Drama Club’s Annual Production (story cont. on page 8)

C A P A B L E E T H I C A L T H O U G H T F U L R E S P O N S I B L E

Winter 2015

Volume 2, Issue 2

BOLTON HIGH SCHOOL BULLETIN Inside this issue:

-Poetry Out Loud -Hour of Code

2

-Cookies and Cram -Playschool

3

-BHS Music Dept. News 4

-Concert Choir Performs 5

-Diversity Forum -Financial Aid Evening

6

-Assessments 7

--Drama Presents

8

On December 2nd the BHS Drama Club traveled to UCONN to attend the Con-

necticut Repertory Theatre’s performance of The 25th Annual Putnam County

Spelling Bee in preparation for their own production this February. Freshman

Alex Prior was selected as a guest speller and was featured on stage along

with the UCONN actors. Following the performance, the students were able

to ask the cast members questions about the process of producing the show,

character development, and theater opportunities beyond high school.

Drama Club Attends Play at Uconn

This newsletter was edited

and published by Jennifer

Pyrch.

A special thanks to the

BHS Yearbook Club for

contributing many of the

photos to this issue.

Bolton High’s tenth annual Poetry Out Loud competition was held on Thursday, January 22,

2015. Fifteen students competed from the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade resulting in a tie for

first place. Placing third place were juniors, Liz Allegretti, Victoria, Johnson, and Rose Zimmerman.

Senior Megan Zelesky will go on to the Championship workshop on February 12th with her teacher,

Mrs. Tierney and accompanied by fellow 1st place finisher and junior junior Lexi Frame who also per-

formed impeccably. These two will go on the regional semifinals located in Manchester at Cheney

Hall on March 3rd. All are encouraged to come. Admission is free.

Tenth Annual Poetry Out Loud Competition -Joyce Teed

Page 2

Bolton High School Bulletin

As part of Computer and Science in Education Week, on De-

cember 10th Mrs. Pyrch hosted the second annual Hour of

Code at Bolton High School. Over 30 freshmen participated.

Each student enthusiastically completed an hour long tutorial

in computer programming and earned a completion certificate.

Overall students rated this event a 9 on a scale of 1—10, 10

being totally awesome. The Hour of Code is a one-hour intro-

duction to computer science, designed to demystify code and

show that anybody can learn the basics. There were over

77,500 Hour of

Code events around the world and over 97 million individ-

uals completed a tutorial.

Every student should have the opportunity to learn com-

puter science. It helps nurture problem-solving skills, log-

ic and creativity. By starting early, students will have a

foundation for success in any 21st-century career path.

Freshmen Learn Computer Programming –Jennifer Pyrch

The National Honor Society once again sponsored a review

session for freshmen prior to midyear exams. This year,

‘Cookies and Cram’ hosted 33 students in 5 subject areas

(Math/Science/Social Studies/World Languages/English), sup-

ported by 15 NHS tutors.

Playschool, a student run program for children ages

3-5, had a successful fall session. The winter/spring

session will start on Tuesday February 3, 2015. High

school students enrolled in the Human Development class spend Tuesday and Thursday afternoons

with the preschoolers that attend the program. Playschool starts at 12:45 and ends at 2:15

two afternoons a week. If you are interested in sending a child

age 3-5 to the program, please contact Wendy Scott at

wendy.scott@boltonct.org.

NHS Sponsors Cookies and Cram -Pete Turgeon

Playschool’s Fall Session

Page 3

Volume 2, Issue 2

Faculty, staff, and students contributed the stories in the paper. It was edited and designed by Jennifer Pyrch.

The BHS Music Department enjoyed a busy and productive winter season.

The Concert Band held its annual winter concert in early December and featured memorable perfor-

mances of Frozen, Sleigh Ride, and Transiberian Orchestra’s Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24, to

name a few. Alex Harvey and Brian Law add-

ed depth to our performance with their elec-

tric bass and electric guitar addtions! The

night also featured a percussion ensemble

performing a spirited rendition of Boom-

cracker, by Chris Crockarell. Always mindful

of the needs of the season, the band and au-

dience members collected over $400 to help

a music family in need. The Concert Band

has two remaining concerts this school year:

March 26 and May 21. Both concerts begin at 7 pm.

The Concert Choir concluded our concert season with a spectacular

concert on December 18. Repertoire included classical, gospel, jazz,

and popular songs to celebrate the winter season. Highlights of the

performance included an a cappella rendition of “Carol of the Bells,”

a moving gospel-style solo by senior Megan Zelesky on “City Called

Heaven,” and the reggae-style

Hanukkah song “Miracle” featur-

ing freshman soloist Edgardo

Justiniano. The choir was joined

by several faculty, alumni, and

community members to perform

a rousing rendition of Handel’s

“Hallelujah Chorus” to close the

evening. Our Spring Choral Con-

cert will be held on May 13,

2015. The theme of this concert

will be “DECADES: 100 Years of

Popular Music.” Don’t miss it!

BHS Music Department News

Page 4

Bolton High School Bulletin

Jeremy Mitchell in Boomcracker

Music Department’s First Ever Holiday Carol Event

Our holiday spirit continued with our first ever Holiday Carol event. Instrumental and vocal members

of our department gathered on two separate evenings for food and candy cane music fun! We ate,

rehearsed, and then called over 45 families to share some cheer through a Holiday Carol purchased

for them. We en-

joyed sharing the joy

and spirit of the sea-

son. Reactions were

memorable, and our

students had a great

time while making

music. We look for-

ward to this event

next year…Make sure

to purchase a carol

for your loved ones.

They will love it.

Concert Choir’s First Ever Holiday Carol Event

Page 5

Volume 2, Issue 2

Most recently, a number of our highly talented students represented Bolton High School at the Con-

necticut Eastern Region Music Festival. Students earned acceptance into this festival through a rig-

orous audition festival in November. The festival, held each year at the University of Connecticut,

gathers the most talented musicians from the Eastern portion of our state for 14+ hours of rehearsal

with amazing guest conductors. The

weekend event culminates in a concert

showcase at the Jorgensen Center for

the Performing

Arts.

Concert Choir’s Winter Concert

BHS Performs at CT Eastern Region Music Festival

Students perform Holiday Carols via telephone calls Michael Welch and Bryan Duffy

A Discussion on Diversity Zach Manganello 11th Grade On Monday I went to the after school diversity dis-

cussion hosted by Peer Support and organized by

Mrs. Pyrch and Mrs. Teed. I thought it was a great

experience for both teachers and students. Teach-

ers because they get a young person's perspective

on worldly issues, and students because they get

their classmate's perspective on worldly issues. In

my group we mostly discussed racism and its effect

on our own lives. After the small groups we dis-

cussed as a whole and really brought our opinions

home. This experience definitely woke me up as a

person and made me think about some things dif-

ferently. This whole experience would not be possible without Mrs. Teed, who I think is an absolutely

amazing person who cares about the well-being of the school she teaches at .

Page 6

Bolton High School Bulletin

Guidance Holds Financial Aid Evening -Deb Huntington

The Guidance Department hosted a very successful

evening program for parents and students on maneu-

vering through the financial aid process. The speaker,

Mr. Craig Breitsprecher - a Financial Advisor – had

many useful tips for parents on the different types of

financial aid. He also talked about saving for college

and the various ways that parents can get the most

mileage out of the money they have set aside. The

evening was very interesting and well attended. Many

parents gave positive feedback on how helpful they

felt the evening program was for them.

Page 7

Volume 2, Issue 2

This spring Bolton students will participate in the required Connecticut summative assessment sys-

tem. These assessments include the Smarter Balanced assessments (SBAC) in English language

arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics for Grades 3 through 8 and 11. Students are also assessed on

CMT/CAPT Science in Grades 5, 8 and 10.

This is the first operational year of SBAC, which measures real-world skills like critical thinking and

problem solving. These required assessments will provide students, parents, and teachers with in-

sight into college and career readiness early enough to address issues and provide extra support

where needed. The National PTA defines college and career readiness as, “The level of preparation a

student needs to enroll and succeed - without remediation - in a credit-bearing course at a post-

secondary institution that offers a baccalaureate degree or in a high-quality certificate program that

enables students to enter a career pathway with potential future advancement.” SBAC is designed

to provide accurate measures of achievement and growth for all students; thus allowing all students

to perform to their potential.

Some Points to Remember about SBAC

This is a new scoring system. SBAC scores cannot be directly compared to scores from the re-

tired state assessments (CMT and CAPT).

Initial scores will likely be lower. The Connecticut Core Standards (also known as Common Core

Standards) are more rigorous. Teaching and learning is resetting to the new standards. A dip

should not necessarily be interpreted as a decline in student learning or in educator perfor-

mance. It is expected that a short-term decline should improve as teachers and students be-

come more familiar with the standards and better equipped to meet the challenges they pre-

sent.

Links to Resources about SBAC

National PTA Parent’s Guide to New Assessments

CT State Department of Education SBAC Website

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium

General Testing Windows

Science CMT & CAPT grades 5, 8 & 11 - March 2 - 22

BCS SBAC - April 21 - May 22

BHS SBAC - April 27 - May 15

As we get closer to testing dates, you can expect communications from my office as well as from the

building principals with more specific information. If you have any questions please feel free to con-

tact me at sarah.malinoski@boltonct.org.

Smarter Balanced and Science Assessments -Sarah Malinoski

Tickets are now on sale for the BHS Drama Club's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County

Spelling Bee February 5th-7th at 7pm in the BHS Student Commons. The show follows an eclectic

group of six tweens as they vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. It is a riotous musical

ride complete with audience participation!

Tickets are $8 per adult, $5 per student. A special patron package is also available for $25 and

includes 2 seats in our reserved section plus special recognition in the program. Tickets are limited

and can be reserved at http://goo.gl/forms/47nHwyjck5. Hope to see you at The Bee!

Bolton High School Bulletin

Page 8

Bolton High School Drama Club Presents:

ENSEMBLE Guest Speller: Alex Prior

Leaf’s Mom:

Julianna Sansevero Leaf’s Dad: Bri Gurske

Leaf Coneybear’s Siblings: Laina McCarthy Cait Altermatt

TECH CREW

Stage Manager: Sam Wilcox Sierra Massey Evan Wimer Brian Law Ken Goddu

Quinn MacDonald

THE SPELLERS Chip Tolentino: Bryan Duffy

Logainne Schwartzanddgrubenniere:

Kate Armstrong Leaf Coneybear:Megan Zelesky William Barfee: Jacob Dayton

Marcy Park: Maddy Teller Olive Ostrovsky: Lexi Norris

THE ADULTS

Rona Lisa Perretti: Lexi Frame Vice Principal Panch: Ally Cianci Mitch Mahoney: Victoria Johnson

Carl Dad:Christina McDonnell Dan Dad:Philip Bythrow

Olive's Mom: Melissa Buckley Quinn MacDonald

It’s that time of year again!

Bolton High School Yearbook

Club is currently

selling the 2015 book for $65.

Direct any questions, advertise-

ment requests, or orders to

joyce.teed@boltonct.org. Payments

can be made by check or cash and

are due March 5th, 2015.

(Seniors’ yearbooks are already reserved

and covered by dues)