(In photo from left, Chairperson of the Scholarship Committee Jeanne Bush, Saratoga County Scholarship recipient Victoria Breslin, Saratoga County Retiree Honoree Alice Schielke, and Albany County Retiree Honoree Jim Stolis)
On June 1, 2017, RC 10 held their annual spring luncheon and scholarship awards presentation at the Albany Shaker Country Club. The election of officers and delegates was held immediately preceding the luncheon. There was an uncontested ballot of all officers and delegates who were nominated. Our new slate of officers and delegates will serve until 2020 and include the following:
President: David Golden
First Vice President: Jim Stolis
Second Vice President: Ann Cherney
Secretary: Laraine Gillette
Treasurer: Paula Johannessen
NYSUT Delegates: Dennis Bouchard, Bonita Maxon, Jane Weihe
NYSUT Alternate Delegates: Deb Escobar, Vince Pelliccia, Loretta Quigley
AFT Delegate: Jim Stolis
AFT Alternate Delegate: Bonnie Maxon
After a delicious luncheon, scholarship and honorees were presented. Each year Retiree Council 10 has the honor and privilege of awarding four Scholarship to students who attended a public school in our four-county geographic region, consisting of Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Washington counties respectively. Each scholarship is awarded in the name of an active retired teacher member of RC 10, who has given of their time for the betterment and growth of this Retiree Chapter.
Beginning this year, the Rensselaer County scholarship is named in honor of Ernie Reis, who served as an RC 10 NYSUT alternate after his retirement from Rensselaer County BOCES. Ernie’s greatest impact and contribution to Retiree Council 10 were the years he spent as both Editor of the Skyline News, the RC 10 newsletter, and also as Webmaster of the RC 10 website. Under his leadership, the RC 10 publication and website received numerous accolades and awards at NYSUT conferences. We were lucky to have Ernie’s family with us to recognize this memorial in his honor.
This year’s Retiree Honoree from Rensselaer County is our RC 10 Second Vice-President Ann Cherney. Ann is also chairperson for RC 10’s Joy Bear Project. This activity involves many retired teachers meeting in a workshop twice a year and using their creative abilities to enhance the appearance of stuffed bears, which are then given to cancer patients to be their buddies during their chemo treatments. Ann is a graduate of Russell Sage College where she received her Bachelor of Science in Education and European History. She earned her Master’s Degree in Reading from the College of St. Rose. Ann retired from the Hoosic Valley Central School District in 1997, having taught 1st, 3rd, and 4th grades.
This year’s scholarship winner from Rensselaer County is Jamie Salerno from Averill Park High School. Jamie maintains a 96+ GPA and is ranked 18th in her class. Carrying a challenging course load over her four years in high school, Jamie has taken numerous Honors, AP and College level courses. Among them are Accelerated Molecular Biology Honors, Accelerated Honors Chemistry, College level French and AP English Language/Composition. An avid lover of the arts, Jamie has been involved in a variety of music groups in school. She is a founding member of the Averill Park Accordion Trio and the Averill Park High School Select Jazz and Pep Band. Jamie is also President of the Japanese Club, Secretary of the National Honor Society, and a member of Key Club. Outside of school, she has volunteered at The Eddy Memorial Geriatric Center and the Averill Park Community Band. Jamie is currently working at Hewitt’s Garden Center and as a piano teacher. In her essay, Jamie wrote “Music means the world to me, it is my one true love. I couldn’t devote my life to anything else.” She hopes to combine this love of music with her desire to become an educator.
The Washington County Retiree Honoree for this year is Paul Smith. Paul graduated from SUNY Albany with both a Bachelor’s Degree in History and Master’s Degree in Education. Paul spent his entire career working (1978-2009) in the Fort Edward Central School District, teaching American History, Global History, Economics and Government. Paul was very much an activist and was involved in his local union as a Building Representative to the Executive Board, served as Grievance Chairperson, Chair of the VOTE/COPE committee, served as President of the Fort Edward Teachers’ Association for 18 years, served as Chief Negotiator, and was a representative to the Washington County Negotiations Committee, and was the union representative for the 29 districts in the BOCES Health Consortium for 8 years. Since retirement, Paul has served RC 10 on the Scholarship Committee and the Audit Committee.
The Washington County Scholarship winner this year is Samantha Markham from Hudson Falls High School. She has maintained a 95 GPA while ranking fifth in her graduating class. Among her academic achievements are grades 9-12 English Honors, College English, College American History and Spanish 4-5 through SUNY Albany. Sam is so dedicated to her education that she came to school at 7:00 am this year in order to take a college level Psychology course! Samantha’s in-school activities are many and varied. She is Captain of the Swim Team; a member of the Orchestra and Choraliers; Vice-President of the National Honor Society and this year’s Hudson Falls representative to Girls State. Outside of school Sam volunteers at Just B’Cause Inc. and The Salvation Army; she is Program Director of Arts and Crafts and is a “big sister” in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Program. She hopes to become a math teacher.
Alice Schielke, our Retiree Honoree for Saratoga County, received her Bachelor of Arts in French from SUNY Albany and Masters in Elementary Education from Russell Sage. In between she studied at the University of Dijon in France and the University of Nice and received her degree in Spanish from SUNY New Paltz. Alice also completed summer post graduate courses for Professional development in Mexico, Spain, Argentina, and Chile. During her career, Alice taught Spanish and French in Taconic Hills, Schalmont and Averill Park and she retired from Mechanicville in 2008. Since her retirement, Alice has served on the RC 10 Travel/Social Committee putting her extensive travel experiences abroad to good use. To date she has organized five trips to Spain, three to France, and has a trip to Holland on the schedule for 2018.
The Saratoga County scholarship winner this year is Victoria Breslin from Saratoga High School. Vicki has a 92 average and is in the top 25% of her class. As part of her academic achievements, Victoria has taken AP Statistics, along with Child Development and Psychology, and Human Nutrition and Culinary through SUNY Cobleskill. In school, Vicki has been a member of the Swim and Dive Team where she currently serves as captain of the team. She is a three-year member of Dignity for All Students and Best Buddies. In 2015, Vicki was given a singular honor when she was the first junior in the history of Section II to win the New York State Public High School Athletic Association’s Section II Sportsmanship Award. Outside of school, Vicki has been volunteering as a Modified Swim Coach, as a Project Lift Volunteer at the Franklin Community Center, at the Peniel Bible Camp, at Noah’s attic and Kids Night Out. Since 2015 she has worked at the Saratoga YMCA as a swim instructor and lifeguard as well as lifeguarding at both Peerless Pool and Moreau Lake.
The RC 10 Retiree Honoree for Albany County is Jim Stolis. The RC 10 Albany County Scholarship has for the past few years been given in memory of Eva Greene, a retired teacher from the South Colonie School District. Eva along with her husband were in the forefront of creating RC 10 when NYSUT first recognized the value of maintaining a close relationship with its retirees. Jim’s educational background includes an Associate Degree in Business Administration from Hudson Valley, a Bachelor’s Degree from Murray State University in Business Administration, with minors in Accounting and Economics, and a degree in Education from Russell Sage, with course work at St. Rose and St. Mary’s College in California. After an initial year in Catskill, Jim taught grades 1-6 in South Colonie School District, retiring in 2000 after 32 total years in the classroom. Jim was active in his local union during his career, first as Executive Board member, Membership Chair, then Vice-President, President, Negotiator, Grievance chair, Co-Chair of the Labor Management Committee, NYSUT RA delegate, American-Federation of Teachers delegate, NY State AFL-CIO delegate, Albany Labor Council delegate and Retirement Delegate (30 years) to the NYS Teachers’ Retirement System convention. Since his retirement, Jim has served as First Vice President of Retiree Council 10 for the past 15 years.
This year’s scholarship recipient from Albany County is Megan Anders from Guilderland High School where she maintains a GPA of 96% and is ranked in the top 15% of her class. Among the courses on her resume are: Honors Spanish 5 & 6, Honors U.S. History, Honors English 10, AP English Comp, AP Calculus and three Syracuse University courses. In addition to this rigorous academic load, Megan has been very involved in the school’s theater program. Since 9th grade she has been a member of the Guilderland Players, and, since the 10th grade, a member of both the select Chamber Choir and the Concert Choir. Not only is Megan an active member of these groups, she currently is the student director and producer of the Guilderland Players, Secretary of the Concert Choir, and Fundraising Chair and Treasurer of the Select Chamber Choir. On top of this she is a four-year member of Key Club and a two-year member of the National Honor Society. Outside of school, Megan is involved in her community in a variety of ways. She volunteers at the Regional Food Bank, teaches Faith Formation, and is involved in the Youth Ministry at her church. She is also a girl scout. In the summer of 2016 Megan was Assistant Director of Park Playhouse for Kids and costume Assistant for Park Playhouse 2. Megan knew from the first day of kindergarten that she wanted to be an elementary teacher.
As always, the luncheon is an excellent chance to meet and socialize with other retirees while celebrating the achievement of both past and future educators. Please enjoy our photo album of the Spring Luncheon and Scholarship Honoree Awards at the following link: