Weekly Cougar News

Good Afternoon, Cougar Nation!

If you have not yet purchased a ticket to ConVal Drama's production of "Infinite Black Suitcase," there is still time left! I will be attending the performance at 3:00pm this afternoon. There are additional performances at 7:00pm this evening and Saturday night at 7:00pm. I am excited to support our talented cast of students!

I would encourage you to read some of the stories below about some exciting things happening in classrooms, including Biology, AP US History, and Aesthetics & Ideas. We were also fortunate to welcome outside experts this week who delivered guest presentations and a TASC Talk.

The CVHS Class of 2024 is excited to enjoy the fall weather this weekend while giving back to our community. This Sunday, October 24 starting at 10:30, we will be cleaning up the highway in front of the high school for a 2 mile stretch. Gloves, bags, and safety vests will be provided. I look forward to seeing anyone that may be able to stop by to lend a hand.

Good luck to our teams competing this weekend!

Best,

Heather

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

October 22, 2021 - CHS Drama Production 3:00pm & 7:00pm (see below for details)

October 23, 2021 - CVHS Drama Production 7:00pm (see below for details)

October 26, 2021 - School Picture Retake Day

October 29, 2021 - Deadline to register for the Community College Dual Enroll

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

November 5, 2021 - End of Quarter 1

November 11, 2021 - No School (Veterans Day)

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

"Infinite Black Suitcase" is an insightful and endearing examination, in thirteen vignettes, of the lives of three Oregonian families as they attempt to deal with the trauma of death and dying as humanly and lovingly as possible.

The play is particularly poignant this year, ConVal Theatre director Liz Moore noted. "It has been a … … … There aren’t enough appropriate words in the English language to describe the experience of last two years and the infinite variety of ways in which they have re-shaped each of us. It has been a time of incredible change, growth, and struggle."

For additional details, see the web post here.

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) includes 6 mindsets (standards). School Counselors and the school staff encourage these mindsets for all students. This week we will highlight Mindset M.3, which is a “Positive attitude toward work and learning.”

Below are some suggestions for things that parents/families might consider talking about with their child(ren) related to this topic (as suggested by https://www.schoolcounselor.org/):

• Do you know about all of the clubs and sports that are offered at school? If not, do you know how to find out about them, or do you need some help with that?
• If you were going to try something new to be involved in this year, what would it be?
• Tell me about the activities you are involved in during the school day. What do you do during TASC? How about during lunch?
• Do you have a favorite part of the school day?
  
  

Next week we will share information about another ASCA mindset: M.4: Understanding that postsecondary education and lifelong learning are necessary for long-term career success.

Tonight’s football game will be the last home game of the season, and we will be honoring this year’s seniors. Game time will be at 7:00pm vs Winnisquam. Please come out and support our seniors, their teammates, and coaches.

Also, please come out and support the volleyball team on Saturday at 10:00am as they play Winnisquam. This game will determine a playoff spot in this year’s state tournament.

Congratulations to two-sport athlete Wyatt Burbank as he finished 8th in the D3 Golf State Tournament, and was named to the 2nd team All State. Wyatt also plays on the Varsity Boys Soccer team.

The JV Cross Country team competed in the State Championships at Coe-Brown on Wednesday. The team ran well, and many of our runners posted either course or personal best times for the season.

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.

Students in Ms. Moran’s and Mr. Stetzer’s Biology classes had a special learning opportunity this week. In partnership with the Harris Center for Conservation Education, they got to engage in an actual applied science community project involving woodland salamanders.

With the help of ConVal students, the Center surveys the plots for salamanders each fall. By keeping track of the salamanders found under each board, scientists can begin to get a sense for the abundance and distribution of red-backed salamanders and compare local findings with more than 30 other SPARCnet sites from Virginia to Ontario.

As naturalist John Benjamin of the Harris Center noted in the introductory presentation in the Lucy Hurlin Theatre, the red-backed salamanders are an important indicator species for the impacts of human land use, associated reductions and degredations in salamander habitat, as well as overall climate change.

Susie Spikol of the Harris Center for Conservation Education in Hancock presented a TASC Talk on "Lab Girls," an afterschool program that is designed to help middle school girls stay engaged with the sciences.

The program brings women mentors with careers in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) into the classroom to share their stories and their science with Great Brook and South Meadow School girls.

Each week, members of the Lab Girls meet a different role model and then have a chance to experiment with the tools of her trade.

ConVal High School students with an interest in science have a community service opportunity to help the middle school girls navigate the hands-on experiments and additionally benefit from guest speakers during the TASK Talk series at ConVal.

For more information, contact Andria Johnson (ajohnson@conval.edu).

This week students in Mr. Bowman’s AP U.S. History (APUSH) classes debated whether or not a portion of US Route 202 in Pelham, Massachusetts should be named after Daniel Shays.

An officer in the Continental Army from 1775-1780, Shays fought in several American Revolutionary battles. He then served the town of Pelham by holding various town offices while eking out a living on his farm.

After the Revolution, America found itself in massive debt, causing state governments to raise taxes and demand that citizens pay them in hard currency. Many farmers had little cash, so their properties were seized and some were imprisoned. Led by Shays and other dissidents from 1786-1787, rural citizens petitioned the state legislature, protested outside courthouses, and eventually stormed the federal armory in Springfield, MA. This later became known as Shays Rebellion.

The rebels were eventually squelched, but their actions made it clear that the first written constitution of the United States, known as the Articles of Confederation, was not working. This led to the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, where George Washington was elected as our nation's first president, the Constitution of the United States was written, and a strong federal government was established.

APUSH students who debated in favor of naming the highway after Shays argued that he deserves the honor because he spoke out against government corruption. Opposing APUSH students argued that he does not deserve the honor because his motives were selfish.

Students in the Aesthetics and Ideas class welcomed a guest speaker from the MacDowell artist’s residency program on Thursday. Jodie Mack is an English-born American experimental filmmaker and animator who currently teaches animation at Dartmouth College.

Mack is fascinated by the concept of “stroboscopia,” the relationship between a series of still images and the illusion of motion that is being created through the physical phenomenon known as the persistence of vision. Central to her work is also the original meaning of the word “animation — not related to cartoons or Pixar movies, but in the sense of ‘bringing to life’ inanimate objects and concepts,” Mack noted.

For additional details on the visit, see the web post here.

Members of the ConVal Class of 2022 assembled in the dropoff loop in front of the school to take the senior picture for the 2022 ConVal Yearbook.

The ConVal Yearbook covers all classes — from freshmen to seniors — and will be an especially memorable edition this year.

To find out what the different options are to order your family's copy or how to place a recognition ad in the Yearbook, go to the Jostens ConVal Yearbook website or contact Yearbook advisor Karrie Mitschmyer (kmitschmyer@conval.edu).

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!

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.

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.

The ConVal “Void” — the area behind the link, between the gymnasium and the math and science classrooms on the south side of the school — serves as the staging area for the solar panel installation project that is set to begin in the coming weeks.

Equipment and materials have already been dropped off, including a job trailer, dumpsters, roof fencing, the solar panels, as well as inverters and piping for the project.

ReVision Energy, which maintains offices in Maine and New Hampshire, is in charge of the project.