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!
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.
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!
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!
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.
Big smiles and even bigger school spirit filled the H Gym today as our Unified Basketball and Cheerleading teams hit the court for their first ever Blue vs. White game! The energy was electric as both teams gave it their all on the court and the sidelines. Huge thanks to everyone who came out to support. What an unforgettable day!
There are 20 new members of the National Art Honor Society after a formal induction ceremony at Shaker High School on Wednesday. Art Supervisor Anne Manzella and several NAHS Officers honored the new inductees with a certificate, a carnation and a special cord which students will wear at graduation.
In addition, all of the SHS art teachers honored individual students in each of their classes for high achievement and performance. Teachers spoke glowingly about the 34 students they selected in grades 9-12 who were called up to receive certificates and sketch pads for the recognition.
Shaker High School is home to one of this year's Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Good Citizen Award recipients! Senior Sakthi Jagannath was honored at the Pruyn House on Tuesday, May 13, along with a recipient from Colonie High School. The DAR Good Citizens Award and Scholarship Contest was created in 1934, to encourage and recognize high school seniors who possess the qualities of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism in their homes, schools and communities. For more on Sakthi's achievements, check out the full news story in our bio.
Thank you to the North Colonie community for supporting the 2025-26 budget! North Colonie residents voted to approve the budget, 937 yes votes to 267 no votes. Linda Harrison and Samuel Johnson were both reelected to their seats on the Board of Education. Learn more on our website at northcolonie.org/news.
Shaker High School has another winner! Congratulations to senior Victoria Raghubar, who was chosen as a winner of the 3M Scholarship, for her performance in the National Merit Program. The 3M Scholarship is a special supplemental scholarship given to a candidate who fulfills the sponsor's criteria and scored highly on the 2023 PSAT. Victoria plans to attend Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in the fall.
Lucas Zhang is headed to world championships! Last month, the Shaker High School junior traveled to Las Vegas to compete in the North American Open International Karate Tournament and returned home with five medals: one gold, two silver, and two bronze! Thanks to his outstanding performance, Lucas qualified for Team USA and the upcoming 2025 WUKF (World Union of Karate-Do Federations) World Karate Championships in Malmö, Sweden this July. Before heading to Sweden, Lucas will compete at the AAU National Karate Championships in Fort Lauderdale from June 30 to July 5. As if that weren’t impressive enough, Lucas also earned his 2nd-degree black belt (2nd Dan) last year and made his debut as a center referee at the Adirondack District Championship. Congratulations, Lucas, on your remarkable accomplishments and best of luck in Florida and Sweden!
Congratulations to Shaker High School students Dominic Corey, Trinity Pitts, and Hana Kim! All three SHS students were recently honored at the Congressional Art Competition held at the Art Center of the Capital Region. Congressman Paul Tonko was in attendance and addressed the families present. At the event, SHS senior Dominic Corey was presented with one of two honorable mentions for his digital photograph "City Lights." The competition celebrated students from across the region, including North Colonie, Albany City, Bethlehem, and Niskayuna. Great job to these SHS artists!
The Shaker baseball team celebrated former player Casey O'Connor by retiring his #14 jersey ahead of Tuesday's inaugural Casey O'Connor Memorial Baseball Cup Game. Family and friends of the late CBA baseball coach and Shaker grad were on hand to celebrate his life and his contributions to both the CBA and North Colonie baseball communities. Both teams sported warmup t-shirts with "O'Connor" written on the back and O'Connor's son Jake threw out the ceremonial first pitch. O'Connor's #14 plaque was unveiled on the back of the home dugout, joining Jeff Hoffman, Tommy Kahnle and late Coach Pete Mravlja. Shaker took home the first ever Casey O'Connor Memorial Cup Game with a 3-2 win over CBA in 10 innings.
North Colonie is once again teaming up with the United Way of the Greater Capital Region... this time for our Season of Service! Throughout the month of May, students from buildings around the district are holding days of service to give back to the community. While they're doing that, we want to help our own students in need. The money raised in this campaign will help provide students with food and other items during summer break and beyond. We are grateful for any and all donations!
Shaker High School students in the IT Essentials & Advanced Robotics classes recently had the opportunity to participate in an educational industrial visit to the Albany NanoTech Complex on Friday, April 30. The NanoTech Complex is North America’s largest and most advanced semiconductor research and development facility. On this tour, students learned how the complex is constantly pushing the boundaries of technology, building the next generation of chips, and training the workforce of tomorrow. The tour also focused on Quantum computation, employment and school opportunities, and how cleanrooms were set up/ utilized. The day concluded with a Plasma demonstration. Thank you for having us, Albany NanoTech!
The SHS Family and Consumer Sciences Department is committed to giving back to the community! Throughout the school year, our FACS and FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America) students have taken part in various service projects. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Creating hygiene bags for Joseph's House and Shelter
- Constructing cat beds, dog bandanas and toys for the Mohawk Humane Society
- Baking banana and pumpkin bread for the Sidewalk Warriors of Troy
- Baking cookies for the Shaker Road Fire Department
- Creating Valentine's cards for veterans at the Albany Stratton Medical Center
