BMUFSD: Briarcliff High School Interns Help Prepare For Field Day

Press release from the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District:

2023-05-24

As the Briarcliff high School seniors prepare to graduate in a few weeks, most of them are also doing internships in various places.

Gabi Chioccola and Caroline Barbalato are interning at Todd Elementary School’s physical education department.

Both selected to do this internship for different reasons.

Caroline will be studying in Manhattanville College on a basketball scholarship and plans to study physical education and biology.

“I want to be a PE teacher, so this internship is all about getting experience,” she said. “Doing this can show me what it is really like to be a PE teacher at a school.”

Gabi plans to attend University of Rochester on a soccer scholarship and is hoping to major in political science and international relations.

“I’m really into volunteering and being part of a community, so I just wanted to give back to Todd since I went here when I was younger,” she said.

The girls began their internship in May and have been helping physical education teachers Michelle Hiltsley and Jamie Tranchida with ongoing classes.

“We play games like Mat Ball and Prison Dungeon ball with the students,” Gabi said.

“It’s very competitive, but very fun,” Caroline said.

In preparation for field day, which will take place on Thursday, the interns are getting students ready for the event, which will be made of various stations of relay races, and facilitated by them, as well as other interns at the school.

Caroline will run the basketball dribbling station while Gabi will run the parachute station.

“The parachute station is new this year, so we are still trying to learn all the rules,” she said. “Coach Tranchida came up with the idea – it’s a giant parachute on the floor and there is a ball for every color group. We are excited to try it this year.”

One of the interns’ responsibility in preparation for field day is helping students memorize their group numbers and colors.

“We also help demonstrate the field day activities, such as jumping on the hop-along ball,” Caroline said.

“It’s very funny when we demonstrate the hop-along ball,” Gabi said. “The students get excited about it every time we go on it.”

In addition to helping in PE classes, they also help art teacher Paul Villanueva by hanging artwork on the walls of the school hallway, in preparation for the art show.

As part of their internship, all interns have mentors who are teachers at the high school. Caroline’s mentor is Physical Education and Health Coordinator for grades 6-12 and BHS PE teacher A.J. Thau. Gabi’s mentor is BHS PE teacher Al Meola.

“The mentors’ job is to supervise us,” Caroline said. “We record what we do every day and at the end of the week we check in with them.”.

“At the end of the internship, we will show our mentors and the Todd PE teachers a PowerPoint presentation about what we learned during our time at Todd and they will evaluate us,” Gabi said.

Both students agree that they have learned a great deal about how to be patient.

“I also learned how to communicate with kids,” Caroline said. “I think I’m leaning more towards working at a middle or a high school. I want to coach a high school team when I am older, so getting more experience with older students will definitely help.”

This press release was produced by the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.