By: Nicholas Laramie Today we got a first look at the brand new electronic music studio along with further information about the studio! I caught up with Mr. Dion, the Wethersfield High School band director, and was able to get a sneak peek of the electronic music studio. The studio looks fantastic, very cool, tons of computers, tons of fun to be had. I had the fantastic opportunity to sit with him and ask a few questions about the studio’s future.
With class selection right around the corner, it’s important to keep in mind that the electronic music studio will be available next year to take classes in and probably going to fill up fast. Keep that in mind when selecting your courses!
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By: Allison Nargi and Nora Serrao There are some new teachers at WHS this year gracing us with their presence. To see how they feel about the school we sat down with Mrs. Coco, Dr. Gorton, and Mrs. Campbell. Mrs. Coco: First up, we have a one-time skydiver, Mrs. Coco, who teaches design engineering. She has already made her mark in the school with our new “Blue Eagle News,” which is used to broadcast school announcements. She said, “I would like more kids to follow the Blue Eagle,” so make sure to go follow @BlueEagleTV on Twitter! Coco taught at Ellington for 22 years. “I was really sad to leave my students, but I needed a change,” she explained. “The kids here are awesome.” Dr. Gorton: Whether it be college or high school, many of our teachers have previously taught. We have a teacher, Dr. Gorton, who taught at Ellington High School for 9 years and at Uconn for 5 years. We asked how they feel about the block scheduling, and Gorton revealed his struggles with the adjustment, saying, “It really depends on the class. For hands on classes such as tech. ed and science, the block scheduling works great, but I find it difficult for some students, seeing them every other day...it’s tough,” This was a common disadvantage mentioned with the block scheduling. Mrs. Campbell: We also have a former freelance art director, Mrs. Campbell, who now teaches Technology Education. Before teaching, she had the opportunity to witness history. “I attended the Paris Air Show in 1989 and watched the Challenger Spacecraft arrive piggyback on a cargo plane, as well as witness the Russian Mig crash,” she went on to explain. All of these incredible experiences helped her become such a great teacher. She also touched on the new construction, saying, “The school building is amazing and I don't know if the students realize just how lucky they are to be in the space.” Final Thoughts:
Whether this new school is larger or smaller compared to their last, they all agreed that the staff and students are great. Coco said, “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the faculty. People here are really welcoming, it’s nice.” Mrs. Campbell said, “Wethersfield has a more diverse and much larger population. … The administration is very supportive and has provided a wonderful climate for the students as well as the staff. We can’t wait to see how this new staff impacts the school and makes us stronger! By: Emily Kallajian Current Issues is a class where students learn from the news and the world around them. This class is taught by Mr. John Sand, who has been teaching at Wethersfield High School in the Social Studies department for 17 years. 10 of those 17 years that Mr. Sand has been at WHS, he has taught Current Issues. Some topics being taught this year by Mr. Sand include the presidential debate, gun awareness, and the effect that past political deals have made on us today. Mr. Sand highlighted how this class differs than most, saying, “It also requires me to stay current and become familiar with an incredibly diverse amount of topics. And the hardest part is to not impart my own views on an issue. I see my job as being the Devil's Advocate and I usually try to take the position opposite of a student's view. By forcing a student to defend their position, I think it helps them truly identify why they have taken a position on that issue. I want all students to be able to defend their positions in an educated way.” Mr. Sand wants the students to enjoy the class and to learn more about the the world around you. Sand is always incorporating group projects that allows students to share their opinions. The students at Wethersfield High can't seem to get enough of this course. Current Issues has been and will continue to be a popular class amongst WHS students for years to come.
by Mariana Oliveira (17) Wethersfield High School provides a program called ELL for students who aren't fluent in English. ELL is a program that helps students who aren't fluent in English to learn English, ELL stands for English Language Learner. ESL stands for English as a Second Language, which is another word that people often use to refer to the ELL program. When students enter the program, they complete a screening test, which includes reading, writing, speaking, and listening questions. If students earn a certain score they are accepted to the program, but if they get a higher score than they are not required to be in the program. Wethersfield High School provides ELL support and ELL class. In the ELL class, students learn more of the grammar rules, how to read, how to write, and some specific vocabulary; while in ELL support tutors help students complete their assignments. There are three ELL tutors and one ELL teacher for about 30 students in the ELL program at the Wethersfield High School. They help the students with their homework, projects, and/or other school assignments. Some ELL students have been in the US for many years and have a good knowledge of the language, other ELL students are very new to the US with limited knowledge of the language and are expected to follow along in class with their US peers who have been learning in the US since they were babies. For instance, imagine how overwhelming it is reading Macbeth as a student that can barely read modern English, so the tutors try to make it easier to understand for the ELL students. In order for students to leave the ELL program they have to pass an exam called LAS. It is a standardized test that tests the students’ knowledge of reading, writing, speaking and listening. If the student had a higher score than the exit criteria, that student can exit the ELL program. Although ELL students desperately want to pass the LAS test to exit out of the program, most ELL students remain in tutoring for guidance and assistance. The ELL tutors also help the students find doctors, and help students prepare college applications. Preparing college applications is difficult for parents that are actually fluent in English, so it would be extremely difficult for parents that are not fluent in English. Mrs. Malizia said, “We are not only teachers but we are surrogate parents as well.” by Nadia Byczko (16) Wethersfield High School has been undergoing construction since Fall of 2013 and a lot of progress has been made. The new business rooms on the second floor of the building were completed in December, 2015, over Winter Break. Mr. Palazzo, Personal Finance and Career Prep teacher, works in one of them. He has been in the same room since he started teaching here six years ago. The room has been changed a few times during his time here, but the newest version of it is his favorite. Right before the renovation, the room had a dark carpet, and the lighting was dull. Tables lined the walls with computers for each student and there was a conference table in the center. The setup was similar to a computer lab, with students facing the wall while working. Now, the room has light-colored tiles covering the floor. There is adjustable lighting fixtures and large windows covering one wall. Lighting makes a huge impact and the combination of natural and artificial lighting really enhances the room. Palazzo said, “I think it’s just a really positive work environment, much more so than it was prior. It wasn’t bad previously but it’s just cleaner, newer and brighter.” The new tables are now set up in rows and Chromebooks have replaced the computers. The Chromebooks can be easily moved and put to the side, allowing the table to be a bigger work space. The large computers didn’t have that convenience. The students now face the front during class, allowing them to be more interactive. “It does change things because we don’t have the conference table, but I think for the most part, this is a better setup,” Palazzo said. by Jillian Zuidema (2017) “Turnitin is the leading originality checking and plagiarism prevention service used by millions of students and faculty, and thousands of institutions world wide.” Turnitin website Turnitin is a website used by students and teachers to submit assignments digitally. It provides useful anti-plagiarism technology and correcting tools. This helpful site is growing in popularity, supporting over 15,000 institutions. Teachers and students are embracing its efficiency and ease. Turnitin has set the bar with its cutting edge features. These include but are not limited to anti-plagiarism technology, spelling and grammar corrections, and peer editing capabilities. Turnitin’s originality check is a lifesaver for students and a great fact checker for teachers. The technology highlights pieces in the student's work if it matches anything found on the internet or even in other students papers, all to prevent plagiarism. Mr.Rotes, an English teacher at Wethersfield High School said, “[Turnitin] provides a preventative measure to keep kids from making the poor choice to plagiarize whether or not it be off of someone’s paper or copy and pasting from the internet.” Teachers can make corrections and leave comments on their student’s papers. The commenting feature allows teachers to guide their students down the right path by giving advice and constructive criticism. “I like the commenting feature on Turnitin, it helps students improve their work and helps teachers organize their thoughts and critique in a helpful manner,” said Matthew Pazdziora, a junior at Wethersfield High School. The comments do not stop at text either, Turnitin also has an option to leave voice comments. “I like the auditory feature where I can leave a note [to students],” said Rotes. The one of the many great things about Turnitin is it's easily accessible. Students can use it just about anywhere; on a smartphone, tablet, or computer. Students can submit their papers to Turnitin and use its technology to make corrections to their work. “I like how easy it is to turn in essays from home, or any mobile device.” Said Hannah Desrochers, junior at Wethersfield High School. Turnitin is also extremely environmentally friendly, as it helps to reduce the amount of paper waste caused by school work. “Turnitin reduces the amount of paper copies necessary for the essay, because you can turn in a rough draft, have classmate edit it online, and then turn in the final copy,” said Desrochers. Turnitin has created a helpful way to turn in, grade, and give feedback on assignments, while not wasting any paper. Bring this new tool into your classroom. Give turnitin a try today! Brianna Platania Class of 2017 On Wednesday, March 2 all juniors at Wethersfield High School will be taking the new SAT. This test is very important when applying to colleges and it is something students should be taking seriously, so here is some information to help you prepare for taking the test. The new SAT consists of four parts; a 65 minute reading section, a 35 minute writing and language section, a 25 minute math section without calculators, and a 55 minute math section with calculators. “The test is about four hours long or so, give or take.” said Mr. Miller, a math teacher at Wethersfield High School. “The schedule is predetermined by the College Board, and there are breaks that are scheduled into the testing, it’s usually like an hour test and then a break, another hour test and a break.” said Dr DeVivo, assistant principal at Wethersfield High School. When talking to Dr. DeVivo and Mr. Miller I got the chance to ask what makes the the new SAT different from the old one. “It’s going to be different, it’s interesting cause it’s based off of content more this time as opposed to just thinking. It used to always just be a thinking test, now there’s gonna be more content in it.” said Mr. Miller. Mr. Miller also gave me some tips on what to do in order to prepare for the test. “Take practice tests, I mean a lot of the old test you almost could prepare for by just knowing tricks and some people could get those tricks better than others, but then with this one there’s a lot of content in them.” he said. There are practice test available on CollegeBoard.org and there is even a mobile app available that will give you a daily SAT question to help you prepare. Practice makes perfect but if for whatever reason you need to retake the SAT there are other test dates available in May, June, and October so don't stress out too much but as always try your best. Link to practice test: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/practice/full-length-practice-tests Veronica Catricala Class of 2016 To many WHS students, hearing ‘speech class’ can produce feelings of anxiety and nausea. For many, public speaking is a difficult task not only to accomplish, but to accomplish without stuttering or falling over. “I learned to be confident. Also, keeping eye contact with everyone helps to make people intrigued in what you are saying” said Krissy Ercolani, former speech student. Mr.Mearman, who started teaching speech class in 2010 because of his expertise in this area, said, “I like when the kids are speaking the best because then that’s when I get to see them actually applying or trying to develop or grow. That’s why I don't get up and talk all that much in the class because you don't really learn how to give a speech just by watching someone talk. I think it's a you learn by doing type of situation, so the more chances you get, I think the better you get.” Mr.Mearman continued by saying, “[I expect my students] to gain confidence speaking in front of people so in the future if they have the chance or opportunity to speak, they will get up and they won't be all nervous and won't be freaking out about it. They’ll be able to handle themselves accordingly.” Mearman explains his expectations to his students the first day of the course so they know what to be prepared with for the semester. I talked to Alyssa Difiore, a new speech student, who explained to me what it felt like after the first day of class, “I feel like it had a good vibe. I think Mr. Mearman seems like he knows what he’s doing so I feel pretty good.” As a former speech student myself, I can say that speech is by far one of my favorite classes and was such a positive experience. Another former student, Alex Casertano mentioned to me, “I wasn't able to talk in front of people before, especially in a big group of people.” Agreeing with this statement, I have personally noticed myself outside of speech class, using the skills I have acquired. One of the main reasons why students enjoy speech class is because of Mearman himself. He makes the class more enjoyable with his humor and flexibility. Casertano explains, “I liked that he was really open to everything everyone said in speech class and he never judged anyone for what they said. Also, he makes you feel more comfortable because [the classroom] is not just white walls, he has all these albums and posters everywhere.” Overall, Speech class is a course all should take before leaving high school. Mr.Mearman explained, “A lot of students say the same thing, that this is one of the classes that they’ll take forward because it's something that they are going to use in real life.” The improvement students notice in themselves after taking this course is amazing. Mearman states, “From shaking like a leaf, nervous the first time they speak, to obvious confidence the last time they speak.” Personally, I took speech last semester and we all went from not knowing each other, to knowing almost everything about one another just through our speeches. We all connected and had a great time in doing so. Mearman said, “You become friends with each other and almost like a family kind of thing because you’re rooting for each other.” It was nice knowing I walked out of that class with confidence in public speaking and eighteen new friends. by Alyssa Ajodhi (2016)
One of WHS’s favorite Social studies teachers, Mr.Sand, teaches in a way that really grabs students and pulls them into caring a lot about the class topics. His group activities and critical thinking debates are what make him a favorite teacher in Wethersfield high school. I asked Mr. Sand, “ What about teaching high school students makes you enjoy your work? He said, “I like watching high school students grow and change from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. I see students change and grow and I really enjoy that, and that's what I enjoy the most.” Mr. Sand is thought to be one of the most passionate and caring teachers at WHS. I asked him what part of teaching he is most passionate about and he said, “ I'm most passionate about the things that help students learn and grow. Anything that does like problem solving skills, things that are designed to develop empathy so they understand the [life] of others. I think they're really important to life.” Not only does Mr.Sand care about the academic development of his students, but their moral growth as well. His senior student, Maya Yurko, answered my questions about Mr. Sand’s class environment and I firmly agree with her answers. I asked Maya if being in Mr. Sand’s classes impacted her in someway, and she answered, “ Yes, it taught me to be more open as a person and it taught me how to be able to voice my opinions.” His way of teaching changes students positively and makes them grow into a better student and individual. Mr. Sand does this by just being himself which encourages all students to do the same. What students take away from the few years of knowing Mr. Sand is that he is one of the people that make Wethersfield High School a great community. by Adriana Rotando (2016)
Mr. John Sand dedicates two classes a day teaching Current Issues to young adults at Wethersfield High School, discussing topics from the Iran Deal to the upcoming Presidential candidates. To no one's surprise, the first democratic debate in Nevada on Tuesday night made its way into the classroom discussion Wednesday afternoon, October 14th, 2015. The class discussed how they felt the debate went and whom they felt the democratic champ was. This discussion included talk of the issues that were brought up during the debate such as climate change, foreign policy, black lives matter and even the Hillary Clinton email scandal. Student and social justice activist, Katherine Rielly had her own views on the debate, “I think Bernie Sanders really brings the most diversity in the group compared to the other candidates. Being a socialist is definitely a game change.” Most of the young people in the Current Issue class were “Feeling the Bern,” after the debate but, History and Current Issue teacher, Mr. Sand had a different feeling after watching. “I thought the debate was lukewarm... There was little difference on the issues.” Mr. Sand said when asked what he thought of the debate. “I thought Clinton handled the toughest questions very well.” Even though Sand felt Clinton was successful in the debate, he did share his feeling of Bernie as well saying, “Bernie took the opportunity to express himself to such a large audience for the first time and I think he did well. He came across as honest, straightforward and unwilling to hit below the belt.” When the class touched base on the other candidates besides Sanders and Clinton, there was little to be said other than the groups feel of their unimportance. “The other three candidates will have little to no impact on the race and there is very little they can do about it.” |
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