It is with great pleasure that we share the last blog of 2022, featuring highlights from our incredibly talented students and staff. Warmest wishes for a happy holiday season and all the best to the entire CCHS community in the coming year!
- CCHS Administration
CCHS Students Attain the Rank of Eagle Scout
Lucas Herrero
Lucas Herrero from Concord Scout Troop 132 attained the rank of Eagle Scout this past August. This involved earning over 21 merit badges, including First Aid, Cooking, Backpacking, Electricity, and SCUBA Diving, among others. As part of the requirements for Eagle Scout, he also developed leadership skills by serving as Assistant Senior Patrol Leader and then Senior Patrol Leader for the entire troop - the highest youth leadership position that involves overseeing and planning troop activities throughout the year and running weekly troop meetings.
For his Eagle Project, Lucas developed a project plan and sought sponsorship from the Concord Land Conservation Trust in order to build 4 bat boxes. These serve as houses for bats in order to protect their dwindling numbers while also providing a natural way to minimize mosquitoes in the surrounding land. The project involved fundraising, working with the Land Trust to find the best location for the project, and overseeing a team of volunteers to build and then install the bat boxes.
Lucas has also enjoyed numerous high adventure trips with the Scouts, including a 12-day, 100-mile backpacking trip in New Mexico, sailing in the Florida Keys, and summiting Mount Washington twice. This past summer he went to New Mexico a second time for a two-week Trail Conservation trip that combined hiking with maintaining and creating trails.
Christian Perrotta
Christian Perrotta joined Boy Scout Troop 132 Concord at the end of fifth grade. Over the course of his seven years in the troop, Christian has hiked and biked across New England and mastered many outdoor skills. Christian has accumulated hundreds of community service hours, spent over one hundred nights camping, served in countless leadership positions, earned 28 merit badges, and attained the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout. Christian was also fortunate enough to complete a twelve-day 105-mile trek with his troop at Philmont Scout Ranch, New Mexico, during the Summer of 2021. During the Spring of 2022, Christian completed his Eagle Scout Project, which involved leading a group of volunteers through painting, building, and installing four wooden signs around the White Pond Reservation in Concord. Christian's Eagle Scout project will assist the town's long-standing effort to protect the natural beauty and environment of White Pond and its surrounding area.
Please join us in congratulating Lucas and Christian for
this outstanding accomplishment!
Thanksgiving Luncheon
The Senior Citizen Thanksgiving Luncheon was held on Saturday, November 19. Every year, Class Government and the Council on Aging run this event to provide senior citizens in our community with a great meal for Thanksgiving. Volunteers used a drive-through and delivery format. On-site student volunteers packed and handed out the meals at CCHS and the Carlisle Fire Station. Student delivery drivers dropped meals at the residences of seniors who requested delivery. Thank you to all of the amazing volunteers who made this happen for our seniors!
Debate Team Updates
vs. Lexington High School: CCHS debaters had a great showing at the Lexington High School in-person debate held at Lexington High School on Saturday, November 19. Three of our valiant novice debaters won medals and qualified for the Massachusetts State Debate Tournament, which will be held on March 25, 2023. Debating the topic: “Resolved: The United States’ strategy of Great Power Competition produces more benefits than harms,” the team of Noah Arthur and Caroline Haskell had a record of 4 wins and 1 loss, while Evan Wang, debating alone, also qualified for states with a 3 win-2 loss record. Also debating for CCHS were Addy Richardson and Kevin Jiang. Individual speaker awards went to Evan Wang (1st), Caroline Haskell (3rd), and Noah Arthur (11th). Pictured below: Evan, Noah, Caroline.
vs. Lincoln Sudbury High School: The CCHS Debate team had another great tournament at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School on Saturday, December 3. CCHS sent 7 debaters and 3 adult judges for the full day of in-person debating. Debating in the varsity division, Wilbur Moffitt won the award for 8th place speaker. His achievement was especially remarkable because Moffitt was debating alone (mavericking) due to an illness on the team. All three of the CCHS’s novice teams qualified the the Massachusetts State Debate Tournament by earning records of 3 wins - 2 losses of better. Our teams were Caroline Haskell & Noah Arthur (4-1 record and 7th place team), Anthony Babu & Evan Wang (3-2 record), and Sarafina Zhang & Chengzhe Jiang (3-2 record). In addition, Chengzhe won the medal for 2nd place individual speaker in the field of 80 debaters.
Lumos Tournament: At the Lumos Debate Novice Tournament, held on Saturday, November 5, CCHS Debate Team novices had great success. Awards were given based on the success of teams and for individual speaker excellence. The team of Lucy Butler & Caroline Haskell took 2nd place with an undefeated 4-0 record, followed by Anthony Babu & Evan Wang, who were also undefeated (placement was based only on speaker points). Lucas Leonard & Noah Arthur had a 3-1 record, and Chengzhe (Kevin) Jiang & Evan Moffitt went 2-2. Individual speaker awards went to Noah (2nd), Evan M. (3rd), and Chengzhe (7th).
Natick Holly Festival: CCHS Debaters Conclude 2022 with Success at Natick Holly Festival. Eleven members of Concord Carlisle’s Debate Team and 6 judges/coaches attended the last tournament of 2022 at Natick High School’s Holly Festival on Saturday, December 17, and came home with team and speaker trophies reflecting excellent records across the board.
In the novice division The teams of Kevin Li & Caroline Haskell and Anthony Babu & Lucy Butler both had 4 win-1 loss records and placed 3rd and 4th, respectively. Individual speaker awards in the field of 65 debaters went to Caroline Haskell (FIRST PLACE), Anthony Babu (THIRD PLACE), and Evan Moffitt (FOURTH PLACE). Also debating in the novice division were Lucas Leonard, Sarafina Zhang, Chengzhe Jiang, and Maxime Pasty. In the Varsity Division, the team of Wilbur Moffitt & Addie Richardson (who debated in varsity even though she is a first year) had a record of 5 wins - 1 loss, and took SECOND PLACE in the tournament by winning the final debate of the day!
Congratulations Coaches Goldberg and McGrath
On December 7, Matt Goldberg and Dan McGrath were honored by the MIAA as Coaches of the Year in their respective sports - Matt in Girls Swim and Dive at CCHS and Dan in Boys Soccer at Reading HS. Matt was also selected as the NFHS Section 1 winner, which means he was selected as Coach of the Year from all of New England, New York, and New Jersey! We are lucky to have both of these dedicated educators working with our students. Congratulations, Coaches Goldberg and McGrath!
Academic Bowl Team
The Academic Bowl team qualified for this year’s WGBH High School Quiz Show. The CC team earned a slot in this year’s televised tournament by recording one of the highest scores among the 65 high schools that participated in the Super Sunday qualifying event held in November. CCHS will take on Melrose in a televised match on February 4th. The team that earned the invitation to the High School Quiz Show tournament is captained by Will Del Sobral and includes Leah Greenberg, Thomas Griffin, Anthony Babu, and Keira Lonadier. Anyone wishing to join the Academic Bowl is invited to join us Thursday afternoons after school in Room 333.
CCHS Hosts Blood Drive
Student Senate is once again so grateful to work with Boston’s Children's Hospital. For years now, we have been hosting a blood drive for this hospital every fall and spring. In this recent blood drive, we had almost 30 donors give blood! We look forward to the next one in the spring and want to give the biggest thanks to those who gave blood. It really does make a difference.
-CCHS Student Senate
CCHS Musicians Excel at Regional Auditions
Musicians from our CCHS bands, choirs, and orchestras recently attended the MMEA Eastern District Senior Festival Auditions at Milton HS. Students who elected to participate spent several months - some since last June - preparing for these auditions. Out of the 853 students that auditioned from the 30 cities and towns in our district, only 442 were accepted. The top 50% of accepted students receive a recommendation to audition for the All-State Concert Festival.
Students accepted to the festival will attend a full-day rehearsal followed by a concert at Boston Latin School along with their peers from schools across MMEA's Eastern District. At the festival, students will work with a talented guest conductor and perform a rigorous concert program. The concert is on Saturday, January 7th in the Boston Latin HS Auditorium and is open to the public - tickets are available in advance, and I would be happy to facilitate your ticket purchase for this event!
The CCHS Music Department is incredibly proud of these students based on our holistic approach to the audition: focusing on the experience, the opportunity for personal growth, and the journey over the destination and outcome.
Please join me in congratulating the students listed below on all their hard work! They represented our community magnificently!
-Christopher Noce, Director of Bands & Orchestra
Rachel Anderson, Anthony Babu #+, Weston Bateman, Naomi Benyo #, James Bramley, Mariana Cadavid #, Sebastian Casimiro-Nuñez #+, Raymond Chan #+, Theodore Collins #+, Darian Cosic #, Daniel Edelman, Carson Enes #+, Robert (Grady) Flinn #, Anyuu Fong, Jack Gilmore #, Alessandra Giragos #+, Hannah Girma #, Kaia Haeni, Katie Han #, Warren Hansel, Nafeesa Hoda, Sophie Hong, Sofia Hughes #+, Claire Jennings #, Colin Jennings, Sarah Jonczyk, August Lee-Kovach, Brandon Li #+, Stephanie Liang, Mia Lipson, Benjamin Lyczkowski #+, Catherine Lynch, Joshua Ma, Maya McCabe #+, Nora Molten, Gabrielle Monagle-Fleming, Chloe Palmer, Benjamin Pixley #+, Katherine Pohlig, Delaney Remington, David Rennert, Sophie Richardson #+, Samuel Richman #+, Marina Ricker #+, Ranai Shah #, Mia Snorek-Yates, Lilly Soillis, April Tang #, Meilynn Teng #, Dia Wang, Alec Wei, Forrest Williams #+, Ian Wolossow #+, Noah Zall #+, Felicity Zhang
# = Accepted to Festival
+ = All-State Recommendation
MVP Training
I am so proud of all of you who participated in the MVP (Mentors in Violence Prevention) training November 16 and 17. As a group, you were very mature and thoughful as you discussed challenging topics such as sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating/domestic violence and homophobia. It was such a meaningful experience and I am grateful to all for being willing to commit two school days to prevent and stand up against gender-based violence. This was our 6th annual MVP Training. It is meaningful to see several students who participated in the 1-day MVP training as 8th graders choose to participate in the 2-day MVP training as high school students. It is also meaningful to see many younger siblings of MVP leaders choose to follow in their older siblings’ footsteps!
We would also like to thank the parents for supporting their student in participating in the MVP Training. Thanks especially to the many parents pitched in to contribute snacks (Heather Bout, Christine Brennan, Clair Trudeau, Kristen Avini, Lora Venessy, Liza Snell), organize the parents who brought snacks (Sandy Eisenbies), pick up and deliver pizza (Dan Reilly), and manage the t-shirt order (Bethany Gibson). Our apologies if we accidentally left any parents unnamed!
Ms. Slocum and Mr. Goldberg, MVP Advisors
3rd Annual Holiday Huddle
Thank you everyone for supporting the 3rd Annual CC Football Holiday Huddle. We delivered over 250 toys to the Concord Fire Department this afternoon. Assistant Chief Latta and CFD expressed their gratitude and talked to our players about how much this means to our community and local towns. He said the demand for toys was even higher this year, and our donations would greatly impact many families this holiday season.
Thank you again for everyone's support. Wishing everyone a healthy and happy holiday season!
With Patriot Pride, Coach Reed
Toys for Tots
Eddie Myles (sophomore), Grady Snarr (sophomore), and Bella Myles (junior) organized a toy drive and fundraiser for the Toys for Tots Charity. The fundraiser ran through the end of November and the start of December. In total, they collected over 50 toys and raised almost $300 dollars! Thanks to everyone who helped us spread some holiday cheer!
-Eddie, Grady, and Bella
National Honor Society
Teams from the National Honor Society have volunteered at the houses of Concord senior citizens to perform fall clean up yard work. This is a wonderful collaboration between the NHS and the Concord Council on Aging that provides an opportunity for students to help senior residents who can no longer physically do the work themselves. It was also an opportunity for the students to connect with senior residents, one of whom graduated from Concord High School in 1954 (and took Latin!), another who was a retired Thoreau School nurse and another the widow of former CCHS earth science teacher Wilson Flight.
I would like to give a special shout out to senior Cameron McCleod who, upon learning that the demand for services was greater than the supply of student volunteers, took the initiative to organize his scout troop to provide yard work at six additional houses.
- Madeleine Pooler, NHS Advisor
Here are a few photos of the students in action:
Gropius House Tour
On Thursday, November 10, the Architecture class visited the Gropius House in Lincoln for a guided tour. It was quite inspirational for our final project; a sight-specific tiny house that expresses the values of the scholar/artist who lives there. Gropius' modest home marked the beginning of the sustainable, efficient and inclusive house movement that eventually inspired many of the features we enjoy at CCHS!
For more information regarding this local gem, please visit:
www.historicnewengland.org/property/gropius-house/
Raku Fire
Ceramics teacher John Lindner partners with Rivers and Revolutions to conduct a Raku fire in the school parking lot. Raku is a Japanese firing technique that removes ceramic pieces from high heat and rapidly cools them to create a range of unique glaze reactions and colors. Students studied the relationship between the arts and science in their equilibrium unit and were allowed the opportunity to be hands-on in the firing of their own work. You can view all of the Raku fire photos here.
Institute of the Contemporary Art
Last Friday, Senior Honors English students from Mr. Patterson's classes braved the wind and rain for a field trip to the Institute of the Contemporary Art in Boston's Seaport Neighborhood. Students explored the ICA's eclectic collection of paintings, sculptures, video installations, and photographs while making connections between whimsical, puzzling, beautiful, and conceptually rigorous artworks, and key texts from the curriculum, such as Exit West, Frankenstein, and Hamlet. Students made especially insightful connections between certain artworks and the novel Exit West, Mohsin Hamid's magical realistic take on the global refugee situation, noting the wide array of refugee voices and experiences represented in the exhibitions. The students appreciated not only the art but also the opportunity to build community: "It's enriching," one student reported, "to build community outside of the classroom."
Mr. Patterson and his students are grateful to co-chaperones Ms. Davidson (English), Ms. Dunn (Fine Arts), Mr. Krans (Science and Mathematics), and Mr. Pickman (Fine Arts) as well as the support of the CCHS Administration, English Department Chair Ms. Fleming, and the CPS Transportation Department, without whose support this trip would not have been possible.
