WIZARD OF OZ

David Dwight, Katie Boyce, Stephanie Hunter and Katie Simon

Join the New Hope-Solebury High School theater club as they present The Wizard of Oz, on Friday, December 3 at 7:30pm and Saturday, December 4 at 2:00pm and 7:30pm at the Stephen J. Buck auditorium. This production is student directed by senior, Libby Lucy, and junior, Hannah Wheeler, and was directed on a “black box” budget. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $7. The matinee is catered towards children and those who attend are encouraged to dress up as their favorite character. Matinee attendees will even be able to participate in the performance! Also, all opening night proceeds will be donated to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in honor of students in the district fighting against cancer. “Follow the yellow brick road and enjoy the show,” exclaims Libby!

FOUR NH-S TEACHERS ACHIEVE NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFICATION

John O'Hara, Staci Shade, Lori Soriano and Margaret Thompson

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS®) announced that four New Hope-Solebury teachers have achieved National Board Certification in 2010. A voluntary assessment program designed to develop, recognize and retain accomplished teachers, National Board Certification is achieved through a performance-based assessment that typically takes one to three years to complete. While state licensing systems set basic requirements to teach in each state, NBCTs have successfully demonstrated advanced teaching knowledge, skills and practices.

The four NH-S teachers who achieved National Board Certification this year are:
John O’Hara: John obtained a degree in Mathematics at the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Masters for Teachers of Mathematics from the University of New Hampshire. After teaching math in California for nine years, John has been teaching math at New Hope-Solebury High School for almost seven years.
Staci Shade: Staci received a Bachelor’s degree from West Chester University and a Masters degree in Education from Holy Family University. This is her eighth year teaching math at New Hope-Solebury High School.
Lori Soriano: This is Lori’s sixth year teaching Language Arts at New Hope-Solebury High School. Prior to NH-S, she spent a half year at Pennsbury High School. She has a Bachelor’s in English from West Virginia University and Masters in Education from Holy Family University.
Margaret Thompson: Meg earned her Bachelor’s degree from the College of the Holy Cross with a double major in Physics and History. She earned a Masters in Secondary Mathematics Education from Temple University. She has been teaching for 15 years, seven of those years were at Germantown Friend’s School and this is her sixth year teaching math at New Hope-Solebury Middle School.

National Board Certification is recognized as a model of pay-for-performance and is supported by teachers and administrators nationwide. All 50 states, the District of Columbia and hundreds of local school districts recognize National Board Certification as a mark of distinction. Many states and local school districts provide salary incentives and cover the cost for teachers who pursue and achieve this advanced teaching credential.

JOURNALISM STUDENT RECEIVES NATIONAL RECOGNITION

The online site, My High School Journalism , has selected the work of a New Hope-Solebury High School journalism student to be included on their National Edition. Sophomore, Kieran Tebben, is an editor for the school’s newspaper, The Lion’s Tale. Her review, “Locnville fails at their attempt to mix techno, rap, and hip-hop”, has been selected to appear on the Entertainment section of the National Edition. “Kieran is the first Lion’s Tale writer to have received this recognition,” said journalism teacher, Drew Giorgi. “This is a wonderful honor for our school.”

My.hsj.org is an organization created by the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) and is funded by the Knight Foundation and the Reynold’s Foundation. ASNE is devoted to leadership development and journalism related issues. My.hsj.org has been created for high school journalists and they currently provide a platform where 3,461 student publications are published on the web.

NHS-S TAKES A VIRTUAL TOUR OF LATIN AMERICA

The New Hope-Solebury community ended their Read the World program with two different virtual events which explored various Latin American cultures. On October 25, photographer Bob Krist took the community on a multimedia tour of various Latin American countries. Krist, who has photographed for National Geographic Traveler and Smithsonian magazines, wowed the crowd with breath-taking photographs of Mexico, Peru, Costa Rica, and other Latin American countries. For each of the countries of which he presented, he had interesting and often humorous stories about his experiences there.

On October 28, many high school Spanish students as well as some community members danced to traditional Mexican fiesta music in the high school cafeteria. The program was presented via a live video stream which allowed the professional Mexican dancer and the audience to see and hear each other. The students and community not only learned various dances of traditional Mexican culture, but were taught the customs and meanings that inspired the dances.

Both events were held in the evening and attracted 50-60 students and community members. While the Mexican Fiesta Dancing was provided through a grant from the Bucks County Intermediate Unit, Bob Krist was very kind to give his fabulous presentation at no cost.

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 group, whose mission is “one community exploring cultural diversity one book at a time,” recommended a selection of books to read about Latin American. Previously in the month, author Margarita Engle visited the school and community to speak about her books on Cuban history. Engle’s visit was paid in full by a New Hope-Solebury Education Fund grant which was awarded to Mary Schwander, the high school librarian. “The Read the World presentations helped bring awareness about Latin American cultures and brought students and our community together by reading the same books,” commented Schwander.

NH-S STUDENTS WEAR IT PINK

Senior, Nicole Kelner, shows off the "Wear it Pink" shirt which she designed.

The New Hope-Solebury High School Key Club raised money and awareness to the fight against breast cancer by selling “Wear it Pink” shirts and white and pink “Silly Bandz” to students and staff. For the second year in a row, Key Club senior, Nicole Kelner, designed the “pink ribbon” shirts. She and other Key Club members helped high school graphics teacher, Glen Preiss, with the printing of the shirts, while all Key Club members were involved in selling the shirts. On October 29th, students and staff were encouraged to wear the shirts (or other pink shirts), to show their support for the fight against breast cancer. Key Club members counted the number of people wearing pink and matched that number with a donation to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization. That amount of $150, in addition to the proceeds from the shirt and bracelet sales, amounted to a donation of over $600.