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.
A group of 15 Shaker High School students are being recognized as the May North Colonie Kids Care recipients for their efforts to raise money through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Student Visionaries of the Year Campaign. Over seven weeks this winter, these 15 students raised $111,114!
Juniors Joelle Hannoush and Yirou Kao served as captains of Team “Fight2Cure” and were joined by senior Catherine Cheng and juniors Hannah Nune, Michael Green and Renat Gosmanov. This team finished as runner-up in the competition, raising $88,399 in that seven week period. They ran a lacrosse clinic at Afrim’s where they not only taught the sport to young students, but also stressed the importance of philanthropy and giving back to the community.
The second team, “Hope Raisers,” was captained by juniors Cristiano Logrippo, Fynn Sarfoh and Kwame Boakye and joined by fellow juniors Anthony Tleiji, Aydan Shahbazli, Madison Turcotte, Patrick Guana, Rosa Tropiano and Shradha Thapa. They hosted pickleball and cornhole tournaments, ran a pancake breakfast and even presented as a team to Meliora Law in Delmar. For more on this story, click the link in our bio.
The SHS Multicultural Festival was a resounding success on Friday night! Families from across the district turned out to celebrate the many cultures represented here in North Colonie. There was food from dozens of different countries for people to sample, along with dance, music and crafts from various cultures. The festival was put on by the SHS Cooking and Culture Club with the support of many other school clubs. We can't wait to do it again next year!
Thursday morning, the Shaker Varsity Boys' Basketball team and Ski Champion, Ava Bachta were honored at the New York State Senate, receiving official Resolutions from 43rd District Senator Jake Ashby. This means their incredible athletic achievements are now recognized in the official state record! Congratulations to all the athletes, coaches, and families on this amazing honor!
They have signed on the dotted line! Alex Buff and Melina Carroll recently signed letters of intent at the Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical Education National Signing Day Ceremony. Alex (pictured), a student in the Automotive Collision Technology program, signed a letter of intent with Dawson's Auto Body Shop, Inc. Cosmetology student Melina Carroll has signed a letter of intent with Pixie Salon. Congratulations, Alex and Melina!
It was a party at Walker Field on Wednesday as fifth graders from all six elementary schools came together for the 73rd Annual Fifth Grade Track & Field Meet! The field was buzzing with energy, cheers, music, and nonstop fun! Students participated in more than a dozen events like the softball throw and shot put. To wrap up the day there were three thrilling 4x100 relays ( boys, girls, and coed) which brought the crowd to their feet. Latham Ridge swept them all! Huge thanks to our faculty, staff, and incredible timekeepers for making it all happen!
Nothing lifts spirits like a surprise show of love and support! Representatives from the Class of 2025 and the athletic department covered Mr. Couture's yard with encouragement as he continues his recovery. Your school family is cheering you on every step of the way!
Future architects in the making! Shaker High School Architecture 2 & 3 students took their talents to CSArch in Albany, presenting stunning design portfolios complete with CAD drawings, scaled models, and bold ideas. Each team confidently defended their vision in front of professional architects who were blown away by their creativity, skill, and professionalism.
It's Loudonville's turn for their day of service! On Friday, May 23, students and staff from Loudonville participated in a day of service to clean up their school garden. While the rain kept them inside, students stayed busy planting seeds and moving flowers and herbs to new containers in preparation for planting in their school garden.
We are thrilled to congratulate the outstanding Spanish students from Shaker High School who have once again demonstrated excellence on the 2025 National Spanish Exam (NSE), earning well-deserved national recognition. In this year's competition, 83 students from SHS secured a remarkable 1 gold, 4 silver, and 10 bronze medals, in addition to 35 honorable mentions. The achievement of earning a medal or honorable mention on the National Spanish Exam (NSE) is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our students as well as the guidance and expertise of our dedicated Spanish teachers. Click the link in our bio for a list of winners.
