Weekly Update 2/3
Dear NCHS Family,
A note from our nurses….
Illness has certainly hit our school district. We wanted to send a reminder of a few tips to help stop the spread of sickness.
1. Wash your hands frequently!
2. Keep your hands away from your mouth, nose and eyes.
3. Stay home if you have a fever, a cough or runny nose you can not contain..
4. Cover your cough with the inside of your elbow.
5. Get plenty of sleep
6. Drink lots of fluids. Hydrated cells can fight off germs much better.
7. Use your own pen and don't share it.
8. Be mindful of surfaces such as bannisters and door knobs.
I know our custodians are working hard to keep our schools extra clean.
The link below has good info from the CDC:
Some parents have asked for information about Vaping. I’ve include a segment that I ran in December. I hope that this is helpful.
Vaping:
We are always concerned for the well being of our students and want them to make good choices. It is important to know that any student caught vaping will be suspended from school for a period of 5 school days. Please see the message below from our school nurses and have a conversation with your child about vaping and its dangers.
From Janet Reed, Head School Nurse:
The nurses are concerned about the increasing popularity of e-cigarettes by young people. In addition to significant health risks, the e-cigarettes are in violation of school rules and NCPS Board of Education policy. Use of e-cigarettes at school will result in school suspension.
The e-cigarettes consist of 3 components -
There is a cartridge which holds a liquid solution containing varying amounts of nicotine, flavorings and chemicals. There is also a heating device which vaporizes the liquid and a battery which is the power source. The vaping term comes from inhaling the aerosol or vapor.
Although e-cigarettes are marketed as a safer alternative than traditional cigarettes there are significant dangers:
- Nicotine is a highly addictive substance which has systemic effects including damage to the lining of one’s blood vessels. This damage to the intima of the blood vessels may result in heart attack or stroke over time. The refillable cartridges may expose the user to toxic levels of nicotine. Research indicates that nicotine exposure primes the brain for addiction to other substances.
2. Testing of the vapor has revealed cancer causing toxic chemicals including
formaldehyde and acetaldehyde which are poisonous.
For more information see the National Institute on Drug Abuse or www.fda.gov/tobaccoproducts
Feel free to stop by the nurses office with any questions.
Cafeteria News: The cafeteria will not be open after school on Thursday, February16.
Be well and stay healthy NCHS!
Bill Egan
Upcoming Events:
2/7 Band/choir/Orchestra Concert - 7:00 p.m.
2/8 Guidance Sophomore Program - 8:00 - 9:30a.m
Pictures from around NCHS:
Department News:
VPA News:
NCHS Band, Choir and Orchestra - Over 170 NCHS band, choir and orchestra students will present their collaborative concert on February 7, 2017, in the NCHS auditorium at 7:00 PM. The band and orchestra will be performing the challenging 4th movement of Brahms 1st Symphony and the choir and band will present a medley of favorites by the great Irving Berlin. Each ensemble will also be featured in a solo piece as well as highlighting our jazz band and student soloists. We hope you will come to enjoy a fabulous evening of music
Connecticut Regional Scholastic Art Awards - The Connecticut Regional Scholastic Art Awards have been announced. This year, ten NCHS students have been recognized with Gold, Silver and Honorable Mention keys as well as three scholarship recipients. The students were presented their awards at the 28th Annual Art Awards Ceremony at Lincoln Theater at the University of Hartford on Sunday, January, 29th.
Olivia Germann, Ashlyn Pace, Gwenan Walker: Gold Keys in Drawing and Illustration
Cameron Blair: Silver Key in Drawing and Illustration
Caroline Challe: Gold Key in Photography
Camaren Dayton, Samantha Pepe: Gold Key in Art Portfolio
Anna Lysenko: Gold Key in Digital Art
Jack Dahill: Gold Key in Film and Animation
Timothy Scranton: Honorable Mention in Photography
Camaren Dayon, Anna Lysenko, Samantha Pepe: Hartford Art School Scholarships
Connor McDevitt and Anna Lysenko: Lyme Academy of Fine Arts Scholarships
Teen Vision Art Exhibition - Three NCHS students received First Place Awards at Sacred Heart University's Department of Art and Design's Teen Vision Student Art Exhibition. Ellery Baran, Anne Greer and Gwenan Walker were honored at the Awards Presentation on Sunday, January 29th.
English Department News:
The NCHS English Department is thrilled to announce that the Spectator, our student run literary magazine, was recognized as a superior program by the National Council of Teachers of English. A very special congratulations to the Spectator advisor Maggie Hammill, and last year’s interim advisor Kristen Brown, and the contributing student staff of editors and writers. This award is made possible by a school wide commitment to excellent writing and a deep appreciation for literature.
The NCHS English Department, in collaboration with the NCHS Library, is excited to announce that it will host an intergenerational read featuring the book Little Princes, by local author Conor Grennan. Intergenerational reads are often hosted by schools or libraries as a way for students, parents, and community members to share a reading experience together, discuss the content of the book, and make connections to current issues and our own lives. Below is a description of Little Princes, from Mr. Grennan’s website:
About to turn thirty, Conor Grennan planned a year-long trip around the world. He started his trip with a three-month stint volunteering in the Little Princes Orphanage in war-torn Nepal. What was supposed to be just a three-month experience changed Conor’s life, and the lives of countless others. While playing on the roof of the orphanage, Conor was approached by a woman who would turn out to be the mother of two of the wards. Over hours of conversations with her, Conor learned the truth about the kids he’d come to love. Many of the little princes were not orphans but rather had been taken from their homes and families by child traffickers. In addition to losing two of her boys, this woman, while under the control of a human trafficker, was doing her best to keep seven other terrified kids alive in her mud hut. Conor’s life changed in those moments, as he decided to commit himself to these kids. After securing spots in a children’s home for all seven and arranging for an excellent local staff to run the Little Princes orphanage, Conor escaped Nepal, one day before revolution erupted in Kathmandu.
After arriving home, Conor received a devastating email reporting that the seven kids had disappeared, snatched once again by the same trafficker. Soon he was back in Kathmandu, riding through the chaotic streets on the back of a motorcycle, searching for these kids, seven needles in a haystack. And that is where Conor’s story begins.
Conor pledged to not only start a new home for these seven but to start an entire new program dedicated to reuniting kids with their lost families, often in remote villages in the Himalaya.
Conor’s organization, Next Generation Nepal, has reconnected over 500 families with children they feared were lost to them forever, and there is still much more to do.
After arriving home, Conor received a devastating email reporting that the seven kids had disappeared, snatched once again by the same trafficker. Soon he was back in Kathmandu, riding through the chaotic streets on the back of a motorcycle, searching for these kids, seven needles in a haystack. And that is where Conor’s story begins.
Conor pledged to not only start a new home for these seven but to start an entire new program dedicated to reuniting kids with their lost families, often in remote villages in the Himalaya.
Conor’s organization, Next Generation Nepal, has reconnected over 500 families with children they feared were lost to them forever, and there is still much more to do.
The intergenerational read is a completely optional experience for students and families. Although this title is offered as a 9th grade choice book, students of any grade are welcome to join. Copies will be placed on reserve in the library, and students may check out multiple copies if a family member wishes to participate.
The culminating event for the intergenerational read will take place the morning of Friday, May 26th at NCHS. There will be a presentation by the author, as well as a Q and A with panelists and discussion groups. More details will follow as the event program is finalized. If you, or someone you know, has done work pertaining to international relief efforts and/or human trafficking, and are interested in participating in the event, please contact the English Department Chair, Evan Remley at evan.remley@ncps-k12.org
We are exceedingly grateful to Mr. Grennan for his participation in this community event!
CTE Department News:
Mrs. Sapienza's Baking & Pastry Art class held a Cupcake War competition at the end of the semester. The criteria was a cupcake that best demonstrated the theme of their choice, a cake made from scratch, a filling, frosting, garnish, and plating. Equally important was that the cupcake had to taste delicious. All of the cupcakes were delicious but one met all the criteria.The winners with the theme of "Pink Strawberry Lemonade" were Nora Belodeau, Julianne Dunn and Kaitlyn Moussignac.
The students in the Individual and Family Development course are studying Infancy through 24 months. As part of the topic students are mothering Real Care Babies, a computerized baby that cries, needs to be fed and burped, requires diaper changes, and needs to be soothed. When sleeping these "babies" breathe and coo and when happy. Once the babies are returned Mrs.Sapienza can download an account of how the babies were cared for over a weekend. The moms become attached to their babies but are happy to return them after a long weekend. In this unit students are studying about sensory and perceptual development, the development of attachment to their caregiver and relevance of attachment to later development and Piaget's theory of sensorimotor intelligence.
Students in Miss Martinich's AP Computer Science Principles classes learned about sorting algorithms this past week.Sorting is a very important area of study in computer science and sorting algorithms, specifically, have been studied extensively by computer scientists. To model these algorithms, students used decks of playing cards. Students learned a few sorting algorithms, like Bubble Sort and Merge Sort, to use and compared and contrasted their speeds and efficiency.
Miss Martinich's Semester 1 Business Concepts classes wrapped up their course with Marketing Plan presentations for cereals that they created. They did Market Research to gather information about what types of cereals the student body of New Canaan High School liked. They then had to design cereal boxes and a Marketing Plan for their new cereal.
Miss Martinich's 2nd Semester Business Concepts classes started off the semester learning about Needs versus Wants. They did an activity where they had to choose 16 "needs" from a collection of 40 items in order to survive on a new planet. They then needed to cut the 16 down to just 8 because of weight problems on the spaceship.
In Mr. Zambarano’s Robotics class students have begun building their first robot. Once complete, students will learn how to program the controller specific to their design. Students will continue to explore several interfaces such as light sensors, switches, potentiometer, and shaft encoders to name a few. Here, the students are building their robots.
World Language Department News:
Students in Madame Chillington's class enjoyed a typical French breakfast today. While drinking bowls of hot chocolat or café au lait, eating croissants and bread they practiced the " l'art de la conversation"!
Below are some pictures! 
Library update:
