Thought I would hand over the cons to Karen D’Abrosca. She said it so well.
Health and Wellness
April 15, 2016
Tax Day!! This is often a big relief when checked off the “to-do” list.
However, due to an overlap in tax deadlines and some Federal & Local holidays, most of us will have until Monday April 18 to file our 2015 tax returns.
Most importantly, HAPPY SPRING BREAK WEEK!! This is our first experience as a school (town) of plugging through, day by day, January to April without the full week of Winter Break. Notice how you feel. Are you tired, irritable, scattered or energetic, happy and clear?! Many of us will answer yes to the first descriptors and no to the second!!!
As we move into this precious time “free week” compared to the school day schedule, find some real free time, schedule it in if you must, to just “BE” … be a human being instead of a human doing!! ENJOY! Then we can answer yes to “energetic, happy and clear”!!
Good News
Alisa Smith is a sophomore flute player. She studies under Susan Thomas who is the principal flute player in the RI Philharmonic.
Alisa was chosen to play her piece for Sir James Galway in a masterclass. She did this at the Philharmonic Music School in front of an audience.
Sir Galway contacted Alicia's flute teacher and expressed how impressed he was with this underclassman. He offered her a full scholarship to the Galway Flute Festival is Weggis, Switzerland to study with him and his faculty. She will be there for 10 days.
Additionally, Thursday, April 14, two of our students, Caylee Leubeck and Noah Simmons were treated to lunch at the Crowne Plaza Hotel honoring them and other RIIL scholar athletes from around the state for their character, athletic abilities all while keeping up with their academics. Julie Maguire was also in attendance as she was selected as the Female Coach of the Year. Julie, your work on and off the field with our athletes and student leaders is appreciated. Congratulations.
Teachers as Learners
I would like to congratulate Kevin Gormley and the Careers Department for their light speed acceptance into the National Academy Foundation. NKHS will have an Academy of Finance (AOF) beginning in September 2016. Here is a small portion of the letter we received this morning:
On behalf of NAF’s Board of Directors, staff, and the entire NAF network, I am delighted to announce that North Kingstown High School AOF has successfully completed all the application requirements for NAF’s Existing Academy Track and will enter into the NAF Network with member status in the 2016 new academy cohort.
NAF takes the quality of its member academies seriously. Given your commitment to the academy concept, your assessment level score as Certified and demonstration of evidence and, most importantly, your dedication to the youth of your community, we believe you will be successful in moving forward with the NAF standards of practice.
Good luck to Malaree Shields; I just happened upon her last class today. Leslie Bowers and Jim Simmons have noted she seems like she has been teaching for years. I wish all of our student teachers the best this spring as they begin their job hunt.
Good luck to Malaree Shields; I just happened upon her last class today. Leslie Bowers and Jim Simmons have noted she seems like she has been teaching for years. I wish all of our student teachers the best this spring as they begin their job hunt.Students as Learners
From Heather Lebel:
I wanted to share these pictures with you of the Transition Students during our recent trips to Stop and Shop and Pet-Co. At Stop and Shop we completed a scavenger hunt. The students needed to find the items in the store, the price and decide if the item was on sale.
At Pet-Co we purchased a fish and all of the supplies needed. We spent a few weeks researching what we would need to take care of a fish. I am proud to say "Buckle" has been with us for a full week now!
We are also planning on going to Walmart on Thursdays for our shopping service.
From Rich Garland:
In addition to the electronic stock tickers - to include the most recent application in the high school spine - NKHS students won the following awards - we were notified just today and the teams have been "chomping at the bit" waiting for the results:
- Olivia Clarke and Aubrey Forman - a team of two NK students, along with the rest of our Finance class, competed against hundreds of other school teams across RI in the SIFMA Stock Market Challenge. Each team competed on total equity. Aubrey and Olivia placed second - with roughly $114k - roughly $2k away from the first place team at Chariho. Award ceremonies will take place at Johnson and Wales on May 23rd. SIFMA stands for Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. The team used a buy and hold strategy over a period of two and a half months investing in Blue Chip, Defensive, and Growth stocks. Parents have been notified -
Aidan Correll, Ashley Grey, Clara Crawford, and Keith Urban - Team Correll placed 2nd place in the RI Jump$tart Financial Literacy Challenge...with a score of 570 out of 600. First place winners (East Greenwich) competes in the Nationals in Kansas City. Who wants to go to Kansas City anyway.
Teams form Ms. Tavano and Garland's classes competed. Award ceremonies will take place on April 25th at the RI State House - awards from Treasurer Magaziner. Another trophy for NK as we came in second last year. Parents have been notified.
From Joy Tavano:
Having fun at Pawtucket Credit Union's Real World Day! It was awesome! They give the student's a career and salary and then set them off to find out how much housing, food, transportation, etc will cost them from representatives seated all around the venue. They have 2 hours to balance their budget. We took them to Bryant's student center for lunch. Perfect day with a perfect group of kids.
This the video from a few years ago.
Kristen is on the RI Jumpstart board with me and works at Pawtucket Credit Union.
Upcoming Events/Important Dates
April 18 – 21 – No School - Spring Recess
April 26 - School Committee Meeting - 7pm
April 27 - Cyber Safety Presentation - 7pm NKHS Auditorium
April 29 – Blood Drive
Student Services Office
Congratulations to Marianne Korney for being nominated for this week's Skipper Pride for Excellence Award by last week's winner, Lisa Garcia. From Lisa:
In class, Marianne speaks Spanish with such passion and clarity it engages students to be active listeners. She has a kind, nurturing demeanor which welcomes students to speak a new language no matter how awkward it might. Marianne helps her students to build a strong foundation of the Spanish language which gives them the confidence to continue Spanish studies at NK. Outside of the classroom, she continues to teach Spanish in the many different countries she has traveled to with her students. Whether it is encouraging students to speak Spanish with street venders in Costa Rica or to sing Spanish ballads on a bus in Sydney, she is always teaching with a smile on your face.
Her excellence in the NK community does not lie in academics alone. From NEASC to chaperoning dances, she is always willing to help out with any school activities. As one of the class of 2016 advisors, she volunteers countless hours of her own time. Balancing obligations and student wishes is always a challenge, she does this with grace and is always well-poised at all times. She is an excellent model of professionalism.
Special thank you to Lisa Garcia, Robin Leshin and Serena Mason who added valuable conversation to our Discipline Discussion. I appreciated their time and input. On April 25th at 2:00pm, there will be another meeting to look at the discipline rubric. Your presence is welcomed.
Also, thanks to the NK5K, I have secured 10 CalcPac holders. And that means what??? Well, I want to raffle them off to you! There are a number of teachers who have taken a very proactive approach to managing cell phones in the classroom. I liked the idea so much, I wrote a mini grant and it was approved. See the item here:
I chose this particular one because they are numbered and can be assigned, there are more than 30 slots for those of you with big classes and it is not clear. So out of sight, out of mind.
If you are interested, please give Theresa an e-mail and we will raffle off the items at the next faculty meeting.
School Culture
Mr. Stephen Bargatz's presentation...I hope everyone had an opportunity to see. The audience was laughing and then in the next moment quiet as a mouse. He took them to places with which many adults have a hard time. He received a standing ovation from our juniors and seniors. Not a dry eye in the house. Thank you everyone for taking your classes. While we are academics first we also have no idea the many stories and places from which our students come. This presentation speaks to that and more.
From Janice Strain:
Congratulations To The Following Art Students!
Their work was chosen to be on exhibit in the Carriage Inn & Saloon Restaurant
1065 Tower Hill Rd, North Kingstown, RI 02852 /(401) 294-8466
Show Dates: April 12-May 31, 2016
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| Madison Dussinger, 10th grade |
Madison Dussinger In The City
Sasha Bosack Self-portrait
Emily Bailey Sunset
Grace Veasley Serenity
Theresa Henderson Zen Wishes
Ashley Gray Van Gogh Snow
Julia Medeiros Untitled
Kimberly Coronado Wallpaper
Emma Rose Asher Candy Bottles
Althea Clarke Background Strips
Special Note: Students featured in this show may also choose to add this show information onto college and job applications under: Academic Distinctions: Carriage Inn & Saloon Student Art Show / April 120 May 31, 2016 / North Kingstown, RI
Special Visitor
From Dave:
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| Rob and Denny |
My brother, Rob Avedisian, will be visiting a few classrooms on Friday morning with his Camdem County(GA) police dog, Denny. My brother is a Seabee veteran and has done 3 tours of duty overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is in town doing K9 training with his bomb detecting dog with the Boston Police Department. He will stop by NKHS around 8:30 am to visit a couple of classes to discuss his role with Denny and his retired drug dog. Denny and Rob are not doing any searches. When they are not training or on patrol they are usually working at numerous political events, including presidential visits and debates as well as working at various sporting events in Georgia and Florida.
You can see his dog on the Sheriffs facebook link below. There are pictures of him visiting classes in GA.
Deans
Attendance data thru 3 quarters:
*40 students still have PERFECT with 0 absences, tardies and dismissals.
*577 students have DISTINGUISHED attendance of less than 3 absences, tardies and dismissals.
*293 students have EXEMPLARY attendance of less than 6 absences, 3 tardies and dismissals total.
*218 students with 8 or less absences.
That’s 1128 total students at a respectable & productive level.
Food for Thought
Until next time, Think, Create, Innovate...Denise
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