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A Better Chance of New Canaan Seniors Celebrate Martin Luther King Day

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Seniors Jelani Alladin, Darryl Cummings, and Shameil Gonzales were among this year's featured speakers at New Canaan's Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration hosted by the Methodist Church of New Canaan. Story to come.

NCHS Ranks #1 in Education Survey

New Canaan High School - The Day to Day Business of Being #1

New Canaan Public Schools recently emerged at the top of its reference group, ranking No. 1 in education for Connecticut towns with populations of 15,000 to 25,000 residents, according to the November issue of Connecticut Magazine. See school rankings online.

Students Elijah Westbrook, Darryl Cummings, Jelani Alladin, Justice Rogers, Devaun Bovell, Shamiel Gonzalez and Joveto De Carvalho meet with Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court Chase T. Rogers.

Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers, a New Canaan resident, met with A Better Chance students at the ABC House on Locust Avenue on January 12, giving the boys an overview of her current job responsibilities.

During her visit at the house, Rogers discussed the daily tasks of overseeing the operations of the judicial branch and hearing cases that have been appealed to the Supreme Court. To give students a flavor of the work done by trial judges, she shared the story of a case she presided over, involving allegations of abuse and neglect by the parents.

After providing students with the particulars of the case, she asked each boy to evaluate what decision he would have made and why. Following the case review, Rogers encouraged the students to consider exploring a career in law.

Before assuming the position of chief justice, Rogers served as a Superior Court trial judge for eight years in Connecticut. Ms. Rogers has also served on the Board of Directors of A Better Chance of New Canaan.

With the support of New Canaan High School Principal Tony Pavia and staff like Media Center director Michelle Luhtala (left), Darryl Cummings '10 (middle) and Devaun Bovell '14 (right) go about the day-to-day business of being students at a top high school in Connecticut and indeed the United States.

General Honoré Follow Up

New Canaan Public Schools recently earned a first place ranking among public school systems in Connecticut towns with 15,000 to 25,000 residents, according to the November 2009 issue of Connecticut Magazine. A rating system based upon standardized test scores and the percentage of graduates who attend college put New Canaan in the top slot among the 30 school districts.

We spoke with New Canaan High School Principal Tony Pavia to ask how such a first place ranking is earned. What happens in a school on a day-to-day basis that builds such educational excellence? Among many contributing factors, Mr. Pavia highlights the cultural environment within the high school.

“In this building, people go the extra mile for kids,” said Mr. Pavia, “That includes the highly dedicated professional staff, but also the non-professional staff, the custodians, the cafeteria staff. People care about kids in this building, and the students feel that the adults are invested in their success.”

He added, “Conventional wisdom once held that school environment and culture was just an addition to a good school. Current research shows that school culture is critical to how kids succeed.”

The ability to confide in and be assured of support from at least one adult also is now considered a key to the emotional health and development of young people. “I suspect New Canaan High School students would tell you they have more than one such adult in their life, whether that is a classroom teacher,

a coach or a club advisor,” noted Mr. Pavia.

And for the record, Mr. Pavia, who has been Principal at New Canaan High School for eight years, states, “I thought this was a great school long before that ranking. We did not need that ranking to appreciate what we do here.”

Perhaps the best evidence of the students’ full engagement with the school can be seen in the hours the students keep. “We have a large number of students who are here from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day, or even 10:00 at night. Very few students walk out at 2:05 p.m. as if they have just finished their job for the day,” said Mr. Pavia, adding, “One of the things you want to combat in a high school is social isolation and alienation. You minimize behavioral and discipline problems when students feel they are part of the school, feel ownership with the school.”

New Canaan High School offers a particularly wide array of sports teams, musical and theatrical groups, and other clubs. And student interests are actively supported, so if a student proposes, say a kayaking group or a cartooning club, the student will find administrative support to organize that activity.

Said Mr. Pavia, “The critical piece is having a guiding force in this building toward student learning. We have a large number of professionals and non-professionals all pulling in that same direction.

Recent guest speaker Russel L. Honoré, cites A Better Chance of New Canaan in an interview published in the Gallup Management Journal "Fighting Poverty: The Business Case". Read the online article.

Swanhaus Award

The 2009 John and Betsy Swanhaus Award was presented to Robert and Mary Henrikson during this year's annual Fall Fundraiser event….

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Volunteer ABC Web Editor Laura Walbert is a partner in New Canaan- based FraserWalbertMedia LLC

What We Did On Our Summer Vacations

With the help of volunteer Summer Programs Coordinator Christine Bonarrigo, our students spend their summer months engaged in productive and rewarding activities that in years past have mincluded volunteerism, study abroad, business internships, paid work in a printing plant, college office, movie theatre, hardware store and more. Junior Elijah Westbrook (right) and Senior Jelani Alladin (left) share their experiences from summer 2009…

From the New York Stage…

To Professional Halls.

By Jelani Alladin, Class of 2010
This summer I was given the opportunity to develop my performance skills at one of the best musical theater programs in the country. The pre-college musical theater program at New York University’s CAP 21 was the best five weeks of my life. I was able to study vocal technique, vocal performance, acting, improvisation, music theory, ballet, jazz and tap. All of the classes were workshop style, so not only were you able to receive help from the teacher, but watch them helping other students as well. I learned more than I imagined possible because of this.

The program was intense at first, but as I started to get into the swing of things, I was able to grab hold of all the information that was being thrown at me. Everyday I discovered new things about my talents and capabilities. The faculty included some of the best teachers and performers in the industry. Each of them saw a special something in me and worked to help me bring it out.

One highlight of the summer was the opportunity to participate in three jazz classes taught by the great Tony Stevens. Just being in the same room as Bob Fosse’s assistant made me fully appreciate the high level of professionalism at the program.

Although it was a lot of hard work, I had tons of fun doing it, and would do it all over again. Attending this program made it clear that musical theater is what I want to do for the rest of my life. None of this would be possible without the assistance of the A Better Chance program and the Friends of New Canaan Public School Theater. As I move forward to college auditions and my last performances at New Canaan High School, I will apply all that I learned this summer to become a better performer.

By Elijah Westbrook, Class of 2011
This summer, I had the amazing opportunity to work for a New York-based firm that is a leading provider of commercial mortgage and CMBS information, analytics, and technology, called Trepp, LLC. I worked primarily with the Bond Finance and Product Teams. My work included internet data searches, creating and editing Excel spreadsheets for property identification coding, and extracting information from reports for data entry. My colleagues really made me feel like a part of the company.

I worked four days a week. It was quite an experience to wake up at 7:00 in the morning to be on the subway by 8:00, during the rush hour. And I never anticipated feeling so mentally tired from working at the computer.

I learned so much during this summer. In addition to the stipend I received, I was offered another summer experience with the company. Without this summer experience, I may have been unoccupied during my vacation. I feel proud of myself. Not only do I have a growing resume, but now I have started a professional foundation for myself.

[From Annemarie G. DiCola, Esq., CEO of Trepp, LLC

“We had the pleasure of having Elijah work for us as an intern this summer. He was an absolute delight and contributed to a number of data projects that we had underway….Please keep Trepp on the list of companies that will be interested in engaging an ABC House intern again next summer.”]

Edited by Laura Walbert

Web Calendar

January 2010