SPOTLIGHT

“Education is a shared

commitment between

dedicated teachers,

motivated students and

enthusiastic parents with

high expectations.”

- Bob Beauprez

In This Issue

Spotlight on Community Service

Spotlight on the Student Experience Spotlight on Faculty

Spotlight on Student Resources

Upcoming Events

Congratulations Chargers on Your 20th State Championship!

Using Khan Academy to

Improve SAT Scores The College Board has recently partnered with Khan Academy to provide

free SAT prep resources for students. The College Board connects students to

college success and opportunity by preparing for a successful transition to college

through programs and services in college readiness and college success — in-

cluding the PSAT/SAT and the Advanced Placement Program. Khan Academy is

a free, online resource that offers video tutorials on a wide variety of subjects, in-

cluding SAT prep. These resources include video tutorials, personalized study

recommendations, practice questions, quizzes, and four full-length practice ex-

ams. These resources were designed to help students identify the areas they

need to improve on and give them targeted practice based on those recommenda-

tions. Khan Academy developed resources in collaboration with the College Board

to ensure resources accurately represent what the SAT covers.

Ansonia High School students that have taken the PSAT in October have

linked their PSAT results to Khan Academy in Advisory or Freshman Seminar.

Once students link their scores, they will receive personalized lessons based on

each area of weakness. Students that complete these lessons and practice

questions will have a better chance of improving their PSAT/SAT scores. If your

child has taken the PSAT and has not yet linked his/her results to Khan Academy,

he/she must first sign up for a free account with the College Board at

www.collegeboard.org using the school provided Gmail account. Once an ac-

count is set up, students will be prompted to link their scores to Khan Academy.

Students in need of assistance can see Mrs. Phipps in the Media Center during

advisory or their Guidance Counselor.

Ansonia High School Newsletter Winter 2017

Spotlight on the Student

Experience: Chemistry Each year one of the “fun” labs chemistry students perform is tie dyeing t-shirts.

Everything we do, from digesting our food to making art, involves chemistry. After

studying bonding and chemical reactions, students perform this tie dye lab. Color-

ful dye molecules chemically bond with the cellulose molecules that make up a

cotton t-shirt or other article of clothing, forming new molecules bonded to the cel-

lulose that people see as a colorful t-shirt. Shirts are soaked in a high pH solution

to get the cellulose molecule ready to bond with the dye molecules. The students

have a lot of fun making these colorful t-shirts, socks, dresses and sweatshirts.

November Field Trips The AHS ECE Program and English Department visited the Printmaking Depart-

ment at UCONN-Storrs on November 30th. Students participated in Printmaking

activities, toured the campus, visited Fine Art classes in progress, and spent time

at the Benton Museum.

December Field Trips Junior Statesmen of America visited Boston from December 9th –December 11th.

FBLA students donated volunteer hours and toys on December 15th to help sup-

port and set up the Valley Toys 4 Kids. On December 22nd, the chorus per-

formed two concerts at Prendergast School for grades K-3 and then grades 4-6.

On December 23rd, the chorus performed a concert program for the Mead

School Holiday Extravaganza and then for Ansonia Middle School.

January Field Trips Junior Statesmen of America visited the State Capitol on January 11th.

February Field Trips Project Lead the Way Students and Technology Education Students will visit the

Manufacturing Center at Housatonic Community College and tour Lacey

Manufacturing in Bridgeport.

Spotlight on Faculty Last summer Astronomy teacher, Dr.

Pat DeCoster, participated in Gold-

stone Apple Valley Radio Telescope

(GAVRT) program training with NASA

scientists and mission control person-

nel at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in

Pasadena, California. Dr. DeCoster

learned how to operate NASA’s radio

telescopes from her classroom. This

program allows students to directly

participate in Astronomy research by

gathering and, in some cases, analyz-

ing data from two different telescopes

for NASA scientists running current

missions. This program is currently

running in 11 countries

and over 300 schools

in the U.S.; however,

we are only the third

school in Connecticut

to participate in the

program. AHS students

will be participating in

their own NASA study

of their choosing. Each

student will have an

opportunity to learn

how to calibrate, focus and move the

telescope, as well as look critically at

data. They will be in constant contact

with mission control throughout their

experience, but they are the ones that

operate the scope. Students will also

be able to look at data from other high

schools and contact both scientists and

students working on the same mission.

If you would like to learn more about

the GAVRT program, go to http://

deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/education/

gavrt/

Ms. Bennett’s Art Students and Mr. Hashemian’s English Students Visit

UCONN’s Printmaking Department

Mrs. Seibert’s Chemistry Classes Participated in a Tie Dye Lab

Congratulations to our

PSAT Scholars!

Congratulations to our Art National Honor So-

ciety inductees!

Congratulations to those UCONN Physics, UCONN Chemistry, and UCONN Western Mod-ern Traditions students who have already re-ceived 4 UCONN col-

lege credits!

Congratulations Jared Cavanaugh and Libby Cavanaugh who repre-sented AHS at the CT Music Educators Southern Region Festival! Congratulations Student of the Month: September Bethany Armstrong

October Asura Randolph

November Anthony Cortigiano December Jesse Brookins

Congratulations Ran-dom Acts of Kindness

Award Winners:

September Tim Schmidheini

October Arianna Colon

November

Madison Lionetti

December Anna DeSimone

Ugly Sweater Day to Benefit the Ansonia Animal Shelter

Spotlight on Community Service: Ugly Sweater Competition

On December 23rd, Ms. Erardi's sophomore advisory sponsored an Ugly Sweat-

er Competition to raise money for the Ansonia Animal Shelter. One hundred and

fifty dollars was raised for this cause, and students and faculty received award

certificates for the ugliest sweaters. This event was completed as part of the

Sophomore Class Challenge to Community Service. Advisory students that cre-

ated and organized this event were: Thomas Bailey, Daisy Diaz, Michael Espos-

ito, Rachael Eye, Victor Falkowski, Gabriela Fernandez, Adrian Flores, Daniell’s

Flores, Lekeisha Fonseca, Xhesika Frroku, Gaby Galicia-Barrientos, Jonathan

Garcia, Alaina Gaudet, Izabela Gola, Madeline Gomez, Manuel Lopez, Na-

khyscha Rios.

Several other school clubs also supported local organizations during the holiday

season. Student

Government collected

new hats, gloves,

mittens, and scarves

for the Greater Valley

Salvation Army. FBLA

collected toys and

donated volunteer

hours for Toys 4 Kids.

DECA held a toiletry

drive and made toiletry

gift bags for the Valley

United Way.

DECA members pictured with Pat Tarasovic, Director of the Volunteer Action Center, Valley United Way.

Contact Us

Ansonia High School

20 Pulaski Highway

Ansonia, CT 06401

Phone: (203) 736-5060

Fax: (203)736-5068

Visit us on the web at

www.ansonia.org

Spotlight on Re-sources for Stu-dents: The School Based Bank (Article Submitted by Senior Emma Rosa)

The Sikorsky Credit Union (SCU) branch at AHS is open every Wednesday from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. What is a Credit Union? It is like a bank, but better in many ways, including the fact that when you deposit at the Credit Union, you become a part-owner! Students and staff can deposit and with-draw money once they open an account.

Sikorsky Credit Union staff will be available on February 1st to open savings and checking accounts on site. Students and staff will need to bring two forms of identification. The de-posit for opening a savings account is $5.00, and the deposit for opening a checking ac-count is $25. Sikorsky Credit Union is also offering sen-iors is a chance to win a $1,000 scholarship for college. Information about how to apply for this scholarship can be found in Guidance, at the school branch and on the AHS web-site. Sikorsky Credit Union offers paid intern-ships to students who will be sixteen by Au-gust 2017. Help promote the Credit Union in the community and at your school. Want to learn more? Talk to our current interns! This year’s interns are Emma Rosa, Ryan Nicoletti, Julisse Tinoco, Kaitlyn Sengphilom, and Christian Ruiz--and there will be information available at the Financial Reality Fair on March 23. Get INVOLVED and get PAID!

January February March April

1/23: Term Two Classes Begin 2/1: Celebration for PSAT

Scholars

3/1: Progress Reports Distributed 4/5: CT School Day SAT for all

Juniors (FREE)

1/24: STAR Parent Night 2/1: “Wheel Day” Sponsored by

SCU & the AHS Bank Interns

3/2: Early Release Day 4/5: CT College Fair at the

Webster Bank Arena 4-8 pm

1/26: Bridges Program Practice

College Placement Exam

2/2: Early Release Day 3/6: NHS Blood Drive 4/5: Report Cards Distributed

1/30: Report Cards Distributed 2/3: Unified Basketball Game at

5:15 pm

3/9: Talent Show at 7:00 pm 4/6-4/15: Global Scholars Trip

2/10: Deadline to Register for the

3/11 SAT

3/15: National Honor Society

Induction

4/7: Deadline to Register for the

5/6 SAT

2/16: Early Release Day 3/16: College Night at AHS 4/7: Griffin Hospital Job Shadow

2/20-2/21: February Recess 3/23: Financial Reality Fair 4/10-4/14: Spring Recess

3/23: Spring Concert at 7:00 pm 4/18: Perkin Elmer Job Shadow

Day

3/30: Early Release Day 4/22: Music Department Day of

Rock: Trip to NYC

3/30: Mr. AHS at 7:00 pm 4/27: Early Release

Events Calendar

Yearbooks!

Yearbooks available for $65. Order online or through Ms. Mudry in the Media Center before they run out! Yearbook Recognition Ads available now. Order online or through Ms. Mudry before space runs out!

Sikorsky Bank Interns with Branch Manager, Michele Perry

Reminder

The Charger Health Center Provides Flu

Shots to all members.

Membership is FREE.

Enrollment forms are available in the

Nurse’s Office and on the AHS Website.