Weekly Update 12/1
Dear NCHS Family
Class meetings:
We had class meetings today which allowed us to review the first quarter and talk about being our best selves for the remainder of the year. We like to have class meetings throughout the year. It gives us an opportunity to check in with the individual grades and lets them know that we love them.
Scholarship Foundation:
The New Canaan High School Scholarship Foundation made many changes last year. NCSF represents a broad-based community effort to provide financial aid to deserving NCHS graduates pursuing higher education at the undergraduate level. The changes that were made last year will help students well into the future. There are scholarships that can be funded annually or by endowment. In addition to our scholarships, our annual appeal changed last year. The NC Color Run had 1200 participants last year and we are looking to have even more community members this year. The NC Color Run will be held on April 28. It will be a fun-filled event open to all ages. We hope that you can join us; stay tuned for more details. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.nchs-sf.org/.
Please join me in congratulating our December students of the month:
Grade 12 Grade 11
Spencer Handler Tommy Saitta
Alex Urbahn Bridget Salmini
Grade 10 Grade 9
Naomi Cimino Carissa Bruno
John Renda Harrison Graber
Please join me in congratulating our December Staff Members of the Month:
- Zeeshaan Arastu
- Tyler Clay
- Jeffrey Hague
- Maggie Hamill
- Michael Joshi
- Rachel Martinich
I look forward to seeing you at the many events throughout the year.
As always, thank you for your support!
Be well and stay healthy NCHS!
Bill Egan
Upcoming Events:
12/2 SAT Reasoning & Subject Tests
12/4 BOE Meeting - 7pm - Wagner Room
12/5 PFA 9th Grade Networking Mtg - 9:30 am - Wagner Room
12/6 Rising Above Awards Ceremony - 7:00 am - College & Career
Pictures from around NCHS:
New Mats! Thank you PFA!!
Department News:
Athletics:
Winter sports are underway and we are looking forward to a rewarding and successful season for our athletes. Boys Basketball and Ice Hockey tryouts begin 12/2, so please register today if you have not done so. Boys/Girls Indoor Track first practice is also tomorrow. Additional information is available at www.ncrams.com.
English Department:
The English department is in full writing mode. Junior English classes are busy with their research processes as students work with their teachers and our school librarians to sharpen their research questions and start selecting sources. In Mr. Gallo’s class students are using Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences to case their inquiry.
For Ms. Week’s ECE class, students created a camera obscura in the entire classroom and watched as inverted images of cars and pedestrians pass by. Light bends people! Poetry is in the air for Mr. Darken’s AP Lit course as students study and perform various poetic forms such as villanelle, elegy and odes. Mr. McAteer’s sophomore students are selecting and performing different scenes from Shakespeare, while seniors in Poetry are writing their own poems in the style of Whitman and Beowulf. Keeping with the poetry theme, it’s that time of year again when Mr. Remley’s AP English class engaged in a storytelling contest. Students shared their original Canterbury Tales during a pilgrimage around NCHS:
Science Department News:
Earth Science students are working on a unit on atomic structure and chemical bonding. Here students are shown creating scale models of the Earth; they will follow this up by creating scale models of atoms.
Physics students are studying Newton’s Laws. They have performed a series of labs to further their understanding of Newton’s Laws, including balancing forces, friction, and resolution of forces on an inclined plane.
Astronomy students held their first evening observation prior to Thanksgiving - the topic was constellations. Several students were able to pick out a comet using binoculars. Our current unit is on the sun; students viewed the sun through the telescope recently. We will have an evening observation to view the moon through the telescope in the next couple of weeks.
Chemistry students are shown learning how to recognize elements by seeing the colors emitted when energy is lost from electrons.
VPA News:
NCTV Weekly Broadcast:
The Grapefruit is here! Over 1,000 Boxes of Texas ruby red grapefruit are being delivered to the NCHS Choir room on December 1st. Thank to everyone in the NC community who supported the choral program in our annual fundraiser. The choir students are well on their way to preparing for their performance trip to Disney World in April 2018! If you missed the pre-order, a few extra boxes are available. Contact the choir program soon!
Congratulations Western Region Band, Choir and Orchestra members! 24 students from NCHS competed at Brien McMahon HS on Saturday, November 11th for a place in the CMEA regional ensembles and a chance to compete for a spot in the All-State Ensembles in January.
Region Choir Members
Soprano - Kate Murphy
Altos - Lynaea Pace, Cassidy Little, Sadie Seelert, Caroline Callahan
Tenors - Daniel Assis, Finley Vigliotti
Basses - Logan Otis, Alessio Pantaleo
Region Band/Orchestra Members
Clare Herzog, oboe
Cella Kove, viola
Lillian Gray, violin
Noah Dorfsman, cello
The Printmaking & Mixed Media class is beginning their exploration of Drypoint engraving - a new technique for this course! After looking at the masterworks of Albrecht Dürer, Francisco Goya, Rembrandt Van Rijn and M.C. Escher, they are planning out their own imagery and attempt at engraving with an acrylic plate. In the photos below, you can see students preparing their plates by beveling the edges with metal files. 
Music Tech:
Students from Anna Moody's Music Tech class visited the set of The Harry Show yesterday and were given the royal treatment from the star himself. After the show, students were given a backstage tour by Mr. Connick who not only showed them how the show was produced but showed them his private studio where he writes all his music. Students were amazed to see he uses the same software to write music as they do in class. Who knows - maybe it will rub off??
World Language:
Many often underestimate what can be accomplished in the target language in a Level 1 course. Today Students in Spanish 1 were competing to complete a challenging activity where they had to speak in the target language while analyzing grammar and selecting the correct vocabulary choice. We are so proud of each of these students as they challenge themselves every day to use language a little bit more than the day before!
Level 5 Film and Culture:
To support continued student discourse, in the target language, the Film and Culture class has been watching movies that provoke emotion, curiosity and engagement. This week the students in the Spanish Film and Culture classes have been discussing the topic of Immigration and have started to watch the Gregory Nava film "El Norte".
Conversation and engagement is not something left to the upper levels. The students in the Spanish 2 Honors classes have begun a unit on Health and Nutrition. This unit introduces student to language they can apply to everyday life. Everything from ordering in a restaurant, buying groceries in a supermarket, planning a healthy diet and following a recipe.
