News from Mohawk
February 3, 2013
We invite you to attend Mohawk’s Spring Open House!
Our high school building will be humming with activity on Thursday, February 7, for our Spring Semester Open House. Please join us! Open House is an opportunity for parents to meet our high school teachers and learn more about programs at our school.
We will begin the evening with a Community Conversation from 5:30-6:30 in the Superintendent’s Conference Room by the cafeteria. Assistant Principal Joey Kotright-Clark and Principal Lynn Dole invite you to join us for an informal dialogue about our school. Our themes will be school culture and bullying prevention. Director of Pupil Personnel Services Pat Bell will be with us as well, and she will share information about inclusion practices in our schools and the Parent Advisory Council. A light meal will be served; this is an informal setting so if you join the group at any time you can pull up a chair and join the circle.
The Ninth Grade Team invites families to gather for a potluck dinner in the cafeteria at 5:45. Bring a dish to share and join families of other ninth grade students to meet your student’s teachers and learn more about our ninth grade community. Please bring a dish to share, your own plates (or paper plates) and utensils, and a serving spoon to serve your dish. We’ll provide the ice cream! The teachers will also be in their classrooms for blocks 2, 3, and 4 later in the evening.
At 6:45 Principal Lynn Dole will extend a formal welcome in the auditorium.
This brief introduction highlights programs here at Mohawk. Learn more about our upcoming performance of the Hobbit and other events at our school.
Beginning at 6:15 you can pick up a copy of your student’s schedule in the front office. Following the welcome in the auditorium, we encourage you to visit the classrooms of your high school student’s teachers for spring semester courses.
7:00-7:15 Block 1
7:20-7:35 Block 2
7:40-7:55 Block 3
8:00-8:15 Block 4
And please visit our Science Fair projects on display in the Mohawk Resource Center.
1. Upcoming Events
2. Athletic News
3. Drama News
4. Middle School News
5. High School News
6. A Round-Up of News from our Related Arts Programs
7. The Library is now open afterschool
8. Annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey
9. Yearbook is seeking spring 2012 sports photos
1. Upcoming Events
Monday, February 4
Biology MCAS testing. Students who took the Pre-AP Biology course in the fall will be taking this MCAS test, as well as a few students who have not previously passed a High School Science and Technology MCAS assessment.
Mohawk Athletic Association meeting at 6:30 pm in room 171.
Tuesday, February 5
Biology MCAS testing.
Food Drive to Benefit the Hilltown Food Pantry. See details under #2 Athletic News.
Wednesday, February 6 EARLY RELEASE DAY
This is an early release day for faculty professional development.
Students in grades 8, 10, and 12 will be participating in the Annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the Partnership for Youth and Communities that Care Coalition in Franklin County. (For additional information about this annual health survey, please refer to #8. )
Our high school schedule on this release day will be:
B. 4 7:44 – 8:29 (45) MS Period 7
B. 3 8:34 – 9:19 (45)
B. 2 9:24 – 10:09 (45)
B. 1 10:14 – 10:59 (45)
HS Lunch 11:00 – 11:30
MS Lunch 7th grade 10:25-10:50 and 8th grade 10:30-10:55
Thursday, February 7 HIGH SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE
We hope that you will join us. The schedule for the evening is outlined in my opening comments at the top of this newsletter.
Friday, February 8
Monday, February 11
Mohawk School Council meets at 5:00 pm in the Principal’s Conference Room. The School Council is an advisory body composed of faculty, students, parents, and community members. This is a public meeting and all are welcome.
Meeting regarding football helmets at 6:30 pm in room 171. (See #2 for details.)
Tuesday, February 12
Mohawk Music Association meeting at 5:00 in the library.
Wednesday, February 13
Mohawk School Committee meets at 7:00 pm in the Superintendent’s Conference Room.
Friday, February 15
Sophomore Class Cookie Hop and Movie Night, beginning at 6:00 pm.
Monday- Friday, February 18-22
School Vacation Week
2. Athletic News
On Tuesday, February 5, the Mohawk Trail Regional Boys Basketball program is sponsoring a food drive as they take on the Red Hawks of Frontier Regional. The Hilltown Churches Food Pantry is the beneficiary of the drive. It is an all-volunteer organization serving all towns in the school district, meaning all donations will stay local. The price of admission for students is 2 nonperishable food items. Adults with 2 cans or boxes of food will be admitted at the regular student price. The community is invited to cheer on the Warriors while supporting our neighbors in need.
Athletic Director Fred Redeker notes that Spring Sports start on Monday, March 18.
Anyone interested in participating in a spring sport should check with Mr. Redeker about their physical status and making sure they have a contract on file.
The meeting regarding football helmets that was originally scheduled for January 28 has been rescheduled to Monday, February 11 at 6:30 pm in room 171. Representatives from Riddell and Stadium Systems will be at Mohawk to present their helmets and answer any questions you may have. Parent Lynette Von Haugg explains that this meeting will help us to determine which helmets to purchase and approximately how much money we will need to raise to purchase them. All players and parents are encouraged to attend. We cannot do this without your help and support!
3. Drama News
Greetings Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, Goblins, Dragons, Trolls, and Fellow Conspirators!
With just a little more than a month to go until the performances, our world is starting to take shape and the auditorium is looking beautiful. Over the weekend, Polly, Sarah and our incredibly amazing tech crew finished the murals. Come by the theatre and check ‘em out! NOTE: If the doors to the auditorium are locked, it's probably because the aerial fabrics are down, which, for safety reasons, can't be left unsupervised or that no one is teaching in there that period. It's not because the space is off limits until the shows. What's more, our rehearsals are always open. Feel free to stop in and see what we're up to if you have a minute before your winter sport practice or take a seat and spend the afternoon with us if you'd like. Put another way, all students, parents, faculty, administrators, coaches, and drama tourists welcome!
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
"Theatre company wants actors, painters, set builders, and costume sewers, plenty of excitement and reasonable reward.”
There are still plenty of ways for students and others to jump in and join in the fun, including:
--Participating in our big battle scene at the end ("The battle of Five Armies"). No acting experience required, just a willingness to train with the company (2 - 3 rehearsals) and a stomach for blood and carnage. We've scheduled some practices during weekends and evening times so athletes involved in winter sports can participate too!
--Painting the set (the tasks remaining do not require a great deal of art experience)
--Light set building and construction
--Costume sewing
Moms, dads, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, and neighbors are welcome to help, especially with the last item. If interested email or leave word for Jonathan in the main office: .
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Since I wrote last, we've had a steady stream of visiting artists and collaborators on the set. Pan Morigan returned to work with our Rivendale Elves, Sam Harris-Fried Lexxey Boron-Smith and Kala Kurland-Davis, on their vocals and teach them an original song she composed for the show! Serious Play! Theatre Ensemble and Kate Hennessey were back in the house to help the Elven Nation and Mr. Halligan choreograph their stomp number and silk trainer Maeve Gallaghar literally helped the scene gain altitude by putting some of our wood elves up on the aerial fabrics. Our friends at Double Edge Theatre are busy touring their new show, The Grand Parade, to sold-out audiences in Baltimore, Chicago, and the prestigious Arena Theater in Washington DC. But that didn't stop core ensemble member Hannah Jarrell from sneaking back into the school to work with our Rivendale Elves, Gollum (Ashley Robertson) and Bilbo (Zach Arfa) on their movement. Click here for photos:
http://classes.mohawkschools.org/index.php?topic=14188.0
English and journalism teacher Leanne Blaszak has begun working individually with some of our actors on their projection and character development and Mr. Conlon, John Hollister (Gandalf), and Steve Gaulin have started mapping out our lighting design. Puppet Whisperer Larry Sampson and ninth grader Cassie Kudlay worked all day Saturday on our Troll puppets. (Larry and Cassie had a big assist from Erin Townsley and Hannah Monohon.) Click on the link below for pics:
http://classes.mohawkschools.org/index.php?topic=14187.0)
Meanwhile, set designer Laura Iveson took up residence in the theatre helping Polly with the murals and designing and painting props with the help of seventh graders Mary Monohon, Corrine Freeman and Krystal Finn. A huge Shire embrace for Corrine's dad, Mike Freeman, who built and installed our rear stage! As mentioned, Polly Anderson and Sarah Townsley finished the murals this weekend--a big middle earth shout out to Calin Duncan, Paige Slovenwhite, Alex Harrington, Asia Whitaker, and Maddie Boucias for their help with the final push. Finally, when Thorin (Robbie Buoniconti) isn't leading our dwarves into battle he is busy DJ-ing their dances. It's heartwarming to witness the relationships that are developing between the middle schoolers and our cast members in the upper grades.
FEEDING MIDDLE EARTH
Many drama parents have asked how they can help feed our hordes of goblins, orcs, elves, dwarves, men, women, and dragons. A well-fed cast is a happy and fine tuned one, so we always break to eat something healthy (or not) at every rehearsal. Sending in snacks for rehearsals and workshops (or oversized packages we can store) would be terrific!
CHOCOLATE BAR FUNDRAISER
Speaking of food, did you know chocolate is one of the four major food groups? We will be launching our candy bar fundraiser next week with the help of Mo's Fudge Factor--"WIZARD WHITE," "DRAGON DARK," and "SHIRE MILK". Bars will be on sale at Mocha Mayas, Mo's and other area retailers. Check out the Drama Class Pages for details. Here is a link that will take you directly to that site: http://classes.mohawkschools.org/index.php?board=524.0
ATTENTION ALL CAST MEMBERS, THEIR FAMILIES AND THE FAN BASE
Finally, company members and families, PLEASE continue to check the class pages daily for important updates on rehearsals. This is also a great way for volunteers to find out how they can plug in and for information on ticket sales, etc.
Thank you for continuing to gift us your children...
With gratitude and appreciation,
Jonathan Diamond
On behalf of the Mohawk Drama Team
Scott Halligan (music director), Julia White (actor training), Leanne Blaszak (actor training), Bill Drake (set construction), Gina Glover (middle school music direction), Rachel Silverman (set design), Polly Anderson (set design), Laura Iveson (set design), Sara Townsley (set design), Sean Conlon (lighting design), Carin Burnes and Jessica Robinson (costume design), Barbara Harris(makeup), Lorena Loubsky (photography), Mike Freeman (set construction), Jim Markham (prop design), Kelly Flaherty (henna and makeup), Maryellen Abbatiello (hair stylist), and guest artists Hannah Jarrell (movement and actor training) Pan Morigan (voice coach), Kate Hennessy (drumming) Mike Pray and Matt(Serious Play! Theatre Ensemble, combat training with poles), Cynthia McLaughlin (choreography)
TICKET SALES
Tickets for Mohawk's spring production of The Hobbit will go on sale this week at our Open House on Thursday, February 7th. They will also be available for purchase online, at the main office and area retailers including Mocha Mayas, Mo's Fudge Factor, and Elmers Store. Performances are March 8, 9 and 10. Check the Drama Program Class Pages for details.
4. Middle School News
News from the 7th grade
The seventh grade took part in the 2013 UMASS Basketball Field Trip Day on Wednesday, January 31st, where the college women competed against LaSalle. In addition to the basketball, there were many fun events for the audience. Several Mohawk students made posters to support the team. Mohawk seventh grader, Andrew Hicks, won the poster contest hands down with the loudest applause response from the hundreds of students who were in attendance. Statistics from the game were taken and analyzed in Ms. Lydiard's PBL class. It was a fun and exciting day, which will hopefully become an annual event.
Report cards were distributed on Friday, February 1. We're proud of the many students who improved in their quarter grades. Friday night capped off with a middle school dance organized by class representatives Lilly Wells, Haley Rode, Mary Monohan, Dominic Rachmaciej, and Ben Warger. Both eight and seventh graders enjoyed dancing to the music provided by high school students, Drew Powell and Robbie Buoniconti.
The seventh grade is still collecting donations for their raffle calendar. Please let us know as soon as possible if you have something to donate. We want to plan out the calendar and sell them over February vacation. Thank you to the many who have already donated. The proceeds from this fundraiser will be used to finance a 7th grade spring trip to Boston.
It was a pleasure to see so many families of 7th graders at the Potluck Meal on Thursday, January 24. Thank you for joining us.
News from the 8th grade
Math: Pre-algebra classes have been finishing work on the Pythagorean theory and the algebra classes are finishing a unit on slope and function.
Social Studies: Students are completing their medieval manor projects (you'll be able to see these on our exposition night in March -- more information on this to come). Next week, we'll be heading into the Renaissance.
PBL: Students have been working on measurement and geometry topics.
Science: We have been studying forces (such as gravity) and Newton's Laws -- and the consequences of breaking these laws!