Weekly Update 1/12

Dear NCHS Family,

Exams:

The schedule for exams can be found here.  We hope that everyone gets their rest and does the best they can on the exams.  We are proud of our kids and while we want them to do well on exams, this is only one indicator of growth.  We are so fortunate to have students who are kind and good people.

As a reminder, the faculty decided that there should be a period before exams when no new work or assessments are given, so that students can catch their breath before exams. With the revised exam schedule that means that from today teachers will not assign or collect any new out-of-class work nor administer or collect any graded assessments. However, class time during these three days may be used to begin part of the exam. Students' time outside the classroom should be used to prepare for their exams.

Also, between exams we will have activities for the students to participate in and have extended the period in between exams by fifteen minutes, to one hour. The idea behind the activities is to relieve stress and foster a positive school climate.  During this time, we will be offering some wellness-enrichment activities. Of course, having quiet spaces for students to study is always going to be an option as well and the cafeteria will be open for students to grab a healthy snack/meal.

Study Spaces:

The New Canaan YMCA Youth Committee (an organization that promotes student involvement with the services of the YMCA) wants to let you know that the YMCA will be offering study space from Monday the 15th (MLK day) to the following Monday the 22nd.

New Canaan Library Extended Hours:

Wednesday, January 17 – OPEN 9AM-9PM

Thursday, January 18 – OPEN 9AM-9PM

Sunday, January 21 – OPEN 11AM-5PM

Monday, January 22 – OPEN 9AM-9PM

New Canaan Library Quiet Study Spaces:

Wednesday, Jan. 17 – Lamb Room 2-9PM, Plaut Room 9AM-6PM

Thursday, Jan. 18 – Lamb Room 10AM-5PM, Plaut Room 9AM-6PM

Friday, Jan. 19 – Lamb Room 12PM-5PM

Sunday, Jan. 21 – Plaut Room 11AM-5PM

Monday, Jan. 22 – Plaut Room 1PM-6PM

Study at Grace Farms - January 12–19 | during open hours

Students preparing for finals are invited to study at Grace Farms. Enjoy quiet tables and complimentary popcorn in the Library, communal study space in the Commons, and basketball in the Court for study breaks.

Students of the Month:

The following students have been chosen as our students of the month for January. These students were chosen for things they have done outside of the traditional academic experience.  They might have been exceptionally kind to other students, been recognized for helping others or just been an inspiration for others. We have so many good people at NCHS and these students have been recognized as such for the month of January.

William Cosco - Grade 9 Sharanya Mukherjee - Grade 11

Pippa Williams - Grade 9 Quintin O’Connell - Grade 11

Olivia Bognon - Grade 10 Emma St. Raymond - Grade 12

Ryan Ferrara - Grade 10 Luca Triant - Grade 12

We will post their pictures soon!  

Staff of the month:

Once again over 100 nominations came in for staff members. The following staff members have been recognized for their connection with kids.  We are fortunate to have an outstanding staff and so many could be recognized each month. Please take a moment to congratulate the following staff:

Mary Cognetta

Marianne Cohen

Leo Ficks

Tim Haag

Roger Hansell

Stephanie Nigro

We will post their pictures soon!  

INNOVATION NIGHT 2018

We want to invite all students, grades 2-12, to consider submitting an application for the NCPS Innovation Night, to be held on April 4, 2018.

Innovation Night is a fantastic opportunity for students to share personal investigations into new and exciting areas of science, technology, engineering, and more!.  Students can combine their problem-solving skills with their personal passions to create innovative solutions to real-world challenges.

Participation is open to all students in grades 2-12.  Interested students should go to the Innovation Night link, under the District Information tab found on the NCPS home page.

Applications are due by January 24th.  Once a student’s application is accepted, faculty and staff were available to provide any support they may need to prepare their project for a successful presentation at Innovation Night.  For more information on Innovation Night, click here.  

New This year! We also have a Innovation Night Logo Design Contest, where students have an opportunity to design the logo that will be used on all 2018 Innovation Night materials.  Details about this contest can also be found in the Innovation Night link as well.

NCTV Broadcast:

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:

Pictures from around NCHS:

Department News:

Administrator's Perspective:

Athletics: It’s been an exciting week at NCHS Athletics! Some highlights...Boys Hockey beat Stamford on Monday for their first win and followed up with another win at Simsbury on Wednesday night. Girls Hockey also had a nail-biting overtime win vs. Simsbury. Girls Basketball beat Bridgeport Central, for their 3rd win of the season. NCHS Wrestling beat McMahon High School, 57-15 and Boys Swim and Dive defeated Wilton 93-84.  We have a full schedule of athletic events this weekend with over 20 events on Friday and Saturday.  Please go to ncrams.com for schedules. Come out and support the Rams!

English Department:  It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the English department. Junior students are finishing research papers and putting the finishing touches on their bibliographies.   It’s an MLA 8-stravaganza!  In AP Lit., seniors are busy finishing up their final assignments for the quarter and preparing for their midterm, while seniors in Ms. Steidl’s  Film and Lit. are finishing their final analysis of a modern movie and are finishing their final projects.

Congratulations are in order to Ms. Nigro and her senior Creative Writing class.  In honor of Halloween, YoungWritersUSA held a "Spine-Chillers" mini-saga writing contest which was open to students aged 11-18. Students were asked to write a mini-saga of no more than 100 words that was creepy and "spine-chilling".  The contest included a mini-lesson on a few writing techniques such as tension, suspense, and atmosphere. Students were encouraged to utilize these techniques in crafting their mini stories.  The students pictured volunteered to submit their work to the contest in early November and were recently selected for publication! If permission is granted, their work will be featured in the Spine-Chillers-Tales From Connecticut book. A copy of the book will also be sent to the Library of Congress in Washington DC as well as the British Library in the UK to provide a "lasting record" of student achievement. BIG DEAL!

Students (from left to right) Thomas Frieberg, Josh Audencial, Kyle McDonald, João Carvalho, Annie Minaglia, Gianna Bruno, Riley Mottolese, Hailey Towbin. Kendall Webb was also invited to publish but was not pictured.

Science Department News:

Earth Science students have been wrapping up their unit on rocks and minerals.  Students are shown creating models of crystal structures and using those models to help identify unknowns.

Students also played the Rock Cycle game to better understand changes in the Earth’s crust over long periods of time.

Students are shown here working on lab activities that involved learning about mineral properties to aid in their identification and classification as well as comparing the different rock types.

In Physics, students measured their work done and horsepower generated in climbing the school staircase.  They measured the height of the stairs and the time to climb the stairs to determine their work and power.

Physics students measured mechanical advantage and efficiency of pulley systems in our study of energy and simple machines.

Honors Chemistry students use models to discover the non-polar molecule benzene.

Students have begun reviewing for midterms (finals in single semester classes) this week.  Here are a few pictures showing students preparing in a collaborative setting in biology classes:

Social Studies:

The NCHS Debate Team competed at the January CT Debate Association tournament at Stamford High this Saturday. Hannah Suthons won the 3rd place novice speaker out of 95 competitors, qualifying for the State Tournament in March.  The picture below is Hannah receiving her award from Aaron Johnson, the coach of the Greenwich High Debate Team.

VPA News:

World Language:

FRENCH

In addition to monthly film nights, The French Club (Les Béliers) is currently doing some advance planning for two big events that will happen in March.  Both events are part of our partnership with the 8th Arrondissement of Paris, which organizes the month long MOI de la Femme, a series of concerts, conferences, and films dedicated to women and women's rights (March 8 is the International Women's Day).  Les Béliers are sponsoring a concert in the NCHS auditorium by a Congolese singer, a videoconference with a Frenchwoman who heads a branch of the United Nations in Bogotá, and an appropriately themed film.  The proceeds from our concert will go towards our sponsorship of a young Senegalese girl, so that she can attend school. More information to follow.

LATIN 2

As a part of a unit on the Huns, Latin 2 students presented this week on the late Roman empire and the invasion of the Huns.  They focused on who the Huns were, what was the state of the Roman empire at the time, Attila the Hun, and Pope Leo's meeting with Attila.

SPANISH

With each student having access to his or her own device we are much more effective at helping each student focus on the skills and concepts he/she needs to work on before midterms.

                                  

Spanish 3

Tuesday morning first period! Very quiet in here until Profe introduces students to a fun brain break activity!