Dear NCHS Family,
Happy New Year, and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2023! It’s a pleasure to see all students, teachers, and staff back at school after a well-deserved restful break. Mid-term exams are less than a week away as the end of the first semester approaches, and preparing for exams can be stressful. However, good study skills and time management can help alleviate some stress and anxiety. Here are some helpful and valuable tips: Students study in a quiet and well-lit place. Turn off cell phones, TV, and social media. Create a study guide, don’t study near your computer unless necessary for your work, and see teachers for extra help. Pace yourself instead of opting for an all-nighter. Get plenty of sleep and eat a healthy breakfast.
Take a deep breath and relax! You can do this!
Click the link for the detailed END OF SEMESTER EXAM SCHEDULE.
Midterms NCHS Exam Wellness & Enrichment Activities will run from
9:45 – 10:30 during exam days.
HAPPENINGS AROUND NCHS!
Officers Deak and Ceci are getting a tutorial about MakerSpace.
CLUB NEWS:
The New Canaan Entrepreneur Association Club is hosting the CEO of CAIS, Matt Brown, on January 30th after school in the Wagner Room. CAIS is a “unicorn company” with an over $1 billion evaluation and is a leading platform in the alternative investing space. The event is open to all parents, students, and faculty and will last around an hour with a Q&A portion. Please contact lucas.williams@ncps-k12.org for more information or further questions.
Did you know? The original 1971 New Canaan High School Planetarium is being transformed, and we are excited about the future potential it will hold for our students. Students can explore space, and the layers of the earth, learn about history, study geography, produce a 3D presentation, or perform with a small group. To learn more about the future of The DOME, click here.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
1/09 – BOE Meeting – 7:00 pm – Wagner Room
1/12 – Exams – Periods 1 & 2
1/12 – Junior Parent Night – 7:00 pm
1/13 – Exams – Periods 3 & 4
1/16 – Martin Luther King Day – No School
DEPARTMENT NEWS:
CTE:
TV Broadcasting: Students are wrapping up the semester, and their final project is to produce a live TV show. The class is split into two different production teams, with each “airing” its show during the exam period. Teams are producing shows from scratch – including writing the script, producing different segments as well as being in all the studio positions.
Journalism – It’s almost time for the third issue of the Courant newspaper to come out! Students are busy editing stories, designing pages, and creating graphics. Look for the issue next Wednesday.
Advanced TV Broadcasting – Over break, NCTV streamed 3 different basketball games and will stream another game tonight. This is against the #6 Danbury, so if you can’t attend the game, you can always watch it on NCTV’s YouTube Channel. Also, be sure to like and subscribe to keep up with the latest news and event coverage.
The baking and Pastry Art class researched desserts and breads from other countries and cultures with a presentation and prepared a recipe from their chosen country. . Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Sweden, and England were some of the countries that were represented.
The Child Development class prepared healthy, fun, and safe snacks for preschool-aged children after studying a unit on nutrition and some of the choking hazards for young children.
The preschool is closed and will re-open in March for the spring semester.
Individual and Family Development students assessed preschool students on Piaget’s theory of conservation.
SCIENCE:
Forensic Science students performed a lab on ink chromatography to demonstrate how ink can be used as evidence to help solve a crime. They then calculated how far each ink pigment traveled with respect to how far the solvent (water) traveled. This allowed students to compare suspects to the crime scene and solve the case.
AP Chemistry students measured the reaction rate between bleach and food dye at two different temperatures using spectrophotometers. The spectrophotometer displayed how much the solution absorbed light over time. Students used this data to determine how fast bleach removed the color from food dye at different temperatures, graphically determine the reaction order, and write the rate law.
Students in AP Environmental Science set up a bioassay to determine the LD-50 on seed germination using different salinity concentrations.
Chemistry students wrapped up their last unit of the semester by figuring out which had more atoms/ions: a grain of salt, a grain of sand, or a grain of sugar.
Honors Geophysical Science wrapped up their geology unit by making a geologic timeline for a made-up planet. They analyzed fossil data looking for mass extinctions and evolution, calculated the ages of fossils using radioactive decay, and determined where eras and periods began and ended. This involved much analysis, debate, and creativity!
SOCIAL STUDIES:
AP World History students launched headlong into the Industrial Revolution and collaborated as urban designers experiencing the chaos and frantic pace of change in Manchester, England.
VPA:
Photography students are jumping into their final book projects! Check out their progress in the photos below…
Printmaking & Mixed Media students are finalizing their Mandala Projects…
Students in Photoshop Design class had an incredible opportunity to meet with world-renowned Photoshop artist and Adobe ambassador Vanessa Rivera from her company, The Life of Aivax! Vanessa is located in Michigan, so this was a Zoom event. Students learned about her career and techniques in the software and received advice on what to do if they wanted to pursue a successful career in digital art. The class did a fantastic job asking the artist questions and conducting an interview worthy of any publication! This was truly a remarkable experience.
LIBRARY:
NCHSWeeklyUpdate 