With balloons, a soda can and something called a Van de Graaff Generator, an educator from the Liberty Science Center taught students in the Columbus and Nelson Mandela/Dr. Hosea Zollicoffer schools about the states of matter, and how they behave. Along the way, they found answers to questions such as this puzzler from the educator, STEM Program Developer Dayna Mancuso: If the air around us exerts pressure – 15 pounds for every square inch of us – “Why are we not being squished right now?” She presented the questions, land answers, in online “Science Circus” class recently as part of the District’s six-week summer program.
When the Olympic Games get underway in Tokyo, starting this Friday, July 22, watch for hometown track star Rai Benjamin, a Mount Vernon High School alumnus, and now a member of Team USA. Look for Benjamin in the men’s 400-yard hurdles during the Tokyo Games. His sport will be aired on WNBC on July 29-Aug. 2. Now a California resident, the Olympian graduated from MVHS in 2015.
Right from the start, the students in this year’s expanded summer program dove into engaging activities. They learned about bears and ladybugs in one class, made trail mix in another and created a “Summer Bucket List” in still another. Students in the program are attending classes four days per week for six weeks rather than the traditional four. The aim is to recover from the difficulties in both academics and social-emotional development brought by the pandemic-era remote and hybrid learning.
The Mount Vernon City School District, in conjunction with the Mount Vernon City School District parent liaisons, conducted a three-week long shoe drive fundraiser to raise funds for the Edith Kaplan Scholarship Fund.
243 Seniors of The Mount Vernon High School graduated Friday, June 25, in a ceremony that Principal Dr. Ronald Gonzalez called “an occasion like no other to close a time like no other, for students like no other.” Speakers at the 143rd commencement exercise commended the seniors for their resilience and for what they were able to learn from the hardship the pandemic brought to Mount Vernon, schools across the country, and the world.
Mount Vernon City Schools General Information App
For a listing of Mount Vernon schools and their building status during the pandemic, CLICK HERE.
For the NYS COVID Report Card, which shows infections by school, CLICK HERE.
