Cougar Weekly News
ConVal High School Happenings - April 9, 2021
Message From Principal McKillop
What a wonderful week we have had as a ConVal community! It was so nice to welcome all students who wished to join us for in-person learning to our building and to have both cohorts join together this week.
I had the honor of talking with new students, visiting classrooms, and assisting those who had questions about our new self-screening tool. This has been a big hit and has truly expedited the arrival process in the morning. Thanks to all students who have been using it already. If any student still has a question, I am happy to assist in the morning as they arrive, or they can access the Library for assistance.
Perhaps a highlight of the week was when a few students asked me to help them with their video for Math. I can honestly say that it was the first time I was asked to be a dragon for a project!
As a reminder, next week our flex day is on Wednesday for Freshmen, Sophomores, and Seniors. Only our juniors will attend in-person on Wednesday to take the digital version of the SAT. It is important for them to make sure they to bring a fully charged Chromebook. Details were sent this week from our Director of School Counseling. Please reach out to our registrar, Stacy Whitaker, with any questions at swhitaker@conval.edu.
On Tuesday evening, the last day of school for students was confirmed. Please save the date of Thursday, June 17 (which will be a half-day) as the last day of school.
It's hard to believe we have only ten weeks of school left. Please don't hesitate to reach out to teachers with questions or to check in with your school counselor if you need any support.
We are a strong community and are committed to helping, so please reach out if we can do so.
Best,
Heather
Email: conval.highschool@conval.edu
Website: http://cvhs.convalsd.net/
Phone: (603) 924-3869
Upcoming Important Dates
April 12 - 16, 2021 - Spirit Week
April 14, 2021 - SATs for grade 11(Remote Flex day for Grades 9, 10, 12)
June 2, 2021 - Underclassman Awards (Virtual -6:30 pm)
June 9, 2021 - Senior Scholarship and Awards Night (6:00pm)
June 17, 2021 - Last day of school
Morning Covid Assessment and Screening Tool
Part of the success of the quicker morning procedures is that students and staff members have access to an online service provided by ConvenientMD that asks the same screening questions as the screeners at the door. Based on the answers, the self-screening tool issues the clearance for in-person participation for the day.
“The ConvenientMD COVID-19 Assessment and Screening tool has truly helped expedite our arrival process,” principal Heather McKillop noted. When students have their clearance on their phones, all that remains is a mandatory temperature check at the door which speeds up the arrival procedure for each student and reduces wait time in line.
“We are hopeful that, by the end of next week, the majority of our students will use this platform,” McKillop said.
COVID-19 Self-Screening Directions
The ConVal-branded ConvenientMD self-screening tool helps speed up your student's morning check-in. The assessment asks the same questions that the school's COVID-19 screeners at the door ask. Please note that this online service has been rated HIPAA-compliant and has been approved for use by the New Hampshire Student Data Privacy Consortium.
To get the clearance, all your child has to do is to follow these steps at home, before leaving for school:
1. Go to covid.convenientmd.com/conval/ on their smartphone or Chromebook.
2. Enter their unique ID. The ID is their email address without “@cvsd.me” — e.g. halle223ry not halle223ry@cvsd.me.
3. Complete the self-assessment which provides them with the clearance for the day.
Here are instructions for having the clearance ready at the check-in point.
If your child has an iPhone: Launch Safari on the iPhone and open the ConVal ConvenientMD web page that you want to pin to your home screen. Tap the "Share" icon (the square with an arrow pointing out of it) at the bottom of the screen. Scroll down to the list of actions and tap "Add to Home Screen." If you don't see the action, scroll to the bottom and tap "Edit Actions," then tap "Add" next to the "Add to Home Screen" action. After that, you'll be able to select it from the Share Sheet.
If your child has an Android phone: Launch Chrome for Android and open the ConVal ConvenientMD web page that you want to pin to your home screen. Tap the menu button and tap "Add to home screen." You’ll be able to enter a name for the shortcut and then Chrome will add it to your home screen.
While the use of the self-screening tool is not required, it is recommended because it makes check-in so much more efficient. As principal McKillop noted above, "We are hopeful that, by the end of next week, the majority of our students will use this platform."
2021-2022 School Calendar
Fruit Free-Fall Experiment in Physics Class
Students dropped fruits of different sizes while the fall was recorded on high frame rate cameras, both from the front and from the side.
Next week, an analysis of the videos with Vernier Graphical Analysis™ Pro will determine and graph the position, time, velocity, and acceleration of the different massed fruits for each trial. Students will gather and plot data to observe the impact of mass on objects in free fall motion and then quantify the acceleration due to gravity.
Spring Musical Returns To ConVal
We are so excited to finally announce that we are doing a musical this spring!
We will have a meeting next Friday, April 16, from 2:35-4:00 pm in the ConVal Cafeteria for everyone interested in participating.
Please come! All are welcome! Bring friends! Share bit.ly/cvspringshow to link everyone to it easily!
Auditions are NOT required, but if there is a part you’d like to be considered for, you can prepare something to share with the directors at the meeting. Click here for the signup sheet.
Those not “auditioning” will be able to meet with us and say a quick hello, while also playing theatre games and getting to know our awesome theatrical community!
Please let us know if you have any questions by emailing Liz Moore, Director, or Brian Moore, Music Director. We can’t wait to get started!
Region 14/ATC Information and Update
Attention Seniors
The application for the 2021 Career Technology Education Scholarship Application from Bar Harbor Bank & Trust is due May 1. Recipients will be awarded $1,000, and applicants selected to receive a 2021 scholarship will be eligible to apply for an additional $1,000 scholarship in 2022 to be used for the applicant’s second year of college or technical school.
Mrs. Grossi's Career in Education II Class
Students in Mrs. Grossi’s Careers in Education II class are reading and discussing the book Teach Like a Pirate, which addresses different ways to increase student engagement through creative instruction. Class discussions are student led with these future educators considering how they may include some of the techniques into both their field work and later practice.
Congratulations to Mrs. Sarah Grossi
Congratulations to Mrs. Sarah Grossi, who co-authored the article Pedagogies of Practice in a Pandemic, which is appearing in ACTE’s Techniques magazine!
School Counseling Information/Update
Frequently Asked Questions regarding next Wednesday’s SAT:
- Are students required to complete the Essay? Yes, all students are registered for the Digital SAT w/ Essay and the essay is a required component of the state testing.
- Can students leave if they finish early? No. The SAT is proctored in a controlled format where all students begin and end each section at the same time. So a student cannot finish substantially early relative to their peers – at most, they might finish the last section a little bit early. However, students are unable to leave the testing room prior to their proctor dismissing them. Depending on the pacing of the instructions, test sessions should end between 12:30-12:45. Students that drove themselves to school may be dismissed from the testing room at the conclusion of the test, by the proctor. Students that are relying on bus transportation will remain in the testing room until closer to 1’o’clock.
- Can remote students take the exam remotely? No, the test needs to be administered in person. If a family does not want their student to enter the building based on a family’s approach to COVID safety, please contact Tim Cotreau directly at tcotreau@conval.edu.
- Is there a make-up date? If a student is sick or cannot attend on Wednesday, there will be a make-up session or session(s) at the end of the month (April 27-29).
- Can I preview the student digital test format? Yes, you can preview the student digital SAT format at https://digitaltesting.collegeboard.org/ and click on Preview the Student Digital Test Experience.
CollegePoint – CollegePoint is a new, free, virtual college advising program for high achieving, lower-income students from the class of 2022 that connects students with advisors that seek support with the college admission/application process. If you are a high-achieving student from a lower-income family interested in an additional layer of support with the college process, you can view the eligibility requirements and sign up on the CollegePoint website: https://www.collegepoint.info/.
Seniors: College Admissions Decisions – As College Decisions are being sent to students, seniors should update Naviance to reflect admissions decisions as well as inform their counselor about the schools that they have been accepted to.
To update admissions decisions: login to Naviance, click Colleges I’m Applying To then, under the college that you want to update, click Edit and it will let you update the admissions outcomes. Students that have made a decision about where they are attending can set this in Naviance by clicking College That I’m Attending, choosing the school from the drop-down, and clicking update.
This information is important for the school counseling office to have, because 1. It lets us know ultimately where to send a final transcript at the end of the year and 2. It improves the data that we have in Naviance for helping students understand the competitive range for colleges that ConVal students have applied to.
Upward Bound - The Keene State College Upward Bound Programs (UBP) is still accepting applications from 9th and 10th grade students!
Upward Bound is a free, year-round college preparatory program. During the school year UBP students meet weekly with an educational counselor to discuss study skills, time management, advising, PSAT/SAT preparation, and college and career exploration. Students and their families receive support throughout the college application and financial aid process. Additionally, students have the opportunity to participate in workshops, field trips, STEM activities, and college visits. The Upward Bound Programs continue to provide all of these services for students virtually this fall.
In the summer, students participate in a six-week experience, with at least two of those weeks on-site at Keene State College. During summer sessions students live in a residence hall and take classes on campus. A diverse number of community activities, events, and clubs are offered for students to engage with. Students also take part in community service and leadership development activities in a supportive environment.
The Upward Bound Programs are funded by the U.S. Department of Education and are FREE for students who from moderate-income families and/or may be the first in their family to complete a 4-year college degree.
Admission to KSC UBP is based on financial eligibility, academic eligibility, and a personal interview. If you are an academically motivated student thinking about college who might benefit from the support of the Upward Bound Programs, please reach out to Emily Bolick at emily.bolick@ksctrioprograms.org or ask your school counselor.
Sports through Social Studies
Sports through Social Studies is a new class that was piloted in the Social Studies department this past fall and will run again in the upcoming ‘21-’22 school year.
This class explores the different social studies using sports as a common theme. We discuss different topics related to anthropology, economics, sociology, psychology, history, political science, and geography. We cover topics like the "Miracle on Ice" hockey team, wrestling throughout the world, concussions, Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, Women’s Professional Baseball League, and ask the question: Should college athletes get paid?
While each of these topics are interesting to the sports enthusiast, they also say something more important about society. For example--each culture has a style of wrestling, but the rules of competition and the way it is performed is different. Why is that? What does that say about the culture of that society?
I couldn’t sum up this class better than what one of my students in class said about the course, “History can be kind of a boring thing to learn. So when you take sports, which is something a ton of people enjoy, and teach history through that, it kind of has more of a reach. It can make things more entertaining so you're actually interested in learning more and you can actually apply yourself.”
-Sara King, Social Studies teacher and creator of this
new and exciting opportunity for students at ConVal
Seniors: Apply For Local Scholarships Online
The 2021 ConVal Scholarship Application that is used to apply to a wide variety of local scholarship opportunities is now available in Naviance for all seniors.
To access the application, students will need to log in to their Naviance account, click Colleges > Scholarship List > Local and Regional Scholarships > 2021 ConVal Regional High School Scholarship Application.
The application with the required documents must be submitted electronically to Ms. Whitaker at swhitaker@conval.edu no later than by the end of business on April 29, 2021.
If you have questions, need any assistance obtaining this form, or logging into your Naviance account please contact your school counselor or Ms. Whitaker.
Athletic Update
Our spring sports season is under way and our games begin next week. All spring sports schedules can be found at ConVal Regional High School.
Please remember that only immediate household members are allowed to attend home games. Spectators are required to wear a mask, participate in a COVID screening, and stay physically distant. Please bring a lawn chair as the bleachers will be closed until further notice.
If you have any questions, please contact athletic director John Reitnauer at jreitnauer@conval.edu.
Scholarship Drive: “The Month Of April Will Be Full Of Prizes”
The Contoocook Valley Board of Realtors invites you to participate in a calendar drawing fundraiser to support a ConVal High School graduate in their pursuit of a post-secondary degree.
The scholarship will be awarded for “employment, extra-curricular activities, including sports, student groups, and community service, and academic performance,” according to the Board of Realtors.
Here is how the contest works: To get into the raffle, all you need to do is buy a calendar for $10. Every day in April, a random drawing will be held to determine the daily prize winner. Prizes are listed in the calendar below.
All prizes have been donated by local businesses, artists, farms, and individuals. By entering, you are eligible to win:
- 4 Red Sox tickets/prime seating together
- artwork by Matt Patterson
- a photoshoot
- autographed Sy Montgomery books
- gift baskets
- jewelry
- $100 cash/debit cards
- hardware store gift cards
- gift cards to restaurants
and more.
All calendar sales are applied directly to the scholarship. There are no restrictions on the number of calendars you can buy. All calendars will be numbered to correspond to the purchasing individual.
On each day of the drawing, a Google random number generator will be utilized to draw the daily winner. All numbers are re-entered into the drawing, so there are multiple chances to win.
Winners will be notified via phone or email. Gift cards can be mailed. Local pickup is required of larger items and will be arranged with the winners.
For any additional details, please contact Karen Niemela at karen.niemela@beangroup.com.