Principal's Notes (Taylor White)

You may have heard that a farmhouse in Lunenburg was destroyed by fire a few weeks ago.  That home is owned by the Mcleod family of Lunenburg.  Although not students at GD, the impact of that tragedy was felt at our school.  

Taylor White, a senior at GD, was in the home when the fire erupted.  She won’t admit it but Taylor proved to be hero that day.  Taylor kept a level head and acted quickly.  She physically removed David Mcleod from the home as he initially attempted to go rescue the family dog.  Taylor and David jumped from a second story window to escape the flames.  The Mcleod family has endured a difficult few months.  Not only did they lose their dog, their home, and all of their possessions in the recent fire, but they also lost their mother this past summer.  A tragic story.

In an effort to help a family in a neighboring town Taylor spearheaded an effort to raise much needed funds for the family.  Through bake sales and donations we raised nearly 1,000 dollars.  I have included a link to a donation page dedicated to help the family.  

 http://www.gofundme.com/h52btg. 

Taylor White

HS Quiz Show/Hour of Code/ITS

High School Quiz Show

Last Sunday Ms. Brisson and I accompanied four students to take part in the qualifying round for the WGBH High School Quiz Show that is hosted by Billy Costa from 107.9.  One-hundred and twenty schools competed and sixteen will qualify for the televised competition. The students performed brilliantly scoring 940 points out of a total of 1275. We will be notified soon if we qualify for the televised portion of the competition. 

Fiona Henry

Eric Yenchenko

Dan Evans

Ben Navetta

From Left: Ben Navetta, Eric Yenchenko, Dan Evans, Fiona Henry

Hour of Code

GDRHS plans to participate in the Hour of Code in early December.  Last year our  students participated alongside some 10 million students world wide.  This year the Hour of Code 

has the audacious goal of reaching more than 100 millions students.  During the Hour of Code event high school students will present and assist with a variety of programming activities in classrooms across the district.   Thanks to the hard work and effort of the tech team, staff members, and our student ambassadors, we will reach every student in the district.  Each building will have a series of coding activities.  Information about these activities can be found at code.org.  

The Benefits of the Hour of Code

• Creativity, Communication, Collaboration & Critical Thinking Skills
• Build awareness of student opportunities
• Peer to peer teaching and modeling
• Foster computational thinking
• Demystify the belief that coding is only for smart, white and Asian men
• Get kids excited and engaged…. have fun!

The following short video "What is code?" provides an informative, albeit brief, introduction to coding.  

Additional Resources

CS Ed Weeks startling infographic.

CS Ed Weeks "What is Computer Science and What do People Do Once They Know It?"

International Thespian Society

GDRHS drama students demonstrated their commitment to theater at the high school as well as their lives when they joined the International Thespian Society.  To join this international drama society each student must play an active role in GD drama productions.  In addition,  they are required to demonstrate a commitment to community service.  Students in the honor society act, design sets and costumes, manage front of house, build sets, produce, and direct GD theater productions.   Many of the students also volunteer at the high school and community theater projects.  Collectively these students have volunteered literally hundreds of hours.  Congratulations and welcome to our new inductees.  

Veterans Day, Girls Cross Country & More

Veterans Day Ceremony 

Today we held our Veterans Day Ceremony that featured several members of the military.  The assembly began with a wonderful rendition of our National Anthem performed by Rebecca Stark.  I want to thank all members of the armed forces for their service, and for the few who were kind enough to join us today: Petty Officer Keith Woods, Petty Officer Duncan Graham, Sgt. Chris McLaughlin, Captain Bob Johnson, and Captain Joe Dean.   A special thank you for our guest speakers, Lt. Col John Giger and Lt. Col Tamara Scwhartz.

Lt. Col. John Giger

Lt. Col. Tamara Schwartz

Rebecca Stark

Girls CC News
Congratulations to the Girls Cross Country team for taking second place in the Central Massachusetts District Championship this past weekend. The team qualified for the State Championship this coming Saturday at Franklin Park. Freshman sensation Emily Willson finished in second place in Central Massachusetts District Championships.

Winter Sports Registration
2014-15 Winter Sports Registration for high school and middle school is now open. Please visit the following website to register. Please note, registrations after the 16th of November will be subject to a $25.00 late fee.
http://www.gdrsd.org/District/Department/119-Crusader-Athletics … 

Football Playoffs
After a convincing 38-7 victory over Nipmuc this past weekend GD will travel to Holy Name High School on Saturday, November 15th.  The game will start at noon.  

Noises Off
Congratulations to the cast of Noises Off.  The production was well attended and the show was hilarious.  

Grades/Playoff Football/Noises Off/Girls CC

Grades
First quarter grades will be available in both iStudent and iParent at 3:00 this afternoon.  

Playoff Football 
GDRHS Football is playing host to Nipmuc in a playoff football game tonight starting at 7pm.


Girls Cross Country
Girls Cross Country won the Mid-Wach championship. Freshman Emily Willson was first, Emily MacAuliffe was fifth, and Meghan O'Dell finished 9th. Congrats to everyone!
Emily Willson completed a sensational freshman season. A season that featured a new GDRHS course record. Congratulations Emily!

Noises Off

Please come and see the production of Noises Off.  Tickets are available at the door.  

Friday November 7th @ 7 PM
Saturday November 8th @ 2 PM and 7 PM
BBX - GDRHS

Girls Volleyball, Boys Soccer & All-Star Honors

Girls Volleyball
The dominant lady Crusaders suffered a difficult loss to Westboro yesterday in the Central MA Division 2 Semifinal. It was a valiant effort and a remarkable season. The team finished the season with nineteen wins and two losses. The volleyball program is less than ten years old and to witness such a stratospheric rise to prominence is a testament to the hard work and effort of the players, led by the captains pictured below, and coaches Lisa LaPierre,Lori Herberich, and Adam Snodgrass. Congratulations girls!

Jamie Debreceni & Aley Pray

Taylor White 

Boys Soccer
Boys Soccer lost a hard fought game in the quarterfinals to Westboro yesterday afternoon. The game was 2-2 after two overtime periods. The outcome was eventually decided by penalty kicks. Great season boys!

Congratulations to Meghan Colantuoni for being named to the Mid-Wach B Field Hockey All-Star Team. Congratulations to Brittany Belanger and Lindsay Werner for earning Mid-Wach B Soccer All-Star Team honors.

Meghan Colantuoni

Brittany Belanger

Lindsay Werner

GDEF/Noises Off/Best Buddies

GDEF Information

GDEF Seeks Volunteers….Annual Giving Campaign Launching this Month

Our district schools rely on the Groton Dunstable Education Foundation to fill a critical need by funding grants for innovative programs, materials and professional development that fall outside the regular budget and help foster our teachers’ creativity and improve student achievement.   GDEF’s mini-grant cycle for amounts up to $500 is currently open, and GDEF recently awarded a grant to Danielle Patenaude-Dumont to enhance grammar instruction for her 9^th grade students.  GDEF needs more volunteers in many areas, including grants review and administration, school relations, website maintenance, and annual giving.  If you can help, please complete the attached volunteer form and email it to info@gdefinc.org. 

Last year GDEF received so many wonderful applications that it had to dip into reserves to fund more than the $29,000 raised through its Annual Giving Campaign (AGC).  This year GDEF is counting on your support to reach its new goal of $35,000.  In mid-November, be on the lookout for AGC information coming in newsletters and local media, as well as through emails and the mail.  For more information, visit www.gdefinc.org.

Please view our website for additional information.  

Noises Off

Please come and see the production of Noises Off.  Tickets are available at the door.  

Friday November 7th @ 7 PM
Saturday November 8th @ 2 PM and 7 PM
BBX - GDRHS

Yankee Candle Fundraiser

Members of the PAVE program are currently running a fundraiser to benefit our Crusader Pals initiative.  The goal is to partner with Best Buddies.  I have included some information about Best Buddies below. The Yankee Candle Fund Raiser for Crusader Pals will benefit both the Crusader Plans and Best Buddies initiatives.  Sales close on Friday.  Below is a link to the website.  Please use the group number provided. 

The Link is :  www.yankeecandlefundraising.com

Group Number is:  990072197

Checks can be made out to :  GDRHS/Crusader Pals

http://www.bestbuddies.org/

Best Buddies® is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

Founded in 1989 by Anthony K. Shriver, Best Buddies is a vibrant, international organization that has grown from one original chapter to almost 1,700 middle school, high school, and college chapters worldwide. Best Buddies programs engage participants in each of the 50 United States, and in 50 countries around the world.

Best Buddies’ eight formal programs — Middle Schools, High Schools, Colleges, Citizens, e-Buddies®, Jobs, Ambassadors, and Promoters — positively impact nearly 800,000 individuals with and without disabilities worldwide. Best Buddies volunteers annually contribute, at no cost to their communities, support services that equate to more than $168 million USD.

As a result of their involvement with Best Buddies, people with IDD secure rewarding jobs, live on their own, become inspirational leaders, and make lifelong friendships. Although Best Buddies has advanced tremendously in its short existence, many areas of the country and many regions of the world still lack programs to help people with IDD become part of mainstream society. With that in mind, Best Buddies is systematically implementing its 2020 Initiative, which will witness the organization’s continued significant growth, both domestically and overseas.