SKHS Principal's Newsletter
April, 2017
From the desk of Mr. Mezzanotte...
SKHS Students in Belize
Rebel Pride
Dodgeball
SKPades
Drama Club- Young Frankenstein
Winter Pep Rally
Winter Athletics
- Girls Hockey Co-Op team won the State Championship
- Eva McCool-Guglielmo- First Team All-State Gymnastics
- Keegan Records- First Team All-State Boys Basketball
- Grace Gibbons- First Team All-State Girls Hockey
- Anthony Shepard- First Team All-State Indoor Track, 2nd Place in New England Long Jump
- Megan Bodziony- First Team All-State Girls Basketball
- Ellie Lawler- 4th Place in New England 2 Mile Run
- Jill Gonzalves- Girls Hockey Hobey Baker Award winner
- John Mahoney- Boys Hockey Hobey Baker Award winner
Congratulations to all!
SK Music
The SKHS Music Department has much good news to share...
1. Congrats to our students in eSKape Jazz Choir and Jazz Band!
Our Jazz groups performed at the 49th annual Berklee College of Music High School Jazz festival On Saturday, February 11th at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. The Berklee festival is the single largest event of its kind in the country, with 150 High School Jazz Bands and 40 Jazz choirs, involving thousands of students from 15 different states. Our students distinguished themselves in their diligent preparation, exceptional teamwork, and inspired and focused performances at the festival.
eSKape, our jazz choir led by Marina Murray finished among the best choirs with an impressive 5th place out of 14 groups, performing a diverse and challenging program to a packed room. Congrats to senior Olivia Nugent who was recognized with the "Judges Choice" award for her solo. Kudos to Mrs. Murray and all of her terrific students!
The Jazz band was awarded the 2nd place trophy out of their division of 16 groups! Our full ensemble and student soloists played a challenging set with great attention to detail, and the judges praised the kids for their efforts. Congratulations to Michael Robinson for receiving the "Judges Choice" award for the Jazz band!
2. Congratulations to all 33 of our All-State Musicians for their amazing performances in March in concerts given around the state. The All-State guitar ensembles performed at Providence College on March 12th, the All-State Jazz Ensembles played at Cranston West High School on March 16th, and the All-State Bands, Orchestras and choirs all performed at the historic Vets Auditorium in downtown Providence on March 19th. In addition, Mr. Benz was honored to be selected as this year's conductor of the Jr. Division All-State Jazz Band in March.
3. Our High School Music program supported the highly successful run of this year's musical production, "Young Frankenstein" in February with over 50 student musicians performing in the pit orchestra and in the cast. Audiences were treated to a fun and entertaining show thanks to the hard of the students and their show Director, Mr. Alper.
4. The Spring Concert was held on March 23rd and featured inspired performances by all of the school's musical ensembles including the Jazz Band, Choirs, Concert Band and Orchestra. All of school groups also presented a short "preview" performance for grade 6 students from Broad Rock Middle School on Monday, March 20th followed by a brief question and answer session where students engaged with each other discussing the music programs in the high school and middle school. we look forward to seeing these young musicians in a few years!
5. SKHS hosted this year's RI Music Educator's Orchestra Festival on Monday, March 27th. Performing on the festival were Middle and High Schools from North Kingstown, Warwick, Newport and Bristol-Warren who performed their best music and received adjudication from 3 judges in attendance.
The SKHS Orchestra received the highest rating possible, SUPERIOR at this year's festival, earning 39/40 points from 3 independent adjudicators.
Special thanks to our SKHS students and parents who also served as guides and hosts throughout the day, helping to insure that day went smoothly.
Orchestra Students with Superior Award
Jazz Choir at Berklee
Jazz Band at Berklee
Art Awards at Hera
The Art Department is proud to announce 11 prize winners from the 28th Annual Young Adult's exhibition at Hera Gallery in Wakefield. In addition to these awards, Elinor Swanson won the Cover Art Competition (Her work is on the invitation) and along with Mae Bodziony, was also awarded a $125 art scholarship. If you have any of these students, please congratulate them for their achievement! Even better, go see for yourself the all our amazing student work that is part of this regional student art show. 40 SKHS works are on display until February 25th. Gallery is at 10 High Street. Hours are:Wed, Thu, Fri: 1-5, Saturday: 10-4
WINNERS:
Painting:
First Place: Seneca Brown
Second Place: Mae Bodziony
Honorable Mention: Bria Dequattro
Portrait:
Honorable mention: Hayley Reed
Color Drawing:
First Place: Elinor Swanson
Second Place: Morgan Tibbits
Collage/Mixed Media
First Place: Mae Bodziony
Second Place: Elizabeth Petrucci
Digital Photography
Second Place: Mae Bodziony, Nick Vescerea & Laird French
Honorable Mention: Johnny Mitrano
Sculpture
Second Place: Emilia Zeyl
Academic Decathelon
We are proud to announce that SKHS ranked 6th in Rhode Island in the state competition of the Academic Decathelon! Congratulations to faculty advisers Christine Mohan and Eileen Gannon and the following students:
Seniors:
Isabelle Fisher Silver in Speech
Chris Nadeau Silver in Economics, Bronze in Science
Capt. Michael Robinson Silver in Mathematics
Hannah Southwick Silver in Interview
Capt. Benjamin Trager Silver in Speech, Bronze in Mathematics
Juniors:
Sam Kaczynski Silver in Mathematics
Kaitlin Kelley Bronze in Economics
Hossam Zaki Bronze in Mathematics
Sophomore:
Jack Vetter Gold as Top Scorer for Our Team
Teammates who prepared for and competed at the competition: Senior Captains Faares Deeb and Matthew Vetter, Senior Diogo Paulino, Junior Michael Bergner,
Sophomores Catherine Rekos and Maggie Rodgers.
This has been our most well-rounded performance in quite some time! We're very proud of our team. Photographs below are courtesy of Kendra Gravelle of the Narragansett Times.
Science Fair
The winner of the Narrow River Preservation Association’s award for outstanding environmentalism went to Emily Kaczynski for her study on invasive crab species.
Third place for engineering a floatable device that skims plastic waste out of water: Gavin Grady
Second place for examining the health of worms in landfills: Evan Adams
First place went to Emilia Delemontex and Sophia Darsch who looked at cutting down on heat given off by planting green roofs vs. black or white shingles or paint.
The BEST in FAIR vote went to Lauren Hubert for creating a biodegradable epi-pen case.
Additionally, eleven students attended the Rhode Island Science and Engineering Fair (RISEF) on March 18th to compete against other high school students around the state. The students were: Emily Kaczynski (Invasive Crab Species), Erin Jackson (Chromatography and Phytochemical Association), Katelyn Leonard (Erosion), Meredith Wilkinson (Food Waste in Schools), Lauren Hubert (bioplastic), Kyle Nadeau (Ground level Ozone), Gavin Grady (engineering a water garbage collector), Thomas Sfinarolakis and Jack Wholey (Tidal Power Machine), Caroline Parente and Maura Brennan (Engineer dispersants to break down oil).
Awards that the kids earned at RISEF: Emily Kaczynski received a Best in Fair, (only 10 students out of over 200 projects earn this) Gavin Grady earned a Certificate of Recognition from the RI Water Works Assn.,and Caroline Parente and Maura Brennan earned an Honorable Mention from the Coastal Resources Co.
Congratulations to all for your hard work and achievement!
Patty Pearce Named Golden Apple Award Recipient
Noteworthy Accomplishments
- The SKHS Italian Club sold yellow carnations in honor of International Women's Day on March 8th. All proceeds will benefit the Domestic Violence Resource Center of South County located here in Wakefield. It is a local organization that offers victims of domestic violence a safe house shelter, a 24-hr hotline, court advocacy support and more. This year, the Italian Club will donate $150! Bravi!!
Youth Coalition led a free activity” Paint Night” for 30 students on February 17th at the high school to engage youth and give them the opportunity to participate in a fun filled substance free evening. The art room was filled with beautiful, colorful paintings ,lots of refreshments, and a great time was had by all who attended. Thanks to all who participated.
- On Saturday, March 4, the SKHS Debate team sent 12 students to the state tournament at New England Tech. Participants were: Ben Trager, Kara Waldheger, Matt McGovern, Sarah LeClair, Grace Major, Lillian Hogan, Suzelle Glickman, Ellie Beck, Diogo Paulino, Chris Nadeau, Braedon Kehoe and Merrick Slade. Senior Eli O’Brien was eligible but could not participate as he was representing Rhode Island as a U.S. Senate Youth delegate in Washington D.C.! In the Varsity Division, Ben Trager debated “Iron Man” and placed 6th out of the 50 varsity teams and 20th out of 100 individual speakers. In the Novice Division, Brandon Kehoe placed 9th out of 62 individual speakers and with his partner, Merrick Slade, placed 4th out of 31 teams. In addition, Lillian Hogan and Jojo Speredelozzi placed 14th as a team and Suzelle Glickman and Ellie Beck placed 16th. Congratulations to all of SKHS’s debaters on a great season and a special thanks to all the friends and family that helped judge this season!
- The SKHS Parent-Teacher Group recognized Ian Pierce for demonstrating exceptional learner qualities and dedication to the school community. Congratulations Ian!
Callan Napier was honored as the South Kingstown High School "Rotary Student of the Month" on March 27th at the Holiday Inn. Callan was recognized for her achievement in scholarship, musicianship and service to others. Callan has challenged herself with demanding coursework since her freshman year and currently ranks in the top 10% of her class. She has been a perennial member of the Sailing Club, French Club, and is a past participant of Academic Decathlon. Christine Mohan, one who coached Callan on the Academic Decathlon team and taught Callan English, said of Callan: "She possesses an infectious energy and positive attitude that were welcomed in both atmospheres. She has wonderful interpersonal skills; she is funny and engaging, yet sincere, and it is obvious that people respond to her. She is a natural leader and while motivated to be her best self, motivates others to be their best selves... She is a model student and person." Callan has been a devoted musician throughout high school, playing the euphonium for the school's ensembles, the Rhode Island Youth Wind Ensemble and the New England Honor Band. As a member of Breaking Barriers, Callan has spent Wednesday mornings before school with students who are more socially isolated. She has also served as a leader in the Freshman Mentor program for the past two years. Any time Callan is asked to lend a hand for another, she does whatever she can. South Kingstown High School has been extremely fortunate to have had Callan these few years as a student, classmate, teammate, fellow musician, mentor and friend.
Sophomore Grace Major was selected to be a girl delegate at the United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women. She attended a week-long session at the United Nations in New York city from Friday, March 10 – Saturday, March 18. She will be meeting with with dignitaries, heads of state, community organizers, policy-makers, and change agents on emerging issues and trends affecting women and girls throughout the world. This is an amazing opportunity and we are so very proud of her! In addition, she met with Governor Gina Raimondo at the State House to attend the commission on Women in Rhode Island. Congratulations to Grace!
Matthew McGovern was selected by the Narragansett-Cooke-Gaspee chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution as the 2017 South Kingstown High School DAR Good Citizen. Each year, this award is given to a student who exemplifies outstanding qualities in the areas of dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism. He was joined by his grandmother, Mrs. Judy McGovern, and his school counselor, Mr. Jeff Taber when he received his award at a celebratory luncheon on Saturday, February 18, 2017.
Advanced Sculpture students donated their time and talents to benefit the Jonnycake Center Empty Bowl event. On March 9th 2017, we were able to donate 17 handmade ceramic bowls to the event. Great cause!
SKHS teacher Dave Carey brought the robot NAO to Peace Dale Elementary School as a way to promote Coding to the young students. The robot was a big hit. Thanks to Peace Dale librarian Martha Badigan.
The 7th Annual Trivia Night was hosted by the Junior Class. The night was a great success and a good time was had by all!
The SKHS Beautification Team continued its fine work over the April vacation week. They added a fresh coat of paint to the math hallway. A special thanks goes out to Shivali Finkestein, Doug Snow, Jeff Taber and Daniel Gagnon for volunteering their time. Also, thanks to Terry Lynch and Bob Desrochers for their support of the project.