JSEC Update - Spring 2023

Over the past several months we have had many events and activities at JSEC, and much is planned for the spring. Take a moment to see what the students and staff have been up to.

Winter sports provided us with many highlights including the boys' basketball team qualifying for the state tournament, and the girls' team being crowned Rhode Island Division I champions. Congratulations Lady Cavs!

Highlights from the wrestling team include wrestlers Delaila Calderon, senior, and Djovani Jean Pierre, freshman, competing in sectionals.

Extra Extra……JSEC HAS A SCHOOL NEWSPAPER and it’s all digital: Check It Out Here: www.cavchronicle.org

The Newspaper Committee has been meeting regularly to make our school’s Newspaper even more informative than ever. Please make sure you are checking out the JSEC School Newspaper! Recent stories include: Double-dose of Drama: Providence College and Brown University Perform for JSEC Students; Boys' and Girls' Basketball Teams Make It to the State Finals!; Holly-Daze Craziness; Computer Science Pathways Attending Computer Science Summit; Alex Snow, Decades in Prison, Shares His Story to JSEC Teens; JSEC Parent’s Night; Teacher Spotlight; etc. In addition to this the JSEC CavChronicle has sections on After School Activities, Special Events, Videos, Jobs, Athletics, Community, Presentations, along with Spotlights and Features. If anyone would like to sponsor our Cav Chronicle Newspaper, please reach out. People can do this individually or showcase their company with us adding their company logo. If you would like to assist with this please reach out to Mr. Moreau @ 401-241-6339 or charles.moreau@ppsd.org

The Rhode Island Center for the Book has announced its selection for the 2023 Reading Across Rhode Island program: True Biz by Sara Novic. JSEC will be participating. Books will be available in the library to students and family members. Contact Mr. Q if you would like to read the book and in doing so, join people from around the state who are reading the same book. Mr. Q can be reached at peter.quesnel@ppsd.org.

Reading Across Rhode Island, Rhode Island’s One Book, One State community read program kicks off its 21st year by encouraging everyone to read True Biz by Sara Nović with this year’s Honorary Chairs Nancy Maguire Heath, Director, Rhode Island School for the Deaf and Amanda Montgomery, Chief Legal Officer with Convo Communications, LLC and Board Chair, Rhode Island School for the Deaf.

I’m thrilled and honored that True Biz has been chosen as this year’s Reading Across Rhode Island pick. I like to call this book a coming-of-age story and a coming-of-middle-age story, so I think it has something for everybody, and I’m looking forward to connecting with RI readers. – Sara Nović

Reading Across Rhode Island is a program of the Rhode Island Center for the Book, made possible through a vibrant collaboration of librarians, teachers, book group leaders and readers from across the state.

The story: The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history finals, and have politicians, doctors, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they’ll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who’s never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school’s golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the hearing headmistress, a CODA (child of deaf adult(s)) who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another—and changed forever.

This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, disability and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and, above all, great persistence, daring, and joy. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, this is an unforgettable journey into the Deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.

Yearbooks are for 9th, 10th, 11th, & 12th Graders.

The Yearbook Crew worked hard to make 2023’s Yearbook the BEST one ever! There is so much going on this year that it’s hard to keep up with each and every event. The Yearbook’s Goal is to capture as close to 100% of all activities and events as possible. We will have a few new sections this year that are top-secret, but we know all readers will love. A few items related to the yearbook:

1. ORDER FORMS/PAYMENTS FOR 2023 YEARBOOK: have gone out, and payment can be made via Zelle, Yearbook Site with Credit Card, or cash/check to JSEC–Mr. Moreau. Receipts will be given. If you would like to pre-pay for a 2023 yearbook for yourself, another student, family, or relative, you may do so. If you do this via Zelle you may use: 401 241-6339 and in MEMO write person’s name & 2023 Yrkb. Even with ever increasing costs this year we have committed to keeping the cost of the yearbook at a low $45. (Please note most other schools charge close to double or triple that amount.) We are able to keep the costs of our yearbooks low due to our generous sponsors.

2. DELIVERY: Yearbooks were sent to the publishers on 4/7/23 and take about 7-8 weeks to print/publish.

3. STAFF ORDERS: If staff would like to pre-order a yearbook, simply email Mr. Moreau and we will reserve your 2023 Yearbook. Your email message will serve as your order and invoices will be placed in your staff mailbox.
   

Money matters: 12th grade guidance counselor Kristin DeHertogh arranged a series focusing on financial literacy for graduating seniors. Bank of America financial adviser, J. Lucien Tavares, conducted a series of workshops aimed at preparing graduating seniors for the real world. The sessions covered a range of financial literacy skills including advice on savings and maintaining a good credit score.

Speaking of financial literacy, in April, the math department hosted a Money Management Night for JSEC seniors, juniors and their families. Math literacy coach Sarah Guimaraes and math teachers Taylor Bigliani and Megan Ramirez arranged for Bank of America financial advisers to present to students and families on various money matters. These money matters included budgeting, savings, credit and buying a home. These are essential topics for students and others, and we thank Bank of America for their expertise.

The JSEC Library hosted two events for students this winter and spring, one focused on creative writing and one on theater. School librarian Peter Quesnel arranged for Rhode Island Poet Laureate, Tina Cane, to run a series of six creative writing workshops for select students. Students were nominated to attend by their English teachers. Students who participated in the workshop developed their own collection of poems and writings, and the group put together a "collaborative poem" in the culminating session.

In April Mr. Quesnel also hosted the Brown/Trinity Consortium actors for both a theater workshop for students and a performance of an original play. Students from all grade were invited to attend both the workshop and the performance. At the theater workshop, the students had a blast playing theater games and learned about the play, The Taming of Hamlet, a take on Shakespeare's Hamlet. At the performance, the students were treated to an up-close production of a professional play complete with lighting and sound. After the performance, actors took questions from the students about acting and theater. We hope to make this an annual event for JSEC.

The newly inducted JSEC National Honor Society is hosting a food and clothing drive for the month of May to benefit the RI Community Food Bank and Dorcas International of Rhode Island. Acceptable items include nonperishable food items, clothes and household necessities. If you have any questions or anything that you would like to donate, please Caroline Greene, NHS adviser at caroline.greene@ppsd.org or any of the NHS members. There will be bins in the main office for donated items.