A Message from the Principal Appoquinimink High School students and staff experienced another great school year!

On May 24, we held our sixth annual graduation ceremony at the University of Delaware.

We were excited for our 352 graduates! AHS students are excellent stewards of our mis-

sion—Achievement, Honor and Service. Our students show this repeatedly in their aca-

demics, extracurricular activities, community service, senior projects, and athletic pro-

grams. You’ll read about some of our accomplishments in this 2015-2016 edition of the

End of Year Newsletter, including the many may successes from our sports teams includ-

ing the great success of our spring sports seasons including our lacrosse and golf teams.

Over the course of this summer, we remind our students to read the One Book, One

School Summer Reading Assignment for the 6455-2016 school year, Saving Cinnamon by

Christine Sullivan and The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen. There are themes

in both books about perseverance, grit, and compassion that we hope to have students

reflect on throughout the coming school year. Our students should also try some extend-

ed practice using Khan Academy. See the attached flyer.

In August, we will send a Back-To-School newsletter with important information for the

upcoming school year. Please have a safe and relaxing summer!

Keisha Brinkley Principal

IN THIS ISSUE Message from the principal Academic Summaries P.2-3

World Languages P.3 PBS / JROTC / FCCLA P.4

LLS Student of the Year P.5 NHS / BPA P.6 Computers P.7

Performing Arts P.8 Art and FFA P.9

Athletics P. 10-11 Guidance / SSP P.12

Summer Reading P.12 Health P. 13

Class of 2016!

Appoquinimink High School 2015-2016 End of Year Newsletter A Standard of Excellence

From Academic Classes

MATH:

The math department encourages you to complete your summer en-richment activities through Khan Academy. Check the Appohigh.org website for more infor-mation. Don't forget your Texas Instruments TI 83 or TI 84 calculator for your math courses this fall. Complete all AP summer as-signments and practice your Stand-ards for Mathematical Practice - Make sense of problems and perse-vere in solving them, Reason ab-stractly and quantitatively, Con-struct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others, Model with mathematics, Use tools appropri-ately and strategically, Attend to precision, Look for and make use of structure, Look for and express reg-ularity in repeated reasoning.

Math League:

Math League had a tough season

this year with fierce competition

from Middletown, St. Andrew’s,

Red Lion, and Caravel. We had

the opportunity to travel to MHS,

Red Lion, and St. Andrews for our

competitions. This year, our

freshman Math League team that

consisted of Josh Nicholls, Erin

Rosche, Seth Rodriguez, Alex

Sharpe, Ben Stweart, and

Ishaan Thakker, placed second

in our region. We went to the In-

vitational at the Modern Maturity

Center, in Dover, to compete

with the first and second place

teams from all of the regions in

Delaware. Jake Landon placed as

an individual top contender for

the upperclassmen teams in our

region, and also went to the Invi-

tational to compete. We are so

proud of our teams and we had a

great season!

SOCIAL STUDIES

The social studies team is thrilled to welcome two new members to our department. Michael Milchovich joined us mid schoolyear from Annap-olis High School. He is a veteran teacher having taught for 14 years and has made an excellent addition to our team. We will also welcome Robert Willoughby next fall. He is joining us from Red Clay Consolidated School District and brings much energy and enthusiasm to the department.

Members of the social studies depart-ment have been working hard on cre-ating curriculum for the new ninth grade World Studies course. This cur-riculum supports our district mission statement to enable students to make a positive impact on today’s global society. We are excited to introduce this course to next fall’s incoming freshmen.

Social studies teacher, Sandra Cleven-stine, is looking forward to her educa-tional travel to Cuba with the National Council of Geographic Education. She will bring back with her a host of knowledge that can be applied to the new World Studies course.

The social studies team is proud to continue having the largest number of students enrolled in an AP course. This spring we had nearly 200 students take the AP exam, and we are eagerly awaiting the results. We hope to continue this trend into next school year and beyond.

Some of our AHS department chairs highlight the accomplishments of

their departments this year.

Business and Banking Classes

In May, the Intro to Business stu-

dents attended JA Finance Park

and participated in real life budg-

eting activities through a grant

provided by the Financial Literacy

Institute. For example, a scenario

consisted of being married with

two children and earning a salary

of $35,000 as a restaurant manag-

er. Students had to live on this

salary and buy all the necessities

such as a house or apartment, a

car, food, clothing, insurance, util-

ities, investments, and give to a

charity. The program was com-

pleted on tablets and the students

used debit cards to make purchas-

es.

The Banking Services II & III stu-

dents were duped as Mrs. Marine

invited Craig Weldon, Chief Inves-

tigator of the Investor Protection

Unit, of the Delaware Department

of Justice, to conduct a mock

theft. Students completed a report

identifying the individual that

stole the money bag. Mr. Weldon

informed students of identity theft

and different types of online

fraud.

The Banking IV students had a productive year in the AHS School bank, sponsored by M&T, con-ducting promotions, handling transactions, and completing a bank survey. The students opened 24 accounts and processed nearly 100 transactions totaling over $180,000 during the school year!

From Academic Classes continued...

ENGLISH

This was a wonderful year

for the English department.

In addition to welcoming

Melanie, Sarah, and Patty to our team,

each grade level and program enjoyed

effective collaboration and coordination,

which was reflected in our pacing, team-

work, and effective PLCs. Each of our

teachers also tackled increasing rigor in

our classrooms and engaging our stu-

dents in new and challenging activities.

This year our 12th grade team

made some impressive changes. They

successfully tackled the new challenge

of incorporating the background re-

search paper of the senior project in

English class. This part of the senior

project was handed to them, but they

hit the ground running and helped

streamline the process for the class of

2016! The team also has worked fero-

ciously to incorporate Dual Enrollment,

which ended with 35 students receiving

college credit, and create new ELA elec-

tives for the 2016/2017 school year. Great

job!

The 11th grade team found a new

cohesiveness and added rigor to the cur-

riculum. This year the 11th grade team

worked together with seamless team-

work and improved lesson plans and

supported new staff. AP Language

moved out of the classroom to help CP

students achieve success.

Our 10th grade team received

lots of praise this year for their fantastic

alignment; this is evidence of their awe-

some planning and teamwork. They also

lead their students in deep allegorical

and literary analyses of Animal Farm.

These skills will be essential in 11th grade

– thanks for getting them there!

The 5th grade team introduced

our new AHS students and made them

awesome ELA leaners! The team

brought the Odyssey to life with new

and interactive lessons. The team also

introduced the novel Anthem, by Ayn

Rand, with huge success. Ninth grade

students were also challenged to take

and succeed on the PSAT!

The ELA team would like to thank Dr. Christiana Smith and the administrative team for all of their help this year. Enjoy the summer!

AHS PLANT SCIENCE

In the second semester of Plant Science, we

had a very successful plant sale. We had a

good amount of support from the staff and

students, as well as the community. A goal

for next year will be getting the word out to

the community earlier, so they can enjoy our

great product and prices. We continue to

have great pride in the “fruits of our labor”.

This year in Plant Science we also decided to

take on the task of creating the “new Appo

A”. We decided to create it so future classes

could enjoy it without the hassle of doing it

over and over again. We came up with a

really nice color scheme using artificial flow-

ers. A little research and troubleshooting

landed us with what we think is the perfect

fit for any stage that Appo

students walk on.

Along with our new “A”

stage companion, as a

class we created the beau-

tiful stage arrangements

for senior awards, as well as graduation. It’s

really nice for the students to see what they

have worked so hard on actually have a pres-

ence at such big events. I know I always

have a sense of pride when I can see our

work dis-

played in

front of

hundreds

of people.

World Languages

Japanese had a banner year this year, starting with the Kakehashi Trip in October, hosting our exchange students, and saying goodbye to our exchange teach-er. 15 AHS students traveled to Japan for a week in October. In March we hosted 20 students from our sister school in Sendai Japan. These activities helped bridge the distance between the two countries and helped make learning real.

At the end of the year we say good-bye to our Japanese teaching assistant Kaori

Nishida. She has been working with Ms. Bradshaw for the past two years working to bring en-hance the Japanese pro-grams. Here smiling face greet-ing the students each morning and helped them achieve new heights of Japanese. Ms. Nishida, we will miss you!

In April we hosted 20 French students and their teach-ers. Students stayed with host families so they could get the full “American” experi-ence. While in the US, the French saw Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Dover, the Univer-sity of Delaware, & St. Andrews School.

Our FCCLA seniors were accepted in Fashion De-sign or Fashion Marketing college programs. Lynnessa Bleasdell (pictured) is attending the Art Institute of Philadel-phia, Olivia Merrit (pictured) is attending the University of Delaware along with Felicia Bello. Congratultions Class of 2016!

AHS JROTC - JAGUAR BATTALION -

Jaguar Battalion cadets have spent a lot of time on perfecting their run times and their amount of push-ups and sit ups. Continuing to push through intense practices paid off in the end. The AHS JROTC beat the competition at the Dela-ware Army National Guard Minuteman Challenge at the State Fairgrounds in Harrington. The event consisted of a 1-1-1 PT Test; 1 mile run, 1 minute sit-ups, 1 minute push-ups. After the PT Test, Jaguar Battalion participated in a 5K For-mation fun run around the fairgrounds with several other schools. Afterwards, cadets participated in Academic History Trivia. The final event was the Best War-rior Challenge; 4 people in teams of two from each team and school, with at least one female. Cadets ran through an obstacle course, while carrying a 25-pound rucksack, and ending at the air rifle marksmanship course. AHS did a great job, and after many years of sweat and tears, brought home the coveted Minuteman Statue, which is extra special since this is the 100th Anniversary of the Army JROTC! AHS Cadets placed in the following: 1st place overall 1st place Physical Fitness 1st place Warriors Challenge: A Team 1st place Individual Physical fitness Male: C/ SFC Jacob Wynguaard 1st place Individual Physical fitness Female: C/CPT.Jillian Skahill 1st place Warriors Challenge: A Team 2 out of a 3-way tie for 1st place knockout: C/PVT. Corey Johnson and C/LTC. Jereomy Goochey 3rd place Academic Trivia: A Team 3rd place Warriors Challenge: B Team 3rd place Individual Physical fitness Male: C/CPT Mark Sporay

APPO PBS TEAM

The Positive Behavior Support

Committee would like to congratu-

late the following students who

were nominated by staff members

as “Outstanding Jaguars.” To be

nominated, students had to

demonstrate Achievement, Honor,

and/or Service throughout the

school year. These Outstanding

Jaguars were recognized on the

field at Frawley Stadium during a

Wilmington Blue Rocks Baseball

Game on June 14th!

Christopher Aube, Zachary Barlow,

Aissatou Barry, Rachael Berg, Kayla

Brown, Carly Burns, Ryan Candy,

Jimmy Carns, Alysa Cartwright,

Logan Cook, Julie Corso, Anthony

Dina, Da’Mir Fields, Katherine Gor-

don, William Griffin, Amanda

Gross, Elijah Hadley, Steven Lu-

brano, Madison Martinez, Cameron

Mohr, Kishan Patel, Riddhi Patel,

Andrew Roberts, Julie Robinson,

Sebastian Rodriguez, Hannah Scar-

borough, Colin Shakespeare, Ben

Simon, Robert Steward, Noah

Tunell, Tamia Walton, Joseph

Wham, Madeline Willson, Jordan

Wyatt, Jacob Wyngaard, Trent

Zuspann.

AHS Science Olympiad

On March 5th, two AHS Science Olympiad teams from the Ap-poquinimink School District competed against 56 other teams in the state. Congratulations to the AHS Olympiad Team!!! Appoquinimink High School placed 10th and 7th overall in competition.

10 - Appoquinimink Team 11

7 - Appoquinimink Team 12

Team 12

2nd place Geologic Mapping - Adam Weiner and Theo Fessaras

10th Place Chem Lab - Damien Osei-KanKam and Laramie Swecker

10th Place Game On - Jenn Chen and Matt Holstein

1st Place Green Generation - Adam Weiner and Theo Fessaras

4th Place Wright Stuff- Ben Stewart and Brian Rui

4th Place Astronomy - Matt Holstein and Theo Fessaras

3rd Place Electric Vehicle - Adam Weiner and Kyle Bell

5th Place Invasive Species - Theo Fessaras and Jenn Chen

4th Place It's About Time - Matt Hol-stein and Laramie Swecker

LLS Student of the Year

This year, Shane Higgins was one of

14 high school students from

around the state to be nominated

for the Leukemia and Lymphoma

Society’s Student of the Year

Award.

Student of the Year is a is a six-week

campaign in which high school stu-

dents, enrolled in public or private

schools in the Delaware area, partic-

ipate in a fundraising challenge to

benefit LLS. From the Kickoff on Jan-

uary 21st to the Grand Finale Cele-

bration on March 5th, these students

rallied their communities, schools,

and families to support their fund-

raising efforts.

The candidate who raises the most

money at the end of the six-week

competition earns the title Student

of the Year.

Shane was announced as this year’s

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s

Student of the Year for raising

$23,000!

In addition to the announcement of

the Student of the Year at the

Grand Finale Celebration on March

5th, three students also received Cit-

izenship Awards, determined by the

Delaware Chapter’s Man & Woman

of the Year Leadership Team. Shane

earned the Mission Award for

spreading the mission of the Leuke-

mia and Lymphoma Society, speak-

ing to school, church, and commu-

nity groups during his campaign.

For his incredible efforts, Shane was

awarded $3,000 in college scholar-

ships.

Congratulations Shane!

Team 11

2nd place Chem Lab - Sharon Chen and Krishna Suresh

5th Place Game On - Bradley Altmiller and Samarah Pagan

10th Place Robot Arm - Chase Wight and Bradley Altmiller

4th Place Electric Vehicle - Bright Lu and Chase Wight

7th Place Fossils - Grace Ly and Anne Hasse

5th Place Cell Biology - Krishna Suresh and Julia Catalano

6th Place Forensics - Jessica Burtell and Erin Rosche

4th Place Invasive Species - Bright Lu and Bradley Altmiller

Senior Project 2016

The Class of 2016 finished out strong with

their Senior Projects! As an improvement to

the Senior Project this year, seniors had tre-

mendous support from our ELA 12 teachers

for the Background Research paper both in

the Fall and Spring. Senior Advisory teachers

were diligent about getting information out to

students in advisory classes. Meghan Setser

provided support with Resume writing

through the SSP process. Looking forward,

the Senior Project for the class of 2017 will

be completed through submissions on School-

ogy, and will continue to receive support in

ELA classes. A Senior Project Committee

was formed to review creative and research

project approvals and we are excited to see

the skills and dedication this class has to of-

fer!

Business Professionals of America

This was an exciting year for Business Professionals of

America as it was celebrating its 50th anniversary! Students

competed at the National Leadership Conference in Boston,

MA. Members present included the following: Kelly

Woodside, Ben Stewart, Ashwin Badal, Justin Chan, Emily

Samick, and Abigail Vetter.

In addition to the social time the students had in Boston,

they also had some business to attend to at the conference.

We had the pleasure of seeing AHS alumni, David Wood-

side, working hard at the conference as the National Treas-

urer. Students participated in open events to test their

skills. Ashwin Badal earned Microsoft Office certifications

while he was there. Kelly Woodside worked hard in the exhibit hall as an intern. In addition, Ben Stewart, Ashwin

Badal, Justin Chan, Emily Samick, and Abigail Vetter all competed in their events that they qualified for against the

top students from all the member states.

The students are proud of how they did with their first year competing at the high school level. This all freshmen

team is looking forward to 3 great years ahead of them and we are excited to see how they grow and improve. We

would also like to thank the Appoquinimink Foundation for helping to sponsor the trip and make it possible for all of

the students to be able to attend and gain this valuable experience. You can check out a short video made by the stu-

dents, showcasing pictures from the trip: https://animoto.com/play/ev1gQ4AXZHmwmPwiNE1m2g

We hope to continue to grow our Business Professionals of America chapters and get more students to compete in all

of the events. We are also looking for motivated members to assist with earning chapter awards next year. If you

plan on being in a business or computer science course next year, you are eligible to join. Look for an announcement

at the beginning of next school year for our interest meeting.

AHS National Honor Society

The National Honor Society of AHS bid farewell to 78 graduating seniors at the NHS stole

banquet held on May 11th, 2016. The seniors, along with the 2015-2016 class of inductees,

completed a successful year of service to their school and community. The AHS chapter

of NHS held two blood drives at AHS raising over 100 pints of blood. During the winter,

they collected and donated over 1700 pounds of food to the Appo Food Closet for

Thanksgiving meals, gave proceeds from fundraising to buy gifts for the AHS Adopt a

Family program, provided countless frigid hours to bell ringing in our community through the Salvation Army, and

helped to prepare homes for Veteran’s in the Veteran’s Village.

In total, the AHS National Honor Society seniors provided over 4,000 hours of service this year to both the school and

community, with over 400 hours coming directly from NHS sponsored events. Students volunteered for numerous ac-

tivities within the district, including the AHS Winter and Spring Craft Fair, Mission Space the Bunker Hill Space night,

various senior projects, the Spring Musical, Real Men Read, tutoring sessions at AHS and Meredith Middle, and so

much more. They impacted their community by volunteering with food banks throughout the year, providing love and

attention to animals at Faithful Friend’s rescue, assisting in 5K’s, and working with multiple community groups in the

area.

The AHS chapter of the National Honor Society seeks to improve their school and community through the service,

leadership, scholarship, and character they provide on a yearly basis. Please contact the NHS adviser during the 2016-

2017 school year if you have a service opportunity!

AHS Computer Science

We have just completed year one of the newly adopted State Model for Computer Science.

Due to the high interest in Computer Science, we were excited to add another teacher to the

team. Students in the first course accomplished a lot this year: they enjoyed learning about

computers; they built their first web pages and websites using HTML and CSS; they strength-

ened their problem solving skills as they were introduced to some common computer science

problems; they began learning how to program and develop their own games using Scratch; and they worked with robots!

Next year will be the official launch of AP Computer Science Principles! This will be the new second course in the Computer

Science pathway. Following the State Model for Computer Science, we will be utilizing the MobileCSP curriculum. Students

will be diving deeper into topics introduced in the first course as they learn to develop their own apps using Android App

Inventor. All students that have completed the first course are invited to take AP Computer Science Principles next year and

they should have received their AP summer assignment to be completed by the start of next school year.

For students that have completed the first two courses in the pathway, they should be looking forward to taking AP Comput-

er Science A next year. Students will learn how to program in Java as they develop games, applications, and business related

programs. Java is one of the leading programming languages and is widely used to develop software for many businesses and

people today. Students should have received their AP summer assignment to be completed by the start of next school year.

The AHS Computer Science pathway continues to improve each year. This year students in the upper levels of Computer

Science were able to attend job shadow events at the Microsoft store in partnership with Junior Achievement. We are cur-

rently investigating dual-enrollment opportunities for students to take related to Computer Science so they can earn guaran-

teed college credit. A group of students plan to compete in CyberPatriots next school year to learn more about cyber-

security and learn more about career opportunities in that field. We hope to get a lot more students to participate in various

computer science related competitions in Business Professionals of America, Technology Student Association, and through

Computer Club.

This year, the AHS Computer Club allowed students to socialize together

after school and discuss similar interests, especially in gaming. We also

worked together to get students to participate in computer science relat-

ed competitions. Several of the members formed teams to compete in a

few Capture the Flag Hackathons. These competitions put their research,

problem solving, and computer science skills to the test as they tried to

solve as many problems as possible in a limited amount of time. One

senior organized a team to compete in the American Computer Science

League. They enjoyed their time studying together to learn about addi-

tional computer science topics not covered in class and competing in

each of the events.

New this year, to help attract and introduce more girls to Computer Science, we also started as Girls Who

Code chapter. The girls enjoyed spending time with each other and seeing how easy it is to get started with

coding. Some of them were learning Scratch, while others advanced to learning Python. Towards the end of

the year, a few girls started learning about robots and worked together to build a puppy robot named Mei!

We plan to continue offering opportunities to introduce more girls to computer science and hope to see

them consider it as a potential career opportunity!

Next year, we hope to continue to grow our membership and participate in more competitions. We also plan

to organize and host video game tournaments to help raise funds for competition registrations, chapter sup-

plies, and possibly a computer science field trip! Keep an eye out for more information about our interest

meeting in the beginning of next school year.

AHS Music Department

Each year, the AHS music department continues to become a part of the music landscape not only in the State of Delaware and Mid-Atlantic Region. This year we have continued to emerge on the Na-tional Landscape as well. Over the past school year, our department has had several notable accomplishments: -Won several first place awards at Outdoor and Indoor Competi-

tions this season. -Won the Award for Best Percussion at the Outdoor Chapter IX Champion-ships and the Drumline won the title of Best Percussion at the Atlantic Coast Championships with the highest score of all group sizes with a 15.7. In addi-tion, the marching band earned its highest score yet with a 52.7 at ACC’s. -The Indoor Program grew to include two color guards this year with the Ma-roon Guard making it back to the finals and the Silver Guard winning the first ever TIA Atlantic Coast Championships Banner for AHS by winning the novice class. -Attended our second National Festival in May at Cedar Point, Ohio were the Symphonic Band, Orchestra, Concert Choir, and Women’s Choir all won the highest level of Gold Rating. This is the first time that all four groups have won a gold rating at the same festival -We had 6 students make All-State Choir, and 7 students make All-State Band and 3 students make All-State Orchestra -Had three students accepted into a Major in Music in college: Bianca Morris, Matthew Wilkins, and Elizabeth Nocket. All will be attending University of Delaware this fall. -Hosted the 7th Annual District Choral Festival and attended the 6th annual district Band Festival -Who could forget putting on our Fall Play “The Mouse Trap” and our seventh musical “The Addams Family” which saw our highest attendance yet for a spring musical and brought the house down each night with Thunderous Ap-plause. -We had 4 students who were nominated for All-Eastern Ensembles which perform for the National Association for Music Educators Eastern Conference in Atlantic City next year. Steven Martineau and Andrew Denneny were nomi-nated for All-Eastern Band, Ryan Redcay was nominated for All-Eastern Jazz Band, and Hannah Scarborough was nominated for all-Eastern Choir. Please give these students a round of applause for a job well done representing AHS in the State of Delaware.

The Performing Arts Department welcomes a new member!

Mary Leigh Filippone is a theatre teacher, director and arts administrator from Wayne,

PA. Her work has been seen in the classroom and onstage at Springfield High School, Young

People's Theatre Workshop, The Players Club of Swarthmore and Upper Darby Summer

Stage. Ms. Filippone holds a Bachelor of Science in Educational Theatre from New York Uni-

versity and is currently pursuing a Masters of Science in Arts Administration from Drexel Uni-

versity. Her students hold winning titles from the Greater Philadelphia Cappies Awards and

The West Chester University Annual High School Theatre Festival. Several have gone on to

study performing arts at various prestigious institutions. She is thrilled to bring her love of

theatre and education to Appoquinimink High School!

An interest meeting for any student who may want to be involved with the Fall Play is sched-

uled for August 25th at 3:30pm in the AHS Auditorium. Ms. Filippone looks forward to meeting

everyone and getting started with the show!

BLUE GOLD GAME

Cheerleaders Cameron Capp and

Ashley Duffy represented AHS at

the Blue Gold Game.

The Performing Arts Department welcomes a new member!

Mary Leigh Filippone is a theatre teacher, director and arts administrator

from Wayne, PA. Her work has been seen in the classroom and onstage at

Springfield High School, Young People's Theatre Workshop, The Players Club of

Swarthmore and Upper Darby Summer Stage. She holds a Bachelor of Science in

Educational Theatre from New York University and is currently pursuing a Mas-

ters of Science in Arts Administration from Drexel University. Her students hold

winning titles from the Greater Philadelphia Cappies Awards and The West Ches-

ter University Annual High School Theatre Festival. Several have gone on to

study performing arts at various prestigious institutions. She is thrilled to bring her

love of theatre and education to Appoquinimink High School!

AHS Art Department

Jessica Davis, Andrea Keim, and Allison Iannone

This has been an AMAZING year for Appo High’s Art Department! There have also been a few “firsts” in the art department. Tony Le, a 2016 graduate, started the first annual art department scholarship through his senior project. He raised $200 by having an art auction during the 3rd annual AP Studio Art Show in February. The deserving senior to benefit from this scholarship was Katherine McConomy, who is going into a fine arts program. This scholarship will continue to benefit visual art students every year, thanks to the first chapter of the National Arts Honor Society that will begin next year. This has been a dream of Ms. Davis’ for several years and 2016-2017 senior, Lauren Barczak, will start the AHS NAHS chapter for her senior project. This exclusive club will not only fundraise for the annual scholar-ship but also organize visual art related community service projects in and outside of school. Look out for more information about service project in and around school. If you have any ideas or suggestions for service related projects or are in need of something related to the visual arts please contact Jessica Davis: Jessi-ca.Davis@appo.k12.de.us

This year, the Art Department had so many reasons to celebrate! As the Photog-raphy Teacher at Appoquinimink High School, Allison Iannone had one of the proudest moments as a teacher; Missy Yates will be going to Moore College of Art and Design for Photography and she has also received their highest scholarship!

Ceramics and Sculpture students have worked quickly and creatively to produce a plethora of work this year. Ceramics 1 students made coil pots, clay animals, threw on the pottery wheel, and made slab containers, to name a few. Ceramics and Sculpture 2 students made bobble head characters, designed and sculpted a house of their choice, threw on the pottery wheel, sculpted plaster-wrapped flow-ers, and made African-inspired masks. Both classes participated in a new project called “Sgraffito” in which students painted colored clay called “underglaze” onto their semi-wet clay and then carve a design into it. The work they produced was magnificent!! Mrs. Keim is extremely excited to teach the lesson again next year!

AHS Animal Science and FFA

The Appoquinimink FFA Chapter held its Annual Parent & Member Awards Banquet on May 6, 2016 to recognize the accomplishments and achieve-ments of our agriscience students through-out the year. This year’s banquet had a fun “Cinco de Mayo” theme with decorations and a taco bar for dinner. Numerous members and guests were in attendance for this celebration of our members. A Delaware FFA State Officer delivered greetings after open-ing ceremonies by our officer team. Several sets of awards were presented to deserving students of the AgriScience program including: Greenhand de-grees, Chapter degrees, or own special Jaguar degree, Achievement, and Pro-ficiency Awards. We also heard retiring remarks and honored or senior retir-ing officers Cameron Sweisthal, Jared Soldo, Catherine Whiting, and Bailey Betts. The evening wrapped up with the introduction of the new officer team for the upcoming school year. The new Appo FFA officers include: President, Jillian Skahill; Vice President, Julia Lloyd; Secretary, Faith Williams; Treasur-er, Kaitlyn Bourne; Reporter, Brianna Mason; Sentinel, Gracie Wyngaard; Historian, Abby Bramble; Parliamentarian, Amber Sweetman; and Commu-nity Involvement Specialist, Kayla Schaen. The new team looks forward to planning some amazing things for the Appo FFA Chapter, as we move into next school year.

Don’t miss the AHS FFA Chapter at this year’s Delaware State Fair, from July 21—July 30. Students and parents can stay up to date with what is going on by signing up for the Appo FFA remind 101. Just send a message to 81010 text @ffaappo.

Josh Hurd- Landscape

Emily Sklodowski - A product of Procrastination

Katie McConomy- Purple flower

Gillian Strosnider- Skeleton

AHS Athletics

The athletic programs at AHS have continued to flourish. Over the course of the year, we had 15 teams qualify to be a part of the DIAA post season tourna-ments. We had conference champions in boys soccer, boys’ lacrosse, golf, softball, and Boys Track & Field. Both the Golf team and Boys Track and Field teams finished their season undefeated with a 15-0 and 8-0 record re-spectively. Appoquinimink High School produced 62 All-Conference and 28 All-State athletes during this school year. Additionally, Matt Dina (’16) became the school’s second Gatorade Player of the Year and it was the second in two years for the boys soccer program. Myles Cale (’17) and Shirle Brown (’16) both reached the 1000 point milestone for their basketball career. The Jaguars Track and Field team continued their success by breaking numerous school records and produced a state champion in the long jump (Sofia Janotti – ‘16) during the Spring season. Our Boys Lacrosse team was State Runner-Up and Coach Chris Rutter was named Coach of the Year. Josephine Marsh (’16) won her second state championship in three years in the 100M Butterfly and earned herself the honors of Delaware Swimmer of the Year. Congratula-tions to all athletes on another successful season of Jaguar athletics.

Looking ahead, please make sure to have an updated DIAA PPE Sports Physical completed (after April 1st) and on file with the school nurses. A new sports physical must be completed each year. No student athlete will be allowed to participate without this completed document. Copies of the physi-cal can be found in the main office or at www.jaguars-sports.com . The com-pleted DIAA physicals can be dropped off in the main office during summer hours. Information about the Fall Sports Meet the Coaches Night will be coming out during the summer.

Have a safe and restful summer.

Go Jaguars!

AHS Boys Lacrosse

The Appoquinimink Boy’s lacrosse team has had their best year ever

in 2016! In fact, they had the best year of any Blue Hen Conference

team since 1553, which was the last time a BHC team has made it to

the Delaware State Finals. However, reaching the finals is not

all that Coach Rutter and the boy’s lacrosse team achieved. Coach

Rutter was named by the Delaware Lacrosse Coaches Association as

the Delaware High school Coach of the Year. Coach Rutter says de-

spite his name on the award it really is an award that honors every-

one associated with the AHS lacrosse program. The DLCA also voted six AHS lacrosse players to All-state and

Cross Ferrara received All-American Honors. As well as ten players being honored as All-Blue Hen Conference.

But the best award goes to Senior Nick Ferrara, who received the Bob Scott Award, which recognizes a player in

each lacrosse region, who goes above and beyond in service to his team, school, and community. The boys really

did deserve all the accolades that they received in 2016. Their diligence to off season training and character

building programs really puts them in a different place then most high school students. The boy’s work year

round working through Preimer Physical Fitness training, and dedicate much of their time to community service

like volunteering at the Delaware soup kitchen on Christmas Eve, ringing the bells for the Salvation Army, and

coaching the Middletown Youth Lacrosse team. Next season they plan to repeat their success.

State Champion – Josephine Marsh (100m Butterfly)

State Champion – Sofia Janotti (Long Jump)

Gatorade Player of the Year – Matt Dina (Soccer)

News Journal Athlete of the Week – Matt Dina (soccer), Shirle’ Brown (basketball), and Matt Pulgini (golf)

1000 pt scorer – Shirle Brown, Myles Cale

Blue Hen Conference Champion – Boys Lacrosse, Golf, Boys Soccer, Boys Track & Field

Golf Team – 15-0 regular season

Spring Track and Field – Boys – 8-0 regular season

State Runner Up – Boys Lacrosse

Coach of the Year – Chris Rutter (Boys Lacrosse)

SHIRLE’ BROWN Senior, Appoquinimink Basketball

THE WEEK: Scored a game-high 18 points as Appoquinimink earned its third straight vic-tory with a 50-33 win over Middletown last Tuesday.

THE DEDICATION: “Leadership is the first thing that makes her such a good player,” Appo coach Kevin Smith said. “Last year, we had a bunch of young players and she took this whole offseason trying to get the girls prepared for this upcoming season.”

THE STREAK: Brown has averaged 20.6 points over the last three games as the Jagu-ars have improved to 4-5. “We’re starting to relax,” she said. “At the beginning, we thought about the game too much. That’s where a lot of mistakes came from. But when we relax and take our time, everything works out.”

THE PROGRESSION: Brown had never played organized basketball before coming to Appoquinimink as a freshman. “Her basket-ball IQ and the ins and outs of the game – when to shoot and when to pass, how to make her teammates better – those are the things that have grown a great deal in her last two years,” Smith said.

THE COMPOSURE: “Before, when two players came at me, I would panic,” Brown said. “Now, when two players come at me, I can recognize who my open man is and get them the ball.”

THE BALANCE: “Last year, we might have had four games where we had two or three players in double figures,” Smith said. “This year, in just about every game we’ve had more than one person in double figures. She’s get-ting people involved. She’s getting her team-mates open shots.”

THE TRUST: “I trust my teammates,” Brown said. “… I don’t have to worry about making every play. If I miss a shot, I know that one of my teammates is going to come down and make the next one. It’s just having trust in them.”

THE CLASSROOM: Brown’s favorite sub-ject is psychology, taught by Sandy Cleven-stine. “We find out interesting facts every day,” she said.

THE FUTURE: Brown wants to continue playing basketball in college. She has received recruiting interest from Rosemont College near Philadelphia, and said, “I think that’s where I want to go.” She would like to study physical therapy.

– Brad Myers, News Journal

MATT PULGINI

Sophomore, Appoquinimink Golf

THE WEEK: Took medalist honors with a 1-under-par 34 at Back Creek Golf Club in Appo’s victory over Newark last Monday. Earned medalist honors again Wednesday with a 35 at Back Creek in the Jaguars’ tri-meet win over Middletown and St. Georges. Then took medalist honors in a much bigger tournament – U.S. Open local qualifying – shooting a 73 on Monday at Silver Creek Country Club in Hellertown, Pa., to finish first among 50 amateurs and professionals.

THE QUALIFIER: Pulgini’s performance on Monday earned him a spot in one of 10 U.S. Open sectional qualifiers on June 6. He expects to play at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md. Success there would earn a spot in the U.S. Open, to be played June 16-15 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa. “It was very, very windy. You really just had to stay patient and not get ahead of yourself,” he said. “The main goal was trying to hit fairways and greens, two-putt and get out of there with par. My putting really helped me out a lot today. I made a lot of big putts toward the end.”

THE STRENGTH: “I’d have to say course

management, and getting the ball off the

tee,” Pulgini said. “Once I can get it off the

tee, I feel like my approach shots are good

enough to set myself up for better scores.”

THE SHORT GAME: “I love chipping,” Pulgini said. “It’s probably my favorite part of the game. I do it all the time, practice every single day. That’s how you get better.”

THE COACH SAYS: “He is constantly working. I know when he’s not playing for us, he’s out playing other rounds of golf,” Appo coach Craig Ford said. “He’s out doing other things to prepare and play… He has the swing, he has the ability.”

THE TEAM: The Jaguars went 15-0 in dual matches. They will finish the season at the DIAA Golf Tournament, May 31-June 1 at Rehoboth Beach Country Club. “Now we’ve got to step it up a little bit and continue to play well against these bigger schools and see how far we can make it in states,” Pulgini said.

THE CLASSROOM: Pulgini enjoys study-ing World History. “I like learning about different countries and how they relate with us,” he said.

THE FUTURE: Pulgini’s goal is to play

Division I college golf. In addition to the

U.S. Open sectional qualifier, he plans to

play tournaments in Alabama, Mississippi,

Tennessee and Florida this summer.

– Brad Myers, News Journal

NEWS JOURNAL—ATHLETE OF THE WEEK MATT DINA

Senior, Appoquinimink Soccer

THE WEEK: Helped control the midfield as the Jaguars, ranked fourth in Division I, scored twice late for a 2-0 victory over Caravel – Divi-sion II’s top-ranked team – last Tuesday.

THE COACH SAYS: “He is the perfect kid to coach, perfect player,” Appoquinimink coach Adam Bear said. “He’s getting looks from D-I schools. … His GPA is around 4.0. He does everything right in school, on the field, off the field. He’s just the perfect player to coach.”

THE NEW ROLE: A returning All-State First XI selection, Dina moved from center back to midfield this season to help the Jaguars gener-ate more offense. “This role now is more fo-cused on keeping the ball, advancing it for-ward, trying to get opportunities for the out-side mids and our strikers to score,” he said. “These past seven games have been working out really well for me and the rest of the guys.”

THE TRANSITION: “When you get in the midfield, you kind of have to play in a 360. You’ve got people coming from all directions,” Bear said. “When you’re a center back, you’re just kind of playing forward. The first few games were a little transition for him, but he’s getting better and better.”

THE LEADERSHIP: With the game score-less in the 64th minute, Caravel goalkeeper Chase Corbitt made a huge save on Dina’s penalty kick. But Appo kept the pressure on, and Stephane Ratsimbazafy scored a minute later for a 1-0 lead. “As captain, you can’t let your head go down because if your head goes down, everybody else will follow suit,” Dina said. “We just need everybody going 110 per-cent every single minute. Obviously, it worked out a minute later.”

THE CLASSROOM: Dina’s favorite subjects are animal science and biology.

THE FUTURE: Dina has received re-cruiting interest from Division I soccer programs, and he already has a major in mind. “I want to go into studying veteri-nary medicine,” he said. “Next semester I’ll be shadowing veterinarians, getting a feel of what that is before I go to college.”

– Brad Myers, News Journal

* Stories reprinted with permission

Attention Parents-

Please keep in mind SSP develop-ment is an annual process that takes place each year of your child’s High School career in order for your child to meet the manda-tory graduation requirements set forth by the Delaware Department of Education. Although your child may be on summer break, the SSP can be accessed from any computer that has an internet connection and students are en-couraged to utilize this resource as often as they wish!

Please encourage your child to utilize this valuable resource over the summer to assist with their employment, college, career and scholarship needs!

Career Guidance and Placement Counselor

Appoquinimink High School

A Message from Guidance

The counselors met with all students to discuss course selec-tion for the upcoming school year and to map out future plans following graduation from high school. An Advanced Placement/Dual Enrollment assembly was held for all stu-dents who signed up for an AP/Dual Enrollment course. Teachers discussed course content, rigor and expec-tations of each AP course. Summer assignments for all AP courses were also distributed. All students taking an AP course are expected to complete the summer assignment pri-or to the start of school.

This summer, the guidance department will be will be host-ing senior seminars for seniors interested in getting a jump start on preparing for college. Information will be shared on how to complete the Common Application, the SAT vs ACT, narrowing down college choices and completing college ap-plications. Students will also be provided information on seeking employment and the armed services. Letters with dates and times for these seminars will be mailed in early Ju-ly.

Please visit http://www.appohigh.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=37258&type=d to view checklists to suggest things that your 5th -11th grade students can do over the summer around preparing for the college search and/or application process.

For students wanting to explore test prep over the summer, Kaplan is offering FREE PSAT, SAT and ACT PRACTICE TESTS and WORKSHOPS. Visit www.kaptest.com/hsevents to see what is available!

***Please note that counselors will not be present in the building throughout the summer. Students should bring all Schedule Change Request forms to the Guid-ance Office during the Add/Drop period (first 5 days of school). Schedule Change Request forms will be availa-ble outside of the Guidance Office on the first day of school.

Summer Reading

Each year, Appoquinimink High

School’s Summer Reading Commit-

tee, which is populated by parents,

students, and teachers, selects a sum-

mer reading book. While part of the

goal of summer reading is to help

stave off what researchers call the

“summer slide,” our primary goal is

to underscore the importance of

reading and the benefits that come

with it. This year, we are pleased

that all students, grades 9-12, will

choose between two novels: Saving

Cinnamon by Christine Sullivan and

The Running Dream by Wendelin

Van Draanen.

For more information about the AHS

summer reading assignments, please

read the 2016 Summer Reading As-

signments article in the News & An-

nouncements section of the school

website.

HEALTH SCREENINGS

All incoming freshman will

receive a postural/ gait

(scoliosis) screening on the

first day of school (Monday,

August 25, 2016). You will be

notified by mail if your stu-

dent requires additional

screening.

All Driver Education students

will undergo vision and hear-

ing screenings during their

driver’s education class.

Again, you will be notified by

mail if your student requires

further evaluation.

During the summer, the school office is open: M-W 7-5, Th 7-4:30 and closed on Fridays.

Teachers and guidance counselors do not return until August 22. Please call ahead if you need

to meet with someone specific. Please continue to check the website and listen to Alert

Now messages regarding important updates throughout the summer.

Summer Hours

We will send the back to school newsletter at the beginning of August. This will include im-

portant information for the start of the school year. This will include reminders, updates and

changes occurring at AHS.

Back to School Newsletter

All incoming freshman must have a physical done within the past two years. If your son

or daughter is interested in sports, have them complete the DIAA form described below.

9th Grade Health Examination Requirements for 2016-2017

We will send a message when student schedules are accessible in HAC. Schedules will be

released closer to the first day of school. Students will be able to request schedule adjust-

ments when school reopens. If you need to speak with a counselor, please call ahead as

our counselors are not in daily during the summer.

Student Schedules for the 2016-2017 School Year

Important Information To Know...

Appoquinimink High School Principal Keisha Brinkley

1080 Bunker Hill Road

Middletown, DE 19709

302.449.3840

www.appohigh.org

The Appoquinimink School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, age, disability, marital status, national origin, or other legally protected categories in its educational programs, activities, employment, or student admissions policies or practices. Inquir-ies regarding compliance with the above can be directed to:

Section 504

Contact Kittie Rehrig, Supervisor of Student Services, Appoquinimink School District, 313 South Fifth Street, Box 4010, Odessa, DE 19730-4010. Telephone (302) 376-4111

Title IX

Contact Matt Fallis, Director of Personnel,

Appoquinimink School District, 313 South Fifth Street, Box 4010, Odessa, DE 19730-4010. Telephone (302) 376-4275

DIAA Sports Physical

If your son/ daughter would like to participate on any of the AHS athletic teams, they will need to get a DIAA sports physical completed. These forms can be found at www.jaguars-sports.com, or on the DIAA website. Forms must be dated after April 1, 2016. There are 11 signatures required, including 3 from the athlete, 2 from the physician, and 6 from a parent/ guardian. Be certain to complete page 4 (medical card). Please turn in completed forms to the nurses' office no later than August 6, 2016 at 3pm. During summer hours, forms may be dropped off at the main office Monday through Thursday.