The fifth graders at Mills Pond Elementary School celebrated 1,000 days of learning on March 11 with a day filled with fun learning activities.

Students came to school dressed as their future career aspirations. There were teachers, doctors, nurses and veterinarians walking the halls throughout the day. The lessons for the day were also centered around the number 1,000. For one activity, the students started in their classroom and walked in small groups, counting 1,000 steps around the school and marked where they ended. During a math lesson, students created a checkbook register and marked what they would use $1,000 to purchase.

Students calculated what grade they would be in during their 2,000th day of school. After determining they would be high school juniors, the students wrote letters to themselves as 11th graders. They wrote about who they are now and what they plan to do in the future, including college and career goals.

The district has created a video series titled “Day in the Life” to highlight some of the staff members around our district who are going above and beyond. This video features David Attard, security guard at Mills Pond Elementary.

More than 250 parents, students and staff members participated in Smithtown Central School District’s virtual Parent University on March 8. Parent University is hosted by the district’s Wellness Committee. The evening, themed “Responding to this Moment,” featured more than a dozen workshops for participants in two different sessions.

Workshops were facilitated by both community members, professionals and staff. Mental health counselor Ron Villano addressed how to manage concerns for students during this time such as anxiety, stress, feeling trapped and mental health, and school performance. Dietitian/nutritionist Colleen McDermott talked about different nutrition components to lead a healthy lifestyle, while registered sleep technologist Brendan Duffy spoke about how to protect and improve sleep.

Smithtown’s administrator for guidance and related student services Kevin Colon provided strategies for effective communication between parents and teenagers. Nesaquake Middle School reading teacher Julianne DeSilva spoke about how to encourage reading at home with ideas for how parents can engage with reading with their children and model good reading habits.

Dr. Beth Forhman’s workshop offered evidence-based suggestions to foster family and children’s resiliency during this challenging time. Dr. Marissa Abram also spoke about the impact of mental health during the pandemic and how to create self-care plan. Psychologist and therapist Craig O’Brien addressed biological stress reactions and strategies for managing anxieties.

Smithtown is one of nine schools districts to be included in the recent Smart Start grant received by Western Suffolk BOCES. The purpose of the Smart Start grant is to develop, implement and share innovative programs that provide professional development and support to increase expertise in computer science, engineering and/or educational technology among teachers in grades K-8.

Smithtown was one of the component districts that expressed interest in participating in the grant. Western Suffolk BOCES was awarded $500,000 a year for each of the next five school years (2021-2022 through 2025-2026). The money allocated to each district will be based on the student population. Smithtown’s portion of the funds will support 115 teachers in computer science professional development. Beginning this summer, the district will be able to open up the training to 23 teachers per year.

Teachers will be involved in four days of professional development during the summer months and two-and-a-half days during the school year. Teachers will be trained in computer science by the company Mouse. “Our goal is to further enhance our computer science offerings here in Smithtown as well as support teachers in the delivery of our Project Lead the Way program,” said Paul Strader, assistant superintendent for curriculum and assessment.

This summer, the district will offer the training to interested K-5 STEM specialists, K-8 library media specialists, middle school math teachers and K-5 elementary classroom teachers. They will continue to expand the pool of teachers offered the professional development each school year. Teachers will receive a stipend from grant for their participation. Following the training, the teachers will be delivering at least 15-20 computer science-based lessons.

Fourth graders at Mills Pond Elementary School worked together in small groups to design a vehicle with a restraint system that would keep an egg safe during impact.

As part of a Project Lead the Way lesson, and in conjunction with their energy and collisions unit, the students were tasked keeping their egg protected during an impact. Using their vex kits, the students first created a vehicle. They were given a list of components they could use to keep their egg safe, including bubble wrap, aluminum foil, cotton, pipe cleaners, rubber bands, plastic wrap and pipe cleaners. They could use any or all of the materials in the kit to protect their eggs during impact. The eggs also had to be easily removed from the vehicle.

After testing their engineering and design skills with a plastic egg, the students used ramps and put their designs to the test to see if they indeed could keep their real eggs safe.