Welcome Back to School Year 2019-2020

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 - SAYVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL

A short-and-sweet assembly that welcomed Sayville School District teachers and staff back to school for the 2019-2020 academic year hit all the right notes—literally.

After the pledge, the audience remained standing while Sayville Senior Isabella Byrne played the National Anthem on her violin. Her impressive performance was followed by Sayville Senior Ryan VanBoxel’s challenging trumpet solo (Alexander Arutunian's Trumpet Concerto) that earned him a standing ovation from the audience. Music Department chairperson Jeff Hoffman announced that both Isabella and Ryan have been named 2019 NYSSMA All-State winners and will be representing Sayville at the All-State Conference in Rochester, New York held in December.  Also during the general assembly, STA President Michael Pace listed the building representatives and Sayville School’s full-time Security Supervisor John Giambrone gave an overview of security procedures within the district.

But the exceptionally heartwarming segment of the Welcome-Back program was when Sayville Superintendent Dr. John Stimmel invited six students, some accompanied by family, to the stage. These students, representing the incoming Kindergarten class and the graduating Class of 2032, had each prepared a poster-sized drawing depicting what they wanted to be when they grew up. With gentle persuasion, Dr. Stimmel encouraged each child to show the audience what he or she had drawn—a D.J., a science teacher, a policeman, a teacher, a football player, and an astronaut. As the shy and plucky youngsters shared their dreams and aspirations, the enthralled audience cheered and applauded.

Dr. Stimmel linked this theme of fulfilling dreams in his address (see below):

“Everyone has dreams, wishes, and hopes for the future—even our youngest students.  I am reminded of a line from the Disney animation Aladdin where the Genie exclaims (in the voice of Robin Williams) that he is in the ‘wish-fulfillment business.’

One could say that we, in some ways like the Genie, are in the business of dream fulfillment. However, unlike the fantasy of Aladdin, we deal with a reality which can get messy at times and is sometimes tinged with disappointment. Over the next thirteen years we will share highs and lows with these students. We will share in the deepest emotions of all of our students and their families as they find their path to fulfilling their dreams.  We may not share in the fantasy of Aladdin’s Genie but our jobs are no less magical.  So just take a moment at the start of another school year to consider the awesome power and responsibility of your jobs. Now I ask you to take one more moment to reflect that yours is truly a noble profession.

We have high hopes for these youngsters as they embark upon their school careers, but hope alone is not a strategy.  In order for us to help all of our students fulfill their dreams we must:

• Provide an environment that is both nurturing and safe;
• Deliver a robust, world-class curriculum;
• Provide instruction that not only instills knowledge but inspires vision;
• Utilize high-quality instructional materials and instructional technology. In particular authentic literature tailored to our students’ needs and interests;
• As we begin this new school year we should bear in mind that we work in partnership with our community (a community that is represented by the dedicated men and women who serve on our BOE) and that we must use our community’s resources wisely.

The next thirteen years will be most eventful for these children. These children and their parents come to us with big dreams for the future. Through your skill as educators: teachers and principals, and all you who support them in the mission of educating our students---I wish you all the best as we begin a new school year and I repeat yours is truly a noble profession.”

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 - SAYVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL

A short-and-sweet assembly that welcomed Sayville School District teachers and staff back to school for the 2019-2020 academic year hit all the right notes—literally.

After the pledge, the audience remained standing while Sayville Senior Isabella Byrne played the National Anthem on her violin. Her impressive performance was followed by Sayville Senior Ryan VanBoxel’s challenging trumpet solo (Alexander Arutunian's Trumpet Concerto) that earned him a standing ovation from the audience. Music Department chairperson Jeff Hoffman announced that both Isabella and Ryan have been named 2019 NYSSMA All-State winners and will be representing Sayville at the All-State Conference in Rochester, New York held in December.  Also during the general assembly, STA President Michael Pace listed the building representatives and Sayville School’s full-time Security Supervisor John Giambrone gave an overview of security procedures within the district.

But the exceptionally heartwarming segment of the Welcome-Back program was when Sayville Superintendent Dr. John Stimmel invited six students, some accompanied by family, to the stage. These students, representing the incoming Kindergarten class and the graduating Class of 2032, had each prepared a poster-sized drawing depicting what they wanted to be when they grew up. With gentle persuasion, Dr. Stimmel encouraged each child to show the audience what he or she had drawn—a D.J., a science teacher, a policeman, a teacher, a football player, and an astronaut. As the shy and plucky youngsters shared their dreams and aspirations, the enthralled audience cheered and applauded.

Dr. Stimmel linked this theme of fulfilling dreams in his address (see below):

“Everyone has dreams, wishes, and hopes for the future—even our youngest students.  I am reminded of a line from the Disney animation Aladdin where the Genie exclaims (in the voice of Robin Williams) that he is in the ‘wish-fulfillment business.’

One could say that we, in some ways like the Genie, are in the business of dream fulfillment. However, unlike the fantasy of Aladdin, we deal with a reality which can get messy at times and is sometimes tinged with disappointment. Over the next thirteen years we will share highs and lows with these students. We will share in the deepest emotions of all of our students and their families as they find their path to fulfilling their dreams.  We may not share in the fantasy of Aladdin’s Genie but our jobs are no less magical.  So just take a moment at the start of another school year to consider the awesome power and responsibility of your jobs. Now I ask you to take one more moment to reflect that yours is truly a noble profession.

We have high hopes for these youngsters as they embark upon their school careers, but hope alone is not a strategy.  In order for us to help all of our students fulfill their dreams we must:

• Provide an environment that is both nurturing and safe;
• Deliver a robust, world-class curriculum;
• Provide instruction that not only instills knowledge but inspires vision;
• Utilize high-quality instructional materials and instructional technology. In particular authentic literature tailored to our students’ needs and interests;
• As we begin this new school year we should bear in mind that we work in partnership with our community (a community that is represented by the dedicated men and women who serve on our BOE) and that we must use our community’s resources wisely.

The next thirteen years will be most eventful for these children. These children and their parents come to us with big dreams for the future. Through your skill as educators: teachers and principals, and all you who support them in the mission of educating our students---I wish you all the best as we begin a new school year and I repeat yours is truly a noble profession.”