In a sport noted for its parity, the Patriots have managed an astonishing dominance over the last 17 years. Sunday marks their 9th Super Bowl appearance over that period and their 11th Super Bowl appearance as a franchise. Difficult to believe but they have appeared in 20% of all Super Bowls.
Impossible to persuade any non-Pats fan, which is essentially any fan outside of New England at this point, that Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the Patriots team are a confident, yet humble team.
Both Brady and Belichick share praise, rarely use the pronoun I unless articulating a failure, and speak in terms of we and team. Time is a relentless opponent and as we bask in the glow of another Super Bowl I am hopeful this is not the last one for Tom Brady. Anyone looking for perfection will never find it, but hard work and practice improve whatever craft one pursues, and few, if any, objectionable fans would argue that effort and perseverance are the foundation for their success.
There is much to bemoan when dissecting professional sports: overpaid players, obscene ticket prices, poor behavior, and inflated egos, but there is also much to celebrate. Games are a unifying leisure activity that is mostly blind to political preferences.
A football franchise is a 53 man player roster; however, a team employs hundreds of people from diverse backgrounds. Individuals with divergent political beliefs, with different ethnic backgrounds, with various religious beliefs; all practicing different rituals, customs, and speaking different languages. Despite their differences, they come together for a common purpose and a common goal. One team with one mission, all striving to be the very best they can be. Traits worthy of emulation!
Detractors will argue differently, but from my vantage point the Patriots win and lose with grace, class, and humility. Tom Brady was a sixth-round pick in a draft with only seven rounds. An underdog passed over many times by all teams; a man with a 40-yard dash time at his professional tryout slower than my 12-year-old daughter (in fairness, she is pretty fast), and 17-years later he is considered the best of all-time. What sets him apart, in my humble opinion, is his competitive fire. Michael Jordan and Tom Brady are the two most competitive athletes I have ever seen.
I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge another first during this football season. Sarah Thomas became the first female referee in 2015, and she became the first female to referee a playoff football game. Progress with more to be made!
Unrelated, but arguably the greatest athlete of all-time made a comeback late last year and this athlete recently competed for the first time in 2019. A relatively brief hiatus from the sport to tend to the most important job in the world. Motherhood! Serena Williams returns post childbirth to the tennis courts, and I look forward to watching her dominance. She lends grace and inspiration to both spectator and sport, but I digress.
Read on for some highlights of our remarkable students at CCHS. Go Pats!
CCHS Filmmaker, Thomas Kim ('19)
Thomas Kim's short animated film, "Trejur",in playing across the country. A few years back Thomas Kim successfully crowdfunded it on this blog and other outlets like the Concord Journal. It is finally complete and you can view it here!
"Trejur" has gone to screen in film festivals across the country, most recently playing in places like the New World Center in Miami, the John F Kennedy Center in DC, or The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, all providing all-expense paid week-long trips. These are just the first steps to a filmmaking career, but hopefully, the first of many. Stay tuned for 2019!
Thomas Kim's stop motion video "Trejur"
See Thomas' successful Kickstarter page for behind the scenes looks at his film (now completed) and creative process: Kickstarter Funding Page
CCHS Students Compete in Cross Country Ski Championship
Impressive students and better people, three CCHS Nordic skiers (Phoebe Meyerson, Alex Burt, and Henry Johnstone) competed in the 2019 U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships in Craftsbury, VT.
Impressive students and better people, three CCHS Nordic skiers (Phoebe Meyerson, Alex Burt, and Henry Johnstone) competed in the 2019 U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships in Craftsbury, VT.
This annual, multi-day competition showcases some of the top Nordic skiing talent in the U.S., ranging from a few elite high school-level skiers to numerous college-level skiers to current, former, and future Olympians. It’s one of the few events that enables younger skiers to race directly against much higher-level, elite competition on demanding race courses that have been certified for competition at the highest level by skiing’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS).
Phoebe, Alex, and Henry are grateful to have the opportunity to participate in this event, and it is a testament to their hard work and our outstanding CCHS Nordic Ski program, which helped develop their talent in this demanding sport. The event provided a great opportunity to see how each individual stacks up at this point in their athletic careers against tough competition, as all three will continue skiing competitively in college after they graduate from CCHS.
William Wheeler Exchange
Allyson Lee'18 spoke to the science fiction club, plus some other assembled students and faculty members, presenting her experiences studying in our sister-city of Nanae, Japan last July via the William Wheeler Exchange. The WWE program allows for one student from CCHS and one student from Nanae High School to spend a month in the other's community for full-immersion cultural learning. The WWE program's applications for July 2019 will open next month. For more information, please see Dr. Nurenberg (dnurenberg@concordcarlisle.
National Council of English Teachers (NCTE)
By David Nurenberg
The English Department would like to congratulate the following juniors who were selected as the winners of our 2018-19 student writing competition: Marisa Ih, Kenneth Liu and Harriet Martin. These three students will now go on to compete in the National Council of English Teachers writing competition on a nationwide level. Thank you to all of the students who entered, and also to our three judges for this year, Mr. Sawyer, Ms. Sutter and Ms. Vice-Hisey.
The English Department would like to congratulate the following juniors who were selected as the winners of our 2018-19 student writing competition: Marisa Ih, Kenneth Liu and Harriet Martin. These three students will now go on to compete in the National Council of English Teachers writing competition on a nationwide level. Thank you to all of the students who entered, and also to our three judges for this year, Mr. Sawyer, Ms. Sutter and Ms. Vice-Hisey.
CCHS TEDx
By David Nurenberg and Caitlin Smith
The TEDx Youth Concord Carlisle 2019 selection committee is proud to announce the following 20 speakers for our March 2nd, 2019 conference, "Young people making a difference, right now!"
Asia Adams-Lemar (TechBoston Academy)
Siena Harrigan (Hopkinton High School)
Ella Baker-Puttini (Concord Carlisle High School)
William Beguhn (Concord Carlisle High School)
Sarika Chawla (Acton Boxboro Regional High School)
Jade Darling (Excel Charter Academy High School)
Eva Ferguson (Concord Carlisle High School)
Coco Huang (Concord Academy)
Anna Kitagawa (Concord Carlisle High School)
Kierthan Lathrop (Concord Carlisle High School)
Jennifer Miller (Maynard High School)
Justin Moy (Concord Carlisle High School alum)
Caitlyn O'Leary (Maynard High School)
Charlie Peachey (Concord Carlisle High School alum)
Camaryn Petersen (Concord Carlisle High School)
Laura Pohl (Concord Carlisle High School)
Kunal Sharda (Acton Boxboro Regional High School)
Maxwell Surprenant (St. Sebastian’s School, Needham)
Joseph Vann (Concord Carlisle High School)
Haley Wixom (Concord Academy)
Our deep thanks to everyone who submitted and to the many students and teachers who worked to help us with the extremely difficult task of selecting speakers from such a compelling collection of applications.
Everyone and anyone is invited for March 2nd, 2019 as an attendee, for a day of stimulating ideas and amazing stories. We hope you will spread the word about TEDx Youth Concord Carlisle 2019!
Everyone and anyone is invited for March 2nd, 2019 as an attendee, for a day of stimulating ideas and amazing stories. We hope you will spread the word about TEDx Youth Concord Carlisle 2019!
Pictures From Our Activism Club Attending the Women's March
The Homework Club will be offering academic support during next Wednesday's early release (2/6). The center will be open for all CCHS students from 11:15 AM through 2:41 PM. It is located in room 308. Door prize for the first 10 students. Hope to see you there!
We will be serving in January a variety of locally grown produce from Drumlin Farm, which is located in Lincoln, MA. This produce includes carrots, kohlrabi, leeks, parsnips, daikon radish, butternut squash, and gilfeather turnip.
Computer Science + Entrepreneurship Opportunity for High School Girls
My name is Shrunothra, and I am the co-founder of MetroHacks, a 501c3 educational nonprofit dedicated to empowering high school students with practical computer science education and tools. We are running our second annual Women's Conference this year, and we would love to have your students!
It is an incredible opportunity for girls to learn from leading experts, explore in a pressure-free environment, create solutions, and compete for prizes! There will be speakers, free meals, snacks, and swag, workshops, prizes, etc. It’s completely free and open to all high school girls interested in exploring computer science, regardless of experience level. You can view our first women's event featured in The Boston Globe last year and our recap video!
At our event, students will:
- Create innovative solutions to various problems in society- Learn various skills and explore topics in computer science
- Attend workshops conducted by industry experts in everything from machine learning to entrepreneurship
- Enjoy free meals and snacks all day
- Compete for grand prizes (ex. Snapchat Spectacles!)- Get free swag from companies
- Meet other amazing women in tech from the community!
*Mentors will be available to help students with projects.
Date: Saturday, February 23rd, 2019
Time: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm (Sign-in begins at 8:15 am)
Location: Microsoft NERD Center (1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA)
Time: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm (Sign-in begins at 8:15 am)
Location: Microsoft NERD Center (1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA)
Registration is open now at www.metrohacks.org/register
Additionally, MetroHacks provides opportunities for students to get internships, kick-start their own businesses, network with experts from prominent tech companies, and gain exposure to the computer science community in New England.
Notifying the student and parent body of this event - either through email, newsletter, announcement - is a great way to encourage students to sign up, and would be much appreciated. As the event is free, thanks to our wonderful partners and sponsors, there is no charge for students to attend! If you have any questions, please visit www.metrohacks.org or reach me at shrunothra@metrohacks.org.
We sincerely hope to see some of your Concord-Carlisle High School students at our event! Be sure to visit us on our social media platforms to see the latest updates about the event.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration!
Sincerely,
Shrunothra Ambati (Ms.)
Co-founder, MetroHacks
SUMMER APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!
Do you know a student who is interested in STEM?
The Army’s Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) offers several summer apprenticeship programs for high school and college students - all provide educational stipends while working with a mentor in a research lab.
Applications close on February 28th.
For High School Students:
REAP offers underserved high school students (Grades 9 – 12) a research experience in a university lab. For more information and to apply:
SEAP is a high school program that matches students (ages vary) with scientists in a Department of Defense Lab. For more information and t0 apply: SEAP: https://www.usaeop.com/
HSAP offers high school students (rising juniors and seniors) a research experience alongside university researchers sponsored by the Army Research Office. For more information and to apply: HSAP: https://www.usaeop.com/
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