Weekly Cougar News
ConVal High School Happenings - May 27, 2022
Message From Principal McKillop
Last Saturday was The Children and the Arts Festival in downtown Peterborough. Many students in our district were involved in different capacities and contributed to what was truly a wonderful event. Thank you to our students, parents, and event organizers who helped make the day so memorable. I attended with my family and my son had a great day!
On Sunday, the 5k walk/run for suicide prevention awareness was held on our ConVal campus. If you didn't have a chance to read about it yet, please click here. Congratulations to our two co-founders/organizers Callie Boisvert and Abbey Shumway for achieving their goal of $5,000 donated!
There was quite a bit going on inside and outside of the classrooms this week. Please check out the table of contents below for an overview.
We had 40 students attend the NEACAC College Fair at Franklin Pierce, a career and job fair hosted outside the main entrance at ConVal, the Pops music concert on campus, many senior games, and exciting learning experiences in classrooms. There was a lot to learn and see!
Congratulations to Isabelle Howard, Abigail Kamieniecki, Carly Pelkey, and Loraine Rupp who graduated from the LNA Health Careers program hosted by the Region 14 Applied Technology Center. I am also excited to share that senior Fletcher Maggs earned the highest accolade at the 2022 NH Short Film Festival — the Best of the Best! Please see the story below.
Seniors (and families), please be sure to review the senior schedule included below and don't hesitate to reach out with any questions. I am certainly looking forward to celebrating our graduating seniors two weeks from today at graduation.
Even though there was much to celebrate on our campus this week, our hearts are heavy after the unconscionable tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Please know that the safety of our students, staff, and entire ConVal community remains our top priority as we partner together to create a safe learning space for all.
Have a wonderful long weekend. I look forward to welcoming our students back to campus on Tuesday and visiting as many activities as I can during the Spring Festival Tuesday afternoon.
Best,
Heather
Table of Contents
- Upcoming Important Dates and Events
- Spring Festival & Yearbook Release
- Senior Schedule
- Graduation Photography
- ConVal Summer Academy
- Evening, Daytime POPS Concerts
- Classrooms at ConVal
- Biology Students Study Biodiversity, Salamanders
- Gretchen Lima's Personal Fitness Class
- Sarah Gilpatrick's Geometry Class
- Applied Technology Center (ATC) Programs
- Fletcher Maggs Wins Top NHHSSFF Prize
- LNA Graduation
- Athletic and Co-Curricular Updates
- May School Counseling Center
- ConVal High School Students Attend NEACAC College Fair
- Job and Career Fair At ConVal High School
- Breakfast and Lunch Menus
- Covid 19 Update
Upcoming Important Dates and Events
- Tuesday, May 31 - Spring Festival & Yearbook Release
- Friday, June 10 - ConVal Graduation
- Wednesday, June 15 - Finals Block 1 & 2
- Thursday, June 16 - Finals Block 3 & 4
- Friday, June 17 - Make-up Finals, Last Day of School
Spring Festival
ConVal Spring Fest will take place on Tuesday, May 31st from 1pm-2:20pm. Various student organizations and staff will be hosting fun activities around campus for students to enjoy including kickball, corn hole, board games, trivia, minute-to-win it games, and more! Additionally, the 2022 Yearbook Release Party will take place in the Cafe and the Kona Ice Truck will be on campus.
ConVal will follow the Festival Bell Schedule on Tuesday, May 31st.
Senior Schedule
June 1 | during TASC | Senior Class Meeting
June 3 Last Day of Classes for Seniors
June 3 | during TASC | Senior Assembly: Beyond High School
June 6 | during regular class | Senior Exams Blocks 1 & 2
June 6 | 11:30-1:30 | Marching Practice
June 6 | 1:30-2:00 | Senior Cords and Certificates
June 7 | 7:45-9:30 | Marching Practice
June 7 | during regular class | Senior Exams Blocks 3 & 4
June 8 | 7:45-9:30 | Senior Makeup Exams
June 8 | 8:00-11:00 | Marching Practice
June 8 | 10:00 | Senior Checkout Forms Due
June 8 | 1:00-2:20 | Academic and Athletic Awards (9-12)
June 8 | 9:00 | Senior Grades Due
June 8 | 6:00 | Scholarship Night
June 9 | 7:30-9:00 | Senior Breakfast
June 9 | after breakfast | Senior Class Trip
June 10 | 9:00-11:00 | Marching Practice
June 10 | 6:00 PM | Graduation
Graduation Photography
Lifetouch Special Events, the same company that creates student and staff IDs for the School District, will be providing professional photography services for the ConVal High School graduation ceremony on June 10, 2022. Register at galleries.photoday.io/gallery/ConVal-HS-grad-22 and you will be notified when graduation images and proofs are available.
ConVal Summer Academy
ConVal High School will be hosting Summer Academy again this summer! We are offering graduation requirement courses with a focus on hands-on, project-based assignments. Class sizes will be small, and students will have opportunities to be outside. Classes are free and will be filled on a first come, first served basis.
Here are the logistics:
Who: Students who struggled academically during the school year or who want to get a head start on the upcoming school year.
Where: ConVal High School
When: July 5 - August 4, 2022; Session 1 will run from 8-10 AM, and Session 2 will run from 10:15 AM-12:15 PM. Summer Boost will run Monday-Thursday, with the exception of the first week, which will start on a Tuesday.
How: Transportation and meals will be provided. Students will register for one or two sessions based on their needs. Buses will arrive prior to Session 1 and will depart after Session 2; there will be no mid-morning bus run.
Class descriptions and registration will be released next week, so be on the lookout!
Please direct questions to Mrs. Jen Kiley at jkiley@conval.edu.
POPS Concerts Delight Evening, Daytime Audiences
ConVal’s traditional POPS Concert, the first since the pandemic prohibited such events during the last two school years, was performed on Thursday, May 26, in the gymnasium. An in-school concert for students, teachers, and staff followed on Friday.
The students, under the joint direction of Brian Moore and Jim Wickham, prepared a program with a rich palette of musical selections. The program included sung pieces as diverse as “Try To Remember” from the 1960 Musical The Fantasticks to a contemporary hit by Sam Farrar and Sara Bareilles, “Gonna Get Over You.” Music performed by the various band ensembles spanned the range from Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing” to renditions of The Eagles’ 1977 hit “Hotel California” and the soundtrack to the movie The Avengers. For a complete concert program, as well as a list of student performers, click here.
Traditionally, the POPS Concert in May is one of the biggest fundraisers for ConVal Music each year. It features performances by all the instrumental and choral ensembles.
Classrooms at ConVal
Snapshots of the week
Harris Center Collaboration Produces Research Data On Biodiversity, Redback Salamanders
Each semester, biology students have the opportunity to learn from an ongoing collaboration with the Harris Center while enjoying some time in a natural, outdoor classroom. 10th-grade Biology classes learned about our local ecosystem and various field collection techniques that ecologists use to calculate biodiversity. Their work contributes to a large, ongoing research project surveying the population of redback salamanders.
John Benjamin, a naturalist from the Harris Center, came to teach students in Anna Muncy, Valerie Moran, and Randy Stetzer’s biology classes about ecology topics and the natural world we have right outside in ConVal’s backyard. Students explored the woods while conducting a Bioblitz and line transect surveys. Additionally, they learned to use technology to ID the species around them. Their collected data contributed to a collaborative research project (SPARCnet) that utilizes 6 cover board research plots set up by ConVal students several years ago that biology classes have been able to continue to learn from.
Personal Fitness Class
On Monday students in Ms. Lima’s Block 3 Personal Fitness Class received instruction on how to use the new chest press and leg press equipment in the weight room. The Personal Fitness class is designed to give students the opportunity to learn fitness concepts and conditioning techniques used for obtaining optimal physical fitness. The Personal Fitness students will benefit from comprehensive weight training and cardiorespiratory endurance activities, and learn the basic fundamentals of overall fitness training and conditioning through both lecture and activity sessions.
Sarah Gilpatrick's Geometry Class
Students in Miss Gilpatrick's geometry class get creative by writing lyrics and filming music video parodies of songs to display their knowledge of quadrilaterals. The students were tasked with creating a short video that includes the names and properties of various quadrilaterals, such as trapezoids and parallelograms. Creativity is flowing in the halls today, between their singing, acting, dancing, and excitement! The students are looking forward to sharing their final products with Miss Gilpatrick.
Applied Technology Center (ATC) Programs: Maggs Wins Top Prize At NHHSSFF
Congratulations to Fletcher Maggs whose documentary “Everest To End Duchenne” garnered the top prize at the New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival (NHHSSFF) that was held on May 22 in Manchester.
The festival jurors were impressed in equal parts with the compelling story and the exceptional production quality of the movie. As they wrote in their evaluation: “The quality of the documentary was exemplary — cinematography, audio mix, scripting, and narration. The personal perspective, interwoven with the story of the climb, made the piece more compelling and emotional. The comparisons of the physical impact on the climbers vs. someone living with Duchenne was enlightening as well as heartbreaking.”
Launched in 2008 and presented by the New Hampshire Film Bureau, the annual New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival has become one of the marquee film festivals in the state, fostering interest in filmmaking, supporting media arts education, and rewarding future members of the industry for their craft.
LNA Graduation
Four students - Isabelle Howard, Abigail Kamieniecki, Carly Pelkey, and Loraine Rupp - graduated from the LNA Health Careers program hosted by the Region 14 Applied Technology Center on Tuesday, May 24. Sister Juanita Durgin, their instructor, welcomed them to the profession with stories from her own career as a nurse and instructor. She challenged the students to give thought to what type of people they wanted to be and to name what values were important to them. She reminded them to keep that value at the center of who they were because it affects all aspects of your life, from what jobs you take to the people you hang out with. She reminded the students that their jobs as nurses are not just to heal but also to accompany people in their pain and fear.
Students also shared their own insights about the LNA certification and the impact it had on them. Isabelle liked learning about the residents and their pasts, and Abby liked how the residents and the students made each other laugh. Loraine shared that she feels committed to the career and is excited to be close to achieving her goals. She dedicated her work in the field to her cousin, who she hopes to help care for. Carly shared that she is joining other family members in the profession and dedicated experience to her grandmother. All four students will be taking their state certification exam on Wednesday, and we wish them the best.
Athletic and Co-Curricular Updates
ConVal athletes Makenzie Anderson, Jake Daniels, Maddy Faber, and Kendall Sullivan will be honored at the Keene Sentinel Players of the Year Celebration on Thursday June 9th at 5:30 at the Keene Country Club. Tickets can be purchased for $25.00 in advance or $35.00 at the door. For tickets and more information, visit SENTINELSOURCE.COM/PLAYERSOFTHEYEAR
All of our spring athletic schedules, scores & updates can be found on the ConVal athletics website. Please come out and support our athletes and their coaches.
If you have any questions, please contact Director of Athletics and Co-Curriculars John Reitnauer at jreitnauer@conval.edu.
ConVal Equestrian Successful At State Competition
The ConVal Equestrian team has competed in three statewide competitions at the Tack Shack in Fremont, New Hampshire this season. The scores from each show accumulate to determine the top riders that compete against each other at the State Show.
The season has ended with the fourth and final show, the State Show, on Sunday, May 22, with 9 of our 12 ConVal riders competing. It was an incredibly hot day, but the riders had a fun, successful show.
Congratulations to the following for their accomplishments at the State Competition:
- Anthea Curtis for coming in 4th place in WJL Western Suitability, 2nd place in WTC Open Freestyle, and 2nd place in WJL Western Dressage Test A.
- Emily Hughes for coming in 4th place for 2’3” Equitation over fences and for placing 2nd in WTC Working Teams.
- Abigail Hacket for coming in 1st place in 2’3” Jumpers, 2nd place in WTC Dressage Test A, and 1st place in WTC Open Freestyle.
- Addison Traffie for coming in 1st place in 18” Equitation over fences.
- Aubree Lamothe for coming in 4th place in WT English Suitability, 2nd place in WTC Dressage Test B, and 4th place in WT Showmanship.
- Delany Ingalls for coming in 4th place in WTC Dressage Test A and 2nd place in WTC Working Teams.
- Mariah Kiblin for coming in 1st place in WJL Western Dressage Test B.
Holdredge Saves 300th In Lacrosse
Congratulations to Senior lacrosse player Sarah Holdredge who made her 300th career save last Friday against Kingswood.
Holdredge, who was recently featured as a “Hometown Hero” on WMUR Channel 9, will play lacrosse for Colby-Sawyer College in the fall.
ConVal High School Students Attend NEACAC College Fair
Forty ConVal High School students attended the New England Association for College Admission Counseling (NEACAC) College Fair, which was held at Franklin Pierce University on May 23.
The students who attended were primarily juniors. For almost half of the students (42.5%), the college fair was their first time speaking with a college admissions counselor.
There were about 110 colleges and universities represented, and students had the opportunity to ask admissions representatives questions about majors, campus life, athletics, financial aid, etc.
Students also enjoyed receiving fun swag from the schools!
Job and Career Fair At ConVal High School
Seniors looking for entry-level work positions after graduation and students looking for part-time or seasonal work had the opportunity to connect with prospective employers during the Job and Career Fair at ConVal High School recently.
A number of employers sent representatives, including: American Steel, Hitchiner, Mathewson Companies, Millipore-Sigma, New Hampshire Ball Bearings (NHBB), and Premier Concrete.
Also represented were Rivermead, Scott Farrar, Shaw’s, SoClean, Summerhill Assisted Living, Teleflex, Timken, Peterborough Fire and Rescue, the Peterborough Police Department, and the Town of Peterborough.
Recruiters for the New Hampshire National Guard, the United States Air Force, the United States Army, and the United States Navy were also at hand to explain the benefits of a career in the armed forces.
Breakfast and Lunch Menus
COVID-19 Update
ConVal Regional High School
Location: 184 Hancock Road, Peterborough, NH 03458 (map)
Phone: (603) 924-3869
Email: conval.highschool@conval.edu
Website: cvhs.convalsd.net