Park Avenue 4th Grade Moving Up Ceremony [w/ Gallery]

It is graduation week in the Warwick Valley Central School District, and Park Avenue Elementary School held its annual Fourth Grade Moving Up Ceremony on Monday morning inside the auditorium at Warwick Valley High School. Ninety-three students received their fourth grade certificates during the event, and an additional 15 awards were also handed out.

You can see a gallery of pictures from the ceremony below this story.

The ceremony opened with Park Avenue Principal Bill Biniaris welcoming the audience of family, district administration and faculty before they were led in the Pledge of Allegiance by fourth grader Reagan Loftus. Following a performance of the song "How Far I'll Go" by the fourth grade chorus, directed by music teacher Ashley Head, Principal Biniaris returned to address the graduating class.  

"As you move on to middle school and beyond," Principal Biniaris began, "I’d like to challenge you to acquire the remaining characteristics of what we call, the Portrait of a Warwick Graduate:

1. Collaborate... Learn to appreciate other people’s ideas and opinions. Be curious and ask others about how they would do something differently than you. Consider ways to combine your ideas and theirs to create a third, even better approach to whatever it is you are trying to do.

2. Creator/Innovator... Be imaginative! Consider how you can do something you are already good at, but in a different way. If you are a great writer, consider learning a different style of writing. Maybe, in addition to expressing yourself through writing you can do so through an art form. Look around you and consider needs
people have and dream about things you can create to meet those needs.

3. Citizenship... Find ways to help and support your neighbor or your community. The world needs generosity that is personal or what I call face to face kindness. Your contribution can be as simple as helping an older person carry their groceries to volunteering or collecting food or clothes for those in need.

4. Problem Solver... Don’t be intimidated by problems. Most problems have solutions. And, if you acquire all of the other characteristics I just mentioned you will have what it takes to be a problem solver. Listening to others ideas and gathering information will equip you with knowledge. Being imaginative and willing to learn from those different than you can help you see connections that weren’t obvious at first. Most importantly, as you practice being a problem solver, consider using this skill in an UNselfish way so that others will benefit from your gifts and hard work."

Following his address, this year's awards and winners were announced.

NYS Comptroller's Awards
For Academic Achievement and Leadership Performance.

• Brendan Brown
• Keira Sandfort

NYS Attorney General's Triple C Awards
For Commitment, Character, and Courage.

• Ellie Conklin
• Valentina DeJesus

NYS Attorney General's Civic Ambassador Award
For Passion and Knowledge of Civics and Government.

• Rylee Rodriguez

Next, School Counselor Jeanette Myrick presented the Park Avenue ROAR Awards. 

At Park Avenue ROAR stands for Respect, Outstanding Choices, Acceptance, and Responsibility. The acronym is used to teach Park Avenue students about Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (aka PBIS), which is an evidence-based, tiered framework for supporting students’ behavioral, academic, social, emotional, and mental health. PBIS lays out behavioral expectations for students in school settings and offers strategies they can apply to meet them. The proactive approach preempts behavioral problems rather than relying on a punitive model, creating a positive and supportive learning environment that benefits everyone in the school community.

Students attend ROAR/PBIS assemblies each month that focus on things like practicing kindness, nurturing self-esteem, and stopping bullying. The ROAR Awards handed out on Monday were given to one boy and one girl from each class who have exhibited the best qualities of ROAR throughout the school year.

Congratulations, and great work, to this year's ROAR Award winners. 

Ms. Hornbeck's Class

• Jonathan Cohn
• Madelyn Podolec 

Ms. Kowalczyk's Class

• Zayne Islam
• Nora Palmieri

Ms. Kuzmiak's Class

• Ella Kimiecik
• Reid Kriner

Ms. Mezzetti's Class

• Gabriella Hernandez
• Ryan O'Donnell 

Mr. Perez's Class

• Ewa Mazurek
• Logan Reilly

When the time came for the Presentation of Certificates, two members of the ascending fourth grade class, Rylee Rodriguez and Leah Romig, gave a reading before each class processed across the stage for their certificates.

Presentation of Certificates to Ms. Hornbeck’s Class
•    Ellis Brescia
•    Mateo Cajica Quinto
•    Jonathan Cohn
•    Ellie Conklin
•    Ruby Eaton
•    Andrew Kurosz
•    Esther Mensah
•    Tessa Monti
•    Lucas O'Byrne
•    Graham Osterkorn
•    Madelyn Podolec
•    Egypt Rainey
•    Camden Romero
•    Adelaide Ronne
•    Alexander Simko
•    Everly Tarazona
•    Mira Tleubaeva
•    Reis Uzun

Presentation of Certificates to Ms. Kowalczyk's Class
•    Nola Alzamora
•    Emilia Camasca
•    Omari Cooper
•    Abygail Deleon
•    Ava Dunado
•    Jack Gulick
•    Emma Hernandez
•    Zayne Islam
•    Ella Leet
•    Ronald Lorentzen II
•    Caroline Lyons
•    Gavin Martin
•    Charles Meyer
•    Zoe Ntukogu
•    Kaiden Orenstein
•    Nora Palmieri
•    Aubrey Rivera
•    Keira Sandfort

Presentation of Certificates to Ms. Kuzmiak's Class
•    Brian Anderson
•    Ezra Bailey
•    Cora Bendykowski
•    Samuel Bricks
•    Valentina De Jesus
•    Isabella Guevara
•    Logan Hernandez
•    Lila Jaffe
•    Zeinab Jallow
•    Khloe Karameros
•    Ella Kimiecik
•    Summer Klett
•    Reid Kriner
•    Reagan Loftus
•    James Lorentzen
•    Rebecca Nurse
•    Isabelle Piascik
•    Leah Romig
•    Sukhbir Singh

Presentation of Certificates to Mrs. Mezzetti's Class
•    Grace Bendykowski
•    Brendan Brown
•    Emily Darcey
•    Dominy Decker
•    Gabriella Hernandez
•    Victoria Kuklov
•    Abigail Layman
•    Olive Malloy
•    Margaret McKnight
•    Ryan O'Donnell
•    Audrianna Parisi
•    Nicholas Pesta
•    Olivia Ramos
•    James Schaefer
•    Michael Sheridan
•    Calvin Tower
•    Karter Walton
•    Ethan Washington
•    Ruby Weisgarber

Presentation of Certificates to Mr. Perez's Class 
•    Tristan Brown
•    Margaret Calisi
•    Nicholas Chiosie
•    Bellamy Cordova
•    Isabella Crispino
•    Dominic Flores
•    Abigail Legagneur
•    Alexi Lewis
•    Peyton Lewis
•    Ewa Mazurek
•    Harlow Monahan
•    Eli Pereira
•    Brianna Perez
•    Logan Reilly
•    Rylee Rodriguez
•    Ema Sahmanovic
•    Benjamin Schwenker
•    Jaxon Sutherland
•    Lily Szpajzman

The final presentation of the morning, introduced by Park Avenue PTA President Christine McKnight, was the presentation by the Park Avenue Student Council of this year's class gift by council members Margaret McKnight and Isabelle Piascik. This year's fourth grade class gift is a new school anthem! 

The song was written by Jared Campbell, an award-winning singer/songwriter from upstate New York who has attended events and worked with students in the Warwick Valley Central School District before, including a visit with Park Avenue students for a ROAR assembly in March. Mr. Campbell travels the country performing for people and schools.

Principal Biniaris' address ended with this send off: "We are going to miss you very much but we know that you have many adventures and a lot of learning that await you. On behalf of our entire faculty and staff best of luck in middle school and have a great summer. Congratulations!"