WASAREN MVP McMahon Also Recognized – A First For HFCS
by Bea Peterson
This Wednesday evening HFCS Physical Education teacher Lisa Ferrannini was recognized as one of 13 Channel 13 Top Teachers of the Year. Lisa Ferrannini said, “It is quite an honor to have been selected as a Channel 13 Teacher of the Year, and it was quite an experience when they filmed the class.” Ferrannini has been a physical education teacher for 15 years. She taught in Taconic Hills for eight years, in New Lebanon for six years and came to Hoosick Falls, her alma mater, two years ago. “It’s great to get back home,” she said. Elementary School Principal Patrick Dailey was the first person to work with Ferrannini at HFCS.
They coached girls JV soccer, which started before the school year. “She’s a great coach,” he said. “She’s awesome with the kids, and the parents love her. She imparts more than the sport, she encourages manners and ethics.” Besides seventh and eighth grade soccer she coaches softball and, this year, is taking on lacrosse. “It really hurts me, actually crushes me, to hear people, especially girls, say they hate PE,” said Ferrannini. She has started a Wellness Intervention Network (WIN). “It’s mainly a program to build self confidence in girls,” she said. “I’m happy to see them learn about their bodies and find fitness for a lifetime.” In her classes, she said, “There’s a lot of interaction. We can talk, learn to get along with others and learn how to communicate for life.”
She’s excited about a nine week program she has just started called “From Couch Potato to 5k.” Participants, students and staff will meet three times a week and in June they will participate in the Freihofer Run.
Social Studies teacher Ellie Danforth said a big reason she and her daughter Katherine, a student of Ferrannini’s, wanted to see her recognized by Channel 13 was for “her real commitment to helping all the kids improve their fitness. Lisa’s classes emphasize attaining personal fitness. We now have cardio classes and a fitness center. Even the least physically fit kid works with Lisa because she is non-judgmental and promotes goal setting. On top of all that, she genuinely has fun with the kids, and everyone laughs lots. That she is able to do this while setting clear boundaries, demanding responsible behavior and requiring participation to the best extent possible makes her a very good teacher. I get a kick out of the little foot charms she gives kids to put on their sneaker laces when they achieve an agreed upon goal.”
Ferrannini is also a fitness instructor. She works with young and old, all ranges, to get them toned up. She also has a videography business and in her spare time she rides her 100th anniversary model 1200 Sportster Harley Davidson motorcycle.
Kelly Berkau of Grafton Elementary was also selected a Channel 13 Teacher of the Year.
Kevin McMahon
Last week Hoosick Falls Central School basketball star Kevin McMahon was selected by WNYT television Channel 13 as the tenth and final player on its Basketball All Star Team. Senior basketball center McMahon said he has been playing basketball since he was old enough to handle a ball. He joined the HFCS varsity team as a sophomore and made the WASAREN League first team that year. This year he set a new school record scoring more than a 1,000 points in his career and set another record for blocked shots.
“Every newspaper has an all star team, but the Channel 13 team is the top of the heap,” said Athletic Coordinator/Physical Education Teacher and Basketball Coach Mike Lilac. The TV station has a group of ten scouts, some retired coaches, who meet
every Sunday during the basketball season to review all the Capital district players. “In 20 years this is the first time a Hoosick Falls player has made it,” said Lilac. The other players were from Schenectady, Shenendehowa, LaSalle, Scotia, Albany Academy and two each from CBA and Bishop Maginn.
McMahon thinks his selection is pretty cool, especially because he comes from a small school, scholar athlete team. He’s not sure yet whether he will attend Pottsdam or Cortland College next year. His parents are Mollie and Dan McMahon.
McMahon, a wide receiver and outside linebacker for the HFCS football team also holds First Team Class C North All Star status in that sport.
Lilac noted that in basketball McMahon is “very unselfish and a good leader. He really sets an example for the other players by working hard. In my 20 years of coaching he is the best player I’ve ever coached. He’s great on defense and his shot blocking ability is outstanding. In the 14 years we’ve been keeping track he has had more blocks than the next five record holders combined. He’s quick, and he has a knack for those blocks and a good sense of timing. With those long limbs he has the perfect body for basketball.”