It is fair to say this school year is moving rapidly. I cannot believe last night we were touring 8th graders and possible new students from out of district for our school year 16-17. Multiple teachers and students volunteered their time to showcase our electives and other opportunities at NKHS. Thank you. With the semester at a close we had a large team of department chairs, teachers, guidance counselors and staff pouring over first semester data to look for themes and perhaps identify new patterns that may help us address gaps and plan for allocation of resources for the upcoming year. Finally, meet Whitney. Shown here with Jordan. She is Paula Calitri’s dog and she is getting certified to be a Therapy dog. She has earned her Canine Good Citizen certificate. Paula and I have discussed briefly how schools/colleges (including URI, Salve) are using therapy dogs more and more to help with student difficulties such as anxiety. Research supports the benefit therapy dogs can offer. Our hope is that Whitney can help our NKHS students and one day visit district schools, as well. Meeting many of you today at the luncheon was a good start.

Teachers as Learners

Melissa Wetzel and Fran Dempsey visited Summit Schools in California along with other educators from RI. This is the same school that is written about in this article in US News and World Report regarding schools of the future.

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/articles/2016-01-19/californias-summit-public-schools-are-the-schools-of-the-future

Students as Learners

Dialogues in Democracy Night was held at North Kingstown High School on January 20, 2016. The purpose of this evening is for North Kingstown High School students to dialogue with community members, elected officials and business leaders about issues facing our communities and possible ways of addressing those needs. Dialogues in Democracy is the culminating event which showcases student work from the entire quarter. In their course, Democracy, the students study government structures, explore competing definitions of democracy, learn how other people act in a democracy, develop methods for

engaging in democratic action, and finally develop a plan for addressing a real community need of their choosing. Local, state, and national government officials participate in the event in January and June.

The the first photo above is of Congressman James Langevin speaking with NKHS Junior Democracy student Jake Shatzer. The photo on the left is NKHS student, Hailey Cedor, presenting to Lt. Governor Daniel McKee during the same Dialogues in Democracy Night.

Health and Wellness

From Karen D’Abrosca

Continuing our discussion on the Process of Change …

Choose a particular word to focus on throughout the year. If you recall the “Welcome to 2016 FOCUS”, Dr. Mancieri shared her 2016 word ~ “happiness”!!

Peace, trust, breathe, pause – choose a word that encapsulates how you’d like to feel. Remind yourself of that word each day. Write it where you’ll see it. The Japanese have a word called “KAIZEN” - the practice of continued improvement. Kai = change, Zen = good. Baby steps equal big results!

Clinic News

New Naloxone Law: Many of you have heard through the media about the increase in opioid related deaths in our state. Rhode Island ranks #1 in the US per capita in deaths per thousand residents here. As a result, the Department of Health has begun a campaign to change this. Many first responders carry the drug, Naloxone (Narcan), to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

Last year the General Assembly passed a law to require all secondary nurses to be trained to use Naloxone and have a supply available in their offices. I have Naloxone in my office if the need arises. I am planning to host a training event for several of the administrators to learn how to give it. Please send me an email if any of you are also interested. It is a mist given through the nostrils and quite easy to give.

Influenza update: although there have been many students with the stomach virus and colds, according to the CDC the flu is not yet widespread in RI.

Upcoming Events/Important Dates

February 1st -- First day of second semester (Day 2) Begin with advisory
February 1st -- Faculty Meeting, Media Center, 2 pm

February 10th – Semester 1 Report Cards
February 12th -- Professional Development Day, no school for students
February 15th -- Presidents’ Day, no school

Student Services Office

Congratulations to Kris Graham for being nominated for this week's Skipper Pride for Excellence Award by last week's winner Rob Silveira. From Rob:

"Kris is one of the kindest and most sincere individuals on staff. If a faculty member has an question and is looking for advice, Kris is always willing to stop what she is doing and lend her support. I have witnessed Kris calm the most anxious of students down off the proverbial ledge because of some issue they had at home or at school. Thanks Kris for being one of the shining examples of what makes NKHS great.”

Congratulations Kris, we can't wait to see who you will pick to be next week's winner.

Community

The Clothesline Project (CLP) is a program started on Cape Cod, MA, in 1990 to address the issue of violence against women. It is a vehicle for women affected by violence to express their emotions by decorating a shirt. They then hang the shirt on a clothesline to be viewed by others as testimony to the problem of violence against women. Paula Calitri gathered male and female students over the last week to make a T-shirt design to support this cause. She hung them in the cafeteria where they will stay for the month of February. She received a grant from the Lindsay Ann Burke Foundation to make this possible.

School Culture

Big shout out to Amy Messerlian-Magidin and Sherri Andrews for planning a wonderful end of exam luncheon and activity hour for the staff today. Thank you to Rich Polseno and Matthew Blaser for the musical entertainment; exactly what we needed to provide a great atmosphere in the cafeteria. Additional thanks to the PE department, I saw Kris Graham running around with extra paddles, to set up the table tennis. I hope to have a few pictures in next week’s blog showcasing the matches. Finally, to Leah and Patty for the extra wellness benefit of a zumba or yoga class. Perfect ending to a very busy week.

Videos Worth Watching