NH-S GOLF TEAM MEMBER HEADS TO STATES

Back row (from left )– Michael Manoff, John Cimbalista, Jake Merana, Seamus Foster, Tommy Sutton,

Leo Massimino, and Jeffrey Cimbalista.
Front (from left) – Corey Curran, Raleigh Chapin, and Mike Merana.
Golf team members not present: Cameron Cathcart and Sean Rowland

New Hope-Solebury High School golfer, Raleigh Chapin, will be competing in the Pennsylvania State Golf tournament at Heritage Hills Golf Club in York, PA on October 25 and 26. Chapin, a junior, shot a two over par 74 to tie for ninth place in the Pennsylvania Southeast Regional High School golf tournament in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania on October 19. This is only the second time that New Hope-Solebury High School has had a golf team member advance to the state level.
In addition to Chapin, senior brothers Jake and Mike Merana also competed in the regional championships. They missed advancing to the states by just 3 strokes and Mike was one of ten golfers in a playoff for the final spot. The team, overall, took second place in districts, ahead of BAL Champion Holy Ghost and the remainder of the Suburban One League.

NH-S Celebrates National Day on Writing

Junior, Tessa Leith, helps Ms. Hartman’s second-graders brainstorm for their Halloween stories.

On October 20th, a group of New Hope-Solebury High School students visited 2nd graders at the Lower Elementary school to celebrate the National Day on Writing.
The reading specialist at the high school, Emi Lengyel, and the reading specialist at the elementary school, Nancy Rachlin, arranged for approximately seventeen high school students to work with four 2nd grade classrooms. The older students volunteered to work in groups with the younger students to help them write creative Halloween stories.
“Intergenerational activities such as The National Day on Writing affords both high school and elementary school students the opportunity to connect and interact,” remarked Lengyel. “The continuum of intergenerational activities is endless and for that reason we look forward to meeting with the younger students later in the year.”
The National Day on Writing was established by the National Council of Teachers of English to draw attention to the remarkable variety of writing in which we engage.

NH-S STUDENTS CAPTIVATED BY TWO NEW AUTHORS

Authors Matt Quick and Alicia Bessette with NH-S English teacher, Drew Giorgi

On October 14, New Hope-Solebury High School students were intrigued by two new, popular authors who happen to be husband and wife. Matt Quick and Alicia Bessette visited with the English students of Drew Giorgi and with the Creative Writing students of Melanie Pittner. In tag-team style, the two took turns in telling the students the story of how they met, their dreams of becoming writers, and how they went about making those dreams come true. They stressed to the students that they wouldn’t have seen their books published if they hadn’t taken huge risks in their life and if they weren’t persistent in sending manuscripts to publishers. Newly married and in their twenties, Quick and Bessette had both quit their jobs, traveled to Africa and upon their return to the states, moved in with Bessette’s parents so that they could begin to pursue their dreams of becoming authors. “My father said I was an idiot and a lot of our friends thought we were making a big mistake,” said Quick. He went on to say that hundreds of his manuscripts were originally turned down by publishers.

Today, both Quick and Bessette are realizing that their dreams are becoming reality. Quick’s novel, Silver Linings Playbook has earned numerous positive reviews and has been signed to be made into a movie. His young adult novel, Sorta Like a Rock Star, was equally embraced and has been nominated by the American Library Association for Best Fiction for Young Adults. Bessette’s new novel, Simply from Scratch is also receiving rave reviews and was read by Drew Giorgi’s English students.

This is the third visit by Quick to New Hope-Solebury and Bessette’s first.
“The students are thrilled with Matt’s and Alicia’s visit to our school,” remarked Giorgi who arranged for the visit. “Not only do they enjoy their books but they are genuinely inspired by their stories of becoming writers.”

COSTUMEPALOOZA HELPS GET COMMUNITY DECKED OUT FOR HALLOWEEN

Spanish teacher, Halyna Reh, chooses a Senorita costume with the help of Mask & Zany members,

LeighAnn DePamphilis and Stephanie Hunter

On October 16, the New Hope-Solebury High School theater group, Mask & Zany, was busy outfitting the community with a variety of costumes for both rental and sale. Whether it was a child getting ready for a night of trick-or-treating or an adult preparing for a Halloween party, Mask & Zany had plenty of outfits to offer. From 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, the community was invited to the Stephen J. Buck theater where they could browse the costumes while being entertained with the singing and dancing of the students.

CUBAN AMERICAN AUTHOR VISITS STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY

Tim Vaughan-Ogunlusi, Marisa Lewis, Margarita Engle, Patrick Carvalho, Ariel Ozbeki

On October 13, Cuban American poet and novelist, Margarita Engle, honored New Hope-Solebury with two presentations; one for students during the school day, and another in the evening for the community. The author’s visit was part of the NH-S Read the World program and was provided through a grant from the NH-S Education Fund. This year’s Read the World program focuses on Latin American countries, featuring two of Engle’s works, The Poet Slave: Juan Francisco Manzano and The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom.

Ms. Engle spoke to NH-S high school Spanish and English classes about her Cuban background and about her inspiration for her young adult books. The Spanish students have been reading The Poet Slave and have been learning about Cuba in their classes and the English students have been reading The Surrender Tree. Both books explore Cuba’s history through a collection of poetic verses, and both have won numerous literary awards. Ms. Engle spoke again in the evening, allowing the community an opportunity to learn about Cuban culture and history and to hear about Ms. Engle’s writing process.

The Read the World program is a collaboration of the New Hope-Solebury High School, the Free Library of New Hope and Solebury and the New Hope-Solebury Education Fund. The goup’s mission is “one community exploring cultural diversity one book at a time.” Two additional presentations have been scheduled which celebrate the cultural diversity of other Latin American countries. On October 25th at 7:00 pm, photographer, Bob Krist, will present his professional photographs of various Latin American countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica, the Galapagos Islands, Peru, Buenos Aires and Easter Island.
The presentation will be held in the Stephen J Buck Auditorium at New Hope-Solebury High School. On October 28th at 7:00 pm, there will be a Mexican Fiesta Dancing demonstration via a live video feed. A professional dancer will be demonstrating Day of the Dead dances in the New Hope-Solebury High School Cafeteria.

Further information can be found at http://www.nhs-read-the-world.com/ or by contacting Mary Schwander, NH-S High School librarian, at mschwander@nhsd.org or 215-862-2028.
Donation information for the NH-S Education Fund can be found at http://www.nhsedfund.org/.

NH-S SOPHOMORE CHOSEN FOR H.O.B.Y.

New Hope-Solebury High School sophomore, McKenzie Cloutier, has been selected by the high school faculty to attend the 2011 Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership seminar at Temple University in May. The Leadership Seminar is designed for high school sophomores to recognize their leadership talents and apply them in becoming effective, ethical leaders in their home, schools, workplace and community. Sophomore, John, Dick, has been selected as an alternate.

NH-S CHAMBER ORCHESTRA TO PERFORM AT MUSIC CONFERENCE

The New Hope-Solebury High School Chamber Orchestra was selected out of over 160 high school orchestras to perform a concert at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Conference on April 15th, 2011 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Mr. Nicholas Wehr, is comprised of 34 students in grades 9 through 12. The orchestra will be performing a concert featuring the works of Barber, Tchaikovsky, and Elgar.

The New Hope-Solebury Chamber Orchestra has performed extensively throughout the United States and Canada under Wehr’s direction. Performance highlights include: Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Orlando, San Francisco, and Toronto, and other destinations. The orchestra has earned Superior ratings at Heritage, North American, and Peak Music Festivals. Members of the orchestra have also earned soloist awards at various festivals and adjudications. The orchestra performs five to six concerts per year and other community events in the New Hope area.

COMMENDED STUDENTS IN THE NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Maura Schlussel, Stephanie Hunter, Stephen Young, Caitlin Kerr and Scott Bouloutian

Principal, Stephen Young, of New Hope-Solebury High School announced this week that Scott Bouloutian, Stephanie Hunter, Caitlin Kerr, and Maura Schlussel have been named Commended Students in the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program. Letters of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, were presented by the principal to these scholastically talented seniors.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2011 competition for Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2011 competition.

NH-S KICKS LEUK FOR CARLY

NH-S students and faculty spell "We 'Heart' You Carly" as a Special Get-Well Message

At the NHS Boys Soccer game on October 7, the New Hope-Solebury community will be sponsoring “KICK LEUK FOR CARLY NIGHT” in support of high school sophomore, Carly Stephens, who was diagnosed with leukemia this past summer. Students and community members are encouraged to wear orange (Carly’s favorite color) to the soccer game, as well as to bring a donation for the Ronald McDonald House, Leukemia Society, and the Stephen’s Medical Fund.

Carly has expressed concern over the lack of supplies at the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia, which prompted her fellow volleyball teammate, Katie D’Andrea, to start a fund drive. Katie received a “Wish List” from the Ronald McDonald House which can be viewed online at http://www.nhsd.org/hs/pdf/Kick%20Leuk.pdf.

The KICK LEUK event is a joint collaboration of the Boys Soccer team, the Girls Soccer team, Field Hockey, Fall Cheerleading, Golf, Girls Volleyball (Carly’s team), and the Parent Teacher Forum. In addition, the NH-S Football team has approached the organizers to offer a monetary donation to the Ronald McDonald House.

“This night is in honor of our Carly,” said Maria Gregory whose son is on the Boy’s Soccer team. “It is a night we celebrate her strength and courage as she fights her battle along with all those who fight leukemia”.

The Junior Varsity Soccer game begins at 5:15pm and the Varsity game begins at 7:00pm at the New Hope-Solebury High School stadium. Carly’s brother, Robert, is a captain on the Varsity team.

The school community has quickly and fiercely come together to help Carly and her family upon hearing about her diagnosis. “To see a group of teenagers come together to sign a banner, draw pictures to decorate her room, make Carly videos and visit daily, especially warmed all of our hearts,” remarked Gregory. “The NHS Girls’ soccer team (of which Carly is a member) began selling orange bracelets to raise money for leukemia research. The bracelets read KICK LEUK with soccer balls on one side and We Love Carly on the other”.

The donation proceeds will go towards the Leukemia Society, the Ronald McDonald House and the Stephen’s Medical Fund. Visitors attending the KICK LEUK event will also have an opportunity to sign up for a Blood Drive for Carly which is being held at the Upper Elementary School on October 28.