Mayor’s Message – July

Congratulations to all of the 2016 graduates. Whether preschool, elementary school, high school or college we wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

In continuing with sharing the achievements of Village residents, Mikayla Rossier is being recognized. Mikayla was a 2013 graduate of Menands School and will be entering her senior year at Shaker High School in the fall. She is planning on becoming an Elementary School Teacher and is well on her way, having earned 12 college credits in high school.

In addition to her academics, Mikayla has also been involved in Student Government, Volleyball, Basketball, Track & Field and other school activities. Freshman year, Mikayla played both volleyball and basketball, receiving the Sportsmanship Award for basketball. She continued playing both sports on the JV teams as a sophomore and on Varsity junior year.

Mikayla was also a 3-year member of the Varsity Team in Track & Field. She received the Varsity White Letter for competing on three varsity teams in a single year. She hopes to duplicate the award in her senior year. Mikayla also received the Coaches Award for sportsmanship and team dedication in both her sophomore and junior years. She was also named Tournament MVP as the only female athlete to score during the coed Cavata Ball tournaments in both her sophomore and junior years.

Mikayla’s best sport has been Outdoor Track and Field. To date she has competed in 18 different events including every running event with a distance of less than 1200 yards, high jump, long jump, triple jump, pole vaulting and shot put. Her best event is Pentathlon, where she competes in five events in a single day. These include 100 yard hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800 yard run. Mikayla took 4^th place in the Suburban Council Championship, 3^rd in the Section 2 Championship and 4^th place in the NYS Section 2 State Qualifying Meet.

During her junior year Mikayla was selected as one of 8 members of the girls track team to represent Shaker High School in the prestigious Penn Relays at Penn State University. Of the eight team members, three are from Menands, including Mikayla, Jenna LaFleur and Maryanna Lansing. Among several other accomplishments, during the Suburban Council girls track and field meet, Jenna led the Blue Bison with three individual first-place finishes, including the 100 hurdles, the long jump and the pole vault. Maryanna added two first-place finishes during the meet winning the 1500 and the 400.

Jenna and Mikayla will return to Shaker for their senior year. Mikayla’s goal is to improve her Pentathlon ranking and compete in the remaining events; discus, long distance races and the steeple chase. If successful, she will become one of very few athletes who compete in every running and field event in girls Track and Field during her 4-year high school career. Maryanna will be attending the University of Virginia as a Division-1 athlete in Track and Field.

Menands has a proud history of accomplished student athletes and I wish Mikayla, Jenna, Maryanna and others continued success.

I look forward to the start of the Summer Concerts on Tuesday, July 12^th. Have a safe and happy summer.

Until next time,

Mayor Meg