Darien Public Schools Newsletter 2017-2018

How Did DHS Chamber Orchestra, Tudor Singers Get to Lincoln Center? ‘Practice, Practice’

Middlesex Winter Production, ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ Sells Out

Ox Ridge Students Collaborate with Urban Peers While Learning About the Environment

With ‘Google Expeditions,’ Royle Students Go Where No Elementary School Classroom (in Darien) Has Gone Before

Middlesex Middle School Quiz Bowl Team Earns Place in Nationals

Hindley Students Explore Circuitry, Puppet Making at School Library Event

Touring Russian Singers Perform at Darien High School

Students in 4th, 5th Grades Do Engineering and Design Projects Across Darien

Darien Students to Perform at Stamford Town Center Mall This Week

Hour of Code in Darien Public Schools to Prep Kids for the Tech Future

Holiday Winter Concerts Coming to Darien’s Public Schools

Darien Educator Named Connecticut Tech/Engineering Teacher of the Year

Darien Schools Hold Veterans Day Observances, Invite Veterans

DHS Community Council Makes Wheelchair Costumes for Darien Students

Livin’ La Vida Dariénita: DHS Video Made for Spanish-Speaking Students Abroad

Education

By MARC MARIN | February 27, 2018

Education

By MARC MARIN | February 13, 2018

Education

By MARC MARIN | February 6, 2018

News

By MARC MARIN | January 31, 2018

Education

By MARC MARIN | January 24, 2018

Education

By MARC MARIN | January 19, 2018

Education

By MARC MARIN | January 9, 2018

Education

By MARC MARIN | December 19, 2017

Education

By MARC MARIN | December 12, 2017

Education

By MARC MARIN | December 5, 2017

Education

By MARC MARIN | November 28, 2017

Education

By MARC MARIN | November 21, 2017

Education

By MARC MARIN | November 15, 2017

Holidays

By MARC MARIN | November 7, 2017

Education

By MARC MARIN | November 1, 2017

High School orchestra chorus at Lincoln Center

Two Darien High School musical ensembles were invited to perform at Lincoln Center this month. The Darien High School Chamber Orchestra, directed by Jane Minnis, and the Darien Tudor Singers, directed by Christopher Andrade, performed to a full house audience at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall.

The DHS students were the only musical ensembles from the United States performing as part of the Beijing Student Jinfan Art Troupe performance featuring Chinese student instrumental ensembles, and dance and drama performances. “The students and teachers were very excited to be performing in such a prestigious venue, and were honored to share their music with the student musicians from Beijing,” said Director of Music Richard Sadlon. The DHS Chamber Orchestra performed the “Brook Green Suite” by Gustav Holst, and the Tudor Singers performed “MLK” by U2 and a traditional spiritual entitled, “Keep Your Hands on the Plow.”

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— Marc Marin is district director of instructional technology.

Middlesex Middle School put on its winter production of Bye Bye Birdie recently, playing to sold-out audiences over multiple days. Fifth graders from across the district had a sneak peek at the show during a daytime dress rehearsal. The tradition of bringing the soon-to-be rising 6thgraders began last year, and has drummed up support and enthusiasm for the program, said teacher Katie Lindquist, who directed the middle school production.

With a cast and crew of over 130 students, the show proved to be one of the most spectacular productions ever to cross the middle school’s stage. The show was produced by Lily Morgan, choreographed by Colleen Amirsakis, musically directed by Ruth Lettera, costumed by Amy Raskopf, and set designed by Timothy Sorensen.

Bye Bye Birdie is the story of Conrad Birdie (played by Pace Flaherty), a rock star crooner from the 1950s who has been drafted in the Army.

A group of Ox Ridge 4th graders took an expedition recently that went beyond just studying forest habitats at the New Canaan Nature Center. Joining 4th graders from Murphy Academy, which is part of the KT Murphy Elementary School in Stamford, Darien students participated in a first-of-its-kind cooperative learning program. Led by Domus, a non-profit human service organization, and the Stamford Public Schools, the program is designed to increase academic engagement related to environmental science and reduce racial, ethnic, and economic isolation. Principal Luke Forshaw said the Ox Ridge Parent Teacher Organization was a driving force behind connecting the cohort of urban and suburban students at the New Canaan Nature Center. He said the experience for the small group of students was worthwhile.

Royle Elementary School students climbed Mount Everest, swam with sharks, and explored the outer reaches of space last week. And all without leaving the classroom. Royle students (from Kindergarten to Grade 5) had a chance to participate in the Google Expeditions VR program; the VR stands for Virtual Reality. Using special cardboard goggles or holding a selfie stick with a smartphone, students immersed themselves in 365 degree images that took them momentarily to places far beyond. From the beaches of Normandy to a field of active volcanoes, Royle teachers led the expeditions, sharing information from a central device that controlled the experience for all students.

Middlesex Middle School (MMS) Quiz Bowl earned their spot at nationals earlier this month by placing second and fourth place. The wins came during the 7th annual Charter Oak Scholastic Open Quiz Bowl tournament held at Middlesex.

The competition included 34 teams from a dozen schools from the tri-state area, including 10 teams from Middlesex. “This year’s field was quite possibly the toughest we’ve ever faced, but I am proud to announce that Middlesex captured 2nd and 4th place, and have qualified for the Quiz Bowl Nationals in Chicago in May,” said teacher and Quiz Bowl Adviser Ken Romeo. The Middlesex A team (8th graders Kiran Ebrahimi, Michael Dong, and James Leone and 7th grader Nick Yoo) made their 7th consecutive trip to the finals, but fell to the champions from Greens Farms. The B team (8th graders Rhea Bhat, Luke Smith, Evan O’Rourke, and Noah Mobarik) had a deep run in the playoffs which included impressive wins over Western (Greenwich) and Tuxedo Park (New York). Competing in the Novice Division (for 6th graders and other first-timers), the Middlesex G team (6th graders Sophie Bickford, Grace Liu, Leyton Tucci, Grant Wang, and Liam Tomaszewski) finished 8 – 1 on the day, placing 2nd in the division. Individually, Evan O’Rourke was the 4th overall leading scorer, 8th grader James Leone was 9th, and 8th grader Andy Lin was 10th, and in the Novice Division, 7th grader Tabby Auster was the 2nd leading scorer, Grace Liu was 4th, Sophie Bickford was 5th, 6th grader Adi Pai was 6th.

From paper circuits and robots to Keva planks and sock puppet creations, the Hindley Elementary School Maker Fair provided a wide array of exploration and experimentation for students last week. “It was cool to make things that you have never even tried before and come up with ideas in a group. You feel like ‘I’m in charge and I’m being super creative doing this’,” said Kit, a fifth grader in Katy Gale’s classroom. The Maker Fair — in its third year at Hindley — featured 20 Innovation Stations set up around the library. Run by parent and student volunteers, the event allowed students to choose and discover new areas of interest relative to science, technology, engineering, art, and math, also known as STEAM, said Library Media Specialist Jackie Heyde, who coordinated the event.

St. Petersburg Men's Ensemble DHS 18-01-09

The Darien High School Music Department hosted the St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble from Russia for a performance recently. The award-winning Russian vocal quartet, currently on their East Coast tour, was able to arrange an afternoon performance for our students at DHS. The group performs a wide range of musical styles ranging from Russian Sacred music and folk songs to vocal literature composed by famous masters such as Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Rachmaninov. Students and staff enjoyed an inspiring musical performance followed by a question and answer session about Russian music and culture.

Designing structures that stand up to the elements and cleaning up after a disastrous oil spill were among the projects elementary students across the Darien school district explored this month. All 4th and 5th grade students participated in engineering and design projects as part of the science curriculum. The best part was that new content was delivered by Darien High School students enrolled in the Fundamentals of Engineering and Principles of Engineering classes as part of a district-wide outreach program. “Elementary students were inspired by enthusiastic and knowledgeable students from Darien High School around exciting topics in STEM,” said Linda Johnson, K-5 director of math and science. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Performing Stamford Town Center Mall 12-12-17

Amid the hustle and bustle of the holidays, visitors to the Stamford Town Center will have a chance to enjoy some holiday cheer from Darien students. Starting this week, Darien Public Schools will be having performances in the mall in the late afternoon. Director of Music Rick Sadlon said that this is the second year Darien has participated in the mall’s Holiday and Harmony music program. “Our teachers have welcomed the opportunity to have their students perform at the venue again this year. In this season of giving, we feel that it is important to share our gift of music and musical accomplishments with our friends and neighbors in the area,” said Sadlon.

Dynamic presenters, programmable robots, and endless opportunities to experiment and tinker will be available for students across the district early this month. The Darien Public Schools, along with millions of students in more than 180 countries, will again be joining the Hour of Code. The Hour of Code started as a way to get students interested in coding, and has evolved into a worldwide celebration of computer science. For students, it also encourages problem-solving and creativity all while having some fun. Library media specialists, computer teachers, administrators, students, classroom staff, and school-based PTOs have coordinated a variety of events for this year.

Music Darien Public Schools winter concerts 11-28-17

The Darien Public Schools Music Department would like to announce their schedule of upcoming holiday winter concert programs for the month of December. The concerts will feature nearly 2,000 band, chorus, and orchestra students performing in 10 concert programs throughout the district. “The students and teachers have been busy preparing their music for the upcoming concert season and are looking forward to sharing their musical accomplishments with their friends and families, ” said Director of Music Rick Sadlon. Here’s the schedule of concerts:

Dec. 4 — Middlesex Middle School, Grades 6 and 7 Winter Chorus Concert, 6:30 p.m. — Darien High School Auditorium
Dec.

It was a good month for the Technology & Engineering Department at Darien High School with one teacher was named state ‘Teacher of the Year’ and another invited to a national conference to speak about fuel cell cars. DHS teacher Greg Darin was named the Connecticut Technology & Engineering Education Association High School Teacher of the Year for 2017-18. “I understand there was some stiff competition this year,” said Richard Reynolds, Technology Education department coordinator. “He is a stellar teacher, a wonderfully resourceful and respected department member. It gives me great pride to be able to work alongside him every day.”

Darin was presented the award at a statewide conference in Portland, Conn., which was attended by DHS Assistant Principal Kate Dimoulas and members of his department.

Holmes School Veterans Day Palen Althoff

In honor of Veterans Day, the Darien Public Schools hosted a variety of assemblies and gatherings for students last week. The following is a snapshot of efforts to honor those who answered the call of duty. Hindley School

Over 30 veterans attended the 12th Hindley Veterans Day Share. Fourth and fifth grade students kept the school in a patriotic mood with songs like, “The Star Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America.” The question and answer portion of the assembly was informative. “Veterans answered the students’ questions with facts and stories that complimented their learning about this special day,” said Principal DJ Colella.

With cardboard, costumes, and a lot of creativity, members of the Darien High School Community Council made Halloween a little brighter for three Darien students.

This is the second year Community Council members designed costumes around wheelchairs for students who use them for mobility. One of the students enjoyed his new ride in a Lightning McQueen-inspired costume which was test driven through the halls of DHS. “One of the aspects of this project that is most meaningful for our students is the tangible contribution that they have made to their peers — the reactions of both the kids who made the costumes and the kids who received them was a reflection of how meaningful an experience this was,” said Chris Buckley, co-adviser for the Council along with DHS teacher Janet Keeler. DHS staffer Paul Brager, who was also involved in the project added, “Hearing the cheers from classmates as they cruised through the parade and seeing their faces in response was nothing short of amazing.”

The Community Council is made up of 25 students and 10 advisers and serves as the student government organization for the school.

« August 2022 »

So what does a day in the life of a Darien student look like? Now describe it in Spanish for an international audience. That was the challenge for Darien High School (DHS) seniors in Jonathan Smith’s class, who made documentary films that have been shared with 25 Spanish-speaking schools in countries such as Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico.

Darien is the only American school participating in the Canary Island-based Educación Vital project, which has just received an international award. The main Darien documentary film submitted includes drone footage of DHS; on-location shots in the library, art room, and cafeteria; and clips of various after-school activities Darien students may get involved in like swimming and dance. There is even a night-time dinner scene complete with cooking and a dog resting on the couch.