Weekly Cougar News

Good Afternoon, Cougar Nation!

I enjoyed spending time last weekend assisting some of our students in picking up litter on Route 202. I was proud of the team for working hard and collecting 40 bags of trash!

It was exciting to visit several different classrooms this week and watch students engaged in many dynamic lessons; please see below a few snapshots from classrooms and TASC Talks.

It is hard to believe, but one week from today will mark the close of quarter one. I would encourage students to check in with teachers if there are any questions as we wrap up our first quarter of the year.

Finally, at the beginning of the year, I encouraged students to say something if they were to see or hear something that may be concerning. I want to thank some members of our community for doing just that this past week.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Best,

Heather

Email: conval.highschool@conval.edu
Website: cvhs.convalsd.net
Location: 184 Hancock Road, Peterborough, NH, USA
Phone: (603) 924-3869

November 2, 2021 - No School (Professional Development Day for Teachers)

November 5, 2021 - End of Quarter 1

November 5, 2021- Pep Rally at the end of the day

November 11, 2021 - No School (Veterans Day)

November 13, 2021 - Annual Craft Fair (see below for details)

The JV Boys Soccer team competed in a four team jamboree last weekend, and finished in first place winning the 2021 Plymouth Cup. Congratulations to Coach Morneault and his team on a great season.
The Girls and Boys Soccer teams qualified for their respective State Tournaments, and traveled to play Stevens High School this week. Congratulations to the coaches and players on a great season.

Best of luck to the Cross Country team as they compete in the State Championships at Derryfield Park on Saturday.

The Student Council sponsored a TASC Halloween themed Kahoot and costume competition this week. Many students and staff members participated and a lot of fun was had by all who did.

All of our fall athletic schedules & updates can be found on the ConVal athletics website. Please come out and support our athletes and their coaches.

FamilyID is open for winter sports registration. Please click here to register.

If you have any questions, please contact Director of Athletics and Co-Curriculars

John Reitnauer at jreitnauer@conval.edu.

On Sunday, October 24, members of the ConVal Class of 2024, joined by students from other classes, collected 40 bags of litter along a two-mile portion of Route 202 stretching from the ConVal jug handle north towards Hancock.

Several passing cars recognized the students’ efforts to give back to their community with friendly honks. The cleanup was one of four litter collection dates that the Class of 2024 had committed to through the NH Department of Transportation’s Adopt-A-Highway program in April (see also this web post).

On Tuesday, Mr. Fletcher’s Algebra 2 students practiced simplifying expressions. The warm up problems featured complex formulas with many variables and exponents. Following the exponent rules, they streamlined these expressions into less complicated ones.

On Friday, English teacher Jason Lambert met with students in the Lucy Hurlin Theatre to talk about Poetry Out Loud.

Created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation in 2005, Poetry Out Loud is held annually in partnership with the state arts agencies of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. In New Hampshire, the competition is co-sponsored by the State Council on the Arts.

Lambert explained how to engage with poetry in general and reviewed the ways in which students could select poems for the school-wide competition. Students were encouraged to visit and research the Poetry Foundation's website to familiarize themselves with the contest criteria and to see what type of poems they might connect with.

Lambert also shared the story of ConVal's Bria Frehner (Class of 2013) who in 2012 represented the school at the regional, state, and ultimately at the national level of the Poetry Out Loud competition in Washington, D.C.

Many baby turtles do not make it through their first year of life, often falling prey to larger predators. The baby painted turtles in Ms. Moran's Science classroom are part of a headstarting program before they are released back into the wild in May/June next year.

Mr. Wickham takes notes as the ConVal Band rehearses the big band classic "Fly Me To The Moon" for an upcoming concert. Originally performed by Kaye Ballard in 1954, Frank Sinatra's 1964 version of the song was closely associated with the Apollo missions to the moon.

During a special TASC Talk on Tuesday, students got to learn about the New Hampshire Job Corps program which offers students skills training at no cost to them or their families.

Todd Bennett introduced students to the guest speaker from NH Job Corps. Via Zoom, she laid out the program requirements for eligibility. Once accepted, students can begin training in industries as diverse as hospitality, advanced manufacturing, construction, health care, and homeland security.

In addition to the trade skills training, the NH Job Corps also reinforces employability skills and provides important transition services towards independent living, such as job search and interviewing preparation as well as assistance with finding housing and budgeting. Even driver's education is included for free.

Students also heard from a current program participant who is in the process of becoming a clinical medical assistant. Thank you to the Student Counseling Department for making this opportunity available to students.

Congratulations to the students in Mrs. Grossi's Careers in Education I class, who earned their First Aid/CPR/AED certificates this week!

We also want to congratulate the students who graduated from our LNA program Thursday night and are moving on to take their LNA exam through the NH State Board of Nursing.

Wood II Class

Students in Mr. Ewing’s Manufacturing through Wood II class are collaborating to create segmented bowls. These bowls are created layer by layer, with students calculating the angles of the cuts so that the different pieces fit together into rings of the correct diameter. Students have creative license over what types of wood they use in the shop to create patterns, knowing that the more expensive wood drives up their production costs, which they have to calculate as part of the process. Students also use LEAN manufacturing principles to help eliminate waste in multiple areas of manufacturing. Interested in bringing one of the students’ pieces home? Come and see these artists at the Holiday Craft Fair on November 13 from 9-2!

As part of the continued work on the solar panel array atop ConVal Regional High School, contractors are accessing the roof in two different locations. One access ladder has been set up just to the left of the loading dock in the back of the school and another ladder is set up on the "Void" side of the link.

On Thursday, a crane lifted equipment on the roof in the 200 section of the classrooms to get everything ready for further work next week, when the installation of the solar system will proceed in parallel with the fitting of new heating coils that will service classrooms in the 100 section of the building.

The Class of 2023 is doing a poinsettia fundraiser. These poinsettias are in 6" pots and wrapped in foil and available in red, white, and pink.

All orders need to be placed by November 10, 2021 and will be available to be picked up on November 13, 2021.

Please click here to place your order. Thank you for supporting the Class of 2023!

The ConVal Class of 2022 is proud to present the annual Holiday Craft Fair on Saturday, November 13 from 9-2.

Join over 50 vendors as you shop for unique gifts and sample some delicious treats!

Please note: all attendees must wear masks indoors and the district COVID mitigation procedures will be enforced.

Do you have shoes, sneakers, and boots you are looking to get rid of?

ConVal Community Dollars for Scholars will be running a shoe drive from Monday, October 4 to Wednesday, November 17.

Our goal is to collect 50 bags with 25 pairs of shoes per bag! All money raised from this fundraiser will help us to award scholarships to those who have faced life challenges and demonstrate a financial need. So clean out your closets and make a difference locally and globally. Thank you!

Chris Heider (cheider@conval.edu) and Rebecca Dunn (rdunn@conval.edu) serve on the Board of Directors for ConVal Community Dollars for Scholars and are happy to answer any questions you might have.

Student Council invited students, teachers, and staff to come to school in Halloween costumes on Friday. There were many participants, and the costumes ranged from the simple to the quite elaborate. Everyone had fun!