NHS WEEKLY MEMO
Happy Valentines Day!
Celebrating NHS spirit!
VACATION WEEK February 17-21!
Principal's Corner- Tim McCormick
Norman Webb's Depth of Knowledge framework (DOK) is a highly regarded model that has been proven to be useful in understanding what type of knowledge is required to solve problems in school and beyond. Webb has outlined different levels of content complexity and understanding. Levels 1 encompasses the lowest level of instructional rigor and focuses on recall. Student activities or work in this level would utilize action verbs such as state, repeat, and define. In Level 2, rigor increases as students focus more on skills and concepts. Students are asked to infer, estimate, classify, and organize etc. in order to facilitate learning. Our goal is to facilitate learning predominately in levels 3 and 4. These levels incorporate strategic and extended thinking. This deep level of learning requires students to analyze and synthesize information from multiple sources and use that information to solve unpredictable real world problems.
Attached below are a model of Webb's DOK wheel and a continuum (with content examples) showing how student thinking and working lends itself to more authentic higher level learning then teacher work alone.
January student-athletes of the month
Law Class Update- Mr. Finkel
On Tuesday, February 11th, Lieutenant Colonel Philip Dowd (Ret) of the MA State Police visited Mr. Finkel's Law class to talk about pursuing a career in law enforcement. Also attending were members of the Justice Academy and members of the New Horizons Program.
Mr. Dowd took the students through the process, from start to finish: from doing the right thing in school, staying out of trouble, taking the exam, getting accepted into the academy, what the training is like, and how to succeed as a state trooper. He said you need to stay out of trouble because the background check includes interviews of your teachers and administrators--at all grade levels. Mr. Dowd loved his job and is grateful for it. It was fun and challenging, and it enabled him to serve his community, provide for his family, and retire fairly early.
But, he said that he's biased in a positive way. So, he told students: "Before you decide to pursue the career, ask around. Find someone who is not a fan," so you can make an informed decision.
The training is great. One of his favorite lessons is learning how to read people. On a traffic stop, there is normal nervousness vs. being really nervous. A guy with a weapon or drugs in the car will be shaking just trying to hand over his license and registration. That tells you that you need to take action. Once you get probable cause or consent to search, you're able to search the vehicle. A car can be driven away, so a search warrant isn't needed (no time to get one).
For the last ten years, he worked in the Division of Investigative Services. They are the troopers that investigate murders. It's high stress but very rewarding. You're on call, at all hours. Your job is to get justice for the victims' families, so it's a lot of pressure. Given that, Matt Morganelli asked: "Have you ever worked on a murder you didn't solve?" Dowd said: "Thankfully, no. This past year, the unit solved about 85 out of 91 murders in the state. That's a strong percentage nationwide. However, that's 6 families that we let down...Every family should get closure."
Dowd then asked the students: "When a body is found, who has to show up?" The answer: Detectives, Crime Scene Investigators (photographers, finger print experts, chemists [gunshot residue, etc.], and others). So, even students who want to pursue careers in the sciences can find employment in the MA State Police. For these jobs, no law enforcement experience or training is necessary.
Mr. Finkel asked: What college majors does the MA State Police tend to recruit from?" Dowd said: "Doesn't matter too much. Your ability to learn and an interest in doing so matters more. Just excel at what you do. Major in what you otherwise want to do, in case you do not accepted. You actually do not need a degree. You need a minimum of a GED, a driver's license, passing grade on the psych exam, and a clean record to get into the academy.
Lt. Colonel Philip Dowd of the MA State police speaking to our law students
Athletic Corner- Mr. Kozik
Snow on the ground must mean that the spring season is right around the corner! The season will start Monday, March 16th, but please don’t wait to register your student-athlete.
Spring sports registration is now open on FamilyID, NHS 2020 Spring Sport Registration
Spring Sports Information Night will be held Tuesday, April 10th at 6pm in the high school auditorium, followed by individual team meetings hosted by the coaches for both high school and middle school sports. This meeting is mandatory for all potential athletes and at least 1 parent/guardian.
Please keep on the lookout for scheduling information as we have several teams and individuals who are competing in the district/sectional and state level.
History Corner- Ms. Bentley
The junior class began their stock market competition this week at Northbridge High School. It was kicked off by having former hedge-fund Chief Financial Officer Christopher Fuchs teach students what investing is and how it works. Fuchs retired in 2009 after working in finance for 33 years. He was also formerly a Certified Public Accountant. Fuchs now resides in upstate, NY on a ranch.
Massachusetts just adopted new curriculum frameworks in the fall of 2019 and the shift has a heavy economic focus. The juniors play the game as part of the great depression unit to see how playing the stock market is a lot like gambling. It also shows students how they might panic if they lost everything over night. Fuchs told students that some of the most dangerous words someone can hear in regards to the stock market are, “this time is different”. He also stressed to the kids that they could stop him any time and ask him any questions. Taking on a philosophy from one of the hedge funds he worked at he said, “embarrass me” meaning ask me anything. He let students know upfront that he was not advising them to buy anything nor was he making anything off of him being there. He told them to invest their fake $1,000,000 in companies they know but to try to diversify their portfolio. Fuchs said, “investing is best done slowly over time, under one's own plan, and based on one's own research. Always do your own research. It is very difficult to get rich quick, but anyone can profit significantly over time." Junior Jenny Chauvin said, “Fuchs coming in to share his knowledge… gave me a better understanding of the stock market and has allowed me to apply that in information… and use it in the game”. Added Olivia Lavallee (who at press time was in the lead and up $78,148), “his explanations were clear and very interesting… it better helped my understanding of it all”. Kyle Plantinga chimed in with, “I never knew there were so many crashes in the stock market!”.
Students have been monitoring their own progress over the last few weeks in the annual stock market game. Jill Labrie stated, “it is very inconsistent. One day you could be increasing and the next hour you could be decreasing”. Added Avery Senosk, “I like seeing my rankings and being in a competition with my classmates”. Many students lost money due to the Coronavirus hitting the markets hard. Vincent Duca said, “the market can change at a moment’s notice and you should pay attention to world news in order to make money”. Katelyn Lombardo echoed ,”you need to make informed decisions when investing money”. Carly Jacobs said, “it has everything to do with timing”.
The competition has been going on for over 5 years now. Teachers compete against the students to see who is more stock-savvy.