Top 10 Students, Progress Reports, Technovation, & GD Turtles

Top 10 Students
Today we celebrate the Top 10 students of the senior class.  They have achieved great success for many reasons: hard-work and effort, a sound support system of friends and family, and the help and guidance of a dedicated prekindergarten through grade 12 staff.  Please take the time to read the bios; clear affirmation that public education is alive in well in Massachusetts.

Top 10 Biographies


Progress Reports
Progress Reports are available in the community portal.  

Blanding Turtles
By Melanie McCracken

Through a grant from GDEF the environmental club at the high school was able to work with Grass Roots Wildlife Conservation out of Concord, MA in an effort to increase the population of Blanding's turtles. Blanding's turtles are listed as a threatened species in Massachusetts. Groton contains property that is considered a core habitat and critical natural landscape by Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (http://maps.massgis.state.ma.us/dfg/biomap2.htm ). 

Most importantly, and by luck, some of the wetlands on the high school property are part of the core habitat.Interested students at the high school have been assisting the ecologist in monitoring for Blanding's turtles. This involves wading in waist deep water and checking traps for the presence of Blanding's. Attached are some photos of the students, Blanding's, and a gigantic crawfish!​​  

Technovation Challenge

By Audra Kaplan

For the third year in a row, students from the high school attended the 2016 Technovation Challenge Regional Pitch at the Microsoft Nerd Center in Cambridge.  The Technovation Challenge is a global competition that builds leadership and entrepreneurial skills.  Young women from high school and middle school compete for a chance to present at the World Pitch event in California. Thirty-seven teams from around Massachusetts competed for a chance to compete globally.  It was an exciting night to say the least!

For the first time, two teams represented the high school, Team Crusader Tech and Team Rurality.  The teams began collaborating back in January both in and out of school.  Our amazing young women spent countless hours outside of school building a pseudo start up.  In addition to creating a smartphone app designed with the intention to help others they were required to conduct market research, design a logo, write a business plan, interview potential customers and more.  

Finders Seekers, designed by Crusader Tech, is an easy to use Android app that creates a lost and found network. The app connects those who have lost an item to those who have found it, focusing on location, keywords, descriptions, and photos. Finders Seekers, makes campus and school lost and founds more efficient and easier to access.  

Spectrome, designed by Team Rurality, is an app that helps those who are visually impaired. It function is to help those who are visually impaired by identifying the color of an object.  Users simply scan an object to identify its color.  Imagine an app that helps you color coordinate your outfit in the morning.

There are a lot of bright students here at Groton-Dunstable.  We are very proud of the effort and teamwork that these young ladies have shown throughout the preparation for the regional pitch.  It was a pleasure to work with such an amazing group of young women entrepreneurs!  Already looking forward to next year.  Start thinking about app ideas for helping others now.  Stay tuned for the Technovation Challenge 2017.