News items

SUNY Sullivan announces new Presidential Scholars program

LOCH SHELDRAKE (January 27) – SUNY Sullivan’s interim president, Dr. William Murabito, announced the introduction of a new Presidential Scholars program aimed at making a college education more accessible and more affordable for high-achieving students graduating from Sullivan County high schools.

“A combination of financial factors has made it more difficult for high school students to get the college education they both deserve and need,” said Dr. Murabito. “Our new presidential scholars program, which will begin with this fall’s incoming class, will cover full tuition and fees for two years at SUNY Sullivan for qualifying candidates. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

SUNY Sullivan’s Presidential Scholars funds will be awarded to the top 10% of graduates who are residents of Sullivan County who will attend the college full time. Recipients must be in the graduating class preceding the start of their first fall semester of study.

The Presidential Scholars award is a maximum continuous two-year scholarship for the fall and spring semesters. No stop outs in study are permitted and qualifying students must apply for financial aid to be considered for the award.

After the first year, continuation as a Presidential Scholar is based upon the achievement of an overall 3.25 GPA for the first year of study.

“With all that SUNY Sullivan has to offer, from a quality education to a great athletics program,” Dr. Murabito added, “our new Presidential Scholars program will make a decided difference in the future of the county’s best and brightest high school students.”

SUNY Sullivan offers 40 academic programs. The college has added new programs in wind turbine technology, simulation and game development, and this fall expects to begin offering degree programs in respiratory care and psychology.

To learn more about the Presidential Scholars program and other scholarships for qualified incoming students, call Sari Rosenheck, the Director of Admissions, at 845-434-5750, ext. 4200. 

Visit us at www.sunysullivan.edu

(contributed photos)

Students harness the sun for trip to Houston

NEWBURGH (January 23) - The Newburgh Free Academy Solar Car Racing Team is preparing for the March 2012, Eco Shell Marathon in Houston, Texas.  There are four teams and a total of 38 team members making the trip. 

Teams, X-Men and Dream Team, are working on electric vehicles, X-Jet and Sherlock H(ohms), respectively.  While teams, Project X and Justice League, are working on solar vehicles, Invictus AKA NaughtyDawg and Bat Mobile, respectively.    The team managers this year are Brandon Arroyo on Project X, Shaquille Lewis on X-Men, Baasil Shariff on Dream Team, and Jimmy Tabanao on Justice League. 

The New Year begins crunch time for the team, and the team managers are scheduling frequent workdays to have their vehicles ready for the competition.  To build the vehicles the team uses materials such as aluminum, kevelar, nomex, carbon fiber, solar cells, and lithium ion batteries for the electric vehicles. 

These materials are expensive and the team could always use donations.  There have been two fundraisers done to raise money, selling Krispy Kremes and advertising for our brochure.  Each year the team designs a brochure explaining the team with pictures of the members and advisers.  For donations or to purchase advertisements in this year's brochure, please contact Mr. Chris Eachus at cweachus@msn.com

Sukhatme

Pace U names new provost

NEW YORK (January 23) - Pace University President Stephen Friedman announced that Uday Sukhatme, Sc.D., Executive Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculties at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and a distinguished physicist, will assume the role of provost of Pace, effective May 21, 2012.

“I am delighted that Uday Sukhatme is joining the talented Pace team in this very important position,” Friedman said. “He will lead significant further advancement of our academic programs and faculty development, with a strong focus on the special strengths of each college and school, which are key components of our strategic plan. His academic credentials, strong record of research, and proven success at large and complex academic institutions will be invaluable to our faculty and students.”

Sukhatme succeeds Harriet R. Feldman, PhD, RN, FAAN, a national leader in nursing who assumed the role of interim provost in August 2010. She will be returning to her post as Dean of Pace’s College of Health Professions. Said Friedman: “We deeply appreciate Harriet’s many contributions as interim provost and look forward to the continuation of her long and successful Pace career.”

“Pace is uniquely positioned with a major presence both in urban Manhattan and suburban Westchester,” Sukhatme said. “This offers rich opportunities for real-life educational experiences, while promoting excellence in research, creative activities, learning, and community engagement. I see great progress and enormous potential at Pace, and look forward to joining an institution that is moving forward in excellence, stature and reputation.”

Orange Regional Medical Center and BOCES: Partners in career exploration

TOWN OF WALLKILL (January 23) - Orange Regional Medical Center’s Training and Education Department orientated more than 200 Orange-Ulster BOCES students to the Medical Center’s new facility

More details on our Health Page

Hats, gloves, scarves donated to needy Hyde Park students

HYDE PARK (January 23) - The Town of Hyde Park Historical Society members and their guests met for our annual Holiday Luncheon

More details on our Community Page

Temple Hill Academy students “Believe” in partnership with Macy’s

NEW WINDSOR (January 12) - This holiday season, students and staff from the Newburgh Enlarged City School District’s Temple Hill Academy once again participated in a letter writing initiative as part of Macy's "Believe" campaign to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation. For every letter received, Macy's donated one dollar to the organization which focuses on granting wishes to enrich the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

Temple Hill Academy students from kindergarten through sixth grade participated in this worthwhile community service. As part of the learning opportunity, Temple Hill Academy sixth grade students recently completed reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and were able to experience helping others at this time of year through their understanding of charitable actions.

Fifth grade bilingual students in Hilda Galvez's class wrote essays on their "Wish for Humanity" to accompany their letters. All students were given an authentic experience in letter writing as well as reflecting on wants, needs, and what is truly important to them.

Representatives from Temple Hill Academy delivered over 650 letters to a local Macy's store. The letters from Temple Hill Academy students varied in content including: holiday wish-lists, for community problems to be solved, jobs for the unemployed, peace, healing from illnesses, and a variety of other topics.

Macy's website reports that the company surpassed their goal of one million letters. In the past 2 years, through this letter writing campaign, Temple Hill Academy students have been responsible for over $1,500 being donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Chazen Companies support Regional Food Bank’s Backpack Program

POUGHKEEPSIE (January 12) - The Chazen Companies  donated $250 to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York’s BackPack Program.

More details on our People & Places Page

Holloway chats with two students

Air Force Academy cadet and HHS alum addresses students

HIGHLAND (January 5) - U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet Second Class Joseph Hollway, a 2009 Highland High School graduate, addressed student assemblies in all four HHS secondary grades with his hard-won advice on how to prepare for their futures “in the real world.” The HHS Transitions Program sponsored the special event.

“For the past two years, Joe has returned to HHS during his winter break to speak to the Transition II class,” explains Transitions Program Coordinator Michael Milliman. “This third year, Program Teaching Assistant Lisa Cerniglia arranged his visit with school administration such that he could address the entire HHS student body.”

While at the High School, Hollway was active in the school community as a member of the 2009 section-champion football team, the wrestling team, student government, and the Interact Club. During his motivational talk, he detailed his experiences as a USAF Academy Cadet since graduating from HHS. He also described the rigorous physical and academic program he now pursues, including such things as the required running to class, combat survival training, parachuting “free-fall” lessons, surprise exams, as well as a 30-day deployment to Kuwait.

In tailoring his presentation to each grade, Cadet Hollway also provided a multi-level message to the attentive students, including what he referred to as his “words of wisdom.”

“Don’t mind the things that don’t matter, have realistic perspectives, appreciate tomorrow’s memories today, and focus on the best parts of your high school experience,” Hollway said. “Use the present to prepare for the future, be involved with school activities, learn what your passion is, and begin to pursue it right now.”

The HHS Transition Program has been part of the high school’s alternative course offerings for the last five years.

Three new computer graphic design programs on tap in Newburgh

MIDDLETOWN (January 5) - Through its Continuing and Professional Education programming, SUNY Orange will offer three new Adobe-related introductory computer graphic design classes at its Newburgh campus in 2012, beginning with “Adobe Photoshop - An Introduction” over two Monday sessions in late January.

In addition to the introductory course in Photoshop, which will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on successive Mondays (Jan. 23 and 30), the College will offer “Adobe Illustrator - An Introduction” in February (6 to 9 p.m. on Feb. 13 and 20) and “Adobe InDesign - An Introduction” in April (6 to 9 p.m. on April 2 and 9). Tuition for each two-session course is $120 per student. The classroom location for these courses has yet to be established, but the classes will be held either in Kaplan Hall or the newly renovated Tower Building.

For more information, please call (845) 341-4890 or email cape@sunyorange.edu. CAPE at SUNY Orange offers many other vocational and enrichment courses. For the current course schedule, go to www.sunyorange.edu/ce. 

If your school or college is hosting an event, tell them about us. We will be glad to post information about educational events and milestones in the Hudson Valley..

Contact us at midhudnews@aol.com.