Carmel High School

Latest CHS Headlines

• Art Student Wins Prestigious Award

  Carmel High School Senior Jasmine Hall won a Silver Key Award in Illustration for our region in the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards competition. The nationwide arts competition is among the most prestigious recognition programs for creative teens. 

  Jasmine entered her drawing of “Fish of the United States,” which she drew in colored pencil on an actual map of the United States.   

  “It’s only 47 fish because three states don’t have state fish,” Jasmine said. “I did a lot of research, and I spent a lot of time on it, but I didn’t expect to win anything. I hadn’t yet checked my email that day, so it was a complete surprise. My teacher put the digital version of the certificate on the screen, and I saw it when I came to class.” 

  Jasmine started drawing in 7th grade and got more serious when she entered high school. She has taken seven art classes at Carmel High School. She’s currently in Advanced Placement Drawing and Portfolio Preparation, a class that is for students who intend to pursue careers in art.  

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• P.A.C.E. Students Help Animals

  Students in the P.A.C.E. (Personal Academic and Community Experience) Program at Carmel High School have been busy making healthy dog biscuits and collecting items for the Putnam Humane Society.

  Speech-Language Pathologist Laura Blaha said teaching pre-vocational skills helps P.A.C.E. students prepare for life after high school.

  “We are always looking for ways for our students to learn vocational skills,” Blaha said. “Making dog biscuits teaches skills like following a recipe and directions, identifying items in a kitchen, working with others and vital communication skills.”

  Occupational Therapist April DeFrancesco also pitched in and helped the students learn rolling, measuring, pouring and cutting skills.

  The students rolled out the biscuit dough and cut it into shapes like bowties and hearts using cookie cutters. Unlike cookie dough, however, the dog biscuit dough was kind of tough.

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• Media Literacy, Then and Now

  In studying Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Carmel High School Media Literacy Class looked at the ways the Civil Rights leader communicated his message in the 1960s and how he might effectively communicate today.  

  “King was a powerful writer and speaker,” Library Media Specialist Karissa O’Reilly said. “His books, letters, essays, sermons, and speeches were a big part of how he was able to spread his message and mobilize people. In class, we talked about how people spread messages in the Civil Rights Era and compared them to how we communicate today.”  

  The class, which is an elective open to students in grades ten to 12, looked closely at King's Letter from Birmingham Jail. In the 60s, it was published in many different magazines and newspapers.  

  "It would be a lot easier to share this letter today," said Kiersten Motta, who talked about how it could be posted and shared online.  

  The letter is around 7,000 words, and the class also discussed how it might be presented in today's media — with visual pull quotes and other ways to drawing attention to it in the sea of information we see when we scroll.  

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• College Course Sparks Discussion

  Carmel High School students got some insight into what it’s like to be a woman in leadership when two Carmel Central School District administrators visited their class last month.  

  Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Lauren Santabarbara and CHS Assistant Principal Allison Golan spoke to students in the college-level Racism, Classism and Sexism course about the impact that hidden biases can have on women at work. 

  First, Santabarbara showed how symbols for companies like Mercedes, Amazon, Baskin Robbins and McDonald’s can trigger recognition and emotions related to a brand.  

  “Every child knows what McDonald’s is,” she said. “From early on, those images are burned in our brain. We don’t even have to talk about them to know what they mean.” 

  This led to the kind of high-level discussion often found in college classrooms.   

  Students at Carmel High School have many opportunities to earn college credit. The school offers 36 Advanced Placement or dual enrollment college classes for which they can get credit at SUNY and several other colleges and universities. 

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• A Great Start for Carmel's New Universal Pre-Kindergarten

  One group of four-year-olds served their teacher a make-believe breakfast while another played with building blocks and a third practiced cutting out pictures.

  It was a busy day in Carmel Central School District’s first Universal Pre-Kindergarten program, which started on Monday, January 6. 

  “We want to teach them everything they need to know before kindergarten, but we do it in a fun way,” said Theresa McCaffrey, Executive Director of Little Leaf preschool in Carmel.   

  Little Leaf is one of three preschool programs chosen to provide services to the 75 students who enrolled in Carmel’s first semester of universal pre-kindergarten. Creative Kids and Kids Cottage preschools are also hosting the program.

  School Superintendent Erin Meehan-Fairben made starting Universal Pre-Kindergarten one of her first goals for the district. The program, which is funded through state and federal grants, is provided at no cost to district families.

  “The benefits of early childhood education are clear, and include improved school readiness, better academic performance and a reduced achievement gap,” said Dr. Fairben, who took over as Carmel’s School Superintendent in July and got to work right away to ensure that all of Carmel’s students would have access to good preschool education. “It is an investment that lasts a lifetime.”

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• CHS Musicians Play for Elementary Schools

  Musicians from Carmel High School returned to their roots on Friday and performed for students in the elementary schools they once attended.  

  Band Teacher Meghan Cabral introduced the musicians and gave the youngsters a hint of the kinds of instruments they can learn to play as they move up in the grades. Orchestra Teacher Peter Ballantoni wore a fitting Santa hat as he led the string instruments in playing holiday favorites.   

  The Kent Elementary students, wearing their coziest winter pajamas, gathered in the cafeteria for the show. They sang, swayed and clapped along to the music.  

  “We opened for the Rockettes on Tuesday at Radio City Hall in New York City,” Chorus Teacher Bryan Lynch told the Kent Elementary students. “You are now going to get to hear the songs we sang for the Rockettes.” 

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• Fair Street Construction Project Update

  If you’ve driven to Carmel High School recently, you’ve likely noticed the construction on Fair Street.  

  The $30 million road improvement project, which will significantly improve safety, traffic flow and infrastructure in the area, will widen Fair Street from Simpson Road to Route 52. It will also add sidewalks and streetlights from Hill and Dale Road to Route 52, fix drainage and create an additional lane for easier turning into and out of the high school parking lot. Construction started in September after years of delays and is expected to be completed by the summer of 2026. 

  Carmel High School Principal Brian Piazza said that the construction would make the road safer in the end.  

  “The construction will create challenges traffic-wise, but at its completion, the sidewalks and an additional turning lane will greatly benefit our school and community, especially in terms of student safety,” Piazza said.  

  Michael Klenotiz, Carmel Central School District’s Supervisor of Transportation, said that good communication will go a long way toward keeping school bus traffic on schedule.  

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• The Fall Play is a Secret

  Carmel High School Drama Club has set a trap for the audience. They are not announcing the name of the play they are presenting until the performers take the stage in front of the audience.  

  There will be three performances of the mystery play and all will be presented at Casey Hall in Carmel High School. Performances will take place on Friday, November 15, at 7 p.m., Saturday, November 16, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, November 17, at 6 p.m.   

  They are not announcing the name of the play because they want the audience to come in blind and be surprised, said Zyla Bumbery, a senior who has a lead role and also co-directed the play. Tea Sedlarcik is the other co-director. 

  Zyla joined Drama Club as a sophomore.  

  “I’m excited because we’ve never done anything like this before,” Zyla said. “I first read the script in the summer, and I loved it. It is scary and it is audience interactive.”    

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• Thankful for Senior Citizens

  The Senior Thanksgiving Luncheon sponsored by The Carmel Teachers’ Association was a big success with the guests praising the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, vegetables and, of course, pumpkin pie.  

  Most of all, however, the senior citizens who came to Carmel High School, George Fischer Middle School and Matthew Paterson Elementary School were glad to return to schools that many of their children (and some of them) attended and to see friends from the throughout the community. 

  “We love our seniors,” said Alice Holzmann, the Family and Consumer Science teacher at George Fischer Middle School. “And they love this event.” 

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• Valedictorian and Salutatorian Named

  Chase Yom was named Valedictorian and Kayleigh Harney was named Salutatorian for the Carmel High School Class of 2025. 

  Chase was taking a quiz in his AP Government class Wednesday when he was called down to the counseling office. 

  “All of a sudden I heard my name called and I thought, oh no, what’s going on,” he said.  

  When he came to the college counseling office, Principal Brian Piazza told him the good news: Chase was selected as valedictorian for Carmel High School’s class of 2025.  

  Kayleigh Harney was equally surprised when she walked into the counseling office. 

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