Newsletter for Heritage/Academy Parents November 2012

AMERICAN HERITAGE • AMERICAN ACADEMY

Patriots’UPDATE Engineering and Biomedical Engineering

Programs Challenge Top StudentsThe Heritage Pre-Engineering Program offers a rigorous four-year course in the fields of Civil, Mechanical, Biomedical and Digital Electronics Engineering. The course of study is certified by Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a nonprofit organization and the nation’s leading provider of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education programs. Offered is a rigorous curriculum that allows students to apply what they are learning in math and science class to real-life engineering and technology projects.

The school recently completed a million dollar Engineering Facility, including two computerized classrooms and a lab equipped with Rapid Prototyping and Computerized Manufacturing stations, which are rarely available in a high school setting.

Students in this program are required to fulfill a demanding internship schedule with professionals in their fields of study. For several years, students have worked to develop projects with engineers from Motorola. Students complete an abundance of practical work, which can result in applications for patents.

In conjunction with college level course preparation, students are eligible to apply for college credits and transcripts through one of Project Lead The Way’s affiliate colleges and universities.

Andrew Golden is a 2008 alumnus of Heritage who is well on his way to a career in medicine. He is currently enrolled as a freshman at Florida State University College of Medicine following a 2012 degree in Biological Sciences from the same school.

Andrew credits his work in the Heritage Pre-med Program as the inspiration for his career choice. He states, “The Pre-med Club helped me determine my career path; it solidified my desire to practice medicine.”

In high school, he was a National Honor Society member and an excellent student. Consequently, he was the beneficiary of a 100% Bright Futures Scholarship and freshman honors scholarship.

In his time at Tallahassee, Andrew has found time to pursue interests in golf and Ultimate Frisbie.

We look forward to the day when we can call him Dr. Andrew Golden!

‘08 Alumnus on His Way to an M.D.

Heritage students as well as alumni are high achievers in many areas of interest...see page three for latest student accom-plishments under the banner “Congratulations!”

The Heritage engineering lab is equipped with Rapid Prototyping and Computerized Manufacturing stations. Students also develop robots that perform specific tasks. In photos, Robotics Sponsor Max Salafia works with student Kristine Loh.

American Heritage School hosted the 9th annual College Fair on October 11. Over 100 colleges and universities from around the country attended. The response from the college representatives was overwhelmingly positive. Many said that this was the “best fair” on the college fair circuit. They were particularly happy with our students who were “well- prepared” and asked “incredible questions.” Students should be proud of representing themselves and our school so well. Colleges will remember this positive experience when they review applications over the next few months.

Thank you to Luciana Mandal for planning another excellent college fair for our community.

College Fair 2012

Nicholas Cioli and Max Major compare their col-lege choices. Matison Whillans, Beau Braeseke and Connor Bartmess enjoy

a break from the action.

Many parents visited the College Fair along with their sons and daughters.

Samantha Greene speaks with a college representative. The College Fair was spread over three large fine arts rooms and the main stage.

Lower School Library

ALL-STAR BOOK FAIR is approaching!

The dates are November 5th thru November 16th.

Preview week is November 5-9.

Students will have the opportunity during their media class to preview and create a “Wish List” with titles and prices of selected books. These lists will be taken home for parents’ review. November 9th is Parent/TeacherConference Day. Our Book Fair will be open that day for parents to come and browse and purchase.

Sale Week is November 12-16.

The All-Star Book Fair will be open for the purchase of books this week. All PK3 - 6th grade parents and friends are invited. Parents and children may purchase selections and donate them to the classroom library!

Hours (Sale Week)8:00am - 4:30pm; Monday - Thursday8:00am - 1:00pm;

Friday

Congratulations to....• American Heritage junior Jenny Wheeler who won first place in a competition to study and perform with world-renowned violinist Daniel Andai. Jenny competed against the best young violinists of South Florida in September. She will perform the Mendelssohn violin concerto in front of students, teachers, and music lovers December 9 at the Epstein Center for the Crts at Nova Southeastern University. BRAVO JENNY!

• Elizabeth Herrick whose film, “My License,” was a finalist at the Future of Cinema Film Festival at Interlochen Center for the Arts. Her work was chosen from a large number of high quality productions for presentation at this year’s festival. This is the last film festival to which she submitted her film, so it is a great way to end her film’s 2011-2012 festival season. In total, Elizabeth’s film was accepted to 65 film festivals. Her film had an extremely impressive 57% acceptance rate during the course of the festival year.

• Brianna Chavez-Chase who earned a national medal in the 2012 Scholastic Awards. Her work, “Manipulation,” has been selected by the staff of The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities to be included in ART.WRITE.NOW.DC, a special exhibition of national award-winning work from the 2012 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. This year, 45 works will be displayed in their offices in Washington, DC. This is a great honor and we are proud of Brianna for representing our amazing visual arts program.

• The Key Club whose members made 650 PB & J sandwiches

that benefited LifeNet4Families: Broward Cooperative Feeding Program in Ft. Lauderdale on Tuesday, September 25.

• Alumna Alex Beck who was recently hired as a Writing and Media Intern by World Ballet, Inc. (WBI) At Heritage, she was elected to be the Opinion Editorial Editor for the Patriot Post, our school newspaper and served in this capacity for most of her high school career. While at Heritage, she had been inducted into Quill and Scroll Journalism Honor Society and for two years in a row, Alex won third place in “On the Spot Editorial Article Writing” at the Florida Scholastic Press Association statewide high school journalism convention. Later, at Florida State University, she auditioned and was admitted to the Corazon Dancers, a local student salsa team. There she performed and choreographed for the group. With her internship at WBI, she will combine her love of dancing with her talent for writing.

• Two senior high teachers who had another successful year in assisting the College Board’s Advanced Placement Program in the evaluation of students’ work on the writing portion of the exam. Marjorie Milam scored AP World History exams for her fifth year in Ft Collins, CO. Mark Gruskin was among a group of 741 AP US History teachers who scored 427,796 exams in Louisville, KY. It was his third year. The experience is grueling but beneficial to both teachers’ future students who will have experienced AP Readers evaluate their work throughout the course. Thank you, Mrs Milam and Mr Gruskin.

Carnegie Mellon Visits American HeritageOn October 17, twelve students met with Carnegie Mellon’s Justin Mohney to discuss the undergraduate college options and the admissions process. CMU has seven undergraduate colleges; when a student applies, he/she has to apply to one of the colleges. If a student wants to have a dual major, it is handled after the student is enrolled.

The Carnegie Institute of Technology (the oldest and largest) houses the engineering majors. The first year of the engineering school is exploratory, therefore, allowing the freshmen to make an informed choice of their major. The Mellon College of Science also allows an exploratory first year so that students can make an informed decision. The Biology department is well known for its study in neuroscience, which works closely with the department of psychology. The School of Computer Science provides a highly focused degree (the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science). There are several interdisciplinary centers of study in SCS, such as the Entertainment Technology Center and the Human-Computer Interaction Institute. The College of Fine Arts has concentrations in visual and performing arts. The visual arts is studio-based and the performing arts is conservatory-based. Architecture is a 5-year professional degree.

For admissions, students apply via the Common Application. Either the ACT or SAT is required, but most applicants have to submit two SAT Subject Tests. Each undergraduate college will specify which tests are required. Demonstrated interest is tracked; this means that interested students should add themselves to the CMU mailing list, attend local college rep visits, and/or take a tour of the campus. Financial aid is need- based only; therefore, no scholarships or grants are given based solely on merit.

Pittsburgh is a thriving metropolis with many cultural centers and green spaces. There are 90,000 college students in the area, attending 10 of the local colleges and universities. For more information on Carnegie Mellon University, visit www.cmu.edu.

Students meet with a Carnegie Mellon representative in the Upper School Library.

MULTI-DAY COLLEGE TOURS

NORTHEAST TOURNYU, Columbia, Princeton, U of Pennsylvania, VillanovaWednesday - Saturday, Nov. 1 - 3A deposit of $150 is due upon registration.

** This tour will be operated by College Campus Trips and chaperoned by American Heritage counselors. Registration and payment must be completed on the College Campus Trips web site at www.CollegeCampusTrips.com. Click on Tour Registration & Payment to sign up.The trip ID is AHS-NE-1112. ATLANTA AREA TOUREmory, Georgia Tech, U of Georgia, Oxford, Oglethorpe (Feb. 27 - Mar. 2, 2013. Cost and itinerary to be determined.)

FREE LOCAL COLLEGE DAY TRIPS

Sign up with the AH Permission Form and bring or buy lunch. *

FAU Honors College & Jupiter area tourFriday, November 9 (This is a Conference Day.)

UM and FIU Friday, April 12, 2013 (This is a Conference Day.)

FAU and Nova SoutheasternFriday, April 12, 2013 (This is a Conference Day.)

* This tour is run by American Heritage School. The day trips are capped at the first 30 students. For additional questions, please call the Guidance Office at 954-472-0022 x 3092.

Vanessa Hauc, Telemundo news anchor/reporter, visited the group of students who produce the morning news show at Heritage. She speaks Spanish, English and French and has resided in Peru (her birthplace), France and in the US, Nevada, as well as South Florida. She received her Master’s Degree in International Political Economy at the University of Miami. She has covered events such as the 9/11 Anniversary in New York, Hurricane Katrina and has produced special reports dealing with environmental issues.

BEYOND THE CHEATING CULTURE: Academic Dishonesty in Our Schools and What To Do About It

On October 9, in the Main Theatre, author David Callahan spoke to parents about the topic of his book, The Cheating Culture.

Surveys show that a majority of high school and college students cheat, and this problem has grown in recent years. Major cheating scandals have become a regular news item – mostly recently at Harvard University and Stuyvesant High School in New York City. What is driving this epidemic of cheating? And what can schools, parents, and students do about the problem?

David Callahan draws on his book, The Cheating Culture, to address these questions. He situates academic dishonesty within a larger crisis of ethics in American society, noting that it’s not just students who are cheating these days; It’s athletes, business leaders, doctors and lawyers, and many ordinary citizens.

Dr. Callahan explored how widespread dishonesty fosters cynicism among young people, many of whom believe that cheating is an accepted way to get ahead in life. He also looked at the growing pressures among young people to succeed academically at a time of greater economic insecurity and inequality. In addition, he explained how many schools and parents have failed to respond forcefully enough to cheating – thus encouraging more cheating.

Dr. Callahan believes that schools can reduce cheating – but only if this problem becomes a major priority among administrators, parents, and also students. Key steps include framing cheating as a fundamental issue of fairness, getting students to buy into an honor code, involving parents, and finding the resources to continually raise awareness about cheating.

For more information about David Callahan, please visit www.thecheatingculture.com

Senior Gets Up Close Look at College Life

Josie François, a senior at Heritage who was born and raised until age 6 in Haiti, is spending several of her weekends this fall on college campuses. Unlike most seniors, however, Josie’s campus visits (to Wellesley, Washington University in St. Louis, and Vanderbilt) are being paid for by the colleges she’s visiting.

How can this be? For years, selective colleges and universities have been sponsoring visits to their campuses for students of underrepresented backgrounds, including those who are from minority groups or low-income families, or those who will be first in their family to attend college (known as first- generation applicants). These trips are called “fly-ins.” Students interested in being chosen for a fly-in program must submit an application to the fly-in program itself (which is different from the college’s application for admission). Applications typically include, at a minimum, the student’s transcript, test scores, and an essay about why the student is interested in visiting that particular college.

Fly-in trips are most often available to high school seniors during the fall semester. However, some colleges will invite a small group of applicants of underrepresented populations to visit in the spring, after they have been admitted.

If you’d like to know if a particular college offers a fly-in program, call their admissions office and ask.

Homecoming 2012

Homecoming week was a busy one. Students enjoyed the dress up days, field games, powerpuff and pep rally. This year’s theme was “I Don’t Want to Grow Up.”

Team faculty advisors (Mrs. Levy, Mrs. Sherman, Mrs. Robles and Mrs. Miliffe) did an AMAZING job organizing everything, and we are grateful to them.

Although the focus of the week was on fun, students also helped others by collecting hundreds of toys for disadvantaged children.

We are proud of their efforts. King and Queen were crowned at our victorious football game. Congratulations to Megan Menocal and Thomas Anzalone.

Queen Megan Menocal and King Thomas Anzalone

Thomas Anzalore and Melanie Foligno have captured Battling Ben!

Kassidy James, Juanita Cediel, Grace King and Nicole Culverhouse assemble on the Powder Puff field.

(At right) Sara Lichterman is ready for football, ( Above) Ryan Civale and Alex-andra Canter announce the game.

Ryan DelGaudio is a hot dog on the run!

Although the school year is young, the Upper School PTO has been very busy. We began the year with a well-attended Welcome Breakfast on September 13. The meeting was followed by an informative Coffee Talk program led by school administration that featured an informative question and answer session on iPad’s. Many thanks to Dr. Laurie, Mrs. Shienvold, Mrs. LaTorre and Ms.

Ackerman for beginning our year with an outstanding Coffee Talk program. Thanks also to Welcome Breakfast Committee Chair Marta Messana and her team of volunteers for a welcome breakfast that was pleasing both to the eye and the palate.

On September 27, we kicked off our Parent University program for 2012-13 with Peter Van Buskirk’s presentation entitled “The Admissions Game.” Mr. Van Buskirk has become a favorite among junior parents, and this year was no exception. Mr. Van Buskirk shared important information for parents on the college admissions process. On October 9, Parent University welcomed nationally known speaker and author David Callahan. Mr. Callahan’s presentation, “The Cheating Culture,” was both fascinating and thought provoking. Mr. Callahan explored the reasons for the increase in cheating in our society as well as discussing ways to rein in this problem.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS for February 7, 2013, at 7 p.m., when author Bena Kallick joins us to discuss “Habits of Mind.” The annual College Fair took place on October 10th. PTO volunteers were pleased to assist our Guidance staff in welcoming more than 100 college representatives to our campus. As always, the college representatives were very impressed with our school, and students were introduced to a wide array of colleges and the opportunities that they offer. Thanks to College Fair Committee Co-Chairs Charlene Moss Harper, Sherra Payne, Sarah Lipman and Stephanie Gilfarb and all of our volunteers for making this an outstanding event (again) this year!

PSAT’s took place on Saturday, October 20. Thanks to PSAT Committee Chair Stephanie Gilfarb and her team for their efforts to ensure the testing ran smoothly.

Looking ahead, our November meeting is TUESDAY, November 13, at 8 a.m., in the gym, and our Coffee Talk topic will be “College Planning—The Nuts and Bolts.” Finally, we are pleased to welcome Jacquie Sottile and Stephanie Gilfarb to the Executive Board. Jacquie joins us as Lower School Liaison and Stephanie as Vice President. Congratulations and welcome!

First Annual Women’s Wellness Health Fair: Saturday, December 15

American Heritage is proud to host the First Annual Women’s Wellness Health Fair, sponsored by the South Florida branch of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA- SF). The event will take place in the 9000 building and Upper School Library and will last from noon to 4 p.m..

AMWA-SF has partnered with West- side and University Hospitals to provide valuable health screening.Many physician specialists will be present for question and answer sessions, lectures on health and wellness, and to provide screenings including blood pressure checks, cholesterol testing and much more. For more information on National AMWA, visit www.amwa-doc.org. To read South Florida AMWA’s latest newsletter, visit www.busyMomMD.com.

If you would like to volunteer your services or sponsor this event, please contact Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla (President), Dr. Stacy Frankel (Secretary) or Dr. Shahnaaz Fatteh (Fundraising Chair). Join AMWA-SF in their mission to promote preventing disease and encouraging healthy living.

PTOUpper School

Don’t Miss November Theatre Productions!Grade 6-8 students will present Neil Simon’s Fools on Nov. 1st-3rd in the Black Box Theatre at 7:30 p.m.

High School students present BAT BOY: THE MUSICAL on Nov. 15-16-17 at 7:30 in the main theatre; Tickets are $8.00 for students and $10.00 for adults. BAT BOY: THE MUSICAL is a musical comedy/horror show about a half boy/half bat creature who is discovered in a cave near Hope Falls, West Virginia.

Monday

5Spaghetti w/Meatballs

Garlic BreadGreen Tossed Salad

Chicken Sandwich

12Chicken Alfredo over

PastaCaesar SaladGarlic Bread

Chicken Sandwich

19Cheese Ravioli

Garlic BreadGreen Tossed Salad

Chicken Sandwich

26Homemade Baked Ziti

Garlic BreadCaesar Salad

Chicken Sandwich

Friday

2White Meat Chicken

TenderloinsButtered NoodlesBaby Sweet Peas

Ham & Cheese Sandwich

9CONFERENCE DAY

NO SCHOOL

16White Meat Chicken

NuggetsTater Tots

Honey Cooked Carrots

Ham & Cheese Sandwich

23

Thanksgiving HolidayNo School

December 2Chicken Nuggets

Tater TotsYellow Corn

Ham & Cheese Sandwich

Thursday

1Fresh Baked Cheese

PizzaHomemade Vegetable

SoupFresh Vegetables w/

Dressing

Turkey Sandwich

8Fresh Baked Cheese

PizzaHomemade Vegetable

SoupFresh Vegetables w/

Dressing

Egg Salad Sandwich

15Fresh Baked Turkey

Mashed PotatoesYellow Corn

Homemade Stuffing

Egg Salad Sandwich

22Thanksgiving Holiday

No School

December 1

Fresh Baked Cheese Pizza

Homemade Vegetable Soup

Fresh Vegetables w/Dressing

Egg Salad Sandwich

Wednesday

7Mac & Cheese

Corn BreadGreen Beans

Turkey Sandwich

14Fresh Baked Cheese

PizzaHomemade Vegetable

SoupFresh Vegetables w/

Dressing

Turkey Sandwich

21

Noon dismissalFor Thanksgiving

Holiday

30Oven Grilled Cheese

SandwichHomemade Vegetable

SoupBaked Chips

Turkey Sandwich

Tuesday

6White Chicken Patty

Baked ChipsFresh Vegetables w/

Dressing

Tuna Sandwich

13Sloppy Joe

Baked ChipsYellow Corn

Tuna Sandwich

20General Baked Chicken

White Rice & Black Beans

Green Beans

Tuna Sandwich

27Fresh Baked Cheese

PizzaVegetable Soup

Fresh Vegetables w/Dressing

Tuna Sandwich

Gluten free options are available. Please call 954-472-0022 ext. 3029

Happy Thanksgiving!

November Menu