Friday, March 24, 2017

End-of-Year Info., Lydia Carroll, Robotics, Alexandra Hoey, Chao Cheng, Mariya Shtiliyanova, Nordic Skiing & More

Beyond dates on a calendar, there are different landmarks and road markers we mentally identify with to distinguish where we reside in the school year.  Perhaps it is Labor Day and Memorial Day, or the beginning and end of the four academic quarters and two academic semesters.  Maybe it is fall, winter, & spring athletic seasons, or winter & spring music performances.  For some, MCAS testing & AP testing serves as the landmark signifying spring is officially here.

Incredible to believe, but today is day 126, and we are nearly three-quartes through the school year. With bitter cold temperatures and snow-covered tennis courts and athletic fields, we are eagerly anticipating the warm weather and end-of-the year activities and ceremonies. With this in mind, we would like to inform every one of the dates and times of several planned events. As a reminder, all events are posted on the CCHS calendar on our website.

The following are some of the scheduled award ceremonies along with graduation information:

Class Act Awards
Celebrating Community Service achievements
Date: May 4
Time: 6:00pm
Location: CCHS Auditorium & Dining Commons

METCO Senior Dinner
Farewell to METCO Seniors
Date: May 12
Time: 7:00
Location: CCHS Dining Commons

Junior Class Awards Night
Academic achievement and Book Awards for Juniors
Date: May 17
Time: 6:00
Location: CCHS Dining Commons

Senior Awards Night 
Academic achievement and graduation awards for Seniors
Date: May 30
Time: 6:30
Location: CCHS Dining Commons

Graduation
Celebrating the Class of 2017
Date: June 3
Time: 11:00am
Location: CCHS

Please note a change to the award distribution this year for Freshmen and Sophomores.  Students will receive awards as customary.  Further, we will celebrate the achievements in various electronic communications.  Due to sparse attendance over the last few years, we will no longer hold an evening event for Freshmen and Sophomores.  Students will receive awards in the mail.


Concord Grads Kate Merrill & Ray Pavlik
CBS Boston launched a new promo on-the-air recently. CCHS is featured in the opening shot!  They also launched a vignette for Kate Merrill, and it featured the high school and our own Ray Pavlik.


Alex Burt '19, Henry Johnstone '19, Tyler Lee '17, Lydia Yoder '17, Ayden Nichol '19, Phoebe Myerson '19


Nordic Skiing
By Jeff Campbell
CCHS entered many of its top Nordic skiers in the annual Eastern High School Championships on March 17-19 at Mountain Top Nordic Center in Vermont. Out of a field of over 200 of the best high school skiers in New England and New York, in the overall standings (3 events combined), Tyler Lee finished 21st, Henry Johnstone was 55th, and Ayden Nichol was 70th among all boys. Phoebe Meyerson finished 38th and Lydia Yoder was 54th among all girls. Races included a 5 km freestyle, 7.5 km classic, and 1.2 km sprint event, plus team relays. Recent snow falls and cold temps produced perfect racing conditions for the season's premier Nordic ski event. Congratulations to all these athletes for representing CCHS on the Massachusetts EHS team. A recap of the weekend from the NENSA site appears here: https://www.nensa.net/2017/03/20/perfect-conditions-for-eastern-high-school-championships-weekend/



Left to right: Charles Wang, Kenny Liu, Chao Cheng, and David Jiang.

Academic Bowl
Todd Sawyer, CCHS English teacher, and several of our students participated in an Academic Bowl tournament at MIT last weekend.  The CCHS squad joined 12 other area schools in the annual MIT Academic Tournament. Our school was well represented by the team of Chao Cheng, Charles Wang, Kenny Liu, and David Jiang. We were able to win four matches during the day against some tough opponents.  Nice work, all.



Mathematical Competition
Congratulations to Alexandra Hoey, Chao Cheng, & Mariya Shtiliyanova for performing exceptionally well in a recent math competition.  Alexandra, Chao, and Mariya scored well enough on the AMC 12 to earn them an invitation to the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME.)

Alexandra Hoey, who scored in the top 1% in the country (placing her in the Distinguished Honor Roll category), took the AIME II.  Chao Cheng and Mariya Shtiliyanova, who both scored in the top 5% in the country, took the AIME I.

The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) sponsors a series of 4 competitions for the purpose of providing an opportunity for high school students to develop positive attitudes towards analytical thinking and mathematics that can assist in future careers.  Students who do well on the first test in this series, the American Mathematics Competition (AMC), are invited to participate in the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME.)  If they do well on this exam, they will be asked to participate in the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad, which leads the way to a position on the United States team for the  International Mathematical Olympiad competition.


Sportsmanship Awards
Congratulations to Ben Caruso Kristina Webster.  Both were selected by the Merrimack Valley/Dual County - Small, to receive the 2017 Boston Bruins-MIAA Sportsmanship Award. 






Chris Ruediger & Concert Benefit
Come hear musicians Patrick Nero of Acton-Boxborough, Lauren Weintraub of Lincoln-Sudbury, and our own Chris Ruediger and TOS (feat. Jonathan Sommers) to raise money for Samaritans Suicide Prevention at the Concord-Carlisle High School Auditorium on Friday, March 24from 7:30-10:00 pm. Tickets are $8 online, purchase tickets: Click Here or $10 at the door with 100% of the proceeds being donated to support suicide prevention. We welcome families, friends, kids of all ages to join together and help support this amazing program. We hope to see you there!  

Further, senior Chris Ruediger (Class of 2017) has just released his Debut Single “Summertime Story.” To support Chris, please buy his single and be sure to like his page. Your support on social media goes a long way in helping the artist with air play and gig. Just a few minutes clicking links can make a big difference!  

You can listen and purchase the single at: https://itunes.apple.com/…/summertime-story-si…/id1208891040  It is also available on Google Play, Spotify, Amazon Music, and iHeartRadio





CCHS  Robotics
Our Robotics Team is off to a fantastic start. Faculty Advisers and CCHS physics & engineering teachers Michael Hamblin and Elaine Picard along with seventeen CCHS  students and several community volunteers have competed in a series of competitions. The FIRST Robotics Competition was held  at Bridgewater­Raynham High School on
March 11th and 12th. During the contest, students earned points in three different ways. Robots collected balls as “fuel” for tanks. Robots collected 11 gears to deliver to stations and finally robots grabbed a rope and climbed as high as it could.   Michael, Elaine and the hardworking team of seventeen students performed very well reaching te semifinals.  

The team had high hopes heading into the Greater Boston Tourney.  They were confident minor improvements to the robot would pay dividends in the competition. When the games started one of the robot functions was not working as planned. The small improvements had caused a ripple effect. By the time we identified the problem late on Saturday, we were way back in the standings. The kids never gave up, and during the Sunday matches we performed much higher than our standings. This did not go unnoticed, and we were drafted by the 6th seeded alliance. The number 1 seed told our team that they had been hoping we were available when their turn came but we were already gone by then. Our alliance lost in two close games in the quarterfinals. Even though we were the lowest ranked team on the alliance we had the highest performing robot on the alliance. 

Over the two tournament season, we earned enough ranking points to still be in contention for an invitation to the New England Championship at UNH in April. It is possible we may not find out until April 2. At that point, we would need to pay the entry fee and schedule busses before the April 5 through April 8 event (Wed. through Sat.).
Great job, all.  



CCHS Student Featured on Chronicle
Senior Lydia Carroll was recently featured on WCVB Channel 5.   Lydia is a fantastic student and a better person.  A strong academic student, Lydia is enrolled in Creative Writing, AP Calculus, Chorus, Chinese AP, 2-Dinemsional Art, and AP Physics.  More impressive is her positive attitude, grittiness and ability to persevere and inspire others.  Please follow the link to review the segment featured on Chronicle.  










2017 French Exchange
By Regina Casimiro-Núñez

On February 11, the CCHS community welcomed 16 French students and two
chaperones. They spent two weeks in Concord with their American “correspondants”- Teddy Storrs, Emma Walker, Regina Casimiro-Núñez, Emma Garrison, Chloe Koval, Kristin Schaaf, Meghan Parker, Sarah, Hutchinson, Linnea Hubbard-Nelson, Conley Konsin, Burke Hutchinson, Ryan Baker, Adam Riley, Tiff Lyman, Emily Kirkwood, and Lauren Medeiros. Under the careful planning of Madame Penaud and Madame Belkadi, the French party was able to experience what life as an American student is like.

The trip was divided into two parts. For the first week, the students attended school in the
mornings, then were taken out to tour Boston. Each of the three days they spent in the city, a
French teacher accompanied them to give them more insight about what they were visiting. On
Thursday of that week, the exchange students were able to shadow a complete school day of
their brother or sister’s; they were also welcomed into the various French classes to explain a
little bit about their own life in France. Furthermore, a small reception was offered during the
lunch blocks to gather all the French and American students together.

The second week of the French students’ trip was, as we were informed, a lot of fun. They
had already experienced New England weather as they were greeted by their very first snow day
on their first day in Concord, so they were able to go ice skating and sledding; some of them
had never been sledding before, thus they were shocked as the American students launched
themselves down a hill, taking some of the French teens with them. Luckily, the entire group
managed to spend time together in different locations. Some went bowling, others went skiing,
a few went to the movies, and others visited historic sites around Massachusetts, such as
Concord, Boston, and Sturbridge Village. They were also all taken out of state to visit a different
city in the US. The majority were taken to New York City, where they enjoyed the mob of people
at Times Square, took pictures at major sightseeing spots, and attended musicals. Other pairs
went to other states, such as New Hampshire. The jam-packed week concluded with a pot-luck
dinner at Emily Kirkwood’s house. There, the crew spent a lot of time together, recounting their
experiences to each other and to the parents who joined the party. At the conclusion of the
event, each French student was given a mug as a reminder of their trip to the US.

Over the course of the trip, the exchange group became very tight-knit. It was impossible
to say good-bye: despite the surprisingly warm weather, everyone was crying or feeling
bummed out when the bus arrived to take the French students to the airport. We can’t wait to
see each other again in April and haven’t failed to remain in touch.

This exchange was not only a learning experience for the French students, but for the
American students and their families as well. Learning to share our daily lives with someone we
had never met before might’ve seemed intimidating at first, but after awhile, it was hard to let go
of your new best friend. Thanks to the high-level of English that the French students were able
to communicate with, the pairs were able to really converse with each other and share insight
about similarities and differences in their respective cultures.

Soon, the American party departs for France, everyone is itching to hop onto a plane and rejoin their friends. From what we’ve heard of what they’re planning for us, we’re ready to go and experience what living in France is like. I, for one, am really looking forward to this second half of the trip and am thankful for being part of it.




CCHS Chorus Performances
The CCHS Combined Chorus, Men's Chorus, Melodies, and Select Choir gave their annual March Choral Concert last night.  Focusing on a global theme, the choirs presented music from a wide variety of countries, including South Africa, Bolivia, Newfoundland, Scotland, England, and Russian.  

The concert highlighted numerous student soloists and also featured two guest performers:  The Concord All Town Fifth Grade Chorus, directed by Concord Middle School Music Teacher Dan Rivenburgh, and CC's own Serious Repercussions, directed by Señor Eric Pohl.  The Fifth Grade Chorus performed a set of 3 songs to open the show.  Serious Repercussions played one selection of their own and then joined the Combined Chorus for a rousing final number that featured the South African folk song "Siyahamba" sung in Zulu, Hindi, Thai, and English.

On March 22 the CCHS Combined Chorus and Select Choir joined the Virginia Wesleyan Chorale at a concert at Trinity Episcopal Church in Concord.  The ensemble hails from Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, Virginia.  The VWC and their conductor will be visiting all the Chorus classes on the day of the concert in order to rehearse with our singers.

The CCHS choirs performed three numbers with the VWC in the event that was exciting and educational.  Ms. Deborah Smith was guest conducted one of the joint numbers, the Vaughan Williams "Turtle Dove", which will also feature CCHS student Burke Hutchinson as soloist.


Livy Poulin

Swim Team
Our girl's team finished 11th overall at states, with sophomore Livy Poulin defending her state title in diving, and the 200 Free Relay finishing 4th ( Pheobe Parker, Virginia Ryan, Melissa Jiang and Liz Cownie). Our boy's team finished 14th overall at states.

Sophomore Livy Poulin (1st in the league in diving), Freshman Hailey Beyer (2nd in the league in 200 IM), and Freshman Kai Tang (3rd in the league in 100 Breaststroke) were all selected as DCL All-Stars.

Congratulations to sophomore Livy Poulin.  She has been selected All-Scholastic by both the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe after winning the MIAA Div. 1 championship in diving.

Here is a link to a short Concord Journal article.
http://concord.wickedlocal.com/sports/20170220/concord-carlisle-swimming-excels-at-states



Read the Voice! 
Badminton Tournament, Moot Court, Thoughts on June Academy, Suicide Prevention Concert, and More! http://www.cchsvoice.org/



CCHS Later Start Time Public Forum

The Concord-Carlisle Regional School Committee invites you to a Public Forum to discuss the initiative to move the high school start time to 8:00 AM.  The forum will be held Tuesday, April 4 from 7:00-8:30 PM in the CCHS Learning Commons.

Please join us to learn about the initiative, discuss the logistics and challenges of implementation, ask questions, and share input. We hope to see you there!  

Please email the Regional School Committee with any questions: concordcarlisleschoolcommittee@concordcarlisle.org.


2016  YRBS

The 2016 Youth Risk Behavior Survey provides data from our students on their
risky behaviors. Last spring, students in grades 6 and 8 (Concord Middle School ­ CMS) and grades 9 ­ 12 (Concord Carlisle High School ­ CCHS) answered questions about smoking, drinking, sex, bullying, and other risky behaviors. This data helps inform the health curriculum in our schools and health programs offered in the town. See how well you know our students by taking the following QUIZ.






U18 Curing Nationals
On Monday, at 2 a.m., Sydney Mullaney landed in Boston, returning from USA Curling's u18 National Championship in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the Championship, there were two separate women's event and men's event. There were twelve women's teams each representing their respective regions or states. Sydney's team, Team Cousins, consists of (Sydney Mullaney), Elizabeth Cousins of Medfield, MA, Rane Anderson of Downingtown, PA, and Sailor Anderson, also of Downingtown, PA. They represented the GNCC (Grand National Curling Club) region which includes the entirety of the east coast.

The competition consisted of two pools of six, where a round robin was played. They were in Pool A and won all 5 games of the round robin, putting us into the top place in the Playoffs. They won their semifinal game against Washington. In the gold medal game, they lost to Minnesota in a close match. At the end of the competition they took home the silver medal.


Community Education Update
By Jill Asser

SAT Prep Bootcamp
If you’re preparing for the May test, join us for a two-session bootcamp course on Saturdays, April1st & 29th from 9 am - 1pm.
Cost: $280

CPR/AED Informational Class (Bystander CPR)
Join CC ACE on April 4th for a one-night workshop that teaches important lifesaving skills that can be used in everyday life: How to recognize a medical emergency, activating EMS (911), adult hands-only CPR, adult CPR with breaths, child CPR with breaths, adult and child AED use, infant CPR, and mild and severe airway block for adults, children, and infants (choking). Skills are taught in a dynamic group environment with an emphasis on hands-on practice for students. Cost: $30

Contact Community Education to register, in Dining Commons, visit www.ace.colonial.net or call 978-318-1432.

School Committee Budget Forums

Please join us at any of the following information sessions to learn more:
Tuesday, March 28: 9:30-11:00 AM, Ripley Conference Room 4
Wednesday, April 11: 9:30-11:00 AM, Ripley Conference Room 4
We urge all residents to be informed about the budgets and other articles and to attend Town Meeting to vote.

Please email either School Committee with any questions:
concordschoolcommittee@concordps.org or
concordcarlisleschoolcommittee@concordcarlisle.org.


Free VHS Summer Classes
By Ann Little
For the first time, thanks to a generous, anonymous grant, we are pleased to be able to offer fully subsidized four and eight week VHS summer classes to all students. Students may take classes for credit recovery or for enrichment, and credits will be awarded based on contact hours.  To learn more about the summer program, please visit http://thevhscollaborative.org/?q=node/9. Students who are interested should consult with their guidance counselors and then sign up via this Google Form link: https://goo.gl/forms/LE6ZSS3grQ8dh9mr1. Registration is ongoing. Questions should be addressed to Ann Little, VHS Site Coordinator:  alittle@concordcarlisle.org.


Alex Burt '19


Phoebe Meyerson '19

Tyler Lee '17


Lydia Yoder '17


Henry Johnstone '19 and Phoebe Meyerson '19



Henry Johnstone '19

Ayden Nichol '19
Henry Johnstone 35, Alex Burt 335, Ayden Nichol 339 (Start of classic race)

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