Pearson Students Show Heart


WINSTED — Students in teacher Laurie Snyder’s science class at Pearson Middle School had their time in the spotlight Tuesday evening at Town Hall, where the Winchester Board of Education hosted a presentation on the human heart.

Showcasing models, artistic renderings and accompanying reports, the students displayed their knowledge of the body’s essential organ, discussing oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood and the path blood takes as it travels through the heart.

"It’s quite a complex system that they learned," said Snyder, who has been teaching a new science curriculum at Pearson. "We used our textbook as a springboard and went beyond that."

Students who presented projects were as follows:

Rob Flieger assembled a poster-sized rendering of the heart, but added clear tubes to the top of the picture. Using string attached to strips of red and blue cloth, he pulled the cloth through the tubes to show where oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood travels in the heart, in 15 steps, from the superior vena cava to the aorta.

Katie Ellsworth provided a multi-layered diagram of the heart in the form of a booklet with a series of transparent plastic pages outlining each layer.

Danielle Hall made a clay model of the human heart, clearly showing the sections where oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood reside. The diagram also indicated areas of the heart’s septum and included a pacemaker.

Alex Mueller presented a wooden model of the heart that he carved in wood shop during extra work sessions he completed before and after school.

Sarah Reilly showed a large, three-paneled board with an intricate drawing of the heart. Reilly provided a detailed accompanying report including information on the artificial pacemaker.

Patricia Schlosser created a two-sided heard diagram on a pillow. One side featured a diagram of the heart while the other featured an interactive puzzle. She presented a sheet of accompanying information on the heart’s functions.

Robert Crossman and Devon Molway teamed up to create a colorful diagram of the heart with an accompanying sheet of relevant information.

Pearson Principal Clay Krevolin said he was proud of his students for their hard work. "Once again it’s an honor to be the proud principal recognizing the excellence that happens at Pearson Middle School," he said. "I think these are the future cardiologists of the Northeast."

Krevolin added that creativity in education is a key to excellence. "Once you hook a middle school child and motivate him to learn, some incredible things happen," he said.

School board Chairman Rose Molinelli congratulated Krevolin, Snyder and their students. "I am really amazed at the creativity that they employed in all the different mediums," she said. "It was wonderful to see."

Molinelli handed out certificates to all students in recognition of their commitment to excellence.

Latest News

Housatonic softball beats Webutuck 16-3

Haley Leonard and Khyra McClennon looked on as HVRHS pulled ahead of Webutuck, May 2.

Riley Klein

FALLS VILLAGE — The battle for the border between Housatonic Valley Regional High School and Webutuck High School Thursday, May 2, was won by HVRHS with a score of 16-3.

The New Yorkers played their Connecticut counterparts close early on and commanded the lead in the second inning. Errors plagued the Webutuck Warriors as the game went on, while the HVRHS Mountaineers stayed disciplined and finished strong.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mountaineers fall 3-0 to Wamogo

Anthony Foley caught Chase Ciccarelli in a rundown when HVRHS played Wamogo Wednesday, May 1.

Riley Klein

LITCHFIELD — Housatonic Valley Regional High School varsity baseball dropped a 3-0 decision to Wamogo Regional High School Wednesday, May 1.

The Warriors kept errors to a minimum and held the Mountaineers scoreless through seven innings. HVRHS freshman pitcher Chris Race started the game strong with no hits through the first three innings, but hiccups in the fourth gave Wamogo a lead that could not be caught.

Keep ReadingShow less
The artist called ransome

‘Migration Collage' by ransome

Alexander Wilburn

If you claim a single sobriquet as your artistic moniker, you’re already in a club with some big names, from Zendaya to Beyoncé to the mysterious Banksy. At Geary, the contemporary art gallery in Millerton founded by New Yorkers Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, a new installation and painting exhibition titled “The Bitter and the Sweet” showcases the work of the artist known only as ransome — all lowercase, like the nom de plume of the late Black American social critic bell hooks.

Currently based in Rhinebeck, N.Y., ransome’s work looks farther South and farther back — to The Great Migration, when Jim Crow laws, racial segregation, and the public violence of lynching paved the way for over six million Black Americans to seek haven in northern cities, particularly New York urban areas, like Brooklyn and Baltimore. The Great Migration took place from the turn of the 20th century up through the 1970s, and ransome’s own life is a reflection of the final wave — born in North Carolina, he found a new home in his youth in New Jersey.

Keep ReadingShow less
Four Brothers ready for summer season

Hospitality, ease of living and just plain fun are rolled into one for those who are intrigued by the leisure-time Caravana experience at the family-owned Four Brothers Drive-in in Amenia. John Stefanopoulos, pictured above, highlights fun possibilities offered by Hotel Caravana.

Leila Hawken

The month-long process of unwrapping and preparing the various features at the Four Brothers Drive-In is nearing completion, and the imaginative recreational destination will be ready to open for the season on Friday, May 10.

The drive-in theater is already open, as is the Snack Shack, and the rest of the recreational features are activating one by one, soon to be offering maximum fun for the whole family.

Keep ReadingShow less