Bulkeley Middle School Happenings
A very special message from our Principal Four of our students took part in the Regional School of the Future competition yesterday (March 9, 2010)against a school from Old Lyme, CT. Below is an email written by the head of the regional jury to the head of the national competition regarding the competition.
I’m very proud of the way the students represented themselves, our school, our district, and our community. I’d also like to offer a very special thanks to Sharon Hicks and Rick Reilly for their time, enthusiasm, dedication and commitment. It was a grand undertaking but well worth the effort.
John
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Anne Meczywor, Debbie Dwyer, Edwin Maldonato and I, serving as the NE Regional Jurors, were completely blown away by the presentations that we saw yesterday, 3.9.2010, at the Bulkeley Middle School in Rhinebeck, NY between an extraordinary group of young women (all 7th graders) from the Rhinebeck School District facing an equally talented group of young women from the Lyme-Old Lyme School District (two 8th graders and two 6th graders).
Both teams chose to focus on new school facilities for their project and included contextual site designs, high performance, sustainable, LEED targeted school design efforts.
The Rhinebeck project was the epitome of a design suited to their unique microclimate, subsurface geology, and took great pains to protect their local watershed water quality on a feeder stream running along their school site that is a tributary to the nearby Hudson River. Their research and design acknowledged the importance of the Hudson in the development of their river valley environment.
The Old Lyme project focused on a more urban/suburban site embracing a wide gamut of smart growth goals such as the emphasis on trying to redevelop an existing brownsfield site, the reuse of existing community fields for recreation and competitive sports in lieu of including new fields at the school, development of underground parking in the area of the site remediation as well as a design approach that placed a very substantial focus on their mission as 'friends to the earth'.
Both teams exhibited their own unique strengths. The Rhinebeck students won out on their unique, hands on and broad based community planning process and community environment criteria whereas the Old Lyme students prevailed with respect to the learning environment criteria and the physical environment criteria creating a near 'tie' amidst the original scoring matrix. We then considered a set of five supplemental criteria in which we scored the five basic aspects of the competition; namely, the team's overall presentation, the project model, the supporting documentation, the powerpoint/video and finally the respective project narratives.
After almost 90 minutes of scoring and deliberation we found that out of a potential 45 points (5 for each of the original criteria and 5 for each of our supplemental criteria) the result was that a mere two points separated the teams.
Clearly we found both design projects to be compelling efforts, albeit for different reasons. Clearly the NE Region would be very well represented by either team or both teams for that matter; however, in the interest of recognizing the one team that had the slightest margin of victory to represent our region at the National Competition in Washington, DC; we found the team of young ladies (Ami Inc.) from the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School prevailed and were declared the winning team.
I understand that traditionally we have arranged for the winning regional team to display its project at our annual NE Regional CEFPI conference and trust we are on track to make that happen once again. Meanwhile, I well recognize that there may prove some logistical issues to overcome, but frankly would like to see if we could arrange for both of the finalist projects to be displayed at the upcoming May 6-8 conference in Philadelphia.
I will work to assemble a press release to both school's local newspapers as well as letters to their respective principals and boards of education on behalf of CEFPI and will gladly forward them for your review or simply copy you for our records at your choice. A special thanks is due to Rick Reilly, a local realtor in Rhinebeck who served as their team mentor and took on the roll of coordinating the local logistics along with Building Principal, John Kemnitzer, in arranging for excellent accommodations.
If there is anything else that you believe is necessary, as in awarding a certificate or prize (referenced within the Competition guidelines) please let me know how best to address that or whether that will occur at our Regional Conference.
It was a GREAT day to view such absolutely inspired work by both teams and a pleasure to work with my fellow jurors who took on this task with absolute impartiality and a strong understanding of the competition process.
Thanks for the opportunity to participate.
Jay F. Perantoni, AIA, NCARB
Principal
SSP Architectural Group, Inc.
Were you there for the Staff Volleyball Tournament? NO?? Well, here is what you missed!
BMS STAFF CHARITY VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT Sponsored by the Student Council, BMS staff and district administrators took to the volleyball court on Friday afternoon, January 22. Following an exciting week of good natured ribbing between teams and their supporters, more than 200 middle and high school students filled the bleachers as four teams took part in a double elimination tournament.
The event was originally proposed as a fundraiser for a local charity to be voted upon by the student body. However, following the tragedy in Haiti earlier that week, students unanimously voted to donate the proceeds to the earthquake relief effort. In addition, the Student Council agreed to match the amount collected at the gate and, in addition to serving as a fun and exciting respite to the cold winter, BMS was able to donate $1000 to a great cause!
Kudos to all Top Chef Contestants! 
Winners of the Top Chef BMS Contest include:
Side Dishes:
#1 – Emily Duke & Lizzie Kroll – Butternut Squash Bake
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CJ Wilde & Chris Cassano – Crowd Pleasing Chunky Minestrone
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Anna McNulty – Seasoned Apples
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Sarah Fleischhauer – Homestyle Macaroni Salad
Entrees:
# 1 Quinn McCauley – Louisiana Red Beans and Rice
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Isabella Romano – Roast Chicken & Zucchini
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Sarah Prosser & Elaine Dealy – Fabulous Fiesta
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Suki McCarty & Dilynn Livesay – Whole Grain Pasta with Pesto
Desserts:
# 1 Casey Heady – Apple Crisp with Caramel Cream
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Xandra Zucker – Apple Crumble Pizza Pie
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Bennett Melley & Brandon Voss – Strawberry Tiramisu Bites
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Ilana Whitmont & Barr Lavi-Romer – Brownie Layer Cake
**IMPORTANT NOTICE**
In order to be dismissed from school, students who are feeling ill MUST report to the health office.
**Parents,if you call the school to notify us of your child's absence, a written note must be sent in with your child upon returning in order to make the absence legal. Thank you.**
Please refer to page 5 of the Student Handbook.
BMS Policy Regarding Electronics in School
ELECTRONICS IN SCHOOL:
Use and/or display of all forms of radios, walkman-style tape, CD, or DVD players, tape recorders, laptop computers, external speakers, pagers, digital music players, cell phones, electronic games, and similar items has been determined to be a potential disruption to the school learning process. Using these items is generally prohibited in school, with the following exceptions:
¨ Use of music players with a headset and laptop computers are permitted to be used in high school and middle school classrooms at the discretion of the individual classroom teacher.
¨ Electronic games with age-appropriate software are permitted to be used by K-12 students on District transportation.
¨ Music players with a headset are permitted to be used by high school students only in a scheduled high school lounge, in the high school hallways, during a scheduled lunch in the high school cafeteria, or on District transportation.
¨ Cell phones are permitted to be used by high school students only in a scheduled high school lounge, during a scheduled lunch in the high school cafeteria, or on District transportation.
In the event that such prohibited equipment is used, a teacher or any other member of the staff will see that it is turned in to the main office and kept there until the end of the day. Repeat incidents will require a parent conference in order to retrieve the confiscated item.
Your signatures on the Parental Statement of the Student Handbook indicates an understanding and compliance with our policies and proceedures.
More News From the Health Office
Attention Grade 6 Students
NYS requires all Grade 7 students to have a physical. A school physical form will be included with the next report card mailing. Additionally, a form can be downloaded from our website; see the link at the bottom of this page. When your physician completes the physical, please return the form to Mrs. Murphy in the Health Office.
All physicals must be completed by December 1, 2009, or the school doctor will do the physical in January. Any questions can be directed to Mrs. Murphy, RN at 871.5500 x 5536
http://www.health.state.ny.us/publications/2370.pdf Discounts at some of your favorite Rhinebeck shops can be used daily until 4/30/10.
$8.50 of each $10 card sold goes to our schools!
All proceeds benefit the Rhinebeck Central School District PTSO!
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