Dear NCHS Family,
Thank you, NCHS, for sharing your incredible eclipse photos and capturing amazing views from local vantage points to regions of totality. Your photos gave us a breathtaking visual journey through this awe-inspiring cosmic event. Whether you witnessed the eclipse from your backyard or traveled to witness totality, your contributions have enriched the experience for all. Thank you for sharing your passion for astronomy and inspiring others to look up and marvel at the wonders of the cosmos. Please click here for all of the fantastic photos!
This past week was an exciting one as we got back to a longstanding tradition at NCHS! The PFA led a week-long Safe Driving Week initiative. Each day, students heard safe driving facts and stats from one of the NCPD officers during the morning announcements and were treated to a giveaway in the cafeteria. To receive the giveaway, each student had to recite the safe driving phrase of the day. Some of the daily sayings were: “I DONUT text and drive,” or “I will be a LIFESAVER and obey the speed limit,” or “I would be a DUM DUM to drink and drive.”
On Wednesday, the New Canaan Police Department had several officers doing field sobriety tests using Fatal Vision Goggles. While this was a funny activity to partake in, the seriousness of alcohol and drug impairment was exemplified. On Thursday, the Junior and Senior classes listened to a speaker from EndDD.org about the impact distracted driving can have on all drivers.
Sadly, due to the weather, Friday’s rescue reenactment was postponed until after the break. Stay tuned for this reenactment in partnership with the New Canaan Police, Fire and EMS Departments, the Drama Club, and Rubino’s Autobody.
We would like to thank our community partners, especially SRO Deak, for working together on this potentially life-saving program.
NCHS TEAMS COMPETETION 2024
The results from this year’s national TSA/TEAMS (Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science) competition are in, and New Canaan High School took 1st and 3rd place in the State of CT. The team of Everett Collin, Brendon Harmon, Zachary Santiago, and Samuel Wang took home 3rd place, and the team of Luke Huang, Jake Donohue, Daryl Lavin, and Alex Powers earned the top spot in the State of Connecticut. This is the third year in a row that New Canaan has brought home the “Best in State” banner. Forty-eight AP Physics students competed in the event in teams of four. The competition consists of three parts, and this year’s theme was “Engineering Another World.” In part 1, each team prepared a proposal to address the engineering needs that would have to be tackled if humans were to try to populate another planet or satellite in space. They took about four weeks to prepare the proposal, submitted just before competition day. Part 2 was a series of questions about four topics related to those engineering challenges. Part 3 was a design and build portion where teams were given limited materials and told to build a prototype transportation storage facility with a functioning door that could be operated remotely.
Daryl Lavin, Luke Huang, Jake Donohue, and Alex Powers
Best in State!
On March 16th, NCHS had seven students compete at our regional competition for the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO). Niyathi Iyengar, Natalia Lundberg, Skyla Warren, Lia Lavin, Anne-Eva Ritter, Shane Wartinbee, and Claire-Helene Ritter all earned impressive marks in the competition. Our top performers were Niyathi Iyengar, who earned the highest score in the western CT region, and Natalia Lundberg, who also finished in the top 10!
Niyathi and Natalia advance to the Follow-up Exam and the Laboratory Practicum, which will be held on Saturday, April 20th, at Sacred Heart University in the Department of Chemistry. Congratulations to all who competed, and good luck to Niyathi and Natalia in the next round!
DEPARTMENT NEWS:
CTE:
ENGLISH:
CALLING ALL POETS!
NCHS will host its annual Poetry Fest on Thursday, April 25th, at 6 PM in the Wagner room. All students are invited to submit an original poem or two to share at the event. To participate, simply email your typed, original poem to Mrs. Brown in the English department at Kristen.brown@ncps-k12.org no later than April 12th. Talk to your English teacher for more details.
Not to be eclipsed by the recent natural phenomena this week, the English Department would like to congratulate all the students who submitted and were recognized in the Writopia H2H scholastic writing competition. Students submitted writing that ranged from personal essays and poetry to articles in the Courant. The following students received recognition for their writing:
Donovan West: Grade 11: Silver Key and Gold Key
Anna Vertin, Grade 10: Silver Key and Honorable Mention
Emily Telesco, Grade 10: Silver Key and Honorable Mention
Tahlia Scherer, Grade 11: Honorable Mention
Serra Savasoglu, Grade 10: Silver Key and Gold Key
Lily Roen, Grade: Honorable Mention, Silver Key, and Gold Key
Claire-Helene Ritter, Grade 10; Honorable Mention
Shreya Prabhu, Grade 11: Honorable Mention
Amy Meng, Grade 11: Honorable Mention, Silver Key
Ivan Lvovsky 12: Honorable Mention
Congratulations to all!
MATH:
This week in Mrs. Thompson’s Algebra 1 classes, students are working on solving quadratic equations. Here, you see students working together to complete an investigation on completing the square!
Students in Mrs. Hamara’s M3 Algebra 2 constructed The Unit Circle by using special right triangles. They then used their Unit Circles to evaluate Trigonometric Functions.
VPA:
Thirteen NCHS students participated in the CMEA All-State Music Festival last week at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. They collaborated with 600 other high school musicians and music educators for three days of rehearsal and performance. Congratulations to our 2024 All-State Musicians!
Anderson Cook, jazz drums
Alma Hsu, flute
Daryl Lavin, trombone
Naomi Pitts, trombone
Niyathi Iyengar, violin
Hayden Burke, bass
Tucker Kosofsky, bass Charlotte Campbell, alto
Maddy Peterson, alto
Serena Peterson, soprano
Rachel Pitts, soprano
Morgan Pitts, soprano
Emily Telesco, alto
On Tuesday, April 9, six of our NCHS student musicians provided music for the ceremony at Waveny Care Center. The ceremony celebrated 50 years in our community and showcased the partnership with NCHS in music and volunteerism.
You’re Invited!
NCHS 37th Annual Senior Art Show
Metamorphosis
Opening Reception
Thursday, April 25th, 5-7 pm
with light snacks and refreshments
The thirty-seventh Annual Senior Art Show, entitled “Metamorphosis,” marks a very special experience for a group of New Canaan High School seniors. Each student’s artwork will be on display in the NCHS High School Art Gallery.
The exhibition celebrates the creative accomplishments of NCHS senior art students and consists of ten one-person retrospectives in various media, including drawing, painting, photography, ceramics, digital media, and film.
The following 18 seniors are featured in the show:
Brooke Anfidsen
Apollonia Antoniou
Justin Barnum
Griffin Bramwit
Madelyn Casey
Aaron DeChiara
Jasper Engle
Jake Fox
Alexandra Gelvin
Kailey Marti
Maren McDaniel
Natalie Minckler
Olivia Mitchell
Christian Passios
Edward Rodgers
Halle Roddy
Clara Wollmeringer
Eric Zhao
LIBRARY:
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