Monday, March 23, 2009

MARCH INTENSIVE: MIND-BLOWING PHYSICS





In the March Intensive's Mind-Blowing Physics course, taught by Sally Hair and Dottie Cheever, students learned about topics in modern physics not typically included in high school classes, such as cosmology, particle physics, and relativity. Presentations were given by Sally Hair and visiting physicists from Dartmouth College. Students researched topics of particular interest -- black holes, quarks, and the life cycle of stars. The class recorded what they learned in a wiki (a special-purpose web site editable by any member of a group) and reported their findings to each other. You can read more about Mind-Blowing Physics and see what the students wrote in the class wiki by clicking here.

On the last day of the four-day class students traveled to the Bates Linear Accelerator in Middleton, Mass.

From top to bottom, the photos show HHS students and Prof. Tim Smith of Dartmouth with a section of the Linear Accelerator; a student presenting Einstein's formula to the class; Karen Dow, Associate Director of the Bates Lab, explaining the microwave generator; and the group in the Lab's electron-beam tunnel.

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Monday, March 16, 2009

ALUMNI NOTES: NEW BOOK FROM CHILDREN'S ILLUSTRATOR JASON CHIN, HANOVER HIGH CLASS OF 1997


Since Jason Chin graduated from HHS in 1997 he's made a career as an illustrator of children's books. Now his first book as an author has received a starred review in Publisher's Weekly. Brooklyn-based Jason will be visiting the Upper Valley in April to sign books at the Dartmouth Bookstore in Hanover and Long River Studios in Lyme.

In a review of "Redwoods" (Roaring Brook/Porter, for ages 4-8) Publisher's Weekly wrote: "... a clever exploration of coast redwoods. A boy finds a copy of 'Redwoods' on a subway station bench ... As he reads in a subway car that 'there are trees alive today that first sprouted during the Roman Empire,' he is flanked by two figures from that era. He emerges from the station to find himself in the middle of a redwood forest. The straightforward narrative is given enormous energy by the inventive format and realistic watercolor illustrations — their soft edges and muted hues suit the mist-shrouded giants. Chin adeptly captures the singular and spectacular nature of redwoods in this smartly layered book."

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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

HHS STUDENTS ACHIEVE "OUTSTANDING RESULT" IN NATIONAL GERMAN LANGUAGE TEST



Seventeen students in HHS's German-language program joined 23,000 students nationwide to take the annual exam sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of German. HHS German teacher Uwe Goodall-Heising writes:

Our 12 students on Level 3 have achieved an outstanding result: seven students placed among the top 15% of the country's German language learners, five of them among the top 10%. These were Marlou Taenzer, Lillian Daley, Jordan Hitchcock, Steven Lufkin, Mariclaire Joseph, Nicholas Bernold and Josef Kracik. Of five students in level 4, Marc Whittington placed among the top 15% in the country.

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Friday, March 6, 2009

THE SKIP BEAN AWARD: NICK SINNOTT-ARMSTRONG


HHS's Council sponsors the Skip Bean award for a person or group in the school or community who furthers the purposes and ideals of a democratic school. The award for Nick Sinnott-Armstrong reads:

"We nominate Nick for the Skip Bean Democratic Citizen Award. For three years Nick has been on the committee which arranges the special set of short courses known as March Intensive. He has spent countless hours working on its database and webpage. Nick has the wonderful ability to understand exactly how technology works, and he uses his talents to help technologically-challenged people. He is very generous with his abilities. Nick’s brilliance and kindness makes him a person you want on your team. Nick is an excellent citizen and encourages the democratic process by his thoughtful participation. He is one of our best!"

This award is named in honor of Linwood H. (Skip) Bean, Jr., Associate Principal of Hanover High School from 1970 to 1997. Mr. Bean was a “founding father” of The Council and an outspoken advocate for and supporter of democracy at HHS. Any member of the school community may nominate someone at any time by writing a short statement for Council approval. The award-winner receives a bag of beans -- jelly, coffee, etc. -- and the statements about the winners are posted on the bulletin board and kept in an album.
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Thursday, March 5, 2009

WHAT WOULD YOU PUT ON YOUR FAMILY CREST?




Art teacher Elizabeth Greene asked students to "make a silkscreen design you would give to your family at the holidays. Think of a T-shirt gift that symbolizes something that's important to your family, the kind of words or design that would be on a modern family crest or family shield." These are some of the results by, from left to right, top, Jake McLaughlin and Hannah Lyons; middle, Max Woods and Meredith Sawyer; bottom, Amy Jiang and Tor Hathaway.

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Monday, March 2, 2009

STAFF MEMBER OF THE MONTH: MR PRINCE


Matt Prince is February's staff member of the month. Mr. Prince is a relaxed and extremely approachable social studies teacher who has a passion for what he teaches as well as how it relates to society and current global events. He is a caring and understanding person who is very devoted to the school community. All of his students respect him and he respects everyone in turn. He is open to suggestions and takes the time to listen to all opinions; his fairness and consistency is always dependable. Along with all of these admirable characteristics, "MP" is very committed to the many organizations/clubs in which he regularly participates, including the March Intensive committee, the Model UN club, and Council. He makes class everyday enjoyable and it's a real pleasure to have him as a teacher. Congratulations, Mr. Prince!

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