The Principal Reports: Ben Rutan Wins 'Poetry Out Loud; ARHS Hosts Gymnastics Championship

Information courtesy of Principal Tom Mead

God of Carnage was performed Thursday and Friday (Feb. 28, March 1) in the
ARHS small theater and at the Mass. Drama Guild Theatre Festival this past Saturday at Leominster High. 18 Students will be participating from Algonquin this year. Maura Morrison directed the festival play.

On Feb. 4, the 15-40 Connection Club at Algonquin sponsored its second “Orange Out” of the year. This was in observance of World Cancer Day, and the club invited three speakers to address the sophomore health classes throughout the day. Kim Honey is the advisor for this club.

On Tuesday, Feb. 12, 5 National Art Honor Society students visited the Northborough Senior Center to hang decorations that they and other students made throughout January in their weekly meetings.

Algonquin will be the host site for the New England High School Gymnastics Championships on Saturday, March 9. Gymnasts from Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island travel to ARHS to compete in this prestigious event. Algoquin seniors Chloe Herczeg and Alissa Wood compete in the individual competition. Chloe and Alissa have also been named to the Massachusetts National Team. They travel with the team to Fort Myers Beach, Florida in May to compete in the Senior National High School Gymnastics Showcase. Amelia Davis, coach of Algonquin, has been elected to the Massachusetts Coaches’ Association Board, and serves as a National Team coach at this year’s competition.

The Community Action Program held a Senior Citizen Book discussion (students and seniors) and a technology Seminar at both the Northborough & Southborough Senior Centers. The focus of these tech seminars was how to navigate an iPad. CAP will continue these tech seminars at the respective Senior Centers every other week. The seniors will participate in a ballroom dancing program provided by the Yale University Ballroom Dance Team when they visit in March 14. Eileen Palmer and Jason Lessard advise the CAP.

Earlier this month, the amazing Ben Rutan won Algonquin's Poetry Out Loud finals. More than 400 students entered this contest through their English classes. Ben moved on to the regional competition on Sunday, March 3, in Springfield. Seth Czarnecki, English teacher, was the impresario of this annual event.

Algonquin Regional High School’s SADD chapter hosts the “Drive to Save Lives”
Tour for parents and students featuring Kathi and Chris Sullivan on Tuesday, March 26 at 7 p.m. The parent presentation includes local law enforcement as well as the speakers and is designed to help parents understand the issues their children are faced with and provide tools for both students and parents to use to make safe choices. Parents and students of all grades are welcome to attend.

To help student make better decisions, SADD is sponsoring a video contest promoting safe choices. Students can create public service announcements showing how reckless driving and/or decisions are dangerous while involving messages about peer pressure. The winners of the contest are unveiled at the parent night and presented with prizes including a free limousine for a night along with other cash prizes.

Algonquin winter sports had a most successful season, with league champions in Gymnastics, Coed Swimming, and Boys and Girls Basketball. Indoor track had many stars, including Joe Breen’s 8th place finish in the State meet, the 7th place finish of the 4x200 relay (Stephen Roy, Shane Duffy, Davis and Colin Kraft) setting a new school record of 1:33.03, and snagging an invitation to the New England championships. The girls 4x200 team (Serena Hooker, Gaby
DiGiovanni, Haley Hughes, and Brenna Stewart) have also been invited to the New Englands.

In wrestling, sectional placers included Alex Mazzola (1st), Christian Saccone (2nd), Joe Cozzolino (2nd), James Officer (3rd), Austin Roche (4th), Nate Morrell (5th), David Wrin (6th), and Sam Schick (6th). The team placed 5th out of 12 teams in the event. In the state tournament, Mazzola (2nd), Cozzolino (6th), and Saccone (7th) did well.

In swimming, the girls finished in 15th place out of 49 teams. Setting a new school record and finishing in 7th place was the 200 freestyle relay team of Eleni Bautz, Claudia Capria, Mackenzie Hostage and Carly Railing. The boys finished in 23rd place out of 54 teams. Setting new school records were Drew Beland in the 200 Individual Medley (3rd place) and 500 Freestyle (3rd Place),
and the 400 Freestyle Relay placed 19th with Drew Beland, Kevin Shi, Max Ludwig, and Carl Lindgren.