09/02/10 Getting Dorothy Hamill ready for its 40th season

When you go to a hockey game, or a skating rink, and the Zamboni comes out to resurface the ice, what you are witnessing is just the final step in what can sometimes be a long and arduous process. In fact, getting the ice ready for a new season of skating and hockey can take up to a week -- or more. To learn more about the process, the Citizen visited the Dorothy Hamill Skating Rink in Byram last Friday and talked with rink manager Richard Ernye, who was in the midst of preparing the rink for the 2010-11 season. Ernye talked about the ice-building and ice maintenance process and provided some insight into the current state of the rink as it enters its 40th season.

Richard, thanks for the time. I have to say it's interesting to see the ice still in the preparation process. How do you go about getting it ready for the season?

Thanks for the interest. First, at the end of every season, we melt the ice down to the concrete floor. The paint is degradable and just turns into a powder that we vacuum up. At the start of the next season, we begin by putting down a layer of ice between a quarter-inch to a third of an inch as a base. Then, we put three coats of pure-white paint on the ice to give it its color. We seal the paint in with water using pump sprays and watering buckets. Then we measure out the dimensions of the rink and figure out where we put the lines and face-off circles. We then lay down templates and paint everything in. Like with the white paint ,we spend the next stage of the process sealing the lines in with water, which is what we're doing today. Later this afternoon or possibly tomorrow, when we determine that everything is sealed in nicely, we'll take the Zamboni out and begin building up the ice the rest of the way.

How many more layers do you put on and how long does that take?

We put an extra inch-and-a-half to two inches of ice down and it'll probably take us the rest of the week because the layers aren't very thick. The idea is to have it done in time for Labor Day Weekend because we plan on being open for travel hockey teams on Saturday, the fourth.....

Source:

http://www.greenwichtime.com/default/article/Getting-Dorothy-Hamill-ready-for-its-40th-season-642359.php

09/02/10 New Lebanon teacher promoted to assistant principal

A teacher who is helping introduce a new, internationally themed curriculum at his Byram elementary school has been named as its new assistant principal, district officials announced Thursday.

Eugene Matejek, a teacher for 12 years, has been appointed as second-in-command to Principal Gene Nyitray at New Lebanon School, replacing former Assistant Principal Kristina Lawson, who left the district this spring.

New Lebanon is introducing a new International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, part of an effort to make the 212-student elementary school a draw for magnet students from other neighborhoods.

"Mr. Matejek is a skilled teacher and instructional leader, and he has had extensive experience and training" in the I.B. program, the district wrote in a press release.

Matejek began teaching in 1998 at the Meeting House Hill School in New Fairfield. In 2001, he came to Greenwich as a third-grade teacher at the International School at Dundee, a magnet elementary school in Riverside with a popular I.B. program. In 2008, he moved to New Lebanon to work as an I.B. coordinator, helping to train fellow teachers in the specialized curriculum. Matejek has also been on numerous district committees, including one that in 2003 explored the idea of adding an I.B. program to Western Middle School.

Western began developing its own I.B. program this summer.

Matejek received a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1997, a master's in teaching in 1999 and a sixth-year certificate in administration in 2009 from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.

A message seeking comment was left for Matejek at the school Thursday....

Source:

http://www.greenwichtime.com/default/article/New-Lebanon-teacher-promoted-to-assistant-643133.php