Cohasset High School Newsletter
News and Happenings at Cohasset High School
February 12, 2021
The following was written by Aniyah Pierce. Aniyah is a 9th grade student at Cohasset High School and a member of our METCO program.
Dear Families,
Black History Month is very significant to me. It is one month in the whole year where black people and others can celebrate our history and also acknowledge black culture, excellence, and a past that is often forgotten or hidden from our education.
Black History Month makes me proud of who I am, where I come from, and the greats who came before me. It educates people who do not know about our history and how we built this country from the ground up. When Europeans kidnapped Africans and sold them into slavery they were forced into labor. While in slavery, White people were making a profit from all the work Africans were doing. Black people’s labor, ideas, and inventions have been crucial to America’s growth in their economy and different industries around the country.
Black History month is important to me because it reveals ideas and talents that are almost never credited or recognized. For example, Elvis Presley’s song “Hound Dog” was stolen from a black women blues singer Big Mama Thorton who recorded the song in August of 1952. When the song became a hit, Elvis published the song in 1956 and it became one of his most well known songs. Big Mama Thorton only earned $500 for recording the song “Hound Dog”.
Black accomplishments over the past 400 years form the very foundation of American culture. This month, we should take every moment to appreciate the culture, ideas, inventions, great leaders, music, poise, and to all the brilliance we bring into this world.
Sincerely,
Aniyah Pierce
PSA: 2020-2021 Yearbook purchase will end at midnight, April 11th!
Order your 2021 TESSAHOC Yearbook. Yearbooks can be purchased on ybpay.com.
COHASSET HIGH SCHOOL CODE: 8485721
Cunnie Eclipses 1,000 Career Points
Power of Positivity Postcards
The CHS Guidance Team and the Visual and Performing Arts Department are excited to announce a new initiative to foster a positive school culture and strengthen the relationships we have with our students and their families: Positivity Postcards!
These postcards were designed by some of our most talented artists at Cohasset High School and we are thrilled to share them with you. Each faculty and staff member will receive an initial stack to distribute as they wish (and are encouraged to ask for more when they run out!)
The idea is simple: highlight the positive in everyone. Jot a quick note of gratitude, acknowledgment, or praise on one of the postcards with the full name of its recipient.
Drop it off in the Positivity Postcard box in the Main Office. Our Postcard team will address them and send them snail mail style. It is a simple gesture that has an enormous impact on the relationships with our students and families!
Special thanks to the Visual and Performing Arts Department for organizing, recruiting, and inspiring our fantastic artists and very special thanks to Ms. Battista for coming up with the idea and organizing!
Student Council's "Give Love, Spread Love"
Greatest Song of All Time?
In a Musical March Madness, the Visual and Performing Arts department has collected 32 songs given to us by students and randomly placed into a bracket. Every day for the month of March we will post a poll on our music Instagram story (@cohassetmusic) where people can vote.
Students can fill out brackets during the week after February Break and submit them to Ms. A. All brackets must be in by February 26th. The person with the most correct bracket will win a prize!!
Manie Musicale
This is Cohasset's second year participating, with students from 49 states, Washington DC, and several countries around the world. Last year, we had 4 students win prizes within our school for perfect brackets! Manie Musicale engages students in contemporary French music and heightens their interest in Francophone culture.
For those who may be interested in this year's (and past years') song selections, information for the competition can be found here: https://sites.google.com/yorkschools.org/maniemusicale2017/bienvenue
National High School Model United Nations Conference March 5-8
Our CHS Model UN Club has been hard at work preparing for the National High School Model United Nations Conference scheduled for this March. Model UN provides opportunities for student to practice problem solving and diplomacy skills with students from around the world, and the conference provides them with opportunities to develop a deeper understanding of a wide variety of perspectives on a number of issues facing our world today. While students will not be traveling this year to the conference, they are looking forward to debates and diplomatic exchanges virtually from our school’s learning commons.
The following students will be participating:
Madison Gould
Evelyn Dickey
Katie Walsh
Quinn Walsh
Julia Willette
Joshua Kripke
Liam Heinlein
Bridget Kondrat
Catrin Williams
Ethan Maxwell
William Loughlin
Will Duxbury
Kevin Wrenn
Ryo Nozawa
Matt Grimes
Charlie Lankow
Rorie Newman
Shaw Hutton
Lilly Wallingford
Tourney Time!
This hockey season is shaping up to be like no other. As you know, our main fundraiser each year is the annual program book and book drive. Through the generous support of local businesses, friends, and hockey families, we have funded skills development programs, provided varsity team gear, awarded scholarships to graduating seniors, and supported various other program activities. Unfortunately, the program book is not feasible this year due to the pandemic, so.....
Instead, we are holding an online 50/50 Raffle!!
- Just 200 tickets will be sold for $100 each
- ONE lucky winner to be drawn on February 28
- If all 200 tickets are sold, the winner will receive $10,000, and the hockey program will receive the same. **
- Tickets can be purchased by emailing cohassethullhockeyboosters@gmail.com.
Thank you in advance for your support!!
Sincerely,
Cohasset-Hull Hockey Boosters
CHS Spirit Gear Available
https://teamlocker.squadlocker.com/#/lockers/cohasset-high-school-299603
Guidance News
The Changing Landscape of College Admissions
by Kevin McGowan, School Counselor
In normal times, the college application process is one of the most stressful things high school students will experience up to that point in their lives. Now, throw in a pandemic and add the college application process to the list of things that have been turned upside down in 2020. The age-old formulas that schools used to evaluate applicants are not currently possible. Even if these vaccines are successful and we return to some level of normal, fingers crossed, in the spring / summer of 2021, the next few college application cycles will look notably different than years past. So, what’s changed?
“Visit, visit, visit”, is what high school juniors were told to do in the past. On campus visits have been replaced with virtual tours and Zoom information sessions. Often times, the admission representatives leading these virtual sessions are the same ones who will be reading applications for students in that geographic region. Students should treat every interaction like a little piece of the application!
The end of SAT Subject tests and cancelling of test dates for the SAT and ACT have forced colleges to become test optional for the near future. This was a trend before the pandemic, but now large state schools such as UMASS Amherst, that relied on this metric for years, have no choice. More emphasis is now placed on other variables like grades and the college essay.
Truth be told, an overhaul is long overdue for the college application process. Standardized testing has proven to be inequitable, visiting schools that are a plane ride away is not possible for many high school students, and the 2019 admissions scandal brought to light a whole host of other issues. The game has changed and, at least for the time being, schools, students, and families will need to adjust.
Please see the recent New York Times artcle on the changes to the SAT.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/us/sat-essay-subject-tests.html
College Admissions Night
Each year, we hold a live college admissions panel at CHS for juniors and their parents/guardians. It is one of our most favorite nights of the year and is incredibly informative. Due to restrictions around Covid, we have partnered with Hanover High School to offer this annual College Admissions Panel as a virtual event.
The event will take place on March 31st at 6:30pm and will feature Admissions Officers from Providence College, UC San Diego, Bridgewater State University, Bates College, Quinnipiac University and UMass Amherst. The event will provide general guidance and a variety of perspectives on the admissions process so you do not need to be interested in these specific colleges in order to attend.
Registration is required via the form below and additional details will be sent closer to the date. AS OF NOW ONLY CURRENT JUNIORS MAY REGISTER. WE ARE LOOKING INTO WHETHER IT WILL BE RECORDED. Please note that multiple South Shore communities will be in attendance and space is limited so you must register as soon as possible via this link:
Junior Parent Lunch Hour Recording
Art Magazine "The Painter"
Hard copy versions of "The Painter" will be available for sale coming soon. Also follow @coharts on Instagram where art is showcased weekly!
Mindful Moments
Mindful mornings are up and running! Each Wednesday, Ms. Berkowitz Bock leads a mindful moment at 8 am on Wednesdays for students. She offers the meditation via Zoom, but if you are in person that day, you can come to her room! Email Ms. Berkowitz Bock at nberkowitz@cohassetk12.org for the code to participate!
Cultural Responsiveness Update
Please see a brief timeline of our work around cultural responsiveness as we work towards building an inclusive community.
August / September -- Completed district-wide training around cultural responsiveness and trauma-informed teaching.
October -- Results of the Institutional Climate and Inclusion Survey released to schools.
November -- Contracted with outside consultant to unpack findings of the ICIA Survey results.
December -- Conducted initial faculty and community member focus groups around issues pertaining to the major findings.
January -- Presented findings and plan to School Committee (https://zoom.us/rec/play/dQmS5-9s06D1xA92iSqpD_6sQ-ni7F87BjrpInoQCC1afYG470NF3C7EULag2WlxoNV0_kqXQV5t_R5f.9QkSPODLruXxygqP?continueMode=true).
Conducted student Affinity Groups.
February -- Parent focus group sessions completed.
March -- Larger student body focus groups will be conducted.
April / May -- Information will be synthesized and a draft plan created.
June -- Plan will be finalized for inclusion in the School Improvement Plan and District Strategic Plan.
College Acceptances
CHS and District Report Cards
We are pleased to share with you the 2020 school report card from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. You can access a link to our school’s report card at Cohasset High School 2020 School Report Card and the district report card at Cohasset Public Schools 2020 District Report Card.
A cover letter is attached below, which explains the purpose of the report card. Please note that DESE did not measure accountability statistics in 2020. Statistics are from 2019.
CodeSwitching
Boston Globe FilmDoc Festival for Black History Month screening event & panel Q&A of CodeSwitching ( Globe moderator, reporter Meghan Irons ). The virtual event is scheduled for February 16th 12p-12:45 est. https://codeswitching.splashthat.com
An Intimate Portrayal of Self-Identity, Race, Gender & Education
Synopsis: A mashup of personal stories from African-American students, spanning two generations who shuttle between their inner-city neighborhoods and white suburban schools, in pursuit of a better education, finding themselves swapping elements of culture, language, and behavior to fit in with their suburban counterparts – Acting or speaking differently based on their surroundings, called code-switching.
For some students, “code-switching” has brought social and professional mobility. For others, the nature of code-switching has been harder to handle, causing anxiety and depression. The shuttling between Boston’s ethnic neighborhoods and predominantly white suburban schools has not been seamless, especially for girls. Too often, girls may face a heightened burden of both ostracization back home and feelings of isolation in their adopted schools. This had led to anxiety and depression and in extreme cases even attempted suicide.
Ambassadors Promote Mental Health
Wednesday Cohort Rotation
Substance Use Support
The Scituate FACTS Coalition is offering virtual psycho-educational support groups to middle school and high school students from the South Shore at no cost, remotely during the 2020-21 school year. Groups are facilitated by a Student Assistance Program Specialist from Caron Treatment Centers. Parent/guardian permission required.
Groups Offered:
- Kids of Promise®: for students impacted by the substance use disorder of a loved one (8 weeks)
- Virtually CONNECTed: for students trying to reduce or quit the use of nicotine (5 weeks)
- Marijuana Intervention and Support: for students trying to reduce or quit use of marijuana (8 weeks)
Student IT Helpdesk Requests
Students requireing IT support can request support using the following link. This includes network issues, password resets, and other techical questions.
Put a Pin in It
Dates to remember:
2/12/2021 - Report Cards Published
2/15-2/21 - February Vacation
2/22/21 - Fall 2 Sports Begin
3/31/21 - Senior Hypnotist Event, 6:30, CHS Gymnasium
Cohasset High School
Website: www.cohassetk12.org
Location: 143 Pond Street, Cohasset, MA, USA
Phone: 781-383-6100
Twitter: @CoHSPrincipal