Hello Hall Parents,

Spring has finally arrived. May and June is the busiest time of the year at a high school. Many students are taking AP exams, getting ready for proms, and many wonderful evenings for recognition including honor society inductions, awards nights

and the biggest evening of all, graduation. This year’s graduation will be held on Tuesday, June 17th at 5:00 pm.

Hall is ranked as one of the best high schools in the nation and based on our results on international tests, one of the top high schools in the world. A significant ingredient in the school’s success are the contributions of the students and families in the Hall community. I would like to thank the senior class and their families for those contributions over the past four years that make Hall such a special place. The students should feel confident they are ready for the next journey in their lives. Although come fall, the class of 2014 will no longer be students at Hall High, they will always remain part of the Hall family. We look for them to keep in touch and continue sharing their successes with us.

Our students are continuously recognized for their outstanding work in and out of the classroom. It would be impossible to list all the wonderful accomplishments, however I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the recent naming of two seniors as U.S. Presidential Scholars. Marisa Mitrano and Thomas Doelger were selected among the 141 seniors across the country named as a Presidential Scholar. Marisa acknowledged Jeff Billing, math teacher, as her most influential teacher and Thomas acknowledged Darcie Hudson as his most influential teacher. They will be invited to Washington D.C. at the end of June to celebrate their achievement.

I would also like to recognize Donna Namnoum, assistant principal, who after 23 years at Hall, and 35 years

combined of teaching and school administration, is retiring at the end of the year. Her dedication, attention to detail, and class will be difficult to replace. An extensive search process has taken place and we hope to announce a new assistant principal in the coming days.

Finally, as we come to the close of this school year, the school is already looking toward next year. The building will be undergoing a lot of physical upgrades highlighted by a new boiler/chiller and bathroom renovations. This will require the building to be closed for a significant portion of the summer. Please look for future communication on availability of administrative, school counseling, and athletic offices to assist you with any school related matters that may arise.

I wish everyone a happy and restful summer.

Sincerely,

Dan ZittounPrincipal

HALL HIGH SCHOOL NEWSpublished by the PTO

issue: May 2014

A Letter from the Principal

May 28 Student Art Show OpeningMay 31 Senior PromJune 17 Graduation Ceremony 5:00 pmJune 18 School’s Out!

Coming up

From the Library:Hall High School Summer

Book Swap

To our Hall Community,

As we head into the “home stretch” of the 2013-14 school year, I would like first and foremost to thank everyone who has helped with the many PTO sponsored functions and activities this year.

From the late days of August, when volunteers came together to provide breakfast for freshmen parents, to those helping with the Chris Herren event in late May, you have donated your time to this community of teachers, students and families and we are grateful for this precious commodity.

Below are some of the events for which so many volunteers offered their time:

Concessions Stand: wow, so many people stepped up here when we had to quickly staff up for those exciting games under the lights! From the grill masters to the hot chocolate servers, thank you and please come back next year! Our grill master Barry is “graduating” and our Concession coordinator relocated to South Carolina so we hope to hear from you soon since the football games begin just after the first day of school.Teacher Appreciation Breakfast: Susan Lebow rallied the bakers and made this a seamless event for the past few years. Very appreciated!Parent-Teacher Conference: Thank you, Committee members, for ordering and delivering pizza & drinks for teachers prior to their conference-filled evening.Curriculum Night: A big thank you to the volunteers that coordinated the delivery of baked goods and distributed the directories. Newsletter: A big shout out to Laurel Hoskins for the amazing job pulling all the bits and pieces together for the quarterly newsletters. We are always astounded by the way she organizes and designs the final product! PTO Meetings: THANK YOU PTO Board members and participants for attending monthly meetings, sharing your ideas, taking notes, engaging in great debates about funding requests and keeping us focused on our primary purpose … To serve the Hall community the best we can.

Many PTO positions will be open June 17th. Please consider taking on even a small commitment next year as many hands make the work load easy. Please email us at

hallpto@gmail.com to let us know you are interested in supporting your school and we will find the right spot for you and the time you have available.

To the families of Seniors, Congratulations! Enjoy all the festivities! To all, have a wonderful and relaxing summer!

Susan King and Amy MolinaroPTO Co-Chairs

Recycle your books!

Please donate your gently used books to Hall High School Library’s Summer Book Swap. We’d like to promote reading by giving students books to read over the summer. Please leave donations in the front office or at the circulation desk in the library. If you have any questions, email Monica Ahern at monica_ahern@whps.org.

From the PTO

ARt Department News

HALL Annual Student Art Show Don’t miss our Annual Student Art Show this year on May 28 and 29 during school hours. The Opening Reception and Awards will take place on Wednesday, May 28 from 5:00 to 6:30 and everyone is invited. Each Art student will have several pieces included the show. Seniors who are in AP art or have had several art classes will have their own senior areas, showcasing the best of their work over four years. A professional artist will come in on Wednesday and jury the work by categories such as painting, ceramics, sculpture and drawing. In addition, there is a prize for best senior area and “Best in Show”.

GPS Showcase on “Voices of the Homeless: June 10th

Hall Auditorium

The Global Problem Solving students will host an Advocacy Showcase prior to the screening of student film “Voices of the Homeless” on Tuesday, June, 10th in the Hall Auditorium. Doors open at 6pm. Film begins at 7pm. Refreshments will be available. Suggested donations to the showcase and film is $5.00. All proceeds will benefit homeless advocacy programs in Hartford. Let’s fill the auditorium and show our support for Hall High student advocacy projects!

This past year, Mrs. Devine’s Global Problem Solving class has studied in depth one of the basic necessities for human life: Shelter. From our research, we have been exposed to the disparity in available housing in America. Culminating our year, we have created a film to give a voice to the population that goes unheard: The homeless.

Our project aims to enlighten our community about these amazing individuals in the form of a raw and emotional documentary. All proceeds collected from the viewing will be donated to Charter Oak Cultural Center to aid individuals like those who struggle in our film.

Come visit the school vegetable, herb, and flower garden in the courtyard behind the auditorium. Students have planted lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, soy, sunflowers, sweet potatoes, garlic, onions, and more. Mrs. Coghill’s

Environmental class has taken soil samples to test the ph and fertility levels in the beds. Mr. Norland’s students took a break from their science lab work and planted tomatoes that will be used to make salsa to be canned in the late summer.

The Garden Boys in Mrs. Devine’s GPS class are building a vegetable garden at Immaculate Conception Shelter in Hartford to help them grow some of their own food. The garden building day is Saturday, May 31st at the Shelter.

12 Freshmen at Hall High School competed at the Student Innovation Expo. This is West Hartford’s first year competing. 2000 people were at the Hartford Armory on May 17th, including Governor Dan Malloy, to give the opening welcome. 43 schools across CT compete in the expo in different challenges, we competed against 12-14 other schools. Our challenge is called the Open Science Challenge.

This year’s theme was “water”. Students were challenged to innovate something that betters the world. My group took on the challenge of water conservation in golf courses. Their website and documentary they made explains their project. http://waterefficiencydrivers.com/.

The name of the school club is called the Science Technology Innovation Club (STIC). They call themselves the Water Efficiency Drivers (golf pun intended).

Read about it in the following news articles:http://foxct.com/2014/05/17/students-learn-innovation-and-marketing/http://www.westhartfordnews.com/articles/2014/05/19/news/doc53767ee868e6b000025149.txt

~Mr. Anthony Wasley

12 Hall Students Compete in Student Innovation Expo

A Great Thank You Gift for

Your Child’s Teacher Searching for just the right gift for your child’s teacher year end gift? The Foundation for West Hartford Public Schools’ Teacher Thank You Gift program is a great way to acknowledge a wonderful and talented teacher. Here’s how it works: A family makes a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation of $10 or more per teacher. The Foundation then sends the family/or the teacher a special card that says a gift has been made in the teacher’s honor. The funds raised from these Teacher Thank You Gifts go to our Teacher Grant program. Every donation will go back to helping teachers teach our students! The Foundation is dedicated to raising money from the community to give back to the public schools. We are non-political and town-wide. For more information on the Foundation, please call us at 561-8755 or email us at fwhps@westhartford.org

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Teacher Thank You Gift Order Form

I would like to acknowledge the great work of my teacher(s) this year through a donation to The Foundation for West Hartford Public Schools. Enclosed is my gift of $___________. Parent’s Name ____________________________ Student’s Name ___________________________ Address _________________________________ City/Zip_________________Phone____________ Teacher’s Name (s)_________________________ _________________________________________ School___________________________________ Send certificate to me OR Send to my teacher Please make checks ($10 minimum per teacher) payable to Foundation for West Hartford Public Schools and send to 50 S. Main St., Room 420, W. Hartford, CT 06107. Contributions are tax-deductible. DEADLINE: Wednesday June 11, 2014