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The Sophomore Scoop!
April 2024
April Update
Welcome to the Fourth Quarter!!!!
It's exciting to think that there are only two more full months of school remaining!!! April has some exciting things in it! Students are starting to make decisions about 2024-2025 Course Selection! Consider your Diploma Programme pathways, electives, and ensuring that you'll have enough credits to graduate in 2026. The Biology Electrophoresis Lab @ The CT Science Center is April 3rd - this is a super cool opportunity to work with advanced scientific equipment and gather data that will be used in class! We hope you enjoy your Spring Break - April 8th-12th with the solar eclipse on April 8th!
Annual Biology Lab @ The CT Science Center
Biology Lab @ The CT Science Center!
Sophomores will take part in a biology lab called "Conserving the Cottontail", using electrophoresis and rabbit DNA to discuss conservation and preservation of the species! We'll also enjoy a 3D movie, and have time to explore the exhibits. Students are reminded that school lunches will be provided and there may not be time for purchasing food or from the gift shop.
Wednesday, Apr 3, 2024, 10:00 AM
Connecticut Science Center, Columbus Boulevard, Hartford, CT, USA
Congratulations to our "Risk Taker" Sophomores!
Val Reynolds: Val has taken on the responsibility of mentoring the youngest band students, and works with each bando on building proper technique. She definitely steps out of her comfort zone and helps our youngest musicians!
AJ Casares: AJ has been approaching staff more than ever before, with the confidence to ask questions and receive help on tasks.
Da’Nyla Woolford: Da’Nyla took a risk through Personal Project to try a new style of art and share her work publicly with the ninth graders
Destini Savage: Destini took a risk and auditioned for our musical, landing the role of the “Wicked Witch” in The Wizard of Oz! Destini had several long monologues where she was the only speaking character for an entire scene, and she worked hard in her first performance at our school!
Next Month - Caring!
Next Up: The Diploma Programme!
In the next few weeks, students will be selecting courses for next year. All students at AIS enroll in IB Diploma Programme (DP) Courses. Please see this overview for information that will help students choose their DP Pathway and courses. For any questions related to DP, please contact Mrs. Stacey Pagliaro (spagliaro@crec.org).
Sophomore Course Updates
Geometry - Students will be working on our angles unit and bringing back algebra to find the value of missing angles. Throughout this unit we will be reviewing and working with prior knowledge on angles and triangles in order to prepare for their DP class.
Biology - Students will be exploring the question “Who gets cancer and why?” This question will help us investigate inheritance and the variation of traits among individuals in a population.
Black/Latino Studies - Students will be diving into a case study on Puerto Rican Statehood. Students will use their critical thinking and investigative skills to explore this topic.
Power of Voice - Students are analyzing Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. During the course of this unit, students will participate in a formative debate in preparation for their summative analytical in-class essay.
Spanish - Students have started their new unit: ¿Qué haces para estar en forma? (What do you do to stay in shape?) The unit covers basic illnesses and remedies. They will also learn how to use commands and the subjunctive mood.
Music -- Focus Country presentations (Crit A) and evaluations (Crit D) are finished and we’re excited to welcome Mr. Ferguson, our new digital music & choir teacher, to co-teach our class! Over the next two months, our ethnomusicologists will be split into two groups; for eleven classes, they’ll learn how to use GarageBand to make a podcast about their Focus Country’s music (Crit B), and for eleven classes, they’ll learn how to sew and will make a pillow that represents their Focus Country (Crit C)! This will all culminate in a final presentation of their portfolio in June (Crit A/B/C/D)!
Band - April is our big push towards our May 3rd “Music In the Parks” competition! Musicians are developing “Cha’La - Dance of the Volcano Goddess” and “Skyfall” (yes, the Adele song!) for competition, and adding “Tap Out” and “Bruno Mars” and probably a few more for the concert on May 21st @ 6:00pm, here at AIS! Concerts are always free to attend and we hope to see you there!
Personal Project - Personal Projects have been submitted and will be scored over the next few weeks. Students should receive their scores in mid-April. Students that receive a P (Pass) or a PD (Pass with Distinction) have successfully completed the Capstone graduation requirement. Students that receive an F (Fail) or did not submit will have an opportunity during their junior year to meet the requirement. Additionally, students that submitted a project took place in an Exhibition for the 9th graders. sharing their projects and explaining what they did. The 9th graders really appreciated seeing their projects and talking to them.
Sophomore Staff Emails
If you'd like to connect with any sophomore staff, here is our Sophomore Team:
- High School Assistant Principal - Thomas Craig, tcraig@crec.org
- High School Dean of Students - Ben Simon, bsimon@crec.org
- Guidance Counselor (Last Names A-K) - Mark Field, mfield@crec.org
- Guidance Counselor (Last Names L-Z) - Monika Chudy, mchudy@crec.org
- Team Leader - Alicia Clark, aclark@crec.org
- Team Leader - Elizabeth Campbell, elcampbell@crec.org
- 10th English ("Power of Voice") - Joyce Sidlosky, jsidlosky@crec.org
- 10th History ("Black & Latino History") - Michaela Katzman, mkatzman@crec.org
- 10th Math (Geometry) - Alicia Clark, aclark@crec.org
- 10th Science (Biology) - Matthew Steinkraus, msteinkraus@crec.org, Stacey Pagliaro, spagliaro@crec.org, or James Soar, jsoar@crec.org
- 10th Personal Project - Gina Gadue, ggadue@crec.org & Emily Wright, ewright@crec.org
- 10th Spanish - Carline Jones, cajones@crec.org
- 10th French - Alfredo Torres, altorres@crec.org
- 10th Design (Tech) - Katie Malachowski, kmalachowski@crec.org
- 10th Music (Band, MYP Music) - Elizabeth Campbell, elcampbell@crec.org & Scott Ferguson, sferguson@crec.org
- 10th Visual Art - Bonnie Livingston, blivingston@crec.org
- 10th Health - Stacey Rowe, strowe@crec.org & Tyler Champ, tchamp@crec.org
- 10th Physical Education - April Meyer, ameyer@crec.org & Chris Glowacki, cglowacki@crec.org
- Intervention, Speech, and Multilanguage Learners: Shana Parks, sparks@crec.org
- Special Education: Anne Marie Stern, astern@crec.org or Ryan Aeschliman, raeschliman@crec.org