Carmel Connections: Stories From Our Schools

FIFTH GRADER STARTS RUNNING CLUB 

By starting a running club during lunchtime recess, fifth grader Savannah, 11, has become both a coach and organizer for students at George Fischer Middle School. 

Savannah, who belongs to a community running club outside of school, said the idea came to her on a warm afternoon. 
“It was nice outside on a random Tuesday, and I thought I’d start a track team,” Savannah said. 

About 20 fifth graders joined the club, which students named the Rams’ Racers. Now, during lunchtime recess on nice days, the team competes in races ranging from 200 to 800 meters on a track painted on the school lunch yard. Savannah organizes the races, leads the warm-ups and records the runner’s statistics in a notebook.

She selects runners for each race based on their strengths.  
“I pick some students for speed and some for endurance,” Savannah said.  
Team members say the club is open to everyone. It is as much about friendship and kindness as it is about getting strong and running fast.  “Yesterday a new kid wanted to join,” said Olivia, one of the runners. “We don’t exclude anyone. Everyone is welcome.” 
When a group of cheerleaders started practicing next to the racetrack, the Rams’ Racers invited them to start cheering for the club.  
“We’re all friends now,” said Lilliana, a cheerleader.  School leaders praised the students for creating an activity on their own.

“It’s great when kids self-organize and do their own thing,” said Joe Keenan, assistant principal for fifth grade at George Fischer Middle School. “Setting up this race team really shows a tremendous amount of leadership.”

CARMEL HIGH SCHOOL'S NEWS SHOW

Every Friday at Carmel High School, students tune in for Carmel High Five, a five-minute news show packed with school updates, sports, birthdays and upcoming events. But unlike traditional network broadcasts, this student-run production delivers the news with plenty of personality and humor. 

Behind the cameras is the Video 3 class, a team of students who spend the week writing scripts, filming segments, editing graphics, and pulling the entire production together before it airs on the Carmel High Five YouTube channel. 

The process begins every Monday, when producer Killian gathers the crew to brainstorm story ideas and plan the week’s episode. From there, students take on a variety of roles both on camera and behind the scenes. Gabby, a junior and the show’s director, says the studio has become her second home. 

“I come into the studio during all of my free time,” she said. 

Junior Killian serves as executive producer while also leading the school’s Film Club as president. His responsibilities range from overseeing scripts and graphics to coordinating the student talent appearing on screen. 

Sometimes, when regular student anchors are unavailable, the crew heads to the cafeteria in search of volunteers willing to step into the spotlight as temporary news anchors. 

Amanda balances multiple jobs on the show. Sometimes she operates the teleprompter or writes scripts. Other times, she does field reporting and anchors the broadcasts. Still, she says the production is very much a team effort. “Really, everyone pitches in,” she said. 

That collaborative spirit extends beyond the Video 3 class itself. On a recent broadcast, Evan, a freshman from the Video 1 class, stepped in to deliver the sports report. 

“I just drop in when I can and help out with anything,” he said. 
The class is designed to welcome students with all kinds of talents, not just video experience. This semester, student teacher Cole Patterson of Manhattanville University helped video teacher Tim Raney lead the class.  

“The class is called Video 3, but there is no prerequisite to sign up,” Raney explained. “We naturally get the kids with video skills, but we need some kids with other backgrounds as well. We want students from all departments to join us. We want English and creative writing students to help with scripts, art students to help with design.” 

For the students behind Carmel High Five, the weekly broadcast is more than just a news show. It’s a creative collaboration that gives students across the school a chance to share their talents, build new skills, and bring the school community together.

A MUSICAL TREAT

READING, WRITING, RECYCLING

In Janine Avitabile’s fourth grade reading class at Matthew Paterson Elementary School, students embraced recycling with a lesson on reducing plastic waste. The project blended reading, writing and creativity. It gave students a chance not just to learn about the issue, but to see themselves as part of the solution. 

The lesson began with the book “One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia,” by Miranda Paul, which tells how one woman’s determination to recycle discarded plastic bags sparked change in her community.  
“The book was about littering,” Johnny said. “They decided to take the plastic bags that were left around and make a recycled purse out of them.” 
Then the class turned to Adobe Express to design their own Earth Day posters. Each student created a message about reducing, reusing or recycling plastic. They matched their words with images that reinforced their ideas. The students each listed something they could change in their own lives to reduce plastic waste.  

“I will use a metal water bottle instead of a plastic one,” Eliana said.  

Once the posters were complete, students evaluated each other’s work across four categories: themes, visuals, readability and layout. The exercise encouraged them to think about how effectively their messages were communicated, an important skill for any writer. 

For these fourth graders, Earth Day was not just a lesson. It was an opportunity to imagine a cleaner world and the role they can play in creating it. 

GROWING THE GARDEN 

Fourth graders in Chris Livulpi’s class recently spent a sunny morning planting corn, squash and beans in the Kent Elementary School garden as part of a lesson connected to history. 
The crops, known as the “three sisters,” were traditionally grown together by Native Americans. 

“Students learn about Native American history and culture throughout the years at KES,” parent volunteer and garden treasurer Erica Intrieri said. “Native Americans grew these crops. They all grow in harmony with each other.” 

As the students patted down the dirt over their seeds, garden founder Sarah LoCasio asked: “How long do you think it will take them to grow?”  

Hands quickly shot into the air as students guessed anywhere from two to nine weeks. They sprout in about ten days, LoCasio explained.

The garden program itself continues to grow. Kent Elementary School started its garden, which is run by a team of parent volunteers and funded through community fundraisers, in 2021. Every class in the school participates during the fall and spring growing seasons and vegetables harvested from the garden are donated annually to local food pantries. 

Now classes from Kent Primary School are planning field trips to visit the garden and learn what their KES peers have been up to. 
“We are hoping we can get something started with Kent Primary School,” LoCasio said. “The kids can help water when they come.

They can observe what we have, sit on cushions and have story time.”  

LoCasio reminded the fourth graders that the corn will not be ready until after they move on to middle school in the fall, but they will still have a chance to see the results of their work. 

“I know you guys will be in another school when the corn you are planting now will be ready, but you should come over with your grownups and see how they have grown,” LoCasio said.