Friday Notes: From the Plymouth Public Schools

Mathew Cappucci, an 8^th grade student from Plymouth South Middle School, and the son of Glen and Kathleen Cappucci, recently participated at a press conference at the State House by Governor Deval Patrick as part of the Governor's Project 351. The theme of Project 351 is to focus attention on community service and will be a featured component of the Governor's inauguration celebration where one 8^th grade student from each of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts will be invited to participate in service activities in Boston on January 8^th.

Matthew was honored as a youth ambassador because of his work on behalf of Alex's Lemonade Stand. Every Father's Day since 2006, Matt has served as volunteer, selling lemonade at the Shaw's Market in Cedarville. To date, Matt has raised over $12,000 in support of the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, which supports research for the cure of childhood cancer.

Matt was only one of two 8^th graders form the state to be invited to speak at the press conference this week. In addition to the Governor, the following celebrities were in attendance: Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, Kevin Faulk, Vince Wilfork and Patrick Chung, New England Patriots players, Steve Pagliuca, owner of the Boston Celtics and Cam Neeley, Executive of the Boston Bruins.

You can view a video clip of Matt at the press conference by clicking on the following website.

http://www.necn.com/pages/video?PID=SpmMJSLTtt_qSmecKwpPEIxXpVFO0uxJ

Congratulations to Matt and his family for this honor and his wonderful work on behalf of this important issue. We are proud of him and pleased that he is representing our school district with distinction.

Plymouth South Middle School News

HATS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Plymouth South Middle School recently held a "Hats for the Holidays" fundraiser. For a $1.00 donation students were allowed to wear their favorite hat in school for the day. The event occurred on the two early release days and a total of $357.00 was raised in support of local families. These funds will help to make the holidays a little happier for our local community. Thank you to all who participated.

HOLIDAY CONCERT

Under the direction of Mr. Tracy, Band Director, and Ms. Fearn, Choral Director, the grade 5-8 band and chorus performed their annual holiday concert this week in the cafeteria to a standing room only audience of parents, family members and friends. The concert featured the grade 5-8 band and chorus as well as performances by the jazz band, string ensemble and the "Floral Bouquet", which consisted of nine individuals representing the faculty. The performance was a success and we look forward to the Festival of the Arts performance on March 8^th.

PSMS UNIFIED ARTS CALENDARS

The PSMS Unified Arts calendars are now on sale. The calendar features photos of students performing, participating or displaying their artistic abilities, such as instrumental, vocal and visual and creative arts. Thanks to Mrs. Calhoun-Donelan and Mrs. Burns for their hard work in designing the layout. The cost of the calendars is $10.00 and proceeds will benefit the Unified Arts Department. Please stop in a buy yours while supplies last.

EGYPT COMES ALIVE AT PSMS

Grade 6 students form the classes of Mrs. Browne, Mrs. Brandt, Mrs. Borsari and Mrs. Adelmann presented their Egyptian projects this week. Parents, teachers and students were invited to view the projects in the IMC and the cafeteria. The students were quite knowledgeable as they educated their visitors about various aspects of Egyptian life, including the gods, pyramids, mummies and typical life.

Plymouth North High School News

The Plymouth North Boys Soccer team held a food drive for the Plymouth Food Warehouse. Senior Captains Brendan Duggan and Connor Hamilton organized this food drive at a pre-season cookout. Through the efforts of the team the boys were able to collect and donate 57 pounds of food or the rough equivalent of 43 meals. The boys' soccer team at Plymouth North should be very proud to have helped so many families provide healthy food for their children.

The holiday childrens fund collection of new toys and clothing is still accepting donations. Please see Mrs. Latosek in the library at PNHS to donate an unwrapped toy or gift. The absolute last day for donations is Monday, December 20th by noon.

The Plymouth North piano classes are preparing for a holiday recital, to be held during the school day on December 22nd for parents, teachers, and friends. Wish them luck!

*If you are interested in attending the recital, please contact Christina Friedmann at cfriedmann@plymouth.k12.ma.us.

Project Impact has been working on several exciting -- student generated -- ideas. They developed a vision statement, "To be an organization where adults and students work together to solve problems and to improve our school community." To support that vision they have begun working on adding plastic and glass to the recycling program at North. In addition, they continue to encourage students not to smoke or never to start. They also made beautiful Christmas ornaments to sell with the proceeds going to support a PN family's ability to have a special Christmas. They had a lot of fun making the ornaments after school, and they feel good knowing the money will bring smiles to a family's face at Christmas.

Congratulations to Plymouth North Athletics!

The New England Patriots Alumni Club (NEPAC) has awarded a $500 grant to Plymouth North High School. A lot of time and thought went into deciding who was going to receive the NEPAC grants, and after much deliberation the Patriots Alumni Club felt Plymouth North High School was one of the schools in New England that greatly deserved this award.

Congratulation Dan Gordon!

Dan has been chosen by the Boston Globe as All-Scholastic for Cross Country.

Congratulations to the all of the Chorus and Band members from North and South who performed in last evening's concert. You performed well, and should be proud of your musical accomplishments! Keep up the great work!

Federal Furnace News

Congratulations to the Federal Furnace Treble Chorus for a spectacular performance at the Plymouth Philharmonic's Holiday Pops this past weekend! The chorus performed under the direction of music teacher Mrs. Kathy McMinn as a part of the Pops program both Saturday, December 11^th and Sunday, December 12^th. The children received many accolades from the adult performers and from concert attendees; the phone rang off the hook on Monday with well wishers from the community who had attended. This Friday, December 17^th, the group is off to the Providence Bruins Game where they will perform America the Beautiful before the game.

picture courtesy of David Maccaferri
Presence In Photography
Plymouth, MA.

Educational Technology News

The District Technology Committee for Plymouth Public Schools is looking for volunteers from parents and the community to research and make recommendations to the school committee regarding the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Benchmark 4, Accessibility of Technology that states: By 2014-2015, the district has an average ratio of one high-capacity, Internet-connected computer for each student.

The committee will meet monthly from January through June. Additional meetings will be scheduled as necessary. The first meeting is scheduled for January 20, 2011 from 5:30 P.M. to 7:00 P.M at Plymouth Community Intermediate School in the Media Center. The remaining dates and times for the monthly meetings will be decided by the majority of the members. Committee members will also visit school districts that have implemented a one-to-one computer initiative. The outcome of these meetings will be a recommendation for the school committee regarding the state's benchmark for technology accessibility.

Please volunteer for this important committee to help determine the future of technology in our schools. Contact Ellen Driscoll, Coordinator of Educational Technology at edriscoll@plymouth.k12.ma.us or (508) 830-4486.

Plymouth South High School News:

Tuesday morning, December 14th, the Plymouth South High School Culinary Department had the opportunity to travel to the Plymouth Trial Court House to serve a full buffet breakfast to the entire court house staff. Together with the help of their culinary instructor Barry Levy, Tara Cappellucci, Bryan Whyte, Shannon Murphy, Emillee Rizzotto, Joseph Cimorelli, Zachary Wilson and Dan Griffin, all sophomores, put together the full skirted buffet breakfast, while also doing display cooking and making made-to-order omelets. The event was a huge success and was enjoyed by all.

On Friday, December 10th, the Cosmetology Department participated in the 4th Annual Avant Garde competition titled: BATTLE OF THE SENIORS. The senior class competed against Southeastern Regional Vocational School in South Easton, MA. For the second year in a row, the Plymouth South High School seniors had a clean sweep.

3rd place was Livia O'Rourke,
2nd place was Corinne Sperry
1st place was Nichole Manfredi (see photo)

This was a wonderful experience for the students and a great opportunity for the PSHS Cosmetology instructors to show off the outstanding work of their students. Congratulations to all!

Tracy Chevrolet has partnered with Plymouth South High School to award their "Driven Student Award". This award goes to students who consistently go above and beyond, both in their academics and behavior. They serve as role models to other students. The second "Driven Student Award" was awarded on Wednesday, December 15th with a pizza party to the following students:     Melanie Dorn, Adam McGarry, Jonathan Obin, Samantha Barrett, Hannah Shepherd, Kaila Millett, Jazz Hicks, Nick Trainor, Sydney Stimson, Abby Barufaldi, Patrick Walsh, Hillary Peavey, Santiago Narino, Tori Pisto, Maddie Braz, Marrissa Kessell, Melissa Connolly, Brenna McGinnis, Marissa Persichini, Billy Muldoon, Julia Daly, Kyle Richard, Allison Daley, and Maris Kanter.

The Student Council's most recent effort involved creating and delivering 40 turkey dinners to families in need over Thanksgiving and more are     going out for the Christmas holidays. While that gesture stands alone as being significant, it takes on added importance when you consider those         meals went to the families of fellow South students. Currently the students are working on a Backpack Bonanza project. Backpacks will be filled and then sent off to the troops at the VA.

Tracy Chevrolet Cadillac's Driven Student program recognizes Plymouth high school students for their performance and achievements in and out of the classroom. Awarded on a monthly basis, recipients are selected by faculty and advisors at the student's given school.

Gary E. Maestas, Ed.D Superintendent
Plymouth Public Schools

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