Weekly Update 9/16

Dear NCHS Family,

I hope that everyone has an opportunity to join us at the Football game tonight as we honor New Canaan’s three 2016 Olympians.  The festivities will start at 6:45.  At Halftime, we will be re-dedicating the new field at Dunning Stadium and thanking the community members who made it happen. Below are biographies of our 2016 Olympians:

Andrew Campbell

Making their first appearance in an Olympics, Andrew Campbell and his teammate Josh Konieczny gave an historic performance, becoming the first American rowers to reach an Olympic final in the men’s lightweight double sculls.

They earned a berth in the medal race by finishing second in their semifinal heat with a time of 6:35.19, trailing only France, the eventual gold medalists, by less than one second.

Campbell and Konieczny were even faster in the final race, finishing in 6:35.07, a time which gave them fifth place among the world’s best.

Charlie Cole

Charlie Cole came into the Rio Olympics as a past medalist, having taken the bronze in the men’s four during the 2012 Olympics in London.

Cole and the men’s four reached the A/B semifinals and finished fourth in their heat in 6:19.08. That time was the fifth fastest of the two semifinals, but the top three boats in each race moved on to the medal race.

Undeterred, Cole and his teammates won the B final with a time of 5:59.20, a time which would have placed second in the A final that same day.

Thomas Dunstan

Like Campbell, Thomas Dunstan made his first appearance in the Olympics this summer, playing in all five games before heading off to USC, where he’ll play for the Trojans.

A couple of narrow losses in the first two preliminary rounds put the United States water polo team in a tough position, but the Americans battled through, winning two of their final three games, including a 10-7 victory over Italy in the final round. Dunstan, a driver and the youngest member on the U.S. roster, scored a goal in that final game, tying the score at 5-5 late in the first half as the Americans went on to win.

Open House

Open House was a tremendous success.  Parents came out to visit with teachers to hear about what is happening in the classrooms. We look forward to another wonderful year and as always, parents can request individual parent conferences.

PFA Welcome Back

There was a great turnout at the Welcome Back Coffee for the annual PFA General Membership Meeting.  Click on this link to see the presentation from that morning.  Please feel free to call or email with any concerns and /or questions and thank you for your continued support.  

Pictures from around NCHS:

Upcoming Events:  

9/16/2016 Dunning Field Honor the Olympians and Field Dedication 6:45pm
9/19/2016 BOE Meeting 7:00pm Wagner Room

9/20/2016 PFA Grade 10 - Parent Networking - 9:30 Wagner Room

9/22/2016 PFA Grade 12 - Parent Networking - 9:30 Wagner Room

Wishing you all the best,

Bill Egan

Department News:

Social Studies Department News:  

The year is off to a great start in Social Studies with several classes diving straight into some of the simulations and projects our students and teachers have come to love.

Students in Ms. Cohen and Mr. Quinn's American Studies class represented the first thirteen states of the Union under the articles of confederation.  Representing their respective states, students needed to agree on sending troops and money to stop a rebellion in Massachusetts,  vote on whether to let Vermont secede from New York and enter the union as a new state and decide whether to eliminate state rights to impose taxes on imports.  Under the articles, states could not come to a unanimous agreement.  Their next step will be to create a Constitution with stronger federal powers.

In AP Microeconomics and Economics students engaged in their first simulation, Econoland. Exploring the roles of households and businesses in the product and factor markets, students had to either make a profit or consume Econos.

Several US History sections have been conducting research and creating presentations on innovators of the industrial revolution. They have used their BYOD's for the research and creating slides and presented their findings in small groups so the class could learn about multiple inventors/innovators.

Based on their individual interests and experiences, AP European History students selected a European country to track for the year in terms of current events. Once a month, simulating a modern newscast, students will provide a “Monday Morning Update”, reporting on relevant events in the selected country, and connecting their information to concepts in the course.

On Tuesday August 30th at 6pm, the New Canaan based nonprofit, VOICES of September 11th, gave a presentation in the LAMB Room at the New Canaan Library. The team reflected upon their time at the organization, and the equally important individual and general impacts they have made on communities nationwide over the last 13 years. This also debuted their 15th anniversary video project, which includes interviews with both survivors and family members of victims, and how the events of 9/11 impacted these people. On a related note, in the past several years, the NCHS 911 Memorial Fund raised over $2,000, but because of limited interest in pursuing the initiative more widely, it is being closed out with the remainder being sent to VOICES of September 11th.

The VOICES program has a well  established internship program, and over the last ten years they have utilized more than 160 interns from both New Canaan High School and country wide. Each year they provide valuable learning experiences and opportunities to the NCHS community; taking 3 - 6 upperclassman interns and involving them as if they were full time employees.

Later this month, this year’s interns will reflect on their work with VOICES during an assembly with members of the junior class in conjunction with their study of United States History.

Stay tuned! New Canaan High School has been invited to participate in a national high school mock presidential election. The mock election will be run by NCHS seniors through their Civics classes with results reported by NCTV and national results streamed live through a mock electoral college a week ahead of the national election.

Science Department News:  

The NCHS Science Department would like to welcome everyone to the new school year and our first weekly update!   Our Earth Science teachers are focusing on key numeracy and scientific reasoning skills that are the basis for the study of our Earth and again  have integrated a number of new learning activities tied to this work.   The Grow-Dino Measurement Lab and the Sea Ice vs. Land Ice labs are two examples of this focus.  With a focus on making observations, accurate measurements, collecting and recording data and communicating results, these simple yet engaging learning experience have already become a favorite with students.  Our AP Environmental Science class started by looking at critical ecological concepts that are the basis of much of their study throughout the year.  Students are involved is a long term lab in which they will be growing pallets of grass to determine rates of photosynthesis and calculate the Net Primary Productivity of a variety of grass species.  

World Language Department News:

The World Language Department is happy to welcome Dr. Mark Foster, newly arrived from the Middle East.  Dr. Foster spent two years in Jordan teaching French--and studying Arabic, so he could re-discover what language classes are like from the student point of view.  The experience reaffirmed his belief in a low-stress, highly communicative approach to language-learning.

Dr. Foster’s students, at all levels, will be spending a great deal of time connecting with francophone culture through literature, film, poetry, and music, and then discussing it.  Obviously, discussions will be simpler at the French 2 level than in the AP French class, but the emphasis will always be on the students’ reaction to real French culture.

“I try to make sure the students know right from the start that we are aiming to become fluent speakers of French.  Not perfect speakers, fluent speakers.  Fear of making mistakes leads to students who do not enjoy class, and if French is no fun, why bother?”  

French students will be encouraged to enjoy reading at an appropriate and enjoyable level.

Head in the Cloud

In Mary Louise Chillington’s classes, students will be using the online textbook D’Accord!  for the first time.  This will not only help her students avoid scoliosis--the printed texts will never be lugged home in their backpacks--but they will be able to take advantage of all of the interactive aspects of a Cloud-based presentation of the material.  Audio files, video clips, and interactive exercises will be used on a steady basis.