Due to expected weather conditions, all GDRHS activities will cease at 4:30pm today.  There will be no GDRHS activities tomorrow.  Please drive safely and have a nice weekend.  Enjoy New England in the spring time!

Robotomies recap from Rhode Island competition

Thanks to Mr. Rocheleau for all his hard work and leadership with this group of students.  Below is a recap on last weekend's competition.  Also, here is the link to the website where you can learn more about the program and see pictures from their competitions.  They will be demonstrating the robot at the Florence Roche's Science Fair.

http://www.robotomies.com/2017-steamworks/steamworks-ride-competition/

The students made a number of improvements on the robot after the first competition which would have been great, however in a pre-competition practice match another robot slammed into ours knocking our ball hopper loose and then another robot ran over the part shattering it.  The students worked half the day fixing it so part of our functionality was compromised for several matches.  On Sunday we began having trouble with our climbing ability – something we had done excellently with since the beginning.  With little time to fix it we were unable to climb for the remaining three matches.  This inability made us undesirable as a finalist and so even though we finished in 18th place (24 robots compete in the finals) we were not selected.  The students were disappointed but still proud that they accomplished so much despite the setbacks.  It’s tough to know you were so close to finishing much higher and being able to compete in the finals, but that’s the nature of the competition – it doesn’t take much to make a big difference!

The kids did an amazing job and it’s worth noting that our team was awarded the “White Gloves Award” which “recognizes excellence in student led teams”.  It is given to two teams where students control all phases of the design and build season.  When you look around in the pits it can be very obvious that many teams are not only led by adults, but they are primarily responsible for the build as well.  Our team has always prided itself on the level of control granted to students.  Our mentors support and assist our students.  Right or wrong it is their robot and the level of pride and ownership they have in it is apparent by how quickly and overwhelmingly the students jump in to fix or improve the robot in between matches.  

This weekend we functioned like a team again and that had a lot to do with our improvement over last competition.  We are now looking forward to attending “Battle Cry at WPI”, a post-season matchup in May which gives the teams another opportunity to compete with their robot.  We also have some repairs to make before this Saturday when we will be demonstrating the robot at Flo Ro’s science Fair.  Several of our students are looking forward to showing off the robot to our future members!

Spring Play

GD Players Present: Twelfth Night, April 7th and 8th!

On April 7 and 8, the GDRHS Drama Guild presents their spring play, Twelfth Night! GD’s version of Shakespeare’s comedy has been reimagined with a casino island setting, making for fun sets and costumes. The play is being directed by GDRMS English teacher Mrs. Leung and assistant directed by Julia Joyce (‘18).

The comedy follows two twins, Viola (Celeste Vandermillen, ‘18) and Sebastian (Alex Sullivan, ‘17), who are separated and nearly drowned by a shipwreck. Both twins believe that the other is dead. When Viola finds herself on an island by herself, she decides to disguise herself as a man, “Cesario,” until she has adjusted to life on the island. She works for a duke, Orsino (Calvin Parker, ‘18), who sends her to win over the heart of Olivia (Lauren Maloomian, ‘20). Olivia is not at all interested in Orsino and instead falls in love with “Cesario”. Viola, meanwhile, is in love with Orsino, but Orsino doesn’t know that Viola is actually a woman and continues to pursue Olivia. To add to the confusion, Olivia’s servants try to entertain themselves by playing practical jokes on the characters!

Shows are April 7 at 7 P.M. and April 8 at 2 P.M. and 7 P.M. in the GDRHS Black Box Theatre. Tickets are $8 for students and seniors and $10 general admission. Don’t miss it!

Scheduling Information

Yesterday we met with all students in grades 9-11 and also hosted an 8th Grade Parent Information Night.  Thanks to the 200+ people who came last night.  Student requests for courses next year are due next Tuesday, April 3rd.  Please log in to Schoolbrains under the student log in to choose courses.  Remember, that all students must also pass in a Course Selection Sheet to Guidance (HS) or Homeroom (MS) on or prior to 4/3/17.

GDRHS School Counselors will be meeting with all 8th Grade Students this morning and will be scheduling meetings with each and every student after 4/3/17 to make sure that the scheduling process goes smoothly.  If any student/parent wishes to override a teacher recommendation and enroll in a higher course level than the recommendation, they will also need to fill out and submit a Course Level Change Form by 4/3/17.

The information presented to students and parents from departments can be found on the High School Web Page.

http://gdrsd.org/gdrhs/2017/03/28/course-selection-information-for-grades-9-11/

"Robotomies" retools for 2nd Competition weekend this year!

Best of Luck!

Our Robotics team will compete in this weekend's FIRST Robotics Competition.  They be competing at the Rhode Island event at Bryant University Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  There will be as many as 25 GD students attending the event, some for the entire weekend, others for only 1 day.  The students have made changes to the robot since the first competition and how well it performs will be as much of a surprise to us as it will be for you... this should be interesting!  

If you're interested, streaming video and results will be found here:

·  Webcast: https://www.twitch.tv/nefirst_red

·  Event Results: https://www.thebluealliance.com/event/2017ripro

2017-2018 Program of Studies

The new Program of Studies has been released.  Take some time over the next week or so to examine some of the changes and additions available to students next year.  You can find a link to the document on the page below.

Big changes:

• Juniors and Seniors can now fulfill the independent experience requirement
• Many new courses designed to fulfill independent experience requirement
• Phasing out of French courses

http://gdrsd.org/gdrhs/students/scheduling/

Tedx event

On March 10th students, led by our own Kelly McManus, hosted GDRHS's 2nd Annual Tedx Youth Event. I wanted to share the summary with everyone reagarding such an innovative and student driven event that I hope will continue for years to come.

TEDxYouth@GDRHS

By Kelly McManus

As you may know, TED is an annual conference that brings together the world’s leading thinkers and doers to share ideas that matter from a variety of disciplines: technology, entertainment, design, science, humanities, business development, etc.  These short thought provoking talks engage the audience and strive to make a positive difference by sharing ideas.

In that same spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a local, self-organized event that brings together people to share a TED-like experience. On March 10th, the high school held our

second TEDxYouth@GDRHS event to a nearly sold out audience.

Students in the TEDx club this year chose this year’s theme: The Pursuit of Creativity, and under the leadership of senior, Zoe Pappas, they applied for an official license from TED, solicited, interviewed and selected speakers, curated and planned out every detail of the night.  This year’s club  members are Alek Valles, Kyla Yates, Emily Scalf, Robert Carr, Zach Gavel, Avi Jivanani, Jennifer Kenney and Zoe Pappas.

As an educator, the TedxYouth event is, bar none, the very best experience I’ve had.  My role as the advisor is to mentor and support student leaders.   I’m humbled by the dedication, creativity and talent that our students have.  This year our program consisted of six talks: seniors, Connor Griffiths and Amelia Maguire spoke on memes, GD alumnus, Greg Mahan spoke about carving out time daily for developing your interests, and teacher Jon O’Connor made us think about how we perceive color.  In addition we had three other speakers who came from outside our walls.  Dr. Chris Willard, a Harvard University Psychology professor returned to deliver a talk on compassion and social contagion, young entrepreneur Nick Friedman traveled from NYC to inspire the audience to try new things daily, take risks and be true to yourself, and Kledia Spiro, who came to America as a child from war torn Albania, talked about how she combines her love for olympic weightlifting and art to explore the idea of “weight” that we all lift.  Senior, Zach Gavel kept the flow of the night as our Master of Ceremonies.

The spirit of generosity is astounding at GD!  If it weren’t for the dozens of teachers, staff and students who volunteer their time and expertise to help with coaching speakers, lighting, video recording and editing, tech support, displaying art, playing music, or assisting with a million other details this would be a very different night. I especially love the collegiality between the adults and students to create something bigger than any one person and in many cases where the traditional roles of authority are reversed.  Over the course of a few months, I get to witness our students confidence grow through these consistent positive interactions.   

I’d like to thank everyone who participated, supported or attended our event and I’m excited to share with you that we are already making plans to bring TEDxYouth@GDRHS back to the high school next year.

Congratulations to Hannah Dean who was awarded the title of Best Buddies Ambassador last night. She was chosen to deliver a speech on what the Best buddies Program has meant to her. Congratulations Hannah!

Any students interested in options other than a four year college or university after graduation should consider attending the Options Fair at Westford Academy on March 31st.  Any interested Junior or Senior should visit their guidance counselor this week for more details.

Westford Academy

Options Fair Participant list

Friday 3/31/2017

Maverick Technical Institute                           Certificate Program

Alexander Academy Cosmetology

and Beauty School                                          Certificate Program

Mount Wachusett Community College           Two-Year College

Peterson School                                               Technical Program

Division of Professional Licensure                 Multiple Licenses

Northern Essex Community College              Two-Year College

Unites States Navy                                         Military

Workers Credit Union                                    Financial/Employment

Middlesex Community College                                 

And Dual Enrollment Program                     Two-Year College                 

Universal Technical Institute                        Technical Program

Continental Academie of Hair Design           Certificate Program

Nashoba Valley Technical High School

Post-Secondary Program                               Technical Program

United States Marine Corps                          Military

UPS                                                                Employment

Army National Guard                                     Military

Rustic Pathways                                             Gap Year Programs

Metropolitan Pipe and Supply                        Employment

Mock Job Interviews

Students in Mrs. McNulty's 21st Century classes yesterday took part in Mock Job Interviews. A dozen teachers gave up their prep times to serve as the interviewers. Great life lessons and skill building!

GD Students Donate Their Efforts in Service to Others

As part of our School Improvement Goal this year, we have been trying to highlight GD students who are committed to Service Projects inside and outside of school.  Its amazing how much our students do on a regular basis that goes unrecognized.  Our amazing Nurse, Mrs. Shea is working with a hist of G-D high school and middle school students to raise money and awareness for St. Jude's Children's Hospital.

Eighteen students from Groton-Dunstable Regional School District are on a mission, to help kids feel like kids and not patients. 

They are members of the St. Jude Performance Team and on Saturday, March 18th, they will participate in the 18th annual Fitness for a Cure gala event for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.    

The mission of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Fitness for a Cure and these kids from Groton-Dunstable help support founder of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Danny Thomas’ dream of “Finding Cures, Saving Children.” The theme of this year’s event is dedicated to Danny's dream.

If you would like to donate to the team or on behalf of a student please visit:

http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR?fr_id=64134&pg=entry

Fitness for a Cure/St. Jude Performance team members from Groton -Dunstable :  

High School:

Paige Bailey

Cassie Beigel

Evan Beigel

Penny Bailey

Sarah Bushnell

Anna Bushnell

Ethan Hillenberg

Jacqueline Richardson

Middle School:

Katherine Shea

Ruby Bailey

Caroline Keegan

Abigail Schuster

Julia Schuster

C.J. Schuster

Alex Hillenberg

Cole Beigel

Ryan Bushnell

Jadyn Correira

NHS is sponsoring a Blood Drive

The GDRHS National Honor Society is sponsoring an American Red Cross blood drive.

​​​​​​​

Students, Staff and GD Parents are all welcome to donate!

Please email Ms. Heather Salemme at hsalemme@gdrsd.org

 to schedule your donation time.

AP EXAM PAYMENTS

Payments for AP Exams are due by Friday, March 17th.  If you have not paid for your AP Exam yet, please get your money into guidance.

Spring Cleaning?

Did you know that nearly all of your textiles, regardless of condition can be recycled? For his Eagle Scout project, Ian Peterson will be running a textile recycling drive in conjunction with the Groton Recycling Committee. During the week of March 13th to 17th, he will be collecting donations in the front office. Additionally, he will be at the Prescott School from 8am to 2pm on March 11th and 18th collecting donations. Please look at the flyer attached below for a more detailed description of what is accepted, but basically unless it is wet, or hazardous waste, it is recyclable! That means that all of your unwanted or broken clothing, old curtains, even tattered shoes and stuffed animals can be recycled. If you have any questions, contact Ian atidpeterson411@gmail.com. Spread the word to your friends, and clean out your closets!

Student Writing Contest

ALL ARE WELCOME

Writing Contest

The Groton Board of Selectmen have proposed welcoming all residents and visitors to the town of Groton with entrance signs that say, “All are welcome.” This simple message communicates the importance of diversity and inclusion and supports the core values of the town. If their proposal is approved, there will be a ceremony to erect these signs, and they would love students to be involved.

Our students are the future of our two towns, and their voices and perspectives are critical to maintaining a culture that embraces all people for who they are. We are now accepting entries for the “All are welcome,” writing contest. There will be 4 categories:

• Grades PK-2
• Grades 3-5
• Grades 6-8
• Grades 9-12

All entries will be reviewed, with winners in each category receiving a gift card, the opportunity to read or present their entry at the Spring Groton town meeting and/or at the ceremony, and a pizza or a donut party for their class.

Prompt:

What does “All are welcome” mean to you? After thinking about the importance of valuing diversity and everyone in our community, write a response that answers the question.

We welcome writing in various formats including:

• Exhibits to include a written product
• Formal letters, to the Board of Selectmen
• Non-fiction narratives, such as accounts of an event
• Essays, blogs, or editorials
• Poetry or visual poetry
• Artworks
• Video or audio recording

All entries must contain:

• Student first and last name
• Grade and classroom teacher/ELA teacher

Submit entries to your school office by March 29, 2017.

Winning entries in each category will be announced by April 12, 2017.

Spring Sports Registration

Sunday, March 12th is the deadline for registering for Spring Sports.

Information 
https://grotondunstable-ar.rschooltoday.com/

Robotics Team competes this week at WPI

Groton Dunstable Robotics Team 2017 Competitions to be Held in March

Ginger Vollmar, Publicity for the GDRHS Robotics Team

The Groton Dunstable High School Robotics team, fondly known as "The Robotomies", will be participating in the 2017 FIRST Robotics “FIRST Steamworks” competitions in March. The team has been working hard and meeting almost daily for the last six weeks to design, build, program and test their robot.

After the 2017 challenge was announced, the team spent time working on a design and trying to decide which aspects of the challenge to focus on. With a good number of experienced seniors who work well independently, the team broke into groups to work on separate pieces of the robot: the base and drive train, the ball shooter, the rope climber, the gear holder, the ball hopper and the programming of the robot. The team just finished their work by the stop build date of February 21st. We are all looking forward to the competitions to see how well the robot performs.

The first competition will be held at WPI’s Harrington Auditorium on March 9th – 10th (100 Institute Rd., Worcester, MA. Thursday 8:00 – 8:00 and Friday 8:00 – 6:00). The 2nd competition will be held at Bryant University on March 25th – 26th (1150 Douglas Pike, Smithfield, RI. Saturday 8:00 – 8:00 and Sunday 8:00 – 6:00). The competitions are very exciting events and we hope to get more spectators to come out and cheer on the team this year. You can come for part of the day or the entire day. The actual schedule for the days of the competition is not known ahead of time but our team will have a number of matches during each of the days.

You can visit our web site at www.robotomies.com for more information about the Robotomies or like us on Facebook at “GD Team 1277”.

All funding for the Robotics team is privately raised. The Robotomies are thrilled to have gotten more sponsors this year. We would like to thank all of our current sponsors who provide funding for the entrance fees for the FIRST competitions and for materials. Thank you to: Justin J. Maynard Memorial STEM Innovation Scholarship; The Society for American Military Engineers; Raytheon; Ted & Connie Lapres Fund; Mercury Systems; IBM Northeast Community Grant Program; GE Oil & Gas; Solidworks; MJR Engineering Co.; Hollingsworth & Vose; L-3 Advanced Systems; Harris Corporation; Groton Dunstable Education Foundation (GDEF); the Hughson Family; the Adams Family; the Breton Family; the Battles Family; the Orlando Family; and the DiFranco Family. Additional sponsorships are always welcomed and appreciated.

If you have questions or would like to help support the Robotics team, please contact Mr. Mark Rocheleau at mrocheleau@gdrsd.org.

Poetry Out Loud

Congratulations to Jordan Sweenie who represented Groton-Dunstable Regional High School at the Central Massachusetts Regional Semifinals for the Poetry Out Loud Competition.  She competed on March 4th in Framingham against 15 other schools.

March is a busy Month at GD

Good Afternoon,

Just wanted to acknowledge some of our students efforts today.  I was fortunate to get to a couple of events this week and wanted to say how well our students represented us.

On Wednesday night our Ice Hockey team lost a heartbreaker, 3-2 in double overtime, to North Middlesex in the State Tournament.  It was an amazing game and we had tremendous fan support as well.  Great season guys.  Last night our Boys Basketball team advanced to the Regional Semifinals with a win over Westboro.  Again, tremendous game and great fan support.  The boys play again on Tuesday night in Worcester.

Looking forward, there is a lot going on.  I am sure I will miss some things but to name a few....

Girls Basketball faces Marlborough in state tournament action tonight at GD...7PM!

Our Mock Trial Team has advanced to the Regional Tournament with a win this week over perennial powerhouse, Parker Charter.  They will compete this weekend at Clark University.

Our Alpine Ski Team will compete in the States on Tuesday at Wachusett Mountain.

If you have been following winter sports you know that our Swim teams, Gymnastics team and our Indoor Track teams all had amazingly successful years as well.  Congrats on a great season.

GOOD LUCK to all this weekend and next week.

Also on the horizon......

• Our second annual Ted x event will take place next Friday night at 6pm.

• The Best Buddies Talent Show will take place on March 16th in the Black Box Theater.

• Spring Sports begin on March 20th

• ELA MCAS for Grade 10 will occur on 3/21, 3/22, and 3/23.

• Open Mic night on March 24th

• Dance for the Arts:  Saturday March 25th from 7-11pm at Groton Country Club

           This is a 21+ event.  All proceeds to benefit GDRHS arts, music and drama!

Just to name a few.....  Have a wonderful weekend!