March 2020

The Kearsarge-Plymouth boys hockey team is getting through their 2019-2020 season as expected. Their most recent game against John Stark-Hopkinton was an unfortunate loss. In an interview with Nathan St. Pierre, a senior on the varsity team, he stated that the recent matchups have put the team at an 6-4-1 record for the games thus far in this season. ¨We are optimistic that we will have a successful season regardless of our poor start.¨ The team is working to correct the smaller details, while keeping the atmosphere positive. When asked about his predictions for the rest of the season, Nathan said that ¨Me and many of my teammates are optimistic for this season. Regardless of how our season started, this team of talented hockey players will be competing for many days into the postseason and hopefully come home as state champions.¨ The team will keep working hard as their season progresses, and hopefully will continue their winning streak. 

The boys basketball season began on a somber note as the boys varsity team fell in a 79-53 loss against Hanover, and they now have a record of 7-9. When asked about this year's season thus far, Benjamin Carl, a senior on the team, responded, “We were ranked in ninth place this year in the mock rankings. I believe we can be in the top five ranked teams, and can beat any team that will come our way. I love the group of kids we have this year, so much talent in just a small group of kids. I think we can do special things this year as a team.” Their next game is scheduled for March 2, 2020 against John Stark at 6:00pm, their most recent game against Plymouth did result in a victory, therefore they are confident that they will be able to carry on improving their record as they enter into the post-season. 

The girls basketball has been eventful from the start, with several wins in the beginning of their season they now have a record of 9-9. The girls varsity is now heading into their post-season with a tied record and will be preparing for playoffs throughout the next coming week. When speaking to Jordan Busch, a captain of the varsity team, she stated "I believe that the 2019-2020 season has been great so far. I think one thing that can be improved is respect for the coaches and other players, however overall there is a good team atomsphere. Everyone is willing to work hard and have fun both playing in games and at practice." The team is looking to play Spaulding High School tonight at 6:00pm in their first round of playoffs. 

As the winter sports seasons come to an end the Kearsarge Varsity Swim Team has qualified for the State Championships. The team had many incoming freshmen and seemingly strong for such a young team. The team has had a total of four home swim meets since then, with the last one being the team’s senior night. Elizabeth McKelvy, Peter Russell, and Lily Pelkey-Jacobson were recognized for their commitment to their team throughout their high school experience on Friday January 30, 2020 at the Dan and Kathleen Hogan Center in New London, NH. When asked about her feelings on how the season has gone, Elizabeth McKelvy, co-captain of the girls varsity team, responded, “I think the season is going very well, we have a lot of talent and awesome participants on the team. I feel like the season is going to only be getting better and better, and I can’t wait to see what else we conquer together!” On Friday January 10, 2020 the Kearsarge co-ed swim team held another home meet at the Dan and Kathleen Hogan Sports Center. In one of the last races of the meet, Peter Russell qualified for the NH State Championship meet in the men’s 100 breastroke with a time of 1:17:32. The team was incredibly excited to represent Kearsarge Regional High School at the state championships the weekend of Saturday February 15, 2020 at the University of New Hampshire. 

With winter sports coming to end, the co-ed Varsity Wrestling team advanced to the State Championships this past weekend, with Nolan Haley representing Kearsarge. Throughout the season the cafeteria was normally the location of practices about five or six days a week, proving the teams dedication to the sport. Gabe Scola, new to the wrestling team this year, said that "The wrestling team works hard and stays positive. It's a good environment.¨ With Kearsarge winning a State title in the sport, the next season looks even brighter, as the sun sets on the 2019-2020 season.

The Respect Competition was held by our school’s Climate and Culture Committee because they are shooting to improve respectful relationships in our school community. Each advisory was directed to decorate a 12”x12” canvas with what respect meant to them. Everyone did an amazing job and put a lot of effort into their canvases, some advisories did a collage, others painted their canvases, some drew what respect was, some wrote it, everyone did something a little different. The teachers went around and voted on which were their favorites. The winners were Ms. Hill’s advisory for the Class of 2023, Ms. Ellis’s advisory for the Class of 2022, Ms. Wilder’s advisory for the Class of 2021, Ms. Millard’s advisory for the Class of 2020. Each of these advisories will get a hot cocoa and donut party as a reward. 

Monday, January 27, KRHS hosted its tenth school-wide Poetry Out Loud competition, organized by English teachers Lisa Cicoria and Makayla Gosselin.  The evening event featured eleven competitors who had excelled in their classroom competitions, which occurred throughout December and the first half of January. 

Analiese Blasingame, Lily Cicoria, and Liam Markoff represented the freshman class; while Daniel Courtine, Katelyn Harvey, Savannah Nestler, and Callie Vallerie competed as sophomores.  Aiden Markoff and Erin Wheeler participated from the junior class, and Phoenix Chouinard and Emily Swindell represented the seniors. Will Moore was the Emcee of the evening, kicking off the performances with a recitation of poet Mark Doty’s “Golden Retrievals,” which allowed judges to calibrate their scoring.  Professor Tom Kealy, Joanne Tulonen, Dianalee Velie, Cindy Chiasson, and Laura Newman all judged the recitations, and senior Patrick Seward provided musical entertainment between poems and rounds.

At the evening’s conclusion, last year’s winner, Emily Swindell, who recited “Ode to the Electric Fish that Eat Only the Tails of Other Electric Fish” by Thomas Lux, followed by “Crossing the Bar” by Alfred Lord Tennyson, was declared the runner-up.  Daniel Courtine won this year’s competition, with recitations of Craig Arnold’s “Meditation on a Grapefruit” and Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade.” He called his win “a redeeming moment,” noting that he had performed Tennyson’s poem last year as well and “wanted to come back and do the poem justice”; with his thunderous, moving performance, he surely did.  He will move on to the regional competition, scheduled for Wednesday, March 4.

The Literary Art Magazine contest is a perfect way for the students of KRHS to express their creative abilities. The magazine includes art and literary pieces by many students from each grade. This form of expression allows students’ talents and hobbies to be displayed for all to see, building a great community of writers and artists within the high school. Each year, the magazine is published in May.

This year, the winners for the art section were Meghan Blood with first place, Ozali Charlebois with second, and Gabby Call with third. Meghan created a portrait drawing.

The winners for the writing section were Ana Ortiz with first place, a tie between James Rand and Ana Ortiz for second, and Emily Swindell with third. Ana wrote a short story called “The Stag”.

On December 10th KRHS had its 2019 Winter Concert comprised of songs sung by the KRHS Chorus, the Men’s Choir, the Treble Choir, and the Select Choir who made their first debut that night. The KRHS Concert Band and the Jazz band also put on some beautiful pieces.

Some highlights of the night were Student Logic performed by the Men’s Choir which received many heartfelt chuckles from the audience, Schindler’s List performed by the Select Choir with violin accompaniment played by Charlotte Perkins, and The Wind Beneath My Wings performed by the KRHS Chorus which brought tears to many parents in the audience. The Jazz Bands performance of Mercy, Mercy, Mercy was also very well done with amazing soloists from Patrick Seward on piano and Xavier Blasingame on Also Sax. Additionally, the KRHS Concert Band’s Into the Storm was a wonderful way to tie up the bands’ songs before the combined On With the Snow performed by both the Chorus and the Band at the end of the concert, wrapping up the music-filled night with a lovely bow.

The directors of both the band and chorus are content with how the concert went, Mr. Harrington, the chorus director, said: “I think they sang great, and a good time was had by all.” And is looking forward to the next concert already. Mr. Anderson was also proud of the outcome saying: “I thought it went great and the kids did a great job… [I’m] very happy with what we did and the support we got from the community.” It’s fair to say the concert was a success for both the Chorus and Band, and we are thankful for the people that attended.

CLIMB trips have always been a staple of exploration and unity in the Kearsarge community, with this year being like any other. There have been four trips in the 2019-2020 school year with the next one scheduled for the weekend of March , 2020, with its most recent trip taking place this past weekend. CLIMB is a school club led by advisors Peter Hattan, Emily Anderson, and Peter Keene, in which students are given the opportunity to explore the outdoors and be immersed in an environment that they may not get to experience too often. A trip will usually consist of a hike to a “hut”, a cabin which will host them for several nights, and then the activities begin! Because there is usually a large number of people who attend these trips, groups will be assigned to certain jobs on arrival to the hut such as dinner crew, water crew, and clean up crew. As dinner is being prepared others play board games, sing and talk with each other. The following morning the group will prepare and eat breakfast together as well as exploring their environment more and continue with bonding activities. The trip normally will last three days and two nights, and students will arrive back on campus on Sunday morning. The program is revered by many as extremely fun and educational, and would be recommended to anyone who is interested in becoming a part of this amazing small community.