Students, Sorrentino Shine at Digital Rochester’s Women in Technology Breakfast
Posted on April 27th, 2018 by Allendale Columbia School
Women are increasingly studying technology and moving into technology careers. Local organization Digital Rochester and their Women in Technology Special Interest Group (SIG) recognized several local women at a breakfast on April 26th, including Allendale Columbia’s Director of Lower School Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Sue Sorrentino as a nominee for their 20th annual Technology Woman of the Year award.
At the event, five young women from AC also received a lot of attention. Fifth graders Victoria Timpani, Ella Herberger, and Maya Sams and talked about their all-girl VEX-IQ Robotics team Girls With Gears, while Liza ’20 and Mary ’22 Cotter showcased robots used in FIRST LEGO League and FTC Robotics competitions and discussed their technology learning and experiences. Their tables were crowded with attendees from large and small businesses in the Rochester area interested in their technological savviness.
Sue Sorrentino left a career in corporate engineering to address the urgency of building STEM fluency in early elementary age children to build and sustain interest in STEM through middle and high school. She and her team at Vista Teach Instructional Services, a company she founded and serves as Executive Director, have developed comprehensive programs in engineering education and optics for grades K-8, both in school and in after-school and summer programs, primarily at AC but also available to other schools. She has trained hundreds of robotics coaches throughout the Greater Rochester Area.
Sorrentino is in great company, as other nominees for the Technology Woman of the Year and Emerging Technology Professional Woman of the Year included women from such organizations as Rochester Regional Health, ITX, Harris Corporation, Datto, Constellation Brands, CloudCheckr, Luminate, KLDiscovery, University of Rochester, RIT, MCC, and Girl Discover It.
Digital Rochester provides events and community services to strengthen and grow the region’s technology community through education and relationship development.
Posted in: Centers for Impact, Eighth Grade, Eleventh Grade, Fifth Grade, Fourth Grade, Highlights, Invent, Lower School, LS Birches, Middle School, MS Birches, Ninth Grade, Seventh Grade, Sixth Grade, Tenth Grade, The Birches, Twelfth Grade, Upper School, US Birches
Creativity Abounds at Evening of the Arts
Posted on March 27th, 2018 by Allendale Columbia SchoolCreativity knows no bounds, as Allendale Columbia School students demonstrated at the biennial Evening of the Arts event on Friday, March 23rd. The exhibition featured over a hundred works of art from students in grades N – 12 displayed throughout the school. This year’s theme was “Art Around the World”.
Honors and Portfolio Seminar Art students plied their craft in the Bruce B. Bates Design and Innovation Lab, previewing their work for the upcoming spring thesis exhibition in April. Senior Madison DeCory appreciated the opportunity to help stimulate artistic creativity in younger students, as she mentioned in an interview with News 8 Rochester: “What we want to do tonight is showcase what we’ve been doing, showcase our talents, and get other students interested in the artwork that we’re doing.”
“It’s a variety of work all the way from photography — we have a black and white darkroom which is incredible for our students to have that experience — to printmaking, painting, drawing, design, digital work, and hands on work,” said Amy Oliveri, AC art teacher and Director of the AC Center for Entrepreneurship. A group of 5th graders even demonstrated their “crankie” from the Lower School musical, “I’m Not Sleepy…Yet!”.
Students working in the Global Engagement Diploma program also participated in a bit of social entrepreneurism, selling handmade baskets from a women’s collective and shade-grown coffee to benefit the program’s partners in El Sauce, Nicaragua.
News 8 Rochester summarized the event on their evening news show.
Posted in: AC in the News, Alumni News, Centers for Impact, Eighth Grade, Eleventh Grade, Entrepreneurship, Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Global Engagement, Highlights, Invent, Kindergarten, Lower School, Middle School, Ninth Grade, Nursery, Partnerships, Pre-Primary School, PreKindergarten, Second Grade, Seventh Grade, Sixth Grade, Tenth Grade, Third Grade, Twelfth Grade, Upper School
Fearless Friday: Pea Hummus with Mint
Posted on March 9th, 2018 by Allendale Columbia SchoolSuper Chef’s Fearless Friday treat at Lower School lunch today is Pea Hummus with Mint, using peas from Kern Farm through our partner, Headwater Food Hub. The students all liked it, but Chef Laura wasn’t so crazy about the peas, although she did remark on the mint and cayenne pepper flavors that came through.
On Fearless Fridays, four Lower School student volunteers join AC Lunch Lady in Chief Laura Reynolds-Gorsuch, who doesn’t often like vegetables, to try a new vegetable dish created by Super Chef Yessy Roman and give their reviews. The dish is then available to everyone, and you’d be surprised at how many adventurous students try and enjoy these healthy and delicious veggie treats. Make them at home!
Recipe: Pea Hummus with Mint
Ingredients
3 cups fresh or frozen peas (thaw frozen peas; cook fresh peas until they’re cooked, but still firm)
2 cloves garlic – blanched
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
8 mint leaves
1 Tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (use ¼ teaspoon if you prefer less spicy hummus)
½ teaspoon ground sea salt
Instructions
Thaw frozen peas or cook fresh peas (make sure they are not mushy)
Peel and blanch garlic cloves in boiling water for 2 minutes
Put peas, garlic, lemon juice, mint leaves, olive oil, cayenne pepper, and sea salt in food processor and blend until it is thick and creamy
Posted in: Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Kindergarten, Lower School, Second Grade, Third Grade
AC Teams Get Trophies at VEX State Championships
Posted on March 9th, 2018 by Allendale Columbia SchoolOn Sunday, March 4th, 2018, Allendale Columbia Schools hosted the Northern New York State VEX IQ Robotic Championships. Fourteen teams, with team members ranging in age from grade 4 to grade 8, from across Upstate New York participated. Ten trophies were presented at this robotics competition and the Allendale Columbia Lower School teams took home four of them.
Posted in: Centers for Impact, Fifth Grade, Highlights, Invent, Lower School, LS Birches, MS Birches, The Birches
Evening of the Arts Presents “Art Around the World” March 23rd
Posted on March 8th, 2018 by Allendale Columbia School
The festive opening reception for Allendale Columbia School’s Evening of the Arts Biennial will take place Friday, March 23rd, from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. The exhibition features hundreds of works of art from students in grades N – 12 displayed throughout the school. This year’s theme is “Art Around the World”.
Highlights of the event will include a group of 5th graders demonstrating their “crankie” from the LS musical, “I’m Not Sleepy…Yet!”, and the Honors and Portfolio Seminar Art students will be working in studio locations on campus as a preview for their upcoming spring thesis exhibition in April.
Refreshments will be served. Everyone from the AC community is invited! It is a great chance to socialize with other families and friends while taking in the talent and creativity of our AC students.
Parent volunteers are also needed for the Wolf Den, welcome table, and helping to direct people through the exhibits. Sign up here.
Posted in: Eighth Grade, Eleventh Grade, Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Highlights, Kindergarten, Lower School, LS Birches, Middle School, MS Birches, Ninth Grade, Nursery, Pre-Primary School, PreKindergarten, Second Grade, Seventh Grade, Sixth Grade, Tenth Grade, The Birches, Third Grade, Twelfth Grade, Upper School, US Birches
7th Grade Colonists Promote Advantages
Posted on March 2nd, 2018 by Allendale Columbia SchoolIf you lived in the 17th-18th century, in which colony would you like to settle? Teams of students in Andy Ragan’s 7th Grade History class tried to convince the fifth graders that their colony was the most advantageous spot to settle. They promoted their economies, crops, lifestyles, and physical environments through posters, statistics, verbal pitches, food, and even musical jingles. The fifth graders voted for their top three picks after reading brochures and listening to the pitches and jingles.
See more photos and videos of the jingles in this Google Photos album.
Posted in: Fifth Grade, Highlights, Lower School, LS Birches, Middle School, MS Birches, Seventh Grade, The Birches
Fearless Friday: Sweet Potato Throwdown
Posted on February 16th, 2018 by Allendale Columbia SchoolSuper Chef Yessy Roman and Chief Chef Laura Reynolds-Gorsuch faced off on Fearless Friday in a Sweet Potato Throwdown! Usually on Fearless Friday at Lower School lunch, Super Chef makes a vegetable dish for Chef Laura (who doesn’t typically like vegetables) and some student volunteers to try.
This time, the two chefs did a throwdown using sweet potatoes as the main vegetable ingredient. Super Chef made Sweet Potato Fries (no recipe, just sweet potatoes, olive oil, and seasoning), and Chef Laura made a Vegan Sweet Potato Bread. Students were the judges in the taste test, and the winner was…Chef Laura’s Sweet Potato Bread! (It’s difficult to compete with sugar.) (more…)
Posted in: Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Highlights, Kindergarten, Lower School, LS Birches, MS Birches, Second Grade, The Birches, Third Grade, US Birches
LS Students Wake Audience with “I’m Not Sleepy…Yet!”
Posted on February 16th, 2018 by Allendale Columbia SchoolLower School students in Grades 1-5 should rest well now, having thrilled audiences with their musical, “I’m Not Sleepy…Yet!” Last performed when this year’s seniors were in 5th grade, this home-grown story mixes popular lullabies and a theme song written by an alumnus with the background of a sleepover at school and students’ playful attempts to resist the teachers’ plans to have them get to sleep.
Students acted, sang, played instruments, and even became puppeteers for memorable songs like “Puff the Magic Dragon” and a spectacular black-light rendition of “All the Pretty Little Horses”. And what’s a sleepover without a pillow fight?
“Sleepy” was written and directed by 5th grade teacher and Artistic Director Randy Northrup, with musical direction from music teachers Lynn Grossman and Rachael Sanguinetti and assistance from all of the Lower School faculty. The main song was composed by AC alumnus Carson Cooman ’00! A professional composer now, he is a graduate of Harvard University and Carnegie Mellon University and currently serves as the Composer in Residence at the Memorial Church at Harvard.
Students also conducted a pajama drive, collecting 100 pairs of PJs that will be delivered to the Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network (RAIHN)!
Click here for a Google Photos album with song videos and more pictures.
Posted in: Alumni News, Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Kindergarten, Lower School, LS Birches, MS Birches, Second Grade, The Birches, Third Grade