North High School had a presence at the Rockland Road Runners 5 Mile Turkey Trot.

The event, held last Thursday on Thanksgiving morning at Rockland Lake State Park, included 17 members of the North High School Girls Soccer program. The North runners, led by their Coach, Bryan Smith, were among the 2,188 runners who participated in this 28th annual race sponsored by the Rockland Road Runners. Proceeds from the race were given to the Marisa Fund which supports fundraising research to find a cure for pediatric cancer and to help families with the financial burden of cancer treatment.

The Marisa Fund was founded by David Goldwasser, and named in honor of his daughter, Marisa Goldwasser, who passed away in 2003 at age of 20 after being diagnosed at age 16 with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Marisa Goldwasser, who enjoyed soccer, lacrosse and ran track, attended Duke University. More information about the Marisa Fund can be found at https://marisafund.org.

The members of the North High School Girls Soccer program joining Coach Smith on the course included the following: Sydney Rauch, Amit Itzhaki, Sophia Lorenzo, Laura Bialek, Alexa Buxbaum, Jessica Polvino, Hannah McKiverkin, Alaina Oatts, Cayla Davis, Reilly McKiverkin, Lauren Korchinski, Meghan McKiverkin, Katie Jaxel, Kelly Cavanagh, Sam Gelb, Rachel Kurkela and Aly Acosta.

Also on the race course was North High School Social Studies Department Chair Jordan Turner.

Adding to the North High School presence was the participation of the school's Mugen Daiko Taiko Team, students performing on their drums at the two-and-a-half mile mark under the direction of Japanese Teacher Akiko Uchiyama Wolham. The sound of the drums were uplifting and inspiring for runners at this halfway mark of the 5-mile course around Rockland Lake. Members of the Mugen Daiko Taiko Team included the following students: Strummer Peterson, Joshua Tatar, Caitlin Valencia, Meghan Rosado, Cole Witko, Megan Martucci, Jennifer Saloutenko, Claudia Matsumoto, and Shiryn Downing. The team also had the following North High School graduates present for the race: Jacob-Henry Rivera, Sammy Sobel, Kara Lau, and Alex Alejandrino.

"This was our fifth year participating in this event," said Akiko Uchiyama Wolham. "One of the organizers, David Goldwasser, presented us with a special plaque acknowledging our participation. We were humbled and touched by his personal story. We look forward to keep drumming and encouraging over 3,000 runners and share this joyful experience on Thanksgiving Day."

According to Ms. Uchiyama Wolham, Mugen Taiko was established in 2011 as a part of the Japanese Club at Clarkstown High School North.

Congratulations to the runners and drummers from North High School on their great accomplishments during this inspiring race on Thanksgiving Day!

Cultures from around the globe were on display at Woodglen Elementary on November 19.

The annual Multi-Cultual Fair provided for insightful lessons when students visited one booth after the next and learned information about 18 countries.

Booths contained a wide variety of information and artifacts related to food, sports, music, currency, maps, government, and much more. While visiting the booths, the students had clipboards in hand and wrote down information for the countries they visited.  Nearly all of the 18 booths were led by parents, many of them who were born in the country they represented or spent part of their childhood in that country.

The fair was planned and organized by Chairpersons Natalia Lanzo and Aparna Tantri.  In addition to Principal Lisa Maher attending and supporting her students, parents, teachers, and staff, Board of Education member Walter Litvak was also in attendance for this outstanding teaching and learning experience for everyone.