By: Ahmed Elkacimi
Mr. Nick Drabik is our band teacher here at Mauro Sheridan and is well liked by all. Each year the band performs three concerts. This year our band is the largest with 160 students, the most MASH had ever had. Each day Mr. Drabik teaches six classes. There are three band levels which are beginner, sixth grade, and advanced band. Fifth grade is the first year you can join band. As a band teacher Mr. Drabik comes across a lot of obstacles but finds ways to overcome them. One obstacle he faces is a lot of broken instruments. Because of budget cuts, he has learned how to repair instruments by himself. In 2015, Mr. Drabik was awarded a grant to buy a tuba and a bassoon. It costs $4,000 for a tuba and $12,000 for a bassoon! Mr. Drabik has always enjoyed music and had a lot of amazing teachers that inspired him to become a music teacher. Mr. Drabik plays trumpet in a jazz band. He also has a lot of hobbies that are `not about music, such as skiing and woodworking. Mr Drabik’s favorite ice cream flavor is peanut butter and chocolate chunk Moose tracks. Mr Drabik says he “runs on coffee.” Mr. Drabik just completed his Masters in Music Education over the past summer so he’s official now! MASH’s New Teachers
By: Rafat Ali We asked our new teachers the same 5 questions! Here are their responses: What do you teach and what grade? What is your goal for this school year? What inspired you to be a teacher? Do you have any secret talents? What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Ms. Cesare 2nd Grade To get to know her students and staff better Aunt was a teacher and admired her dedication. None - but loves to cook. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ms. Guidry 7th,5th R-180,7th and 8th grade interventions To get students to be the very best people they can be Worked at summer camps and was inspired to change career fields Pretty good at herding cats Mocha Chocolate Chip Ms. Misbach 8th grade language arts To teach students as much as possible Wanted to be a teacher since she was a kid Nothing that could be defined as ̈talent ̈ Mint Chocolate Chip Mrs. Medianero Spanish For all students to speak Spanish Loves working with kids Could play piano Vanilla Mr. Clough 6th and 7th grade math For all students to learn the importance of math. Found out that he liked teaching and father inspired him Could play the Drum set. Peanut Butter Chocolate Mrs. Cavanagh 5th grade For students to learn as much as they can and to grow Her mom who has been teaching for 33 years Cooking and baking Coffee Ms. Smoragiewicz School Counselor To meet every student and faculty member Enjoys working with students out of classroom Is a competitive swimmer and coaches it Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Mr. Juliano 7th and 8th grade special education To have fun and make all students love school His language art teacher Good writer Phish food By: Rehab Rajoui and Haley Violante-Fletcher
Yale basketball coach James Jones came to Mauro-Sheridan school to share basketball wisdom and life lessons with our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. In his speech, he talked about how he started from nothing and worked hard to achieve something BIG. Coach Jones grew up to be Yale’s very own basketball coach. He told us a story about his 5th grade teacher, who adored him. One year, Coach Jones was in 6th grade and his teacher was yelling at him. The 5th grade teacher stepped in and saved him. Years later, he received an email. It was from his 5th grade teacher. She said that she had been watching his career grow and she was very proud of him. Coach Jones said he felt proud of himself and this letter pushed him to start working harder, and soon after that he became a coach. “His speech was inspiring. I can connect to him because his parents got a divorce and so did mine. I’m also a basketball person like him,” Alex Lowery, a 7th grader commented. The coach also talked about his life story, and about how he was struggling with family problems at home. He told us that the basketball court was the only place that he could not hear his parents argue. This was part of the reason why he became a coach. “I like how he kept telling us to focus and l like how he gave us tips if you want to be an athlete,” said 6th grader Chyna Lopes. Coach James Jones was an inspirational speaker to the students at Mauro-Sheridan school. Students really loved his speech and we hope that he can come back next year! The next day after the speech, students attended the Yale Bulldogs vs. the Siena Saints game and got to watch coach Jones in action. The game went into triple overtime and the Bulldogs won with a score of 100 to 89. “At the game, I thought we were going to lose, but then we had a bunch of overtimes and Yale won by 11 points!” said Jayliz Freeney, another 7th grader. By: Isabelle Capuras and D’yona Sumler
As our Mauro-Sheridan family knows, Caroline Apgar is our new instructional reading coach! She has lots of hot and spicy ideas for our school, including the kindness assembly and our fantastic book parade. “Reading is an important skill in our life. It is a big part of how we learn information and I like that you can experience different worlds through a book,” says Ms. Apgar. Ever since Ms. Apgar came to our school, she has been the rain to our seed, which made us sprout. What does a reading coach do? Ms. Apgar works with students, individually and in small groups. She also works with teachers to plan lessons and units. Have you ever wondered if teachers read? Well, here’s your answer! “I read a novel a month but, I also read lots of news articles. My favorite book series is The Lightning Thief,” says Ms. Apgar. “My favorite genre is historical-fiction.” Ms. Apgar has worked at MASH for six whole years, teaching 7th grade reading and writing classes, and working with LLI groups. Before MASH, she worked at Beecher School. Ms. Apgar taught Read 180 for five years and applied for the reading coach job because she wanted to have the opportunity to work with students of all ages. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and sociology from Quinnipiac University, a master’s in reading from Southern Connecticut State University, and in May will graduate from UCONN with a 6th year degree in educational leadership. We wish you much luck in your new career! By: Lana Arrifaei, Lexi Contreras, Daniel Stewart
Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr, the author and illustrator of a book called The Real McCoys, visited Mauro-Sheridan on November 21, 2019.They came to school and got right to work explaining to the fourth graders their process of writing books. The book is about a girl named Moxie McCoy and a boy named Milton McCoy. Together, Moxie and Milton solve a mystery of Eddie the owl, the mascot who was stolen by someone. Lazaro Rodriguez asked “How long does it take to write a book?” Matthew answered “It takes a year and a half to write a book.” Ava Smith asked “What is your favorite book?” Robbi answered, “My favorite book is Wonder Undercover, which is another one of the books in the Real McCoys series.” Matthew said his favorite book is Wonder Undercover, too. After the presentation, Matthew and Robbi gave all of the fourth grade students a copy of The Real McCoys with their signatures inside. Robbi and Matthew told us about how hard it is to work together. They both have different ideas and it is hard to decide on what to pick. When Robbi and Matthew come up with different ideas, they try to collaborate. When Robbi draws something, Matthew tries to write about it. That’s how they get on the same page. Robbi and Matthew told the fourth graders about their lives. Robbi and Matthew are married and have four children. Their kids ages are three, six, eight, and twelve. Matthew and Robbi live in St. Mary’s, Maryland in an old barn on the edge of town. Robbi and Matthew had been writing books for 16 and a half years and have written over 60 books together. They enjoy writing these types of books because they like to make up the characters. We hope we have more authors and illustrators like them! |