Story by Amelia Lawrence

Another year of Christmas Door Decorations for the Alfred Almond staff. The school looks forward to the competition every year as it brings a festive atmosphere to the halls during the Christmas season. During the month of December teachers wrap up their doors in Christmas paper and add their own touch of spice to it. 

Many things that the teachers put on their doors are things like puns, landscapes, animals, and characters from Christmas movies. On December 15th, the elementary students took a hike throughout the high school and saw each door that the staff decorated. A poll was sent out the following week and the high school and elementary students casted their votes. The last day before break, vice president Tighe Grigg and President Gracen Dusinberrie announced the winners of the door contest. In the High School the runner up was Mrs. Powers with the “Ugly Christmas Sweater” door. The winner that won overall for the High School was Mrs. Postilili “Techie Circuit board.” For the Elementary the votes were spread out. Some standouts were Mrs. Daniels with “Ginger bread corner”, Mrs. Fox “Narwhal”, Mrs. Donlon “Wise Old Owl”, Mrs. Cady “Snow Much Fun”, and Mrs. Dwyer, “This Class is Only Silent at Night.” The winners for the elementary were Mrs. Oriend and Mrs. Pfaff, Penguin Igloo.”

Katie Claire, a senior at Alfred Almond stated, “I can remember having the door decorating competition ever since I’ve been here since 2nd grade, it was so fun as an elementary student.” Alfred Almond hopes to keep this tradition around for all the years to come as it brightens the hallways up during the holiday season and gets the students excited and ready to give their votes on the best door!

Story by Abby Hurd 

The process:

The All-State bands, chorus, orchestra, and jazz enables top students from school music departments all across the state for a chance to perform in the NYSSMA Winter conference. The conference was held in late November and early December and took place in Rochester, NY. In order to get selected for the program you need to get a score of 100 on the level six solo, which is a solo that is only available for the advanced soloists. The performers with a lower score will not have the chance to perform. All-State is a very important and incredible opportunity for young musicians all around the state to work with guest conductors and perform challenging music.  

Occasionally, candidates can get disqualified, which can occur when a music teacher does not recommend the student, application forms are incomplete or missing, or the candidate has violated any of the NYSSMA rules and regulations. 

Kiana's experience:

Kiana Yezarski was chosen for the December All-State conference and described her experience as “okay”, then later stated “there were more good things than bad”. She talked about her process for preparing for her solo and that as the time was getting near, she felt well prepared. Kiana's song of choice for her solo was an Italian piece, which was a good selection because her score was a 100, meaning she was considered for all-state. Kiana also walked me through some things about her experience at the venue that she found enjoyable. She stated that “The convention center and the exhibits were nice, and it was an overall pleasant experience”. Being picked for All-State is an impressive accomplishment and is a great opportunity for young musicians all around the state to work with guest conductors and perform challenging music. 

Story by Chris Craft

A new ropes course has been built on school grounds. It is a unique addition and could prove to be an enriching team building experience and a way to stay active. 

Many teachers have been trained to oversee activities including teachers like Mrs. Snyder, Mr. Turner, and Mr. Brady among several others. It will remain closed for winter for obvious reasons but it should open in the spring. There are many activities which include a rock wall, and a big seesaw, among other activities.

This course is a part of more additions to the countryside such as outdoor classrooms spread out along the hill side. These classrooms are equipped with all the standard technology of a class and the technology can be packed away to protect it from harsh conditions. 

These outdoor classrooms represent an exciting and unique experience for students to get a breath of fresh air or experience the outdoors while learning about it in a class such as biology. These editions have not been used by the students yet, but come spring and early summer we may get to try it out before the seniors graduate which would make for an excellent parting memory.

Story by Liam Carstens

This year, Mr. Levey’s room got an upgrade: four new 3D printers. These machines can print 3D objects out of plastic. Mr. Levey finds the printers useful in many of his classes, including his design drawing and production class, computer aided design, materials processing, and even in his 7th grade technology class.

The elementary school also got two 3D printers, and plans are being made to include these within the elementary curriculum.

One of the new features of these printers is a water soluble plastic that can be used to print the supports of the object, which allows you to skip the mess that normally comes with a 3D printed object that has a lot of supports.

The 3D printers can make many cool things, and students are free to work with Mr. Levey to print anything they desire. Some of the objects that have been printed include an archimedes screw, which mechanically moves water to higher ground. Also, Christmas bulbs were printed that have pieces of plastic inside of them that rattle around. The bulbs were printed using the new water soluble plastic for the supports, which is what made them able to rattle.

Senior Noah Heffley printed an action figure using one of the 3D printers, and told the Observer that “making 3D models is easy and anybody can do it. The 3D printers only take a couple of hours to finish a model.”

When asked about some of the industry uses of 3D printing technology, Mr. Levey said that “3D printing is used in medical careers, for example to print replacement teeth for people.” He also said that in the future “my dream is that everyone can own a 3D printer in their own home to print small parts, such as bolts or screws, instead of having to take a trip to a hardware store.”

Having used the printers myself, both for class and for personal projects, I can confirm that they are useful and work well. In Mr. Levey’s computer aided design class, I printed several designs that I created in the 3D design software we used in class. I also printed a replacement part for my keyboard, which is working well to this day.

The new 3D printers are very useful for students wanting to create plastic objects such as action figures. They also prepare students in Mr. Levey’s classes for their future careers, in which 3D printers may become very prominent.

Story by Vincent Craft

Alfred Almond currently has therapy dogs named Kilroy and Kodiak. Therapy dogs spend time with both the elementary students and the high school students. Therapy dogs are very helpful for students who may feel stressed or overwhelmed by school. 

Kilroy is a beloved friend and a comforting sight; he has been with Alfred almond for years and many students know him. With his age increasing, Kilroy has not been able to come into school as often as he once could. 

Tilly is an emotional support dog with level one good citizen training. This training means she is safe around strangers, children and young adults. Tilly is Mr. Cook's dog, a female Newfoundland, who has a very distinctive look. Many students have likely seen Tilly with Mr. Cook during gym classes or practices. When asked if there was a specific reason Tilly was chosen as an emotional support dog he responded “we wanted to give tilly a purpose because we noticed how well she did with people, children and teenagers specifically. We started by bringing her to practice and she has shown she reacts the way a therapy dog should. She showed signs this would be a good role for her and it would give her purpose.” 

She has already gained quite a fanbase among students with her very memorable look and friendly demeanor. Senior Jack Deutsch when asked about his thoughts on Tilly said “Very cute.” The therapy dog program has done a lot of good for our school. Many students feel that having a therapy dog around positively impacts their emotional state. Tilly has been supplemental to Kilroy so he can have days off, meaning she is not inherently a therapy dog for AA. Tilly’s presence at the school has had a very good impact on students, as do therapy dogs in general.