The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Hoosick School Dist.

2013-14 WASAREN League Girls Allstars

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MVP – Jenna Erickson – Tamarac

First Team

Alexis Case – Greenwich

Adiya Henderson – Tamarac

Lauren Madigan – Hoosic Valley

Alyssa Paul – Hoosic Valley

Mariah Linnett – Greenwich

Second Team

Abbey Higgins – Stillwater

Rachel Pine – Hoosick Falls

Kelly Pine – Hoosick Falls

Carsen Williams – Hoosick Falls

Sarah Cuddihy – Cambridge

Honorable Mention

Stillwater – Brooke Ferrell

Hoosie Valley – Sam Carlo, Tracy Anderson, Lauren McGreevy

Greenwich – Samantha Whitehouse, Maddy Schafer

Tamarac – Jillian Gavin, Alex Mitchell, Dierdre Werner

Hoosick Falls – Olivia Schneider, Megan Flynn

Schuylerville – Valerie Liptack

Granville – Heather Chapman

HFCS Art Students Handcraft Ceramic Bowls For Fundraiser

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submitted by Judy Frost

Hoosick Falls High School art students have spent the past several weeks creating ceramic bowls, a focal point of the community’s first Empty Bowls fundraiser on Friday, March 14, from 6 to 8 pm at the Hoosick Armory, Youth Center and Community Coalition (HAYC3).

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Panther Bowlers Finish Third In Sectionals; Many All Stars Named

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submitted by Coach Bob Lang 

The Hoosick Falls bowling team placed third out of twenty eight at the Section II, Class C, Bowling Tournament at Boulevard Lanes in Schenectady on Tuesday, February 11, with a six game total for five bowlers of 5,358 pins. Mechanicville finished first with a total of 5,468 followed by Middleburgh with a total of 5,456. Other schools from the Adirondack Bowling League who bowled well were Fort Edward, fourth with 5,233 pins, Hoosic Valley, fifth with 5,105 and Stillwater, tenth with 4,748.

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Foster, Weierbach Wrestle At States

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by Steve Bradley

Last Friday and Saturday HFCS students Nolan Foster and Luis Weierbach competed in the New York State wrestling championships. The event was held at the Times Union Center in Albany.

Foster, a sophomore, competed in the 113 pound class. In his first match he won by decision over an opponent from Section X, 4 – 2 in overtime. Foster won the match with 24 seconds left in the overtime period. Unfortunately, Foster lost his next two matches, the first by a 4 – 3 score to a Section VI opponent; the second was a 6 – 5 loss to a Section V wrestler which eliminated Foster from the competition. With two years of high school left, and losing two State final matches by a two point total, there is no doubt that this will not be Foster’s last appearance in this competition.

Weierbach, a senior and previous State champion in the 106 pound class, was appearing in his fourth State championship. This year he competed in the 120 pound class. His first opponent was from Section VII, and Weierbach quickly put him away with a pin at the 1:28 mark. In Weierbach’s next match, against a Section VI opponent, he won by decision, 6 – 3.

Sunday afternoon, in the semifinals, Weierbach faced a familiar foe. Fellow Section II wrestler, Albany Academy’s Matt Morris, entered the match with a 45 – 0 record. Weierbach had been defeated by Morris twice this season, the last time being two weeks ago in the Sectionals. The two wrestlers put on the best show of the State championships.

After the first period Morris held a 2 – 0 lead. In the second period, Morris didn’t score and Weierbach scored three, taking a 3 – 2 advantage. With less than a minute left in the third and final regulation period, Morris was able to score one point to tie the score at 3 – 3.

The pair then went into a one minute, sudden death period. Neither was able to gather a point by the time the period ended.

The match then moved to two thirty second periods, one for each wrestler, to earn a point from the bottom position. Weierbach was on the bottom first and was close to escaping Morris, but Morris grabbed Weierbach’s leg and held on for longer than the referee thought he should. Morris was called for stalling, giving Weierbach one point. On Morris’s thirty seconds, Weierbach was able to keep Morris from gaining any points, and Weierbach came away with an exciting 4 – 3 win.

In Sunday evening’s finals, Weierbach was defeated by Bryan Lantry of Section V, 5 – 4. After a scoreless first period, Weierbach took a one point lead in the second period, but Lantry later took the lead and was able to hold on for the win. Weierbach ended the 2014 championships with a 3 – 1 record and took second place.

The weekend brought Weierbach’s stellar career at HFCS to an end. He will wrestle at West Point next year for Army.

HFCS Board Grants Veterans Tax Exemptions

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by Alex Brooks

At the February 12 meeting of the Hoosick Falls School Board, a resolution was presented to grant tax exemptions from school taxes to war veterans as enabled by a State law passed in December of 2013, and it was passed by a vote of 6-0. It granted the maximum exemptions allowed by the State legislation.

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Fact-Finding Task Force Visits HFCS

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by Alex Brooks

The Alliance For Quality Education (AQE), is doing a statewide fact-finding tour to document the effects of what they believe is chronic underfunding of education in New York State, and one of their first stops was a two hour meeting with Hoosick Falls Central School Superintendent Ken Facin and his staff on Monday, February 24.

The delegation from AQE included members of their staff, an expert on educational policy such as an academic or retired administrator, and senior attorneys who are preparing to file a lawsuit against the State for inadequately and unfairly funding education.

The fact finders are documenting the trajectory of State aid in individual districts and the effect that has had on educational resources offered to students.

“It was a great meeting,” said Facin. He presented the AQE group with a detailed account of the reduced State aid the Hoosick Falls District has received over the past five years, and the staff reductions the District has undertaken in response, to keep its budget in balance. “We did tighten our belt. We did downsize. And we also improved our performance at the same time. We have done more with less. But now we need to have enough resources to maintain what we have,” he said.

Facin noted that the Hoosick Falls District has been a leader in implementing the Common Core curriculum and the APPR teacher evaluation system and that this has been an enormous effort requiring additional staff time and additional costs. He said since the State is requiring these things, they should help to pay for them with at least a little increase in State aid or, at the very least, protecting Districts from cuts in State aid.

“If the State would just give us the same aid we had in 2008-09, our budget would be finished, and the local tax levy increase would be 0,” said Facin.

Facin noted that a lot of schools are getting more aid than they did five years ago, and most government agencies are funded at a higher level than they were five years ago.

“We should not be facing the worst budget cycle in seven years at a time when the State no longer has a deficit,” said Facin. He noted that the State is projecting a surplus this year and the Governor is talking about tax cuts.

Facin cites a report released in January 2014 by Dr. Bruce Baker from Rutgers and two co-authors, which studied school funding fairness in all fifty states. New York ranks near the top in total spending per pupil but near the bottom in distributing it fairly. The report gives NY an A for funding education generously but gives it an F for fairness of its distribution because the State gives a lot more dollars per pupil to wealthy districts than it does to districts of limited means. This results in a gross disparity in educational opportunities between public school students in wealthy communities and those in financially struggling communities.

Facin said he is talking to anyone he can about this problem, hoping to influence the final budget agreement on aid to education. He has said many times that he is not asking for more money overall. New York is one of the most generous states in that respect. He is asking that high-needs districts not be shortchanged. He is asking that all students in the State have equal access to educational resources distributed by the State.

Facin said if things continue the way they are going, all non-mandated programs would eventually be on the chopping block. He waxed eloquent about the wonderful arts programs going on in the Hoosick Falls District – the art, the drama, the music – and says he can’t imagine being faced with dismantling those programs.

The AQE fact-finding tour will be going on all this week, visiting two Districts each day. The information gathered will be used first to make the case to State legislators to roll back the Gap Elimination Adjustment for the upcoming budget year and later to make a case in court that the State is violating its Constitutional duty to provide a “sound basic education” to all students in the State.

Panthers Claw Their Way To Semifinals But Come Up Short

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by Steve Bradley

Friday evening, February 21, the #2 Panthers boys basketball team traveled to Shenendehowa High School to face the #10 Schalmont High School Sabres. Schalmont defeated #7 Taconic Hills, and Hoosick Falls defeated #18 Coxsackie for the right to play in this game. Panther fans came out in good numbers to lend the team their support. The gym was the perfect size for the game with room for plenty of fans and the game was not lost in the sheer size of the venue.

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Panther Ladies’ Basketball Season Ends

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by Steve Bradley

The #6 HFCS Panther Ladies basketball team was defeated Saturday evening. Playing against #3 Johnstown (14 – 6) at the Watervliet High School gym, the Panthers gave up 24 points in the first quarter and could not overcome the deficit. The first quarter ended at 24 – 15.

Doing everything possible to make up the deficit, the Ladies outscored the Lady Bills in the second and third quarters. After three quarters, the Panthers cut the lead to five, 40 – 35.  In the fourth quarter, Johnstown outscored the Panthers by three and held on for the win, 53 – 45.

Rachel Pine had 17 points; Carsen Williams added 12. Olivia Schneider had 7; Megan Flynn had 6, and Kelly Pine added 3 points.

The Ladies ended the season with a fine 12 – 7 overall, 9 – 5 league record.

Seniors Carsen Williams, a four year starter, and Olivia Schneider, along with Ashley St. Onge and Hannah Lilac participated in their last high school game. Junior Rachel Pine, sophomore Megan Flynn and freshman Kelly Pine will provide an experienced nucleus for next year’s team. Those three combined for 481 points this season. Junior Chelsea Stevens, who led the team with 21 three-pointers in a limited role, will be returning. Some excellent JV players will be moving into the mix also. The future looks bright for Lady Panthers basketball.

HFCS Wrestlers Competing At States

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by Steve Bradley

The New York State Wrestling Championships will be held this weekend, Friday, February 28 and Saturday, March 1, at the Times Union Center in Albany. Two HFCS wrestlers will be vying for a State title.

Nolan Foster, a sophomore, will be competing in the Division 2 – 113 pound weight class. This is the first time Foster has earned his way to the State finals. Foster’s first match will be against Tanner Lapiene, of Ogdensburg, Section X.

Luis Weierbach will compete in the Division 2 – 120 pound weight class. In 2013, Weierbach was the State champion in the 106 pound class. In his first match, he will meet Dylan Baker of Ausable Valley, Section VII.

Gates open at the Times Union Center at 8:30 Friday. Tickets cost $12 for each session or $33 for a three session pass. In Session 1 The Parade of Champions will begin at 9:30 with preliminaries for both Division 1 and 2 to be held from 10 am – 2 pm. The Quarterfinals will be from 2 to 4 pm.

On Saturday, March 1, Session 2 semifinals, wrestlebacks and consolations will be held from 10 am to 3:30 pm. For Session 3 the gates re-open at 5 pm. Finals are scheduled to begin at 6:30 pm.