News Archive
Albany Times Union June 13, 2002
Students sing out on their own song - Workshop helps kids compose
music
by Kathleen Dooley
"Oomm-maz-a-dee, oomm-maz-a-dee" sang the chorus of small voices.
Seated on the floor, students from Saratoga Independent School swayed to the beat.
Led by composer Jim Papoulis who accompanied on keyboards and drums, the students were part of his three-day composing workshop last week. The culmination was an evening concert for family and friends titled "The Sounds of a Better World."
"OK, we're going to write a song together, " Papoulis told the children in kindergarten through sixth grade at the small private school . Papoulis and Stephanie Martini founded the Foundation for Small Voices in 1999 in New York City. It is a not-for-profit group of professional artists, educators and business people. Its purpose is to raise funds and awareness for local New York City children's charities.
"We are dedicated to using music to cross cultural, generational and ideological boundaries," Papoulis said. "The music is a means to build self-esteem, self-reliance and a sense of community," he said.
Papoulis composes and orchestrates music with children's choral ensembles and school choirs. He also does film commercials and dance programs, works with classical ensembles and performs live shows.
At workshops, he draws the music from the children, writes everything down and records everything.
"You guys are incredible learners. You're doing an awesome job," he told the students.
Papoulis, who is trained in classical and jazz styles, also teaches international music in the workshop. He incorporates gospel, world beat, rhythm and blues and pop music.
Two years ago he created "The Sounds of a Better World," with Odetta, Martha Washington, the Tokyo String Quartet, the Boys Choir of Harlem and the Norwegian Children's Choir. The concert was presented at Carnegie Hall in January 2000 to celebrate the hope that children give the world.
"Sounds of a Better World" went international when Hyatt International Hotels offered to sponsor a worldwide tour. So far, it has been performed in Acapulco, Mexico, and the University of Miami School of Music. A trip to Hong Kong and the Far East planned last fall was postponed due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but the tour will continue at a later date, Papoulis said.
In the workshops, children learned fundamentals of song composition, rhythms, form, melody and how to write lyrics. Eventually, they created their own song.
" 'Ommm-maz-a-dee, Ommm-maz-a-dee' will be the song they're singing in the car. It just stays with you," said teacher Heather Swatling.
The words were made up by a kindergartner, Jessika Robinson, 5.
"It's fun. I just made that up and he made a song from it," Jessika said. "I like when we're singing, especially the songs we make ourselves."
Papoulis' visit was arranged by parents John and Alisa Wager, whose son, Luke, is a student at the school.
"It's important in relation to Sept. 11," Alisa Wager said. "Their focal point since then has been helping children deal with changes in the world."
WORDMASTERS for Immediate Release May 2002
A student representing Saratoga Independent recently won highest honors in this year's WordMaster Challenge - a national language arts competition entered by over 250,000 students annually, which consists of three separate meets held at intervals during the school year.
Competing in the difficult Blue Division of the Challenge, sixth grader Adam Jaouad earned a perfect score in the year's third meet where nationwide only 154 sixth graders did so. Other students at the school who also achieved an outstanding result in the meet were sixth graders, Elihu Reynolds, Colin Walsh and fifth grader Madison Beumer who competed in the sixth grade division. The school's students were supervised in preparation for the Challenge by Felice Karlitz.
The WordMaster Challenge is an exercise in critical thinking that first encourages students to become familiar with a set of interesting new words (considerably harder than grade level), and then challenges them to use those words to complete analogies expressing various kinds of relationship. The reasoning ability developed by students participating in the WordMasters Challenge is like the aptitude measured for high school juniors and seniors by the verbal SAT I exam. The WordMasters word lists and analogies, however, have been specifically designed to challenge younger students, in grades three through eight. They are particularly well suited for able and interested children, who rise to the challenge of learning new words and enjoy the logical puzzles posed by analogies.
The WordMasters Challenge has been administered for the past 15 years by a company based in Allendale, New Jersey, which is dedicated to inspiring high achievement in American schools. Now that the school's students have participated in all three of this year's meets, medals and certificates will be awarded to those who have achieved and/or improved the most in the course of the competition.
Grade |
Number of Teams Participating |
Approximate Number of Students Participating |
Median Team Score |
Number of Students Scoring |
||
3 |
620 |
30,400 |
157 |
152 |
482 |
955 |
4 |
797 |
40,540 |
141 |
86 |
271 |
560 |
5 |
793 |
44,980 |
134 |
134 |
322 |
460 |
6 |
495 |
39,870 |
151 |
154 |
275 |
329 |
7 |
316 |
29,130 |
120 |
33 |
117 |
158 |
8 |
305 |
28,320 |
123 |
60 |
131 |
155 |
Totals |
3,326 |
213,240 |
619 |
1,598 |
2,617 |
|
Albany Times Union - SaratogaTU Section March 21, 2002
by Kathleen Dooley
WordMaster: Sebastian Wheeler, a student at Saratoga Independent School, was one of only 57 sixth-graders nationally to earn a perfect score in the second meet of the WordMasters Challenge's blue division. WordMasters is a national language arts competition entered by more than 250,000 students annually. Others from Saratoga Independent with outstanding results include fourth-grader Galen Corey and sixth-graders Colin Walsh, Mary Leigh Roonan, and Elihu Reynolds. The students were prepared for the challenge by Felice Karlitz.
Wheeler, 11, who is from Mechanicville, said the test wasn't that hard and that he enjoys language arts. He also likes math. Karlitz said this is the first year her students participated. "It focuses on critical thinking skills, with major emphasis on the learning process," Karlitz said. "The Word Challenge makes them see vocabulary is more than just a test."
The Saratoga Post March 7-21, 2002
Making the Grade at SIS
by Paula Brehm
Multi-age classrooms, a low teacher-to-stuident ratio and a nonnumeric student assessment system are the building blocks of a solid educational foundation at Saratoga Independent School. Founded in 1991 by a group of parents whose children were attending the Beagle School, Saratoga Independent School has just celebrated its 10th anniversary.
The celebration, which was held March 2, 2002 at the Saratoga Golf and Polo Club, was also the school's annual fundraiser. Big Medicine provided music for the event, and attendees included Assemblyman James Tedisco and Maria Dunning, one of the founding parents and a member of the school's board of trustees. The school holds the fundraiser each year with the goal of raising $15,000 to sup0lement its $250,000 operating budget. To raise funds, the annual dinner includes an auction with items donated by area businesses. This year, the fundraising will also include an auction on eBay, which will run for approximately 10 days.
Saratoga Independent School is a New York State chartered, private elementary school for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. From an initial kindergarten class of five students, the school has grown to an enrollment of 45 children. The school's mission is to encourage a high standard of academic achievement in an educational setting that respects children and fosters their natural love of learning.
In the multi-age learning environment, students are not bound to the curriculum that is typically taught at each grade level in public schools. For example, a 9-year-old student, who would typically be in third grade, that is capable of a higher level of math would be in a classroom that incorporates other students at that level regardless of age. If that same student were only reading at a second grade level, he or she would attend a multi-age reading class that encourages progress without labeling the student as being behind the norm for his or her age group. In this way, students can learn form at a certain level.
The students at Saratoga Independent School also benefit from a 1-to-8 teacher to student ratio. The teachers teach as a team, and school-wide themes provide the students with total immersion in the subjects being studied. For example, in January, Ms. Parker's art students were exploring the tribal designs of Native Americans and made Native American pouches that were used to carry herbs, shells and other small items. At the same time, the students in Ms. Magendanz's social studies class were working on group projects and presentations that demonstrated the culture of a variety of Native American groups. Each group chose a particular tribe to study and researched the culture and traditions unique to that tribe.
"I believe good things happen because of the 1-to-8 ratio," says Joseph Mammola, who has been the principal at Saratoga Independent School for the last two years. Mammola spent 30 years teaching at the college level and most recently served as dean of students and vice-president of campus life at Union College. After retiring to his home in Bolton Landing, Mammola began to look for a way to fill his retirement years and found Saratoga Independent School to be a perfect fit. "The kids are fun, and I really believe in what we're doing here," he said.
In the two years that Mammola has been with the Saratoga Independent School, the student body has grown from 32 to 45, which is the limit for the building that now houses the school. Consequently, he and the board of trustees are currently looking to secure a new building that will allow for growth. Many parents are pushing for the addition of seventh and eighth grades to the school, but Mammola is determined to control growth so that it does not affect the teacher to student ratio.
The educational program at the Saratoga Independent School is based on the belief that children learn best in an environment where each child is viewed as an individual with a unique learning style and distinct timetable for mastering skills. Different levels of ability and achievement are expected and accepted.
Readers interested in learning more can call (518) 583-0841 to set up an appointment to visit the school, which is located behind the Shoe Depot at 8 Division Street. Information about the school is also available at the school's web site, www.siskids.org.
The Saratogian September 9, 1996
Alternative school moves into city
Parents llaud roomy setup in former NiMo offices
by Michelle Falardeau
Forty-three elementary students are scheduled to begin their first day of school this morning at 8 Division St., the new home of the Saratoga Independent School.
The school is housed in rooms formerly occupied by Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. and converted this summer into cozy learning centers with a lot of open space.
On Friday, children and parents attended a preview of classes at the downtown location.
Saige Cavayero, 6, spotted her name printed on one of many roomy wooden boxes stacked for students' school supplies. She was a kindergartner at the school when it was located at Trinity Methodist Church on Ballard Road in Wilton.
Plucking the strings of a zither in the music area, Saige described her new surroundings as "good" on Friday.
"We love it," said her mother Elysia Cavayero. "It's more centrally located. And they have done such a wonderful job of setting this up." Cavayero said she chose the 10-to-1 student/teacher ratio and its philosophy of grouping the children of different ages together.
"Closed off rooms aren't conducive to our style," said parent Janet Ostrov as she surveyed the open floor plan. "Our kids need to be able to move about freely from center to center, and teachers need to be able to see them."
Staff member Renae Bartley said children finish their "have to" in the morning and then are free to move to various centers such as science or writing to work at their own pace on long-term assignments.
"This gives kids freedom but also a lot of responsibility," Bartley said. "They are very good about keeping track of things."
The Saratoga Independent School started six years ago with eight students. Ostrov said there is room for enrollment in each level, although kindergarten is nearly filled to capacity. Enrollment is up by 30 percent over last year.
The Division Street location is an interim site for the next five years. After that, moving to a larger space may be considered, depending upon enrollment, she said.
