Avon Central Schools

Our younger students welcomed Mr. Mike the Magician to the gymnasium this past Friday for a special presentation to help wrap up Anti-Bullying month in Avon Elementary School. Mr. Mike wowed students with a series of mind-bending magic tricks and also spoke about how to address bullying, be a good friend and lead with kindness. Mr. Mike’s positive message really seemed to resonate with our students and was the perfect way to wrap-up anti-bullying month in the Elementary School. A handful of our students even got to help out with some of Mr. Mike’s tricks!

The Avon Braves continued their impressive season Friday at the Genesee Region/Livingston Conference Cross Country Championships at Oakfield-Alabama. On the boys side, junior Finn S. placed first in Division I and fifth overall with a time of 17:34 while junior Jordan M. took seventh in Division I and 18th overall with a time of 18:16. On the girls side, sophomore Maria G. took first in Division I and fourth overall with a time of 20:14. "Credit goes to all the runners in our league for putting up a great season," said Head Coach Josh Williams. “Our Avon teams have shown tremendous growth and perseverance. These results confirm we have a team fueled by pride and dedication to one another." Finn, Jordan, Maria and junior Hunter R. were all named LCAA All-Stars, though Hunter did not compete due to injury. In the modified, 2,000-meter race, seventh grader Owen H. took third place overall in the boys race with a time of 13:38 while seventh grader Quinn K. took third overall in the girls race with a time of 15:26. The Braves will travel to Letchworth State Park Nov. 4 for the Section V Class D1 (boys) and D (girls) Championships. "Our best race is still in front of us," said Williams. "We are eagerly looking forward to competing against the best of Section V and improving from our 2022 performance." (Photos courtesy of Josh Williams)

In preparation for our upcoming, Masquerade-themed Tales and Tea Leaves event on Halloween, many of our high school students gathered in the library yesterday to take a break and create their very own masks! (Photos courtesy of Suzanne Freeman)

Your Avon Braves will travel to Wellsville tonight for their quarterfinals match in the Section V Class C1 Volleyball Tournament. After topping Holley in straight sets in the pre-quarterfinals round, Avon, the #5 seed, will take on the Wellsville Lions, the #4 seed. The match starts at 6 p.m. (time is approximate) at Wellsville High School, 126 West State St., Wellsville, NY 14895. If for some reason you can’t attend in person - Wellsville is only an hour and 22 minutes away so we can’t see why you wouldn’t - the match will be livestreamed via T1 Sports at the link below. Good luck, ladies! Link: https://www.team1sports.com/highschool/ny/?S=wellsvillehigh (Photo courtesy of Lena A.)

We tagged along with Mrs. Fortune’s first grade class yesterday as they headed out to Rotary Garden for a bit of Halloween pumpkin carving! After a brief demo from Mr. Garrett, students started carving their pumpkins, following the guidelines they’d drawn previously using a sharpie. These Jack-o'-lanterns and those from all our other first grade classrooms will be on display at Monday’s Trunk-or-Treat event in the Elementary School’s front parking lot, The event will run from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., so make sure you stop by, grab some candy and check out our first graders’ ghoulish creations! A huge thank you to Michael Garrett for coordinating this awesome activity for our first graders and to Jeff Werner of Werner Farms in Rush for his generous pumpkin donation!

Sophomore Kalman D. has been named the Section V Class D Offensive Player of the Week on the tail of his four-touchdown performance in Avon’s 40-0 win over Oakfield Alabama/Elba Oct. 20. Kalman, a running back and wide receiver, had 170 yards on 5 carries, which included 75- and 65-yard touchdown runs. He also had 2 receptions for 88 yards with both going for TDs. Congrats, Kalman - not too shabby! (Photo courtesy of Section V)

For the past few weeks, our second graders have been designing devices to prevent an egg from cracking when dropped from a height as part of their “Eggs Matter” unit in STEAM class. “Students learned about how different matter has different properties and put their knowledge to the test by determining which matter - materials in our makerspace - would do the best job protecting the egg in the final drop from the roof,” explained STEAM Teacher Ian Smith. “Students worked in small groups and did a lot of thinking and learning about how different matter might absorb energy from the egg in a fall. They had a great time creating their designs!” This afternoon, second graders put their designs to the test out near our bus pick up-drop off area as Smith, standing atop the Elementary School’s roof, dropped them one by one to the pavement below. Some eggs cracked and others remained intact but with each successive drop, second graders learned more and more about how to protect an egg from a fall. We had some fourth graders stop by to watch and even some high schoolers who paused while out on the track during gym class to witness a few of the drops. Great job to all our second graders!

Jennie Endersby’s Perspectives in Math classes took a break from their regularly scheduled programming recently to play Rebel Revolt, an escape room-style game from Lock Paper Scissors that requires players to solve puzzles, use logic and make use of other problem-solving skills to win. Later on this year, students will be creating escape room-style games of their own, said Suzanne Freemen, the library media specialist in the high school who helped run the game along with Endersby, so it’s important for them to have a good feel for all the different elements a good game requires. "I've been playing Rebel Revolt with our Perspectives in Math Classes for three years now. The students love it and it's an amazing way to get them comfortable with the escape room experience before challenging them to make their own,” said Freeman. “These are a big commitment and challenging to make well, so kids need to have a good amount of prior knowledge and interest before diving in. This year we hope the kids will be interested in this bigger project and will possibly make these for the 7th and 8th graders to play.”

Did you miss our “Shawna has a Secret” Family Engagement Night last week? Don’t worry - we filmed the session and have posted it on our YouTube channel at the link below. "Shawna has a Secret" is an interactive training put on by CASA-Trinity that centers on helping adults identify signs of drug use and mental or emotional distress in young people. A huge thank you to Andrea Richter, Lydia Boyd and Mary White of CASA-Trinity for putting on this invaluable training for our community. (Footage courtesy of Carrie Gruschow) Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTMmi8Gdjnc

The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra has selected six Avon students to perform during its annual Holiday Pops Festival in December. Mason B., Hannah C., Emma D., Jackson L., Sean M. and Olivia N. will perform as members of the RPO’s High School Chorale. Students were nominated by vocal music teacher Kristen Maxfield based on past solo festival scores and performance experience. Then, the chorale’s directors, Brenda Nitsch and Anthony D'Agostino, went through the list of nominees and selected the best singers for their individual parts. “I know there were so many vocalists this year, especially sopranos, so they looked at past experience singing with the RPO and their grade level,” said Maxfield. Performances are scheduled for Dec. 15, 16 and 17. Tickets can be purchased at the link below. Congratulations to our six student musicians on this incredible honor! Link: https://my.rpo.org/1110 (Photo courtesy of Kristen Maxfield)

Yesterday, third graders wrapped up their social studies unit on maps, globes and landforms with a culminating activity in our Elementary School STEAM Lab. After pairing them up, Mr. Tom Ellingham tasked his third graders with picking a landform. Then planning how to build it using all the supplies available to them in the makerspace. Students created landforms like islands, waterfalls, valleys, volcanoes, mountains, lakes and beaches using things like paper towel rolls, streamers, shoe boxes and a whole lot of tape.

We had 92 (!!!) student athletes attend our fall Breakfast of Champions last week. A special thank you to our food service department for feeding so many hungry athletes and to Jackie Morgan, a Ph.D candidate at Roberts Wesleyan University who’s interning with our district’s psychology department this year, who spoke to students about how she’ll be working with athletes. Morgan will be using her knowledge of applied sport psychology to help student athletes prepare for the rigors of their sport. Applied sport psychology aims to optimize involvement, performance, and enjoyment in sport. The general goal is to teach mental skills that aid in consistent performance, adhering to programming, and reaching individual and team peak potential. (Photo courtesy of Andy Englert)

Today, for School Board Recognition Week, we want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our Board of Education members - Beth Peck, Karen Vanderbilt, James Colt, Stephen Comeau and Rodney George - for their continued commitment to our school district, students and community. Thank you!

Your Avon Braves, the #14 seed, will take on #3-seeded Oakfield Alabama/Elba in the Section V Class C1 Girls Soccer Tournament’s pre-quarter finals round this evening. Match starts at 7 p.m. at Oakfield-Alabama. Tickets are $7.30 through Go Fan by scanning the QR code in the attached image or at the link below. Go Braves! Tickets link: https://gofan.co/event/1117642?schoolId=NYSPHSAAV

A huge thank you to the members of the Avon and East Avon fire departments who came to speak with our elementary school students for National Fire Prevention Week. Our elementary schoolers practiced emergency evacuations using a rescue window and took in a ladder truck demonstration from East Avon firefighters. (Photos courtesy of Christie DeWald)

The musical chairs event at Friday’s pep rally was about as intense a game as we’ve ever seen! Shout out to Sean M. for weathering the storm to come out on top for the seniors. Few photos of the day’s festivities here.

Today, members of our freshman class participated in their second Braves Academy of the year. Students rotated through four different stations led by different members of our high school faculty and staff. Principal Ryan Wagner and School Resource Officer Matt McFadden spoke with students about high school expectations while counselors Amanda Palmer and Liz Cooke talked about academic pathways and students’ different post-graduation options. In the library, Rebecca Rio and Suzanne Freeman led groups of students in circles, a type of restorative practices used to foster a climate of trust and support among a group of peers, and in the cafeteria, Sarah Dziekonski and Lucy Delaney helped the freshman class create a banner for this afternoon’s pep assembly.

We’re thrilled to announce our first Elementary School Music Students of the Month of the new school year! Each month, Music Teacher Mrs. Kaylee Corell picks two students of the month - one from third and fourth grade and one from first and second grade. Students are chosen based on how frequently they make Corell’s “Wall of Fame” for things like playing or singing a song well, answering a difficult music question correctly or displaying exceptional behavior and focus. Congratulations to our Music Students of the Month for September - third grader Nora P. and second graders Olivia M. Keep up the good work, ladies!

Mondays are manic and Wednesdays may be wild, but Fridays are about to get a little freaky here in Avon. Our Middle School’s production of “Freaky Friday” is almost here and tickets are now on sale! There will be two performances in our auditorium at 191 Clinton St. The first is Saturday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. The second is Sunday, Oct. 22 at 2 p.m. Presale tickets are $10 plus fees at the link below and $13 ($12 for students and seniors) at the door. We stopped by rehearsal yesterday and things are looking and sounding great - our cast and crew can’t wait to share their hard work with all you! Presale tickets link: https://www.onthestage.tickets/show/avon-mshs-theatre/64cc10b910a9010e4bb7d96f/tickets

Shout out to Chris T., your Section V Football Class D Offensive Player of the Week! In Avon’s 25-20 win over Canisteo-Greenwood last week, the senior quarterback went 7/14 passing for 117 yards and added another 178 yards and 2 TDs on the ground Congratulations, Chris! (Photo courtesy of Section V)