Pocantico Hills CSD

Joining our staff this year are three new people who bring with them a wealth of experience and enthusiasm. Orla Hayes, has come on as a leave replacement reading teacher, Juliet Freedman is the new Choral Music teacher and Bridget Yozzo a new JPK co-teacher.

 

Ms. Hayes said she loves reading just about anything for fun and has spent a considerable amount of time reading about reading.

 

“It’s so important, everything you do, you have to read,” she said of mastering literacy.

 

To that end, she noted “reading should be fun and enjoyable.”

Ms. Hayes has a Bachelor’s in inclusive childhood education, grades 1 to 6 and is working on her Master’s in literacy from birth to grade 12, both degrees are from SUNY Cortland.

 

She is not unfamiliar with Pocantico and its students having worked in the district as a substitute last year where she aided students in reading comprehension, letters and fluency. Depending on the student’s needs, she may push into a classroom or meet with them individually. She also keeps teachers informed on what she is doing with her students, so they are kept apprised.

 

“One of the things I always wanted to do was to help students get that ‘click,’” she said, referring to the moment of understanding.

 

She recalls her own experience as a young student who also needed assistance with reading.

 

“I want to connect with them,” she said. “I really like to build relationships with kids, build a trusting relationship.”

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Hailing from a musical family, it’s no wonder Ms. Freedman wanted to teach music. Her mother is a pianist, she and her sisters love to sing, and her brother loves music too. While in school she was active in the middle school choirs and band. She also pursued a summer music program and noted how much she appreciated her own music teachers.

 

Ms. Freedman learned about the opening at Pocantico from a friend she happened to bump into at a train station. Having heard great things about the district, she inquired and applied.

 

The music teacher earned a BA from the University of Michigan in music and choral music education. She formerly worked as a conductor with the non-profit Young People’s Chorus of New York City.

 

“Something I wish more people knew, it goes beyond music,” she said of the classes she teaches. “You learn how to work with other people, different languages, history and math. It provides a set of skills you can use in other disciplines in life.”

 

At the moment, Ms. Freedman, who grew up in Briarcliff Manor, is working with the fifth and eighth grade choruses on preparing for their upcoming performance at Radio City Music Hall. In her other classes she is working with younger students as they get ready for the winter concerts, her fourth-grade classes are working on bucket drumming, third graders are learning to read music, and first graders are having fun with boom whackers. She will soon be introducing lesson on recorders and the ukelele.

 

“I am so happy and excited to be here,” Ms. Freedman said.

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Down in the JPK classroom, Ms. Yozzo is having almost as much fun as her students.

 

One morning she was working with a student playing at a light table.

 

“I am so happy to be here,” Ms. Yozzo said.

 

She was drawn to Pocanctio, she said, because of the “strong sense of value that is placed on early childhood education.”

 

She spends her days following children’s leads as they play and learn, allowing them to learn through play.

 

“I explore their thinking and build on their learning,” she explained.

 

Ms. Yozzo earned a degree in early childhood special education from the University of Vermont.