UPCOMING EVENTS

May 1 - 2nd Annual Children's Book Festival
May 31 - Memorial Day - No School

ALP Students Support ArtsWalk

ABOVE: Sergio Fuentes, 11th grade, and Tyler Bianchi, 12th grade.

LEFT: Nick Gonzales, 11th grade. RIGHT: Approaching an antique dealer.

ALP Students Present Sports Memorabilia to Firefighters

ABOVE: ALP Student Aaron Irizarry displays the informational card he created about 1950s boxing great Rocky Marciano.

Students from the Alternative Learning Program presented more than $40,000 worth of sports memorabilia to the Hudson Fire Department in a ceremony Friday, Sept. 25 at the Greenport School. The memorabilia, which included autographed, framed photos of sports heroes such as baseball players Bob Feller, Mel Ott and Enos Slaughter and football greats Red Grange and Jim Brown, were donated by an anonymous collector. Students in the classes of Mr. Courrege and Mrs. Van Baaren did research on the sports heroes and created large-format, baseball card-like, laminated documents with photos, biographies and interesting facts about each of them.

Social Studies Teacher Mr. Courrege said the best part of the project was its cross-disciplinary nature -- the students got to work on the historical perspective with him and on their writing skills with Mrs. Van Baaren. Usually, he said, at this time of the semester, students would be creating the cards to commemorate reformers of the 1840s, like Sojourner Truth or leading abolitionists.

But this year, he said, Principal Tom Gavin came to him last Tuesday and told him about the anonymous donation. Mr. Courrege decided that research into the life and times of great 20th-century sports heroes, combined with the work involved in creating the presentation, would be valuable learning experiences for his students. They did all the research on the Internet, digging up interesting facts and discovering historical perspectives on figures whose names were once written across the sky but are largely forgotten by their generation.

ABOVE: Bryan Fuller with the three cards he created, on golfer Payne Stewart, and football running backs Red Grange and Jim Brown.

The items can be used to help raise money in this difficult financial time.

The following are the names of the individuals whose autographed photographs, drawings, clippings and other memorabilia were donated:

The value of these items has been established by online dealers and auction houses. ($42,718.00)

ALP Students Pay Respects to Deceased Firefighters on 9/11

Students from the Alternative Learning Program at the Greenport School took a trip to the Firemen's Home, Harry Howard Avenue, Hudson, Sept.11 to lay flags at the graves of deceased firefighters in commemoration of the sacrifices made by rescue workers and lives lost in the destruction of the World Trade Center and Pentagon on that date eight years ago.

Principal Tom Gavin said the students were shown slides and a movie, followed by a discussion, before traveling to the home. Although the students were young children at the time of the disaster, they remembered it well, said teachers Andrea Van Baaren and Kim Lockman, and many had family members in the city and had stories to tell about that day in a very personal and emotional session.

At the Firemen's Home, students were treated to lunch of hot dogs and soda, sheltering from the rain under the pavilion, then followed a color guard of firefighters up the hill to the cemetery.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Alternative Learning Program  828-4360

• Principal Thomas Gavin - ext. 5208
• Main Office, Attendance: Pam Kline - 5205
• Science: Mrs. Lockman - 5201
• Social Studies: Mr. Courrege - 5202
• English: Mrs. Van Baaren - 5203
• Math: Mrs. Dederick - 5204
• Tutoring: Mrs. Hoffman - 5207, 5108