May Newsletter SHS (Revised 5/27 date)

Spring has finally sprung and the excitement and energy around Suffield High School continues to grow as the temperatures continue to rise. The spring is always a busy time of the year with one school year coming to a close and scheduling preparations beginning for the next. For spring time events and athletic dates/times I direct you to the Suffield High School website and calendar. Administration continues to try and attend as many events as possible so don’t hesitate to stop, say hello, and help us cheer on and support our students in their variety of activities.

Unlike years past when May meant we were done with state testing, the school has only completed its first portion with the CAPT-Science Test proctored to all sophomores. The school will be proctoring the Smarter Balanced test to all juniors beginning on Tuesday, May 19^th and continuing through Friday, May 29^th. As many are aware, the test is part of the shift to Common Core State Standards and will ultimately help teachers enhance student learning and better prepare our students for college and career. The school will be running block periods on many of those days with all juniors testing within a single block period each day. The periods being run on each of the days over that two week period are listed below.

Date	Periods Running	Testing Block
Monday, May 18th	1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7
Tuesday, May 19th	1, 3, 5, 7	Period 1
Wednesday, May 20th	2, 4, 5, 6	Period 2
Thursday, May 21st	1, 3, 5, 7	Period 3
Friday, May 22nd	2, 4, 5, 6	Period 4
Tuesday, May 26th	1, 2, Adv., 3, 4, 6, 7
Wednesday, May 27th	1, 3, 5, 7	Period 1
Thursday, May 28th	2, 4, 5, 6	Period 2
Friday, May 29th	All 7-periods	Period 3 & 4

Rotary Club Student of the Month

Kyle Zielinski was chosen for the Rotary Club Student of the Month. Kyle is an integral part of the Robotics team for Suffield High School. He is currently the leader for the Drive Team for Robotics and received the Innovation and Control Award at the last district robotics competition. Kyle also does the Community Outreach program to showcase robotics. When he’s not participating in robotics competitions, Kyle attends the Great Hartford Academy of Mathematics and Science, specializing in computer science. He has also done a 10-month internship at GKN Aerospace. Kyle also enjoys skiing, has been in the Interact Club all four years of high school, and collects Rubik Cubes. Congratulations to Kyle Zielinski!

Athletes of the Month

The Suffield High School Athletic Booster Club has chosen the male and female Athletes for February and March. Thomas Rigby and Katelyn Corr are the February athletes and Abby Schoner and Rob Howard are the March winners.

Katelyn Corr is the captain of the basketball team, having spent the past three years on varsity. She is also very active in field hockey and softball. Katelyn will be attending SUNY Stony Brook next year, earning a scholarship for softball.

Thomas Rigby is the two-time team captain for Indoor Track. Thomas is an all conference athlete for the past two years. Thomas embodies the image of team spirit and has been described as a fantastic role model.

Abbey Schoner is the captain for Cheerleading. She has been on varsity all four years, being captain for the Raiders the past two years as well as captain for the Wildcats this year.

Finally, Rob Howard was unanimously voted as team captain of the Basketball team. He is 3rd on his team in scoring and has been on varsity the past two years.

Congratulations to all of our athletes for both February and March! Thank you for being outstanding role models for the Suffield High School community!

Wildcat Card & Company

Students of Sara Fischer and Carol Sewall have designed and crafted their own beautiful cards. Cards will be sold in the school store for $2, with 25% of the proceeds going to the Kevin Vitale Memorial Fund. Be on the lookout and help support such a wonderful cause!

Sociology News

Retired Hartford Police Detective Chris Lyons spoke to Sociology classes on April 10. He was the head of Hartford's gang task force. Currently, he teaches Sociology on gangs at University of Hartford. Also, Sociology classes visited the Enfield Courthouse in April. Students were able to observe real court cases and met the Judge, the public defender, and the Prosecutor. Officer Terry set up the trip and accompanied the class.

Robotics Team Competition

On Tuesday, April 21st, our “Aces High” robotics team headed to St. Louis for the FIRST Robotics World Championship. They qualified for this competition by ranking 36th at the New England Regional Championship at Worcester Polytechnical Institute. Six hundred of the best teams from all over the world gathered at the Edward Jones Convention Center to compete for three days. Thirteen students (five from Suffield) traveled with the robot and after two days of qualifying rounds, the team finished 31st out of 76 teams in their field. Our students John Gilleran, James Casella, Stephanie DeVita, Jacob Urch, and Kyle Zielinski worked hard and represented Suffield well. Even after elimination, the team stayed in the stands all day Saturday to cheer on other local teams. They exhibited “gracious professionalism”. Congratulations to the students, as well as Mr. Lowell, for taking on the advisory role, and the outstanding efforts they put forth to make it all the way to Worlds!

Hockey

AG Expo

Quiz Team

Congratulations to our Hockey team for winning the Division Two State Championships! Suffield High School has not won in over a decade. The team is now classified as Division One! During the championship game, the team scored 4-1 over North Branford. This comes on the heels of winning the Nutmeg Hockey Conference and receiving the honor of being the High School Team of the Year. Congratulations again to the Hockey team for their amazing team work and efforts!

The biannual Ag Expo was held April 8th and 9th during and after school. The Expo was open to both class tours and the public, including a field trip by Spaulding School. Students showcased work with aquatics, small animals, large animals, mechanics, and natural resources. The Expo promotes agriculture in surrounding areas and the community, meaning why it is open to public. “Ag affects your every day living, and that’s something I never realized,” said student Holly Corcoran. Another AG student, Alexis Ratti described the program and expo saying, “It’s the largest industry. The Ag expo helps us promote agriculture to get people involved. We want it to grow, not die out.” This year held the biggest turn out in the past few years, as well as the first year showcasing the large animal facility. Look out for the next event, the Annual Banquet and Award Ceremony on May 20th!

The Quiz Team made it into the finals of As Schools Match Wits. The team competed against Smith Academy on April 18th. Although Smith Academy won, the SHS Quiz Team made it into the top 8 teams. Congratulations for all your hard work!

Agriscience Awards

Earlier this year Laura LaFlamme and Leah Gawlak were congratulated for being nominated for two prestigious awards from the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE). Suffield High School has received notification that both Mrs. LaFlamme and Ms. Gawlak are state winners for their respective awards. Their names will now move on for regional consideration and national recognition. Mrs. LaFlamme is recognized for the Connecticut Outstanding Service Citation. The award recognizes current or retired NAAE members who have made significant contributions to agricultural education at the state, regional, and national levels. Ms. Gawlak is recognized as the Connecticut Outstanding Agriscience teacher. The award recognizes teachers who have inspired and enlightened their students through engaging and interactive lessons in the science of agriculture. Congratulations to both and we wish them the best in the regional level.

May Sports Update

Our spring teams seem ready, willing, and able to enjoy success and continue what has been a remarkable school year for our sports program.

The softball and baseball teams both opened in impressive fashion. The baseball team won its first five games and now stands at 6-1. They had a nice walk-off win over Avon last Monday. The softball team opened the season with a 4-2 record and looks forward to qualifying for the league and state tournaments. They had an impressive walk-off win over Granby to open the season.

The April successes did not stop there. The girls outdoor track team posted a 6-0 mark through its first three meets. The girls also took second place overall at the Stafford Invitational. Like the boys team (currently at 4-2), the girls posted their share of state qualifying times. In tennis, the girls won their first six matches, and the boys team split its first six matches.

The boy’s golf team has plenty of young talent. They have opened in impressive fashion and are currently still undefeated at 3-0. The girls’ golf team, meanwhile, had a huge win over Lauralton Hall where Emma Heim was a medalist shooting a 42. The boys’ lacrosse team is 4-5 after strong wins over Canton and Ellington, while the girls’ team has been steadily improving all season.

Also, congratulations to Sam Cutler who was recently chosen for the prestigious Scholar Athlete Award from the National Football Foundation. First bestowed in 1991, the NFF National High School Scholar-Athlete Awards have become one of the most prestigious and competitive high school academic honors in the country. John Quaglia from the foundation presented Sam with his award and explained the criteria for the award includes but is not limited to academic achievement, athletic accomplishments, and community leadership. His chapter recognizes the best scholar-athletes at a local awards banquet and from that pool each chapter is allowed to nominate one candidate, creating a group of finalists for national consideration. A national committee then reviews the finalists, selecting five winners, one from each region of the country. Each of the five recipients travels to New York City where they are honored each December during the NFF Chapter Awards Luncheon, presented by Under Armour at the historic Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Although college freshman at the time of being honored, the honorees are solely recognized for accomplishments during their high school careers.

SHS Safe Party Grad Night Committee

Our next fund-raising bottle drive is Saturday, May 30th. Parent, student, and administration volunteers are needed and welcome!

Senior packets are on their way. Please look for the grad lawn sign order form which is due Friday 5/8.

If you haven’t yet completed the Safe Party Survey sent on April 24th, please take a few minutes to provide much-needed feedback.

We’re still seeking chaperones for the June 20th graduate Boston Harbor Cruise. If interested in helping, please contact Andra Jaffee at andrajaffee@sbcglobal.net

Chris Herren "Hoop Dreams" - Monday, May 18th at 6:30 p.m.

The Suffield Wildcats and SHS Booster Club presents Chris Herren " Hoop Dreams" on Monday, May 18th at 6:30 p.m. at SHS. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Herren is a former high school, college, and NBA basketball star who has appeared on 60 Minutes and in an ESPN documentary. He will speak about his own personal experiences with addiction and how to help young people make good choices. All are welcome. This program is geared for junior high and high school students and their families. There is no charge for admission.

Chris Herren Flyer - PDF

Suffield Public Schools
350 Mountain Road, Suffield, CT 06078
Phone: 860-668-3800

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