Schools/Sports

Wildcats Co-Op Swim Team Thrives

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Entering its second year as a four-town Co-Op team, Wildcats Swimming is looking forward to a strong season under even stronger leadership. Suffield, Ellington, Windsor Locks and East Windsor are united under four young men in particular who push themselves and their teammates to come out on top with wins, broken records and the respect of other competitive teams. At the head of the Wildcats is Drew Martin-Ryan, one of Suffield’s own. Martin-Ryan, a Suffield High School junior and three-year member of Wildcats Swimming, was named 2018-2019 Captain at the end of his 2017-2018 sophomore season. He has demonstrated huge growth during his time on the team, both as an athlete and as a leader. Martin-Ryan has the respect of his teammates as well as his coaches, and everyone is proud to have him as the representative for Wildcats Swimming.

Schools/Sports

Superintendent Search

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The Suffield Board of Education has begun the search for a new superintendent. The Board has engaged the services of the New England School Development Council (NESDEC) to facilitate the search process. The process is expected to take approximately 120 days, with the intent of a new superintendent assuming the role on or before July 1. Dr. Elizabeth Osga, a retired Connecticut Public School Superintendent, is serving as the NESDEC Search Consultant. 

The search process will have three phases:

• The initial phase will include a call for candidates and the development of an ideal candidate profile. A link to this survey was sent to all stakeholders via our electronic communication system the morning of Tuesday, January 22.

Schools/Sports

Robotics Competition Begins

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The FIRST Robotics organization spread the word on Saturday, January 5, defining this year’s top-level game and distributing kits with certain key parts that the robots will need. Aces High, our local robotics team, went to work immediately. On January 6 the students and mentors of Team 176 gathered in the computer room next to the metal shop at Windsor Locks High School. They studied the nature of the new game, called Destination Deep Space, identifying the capabilities their robot must have. They discussed ways to provide those capabilities and considered possible game play strategies that might be advantageous.

Schools/Sports

SMS Talent Shown

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The Suffield Middle School talent show was called Shiver Me Timbers and featured a pirate motif, but the shivering on November 15, the planned show date, was mostly from the substantial snowstorm, and the show was postponed to November 18. There may have been a few unavailable performers, but the production was great nevertheless, and the supportive audience had good reason for the plentiful applause and lots of laughter. It was an enjoyable display of diverse talent, with over 40 students and four teachers contributing onstage and more helping backstage. Most of the performances were music and dance, solo and ensemble. Two solo dancers were particularly impressive.

Schools/Sports

ShopRite for Education

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Suffield High School is participating again this year in the ShopRite for Education Program, from October 2018 through April 26, 2019. When parents and supporters enroll their ShopRite PricePlus card to their school’s code, and shop at a participating ShopRite store, their school will earn points towards free equipment and supplies from the program catalog. Please go online to www.shopriteforeducation.com to sign up. SHS’s school code is 50196. Thank you for your support! 

Schools/Sports

Harvest Hustle Cold But Fun

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At Bruce Park on November 10, the Suffield Elementary School’s PTO held their third annual Harvest Hustle, whose events began encouragingly at 10 o’clock in increasing sunshine and concluded at noon in strong wind gusts following darkened skies and a cold, very windy sleet storm. Something like 150 kids participated, and of course there were lots of young parents, along with a bunch of high schoolers who helped set up equipment and put things away hastily in the final wind. There were two obstacle runs, one for five-and-unders and a second, with additional obstacles, for all ages. The challenges were set up with props provided by the Land Warrior CrossFit studio. As the weather deteriorated, many younger families left.

Schools/Sports

McAlister Launches Grab-n-Go Breakfast Program

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On Thursday, October 18, a check presentation was held at McAlister Intermediate School to recognize the awarding of $1,700 to the school by the New England Dairy & Food Council and the dairy farm families of Connecticut and New England. Over the summer, the school received the grant funding, which they used to purchase a mobile cart that now sits in the school’s main hallway to increase access to school breakfast. Since the Grab-n-Go program began on August 29, breakfast participation has almost doubled, with 50 more students eating a healthy breakfast each day compared to the previous year. McAlister Intermediate School’s Food Service Director Ben Gashi says this number continues to increase. “We had always offered breakfast in the school’s cafeteria, but due to bus schedules and the location of the cafeteria, many students did not make it in time to eat.” Gashi said.

Schools/Sports

Christmas Colors for Sale

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Three Agriscience students show samples of what they will sell during the school’s wreath and plant sale in the Large Animal Facility behind Suffield High School through Saturday, December 6. From the left: Joanna Beaudry of Enfield, Sam Petrucci of Suffield, and Alexa Adams of Windsor Locks. The Suffield Agriscience Center is a regional school serving the Greater Hartford area.

Schools/Sports

FFA Delegates Attend Agri-science Convention

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In November, 15 delegates from the Suffield High School’s FFA Chapter traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana for the 91st National FFA Convention and Expo. These students had the opportunity over five days to learn about different aspects of agriculture from varied booths and exhibits, as well as from other FFA members. There was at least one delegate from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The students had the opportunity to learn about ways that other states run their programs in order to bring back helpful strategies to SHS’s own FFA chapter. The students got the chance to visit booths designed to showcase college agriculture programs, and where students could get information about these colleges and what they offered.

Schools/Sports

SHS Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Week

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Once again, at Suffield High School the World Languages department has continued their fall tradition of celebrating the heritage of Spanish speakers in the United States and throughout the world. On Morning Update, the daily news show featured anchors who shared information about the selected Spanish-language music of the day, along with conversation and cultural perspectives in Spanish. Karissa Stanio, Kristen McCarthy, and Michael Grigoriou hosted the show or worked on preparing and writing scripts and visuals for the show. To help get the message out to our school, Shreedula Balakrishnan and Lindsey Kasperski from the World Language Honor Society, with assistance from the Art Club members, coordinated the cultural display focused on this year’s theme: “One Endless Voice to Enhance our Traditions.” Another member of the Society, Kyle Englander, organized a donation drive for the Brazos de Amor – a non-profit organization helping fight poverty in Latin America. The core event of Hispanic Heritage Week this year was a presentation and discussion given by Karissa Stanio and Paige Anderson, both juniors at Suffield High School.