Raider Report February 2025
Tay Fisher knows how to play basketball. He spent 10 years as a Harlem Globetrotter. He scored 19 points in an NCAA tournament victory for Siena College. So, when he missed a free throw in front of a gymnasium full of Linden Avenue Middle School students, it was clearly for a reason. “I’m a little upset. My confidence is low,” he told the students. “Raise your hand and tell me what you would say to help get my confidence up.” The students eagerly complied. “You got this!” one said. “It’s OK.” Said another. “If you make every shot you take, you’ll never have anything to strive for.” Mr. Fisher, a basketball standout turned motivational speaker, visited LAMS to conduct a pair of presentations teaching students how to combat bullying and harassment through positive actions and mindset.
The Kingston native spoke with seventh and eighth grade students first, followed by the sixth graders and fifth graders who were bussed from Mill Road Elementary School. The presentations were filled with opportunities to laugh, including a closing section in which five students learned trick basketball passes in a Globetrotter style.Throughout, he preached the importance of encouragement and support through both his words and his interactions with student volunteer participants. “I’m here to talk to you about a message that changes peoples’ lives,” he told the groups early on.
Mr. Fisher grabbed the students’ attention from the outset by having them try – and fail – to keep up with a series of complicated clapping games in the vein of Simon Says. He then explained it was important they give him their attention “because, they could be someone being bullied and no one knows about it. Or, they know someone being bullied and they’re not speaking up.” Mr. Fisher broke bullying into three types – physical, verbal and cyber – before spending time expounding on the power bullies can have on social media. To illustrate the point, he ran through a list of obviously untrue insults a malicious commenter could theoretically post about him online. “That one person who wrote that, you have to understand their voice is powerful,” he said. “Now nobody wants me on their team. Now no schools want to hire me to talk to their kids. The power of your voice is so important. … Everything you say, make sure it’s positive. Make sure it’s going to help you and the next person.”
Mr. Fisher shaped his advice to the students around the letters in his first name – and had student volunteers use their bodies to create the letters’ shapes:
T for Talk: “If you are being bullied or see someone being bullied, talk to a trusted adult.”
A for Ask Questions: “Where do I go to feel safe? … Wherever that safe place is for you, that’s probably where your trusted adult is.”
Y for You: “It’s not about me, it’s about you. … Empathy means caring about other people, feeling how they feel and feeling yourself in their shoes."
That brought him to the free throws and his intentional miss to elicit encouraging words. But, he wasn’t the only one shooting. A student – who claimed he couldn’t shoot a basketball and wasn’t keen try in front of dozens of peers – was asked to take a turn. He missed. And missed again. And several times after that. Mr. Fisher and the rest of the students, though, chanted his name to encourage him to keep going. When he finally made a hoop, the gym erupted. “He didn’t come up here expecting to have to shoot in front of you,” Mr. Fisher said. “You guys cheered him on, regardless. … As long as we continue to say positive things to each other and to ourselves, that’s all that matters.”
It is hard to believe that February is already here! Our district continues to thrive with many wonderful happenings, from engaging assemblies to classroom initiatives that support the well-being of our students. We know that in order for students to reach their fullest potential, they must feel safe, supported, and valued.
We are also thrilled to share that the New York State Education Department has officially released our graduation rate for the 2023-2024 school year—an outstanding 95%! This achievement is a testament to the dedication of our educators, staff, and administrators, from elementary through high school, as well as the unwavering support of our community. Together, we are ensuring that every child receives the foundation they need for success, and we couldn’t be prouder of this accomplishment.
When Mahi Jain told her family she had won Red Hook’s district-level spelling bee, they asked her how many people won.“I said, ‘Only one,’” she said smiling. “They were super happy for me.”
It would be understandable if Mahi’s family thought there must be more than one winner. After all, she was a fifth-grade student in a Scripps National Spelling Bee district qualifying round open to every student in grades five through eight.
Soon, she’ll try again to be the one and only winner again when she takes part in a regional competition this month. The end point would be Scripps final held in May – the one you’ve likely seen on national television. Winning regionals, she said, “would feel like a big accomplishment.” She’s already accomplished a lot, as only the third fifth-grade student to win the district competition in Dr. Brian Boyd’s 18 years at Mill Road.
“I think the spelling bee is one of those things that is a really healthy competition that students work hard to prepare for. Mahi is a perfect example of that,” the Mill Road principal said. “She created flash cards over the holiday break and did a number of things with her family to prepare for it.”The qualifiers began at the classroom level. All students received grade-appropriate word lists in late November and competitions were held in early December in Linden Avenue Middle School English classes and in the Mill Road fifth-grade classes. The top students competed in a school-wide competition to move forward, in which a much broader list of roughly 2,000 words were given to the students to study.
The district competition was held Jan. 3 at the high school Performing Arts Center and featured three winners from each of the four grade levels. Mahi’s teacher, Lisa Lloyd, said she expected Mahi to be one of Mill Road’s three – “she’s very bright. She always goes above and beyond, and always gives her best effort with everything.” – but Mahi herself didn’t think she could win against the older Red Hook students. Mahi said the spelling bee was nerve-wracking, but said having a friend, fifth-grader Ivy Subbarao, up on stage with her, was calming. As her competitors gradually missed words and left the stage to sit in the audience, she started to get excited. “I was like, ‘Wow, I might actually win this,’” she said. After 10 rounds of competition, Mahi won the district title on the word “annulment.” She said she was confident when she heard the word. “I spent a lot of time starring at the list, so I knew it.”
Seventh-grader Marcus Stephenson finished as the alternate. The regional competition will be virtual. Spelling individually, each qualifier will have 50 words to spell and the student who scores best moves. The final is held in May just south of Washington D.C. The region encompasses nearly 150 school districts across much of New York. In the last roughly 35 years, two Red Hook students have made it to the final.
Red Hook District finalists
5th Grade
Mahi Jain
Audrey Shen
Ivy Subbarao
6th Grade
Ava Brodsky
Lesia Nicolay
Solana Edelman
Riley Cerulo (first alternate)
Errol McMeekin (second alternate)
7th Grade
Marcus Stephenson
Isabella Piazza
Gianmarco Verrilli
Iko Malikin (first alternate)
Drew Carter (second alternate)
8th Grade
Ted Carl
Thalia Rubin
Milo Haggard
Have you ever wondered what a cow would think of receiving a ukulele as a gift? There’s a book at Red Hook Public Library that can answer that question, and help you brush up on your Spanish.
Sixty Linden Avenue Middle School students across Liz Lowney’s eighth-grade Spanish classes created “Los animales se celebran la Navidad también,” or “Animals celebrate Christmas, also,” a hand-drawn 84-page book that is now part of the library’s collection. Working in groups of two or three during the four days preceding winter recess, the students were tasked with writing and illustrating situations in which an animal receives a Christmas gift and reacts to it, positively or negatively.
“We’re working with opinion vocabulary, animal vocabulary,” Ms. Lowney explained, noting students also used expressions of comparison and descriptive adjectives. The project evolved from a similar assignment at the end of last year in which students created a collection of 10-page books. It came up in conversation when Ms. Lowney met Red Hook Library Director Alex Geller over the summer.
“He said, ‘If you ever want to display something at the library, just let me know,’ Ms. Lowney recalled. “So, when I thought of this project I touched base with him and asked if the offer still stood. He said ‘Yes, and also we’ll add it to the collection.’”
The book, which contains such creative combinations as a snake receiving a pencil – spoiler alert: the handless serpent wasn’t a fan of the gift – was officially put on library shelves to be checked out Jan. 6. It can be found in the “new titles” shelf in the J Spanish section. The cover was illustrated by Alice Moore and Ella Hutchinson, pictured below. “I think it’s pretty cool I got to be a part of it,” Ella said of having a book in a library. “It makes me feel special. It’s cool.”
Alice enjoyed the “creative liberty” the project allowed. For example, Alice and Ella were the two who decided the cow should receive a ukulele, which it was happy to accept. “His best friend horse gave it to him,” Ella said. “And, he likes to listen to music.” Whereas beginner Spanish classes have long included oral conversations, this project combined writing out the language with scripting a dialog, Hutchinson pointed out. There are also pages included that compare animal traits, such as the weight of a cow versus an otter or the speed of a turtle versus a dog.
Ms. Lowney was pleased with the outcome, and the idea of more projects making their way to display at the library. Mr. Geller, she said, is eager to showcase more student work.
“I’m excited about the book being there,” the teacher said, “and what that could mean for us connecting more with the library and the community.”
Red Hook High School students have been engaging in two new classes aimed at bolstering student wellness and reducing stress. The school instituted a course for all first-year students this fall called Freshman Focus, an introduction to problem-solving and managing challenges in a positive and healthy way, and an alternative physical education course titled Mind, Body, Wellness. Andrew Makebish said Freshman Focus “gives the students the time and the opportunity to discuss things that could help and support them as they move forward, where you wouldn’t have that forum in other classes.”
Mr. Makebish, a special education teacher, is one of three Freshman Focus instructors, along with English teacher Brendan Fix and physical education teacher Jennifer Giorgio. The class “takes students through challenges,” Mr. Makebish said, setting a foundation for their high school experience. It covers such topics as scholarly behavior, time management, communicating, building relationships, leadership and envisioning the future and how to get there. The students meet every-other day for around 40 minutes.
The hope is by addressing these issues openly as a group, “the students can realize they’re not the only ones feeling these types of things,” he said. “They’re facing a number of challenges, not only in school but figuring things out socially.” Academics can become more stressful as high school begins, Mr. Makebish said, as it becomes evident performance has an impact on graduation and their future. “Everything gets turned up a level,” he said. While Freshman Focus and Mind, Body, Wellness have thematic overlaps, they focus on different aspects of wellness.
Barbara Murray, who not only teaches physical education at the high school but also sports exercise and health science, said she’s been wanting to create a class in the vein of Mind, Body, Wellness for several years in the wake of the impact made by COVID-19 pandemic. “Students have much more anxiety, much more depression. It’s everywhere in Dutchess County, everywhere in the world,” she said. “So much has changed with the kids and their mental health and just their patterns, being able to find outlets for their anxiety.”
The course stresses introspection and reflection as it moves through a curriculum that ranges from yoga and tai chi, to Reiki and Qi Gong, to nutrition and holistic healing. The winter months include outdoor activities like skiing, snowshoeing and simply playing in the snow, when the weather allows. The course begins and ends with a self-assessment “wellness compass,” in which the roughly 70 students enrolled grade themselves on how they handle such areas as different relationships, emotions, spirituality, organization and their own resilience. The assessment helped inform how Ms. Murray is shaping the course in its first year.
“They were so brutally honest, it was amazing,” she said of the buy-in from the students. “When I looked at them, I saw little things we can work on. I saw these kids are not getting enough physical activity.” So, though the course incorporates wellness videos and multimedia – much of it through a 10-week mindfulness series called The Lift Project – Ms. Murray began having the students watch the videos while engaging in movement exercises. The class engages in breathing exercises and relaxation techniques, and discusses the value of positivity and gratitude.
Mind, Body, Wellness is a dual enrollment class, giving students a chance to receive credit from Dutchess Community College if they pay the enrollment fee. It’s also a course students can take more than once in place of traditional physical education. However, Ms. Murray suggests students are best served holding off until sophomore year, at least, to join.
“Our philosophy in physical education is lifetime fitness,” she said. “Yes, we have traditional sports, but all kids have to learn why we do fitness assessments, what do you need to make your body healthy the rest of your life, we do teach that in PE, but in Mind, Body Wellness it goes deeper.”
- It is entirely online this year
- There are different directions to follow for families new to the school district and those with a student already attending a district school
- Current Mill Road pre-K students do not need to re-register
Visit the kindergarten registration page to learn more and to be routed to the proper directions for enrollment.
The application period for the district’s 2025-26 Pre-K program remains open, as well.
To be eligible for the free program, a student must be 4 years old by December 1, 2025. The full-day program is five days a week. The application window is open through Feb. 28. Learn more on the district’s pre-K page.