Ever wonder how fashion designers put their ideas on paper? Does the idea of learning how to use tools and building a project from scratch sound fun?

Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES is offering a variety of summer camp programs for area teens throughout the month of July. Students from 12 to 15 years old may explore everything from Culinary Arts and Fashion Design to TV Production and Computer Graphics.

This summer’s offerings include Babysitter Training, Beauty, Computer-Assisted Drafting and Design, Carpentry, Computer Graphics, CPR, Culinary Arts/Hospitality, Fashion Design, Environmental Science, HVAC, Techno (phone, computer, audio, and fiber optics), and TV Production. All camp instructors are certified teachers and experts in their fields, and programs are aimed at providing a fun, hands-on introduction to the campers’ areas of interest. Campers will have access to the tools and techniques that professionals use in the “real world.”

One-week sessions cost $225 and take place from 9am to 1pm at BOCES’ Career and Technical Center, 200 BOCES Drive in Yorktown Heights. Space is limited; call (914) 248-2403 or visit www.pnwboces.org for further details and registration forms.

Artist Bruce Waldman, who is both a printmaker and illustrator, conducted two workshops this week at New Rochelle High School for students enrolled all levels Performing and Visual Arts Education (PAVE) program.

Waldman showed the students examples of his etchings and monoprints, both personal artwork and illustrations. He also brought in books and magazines of published illustrations and explained each step to accomplishing the work, from start to finish.  Waldman also demonstrated the making of a monoprint for the students.

The workshop was made possible through arts grants.  Participating teachers at New Rochelle High School included Alexi Brock, Scott Seaboldt and Moira McCaul. For more details about artist Bruce Waldman visit www.BruceWaldman.com. 

Ah, to be a college student… Where it’s OK to pretend you’re flying around on a broomstick, chasing a “snitch” (while presumably not under the influence).

The CBS Early Show this morning reported that students at 65 colleges are actively playing Quidditch, a fictional game from the Harry Potter series created by J.K. Rowling.

The folks over at Gawker have a great headline: “Nerd Alert: This is What Happens When Kids Are Encouraged To Read.” They then go on to say, “If Harry Potter is the only thing that can save publishing, then maybe the industry deserves to die.”

While I guess I’m a nerd in that I worship the Lord of the Rings series, I have to agree that the whole Harry Potter phenomenon is a bit out of control.

Granted, I love that the Potter series has inspired young readers to shut down the TV and pick up a book. But to see grown adults completely flipping out over it is beyond me.

I didn’t get into the books when they first came out, mainly because I was in college and was too busy. Yet because so many friends had absolutely fawned over them, I thought I must have really missed out and so picked them up about a year ago.

While somewhat entertaining, I wasn’t floored. Was it because my expectations were so high? Possibly. But what I really think it came down to is that they’re kids books, people!!

(That being said, however, I would still love to play a game of Quidditch…)

WOR Radio 710 HD has announced its fourth annual “Shining Star Talent Search,” which benefits tri-state New York City schools and students by supporting arts curriculums and providing cash prizes to winning students.

$10,000 goes to the school attended by the Shining Star winner!

Students in grades 7-12 across the tri-state area have been invited to sing a song of their choice and to submit their recording to WOR Radio. For entry information, visit www.wor710.com.

Last year, Cheyenne Elliot, an eighth-grader at Hommocks Middle School in Mamaroneck, was the first runner up. She will be interviewed at 7:20 a.m. Friday April 4th on WOR. Be sure to check it out, and good luck to her this year!

“The ‘Shining Star Talent Search’ provides students with an opportunity to showcase their artistic talents and creativity,” said New Jersey Commissioner of Education Lucille E. Davy. “As a student I was actively involved in the arts, and I encourage young people in grades 7-12 to take part in this competition.”

The Valhalla Union Free School District did not provide sufficient oversight over the district’s financial operations, which led to the district spending $456,400 contrary to grant requirements and $38,500 more than necessary in life insurance premiums, according to an audit released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

“School officials have a responsibility to make sure that tax money is spent appropriately and prudently,” DiNapoli said. “They’re also supposed to protect school assets by establishing proper internal controls. Valhalla needs to provide more effective oversight.”

DiNapoli’s audit, covering July 2005 to June 2007, found the board did not establish adequate internal controls over several areas to fulfill its oversight responsibility. Areas lacking proper policies and procedures included maintaining grant records and monitoring grant activity, fringe benefits, payroll, leave time records, the treasurer’s office and security over financial information.

The audit determined:
• $205,000 was spent on laptop computers and to construct a physics lab without going through the legally mandated process of publicly advertising for bids and selecting the lowest responsible bidder;
• $140,900 paid for programs that were designed to enrich the life experiences of all members of the Valhalla community, including individuals who were not students;
• $60,000 in grant funds were paid to Valhalla Foundation, a private entity, even though state law prohibits gifts and loans of public funds to private organizations;
• $40,900 in budget transfers were made even though there is no record that the town approved the transfers;
• $9,600 paid for expenses unrelated to grant programs including printing brochures and advertising for two positions not covered by grant funds.

The Croton-Harmon High School Chapter of Future Business Leaders of America Phi-Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL) will be holding its 2nd Annual Induction Ceremony on April 2nd at 7:30pm in the Croton-Harmon High School Rotunda.

FBLA-PBL is the largest student organization in the world, which offers members access to innovative leadership and career development programs designed to bring business and education together.

During the Induction Ceremony the chapter and its members will be formally and officially inducted into the National FBLA-PBL organization.  CHHS FBLA’s goal is to enhance the quality of education offered at the high school by promoting the involvement of its members in becoming responsible and upstanding members in our high school and community at large.

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS — The Tech Center at Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES has begun construction of a Smart House as part of a group project involving several departments of the campus. The Smart House, which will incorporate the latest technology and link communications that usually exist separately so that they can pass information and commands between each other, will be up and running “hopefully by June,” according to Principal Catherine Balestrieri of BOCES, who is facilitating the project. This house is being built in the brick portion of the greenhouse in The Tech Center on the Yorktown campus.

The Smart House is a collaboration among many of the Tech Center departments. Students of the Computer-Assisted Design and Drafting class of Gerry Markel produced the plans, Carpentry teacher Al Cotoia and his students will construct inside structures and work stations; Larry Marino and his Construction Electricity students will install the lighting, and Carlo Vidrini and his Telecommunications Technology students will install the home technology integration equipment/systems. And the Operations and Maintenance Department at BOCES has supported the collaborative project by framing the inside structure.

“There will be four rooms with separate audio systems, which will be connected to a principal unit,” says Carlo Vidrini of the Smart House. Each room will have a phone system, security system, cable TV system, and motion-controlled lighting systems, all of which will be integrated.

In addition to advanced technology, the students working on this project are also learning the importance of environmental conservation. Motion-controlled lighting, for example, enables the lights to turn on in a room when someone enters it and turn off when they leave, without the person having to flick a switch. “Software communication and technology can be used to reduce energy use,” says Ms. Balestrieri. “New equipment will be installed in the Smart House to automate various tasks, with the goal being to educate students on Smart House technology as well as environmental issues.”

YORKTOWN — French Hills Elementary School is pleased to celebrate the end of its month-long read-a-thon this Friday March 28, 2008.

Throughout the month the kids racked up nearly 6,000 15-minute sessions after school hours, far out-reading their goal of 5,000.

Some of the highlights over the last several weeks included an exciting visit by Superintendent Ralph Napolitano for “Guest Reader Day,” an animated visit by illustrator Brian Pinkney and the most anticipated visit by the dogs of “Reluctant Readers.” Students, who are reluctant to read, read to dogs as a way to build confidence and security with reading.

Now that all my videos from the Comparative and International Education Society have been posted, I do believe it was worth all the effort.

But let me tell you, it was an effort.

For starters, it was absolutely pouring rain when I went to the conference and I had my hands full with a laptop, video camera, tripod, photo camera, notebook, pens, lunch, conference program, etc. Not easy right off the bat. (I wish I had a picture of me. I must have looked ridiculous.)

Anyways, as I stated in my first post, the day got more complicated when I went to log into the blog and was denied access. Sheesh. Definitely not what I wanted to happen, especially since there were some really interesting panels going on that I wanted to hit up.

But whatcha gonna do?

I put in a call for help, packed up my stuff and headed to the panel about educational rebuilding in Liberia. Good stuff.

For the remainder of the morning, I ran around like a lunatic lugging all this gear and trying to find people who had a minute or two to chat. (Was actually only turned down by two people, who apparently were too cool for school. Hehehe.)

Feeling good about getting a number of interviews filmed, I decided to give the blog another go.

But wouldn’t you know it, again denied access.

This time, however, I had a few free minutes for a lunch break, and so I got IT on the phone and refused to hang up until the situation was fixed. And it was. Thankfully.

Yet then I encountered another problem. For some reason still unbeknown to me, it was taking FOREVER to upload even short videos. I mean like more than 45 minutes for a video that normally should have taken less than two minutes.

So again I packed up my stuff and headed out to film some more interviews.

After taping what I though was a sufficient amount, I decided to shift gears and focus on writing the story that would run in the newspaper.

I wrote a few graphs, then wouldn’t you know it? Another obstacle.

The main focus of my story was that local Scarsdale teachers would be presenting at the conference, but I hadn’t been able to interview any of the teachers via telephone, and so I had very little to really work with.

At that point, I gave up and called it a day. Just in time for rush-hour traffic. Yeah, good times.

But now looking at the blog, I’m happy I stuck it out. My sincere thanks go out to everyone who participated in the videos. I know you all had enough on your plates as it was, and I appreciate the time and encouragement you provided.

Needless to say, I hope you all enjoy watching the videos and continue to come back to the Hall Monitor for your education news (and a few other random distractions along the way…).

Oh, and post a comment or two from time to time why don’t ya?!

Heekwon Sohn, of Myongji University in South Korea, says one of the biggest debates among educators in his country is whether or not to teach classes entirely in English.

Download:

Justine Sass and Paolo Fontani, of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, talk about the education sector’s response to HIV/AIDS, especially in the Caribbean.

Download:

In order to take full advantage of having the conference in New York City, organizers set up a fair at which locally-based education organizations set up tables with information about their organizations.

Click here to see the list of participating organizations.

Mama Yoshimoto (left) and Saida Mamedova discuss the work of the World Bank’s Educational Advisory Service.

Patricia Peterson, of Northern Arizona University, discusses the importance of engaging special-education students and English language learners.

Download:

Luis Armando Gandin, of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, talks about the barriers to getting greater parental involvement in Brazilian education.

Monica Evans, of Michigan State University, compares the affirmative-action policies of Brazil to those in the United States.

Download:

I hope not! Because there’s more on the way tomorrow!

Here’s what’s on deck:

• Race and identity in Brazil

• Engaging special-education students and English language learners

• HIV/AIDS education in the Caribbean

• Korea’s debate over teaching English