By: Ryan Barnosky During these hard times involving the coronavirus, many people want the WHS seniors to have something special to look forward to, while they ponder how their special days may look with COVID-19 restrictions. To start, besides the project graduation signs being sold, each senior is getting a free sign that will be displayed at Veteran’s Park with the graduates name, the W logo, and a picture of the student (if the student/parents gave permission for Images to release the photo). There were also plans to create a mural, for seniors to leave a different mark on the school. Images and Town Mag teamed up and are responsible for the mural, which is named “The 2020 Wall.” Shortly after fundings were raised the mural was completed. You can find it around Depot Square Mall in Watertown and it's ready for pictures!
Many senior events have been rescheduled to! Project Graduation is rescheduled for Saturday, November 28th, hopefully all students are around for Thanksgiving break. Recently we have learned that due to COVID-19 restrictions the Senior Picnic at Holiday Hill is canceled, and the Aqua Turf has contacted the school saying they still won't be opened by our rescheduled prom date, so Senior Prom will not take place as a school sponsored event. Another rescheduled date is Wednesday, July 29th, there will be a Graduation Video Viewing at Pleasant Valley Drive-in in Barkhamstead (a time has not been given yet). The most important rescheduled day is Graduation Day. Wednesday, June 17th will remain the graduation date, rain or shine. There are half-hour time slots, beginning at 1:30 pm which allows 25 students to sign up for each slot. There are two cars allowed per graduate during the time slot. Cars will assemble in the front bus loop, then the two cars will approach the diploma distribution spot and only the graduate will exit as their name is called.While this is happening, Images will take a candid photograph of the graduate walking up to receive their diploma, and on a later date they’ll receive a free 5x7 of the photo. Once the graduate is back in their car they may leave or pull back around in the circle to watch others graduate in that time slot. Someone will be videotaping the students receiving their diplomas, and the ceremony will also be streamed on Facebook Live. Some details may be subject to change so make sure you keep up with the emails sent by the high school.
0 Comments
By: Ryan Barnosky The Watertown Community has planned a parade for the Class of 2020, on Sunday, June 14th for everyone to be involved in! The parade is scheduled to happen rain or shine. Students should register with the link sent in an email by Dr. Parlato, they can register up until June 13th. One car per graduate and family is allowed and so are car decorations. The parade will start at 1:00 pm and everyone will follow the route on a flyer also attached in Dr. Parlato’s email. Townspeople, teachers, and families are going to line the roads cheering as the seniors drive by.
By: Anjeza Skudrinja
This year the unexpected happened, schools were shut down. Students and teachers were forced to adjust to virtual learning. This was hard on students, especially seniors because they had to say goodbye to high school earlier than expected. Here is how Watertown HIgh School senior Madison Migiano adjusted to virtual learning. When finding out that school would be off until April 20th, she was in “complete shock”. It made her upset to know that she wouldn’t be seeing her friends or teachers for a while. When it was changed to May 20th, she said she was annoyed because it assured her that school will most likely not start up again this year. She states “It’s just very sad that this pandemic had to happen”. Then it was finally announced that school won’t be starting up again at all and Madison stated “It’s a little sad, but we should always look on the positive side of things”. Throughout virtual learning Madison has missed her friend and her usual routine, she also said “I miss seeing all my teachers and friends, and I miss the routine of just going to school”. she remains hopeful throughout everything and states “It’s going pretty well; it’s definitely an adjustment, but I know that sooner or later things will get better”. Although it makes her happy to be able to spend more time with her parents. She says that one challenge of virtual learning is getting the help she needs, she stated “some teachers don’t see google classroom comments the same day that you comment, but you can always try asking some friends or parents for help”. The publishing class had an amazing adjustment to being online, she states “I think the newsletter did adjust very well to being online. The things that have been good about this is how we’ve made a plan on how to have our articles up a certain way and we get them up quick”. Her advice to underclassmen is “always get your work in on time even if you get to class early if you want to talk to your teacher about something class related. Also don’t skip class or make an excuse as to why you didn’t do your homework”. This summer she is looking forward to getting ready to go to college and getting to meet her roommate when she gets there. By: Madison Migiano WHS hosted a Spirit Week at the beginning of April, while we are away from school, to make Distance Learning a little more fun. From April 6th to 9th, there were fun things to do such as; “Bring Your Pet to School Day”, “Dress to Impress Day”, “Bring Your Favorite Snack/Meal to School Day”, and “School Spirit Day”.
Make sure to check out the Instagram @whs_watertown_ct to see some of the cool pictures from spirit week. There was a great turnout from students with their cute pets, to the most amazing snacks, to some amazing school spirit. Remember things will get better, so keep up your hard work! By: Ryan Barnosky Mrs. Sheth and Miss Guerrera, the senior class advisors, made a Google Classroom for the seniors, “to share memories that we’ve created over the past four years at WHS.” The google classroom is named Class of 2020, the code is wgubos7, for any senior that isn’t already a part of it. Other than the senior class advisors, two senior yearbook editors, Hailey Caligiuri and Aubrey DiStefano, have posted as well. They ask that seniors “send in pictures or candids from school events to go in the yearbook (preferably of just seniors), ” so they can add them into the yearbook from home. They also are asking for pictures of the home activities everyone’s doing on a weekly basis. These home activity pictures will be added to the “students in quarantine” page of the yearbook. Seniors can either post the pictures on the Class of 2020 google classroom, send them to Hailey or Aubrey, or email them to Mrs. Goldfarb at [email protected]. It is encouraged to choose memories which everyone can remember taking part in.
By: Anjeza Skudrinja
Beck Curtis an Evan Arnold are seniors at Watertown High School and for their capstone, they are working with the program Project Puzzle Piece to cut out large wooden puzzle pieces that will be used to raise money for Autism Awareness and WHS Unified Sports program. Working together has been well because the two never argue and work well together. Beck is a part of the graphic and video producer and Evan is a part of the woodshop. Large decorated puzzle pieces will be placed outside of different businesses in Watertown. The puzzle pieces are meant to raise money. Beck first heard about Project Puzzle Piece from a friend, which led to him thinking it would be a good idea to give back to his brother, who has down syndrome community and help others out. As of right now, the process of cutting out the puzzle pieces has been completed and they are being decorated by seniors. So far one of Beck's favorite pieces has been the Carvel and G’s Burger puzzle piece because of the pastel colors. A gallery/premiere of all the puzzle pieces at the High School will be postponed due to COVID 19. Beck states “I want people to be inspired by them and to learn more about autism, what it is, how people can interpret it, and if they know anyone in their life who has it.” Working with different businesses in Watertown has been a smooth process for Beck and he enjoys it. He states “I’ve learned a lot. It has given me a chance to work on my production and marketing skills, work on making videos, networking with people, meeting new people in town, and gaining new skills with power tools. All the effort that goes into such a complex process”. Evan says that this experience has taught him how to ¨speak publicly, more about woodshop, better communication, and how much people are willing to do for others.¨ Beck says that he would’ve done this project if it wasn’t for Capstone requirements but it was definitely a motivational and influential part of completing the project. Many students and teachers at WHS have helped them out with the project. Most of all, Beck states, “The project impacted self-growth and learning more about myself. I had a good feeling giving back to the community and working with some of the bigger names of Watertown”. By: Ryan BarnoskyIt’s almost May! During this time of the year many senior students are committing to a college that they’ve been accepted to. Hooray! This means that students will have to send a down payment to the college they plan on attending, typically by May 1st. If the student knows where they’d like to go before the deadline they are welcome to commit as early as they are accepted. Don’t forget to tell other colleges that you don’t plan to attend that you will not be so they can give waitlisted students in.
By: Mike Selkirk
Black Magic Robotics, or Team 237, is the robotics team that operates here at WHS. Students work to build a specialized robot for a unique game every year with the help of mentors, each of whom work in STEM fields. This year, Black Magic had its first 2020 competition on the weekend of March 6th and performed quite well, placing tied with one other team for 4th, out of the 36 teams that attended. This left the whole team excited for the rest of the season, prior to all events being cancelled as a result of the coronavirus. Each year the team competes in the FIRST Robotics Competition. The league is made up of thousands of teams from around the world that each build a unique robot over a period of six or more weeks called “build season.” For Team 237, “build season” consists of meeting every week night from 5pm to 9pm and occasional weekend meetings from 9am to 5pm to work on the robot. Following “build season” the teams compete in qualifying tournaments, where the winners of which move on to District Championships then World Championships, the latter of which is in Detroit. Team 237 has made it all the way to World Championships two years in a row now, with this year looking just as promising. This year Black Magic’s captains are Robby Mitchell and Tucker Doolan, both seniors at WHS. When asked about their role this year they responded saying that they love “to oversee how the build process is run” and, “it’s humbling to be helping the freshman learn about robotics.” Both Robby and Tucker plan on going to college, for Education and Aerospace Engineering respectively. The team has allowed them to “gain leadership qualities over the four years on the team,” as well as valuable engineering experience. More information about the FIRST Robotics Competition can be found at https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc and for those interested in the team Tucker and Robby said the following, “If you’re not invested then the intense six week build season will drain you. But if you’re invested then it is a very rewarding experience.” Additionally, “the team will allow you to gain very valuable experience for your future.” By: Emily Gillotti
The school musical, Grease, will be showing in March, on Thursday, March 26th at 7:00pm, Friday, March 27th at 7:00pm, and Saturday, March 28th at 2:00pm. Tickets will be available for purchase during all lunch waves for $10 and will be $12 at the door. Grease was chosen this year for the fun and exciting performances, dances, and songs that will display talent and energy from the students. The leads are Noah Ryan as Danny, Hannah Jack as Sandy, Maya Kazzaka as Rizzo, and Owen Jalbert as Kenickie. Owen said some challenges being faced in the play are, “Getting used to learning all my lines and songs will be difficult. As juniors last year we bugged our director to do Grease our senior year.” The stage managers are Robby Mitchell and Emily Downey who are in charge of the production of the show. In the pit, students play instruments directed by music instructor, Mr. Hahn. Lighting and stage crew are done by Tori Campbell, Matt Creter, and Cristian Bratz. Mr. Hahn is excited for the musical saying, “It’s always an exciting thing...it’s a more familiar show. The musical came first and the movie came second.” This musical is a great way to get involved with the school and see how talented the students are, so come on out to the show! By: Bailey Boivin
As winter sports at Watertown are coming to an end, spring sports are starting up. There are no set dates for tryouts, but if you want to register for spring sports, the registration is currently open. All you need to do is go to the Watertown High School website and choose one of the sports that are available for the spring. Those options for the sports include: Baseball, Softball, Boys’ Lacrosse, Girls’ Lacrosse, Golf, Boys’ and Girls’ Track and Field, Boys’ Tennis, Girls’ Tennis, Weightlifting. If you haven’t had any experience with sports registration, you can contact Paul Catuccio, the Athletic Director, at his email: [email protected] or call (860) 945-4810 extension 5005. |
Archives
June 2020
Categories |