Ossining MATTERS to Fund New Lights for OHS Auditorium
Plus Twelve Other Grants for 2009 - 2010

Ossining MATTERS Education Foundation launches its sixth year of funding programs and projects to enrich the education of all children in the Ossining School District with a donation of $72,724, supporting thirteen different grants in five of Ossining’s six school buildings.

These grants represent a mix of innovative proposals from Ossining’s creative, dedicated teachers and administrators and continued funding for proven successes. Each grant helps to further Ossining MATTERS’ mission to support and enrich the learning opportunities for all children in the Ossining School District.

Ossining MATTERS is particularly excited to announce that thanks to the success of the Spring Gala Concert and Auction, the foundation is providing full funding for Shine a Light on the Arts, the purchase of a dimmer board and a lighting console to significantly upgrade the lighting in the OHS auditorium, used by performing arts groups from all schools in the district.

In addition, Ossining MATTERS will fund the following grants for the 2009 - 2010 school year:

Rosanne Cash Brings in
Big Cash for Ossining MATTERS

Ossining MATTERS’ gala benefit concert featuring world-famous singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash and her husband, guitarist-songwriter-producer John Leventhal, raised nearly $55,000, which the education foundation will use to supplement academic, cultural arts, and athletic programs in the Ossining School District. (More)

Bradley Morrison, our emcee for the evening.

AMD Jazz Choir performs at the Gala.

John Leventhal and Rosanne Cash and on stage at Ossining High School, Saturday April 18, 2009

All photos by David Silbert

See more photos from the
concert and reception.

Your Donations in Action
Take a look at some what Ossining MATTERS has funded
for the 2008 – 2009 school year.

New Piano

Photo by Kate Mathews

A music student tries out the performance-level piano an Ossining MATTERS grant brought to the OHS stage. District Director of Music and Cultural Arts Kate Mathews calls it a “wonderful instrument.”

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School of Rock
Photo by Brandon Beck

Sponsoring teacher and coordinator Brandon Beck had this to say about the School of Rock program: “My entire class plays guitar during recess. They teach each other, they teach themselves, and they do not take any breaks! [With the HEROES class,] a total 61 students will be exposed to the guitar and given the opportunity to ‘rock their socks off!’ I am extremely proud of the impact of this program on my classroom. It has developed relationships, given students an outlet, and increased focus. I believe that these are the kinds of programs that are once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and I feel that Ossining MATTERS is truly to thank for that. Without you, a teacher would not be able to dream big, increase expectations, and reach all multiple intelligences. The opportunity to run a program like this, during an economy like this, that is actually seeking to improve the lives of others, is unforgettable.”

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SPLASH


Photos by Tara Reynolds

Students in the Science Partners Learning about Animals of the Sound and Hudson (SPLASH) program study and learn about the ecology and habitats of the Long Island Sound and the Hudson River, in partnership with students from two other Westchester County schools. Thanks to a grant from Ossining MATTERS, five second-grade classes at Brookside are participating this year. They went seining in the Hudson River at the Palisade State Park in Englewood, New Jersey. With the help of Naturalist Christopher Letts and a class parent, they caught fish for their classroom aquariums. The students have also toured the Tarrytown Lighthouse, hosted students from their partner schools and created Hudson River murals with them. In addition, they attended a concert by duet Magpie at the Byram Hill High School with their partner school pen pals. Magpie sang songs of animal life and conservation.

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Large Format Printer at OHS
Angelo Piccirillo and Valerie Holmes unpack the new large format printer

For the past ten years, the talented and dedicated students in Ossining High School’s Fundamentals of Science Research Program have won accolades, prestigious prizes, and over $300,000 in scholarships for their highly sophisticated research on subjects as diverse as sociology and epidemiology, computer science and astrophysics. Beginning in their sophomore year, students in the program work endless hours, with the help of a mentor in their chosen field of research, to conduct original and independent research and to present their results in competition at local, national, and international contests, science fairs, and symposia

To mark the tenth anniversary of the program, its directors, Angelo Piccirillo and Valerie Holmes, wanted to address a distinct disadvantage their students have faced in relation to their peers at many area high schools: They sought to obtain a large format printer, necessary for the production of professional-quality presentation boards. Until this year, students have had to send their projects to offsite specialty printers, at a significant financial cost. Through generous donations from Science Research Program alumni families and a matching grant from Ossining MATTERS, enough funds were raised to purchase the printer for the benefit of the next round of prize-winning OHS research scientists.

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