A symposium held at North Rockland school’s Fieldstone Secondary School last week drew about 75 people to discuss the link between mentally, emotionally and physically healthy kids and test scores.

About half the audience were educators, half from the health care professions. Keynote speaker was Mark Doody, superintendent for Hudson Falls schools.

Hudson Falls is a high-needs [...]

The Garrison Institute is holding a summer workshop for educators to help them deal with the growing stress of their jobs.

Last month, the Institute hosted a symposium outlining what Patricia Jennings, the organization’s head, described as a crisis in education rising, in essence, from the continued emphasis on judging the worth of a school district [...]

Members of the Nyack High School mock trial team, which won the Lower Hudson Valley competition on Sunday, are presenting their trophy to the Nyack Board of Education tonight.

The team goes on to state competition May 19 and 20.

The Challenger Center for Space Science Education is holding a competition to design a mission patch for private space explorer Richard Garriott.

Garriott plans to be the next civilian to fly to the International Space Station and is seeking a student artist to design his uniform patch. He expects to visit the station in October and [...]

In speaking with two 17-year-old Harrison High School girls whose sisters were diagnosed with leukemia, I asked them whether they felt there was more stress on them or less because of their sister’s illnesses.

Their reactions were twofold: it’s hard to watch your sister so ill and know you can’t do anything.

Alexa Luiso, whose sister was [...]

Alexa Luiso and Christi Marraccini, both 17-year-old Harrison High students, were very frank when they spoke to me about how cancer affected them—both their older sisters were diagnosed with leukemia.

They spoke about how the school rallied around both their sisters—Toni Marraccini as an elementary-age child about a decade ago and Amanda Luiso last year—and how [...]

Gary Armida, whose wife was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after they were married, spoke a little about his response to student writing when the subject matter is something as sensitive as a reaction to cancer in a family member or friend. Armida teaches English at North Rockland High School. He says that he’ll sometimes [...]

At the end of my interview with four North Rockland High sophomores, I asked them about their thoughts of death and whether being touched by cancer changed the way they thought about the future. I asked them their views on people they knew who had been diagnosed with cancer.

Here are some of their responses:

Nikki Esposito, [...]

I asked four students from North Rockland High School whether they’ve Googled information on cancer and three said yes.

Nikki Esposito, 16, said she didn’t. This was her reason:

“I haven’t looked. I’m scared I will be more conscious and I will be paranoid. I don’t want to know the signs of cancer. I don’t want to [...]

I asked four North Rockland High School students whether school was less important or more important to them while they were dealing with family or other close acquaintance cases of cancer, and how being touched with cancer affected their schooling:

Jared Rajchgad, 15: “For me, it hasn’t affected me or work although you know it’s [...]

I asked four North Rockland High School students whether they talk about their experiences, their worries, their fears about cancer with school people—psychologists, social workers, guidance counselors—or if they didn’t tell anybody at all and just kept things to themselves:

Nikki Esposito, 16: “I probably wouldn’t broadcast if someone I know or I had cancer, but [...]

I spoke to four North Rockland High School sophomores about whether they pay attention to people who come to talk to them during assemblies. Here are some of their responses:

Jared Rajchgad, 15: “I feel people should be made more aware of the smoking because people almost take it for granted, like you should definitiely [...]

I had the opportunity to interview four North Rockland sophomores who volunteered to talk about how cancer had touched their lives.

I asked the students whether being exposed to cancer made them more aware of cancer or affected how they talked about it with their friends. Here is what Raven Hopkins, 15, said:

“Knowing so many people [...]

Anna Gottlieb, executive director and founder of Gilda’s Club Seattle.

“We didn’t do a lot of teen things. We couldn’t get kids to come into the clubhouse. They didn’t want the stigma of it. We were sitting around brainstorming ways to get teens in and I said ‘why don’t we try a teen writing contest?’

“The foundation [...]

Erin McAllister, program director of Gilda’s Club South Jersey, on how a school staff member with cancer affects the school:

“I think it has a huge impact, especially if it’s a favorite teacher. A lot of kids spend more time with their teacher than their families. That routine is so important for them. Then they see [...]