Hamp High Lights Booklet

Hamp High Lights 380 Elm Street Northampton, MA 01060 Editor: Denise Lello [email protected]

Hamp High Volume 29, Issue 04

Lights December 2008

Hamp Happenings December December January

16 Poetry Slam for Students 24 - January 2 Holiday Recess 19 Martin Luther King Celebration No School 21 Winter Concert featuring performances by NHS 22-24 28-29

February

April May

Concert Band,NHS Chorus & other NHS choral groups Winter theater production The Madwoman of Chaillot Final Exams for Semester 1. Both are 1/2 days 7:30 - 11:45

30 No School 2 Second Semester Begins 12 Second Semester Open Hosue 16-20 Winter Break 27 Faculty Talent Show 2-4 Sweet Charity Musical Production 20-24 Spring Break TBA Battle of the Bands 14 Spring Concert featuring performances by NHS

Concert Band, NHS Chorus and other NHS choral groups 18 A Capella CD Release at Iron Horse 26 Senior Prom 30 Graduation Northampton Parent Advisory Council (PAC) will have a general meeting on Tuesday, December 9 at 7:00 pm at the JFK Middle School Library. The PAC is made up of families with children with special needs, including those who have IEPs, 504 accommodations, and outof-district placements. The PAC partners with the Northampton Public School System to help parents and children make the most of special education. For more information, please call Alison Greene at 585-8910 or email at [email protected] or Valle Dwight at 584-4165 or email at [email protected].”

As always, a GREAT BIG thank you to Carol MacColl and her staff at Paradise Copies for her generous donation of printing services and technical assistance for Hamp Highlights. She makes it possible for the newsletter to be produced monthly.

Hamp High Lights is published monthly for NHS parents by the PTO of Northampton High School at 380 Elm Street Northampton, MA. Deadlines for submissions are the 15th of each month or the Friday preceding the 15th if it falls on a weekend. Hamp High Lights is brought to you by the PTO. Let us know if there’s something you’d like to have included. Leave news at the front office (preferably on disc) [email protected]. You can receive email updates on all sorts of news and events relating to Northampton High School by logging on to www.hamphigh.org and going to the Parents and Community Site. Click on the NHS Update link, and fill out a simple form. That’s all there is to it!

27 26

28

29

11/14/2008

10:00AM B V WR @ Phil Tonkeil Wrestling Invitational 5:30PM G JV BKB Hampshire 7:00PM G V BKB Hampshire

30

31

Schedule Star 800-822-9433

25 4:00PM BG V SWM @ Monson 5:30PM G JV BKB @ Chicopee Comp 7:00PM G V BKB @ Chicopee Comp 7:00PM B V WR South Hadley 3:30PM B FR BKB @ Sci Tech 5:00PM BG V SKI (Practice) 5:30PM B JV BKB Sci Tech 7:00PM B V BKB Sci Tech

24 23 22 21

20

9:00AM B V WR @ Longmeadow Early Bird 3:45PM BG V WT Chicopee Comp 4:00PM BG V SWM Central 5:30PM B JV BKB @ Holyoke 5:30PM G JV BKB Longmeadow 7:00PM B V BKB @ Holyoke 7:00PM G V BKB Longmeadow

19 18

4:15PM B FR BKB Holyoke 5:00PM BG V SKI (Practice) 4:00PM B FR BKB Minnechaug 5:30PM B JV BKB @ Minnechaug 7:00PM B V BKB @ Minnechaug 7:00PM B V WR Gateway

17 16 15 14

4:00PM B FR BKB Chicopee Comp 4:00PM BG V SWM @ Minnechaug 5:30PM B JV BKB @ Chicopee 5:30PM G JV BKB @ Agawam Comp 7:00PM G V BKB @ Agawam 7:00PM B V BKB @ Chicopee Comp

9:00AM B V WR @ Pioneer Valley Wrestling Invitational

13 12 11

6:30PM BG V WT Holyoke 5:30PM Football Banquet

7

8

9

8:00AM Craft Fair 8:00AM Craft Fair

10

3:30PM BG V SWM @ East Longmeadow

SAT Testing 6:00AM Craft Fair 6:00AM Craft Fair

6 5

4:00PM Craft Fair Set Up 4:00PM Craft Fair Set Up Winter Sports Begin

Sat Thur

4 3

Wed

2

Nov. 20th all three groups will give a concert at JacksonSt.School Nov. 24th The Northamptones will be singing with the DADZ at the Iron Horse 7PM December 6th The Chorus will sing carols at the annual Tree Lighting in Pulaski Park , 4:30 December 10th all three groups will give a concert at the Bridge St.School December 11th the Chamber Choir will sing at Helen Hills Hills Chapel 6pm (annual choral festival) December 17th all three groups will travel to New York to see Mama Mia and participate in a workshop December 20th The Northamptones will be singing on Main St. from 2-4pm December 31st The Northamptones will give their annual concert at Edward’s Church at 5pm.

1

Chorus, Chamber Choir and The Northamptones Upcoming Performances:

Northampton High School - December 2008

Sure to brighten up a winter day, this year’s Poetry Slam, the 11th annual, will take place on December 16 during school. We will keep with the tradition of inviting local poets to share their work and inspire students in the first week of December, just after Thanksgiving. These workshops will take place every period and teachers must sign up to bring their classes. Parents, you can encourage your child to participate and also discuss other ways of supporting poetry in our school with the PTO. Submissions for entry should be given to Ms. Strauss in room 303 no later than Wednesday, December 10. A participation guideline sheet will be available for all slammers. The success of the Slam rides on student work. Let’s see if it’s possible for this ninth grade class to compare with the stellar participation of last year’s. Stay tuned to www.hamphigh.org for further information in the Daily Bulletin.

Fri

Word Art

Tue

The Guidance Department is sponsoring a financial aid workshop here at the high school on Tuesday, December 11, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. in the Little Theater. Mr. David Belanger, Director of Student Financial Services at Smith College, will take you step-by-step through all questions on the financial aid forms (FAFSA and CSS Profile). All questions will be answered, and you will leave the workshop with the knowledge necessary to complete the forms. This workshop is intended for senior parents who are or will be filling out the financial aid forms for college entrance in the fall of 2009. College Application Information Although the college application process can be somewhat stressful for seniors and their parents, the Guidance Office is here to help. We process over 1,000 college application mailings in an average year, so please note the following points which will help streamline and clarify the process. 1) Deadlines: The Guidance Office needs to know students’ college application plans at least two weeks before the application deadline(s). If the student has any JANUARY 1st deadlines, we ask that he/she make that known to us (and provide School Report Forms - see below) no later than DECEMBER 10th because of the winter holiday vacation. 2) School Report Forms: Most colleges have a form for the guidance counselor to fill out, and to which we will attach the counselor’s letter of recommendation. If the college accepts the Common Application, there is a School Report form that is part of the Common App package. These forms can be downloaded from the schools’ websites, or, in the case of the Common App, from www.commonapp.org. The Common App form is also available on the high school’s website (www.hamphigh.org) at the Guidance link, or in the Guidance Office. 3) Envelopes: We ask that students provide envelopes addressed to their colleges. The return address area should be left blank - we will use the school’s return address stamp. Adding postage is not necessary, but if you would like to donate stamps, they are most helpful to us if you give them separately (not affixed to the envelopes). This is because we have to weigh all mail, and application packets usually cost at least .59 cents. 4) Teacher letters of recommendation: Many colleges require one or (usually) two letters of recommendation from teachers. Students are expected to manage this aspect of the application process on their own with their teachers. Students should provide the

Mon

Financial Aid Workshop for Senior Parents

teachers who are writing letters for them with stamped, addressed envelopes (in this case a .42 cent stamp will be sufficient) so that the teachers can make copies of their letters and mail them. The Guidance Office does not mail teachers’ letters as part of students’ transcript packages. 5) SAT/ACT Scores: Students must go online to the College Board (www.collegeboard.com) or to ACT (www.actstudent.org) to request that their scores be sent to their colleges. The Guidance Office does not send these scores as part of the application mailing.

Sun

College Applications

PT O UPD ATE! PTO UPDA We hope that everyone received their NHS Student Directory in the mail! If you didn’t, you can pick up a copy at the high school office. Our first directory lists students’ and staff contact information, plus useful school information. We hope you’ll find it useful! We extend a huge thank you to Scott Daniels for such professional work!! Along with the directory you also received our annual fall fundraising letter. Thank you in advance for your donations to the PTO; the money we raise will be used to purchase supplies and equipment that the budget may not cover, and to support programs that enrich the education of our children. Donations should be sent to NHS PTO, 380 Elm Street, Northampton, 01060. The PTO has non-profit status and donations are tax deductible. NHS “Spirit Gear” Sale And, of course, there are other ways to support the PTO! We’ll be holding our in-school NHS “Spirit Gear” Sale during the lunch period from Dec. 1st through Dec. 5th. Check out the snuggly sweatshirt/fleece throw blankets! We’ll be selling umbrellas, water bottles, and cinch sacks too- available separately or bundled for a reduced price. These are great items for you to buy for your kids- and great items for your kids to buy for you!! Look for the order form in this newsletter!

FSB Customers’ Choice This is our last month to send in votes for the PTO in the Florence Savings Bank Customers’ Choice Community Grant program! We have until December 31st to WIN! If you haven’t already voted then now’s the time. The easiest way to do it is by going to www.florencesavings.com or complete the ballot BELOW and turn it in to FSB. Only FSB customers are eligible. PTO meeting December 16 7 p.m. And lastly, a reminder that EVERYONE is welcome at our PTO meetings! The next one is on December 16th, at 7 p.m. in the NHS library. See you then!

Comm unity Edition of P oetry Slam Community Poetry The PTO is pleased once again to help sponsor the annual Poetry Slam, which will take place during school on December 16th. This year 6 winners of the slam will be honorary performers at the monthly poetry slam at 8 p.m. on Thursday, December 18th at the Yellow Sofa, in downtown Northampton. We encourage family, friends, and poetry enthusiasts to come and support these young artists! Stop by while you’re doing some last minute holiday shopping!!

From the School Nurses Office:Young Drivers When a high school student begins to drive it’s both exciting and stressful for parents and guardians. Junior Operator Laws have been developed, using driver accident statistics, to keep young drivers safe. In a nut shell, The Junior Operator Laws state that a driver between 16.5 and 18 years old: Cannot drive between 12:30-5:00am without a parent or guardian present Cannot carry passengers under 18 for the first 6 months unless a licensed driver over 21 is present in the front passenger seat A speeding ticket will result in: 90-day License Suspension Mandatory Retraining Course Minimum $100 Fine More detailed information is available at www.mass.gov/rmv; from this web-site here are some helpful tips for parents and guardians How Parents Can Help Young Drivers From the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles • Don’t allow your Junior Operator to drive friends to or from school, a dance, game or other function. If your child is subject to the Passenger Restriction there is no exception. • Don’t let your child ride with other Junior Operators subject to the Restriction, except with a licensed adult. • Establish your own “family penalty” for a violation, make it serious, and let your child know it in advance. • Don’t turn your inexperienced young driver into the family taxi driver for your other children (it’s legal, but risky). • If your new driver has the car after school and on weekends, make sure you know who else is in it. • Never choose convenience over safety!

Class of 2010 Food Drive Needs Your Help As you may already know, the main job of class officers at our high school is to raise money. In our perpetual quest for funds, we realized that we could do some good in the process by raising money through a food drive. The components are relatively common. Schools, churches, and other institutions of goodwill often run food drives in which members bring in non-perishable foods to be donated. You’ve no doubt also seen “walk-athon” style events such as the Relay for Life where people pledge to donate for each mile walked. In the Class of 2010 Food Drive we’re putting it all together and asking for you to sponsor our class for every pound of food we can collect to donate to the Northampton Survival Center. Students will bring in dried and canned foods throughout the month of December, culminating in a final weigh-in on the nineteenth. Given that a bag of spaghetti weighs in at one pound, while a can of tuna is six ounces, a donation of one or two cents for each pound of food the school raises would be very generous and greatly appreciated. Hopefully, the food and the pledges will spur one another on into a wildly successful fundraiser for both us and the Survival Center. But it has to start with you. To get a pledge sheet or for more information, simply go to hamphigh.org and click “Food Drive” in the sidebar. Thank you.

Green with Envi Opportunities abound for NHS student to exercise their environmental muscles this year through participation with the NHS Environmental Club and the new NHS Green Team. The Environmental Club is comprised of about 20 students who meet on Tuesday afternoons in room 215 to organize and implement ways to promote a healthy and responsible environment. So far this year, the Environmental Club has held two fundraisers to raise money to buy and plant trees this spring and has plastered the school with posters educating people on sustainability facts and proper recycling techniques. On Veterans Day, the Environmental Club students rolled up their sleeves to pick up trash in and around the Northampton Bike Trail and the Barrett Street Marsh. The club is

also in the middle of a Zero Trash Friday initiative for the month of November which challenges the students to produce “zero trash” in the lunchroom every Friday. The Environmental Club weighs, calculates, and posts the trash produced per person in each lunch period every Friday. The lunch period that produces the least amount of trash per person at the end of the month will win a delicious prize. The Zero Trash Friday initiative is the brainchild of Micky Darling, a Northampton community volunteer who works with area schools to promote environmental responsibility and awareness. Micky was also the catalyst for the formation of NHS’ first Green Team. The Green Team shares the same vision as the Environmental Club, but it is open to parents, teachers, and community members in addition to NHS students. The first Green Team meeting was held in the school library on Thursday November 12th at 6pm. At the meeting, members brainstormed topics to investigate and implement during the school year. Such topics included organizing the existing recycling procedures at NHS, creating a school garden, promoting biking and carpooling to school, surveying classes about their attitudes toward recycling, artistic representations of wasted paper and plastic, environmental awareness assemblies, energy audits for the building, as well as collaborating with other Northampton Green Teams. Check out the Northampton High Website (http://www.hamphigh.org/) to find information about the meeting times and places of the Environmental Club and the Green Team.

Varsity makes baseball history On November 12, 2008, the Northampton High School senior varsity baseball players were proud to help Historic Northampton dedicate a memorial to the Florence Eagles, a team from the 1860’s that was noteworthy not only for its many on-field successes but also because it was the first integrated baseball team in the nation. Located at the Florence Civic Center, the kiosk commemorating the Eagles is part of a city-wide initiative celebrating Northampton’s rich history. Blue Devils seniors dressed in authentic 19th

century baseball uniforms to help commemorate the event. This recent event is another part of the Northampton High School baseball team’s long tradition of active involvement with community events and the city’s youth baseball programs. For over 17 years, varsity players have helped with youth league evaluations, and more recently the team has conducted clinics for youth league coaches. In addition to those activities, the Blue Devils have dramatically increased their community involvement by hosting several major teaching and coaching events at NHS’ Kearney Field.

INFORMED PARENTS=SAFER KIDS As we approach the holiday season, many parents may struggle with social norms around adolescents drinking in the home. Data strongly shows that a consistent non-use message from parents is one of the best prevention tools we have. However, many misconceptions about adolescent alcohol use still persist. A commonly held perception, and one that is often used as an argument for lowering the drinking age in the U.S., is around alcohol use in Europe, where laws and attitudes around drinking are much more liberal. Proponents of lowering the minimum drinking age in the U.S. assert that because alcohol is part of the culture in Europe, and young people learn to drink at younger ages within the context of the family, that adolescent Europeans learn to drink more responsibly than their American counterparts. However, a recent report from the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, based on findings from the 2003 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs, demonstrates that this is NOT the case. In fact, a greater percentage of all adolescents in most European countries report drinking in the past 30 days, a greater percentage of young people report drinking five or more drinks in a row (defined as “binge drinking”), and a majority of European countries report higher youth intoxification rates than the U.S. This data does NOT support the assertion that earlier initiation with alcohol results in more “responsible” drinking patterns. So, if your adolescent, or another parent, uses this argument in support of lowering the drinking age in the U.S., or for justification in allowing adolescent alcohol use in their home, you can now be armed with a good data in support of a non-use message!

Hamp High Sports News www.hamphigh.org The above address is the portal to Northampton Athletics. Click on Athletics Link and you will find Athletic Announcements, Team Web Sites, Coach’s Emails, and much more. Fall sports are winding down with our annual Thanksgiving Day football game November 27 at Amherst High school starting at 10:00 am. Golf won their league for the second year in a row, boys soccer qualified for the Western Mass tournament where they lost in the quarterfinals. Boys cross country finished finished second in the Western Mass Tournament and also picked up a second place finish in the PVIAC championships. Boys and girls cross country also traveled to Brown University in Rhode Island to com pete in the Brown Cross Country Championships. Boys JV finished third for division one and the boys varsity also finished third in the A-1 division. Erik Dunn-Gaudett finished first in the PVIAC cross country championships. Field hockey experienced a much improved season over the last few years winning more games this season than the last two seasons combined. Congratulations go out to all our young student athletes. Winter sports are gearing up for another season, Cheering, Diving, Skiing, Swimming, Winter Track, and Wrestling will hold tryouts/practices starting Monday December 1. All athletes and their parents/guardians are reminded that all forms, fees, and physical needs to be completed before they can practice or try out. Two new coaches will be working the sidelines this season and another will move up in the ranks. Perry Messer will be guiding last years State Champion Girls Basketball team replacing Tom Parent who was with the program for 26 years. Willie Pope has moved up from Freshmen boys coach to the Junior Varsity team replacing Craig Fydenkevez. Mike O’Brien, a Hamp High alum will be doing the Boys freshmen team. There will be a ski club again this year for six ski Thursdays in January and February. Information will be available beginning of December. Check the athletic web site for updates. Winter season passes will be sold beginning Dec 1. Pricing information and order forms will be on the athletic web site. James M. Miller Director of Athletics Northampton High School