The Peru Gazette

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By John T. Ryan

Peru –  On January 2, 2018, Dr. Thomas Palmer became the Peru Central School District’s new superintendent.  His first 90 days have been devoted to observing, listening and striving to understand Peru’s educational culture.  He also purchased a home in the Peru School District. At the end of the school year his wife Laura and the couple’s four children ages 14, 12 and twins age 10 will be moving to the north country. 

Dr. Palmer is a native of Schaghticoke, NY, a small town a few miles north of Troy.  After graduating from Hoosic Valley High School he hoped to become a professional baseball player, but an ankle injury ended that dream. Service in the U.S. Navy was next followed by working construction and attending community college. Eventually he earned a B.A. Degree with a physical education major at SUNY Cortland, a Masters in Education at SUNY Brockport, a Masters Degree in Administration at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina and a Doctorate of Education at Sage Graduate School in Albany. Prior to accepting the Peru position, he served as the superintendent of schools for 9 1/2 years at Tri-Valley Central School District in Grahamsville, NY near Poughkeepsie.

Dr. Palmer describes his management style as hands-on. He explained, “I’ll give you one example. We’ve made some changes in the parent student drop-off in the morning. I was outside the first two weeks monitoring traffic flow. The other day I handed out surveys and asked for student feedback on the drop-off changes. I want their input.” 

Along with groups of teachers, staff and union leaders he has also made an effort to meet with graduating seniors. He explained, “It was voluntary. They’re our product. I’ve met with about 85 of the 140 seniors. We had a good conversation. They thought we have a very nurturing staff. They feel the staff is very caring and go above and beyond to assist. They felt the guidance department guided them and gave them the opportunities to explore the next phase of their life. They made me feel very good that every rock was being turned over to give them opportunities.”  

Peru’s sports history fits into Dr. Palmer’s vision of a complete education. He stated, “Sports melds with academics. It provides opportunities. We offer the kids academics, the AP and college level courses. I think sports brings in time management that blends with academics. Success comes with dedication and hard work.  You work as a team for common goals. Sports teaches self-discipline and balancing emotions. What can you do differently to make yourself a better person? These are the same things that go into preparing for a job.”

One of Dr. Palmer’s immediate goals is to tighten up on school safety. He commented, “We’re going to do a big safety drill. It’s something I’ve seen elsewhere.”  The budget that will be voted on in May includes a school resource officer position. He explained, “That person can be a resource for kids to go to. If there is an incident they are armed, but a resource officer’s primary role is much greater than being armed. It’s building a relationship with the school community. They’re involved with the kids on a daily basis. They have lunch with kids. They get involved with the culture and they’re available as a resource.” 

Required testing is a fact of life in New York’s schools. Dr. Palmer commented, “I believe in data driven instruction, but you have to remember the exams were inconsistent and error prone at first and some children are opting out of exams so we’re not getting a true picture. Thirty-one percent of our 7th graders and fifty-four percent of our 8th graders opted out of the English Language Arts (ELA) this year. State tests are a tool to assess how your school is doing, but they’re not the be all, end all.”

Palmer stated his goal for Peru students very succinctly, “Can they read? Can they write? Can they think critically?” He believes technology must be continuously integrated into the learning experience, but it must also be monitored and evaluated. His ultimate goal is to ensure that Peru students graduate with a resume to compete successfully regionally, nationally and internationally.

He summarized his findings over the course of his first 90 days in Peru saying, “ I think Peru is a really solid school district. There are always things you can add to. I come with a different experience. I just hope to add to the good things that are already happening.” 

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A Message from the Office of the Peru School District Superintendent  

Please note that Peru Central School District has just initiated a Lockdown Drill.  This is ONLY a drill.  Thank you.

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By John T. Ryan

Dr. Steve Dubay, owner and operator of Dubay Family Chiropractic, is #40 in the Peru Gazette’s photo series featuring people who make Peru a wonderful place to live. A Keeseville native, Dr. Dubay opened his family-based practice in our community in 1995 meaning he’s been assisting people suffering from chronic pain for the past 23 years. He said, “I’ve been treating generations of several families. Some live in Peru and others come from a long distance. Peru is a travel-through town.”  Dr. Dubay earned a Bachelor of Science Degree at Siena College and a Chiropractic Medicine Degree at Life Chiropractic School in Marietta, Georgia. 

Dubay Family Chiropractic is located at 89 Military Turnpike with office hours 9 AM to Noon and 4 PM to 6 PM Monday – Friday. Call 518-643-2463. 

Click here to view previous “Wonderful place to live” photos.

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The Babbie Rural & Farm Learning Museum is a nonprofit organization that is run 100% by volunteers. If you have a special skill or have some time that you could offer, we would love to have you join us. Some volunteer opportunities might include data input, being a docent, volunteer coordinator, managing our website, fundraising, running membership drives, producing newsletters, cashier, handy man…..all skills and fresh ideas are welcome.

We are especially in need of volunteers to help with our School Field Trip Program in May and June. Training will be provided and this is a wonderful opportunity to help keep our local history alive.

If you are interested in volunteering at the museum, please contact Carol at volunteer@babbiemuseum.org. Hope to hear from you!!!
—
Carol Rock, Volunteer
Babbie Rural & Farm Learning Museum

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Peru Central School District will hold Budget Workshop #5 at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, April 17, 2018.  The meeting will be held in the District’s Community Room, adjacent to the main entrance of Peru Jr/Sr High School.

The main topic of the meeting is establishment of a 2018-2019 District budget.

The full agenda is available on the District’s website.

All are welcome.

With the hazardous weather conditions that are predicted for Saturday, April 14, we decided to postpone our fundraiser. The VFW was very gracious about our last-minute cancellation and we will be booking a new date with them as soon as possible. In the meantime, if you have a chance to support their efforts in the community, please do.

We’ll be announcing our new date soon. Please stay tuned and help spread the word. We would also love to have you join us at our next committee meeting at 7pm on April 26th at Peru Town Hall.

The Women of Distinction Awards recognizes amazing women who have continuously served our district in fields such as education, business, health care, volunteerism, military service and community service. All of the winners reside in the 115th Assembly District, which includes Clinton and Franklin counties, as well as the towns of Brasher, Lawrence, Piercefield and Hopkinton in St. Lawrence County.

United Way of the Adirondack Region, Inc. is seeking volunteers for the 2018 Day of Caring on Saturday, April 21st. There are multiple volunteer opportunities throughout Clinton, Essex, and Franklin Counties that range from raking yards for local seniors to projects that require painting and carpentry skills. If you would like to volunteer on this special day, please call us at (518) 563-0028 or stop into our office at 45 Tom Miller Road in Plattsburgh. Make a difference in your community by doing some spring cleaning or painting for a senior or other meaningful projects throughout the region.

Thank you for making a difference!

By Marque Moffett 

Any visitor to Peru Free Library’s basement during recent months would have found the space practically bursting at the seams with activity as Homebots 3.0, the local Homeschool Robotics team, prepared for a series of First Lego League competitions.

First Lego League is a program that encourages kids to discover the excitement of science, technology, engineering, and math through hands-on experiences. In preparing for competitions, FLL teams spend time researching a real-world problem and designing solutions to address the problem. They also use Lego Mindstorms technology to design, build, and program their own robots for use in competition against other teams. The FLL has been turning kids on to STEM disciplines since 1998 and now has over 32,000 teams in 88 countries around the world.

Here in Peru, the Homebots 3.0 team’s six students, ranging in age from 9-12, work under the guidance of their adult coaches, Melissa Sayward and Tammy Neureuther, to meet the challenges set forth by FLL for the year. This year’s focus: Hydrodynamics – ways of finding, using, transporting, or disposing of water. The Homebots 3.0 leapt to the challenge, designing and implementing innovative plans for all three aspects of the FLL competition: development of a Project, competition in the Robot Game, and demonstration of Core Values.

For their project, Homebots 3.0 focused on an important local problem: the pollution of water by road salt. Through their own research and discussions with a biology professor, they learned about some serious impacts of salt pollution, including detrimental effects on wildlife and pollution of drinking water. For the FLL competition, it’s not merely enough to learn about a problem; students are tasked with proposing a possible solution. After considering all they’d learned, the team targeted the root of the problem: our current method of clearing snow and ice from winter roads. Homebots 3.0 gathered practical information from some experts in the field, including a plow specialist from the Viking-Cives company and a town highway foreman. Ultimately, the team proposed a modified plow design that included a “living edge” plow to remove more ice and snow from roadways, and the use of coffee grounds on roadways as a substitute for road salt.

Kaitlyn Neureuther & the Lego Mindstorm Robot 

Team members prepare for the Robot Game on a practice table

The Robot Game aspect of the FLL challenge is quite different from the Project aspect. For the Robot Game, students had to design a robot that could complete a set of tasks that were specified by competition organizers. Imagine a small obstacle course on a large tabletop and you’ll be on the right track to understanding the Robot Game. Students used Lego Mindstorms technology to design, program, and build a robot that was compact and easy to maneuver. During the actual competition, teams can swap out attachments on their robots in order to complete different tasks, so team members worked hard to design innovative attachments that could easily be swapped out and reliably complete tasks at hand.

While the Project and Robot Game aspects of the FLL challenge emphasized learning and innovation, the Core Values aspect focuses more on the idea that teamwork, cooperation, and good sportsmanship are the foundation of good competition. To highlight their integration of Core Values, the Homebots 3.0 team wrote and performed a song for the judges.

Overall, Homebots 3.0 did very well. Advancing through two levels of competition, the team was thrilled to have made it to Finals for the first time ever. Equally important, though, were the experiences the students gained. In the months leading up to competitions, team members learned a lot about local hydrology, both through their own research and by speaking to several experts, including a biology professor, a plow specialist from the Viking-Cives company, and a town highway foreman. Ultimately, the students who work together as Homebots 3.0 gained enough confidence in their work that they were able to proudly present their proposal for modifying snow removal methods to the Lake Placid Village Council. Team members also further expanded their horizons as they traveled to various parts of NY state for competitions and met teams from all over the region. Having an opportunity to see other teams in action gave the Homebots 3.0 several of the “I hadn’t thought of that” moments that are so crucial for growth and progress.

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I am looking for old pictures of the original building where the little pizza shop is. It used to be called Burnell‘s. We are starting to finish our lobby and would love to put up some pictures of the original building. If anyone could help or knows someone that could help that would be great. Call 518-643-0552.