‘It’s got to be real’

Sullivan West’s ‘green thumb’ senior 

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LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — Sullivan West Central School has a 17-year-old senior with a passion for all things green. 

“I think we’re very fortunate to have a lot of classes in this district, and the people who work in the schools are very good. And that’s something the school really needs,” said Aiden Tambascio, a 17-year-old upperclassman. When not taking several college level courses at the “Home of the Bulldogs,” he can be found in the high school’s biosphere taking care of plants, including a prolific cucumber vine.

During the summer break, Tambascio was in the biodome every other day, tending the plants, and days before the start of the school year he came in to “repot everyone’s plants” at both the elementary school and middle/high school.

“I grew up on a little homestead farm outside Jeffersonville, and I like what I do,” he said of his passion for all things green.

At home, Tambascio has what he described as ”My own little greenhouse, plus an actual garden.” After graduating from high school, he plans to study agriculture and horticulture in college, with a dream in the future of starting his own farm.

“One of my main goals is to grow enough fresh produce to sell at farmer’s markets, so people can actually buy real farm-fresh produce,” he explained. “A lot of our produce is just 25 percent fake stuff, stuff pumped into it. It takes away from the realness of the food, and that’s not how it should be handled.”

“It’s got to be real,” said Tambascio.

David Eggleton, Sullivan West’s new secondary school principal, noted that the district’s “green thumb” was recently recognized as the Student of the Month for “all the work he has put in at our science department’s grow dome, and being very giving of his time, like repotting all the plants for our teachers.”

“Because of his love for gardening, he gave cucumbers to all the staff, and we’re very proud of him for giving of his time after hours… He’s very kind and community oriented,” said Eggleton.

More happenings at Sullivan West

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — There are two new administrators at the middle/high school and a new assistant principal at the elementary school.

In an April announcement, Sullivan West superintendent Dr. Kathleen Bressler wrote, “It is with great pride that the Board of Education has appointed Mr. David Eggleton as the Secondary School Principal.”

Eggleton isn’t new to the district, she continued. He previously served as a physical education teacher, a coach and as athletic director. So “Mr. Eggleton comes with an understanding of our school community.”

Given his more than 13 years of teaching experience, between 2022 and 2024, he served at Livingston Manor as assistant principal, and as director of physical education, health, wellness and athletics for Roscoe and Livingston Manor.

Eggleton earned a bachelor’s degree in education from SUNY Cortland, his master’s degree in education from CUNY Lehman and a Certificate of Advanced Study in School Leadership at SUNY New Paltz. 

During a recent conversation with the River Reporter, Eggleton talked about innovative programs at the Sullivan West secondary school. 

Electives, college credits have an impact

In the 2023-24 school year, students had the opportunity to earn Vo Tech-BOCES credits in an animal science course at Diehl Me In Performance Horse Farm in nearby Callicoon.

“It’s close to our campus, and easy for our students to get to,” he explained. Last year, three students were enrolled, and this year, five students signed up.

New electives include health, athletic training and energy science.

Looking to the future of electives, Eggleton said, “We’re assessing what we can maintain, and possibly add on.”

“How many students graduate from the district with college credits to move forward?” he said. “One thing we look at is where are they going—military, college or straight into the workforce… we look at analytics from years past, and what is driving our students.”

Last year, of the 84 seniors, 68 percent graduated with at least one college credit, while 49 percent walked down the aisle with 12 or more college credits. Eggleton called it a “huge amount of money” in savings to the students and parents.

He also outlined what he views as three “key components” for successful education: communication, curriculum and social/emotional wellness.

On the topic of communication, Eggleton said briefly that it was not just “with the community, but how we communicate with our staff and students.”

When it came to the curriculum, “not only looking at courses and programs that we offer, but also how to sequence them.”

And on social/emotional wellness, there are “conversations in different classes about human interaction.”

Turbulent times, cellphones and more

Sarah Mootz has been named the assistant secondary school principal. She has been an educator for over 16 years, and before coming to Sullivan West, served at the Monticello School District, most recently as elementary assistant principal.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from SUNY Potsdam, her master’s degree in special education/literacy from SUNY New Paltz and earned a certificate in educational administration from Long Island University, Hudson. 

“Building rapport and relationships with students is really important, adjusting to the needs of the students, and looking at the whole student,” she said, thinking about social and emotional wellness in these turbulent times.

“They see and feel these things so much, in families and each other, [and] if we don’t recognize that and take their ‘temperature’,” that can have negative effects on their education.

On the subject of social media—e.g. the use of cellphones in school—Mootz said they “should enhance the education experience, not distract from the educational setting.” Phones are not banned in school (for communication with parents and for emergencies), and “[students] have opportunities during the day to use their cellphones.” Each student also has a school-issued laptop.

At present, there are approximately 515 students at the middle/high school in grades 7-12, slightly down from last year. But what Eggleton and Mootz described as a “huge seventh-grade class just came in,” as over 100 students joined the ranks at the middle school.

As for the decline in enrollment—it fluctuates—Mootz postulated that reasons other than economic include “charter schools, online academics and home schools… There are other options, a variety of reasons.”

sullivan west, central school, green, thumb, gardening, biosphere, Aiden Tambascio

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