While New Canaan High School’s senior internship program or ‘SIP’ has only been up and running for about eight years, the number of students that choose to participate has skyrocketed. But what is the 6 percent of the class of 2018 that chose to stay for their final month of high school up to? Senior Zach Miller said his older sister hadn’t done SIP and he decided to forgo it, too. Miller said he has had a more casual experience in the classroom in the past month. “Most of the time there really isn’t much to do,” Miller said.
Friday marked New Canaan High School’s annual Senior Recognition Ceremony, where emcee Assistant Principal Ari Rothman awarded outstanding Juniors and seniors for their various achievements. Congratulations to all— what follows is a brief description of awards and their corresponding recipients:
National Merit Finalist
Each year more than a million high school students participate in the National Merit Scholarship testing program. Of this group, only one-half of one percent in each state is recognized as “National Merit Finalists,” a designation that comes only as a result of a record of distinguished achievement and a high potential for continued academic accomplishment. CAROLINE CALLAHAN
LEIGH CHARLTON
National Hispanic Scholar
The National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP) identifies academically outstanding Hispanic/Latino high school students. Each year, the NHRP honors nearly 5,000 of the highest-scoring students from the approximately 235,000 Hispanic/Latino juniors who take the PSAT/NMSQT
EVA PACE
Fairfield County Association of Secondary Schools Principal’s Scholar Leader Awards
CAROLINE CALLAHAN
LUKE STEWART
Connecticut Association of Boards of Education Student Leadership Award
An ability to recognize the needs of others, a willingness to take on difficult challenges and a capacity for making difficult decisions, ability to work with and direct others, and the ability to honor commitments – these are the attributes for which this award was established.
As the school year comes to a close, nearly every New Canaan High School senior is turning to the increasingly popular Senior Internship Program to provide them with the real-world job experience that is expected of them in college and beyond. May 22 marked the first day students ventured into New Canaan and surrounding towns’ businesses and organizations to join the workforce as interns. Assigned jobs ranged anywhere from gardening at churches to working in interior design. Run by Program Coordinator Heather Bianco, ‘SIP,’ as it’s known, reached a record-high number of participants in 2018, at 94 percent of the graduating class. While it earned high marks from past participants, the program still needed some adjustments this year, Bianco said.
Saying the addition of an electric car will improve their program and save money while helping the environment, officials with a New Canaan nonprofit organization that serves developmentally disabled people recently turned to a venerable local business for assistance. STAR Inc., Lighting the Way received a state grant allowing it to add 10 new vehicles to its fleet, including one hybrid, one electric car and eight additional wheelchair-accessible vans, according to Peter Saverine, the organization’s director of philanthropy. Karl Chevrolet facilitated the purchase of an EV, in the spirit of the Elm Street dealership’s longtime support of local nonprofits. “Karl Chevrolet was super nice and accommodating,” Saverine said. “They even drove over to Norwalk with three car models so we could take them for a spin and determine which was the best for us.”
They ended up with one electric Chevy Bolt EV that will help the organization experiment with leveraging their savings to reduce costs.
The Memorial Day Parade will start at 9:30 a.m. on Monday followed by the annual public ceremony in Lakeview Cemetery. Lifelong New Canaan resident Brian Vander Heyden—U.S. marine and Vietnam War veteran—will be a guest speaker. The Rev. Robert Kinnally from Saint Aloysius Catholic Church will officiate as clergy. Town Hall is closed Monday. If you’re a business owner and want us to add your information to our list here, please email your hours for Saturday, Sunday and Monday to editor@newcanaanite.com. Quick reminder: The VFW Post 653 at 8 a.m. on Saturday at Lakeview Cemetery will lead an effort to place new flags beside the grave stones of fallen servicemen and women buried in New Canaan.
