EGHS New Debate Team

Congratulations to the EG Debate Team who joined the Rhode Island Forensic League as the newest debate team in the league on Saturday. Throughout the day the question: “East Greenwich has a team?” became the rallying cry “East Greenwich has a team!!” The eight members, who were paired in groups of two, competed in three rounds of Parliamentary Style Debate.  Having only has four meetings before formal competition; our students definitely had their work cut out for them.  Mr. Penza was overwhelmed by the success of the team and cannot wait for their next tournament on November 16^th.

The scoring system ranks teams (of which there were 52) and then ranks individuals (of which there were 104). At the end of the day EG ranks were:

Team Rankings: (out of 52)

6^th - Zack Johnson & Milan Toljan

9^th - Katie Allen & Katie Hollingsworth

15^th – Yash Duhri & Alexan Topalian

19^th – Jeremy Bernard – Sasges & Giulio Cataldo

Individual Rankings: (out of 104)

6^th – Yash Duhri

7^th – Katie Hollingsworth

25^th – Zack Johnson

Judges are always needed for the tournaments. Any faculty member or parent who wishes to judge should contact Mr. Penza (mpezna@egsd.net)

Below is a picture of the team waiting to see their results.

Entire EGHS Community Helps Support Auditorium Improvements

Recently the East Greenwich High School auditorium, especially the sound and lighting, has gone through a series of improvements. These improvements could not be possible without the generosity  of the entire EGHS school community.  Thank you to the many individuals, class advisors and graduating classes who helped make this all possible.  Special thanks to Mr. Petrucci, Mr. Kenney, Mr. Lussier, Mr. Carniaux, and Mr. Hyde for the countless hours spent creating new opportunities and this great auditorium for our students to demonstrate their amazing talents.
Thank you all for your support of EGHS and enjoy tonight's Cabaret!

   

EG Places 3rd at Yale Physics Olympics...and Best Costume!

From Mr. Lenox-
"Congratulations to Ali Marcus, Michelle Xiong, Chris Luo and Neil Fachon for a 3rd place finish at the Yale Physics Olympics.

They competed in 5 impromptu/inquiry events that drew upon their physics knowledge along with basic science information. Although they did not place in any of the 5 events, they did well enough overall for a 3rd place finish... very impressive. Teams consisted of 4 students, and we were one of 50 New England schools competing in this event at Yale University."

They also had some great costumes for the event!

Well done Avengers!

EGHS Student Named as 2013 US Paralympic High School Track and Field All-American

Congratulations to East Greenwich High School student Justin Ferra, who has been named to the 2013 U.S. Paralympic High School Track and Field All-American list!  Justin is one of only 55 athletes throughout the United States to receive this honor.  Justin's outstanding performances in the 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters and Javelin helped to earn him this national recognition.

We congratulate Justin, his family, and his fellowAll-American athletes on this very special recognition. Well done!

For Your Advanced Planning Next Week- It is Spirit Week at EGHS!

Spirit Events & Activities

Monday  10/14       

            Columbus Day

Tuesday  10/15      

            Scavenger Hunt begins at 7:00 AM

            Theme day – Superhero Day

           

Wednesday  10/16 Class Theme Day

            2014: USA-wear red, white and blue                          

            2015: Decades-wear something from a bygone decade (20’s, 50’s, 80’s…etc)

            2016: Pajamas-come to school in your PJ’s

            2017: Hawaiian Luau-throw on some flower necklaces and straw skirts!

Thursday  10/17     a. Class Color Day

            2014:  Black

            2015: Blue

            2016: Green

            2017: Yellow

          

Friday  10/18           

            Scavenger Hunt concludes at 7:30 AM

            Class T-Shirt Day

            Pep Rally (1:00 PM, Day 6, period 2)

            Homecoming Football Game at 7:00 PM

Saturday  10/19      Homecoming Dance (7:00-10:00 PM)

If you are not on Twitter, but still want to see all the messages of appreciation and gratitude from East Greenwich High School students, educators and parents from 9/22/2013-10/06/2013 then please click the link below. The link will take you to the postings via Storify.com

http://storify.com/mpodraza/eghsmatters-messages-of-appreciation-9-23-to-10-6

COMMENDED EGHS STUDENTS IN THE 2014 NATIONAL MERIT® SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Press Release-

The principal, Michael Podraza, of East Greenwich High School, announced today that
Eleanor G. Bodell-Kudla, Julia E. Gowell, Christopher D. Luo and Michelle Xiong have been
named Commended Students in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program. A Letter of
Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which
conducts the program, will be presented by the principal to these scholastically talented seniors.
“These four students are an embodiment of the East Greenwich High School mission and
core values,” said Podraza. “They have achieved success measured against the highest academic
standards. The EGHS community is extremely proud of them and is honored to celebrate their
accomplishment.”
About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their
exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2014 competition for
National Merit Scholarships, Commended Students placed among the top five percent of more
than 1.5 million students who entered the 2014 competition by taking the 2012 Preliminary SAT/
National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMQT®).
“Recognizing academically talented students plays a fundamental role in the
advancement of educational excellence within our nation,” commented an NMSC spokesperson.
“The young people recognized as Commended Students represent some of the best and brightest
minds in the country. We sincerely hope this recognition will provide them with additional
educational outlets and motivate them in their pursuit of academic achievement.”

Killing Bullies With Kindness...

“How would your life be different if…You walked away from gossip and verbal defamation? Let today be the day…You speak only the good you know of other people and encourage others to do the same.” ― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

It's part of my nighttime routine.

Before I go to bed and when I wake up I check to see what has been posted to the @EGHSMatters Twitter account so that I can retweet those #EGHSMatters hashtags for the school community and the rest of the world to see the messages of kindness, support and appreciation sent from all of the great teachers, students and community members that we have in East Greenwich sharing their appreciation for our many and diverse talents in the classroom, on the stage, field and in the community.

In just over four weeks, @EGHSmatters has grown from zero to 242 followers. In addition, 475+ messages of kindness and appreciation have been exchanged already within our school community. And we are just scratching the surface.

As you walk the halls at EGHS and look at the faces of our school community, it is easy to discover through other people's eyes that there is something different going on this year. A growing culture of appreciation and kindness among the faculty and students. It's a different feeling in the building. Smiles are greatly increased. Adults and kids are more readily recognizing one another for their successes, contributions and kindness. We are finding that recognizing the things that make each individual special- knowing that building people up rather than making them feel weak makes us all stronger. Appreciating and empowering someone and believing in them can make a difference, change their attitudes, change their lives. And it is making a difference this year. Last night was the best example yet.

While looking over the #EGHSMessages, one in particular caught my eye:

• When a twitter that could have turned into cyber bullying was created, I think it's great that EG refused to participate

This, of course, required me to investigate further... that led me to another Tweet:

• so someone started a EGHS gossip page and it's gunna cause drama just like at rocky hill I blocked them

Then another:

• RIP EGHS gossip 10/1/13-10/1/13, while you only existed for 23 minutes, you will always be remembered as the worst idea in school history

Another:

• No ones taken time to point out that eghs gossip was using askfm the biggest cyber bullying social network in existence to base their tweets

Another:

• Literally what is/was EGHS Gossip I am not comprehending AT ALL

And more:

• I wonder what attention *seeker* was responsible for the terrible EGHS gossip
• now my whole feed went from "EGHS Gossip is stupid" to "RIP EGHS Gossip even though you only lasted 23 minutes"
• My whole feed is about eghs gossip�� you're all stupid
• this is just immature.. I'm out
• i think there should b a EGHS compliment twitter not a gossip twitter tbh 

In piecing together the story of the evening, as the first Tweet indicated, someone tried to create a hateful and hurtful gossip site and our kids summarily refused to participate. They outright rejected the notion. 

In fact, they shut it down completely in 23 minutes flat. 

I don't think that I have been prouder of our kids in the time that I have been here, and the teachers whom I have shared this with have expressed that same feeling.

Bullies need to operate in the shadows to succeed. They use fear, intimidation and social acceptance in order to continue their actions. When a light is shined on them, or even more importantly, when it is socially unacceptable to bully, it stops. 

10% of kids are bullied. 10% are bullies. 80% either accept and ignore it or they have the power to stop it. Last night, EGHS students stopped it. By themselves. Because it was the right thing to do.

There are lots of reasons why people bully, spread hate, fear or try to mistreat others. Jealousy, anger, frustration, attempts to move up in a social circle by trying to stand on top of others... every bully has a story, and we should spend as much time trying to understand them as we do trying to punish or rehabilitate them. Their actions reveal their weakness, not a strength. We need to consider treating them with kindness and understanding too, because that's what our culture is all about at East Greenwich High School.

EGHS does matter. And our kids just proved it once again.