EO SENIORS INVITED to submit designs

Next week EO Seniors will be invited to submit designs for this year's SAFE GRAD T shirts. Students have until early January to work on the design proposals. The t shirts will be light colored (exact color undecided as of now) and the designs can be 2 colors. NOTE: black counts as a color in the design! More info will be available through the EO art faculty. Designs will reviewed by the SafeGrad committee and one design will be selected for this year's t shirts. Free admission to Safe Grad 2010 will be given to the student whose design is selected for this year's T shirt.

Planning this year's events

At the SAFE GRAD meeting Oct 5th Barry W., his wife Marybeth & I (Lisa O) agreed to arrange the night's events for SAFE GRAD 2010. We will use this space to keep you all updated. The date is set for Monday, June 14th after EO graduation. However expect that date to change once winter arrives (snow days!) . The night has been 10pm-2 or 3am. The location will remain the Mansfield Community Center. There is the use of the pool and gym as well as a DJ, nonstop food and a variety of party events. The party events and activities are  a highlight. We are talking with 2 companies who provide these activities for SAFE GRADS, corporate parties, UCONN's late nights etc. To give you an idea of some of the activities at last year's SAFE GRAD: a hypnotist, henna tattoos, antique photo booth, game show, bungee run, caricaturist and more.

The funds to cover these costs come from the can and bottle drives held at EO on several Saturdays this Fall, Winter and Spring. Also funds are raised at the concession stand at the EO Smith basketball games and the concession stand run by EO parents at UCONN basketball games. Have you signed up yet to help? This project is organized entirely by parents. Join us.

Oct 16-17:EO Smith Seniors to Direct One-Act Plays

EO Smith Seniors to Direct One Act Plays

This fall seniors in the EO Smith Drama Club will direct one act plays as part of their senior projects required for graduation.  This is an exciting opportunity for students to have a hands-on experience directing.  The five senior productions will be presented the weekend of October 16 and 17, 2009.  All productions will be held at the E.O. Smith Auditorium in Storrs.  Friday and Saturday performances will be at 7:00 PM.

The one act productions will include Lucia, written and directed by Senior Ava Rose Molnar.  This play is a spin on the classic fairytale Cinderella.  Another play, The Handicapper General, is based on the short story, Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and has been adapted by Pat Cook.  Senior Chad Dominique, will direct this story of the Bergeron family, George, Hazel, and their all too perfect son, Harrison.

Answers, written by Tom Topor, will be directed by Senior Andrew Bryce.  This one act includes an intense police interrogation that ends asking the questions; who is really guilty, and what does an “answer” really mean?  Senior Lynn Fesenmeyer, will direct a play called Scapino about two friends who seem to fall in love with the wrong girls. This play is adapted by Noyce Burleson from a play by Frank Dunlop and Jim Dale.

The final one act production, Counting to Three written by Joe Anson, will be directed by Senior Lauren Messeck.  In this play Mary catches her shy classmate John perched in a tree writing poetry. She tries everything from jests to threats to get John to come down and talk to her.  John's afraid of jumping -- but he's probably more afraid of Mary.

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street School Edition will be presented by the E.O. Smith Drama Club this winter.  This production will be directed by Lenore Grunko with musical direction provided by Ken Clark.  The play is based on a book by Hugh Wheeler with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.  If you would like more information about the Drama Club, please contact the Director, Lenore Grunko at 487-0877 ext. 4505 or lgrunko@eosmith.org.

The EO Smith Drama Association is a very active parent support group.  All parents of drama students are encouraged to participate.  Parent volunteers make costumes, attract advertisers, sell tickets and participate in many other activities critical to the success of the productions.  If you’d like more information about the Drama Association, please contact the President, Dara Dominique at DEdominique409@aol.com.

Safe Grad Can and bottle drives

Dates have been set for the CAN & BOTTLE DRIVES held at EO SMITH. Cans and bottles collected at these drives are refunded by the Safe Grad planning group. The funds are used entirely toward the costs of the Safe Grad night-facility rental, entertainment costs, food, etc. This year the EO National Honor Society has joined the effort. They will be helping collect cans and bottles at the drives. They will also promote the cause within the EO community.

So when should you bring your refundable cans and bottles to EO SMITH??

SATURDAY between 9and noon on DECEMBER 5th, JANUARY 23rd, MARCH 20th, and MAY 22nd. See you there.

FALL PLAY Oct. 16 & 17 starts at 7 pm

Please note: The start time for the EOS Drama Fall Play FIVE ONE ACTS has been changed to 7 pm for both performances. 

The show will be presented in the EOS Auditorium. Tickets will be available at the door for $7/ $5 for students and seniors.

Submitted by EOS Drama Association, Publicity Committee.

More info:

EO Smith Seniors to Direct One Act Plays

This fall seniors in the EO Smith Drama Club will direct one act plays as part of their senior projects required for graduation.  This is an exciting opportunity for students to have a hands-on experience directing.  The five senior productions will be presented the weekend of October 16 and 17, 2009. All productions will be held at the E.O. Smith Auditorium in Storrs.  The Friday and Saturday performances will be at 7:00 PM.

The one act productions will include Lucia, written and directed by Senior Ava Rose Molnar.  This play is a spin on the classic fairytale Cinderella.  Another play, The Handicapper General, is based on the short story, Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and has been adapted by Pat Cook.  Senior Chad Dominique, will direct this story of the Bergeron family, George, Hazel, and their all too perfect son, Harrison.

Answers, written by Tom Topor, will be directed by Senior Andrew Bryce.  This one act includes an intense police interrogation that ends asking the questions; who is really guilty, and what does an “answer” really mean?  Senior Lynn Fesenmeyer, will direct a play called Scapino about two friends who seem to fall in love with the wrong girls. This play is adapted by Noyce Burleson from a play by Frank Dunlop and Jim Dale.

The final one act production, Counting to Three written by Joe Anson, will be directed by Senior Lauren Messeck.  In this play Mary catches her shy classmate John perched in a tree writing poetry. She tries everything from jests to threats to get John to come down and talk to her.  John's afraid of jumping -- but he's probably more afraid of Mary.

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - School Edition will be presented by the E.O. Smith Drama Club this winter.  This production will be directed by Lenore Grunko with musical direction provided by Ken Clark.  The play is based on a book by Hugh Wheeler with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.  The musical will be held on February 5 and 6 at 7:30 PM and on February 7 at 1:30 PM.  Mark your calendars for these exciting shows.

All EO Smith students are encouraged to participate in the Drama Club.  Besides directing and acting, there are opportunities to participate in the technical aspects of production.  If you would like more information about the Drama Club, please contact the Director, Lenore Grunko at 487-0877 ext. 4505 or lgrunko@eosmith.org.

The EO Smith Drama Association is a very active parent support group.  All parents of drama students are encouraged to participate.  Parent volunteers make costumes, attract advertisers, sell tickets and participate in many other activities critical to the success of the productions.  If you’d like more information about the Drama Association, please contact the President, Dara Dominique at DEdominique409@aol.com.

EO Smith Drama Association Meeting

From Dara Dominque, President of the Association:

Our First Drama Association Parents' meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 8 at 7:30 PM in Room 30

Important Dates - EO Smith Drama Club

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT DRAMA CLUB AT EO!

New Partnership with Manchester Community College

EO Smith has announced a new partnership with Manchester Community College!  Effective immediately, students who are interested in taking a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) course through the Partnership Program will be allowed to register for fall classes on a space-available basis, in-person, beginning Monday, August 17.

HSPP students registering for any other (non-STEM) course will be able to register for fall classes on a space-available basis on Friday, August 28. Students who have submitted a registration form through their EOS counselor will be registered on the appropriate day and may come to the Admissions Office for registration confirmation.  Fall classes begin Monday, August 31.

Get involved in next year's Safe Grad!

Are you interested in re-thinking the way Safe Grad is organized and run?  In the past, there has been a great deal of focus on fundraising in order to support expensive prizes for the kids as a way of encouraging them to attend Safe Grad.  

If you'd like to lend your creativity and ideas to the cause, please let us know as there are a few parents who would like to reformat this event with a greater emphasis on fun and camaraderie and less on prizes.

Contact drlisao if interested in working on this project.

Need to get clearance for sports

Just want to make sure everyone knows that if you have a child who wants to play sports, that they need to get clearance from the nurse this summer in order to play fall sports.  There is a test they need to take and, of course, need to provide up to date medical forms to the nurse during the month of August in order to play fall sports.  

If you haven't already done so, you should call the high school to schedule a date for the test.  They offer it during just one week in August!  

abuse of over the counter medication

I just spoke with a pharmacist and have learned that there is rampant abuse of over the counter medications by EO Smith students.  They are stealing and/or purchasing cough medication with "DM" because when you ingest large amounts of this, it has a morphine type effect.  The danger in this, besides the obvious, is that because this ingredient is a synthetic form of morphine, it can cause seizures in people.

The Pharmacist at Storrs Drug has taken action to remove these items from their open shelves, placing them behind the counter.  But there are other places the kids can buy these! I just spoke to the Pharmacist at Big Y and she had no idea this abuse was happening, so as parents, we need to make sure others are aware, so they can take steps to keep this out of our kids hands!

The Teenage Brain - Who Knew?

I've just learned that the brain doesn't fully develop in kids until the 20s! This is HUGE as it can mean that if our kids get involved in drugs or alcohol in their teens, they could suffer permanent neurological damage to their brain!

Here's a great site that explains all the "normal" teenage behaviors and why they act the way they do and then it also gives examples so that you can identify when those behaviors might be cause for concern.

Check it out.http://www.drugfree.org/TeenBrain/about.html

EO Smith Statistics

I ran across these statistics and I thought parents might like to know these. These were compiled by NECASA:

• 30% of EO Smith students had used in last month (2004 NECASA survey)
• 49% of EO Smith students felt that adult acceptance of underage drinking was a factor that contributed to drinking (Take It Back non-scientific survey)
• 20% of EO Smith students get alcohol from their parents with their permission and 21% get alcohol from their parents without their permission (NECASA)
• National research has shown that the following parent behavior helps prevent underage drinking:
  • monitor and supervise consistently
  • offer emotional support
  • provide positive bonding
  • communicate clear, positive expectations

How to survive the transition

I'm interested in hearing if parents have any ideas on how we can get to know families in the towns other than where we live. It's difficult when our kids reach EO Smith. Their community enlarges to include Ashford and Willington (in my case, because I live in Mansfield) yet EO Smith doesn't seem to help the parent's mix with parents from the other towns, enlarging our community alongside our kids.

One of the ideas that was floated at the EO Smith Assoc meeting last night was to have upper class parents from another town call other parents to welcome them to the school and to answer any questions they might have about the school. I thought that was a good start, but I think what would be more helpful would be to host a social mixer for parents to get to know others. They devote quite a bit of time doing this sort of thing for the kids and virtually no time on the parents.

What do you think? Any ideas?

Teen Driving Rules

This came home from EO Smith today and I wanted to share it.

DMV each year receives questions regarding how the teen driving curfew affects students participating in high school proms and school-sponsored events afterward. This exception does not apply to passenger restrictions. All laws regarding passenger restrictions remain in effect for 16 and 17-year-old drivers.

These school-related activities usually end during the time when there is a curfew, which is from of 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., for 16 and 17 year-old drivers. (The curfew does not apply to drivers over 18 years-old.) DMV below attempts to give general guidance on how the curfew works when school-sponsored activities are involved. However, each case is decided on the facts of the circumstances.

State law gives an exception for “school or religious activities” in Public Act 05-54. However, these are not defined in the statute and to date, no cases have come before the courts for interpretation of this language. The language is quite broad, and DMV believes that the exception was intended to cover school-sponsored or sanctioned activities, whether on school grounds or off. The exception would allow driving after curfew to or from an activity such as a prom or away game, provided that there is no intervening activity to which the student is driving.

For example, a student would not be able to drive from the prom to a friend’s house, attend a post-prom party at the friend’s house, and then drive home. It is reasonable to expect that a student would not be driving home from a prom at 2:00 a.m. when the prom ended at 11:00 p.m., and is in the same town. If the student, however, was traveling to a school-sponsored post-prom party, then travel to the event from the prom and then from the event to home directly afterward would be allowed.

Many schools, though, hold proms and some post-prom parties in neighboring towns. The police departments in these towns may not know the out-of-town school’s prom schedule and school-sponsored post prom activities. To assist patrol officers in making a determination of whether an exception to curfew applies, the DMV suggests that the police departments in hosting towns be given advance notification of the prom itinerary by the sponsoring school district, and/or that students be provided with an official schedule of school-sponsored prom activities to carry in their vehicles.