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Sarah Hadcock’s first grade classroom at Leighton Elementary School was full of treats, not tricks, during a recent academic activity all about pumpkins.

The combination of hope and a positive attitude will propel Oswego Middle School seventh graders toward success. That was the message from guest presenter Gabriel Bol Deng, who detailed his account of both living through and escaping war in his home country of South Sudan in the late 1980s.

SUNY Oswego senior broadcasting major Oreal Vernon used one of her classes to help faculty and administrators understand what she and an estimated 43.5 million Americans deal with daily. October’s status as Dyslexia Awareness Month helps many find out more about this learning disability, but Vernon had a more direct opportunity to provide education about how she and other dyslexics see the world.

The young students were thrilled to participate in the 2018 Monster Match, a distance learning project facilitated by NYS Distance Learning Consortium members. Schirtz’s class was paired up with a class at DeRuyter Elementary School to create their own monster using a variety of crafting materials.

A fun, physical break from a student’s day is welcomed at the new Minetto Way course, which offers both physical challenges and positive affirmations to enable participants to refocus their day and remain in a calm place.

According to Safe Kids Worldwide, on average, twice as many child pedestrians are killed while walking on Halloween compared to any other day of the year, and more than 70  percent of accidents occur away from an intersection or crosswalk.

It began last fall with the addition of several pieces of exercise equipment. Now, the transformation of Fulton’s Van Buren Park continues with the completion of a half-mile walking trail that passes through a picturesque row of shade trees.