May 2023

• Senior Awards Night 5/31

• Graduation 6/1

Greetings Old Colony Community, It is hard to believe this will be my last Newsletter of the 2022-2023 school year. We will resume the Newsletter in August. The days are getting noticeably longer and traditionally May brings amazing weather to help us celebrate Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. The OC Golf Tournament was held on May 20th. This was an amazing fund-raiser for the school and took take place at Acushnet River Valley golf Course. The staff at Old Colony recently concluded their work with Dr. Kalise Wornum from KW Diversity on Cultural Proficiency. I think I speak for everyone when I say the work was rewarding and caused us to reflect on our own beliefs and actions. We begin to celebrate the achievements of our students from this year with our Excellence in Effort Awards Ceremony which was held on May 9th. We will celebrate Industry Signing Day on May 23rd and Senior Awards Night on May 31st.. We culminate the month with our second graduation under the lights on June 1st at 6pm. We celebrated staff appreciation week this week. I would be remiss if I did not sing the praises of our staff for all they do for our students and school. I want to thank the PTO for making this a special week for the staff as they provided nourishment for staff throughout the week. See you all at Graduation. Be Well, Mr. Parker

Old Colony RVTHS will be holding its first annual Cougar Festival of Arts, on June 10th, 2023. This is a chance for our artistically talented students to showcase their work. Bring your family to be part of our Community Art Project, and enter into some amazing raffles. We have received SO many submissions of all varieties. This event is for the entire family. Come and show your support! If you have any questions please contact Danielle Craig at 508-763-8011, ext #148 or at dcraig@oldcolony.us. Thank you for the support!

• Senior Sign Out 5/26

• Industry Signing Day 5/23

OC Food Pantry

PTO News

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• Grade 9 MCAS 6/6 & 6/7

Senior Spotlights

Vocational News

Seniors News

Academic News

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Athletics

Guidance

Upcoming Events

from the principal

May 2023

Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School

NEWSLETTER

23-24 Coursework Thank you again for completing the course recommendation process. This is critical to building student schedules for the upcoming school year. Due to our small size and vocational requirements, there is limited mobility in our schedule. In the event that there is a conflict in your student’s schedule, rest assured they will be placed in a course that fulfills the MA DESE graduation requirements.

Advanced Placement UpdatesCongratulations to the 90 students who enrolled and completed Advanced Placement (AP) coursework and sat for the exams this year. These students attended Saturday sessions, extra workshops in the evenings, and committed to an increased course load during the school year. Regardless of the score on the exam, the skills gained will pay dividends in the future. We are also incredibly grateful to the AP teachers, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Riley, Ms. Roderick, Ms. Soucy, and Mr. Teixeira. These folks committed to additional professional development in the summer and on the weekends because they believe every student deserves access to rigorous college level coursework. In gratitude, all AP students and teachers will be celebrated at a special breakfast on May 19, 2023

Summer Math Acceleration Academy All rising grade 10 students (this year’s freshman) are invited to attend this summer’s Math Acceleration Academy. This is a hands-on program workshop based program where students apply math concepts to solve real world problems while building the mathematical reasoning necessary for success in geometry and algebra II coursework. This weeklong workshop takes place July 24-28 from 8:30am - 11:30am. For more information and registration visit FamilyID. Space is limited.

Summer STEM Academy We welcome our incoming freshmen who love hands-on lab investigations to sign up for the Summer STEM Academy. Paritication familiarizes students with our teachers and campus and builds the lab and critical thinking skills necessary for freshmen biology. This weeklong workshop takes place July 17 - 21 from 8:30 am - 11:30 am. For more information & registration, visit FamilyID. Space is limited.

FREE Summer Enrichment Programs

Reminders for Seniors The last day of Academics is May 19, 2023 so please be sure that all work is submitted and materials returned. Students who have not returned textbooks and other borrowed materials will receive an invoice. All outstanding balances must be paid in order to sign out on May 26, 2023

Congratulations to all of our seniors and the hard work they have put in during the last four years!

Continued...

Academic News

Library News

MCAS Updates

Math & ELAAll grade 10 students completed the ELA MCAS on March 28 & 29 and the math MCAS on May 16 & 17. Results are mailed to families in the early fall. Grade 9 All grade 9 students will participate in the science MCAS on June 6 & 7. Families will also receive results in early fall.

Excellence in Effort Awards The academic department would like to recognize the following students for their incredible effort in their courses. Each content area selected one student who was willing to dig, challenge themselves, and persevere. These students embody the growth mindset and understand that a growth mindset is key to success. English Language Arts - Noah Bellefeuille History - Ethan Gray Health/Physical Education - Jacob Medeiros Mathematics - Hannah Eichenger Science - Lindsay Bacchiocchi Congratulations to all!

Late Bus We have late buses available Monday - Thursday every week, with the exception of half days or days where we don’t have school. Buses leave promptly at 3:50pm.

Makerspace Our Library Makerspace program is up and running and we are thrilled to see students using the tools we have available. If any students would like to learn more about using the 3D printer, photography equipment, digital drawing apps, music & movie editing apps or to learn about ALL the tools we have available, stop in an see Ms. Linehan or email her at jlinehan@oldcolony.info

Cougar Connection Our Library is open every Monday - Thursday until 4:30. Be sure to stop in if you want to use any of the library resources, form study or homework groups with your classmates, or just need a place to get some work done before heading home, work, or practice. There will be teachers in the library all four days to answer your questions. Students who drive or can arrange for a ride home are welcome to stay until 4:30. We also have late buses Mon - Th that depart at 3:50.

After School Days All teachers are available on Tuesday or Thursday of each week, so be sure to take advantage of this time. If you don’t remember your teacher’s late day, remember to ask, check the syllabus or Google Classroom.

Reminders

Academic News

Hello Seniors: a few new announcements and just a few reminders At senior sign out you will be receiving your cap and gown! 🎓 You are allowed to decorate your cap but it must be school appropriate. Mr. Parker and Mr. Linehan will be checking all caps! If its not appropriate it will be confiscated and you will not have a cap :( If you are attending the class trip make sure you fill out the permission slip ASAP. Please be aware that ALL BAGS will be checked before getting on the bus...be good!🎢 Prom doors open at 6pm! Dinner will be served right around 6:45 so if you want to take pictures make sure you are there for 6:00pm. The venue is breathtaking and your pictures will be beautiful!🕺🏻 . Don't forget that Awards Night is MANDATORY . Dues and Cap/Gown must be paid before seniors sign out! . If you want to leave prom early don't forget to get your note to Parker at least a few days before Prom! He will not be accepting notes the day of!🕺🏻 . Your table seating for Prom is due by Wednesday! If you don't pass one in I will be sitting you randomly at other tables. If you have any questions see Ms. Gamelin💃 . Check your emails regularly and this Google Classroom! Anything you need will be posted on Google Classroom!

Senior News

Senior Spotlights

Old Colony Student Run Food Pantry The Old Colony food pantry, organized by the students and facilitated by Ms. Weeden and Ms. Davenport, is an incredible opportunity for you to help out your community. We are accepting all donations of non-perishable food items and everything is greatly appreciated. The food pantry helps anonymously to support Old Colony families in need throughout the school year. Our food pantry does something truly inspiring by providing food to those in need, no questions asked. By donating, you can become a part of this movement and help our Old Colony families, friends, and community. All donations can be brought to Ms. Weeden in Room 31. To pick up food baskets, call or email the front office.

FOOD PANTRY

Skills USA News

HOUSE & MILL CARPENTRY Eleventh-grade students stopped by Rochester Memorial School on May 10th to help Mrs. Nelson's first-grade class install their new Little Free Libary. Earlier this year, Mrs. Nelson's class designed the little library and then worked with Old Colony to construct it. With help from the OC House & Mill Junior Class, the students dug the hole, mixed and placed the cement, backfilled the hole, leveled the base, and then fastened the bus library to the pole.

GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS & DESIGN The Graphic Communications & Design Department would like to recognize and congratulate Steven Morrison (senior). He participated in the Mattapoisett Harbor Days t-shirt competition and his t-shirt design won with 263 votes. His design will be printed on t-shirts and featured at this year's Mattapoisett Harbor Days in July. Nice work, Steven!

COSMETOLOGYThe Cosmetology department would like to congratulate the following students on earning their Cosmetology Licenses: Morgan Berry, Myra Freeman, Kaylee Medeiros, Avrie Oliviera, Elizabeth Porell, Samantha Tavares, Elizabeth White, Haley White CONGRATULATIONS!!

CAD DRAFTING & HOUSE & MILL CARPENTRY In the fall of 2022, Paula Bailey, Superintendent of Acushnet Public Schools, contacted Old Colony to inquire about possibly having a doghouse built for their comfort dog, and Acushnet Police Department's K9, Sunny. 10th-grade students in CAD Drafting each developed plans for Sunny's new home. Carter Rioux's design was selected and Dante Andrade constructed a scale model of the final design. From their construction documents, Olivia DeSousa and Zora Forcier, 11th-grade House & Mill Carpentry students built the structure. On May 2nd, the students were invited to unveil their creation at Sunny's first birthday celebration, held at Acushnet Elementary School.

Thank you to our industry partners for their support of our Cooperative Education Program and for hiring our students to work at their place of employment. We rely on our industry partners to support our mission of preparing and supporting students for the global demands of society and the workforce through rigorous vocational-technical experiences that foster responsible, productive citizens in our community.

We would like to congratulate the following students for their participation in our Cooperative Education Program:

• Madelyn Caplette - Hannah B. G. Shaw Home, Inc.
• Dakota Johnson - Hannah B. G. Shaw Home, Inc.
• Taylor Londergan - Fisher & Rocher, Inc.
• Hailey Roderick - Dockside Repair
• Wiliam Yancho - Maxon Precision Motors

Cooperative Education Program:

Please see our website for more information:

Vocational News

SKILLS USAThis year's SkillsUSA State Competition was held April 27th-29th in Marlboro. Old Colony competed in 22 competitions and took home 11 medals! It was exciting to have so many students participate this year, especially from the freshmen class. We are proud of the ways in which they conducted themselves and the positive interactions they had with others throughout the event. Thank you to all of the instructors who provided support to our students and helped them prepare for the competitions! We are thrilled to have had all of these students represent Old Colony! Our medalists are…. Bronze: Benjamin Ponte and Thomas Gerber - Web Design Leah Hollenbeck - Job Skill Demonstration A Rose O'Neill - Exploratory Project Demonstration Justin Ielo - Career Choice Commentary Silver: Megan Correia - Restaurant Services Bruce Maksy - Electronics Technology Christopher Egan - Carpentry Lilah White and Brenden Pare - Safety Poster Design Gold (moving on to the SkillsUSA National Conference in Atlanta in June): Alexander Quin - Sticker Design Congratulations!

Vocational News