Mike Thaine praised for rapport with students, setting high expectations

Photos by Tom Rivers: Albion Central School Superintendent Mickey Edwards presents the district’s “Educator of the Year” award to High School band director Mike Thaine, right, during Wednesday’s night high school instrumental music spring concert.

ALBION – The school district has honored Mike Thaine as Albion’s “Educator of the Year” for the 2022-23 school year.

Thaine was praised for leading the high school band, marching band, jazz band and for conducting the high school pit orchestra for the musical.

“He has incredible rapport with students, in and out of the classroom,” said Jennifer Ashbery, the high school principal.

Her daughters are both in the band program led by Thaine.

Clara Bolton, a senior in the band, was among the nominees for Thaine to receive the award.

“Mr. Thaine is an adult everyone can trust,” she wrote.

He encourages the students to work hard and excel, she said.

The award is typically presented just before the Board of Education meeting in June, when the district also recognizes retiring teachers and other staff. Thaine was unable to attend Monday’s recognition program because he was with students at a New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) solo competition in Brockport.

Karen Conn, a music teacher in the high school, said Thaine is highly respected by his colleagues.

“He is a calming presence and an excellent confidante,” she said.

Thaine graduated from Albion in 1986. After working at the Prattsburgh school district for eight years, Thaine came back to Albion and was an elementary music teacher from 1998 until moving to the high school in 2006.

He has been part of a music program in Albion that has won national recognition the past 16 years from the NAMM Foundation for “Best Communities for Music Education.”

Thaine told the crowd at Albion that he loves his job, working with 80 students in the high school band program.

“These guys make it so nice to come to work,” Thaine said about the students. “Kids, I love you and I tell you that all the time and I mean it.”

Thaine has worked more than three decades as a music teacher and he said he is enjoying the job now more than ever.

“I’m blessed with the nicest group of kids I’ve ever had,” he said after Wednesday’s concert.

Mike Thaine introduces the next piece of music during Wednesday’s concert. The jazz band and concert band together performed 10 songs during Wednesday’s concert.

District will allow hats for students in high school during school day

ALBION – School officials are proposing changes in the student code of conduct to not allow cell phones during the school day for students in the elementary and middle schools.

The district also is proposing a change that would allow for hats and head coverings in the high school, as long as teachers are OK with it in their classrooms.

There will be a public hearing about the code of conduct at 6:45 p.m. on July 10 before the regular Board of Education meeting.

Mickey Edwards, the district superintendent, during Monday’s board meeting highlighted some of the changes being proposed. He noted many districts have prohibited cell phones for students in the elementary and middle schools.

He noted an advisory last month from U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy who said social media can profoundly harm the mental health of youth, particularly adolescent girls.

“The most common question parents ask me is, ‘is social media safe for my kids’. The answer is that we don’t have enough evidence to say it’s safe, and in fact, there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people’s mental health,” Murthy said in a statement on May 23. “Children are exposed to harmful content on social media, ranging from violent and sexual content, to bullying and harassment. And for too many children, social media use is compromising their sleep and valuable in-person time with family and friends. We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis, and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis – one that we must urgently address.”

Students at Albion in the elementary and middle schools next school year will need to keep cell phones in backpacks or places where they can’t check them during the school day, according to the policy change in the code of conduct. The change includes cell phones and other cellular communication devices (Apple, Samsung, Galaxy, wrist watches, etc.)

The code of conduct states that clothing and appearance should be safe, appropriate and not disrupt or interfere with the educational process.

Some changes in the code include that shirts must not reveal more than 2 inches of the midsection.

The district is proposing to allow hats and head coverings during the school day at the high school level, but not in the elementary or middle school. These hats won’t be allowed to cover ears or faces, and teachers have the right to permit or prohibit hats in their classrooms.

Edwards said the high school did a pilot of allowing hats through the day in recent months and didn’t find hats were disruptive.

Margy Brown, a member of the board of education, said she is opposed to allowing hats being worn during the school day.

“I cannot wrap my head around the hat situation,” Brown said.

She thinks wearing them in class is a show of disrespect and hats also could be used to conceal weapons.

“I think there are certain things we’ve always stood for in Albion and respect is one of them,” Brown said.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Members of the Barre Cubs introduce themselves on Saturday during a celebration to start of another season of the Albion Midget League.

Barre is one of the original teams of the league that started in 1956.

The league this year has five teams: Barre, Carlton, Elba, Rotary-Elks and Sandstone.

Bryson Potter of Sandstone speaks into the mic during the opening day celebration at the Midget League Field behind the Town Hall on Clarendon Road. Sandstone also is an original team of the league from the first season 67 years ago.

This year there are 133 kids in Albion playing on four coach pitch teams, 3 teams for 9 and under, and 4 teams of 12 and under.

There are also another 65 kids between Kendall’s 9u, and Elba’s 2 coach pitch, 9u and 12u teams for 196 kids total on three levels of baseball.

The Rotary-Elks team introduces themselves to the crowd. The team is again coached by Greg Bennett.

The Carlton team this year is led by coach Ryan Woolston. Ben Narburgh was head coach for nearly a decade, including a victory in the championship in 2019. Narburgh is still assisting with this year’s team but is moving out of the area in about three weeks.

Ben Narburgh throws out the ceremonial first pitch. He is among several coaches who have committed many years to their teams.

Scott DeSmit, one of the Sandstone coaches, said he is looking forward to a fun season for the players and their families.

These Barre players, Easton Neri at left and Jacob Knowlton, have fun in a field next to the actual baseball diamond. They were passing time before the opening day ceremony.

The season runs through mid-July with most games on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The championship game is scheduled for July 15.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Members of the Albion Police Department carried the torch for the Special Olympics this morning in a 2.7-mile run through the village. The top photo shows Sgt. Will Francis, right, handing the torch to officer Sean McElhinny. They are running south on Main Street.

Police Chief Dave Mogle carries the torch at the beginning of the run. Lt. Brandon Annable is at left. Nearly everyone in the Albion PD was part of the run this morning.

Mogle said he went to a Law Enforcement Torch Run last year in Niagara Falls with Village Trustee Tim McMurray to see what a run in person and the logistics involved.

Mogle wanted to host the run to offer another chance for law enforcement between Erie-Niagara counties and Monroe to be part of a torch run. (Batavia also hosts one in Genesee County.)

“We wanted one in Orleans County,” Mogle said. “We welcome more agencies to be a part of it.”

The Albion Police Department pose with students at Albion before the run.

Alex Yankevich, an Albion student, holds the torch before the police officers started on the run.

Dillon Black, a sergeant with the Albion PD, takes a turn carrying the torch. He is followed by Nathaniel Staines.

Albion police officer Justyn Haines runs on Main Street. He wears a commemorative shirt for the torch run. Matt Prawel, an Orleans County deputy and the Albion school resource officer, is at right.

Erica Raepple, senior director of development at the Special Olympics in New York, said the Law Enforcement Torch Run raised $2.4 million for the Special Olympics last year, with funding going to support unified sports and many other programs for people with disabilities.

Leslie Daum of Waterport carried an American flag for the beginning of the run. She said she has been a longtime supporter for the cause. She remembers attending the opening ceremonies in 1979 at Brockport State College when the local college hosted the International Special Olympics.

The officers head south down Main Street. They were headed to Route 31, where they then went east to the Albion school campus to Clarendon Road, back on Route 31, down McKinistry Street and then back to the village office on East Bank Street.

By Claire Squicciarini, correspondent

Photo by Claire Squicciarini: Betty Sue Miller, director of Hoag Library, congratulates Michael Magnuson, the adult services librarian, for winning Nioga’s outreach award.

ALBION – The Nioga Library System is a non-profit system serving public libraries in Niagara, Orleans and Genesee counties. Each year at the Nioga annual meeting an outreach award is presented to a library employee in three-county library system.

Michael Magnuson, the adult services librarian at Hoag, was recognized for his tech services he provides to Hoag Library patrons.

“I do my best to try to help if I can’t I try to refer them to someone who can,” Magnuson.

He previously worked at the public library in Jamestown where that library providing some tech help to the community. Magnuson shared that initiative with Betty Sue Miller, the Hoag Library director. She backed the idea and Magnuson began to schedule individual appointments to help those in the community that aren’t too tech savvy.

“He has helped to make an atmosphere here that I am just absolutely thrilled with,” Miller said. Seeing his impact, the program coordinator Katie Leach from the Orleans Digital Literacy Initiative partnered with the Hoag library and made Magnuson a tech mentor.

Now Magnuson provides tech support every Wednesday from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Hoag Library. Magnuson and Leach refer people to each other to ensure the communities satisfaction. Leach saw the effect Magnuson had on the library and community and nominated him for the Outreach Award.

“I was thrilled that Nioga saw the benefit from outside our own little perimeters,” Miller said. The hard work and compassion of Magnuson was recognized from outside the community while being appreciated within.

“It’s a huge honor I am glad to be able to help people here in the community,” Magnuson said. Magnuson joined the Hoag Library staff in September 2018. He said he welcomes people of all ages to stop in if they have a tech question.

Nioga, in its nomination form, stated the outreach award goes to someone providing outstanding services to people in any of the following populations:

• Individuals with visual, physical, or developmental disabilities
• Unemployed or underemployed
• Individuals who are 65 years or older
• Ethnic minorities
• Individuals who are geographically isolated
• Individuals with and economic or educational disadvantage