Music talks to Arlington students

Cranston Herald
July 22, 2010
All text and photos by Jen Cowart

MEET MY CELLO: Sandy Kiefer introduces the students at Arlington Elementary School to her cello.

Sandy Kiefer and her cello visited the students at Arlington Elementary School before the end of school as part of a grant from the Rhode Island Philharmonic and Citizens Bank. The “Talking Cellos” program was just one piece of a three-part musical experience for students, which also included a visit from “The Whompers” and a trip to a Rhode Island Philharmonic performance.

Kiefer brought her cello from classroom to classroom, introducing it and its many parts to the students.

“I travel with my beautiful instrument and it’s not a guitar, not a violin, and it’s not a piano. It’s a cello,” she said.

In Kim Case’s kindergarten class, Kiefer showed the students all of the animal sounds that her cello could make.

As a way of integrating music and writing, Kiefer and the students in Kim Fera’s second grade class created a story together. She gave the students choices for characters, setting and events for each part of the story and together they chose the direction in which the story would go.

Once finished, Kiefer read the story in words, and then she and her cello “read” the story aloud musically as Kiefer played what the students had written.

“The cello is an amazing instrument,” Kiefer said. “You can do so many things with it.”

Kiefer spent a few minutes speaking to the students about the bow, which is the piece that is used to play the cello itself.

“The bow is not big and curvy like my cello. A long time ago it used to look like a rainbow and then they straightened it out,” she said.

After showing the bow to the students, she had them guess what the bow was made out of. Several students guessed material such as string, cotton and rubber, before the correct guess was made: horse hair.

Because the cello’s bow is so tightly kept, Kiefer loosened the peg so that the students could see the similarity to a horse’s tail.

“It’s not electric, it’s not an iPod, it’s not a DVD player, it’s just horse hair,” she said.

Finally, Kiefer asked the students to imagine if they only knew four words and had to make all of their sentences using just the words: mom, popcorn, cat and school bus.

“The cello can make a couple of thousand sounds, and I’m only playing about 100 of them for you today,” she said.

Before Kiefer left each classroom, she gave all of the students a Mystery Cello worksheet, which had a drawing of half a cello on it and asked the students to fill in the missing parts to the instrument.

An 'Island' farewell for Oak Lawn

Cranston Herald
July 22, 2010
All text and photos by Jen Cowart

ISLAND SPIRIT: Anthony Heng, Sam Franco, Arianna Boscia, Matt Lonardo and Ryan Marsella played Jamaican music for the other students who visited the Island Bazaar.

The students in Patricia Ruggieri and Rosemary Reardon’s sixth grade classes bid farewell to the school year and hello to summer by hosting an Island Bazaar during the last week of school.


The idea came about when the staff and students realized that there were many unused products from their school store that were never opened during this school year. As they tried to decide what to do with all of the merchandise, the idea for the Island Bazaar began to take shape.

“We had difficulty starting up with the school store, and then we had no place to open, and no good time to have it. We decided to do this instead,” said Reardon.

The students realized that although they had a great deal of merchandise to sell, more was still needed in order to market their bazaar to the entire school. They decided to make things to sell.

Bookmarks, hair accessories, origami flowers and pins made the list and the students began outlining a plan for when they would make their creations.

“We set up a schedule where they would work very hard and focus in the morning and then make their crafts and get ready for their production in the afternoon,” said Reardon. “They were even making origami flowers during their lunch.”

Every grade visited the bazaar to a set schedule. Each visiting class was treated to Jamaican music, games, relays, and even got the chance to learn the musical instruments.

Retiring music teacher Jean Green had been teaching the sixth graders some Jamaican music to go along with the play “The Cat and a Rat,” as part of an end of the year unit of study. They were also learning how to perform using several musical instruments, such as the bass xylophone, in conjunction with the songs for the play.

“We made enough money to give our volunteers all a gift, give a sixth grade gift to our school, and pay off our school store bill,” said Reardon.

What began as a solution to one problem became a huge success in the eyes of the sixth graders and their teachers.

“This has been great. They loved it,” Reardon said.

Peters School remembers Ms. Rankin

Cranston Herald
July 22, 2010
All text and photos by Jen Cowart

REMEMBERING MS. RANKIN: Principal Patricia Caporelli explains that just as Meg Rankin had an effect on the future, so too would her memorial tree spread its branches far and wide for many years.

Margaret “Meg” Rankin, a teacher at George J. Peters Elementary School, lost her battle with cancer this past April.


But thanks to the staff, students and families of the Peters community, she won’t soon be forgotten.

At a ceremony last month, Principal Patricia Caporelli hosted a ceremony to celebrate Rankin’s life and commitment to education in Cranston. Rankin’s mother, Nancy Scarton, had traveled to Rhode Island for the memorial ceremony.

“We are truly honored to have you here to help us celebrate the life and memory of a special faculty member,” said Caporelli. “This is a bittersweet celebration because we all wish she were here with us.”

She introduced Patricia Bennett’s second grade class, who read a class letter, “Dear Meg Rankin’s Mom,” with each child reading a part of the letter. They said they thought Scarton would enjoy hearing some of the special things about her daughter, which included her smiling face when she entered their classroom, and a book about homonyms that she shared with them one day.

Four students from Rankin’s fourth grade class shared memories of their beloved teacher, describing her as kind, incredible, nice and spectacular.

“Ms. Rankin was a very good teacher. She was kind and nice and helpful. My favorite memory of her was when we made gingerbread houses,” said Lexie Freeman. “I will miss her but I am thankful that I have such happy memories of her.”

Fifth grader Brittany Tougas read a poem aloud to the audience.

“Ms. Rankin took you through miles and miles of challenges, even though she had the biggest challenge of her own to face,” Tougas said. “A part of her will always remain with us.”

Tougas’ poem was followed by the fifth grade chorus performing an emotional rendition of, “I Have a Dream.”

Faculty member and friend of Rankin, Patricia Bennett, presented Scarton with Rankin’s yearbook, which she had purchased earlier in the school year. It was filled with messages from the staff and teachers at Peters. She invited anyone else to add a message as well.

The ceremony moved outside, where a Weeping Cherry Tree donated by Briden Nursery was planted in the yard of the school. The George J. Peters Sunshine Committee, along with the students at Peters, donated a bench to accompany the tree.

J. DiMarco Landscape donated flowers to be planted around the tree, and the Cranston Teachers Alliance 30 Week Club donated a memorial plaque for the bench.

The students and faculty, family and friends surrounded the perimeter of the area in which the tree was being planted as Caporelli continued the ceremony.

“Someone once said that the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago,” said Caporelli. “The second best time is today.”

She stated that every action today has an effect on the future, and that Rankin had touched the future of so many students.

“For many years, this tree will spread its branches wide in memory of Ms. Meg Rankin,” Caporelli said.

Although it had been a cloudy, rainy morning, the sun shone brightly for the tree planting ceremony.

“Meg would not have had it any other way,” Scarton said as she thanked everyone for their support and for being a part of Rankin’s life.

Rankin’s family members and the students and staff were asked to come forward if they wanted to help lay the dirt around the tree, and many did step forward.

Bennett read a personal letter about her friendship with Rankin and all of the things she’d learned from her. Although Rankin was fighting her own battles, Bennett said she always asked what she could do to help others.

Scarton reminded the students how much her daughter had loved them.

“Meg was not married and did not have any children of her own, but you were all her children and she loved each and every one of you as an individual,” she said.

Native garden in full bloom at Western Hills

July 15, 2010
Cranston Herald
All text and photos by Jen Cowart

TEAM EFFORT: After studying native plants during the school year, the students in Kelley Oelofse’s eighth grade science classes came out in droves to help plant the new garden at the school. They were assisted that day by Paul Dolan of the DEM and Cheryl Cadwell of the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society.

Thanks to the students in Kelley Oelofse’s eighth grade science classes this past school year, Western Hills Middle School has a new kind of classroom.


Oelofse, a garden-lover since childhood, teaches astronomy, physics and earth science at WHMS, but brought botany into her curriculum as well when she helped her class create a native garden that doubles as an outdoor classroom.

She began eyeing the perfect spot for the garden early last year. Located to the right of the school’s main entrance, it was barren and bare.

“There was absolutely nothing here, it was a vacant spot and everyone sees it when they pull up,” Oelofse said. “The soil is harsh but there is good light.”

Oelofse approached Principal Anthony Corrente about putting a native garden there and she found her boss to be very receptive.

“A native garden is so educational,” she said, explaining that native gardens only house plants native to the area, its climate, bugs and animals.

She gave an example of the Lunar Moth, which is a native bug. She explained that native bugs only eat native plants and native animals will eat native bugs. By removing the native plants, it creates a domino effect in the area.

Oelofse and her team of eighth-graders were on a mission to stop the domino effect, beginning at their own school.

“We’re just trying to stop a little bit of it and help a little bit,” she said.

Oelofse’s students, who would soon be off to high school, were happy to be a part of the solution rather than the problem when it came time to leaving their mark on Western Hills.

In order to bring a little bit of botany into her students’ curriculum, Oelofse had the students begin researching plants that were native to Rhode Island and its climate.

"They did pop-up book reports and every student did a different plant,” she said. “We found that we’ve actually destroyed more native habitat and plants in the United States than in the rainforest, and we’ve replaced them with aggressive and invasive alien plants which take over.”

Student Alyssa Ruggieri believes the project will be something future classes can participate in.

“I’m very glad that we’re doing this. We needed a change at our school to make it look better and this project is one that will just keep growing,” she said.

When all of the research was done, and it came time to create the actual garden, Oelofse had the help and support of her principal, the manual labor from her students, and lots of other outside support as well.

“Some of the parents said they’d donate benches,” Oelofse said. “Last year we got a small grant from the Wild Plant Society and this year we got an Earth Day Grant from DEM.”

The Wild Plant Society’s former president, Cheryl Cadwell, was on hand to help out when all of the planting began.

“Kelley did a wonderful job of introducing the kids to the native plants,” Cadwell said. “I love when teachers have this kind of energy and drive. I love how good this looks. There can’t be a better way to get kids to learn.”

Oelofse said that her students already want to do so much more during next school year.

“English classes can come out and write about what they see,” she said. “It’ll be a place where you can meander. It will have a lot of history too.”

NEL/CPS students stand out statewide

Cranston Herald
July 15, 2010
All photos and text by Jen Cowart

TOPS IN THE STATE: Tenth grade English teacher Marianne Capobianco poses with three award winning essay writers, Nicole Conti, Taylor Casale and Stephanie Casale.

With Oprah by his side, author Elie Wiesel challenged high school students across the country to write their own interpretations of his novel, “Night.”


Last month, the tenth graders from Marianne Capobianco’s class at NEL/CPS Construction Career Academy came out on top in Rhode Island.

“Night” is based on Wiesel’s experiences as a young Orthodox Jew, who was sent with his family to the German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald during World War II.

“The students wrote essays about how the novel is still relevant today, approximately 65 years after World War II and the Holocaust,” explained Capobianco.

According to her, the students had to include such topics as racism, prejudice, bullying and stereotyping in their work.

The top three finalists in the essay contest were first place: Nicole Conti, second place: Taylor Casale and third place: Stephanie Casale. Each student received cash prizes and was recognized at the school’s Project Day in front of Mayor Allan Fung, Superintendent Peter Nero, and many other dignitaries from the Laborers’ Union, the City of Cranston, and Cranston Public Schools.

“Out of 48 essays, the top three finalists were from here. That’s incredible,” said Capobianco.

Also on Project Day, Eugenia Marks, senior director of Policy from the Audobon Society, presented senior Kayla LaFerriere with a first place prize of $50 for winning first place in an essay contest sponsored by the Audobon Society of Rhode Island.

Centering on Earth Day, LaFerriere’s essay discussed what the barriers were to bicycling and walking in her community, which is Pawtucket. She wrote in her essay about ways to travel that would help save the environment. The contest was open to all high school seniors across the state.

“Although Kayla wrote about her hometown of Pawtucket, her essay was relevant to communities all over Rhode Island,” said Marks.

Capobianco was proud of her students’ accomplishments during this school year, but was especially proud of what they learned and what they in turn, taught others through their written work and their classroom discussions.

"These students actually taught me this year. I learned from their questions, their comments and their insights,” she said.