POETRY CONTEST: BONJOUR,HOLA, SALVETE, GUTEN MORGEN

Laraine Waters, chair of the HHS Foreign Language Department, writes: World language students from eight area high schools competed in the annual Poetry Recitation Contest at Hanover High School. Hanover High has hosted this event for thirty-five years, as closely as we can count. Students of French, Spanish, Latin and German recited poetry before panels of judges who were all native speakers or teachers of the language.

Eighty students attended from this year’s participating schools: Woodstock Union High School, Kearsarge High School, Kimball Union Academy, Lebanon High School, Mascoma High School, Rivendell Academy, Sharon Academy, Windsor High School. Another forty students from Hanover High took part.

Afterwards teachers from other schools made these comments. From Woodstock: "Congratulations to all of you again for your hard work in putting together another meaningful poetry contest for all of our language students. Our students all felt that their experience was very positive this year." From Lebanon: "The students definitely enjoyed themselves. It always makes me happy to see students having a good time with foreign languages!" From Kearsarge: "Thanks for the opportunity. I think it was really great for my students to do it."

Students were encouraged to listen to other recitations and applaud one another’s efforts, and to relax together over bagels and juice. World language teachers from the various schools also had a chance to re-acquaint or meet for the first time. Click "read more" for the list of winners.

2008 FOREIGN-LANGUAGE POETRY CONTEST WINNERS

French Beginners:
1st - Andrew Stimson/Rivendell
2nd - Christina Moreland/Rivendell
3rd - Deborah Hill/Kearsarge

French Intermediate:
1st - Catherine Chevers /KUA
2nd - Clara Gray/Woodstock
3rd - Amjad Maher Elmashala/Mascoma

Fr ench Advanced:
1st - Courtney Conner/Kearsarge
2nd - Anne Cravero/Hanover
3rd - Janine Bonnekoh/Mascoma

Latin Beginners:
1st - Linnea Harrold/Kearsarge
2nd - Gregory Brunette/Kearsarge
3nd - Clio Doyle/Hanover

Latin Intermediate:
1st - Diksha Gautham/Hanover
2nd - Charles Henahan/Lebanon
3rd- Isaac Dayno/KUA

Latin Advanced:
1st - Chris Jayne/Hanover
2nd - Skyler Patton/Hanover
3rd - Emily McGee/Kearsarge

Spanish Beginners:
1st - Rebecca Schwarz/HHS
2nd - Hannah Gorman/HHS
3rd - Molly Pierson/Rivendell

Spanish Intermediate:
1st - Philip Tosteson/HHS
2nd - Nicholas Bernold/HHS
3rd - Melanie Emerson/Rivendell

Spanish Advanced:
1st - Keegan Dufty/HHS
2nd - Erik Jurado /HHS
3rd - Alison Taylor/Lebanon

German (only Hanover High competed)
Beginners:
1st - Eva Sachsse
2nd - Rosalie Lipfert
2nd - Miriam Whittington

German Int: (all Hanover High)
1st - Nicholas Bernold
2nd - Jordan Hitchcock
3rd -Mariclaire Joseph

German Adv: (all Hanover High)
1st - Miranda Wozmak
2nd - Mark Whittington
3rd - Michael Tecca

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SENIOR JEFF COLT IS STUDENT OF THE MONTH

Jeff Colt from Hanover, NH is December's Student of the Month. Jeff is an upbeat, positive presence in our building. He is a driving force in the Environmental Club, an organizer of “Trash on the Lawn” day, and serves as Public Relations chair of Council. He plays spring track, skis in three winter events and runs cross country in the fall. Jeff's strong friendships with a great number of students, and solid relationships with staff and administrators, make him a genuine friend to all.

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HOLIDAY BASKET HELPERS

Students and staff bought holiday gifts for 44 Upper Valley children through New Hampshire Partners in Health, a statewide charitable organization. Thirty-four Common Ground groups (home rooms) volunteered to buy the gifts requested by the families of children with chronic illnesses such as cancer, spina bifida or muscular dystrophy. Seven additional staff members each sponsored a child's gifts directly, and three home-schooling families who wanted to join the effort picked up and delivered all the presents gathered at HHS. Each child received three necessary clothing items and three other gifts.

In addition to the Holiday Baskets, New Hampshire Partners in Health gives year-round help to families in negotiating the medical system, meeting their special needs during a child's hospitalization, planning for school and problem-solving around financial concerns. NH Partners in Health's web site (www.nhpih.dartmouth.edu) says: "Our community-based programs address the needs of families of children with chronic health conditions in New Hampshire. We work with schools, medical providers, churches, social services, and other community institutions."

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SENIOR MAKES GOOD USE OF SNOW DAY

Senior Heidi Robbins devoted the three-day snow-day weekend to her research project in the Art Department's Sculpture course -- a gingerbread castle. "It was made very straightforwardly," she said. "No models, no molds. I just did what looked best."

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PHYSICS TEAMS TAKE FIRSTS AT UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT TECHNOLOGY COMPETITION

Students from HHS's Chemistry and Physics Problem Solving class won four out of the nine first-place awards given in the University of Vermont's annual Technology and Science Competition on December 6-7th. The challenge, known as Aero-Golf this year, read: "Teams must design and build a 'puttbot' (remote-controlled wind-driven vehicle) capable of transporting weighted golf balls from one point to another over a specified course within a prescribed amount of time, using only wind power. Wind from 20-inch box fans in fixed positions around each course will provide the sole source of power for locomotion."

The HHS students, who prepared for the contest in class and on weekends, won the Uphill Competition, the Marketing Award, the Design Notebook Award ("for keeping continuous careful records, as real-world industrial designers must do") and the Performance Award. They won a total of $1,500 for school programs donated by sponsors such as IBM, General Dynamics, Goodrich and Fairpoint Communications.

Students on this year's team were Andrew Powell, Bob Collier, Devin Kehler, Jason Barry, Justin Yang, Kevin Dade, Max Hogue, Michael Balch, Michael Tecca, Peter McNally, Ryan Collins and Steve Dacey, led by chemistry teacher Kevin Lavigne. Other schools in the competition were Sharon Academy, River Valley Technical Center, Rice Memorial High, Champlain Valley Union High, Missisquoi Valley Union High, Mount Abraham High and a home-schooled team from South Hero, VT.

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PAINT A TRUCK (THANK YOU, TOYOTA)

Five HHS students spent a Saturday afternoon with paint and brushes to create an artwork on this theme: "What do you do when the proper moral response to a problem goes against conventional wisdom?" The challenge, echoing the theme of the musical Les Mis, was set by the general manager of White River Toyota, Pete Stoddard, as part of the company's sponsorship of Les Mis at Briggs Opera House.

"You will answer," the challenge continued, "by creating your art installation on a very non-traditional canvas: a Toyota Tacoma truck. We will provide paint and brushes and the entire space of our garage. You will have six hours to finish your artistry before you present it to a panel of judges."

The HHS students painted their truck money-green with dollar signs on the fenders, George Washington's face on the hood and a binding of wire around the body. The binding was pierced by hearts and hands pointing outward and upward, symbolizing, as HHS senior Aviva Gottesman said, "Trying to liberate ourselves from the bondage of money."

Seniors Gottesman, Claire Brown, Mia Alvarenga, Maria Wallace and junior Scott Welch, along with art teacher Peter Lange, joined students from Woodstock, Hartford and Mascoma to work on four different trucks. At the end of the afternoon all contestants won tickets to Les Mis. The trucks, which Toyota had recalled for defects, are displayed in front of the dealership.

Photos: Peter Lange. To see a gallery of 72 photos by parent Laurie Welch, click here.

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PALMS AND CREW AND A PHOENIX, IN THE STYLE OF THE KUNA PEOPLE OF PANAMA

Senora Prendergast's Spanish classes met the art of the Kuna people at the Hood Museum, then made their own Kuna-style designs. Senora Prendergast writes: The Kunas are a native Panamanian people who are allowed to maintain their own culture and administer their own territory on the country's Caribbean coast. Kuna women's blouses are textile artworks made with layers of appliques and reverse appliques in a colorful and playful style, and are now collected by museums around the world. HHS students took the Kuna blouses as models for their own paper Kuna-style designs. Students were given the choice of subjects from their own daily lives or from traditional Kuna themes. From left to right: John Chobanian, Sean Gemunden, Jeff Colt, Katie Currier and Gioia Cabri.

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