Lake Placid joins 11 other Adirondack school districts as a current CFES school.

We began the year with an energizing presentation from Andrea McDonald of CFES on the three “Core Practices” of CFES, followed by discussions and networking with other schools to share ideas of how to customize the practices to fit our district. These “Core Practices” are Mentoring, Leadership Through Service, and Pathways to College, all of which are already happening in various ways in our district. We have decided to identify all of our 4th, 8th, and 10th grade students as our “CFES Scholars”, and are working to engage them collaboratively and consistently in each of the three core practices.

Mentoring is a powerful method of enhancing resiliency, and I am happy to note that mentoring has been in place in numerous ways at Lake Placid Central. We will be expanding on current mentoring opportunities, while also implementing more multi-grade level mentoring across the district.

Scholars will be engaged in additional leadership development opportunities, both in school and through community organizations. Scholars will also be assisted in designing, organizing, and participating in student-led service opportunities. It was great to hear about what scholars from neighboring districts have decided to do in the past, and I look forward to reporting on how our students decide to make their impact.

Our scholars will be visiting college campuses, which has been a strong practice in the past for LPCSD. Scholars will learn about a variety of pathways that are available through higher education and training and also develop a basic understanding of financial aid.

While we recognize that not every student will choose to attend college, we are committed to ensuring that all students have the academic and social-emotional preparation to have the option to attend college or vocational training.

I am lucky to be among a strong team with a lot of great ideas and enthusiasm here at Lake Placid. So far, our CFES Committee includes Dana Damp (High School Science Teacher), Keith Clark (Middle/High School Social Studies Teacher), Roger Catania (Superintendent), Dana Wood (High School Principal), Theresa Lindsey (Middle School Principal), Brian Latella (Elementary Principal), Connie Hammaker (High School Counselor), Lynn Gosling (Middle School Counselor), and DeAnna Brown (Elementary School Counselor). For more information on our school’s CFES program, please contact me at dbrown@lpcsd.org, or my CFES co-liason Lynn Gosling at lgosling@lpcsd.org.