Newtown High School Blog

PTSA Meeting – Newtown Drug and Alcohol Survey Results

MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2010 at 11:00am in Room B141

Special guest Judy Blanchard, District Health Coordinator, will present the results from the 2009 Drug & Alcohol survey. This is given randomly to Newtown students in grades 7-12 biannually. Please join us for an insightful presentation on a very important subject. Also at this meeting the membership will take a vote to support the 2010-2011 BOE budget. This step must take place in order for the PTSA to advocate on behalf of the Education/Town budget.

Opening night of Gypsy is Thursday, March 11, 2010.

Based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, Gypsy tells the story of Rose, an overbearing stage mother who is determined to break into the big time by pushing the vaudeville career of her younger daughter June. However, unwilling to tolerate her mother’s manipulations, June elopes with a dancer from their act. Rose then turns all of her attention on her older and less talented daughter Louise. Eventually Rose’s dreams come to fruition when she unintentionally transforms Louise into the famous burlesque performer, Gypsy Rose Lee. No sooner has she succeeded, however, than Rose suffers a mental breakdown, realizing that she is no longer needed in her daughter’s career. Read the rest of this entry »

Come enjoy a night of live entertainment and help support the worldwide Haiti relief effort!

Thursday April 1, 2010
7PM – 9PM (Doors open at 6:30PM)
NHS Auditorium
Purchase tickets at the door:
Students – suggested donation of $6
Adults – suggested donation of $16
Children 12 and under free!

Read the rest of this entry »

The results are in for the American Mathematics Competition. The average score for all students was 65.4. The winner of the AMC – 12 was Amar Agashe with a score of 94.5 and for the AMC – 10 Brandon Luxkaranayagam and Ajit Singh tied for first place with a score of 94.5. Congratulations!

The top three scorers on the AMC – 12 have been invited to compete in the American Invitational Mathematics Examination. Amar Agashe, Justin Domhan, and Amy Kung will be compteing on March 16th from 7:30 to 10:30. Congratulations and Good Luck!

Alyssa Rodriguez recently signed an agreement with Davis Publications, Inc. for the inclusion of her ceramic piece, ‘Thunderfoot’ in an upcoming textbook. It is rare for any artist to earn this level of recognition. It is more rare for the recognition to come at such an early age.

Congratulations to Alyssa, and to her Ceramics teacher, Carol Pelligra.

Junior John Wlasuk of the Newtown High School Indoor Track & Field team participated at the Annual New England Interscholastic Boys’ and Girls’ Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday, March 5, 2010, at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center, Roxbury Community College, MA. John Wlasuk placed eighth in the shot put with a distance of 50-08.25 ft (15.44m). John Wlasuk will continue his record breaking indoor track season this weekend March 12 – 14, 2010 at the 27th Annual National Scholastic Indoor Championship at the New Balance Track & Field Center.  Congratulations John!

This Friday, March 12, 2010, Newtown High will have a Poetry Slam performance. Come see your peers showcase their literary love at 2pm in the lobby. It should be an exciting event and a great way to end day. See you there!

Congratulations to Alyssa Rodriguez for being chosen as a finalist for The Gallery Collection’s 3rd Annual Create-A-Greeting-Card $10,000 Scholarship Contest! The $10,000 scholarship winner will be announced on March 16, 2010.

Ms. Swift’s Honors English I classes studied Romeo and Juliet using theater workshops. Students self-selected their roles from cast, director, or set designer. They prepared for two classes, created the scenery at home, and then performed Act II in class the first week of CAPT.

Congratulations to Alyssa Rodriguez and Zachary Bokuniewicz for being selected as recipients of the Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS) Outstanding High School Visual and Performing Arts Award.  The two students will be honored with other recipients from across the state on April 27, 2010 at the Aqua-Turf in Southington, CT.

Below is the schedule we will follow next week when we are registering freshmen for next year’s classes. The schedule is organized by freshmen English classes. We have a short amount of time to schedule a large number of students with a specific number of computers so please be sure to report to the guidance classroom (B1150/B152) at the time you are scheduled. Read the rest of this entry »

Mrs. Martha Shilstone, of Newtown Youth and Family Services, presented the fourth session of the senior health series. Mrs. Shilstone is the Student Assistance Counselor here at Newtown High School. Her presentation, “Ally’s Story,” details the events of a relationship gone wrong. Today’s workshop will be presented again next Thursday, March 11, 2010 during the four lunch waves in the Lecture Hall.

Congratulations to Jennifer Hoag, School Psychologist, and Suzanne Tyler, Social Worker, for their recent article in the latest edition of the Connecticut School Psychologist (CSP), published by the Connecticut Association of School Psychologists.  Look on page 18 – CSPMarch2010

Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson and Board of Education Members Richard Gaines and William Hart checked on the progress of the Newtown High School Construction and Renovation Project this week. Read the rest of this entry »

The third day of the Senior Health series, “Navigating Through Healthy Relationships,” featured Mrs. Heidi Rankin, Community Educator from The Women’s Center of Greater Danbury. Mrs. Rankin discussed with students as they move on from high school to college, the work force, or military they will experience more freedom; with more freedom comes more risk. Any student who missed Mrs. Rankin’s presentation on March3rd has the opportunity to preview it next Wednesday, March 10, 2010.

French students celebrated Mardi Gras on February 23, 2010 by decorating masks and preparing King’s Cakes. The King Cake is a tradition of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The person who receives the slice with the Baby (a plastic baby) or a bean is crowned the King or Queen of the festival and will be responsible for hosting the party the following year. It is also this person’s responsibility to prepare the King Cake for the festival. French students also viewed videos showing celebrations in Nice, Martinique, and Quebec. The celebration was culminated with the students singing the song “Bal Masque” and entering into a Karaoke contest.

The giving of gifts is an important tradition central to Chinese culture. Students enrolled in Diane Dutchick’s Painting 1 course recently created several pieces to be presented as gifts to members of the visiting Chinese delegation. This was a challenging undertaking with only four weeks of training in class.

Paige Olson, Morgan Kirol, Lillian Rodriquez, Emily Kopcik, Jamie Whelan, Lucy Reilly, and Dominique Allen all donated their work on behalf of NHS.

Thank you, to all artists!

感谢所有的艺术家

7:15-7:40 Sound of Sirens

7:50-8:20 Human Ruin

8:30-9 Acadia Falls!

9:10-9:40 Out of Babylon (M.A.G.S. reggae)

9:50-10:20 M.A.G.S.

10:30-11 Homelife

Tickets are $7 – profits benefit Haiti Relief Efforts

Alec Hooper and Brian Purus are pictured in the process of performing a brake job in Mr. Steve George’s Auto Tech. Lab. The disc/rotor has been resurfaced, and the students are in the process of installing new brake pads into the caliper.

Only a few of Mr. George’s students wish to become auto mechanics, but ALL of Mr. George’s students wish to become car owners. Proficiency at routine maintenance skills can lessen the cost of car-ownership for the students, and for their families.

Happy Motoring!

The second guest presenter in the senior health series was Mrs. Sharon Guck, Coordinator of Alcohol & Other Substance Abuse Prevention Services at Western Connecticut State University. Mrs. Guck discussed the social and academic aspects of transitioning from high school to college. She spoke to students about “getting off to a good start” versus “things that can jam a student up” in college. Students who were unable to attend this workshop have the opportunity to view this presentation again next Tuesday, March 9, 2010.