6/1 Weekly Update
Dear NCHS Family,
Recognition Assembly:
Today we had our annual Recognition Ceremony. We have such wonderful students and all of them could be recognized for their achievements. Today, these students were recognized. To see the complete list of award winners, click here.
Scholar Leader: On Tuesday, Mr. Sullivan and I had the opportunity to attend the Scholar Leader Dinner in the Wagner Room. Scholar Leaders were chosen from all over the Fairfield County. One boy and one girl were chosen from the FCIAC and the students spoke for a couple of minutes on the wonderful attributes of the other students. Our Scholar Leaders are Luke Stewart and Caroline Callahan. Congratulations Luke and Caroline.
Wagner Room:
The PFA has updated the pictures in the Wagner Room of New Canaan High School. They are a visual representation of the history of the school. Thank you to Andrea Chalon for her expertise and skill. Also a special thank you to Rockwell Framing for hanging the pictures in the Wagner Room.
Exams:
As we are getting closer to the end of the year, I thought it would be important to share the end of the year exam schedule. Click on this link to see the schedule.
Wellness and Enrichment:
Back by popular demand! After a successful launch during midterms, NCHS will once again be offering Wellness-Enrichment activities for students and staff to destress, refocus, and maximize their performance (and fun) during the finals testing period. The full menu of offerings will be included next week, but the NCHS community can look forward to seeing yoga, walking, recreational activities, quiet study areas, and everyone’s favorite - the friendly dogs! Thanks to everyone involved in planning and coordinating these activities for all.
A reminder for Seniors and Parent/Guardian of Seniors. Please click here for important Senior Graduation information.
Be well and stay healthy!
Bill Egan
Upcoming Events:
June 4 BOE Meeting - 7pm Wagner Room
June 15-21 Final Exams
June 18 BOE Meeting - 7pm Wagner Room
June 20 Senior Athletic Picnic - Gym; 12:00 pm Picnic, 1:00 pm Awards
June 21 Senior Breakfast - Cafe 9:30 am
Graduation Rehearsal - 10:30 am Cafeteria
Graduation - 5pm
Department News:
Social Studies:
Eliot Zbylut, Seamus Curtin, Quentin Murphy, and Oliver Jardim were the top team in the yearlong stock market competition sponsored by the SIFMA Foundation and the Hartford Courant. Out of 503 teams, their portfolio scored best when compared against the S&P 500. Eliot and Seamus attended Wednesday’s Award Luncheon. Congratulations!
School Counseling:
With the end of AP exams, counselors got back to what they love best, working with students and ensuring that they finish the year strong. We are already looking to next year, planning our calendar of events and making changes as needed. This is also the season where colleges invite counselors to meet and discuss the year in admissions and we review trends as we look at our juniors and their plans. One counselor was invited to the UK where she was able to more fully understand the admissions process and opportunities for our students who may wish to study abroad. For students who know which major they wish to study, this could be a viable and exciting option.
Athletics:
Congratulations to the Girls Golf Team on winning the FCIAC Championship with a score of 334. Meghan Mitchell shot a 1 over 74 to earn medalist honors. Lauren Capone shot an 84, Julia Bazata shot 87, Morgan Hibbert shot an 88 and Caroline Addeo shot 112.
Congratulations to the Boys Golf Team for finishing third in the FCIAC’s with a score of 316.
World Language:
The World Language Lab (French 4H students featured) is used for a variety of activities, tasks and assessments. This world-class lab allows the teacher to pair students across the room to have conversations. The teacher is able to listen in on conversations and provide immediate feedback to students!
French 3H
These French 3 honors students completed a unit on "L'avenir et les métiers" (the future and jobs) . For the culminating activity they wrote a "lettre de motivation" (cover letter) to accompany their application for a job as a counselor in a French "colonie de vacances" ( summer camp). After reading the letters, other students interviewed the applicants in French of course, and then decided who would be the best candidate. They used French websites to research summer vacation camps and were amazed at the number and variety of camp experiences offered in France.
These French 2 Honors students are reading Énigme en Périgord, a mystery that takes place in a beautiful region of France famous for the paintings of animals that date back some 17,000 years in the cave of Lascaux. To better understand the story the students are acting out certain scenes.
Career & Technical Education:
Business/STEM Education:
Girls Who Code Club
Miss Martinich and members from the Girls Who Code Club went into New York City on Wednesday to celebrate completing the program as well as their 2018 club graduation.
First the girls visited the Microsoft Flagship Store on 5th Avenue where they were able to interact with some cool technology. First they got to test Augmented Reality glasses. This is a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user's view of the real world. For them, the solar system was projected and they were able to walk around it and explore!
Next the girls tested out the Virtual Reality system where they played a few interactive games like Beat Saber, a VR rhythm game, where your goal is to slash the beats which fit perfectly into precisely handcrafted music.
Finally the girls went to AppNexus where they celebrated the completion of the 2017-18 Girls Who Code program with other clubs from around the area … and cupcakes! They were fortunate enough to listen to a speech from the club founder Reshma Saujani! The girls had a great time and are excited to add new members next year!
If you are interested in joining the Girls Who Code Club (or are looking at getting into coding this summer) please contact Miss Martinich (“Marty”) at rachel.martinich@ncps-k12.org or Club President Stephanie Murphy at stephanie.murphy@ncps-k12.org
Business Principles Class
Miss Martinich’s Business classes just wrapped up their entrepreneur projects. Students were to create a fictitious business in any industry they wanted. Businesses ranged from a Vegan restaurant called “Life in a Bowl” where your food is served in an edible bowl to a zoo that would be located in New Canaan that had a gift store where you could buy fish.
Students have now moved onto their next project where they have collected market research to invent a new product in the food or beverage industries. Students were to survey a minimum of 30 people using a Google Form. They dealt with the struggle most research companies have … actually getting people to take their surveys!
After collecting responses, students used graphs to evaluate their research. Based on their findings, students were to come up with 3 different product ideas they could make based on what their results showed them. They then had to choose 1 idea to move forward with.
Students are currently designing the packaging for their products. They will be submitting their ideas to the GAERF Student Design Competition where they could win up to $2,000 and a trip to Chicago to attend PRINT 18! PRINT 18 is a learning experience with more than 50 education sessions that shed light on topics ranging from design/creative process, packaging, marketing, growth strategies and emerging technologies. For information on the competition you can click here.
Family and Consumer Sciences:
Students in the Culinary Essentials class are preparing their Food Lab final in an Iron Chef competition. The secret ingredient is apples.
Lauren Canet an advanced student practiced cutting up a whole chicken and she is making four recipes from the one chicken using different parts. In photo she boned a chicken breast and made Chicken Parmigiana.
The NCHS Preschool Program ended the year with a graduation ceremony for 30 preschoolers. Child Development II students planned the graduation and the theme was Academy Awards. Our “rising stars” walked a red carpet, received diplomas and “Oscars” for their favorite movie
Ms. Zilly’s “Art of Bread Making” class has truly advanced their bread making skills. This past week students learned to score designs in artisan bread loaves and this week they twisted up some beautiful cinnamon star breads. The Interior Design class has been studying different styles of homes and each one’s specific features. They created and drew house listing for 20 unique home styles.
Technology Education:
In Mr. Zambarano’s Yearbook class students just received an award for Outstanding Contribution to Scholastic Journalism, Honorable Mention for this years book. Nice Job! The book and supplement will be handed out to seniors starting as soon as next Friday the 8th.
In Mr. Zambarano’s Introduction to Engineering and design classes, students are finishing up their 3-D car designs and starting their presentation and animation views.
In Mr. Zambarano’s and Mr. Honahan’s Woodworking classes students are finishing their Marquetry projects. Here are just a few designs at different stages.
And in Mr. Zambarano’s Car Care class students have finished their last unit on brakes and are now ready to problem solve almost any car issue that comes their way.
From Changing a valve cover gasket on Nate Sibbett’s Jeep to…
Changing the oil and filter in Masson Wills’s GTI to…
Changing the brake pads on Candeleria Reyes’s car to…
Learning how to change a tire.
VPA News:
The NCHS Band performed at the Memorial Day Parade.
New Canaan High School Theater students have been hard at work on Sister Act, the last production for the season. It is a feel good musical comedy that has audiences jumping to their feet. Please join us for Performances beginning today Friday, June 1 @ 7pm, Saturday, June 2 @ 2pm & 7pm. All performances will be held at the New Canaan High School Auditorium. Tickets are $15 & $18 and can be purchased online at www.newcanaanhighschooltheatre.com.
INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY - What’s Happening?
The intro to photo classes just completed their study of both “Landscape” and “Macro Photography”. These observational photography assignments encourage students to see the world around them through two different lenses: the world up close and the world from afar.
Students analyzed the prolific portfolios of famed, early American photographers, Ansel Adams and Edward Weston to inspire their own journey through Landscape and Macro Photography. As Ansel Adams did in his darkroom many years ago, our students used the “Dodging and Burning” tools in Photoshop (not the darkroom!) to enhance the shadows and lighting within their photographs. Student artwork can be found outside of the art classrooms in the Art and Music hallways!
NCHS FILM CLUB!
The New Canaan High School Film Club is looking for new members and 2-3 new leaders who are ready to take command of the film club next year!! As a club we meet once a week. Next year we would love to watch more movies after school to promote important discussions about filmmaking! If you are interested in joining the film club or being a leader, please reach out to Mrs. Sinski (jennifer.sinski@ncps-k12.org)
NCHS FILM CLUB 2018-18
Graduating Leaders: Isaac Marshall, Nicholas LaMorte, Lauren Berardino
