October 17, 2019
October 11, 2019
Fall Greatness
I want to take a few minutes to share with you some of the greatness that fall has brought to Hartford High School.
Our homecoming week culminated with an amazing fireworks display on campus during half time of the football game. This followed a highly energetic pep rally at the end of the school day. It dawns on me that when I use the term “pep rally” you might recall the “pep rallies” of your youth. These are not our “pep rallies.” At Hartford High School Pep Rallies are celebrations, an opportunity to come together as a school community and have fun. Friday’s Pep Rally was one of the most spirited I can remember, led and organized by a contingent of our Student Council; it was a highly interactive collection of games and competitions by grade. The gym was loud and energy-filled. It was not simply an honoring of our athletic teams as Pep Rallies were in my youth. I thoroughly enjoyed watching our student leaders and student body engaging in fun together.
We recently received word that AJ DeFelice has been recognized with a Letter of Commendation from Hartford High School and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation honoring him as a “Commended Student in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program.” Of the 1.5 million students who took the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), AJ scored in the top 50,000. Congratulations AJ.
Our own Choral teacher, Andrea Nardone, was recently recognized as Vermont’s 2019 Outstanding New Music Educator. We are thrilled that Andrea was honored; we see her greatness every day.
Some of you may have heard our fire and police sirens toward the end of the day yesterday. They were not heading to an emergency; they were leading our State Championship Golf Team into town from their winning match. The Golf team’s state title is the first for the program since 1994. Congratulations to the team (Joseph Barwood, Brady Hathorn, Justin Jasmin, Logan Raymond, Matthew Roberts, Jared Vanderpot, and Coaches Mike Hathorn and Bill Vielleux.)
On Thursday we hosted an honored alum, Jim Cantore – class of ’82, and Weather Channel star, for an installation of a truly game-changing device. The Hartford High School campus now has the first WeatherStem station in the state of Vermont. Our school now has the same capacity to forecast weather, in real time, that can be found at major universities (including Syracuse, BC, LSU, University of Florida, to name a few) and professional athletic venues (Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers and others). Our WeatherStem system is located on top of our press box and will provide our learning community with rich and usable data to support student learning as well as entire courses and lesson plans that interact with the system. This is a BIG deal and Mr. Cantore was on hand to visit his school and provide us with this generous gift. Thank you Jim! We will be sharing the information that will allow all in our community to access the weather (and images) available through this tool in a later email.
I am providing photos of the Corn Hole games created by our Applied Math students. Applied Math is a new course for us. We are providing students with the opportunity to learn by doing, creating, and engaging in entrepreneurial skills. Our students will be raffling off these boards as the program seeks selfsustainability.
Lastly, I want to recognize Samantha Gibbs. Samantha is the ONLY Vermont representative to the AllNational Honor Ensemble. A performance showcase that will take place in Orlando, Florida November 7 – 10. Samantha’s participation in this National Association for Music Education (NAfME) event follows her participation in the Vermont All State Choir and the 2019 All-Eastern Choir Ensemble. Samantha is the first Hartford student, in our rich history of performing arts, to earn this distinction. This opportunity will find Sam rehearsing a challenging repertoire in preparation for performing under the direction of six of the most prominent conductors in the United States. Amazing job Samantha!
What an incredible first six weeks of school. I truly believe that Hartford High School has something for every student. While we cannot all have the talents of the individuals highlighted in this post, we believe to our core that every student has greatness within them. We want to partner with all of our students to support that greatness. I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you and your student about the place where their greatness lies.
I look forward to all the amazing opportunities ahead,
Nelson
