Students in Mr. Sudell's Manufacturing II class have started a weeks-long WBL (work-based learning) project with the professionals at American Steel Fabricators in Greenfield.

The students are working to create a sundial, which will reside at ConVal. In the picture, ConVal alum Caden Robinson is showing the WBL students how to use the plasma table.

Among many other services, American Steel specializes in decorative metals.

The World Language Department would like to announce and congratulate the December World Language Students of ​the Month.

The following students demonstrate ​the keys to being successful language learners. 

They have a positive attitude, willingness to take academic risks, perseverance, and curiosity, and they stand out as successful collaborators.

For German: Ava Cronin and Audrey Young. For Spanish: Ethan Danforth and Kaylee Lagasse.

Congratulations, all!

On Wednesday, the ConVal Music Department presented its annual Winter Concert.

The Chamber Choir, Trouble Clefs, Select Choir, and Concert Choir performed a wide-ranging repertoire of vocal pieces, from carols in Czech and Spanish to a Gordon Lightfoot song.

The Concert Band played favorites like "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "White Christmas." The combined ensembles brought out ConVal alumni and audience members who participated in the concluding number "A Christmas Festival."

Congratulations to seniors Abby Rodenhiser and Owen Kaltsas who were recognized by the Region 14 Applied Technology Center as our Students of the Month for November and December.

Abby was nominated by her Business teacher, Mr. Smith, for going above and beyond in class and being helpful with her peers. Owen was nominated by his Digital Photo & Video teacher, Mr. Levesque, for his work as a teaching assistant and for being an inspiration to his classmates.

Both students receive a $150 award, courtesy of the Peterborough Kiwanis Club, $50 of which goes to a nonprofit of each student's choice. Please join us in congratulating Abby and Owen!

Chris Heider and Nancy Gagnon, who jointly advise Youth & Government, met in the library with students for "Bill Creation Day."

During this activity, each student conducted research and created one or more bills that address issues in the state of New Hampshire. One of the draft bills, for example, centered on the use of ear buds in both ears while driving, analogous to New Hampshire's hands-free driving law, House Bill 1360, which prohibits the use of handheld electronic devices while driving or stopped in traffic. After the bills have been written, they are debated internally on their merits and further refined before students head to their statewide spring meeting in Concord. 

Youth & Government is a national program that involves teens nationwide in state-organized, model-government and leadership programs.

Congratulations to the following students who placed in the annual World Language Poetry Recitation contest.   

• First place German: Cole Dexter, Kiran Galbraith, Eva Harriott, Astrid Millbauer, Addie Regis, Noah Regis

• First place Spanish: Remy Kekuewa-Colon, Lindsay LaPlante, Holly Lyons, Keira Schaub, Grayson Yergeau, Suki Zhang

• Second Place German: Joey Bailey, Ava Cronin, Caitlyn Fowle, Trinity Gernat-Hemenway, Riley Heider, Griffin Schultz

• Second Place Spanish: Heidi Bell, Michael Gonzalez, Jonathan Parker, Willow Rushalko, Stephen Simard, Oscar Taylor

• Third Place German: Whitney Adair, Liam Armstrong, Gavin Codman, Ben Fraley, Marcus Jordan, Cole Starr, TJ Wood,  Audrey Young

• Third Place Spanish: Kyle Austin, Lukas Baker, Jenna Bergeron, Zoey Lazzarro, Norah MacNamara, Autumn Maurice, Sam Phelps, Walter Stephens

Great job to all and we are very proud of you!

On Wednesday, students started to work in the main hallway on a new ConVal mural that combines the school's motto — "Here Comes ConVal" — with the basketball court center court logo that dates back to 1971. The logo depicts the ConVal cougar coming over the mountain.

A Community Forum was held in the Lucy Hurlin Theatre on December 4 to inform the public about the planned renovations of the Career and Technical Education spaces at ConVal High School as well as other proposed improvements to the facility.

This year, ConVal is eligible to receive state funding to subsidize the modernization of the Applied Technology Center. This state funding covers 75% of the CTE renovation costs. In preparation for this opportunity, the ConVal School Board and Administration partnered with the architectural firm LAVALLEE | BRENSINGER to develop a comprehensive renovation plan.

This plan incorporates improved safety features, ​such as a more secure main entrance, the replacement of aging electrical equipment, and an upgraded fire alarm and evacuation system. Lastly, the plan contains an option to reconfigure the Lucy Hurlin Theatre (LHT), a space that was originally envisioned to be a lecture hall but has served as a makeshift performance space.

At the Forum, architect Jay Doherty summed up the issues that would be addressed by the renovations.