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MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Winter Concert:
Thursday,
Dec. 22,
7:00 p.m.
School Closed for Winter Break:
Monday, Dec. 26 - Monday, Jan. 2 Health Fair: Thursday, Jan. 5 Multicultural Show Auditions: Thursday, Jan. 5 Honors Convocation: Wednesday, Jan. 11, 8:00 a.m. HSA Meeting Wednesday, Jan. 11, 7:00 p.m. School Closed, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Monday, Jan. 16
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HELP WANTED
Newsletter staffers:
Interested in working
on the newsletter? Contact
Dave Kalkstein
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Bring Your Photo ID
Just a reminder:
When you come to visit Central High School, you must have a photo ID.
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| Telephone - Main Office 215-276-5262 |
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Welcome!
Here we are near the end of the year, in the midst of the holiday season, and a lot is going on. Here are just a few items to note:
Tonight, Thursday, Dec. 22, is the Winter Concert with performances by the Orchestra, String Orchestra, Choir and Jazz Band. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors citizens. The concert is in the newly renovated auditorium at 7:00 p.m.
Phillies training staff members and trainers from NovaCare recently came to spend a gym period with Mr. Weiss' and Mr. McCray's physical education class. They put the students through a round of fitness activities, spoke about nutrition, and everyone had a great experience. Students received free Phillies water bottles, wristbands and awards.
Kudos to the Wrestling Team who garnered eight individual medals at a recent Chestnut Hill Academy tournament and to Close Up Team members Nicole Dieter and Julia Yanoff, 271, and Michael Palamountain, 272, who head to Washington D.C. to represent Central this spring. Close Up is an organization that offers programs geared toward high school students that are focused on giving them the most educational, inspirational and memorable experience in Washington, D.C.
This just in, effective immediately, CHS is going paperless. All information will now be delivered online or via voicemail.
Now to our stories, and don't forget to write us - we know you have news.
Enjoy the holidays - we'll see you next year!
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Running Keeps Her on Her Toes
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Nona
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When Nona Sharp, 273, ran the Philadelphia Marathon last month, she was well-prepared for the 26.2-mile trek. With three years of training under her belt, Nona "just wanted to finish" her first full marathon. "Running has helped keep me focused, helped me to prioritize what I need to do and helped me to get better grades," she said. She started training to run long distances back in middle school when she joined Students Run Philly Style, a non-profit organization that pairs adult mentor runners with students interested in running. Fellow Central student, Gabriel Preston, 274, joins Nona in training with Students Run Philly Style, where the two run a short distance twice a week after school (short being "only" six or seven miles!) and then a longer distance every Saturday morning.
Nona, who plays French horn in the Central Orchestra, draws inspiration from Central music teacher Ben Blazer, a marathon runner with whom Nona discusses race strategy. Mr. Blazer, who wants to encourage students to join Students Run Philly Style, sees parallels between music and running. "Both take a lot of self-discipline and months of training for that final performance," he said. Nona, who ran three half-marathons prior to the Philadelphia Marathon, looks forward to the challenge of running more full marathons and hopes to improve her time in her next race. Good luck Nona!
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Central's Galeet Cohen on Teaching Channel
Science teacher Galeet Cohen, 256, had never heard of the Teaching Channel before last spring. But the nonprofit "video showcase for teaching" had heard of her, sending a five-person crew all the way to the fourth floor to capture her in the classroom with her AP Environmental Science students. They made the most of their effort, featuring Cohen in both a 27-minute segment and a "Teacher Minute" short about humor in the classroom.
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Ms. Cohen and Abel Rodriguez, 270
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"It was crazy," Cohen said cheerfully of the shoot that chronicled a lab on water pollution. "They had a little mic taped to my leg. The entire back section [of the room] was cleared away, and I had to stay up here. It felt really weird not to be able to wander around." Limited mobility didn't dampen her easygoing rapport with the students (see: Axe joke at 22:32 minutes). But she wouldn't want beginning teachers to get the idea that it's an easy thing to pull off: "It's not realistic. It shows a relationship that's the result of the whole year."
Ms. Cohen, who is a six-year teaching veteran and former water ecologist, has been steadily building a reputation as an outstanding teacher and recently won the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award. She thinks the Teaching Channel is "a great idea" for sharing teaching approaches that work. Videos can be viewed on the Teaching Channel website, Facebook, YouTube and on PBS channels nationwide.
The Teaching Channel also has an interesting 19-minute analysis of Ms. Cohen's performance.
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Robotics Team in Full Gear
Central's robotics team, the Robolancers, is set to participate in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics competition, with qualifying and regional competitions scheduled in January. Each tournament features alliances of two robotics teams competing side by side. Partners, through their robots, will compete to score the most points by completing various tasks, including scoring racquetballs into stackable crates and moving bowling balls to different places on a field, as well as up a ramp at the end of a match. "This is the first year the Robolancers are participating in the FTC competition, but we are by no means rookies," said Anthony Garibaldi, 271, team vice president. "We are confident that our experience gained through participation in other competitions will make us true contenders with those teams which have competed in FTC in the past."
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Carlton Taylor, 271, Eric Lam, 271, and Kamal Gatewood, 273, along with the Robolancers' Team 5320 robot |
Harnessing the enthusiasm of the team is quite a challenge for Coach Daniel Ueda, who regularly has about 45 students participating. Having the robotics lab, recently renovated by Joan and Bernard Spain, 198, which contains most of the tools needed for building robots, is a tremendous plus. "I was hoping our success last year would lead to greater participation in our club, but I never realized that would mean there would actually be more students in our club," he said. "The Robolancers have become an animal that one teacher can only barely manage; at any moment they could unleash deadly robots on an unaware population. I so desperately need other adults to get involved and help direct their powerful skills."
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Central Gets "Leadership School" Status
Central High School has been selected as an official Jefferson Awards Leadership School. Central is honored to be one of only 350 'Leadership Schools' across the country and will serve as a role model for other schools to emulate. In 1972, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Senator Robert Taft Jr. and Sam Beard started the Jefferson Awards "to create a Nobel Prize for public service" in America. Its educational arm, Students in Action, engages high school students in a leadership-development curriculum and recognizes outstanding service and achievement. Central's Leadership Team attended a Jefferson Awards Leadership Conference in October along with Mayor Michael Nutter.
Students can nominate themselves or others for a Jefferson Award through Students in Action. Nomination forms are in the library or on the "Community Service" page of Central's website. Loretta Burton, Central librarian and community service coordinator, welcomes questions about the program.
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Jefferson Awards Leadership Conference
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Help Wanted
Newsletter staffers: Interested in working on the newsletter? Contact Dave Kalkstein. |
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Thank You
Thanks to our volunteer reporters Nancy Winter, Kathie Conrad and Mary Sweeten, as well as to Johnette Miller and Tamar Magdovitz for editing. Also thanks to Central's Librarian Loretta Burton and Varsity Baseball Coach Richard Weiss for leads on great events at the school. And as always, thanks to Dr. Pavel, Lori DeFields and the staff at Central for their support.
Special appreciation to our founding editor, Jane Von Bergen, who, we are advised, will continue to write fine stories for us.
This newsletter is a volunteer effort of the Home & School Association. If you have news, send it!!
Very best regards for the season!
Dave Kalkstein and Dan Cason, Co-Editors
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