SKHS Principal's Newsletter
June 2017
Congrats Class of 2017!
SKHS History
Rebel Spring Athletics
SKHS Arts
- May 18th was this year's annual Night of the Arts. Hundreds of artworks were on display as students, faculty, families, and community members enjoyed live instrumental music,choral showcases, and short theater performances. A great time was had by all! Our very artistically talented Seneca Brown was awarded a Patricia Edwards Scholarship to attend RISD classes this fall. Congratulations, Seneca! A grateful "Thank you " to everyone who supported the Art Department by purchasing tickets for our recent chair raffle. The winner of this year's "Rhode Island Rocker" is Carolyn Duksta. Congratulations! The proceeds were awarded to AP Studio Artist, Amber Bruen in the form of an art scholarship at the 2017 Senior Award Ceremony on June 1st.
The Welcome House of South County contacted Mrs. Blakeney about donating student artwork to their newest residence in Wakefield, a shelter for single mothers in need of a safe place to live with their children. Within one week, National Honors Society and Project Venue donated a total of 30 frames. Photos, prints and original pieces were all donated by SKHS students and local artists. During the most recent open mic night, members of Project Venue worked together to frame the artwork. The Welcome House organization was very excited to see all 30 pieces hung in the newly renovated 5 bedroom home that opened on June 1st.
SKHS's Art 2 class joined the super positive South County ROCKS movement by painting over thirty rocks in our classroom and then hiding them in plain sight in the Guild Playground. As we starting walking back to the school, the creators of the rocks witnessed a few very excited toddlers finding their rocks. To follow this movement, "like" the South County Rocks Facebook page.
ROCKS Movement Students
Welcome House Students
ROCKS Movement
SKHS Music
- On Tuesday night, April 11th, all of our student string players from grades 5-12 and the members of HS Orchestra gathered for a unique concert at the High School. The annual "Fiddle Fest" was a big success, featuring over 250 student musicians playing for each other and a gathering of parents, administrators and friends for a special night of music. The evening was capped by a special play along with everyone performing a classic american folk song. Congratulations to all of our students!
- The HS Music Department presented its annual "Pops" Concert on Thursday, May 11th for a large enthusiastic crowd. All of our High School groups performed that night including the Jazz Band, eSKApe, Chorus, Barbershop Quartet, Chordette Women's quartet, Concert Band, and Symphony Orchestra. Featured on the program was everything from some classic jazz to Michael Jackson to The Beatles to "Hamilton the Musical" and the music of James Bond.
- We paid special tribute to our Senior class as well as presenting several special awards to seniors: Congrats to all!
Julia Santini
Olivia Nugent
John Philip Sousa Award:
Callan Napier
Louis Armstrong Jazz Award:
Eric Fay-Wolfe
National School Orchestra Award:
Faares Deeb
Leonard Bernstein Musicianship Award:
Michael Robinson- The High School Band was scheduled to perform in the annual Memorial Day parade on May 29th but the event was rained out. A beautiful Memorial Day Ceremony took place in the HS Auditorium honoring our fallen Veterans and their families for their sacrifice to our country. We were honored to be a small part of this meaningful annual event!
- "Jazz By The Sea" was a big success! Our HS Jazz Band, eSKApe, and the SK Jazz Strings all provided music and entertainment throughout the event. Congratulations to our parent volunteers who planned and hosted this amazing day at the Dunes Club on Sunday, June 4th. Thousands of dollars was raised for music scholarships for deserving students of all ages through ticket sales and auctioned items at the event. Congratulations to Steve and Gerianne Beekman of Beekman violin for being voted into the SK Music Hall-of-Fame for their tireless support of music in our community for many years. Special thanks to the many area businesses and individuals who donated auction items and services in support of this worthy cause. (see pics below!)
- On June 6th, a small ensemble of Chorus and eSKape members performed at South County Hospital's 4th Annual Cancer Survivors Celebration. It was a beautiful evening in honor of National Cancer Survivors Day and in recognition of those who are fighting or who have fought cancer. Mrs. Murray and her students were honored to take part in this community celebration of hope, courage and strength.
- The SK Choral students had one last performance of the 2016-2017 school year: Cafe Society presents "Final Jam", which was held on Tuesday, June 20th at 6:00 PM in the courtyard! Attendees were treated to a program put together entirely by the students. The event included an array of wonderful solo, duet, and small ensemble acts.
SKHS Drama
SKHS Science
- SKHS Science teacher Brenda Dillmann led her students on on applying their learning to a local environmental issue. Click HERE for an article about this authentic learning opportunity!
- This June 2 marked the 5th annual Rube Goldberg Day for Physics. Even though the project has been around in SK for much longer, the in-school field trip was created by Stephanie Ottilige and Mary Kutcher so students could showcase their learning to a larger community than just their own classrooms. Instead, students from all physics 1 classes worked alone or with a partner to collaborate in a month-long project, where they planned, constructed, discussed, and presented physics concepts from the year. The level of student creativity and involvement demonstrates their mastery of the topic.
- Students in Jackie Elmer's Honors Biology classes recently completed Renewable Energy Projects. Each student was required to create a renewable energy source for their home, neighborhood, school or community. It must be a practical solution and include the type of energy created, past, present and future of this type of energy, mechanics (how will your plan work?), how do you expect to fund the project, who will it service, on site pictures and cost analysis. Students conducted two interviews to complete the above criteria. Examples of interviewees included government officials, college professors, and business owners.
- The AP chemistry team placed third at the annual URI chemistry contest. There were about 15 schools both public and private at the contests. Congratulations to students Matt Marsh, Hossam Zaki, Kate DeBoer, Chris Nadeau, Sierra Rowley, Mike Bergner, Sam Kaczynski, and Jaqueline Lindstrom (pictured below)
SKHS Positive Behavioral Supports and Interventions (PBIS)
PBIS at SKHS believes in rewarding our students when they make good choices. This school year, PBIS launched a Cafeteria Rebel Rewards Program which rewarded our students for making good choices and exhibiting exemplary behaviors in the cafeteria. Students earned Rebel Rewards which were entered into drawings for prizes of gift certificates, movie passes and Rebel athletics gear. To show our seniors how much we love them, PBIS joined in helping to support the First Annual Senior Cookout, which was great fun for everyone, regardless of the less than perfect weather. PBIS also rewarded students for their exemplary attendance to school and their classes. Those students earned a Golden Ticket and all Golden Ticket winners were invited to a Pizza Party in the Courtyard to enjoy each other’s company, bask in a sunny afternoon, and partake of everyone’s favorite, pizza. The PBIS Committee is already planning events and contests for the fall so stay tuned!
This year, the PBIS team made student attendance its primary issue. We are pleased to announce that unexcused absences improved this year by 33% and unexcused tardies to school improved by 37%. Thank you to all our students and adults for contributing to this effort!
We would also like to congratulate the following seniors for having perfect attendance their senior year:
Kate DeBoer
Scott DeBoer
Dario Follo
Javen Genest
Johnathan Harper
Jason Hogan
Isobel Mccullough
Christopher Nadeau
Diogo Paulino
Danielle Robinson
Jack Sipperly
Hannah Southwick
David Sweet
Morgan Tibbitts
SKHS Guidance
- Hayley Reed was selected as the Rotary Club Student of the Month for May. Hayley is incredibly talented, artistically, musically and theatrically. She is a very astute young person and a true advocate for her school and community. Recently, she spoke at a school committee meeting on transgender issues; spearheading an initiative to have a gender neutral bathroom. She has worked closely with our English Language Learner students, many of which had very limited English at the beginning of the school year. She is one of the leaders of Project Venue, a group for youth to perform and create music and arts at the “open-mic” nights. Hayley is actively involved with a local theater company; serving as Stage Manager for the Contemporary Theater Company. She feels “at home” at the theater and enjoys the camaraderie with the other actors. Hayley is a very expressive and artistic young person, and will be attending the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she will pursue a degree in movie and production design.
- Kendall Ahern was recognized as the Rotary Club of Wakefield Student of the Month for June. She entered into her senior year ready to take responsibility for her own learning and was eager to demonstrate to her teachers, classmates, family and most importantly herself, what she was actually capable of. This determination to improve academically not only made her school year more enjoyable but it also resulted in an enormous jump in grades. Kendall has many wonderful qualities that have always made her a respected member of the SKHS community but with the hard work she put in this year, she can now add excellent student to that list of qualities! Congratulations Kendall!
- The date of the Post-Secondary Options Fair was March 30th. Its goal was to present post-secondary options to students who may choose to do something other than immediately enroll in a two or four year degree program. Options included travel/ education/volunteering, technical/career training, and employment opportunities. Nineteen organizations were scheduled to participate and seventeen were there that day. One Hundred-Twelve students participated in the fair.
Other Happenings at SKHS
- The SKHS Alumni Association is hosting an alumni soccer game. The game will be held on Friday September 1st at 7:00 PM, immediately following the varsity game, at Curtis Corner Middle School. If you are interested in playing in the game, please complete a short survey HERE. Also, if you are a Rebel alum and are interested in being a part of the new Alumni Association please consider taking this SURVEY.
- Tech Ed teacher Dave Carey was awarded a SKEF Grant for the sum of $2433.00 to purchase a new 3-D printer. The initial plan for this printer is to allow students in the Engineering Graphics, Intro. To Cad, and Technical Drawing classes to print prototypes of their designs rather than just draw them and model them on a computer monitor.
An email over a year ago from Mark Russo, Buildings Director for the Town of South Kingstown, to Eric Swanson, the wood shop teacher at South Kingstown High School eventually led to an opportunity for many of the kids enrolled in Swanson’s carpentry classes to earn community service hours and help build an attractive and highly visible asset for the town. This spring semester, Swanson’s carpentry students replaced the old Peace Dale Library sign on the corner of Route 108 and Columbia St. with a new roofed sign kiosk. Swanson’s kids did all of the work, from digging the holes, mixing the concrete and pouring the footings; to shingling the wood shake roof and hinging the clear plexiglass windows. Despite the increasing heat, the kids kept at it and gained a lot of practical carpentry experience.
On May 30th, South Kingstown High School’s World Language Department celebrated their Honors Night, in which 75 new inductees were welcomed into the French, Spanish, and Italian Honor Societies. One-hundred-nine students who had been previously inducted were honored for their continued high GPAs in world languages and other courses, and their memberships were renewed. In addition, students performed exceptionally well on the Italian, French, and Spanish National Exams, and they were likewise honored that evening. Other special awards were also distributed.
On Saturday May 20 the following four SKHS Italian students (pictured) were honored and received monetary awards at the Annual RITI Scholarship Dinner for winning in the National Italian Exam Contest that took place this March.
Julia Santini:
Level 4 Exam - 2nd place in RI, 9th in the USA!
John Mahoney:
Level 4 Exam - 3rd place in RI, 10th in the USA!
Brandon Mease:
Level 4 Exam - 3rd place in RI, 10th in the USA!
Portia Boucher:
Level 3 Exam - 3rd place in RI, 13th in the USA!
Other SKHS Italian students that performed very well (top 10) on the exam at the state level are as follows.
Level 4
Rosalind Lucier, 5th place
Abby Cobb, 6th
Michael Rios, 8th (Category B)
Level 3
Alexander Cioci, 4th
Liam Donnelly, 5th
John Santini, 5th
Luke Bizer, 7th
Joellyn Speredelozzi, 7th
Oscar Rivas, 8th (Category B)
Level 2
Allison Haberlin, 8th
Level 1
Igor Devasconcelos, 2nd
Emilia Delemontex, 8th
Sophia Darsch, 10th
In conjunction with a unit on fables, myths, and fairy tales, students in Mrs. Josephson’s Creative Writing course met with Mrs. Dolan’s first grade class at Peace Dale Elementary school. The seniors brought surveys and gathered information to use in the creation of personalized children’s books. During the writing process, seniors utilized Story Jumper, an online book creation site, and both the seniors and the first graders enjoyed the presentation day on May 24th. Digital book copies were also sent home for the children to enjoy, and feel free to check out the books using the link below. A special thank you to Michaela Pantaleo, our technology coach, for her help with this project. Click HERE to view some of the books.