues. The series is proudly presented by WorldStrides, the nation’s leading educational travel organization.
••• The Rhinebeck Community Foundation Scholarship Fund’s Board of Trustees awarded merit-based scholarships to eight members of Rhinebeck High School’s Class of 2019 who will be attending college.
The students and the colleges they will be attending are Christina Carucci (Fairfield University in Connecticut), Jack Dykeman (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy), Olivia Fajardo (Amherst College in Massachusetts), Daisy Gadsby (Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania), James Hicks (State University of New York Polytechnic Institute), Sofia Quon-Youle (Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee), Kelliane Ticcony (Stony Brook University) and Ethan Via
tor (University of Arizona in Tucson).
“These students all demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, commitment to community, and personal character, and make our community very proud,” Julie Turpin, president of the fund’s Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “We are incredibly grateful to the large number of generous donors who make these scholarships possible year after year. When people give to this fund, they send a very clear message to students that their accomplishments and their work ethic are deserving of recognition.”
The Rhinebeck Community Scholarship provides scholarships to graduating Rhinebeck High School students. The scholarships are awarded to individuals who will be full-time students at any accredited college or university in the United States. It may be used for tuition, books and fees. The award for Hicks was made possible by special funding from the Sheldon Burroughs Scholarship for a student pursuing a degree in engineering or agriculture.
To make a tax-deductible gift to the Rhinebeck Community Scholarship Fund, visit cfhvny.org/rcsf. Checks can be made payable to Rhinebeck Community Scholarship Fund (RCSF) and sent to CFHV, 80 Washington St., Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 12601.
••• Wyatt Leach and Megan Wood were named the Hunter-Tannersville Middle/ High School students of the month for May.
Leach, a ninth-grader, represents the “Maroon Group” (grades 7-9). He has been a member of the chorus since fourth grade. He was a member of the band in grades 4 through 8. Leach achieves honor roll status every quarter and this year was on the superintendent’s honor roll for all four quarters. He received a letter from the president when given the gold seal certificate for the President’s Educational Excellence Award upon exiting Middle School.
Leach’s interests are in computers, video editing and writing songs and music for his band. He likes school because he learns and experiences new information about the world that he never knew before. In the future, he would like to go to college to pursue a career in teaching.
He is the son Robin and Eirik Leach of Hunter.
Wood, a senior, represents the “Gold Group” (grades 1012). She is enrolled in the culinary arts program at Otsego Northern Catskills BOCES in Grand Gorge and attends afternoon classes in Tannersville. She is on the honor roll or principal’s honor roll each quarter.
Wood appreciates the opportunity to attend BOCES and puts culinary first in her interests and hobbies. Second is being on the varsity ski team. She plans to attend community college and join the workforce.
She lives in Tannersville with her guardians, Katlyn Wood and Jake Covey.
The criteria the Hunter-Tannersville staff considers in nominating students are academic perseverance, involvement in school/ community activities, participation in sports/hobbies, respectfulness, determined to succeed in an endeavor, dedicated to do their best and dependability.
Each student of the month enjoys a lunch or dinner for two at The Last Chance Antiques and Cheese Café, a one-day lift ticket at Hunter Mountain provided by Peak Resorts, two passes to the Mountain Cinema from the Catskill Mountain Foundation, an engraved pen from the Student Parent Teacher Organization, a family bumper sticker from the Board of
Education and a complimentary special breakfast from Principal Thomas Cervola.
••• Justice Brantley of Catskill High School, Erwin Lampman III of Cairo-Durham High School and Kareel Slager of Tech Valley High School were named recipients of Youth Awards by the Greene County Children, Youth & Community Advisory Board.
Brantley was named the 2019 Greene County Youth of the Year. He is an honor roll student and has taken college-level courses. He received a Section 2 Scholar Athlete Award for his outstanding achievement in the classroom, community and basketball.
Brantley volunteers at the Catskill Soup Kitchen and also delivers meals to the elderly. He can be seen shoveling snow for the elderly and handicapped resident in the Hop-O-Nose Apartments. He serves as a reading buddy to younger children and mentors to troubled youngsters in the housing community. He also organized a basketball tournament at Hop-ONose. He volunteers with the CYO Basketball League as a coach, referee, timekeeper and practices.
Brantley has volunteered with Santa’s Helpers and the Walk to End Alzheimer’s Disease. In addition, he has worked summers under the Columbia Greene Workforce Program at the Catskill Community Center.
Lampman was named the recipient of the Children, Youth & Community Advisory Board Chairman’s Choice Award. He is a member of the National Honor Society, an honor roll student and a Student of the Month winner. He was also been awarded the Rochester Institute of Technology Scholarship.
He is a Life Scout in Boy Scout Troop No. 43 and has been named to the Troop Order of the Arrow (Boys Scouts Honor Society). He volunteers at many Scout events, including Color Guard in parades, the Greene County Youth Fair, various veteran ceremonies and collecting for local food pantries with the Scouts’ Food Drive. After being injured playing varsity football, he volunteered to serve as sports manager.
Last summer. Lampman started his own wood milling business (operating under the family business), selling rough cut lumber to local customers. Over the course of the last summer, he restored, cleaned and reset three Civil War veterans’ badly damaged and broken headstones. He organized a work detail of 22 people, repaired fallen stones and walls, placed flags and built a large sign to mark the Union Church Cemetery.
Slager was named the recipient of the Greene County Department of Human Services Director’s Choice Award. He has faced many challenges in his life. He was born in Ukraine and raised in a hospital until age 5, when he was adopted by an American family.
Slager has faced challenges to his hearing, speaking and vision and has undergone numerous operations. None of this has slowed him down. He has been an active volunteer with the Coxsackie Area Food Pantry and his presence brightens the day for all there. He is always willing to take on any task and complete it efficiently and cheerfully, inspiring others. He has volunteered with the Albany Fire Department and has taken Red Cross training. He is active with the Youth Leadership in his church. In addition, he has traveled with Hope Force International to volunteer after disasters in Texas and Puerto Rico.
Also receiving acknowledgement from the board were Eugene Somers of CairoDurham High School and Aiden Boehm of CoxsackieAthens High School. All of the youngsters will be honored at the opening of the Greene County Youth Fair on Thursday, July 25, in Cairo.
••• The following student-athletes in the Catskill Central School District were honored at the Spring Sports Awards on Thursday, June 6:
Softball — Varsity, Maci Mosher, Most Valuable Player. Jessica DuPont, Coaches Award. Junior Varsity, Kaitlyn Nearey, Most Valuable Player. Emma Brown, Coaches Award. Modified, Stevie Arp, Most Valuable Player. Marisabella Carabello, Coaches Award.
Baseball — Varsity, Ben Sullivan, Coaches Award. Jeremy Bulich, Silver Slugger. Junior Varsity, Adam Carlson and Carter Van Etten, Coaches Award. Modified, Chase Allen, Most Valuable Player. John Shook, Coaches Award.
Boys Track — Varsity, Andrew Tran, Most Valuable Athlete. Lorenzo Bordina, Coaches Award. Modified, Lucas Fisher and Xavier Englin, Coaches Award.
Girls Track — Varsity, Jenna Quick, Most Valuable Sprinter. Sophie Schindler, Most Valuable Thrower. Modified, Mya Hernandez and Jayden Walter, Coaches Award.