Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

For some people in Potter County the best part of tonight’s Pirates game will come before the first pitch. Students from Oswayo Valley Elementary School will be singing the National Anthem before the game. As for the game, you can hear that on 1490 WESB at 6:40 p.m., starting with the pre-game show. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

The former director of the Oswayo Valley Memorial Library will spend the next two years on probation for stealing thousands of dollars from the library. 40-year-old Tammyann Ray, who now lives in Syracuse, bought more than $8,000 worth electronics, sports memorabilia and clothes with the money she stole from the library between November of 2007 and August of 2011. Ray has also been ordered to pay back the money. Police started their investigation after the library’s board of directors and staff conducted an internal audit that revealed discrepancies in the library’s purchases and its inventory. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Teacher Laura Cochran from Oswayo Valley School District was selected to take part in the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program (TGC) sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). Ms. Cochran was among 84 teachers from across the country selected to participate. The Teachers for Global Classrooms Program is an exchange and professional development opportunity for secondary school teachers sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and administered by the non-profit organization IREX. Through the program, teachers from across the United States learn how to advance their schools’ global education practices, internationalizing teaching and learning in their classrooms. Following the teachers’ completion of an online course last fall, the participants gathered along with many of their principals and district administrators in Washington, D.C. for a Global Education Symposium. This spring and summer the U.S. teachers will learn with, and ...

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s Financial Aid staff will be offering free financial aid advice to college-bound students. The financial aid high school night presentations begin next week in Coudersport and continue through the end of January 2013. The schedule is as follows: 6:30 p.m. Dec. 4 Coudersport Junior-Senior High School 6:30 p.m. Jan. 8 Allegany-Limestone (N.Y.) Central School 6 p.m. Jan. 9 Otto-Eldred Library 6:30 p.m. Jan. 9 Smethport Junior-Senior High School 6 p.m. Jan. 10 Bradford Area High School, Room 232-236 6 p.m. Jan. 16 Cameron County High School 6 p.m. Jan. 23 Sheffield High School 6 p.m. Jan. 30 Oswayo Valley Junior-Senior High School ...

Charges against the woman accused of stealing thousands of dollars from the Oswayo Valley Memorial Library have been bound to court, following a preliminary hearing in front of District Judge Kari Stubbs. 39-year-old Tammyann Ray of Syracuse is accused of buying more than $8,000 worth of items for herself with money she allegedly stole from the library between November of 2007 and August of last year. Ray is the former director of the library. Police started their investigation after the library’s board of directors and current staff conducted an internal audit that revealed discrepancies in the library’s purchases and its inventory. Police say among the items Ray bought were electronics, sports memorabilia and clothes. She’s is charged with felony counts of theft and receiving stolen property, along with related offenses. She is free on $5,000 unsecured bail. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Tickets go on sale October 22 for the Oswayo Valley High School senior class melodrama “The Despicable Doings at Cornpone Manor” or “Caught in the Widow’s Web.” This dessert theater production will be presented Friday and Saturday, November 9 and 10, 2012 on the Oswayo Valley Elementary School stage. The new show features 16 members of the senior class in the cast. There will be three shows and the production includes an all-you-can-eat dessert buffet and beverages with the cost of the ticket. “The Despicable Doings at Cornpone Manor” or “Caught in the Widow’s Web” is set in pre-War 1940 and written in the melodrama style by Cheri Maxson, a 1988 OVHS graduate, teacher and writer. This is the sixth melodrama that Maxson has written, directed and produced specifically for an Oswayo Valley senior class. The play takes place in the fictional town of Shingleville, circa 1940 – Colonel Kernel, seed corn millionaire and beloved local icon, is engaged to his soon-to-be fifth wife, the Wi...

The former director of the Oswayo Valley Memorial Library in Shinglehouse is accused of buying thousands of dollars with of items with library money for her own use and not reimbursing the library. 38-year-old Tammy Ann Ray of Liverpool, New York is charged with two felony counts of theft, along with receiving stolen property and related offenses. Former library board member, 36-year-old Rebeccah Lynn Dickerson of Shinglehouse, is charged with misdemeanor counts of theft and receiving stolen property. Police say between November of 2007 and August of last year Ray bought more $8,000 worth of merchandise, including electronics, sports memorabilia and clothes. Police started their investigation after the library’s board of directors and current staff conducted an internal audit that revealed discrepancies in the library’s purchases and its inventory. Charges against both women have been filed with district judge Kari Stubbs. Dickerson’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday. A date...

As we told you last week, students from Oswayo Valley Elementary School sang the National Anthem when the Pirates played thhe Nationals Wednesday at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. 66 students from 4th And 5th grade were under the direction of music teacher Mrs. Beth Lewis. The Oswayo Valley School District strives to insure that all students know the words to the Anthem so it is always a large part of the music program. Performing the anthem at a Pirates baseball game emphasizes the importance to the students. It is quite an honor for our students and we are proud of their accomplishments, stated Principal Carolyn Fugate. We believe it will be a a meaningful part of their education and a memorable experience. This is our second appearance at PNC Park. The first time was in 2010. Students were accompanied by teachers, staff and parents on the overnight trip to Pittsburgh which included a tour of Heinz Field and the Pittsburgh Zoo. Courtesy of Sandra Rhodes The news leader of the Twin T...

The Oswayo Valley School District will be having early dismissal today due to the weather. Schools will close at 12:30 p.m. Also, all after school activities have been cancelled. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

SHINGLEHOUSE – For the students in the Oswayo Elementary School, raising money is as easy as a hop, skip and a jump. The students in grades three through five in this Potter County school raised $4,800 for the American Heart Association through Jump Rope for Heart. The school has raised more than $20,000 in the eight years it has participated. The students raise money through sponsorships. February is American Heart Month. Physical education teacher April Mashensic believes this program is a win-win situation. “It teaches students about cardiac health, raises money for healthy heart research and they have fun with the activities.” Parents volunteer to assist the class as they fulfill their promise to their sponsors. All students collecting sponsorships are named Heart Heroes and are rewarded for their efforts. The American Heart Association provides thank you gifts along with the school and Elementary Parent Teacher Organization. Each day of the program, students learn a new health...

By SANDRA RHODES SHINGLEHOUSE - A group of volunteers in the Oswayo Valley School District are on the right track with their latest fundraising idea. The community group - Together Rebuilding: Alumni, Community and Kids (TRACK) - has tried to raise money for a new track at the high school. They held 250 clubs, 5K races, chicken barbecues, but all those fundraisers did not add up to $300,000 needed to put in a modern track. With state and school finances the way they are, they were told raising taxes was not an option. They knew they would have to come up with something different to get them off and running. That's when Mike Filer stepped in with an idea - build a log cabin and raffle it off. "Mike brought up the idea last February ... he's the driving force behind this," said Bruce Kemp, one of the organizers and a biology teacher at the high school. And while some may have thought that idea was far-fetched in the beginning, soon all of the local community came on boa...

More than 300 works by young artists are on display through May as part of the annual Middle School Art Exhibition at the Regina A. Quick Center of the Arts at St. Bonaventure University. The exhibition opens officially at 7 p.m. Thursday when the artists, representing 14 schools in New York and Pennsylvania, will be present to answer questions about their work. A reception will follow. “The level of excellence was so high that it made our jobs very difficult,” said Karen Vester, a St. Bonaventure art major and one of four jurors for the exhibition. Another juror, Courtney Blackmon of the Cattaraugus County Arts Council, agreed, adding, “I’m in awe of some of the art these students created.” Students from the following schools have works in the exhibition: Allegany-Limestone, Olean Middle School, Portville, Wellsville, Randolph, Oswayo Valley, Port Allegany, Ellicottville, West Valley, Cassadega Valley, Otto-Eldred, Bolivar-Richburg, Salamanca and Fillmore.

High school students from across Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania were honored Friday (Oct. 15, 2010) at St. Bonaventure University’s Communications Day, an annual celebration of high school journalism hosted by the Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Buffalo City Honors School received the Buffalo News’ Bertram Freed Memorial Award for overall excellence. More than 250 students from 16 high schools attended. Workshops in social media, radio, TV, newswriting and yearbooks filled the students’ morning before an afternoon keynote address given by MaryLynn Ryan, bureau chief of the Southeast region for CNN/U.S. Following her talk, Ryan was presented the Russell J. Jandoli Memorial Award of Excellence “for demonstrating courage in journalism and encouragement of youth.” The School of Journalism and Mass Communication also took the occasion to add a member to its Wall of Distinguished Graduates – a series of plaques permanently displayed in the John J. ...

Tickets go on sale Thursday for the Oswayo Valley Middle/High School senior class melodrama “Murder at the Malt Shop” or “Hey Daddy-O, We’re in Deadsville! This dessert theater production will be presented Friday and Saturday, November 12 and 13, 2010 on the Oswayo Valley Elementary School stage. The new show features 14 members of the senior class in acting roles. There will be three shows and the production includes an all you can eat dessert buffet and beverages with the cost of the ticket. Playwright and director, Cheri Thomas, states, “This year’s melodrama is completely different from the previous three in that it is set in the fabulous 1950’s instead of at the turn of the century. Also, it’s a murder mystery written in tribute and in the style of Agatha Christie’s long running London play, The Mousetrap. It’s an audience interactive with two of the play characters being drawn from the audience in walk on roles. Intermission will feature a hula hoop and twist contest. "I spe...

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford has closed down its popular Science In Motion program after funding for the program was cut from the Pennsylvania state budget, which some educators think will adversely affect their schools’ science programs. Friday was the last day of operation for the mobile science lending library, which provided high-tech science equipment and expertise to 35 rural schools plus home-schooled children in an area the size of Connecticut. “I am saddened that this program, which had so much potential to support science, technology, engineering and math education, has been cut from the state budget,” said James Baldwin, assistant dean of academic affairs and director of Science In Motion at Pitt-Bradford. “I hope that other existing programs are capable of filling the void that our termination will create.” Funded by the state with the help of private donations, the Pitt-Bradford program was one of 11 such programs in Pennsylv...

Seniors at Oswayo Valley High School have a variety of artwork on display at Charles Cole Memorial Hospital’s Irwin Medical Arts Center as part of the hospital’s Community Art Showcase. The students, Jody Osburn, Elizabeth Coyle, Megan Mesler and Jenna Maxson, who heard of the hospital’s Community Art Showcase through their art teacher, Jesse Hyde, were excited to share their work with the public. “This is a good time of year because they’ve had the majority of school year to work on it,” Hyde said. There’s a chance that some of the artwork on display could be submitted to a state-wide art competition in March, he said. The students have enjoyed being able to express their own creativity in Hyde’s art class, which provides “a release” and the ability to look at things differently in the world. The Community Art Showcase features artists for about six to eight weeks. The project has featured artists Jessie Vaughn of Ulysses, Maxine Shear of Coudersport, Karen Wolf of Sweden Township,...

All evening activities in the Oswayo Valley School District have been canceled for tonight because of the weather.

The Oswayo Valley Middle/High School Senior Class presents the 3rd Annual Melodrama and Dessert Theatre on Friday, November 13th and Saturday November 14th. This original melodrama fundraiser titled "Murder? Music! and Mayhem...Oh My!" has an old-fashioned Showboat theme and the student heroes, villains, and comedians will make you laugh with cornball humor, singing and dancing. The show will be presented in three performances on the Oswayo Valley Elementary School stage on Friday evening at 7pm and two shows on Saturday - with the matinee at 2pm and the final show at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased from any Senior class member, at the Oswayo Valley High School, at Sprout's Drugstore and also Northwest Savings Bank. Please come out and support this wonderfully entertaining Senior class fundraiser! e-mail from Cheri Thomas