UPCOMING EVENTS for a List of Home and Away Match-Ups for Our Spring Athletic Teams, Please Scroll to the Back Cover of the Publication
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April 8, 2017 | Volume 1, Issue 20 UPCOMING EVENTS For a list of home and away match-ups for our spring athletic teams, please scroll to the back cover of the publication. April 10-14 Spring Break! April 12 NBHS Report Cards mailed home April 17 Finish the Race at CCSU April 17 - 6:00 PM Board of Education Meeting DONOVAN DORCE ASKS MELISSA FIGIEL TO PROM AND VIDEO OF PROMPOSAL GOES VIRAL! April 19 - 6:00 PM NBHS School Governance Council Meeting Almost everyone knows about the great Unified Sports Program that we offer at April 20 - 6:00 PM New Britain High School. What a lot of people don’t know is how much the Holmes Science Fair friendship goes beyond the court. April 20 - 6:00 PM Donovan Dorce has been participating in Unified Sports for the past four years. His Vance Family BINGO Night partner during that time was Melissa Figiel. Together, they have participated in basketball, volleyball and soccer tournaments. They have also participated in other April 20 - 7:00 PM activities, such as trips to see the New Britain Bees, Leadership Summits and more. NBHS PTO Meeting This past Thursday, Donovan surprised Melissa by asking her to senior prom. You April 21 can watch the video by going to our Facebook page. The video has gone viral, Chamberlain Superhero Day reaching over 200,000 people and shared over 1,500 times! April 21 - 9:30 AM WFSB (Channel 3) saw the video and this past Friday, came to New Britain High RELC Earth Day Recycle Fun School to talk to Donovan and Melissa. The story ran on their 5:30 PM newscast and if you missed it, it can also be found on our Facebook page. April 24 - 2:00 PM Chamberlain Spring Concert (Band/Strings) Additionally, the video has run on all of the major news stations in Connecticut and over the past few days, many people and businesses have been reaching out to April 25 offer free items for Donovan and Melissa on prom night. NBHS SAT Makeups It’s a heartwarming story and we can’t wait for the two of them to enjoy prom! ELIJAH McCLINTON, FIRST GRADER AT SMITH, WINS SENATOR CHRIS MURPHY’S ESSAY CHALLENGE Elijah McClinton, first grader at Smith, was named one of the winners in Senator Murphy’s Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Challenge. Students throughout Connecticut were asked to reflect on what Dr. King's dream was and what he would think about his dream in today’s world. Students were asked to identify their own dream and how their dream relates to Dr. King's work. McClinton shared his perspective of how the world should be through the vision Martin Luther King Jr. had. Elijah’s essay reads: “Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream was for his children not to be judged by the color of their skin, but by their hearts and how they are inside.” McClinton’s dream is to see kindness shown everywhere to everyone. ”My dream is like Dr. King’s dream because his dream was not to judge people by the color of their skin. If you don’t judge people by the color of their skin, you are being kind.” When asked to speak about Elijah’s hard work on this writing challenge, Tai Amore, first grade teacher at Smith, said, “I am extremely proud of him and all of his efforts. Elijah has a bright future ahead of him. The first thing he said to me when I told him he won first place in the challenge was that he never won anything before. Well, I predict that this is the first of many contests that Elijah will win.” All selected winners of the Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Challenge were promised a special Skype meeting or classroom visit with Senator Murphy within the coming weeks. Selected essays are also being displayed in Senator Murphy's office in Washington DC. NBHS YOUTH AND GOVERNMENT PROGRAM PARTICIPATES IN STATEWIDE CONFERENCE AT CT STATE CAPITOL BUILDING The NBHS Youth and Government Program recently attended the statewide conference at the Connecticut State Capitol Building. The three-day event was attended by about 250 Connecticut high school students, including 14 from the NBHS Delegation. The Youth and Government Program (YAG) provides high school students with the opportunity to experience a complete mock legislative session. Students work throughout the school year to develop ideas and write "bills" that they then present to an entire legislative body, from committee to the House and the Senate, and ultimately to the Youth Governor for final approval. Connecticut is the only YAG program where students are allowed to use the actual chambers at the State Capitol for the roles and functions our state legislatures perform. NBHS junior Mahmuda Chowdhury, who served as a chair during the committee process, was elected as Youth Secretary of the State for next year. Junior Eddie Soumpholphakdy served as Majority Leader in the House of Representatives and was a party leader during the nomination of officers. The entire delegation has worked hard to debate and amend their bills, as well as network with other delegation members. 2 BOARD OF EDUCATION HONORS BACON FAMILY FOR DONATION In December, we received a donation from the Bacon Family, founders of Charlotte's Litter. The donation were copies of the books, "Good Dogs Great Listeners" and "Dogs of Newton." Each elementary school library media center received copies of the books. Charlotte’s Litter, a program supported by Newtown Kindness, was founded in honor of Charlotte Helen Bacon, a young avid dog lover, who tragically lost her life on December 14, 2012 in Sandy Hook. Her family and friends received comfort and love bestowed upon them from local Comfort and Therapy dogs. In honor of Charlotte and the care they received, Charlotte’s Litter was founded. "Good Dogs, Great Listeners" will be used in first grade while "Dogs of Newton" will be used in third grade throughout all of our elementary schools to support social emotional learning through literature. The books will provide teachers in grades one through three and the elementary library media centers a resource to support social emotional learning. "Good Dogs, Great Listeners" was written by the Bacons and "Dogs of Newton" were written by their son, Guy. To thank the Bacon family for this generous donation, we recognized them at our Board of Education meeting on March 20. CSDNB NOW ACCEPTING REGISTRATIONS FOR INCOMING KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS The Consolidated School District of New Britain is now accepting registrations for kindergarten students who will be five-years-old prior to or on January 1, 2018. To register, parents should go to Central Registration, located behind Slade Middle School at 183 Steele Street. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Proof of New Britain residency, birth certificate, Social Security card and completed health form are required. Registration will remain open until 6:00 PM on the following dates: Thursday, May 11, Tuesday, May 16, Wednesday, May 24 and Thursday, June 1. Translators for Polish or Arabic are available by arrangement with the Central Registration Registrar. Registration packets are also available online at www.csdnb.org. For more information, please call Central Registration at 860-223-5501. NBHS STUDENTS TO HAVE ARTWORK FEATURED IN STOCKMAN GALLERY’S LATEST SHOW - SUSTAINABLE VISIONS NBHS students will have their artwork featured in the Stockman Gallery’s latest show, “Sustainable Visions: New Britain High School Artists.” The Gallery is a program of the Greater New Britain Arts Alliance and Trinity-on- Main. This event is a collaboration between the Central Connecticut State University Department of Art and the Art Department of New Britain High School as part of the CCSU’s interdisciplinary exploration of climate changes and issues asso- ciated with sustainability. This show is part of that initiative and continues in Stockman Gallery through April 14, 2017. For more information, please visit our Facebook page and search: NBHS Sustainable Visions 3 CSDNB MAKES CHANGES TO SEVERAL SCHOOL NAMES The New Britain Board of Education recently approved recommended changes from Superintendent Nancy Sarra to bring uniformity to the Consolidated School District of New Britain by changing the names of several schools. These changes come upon the heels of the school district installing new school signs, which matches the city of New Britain’s recent downtown re-branding. That re-branding, along with the re-branding of the school district this past summer, led way to these changes. “This past summer, we re-branded the school district with a new logo, so it’s a great time to streamline the appearance of our buildings and branding,” said Superintendent Nancy Sarra. “Not only does it revitalize the schools’ exteriors, it also serves to greater showcase our unity.” All schools which are named for an influential person will now be formatted as last name only, while schools that were known as “academy,” “village,” “magnet” or other will now all be called either elementary or middle school. The exceptions to this are the Roosevelt Early Learning Center, HALS Academy and New Britain High School Satellite Careers Academy. Primarily affected by the new formatting are Smalley Elementary School, Vance Elementary School, Jefferson Elementary School, and DiLoreto Elementary & Middle School. The creation of new signage will also help the former Alternative Center School to transition to its current name, Brook Side School. The signs would also serve to establish consistency for buildings named after noteworthy individuals, as some go by the full name and some by last name only. Board members agreed it would be a perfect time to launch the schools’ new names as well.