Weekly News
March 20, 2020
Calendar of Events
April 3 - 4, 2020: A Midsummer Night's Dream (to be rescheduled)
April 3, 2020: Course selection forms(hard copy) are due in Guidance Office. (may change TBA)
April 7, 2020: End Quarter 3 (May change TBA)
April 18 - 26, 2020: April Vacation (May change TBA)
May 15, 2020: Junior Senior Prom (early release day)
May 27, 2020: Senior Class Dinner at Gibbet Hill
May 29, 2020: Graduation (6pm, May change TBA))
June 19, 2020: Scheduled last day of school (even with the shutdown)
Update; Week 1
By now, all students should have received communications from their individual teachers and from our guidance department. If not, please feel free to reach out to them directly or let the admin. team know and we will be glad to help reconnect you with them.
Over the course of this shut down, please engage in the learning opportunities available to you so that you may keep your minds sharp during this time away from the building.
Underclassmen, check out the program of studies and the slideshow regarding course selections for next year. You will receive information in the next week instructing you to begin the course selection process for next year.
VHS and Middlesex CC Dual Enrollment students: Continue to keep up with your studies in these courses. Since you are able to continue on-line learning nothing should change with expectations in these courses.
AP Students: Although you are not currently being given grades for any work being done at this time, do your best to keep up with any work or activities shared by your teachers. Here is the latest update from AP. It appears as if they will be conducting virtual testing.
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/about-ap/news-changes/coronavirus-update
Seniors, hang in there. We are so sorry that the Covid-19 Virus is interfering with your Senior Year and so much more. We are holding out hope that all of our collective efforts to limit the spread of this virus will allow us to enjoy some of the planned events that have not needed to be cancelled yet. If you have any questions regarding college acceptances, visits, payments, etc... please contact the individual institutions or email your guidance counselor for...well, guidance.
Dual Enrollment Students... We are working to make sure that you will have an opportunity to continue working in your classes to receive the college credit that you applied/paid for. We are working on what this will look like and will receive information on this within the next week from your teacher or from Mr. Wright.
Alumni Lauren Malsick (class of 2014) is a Virologist at an Infectious Disease Lab. She is part of a larger group sharing out accurate information and they have provided a q&a format. Feel free to share the link. (Thanks, Ms. Olson for sharing)
Sincerely,
GDRHS Admin Team
ELA MCAS Students
Dear Class of 2022,
We were scheduled to have a meeting to give you an MCAS review pep talk and the prep materials below on March 16. Though the ELA 10 MCAS dates are now TBD (to be determined), it's never too early to review. Here are the handouts you would have viewed and received:
* Conquering the MCAS Next-Gen Essay with (video)
* Mr. B's handy graphic organizer for writing text-based essays
For more resources, sample ELA 10 test items and writing prompts, and details about how to do your best on the test, please visit our GDRHS MCAS Review Resources website.
Scheduling Update
Please take a moment to view the program of studies slides that are attached as well as the program of studies available on the Guidance Website.
Teachers have been asked to complete recommendations for next year's courses by today.
Program of Studies Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_jg4U16-oj7XiQ97O-QtKubzpm9HsJ_FHxXio5mtkBM/edit
Scheduling Timeline:
March 20, 2020: Teacher recommendations uploaded into SchoolBrains
March 26, 2020 -April 6, 2020: Students/parents will need to go into SchoolBrains and select their preferred courses for next year. (During this time, please feel free to contact your guidance counselor with questions)
April 6 - May 1: Guidance Counselors will conduct individual meetings with students.
Senior Spotlight
Emily Burk & Kara Peters
Works by two GDRHS seniors, "Autumntide Onwards" by Emily Burk '20 and "The Skull" by Kara Peters '20, were featured in the 2020 Youth Art Month exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum.
Press Release: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iz-ogwRrogitYLU0E8lq1EMdosLM9HzdK_op_NfrC6A/edit
@kostichart Instagram Post: https://www.instagram.com/p/B92agbXHtMZ/
Lara Stecewycz, Jessie Wang, & Sara Larsen
Artworks by Lara Stecewycz '20 ("Where To Now?"), Jessie Wang '20 ("The Glory Days"), and Sara Larsen '20 ("filtered," "library of me," "RAPE-B-GONE") were the recipients of Honorable Mentions in the regional 2020 Boston Globe Scholastic Awards.
MA Scholastic Awards: https://www.artandwriting.org/affiliate/MA001A/
@kostichart Instagram Posts:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B92X3XAHC3l/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B92XbD5HM3u/
Jessie Wang & Matthew Guy
A drawing by Jessie Wang '20, "Play Me," and a painting by Matthew Guy, "Alaskan Range," were selected to be featured in the 2020 Youth Art Month Exhibit at the Transportation Building in Boston.
YAM Info: https://massarted.com/youth-art-month/
@kostichart Instagram Post: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9R_ya5H6nz/
Scholarships for Seniors
3 New Scholarships now available!!!
Local scholarships are now available in Naviance Student and by clicking here.
If you need a copy of your transcript for a scholarship it is now available in your SchoolBrains Portal under reports.
Click here to see other scholarships that are sent to guidance and available to our students.
Senior Internships
Riana WIllsie
The PAVE program at Groton-Dunstable Regional High school is filled with wonderful, hardworking faculty and kindhearted, dedicated students. I was blessed with the opportunity to take on an internship in this program and it has been the best experience of my highschool career. During my internship, I am able to help the students with schoolwork, participate in fun and educational activities with the class, take field trips and work one on one with students to help build a strong, personal relationship with them. One of my personal favorite activities we do in the PAVE classroom is create flower vases to set around the school at the start of every week. We get flowers from a local flower shop in Groton and set out flowers on all the lunch tables in the commons as well as other places around the school. This is just one example of the things the students and staff in PAVE do to make the school a beautiful and fun environment. The students are extremely motivated and positive every single day. I can say with confidence that working in the PAVE classroom is the best part of my day. The staff members are extremely helpful and accepting as well. I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to work in such a positive environment.
Tim Manugian
I am doing my internship at the Massachusetts Statehouse, working for Senator Edward J. Kennedy. He represents both Groton and Dunstable (as well as Pepperell, Tyngsboro, Westford, and Lowell). As a legislative intern, I have multiple jobs in the office. Most of my time is spent handling constituent outreach or working on policy research. When constituents reach out to the office we make sure to catalogue and respond to their concerns. The Senator’s office functions as constituent’s access to the bureaucracy, so we often help people reach out to the correct organization or department. And we note and respond to constituent opinions, as they are important feedback to know how the community feels on a given issue. I also have worked on legislative research, looking into the effects legislation had, and is expected to have, before a vote. They are write-ups for the office and the Senator to have on hand to help make informed decisions. There are of course some more clerical things which come up (we just moved office, so that has been a challenge), but I have been involved in a real and measurable way, and I feel I am doing important work. I am glad I was given the chance to have this internship in high school.
Maddie Habeshian
Madeline Habeshian is currently doing an internship, second semester of her senior year. She is doing it at The Greater Lowell Health Alliance. The Greater Lowell Health Alliance of the Community Health Network Area (GLHA) is comprised of healthcare providers, business leaders, educators, civic and community leaders with a common goal to help the Greater Lowell community identify and address its health and wellness priorities. Madeline mostly works on community engagement. She updates the website and social media sites for new events in the upcoming months. She also creates flyers for the events. To create these flyers she uses Constant Contact, this allows her to create a template that is legible and eye catching for the company. Not only does she work on community engagement, she attends meetings. These meetings range from tasks force meetings to events where their goal is to come together and help the community. In the picture of Madeline (shown above), she attended an event for Lowell’s Portrait of a Graduate Community Stakeholder Kickoff. This event was about the announcement and share Portrait of a Graduate work, collect ideas and feedback on the Portrait of a Graduate and share the next steps into this community. She was reading all the feedback and putting stickers next to the ones she thought was important for a non- profit organization. Madeline is looking forward to the next projects, meetings, and events she will be doing.
Travel News
News for EF Tour Customers
If you did not receive this new information and you would like assistance please email us and we will be happy to help.
Faculty Spotlight
Mrs. DeBay
Stephanie DeBay is the administrative Assistant in the front office who greets you each morning. She has worked in the district for almost 20 years at the Swallow Union Elementary School and the High School. She loves to interact with all of the students and remembers so many of the Swallow Union students from their elementary school days. Her job is non stop all day from logging attendance first thing each morning, assigning substitutes making sure all classes are covered, completing students working papers, submitting CORI's, to any other request that comes her way. She keeps the high school running smoothly.
Stephanie has had 3 children graduate from GDRSD and recently became a grandmother. She is an avid reader and enjoys tracing her family history. She also loves to travel with Greece being top on her wish list. Today is also Mrs. DeBay's birthday. Happy Birthday!!!!!!
Community Outreach
G-D Students Reach out to help their community
Juniors, Declan and George Lowney, reached out to their fellow community members to see if there was anyone who needed assistance during this time of uncertainty. They offered their services as in the form of labor or to pick up needed items for those who were unable or did not feel safe to do it for themselves. This is a shining example of how a horrible situation can bring out the best in some people. I am so proud to have these boys representing Groton-Dunstable Regional High School.
Thanks to Gabbi Lewis for leading this...
Thanks to everyone who donated Prom dresses for this great charitable drive!
G-D Sends two teams to Science Bowl
Mr. Fittz included a brief re-cap below.
Here's the list of students that participated in the science bowl this year on March 7 at UConn. Groton-Dunstable sent two teams.
Harrison Nguyen
Michael DiFranco
Nitsa Kanungo
Sylvia Han
Jason Huang
Katherine Shieh
Joseph Wang
Akul Chennakesavan
There were 4 first time competitors and both teams were competitive during the 8 hour competition. A special thanks to Akul for his leadership as he was the team captain and organizer for the past three years. Some of our first-timers are pictured below.
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