Story and photos by Carol Montana
MONTICELLO, NY – Governor Cuomo came to the Rutherford Elementary School in Monticello on Thursday, November 16, where an overflow crowd was assembled to greet him.
Over 200 students were in the audience, alongside Sullivan County Legislators, county, town, village and school officials. Cuomo was there to announce an expansion of after-school programs in the Mid-Hudson Valley, part of a statewide push to give students productive things to do after 3:00 p.m.
Introduced by Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, who Cuomo called “a superstar in Albany and great friend of mine,” Cuomo stated that he was very “proud to be able to say that New York State invests more money per pupil in education than any state in the United States.”
Speaking directly to the students, Cuomo explained that competition for jobs was going to be fierce. “So, one of the things we’re doing is changing the idea that school is over at 3:00, because there are more and better things we can do after 3:00 then you just go home and hang out at home. That means your parents have to be there or somebody has to be there to watch you, and there are things that you can do after 3:00 that help you grow and make you better. There’s exercise things you can do, more education that you can do, and going home at 3:00 and just playing with video games doesn’t really help you.”
The Governor mentioned that his father used to say, “video games melt your brain,” and then joked that he listened to his father, but his brother did not, and “now, one side of his head is a little flatter than the other side. I think that was from the melting of the brain from the video games.”
Cuomo then announced funding for services and programs that go on after 3:00 “so you can get more help, more assistance, more growth. And we’re spending $35 million all across the state and we asked schools to come up with the best ideas and we are funding the best ideas. And here are the results in the mid-Hudson district.
“Monticello Central School District, which is where we are, is receiving funding for 885 more slots. … Fallsburg Central School District, 400 new slots.” Mentioning Poughkeepsie and Ramapo, among others, Cuomo said that there will be 4,800 new slots in the mid-Hudson Valley.
As a result of previous funding, Cuomo announced that “… these programs are working. The State now has the highest graduation rate we’ve ever had at 79 percent.”
The Governor talked about New York’s free college tuition plan, and then asked the assembled students why they thought the state was “investing all this time all this money all this energy. The first reason is because it’s smart. Because when you get smart you get talented it helps all of us because it helps businesses want to come here because we have the best educated work force.” He asked the students for the second reason and gave the hint that the answer was a four-letter word, offering a very special state gold coin to the student who had the correct answer.
The winner, a young lady named Xyaira, gave the answer “love.” “Let’s give Xyaira a big round of applause,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo. “It is because we love you and there’s nothing more important. Congratulations.”
Cuomo left the stage then to rousing applause.
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The Catskill Chronicle 
Governor Cuomo Announces Additional Funding for After-School Programs in the Mid-Hudson Valley
Posted in Comments, tagged After school programs, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor Cuomo, Monticello on November 18, 2017| 1 Comment »
Story and photos by Carol Montana
MONTICELLO, NY – Governor Cuomo came to the Rutherford Elementary School in Monticello on Thursday, November 16, where an overflow crowd was assembled to greet him.
Over 200 students were in the audience, alongside Sullivan County Legislators, county, town, village and school officials. Cuomo was there to announce an expansion of after-school programs in the Mid-Hudson Valley, part of a statewide push to give students productive things to do after 3:00 p.m.
Introduced by Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, who Cuomo called “a superstar in Albany and great friend of mine,” Cuomo stated that he was very “proud to be able to say that New York State invests more money per pupil in education than any state in the United States.”
Speaking directly to the students, Cuomo explained that competition for jobs was going to be fierce. “So, one of the things we’re doing is changing the idea that school is over at 3:00, because there are more and better things we can do after 3:00 then you just go home and hang out at home. That means your parents have to be there or somebody has to be there to watch you, and there are things that you can do after 3:00 that help you grow and make you better. There’s exercise things you can do, more education that you can do, and going home at 3:00 and just playing with video games doesn’t really help you.”
The Governor mentioned that his father used to say, “video games melt your brain,” and then joked that he listened to his father, but his brother did not, and “now, one side of his head is a little flatter than the other side. I think that was from the melting of the brain from the video games.”
Cuomo then announced funding for services and programs that go on after 3:00 “so you can get more help, more assistance, more growth. And we’re spending $35 million all across the state and we asked schools to come up with the best ideas and we are funding the best ideas. And here are the results in the mid-Hudson district.
“Monticello Central School District, which is where we are, is receiving funding for 885 more slots. … Fallsburg Central School District, 400 new slots.” Mentioning Poughkeepsie and Ramapo, among others, Cuomo said that there will be 4,800 new slots in the mid-Hudson Valley.
As a result of previous funding, Cuomo announced that “… these programs are working. The State now has the highest graduation rate we’ve ever had at 79 percent.”
The Governor talked about New York’s free college tuition plan, and then asked the assembled students why they thought the state was “investing all this time all this money all this energy. The first reason is because it’s smart. Because when you get smart you get talented it helps all of us because it helps businesses want to come here because we have the best educated work force.” He asked the students for the second reason and gave the hint that the answer was a four-letter word, offering a very special state gold coin to the student who had the correct answer.
The winner, a young lady named Xyaira, gave the answer “love.” “Let’s give Xyaira a big round of applause,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo. “It is because we love you and there’s nothing more important. Congratulations.”
Cuomo left the stage then to rousing applause.
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