2017-2018 Volume 2, Issue 2

Note from the Principal Hello Odyssey Families, This second issue of the Leopard Ledger for the 2017-2018 school year means we are halfway through the school year! The publication of our Leopard Ledger began last school year as another opportunity for students to get involved in an extra-curricular activity as well as to showcase some of the amazing things we have going on at our school on a daily basis. Now that we are at the halfway point, it is time to reflect on how things have been going, and how we can make changes for the better. Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher via e-mail or phone, and check your child’s progress on the Parent Portal. It is also important that we encourage responsibility and that students monitor their own progress so we can continue to have a successful school year.

Please take note of the following key dates and events for the next couple of months: 2/8 2/9 2/9 2/15 2/19-2/23 2/23 2/24 2/25 3/12 3/14 3/15 3/16 3/30 4/13

IB, AP, and AVID Info Night 5:30pm MOSAICS Assembly (Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12) Mini-ESK Day for Grades 7 & 8 (Grades 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12 release at 10:15am) District-Wide Black History Celebration at GPAC No School for February Break Big Fish Musical 7pm Big Fish Musical 2pm & 7pm Big Fish Musical 2pm Student Council Middle School Dodgeball Tournament After School Half-Day. All Grades Release at 10:15 Student Council High School Dodgeball Tournament After School PRIDE DAY and Student Council Dodgeball Championship Assembly No School Last Day of Third Marking period

In addition to these events, you can stay informed by following us on Facebook and Twitter. I hope you enjoy this Winter season. Thank you very much for your support. As always, feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns you may have. Yours with Leopard Pride, Dr. Jeffrey M. Green Principal

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Leopard Ledger Volume 2, Issue 2

The Holidays Located directly in the middle of the second quarter, the holiday season offers a break from the intensity of the first ten weeks. Both students and staff found ways to get into the holiday spirit of celebration and giving.

On December 22nd, the Odyssey Jazz Band played a mini holiday concert for the seniors at Legacy.

Our staff and students got into the Holiday Spirit week. Monday was Pajama Day, Tuesday was “Wear White” Day, Wednesday was Meme Day, Thursday was Flannel Day, and Friday was Ugly Sweater Day.

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Our middle-schoolers spent the day before holiday break caroling and bringing cheer to the Greece School District Central Offices!

Greece Odyssey Academy

Entertainment Spotlight: High School Musical Jr. On November 18th and 19th, the Odyssey Academy Music Department put on the first musical of the 2017-2018 school year! High School Musical Jr. once again demonstrated what amazing talent we have here at Odyssey Academy!

Based on the hit Disney Channel film, High School Musical Jr. is the story of Troy Bolton (played by Odyssey Music all-star Aiden Eddy) and Gabriella Montez (played by 9th-grader Nadia Stiell) shaking up the culture of their school as they fall in love and follow their dreams. Act 1 begins on the first day back to school after Winter Break. On the steps of East High School, the ensemble cast performs the rousing "Wildcat Cheer.” We are introduced to the major cliques of the school. Troy Bolton, a member of the Jocks and the basketball captain, talks to his friend Chad Danforth (Nick Adames) about the start of the season while twins Sharpay (Emma Fredrick) and Ryan Evans (Triston Wise), who represent the Thespians, arrive in grand fashion. Taylor McKessie (Aggie Taylor) enters with the rest of the Brainiacs and makes fun Sharpay’s dramatic entrance. Taylor welcomes Gabriella Montez, the new girl at the school, and Gabriella tells her about the boy she met while on break. There is a unique flashback sequence where the audience witnesses Gabriella’s memory. In it, we see Troy and Gabriella fall in love while singing the song, “Start of Something New.” Jack Scott (played by Jack Mitchell, last year’s lead in Elf Jr.) interrupts on the school announcements to give the latest school news. This is just the first of many fun transition segments that Jack narrates throughout the musical. In homeroom, Troy realizes Gabriella is the girl he sang karaoke with over break. He makes the mistake of calling her during class, and the drama teacher, Ms. Darbus (Ajla Zlotrg), takes the group’s cell phones and gives them detention. Gabriella and Troy run into each other during passing time and consider signing up for an audition for the high school musical, but Sharpay shows up and convinces them not to try. Troy heads to basketball practice and his best friend, Chad, insists that he shouldn’t be thinking about singing. In order to get his mind off of it, the group performs “Get'cha Head in the Game," a number the includes an impressive dance routine involving dribbling and passing basketballs. Meanwhile, Taylor, who is the science club president, realizes how smart Gabriella is and gets her to join the upcoming science decathlon. When Troy's dad, Coach Bolton (Nathan Daniel), realizes his son has detention, he argues with Ms. Darbus because his players need to practice for the championship game. The next day, several students attempt to audition for the musical, Sharpay and Ryan blow them out of the water with "What I've Been Looking For.” Afterwards, Troy and Gabriella arrive and miss the audition. However, Kelsi (Faith Cappiello), the show's composer, plays the song in a slower way and asks them to sing along. Luckily, Ms. Darbus happens to overhear and is impressed. She gives them a callback and upsets the order of the school cliques. Some students try to break out of their cliques during lunch in the song "Stick to the Status Quo," but are talked down by their classmates. 3

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Leopard Ledger Volume 2, Issue 2

High School Musical Jr. (Continued) There was a 15-minute intermission where the audience could get snacks and purchase items from “Mrs. Bolton’s Boutique,” including flowers for the cast and crew, light-up wands, pom-poms, and “Special Sharpay Duckies.” This also included a “Cheer Parade” where children from the audience were able to walk across the stage waving their wands and pom-poms.

Act 2 begins on the rooftop of the school. Troy and Gabriella discuss how difficult it is to break out of the expectations of their cliques, but that they really want to pursue singing together. Meanwhile, Sharpay meets with the Jocks and Brainiacs to devise a plan that will knock Troy and Gabriella out of the musical. This way, Troy and Gabriella will go back to their own competitions. This plays out in the song, "Counting on You," which features Troy arguing with the Jocks on one side of the stage and Gabriella arguing with the Brianiacs on the other. The cliques open up a phone call and time it so that Troy and Gabriella’s words are heard out of context by each other. They think that each one has betrayed the other, and they decide to back out of the musical. In order to ensure her success, Sharpay has Ms. Darbus move the callbacks to the same time as both the championship game and the science decathlon. Feeling guilty about how they ruined their friends’ relationship, Chad and Taylor decide to work together to make things right again, which is the first time we hear the infamous number, "We're All in This Together.” The Jocks play their championship game and Brianiacs compete in their decathlon while Sharpay and Ryan perform "Bop to the Top" at their callback. Troy and Gabriella finish their competitions and rush to the theater, only to find that they are too late. That’s when the East High students arrive to support them and Ms. Darbus agrees to give them a chance. They sing “Breaking Free,” earning themselves lead roles in the musical. The Wildcats win the game, and the whole school comes together for the epic final number, known as: "We're All in This Together – Reprise." High School Musical Jr. was an incredible production by a stellar group of talent. Everyone involved should be very proud!

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Greece Odyssey Academy The Leopard Ledger sat down with cast member Aiden Eddy (Troy) to ask him about the experience of being in the show. Why did you get involved in the musical in the first place? Aiden Eddy: “I got involved in the musical because I’ve always had a passion and talent for music. One of the cool things about being in the musical is you get to meet new people and start new friendships. This is my fifth musical here (Aiden was previously in The Sound of Music, The Lion King Jr, Elf Jr, and Barnum). I started in 6th grade and have been following in my brother’s (Alec Eddy) footsteps. He was in many of the Odyssey musicals. How was the experience? Aiden Eddy: “This was different than the musicals before. Lion Jr and Elf Jr were very cut down versions of their source material, but this one was pretty true to the original. It attracted a lot more people because is still a very popular movie and musical. There was also a lot of new talent and more people involved in this one. There are many talented seniors leaving this year, and all this new talent will be filling their shoes when they leave. It was a lot of work. Rehearsals initially went to 3:30 or 4 after school, then closer to the show they were more intense and we often worked after school until 9. Having a lead part also was a big responsibility. I really enjoyed it because it meant all the work I put in helped make the musical as good as it could be. What would be your dream musical? And do you plan on continuing your musical career after Odyssey? Aiden Eddy: I’ve always wanted to perform in Little Shop of Horrors. I think it would be so cool to work the large Audrey II puppet. I’ll keep going and keep trying to do the best I can in the musicals through high school. I’ll definitely keep doing music in college, and I’ve been considering becoming a music teacher or choir teacher. That way I would be running musicals for schools as part of my career. We here at the Leopard Ledger are excited to follow the careers of all the talented young actors and crew involved in High School Musical Jr. The next opportunity will be Big Fish, which we will cover in our next issue. Check the next page for more information! 5

Our indispensable parent volunteers.

Leopard Ledger Volume 2, Issue 2

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Greece Odyssey Academy

Club Spotlight: MOSAICS We were very excited to have the MOSAICS club introduced to our school last year. MOSAICS continues to fight for social justice and engage students in important conversations. Aiden Budinski attended several MOSAICS events and reports below: On January 17, the MOSAICS group went to see the movie: “I’m not Racist, am I?” at the Greece Performing Arts Center. To all the students that went, it was an amazing opportunity. The premise of the movie was an explanation of racism through the perspectives and stories of twelve high school students at The Calhoun School in New York City. The movie documented a year long exploration of race and classism by the students. The students came from public and private schools, and were a variety of races and genders. These teenagers were brought together to deconstruct race and recognize the broader implications of racism. The students learned about systematic racism, in which a group has power over another group. The film posits that systematic racism is everywhere in our society, from the education system to the criminal justice system. The film’s thesis was that people who have privilege should use their privilege to uplift the oppressed. After the film, Odyssey’s MOSIACS group returned to school to have a deep conversation about the complex questions raised by the film. The MOSAICS club was started with three goals in mind: (1) to educate students about concepts, theories, and methods related to social justice (2) to raise awareness against forces of oppression and inequality, and (3) to unite students of diverse backgrounds to become active in the struggle for social justice. A way the group has done this is through Hope Rocks. In December, the group went over to Legacy Nursing Home afterschool to decorate rocks with the elderly. It was a great bonding experience to connect with the older generation, and the group plans to visit the nursing home again. Those interested can contact Mrs. McLaughlin in room 221.

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Leopard Ledger Volume 2, Issue 2

The Senior Disney Trip In November, the senior class of 2018 had the opportunity to visit Walt Disney World in Florida. Our roving freelance reporter, Aiden Budinski was there to document the experience.

Day 1: November 8th: Students met early in the morning at the airport, and promptly boarded the plane for Florida. When students arrived in Florida, the chaperones got lost in the airport. When the chaperones finally reoriented themselves, we made it out and boarded the Disney Magical Express bus to the Pop Century Resort. The long, grueling bus ride included some quality nap time and a promotional video for the resort. The resort itself was based on popular music genres spanning from the 1950’s to the 1990’s, and buildings were sectioned off according to decade. The students stayed in the 1950’s section of the resort, which included a bowling pin shaped pool and vinyl records. The first day in Florida, students went to Disney’s shopping district in Downtown Disney. While the sights and sounds were exciting, many of the stores were too expensive for us poor teenagers. Day 2: November 9th: The next day is when the fun all started. First students went to the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World’s original park. My group went to Tomorrowland immediately, which is a land based on the “1950’s future that never was.” Personally, Space Mountain, a roller coaster ride through the dark, was my favorite ride at Magic Kingdom, so we rode it multiple times before the crowds became to hectic. We made our way around the park, stopping at old favorites like the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. Before leaving the park, we caught the Festival of Fantasy parade in front of the castle, which showcased characters from many Disney animated films. We then moved onto the Animal Kingdom park. My group went on Expedition Everest (probably too many times). The ride takes you into a stunning recreation of Mount Everest where a mythical yeti attempts to derail your tour. That day we also went to Dinosaur Land, where you can play numerous carnival-style games. We ended the day by viewing the parade in Africa.

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Greece Odyssey Academy

Day 3: November 10th: The next day, we woke up early to go to Hollywood Studios, which is arguably the most exciting park at Walt Disney World. Two of the best rides my group went on the Tower of Terror and the Rock n’ Roller Coaster. Tower of Terror has you entering the haunted Hollywood Tower Hotel to board an elevator to the 13th floor. Of course, something goes wrong and the elevator drops you multiple times. Rock n’ Rollercoaster has you going to a concert with Aerosmith, and includes a blast off at the beginning that has you go from 0 to 60mph in 2.8 seconds. Before we left, Stormtroopers from Star Wars paraded around the entrance. (Also, I would recommend getting the frozen lemonade at Hollywood Studios). Next we went to Epcot. In the Future World area, my group went on Mission: Space (a 2.5 g motion simulator), Soarin’ (a simulated trip over the world), and Test Track (a 60mph ride through various car testing hazards). We moved onto the World Showcase, where eleven countries are represented by miniature pavilions. I ate at Japan while the rest of my group ate at the United Kingdom, so I think I got the better end of the bargain. Before we left, we watched the majestic Illuminations firework show and we went back to the resort. Day 4: November 11th: The last day at the parks, we went back to Animal Kingdom. For our final day, we visited Disney World’s newest area: the World of Pandora. This area has incredible sights from the Avatar film, including floating islands, rusting relics of machines, and bioluminescent plants. We decided to wait three hours in line for the Avatar Flight of Passage ride. Ultimately, it was worth it and the best ride we went on at Disney World. In the ride, it makes it feel like you are linking to your very own avatar. You end up flying a banshee through Pandora, feeling the magic of flight. After that, we went back to Expedition Everest and it started to rain. We spent the rest of our time at Animal Kingdom huddled together under an umbrella. Luckily, we were able to go back to the resort before heading to Magic Kingdom again. There we went on Thunder Mountain, sa run-away mine train, and the Pirates of the Caribbean. We stayed for the firework show over the castle. Overall, it was a fun trip for everyone, but we were glad to be home the next day.

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Leopard Ledger Volume 2, Issue 2

Rotary Club Highlights Odyssey’s Rotary Club has continued to exemplify Leopard PRIDE by giving back to our school and community. Here are just a few of the highlights from Mrs. Miller!

November 30th: Odyssey Rotary Interact made a visit to the Episcopal Senior Living Center. Student planned a mini holiday concert including singing and instrumentalists. Students also played holiday games with seniors including blind-folded snowman drawing.

Odyssey Rotary’s contributions to the community were featured in the Greece Post!

December 6th: Odyssey Rotary Interact participated in the Annual BOCES Lunch with Santa. Odyssey seniors assisted students with disabilities to get their lunch and visit with Santa.

December 14th: Odyssey Rotary Interact students participated in the Monroe County Intergenerational Senior Ball. Odyssey students ate dinner, mingled, and danced with local senior citizens to celebrate the holidays

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Greece Odyssey Academy

New Faces: Mr. Scalia Mr. Scalia is new to Odyssey this year. Though he is a long-term substitute for Mrs. Hilton, in his short time here, he has already made a positive impact on the school community. 1) What is your current position here at Odyssey? I started the year off as a 7th grade leave replacement for Rhiannon White working alongside Jessica Wilson and was lucky enough to be offered a new position in the building. I currently teach algebra (12:1:1) in room 136 with Pam Zimmer, Bruce Rockwell, Erin St. James and Carm Noto. Throughout the day I push in and Consultant Teach with Tony D'Apice in Algebra 9 and Geometry 10 with Jaclyn Wesley. 2) Where did you work before this and how long? How was your experience there? I am originally from Long Island, so my first teaching experience was in a middle school in Long Island. I moved to Rochester in 2015 and taught at Twelve Corners Middle School in Brighton for almost two years as a building sub, social studies leave replacement and chemistry leave replacement. This was my first experience in the Rochester area and it gave me the opportunity to teach a culturally diverse student body. Last year I briefly taught at Honeyoe Falls-Lima Middle school as a 7th/8th grade leave replacement. 3) Why and how did you get into education? Where did you go to school? I got into education because of my 9th and 10th grade AP Global teacher. Mrs. O'Conner managed to make a double block of social studies the best part of my school day. After her class I wanted to make learning fun for others. Throughout my life I have always felt joy in helping others and solving problems. In high school I worked at Best Buy in the computer department and helped a lot of people solve their technology issues. I went to college at SUNY Geneseo for both my undergraduate and graduate degree. 4) What are your interests outside of school? Outside of school I love to eat and cook. The best food that I make would either be my fish tacos or chicken piccata. I love eating so much, I started the soup club at Odyssey which highlights the daily soup choices offered in the cafeteria. When I am not eating or cooking I love going to the movies, watching the Yankees and the Jets. I also enjoy traveling back home to Long Island to go to the beach, New York City and Yankee games. 5) How has your experience at Odyssey been so far? Thus far, my experience at Odyssey has been great! The staff has been very supportive during my transition to the building, especially from 7th grade humanities to 10th grade algebra. I have made so many great professional relationships with staff members and look forward to working with the rest of them in the future. The students at Odyssey are also fantastic! It is exciting to see the many students that are passionate about learning and reading. I volunteer at the middle school book club once a week to read different books with some great middle school readers! 6) Do you have any hopes or goals for the remainder of the year? My hope for the year is that more students find a love for reading and continue to read outside of the classroom. My goal is to help my algebra and geometry students pass their regents exams at the end of the year!

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Leopard Ledger Volume 2, Issue 2

Teacher Interview: Ms. Drey We are expanding our interviews at the Leopard Ledger to include conversations with teachers and other staff around the building. This will be a great way to learn more about the staff at Odyssey. For our first interview, we sat down with Ms. Drey. 1) What is your current position here at Odyssey? I'm a 9th grade English teacher and I work down in the Academic Learning Center. I'm also one of the 10th grade class advisors with Bruce Rockwell. 2) Where did you work before this and how long? How was your experience there? Before coming to Odyssey I was a long term substitute at Allendale Columbia for two months as well as a substitute in other school districts. I did enjoy subbing, but am very glad to be at Odyssey.

3) Why and how did you get into education? Where did you go to school? I've always wanted to be a teacher. It was really the only thing I could see myself doing because I love learning and working with others to understand new topics and concepts. I didn't decide to go into English until I was in 10th grade. My teacher was amazing and really made learning fun, but she was also honest about what she expected of us and held us to those standards. My 10th grade English teacher graduated from St. John Fisher and I decided to go there for college because I hoped to be as great of a teacher as she is. 4) What are your interests outside of school? Outside of school, I enjoy playing a little bit of computer games and re-watching Friends on Netflix. I love to cook and spend most of my weekends meal prepping for the week or trying new recipes with my mom. I'm also a huge American Ninja Warrior fan and am anxiously waiting for the next season to start. 5) How has your experience at Odyssey been so far? I've loved my time at Odyssey so far. I really enjoy spending time with my students in class and getting to know them. All of my colleagues are amazing, hardworking people who make such a difference in so many lives. I'm so lucky to be at this school and I really hope I get to the chance to keep seeing it grow over the years. 6) Do you have any hopes or goals for the remainder of the year? My main hope for the rest of this year is to have my students move on to 10th grade as prepared as possible and to give my students more creative choices in our units.

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Greece Odyssey Academy

Student Council Student Council has been hard at work contributing to our school community. Here are some of the highlights! November 

Rake & Run: We had quite a few volunteers come out on a rainy day to help us rake the lawns of five senior citizens in the neighborhood next to Odyssey. The community members truly appreciated our help with raking leaves and filling nearly 100 bags!

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Thanksgiving Food Drive: We collected canned food and boxed food donations for the Thanksgiving holiday this year. We supplied a huge box of food and a turkey (donated from Wegmans!) to four different families. One family even told us they were so thankful because our donation to them helped them share a meal with their elderly neighbor and son!

December 

Holiday Gift Giving: We were blown away by the generosity of our Odyssey staff and students with this event this year! We received nearly $300 in donations, allowing us to give five families a WalMart gift card to help with the winter holidays this year!

Upcoming: 

We are very excited to bring back Orange Crush in February! Everyone should get ready to send a sweet message to their BAE!!!

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We're also excited to host our annual middle and high school dodgeball tournament in March! We are in the early stages of planning, but it's sure to be a great time! Middle School tournament will be Monday, March 12 and High School tournament will be Thursday, March 15. Mark your calendars and keep your ears open for updates and announcements!

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Our next STUCO meeting is on 2/9 (7:00am in Room 214) , in which we will continue planning for Orange Crush and the Dodgeball tournament. Anyone interested in getting involved is welcome to come!

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Leopard Ledger Volume 2, Issue 2

Sports Spotlight: Boy’s Basketball For our sports feature this issue, we interviewed Mr. Guzielek, a 6th grade teacher here at Odyssey and head coach of the Boy’s Varsity Basketball Team, to hear about how this season has gone. Here’s what he had to say:

1) Can you summarize how well the team did this year? Our team has had a good season so far and currently has a record of 9-5. The team has developed a good team camaraderie and battles each other each day in practice. This team plays unselfishly and most importantly they want to win. We have changed close losses from last year into wins this year. The team has six games remaining and currently sits at the #5 seed for sectional play. With our demanding schedule of mostly Class A teams, we will prepare for a good run at a Class B sectional title 2) Was there any special method you used as coach to get them to that level? The team has been preparing since last spring with open gyms, Summer Leagues, summer camps, and a fall league. Those opportunities brought this group together to work on skills and put them in game situations. They developed a will to win and mental toughness through our participation in these leagues. We have found ourselves in many situations during our season where we can remind them of similar past experiences. The team uses those as learning opportunities: we know how to win because we have been there before.

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Greece Odyssey Academy

3) How do you feel about the group of students on the team this year? This has been an enjoyable group to coach and I look forward to our practices each day. They play hard against each other each day in practice and want to win for each other when playing in games. I'm happy with the progress of our program with a strong JV team ready to move up to varsity next year. 4) What is your proudest moment from the season? We have had many memorable moments, including last second game winning shots by DJ Billings against Canandaguia and Jaden Hartsfield versus Brighton. We also took an undefeated team in Pittsford Sutherland down to the last minute and gave them their toughest game of the year.

5) What is your plan going into next season? Our plan is to build off of the foundation that has been set this year at both varsity and JV levels. Our team and program have gone from competing against the Class A schools to now beating these teams (Arcadia, Batavia, Brighton, Brockport, Canandaguia). We will have a strong group returning to the varsity and will add strong players who are ready to play immediately at the varsity level. We will continue to grind in the off-season with plans of open gyms, camps, and leagues.

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Leopard Ledger Volume 2, Issue 2

Policy Update: New Tardy Policy The Leopard Ledger sat down with Dr. Green to discuss our new tardy policy.

Why? While concerns about the number of students tardy have risen, the school has implemented a new tardy policy aimed to solve this problem. The new tardy policy will go into effect at the beginning of third quarter, Monday, January 29th. Each student will receive a copy of the tardy guidelines in their report card for second quarter, and teachers are expected to read the new tardy expectations to their classes.

What is it? First Tardy: You are given a warning by your teacher. Second Tardy: You are given another warning and the teacher calls home. Third and Fourth Tardy: You are expected to serve detention with either your teacher or an administrator after school. Fifth Tardy: An administrator contacts your parents and harsher consequences may occur if tardiness continues. The policy resets every five weeks. This new policy is intended to create unification and consistency in the tardy policy throughout the school, whereas before, teachers had their own policies about tardiness. Now there will be no confusion among teachers or students on consequences for tardiness. Dr. Green urges students and staff to follow @GreeceOdyssey on Twitter for more updates. If you have concerns about school policies that you think should be changed, come to School Improvement Team meetings. Our next meeting is Wednesday, February 28th, and you are welcome to attend!

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Greece Odyssey Academy

Policy Update: New Tardy Policy As mentioned on our previous page, the SIT (School Improvement Team) is a panel of teachers, administrators, parents, and students that meets to discuss school policies. The Leopard Ledger sat down with Mrs. Ferencz (reading specialist at Odyssey and member of SIT) to further discuss the impact of the new policy.

1) What is the new policy? The new policy is an attempt to make the hallways a safer and more orderly place. It is also a way to make our staff more consistent and unified in dealing with tardiness to class. 2) Why did SIT decide that this needed to be addressed? We hope that this new policy will lead to less people in our hallways during class time. We are hoping that if there is more consistent accountability for being on time to class, the hallways will have less students when classes have begun. We are attempting to make it easier for security to find students that are out of the classroom, especially at the start of classes. We are also hoping that if students are in class on time and ready to learn that we will also see a positive trend in grades and academics. 3) What does this mean for teachers? Hopefully it means more kids in class on time and prepared to learn. It also means teachers will have to be consistent and change their policy if they have been more lenient about students being late. As teachers we know that 80% of our students are already on time and prepared for class, but we are hoping to positively impact the 10-15% of the student body that tend to go with the will of the group. If there are more consistent consequences we hope that these students who might be tempted to be late will have more of an incentive get to class on time. 4) What does this mean for students? For most of the students this will mean nothing, but for those who have a habit of being late it will hopefully mean a change in their practice so that they are more on time. It will hopefully mean more consistency for students around tardiness. It’s also an opportunity for students to learn to advocate for passes and budget their time in the hallway more effectively. The policy will go into effect at the beginning of third quarter, Monday, January 29th. Each student will receive a copy of the tardy guidelines in their report card for second quarter, and teachers are expected to read the new tardy expectations to their classes.

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Leopard Ledger Volume 2, Issue 2

Sharing Our PRIDE We’d like to continue the tradition of closing the issue of Leopard Ledger with an ongoing feature called “Sharing Our PRIDE.” Here, we focus on all the great things that students and staff are doing to spread Leopard Pride throughout our school and community. Here is just a small sampling:

On December 5th, Odyssey’s Junior Honor Society members helped out in the community and rang the Salvation Army bell at Greece Ridge Mall. On December 9th, Odyssey’s Indoor Track and Field Team also volunteered to spread Holiday Cheer!

Odyssey was extremely proud in December: Ronell Joseph signed with Bryant College. He received a full scholarship and will be playing on Bryant’s Division 1 football team. Family, staff and students showed up to celebrate his official signing! Continued on next page 18

Greece Odyssey Academy

On Thursday, January 18th, middleschoolers came out to Odyssey for the Snow Flake Dance. Students were able to dance and socialize in the decorated cafeteria. The event was sponsored by the PTSA.

On November 29th, a snow owl appeared over Door 5, majestically peering at students and staff as they arrived for the day! (Awardwinning photo courtesy of Mr. Scanzaroli) 8th graders spent their last Pride Day working on their Mini-ESK: their Exhibition of Self Knowledge. This presentation gives students a wonderful opportunity to practice interview skills and to demonstrate an understanding of themselves. Mini-ESK day will be Friday, February 9th, so there will be more on this next issue! Continued on next page 19

Leopard Ledger Volume 2, Issue 2

On November 17th, Odyssey held its first official Book Swap. Prior to the event, students brought in used books from home and received a ticket for each one. On Book Swap day, all the books were placed together and students were able to trade in the tickets for new books!

The week of November 21st, Mrs. Weston was the featured teacher at Barnes and Noble for #TeacherTuesdays. Anyone could buy a book from her display and donate it to her classroom for Odyssey students.

On December 12th, Justin Staub and Justin Biller stood up in front of the Board of Education and talked about all the great things going on at Odyssey Academy. On January 9th, Drew Reuther and Kira Sage did the same! Continued on next page 20

Greece Odyssey Academy

Just before Holiday Break, Ms. Ammann celebrated her last day working in the Odyssey Library. She retired after 35 years of service! Staff and students were there to bid her a fond farewell.

Odyssey student Simeon Alvarez was awarded second place in the Our Future My Hope essay contest sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The Girls Varsity Tennis team, led by Mr. Perry (and featured in the last issue of the Leopard Ledger), won a Division IV championship and the Scholar Athlete Team Award.

Odyssey led the way with our first “Community Library.” The Leopard Library is full of donated books. Anyone in the community can borrow a book at their leisure and return it whenever they please. Located just outside of Door 5, the Leopard Library encourages a community of lifelong readers.

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We hope you enjoyed our second issue! A special thanks to all the students and staff who spent their own free time contributing! Staff: Students: Ms. Drey Aiden Budinski Mrs. Ferencz Kristen McFarlane Ms. Griffin Aiden Eddy Mr. Guzielek Dr. Green Add your name here next issue! Come to our next Mrs. Miller meeting in G29 on Thursday, February 8th! Mr. Scalia Newspaper Advisor: Mr. Weekes

Administration: Principal: Dr. Jeffrey Green Assistant Principal: Dr. Jeff Henley Assistant Principal: Laurie Platt Assistant Principal: Brandin Jones Follow us on: Twitter: @GreeceOdyssey Facebook: www.facebook.com/GreeceOdyssey Website: www.GreeceOdyssey.org

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