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YEAR IN REVIEW Part two of a look back at 2022 in the Cazenovia area By kate hill Staff writer
Throughout the past year, members of the local business community have welcomed new establishments, expanded their operations, received regional and national recognition, given back to the Cazenovia area and beyond, and demonstrated determination when faced with the news of Cazenovia College’s upcoming closure. Here is a selection of news surrounding local businesses in 2022:
Business Expansion/Growth
Submitted photos
The Shoppes at Johnny Appleseed, a creative retail space and eatery in Erieville, is celebrating its fifth anniversary this spring. Pictured: owners Florence Gilmore, left, and Erica Gilmore.
In April 2021, Travis Barr and Alex Altomonte opened H. Grey Supply Co., a modern-day general store and outfitter at 53 Albany St. in Cazenovia. Last summer, the entrepreneurs expanded their business into the space next door that previously housed the home furnishing retail showroom J.D. Hunter/home. The expansion, which they named H. Grey Social, offered espresso drinks and
Submitted photo
In August, H. Grey Supply Co. on Albany St. expanded next door into the space that previously housed J.D. Hunter/home. The expansion, called H. Grey Social, offers espresso drinks and handcrafted mocktails, comfortable seating, and thoughtfully curated products from independent brands and small batch makers from around the U.S. handmade mocktails, comfortable seating, and thoughtfully curated products from independent brands and small batch makers from around the U.S. 2020
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New Woodstock entrepreneur helps educators support students By kate Hill Staff Writer For the past several years, retired teacher Shea Palmer has been using her knowledge and experience to help other educators address their students’ needs through her New Woodstock-based business, Shea’s Classroom. Palmer creates and shares elementary school teaching resources targeted at educators seeking lessons and tools to develop their students’ critical thinking skills. Using social media, YouTube, and her website, sheasclassroom.com, Palmer provides her clients with posts that offer insight and perspective on teaching-related questions and challenges. Each post shares methods, strategies, and resources that Palmer employed in her own classroom. “Webinars and workshops are offered to provide teachers with both resources and the opportunity for professional development,” said Palmer. “Consulting appointments are scheduled for the purposes of collaboration, planning, and instruction.” Palmer develops all the resources she offers for purchase through the Teachers Pay Teachers platform. However, in cases where her own materials do not meet the specific needs of her clients, she researches and shares other resources that would better serve them. She holds a master of science in teaching degree from Le Moyne and taught in the Chittenango School District (CSD) for 20 years, spending her tenure in the third and fifth grades. Palmer, who describes herself as an accidental entrepreneur, began her journey with Shea’s Classroom in 2016. That year, approximately half
her class was receiving Reading Academic Intervention Services (AIS), which the NYS Education Department describes as services designed to help students achieve the learning standards in English language arts (ELA) in grades K-12. AIS consists of additional instruction that supplements the regular classroom instruction and/or student support services needed to address barriers to improved academic performance. “This was an unusually high number of students who required additional support to be successful,” said Palmer. “The model for ELA instruction that we were using was not proving to be effective.” Palmer explained that literacy instruction at the time was based on “guided reading,” a practice where students are assessed to determine their reading levels and then divided into instructional groups. Teachers meet with the groups as they work with texts suited to their reading levels. According to Palmer, the ideal number of groups to work with is three. “The rule of thumb was that we should conduct a quick mini-lesson at the beginning of each class,” said Palmer. “Then we would spend 10-15 minutes working with each group. When they were not meeting with us, they were given activities that they were expected to complete either in their groups or independently. Best practices dictated we should meet with students reading below grade-level every other day or once a day, if possible. We met with the students reading on or above grade-level less frequently — every other day or every third day.” According to Palmer, applying this model to her classroom would have required finding texts for six to eight different reading levels that
could be used to study the same ELA concept/strategy. It would also require activities to accompany each text. “Since all students were working at their instructional level, they all needed about the same amount of support and guidance to make good progress,” said Palmer. “While the students who were working below grade-level made progress, their instruction with grade-level text was minimal, making it difficult to ‘catch up.’ [If you had] more than four groups to work with, it would have been very challenging to create a schedule where every group would receive the instructional support they needed.” After careful consideration and Submitted photo research, Palmer approached her Retired schoolteacher Shea Palmer established Shea’s Classroom, a principal to discuss a new model for New Woodstock-based business that creates and shares elementary providing instruction and practice to school teaching resources. her students. Instead of using leveled books and activities for all the dif- strategy. All students would have an exemplar ferent reading groups, she suggested Palmer explained that a character to refer to that we had created using choosing one grade-level book that trait task card, for example, would the grade-level book.” the class could read together to in- have a short story about a character To level the activity for different troduce a specific ELA concept or that describes their actions and reac- instructional groups, Palmer created strategy. The students would then tions. The card would also list three three versions. Students who were practice/apply that concept through character traits, and the students reading above grade-level were exactivities that were leveled to meet would be tasked with picking the pected to complete all the steps listed their needs. With the principal’s sup- most appropriate one. on the card. Students on grade-level port, Palmer gave her approach a try. Using task cards as a foundation, were given the definitions and asked She said they both noticed an im- Palmer developed activities designed to identify characteristics and write a provement in student engagement to encourage the development of response, and students below gradeand, to their surprise, growth. critical and analytical thinking skills level were given both definitions and “By the end of the year, we were beyond those required to simply characteristics and asked to choose able to release half the students from choose a word. a word and write a response. They AIS reading services,” she said. “For each word, the students were also provided writing supports, “Their test results indicated that needed to define it, then list the like sentence starters, to guide their they were now able to read [and] characteristics of a person who ex- thinking and writing. comprehend grade-level text.” emplifies that trait,” she said. “Once The benefit of this approach, When creating the leveled activi- they did so, they used this to identify Palmer said, is that all students are ties for her students, Palmer turned which trait described the person in exposed to grade-level text and objecto a teaching tool called “task cards,” the story. After that, they planned tives, so everyone gets the opportuwhich each feature one assignment/ and wrote a short, constructed re- nity to be successful with grade-level question that gives students quick sponse explaining/analyzing how analysis and comprehension. As she practice working with a concept/ the text supported their conclusion. Entrepreneur l Page 2
Volume 214, Number 1 The Cazenovia Republican is published weekly by Eagle News. Office of Publication: 35 Albany St., Second Floor, Cazenovia, NY 13035. Periodical Postage Paid at Cazenovia, NY 13035, USPS 095-260. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to Cazenovia Republican, 2501 James St., Suite 100, Syracuse, NY 13206.
library news: New Woodstock Library hosts work of Martha Dorman.
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sports news: Caz hockey reaches final of holiday tournament.
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PennySaver ���������������� 6
history ������������������������ 5
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