February 2017 Issue 6
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Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public
From the Desk of the Assistant Principal
Inside this issue:
Library
2
NHS
Drama Club
Game Club
ELA- March 21-23 (10th Grade)
Nurse Notes
PE
3
4
Computers
Foreign Language
5
GSA
IB
History
6
Class Notes
7
Science
8
Athletics
9
YAH
Student Council
Math
As we enter the second half of the third quarter it is extremely important that
your child continues to keep up with their course work. As the weather changes
it gets increasingly difficult for students to maintain their focus. Please continue
to monitor your child’s grades through the Parent Portal and contact teachers
with any questions.
Rob Kerr
Booster Club
Golf Tournament
Following February break, students will start the course selection process for the
2017/2018 school year. Students will meet in the library and choose their classes
for next year using the student portal. These courses will then have to be approved by you, their teachers, guidance counselors and finally the administration. Please remember that student leveling is based off teacher recommendations. Should you have any questions or concerns about your student’s schedule
for next year please contact your students guidance counselor, either Mrs. Ota or
Mr. Penney.
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Yearbook
Music
Math-May 16, 17 (10th Grade)
Biology-June 5, 6 (9th Grade)
ELA
Guidance
This is always the most exciting time of year for high school students. Our seniors are getting great news from some amazing colleges. It is now the juniors
turn to start the process of researching colleges as well as setting up planning
meetings with the guidance counseling office to update their Naviance accounts.
The sophomores begin their MCAS exams on March 21, with the hope of topping last year’s sophomore results and the freshmen are working hard preparing
for the Biology MCAS exam in June. The dates for this year's MCAS exams
are:
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Assistant Principal
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Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public High School Newsletter
LIBRARY
The display table in the library is currently featuring a selection of art books with topics ranging from origami
to graffiti. Also included is a large colorful book showing the art of the Kuna Indians and a book of instruction
in oil painting. These add some color to the snow-white rooftop visible outside the library windows! These
books are many more in the art section are available for students to borrow.
NHS
National Honor Society successfully began its "Foster the Future" service project, mentoring elementary students. They anticipate their next visit to the elementary school on February 16th.
DRAMA CLUB
Drama Club anticipates the spring musical: Grease! Performance dates are March 31st at 7:00 pm and
April 1st at 4pm.
GAME CLUB
Club members are still meeting on Wed. although participation has decreased of late. New members are always welcome and will be given instruction to be brought up-to-date. Meetings are held after school in the library.
NURSE NOTES
We have noted an increase in cold and flu symptoms here at school. Please be aware that any student with a fever over 100.4 will be sent home as required by the Department of Public Health. All students need to be fever
free for 24 hours before returning to school. The best treatment for flu symptoms is rest, fluids and over the
counter medication such as ibuprofen or Tylenol for aches ,pains and fever. Contact your primary care doctor if
you have any questions.
Please make appointments now for physical exams if your child will be playing spring sports. A physical exam
must be on file to try out and participate . The date of the exam must be less than 1 year from the date of try
outs.
Snow days have caused us to reschedule our grade 10 vision screens. This will be done in March 2017. Parents
will be notified by mail if your child does not pass the screening.
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Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public High School
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
.
Physical Education students have started their second semester with the FitnessGram. The FitnessGram is a
comprehensive fitness assessment. It includes a variety of health- related physical fitness tests designed to assess cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition.
ELA
Seniors have started their Shakespeare unit with Macbeth and Hamlet. Students will analyze the language of
Shakespeare focusing not only on his plays but his poetry as well. Honors students will examine the purpose in
Shakespeare’s work looking at it from a Freudian, Feminist and Historical perspective.
Writing Workshop II is preparing for their ELA MCAS exams. These exams will be March 21, 22 and 23.
IB English juniors are beginning the Works in Translation part of the IB syllabus. They are currently reading
Natsume Soseki's Kokoro.
IB English HL seniors are studying Toni Morrison's Sula, while the SL seniors are studying Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Seniors are preparing for their Paper 1 and Paper 2 assessments in May.
American British Literature I: Students continue to read Romeo and Juliet. The two lovers have just met and
students are now looking at how tragic flaws affect the downfall of Romeo and how time plays a major role in
the decisions the two make. Students are also watching select scenes from the 1968 and 2013 movie versions
to compare and contrast, both verbally and in writing, how key literary aspects are changed and what affect
these changes have on the story.
Writing I: Students are working on persuasive writing prompts and preparing to write a persuasive essay. Students are focusing on appealing to Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in their essays, while still following the proper
structure of an essay. Students will also work on NoRedInk assignments in order to practice their recently
learned grammar skills.
Sophomore literature students are finishing A Separate Peace and will be learning about traditional gender
roles and characters who break free of those roles in The Color Purple while other sophomores will begin facing the end of innocence and the power of empathy in To Kill a Mockingbird.
World Literature students are finishing The Epic of Gilgamesh with a movie analysis presentation in order to
understand the story structure of the Hero’s Journey and how it is applied to modern narratives. After February
break students will begin reading Kamala Markandaya’s Nectar in a Sieve, which deals with the socioeconomic and political issues in post-colonial India. Students will explore life in rural India and the changes that
occurred during the country's British colonization while the characters struggle to maintain traditional cultural
practices.
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Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public High School Newsletter
GUIDANCE
Seniors:
If you haven't applied for Financial Aid yet, do so ASAP. Fafsa.gov
Also, please keep your guidance counselor informed of college decisions as you hear them. We'd also be
happy to review financial aid packages with you.
Juniors:
It's time to start thinking about the SAT. You can get individualized practice by using Khan Academy's SAT
Test Prep. You can find this excellent free resource here https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/sat You can
also link your college board and Khan academy account so that it can use your PSAT results to craft individualized lessons. You should plan on taking the SAT in May or June. You can also take the ACT as well. If
you're planning on applying to college Early Action, you need to take the SAT this Spring because there may
not be time to have Fall scores sent for those applications. More info can be found at collegeboard.org or at
actstudent.org See your guidance counselor if you qualify for a fee waiver due to being enrolled in
free/reduced lunch.
Scholarships:
It is never too early to start applying for scholarships. There are many which are tailored to 9th and 10th graders and many that are for summer programs hosted by colleges and universities.
Apply for the Greater Worcester Community Foundation
http://www.greaterworcester.org/Scholarships/APPLY-HERE
Athletes, also check Naviance and your e-mail for the AKF Booster Club Scholarship
Also check the Naviance scholarship. More are added every week.
Any student can use websites like fastweb.com, mycollegedollars.com, unigo.com or collegeboard.org
COMPUTERS
The students in the Computer Technology Classroom have been using the Adobe Photoshop Program, Dreamweaver and MS Publisher.
Students in the Adobe Photoshop class are designing and creating desktop wallpapers. They have, also, created
personal candy bar labels for Valentine’s Day.
Students who are in the HTML class are creating web pages that include graphic backgrounds, tables and proper
formatting with multiple pages that are linked together to create one Web Site.
Students are learning how to create flyers, cards, banners, and posters using MS Publisher.
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Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public High School Newsletter
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Mr. Brehany's Latin 2 classes have completed chapters on school life for Roman boys, sea-travel and storms,
and the Roman calendar; they are progressing in reading skills and grammar. The Latin 3 classes are currently
engaged in more challenging studies of Roman culture and more nuanced uses of the Latin language. Mr.
Brehany's first year IB Latin students are still translating the IB text of the Aeneid; his second year IB students
have finished their IB curriculum on "the good life", and have begun their long review of Latin epic; they continue to practice their skills at translating the authentic Latin language. All honors classes are also preparing to
take the National Latin Exam.
Spanish I – Spanish I students are working on a unit En mi familia. In this unit they will learning vocabulary
of family members, ask and tell ages, express possession, give dates, months and make comparisons. They
will learn about government election in Puerto Rico, portraits, instruments and quinceaneras in Peru. I have
also given the students a rubric for a family tree project which will be due the Monday after February vacation.
IB Spanish Seniors Students have been working on their IB written assignment. They have been searching
articles for their chosen topic and writing a summary for each.
IB Spanish Juniors have been working on a unit on La Salud (health) The Topic is based on hunger, obesity,
and anorexia. They will create a skit based in a hospital setting for people suffering with anorexia.
GSA
The Gender and Sexuality Acceptance Club hosted a successful movie afternoon for staff and students on February 3rd with 30 people in attendance. Thank you to all who joined us and keep an eye open for more opportunities to learn and build community in the coming months.
IB (International Baccalaureate)
IB Diploma applications are available in the office for interested sophomores. All diploma applications are due
to Mrs. Davila no later than the end of school Monday March 6, 2017. Interviews will begin on Monday March,
13, 2017. Once the 2019 cohort is chosen, teacher recommendation forms for IB certificate classes will be made
available. Any student interested in taking 1 to 3 IB courses must request a recommendation from their current
teacher in that subject area.
Seniors are entering the home stretch as submission of IB assessments begin the first week of March with TOK
assessments and Extended Essays. The English Literature IOCs are complete and Spanish Oral Assessments
begin the week of February 13th. Subject Exams begin the first week of May.
As a reminder to seniors, payment for IB registration and exams are included in the requirement to fulfill all financial obligations prior to graduation.
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Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public High School Newsletter
HISTORY
In Mrs. Leidel’s African History class, we’ve started to learn about the colonial time period by reading African Perspectives on European Colonialism by esteemed Ghanian historian A. Adu Boahen. Students have
reading to do with this book most nights. This is a challenging text, but they are already showing great progress in their work.
In Mrs. Leidel’s US History II classes (Blocks D, G and H), we are wrapping up our unit on the Great War
and moving into a unit in which students will “re-name” the 1920s.
In Mrs. Leidel’s US History II themes classes (Blocks C and F), students have chosen their third big question
for the year: “Are there ever good reasons to go to war? If so, what are they? If not, why not?” They have
learned about the major wars of the US History II time frame and chosen to learn more about the Vietnam
War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Ms. Lizotte’s Civics classes, the seniors are simultaneously working on developing their final research
paper bibliographies and discovering the checks and balances within our nation’s government. This month,
the seniors are also researching a politician who impacted the lives of African Americans in honor of Black
History Month. Students will research these politicians and present their findings to the class. REMINDER:
Final Senior Research Paper is Due on March 17th 2017.
In Ms. Lizotte’s Psychology classes, students are exploring the physical, social and cognitive development of
adolescents. After viewing the Frontline Documentary “The Teenage Brain,” students are learning how the
brains of adolescents are unique in comparison to the brains of children and adults. Students are encouraged
to think about this and how it impacts their daily life through learning and relationships with peers, parents
and teachers. Psychology students are also research psychologists who have impacted the lives of African
Americans in honor of Black History Month. Students will research these psychologists, discovering their
contributions to the field of psychology as well as to the African-American Community.
In Global Issues students are required to keep a weekly journal and stay up to date on the news. We start
every class sharing the news of the day and then discussing a specific topic. We have begun our study of
global issues by looking at hunger in America. Students are learning about farm subsidies and the link between poverty and obesity.
In the World History Juniors class, the new semester brings a new world conflict to study: The Cold War.
Currently we are investigating the causes of this long “conflict.”
The IB Junior students are learning about the Spanish Civil War. Students will be answering the following
questions:
1) To what extent did the divisions within Spain reflect political and ideological divisions within Europe.
2) 2) What did each side seek to accomplish at the onset of the war?
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Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public High School Newsletter
CLASS NOTES
The Class of 2017 is getting ready for the AKFCS 2017 Prom, at the Manor, in West Boylston, MA, on Friday, May 12th. We are still finalizing plans for a Senior Class group event. Snow days have not been our
friend this year! We are in need of many hours of community service hours for our class, so if you have any
opportunities, please let myself or one of the Senior Class officers know. The finalization of the year for the
Class of 2017 is, believe it or not, just around the corner. We have so little time left. Please do not hesitate
to reach out to me with any student concerns. I would love to help. Please get any candid photos of the Seniors to Ms. Potter and Mrs. Polucha as soon as possible. We will need them for the Senior slide show, and
the yearbook. Please see one of the Junior or Senior Class Officers for details about out Twitter pages for
dropping off Senior Class pictures. You may also send them directly to my email.
Mr. Shannon
Class Advisor
The DJ for prom is booked! The class officers are currently making their final decisions about senior gifts and
have begun to put the senior slideshow together. As always, class dues and community service hours are due to
Mrs. Polucha as soon as possible.
Mrs. Polucha
Class Advisor
Class dues and Community service hours can be handed in to Mr. Reilly during the school day. Our officers are
working diligently to make sure sophomores know how many hours and how much money they owe. If you
have any questions, see a class officer or Mr. Reilly. Thank you to all who supported the sophomore class by
coming to the Texas Roadhouse fundraiser night. If anyone has any suggestions for community service opportunities or fun events, please see your class officers.
Mr. Reilly
Class Advisor
Many students in the class of 2020 still have not paid their freshmen dues of $10.00. The class is looking forward to a fundraising night at DQ in West Boylston one evening in March. Expect further details next Newsletter!
Mr. Welch
Class Advisor
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Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public High School
SCIENCE
The Biology students are currently on Unit 7 - Genetics. They are learning how to perform various types of Punnett Squares, how to read pedigrees, and learning about genetic diseases such as Sickle Cell Anemia and Hemophilia. They will be completing another full-length lab report for this unit which will count as an exam grade.
The IB SEHS Juniors are currently on Topic 2 - Cardio-respiratory Exercise Physiology. They have already performed a lung capacity lab with balloons and compared their results to using a spirometer. Their next major assignment will be a mini research paper regarding the current world record holders for distances from 3000 m to
marathons.
The IB SEHS seniors finally finished their last IA! We are now continuing to review and practicing past IB Paper questions.
The students in Honors, College Prep and Project Physics had the opportunity to play
Mouse Trap. This children’s game is a beautiful demonstration of the Law of Conservation
of Energy which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or
transformed. The goal of the game is to build an elaborate mouse trap to catch mice. The
classes were divided into teams; each team moved a brightly colored mouse around the
game board. The team that caught the opposing teams’ mice in the Mouse Trap won the
game. The students truly enjoyed playing Mouse Trap, but more importantly, were able to describe the energy
transfers and transformations they observed in the trap. The designers of Mouse Trap from Milton Bradley obviously knew Physics!
The students in Junior IB Physics are studying collisions and explosions of objects. No fire and smoke! By applying the Law of Conservation of Momentum, the students can predict the effect of the collision or explosion
on the objects involved.
The students in Senior IB Physics are studying Particle Physics. This topic deals with particles even smaller than
the particles in an atom: quarks, leptons, hadrons, baryons, and mesons. This topic is so advanced and leading
edge that it is not found in most Physics textbooks!
In Anatomy and Physiology students have just finished studying the skeletal system and completing a lab practical. During the practical the students located over 30 individual bones and sections of bones each. They also
compared and contrasted spongy and compact bone and studied the physiology of bone growth and repair. We
are now moving on to the muscular system and dissections.
Forensics students are knee deep in blood this unit, metaphorically of course. The class is working on studying
blood spatter patterns to identify murder weapons, force of impact and potential suspects. We are also moving
toward identifying blood type via antibody analysis. The students will be able to use lab protocol to find blood
type and compare victims/ suspects blood to reference samples.
Our IB senior Biology class is busy conducting data collection for their IAs. Students have been busy working
on experiments that range from enzyme analysis in the presence of ethanol to plant growth based on wavelength
spectra exposure. In the middle of all this we are still working through our unit on human physiology in the digestive system and cardiovascular systems.
The IB Biology juniors have had a ball this month working their way through a study of synapses and nerve impulses. We have mapped out channel activity during action potentials and have started researching various nervous and synaptic diseases.
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Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public High School Newsletter
ATHLETICS
The winter sports season is coming to a close, but both the Boys’ and Girls’ basketball teams will extend their seasons by qualifying for the District Tournament.
The Lady Bears currently sit at 11 – 6, with a perfect 6 – 0 record in the Colonial Athletic League small school division. The 6 - 0 gives the girls at least a share of the small school CAL championship, needing only a win over
Worcester Tech or Nashoba Tech in their final three games to clinch. Andrea Boaheng is the leader scorer at 13
points per game, including a Central Mass. high 56 three pointers made. Queenly Berko chips in with 10 points a
game and Coach Morse gets plenty of help from the likes of Tyra Hargrove, Beverly Tuffour and Michelle Thach.
The boys’ also clinched a tournament berth with a win over Bay Path on February 10th. This is the eighth time in
the last nine years that the boys have qualified. Emeka Egwuatu has been a double-double machine all season, and
in the tournament qualifying win, he posted 14points, 12 rebounds and 10 block shots. Exauce Nlemvo has been
solid all season long handling the point, and Hemmi Osei-Poku and Joel Simmons have provided some strong senior leadership throughout the season. Sophomore Rodolfo Obregon has been the biggest surprise. He has worked
his way into the starting rotation and has scored in double figures in several games along the way. Tournament
Pairings will take place on February 24th and hopefully both teams will draw a favorable seed.
There is a pre-season Softball clinic that will be held at Abby Kelley on March 5th. Registration forms are available
from Mr. Kasprzak. Finally, the first day of Spring Tryouts is Monday, March 20th.
Y.A.H. (Youth Against Homelessness)
In YAH, we had a very successful Dimes for Diapers fundraiser, where collectively Abby Kelley was able to
donate over 700 diapers to a local shelter. A special thank you to the Freshman class for donating the most
money and diapers! J For February, YAH is teaming up with National Honor Society for the first annual
PB&J-athon, where students are making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for local after school programs,
shelters and food banks. YAH is having a great year and is expecting to continue doing more local outreach
events through the end of the school year. See Ms. Lizotte if you are interested in joining or taking part in
these events.
STUDENT COUNCIL
Student Council is gearing up for the State Conference in March. As part of this conference, the student council
participates in the Special Olympics Polar Plunge. Student council members from all over the state will take a
dip in the ocean to raise funds for Special Olympics. If you're interested in making a donation, you can check
out our team page at
http://mascplunge.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1165059&lis=1&kntae1165059=FE6039C
9EB6B4D089269CDBF3C02BD0D&team=6910872
So far we've raised $1260!
We've also booked Skylite Roller Skating Center for our 2nd Annual AKF Roller Skating night. It will take
place from 6:00-8:00 PM on Thursday March 16th. Tickets will be $8.00 and will be sold in all lunches as we
get closer to the event. We hope to see another great turnout.
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Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public High School Newsletter
MATH
The Math Department will be relieved to see the end of February. Despite enjoying the snow days, there is much
still to get done this year in preparing our sophomores for MCAS, our juniors for SATS, and our seniors for
graduation, college, and for some, IB exams. The department will also be relieved to have Mrs. Larson return
from an extended medical leave; Mr. Reilly, Mr. Welch, Mr. Lemire and Mr. Kasprzak have all graciously taken
on her classes for the last several weeks, and everyone is looking forward to a return to normal. Our math
club/team, now in its second year participating in the Worcester County Math League, continues to make a respectable showing in our division – we are happy to welcome new members at any time and look forward to
growing the group more next year.
Mr. Reilly’s Algebra I classes are working on completing a unit on Inequalities and are moving on to a unit on
Systems of Equations. Systems of Equations can be very challenging, as it ties in every other chapter learned so
far this year. Make sure to stay after school or seek extra help to avoid falling behind. Mr. Reilly’s Algebra II
class is completing a unit on Polynomial Functions. We will soon be moving on to a unit on Radical Equations
and Inequalities. There have been a lot of snow days recently, so please make sure you are keeping up with your
studies and reviewing material on days off. February break is coming soon, and many students will have work to
do over the break. When there is a break from school, it is always recommended to review materials covered before break to recall forgotten information. It can be difficult, especially in math, to learn new material when the
prerequisite skills are not fully developed.
YEARBOOK
Yearbook sales continue until March 3, 2017. Please email Ms. Potter at [email protected] if you have any
questions.
Booster Club
We are also launching a new fundraising program with TD Bank. The Booster Club receives an
annual donation for each new and existing account for staff, students and parents who identify
themselves as having a student at AKF. This service has no fees if you choose to join.
Additional information will be available at the Meat Raffle. Saturday, March 11 from 1 to 5
p.m. at the Eagles Club, 53 Norfolk Street in Worcester and the upcoming Pancake Breakfast
on Saturday, April 8 from 7 to 12 in the HS cafeteria.
Please join us in signing up for this highly beneficial program for our student athletes.
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Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public High School Newsletter
MUSIC
The Music Department is hard at work preparing for the Spring performance season. We have many upcoming
performances and events. Most recently, the HS Orchestra and selected choir members performed at Barnes
and Noble to raise money for this year's musical, "Grease". We had a wonderful turnout and are set to make
quite a bit of money! Below is the list of all of our major performances for the remainder of the school year.
Saturday, March 26 at 4 p.m.
The Four Orchestras Concert, at Mechanic Hall in Worcester. This performance will be for the High
School Orchestra
ArtFest 2017: This will be a music and art festival in the High School for grades 7-12.
Details to follow.
Thursday, April 6: Grades 7-12 music and art event. Art posted and displayed in school.
Concert to follow at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 8 WEC, Acappella concert, HS choir is singing, Mechanics Hall at 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 18 HS Spring Concert at 6:30 p.m.
If you'd like any information on any of the upcoming performances, please reach out to me with any questions.
We look forward to seeing at one of our upcoming dates soon.
2017 AKF Golf Tournament
Save the date for the 4th Annual
AKF Educational Foundation Golf Tournament
Friday, June 9, 2017
1:00 pm (Registration at 12:00 pm)
Leicester Country Club