Some of our graduating seniors who attended St. Pius X School for all or part of their K-8 experience went back for a nostalgic stroll through the halls Friday afternoon. Six Shaker seniors were part of the group that visited their former school. Current students and teachers lined the halls for their walk down memory lane. As you can tell, some of those teachers recognized their former students years later! Congrats again to the Class of 2025!
On Thursday night, families, students, and art teachers gathered for the annual Harrison Carnevale Memorial Art Show. Each year, the halls of G Wing are filled with powerful works from media arts students. These works celebrate the life of Shaker High alum Harrison Carnevale, who was killed shortly after graduating in 2007. Harrison had dreams of studying film, and this show honors the creativity, spirit, and artistic passion that he embodied.
On Thursday, June 12, seven Shaker High School seniors signed the line to indicate their college decisions. All seven students in attendance will be going to college and majoring in a program focused on or related to their musical talents. Congratulations to our Shaker musicians - you have a musical future ahead of you!
Kathleen Buffaline - Ithaca College for Music Education (voice)
Katherine Condon - Syracuse University for Music Education (voice)
Stephen Guba - Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam for Music Education (voice)
Tahlia Stefanik - Ithaca College for Music Education (voice)
Rowan Wissenbach - SUNY Fredonia for Music Therapy
Vandy Benson - University of Rhode Island for Music Therapy
Blake Nazarian - Belmont University for Commercial Music
Dozens of eighth grade students in the Accelerated Studio Art and Design program were honored at a portfolio reception on Wednesday afternoon. Art District Supervisor Anne Manzella and members of the SMS art faculty took part in the reception. Over the school year, accelerated art students worked with paint, block print, pencil, pen, graphic design, ceramics and other media. This allows students to explore and experience the wide variety of media available to them and to potentially start to discover their passion. Alina Song and Nandi Htwe were selected by their teachers, Ms. Stanley and Mr. Haacker, to receive a special award for their performance in program. Congratulations to all students and best of luck next year at the high school!
“How can we make the world a better place?” Fourteen students faced that question head-on Tuesday night at the third annual Civic Engagement and Leadership Symposium, presenting bold, forward-thinking projects designed to spark real change from Shaker High School to their communities and beyond. The evening opened with an inspiring keynote from Hon. Mae D'Agostino of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of New York and continued with compelling presentations by freshmen Nancy Chandra and Lasya Nandikam. The formal portion of the night was followed by individual discussions by students where families and community members could ask questions to learn how these students plan to enact change. Each student brought passion, purpose, and fresh ideas to the stage - proof that the future is not only bright, but it's in excellent hands.
T-minus 16 days until graduation, and these student-athletes are gearing up for their next chapter! On Tuesday night, the Athletics Department and Shaker All Sports Booster Club celebrated 21 of the 40+ seniors continuing their athletic careers at D1, D2, and D3 colleges. Congratulations seniors, we can’t wait to cheer you on at the next level!
Congratulations to SHS senior Nazir King! Nazir, a student in the Capital Region BOCES Automotive Services program, was recently awarded the Joe Fuchs Award. The award is given to a student who exemplifies growth in achievement, the development of skills specific to an occupation, growth in citizenship, work ethic, leadership, and pride in their chosen occupation. Great job, Nazir!
The Shaker High School pool was filled with echoes of "cannonball!" earlier this week, as third grade students from Latham Ridge participated in the pilot swim lesson program. Students were bussed over to the high school, where they attended a water safety class before jumping into the water. The group then spent the remainder of the class reviewing swim techniques, water exercises, and, of course, getting in a few cannonballs.
This past March, 27 11th and 12th grade French students participated in the National French Contest. Please join us in congratulating senior Nicolas Bélizaire, who earned a bronze medal; junior Anabel Corniel, who earned a silver medall and junior Nat Antifaiff, who earned a bronze medal. Additionally, the following students earned an Honorable Mention: Marissa Banson, Surya Bommasani, Sofia Conti, Ryan Keegan, Deepak Kilaparty, Jaahnavi Kollapudi, Chaarvi Krishnamurthy, Angela Li, Everitt Li, Jonathan Lindhurst, Layla Mohamed, Suhaas Poka, Aydan Shahbazli, and Jenna Shaw. Félicitations à tous!
Congratulations to Shaker Middle School Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher Molly Jennes! Molly has been awarded the 2024-25 Capital District Teacher of the Year by the New York State Association of FACS Educators (NYSAFCSE). She is now in the running along with other region award recipients for the New York State FACS Teacher of the Year, which will be awarded this summer.
Molly was nominated for the award by FACS teachers throughout the Capital District. She has worked at North Colonie for three years. She is an active member in NYSAFCSE, serving on the board and in multiple roles within the organization. The award serves as a recognition of the positive impact she has had on the lives of many students in SMS. Congratulations, Molly!
Start your engines! Students from Latham Ridge Communications classes put their skills to work, designing their very own cars out of cardboard and other objects on hand, including a frisbee steering wheel and toy cell phone as a GPS. Once students painted and glued the project together, they were given their cardboard box license and took a ride around the school. Upon reaching their destination, they were able to relax in their cars to enjoy a movie in their classroom, just like at the drive-in.
Bees and politics are not topics that tend to mix, but for Christine Butry's U.S. History & Government class it was the perfect blend. Students were given the opportunity to meet with Albany County Legislators and learn about their work, what they do for the community, the process for getting policies passed, what a typical day looks like, and more. In attendance at the event was Democratic Majority Deputy Leader Lynne Lekakis, who was joined by Legislators Bill Ricard, David Mayo, Tim Lane, Susan Lauilliard, and Ellen Rosano.
In addition to offering their experiences, the talk also focused on the importance of sustainable, pollinator-friendly planting across the county as part of the Earth Day Pollinator Project. The event concluded with the district being granted 50 pollinator kits, which included seed balls and educational materials for students.
Great job to Southgate Elementary School! The school reached out to Sidewalk Warriors Troy (@sidewalkwarriorstroy) to offer their assistance with collecting much-needed items for the organization. With a little creativity and some hard work, students were able to collect a large amount of personal care items and decorate and pack brown bag lunches. The items will be distributed to the community over the next few weeks. Great job, Gators!
If you're driving on I-90 westbound near Everett Road, keep your eye out for some of our students' creative work on a Lamar Billboard! Ms. Moran's elementary health classes partnered with Lamar to develop public service announcements that raise awareness about the physical, social and emotional impact of screen time, cell phone use and social media. One submission was selected for display from each of our six elementary schools and can be seen through June 18.
Blue Creek had a very special visitor on Tuesday afternoon! Alexia Michitti was born without a right hand and came to talk to students about how our differences make us unique. Alexia hosted two assemblies in the gymnasium to share her life story which includes success as a soccer player both in high school, collegiately and internationally. After graduating from SUNY Oneonta, Alexia went on to play for the first ever U.S. Women's National Amputee Soccer Team in the World Cup, leading them to a silver medal as the goalkeeper. She was awarded the Golden Glove trophy for the tournament's best goalkeeper!
Members of the Unified Bowling Team were honored Tuesday night by the North Colonie Board of Education at Central Office. Coaches Jason Jones and Christina Kelley called athletes up individually to receive certificates in front of family and friends. The Blue Bison won a championship over the winter season and many of the athletes followed it up with a Unified Basketball Championship last week!
For the last eight weeks, the Superintendent’s Gallery outside of the Superintendent’s office has featured student artwork from three of our elementary schools. Artists from Boght Hills, Latham Ridge and Loudonville and their families were invited to visit Central Office to see their artwork on display. Superintendent Kathleen Skeals attended the event to meet the artists and learn more about about their work. Thank you to Mrs. Manzella for the beautiful displays and to Ms. Duffy, Ms. Hacklin, and Ms. Gorman for being such wonderful art teachers for our students!
On Thursday, May 15, the Shaker Student Government visited the Beverwyck senior living community to put colorful painted rocks in their garden and talk with guests about their mission during May Month of Kindness. During May Month of Kindness, StuGov has a mission of showing everyone kindness and inclusion and demonstrating the importance of being kind to your peers. Some of their other activities have included putting kind post-it notes messages on every locker in school, holding a teacher appreciation breakfast, making a large, decorated breakfast table for teachers, and more.
The Beverwyck residents were grateful and welcoming to the students, and they enjoyed the gorgeous rocks the students painted the day before. The Student Government students had so much fun speaking with residents and look forward to visiting them again in the future for the May Month of Kindness or other volunteer activities.
SMS has talent! The Communications classes at Shaker Middle School showed off their many talents on Thursday, May 29 in front of an auditorium or family, friends and faculty. Piano playing, joke telling, dancing, cup stacking, beat boxing, gymnastics, photography, drawing and fitness... these students did it all. There were live performances as well as recorded videos of various talents, all of which drew thunderous cheers and applause from the crowd. Thank you to our Communications teachers Ms. Cosgrove, Ms. Deierlein, Ms. Biviano, Ms. Alteri and Ms. Candelario for the time and effort they put into making sure every student was represented in the talent show. And a special thanks to SMS music teacher Ms. Greco for helping to facilitate the show!
Shaker sophomore Kameron Kowaleski is the Colonie Police Department's Cadet of the Year! Kowaleski was honored at Colonie PD's Annual Awards Ceremony in May. He was given a commemorative plaque by Colonie Police Chief James J. Gerace for the recognition.
Kameron has been in the Explorer Program for two years and was promoted to Cadet Sergeant after only one year. Participants in the program volunteer in the community, build a strong sense of responsibility, social awareness, community engagement and many other real life skills while learning the basic aspects of what a police officer does in his or her career.
