– (11/12/08)

At its November 6-7, 2008 meeting, the Commission on Technical and Career Institutions reviewed the report of its decennial visiting committee dated March 10-13, 2008, and voted continued accreditation for the Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School with a Two-Year Progress Report due March 1, 2010, and a Five-Year Focused Visit in the Spring of 2013.

The Commission commended the administration and staff at Old Colony for many commendations identified by the visiting committee, and highlighted the following commendations:

1. An atmosphere of mutual respect and cooperation by staff and students that creates a safe, secure, and positive learning environment.
2. Consistently high academic and technical achievement.
3. A low drop-out rate and high average daily attendance rate.
4. A well-maintained building and campus that supports and enhances all aspects of the educational program.
5. The numerous articulation agreements with community colleges, businesses, and industry partnerships.
6. The dynamic new teacher mentoring program.

The Commission also focused on several visiting committee recommendations that are of particular concern and to which the school should pay particular attention as it strives to reach excellence. These recommendations are:

1. Develop a plan for facility improvement and equipment modernization.
2. Develop and implement a technology plan.
3. Adjust the master schedule to provide for flexibility in students’ course selections regardless of Pathway.
4. Develop and implement a plan for replacement of textbooks.
5. Address science laboratory deficiencies by repairing gas valves, drench showers, repair electrical outlets, and address plumbing issues.

The administration is working on a plan to address all of the visiting committee’s recommendations.

Questions should be addressed to Superintendent-Director, Gary Brown, at 508-763-8011, ext. 116.

On September 5, 2008, the 13 senior students in the Health Careers class attended a Dysphagia In-Service Training at Shriver Habilitative Services in Lakeville, MA. The In-Service covered Dysphagia: Swallowing Disorders and Mealtime Intervention and Dysphagia Diets.

The In-Service was provided to us from the Department of Mental Retardation and was presented by Lise Gervais, OTR. The students were shown Radiology studies of Barium swallows that diagnosed aspiration and other swallowing disorders. Dysphagia signs/symptoms, problems and consequences were all discussed. Guidelines of mealtime, special diets, as well as food preparation were all included in the In-Service.

The students received five Continuing Education credits for attending this In-Service.

Jade Worthington (Acushnet) and Christopher Faustino (Rochester), both seniors at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School and members of the National Honor Society, have been nominated to compete in the National Honor Society scholarship. The National Honor Society is a program of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

This year the program will once again award $200,000 in college scholarships. As a feature of this program, special recognition awards will be presented to state and regional winners, along with the selection of one national recipient who will receive a $13,000 award.

Nominees from each high school’s National Honor Society chapter were selected based on their leadership skills, participation in service organizations and clubs, achievements in the arts and sciences, employment experience, and academic record. They also were required to write an essay.

“Students nominated for the NHS scholarship not only demonstrate academic excellence but also excel in the areas of service, leadership, and character,” said David Cordts, associate director, NHS. “In recognizing leadership in co-curricular activities, as well as academic performance, the NHS scholarship recognizes the importance of a well-rounded education. Co-curricular activities are an essential part of the school curriculum.”

The National Honor Society (NHS) and the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) are the nation’s premier organization recognizing outstanding middle level and high school students who demonstrate excellence in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service and character.

Eight junior and senior programming students participated in the Bristol Community College Programming Contest on March 18, 2009. Our students were grouped into three teams. The juniors competed using the Visual Basic.NET development environment, while the seniors used a NetBeans Java environment. The competition had each team work on a set of problems of varying difficulty. The programming contest featured twelve teams from six local area high schools.

While competitive, Old Colony did not place in the contest. This was a good opportunity for the junior programming students observe how the contest was run and what to expect next year. The students now also have a good idea of how the competitive this contest is. During the bus ride from the contest, the students discussed key skills that would help them to do better next year. Among these would be a handling two dimensional arrays and string manipulation. With the sharpening of these skills Old Colony will do better in the future.

The following students participated in the programming contest for Old Colony:

• Drew Bartlett, Lakeville
• Robert Daniel, Acushnet
• Robert Dupre, Lakeville
• Kyle LeBlanc, Acushnet
• Stephen Mantia, Carver
• Eli Reznekervitz, Freetown
• Sara Sherman, Carver
• Alexander Tironati, Freetown

Old Colony’s Culinary Arts juniors have recently been notified of successfully passing the Serv Safe Food Protection Manager Certification Examination.

The 15-hour training session is completed in the Related classroom. The Serv Safe Certification is required prior to a student being placed on Cooperative Education.

The following students received the required passing scores:

• Kaitlyn Dextraze – Acushnet
• Nicole Dexter – Carver
• Courtney Littman – Carver
• Timothy O’Malley – Carver
• Mikayla Langevin – Freetown
• Chad McIntosh – Freetown
• Kelsey Beecher – Lakeville

Old Colony “Excellence In Effort” Award” winners are as follows:

“Excellence In Effort” Award” winners are chosen by shop and related instructors on the basis of effort … effort that is not restricted to a natural gift or talent, but based on the motivation to do well.

Students will receive a specially designed jacket with an “Excellence In Effort” logo, a framed certificate, and their names inscribed on a corridor plaque.

The in-school “Excellence in Effort” Award Ceremony will be held on Tuesday, June 9, 2009.