Wilton High School Garden Club is happy to announce that they are the first high school in Connecticut as well as New England to become a member of the EcoType Project, which is, “a plant and place based approach to land stewardship and agrarian resilience in the Northeast.” (https://ctnofa.org/pollinator-health/) We are teaming up with some local groups to help support a new initiative including the Connecticut Chapter of the Northeastern Organic Farmers Association (CT NOFA) as well as the Wilton Conservation Land Trust and the Pollinator Pathway. WHS senior Brett Gilman has met with members of these groups to learn more about this project and to take action. Most recently, he has led the entire Garden Club in growing wildflower seedlings and has organized a partnership with Planters Choice Nursery LLC of Newtown to hold a native pollinator plant sale this spring. 

The goals of the project are to help educate people about the native wildflowers that grow in this area as well as get people interested in planting them to help improve the natural ecosystems in the state. The students will be holding a sale this spring so people can purchase some of these and plant them in their yard to help support the Pollinator Pathway here in Wilton as well as improve the habitat for native species of birds, butterflies, and bees. Additionally a portion of each plant purchased will go to help the Wilton High School Organic Garden which not only is working to actively improve the habitat in Wilton but also runs the organic garden which produces food for the high school cafeteria.  

In addition to the plant sale, the students will be taking some of the extra plants and will be using them in our own butterfly garden as well as planting some in areas of the town so that they can monitor their growth, distribution, and will also have access to some native seed stock, which they can then harvest and grow for future years. This is going to allow the students of Wilton High to have an ongoing research opportunity and also a way to document and prove the positive things that happen when you plant natives. 

“Wilton Land Conservation Trust, a founding organization of the CT Pollinator Pathway, is thrilled to partner with the Wilton High School Garden Club. Providing landowners with the native plants that support our insects gives our entire town the chance to be part of the Pollinator Pathway.  I find it so exciting to watch the students be the educators. By making the right plants available for our bees and butterflies they’re proving that what each of us do in our own backyards makes a difference.” --Donna Merrill, Executive Director, Wilton Land Conservation Trust and Pollinator Pathway Co-founder    

According to CT NOFA “Our Response: We must restore native habitat to safeguard our food system.  Our initiative exists at the intersection of farms, gardens, land trusts, and public lands: we aim to increase the number of native plants growing in our region.  To do this, we are growing seed crops of Connecticut’s native pollinator plants, wild collected from our open-spaces, and bringing them to our nursery growers and homeowners so that we can produce the plants to restore native pollinator habitat.”  

To order the plants follow this link to the WHS Organic Garden website.

Dear Parents, Guardians, and Caregivers: 

The health and safety of our students, staff, and school community is always our first priority.  In an ongoing effort to maintain a safe and secure learning environment for all students, the district’s Emergency Operations Committee has adopted emergency response procedures (page 2).  Each school reviews and practices these procedures with staff and students throughout the year.  

Beginning this winter, we will be practicing a new drill that will allow faculty, staff, and students to focus on our timely response to a lockdown announcement. This new “Fast Drill” will consist of a public address  announcement from the main office, after which teachers and students will clear hallways and common areas, and secure all students in locked classrooms. Members of the administration, Emergency Operations team, and the School Resource Officer will monitor our progress in an effort to ensure that we can clear hallways as quickly as possible.  Finally, the Main Office will issue an “all clear” message, upon which the building will return to normal function. Since we anticipate a Fast Drill lasting approximately 5-10 minutes, we will be able to run the exercise two to three times per year with minimal impact to instruction. 

In addition to communicating this information to staff and families, we will also be broadcasting an informational public service message to students through our own “WHS Morning Warrior” program  during Advisory. As always, parents and guardians will be notified during the year when these drills take place. 

Thank you for your partnership as we continue the work of keeping our school community safe.  

Robert William O’Donnell, Ed.D., Principal and Greg Theriault, Assistant Principal

Please read Middlebrook's Schedule Planning Team presentation to the Board of Education.

The Middlebrook Gym was a hive of activity at the annual Middlebrook Science and Engineering Fair on Tuesday evening, Jan. 28, as over 120 students presented their science fair projects to a roving audience of students, parents, teachers and judges. Divided between 6th grade and 7th/8th Grade, students' projects covered life sciences, physical sciences and engineering.

Many of the projects contained elements of social responsibility with water purification, air filter and renewable energy featuring prominently.

Also present were the perennial science fair favorites featuring Mentos and Skittles. Evidence of students mastering coding was also on show at the fair:  6th Grader Polina Popova took her inspiration from living close to the four-way stop at Belden Hill and New Canaan Rds., she wondered what was better, stop signs or traffic lights and used coding in python to figure out the answer (authors note : it depends on how much traffic there is, but Belden Hill should stay as a four way stop, according to Popova).

New this year was a teacher award to recognize a science teacher at Middlebrook who has gone above and beyond to advance students curiosity and encourage them to participate in the science and engineering fair. This year’s winner is Bill DesRoche, science teacher on the 6 Yellow team.

The enthusiasm of the students was clear to see as they clearly articulated the purpose of their projects even when discussed pitfalls, setbacks and dealing with the rigors of the scientific method. The standard of entries was very high. Veteran judge and high school chemistry teacher Stephen Sobolewski said ‘I am blown away by the quality of the work. I have never programmed in my life, and to see 7th and 8th graders program their projects is very impressive’.

The Best in Fair this year was awarded to 8th grade student Anup Pilla with his project ‘Heart Safe’. Anup’s completely original science fair idea was inspired by his desire to save lives by inventing a heart monitor and defibrillator. Anup lost both of his grandfathers to heart disease and is determined to do something to help others.

At the tender age of 13, Anup already feels a calling to medical research. "I want to find a way to cure H.I.V, and if someone beats me to it, I’m going to research mental health and conditions that affect the brain, like autism."

First, second and third places were awarded in each of the three science categories - engineering, life science and physical science full results are posted below.

The Middlebrook science fair is a collaboration between the Middlebrook PTA and the Wilton Education Foundation. PTA co-chairs this year were Loralee Hamilton and Uma Subramanian. Wilton Education Foundation provided funding for the event. Thanks to the 25 judges who gave their time to judge the event, including 10 AP science students and a number of science teachers from Wilton High School.

Winning entries will be entered into the Connecticut Science and Engineering Fair. The state competition will be held in March at Quinnipiac University.

Best in Fair

Anup Pilla:  "Heart Safe"

7 & 8th Grade Winning Entries

Physical Science

1st Place–Arjun Patel and Saaransh Khandelwal:  "Water Purification"
2nd Place–Kendra Ward:  "Hydroelectric Power"
3rd Place–Abby Phelan:  "Commercials vs. The Real World"

Engineering

1st Place–Zachary Coleman:  "Voice to Hand Written Text"
2nd Place–Dillion Bhutani:  "Self-Watering Plant"
3rd Place–Aarushi Agarwal and Maddie Phelan:  "Solar Power Phone Charger"

Life Science

1st Place–Illeas Paschalidis and Shawn Gregory:  "Fertilizer Fiasco"
2nd Place–Aishwani Walia and Francesca Gusfa:  "Artificial Dye or Organic Dye"
3rd Place–Austin Etzbach:  "The Effect of Pets on Stress and Blood Pressure"

6th Grade Winning Entries

Physical Science

1st Place–Polina Popova:  "Traffic Light or Stop Sign"
2nd Place–Sam Jacobson:  "Golf Ball on a String"
3rd Place–Arista Sullivan and Meredith Sullivan:  "Sympathetic Vibrations"

Engineering

1st Place–Nikisha Shivram:  "The Helping Hand"
2nd Place–William Olmstead and Paul Zhang:  "POD 3D Engineering"
3rd Place–Gayathri Sarath:  "The Laundry Helper"

Life Science

1st Place–Preethi Vijay and Rose Bilella:  "Disintegrating Aluminum Cans"
2nd Place–Ronan Conway:  "Skittles, Flavored?"
3rd Place–Adeeva Ghuman and Abby Fang:  "Musical Plants, Music’s Impact on Plant Growth"

Follow this link to view further images from the event.

 7R student Kieran Lenihan was crowned Middlebrook Geography Bee champion at the school final held on Wednesday January 15th. Kieran had to hold his nerve in a tough battle for first place with 8R student Anderson Campbell.  This is Kieran's second year in the school final. Kieran studied hard for the competition and will now compete in the state final on March 27. We all wish him the very best. 

Saturday December 14th marked the first debate tournament of the year for the Connecticut Middle school Debate League. Twenty-two middle schools in Connecticut fielded teams in the competition. Middlebrook had a very strong showing with 60 students taking part. Each student is part of a debating trio. The question, or proposition is announced in advance of the tournament, giving each student 3-4 weeks to prepare. The proposition for this debate was 'This House regrets the worldwide proliferation of surveillance cameras.' Each team debates the proposition three times - once taking the proposition side, once taking the opposition side, and their final time the side they will argue is decided by a coin toss.

Each student receives a score for their personal performance, the team score is calculated by averaging out each team members score. Middlebrook had five of the ten best individual performances with seventh grader Francesca Gusfa finishing a very impressive second overall. Middlebrook also placed four of the top ten teams in the debate with a team of three eighth graders finishing first overall. Students on the winning team were Yasmin Athulathmudali, Grace Biondo, and Anagha Khisti (pictured above).

Katie Durkin and Michael Panoli are Debate club advisors at Middlbrook, positions they have held since the inception of debate club five years ago.  Debate has existed as a High School club for a long time, but was absent as a club at Middlelbrook until Michael Wallace, a WHS student at the time, approached Middlebrook teachers asking them to consider setting up the club at Middlebrook. The idea made a lot of sense, getting the students used to debating at middle school would mean a more experienced cohort of students in the debate team at the high school.

There are four debate tournaments during the year. The next one will be held at Middlebrook on Saturday January 25th, 2020. Middlebrook are hoping that the home advantage will net them a third victory in a row. Students curious about debate are welcome to attend the next tournament as spectators. Debate club runs throughout the year on Tuesdays after school. The Middlebrook Debate Club introduces all middle school students to debate and public speaking. Debate club meetings address creating feasible arguments, speaking fluidly, and understanding fundamental civics. Games, lectures, and mock debates, during the weekly practices further bolsters students’ comprehension of current events and parliamentary procedures.

For more information about middle school debate, visit ctmsdebate.org or contact the team advisers Ms. Durkin or Mr. Panoli.

 

 

Veterans day was marked in each Wilton school with assemblies and visits by veterans to each school. Middlebrook welcomed around 25 veterans and their families. The veterans were invited onto the auditorium stage and their service was recognized. The assembly included performances by music students and a short video with students and staff and recognizing the veterans in their lives.

Tuesday, August 20th was the first day of school for five new teachers at Cider Mill. There are twenty-five newly hired teachers across the whole district. Maria Coleman, Director of Human Resources welcomed the group and shared that the newly hired teachers in the room represented ‘The top 5% of our applicant pool of 550 applicants.’ She also shared ‘Sitting among you, valedictorian from Wilton high school, a Fulbright scholar and a professional musician whose music was featured at the Sochi Olympics. You are the best of the best and you should feel very proud to be here. We hope Wilton will become your forever home.’

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Smith spoke next, he encouraged all new staff to search for the twitter hashtag #WiltonWayCT.  “I challenge and invite you to visit it and post to it, it will make your day.” In what has become an annual tradition in the Smith Family, Dr Smith asked his own children for their advice for the new teachers. Dr Smith’s five children range in ages from 3^rd grade to a High School Freshman and their wise words were:

• We know how hard your jobs as teachers are.
• Get to know your students.
• Be creative.
• Play lots of games, smile and give out lots of candy.

Chris Finkelstein, Chair of the Wilton Board of Education spoke next:

‘As you begin your work, you are joining a community that enthusiastically embraces its teachers and supports it schools. Wilton teachers develop strong relationships with families. In our family, we frequently exchange stories about teachers who mean a lot to us. Our community shows support through schools in many ways – investing in them, supporting them on the football field, attending music and drama performances. This is an exciting time to be starting your tenure, teachers are the center of everything’

Chuck Smith, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction and Andrea Leonardi, Assistant Superintendent of Special Services also spoke reinforcing the days theme of fostering relationships, increasing student engagement and helping students to take risks to meet their goals.

‘Success is when students come in smiling, telling you stories and relating something you taught them to something that happened to them in the world outside of the classroom’ said Leonardi.

The meeting ended with Dr Smith presenting each new hire with their Class of ’19 Wilton shirt. New teachers then returned to their own school to continue their orientation day.

The new teachers at Cider Mill are:

• Beth Bakst – Music
• Margaret Barbieri – 5^th Grade Teacher
• Ethan Bourque – School Counselor
• Erin Crowley – 5^th Grade Teacher
• Sara Ando – Teacher of Hearing Impaired

This week the annual tradition of Fifth graders toured Middlebrook took place. The Fifth graders enjoyed a performance from the sixth grade chorus and our advanced sixth grade stage band, The Sixth Dimension. The visiting students toured Middlebrook led by the seventh graders who will be serving as WEB (Where Everyone Belongs) leaders next year. This complex event was pulled together by Ms. Bonnie O’Brien, the school counselor for the rising sixth grade, in collaboration with colleagues from the music and counseling departments as well as our WEB leadership.

The event is one of great excitement for the fifth graders as they learn how things will be different next year when they reach Middle School.  Students are looking forward to the increased independence of middle school – no more walking in a line. They are looking forward to switching classes and having the opportunity to meet and work with different students in every class. Gym at Middlebrook is an exciting prospect for many. There are many new games to be played and things to try – the rock-climbing wall for example.

The most exciting thing about Middle School?  Our survey reveals the same results as last year - free seating in the cafeteria and the much better lunch food options!

 

Author Jennifer Elvgren visited Cider Mill on Thursday as part of the Wilton Reads 2019, she talked about her book ‘The Whispering Town’ which is a fictionalized account of a true event that happened in the town of Gilleleje, Denmark during World War two.

Every student heard her story about the writing and illustration process she undertook for her book. She also provided a background on the German occupation of Denmark during the second world war.

Fifth grade students had the opportunity to join her for lunch and a further question and answer session in the Library Learning Commons. She shared with the students that her top tips for writers were to read, read, read; to spend time outside in nature for inspiration; to not be afraid of kind criticism and to have a group of friends to trust and help you through set-backs and hard times. 

April is Inclusion/ Diversity Awareness Month. Wilton High School’s Top Inclusion Models (TIMs) traveled to Cider Mill to put on a show for the students. They performed ‘Do the Right Thing,’ based on the book ‘Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun’ The short play celebrates kindness, courage and doing the right thing.

Top Inclusion Models is a High School Club whose mission is to promote inclusion of all students regardless of ability or differences.

When: Friday, March 22, 2019
Time: Doors open at 6:30 pm, show will start at 7 pm
Where: Middlebrook Auditorium