Student honors those lost on 9/11
High school junior Dakoda Ball, third from left, helps unveil the Springville-Griffith Institute school district 9/11 memorial sculpture. More than 65 students in grades 6-12 in the western New York district entered a contest last year to select a design. Ball's winning design uses a steel beam salvaged from the World Trade Center and depicts each site impacted on Sept. 11, including the twin towers, the Pentagon and the Shanksville, Pa., field. Standing with Ball, from left, are his grandmother, Janet Tedesco; mom Sandy Welty-Ball; his dad, Dale Ball; and Lee Cutler, NYSUT Secretary-Treasurer. Technology teacher Tim Baumgartner; social studies teacher Robert Valenti; and art teachers Charles Houseman and Angela Ginnitti, members of the Springville Faculty Association, all assisted in the construction of the sculpture. Photo by Dennis Stierer.
A family affair
NYSUT Vice President Kathleen Donahue, right, greets the Kio family, from left, sisters Samantha and Katherine, their mother, Christine, a member of the Camden Teachers Association, and their father, Jon, a member of the Vernon-Verona-Sherrill TA, at NYSUT's booth at the New York State Fair. Christine and Jon are both graduates of the NYSUT Leadership Institute. Photo by Andrew Watson.