Green Island Union Free School District

Heatly Class of 2008 Commencement Ceremony

The Class of 2008 held their Commencement Exercises on Friday evening, June 27. Class Salutatorian, Casey Connelly, spoke to her classmates about challenges. Looking back on her time at Heatly, she talked about how many of her classmates have been together for many years, how they have a variety of personalities, a strong sense of loyalty to one another with many wonderful memories. She talked about how you learn lessons by success of failures of your own decisions and that one must seize opportunities. A high school diploma is a ticket to change the world. Sometimes things don't always turn out as planned, but one needs to do what's best with the situation. Casey mentioned her father's advice that we all make mistakes, but we have to learn from them and carry on - and to be yourself and to your best, which isn't always easy. She said that wherever you go, go with all your heart and never forget the ones you've left behind.

Rachel Boughton, Class Valedictorian, spoke about a lesson learned from her Elementary Math teacher, Mrs. Getty, "Nothing is ever too hard, it's only challenging." She said whenever you are confronted with an obstacle, don't think of it as too hard, you must challenge yourself to overcome it. She told her classmates that challenge has a unique way of shaping our character. There is only one characteristic that takes on challenge - that is determination. If you have the drive, you will have all the power you need to succeed. When you think you are at your roughest patch, your relationship with your loved ones will only strengthen. She asked how you can know what success is, unless you've experienced failure; how can you know you?re at the top of a mountain, if you've never been in the valley. She challenged her classmates to step outside of their comfort zone, to conquer their fears, take on something new, learn something new. She offered the words of advice to be true to yourself, and not take yourself too seriously. Take the time to have a laugh. If the world is too terrible, take the time to change it. Her hope for her friends was that when they grow old, and look back, that they can say, "I am satisfied."

Keynote speaker for Commencement was Michael Cocca, Class of 1942. Mr. Cocca reminisced about his time with the class over the past four years. He reflected back on his life after graduation and what hopes he had for life. He advised the students that you are in charge of your own life. He told them how Graduation is not the end, but that it is Commencement, the beginning of their life. There may be times in their lives where you have to tough things out. It is important to respect yourselves and others.

For a complete list of awards given at Commencement, please visit our Graduation Honors and Awards Page.

To view more photos from Commencement, please visit our SnapFish Photo Gallery .

Heatly Announces 2008 Valedictorian and Salutatorian

Rachel Boughton was announced as the Class of 2008 Valedictorian with a GPA of 97.25 and Casey Connelly was announced as the Class of 2008 Salutatorian with a GPA of 93.25 at Heatly's Academic Awards Night Ceremony held on May 20.

Rachel is the daughter of Jean Bayly Weisenforth ('81) and Willard Boughton. She will be going to Siena College majoring in Biology. Rachel would like to go into the cardiology field. In her years at Heatly, Rachel played on the Varsity Soccer team in 9th grade, and has played on the Varsity Volleyball team for the past 3 years. She also competed in Archery contests. Rachel performed in the Heatly Drama Club performances of Mary Poppins, Into the Woods, Oliver and Annie Get Your Gun. This year, she served as President of the Student Council, President of the Drama Club, President of the SADD Club, Vice President of the French Club and is a member of the National Honor Society. As a senior, Rachel attended the BOCES Health Care Program at St. Peter's Hospital. Rachel has also been awarded the Siena's Presidential Scholarship and Callahan Scholarship.

Casey is the daughter of Kellie and Thomas ('82) Connelly. Casey will also be attending Siena College, majoring in Biology. She plans to go to medical school to become a physician. While at Heatly, Casey played Varsity Softball in 10th grade and was a Cheerleading for the past 3 years. Casey performed in the Heatly Drama Club performances of Mary Poppins and Annie Get Your Gun. She has served as President of the SADD Club, Vice President of the Drama Club and is a member of the Student Council. During her senior year, Casey attended the BOCES Health Care Program at St. Peter's Hospital. She has been awarded the Siena Presidential Scholarship, the Sage Award and the New York State Lottery Scholarship.

The Honor Graduates were also announced at the ceremony. Terralyn Savio has a GPA of 86.00; Chelsea Daus has a GPA of 85.75; and Tristen Hernandez has a GPA of 85.00.

Sports Banquet 2008

Heatly Athletes were honored at the Annual Sports Banquet held at the Franklin Terrace on June 3, sponsored and organized by the Heatly Varsity Club. Coaches from each team announced the team rosters, gave some highlights of the season, and gave out some special awards to some of the athletes on their teams. In addition to the team awards, the following special awards were awarded:

Sportsmanship - Female - Katie McCarthy

Sportsmanship - Male - Will Murtha

CHVL Outstanding Senior Athlete - Female - Victoria Brown

CHVL Outstanding Senior Athlete - Male - Jim Wittmann

Parents of the Year - Anita & Larry Brown

Honorary H - Elisa Cugnaschi

To view photos, please visit our SnapFish Photo Gallery. To view the full list of Athletes awarded at the 2008 Banquet, please visit the Sports Page or the Varsity Club Page.

Class Night 2008

Class Night was celebrated on June 5 for the Class of 2008 - the Heatly Skool Musikal. There was Jinx's Birthday Party, Stick to the Status Joe, Basketball, Phantom of the Drama Club and We're All in this Together/Spiderman. There was also the reading of the Class Will, the Class Prophecy and the slide show though the years. To view photos, please visit our SnapFish Photo Gallery.

Relay for Life 2008

Students, faculty and staff participated in Green Island's Annual Relay for Life on June 6 and 7. Thank you to all who supported our teams and the event! To view photos, please visit our SnapFish Photo Gallery.

2008-2009 Budget Approved

Thanks Green Island!
Voters approved the $6.67 million budget for the 2008-09 school year during voting today, Tuesday, May 20. Spending would rise by 2.8 percent next year but taxes would remain the same as this year. The budget was approved by a vote of 115 in favor to 13 against, a 90 to 10 percent ratio. Incumbent Board of Education members Robert Boudreau and Tom McNulty were unopposed and were re-elected with 125 votes each. The budget calls for several initiatives, such as a new textbook series in science, the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) reading assessment program, continued curriculum alignment, four classrooms worth of furniture and the second year of the technology plan, It also anticipates the continuing climb in enrollment.

Junior Prom

The Class of 2009 held their Junior Prom on Friday evening, April 25 at the Hiland Country Club in Queensbury. It was “A Night To Remember” as students danced the night away. The attendants for the prom were Ryan Sedgwick, Jane Broekhuizen, Joshua Mason and Ashanti Johnson. Prom Prince was Will Murtha; Princess was Amanda Forcucci; Prom King was Brandon Fish; and Prom Queen was Danielle Greene. After the prom, students enjoyed an After Prom Party sponsored by Heatly’s SADD Club at Spare Time Bowling Alley. Congratulations to the class for hosting such a wonderful prom! To view photos from the Prom, please visit our SnapFish Photo Gallery 1 and SnapFish Photo Gallery 2.

Character Education, March 2008

During the month of March the character word we discussed was pride. The students made banners with the character words on them that we have discussed to this point. The new “Keepers of the Hive” are:

Emilee Spoon
Morgyn Legault
Emma Heffern
Noah Miller
Eulices Nunez
Tyler Terrault
Tiffany DeCota
Carleigh Patterson
Austin Horton
Jordan Niziol

The character word for the month of April is perserverance. Our service project for the month is to contribute to the Double H Ranch in Lake Luzerne which is one of the Hole in the Wall camps that children and families with critical illnesses can attend for a week free of charge. There are two large bins in the Elementary where students can put their contributions. To view photos from our March Character Education Ceremony, please visit our SnapFish Photo Gallery.

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Heatly Awarded EETT Competitive Grant for Early Literacy

Heatly has been awarded an EETT Competitive Grant for Early Literacy. The Troy City School District was the Lead Educational Agency for this grant. They assembled a consortium of school district which included Green Island to apply for funding. This grant was extremely competitive with the majority of the monies going to the New York City area and the Big 5 School District.

Through this grant, Green Island will receive the following:

5 PDA style devices with DIBELS diagnostic software to groups of K-3 teachers
Web-based services to manage and analyze data
Training in the use of the above-mentioned tools
A two-year series of professional development activities focusing on Differentiated Instruction and use of classroom technology tools.

Ms. Shannon Martin will be the School District Representative for this initiative. There will be more information as this project moves forward. As a District we should be very excited to be a part of this effort.

A New Beginning

This week, students will walk through the doors of a newly renovated and expanded village school district building that pays homage to the past but also takes learning into the 21st century. “For me, the biggest reward will be to see the faces of the kids as they come back, see and experience all the new improvements happening here,” said Green Island Union Free School District Superintendent, John McKinney. (more on The Record news article appearing in the September 2, 2007 edition, by Robert Cristo - Page 1; Page 2;)

Junior and Senior High School Students to Be Rewarded for Positive Behavior

Beginning this September, Heatly Junior and Senior High School will be implementing a Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) Program. PBIS programs have had great success in encouraging positive behavior among student populations in other districts. The cornerstone of the program is the five student expectations:

Be Respectful
Be Responsible
Be a Learner
Be Safe
Be Peaceful

Students who display these qualities will be entered into weekly raffles giving them the opportunity to win exciting prizes. Furthermore, students who remain “Referral Free” will be able to participate in fun “No Referral” events. We are excited about the program and look forward to promoting positive behavior in the school and community.