The Hatters’ Cafe staff is preparing to open up to teachers and students in the upcoming weeks. Soon, both students and teachers can purchase the famous DHS home fries, breakfast bowl, chicken panini, and the new popular menu item: crepes.

Brian Turner, culinary arts teacher, said that reservation services will be sent to teachers in the upcoming weeks. “On [Feb.] 21, lunch will be open to classes,” Turner announced.

Turner teaches Culinary Arts 1 and 2; the first level comprised of assignments revolving around breakfast and the second level with more hands on work with lunch items. Being the more experienced of the students, Culinary Arts 2 has been warming up for the launch by serving teachers during lunch on Thursdays and Fridays during their third block class.

When they aren’t serving teachers, students in Culinary Arts 2 prepare for their opening to full classes by role playing in a game they call “Restaurant for a Day.”

They are divided up into three groups: guests, cooks, and waiters. Throughout the period, they rotate and acquire all the skills they need to know to run a restaurant, from working at the cash register to cooking meals within the seven minutes of prep time allotted.

In regards to the class, senior and Culinary Arts 2 student Bruno Guzman said, “It’s more hands on so I understand what it takes to manage a restaurant.”

After a semester of prep work, the students are approaching the final days before opening. “I’m very excited we’re opening it again,” said Ann Palomino, a senior in Culinary Arts 2.

David Pena, another senior in the program, said the class itself hasn’t been run much differently than previous years since “culinary has always been double periods.” However on the business side, Turner said the restaurant will be run differently due to their transition from last year’s eight-period schedule to the block schedule of this year.

This year, two classes will be able to have breakfast in the cafe during block one and block two — one class being served in the first 40 minutes of the block and the other being served in the second 40 minutes. As for block three, the cafe will be open to classes during lunch waves one, two, and three, with the fourth wave used to clean up the cafe.

Palomino explained how the schedule change affected the program. “We used to have 7 periods to serve, and the last period to clean up. Now with the lunch waves, it messes up the program.”

On the bright side, they adapted to the schedule change. Since the cafe is open the first three waves and cleaning up has to take place during fourth, Palomino said, “We miss our lunch wave and we eat [in the cafe] so we can cover for people.” That way, the restaurant can be run throughout the first three lunch waves.

Along with the previous issue presented, Turner encountered a problem during their trial period for lunch with teachers: the lunch periods are too short for them to take a trip to the cafe. Turner said, “Teachers have been complaining about the short lunches, and they’ve been coming in saying that they only have five  minutes to get their order.”

To solve this problem, Turner and his students devised a new lunch plan called the “grab-and-go” for teachers. “It’ll be like the hot bar at Stew’s,” Turner said. “We’ve refused to do things of the like in the past but it works out because the lunch periods are so short.”

When the cafe opens, teachers will be able to place an order to pick up at the cafe. An alternative would be a delivery, which has been done in previous years. With a call to the cafe at #216, teachers will be able to have their orders made in advance for a “grab-and-go” or delivery.

“The menu is updated weekly and a link is posted in the Staff Bulletin,” said Turner. For those interested, here are samples for the breakfast menu and lunch menu.

Overall, Turner has a positive mindset for this upcoming semester. He said that he expects the schedule change to affect profits in a positive way.

“I think we’re going to do more business,” he said. “We’ll hopefully see more classes that don’t usually come in because of the new block schedule.”

According to Turner, the profits made from the Hatters’ Cafe are rolled back over into the program to pay bills for the materials and food that students at the beginning of the year practice with.

Turner has constructed a program that fosters passion and teaches students skills for the real world. It provides students an opportunity to pursue their passions.

“Mr. Turner does an amazing job preparing his students and shows with the quality of the food and the rave reviews they get. The Danbury High School community is extremely lucky to have such a great program and restaurant here on campus,” said Justin Morgan, a Career Technical Education teacher and a frequent customer of the Hatters’ Cafe.

The Danbury Hatters dominated the competition at the FCIAC Cheerleading Championship earlier this month.

With a first-place sweep for both their varsity and junior varsity teams, and a three-peat FCIAC Grand Champion title, each member of the team swelled with pride.

Joann Tatarzycki, varsity cheerleading coach, was nearly at a loss for words. “I was just thrilled,” she said after the Feb. 2 title win.

The varsity squad had prepared for this particular championship for months. “We had a couple of minor competitions, but our main focus was the FCIAC,” said Tatarzycki.

Viktoria Wulff-Andersen
Cheerleading coach Joann Tatarzycki works with her FCIAC-winning squad at a recent practice. She has been named FCIAC Coach of the Year.

Varsity co-captain and sophomore Avery Marquis noted the amount of effort that went into the preparation for the FCIAC, saying, “We started practice in June. Since then, we’ve had practice every day since the beginning of the school year – each time putting more and more hard work in.”

Before the FCIAC, the team experienced a bit of a loss, coming in second place at the Seymour competition and fourth place at Fairfield University. However, the team entered the FCIAC with confidence, seeking to uphold their title for the third year in a row.

“We were nervous because there was a lot of good competition there, but we were also confident as a team. I knew we would all come together in the end,” said varsity co-captain Jasmine Stone, junior.

That confidence translated into energetic performances by both the varsity and the junior varsity teams. “Those girls were dynamite on stage,” said junior varsity coach Joyce Robbins, “They pulled it together and hit all of their stunts with spirit.”

With this energy instilled in their performances, both teams ended up winning first place. The Hatters also won the Grand Champion award, with just an edge above the tight competition, having a .3 point difference between Staples in second at 87.8 and their score, ranking at 88.1.

“In that moment, we all screamed,” said freshman Abby Hamilton, a varsity cheerleader. “We were all proud of both of our teams. We worked so hard together and it paid off.”

Athletics Director Chip Salvestrini was equally proud of the cheerleading teams. “I was very happy because I know the kids and the coach work diligently year-round,” he said. When asked about the secret to the team’s success, Salvestrini revealed that “They have great coaches.”

In fact, Tatarzycki was named the FCIAC Coach of the Year for 2019. The team she put together and the confidence she values for her team is what makes the team a success.

Viktoria Wulff-Andersen
Members of this year’s winning cheerleading team practice their routines.

“They are one of our best teams. They’re passionate and want to uphold the team’s successful tradition. They may be young, but they want to make this team better,” Salvestrini said.

The two passionate squads still have the remainder of their season to go. “We’ve got a couple more competitions to go to, and then we are preparing to cheer at the basketball playoffs,” said Robbins on the remainder of the junior varsity season.

For varsity, the stakes are continuing to be raised. “We’re most looking forward to is the state competition. Our goal is to make our routines more and more challenging to be prepared for states,” said Tatarzycki.

The girls have been taking off-site tumbling lessons, conditioning after school, and engaging in continuous practice to build a strong routine for states.

“We all know our next big competition is states,” said Marquis. “I see a lot of potential for this team because we all work hard together, which makes a team win. We’re a really talented team, and if we come off of the FCIAC win stronger, I think we can rank really high at states.”

Though the teams may be cheerleaders for DHS, Tatarzycki is their biggest cheerleader. “I couldn’t be prouder of these girls. Truly, they inspire me. We all should learn to strive to persevere with the same spirit, passion, and drive as they do,” she concluded.

From left to right – Liam Jakobson, Kyle Fields, and Angelyna Custodio – working the school store on a Monday afternoon.

From school supplies, to mugs, snacks and drawstring bags, the school store has much to offer for students.

Between 7:20 am and 2 pm, 2-5 marketing students and YPPs alike operate the school store under the supervision of business teacher, Carmela Calafiore. All profits from the store fund materials needed by the students for Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) competitions.

“The money that we raise [from the school store] will help pay for the presentation boards, transportation; it pays part of their registration fees,” Calafiore explains, and then profits “recycle back into the store for the merchandise and stock.”

Alongside the fashion marketing class, general marketing students work on research projects over the course of the year to compete at various levels.

Calafiore is certain our DECA program will attend a national competition this year. “I’m hoping that [our profits] will pay for almost half of their way, and then we raise the rest of the money so they can go for little or no cost,” she explained.

More recently, the school store has also established itself online. The website is managed by BSN, “The same company that runs all of the team sports online stores. You can order from your team’s sport when your coach says go online and order; it’s that same company,” said Calafiore.

While the in-school store carries a more generic line of clothing along with a variety of snacks, happy birthday balloons, and stuffed animals, customizable merchandise is available for purchase online at sideline.bsnsports.com

Senior Lauren Gherna, committed to South Carolina for marketing and finance, says “Working with Ms. Cal this year in the school store has really fueled my ambition to go into the world of business in the future.”

“I’ve learned really valuable lessons about management, customer service and how business is consistently changing, therefore the store must change as well.” said Gherna.

The marketing program offers the opportunity for anyone interested in business or sales to work in real-world conditions. It can help students embark on a career in the field of business by providing beneficial life experience as well as worthwhile knowledge.

The store is a perfect place for students to grab a quick pick-me-up before going back to class.

“Overall the school store serves the students pretty well,” says senior Lucio Bellantoni, frequent customer. “I come in, I take a peek at the chips to make sure they got the purple ones. Sometimes I get the orange juice, sometimes I look at those cereal bars—those are pretty good in the morning.”

Senior Liam Jakobson said his time spent working in the school store has been valuable. “It’s been great, a lot of different kids are involved with it” added Jakobson.

Various items for sale at the store – including drawstring bags, t-shirts and windbreakers.

Several weeks ago, a pipe burst in between C3 and C4, causing major flooding on both floors. The city, administration, and staff were quick to jump on the issue, vacuuming the excess water, replacing ceiling tiles, issuing a 3-hour delay the day after, closing both floors and sending students to the auditorium.

The problem began in a small room in the ceiling connected to the chemical room in C-Building, where the heating was not working properly. “The thermometer in the chemical room wasn’t calling for heat, and up in the ceiling where there’s no heater, and the pipe is right next to the windows and cinder block, it just got cold.” Principal Dan Donovan explained.

C4 was opened two days after the pipe burst, and a number of days later, the majority of classrooms on C3 were ready to be taught in again. One room remained closed: C334, a computer lab used by Diane Mohs to instruct her computer science students, including A.P. courses. Donovan said all in all, damages could exceed $300,000.

“I am trying to recreate curriculum for four classes. I am working as fast as I can to test the new technology that tech services has asked me to test,” said Mohs. It is understood that 100 percent of the computers in her room were lost.

Regarding the extent of the ability of the damaged computers, “they’re working but extremely slowly, and only about half the room is operable at this point,” she explained.

Donovan recognized this problem, saying, “Although some are working right now, we have no idea what’s going to happen with them in a month. Slowly but surely they may start popping off and so it’s just better to replace them all.”

Jake Goodwin
The top photo was taken of room C334 on Jan. 23, a day after a pipe in between C3 and C4 burst. The bottom photo was taken Feb. 14, after a majority of the ceiling damage had been repaired.

Donovan has ordered a new set of laptops, not Chromebooks, for Mohs’ class. “We’ve ordered one computer, and talked to Ms. Mohs as well as the other business teachers and asked what programs were needed. The laptop was loaded with everything, and shipped to a company that will clone that laptop, and the 90 we’re getting should arrive in about 2-3 weeks,” Donovan said.

In the meantime, Mohs and her students have been using old-fashioned pencil and paper to continue lessons. “No computers makes teaching computer science very difficult. We’re without a teaching tool,” she said.

Mohs continued to say, “Using code on paper is not difficult, the only difference is students can’t test their work to see if it’s correct or not.”

Senior Erin Smith, one of her A.P. students, didn’t mind. “That’s how the A.P. exam is anyway,” she said.

Mohs’ students were put in the auditorium, then in another computer lab the day after, but couldn’t use the computers as they did not have the software required. Smith, satisfied with how the administration handled the issue said, “We got back in here pretty quickly. I think most of the computers are working, and I know they’re working to fix the ones that still have issues.”

Another student, Jerfrey Martinez, also a senior in A.P. Computer Science class, reported everything as “all good.” Despite the hurdles, his learning has not been stifled. “I still know most of what’s going to be covered. I’m not concerned for the A.P. test, or my grade for that matter,” he said.

Another area for concern is the workroom in C3. Inside resided multitudes of textbooks and supplies. “With the amount of textbooks lost, a lot of research has to go in to see how much this textbook cost, and this one, and this one,” Donovan said.

He continued to say: “A lot of things no one would think of were lost. Lots of materials, decorations, and billboard stuff. Ms. [Carmela] Calafiore kept her DECO project boards in there, and those are expensive. The money adds up, especially with the copier that got drenched, although that was exchanged.”

English teacher and yearbook advisor Tom Porcelli also lost several iMacs that will be replaced. Donovan added that there were a couple other desktops that were lost as well. Although, production of the yearbook has continued to run smoothly, despite losses.

While the pipe-burst caused many problems with technology, it also disturbed the ceiling, and hundreds of tiles had to be replaced. “We ordered all the ceiling tiles the distributors had, but we lost so many that they didn’t have enough,” Donovan said. He estimates that the ceiling situation will be fully taken care of by the end of the month.

The floor tiles damaged by the pipe burst are another issue that has remained stagnant. The rug on C3 is simply a stopgap to prevent asbestos from possibly wafting into the air, and it was extended further down the hall just recently, as more tiles began to peel upwards.

“With asbestos tile there is only a problem if it gets ground up, and no one’s going to grind a tile, but if they start to pop and they’re stepped on, you see where that’s a problem,” Donovan said. Come the summer, all the tiles on C3 and C4 will be torn up and replaced. Anyone under 18 cannot be in the building when that happens.

As a result, summer school, which is normally held in the building, won’t be taking place at DHS but at Broadview Middle School. C-Wing will be boxed off and taped off, and students will not be allowed inside.

Donovan wanted to be sure he expressed his gratitude for everyone that assisted in the fast correction of these issues. “It began as a notification from the teachers. The safety advocates were past their work day and still ran to help get stuff and save electronics,” he began.

“Admin helped to figure out what we were going to do the day after the three-hour delay. Teachers had to come early to see what they had to do. The city was responsive and very quick in aiding the school. The JP Maguire crew arrived within hours and stayed late,” he continued.

“The city supplied us with everything we needed as far as the clean up and access to all their machines. Our own custodians were there right away, once we figured out how to shut off and drain the water,” he said, adding that Superintendent Sal Pascarella and Finance Director Joe Martino have been instrumental in helping get the wing up and running.

Donovan finished by saying: “All in all, I’m grateful for everyone that assisted in the fixing of the situation, as it couldn’t have been done without them.”

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Water damage, repair costs range from $250K to $300K

      The DHS wrestling team has been known for phenomenal and well rounded athletes. With countless FCIAC title wins and top placeholders in weight classes, it’s no secret that the Danbury wrestling team is a successful bunch.

      Just last weekend the Danbury team won the state Class LL wrestling title for the 19th time in 23 years. It also captured the FCIACs. These athletes strive for greatness, so much so that multiple wrestlers have decided to continue their path of this combat sport to the next level.

      That’s at North Carolina State University and its top Division I wrestling program, which has recruited three Hatters over the past few years.  According to the NCAA Division I college wrestling rankings, the Wolfpack is currently one of the top 10 schools in the nation for wrestling. It is no surprise that three successful DHS wrestlers chose to commit and pursue their wrestling careers at this level.

      The first to make his way south was 2014 graduate Kevin Jack. At NC State, Jack competed in the 141-weight class and accomplish much in his career there, including his freshman year.  

Courtesy of NC State Wrestling
Kevin Jack pictured wrestling for NC State

    Jack earned All-American honors at 141 pounds, he was named the No.2 rookie nationally at 141 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News, and set a NC State record for most wins by a freshman. By his senior year he was ranked seventh in NC State history with 92 career wins.

      Following Jack was 2018 graduate Jakob Camacho. On the DHS wrestling team, he was the Connecticut state open champ three times, he became the first high school wrestler from Connecticut to win a national championship since 2003 (and is the first public school student to accomplish the feat), and is ranked No. 10 at 126 pounds by TheOpenMat.

      Both of these athletes have shown tremendous athletic abilities that make the DHS wrestling team proud. Not only has Jack and Camacho trained hard to be where they are at now, but it sets an example for the DHS wrestling team as well.

      One individual who has shown incredible tenacity on the team that will be following in the footsteps of these fellow athletes towards NC State is Ryan Jack, Kevin’s younger brother. Considering that there has been three commitments to the NC State wrestling team the question to be asked is: Is the DHS wrestling team a pipeline for NC State wrestling?

      Hatter coach Richard Shook, and Wolfpack coach Patrick Popolizio, expresses their opinions on the recruiting process.

Courtesy of NC State Wrestling
Jakob Camacho is welcomed on the NC state wrestling team fall of 2018

    “I would not classify our program as a pipeline, but a great relationship with the coaches down there,” Shook explains. “They have taken good care of the guys we have sent there and we have been lucky to have Division 1 caliber guys that can compete for them and get great education at the same time.”

      Popolizio adds, “Kids always want to follow other successful athletes that come from their area, and I think Kevin Jack set the tone for guys like Jakob Camacho to follow his footsteps.”

      Even though Ryan Jack is a junior, he has already committed to attend NC State. Last weekend, Ryan won his third consecutive Class LL championship for his weight class. Jack won 106 pounds as a freshman, 120 pounds this winter, and the 126-pound title last weekend. He is unbeaten this winter at 32-0. Jack is excited to be joining NC State and has giant goals for his junior year.

      “My goal this year is to just do the best that I can in every event and to improve my skills as well as help the other kids around me and keep building up our team,” Jack says. “The atmosphere and coaches at NC State are exactly what I am looking for, and I’m very excited to become an official part of the Wolfpack.”

Three members of the DHS National Art Honor Society received recognition for their artwork in the prestigious national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

Viviana Campoverde, senior, won a Gold Key for her digital art piece “Flower Child,” Madison Read, senior, won a Gold Key for her comic art piece “Waking Up,” and Anna Spaulding, junior, won a Silver Key for her digital art piece “Chimera Karaoke.”

“I’m always very proud when DHS students are recognized by Scholastic. It is highly selective and being acknowledged with an award means that the students are the most skilled and talented in the state and country,” said Dr. Michael Obre, head of the Art Department.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards has two rounds. In the first round, the artists submit their pieces to the Connecticut Art Region for a chance to be awarded a Gold Key, Silver Key, or an Honorable Mention.

A Gold Key is awarded to pieces according to the organization that “are the very best works submitted.” A Silver Key is awarded to pieces that “demonstrate exceptional ability.” An Honorable Mention is awarded to pieces that “show great skill and potential.”

Winners of all levels, families, and their art teachers from the Connecticut Art Region were invited to the Connecticut Regional Awards Celebration in the Lincoln Theater at University of Hartford on Jan. 27 to celebrate their achievement. Their artwork was also put on display at the Silpe Gallery at University of Hartford  through Feb. 1.

This year Hartford Art School awarded anyone with a Gold Key a $20,000 per year scholarship that is renewable all four years.

In the second round, Gold Key pieces are then considered for national awards by a committee of more than 100 people. The Gold Medal pieces are awarded for “the most outstanding works in the nation.” The Silver Medal pieces are awarded for “works demonstrating high honors on the national level.”

Gold and Silver Medal recipients have their work showcased at two locations in New York City: Pratt Institute’s Pratt Manhattan Gallery, and at Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at The New School.

To submit artwork, competitors must have a teacher sponsor their work. Art teacher Kymberly Noone sponsored Read and Spaulding’s winning artwork while colleague Kerri Swenson sponsored Campoverde’s winning artwork. Noone and Swenson also attended the ceremony where the competitors were recognized.

Campoverde’s digital art piece “Flower Child” was inspired by Swenson. “She assigned the project as an extra credit assignment in Introduction to Digital Arts. I turned it in and she encouraged me to keep working on it and submit it,” Campoverde said.

Swenson, who has taught Campoverde in Introduction to Digital Arts and had her as a YPP in the same class a year later, admired the piece.

“It’s amazing the way she was able to capture the light falling on the child’s face. She is persistent and she doesn’t give up in her artwork. When she can’t do something she practices it over and over again until she masters it. She also sees differently. From the beginning she could see the higher level concepts in art,” Swenson said.

Campoverde began art when she was 11 or 12. She enjoyed it so much she never noticed when it started becoming serious. She was featured in the Brookfield Art Show last year and will be featured again this year.

She plans to continue art in the future. Next year, she will be attending either Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Mass., or Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston. At the moment, she plans to study art education.

Read’s comic art piece “Waking Up” was inspired by a story she has been working on for several years. “I wanted to make a visual representation of the story. I captured the scene where the girl is waking up from an unusual dream,” Read said.

Noone, who has taught Read in Studio Art 2, Studio Art 3, and AP Studio Art, admired Read’s piece. “It’s comic art so it has a whole story being told within three panels. As much as I can teach them, they can teach me. I appreciate how she’s taken many concepts we have learned in class and apply them to her own artwork. She’s extremely creative and is always coming up with new ideas,” Noone said.

Read started creating art before high school. In middle school, she taught herself several concepts in art. In the past her artwork has been featured in several galleries and shows including the Brookfield Art Show.

Read also plans to continue art in the future. Next year, she will be attending Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She is deciding between studying illustration, cartooning, and animation.

Spaulding’s digital art piece “Chimera Karaoke” was inspired by her love of digital art. “I love digital art because it is something I can do anywhere. Digital Art allows me to get my ideas down quickly.”

Noone, who has taught Spaulding for three years and will teach her again next year, admired her piece. “I really liked the creativity and digital art aspects behind it. She has pushed the boundaries of something that is not taught in the classroom.”

Spaulding has been creating art for as long as she can remember. In the past her artwork has been featured in The Danbury Celebration of Arts.

Spaulding is taking AP Studio Art again next year. This is a class that is allowed to be repeated as long as students come up with a new idea for a portfolio. In the future Spaulding hopes to an illustrator.

Overall, getting honored for these awards is an experience they’ll never forget. “It was so cool at the ceremony to see their art on display. It was an unforgettable moment for the artists,” Swenson said.

Editor’s note: ESL teacher Soraya Bilbao wrote this piece while she was serving in the Peace Corps in Tonga. A version was previously was published in Hersam Acorn Newspapers. Educator’s Corner is guest column space for faculty and staff. Email rossth@danbury.k12.ct.us if interested.

Man’s best friend. Ask anyone in the United States and they’ll tell you that this statement refers to none other than one’s own loyal family member, the dog. Lassie. Benji. Old Yeller. Regardless of their name, these furry little creatures elicit warm fuzzy feelings and have won a special place in our hearts and homes. So much so that if a dog were to scamper up to us at some park, we would instinctively bend down to pet it, all the while proclaiming in that high-pitched voice we tend to reserve for anyone under two years of age, “Come here, boy! Come on! Oh, you’re such a good little doggy! Oh, yes you are!”

Ah, the good ol’ days.

There is a scene in the movie The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy looks at her cute little pooch and exclaims, “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” and I couldn’t agree with her more. Wake up and smell the Frangipani, a deliciously sweet smelling flower common in the South Pacific. This is Tonga, where dogs are anything but cute.

Soraya Bilbao

As part of Peace Corps pre-service training, before one is sworn-in as a volunteer, trainees receive language, culture, health, and safety training. One of the topics that my training group (Group 68) and I were scheduled to discuss was dogs. The fact that we were scheduled to talk about them didn’t faze me since I’m always up for learning about animals. What surprised me was the fact that it was slotted as part of safety training. Unfortunately, as I would later find out, rightly so.

From a purely observational standpoint, there doesn’t seem to be any sort of leash law or registration requirements for owning dogs in Tonga. If there does happen to be one on the books, then based on the number of people I know who have had the misfortune of having been involved in some sort of dog attack, enforcement has some catching up to do.

During my first two years of service, volunteers reported numerous attacks to the Peace Corps office. The informal count of near misses, which are usually recounted as larger-than-life tales, is exponentially greater.

Forget pigs-in-a-blanket, a popular appetizer in the United States consisting of small hot dogs wrapped in baked pastry shells; volunteers-on-wheels (bicycles) seem to be the preferred hors d’oeuvre among these mutts.

Back at training, once the dire statistics and the realities of living among packs of free-range dogs were presented. “No, if a dog runs up to you, you may not bend down to pet it,” we were instructed in the ways of some high-tech, self-defense techniques. These involved the acquisition of some good-sized rocks, usually found on the side of any road, and if you were lucky, the possession of a good throwing arm. Thin long whipping branches would do just as well, but this would undoubtedly require invading Cujo’s personal space, something which I hoped to avoid during my time in Tonga.

If neither of these accessories were at hand, then volunteers were encouraged to tap into their creative right brains and engage in some impromptu pantomime. The idea here was to go through the motion as if we were bending down to pick up some hefty rock and then go through the motion as if we were about to throw it at the already agitated canine.

This technique, other volunteers assured us, worked pretty well in deterring dogs. However, it in no way guaranteed that they would follow suit and just go through the motions as if it were gnawing at one of our extremities without actually doing so. Therefore, at a minimum, if bought us a few seconds to… eh… well… just bought us a few seconds, I guess.

At first, many of us were taken aback to hear of such extreme measures against dogs. Having been a happy dog owner and a fan of Animal Cops, I couldn’t imagine participating in such exercises. However, after several instances of doggies stalking and chasing after me — I’d like to believe due to some honest inadvertent mistake in which I was confused for some squeaky chew toy — the question is no longer, “To throw or not to throw?” but rather, “Aren’t there bigger rocks on this road?!“

GraphicMaps.com
The kingdom of Tonga.

Necessity is the mother of invention and I’ve devised a deterrent technique of my very own (patent pending). If a dog charges at me, I no longer waste precious seconds looking for sticks and stones. These may break some doggy bones, but the handful of twigs and pebbles that usually result from my spur-of-the-moment road explorations won’t hurt them.

Instead, I plan ahead and carry my own arsenal bag fully loaded with whatever food I packed for lunch that morning. This way, when a dog gets a little too close for comfort, I simply reach in and throw a good-sized chunk of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the hopes of redirecting its attention, giving me an opportunity to speed-walk my way out of a compromising situation.

Disclaimer: If you are inclined to employ this technique, be sure to pack your lunch bag with things that dogs might actually want to eat. I found that pieces of stale bread just bounce off their heads and fall unnoticed to the ground. Oh, and you may get a little hungry at lunch, so bring extra Pa’anga (Tonga’s currency).

I’ve spent many an hour in deep thought and contemplation, which has resulted in the formulation of a ground-breaking hypothesis. Simply stated, it asserts that dogs are nocturnal creatures.

Based on my ongoing personal encounters with Tongan dogs, it seems that the darn things don’t sleep at night. Instead, like street gangs, they congregate ad loiter around the street corners of dark, always dark I’ve noticed, pathways and wait to ambush some poor unsuspecting soul who realized too late that she was out of milk and thought it would be a swell idea to take a short walk to the falekoloa –– the Tongan word for a “goods store,” just two blocks over.

As if this wasn’t enough, A Peace Corps volunteer, who was nearing the end of his two-year service, shared with me that from his own personal experience: the dogs that bite are the ones that don’t bark or make a sound. Great, just great. Dealing with dog gangs in dark streets is one thing, but ninja dogs? Come on people, throw me a bone!

His logic actually makes perfect sense. A barking dog is too busy warning you that you are trespassing on his territory, which usually involves the one stretch of public road you need to get through to reach your destination, whereas a dog on stealth mode may already have your sandal in its mouth, therefore, couldn’t possibly be expected to bark with its mouth full. That would be like so impolite.

Life has taught me to go with the flow and appreciate what I have. Rest assured that I”ll be most appreciative when I have a couple of large rocks stored in my backpack for my walk back home this afternoon.

Girls’ basketball coach Jackie DiNardo earned her 500th win this season, another crowning achievement in a long list of coaching accolades. The winning game against Bridgeport Central High School on Feb. 5 ended with a score of 87-34 in front of a cheering Hatter crowd.

DiNardo is now among an elite group of girls’ basketball coaches in the state to have hit this career mark. She is the second female coach among the state’s high school girls’ basketball coaches to have 500 career wins under her belt, aside from North Bradford’s Chris Webster, and has an impressive overall record of 503 wins and 283 losses.

Previously, she has been inducted into the University of Texas Hall of Fame, Azle High School Hall of Fame, Connecticut Hall of Fame, and FCIAC Hall of Fame, as well as been honored as the Connecticut Coach of the Year and a National Coach of the Year Finalist. In addition, DiNardo can proudly say that “making the United State National team in 1979” is another one of her greatest accomplishments within her basketball career.

After graduating from the University of Texas in 1981 and being employed by Baylor University as head volleyball coach and assistant basketball coach, DiNardo made the move to Connecticut. DiNardo then began her high school coaching career in 1983 in North Salem, N.Y.. DiNardo was then hired in 1987 by Danbury, where she has continued her coaching career at what she calls “the greatest high school in the state of Connecticut.”

DiNardo, principal at REACH, does not plan on retiring anytime soon, even after coaching for 36 years in Connecticut, 32 of those right here. DiNardo says that she has hopes for the younger girls starting out in the game, and is confident that they will carry on another successful four years at least. The coach plans to continue coaching “as long as [her] passion is a part of the game.”

Athletics Director Chip Salvestrini has been greatly impressed by DiNardo’s accomplishments, and said that to have a 500th win, especially in basketball, “is an unbelievable accomplishment.”

“Coach DiNardo’s teams are not only motivated to compete fairly and at a consistently high level, but her teams are also motivated to be the best they can be as individual players, as good students and as good people,” said Salvestrini.

One of DiNardo’s players, sophomore Tianna Rogers, said that “being a part of Jackie’s 500th win was really special and [the team] has worked so hard to get her those 500 wins.”

Teammate Julianne Gaudio, sophomore, was shocked and overjoyed by the 500th win as well. “She deserves these 500 wins for all of the hardwork and dedication she’s put into her coaching,” she said.

Senior and small forward Ty’Lynn Ith is happy that she “was able to contribute to [DiNardo’s] career” and “make so many memories during this season.” Ith is appreciative of the fact that she will forever be able to say that she played a part in her coach’s 500th win because “growing up, [she] never thought [she] would’ve been the one to help reach such an amazing accomplishment.”

One thing that this win shows about DiNardo’s program is that her team “executes well, is always on the lookout for improvement, and keeps an eye out for one another,” shared Ith.

The team, which went on a 11-game winning streak at one point this winter, finished the regular season 15-5 overall, 13-3 in the FCIAC West Division. The Lady Hatters made it to the FCIAC tournament semifinals before falling to eventual champion Norwalk. Meanwhile, it clinched a playoff berth in the states.

For DiNardo, her 500th victory means she has made a significant impact on many young girls and visa versa. The coach is thankful for being able to be a part of so many girls’ lives and it means the world to her seeing “young women who work so hard, [become] successful adults.”

DiNardo was overjoyed when she heard from people from all over to congratulate her on the milestone. “It was amazing to hear from so many past, present, and future athletes,” the coach said.  

Typically, however, DiNardo does not want to take full credit for attaining the milestone.

“It took several teams to participate and successfully accomplish the wins for one coach to achieve this goal, and [everyone who has helped] deserves the credit,” she said.

As the CoDA festival approaches, National Art Honor Society students are coming closer to debuting the six 48-inch by 60-inch canvases they have been working on to decorate the Freshman Academy, quickly becoming known as G building.

As an alternative to painting murals on the walls of the school — which has been prohibited by the city — Principal Dan Donovan proposed the idea of students painting on canvases that would be hung on the walls of the G building, giving it a “professional appearance,” according to Kymberly Noone, art teacher and NAHS advisor.

Donovan introduced the idea of creating canvases to Michael Obre and Noone, both art teachers and NAHS advisors, after watching a video Obre made for a student for senior awards last June. Donovan said, “Last spring I was walking the building and felt it just needed some color. I thought about getting some printed materials and then I was at the senior awards assembly and saw some of the work they produced and thought they were terrific.”

Noone said that after the assembly, Donovan told the art teachers that he “thought it would be good to have some ‘homegrown’ talent displayed” in the G building.

When the school year started, Noone introduced the project to students in NAHS. In the following NAHS meetings, they brought ideas to the drawing board and voted for the ideas that would fill the six canvases, with materials sponsored by the school.

After the votes were in, ideas from juniors Anastasia Herzegovitch and Sophia Robles, and seniors Elizabeth Mcbrian, Harrison Partenio, Lucas Amaral, and Madison Read, were chosen and they became the lead artists on the project. Ideas feature serene landscapes, a gorilla, a giraffe, and a face sectioned off into parts to represent different identities.

Students began to work on their paintings after school on Wednesdays until four o’clock. Along with Wednesdays, Noone said, “I open my FLEX for up to 40 students on Thursdays so they can work during school time.”

Noone said that the lead artists work to organize the piece and “everyone else works as interns. That way, everyone gets to be involved.” By helping the lead artists with their work, NAHS members complete their requirement of 20 hours of community service.

Overall, this project has offered invaluable experiences to both the leaders of the projects and the student interns involved. Lead artist Read said, “The project is teaching me how to lead. Other students aren’t as good at painting or techniques, so I help them develop skills.”

In her painting, Read took a more nature based and serene stance, hoping that it would be calming to the students walking by it. She said, “I felt like a lot of other people were basing them off of subjects. The idea behind mine was a serene scene with cool colors, so it would be soothing and more mystifying.”

Contrasting with Read’s soothing landscape, Partenio proposed the pop art painting of a giraffe. With a simple and plain blue background, the giraffe would attract viewer’s eyes with ease.

Partenio wanted to start a painting that could be all inclusive, and realized that the pop art giraffe would be the right choice. “It’s more simple and everyone can work on it as a team,” he said.

Like Read, Partenio said he was “trying a nature appeal to the school to brighten people’s day.” Partenio said that he believes this project will “brighten the moods of students” by acting as an “escape during the day.”

Lead artist Herzegovitch’s process with developing her idea was similar to Partenio’s, as she didn’t want to conform to just one style of art and one medium. “Everyone was doing paintings, so I thought I would do a collage,” she said. She is leading a collage of a gorilla.

Herzegovitch is nearing the completion of her piece. In her process, she led students, helping them develop their skills and learning from the experience herself. “It was a lot of fun,” she said, “They’re all good artists and they had a good understanding of how I wanted to go about this.”

In the upcoming months, NAHS will be finishing the canvases for their debut at the CoDA festival in May, and Noone hopes they will be able to prop the paintings on large easels outside in the courtyard for viewing. After the festival, they plan to hang them in the G building, and Donovan said he will have Freshman Academy Assistant Principal Kris Davidson choose the locations they will hang.

In the G building, Donovan sees the canvases serving several purposes. “First, it will bring some color to the hallways.  I have not seen the finished products, but of what I have seen they are really cool. Secondly, it will display how talented our students at DHS are,” Donovan said.

Like Donovan, teachers in the G building are also anticipating the debut of the canvases. Ann Tucci, history teacher who was a NAHS member when she was in high school, is “thrilled to see this type of work going on around the building.”

She said, “even for those that don’t necessarily have artistic talent, [they] can surely be admirers of art. I’m a firm believer that artistic expression, whether created or admired, is fundamental to our humanity, culture, and community.”

Overall, Noone and the students said they are excited to finish their artwork, but Noone concluded that “It’s not about the product — it’s the process. No matter how much technology advances, art will always attract students.”

Beginning in January, the English Department has made it a requirement for all English teachers — including Honors and AP —  to incorporate Khan Academy within their lesson plans for the purpose of assisting students.

Khan Academy is a non-profit homework help site founded and run by Salman Khan, with an aim of creating a set of online tools that ultimately help students learn. It’s attractive to districts because it’s free. The Chromebooks issued to the department were won through a grant, which requires that teachers use Khan in the classroom.

English Department head Nicole Martone said the primary focus of its use in the classroom is to “ensure that the students are career and college ready.”

Students are made aware of their strengths and weaknesses through their uploaded SAT scores that display their current skill levels in each subject. It enables them to practice in different areas that they wish to improve.

Martone added, “Our students come to us with various skills levels and so these programs allow them to get more personalized instruction that targets their specific needs.”

Not only does it generate questions that focus on challenging each individual student, but it also allows students to track their skill levels in each area to see how much improvement transpired.

Olivia Demoura, junior in English 3, elaborated on this: “I think that is my favorite part about it; I like being able to visually see where I need work and then instantly being able to practice it.”

She said that her scores on subject-verb agreement were low, but was quickly able to review and raise her performance by working on the practice problems.

She continued, “It makes me feel good when I can see that I am improving. After a while, the skill becomes more natural so I know that I’m ready for those types of questions.”

Her classmate Brianna Luis, also a junior, added “For me, this extra help is extremely useful, specifically because I want to do well on the SAT.”

Underclassmen interviewed said they see the value in the resource and the class time used for it, as it better prepares them for upcoming standardized tests. Many also expressed that succeeding in the SATs and ACTs is important to them as it helps determine their pick of colleges and scholarships.

In 2017, Khan Academy and the College Board analyzed the gains of the program and found that 20 hours of practice is associated with a 115-point average score increase from the PSAT to the SAT — nearly double the average gain of students who do not practice on Official SAT Practice with Khan Academy.

Martone continued, “It provides the time for students to work on Khan Academy, which essentially creates an additional opportunity to ensure students have the skills they need to be successful in school and in life.”

Senior Frankie Strazza, agrees that it’s helpful even though he’s done with college entrance exams.  “I think that Khan Academy is pretty helpful, even though most of us have already taken the SAT. It still provides grammar help that will be important for college and for future writing.”

Another senior, Sara Green, however, has a different view. “Honestly, I feel like it is a waste of time, there’s no need to work on this kind of material anymore. I already completed everything now, so why disrupt class time?”

Senior Tim Henry is also not a fan. “I feel like teachers are forcing us to use and connect this program to the curriculum. Also, I think it detracts a social aspect between the teacher and student, as they don’t fully teach a lesson anymore, they just assign one on Khan as a substitute.”

Many seniors may find the requirement not as useful at this point in their high school career compared to those who are still preparing for the tests. Some said they had found the Membean vocabulary program in class more useful than the required Khan.

However, Martone said its purpose is beyond improving test scores. “Teachers can also monitor how students are progressing in their teacher dashboard and adjust instruction according.”

Additionally, she explained how seniors can further benefit with this resource despite already completing the SAT.

“Reading practice can only help them more aptly read rigorous and complex college level texts.  And the Writing and Language practice can only help them become more sophisticated writers.”

Khan Academy is also a resource for math, and some studies and articles on Khan’s effectiveness show it’s better suited for helping in that subject than in English. But Martone said that research also shows that it is beneficial for English practice.

She continued, “There are 28 Reading and Writing and Language skills that can be practiced in the SAT Suite. Although I cannot speak on behalf of the math department, I do know that they are not required to 30 minutes a week at this time but may in the future.”

English teacher Juliane Armentano, who teaches AP Literature and Composition,  and the Read 180 program for freshmen, is torn about the new requirement.

“I worry that the time spent on a computer could be perceived as ‘teaching to the test.’ So I wonder how parents feel about that … It is taking away 30 minutes a week of class time from discussion or analytical thinking, but some students really like the practice.”

English teacher Alexandrea Plante added: “I just wish the program was better designed for me to help students as opposed to having them help themselves.”

She said that it would be more useful if Khan were to give teachers an opportunity to offer students even more support.

Plante, like many English teachers, has created a series of stations that would implement time for Khan Academy in addition to the content of the class. The administration argues use of small stations is a more efficient and effective approach.

“The move to a block schedule has allowed more time for teachers to provide small group, targeted instruction on skill refinement,” Martone said. “What this means is that teachers have more opportunities, within the parameters of the curriculum, to provide students with personalized learning opportunities.  They also have more opportunities to confer with students and provide meaningful, relevant feedback about their progress.”

Ben Nneji figured his father — isolated in his home Biafra territory now overtaken by Nigerian forces — had to be in desperate need of food, and he had to do something about it.

It was during the Nigerian-Biafran Civil War, which broke out in 1967 when Nneji was just 15. When the war ended in victory for the Nigerian side in 1970, it was estimated in an American University study that 500,000 to 2 million civilians in Biafra had been starved to death.

Photographs of the suffering published in Western media at the time sparked outrage as the civilian deaths during the war outnumbered military casualties.

“Upon hearing some men were planning to smuggle supplies to their relatives within the starving Biafra, I asked to join to take much needed supplies to my Dad, who was in Biafra and I suspected was starving,” Nneji recalled. As the group of 15 men attempted to cross “no-man’s land” from Nigeria into Biafra, enemy troops opened fire on them.

Nneji recently recounted the harrowing story to one of Greg Euchner’s Eng. II classes as it studied a unit on African and Middle Eastern literature. Nneji, of Ridgefield, is writing a book — tentatively titled Blue Elephant Secrets to Forgiveness — that he describes as a combination of memoir and self-help.

As he explained to the students and later in an email interview, the book is a chance for him to examine the idea of the healing powers of forgiveness following the horrors he and his family faced in the war and its aftermath.

“The traumatic experience of being shot at created so much anguish and pain in me that I had to let go because the pain was unbearable and I did not want to keep holding on to it,” said Nneji, who holds a doctorate in industrial engineering and runs a consulting firm, SigmaWorks Group.

In the book, he said, “I write about my struggle to let go my hurt, my disillusionment with God and humanity and how over time my pains dissolved one after the other.

“Later in life I discovered that the experiences that helped me dissolve those pains were useful in dissolving many other emotional pains,” Nneji continues. “The book shares the techniques I found useful for letting go of emotional pain.”

In the end, he said hopes readers of his book will find these techniques useful in their  struggles to let go emotional pains.”

Euchner, whose father knows Nneji and helped arrange the DHS visit, has had his students read powerful African short stories such as Chinua Achebe’s “Civil Peace” — also about the civil war in Nigeria — and Nadine Gordimer’s “The Moment Before the Gun Went Off.”

“It’s one thing to read about automatic weapons fire and the threat of death,” Euchner said, “and it’s another thing to be in the same room as someone who not only survived it but found a way to grow stronger from it. I wanted my students to get a taste of that and not just be reading it.”

Sophomore Rosemary Redrovan said listening to Nneji’s story helped with just that perspective.

“I was surprised at the different things I didn’t know while reading the story initially,” Redrovan said. “Reading an article is different from learning about the person and what in their life inspired them to write. I learned a lot about his life and how it influenced who he was today, as well as his writing.”

Nneji, who has a warm and welcoming presence, also told the students of the culture shock of moving from the tropical city of Lagos to the temperate Northeastern U.S. It was 1981 and he was 29 when his plane landed at blustery LaGuardia in New York.

“Experiencing a cold and windy 18 degrees Fahrenheit, was the real deal,” he said. “I was not dressed properly for it and thank God my sister, who was in Boston College then, asked me to stay in the terminal and take the next flight to Boston. There, she took me to Woolworth and got me proper outfits for winter.”

Nneji, who also serves as president of Columbia University’s Alumni Association of Fairfield County, said there is a difference between knowing something intellectually and knowing it through experience.

“Now I tell people in Nigeria winter in the U.S. is like waking into a freezer and closing the door,” he said. “They get it.”

Euchner said he hopes his students made the connection between Nneji’s story and the literature.

“To me, I am drawn to literature myself because it is as close as you can get to canning an experience,’ he said. “If you write a really compelling fictional story or memoir, it’s almost like you’re living it. So it can have that same sort of transformational quality.”

“I used to get told I was too small, so I would come to the weightroom everyday at 5, 6 in the morning, every morning, and workout,” began Austin Calitro in his speech to the boys’ football team.

Calitro, now a starting outside linebacker for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, returned to DHS on Feb. 21 for a series of events — including installation into the school’s Hall of Fame — that celebrated his success on the professional gridiron.

Graduating in 2012, Calitro left with fond memories of participating in not only football, but basketball and baseball. He played his college ball at Villanova, where he was a captain his senior year and led the Wildcats with 90 tackles and 3 forced fumbles his junior year.

Calitro has had an interesting career in the short time he’s been active in the pros. He was signed and later waived or released by four teams: the New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, and Cleveland Browns, all in the span of two years. Last June, however, he re-signed with the Seahawks. He played in his first NFL game on Sept. 9, in a 27-24 loss to the Denver Broncos in which he made five tackles. A week later, he started against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.

Despite his rocky start, he persevered, which is something he stressed to the Hatters. “I am living proof of the phrase, ‘Never give up.’ Getting cut by so many teams was insanely difficult, as you can imagine, but here I am, now playing for the Seattle Seahawks,” he said.

Jake Goodwin
Austin Calitro signs the shirts of cheerleaders outside the main gym. In honor of Calitro, they wore customized tees featuring a photo of him in action during a Seahawks game.

Having a star football player speak served as inspiration to Coach Augie Tieri’s high school players. Lucas Amaral, a senior, said “this was crucial. His being here, just proves to us what we can achieve in the future, even if we don’t desire a career in football.”

Junior Kile Jackson said that it was “pretty cool. He told us what we should do to succeed and work hard, and I know everyone will take it to heart.”

Later that evening, Calitro got the chance to speak with family, friends, and mentors in the gym area. “The nostalgia is real being back here. Seeing everyone, it’s great. I mean, it’s been so long,” he said.

Calitro — standing 6-0 and weighing 240 — made his way around the room, greeting many of his old acquaintances. Joyce Jugler was one of them. “My husband was a referee when he was younger, and knew his father. He graduated with our niece, and we’re just so happy for him. To see him on TV was just a wow moment,” she said.

Many of his old coaches were in the room as well. Keith Gailliard coached him when he played for the Danbury Trojans. “As a young player, he was eager to learn the game, and was always willing help everyone on the team. He’s not only a great football player, but a great guy,” he said.

Constant appraisal was made for Calitro. Lou Meola, a senior project manager at a communications company, worked with Calitro’s father, and has known Calitro since the player was about 3 years old. “He had a lot of energy when he was young; his energy turned into focus, which has lead him to where he is now,” Meola said.

Lonnie Young, who coached Calitro while he played Pop Warner football, had many positive things to say about Calitro. “I feel it is a tremendous honor for him, everything he has achieved thus far is so great. He has exceptional work ethic, and I’m not surprised it he’s a part of the small percentage that make it from their high school to the NFL,” Young said.

Linda Hatcher first met Calitro on a T-Ball field. He played sports with their son all through childhood. “He was a determined, fun, and just plain fantastic kid. He’s never struggled with sports, he always played an important position on any team he played and always did a great job. We are so proud of him,” she said.

“It’s amazing,” began Nick Kaplanis, who was coach for Calitro his Pee Wee football year with Pop Warner. “To have seen him when he was a little kid, watching him through high school, following him a little bit when when he went to Villanova, and then to see him actually go to the pros, it makes me so happy for him.”

DHS Boys’ Basketball Coach Casey Bock had the opportunity to coach him during his high school years. “He’s a hard worker, just a kid you love to coach. All the success he has, he earned it, and deserves it. And seeing a guy from our town on TV is incredible.”

Jake Goodwin
Austin Calitro and Lucas Amaral, senior, pose for a photo. After Calitro spoke to the football team, Amaral was able to share a few words with the NFL player.

Throughout the evening, Calitro signed many autographs — for kids and adults. Bobby Joe Pelletier works with his father, and her son Jason White was eager to receive the signature of their hometown NFL star. “He’s from Danbury, I’m not sure I know of anyone else from Danbury that’s made it this big,” White said.

Joe and Mag Tchorzyk, and their children Caden, 11, and Landon 7, were also excited to get an autograph. “They’re football fanatics, and they know everything about Austin. They’ve watched the whole season” said their father.

Young Oliver and Juliette Martins and their mother Meghan were more than ready to accept their signed copies. “I’m so excited!” said Oliver. “Me too!” agreed Juliette. “I like to play football, yeah, it motivates to try harder,” said Oliver.

During the official honoring of Calitro during halftime of a boys’ basketball game, he stood in a heartwarming line with his family and school personnel, including Athletics Director Chip Salvestrini.

While the announcer blared words over the speaker, Calitro and Principal Dan Donovan shook hands as Calitro accepted a “Danbury Hatters” quarter-zip and held up a Calitro jersey for a photo. The crowd applauded, and the thrilling basketball game continued.

Outside, Calitro signed the shirts of cheerleaders, which bore Calitro’s photo.

Calitro said he was on his way back to California, where he lives with his girlfriend. He came back to Danbury for a quick four days, he said, to visit family and attend this event.

“It’s been a little surreal being back, but it’s been cool,” the pro player said. “It’s been a much needed taste of home.”

Jake Goodwin
Oliver and Juliette Martins stand proudly with their signed autographs of Austin Calitro.

After a decade at Brookfield High School, DHS’ new guidance counselor Gina Vanak is having fun by returning to where it all began.  

When completing her master’s program, Vanak interned at DHS during the 2007/08 school year, and after “being in the same environment for so long, I was excited to come back to where I started,” she said.

A New Milford resident who received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western Connecticut State University, Vanak replaces longtime Level 3 counselor Michael Boucher, who left the district in December to become director of School Counseling at Regional School District 12 in Shepaug.

Vikki Carlson, department head of School Counseling at DHS, said that Vanak “brings warmth and compassion to this position. Since her arrival, she has excelled in her ability to collaborate with all of the important stakeholders in a students life.”

Carlson understands that Boucher was popular among students, but states “Vanak has preserved and built and strong rapport with these students. Vanak has worked extensively with the students on her caseload that have significant challenges with their home lives. It is wonderful that these students continue to have a place that is comfortable to go to school when they need one.

“[Vanak] reaches out to parents/guardians, teachers, case managers, and administrators to learn as much as she can about the student and the particular situation. She will then make an appropriate plan of action,” Carlson asserted.

With the school’s population hovering around 3,100 students, Vanak is responsible for nearly 10 percent of them. The 292 students under her guidance range from sophomores to seniors.

Erick Tamay, a junior, sought out Vanak for advice about college. “Since my senior year is just around the corner, I know I should meet with my counselor for help and guidance. Ms. Vanak has been a great counselor for me.

“When I first met with her to talk about my goals for my junior year and what I need to focus on when applying for college, she was very welcoming and pleasant.” Tamay continued. “She helped me by providing precise and helpful information about college applications and how I can search for the best and convenient college. I also asked her how I can apply for the driver’s license and she happily sent me all the information.”

Junior Samuel Wulff-Andersen, another one of Vanak’s students, says that “Vanak is a great counselor. She has made sure that I had everything I needed.”

Vanak’s duty as a guidance counselor is to help students choose classes, manage their class changes, ensure that they are meeting their credit requirements, and guide them through the college application process. They also help with career readiness.

In between, they call or meet with parents, administrators, teachers, pupil personnel staff such as the crisis counselor, social workers, and psychologists. In addition, counselors are there to listen and help resolve problems students may be having with their coursework or in their personal lives.

While the move was exciting for Vanak, she has said she’s been really busy, although it was anticipated.

“I expected to hit the ground running,” she said. “Coming in at the semester change was interesting because I had so many things I had to jump right into.”

As a new counselor, Vanak has had to learn all of the school’s policies, such as what she can do with student schedule requests and what she can’t do. In all the noise and commotion, Vanak has been happy with how the job has been going.

Every job that comes with positives also comes with some challenges. “The biggest challenge for me has been getting to know the differences in courses offered, getting used to the new schedule, and getting to know the students.”

She added, “I’ve been so surprised by the number of students that have come by and introduced themselves. Everyone has been so friendly.”

Her favorite thing about DHS has been the warm welcome she has received from the staff and student body. “Students have come in between classes to introduce themselves, shake my hand, and it’s been really enjoyable. I’m really excited to see what happens next.”

Freshmen David Salovyer, Leila Sao Sharhan, Julia Clifford and Olivia Melendez recently were lauded for their efforts in the DECO program, which leads to an associate’s degree in addition to a high school diploma. Sarah Roy, director of the DECO program, which partners with Naugatuck Community College, hands certificates of achievement for Quarter 2 to the students at a recent breakfast in the Hatters’ Cafe. (Photos contributed by English teacher Devin Samaha).

Students and staff at DHS are unified in their celebration of two significant academic achievements reaching the school. With intense concentration and diligence, the English classrooms at DHS have finally welcomed significant student success. Ultimately, the new success has led to a surge of students earning a diploma.

Student gains in the English classroom is best marked by the recent removal of DHS from Connecticut’s “focus list.” The “focus list” is released by Connecticut’s Next Generation Accountability Index and highlights schools whose academic growth among high need students are consistently below state standards.

For the past few years, DHS had been classified as a “focus English” school. Schools whose English Language Arts growth, or SPI, for high needs students—which includes free/reduced lunch, English learning, and special needs students—falls in the lower 10 percent of the state is identified by the state as a Focus ELA school. The SPI performance index for high needs students for DHS has finally extended beyond the bottom 10 percent early this year, enabling the school  to be removed from the focus list.

“Our removal from the focus list is definitely due to our wonderful increase in English test scores. We’ve consistently met our growth targets for STAR since its inception, and have seen a higher percentage of goal PSAT scores from last year to this year,” said Nicole Martone, head of the English Department who also teaches two English classes.

In the past school year, 51.3 percent of ELA SAT scores met or exceeded Level 3 (the goal for the SAT). Meghan Martins, associate principal of instruction, affirms this growth, saying, “I have seen firsthand an increase in student PSAT and STAR scores this year alone.”

DHS has made numerous improvements  to facilitate this score increase. “We have increased the use of technology for personalized interventions, such as READ 180 for reading comprehension, Khan Academy for reading and writing and language skill development, and Membean for vocabulary development,” explained Martone. “Most importantly, however, we’ve focused on personalizing instruction.”

The administration says small group instruction particularly helps ELL students, who may struggle more with the English curriculum. “Responding to the needs of both ELL and SPED (Special Education) students has enabled them to ease into their classes and understand the content more,” explained Stacey Brugnolo, ELL Department head and transitional English teacher.

The increasing amount of students passing their courses and fulfilling their credit requirements is also a contributing factor to the school’s rising graduation rates—another achievement recently garnered.

Achievement gap shrinks

DHS has outpaced the state growth in its  overall graduation rates, from 78.9 percent of students graduating in 2013 to 83 percent in 2018. However, this only extends to a four-year cohort graduation requirement, and 6.9 percent of students at DHS are still enrolled after four years, on their own pace toward graduation.

Principal Dan Donovan said, “I felt an extreme sense of pride that the plan we’ve implemented works.” However, his reason for the increase in student performance can primarily be contributed to the increase in expectations.

Four-year cohort graduation rates, provided by DHS administration. Click on the graphic to enlarge.

“It used to be students were simply expected to come to school and sit in class,” Donovan explained. “No longer is it good enough to just attend school, but now it is expected to be successful.”

Brugnolo expanded on this, saying, “All teachers encourage students to take more challenging courses in order to develop themselves academically. I think students have responded well to these increased demands.”

In response to these increased academic demands, senior Kayla Downs has noticed her peers becoming more focused. “Students are now realizing the importance of passing tests and courses in order to get into college and become successful,” she explained. “Many of my peers and I study before every test, and pay close attention to our caring teachers. Knowing that our hard work is paying off makes me feel an immense sense of pride in our school.”

This remarkable growth is accompanied by an intensely fluctuating demographic in the school’s growing population. Between 2013 and 2018, the amount of Special Education students has risen by 1.5 percent, and the amount of students eligible for free/reduced lunch has risen by 13.4 percent. Though the ELL enrollment number remains fairly constant, their needs are also expanding as the Newcomer class enrollment has grown from 13 students to 60 students.

Despite this, achievement gaps are beginning to close as subgroup improvement rates are outpacing the growth of others. Graduation rates for students eligible for free/reduced lunch have increased by 7 percent between 2012 and 2018, and by 16 percent for Special Education students.

More high needs students are consistently meeting the PSAT and STAR score requirements. In explaining this phenomenon, Martone said “We’ve recognized that as their demographics are changing, we have to ensure that all students are college and career ready. We make adjustments according to the rise in new needs.”

These adjustments include the implementation of the Twilight program, which enables after-school credit recovery, an ELA Summer Program, and a Newcomer course for ELL students. “We try and look at data points to see if our scores are rising in order to focus on all students and give them the support they need,” said Martins.

Supporting students also extends to encouraging their personal academic ambitions. DHS has seen an increase in students taking AP and Honors courses in recent years. Martins said she believes that the expanded accessibility of these rigorous classes has directly contributed to this.

“One of the first things I worked on when I first came here was to detrack the high school, which means that no longer are students placed in classes solely on their academic performance,” she explained.

To enroll in an AP course in 2009, a student must have been in the top 10 percent  of their class and had a strong recommendation from their teacher. Now, any student may enroll in an AP course. “If the kid wants to try, they should be allowed to. Supporting all students makes achievement more accessible overall,” Martins said.

DHS still seeks to improve from here. One of the most important questions asked by the DHS staff is how it can be more culturally responsive to its diverse student population.

“For ELL students in particular, it is extremely important that teachers are culturally-responsive in order to increase their responsiveness in the classroom,” explained Brugnolo. “Teachers should learn about the culture of where they came from and learn to apply it to their teaching in order to generate a better relation between ELL students and what is being taught.”

However, many DHS administrators and staff members said  that staying consistent with their improvements will yield similarly positive results in the future. “Continuing to adhere whole group instruction to Common Core Standards, coupled with increased expectations for our students, will allow for more students to reach those standards overall,” said Martone.

Donovan cited hopes for the new change to block scheduling and the inclusion of a FLEX period, saying, “I believe this will continue our trend of student improvements overall.”

The recent academic accomplishments of DHS can best be summarized in Donovan’s conclusion: “Danbury High School has heightened its expectations, and our students have risen to the occasion. We can only anticipate a bright future for us Hatters.”

The drama and thriller “Greta,” which opened earlier this month at Loews AMC Danbury 16, is an eerie and suspenseful popcorn flick. There is always a moment that has you questioning or anticipating what will happen next.

The director of this film is Neil Jordan of “Interview with a vampire” and “The Crying Game” fame. Focus Features produced the film.

The main actors in the film are Chloë Grace Moretz, a 22-year-old American actress. She is known for her roles in the movies “If I stay” and the “Carrie” remake. And Isabelle Huppert, a 65-year-old actress who is known for her roles in “8 Femmes” and “La Pianiste.”

Moretz plays Frances McCullen, who finds an abandoned purse on the subway and she returns it to Greta Hideg, played by Huppert.

The movie takes place in New York City, where McCullen lives with her best friend Erica Penn, who is played by Maika Monroe.

Right from the first encounter with Frances and Greta, the movie starts to take an eerie turn and shows the dark side of this little old lady Greta. This movie really goes to show you that you can never trust a stranger.

Huppert flawlessly displays the picture-perfect image of the sweet old lady, and the psycho stalker by the name of Greta. It is almost freakishly unnormal that Huppert could play such a creepy individual, but maintain to keep the character looking innocent the whole time.

Throughout the whole movie I was on the edge of my seat and was anticipating the next move to happen. If you are a fan of suspenseful movies with just a bit of violence, I would definitely recommend you watch this movie.

What I wasn’t a fan of throughout the movie was that basically everything I viewed in the trailer spoiled the plot for the whole movie. I knew what I was expecting throughout the majority of the movie and I didn’t like that I could predict events before they happened. I am a fan of being left in the dark and not knowing what would happen next, but with this movie you had insight of what was going to happen. Overall, I believe the movie was suspenseful and a good watch.

The movie, rated R, has a run time of just about an hour and a half.