Week of November 23, 2015
On behalf of the Douglas High School community, I want to extend best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday spent with family, friends and good food.
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Update on an eventful week at DHS
DHS Chorus and Blue Light Special performed at Mechanics Hall on Saturday and it was an outstanding performance. Their performance reflected the joy that they took from fantastic experience. Congratulations go out to our choral members and to Mr. DeNoncour, Mr. Elliot and Ms. Burrows.
Thanks go out to Mrs. Rockne for these photos taken at the performance. They are very much appreciated.
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Cross Country at the State Meet
Four members of the Cross Country team qualified and performed at the State Finals meet which was held on the campus of Westfield State University. For the girls team, sophomore Caroline Meizen and 8th grader Keeley Mungeam performed very well finishing in the top third of a field of better than 300 runners. Very strong performance for both Caroline and Keeley.
For the boys team, sophomore's Patrick Peloquin and Trevor Mungeam competed in the State Finals. Trevor and Patrick also finished in the top third of all racers.
Congratulations Trevor, Patrick, Caroline and Keeley on your performances and congratulations to all the members of the Cross Country team for a good season. Thanks go out to Mr. Doyon and Ms. Harrington as well.
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Boys Soccer advances to the State Finals
The DHS Boys Soccer team advanced to the State Finals on Saturday. They were matched up with Norton High School and it was one of the best high school soccer games ever for DHS. The match ended at 1-1 in regulation time. They battled for two more overtime periods with the score locked at 1-1.
To resolve the tie and crown a State Champion, they entered a penalty kick period. Unfortunately, DHS came out on the short side of the penalty kick period, 4-3 and the team's season ended as the 2015 State Finalist. Just a fantastic season and one that the school and community should be proud of.
Congratulations go out to all the players and to Coach Ferguson and Coach Quinn. Much to be proud of! Great work gentlemen.
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Food for thought:
As witnessed by the above submissions; Douglas has much to be proud of relative to the High School and its outstanding students. They are performing at such high levels on the athletic fields, cross-country trails, and on the performance stage, casting an outstanding reflection upon the school, the community and their parents. I could not be more proud of these fine young people.
It is important to not lose sight of what could have been the reality for these students. If not for the efforts of the Athletic and Band Booster's, parent's and other local contributors and corporate sponsors; none of these events would have taken place and none of these students would have experienced these outstanding opportunities. These are experiences that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Funding for these programs has been cut from the District's Operating Budget and as such they would not have competed in their sport season or in the choral program because they simply would not have existed. This is a powerful reality and one that remains in doubt going forward next year.
With this edition of the blog, we are focusing just on the events of last weekend, yet there are probably 150-200 other students who participated in an extracurricular activity during the fall season or during the first semester, who also would not have had the opportunity to take advantage of all the great programs that are offered at DHS because again these programs have been formally cut from our budget. Such a difficult decision to have had to make, but given the reality of the shortfall amount, there was no alternative but to cut these programs.
I again want to express the appreciation of the students, staff, faculty and administration at DHS to our Booster organization's, to our corporate sponsor's and all those who have provided their financial support through donations or by volunteering their time to ensure that our students can enjoy the full high school experience.
What is the future for these programs going forward is still a significant concern in looking at the 2016 budget process. There is reason to believe that there will be another significant shortfall and we will once again be faced with the real possibility of having to cut all these extra-curricular programs. Thereby eliminating these programs that we just celebrated.
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Off to Baltimore
Our Band/Chorus and Auxiliary teams will be travel to Baltimore for a festival this spring. Mr. DeNoncour presented this proposal to the School Committee on Wednesday night and the proposal was approved. The planning and funding is underway and we are excited that our students will have this great opportunity. We also express our appreciation to the Booster's who continue to provide financial support needed to keep these programs up and running and we are so grateful.
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Winter Sports Season
Begins on Monday November 30, 2015.
Participants must have their completed and signed Blue Cards in order to begin practicing. Make sure that all elements of the Blue Card are up to date including physical, concussion training and signed permission.
Good luck to our teams. We anticipate an equally exciting season as the Fall season.
Thanks again to the Booster's, the corporate sponsors and all those who have provided financial support to afford DHS to offer these Winter Sports programs.
Boy's Basketball - Coach Ryan and Coach Hill
Girl's Basketball -Coach Quinn and Coach Hurley
Indoor Track - Coach Eckert
Cheerleading - Coach Reardon
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Celebration Graduation
Annual Holiday Tree Sale
Douglas High School Class of 2016
Douglas Fire Station
All Trees are $50-$60
Friday 11/27 10-8pm
Saturday 11/28 10am-4pm
Sunday 11/29 12pm-4pm
Open Every Weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas until they are sold out.
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Parenting Support Group
@
Douglas Public Library
7pm on Thursday, December 17th for a parenting discussion with Catherine Lynch, Life Coach and Parent Mentor.
