Friday, March 28, 2014

Students Representing EGHS at Capitol Forum

Good luck this Monday 3/31/2014 to the following students who are representing East Greenwich High School at this year's Capitol Forum at the Rhode Island State House.
  • Giulio Cataldo (nuclear)
  • Cameron Cianciolo (trade)
  • Dylan DePriest (trade)
  • Yash Dhuri (terrorism)
  • Nadia Halder (environment)
  • John Hare (immigration)
  • Benjamin Markstone (terrorism)
  • Grace Miner (immigration)
  • Ryan Wallace (environment)
  • Zane Yu (nuclear)
For more information of Capital Forum, please click here

Good luck Avengers!

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Two EGHS Students Qualify for AIME

From Mrs. Dulac and the Math Department:

Congratulations to Conor Xiong and Zane Yu, who qualified for the AIME (American Invitational Mathematics Exam) an accomplishment shared by less than 5% of high school students.

Well done gentlemen and good luck on the exam.

For more information about the AIME click here.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

"Social Responsibility and Social Networking" Presentation 7PM 3/26/2014

Wednesday Evening Presentation (3/26) 7pm at Cole

As social media continues to evolve and digital platforms become increasingly utilized for education, we are cognizant that students, parents, educators, and communities need to be prepared for this new and constantly evolving digital environment.  As much promise as social media and the internet hold for school communities, its potential can only be fully realized if we teach our children of both the perils and opportunities that exist.  It is with this in mind that members of the EGHS, Cole, Eldredge, and Hanaford PTGs, Citizens Who Care, and Mr. Robert Houghtaling present Dr. Larry Filippelli to discuss "Social Responsibility and Social Networking" on Wednesday evening 3/26 at 7pm in the Cole Auditorium. 

Monday, March 24, 2014

EGHS English Teacher Wins Rhode Island "My Favorite Teacher" Award

I am pleased to relay the following to the EGHS Community from Mrs. Katie Rendine, Community Relations Manager of Barnes & Noble Booksellers:

Barnes & Noble announced that Marc Brocato, an English teacher at East Greenwich High School has been named the local winner of the Barnes & Noble My Favorite Teacher Contest. Brocato was chosen from sixty-nine entries at the Warwick Barnes & Noble on 1350 Bald Hill Rd, Warwick. Student Andrew Miner, a senior at East Greenwich High School nominated Brocato.

Students were invited to nominate their favorite teacher by writing essays, poems, or thank-you letters that explain how their teacher has influenced their life and reveal why they appreciate and admire him or her. Entries were judged by a panel based on the compelling nature of the teacher’s qualities, the sincerity of the student’s appreciation, and the quality of expression and writing.  The My Favorite Teacher contest was originally developed by Barnes & Noble in Rhode Island and grew to become a national Barnes & Noble program. 

Marc Brocato will be recognized at a special event on Tuesday, April 29 at 6:30pm at the Warwick Barnes & Noble store where he will receive a special award acknowledging his achievement, and additional recognition and praise from the community. Andrew Miner, who wrote the winning essay, will receive a certificate of recognition and will be honored at the Warwick store during the ceremony for the winning teacher.  Second place winner, The Prout School teacher and counselor Mary Hoyt along with student Claire Conway and Third Place winner, Exeter-West Greenwich High School teacher Helen King and student Abigail Borges will be also be recognized during the ceremony.   The community is invited to attend the My Favorite Teacher ceremony to show their support for these teachers and students.

East Greenwich teacher Marc Brocato will now be entered into the regional competition where five winners will be chosen. Each regional winner will receive a $500 Barnes & Noble Gift Card. From the pool of five regional winners, Barnes & Noble will name one teacher as the Barnes & Noble National Teacher of the Year. The winning teacher will receive $5,000 and the title of Teacher of the Year. The winner will be recognized at a special community celebration at a local Barnes & Noble store. The winning teacher’s school will receive $5,000 as well.

Congratulations to Mr. Brocato and Andrew on this wonderful recognition.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Debate Team Overview, Accomplishments and Thank you


This year arguing and yelling could be heard ringing through the halls after-school but there was no need to call Mr. Chace. For the first time in recent memory, EGHS formed a Parliamentary Debate team. Students would practice after-school and during advisory to learn a completely new format of arguing and explaining a case. Most schools that complete at the RIFL (RI Forensics League) level have two levels of teams (novice and varsity) but, because this was EGHS’s first year, there were no seasoned veterans to help our new recruits. The teams that were sent to tournaments this year were quote impressive – finishing in the top third of various tournaments. “It’s a whole new experience,” said sophomore Zack Johnson. “At first I started competing because my English teacher was the advisor but, after a while, I became as excited for tournaments in Debate as I would be for a varsity sport,” said Yash Dhuri. Mr. Penza was impressed and awed by his team’s performance during the tournament season.

All of the team’s success was a prelude for the RI State Debate Tournament. Only teams that had placed in the top third of the previous tournaments were allowed to enter. The weeks leading to the RI States were full of last minute planning and case construction for the six teams that qualified to debate. At the end of the tournament East Greenwich High School placed five speakers and four teams. Out of fifty two teams competing Jeremey Bernard – Sasges and Giulio Cataldo: 15th overall, Cam Cianciolo and Alec Gannon:14th overall, Yash Dhuri and Zack Johnson 10th overall, and Katie Allen and Katie Hollingsworth 6th overall. Out of 105 speakers Zack Johnson 17th overall, Giulio Cataldo 14th overall, Yash Dhuri 11th overall, Alec Gannon 7th overall, and Katie Hollingsworth 6th overall.

Mr. Penza and the EG Debate team would like to thank all of the parents who volunteered to help the team with rides, judging, and hosting the end of the year celebration.  Even though the season is over the team is still holding practices Mondays after school – all are welcome. Any parent/teacher/alumni interested in being a judge next year should contact Mike Penza at mpenza@egsd.net.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Students Become the Teachers

Scott Anderson, Sam Feinberg, and Garrett Scanlon look on as Connor Ross explains his original idea for a Zelda magical object.

In Mrs. O'Rourke's Origins of Fantasy classes, students are taking over classroom instruction!

Recognizing that students are fantasy experts in their own right, Mrs. O. decided to turn over the teaching reins for one day during the seven-day rotation schedule. Students have been developing their own lesson plans related to a fantasy subject that include clear objectives, a sequence of instruction, and even assessments. One of the best parts: Mrs. O. gets to participate as a student!

So far, classes have learned about The Legend of Zelda and the Steampunk fantasy sub-genre. On the docket include topics such as: unicorns and their origins in Bible readings, Pokemon, Stephen King and the horror fantasy sub-genre, dragon mythology, Dungeons and Dragons, magical objects and their importance to the hero's journey, and many more.

Mrs. O'Rourke is looking forward to participating in all of the upcoming lessons - and is aspiring to be a star student!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

International Idol 2014


Congratulations to all of the students who participated in International Idol this year. Students choreographed, sang in different languages and danced to rhythms from other countries. Thank you to the world language teachers who worked hard to bring this performance to the stage.


The Foreign Language Department would like to thank the hosts Brett Estes, Emma Elias and Brad Strauss.
Thanks also to:
Mr. Petrucci and the Tech crew Margaret Hamann, Sarah Baker, Alan Mason, Nadia Halder, Rachel Latham, Ali DeCesare,
Mrs. Champagne and Katie Allen for the program, 
Judges Mary Ellen Flanagan, Officer Steve Branch, John George, JoAnn Hanrahan, Danielle Campbell,
Alexan Topalian for filming the performance.


The department decided to donate money raised from International Idol this year to refugee children from Syria through UNICEF. Thanks to your support we donated $2400.

The war in Syria is currently the largest humanitarian crisis. 9.3 million people in Syria are in need of humanitarian assistance and more than 2 million have fled to the neighboring countries. Syria's children are paying the heaviest toll in this conflict. With our donation, children can be given vaccination for measles, rubella, and polio and children's access to schools and safe learning spaces can be enhanced since the UN estimates that at least 3 million children have dropped out of school since the onset of the crisis. Our donation will also support counseling for children who have witnessed violence firsthand. Thank you for your contribution.    (Submitted by Romina Garakani)




EGHS Talent Show Thursday & Friday at 7pm

East Greenwich High School proudly presents our Annual Talent Show. The shows will be held on Thursday, March 13th and Friday, March 14th, at 7pm in the auditorium.  

Tickets are $10.00; a combo ticket for both nights can be purchased for $15.00.  Tickets can be purchased in advance during school and at the door.  See Mr. Petrucci for ticket information. 

Come celebrate the talents of over 60 EGHS students in this outstanding community event. 

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Highlights of This Year's Academic Decathlon

From Mr. Frank Lenox-

Congratulations to the EGHS Academic Decathlon Team who competed in the State competition this past Sunday. The team took 1st place in the SuperQuiz event; and they earned second place overall, topped by Bishop Hendricken.

Mr. Revkin and I would also like to recognize our departing seniors - Gauri Ganesh, Chris Luo, Will Karabots - and our Gold Medal seniors - Heather Shen, Ali Marcus, and Jane Chung - who will be recognized for their accomplishments at a State House ceremony with the Governor this May.


The team and respective awards:
Honors:
  • Chris Luo - Science Bronze
  • Heather Shen - Science Bronze; Art Bronze; Speech Gold; LangLit Bronze; Essay Gold; Interview Silver
  • Ming Yi Wu - Science Silver
Scholastic:
  • Jane Chung - Music Silver; Art Bronze; Econ Gold; LangLit Gold; SocSci Bronze
  • Ali Marcus - Science Gold; Econ Silver
  • Zoe Hinman - Science Bronze; Speech Silver; Essay Silver; Interview Silver
Varsity:
  • Evan Carpenter
  • Shevy Karbasi - Science Bronze
  • Cam Waitkun - Econ Bronze
Finally, we are looking forward to next year with our returning members: Caroline Blessing, Thedita Pedersen, Angela He, Kathy Luo, Danny DePetro, and Alex Marques.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Time for SY 14-15 Course Selection

Dear EGHS Community;

Last Wednesday all Freshmen, Sophomore and Junior students received course selection sheets and a copy of the 2014-15 Program of Study (POS).  We have created a screencast (found here) in order to highlight an important change to the SY 14-15 POS, as well as help direct members of the EGHS community to course selection resources that can be found on the EGSD.net website.

Over the next few days we would ask that you look for your child's course selection sheet, which needs to be signed by you and turned in to the high school by Thursday 3/6. If you have specific questions about a course recommendation, please do not hesitate to contact your child's current teacher or the department head.  

If you have questions about your child's overall program, please contact the EGHS guidance department, however please note that you do not have to meet with a counselor prior to Thursday, as adjustments can be made at a later date after conferring with the counselor.

I thank you in advance for your help with the scheduling process for SY 14-15.

Sincerely,
Michael Podraza