The Panther Press
Official Newsletter of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School
Welcome!
September 23, 2018 - Volume 1 - ISSUE 3
Welcome to the Whitman-Hanson Regional High School Newsletter! It is designed to keep everyone (parents, students, staff, and community members) informed of the many events that are happening in and around the school. It contains links, pictures, and videos so that you have a more interactive experience and the ability to learn more about various topics.
Communication is incredibly important to understanding so we ask that you share our news as much as possible. We also welcome feedback! It is the only way to continuously improve. So, please interact, get involved, and let us know what you think by contacting us and sharing our news!
Important Dates to Plan
September 25 – College Fair 6:30PM Library & Student Dining
October 2 – MEFA College Financing 6:30PM in Performing Arts Center
October 6 – SAT at WHRHS
October 6 – Homecoming Dance 7-10PM in Gym
October 8 – No School – Columbus Day
October 9 – Picture Retakes
October 10 – CFL Grade 12, PSAT Grades 10-11, Class Elections Grade 9
October 18 – Early College Planning 6:30PM in Performing Arts Center
October 23 – High School Fall Concert 7:00PM in Performing Arts Center
October 25 – FASFA Night 5:00PM
November 8-9, 13 – MCAS ELA Retest
November 9 – Quarter 1 Grades Available on Parent Portal, Appointment Plus Open for Parent-Teacher Conferences
November 12 – No School – Veteran’s Day
November 14-15 – MCAS Math
November 15 – Parent-Teacher Conferences by Appointment Only 12-2PM, 6-8PM
November 21-23 – Thanksgiving Break
November 26 l- Winter Sports Start
November 29 – Grade 8 High School Orientation 6:30PM
December 6 – National Honor Society Induction 6:30PM in Performing Arts Center
December 11 – High School Winter Concert 7:00PM in Performing Arts Center
December 22 - January 1 – Holiday BreakGet Involved!
Miles for Meals 5K
Knitting for a Cause!
The 'Knitting for A Cause' group meets Tuesday afternoons in the Whitman-Hanson Library and knit (or crochet) hats & scarves for the homeless.
Their first project of the year is to work with the Lion Brand Yarn Company that is knitting blue hats to be distributed to schools on October 1st for World Day of Bullying Prevention. Check out what we've done so far! We should have a few more finished to mail out to Lion Brand at the beginning of next week.
Credit for Life Fair
Class of 2019 Yearbook!
Your time has come, your year is here!
Senior Photos & Bios are due no later than November, 17th, 2018.
This is the form for your senior bios, please complete and submit before Nov, 17th!
You will need to create or log in with an existing google account in order to access.
You are able to make changes by visiting the same link, logged into the same account, up until the deadline. Although digitally is the preferred method, If you would rather complete your bio via pen & paper there are physical copies available.
Since the bios are a reflection of your personal tastes, we understand your need to include jokes, nicknames, and/or private moments. Inappropriate content will not be included in the Yearbook publication. For example, if you have a nickname that makes sense to you but would be questionable to the administration and/or the Whitman-Hanson community, you must explain the nickname on the sheet you submit. Due to time constraints and the volume of bios we will be receiving, we will not notify you if content in your bio is deemed inappropriate. Although, you will be required to sign off on the final copy. If you feel your bio would be in jeopardy of removal, feel free to contact a yearbook staff member or Mrs. Maher or Mr. Casey. We strongly recommend that you have your parents read and approve your bio prior to submission. This is your chance to make a lasting impression, so make it a good one. Please read the requirements/directions on the attached form. If you do not submit a bio in the time allotted a general bio will be added for you.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Senior Photos can be uploaded via the yearbook website.
Related Arts, Fine Arts, Yearbook Advisors
Whitman-Hanson Regional High School
x7112/x7121
Dollars for Scholars Hold Fundraisers!
Electronic Recycling Day - Saturday, September 29, from 9-1 at former Maquan Elementary School in Hanson
Discard your unwanted electrical items/appliances, pay a disposal fee, and assist a worthy
Case.
Skate Party - Sunday, September 30, 5-7 at Carousel Family Fun Center in Whitman
Skate Party open to individuals of all ages. Admission is $5 and $3 for skate rental. Free giveaways and raffle prizes throughout the fundraiser.
1st Annual Pumpkin Great Pumpkin Classic Car Show - Sunday, October 7, 10-3 at Whitman Middle School
Admission is $5 per person or $10 per family for the event which will include a costume
Contest, music, raffles, prizes, food and Halloween candy for trick-or-treaters.
Dr. Christopher Jones
Help Others Improve
I write and talk a lot about improving ourselves so that we may reach higher levels of success than we thought possible. However, I do not mention frequently enough an often overlooked aspect of improving ourselves; the act of helping others improve.
As teachers, parents, leaders, and even friends we often have the opportunity to help others improve. While some of us see this as our job (or responsibility), I would like to encourage everyone to see it more as a moral imperative that we all work to help support and improve others around us. If we do, we will notice the byproduct is that we ourselves become better. It's about believing in an existence of abundance rather than scarcity. Three ways to do this are as follows:
- Realize that their definition of success may differ from yours. Accept them for who and where they are in the present; not who they used to be or what they want to be in the future.
Highlight and make use of people's strengths.
- All too often we focus on where people are lacking rather than all the good they offer. If you really want to help someone start by focusing on their strengths and how they can be utilized to address any shortcomings. This keeps the overall experience positive rather than negative.
Don't let them sell themselves short by quitting early.
- The road to success is filled with difficulty and failure. The key is to not quit. How often has a hard task seemed easier or you have done more than you thought possible because of someone's support? Be that person for someone else. Help others go further than they thought they could.
I talk more about this in the video below. Thanks for taking the time to read and watch. Please feel free to comment and share with others if you think they will find value in it.
Our Story...
Take a look and feel free to comment...this is our story...and everyone is part of it.
Assistant Principal - Mr. David Floeck
Dress Code
We would like to reach out to parents and ask for your assistance in making sure that your child arrives to school dressed appropriately according to the dress code policy outlined in the student handbook. We understand the school year started off with unseasonably warm weather and that may have contributed to some of the clothing choices. Now that more seasonal weather has arrived we are asking for your assistance. We have asked students to be mindful of the policy and have asked staff to notify the office of any issues but we are hoping by working together we will not have to deal with dress code violations. Your partnership is greatly appreciated.
Pictures
School pictures have arrived and we began handing them out today during lunch. If you didn’t order pictures but wish to do so now, have your student pick up their envelope with proofs and you will find ordering information inside.
Agendas
Organization is one of the key ingredients to be successful. If your child needs an agenda to keep track of assignments, upcoming projects and other important information they can purchase one for $3 in the high school main office.
Counseling - Mrs. Ruth Carrigan
WHRHS College Fair – Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, September 25 when WHRHS will host a regional college fair from 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Approximately 100 admissions officers representing colleges, universities, post-secondary schools, and military branches will be in attendance. Bring a bag to take home college admissions materials.
Quincy College Dual Enrollment – WH students currently enrolled in Precalculus and Sociology have a great opportunity to earn Dual Enrollment credit through Quincy College. Students who choose to sign up for this program will earn both high school and college credit. Mrs. Carrigan met with classes this week and provided information about signing up. Over the past 7 years, nearly 300 students from Whitman-Hanson have earned college credit through this partnership. If you have any questions, or need additional information, please email Ruth.Carrigan@whrsd.org.
Financial Aid/College Financing Workshop – Please join us in the PAC from 6:30 – 8:30 PM on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 to learn more about the financial aid process. A representative from the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA) will be presenting. Please note that all students and parents, not just grade 12, are invited to attend this program. Learning about financial aid early in the process can be beneficial.
PSAT Administration – The PSAT will be administered to all students in grade 10 and 11 during the school day on Wednesday, October 10th. The PSAT/NMSQT assesses the critical reading, mathematics, and writing skills students need for college and beyond. The PSAT is a great practice for the SAT and will help determine college and career readiness of students.
Credit for Life Fair - - The Credit for Life Reality Fair will be held for members of the senior class on October 10 during the school day. The Credit for Life Fair is a nationally recognized program designed to help high school students develop personal financial management skills that they will use throughout their lives.
Getting Ready for College - Early College Planning - Our annual Getting Ready for College - Early College Planning workshop will be held in the PAC from 6:30 - 8:00 PM on Thursday, October 18th. This program is geared toward grade 9 and 10 students and parents and will cover Mass State University Admissions Standards, making the most of the high school experience, choosing classes to enhance the college application, Naviance Family Connection for college and career planning, and college admissions and services for students with disabilities.
FAFSA Workshop for Seniors and Parents - Senior parents that would like assistance filling out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) are invited to attend our FAFSA Workshop on October 25 at 5 PM. Parents attending will work in WH computer labs to complete their FAFSA applications with the help of representatives from American Student Assistance. Space is limited and pre-registration is necessary. Please follow this link to sign up for the program: https://goo.gl/forms/SveMH6dyDCo82AAH2
Prudential Spirit of Community Award - Students in grades 5 - 12 who have made a difference through volunteering over the past year may want to apply for the Prudential Spirit of Community Award program. This prestigious award program has honored nearly 100,000 middle and high school students at the local, state and national level over the past 24 years for volunteer work. Applications are available at http://spirit.prudential.com/ or http://www.nassp.org/spirit. The deadline to apply on-line is November 6. 2018.
If you have any questions, please reach out to your child’s school counselor.
#WHPantherPride
The #WHPantherPride section is filled with shout outs to staff and students here at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School. They are our way of recognizing hard work, creative thinking, and characteristics that make us proud to be part of this community. Please contact Dr. Jones if you wish to give a "#WHPantherPride" award to someone!
Ms. Ashley Balbian: "History teacher Ms. Balbian was recently accepted as a Fellow at Harvard University’s Case Method Project. She will soon attend a three-day training at Harvard Business School and then begin implementing case method techniques at Whitman-Hanson. Congratulations Ms. Balbian!" - Mr. Robert Davidson
Library - Mrs. Brunelle
Your library is open: Monday through Thursday 6:40-4:00 and Friday until 3:15
Visit soon and often!
Library Media Specialist - Mrs. Brunelle
Drop by to see our “Great American Read” display and check out a book today!
Special Education Coordinator - Mrs. Lauren Mathison
A Workshop for High School Students and Their Families
Navigating the College Search Process for
Students with Learning Differences, AD/HD & Executive Function Challenges:
Please join us for an informative presentation on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 from 7:00 p.m.- 8:30 p.m. at Curry College (1071 Blue Hill Avenue, Milton, MA) featuring Paula Cocce and Lori Lubeski from the Program for Advancement of Learning at Curry College.
For more information, or to register for this event, please contact Michelle Bracken, Associate Director of Admission or (617) 333-2106 Space is limited!
Whitman-Hanson Best Buddies!!
What is Best Buddies?
Best Buddies is a friendship club where anyone and everyone is accepted and welcome! As a whole club, we do an activity at least once a month.
Peer Buddy Vs Associate Member:
A peer buddy has the HONOR of having a one-to-one friendship with another buddy. An associate member is someone who attends all monthly chapter events and actively participates in the club.
**If you choose to be a peer buddy, your commitment is meeting twice a month with your buddy AND ATTENDING THE MONTHLY ACTIVITY.
How to sign up?
1. Go to https://www.bestbuddiesonline.org/
2. New members need to create an account and existing members need to log in and renew their membership. Write down your username and password!!
3. When logged in, click membership application, select high school, scroll down, select new or returning member
4. Choose whether you want to be a Peer Buddy, Associate Member, or Buddy
5. Only answer the required questions depending on which role you chose to take (Peer Buddy, Associate Member, or Buddy)
6. APPLICATION DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 10th
*If you would like to attend our first Best Buddies group activity, the Red Sox game, you must be signed up on the website.
**Permission slips will be available to be picked up on September 12th and returned by the 17th to Mrs. Bouzan in Room 119A.
Follow us on Social Media:
Instagram/ Twitter : @WHBestBuddies
***If you have any questions feel free to call/text Megan Henaghan at 617-320-5251After-School Enrichment - Mrs. Maureen Leonard
Afterschool Enrichment Opportunities - Does your son or daughter need help with homework? If your answer is yes, we hope you will consider our Afterschool Enrichment Program In addition to homework help, the following classes are available: Let’s Find Success, Art Therapy, Our Minds Matter, Healthy Cooking, and Cultural Club. There is a late bus available at 4PM Monday through Thursday. Please contact Maureen Leonard at 781-618-8020 for more information.
Nursing - Mrs.Baker & Mrs. Joyce
Too Sick For School? Sometimes it is a tough call as to when your child should stay home, so here are a few guidelines to help you make the decision whether or not you should keep your child home. We realize that many of you work outside the home and it is sometimes difficult to keep your child home. However keeping children at home when they are sick makes a tremendous difference in preventing the spread of illnesses throughout the classroom.
Assistive Devices: In the school setting assistive devices are casts, crutches, orthopedic related boot and braces, wheelchairs, etc. Any student needing to utilize an assistive devise must have supporting physician documentation for such.
Dental: Any student returning to school after a dentist or orthodontic appointment where a local anesthesia, numbing medication is used must have physician documentation to return to school.
If you are called to pick up your child because of illness, he/she must be picked up swiftly. Please be sure that Infinite Campus has the most recent up-to-date emergency contact information, so that we have someone who can act on your behalf, if we are unable to reach you. This person should live locally.
Thank you in advance for helping us ALL stay healthy!
WHRH School Nurses:
Margaret and Kathy
Athletics - Mr. Bob Rodgers
As we head into the final week of September, there is a lot going on with WH Athletics. Before we give the recap, we have several pieces of exciting news. At last week’s school committee, we made our plans official to establish a Whitman-Hanson Athletics Hall of Fame. The first meeting of the planning group will take place on Wednesday at 6pm in room 161. Anyone can attend this planning meeting where we will establish the guidelines and framework for this ambitious endeavor. Ultimately, we will have a voting group of members who will do the bulk of the leg work and voting but all of the meetings will always be public and open to anyone who wants to attend.
The other exciting news is that our scoreboard project seems to be on track to have the board up and running for our football game Friday night against Duxbury. A lot still has to happen to pull this off, but the concrete was poured on Saturday for the foundations and the rest of the work is scheduled for early this week. Our current plan at halftime is to hold a dedication ceremony where we will thank our sponsors and all those who worked so hard to make this happen.
And now to our update…
The girls soccer team remained unbeaten with a come from behind, 5-1 win at Hanover on Friday. The Panthers trailed 1-0 early in the second half before they exploded for 5 unanswered goals to improve to 4-0. Freshman Kelsee Wozniak continued his torrid scoring streak by netting a pair of goals, while Alexis Billings, Olivia Borgen and Nora Manning also scored. Reese Codero picked up the win in net with the help of strong defensive efforts from Sam Perkins, Samantha Smith, Olivia Johnson, Erin Wood and Courtney Woodward. The girls will host Silver Lake Tuesday night at 6:30pm weather permitting.
The boys soccer team also had a furious comeback on Friday rallying from a 3-0 second half deficit to earn a 3-3 tie. The Panthers came out determined and in the 56th minute Senior Nolan Clack found junior Kyle O'Connor for the first tally, 3-1. Captain Jason Brodeur scored in the 65th minute and got an assist from sophomore Brendan Nehiley. In the 68th minute Alex Chichlowski scored his first goal from Brodeur, making it 3-3. W-H is 2-1-1 overall and 0-1-1 in Patriot League play. Next game is away at Silver Lake Tuesday at 4.3)
Our cross country teams are getting better every day and the best news is we have close to 60 kids participating. Unfortunately both teams lost their meets this week at Duxbury but there were many outstanding performances. On the girls side, Tori Boss (21:43) , Maeve McDonough (21:59) and Maeve Rooney (22:00.) were the top finishers while in boys action, Theo Kamperides was the top Panther runner. The teams will be back in action on Tuesday at home against Plymouth North.
The golf team suffered its first setback of the season with a 2 stroke loss at Silver Lake. But the highlight of the week was a gutty performance at home in beating Plymouth North, 232-239 in a continuation/make-up match from a rain shortened affair the previous week. Junior Ian Brown has been a solid addition to the lineup this year, leading the Panthers to their victory today with his 3 over par performance. Senior captain Owen Manning also continues to play consistently well, along with junior Matt Korzec, who both shot a 4 over par, 38. Sophomore Aidan Miller was among the top scorers with his 5 over par, and senior Pat Dever and junior Brian Fox both helped to seal the deal with their 6 over par play. The Panthers will host Plymouth South on Tuesday if Mother Nature allows. Weather has been tough this season with 3 matches already postponed.
The football game on Friday at Hingham came just as advertised with two outstanding teams battling for 4 quarters and unfortunately the Panthers found themselves on the short end of a 22-13 final score. Senior captain Ethan Phelps was 11-19 passing for 122 yards. He threw for one touchdown and ran for another. Senior captain Rian Schwede caught the TD pass and had 3 catches for 41 yards. SeniorBilly Martell had 3 catches for 20 yards. Senior captain Jacob Nixon turned in one of the best catches you will ever see with a one handed grab for a big gain in the second half. While the loss was disappointing, it was in no way defining for the Panthers. They have a great opportunity to bounce back Friday night when they host the perennial league champion Duxbury Dragons.
It was a tough week for our field hockey team as they lost a pair of games (3-0 at Hingham and 1-0 against Pembroke). In the Pembroke game which was played under the lights, the Panthers had many opportunities but the Pembroke goalie was sensational turning back several great scoring opportunities. Senior Captain Annika Putur lead the charge of constant attacks in the Titan’s offensive zone. Putur and her Panther forwards were supported heavily by the great passing of defensive player Kathryn Dunn. However, the Panthers were not able to penetrate the Titans defense which stood steadfast against the speedy forwards of the Panthers. WH, which is 1-2-1 in Patriot League action and Overall 2-2-2, hosts Plymouth North Monday at 4pm.
The volleyball team dropped 2 of 3 this week but their win was a thriller outlasting Hanover at home 3-2. The set scores were 25-16 (WH), 21-25 (H), 25-19 (WH), 11-25 (H) and 15-12 (WH). Passing was strong from the back row and the Panthers played great at the net and in defensive positions. Leaders on the court include Junior middle Ella Sweeney with a dominating 17 kills in the match. Senior captain Nicole Scott held the back row strong playing her best match yet as libero with 20 digs. Senior setter Kylie Gervasio was consistent with 14 assists and fantastic coverage. The Panthers are 2-5 overall, 2-4 in league play and host Plymouth South Wednesday 9/26.
Our cheerleaders wrapped up their choreography this week and are poised to have another great year. Their first comp will be 10/21 at Oliver Ames.
Remember to follow @whathletics on twitter and at our website. All of the game schedules are available at both locations.
Sports Shorts
Sports Short Wrap-Up 9/13/18 - 9/20/18
Contact Us
Email: christopher.jones@whrsd.org
Website: https://www.whrsd.org/our-schools/whrhs
Location: 600 Franklin Street, Whitman, MA, USA
Phone: (781) 618-7020
Twitter: @DrCSJones