Denmark Exchange
By Greg Coan
The 2017-18 Denmark Exchange has kicked off to a fantastic start as our guests from Denmark spent a week visiting CCHS and Boston. The group consisted of 19 students, 2 teachers and the principal from our sister school in Slagelse, Denmark. We had 15 wonderful host families who supported and transported our guests during the week's activities. Our 15 CCHS students will travel to Denmark in April.
Highlights include:
• Columbus Day staff hike up Mt. Wachusett
• A crossover with the Japan Exchange as the Goar family hosted a Thanksgiving dinner with Anna, a Danish exchange student and their family friends, the McNally's and Runa, their Japanese exchange student and two of her friends.
• A lot of pumpkin carving
• Visits to Boston and Cambridge
• Visits to Walden Pond
• Visits to Concord Museum and Minuteman Park
• Class shadowing in school
• A goodbye bonfire and hayrides at Verrill Farm
Weather Balloon
On behalf of the students and staff at CCHS, I want to thank the Concord Education Fund for making the balloon project possible. I have included a synopsis of the experience from CCHS senior, Charles Peachey. It was written last week, and I have an update. The balloon was located in Carlisle a mere 4 miles from there calculations. Well done, all.
By Charles Peachey
To start our momentous journey we arrived at the high school at 6 am in order to load up the bus on time. As soon as the last piece of gear was on the bus we started our two hours and ten-minute journey out to our launch site of Berkshire Waldorf High School and Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School out in Great Barrington, MA.
Upon arrival, we were greeted with a crowd of around 20 students parents and teachers from the surrounding area who all were very interested in our balloon launch. From selecting our launch site to giving us coffee the locals really made us feel welcome. While we got set up some members of our Concord Carlisle Weather Services educated the crowd on the ins and outs of the weather balloon and surrounding meteorological factors attached to that balloon. Everyone there was so interested always asking questions and trying to find out more. By the end of that day, they could have built their own balloon.
The launch procedures them self couldn't have gone much better. Everyone knew exactly what their role was in the assembly of the balloon. That level of organization gave us a very smooth launch and assembly procedure that helped ease any tensions from surrounding onlookers. From what we could see all experiments by the end of our preparations were working just like they should be, so we stepped back and started filling the balloon. Meticulously watching as the latex weather balloon expanded and got bigger the excitement grew more and more. With people surrounding this balloon with their cameras and phones and live streams, we couldn't have made for a better launch. With the little wind we had at the time it was a very smooth release and very exciting last ascent.
As for the recovery that didn't go as smoothly. Due to two different mechanical failures with our GPS devices, we lost contact with the balloon. Frantically we called the company in charge of our satellite coverage asking if there was anything we could do to fix this. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do, so the got hard to work on a solution and so did we. The entire two hours ten-minute bus ride home all 13 passengers did not stop thinking about a solution. We are still trying to come up with what went wrong, but we are actively working with ways to recover our balloon. If there is any information as to where the balloon is felt free to contact cpeachey18@concordcarlisle.org or truggiero@concordcarlisle.org.
Even in the failure in recovery our second year of the weather balloon launch went very well. We had a great time putting together the balloon and educating our local community. There is also one more launch scheduled for November 16th after school at the upper fields that we are working towards now. We would also like to thank the entire school for coming out to witness our tethered launch during advisory.
Harlem Lacrosse
By Maureen Dibble & Louis Salemy
On behalf of Harlem Lacrosse, we would like to extend our sincerest thanks to the Concord and Carlisle communities for participating in the sixth annual Harlem Lacrosse weekend. This year, 25 families from Concord and Carlisle opened their homes to 90 of our students from Harlem. Weekend activities included a lacrosse clinic on Saturday morning followed by a tour of the Old North Bridge (Concord Museum), the Old Manse, and the Robbins House.
The weekend culminated in a lacrosse tournament at CCHS on Sunday that drew 500 participants. Special thanks goes to the 50 CCHS boys and girls lacrosse players who volunteered and helped coach the 30 participating teams. These high schoolers excelled in their roles as mentors and coaches and displayed strong leadership skills. In a brief time frame, they were able to mold their players comprised of youth from different geographies, backgrounds, and lacrosse abilities into cohesive teams.
Concord and Carlisle can take pride that Harlem Lacrosse was founded by 2004 CCHS graduate and lacrosse player Simon Cataldo. Simon learned the value of public education, diversity, and empathy growing up in Concord and learning in its public schools. Those values that are embodied by our community are now intrinsic to our local partnership with Harlem Lacrosse.
From its founding in 2011 with only 10 players in one city, Harlem Lacrosse now serves 1,000 students and is in five cities. We are especially proud that Harlem Lacrosse now has a presence in Boston and is serving 150 students at three public schools in Mattapan and Dorchester.
Rivers Stewardship
By Michael Goodwin
Each Wednesday, Rivers and Revolutions students head into the field to engage in their stewardship projects. This work allows students in the program to leverage their learning in the service of other individuals and organizations. Twelve of our current students have been working with Kim Rivers’ fifth-grade class at Willard Elementary School, providing interdisciplinary experiential instruction in and out of the classroom.
This past week, we hosted the Willard students here at the high school, offering a hands-on lesson surrounding the poem “Where Many Rivers Meet” by David Whyte. Our high school students were more than impressed by the depth of insight offered by these younger students, and collectively the entire group came to a greater understanding of the relationship of the hydrologic cycle and the trajectory of our own lives. At the conclusion of the lesson, the fifth graders offered a wide range of feedback to our students, speaking in large part to their appreciation of the ways in which we all worked together to explore the text. Speaking to why the day worked well for her, fifth-grader Beverly Henry-Hanson said: “I liked not getting looked down on. I like to be treated as an equal.”
This kind of cross-district collaboration provides a powerful learning opportunity for all involved, and we are looking forward to five more full days together. Willard Stewards include: Olivia Maione, Johnny Hudson, Frankairis Rosario, Kelly Leonard, Jeff Cohen, Ben Walton, Phoebe Hall, Elsa Simonton, CJ Israel, Haley Kohler
Emma Sofia Wipper, Maddy Gorewitz
Other stewardship projects this semester include: Pathways life skills curriculum, METCO 50th anniversary tribute, invasive species removal, and the design of an outdoor classroom space at CCHS.
WHERE MANY RIVERS MEET
All the water below me came from above.
All the clouds living in the mountains
gave it to the rivers
who gave it to the sea, which was their dying.
And so I float on cloud become water,
central sea surrounded by white mountains,
the water salt, once fresh,
clouds fall and stream rush, tree root and tide bank
leading to the rivers' mouths
and the mouths of the rivers sing into the sea,
the stories buried in the mountains
give out into the sea
and the sea remembers
and sings back
 |
| Ethan Young Pictured on Left |
Ethan Young
Pathways said farewell to one of the most hard-working students last week. Ethan Young came to Concord-Carlisle High School after attending the Riverview School until age 18. In his time since returning to CCHS, Ethan gained skills in academic as well as vocational pursuits. Ethan is an avid fan of weather, and thoroughly enjoyed Earth Science with Mr. Pavlik. Ethan produced a movie for that class about one of his favorite topics, tornados!
Ethan has been a long-time volunteer at Cooperative Elder Services, Inc. He also volunteered with other Pathways students the Goodnow Library, Drumlin Farm, Acton Food Pantry, and Discovery Museum. In recent weeks, Ethan had a lot of fun at the new Pathways vocational location, Buddy Dog of Sudbury. Ethan has been an independent traveler over the last few years, using public transportation to get to and from school and work.
The celebration of Ethan's success here at CCHS had a Christmas theme, and it was the most wonderful time of the year! The crowd enjoyed various video tributes to Ethan and wished Ethan well. We look forward to seeing Ethan at future movie nights and hearing more about his success in the future! Special thanks to all the members of our Pathways program who helped Ethan succeed. Good luck, Ethan.
Kicks-for-Cancer
This year marked the 11th anniversary of the Lois Wells Memorial Kicks for Cancer. Lois is the mother of our very own Steve Wells.
As part of the fundraiser, jerseys are sold to the public; 100% of the proceeds go to Dana Farber to support women's cancer research. We are very proud to announce that our 2017 KFC donation total to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will be $62,592.30.
2017 - $$62,592.30
2016 - $60,021.00
2015 - $46,940.00
2014 - $44,307.65
2013 - $33,409.01
2012 - $28,989.96
2011 - $28,273.27
2010 - $17,051.00
2009 - $10,124.25
2008 - $11,032.40
2007 - $8,000.00
Alumni Spotlight (Connor Lofdahl- Trombone, Class of 2016)
By David Gresko
Check out what Connor has been up to the University of North Texas, one of the top jazz programs in the country.
Connor is now a sophomore at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas studying jazz trombone – and loving every minute of it! He currently plays in the prestigious Two O’Clock Lab Band, which is the second highest level of the nine big bands in the Jazz Studies Division. He is also lead trombone in the Latin Jazz Lab Band and recently joined the Denton-based Latin jazz and salsa band Los Wedos.
Previously, he played lead in the Four and Three O’Clock Lab Bands as well as the contemporary jazz fusion ensemble The Zebras and a classical trombone quartet. He has had several gigs as a sub (sometimes even for money!) both on and off campus, most recently in the Rebel Alliance Jazz Ensemble, including an upcoming recording session with trumpeter Bobby Shew – but the most exciting gig so far was when he was flown out to Santa Fe to play with the Georgia Bridgwater Orchestra for George W. Bush’s goddaughter's wedding!
Raising a Student-Athlete Presentation
Monday, November 6th at 7 PM
Location: Concord Carlisle High School Auditorium
Please consider attending “Raising a Student-Athlete: Sports Parenting in the 21st Century”, presented by Adam H. Naylor, EdD, CC-AASP, this coming Monday evening at CCHS (offered for free and sponsored by the Center for Parents and Teachers).
Dr. Naylor will lead this discussion focused on supporting children's health and their ability to thrive throughout their sporting experiences. Consideration will be given to the parent’s and coach's role in developing confident and resilient young athletes and how to manage the stress of increasingly complicated sporting decisions which families face. All Parents and Coaches are encouraged to attend.
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