By Lindsay Carey
Staff Writer
The United States Navy Band’s jazz ensemble, the “Commodores,” is making a stop in Southington for a performance on Veterans Day, Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m., as a part of their 2014 National Tour.
The Commodores are a group of 19 jazz and big band musicians, and is just one of the U.S. Navy Band’s ensembles. The Kiwanis Club has procured the Commodores before, as well as another ensemble known as the Sea Chanters. The last time the Kiwanis Club hosted the U.S. Navy Band in Southington was in 2011.
“They come every three or four years,” said Beverly Skinnon, president of the Kiwanis Club. “They’re busy most of the year performing for the president and doing military funerals. It takes a long time to get them.”
The U.S. Navy Band has been performing at public concerts and events around the states for about 85 years.
“It’s the perfect day to honor all the men and women who have served in the armed forces, to give back to the community and instill a sense of patriotism,” said Skinnon.
Though the concert is free, Skinnon said that the event will probably cost the Kiwanis Club about $500 between the posters, making tickets and providing the band with dinner.
However, the club still is not asking for monetary donations at the event.
“The Kiwanis motto is to serve,” said Skinnon. “We’re always looking for opportunities to improve the lives of people in the community.”
The group is asking that concert attendees bring non perishable food items that will be donated to Bread for Life and the Southington Community Services.
Volunteers from The Key Club, a community service club at SHS and Kiwanis affiliate, will be helping with the event. Skinnon is appreciative of the help, as the event typically draws big.
“Every time we’ve had this concert, it’s been standing room only,” said Skinnon.

By Lindsay Carey
Staff Writer
The Southington High School Robotics Team, Team 195, or more commonly known as the Cyber Knights, recently competed in and won at the 16th annual Bash at the Beach post-season competition in Old Lyme.
The Cyber Knights competed for one last time with the F-195 Knighthawk, which was named in honor of the U.S. Air Force, in the 2014 game “Aerial Assist.”
“I think it was really good to see the Knighthawk in action,” said Team Mentor Sandra Brino. “The robot was special to them and they really enjoyed playing with it one more time.”
The Cyber Knights achieved a 6-1 record and qualified as the number 3 seed with the Knighthawk.
For the final round of the competition, which saw 24 teams compete, the Cyber Knights collaborated with Team 558 Robosquad from New Haven and Team 1699, the Robocats from Colcheste,r and won the competition.
Team 195 won not only for their robotics, but was also recognized for their character. The team received the Gracious Professionalism Award at the event and Brino said that they have one this award before at other competitions.
“What makes 195 unique is their reaching out to other teams throughout the state of Connecticut,” said Brino.
According to her they help other teams by practicing together, building and sharing resources like the practice field.
“We want to bring all of the state of Connecticut to the best it can be in robotics,” said Brino. “So we help other teams even though we compete against them. It makes the competition a lot more fun when you’re competing with and against friends.”
Brino said that the Cyber Knights have developed close relationships with other robotics teams like Team 558 Robosquad, who they won the Southington district event with last year.
The Cyber Knights have enjoyed working with other teams to improve each others robots, despite it being a competition. According to Brino, the SHS Robotics team has developed a reputation for welcoming other teams and lending a help hand when needed.
“It’s not uncommon to see someone from the Southington team fixing a robot from an opposing team,” said Brino.
Brino said that the team is currently gearing up for Jan. 3, when FIRST will announce what the 2015 game will be through a live broadcast to 3,000 teams all over the world via a web feed.
“There’s a lot of excitement around the new game,” said Brino.
After the FIRST kickoff broadcast on Jan. 3, the students will have six weeks to design, manufacture, assemble and wire a new robot.
Brino said that their first competition will be the weekend of Feb. 28 and they will continue to compete through April.
“They’re really excited and looking forward to another great season,” said Brino. “We couldn’t do it without the support of the local businesses. They’re the ones that fund this program and keep it going.”

File Photo
The Southington High School Cyber Knights robotics team recently won a post-season competition in Old Lyme. The team is awaiting the FIRST kickoff broadcast on January 3.

Jessica Goralski, a senior at Southington High School, Benjamin Palladino and Julia Semmel, eighth graders at Joseph A. DePaolo Middle School, have been selected as the 2014-2015 recipients of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents’ Superintendent/Student Recognition award for leadership service to the school, academic prowess relative to ability, and service to others in the community.

A special luncheon has been planned by the Farmington Valley Superintendents’ Association for Friday, Nov. 21 at noon, Farmington Country Club, 806 Farmington Avenue, Farmington.

The Board of Education will be recognizing Jessica, Benjamin and Julia at its Jan. 8 Board of Education meeting to be held at the Municipal Center, Public Assembly Room, 200 North Main St., Southington at 7 p.m.

Timothy F. Connellan, Superintendent of Schools and Brian S. Goralski, board chairman will make the presentation for these three Southington students.

This program was designed by school administrators to recognize students who have served their schools and communities while maintaining exceptional progress.

CAPSS, the statewide school superintendents’ professional organization is based in West Hartford and provides professional development, personal support, statewide conferences, legislative information and educational services to its members.

Southington High School has announced its first quarter honor roll:
Grade 9 First Honors

Rosanna Airo, Victoria Aldieri, Jacob Anderson, Katarina Aulbach, Cicily Balachandar, Madison Beaudoin, Mackenzie Beaupre, Emma Becotte, Chloe Becquey, Evan Bender, Allison Blaszko, Julia Brilla, Allison Brown, Timothy Budnik, Collin Burbank, Zachary Burleigh, Carolyn Callahan, Gina Calo, Ryan Case, Gabrielle Cerra, Sophia Chaltas, Kevin Chudy, Chelsea Cocozza, Jacqueline Coley, Abigail Connolly, Steven Cova, Madison Daddona, Carlie DeFelice, Kira Dethlefsen, Julia Dietz, Brianna Dixon, Kathryn Dondero, Melissa Drexler, Trevor Dufresne, Michelle Flynn, Ryan Flynn, Olivia Fournier, Diamond Garcia, Matthew Garry, Ariana Gazaferi, Brianna Gee, Julia Groll, Adam Gwara, Jeffrey Hannigan, Taylor Harton, Jack Herms, Daniel Hunter, Katelyn Ierardi, Alexa Imme, Katie Judge, Mikaela June, Brandon Jurkowski, Julia Kahl, Rea Kelolli, Alex Klinzmann, Alexander Kuhr, David Kupcho, Alex Le, Abigail Legere, Shane Leone, Tanthalas Lowrey, Zachary MacDonald, Claire Macioce, Teresa Maffiolini, Faryn Malley, Joseph Martin, Nicole Martocchio, Marissa Mastroianni, Ariella Matarazzo, Sydney Mauro, Donna McNeill, Julia McPherson, Hartlee Meier, Sarah Minkiewicz, Daniel Minton, Jessica Monte, Zachary Monti, Kayleigh Moses, Emily Nadile, Michelle Nogaj, Kathleen O’Reilly, Eric Padden, Erin Palinkos, Gianna Passarelli, Britni Pastyrnak, Amisha Paul, Amy Paul, Spencer Perry, Tyler Peruta, Jessica Pesce, Jacob Petruzzi, Anthony Riccio, Tayler Riddick, Andrew Robel, Rachel Roberts, Julia Rodman, Holly Ross, Katarina Rothstein, Alexa Rutkowski, Sylvia Rutkowski, Christina Sack, Isabella Salazar, Morgan Santos, Isabella Scalise, Ashley Shafran, Saipriya Sharma, Anna Shugrue, Ashley Son, Niko Sophroniou, Faith Sporbert, Caitlyn St. Jarre, James Starr, Jack Storm, Bethany Synott, Robert Taylor, John Terray, John Terry, Cade Testa, Jennifer Thai, Zachary Thomas, Emily Tinyszin, Vanessa Tischofer, Cheyenne Tomassetti, Daniel Topper, Emma Topper, Amanda Travers, Thomas Tsangarides, Justin Verrilli, Janette Wadolowski, Benjamin Wakefield, Joelle Wankerl, Madina Welcome, Julia Wells, Rachel Williams, Molly Wright, Sean Young, Lydia Yu, Kateryna Yurkevych, Emily Zakrzewski, Kara Zazzaro, Stephanie Zera, Sammi Zhang, Nicholas Zollo

Grade 10 First Honors
Madison Aldieri, Hallie Altwies, Kelly Angeli, Alissa Anglis, Jake Aparo, Lily Baker, Katerina Belales, Kayla Birmingham, Skylar Blumetti, Sydney Brault, Megan Burke, Laura Calandra, William Carbone, Andrew Chavez, Meghan Cichon, Kamryn Cochrane, Dominic Coppola, Kristen Craven, Tyler Cyr, Annelise D’Abramo, Anthony D’Abramo, Evan D’Agostino, Erica Daigle, Amanda Delorme, Megan Delorme, Cassandra Dethlefsen, Nickolina Doran, Brian Durocher, Victoria Duszak, Jasmyne Engman, Kata Erdei, Katherine Estell, Jared Fernandez, Juliana Ferreri, Hunter Forrest, Michael Freeman, Laura Furtak, Rebecca Gagne, Jay Gandhi, Emily Gibney, Matthew Gundersen, Joshua Hilliard, Rachel Huff, Hannah Jackman, Katie Kelley, Kelly Kritz, Sydney Kroll, Erik Kryzanski, Jordan Lamkins, Samantha Lamkins, Michael Listro, Rebecca Lo Presti, Michael Loose, Emily Lyons, Morgan Maccione, Alexa Maddalena, Maegan Mariani, Marissa Matarazzo, Kristen Mathew, Leen Matit, Michael Mauro, Connor McDonough, Ryan McIntyre, Jordan McMeans, Margaret Meehan, John Mindek, Tyler Moquin, Amanda Morach, Mark Murdy, Thomas Murdy, Catherine Myers, Ashley Nelson, Cameron Nelson, Bao-Anh Nguyen, Jillian Noli, Elysse Page, Evyenia Papageorge, Anjali Patel, Jessica Piotrowski, Andrew Premus, Samantha Purushotham, Jesse Rasten, Morgan Raymond, Michael Ricciardone, Turner Rodman, Benjamin Russman, Stephen Rutkowski, Joseph Savage, Joseph Savarese, Matthew Sciota, Kaitlin Semmel, Kyle Semmel, Brendan Shea, Nathan Simard, Kyle Solomon, Kimberly Stafko, Samantha Steeves, Carson Stifel, Brandon Stone, Brendan Taylor, Sean Terry, Alison Theriault, Olivia Thomas, Stephen Vollaro, Megan Walsh, Natiya Washer, James Weil, Michelle Woodruff, Alexa Zborowski, Artur Zielinski

Grade 11 First Honors
Jacob Armstrong, Nicole Breedlove, James Brino, Rachel Bruno, Samantha Butlien, Jacob Buzzell, Anthony Cammuso, Raegan Casarella, Katelin Chamberland, Fizza Chaudhry, Nicole Christensen, Timothy Cocozza, Jennifer Congdon, Adam Cormier, Olivia Cranney, Andrea Defeo, Adam Dorau, Steven Dorzens, Megan Enright, Jarod Florian, Tyler Fox, Chelsea French, Katrina Furgalack, Jessica Gagnon, Cassandra Gaudio, Natalia Gimenez, Bethany Greenlaw, Nicole Groll, Jessica Howe, Mark Howland, Jenny Johnson, Samantha Jones, Kayla Judd, Kayla Kavanagh, Sana Khan, Jacob Kligerman, Laura Koba, Visal Kong, Reed Kroll, Sarah Lamb, Sylwia Lewkowicz, Katie Lindberg, Kristina Linehan, Jeffrey Lockwood, Samantha Lohneiss, Scott Lucian, Emily Maciejewski, Salvatore Magnano, Steven McPherson, Haley Mullin, Brianna Muscio, Nathaniel Nagorski, Shannon O’Connor, Nicholas Ottalagana, Lauren Parker, Alissa Paul, Katherine Peccerillo, Niels Peschel, Christopher Pestillo, Nicholas Pierson, Alex Rasten, Allie Rinaldi, John Rivers, Domenic Rossi, Kalista Ruoff, Brenna Sarantides, Amy Serrano, Sarah Sherwill, Brett Simms, Lucia Sintoni, Jason Soltys, Nicolette St. Amand, Alexander Statkevich, John Stevens, Kahli Travers, Krysta Tsangarides, Natalie Wadolowski, Joseph Zavorskas, Angelina Zollo

Grade 12 First Honors
Megan Albert, Alexandra Barmore, Caroline Barry, Zachary Bauer, Erich Bender, Erik Bergland, Cheyenne Bevans, Jonathan Blain, Michael Botsacos, Tyler Brinton, Adam Brush, Kaitlyn Budrow, Cassandra Camilli, Lauren Carney, Jenna Casey, Madison Chapman, Caroline Charlton, Ashley Christensen, Bridget Clark, Erin Cova, Dakota Curtis, James Danielson, Kyle DeAngelo, Austin DeGumbia, Kevin Drexler, Matthew Duszak, Julie Falk, David Falvo, Marissa Feeney, Nicole Fischer, Kayleigh Flanigan, Mackenzie Flanigan, Kayla Folcik, Miranda Gazaferi, Mack Golos, Jessica Goralski, Julia Granato, Jocelyn Gregor, Patrick Gustavson, Amanda Hamel, Antoine Harris, Rebecca Hayes, Abigail Heller, Benjamin Herms, Adriel Hernandez, James Hoder, Abigail Hodges, Aubrey Jalbert, Alexander Jamele, Meghan Kelley, Leah Kligerman, Sharon Kwok, Jessica Lee, Ellie Lefkovich, Zachary Levesque, Emily Lippincott, Kristen Loose, Sarah Luczak, Joshua Marcil, Brianna Marinelli, Angela Masciangioli, Nicholas Mauriello, Marissa Mayo, Morgan McCarthy, Margaret Mellitt, Anthony Meneo, Haley Messenger, Kayla Michalic, Eric Minton, Jake Moise, Zachary Murillo, Talia Nanfito, Flora Nardi, Quan Nguyen, Luke Nichols, Daniel Normandin, Connor O’Hara, Ryan Padden, Michael Pagano, Sarah Palko, Priya Patel, Colby Pelletier, Lee Ann Pelletier, Emily Pestillo, Bailey Potter, Ryan Pulver, Cassidy Race, Julia Reilly, Anthony Renzi, Francesco Ricigliano, Nicole Ricker, Raquel Romano, Alexandra Rothstein, Amanda Scheffler, Brett Shaw, Autumn Sheffy, Jarod Shurack, Ryann Snodgrass, Matthew Sorrentino, Kathleen Spagnoletti, Connor Sperry, Matthew Steeves, Rianna Susco, Michael Taylor, Michael Theriault, Matthew Torrisi, Christina Trovato, Elizabeth Veilleux, Veronica Viturale, Adam Viviano, Abigail Wadman, Colleen Walsh, Nicholas Wells, Brittany Williams, Elizabeth Woods, Caitlin Young, Chase Yurgaitis, Maghen Zagryn

Grade 9 Second Honors
Michael Abucewicz, Nandani Adhyapak, Syed Ahmed, Brianna Albanese, Jacob Albert, Maria Alecsandru, Sarah Allard, Haley Allen, Nolyn Allen, Cora Altomari, Catrina Aszklar, Jessica Baillargeon, James Baril, Samantha Barmore, William Barmore, Gabriella Bassi-Belanger, Andrew Bauer, Jordan Beaupre, Shawn Begin, Nicoletta Belales, Madeline Belfonti, Megan Biscoglio, Amanda Boccio, Logan Brayfield, Brandy Brinton, Cole Brock, Amanda Brocki, Lokshmi Brown, Erica Bruno, Connor Brush, Shalyn Butkiewicz, Marissa Calandra, Jordan Cammuso, Jacqueline Carbone, Kaitlyn Carrubba, Allison Carta, Elizabeth Cassan, Amy Cayer, William Ceruti, Odalys Chavez, Dylan Chiaro, Cameron Clynes, Emily Cole, Mark D’Agostino, Evan Daddona, Nicholas Daddona, Amber Daley, Thomas Danby, Jacob DeLorenzo, Kaitlyn DeMaio, Rachel DePonte, Mason Dibble, Sarah Dill, Molly Dobratz, Shelby Doerfler, Noah Dombal, Zachary Domian, Michael Dorsey, Brendon Egan, Kaylee Fantoli, James Feltz, April Fenn, Francesca Ferrante, Mario Ferreri, Katherine Foley, Lauren Foligno, Anthony Gandolfo, Brooke Garcia, Jessica Gesnaldo, Matthew Gioia, Casandra Govoni, Lauren Graef, Heather Hannigan, Jacob Hayes, Amanda Howe, Taylor Hubert, Nathaniel Huff, Aisha Hussain, Medina Iljazi, Kristian Izydorczak, Keegan Jarvis, Felicity Keyworth, Quintin Kimmel, Kelly Koba, Joseph Koczera, Brandon Kohl, Jakub Kolodziejczyk, Radoslaw Konopka, Jonathan Kryzanski, Jake Kubisek, Megan Lamontagne, Benjamin Lavertu, Conner Leone, Sarah Lew, Ariana Llabani, Andrew Lohneiss, David MacKay, Jacob Manente, Sydney Marecki, Lindsay Marziarz, Alyssa McDonald, Shelby McMahon, Mahima Mehta, Jeremy Mercier, Jacob Mohr, Jake Monson, Sarah Myrick, Michaela Nanfito, Sarah Newhart, Katthy Nguyen, Timothy O’Shea, Matthew Olson, Richard Olson, Katherine Oshana, Stephen Pannone, Samuel Pappas, Safiyah Pathan, Angelo Pederson, Tiana Perez-Toro, David Perlot, William Pfanzelt, Katryna Pfeiffer, Jonathan Pierson, Megan Posadas, Nicholas Ragozzine, Ethan Rathbun, Emma Reney, Sydney Rice, Brett Rycki, Dorian Sa, Timothy Sadlowski, Sana Saeed, Brittney Sao, Shaan Shah, Suchi Sheth, Keegan Smith, Morgan St. Jarre, Garrett Susi, Kendall Suski, Kieran Tindall, Coral Tommervik, Phuong Trinh, Sarah Tynan, Christian Vargas, Jasmin Vega, Vincent Viturale, Nicolina Votino, Shivali Vyas, Ester Vynar, David Wadman, Shaun Wagner, Stephanie Wang, Rosalese Waskowicz, Tagan Welch, Rosalie Whitehead, Brandon Willis, Brett Wolff, Cheyanne Young, Patrycja Zajac, Cameron Zegzdryn, Hannah Zelina, Lia Zelvis, William Zesut

Grade 10 Second Honors
Austin Abacherli, Amir Agoora, Abigail Alfieri, Michael Allen, Seth Almeida, Alyssa Ash, Abigale Asklar, Jake Babon, Rachel Baldick, Martha Barry, Katherine Bauer, Rachel Belanger, Nicholas Benham, Jake Bertola, Daniel Berube, Ryan Bjorklund, Zachary Blake, Jenna Boccio, Alyssa Boucher, Jennifer Briscoe, Colton Brown, Taylor Brown, Robert Bunting, Michaela Carrera, Jade Cassidy, Kyle Chinigo, Nicole Chuchro, Alex Ciaffaglione, Samantha Cocchiola, Megan Colleran, Kayla Coppola, Adam Curley, Bianca D’Amore, Presley Dahn, Dante DeCesare, Michael DeFeo, Matthew DeLorenzo, Hannah DeMaio, Isabella DiBattista, Andrew Gallagher, Austin Garuti, Matteo Gaudio, Shamus Geel, Erin Gibney, Lyndsey Giudice, Kelly Graff, Jonathan Gray, Stephanie Gray, Samantha Greenslate, Rachael Haberski, Daniel Hackerman, Skye Hamm, Alexandra Harris, Veronica Heigel, Jordan Helton, Kyle Hermann, Kailey Hinckley, Michael Jagos, Emma Jaworowski, Kornelia Jez, Lance Johnston, Jessica Karwowski, Rohan Kataria, Catherine Kates, H. Kilgore, Kendra Kochol, Aleia Kolodziejczyk, Allison Krampitz, Nathan L’Heureux, Amanda Lavoie, Christina Lebel, Kimberly Lebel, Dylan Levesque, Lexie Lewis, Andrew Luczak, Crystal Madore, Megan Mahon, Ryan Mailhot, Janelle Mangassarian, Samantha Martins, Marisa Matthews, Matthew McLaughlin, Kaitlyn McNamara, Mark Meade, Taryn Meenan, Natalie Messner, Peyton Mitchell, Sean Molgano, Anthony Mondo, Ashlee Montefalco, Julia Mularczyk, Madelyn Nichols, Tianna Oliva, Hannah Olsen, Lars Olson, Albert Palumbo, Vasoula Papageorge, Chandni Patel, Brianna Pellerin, Ariel Perry, Timothy Perry, Benjamin Pestillo, Justin Phen, Delaney Picard, Thomas Ragozzino, Nathan Raposa, Nicholas Rappi, Joshua Richardson, Bailey Robarge, Alexyss Roderick, Francesca Russo, Samantha Sagnella, Joshua Salgado, Paul Schweiger, Ryan Sheehan, Kristen Shubert, Joel Spinelli, Jeremy Spooner, Monique Szabo, Caitlin Taddeo, Noah Tedeschi, Mallory Terry, John Testa, John Thompson, Leann Tonnotti, Lauren Torino, Kristiana Torres, Rylee Van Epps, John Vecchio, Gabrielle Veilleux, Hannah Weir, Madison Whillock, Madison Yurgaitis, Zachary Zakreta, Michael Zera
 
Grade 11 Second Honors
Michael Aberizk, Andrew Ackerman, Leandro Alejandro, Griffin Alix, Kayla Allaire, Paige Allen, Timothy Anop, Andrew Ardolino, Jonathan Ardolino, Ciara Backus, Alicia Badorek, Joshua Barry, Austin Baumann, Matthew Becotte, Quinn Becotte, Mikayla Bedell, Shallynn Beerbaum, Joseph Bernetti, Kimberly Biela, Alexandra Bieniek, Brandon Birmingham, Nathan Blitz, Christopher Borkowski, Jasmine Boschulte, Kyle Bunko, Lauren Cafasso, Rebecca Caisse, Brooke Camden, Grace Cardozo, Victoria Castillo, Benjamin Chasse, Jacob Chasse, Luis Chavez, Payton Chiaro, Courtney Christino, Jacob D’Alessandro, Senton Dautllari, Anna DeCroce, Anthony DeGennaro, Margaux Degumbia, Adam Dell, Christie Dizenzo, Sarah Dolan, Connor Dombal, Kealey Donahue, Bryan Doyle, Hali Doyon, Rachel Dufresne, Spencer Eaton, Kristen Elliott, Daniel Fagan, Kathryn Falcetti, Nicholas Falco, Skye Farago, Drew Farkas, Luke Ferreira, Riley Freehling, Paul Gambardella, Michaela Ganezer, Taylor Garry, Sarah Gerrish, Trevor Godston, Megan Hamilton, Austin Hochstrate Hamera, Danielle Hughes, Christopher Iverson, Julia Izydorczak, Danielle Jaffer, Hassan Khan, Gregory Kloczko, Ryan Kosienski, Ashleigh Kristopik, Carter Krzesik, Kevin Kukla, Kyle Lalla, Kelly Lappen, Emily Mankus, Gage Marshall, Colton McInnis, Morgan McNamara, John Meade, Jordan Meier, Kaylah Miron, Kelsey Molina, Jonathan Moller, Annie Mongillo, Caroline Mongillo, Parker Mulholland, Ashley Nafis, Catherine Najarian, Alexis Negron, Nicole Nyerick, Mackenzie Parks, Sarah Parzych, Kushal Patel, Kaylee Pawlak, Dane Penksa, Briana Petta, Kali Pliego, Brandon Porter, Emma Powers, Devin Prive, Katrina Quoka, Sofia Ricciardi, Faith Ritchie, Erin Roach, Trever Rogers, Benjamin Sadlowski, Amanda Sao, Emily Sargent, Samantha Schiffer, Allison Schroeder, Jessica Seitz, Lauren Semataska, Jhanvi Shah, Morgan Shubert, Cole Simoneaux, Robert Sirko, Justin Sliker, William Smelley, Kelsey Snodgrass, Kyle Somers, Andrew Spitz, Amelia Sponauer, Emily Stafford, Michael Stafko, Mark Stalter, Erin Sullivan, Andrew Szandrocha, Melanie Tedeschi, James Terray, Paris Testa, Amanda Thompson, Aaron Tiscione, Jason Tosta, Katherine Trykowski, Jennifer Turci, Jenna Uba, Delana Veilleux, Diana Verderame, Matthew Verrilli, Edmond Vitcavage, James Wadman, Abigail Wallace, Ryan Wells, Lindsey Witte, Alexandra Wyluda, Aron Zamfino, Aaron Zerbe, Gabriella Zuk

Grade 12  Second Honors
Alexandria Abacherli, Ryan Abouchacra, Alaina Albino, Annelise Alfieri, Hayley Arduini, Marissa Asal, Meagan Asklar, Rachel Babon, Natane Baldwin, Trevor Baracchi, Kyle Barry, Lily Bernabe, Tiffany Blancato, Zachary Blanchette, Kyle Borawski, Melissa Borysewicz, Nickolas Brazil, Matthew Briscoe, Alicia Brocki, Zayda Broderick, Zachary Bylykbashi, Julian Cardozo, Patrick Carozza, Kayley Carrier, Bailey Carter, Kristiana Ceta, Cameron Chubet, Sarah Colston, Alana Conti, Kevin Corcoran, Elizabeth Costello, Austin Daly, Nicole Davey, Shawn Devin, Tyler DiTunno, Jessica Dos Santos, Sebastian Doughty, Kateri Downes, Casey Doyle, Brandon DuBois, Olivia Ende, Christopher Falk, Michael Fazzino, Kendra Friedt, Jessica Galatro, Jared Gavronski, Melissa Geffken, Allison Gibney, Ryan Goldstein, Elena Gomez, Alexander Gorr, Anna Gregoire, Natalia Grosfeld, Monica Hicks, Kendra Hill, William Holian, Mark Horanzy, Bailey Kahl, Leo Kavanah, Arooba Khan, Sana Khan, Devin King, Christopher Kingsbury, Colin Kochol, Haley Kolesnik, Antonella Kuziak, Megan Langdeau, Sarah Leahy, Stephanie Lemire, Jared Lentini, Spencer Levesque, Natalie Liquindoli, Catherine MacKay, Peter Majchrzak, Erin Martin, Kaitlin Martocchio, David Massabni, Matthew Maxwell, Gwyneth McFall-Gorman, Katherine Mellitt, Richard Ministro, Evan Misiorski, Jacob Molgano, Jennifer Monte, Jacqueline Morelli, Jack Myers, Rebekah Najarian, Rachel Nardi, Jessica Nelson, Amber O’Regan, Grant Ogrin, Zaya Oshana, Franklin Pac, John Pac, Dominick Palmisano, Megan Palumbo, Kyle Partiss, Kaitlin Paterson, Brenden Peasley, Thomas Perzanowski, Lucas Pfanzelt, Evan Pokorski, Christian Raczka, Mitchell Raczka, Jonathan Rappi, Erin Reilly, Maryssa Romano, Nicholas Rosario, Courtnie Roy, Isabella Russo, Rebecca Ryan, Cristian Sanchez, Liam Scafariello, Lillian Shaw, Daniel Smolinski, Francesca Sophroniou, Zachary Spratto, Victoria Stepien, Victoria Swartz, Alexa Taylor, Morgan Terry, Jake Thayer, Matthew Thomson, Shelby Thurston, Julia Tinyszin, Nicole Tombari, Curtis Topper, Rebecca Tsangarides, Ryan Wackelin, Nicole White, Timothy White, Adam Whitford, Neil Young, Jolanta Zajac, Lauren Zazzaro, Dominic Zmarlicki

J.A. DePaolo Middle School has announced its first quarter honor roll:
Grade 6
First Honors
Catherine Adamczyk;Mercy Adekola;Jackson Alfano;Sera Altomari;Devan Bade;Adam Badgley;Andrew Bafuma;Kelly Barrett;Muhanad Batah;Alexandra Bauer;Brandon Bernier;Amanda Boan;Corrie Bonomi;Daniel Bouteiller;Sammi Bray;Matthew Brennan;Madison Buckley;Isabelle Burek;Jessica Burns;Caleb Buzas;Dylan Camden;Audrey Cantillon;Alexandra Carabetta;Ella Carmody;Ethan Cerra;Michaela Ceruti;Christina Cheng;Alyssa Cleland;Kathryn Clynes;Taylor Collar;Julia Collins;Rebecca Conforto;Jeffrey Cormier;Alex Dabrowski;Brooke Daigle;Dominic DeCosta;Abigail Delgado;Aedan Derrick;Kaila DiBenedetto;Michael Ditota;Aidan Dolan;Giancarlo Dominello;Giovanni Donato;Elliot Dougherty;Ethan Eng;Erik Evjen;Caroline Fishbein;James Frechette;Timothy Gage;Sadie Garfinkel;Thomas Gates;Zuzanna Gawel;Matthew Geary;Veronika Gorski;Joshua Graikoski;Skyler Gravel;Donovan Greenlaw;Allison Guzauckas;Amanda Hagan;Avery Halloran;Connor Hamlin;William Handi;Alyssa Heitz;Zoe Hillebrecht;Morgan Hubert;Lindsey Hunt;Marisa Imme;Dylan Johnson-Alers;Delaney Jordan;Amitojeroop Kaur;Brycen Kennedy;Erin Klem;Faith Kosior;Philomena Krane;Savannah Krom;Mason Krupinski;Logan Lada;Sara Lafontaine;Sean Lafontaine;Spencer Laframboise;Tracy Lam;Brianna Lanci;Jackson Landino;Alexander Lantieri;Shane LaPorte;Devin Larrabee;Jazmin Lasane;Robert Lasbury;Kevin Le;Jolie Leavitt;Gabriel LeBlanc;Cole Lespier;Brianna Linehan;Shannon Litchfield;Richard Macioce;Darius Mangiafico;Kelley Marshall;Kimberly Martone;Sebastian Maslinski;Anthony Matarazzo;Devin McGlotten;Jack McManus;Brandon Melgar;Grace Michaud;Christopher Millerick;Matthew Mirisola;Annabel Molina;Vanessa Montalvo;Mikayla Morris;Andie Nadeau;Nolan Nesprido;Shalyn Noble;Jason O’Neill;Julia Panarella;Tressa Pantalena;Ryan Paradis;Alex Partyka;Matthew Paul;Brianna Pearson;Joseph Pedley;Devin Pelletier;Kayla Pelletier;Patrick Perlot;William Perry;Morgan Perschy;Livvy Pizzitola;Rachel Possidento;Micaela Potamis;Natalie Potter;Morgan Ramsay;Ashley Reed;Sophie Reinhardt;Alison Rembish;Maximilian Renzi;Faith Richert;Alina Rivera;Jordyn Rogala;Marco Sagnella;Scott Sandulli;Evan Schmarr;Joshua Silva;Sarah Sisto;Sophia Slowik;Glen Somers;Devin Soper;Abigail Sowa;Brynn Steele;Andrew Steindl;Jackson Sullivan;Marlee Susca;Giacomo Tedone;Emily Terry;Ava Tonnotti;Payton Turnquist;Alexis Valentine;Jenna Vargas;Yan Vasilenko;Jennifer Verrilli;Lauren Verrilli;Jaden Vuong;Jyllian Wagner;Ryan Walsh;Ralph Warner;Noah Watson;Sencere Welcome;Stephanie Wills;

Grade 6
Second Honors
Angelina Angelillo;Leon Azemi-Vllasaliu;Michael Balachandar;Alex Bruce;Cooper Burdette;Damian Camacho;Presley Carman;Alexa Caron;Brandon Catlett;Aidan Clingan;Riley Clingan;Mackenzie Costello;Jesse Cote;Ethan Cremese;Anya Crooks;Matthew Dabrowski;Benjamin Darling;Cristian Davis;Luke DeAngelis;Faythe Desjarlais;Addin Efendic;Jack Gallagher;Marissa Ganezer;Emily Garafola;Jackson Gilroy;Adam Goralski;Iqra Hussain;Jonathan Jenkins;Isiah Jones;Lyzia Julia;Saimir Kaja;Connor Kane;Shawn Kavanah;Samuel Klau;Trever Kowalczyk;Jacob Krar;Braeden Laframboise;Lucas Leone;Elisa Likaxhiu;Dylan Loffredo;Leah Maiorano;Cole Maluszewski;Justin Mange;Denarius Morales;Jenna Morgan;Marissa Nappe;Adessa Noyes;Adrianna Padua;Kristy Palmieri;Olivia Pederson;Olivia Perkins;Scott Putnam;Tanina Sentementes;Emily Spencer;Emilee Swift;Dominic Szlejter;Elizabeth Urcinas;Joshua Velecela;Brandon Velez;Deon Vieira;Cody Warren;Shana Wesley;Mitchell Williams;Jeff Wu;Carson Yurgaitis;Jillian Yuskis;

Grade 7
First Honors
Abigail Abram;Betul Agirman;Emma Angelillo;Ryan Asido;Christian Baba;Jordan Beaudoin;Patrick Bennett;Kelly Bergland;Matthew Biscoglio;Jordan Bishman;Samuel Bouchard;Joshua Brilla;Trinity Cardillo;John Carreiro;Francesca Casale;Nathan Chamberland;Christopher Chaplinsky;Amy Chudy;Jonathan Cocchiola;Joshua Cofrancesco;Rielley Coles;Sydney Cusson;Ryan Daddona;Katherine D’Agostino;Kimberly Delfino;Jacob DelMonte;Richard Delvecchia;Madison Derynioski;Evan DeSandre;Anthony Donato;Kelsie Downey;Austin Doyle;Katherine Drechsler;Cassandra Dubitsky;Delaney Farr;Bianca Ferreri;Connor Fishbein;Bryce Fournier;Jesse Freeman;Jacob Gius;Victoria Godlewski;Emily Goulet;Glenn Halliday;Kathryn Hardy;Tyler Heidgerd;Madison Hulten;Justin Ierardi;Devin Ireland;Alexis Izzo;Amanda Kaczor;Jordan Knibbs;Avery Korp;Marek Kryzanski;Carlie Kubisek;Kathryn Kubisek;Jolene Lacasse;Johanna Lasbury;Isabella Maindon;Rachel Martins;Nicholas Mastroianni;Andrew McGinnis;Kevin McIntyre;Lili McKinstry;Olivia McPherson;Jack Meade;Sarah Meade;Megan Mikosz;Natalie Millerick;Marlee Mirisola;Isabell Myrick;Jake Neuman;Jeanes Nguyen;Audrey Norton;Rebecca Nunn;Emma Panarella;Andrew Paradis;Natalie Pare’;Ryan Parent;Era Pasha;Matthew Penna;Anthony Penta;Connor Pringle;Jack Reilly;Lauryn Reinhardt;Ethan Rembish;Lucca Riccio;Caleb Richert;Nebeeka Saha;Lily Scalise;Francesca Scavone;Manal Sheikh;John Simard;Rachel Strillacci;Autumn Swain;Chase Swain;Emily Swanson;Megan Tedeschi;Jason Teixeira;Anjali Thakkar;Alison Turner;William Wadolowski;Jordan Wagner;Alyssa Watrous;Jacob Wroblewski;Daniel Yu;

Grade 7
Second Honors
Elizabeth Abrahamson;Emily Abrahamson;Dante Accetura;Keegan Allister;Mackenzie Alvarado;Alberto Ayuso;Jacob Barry;Bryson Bernier;Julliette Bicknell;Emily Biscoglio;Victoria Borghese;Jonathan Breski;Nicholas Breutzmann;Julia Bruno;Katherine Brush;Kyle Buchanan;Kallie Candelaria;Jeremy Capobianco;Eric Carrier;Emma Castellano;Frank Cerra;Alexa Chaltas;Mark Colaccino;Nicholas Conti;Taylor Cox;James Cratty;Steven DellaFera;Shane DiPietro-Bean;Faith Drachenberg;Robert Fantoli;Faith Fenn;Hunter Fox;Matthew Frechette;Sydney Garrison;Brando Gaudio;Kristen Gorham;Austin Greenslate;Chad Griffin;Abbey Halloran;Brianna Harris;Madison Hepp;Riley Irwin;Mekenzie Joseph;Dinah Kavanah;Anthony Kosienski;Richard Krampitz;Daniel Kuziora;Heather Landino;Brett Langland;Matthew Lee;Nicholas Makles;Noon Mamoon;Kayla Markette;William Matos;Connor McAteer;Sarah McAuliffe;Dylan McVicker;Ashley Meade;Erika Miller;Samuel Miranda;Zachary Mitchell;Anthony Monti;Brianna Morales;Ifrat Nabo;Dylan Napoletano;Nathan Olchanowski;Erik Olson;Jordan Palmisano;Ujas Patel;Dustin Patterson;Maximilian Peruta;Noah Pierce;LeeAnn Pilbro;Natalia Popielarczyk;Katelyn Przybylski;Jillian Rappi;Kalani Rodriguez;Tyler Spinelli;Mikaela Spooner;Caitlin Taylor;Brandon Thai;James Thurston;Martyna Tomczyk;Anh Tran;Joshua Valenti;Malik Vasquez;Julia Voronchak;Gianna Young;Amanda Ziegler;Jillian Zitofsky;

Grade 8
First Honors
Natalia Adamczyk;Praise Adekola;Sarah Anderson;Tyler Bade;Joshua Badgley;Matthew Joe Balaoing;Joseph Bethencourt;Emily Blaszko;Owen Bouchard;Sydney Bradshaw;Kyra Brayall;Chiara Burgio;Daniel Butlien;Robert Cantillon;Zachary Christensen;Caitlin Cochran;Mikayla Costello;Sarah Csuka;Jenna Curley;Kelly Doyle;Jennifer Duncan;Isabella Feest;Justin Fontano;Tyler Garry;Chantelle Gimenez;Michael Goralski;Jessica Griffin;Maxwell Heath;Lily Heidgerd;Alia Higgins;Benjamin Hoffman;Sean Horn;Russell Hotchkiss;Michaela Hughes;Adam Hunter;Katherine Jez;Erica Klem;Jason Krar;Karolina Kurzatkowska;Haley Larrabee;Emma Lockwood;Molly MacAllister;Jake Miceli;Julia Michnowicz;Ryan Mikosz;Gabriella Mondo;Sabrina Morelli;Cameron O’Hara;Kate Olsen;Benjamin Palladino;Ivan Taras Panchyshyn;Hieu Phan;Lidia Prusak;Samantha Przybylski;Natalia Rivera;Elaina Rivers;Hailey Root;Kyra Rosenberg;Charlene Roy;Michael Sandulli;Jeremiah Segrue;Julia Semmel;Olivia Sherwood;Alina Shkuryna;Jake Siedel;Connor Stifel;Luke Tedeschi;Alijah Vega;Natalie Verderame;Gabriella Verderame-Malachowski;Timothy Walsh;Olivia White;Emma Wojcicki;ChinChin Zhang 

Grade 8
Second Honors
Nadja Abaza;Robert Adamo;Zachary Badgley;Samantha Baleshiski;Jake Beaupre;Kaitlyn Bertola;Abhiram Bhamidipati;Nathan Borkowski;Tina Brazil;Jillian Bryan;Samantha Bucci;Colin Burdette;Thomas Burns;Sarah Callaghan;Valente Castillo;Joseph Colaccino;Isabelle Crowley;Hailey Culbreth;John DeGumbia;William Downes;Jacob Drechsler;Gabrielle Fiora;Logan Fischer;Jada Francis;Nico Gaudio;Ryan Gavronski;Mitchell Geary;Derek Gendreau;Rhia Grabowski;Megan Graff;Jacob Gravel;Kate Gray;Derek Guida;Calvin Gumprecht;Taylor Hamlin;Matthew Howard;Brett Hunter;Timothy Jagos;Haram Jamil;Brendan Kavanagh;Mackenzie Kavanah;Ian Keroack;Lauren Laius;Nathan Lam;Gianina Lambert;Abigail Lamson;Anna Laone;Tanner LaRosa;Aundray Latiff;Noah Lee;Robert Loffredo;Nicholas Mangene;Logan McInnis;Brandon McKnerney;Lillyanna Miceli;Julia Mindek;Justin Miranda;Ryan Monte;Hailey Morelli;Caitlin Mulligan;Hayden Nadeau;Caroline Natelli;Isabella Paulus;Nicholas Perkins;Rocco Possidento;Olivia Potter;Kayla Reed;Mary-Alice Richardson;Alessia Ricigliano;Anthony Rio;Jacob Romano;Anthony Sagnella;Ethan Samselski;Kailey Schmarr;Tessa Schneider;Robert Sisto;Bianca Spataro;Samantha Steele;Eli Steindl;Nicholas Steminsky;Nicholas Stevens;Derek Strillacci;Julia Theriault;Matthew Thompson;Ethan Thomson;Ryan Tombari;Michayla Turner;Julia Uba;Mary Velazquez;Joseph Verderame;Nathan Wagner;Dylan Whillock;Diane Williams;Hailey Zak;

John F. Kennedy Middle School hast announced its first quarter honor roll.
Grade 6
First Honors
Callan Angelo; Lindsey Arduini; Ernest Arroyo; Neel Avancha; Noah Barbour; Cameron Baston; Elizabeth Beaulieu; Drew Belcourt; Connor Blanchette; Madison Block; Casey Blumetti; Olivia Blumetti; Lauren Bogoslofski; Mikaela Bogoslofski; Christopher Bowman; Weston Brick; Joshua Budnik; Alexander Cammuso; Griffin Campbell; Rachel Carbone; Landon Carmody; Allison Carr; Eli Carr; Pio Castellano; Noah Castonguay; Robert Chasse; Joshua Chevalier; Andrew Colwick; Camila Connolly; Margaret Coyle; Kiley Cristman; Ethan Culotta; Kaylie Culp; Jordan Cyr; Dante D’Amore; Nicholas Davino; Fanola Dede; Grace DellaVecchia; Jake DellaVecchia; Brody DeSouza; Arianna DiNapoli; Makena Dlugos; Erin Famiglietti; Jenna Famiglietti; Eljona Fezaj; Madeline Fisher; Emily Forcade; Trevor Francis; Michael Furgalack; Nicholas Gaedeke; Kayli Garcia; Nadilie Germain; Brynn Godbout; Christopher Goncalves; Walter Goodenough; Madison Gorneault; Nicole Greco; Joshua Gregory; Meghan Hammarlund; Sarah Hofmann; Daniel Kalvaitis; Chaitanya Karanam; Kailey Keegan; Elizabeth Kelly; Callie Kesilewski; Brendan Kiyak; Evan Kristopik; Mujo Kurtovic; Sarah Langdeau; Olivia Lanteri; Sean LaRose; Kaylin Leifert; Sydney Leppones; Blake Lewis; Jenna Lucian; Matthew Luponio; Michael Maino; Gavin Malone; Jackson Malsheske; Nicholas Marecki; Caleigh McDougall; Anna McGrail; Connor McInnis; Mitchell Messina; Matthew Mikosz; Mary Miller; Aurianna Monteiro; Lauren Morrissey; Ava Muir; Thomas Nardi; Kajetan Naworol; Kayla-Thanh Nguyen; Cassie Noonan; Greta Panke; Kameron Pannone; Emma Paradis; Dylan Pastor; Samantha Peluso; Kelly Perrotti; Alyssa Petrone; Emelia Pettit; Anthony Picone; Diane Pillsbury; Matthew Purpura; Joshua Pyle; Reese Raposa; Evan Riddick; Margaret Ritchie; Isabella Rivera; Jared Rivera; Sean Roach; Sadie Robinson; Jillian Rohon; Bryanna Rubin; Maliah Ryan; Olivia Salerno; Dylan Sandow; Muhammad Saqab; Katrina Scalise; Nicholas Schmaltz; Sarah Selinske; Brett Sheldrick; Madeleine Silano; Cameron Sirois; Dominic Sisco; Kaley Smith; Muslim Soomro; Kailey St. Amand; Ryan St. John; Bridget Stevens; Lucas Sullivan; Madeline Symecko; Jenna Taylor; Joseph Toce; Mary Tolisano; Andrew Vroeginday; Liliya Vynar; Evan Watson; Lindsey Woodruff; Alexah Zaczynski; Victoria Zajda; Leah Zaslavsky.

Grade 6
Second Honors
Abagail Antoniani; Genevie Bermudez; Alecia Bernetti; Joshua Blancato; Chelsea Bly; Lauren Borchert; Brandon Bougie; Alyssa Bowker; Emily Brackett; Paige Brancaccio; Nathaniel Bromage; Robert Bruzik; Elyse Cain; Jackson Cardozo; Makayla Carlson; Aiden Chesanow; Alec Chinigo; Natalie Chubet; Maya Ciaffaglione; Sarah Clark; Julia Collins; Hailey Comparone; Christian D’Agostino; Corrine Dandelski; Taylor DeFelice; Adrianna Del Debbio; John Del Debbio; Haley Derwin; Riley Derwin; Alexander Drechsler; Omarian Dugee; Mckenna Dunne; Emily Eigo; Colin Fletcher; Brynn Freehling; Maggie Fusco; Daniel Garcia; Taylor Gaudiosi; Logan Gillis; Anthony Graham; Haley Gregoire; Dylan Griffis; Justin Guillemette; Madison Haberski; Sarah Hadlock; Franklin Hall; Jasmine Hallett; Andrew Higley; Frank Higley; Mya Hochstrate; Stephen Horak; Jessica Jurgasik; Megan Kashuba; Joseph Keating; Dylan Kelly; Joshua Konikowski; Sara Kuczynski; Trevor Kushman; Aidan L’Heureux; Katherine LaCluyze; Lindsay Lambert; Joseph Landrie; Jakob Langhans; Josh LaRoche; Ashley Lazzari; Peter Loban; Michael Long; Connor Longo; Alyssa Lovley; Cole Marek; Michael Mariani; Ryan Matthews; Cole Matusik; Ricky McBride; Anthony Micacci; Jacob Michaels; Hailey Miller; Arrieona Milton; Emaan Mirza; Robert Nadile; Dylan Olson; Angelina Otano; Kyle Patla; Antonio Petrossi; Ryley Plourde; Cailey Quiles; Christian Rivera; Jayden Rivera; Olivia Roberts; Byronn Rodriguez; Dylan Rodriguez; Kyleigh Rogers; Nathan Roy; Alberto Sarris; Elijah Sheen; Ethan Shurkus; Kevin Sliker; Gianna Sperry; Skylar Sterling; Dominik Szczerbacki; Isabella Tabellione; Olivia Testa; Haley Theriault; Brianna Van Fleet; Emilia Vauter; Emmett Vitti; Dawsen Welch; Patrick Wright; Jeffrey Wyskiewicz.

Grade 7
First Honors
Lexi Almeida; Faith Auletta; Zachary Barile; Morgan Barnum; Jessica Bartsch; Hailey Becquey; Mischelle Beerbaum; Nashita Begum; Kayley Benson; Sahiti Bhyravavajhala; Caleb Brick; Tara Brock; Emma Brush; Christian Cahill; Caelen Cain; Aaron Case; Max Casella; Ryan Catlin; Maxwell Chubet; Brooke Cooney; Avery Cowen; Katherine Crouse; Ashlyn Curtis; Victor Czernecki; Zachary DelVecchia; Cameron DeSteph; Daniel DiCorpo; Emma Doran; Christian Drost; Sarah Falcetti; Kelsey Fernandez; Gabriella Flynn; Natalie Foligno; Megan Fortier; Nicole Gianni; Nathan Gorr; Chloe Grabowski; Katherine Gundersen; Michael Gurzenda; Anna Haberski; Jenna Hall; Riley Hall; Vanessa Heigel; Kelsey Henderson; Maya Hennessey; Kade Huang-Savino; Emily Hubeny; Jared Kelly; Troy Kieras; Ryan Klinzmann; Dillon Kohl; Zachary Kohli; Erida Koxha; Andrew Kudla; Olivia Liberti; Mackenzie Longley; Joshua Maccione; Jenna Mariani; Kasey Mason; Ethan McDonough; Christopher McIntyre; John McLaughlin; Derek Melanson; Evelyn Micacci; Jake Napoli; Jessica Nguyen; Emily Nivison; Sean Olson; Chetan Patel; Daniel Perez; Kaylee Phen; Haley Picard; Ryan Posadas; Kathryn Purushotham; Tucker Raymond; Jeremy Rinaldi; Alexandra Rogers; Christine Sargent; Mark Secondo; Ella Shamus-Udicious; Jenna Sheehan; Zachary Silvaggio; Hannah Sousa; Victoria Sousa; Vincent Spizzoucco; Chloe Stanish; Taylor Starr; Lee Stomsky; David Sullivan; Mia Sullivan; Ethan Sutton; Jacob Sutton; Justin Taddeo; Christopher Taylor; Samuel Terry; Natalie Thomas; Jacob Vecchio; Meredith Veilleux; Stefania Votino; Gianna Wadowski; Julia Wakefield; Olivia Walling; Nicole Wang; Cody Wankerl; Shane Witkoski; Brandon Wolff; Madeline Wright; Gianna Perugini; Adel Khan; Stephen Statkevich; Emily Solomon; Abigail Howard; Danielle Flynn; Marco Fusciello; William Loose; Morgan Stavisky.

Grade 7
Second Honors
Mackenzie Adams; Joseph Albanese; Alyssa Aulbach; Lauren Avery; Katherine Barner; Ryan Barretta; Samantha Barrows; Dean Bauchiero; Dion Beerbaum; Kristine Beerbaum; Cameron Beidler; Alexander Belanger; Lauren Boucher; Mary-Claire Brick; Evan Brown; James Burke; Olivia Calandra; Xavier Callender; William Carr; Austin Carta; Kaylee Cianchetti; Raymond Cocozza; Mackenzie Coppola; Christian Cox; Noah Crafts; Gabriel Czajkowski; Samantha D’Averso; Jessica Dammling; Heaven Davis; Morgan Desiderio; Sophia DiBattista; Lindsey Dizenzo; Jillian Dow; Jack Dunham; Nina Fabrycki; Zachary Florian; Jake Gagnon; Ryley Gianni; Javon Hicks; Leah Hinckley; Kiara Hourigan; Isabel Iovanna; Taylor Johnson; Myah Joiner; Minseok Kang; Adam Kosko; Evan Kwok; Anthony Lagana; Thomas Lebel; Katelyn Lipsky; Skylar Longley; Brooke Lynch; Juliet Lyon; Matthew Maciejewski; Ahmad Mahmoud; Jessica Mamula; Aidan Marchand; Nathan Mariani; Hailey Marziarz; Alexander Mason; Daniel Mauro; Matthew Mauro; Ashlynn McGrail; Alexander McPartland; Patrick Mercier; Trevor Messina; Christian Mohr; Stephen Murray; Samuel Nichols; Nicholas Obuekwe; Riannon Oddo; Vanshitaben Patel; Karissa Pfeiffer; Leah Pliego; Emma Plourde; Nicole Popowicz; Daniel Ragozzine; Aidan Reilly; Taryn Rinaldi; Jack Ringrose; Ethan Ritchie; Vivein Rizzuto; Justen Roberts; Jio Rodriguez; Zachary Rogalski; Kelly Rose; Kristin Rose; Hailey Ryder; Sawera Saeed; Nicolas Salinas; Lauren Seitz; Evan Sheen; Ryan Shurkus; Audrey Sliker; Benjamin Smith; Brenna Smith; Olivia Stich; Joelle Stublarec; Emerson Suski; Karolina Swinicki; Joseph Tellerico; Portia Testa; Jackson Thibeault; John Tracy; Thomas Turci; Carter Uhlman; Amanda Venice; Joshua Vitti; Sky Walcott-Marrero; Avery Whitehead; Andrew Wong; Lawrence Woods; Zachary Zembrzuski; Avielle Nanfito; Kiralyn Wadman; Shawn McKnerney; Eva Agnew; Faith Breen; Nicholas Buonanni; Brian Egan; Joseph Gaudio; Benjamin Ragozzine; Hailey Vargo.

Grade 8
First Honors
David Ackerman; Ethan Agli; Kristen Angeli; Aparna Athreya; Reilly Baker; Abigail Barbour; Michaela Blumetti; Taylor Borla; Jason Brault; Ally Breen; Danielle Cammuso; Desiree Cammuso; Asami Castellano; Madelyn Chasse; Alex Crawford; Lynsey Danko; Natalie Diaz; Nisa Dilaveri; Rebecca Dorzens; Zachary Doty; Hailey Dow; Jacob Drena; Julie Duszak; Georgia Falk; Elena Famiglietti; Kaitlyn Feeney; Ian Fisher; Jacob Flynn; Kalli Gianacopolos; Erica Golia; Adam Green; Emma Higley; Julia Jackman; Kate Kemnitz; Caitlyn Kesilewski; Kyle Kraft; Alyssa Landrie; Mia Langston; Kyle Leifert; Michael Lewicki; Abigail Lo Presti; Ryan Loring; Jenna Martin; Sarah Mathew; Sarah Matthews; Daria McCabe; Michael McLaughlin; Amanda Perkowski; Hannah Platt; Natalie Pyle; Jordan Rinaldi; Marissa Robarge; Madison Rocha; Tyler Salzillo; Aliya Sarris; Ashley Schiffer; Casey Selinske; Mallie Selinske; Ty Selinske; Allison Stanton; Tyler Strong; Melissa Tracy; Nicholas Truncali; Chloe Wieleba; Jianella Zegarra; Colby Zegzdryn

Grade 8
Second Honors
Emma Agli; John Aligata; Ashley Anglis; David Armstrong; Celia Bajrami; Kylin Banks; Connor Baston; Evan Belcourt; Domenic Bernard; Mary Bilodeau; Karla Blake; Seth Bogoslofski; Haley Boucher; Mackenzie Boudreau; McKayla Bowker; Kyle Bracken; Madison Bradley; Adam Bull; Jacob Cardozo; Olivia Carpenter; Matthew Carragher; Caleb Chesanow; Matthew Chevalier; Kevin Coleman; Sean Crean; Silvio D’Agostino; Mason Daley; Riley Daly; Rachael Daniels; Artenisa Dautllari; Alexander Dearborn; Kerry Decker; Carolyn Del Debbio; Avery DeLong; Kaitlyn Dempster; Ashley DiBattista; Kevin Dlugos; Megan Drivdahl; Joshua Dziob; Caden Fisher; Chase Galayda; Christopher Gambardella; Michael Gaudiosi; Ryan Gesnaldo; Katelyn Gilbert; Mariah Goldberg; Vincent Golia; John Griffin; Connor Grucza; Nicole Hatheway; Morgan Hedges; Cory Hemsen; Ryan Henderson; Taylor Holland; Cole Huang-Savino; Hannah Hubeny; Jessica Kerchis; Adeline Kilgore; Morgan Kolb; Carlyn Kosienski; William Krom; Justin Kupcho; Michael Kwok; Robert LaCluyze; Jamie Lamson; Peter Leppones; Emma Liersemann; Kristen Longley; Madison Longley; Juliette Lord; Kiana Lowrey; Daniel Lyon; Sarah Mafale; Oliwia Marchut; Chrisala Marotto; Heather Martin; Jared Martin; Megan Matthews; Samuel McCarty; Lauren Messner; Alexander Mitchell; Jehvanni Morgan; Zachary Morgan; Anthony Napolitano; Charles Napolitano; Ryan Nelson; Max Noonan; James Olender; Charles Panke; Connor Patenaude; Catherine Pawlaczyk; Daniel Pestillo; Ryan Prendergast; Nathan Price; Ashley Pulvermacher; Colin Reynolds; Erin Robinson; Kolby Rogers; Keishla Rosario; Jonathon Rossi; Allison Roy; James Rusiecki; Nickolas Russo; Bethany Schmidt; Jackson Schroeder; Kian Siadat; Rhiannon Simione; Ryan Slesinski; Victoria Sperry; Ashley Swanson; Samuel Teper; Benjamin Therrien; Garrett Van Epps; Luca Veneziano; Cassidy Vinal; Connor Watson; Ashley Willis; Stephen Witte; Bryce Worth; Jillian Zakrzewski; Cameron Zawada.

The following students have made the honor roll at Alta for the first quarter of the year.
First honors: Matthew Nappe, Keith Pernal.
Second honors: Christopher Abbott, Kaylah Ferguson-Cass, Kaylee Goodrich.

Jessica Goralski, a senior at Southington High School, Benjamin Palladino and Julia Semmel, Grade 8 at Joseph A. DePaolo Middle School have been selected as the 2014-2015 recipients of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents’ Superintendent/Student Recognition award for leadership service to the school, academic prowess relative to ability, and service to others in the community.
The Board of Education will be recognizing Jessica, Benjamin and Julia at its Jan. 8 Board of Education meeting to be held at the Municipal Center, Public Assembly Room, 200 North Main St., Southington at 7 p.m.
Timothy F. Connellan, Superintendent of Schools and Brian S. Goralski, board chairman will make the presentation for these three Southington students.
This program was designed by school administrators to recognize students who have served their schools and communities while maintaining exceptional progress.
CAPSS, the statewide school superintendents’ professional organization is based in West Hartford and provides professional development, personal support, statewide conferences, legislative information and educational services to its members.

Eight Southington students were among the list of 55 Mercy High School honorees that were inducted into the McAuley Chapter of the National Honor Society on Tuesday, Nov. 18. Members were selected based on the criteria of character, scholarship, leadership, and service.

The Southington students were Mercy juniors Kimberly Arnold, Ava Coleman, Victoria Fiore, Haley Gagnon, Katherine Galvin, Megan Miller, Alyssa Morrissey, and Emily Penta.

On Wednesday, Nov. 19, fifty-nine students from Joseph A. DePaolo Middle School were inducted into membership of the National Junior Honor Society in a ceremony held at the school. Along with the celebration, the honor society collected boxes of breakfast cereal to be donated to Bread for Life.

Members were selected for meeting high standards of scholarship, service, leadership, citizenship, and character.

The DePaolo Middle School chapter has been active since 1988. Lindsay Ekegren and Kerri Fentonare the co-advisors for the local chapter.

Here is a list of inductees: Emma Angelillo, Matthew Joe Balaoing, Jordan Beaudoin, Abhiram Bhamidipati, Emily Biscoglio, Matthew Biscoglio, Jordan Bishman, Owen Bouchard, Samuel Bouchard, Trinity Cardillo, Alexa Chaltas, Rielley Coles, Jacob DelMonte, Kelsie Downey, Cassandra Dubitsky, Jennifer Duncan, Delaney Farr, Isabella Feest, Bianca Ferreri, Justin Fontano, Bryce Fournier, Michael Goralski, Glenn Halliday, Kathryn Hardy, Tyler Heidgerd, Madison Hepp, Alia Higgins, Benjamin Hoffman, Matthew Howard, Jason Krar, Marek Kryzanski, Johanna Lasbury, Molly MacAllister, Rachel Martins, Sarah McAuliffe, Craig McPherson, Sarah Meade, Natalie Millerick, Marlee Mirisola, Audrey Norton, Kate Olsen, Maximilian Peruta, Lidia Prusak, Jillian Rappi, Lucca Riccio, Caleb Richert, Natalia Rivera, Charlene Roy, Lily Scalise, Francesca Scavone, Julia Semmel, Connor Stifel, Autumn Swain, Chase Swain, Caitlin Taylor, Luke Tedeschi, Megan Tedeschi, William Wadolowski, and Alyssa Watrous.

John F. Kennedy Middle School announced their November students of the month. Front, from left, Dante D’Amore, Maxwell Chubet, Madeleine Silano, and Trevor Francis. Middle, Kelsey Henderson, Samuel Terry, Natalie Diaz, and Maliah Ryan. Back, Mr. Steven Madancy, Colby Johnson, Jamie Lamson, Marissa Robarge, Troy Kieras, Mrs. Susanne Vitcavage.

John F. Kennedy Middle School in Plantsville recently announced the names of its November students of the month. Teachers nominated these students for their academic improvement on performance, exemplary citizenship, and/or participation in extracurricular activities.

Sixth grade students of the month are Dante D’Amore, Trevor Francis, Maliah Ryan, and Madeleine Silano.

Dante, a conscientious student who takes pride in his work, has the ability to self-advocate in a respectful and mature fashion. He plays travel baseball, helps neighbors with yard work and shoveling, and serves as an altar boy for his church. Outside school, he likes to read, play sports, and ride his long board.

Trevor is a good citizen within the JFK community. He has an aptitude for all subjects, and he works hard and responsibly for academic achievement. A member of the Stock Market Club, he plays town soccer and enjoys reading. Trevor is very interested in animals, especially dogs.

Maliah, the sixth grade Unified Arts student of the month, is a hardworking and dedicated student who often tries new activities and explores unfamiliar ideas. A talented young artist, she is always looking for ways to improve her work. Maliah is also a member of orchestra, the JFK Computer Coding Club, town soccer, softball and basketball. In her free time, she also plays the guitar.

Madeleine is a conscientious and responsible young lady. She always aims to please and goes above and beyond in all her academic classes. She is a member of the band, the JFK soccer team, and the Southington Soccer Club. Maddie also enjoys running.

Seventh grade students of the month are Olivia Calandra, Maxwell Chubet, Kelsey Henderson, Troy Kieras and Samuel Terry.

Olivia (not in photo) is the seventh grade Unified Arts student of the month. With an appealing personality, she is a friendly, concerned, helpful, dependable, and enjoyable young lady. Always ready for a challenge and knowledgeable in many aspects of technology, she will go to the aid of a student who is struggling with an activity or project. Olivia is a member of the Bowling Club, the Colorguard, the Fishing Club and the Computer Club. She plays town basketball and volunteers for the Falcons Club blood drive.

Maxwell is a bright, friendly, and curious young man who consistently demonstrates a high level of maturity. He is a pleasure to work with and studies diligently in order to do well in all his classes. Maxwell, an honor roll student, is a member of the cross country team, the Ski/Snowboard Club and MATHCOUNTS. He plays for the town’s Little League and volunteers for STEPS.

Kelsey is a conscientious, hardworking, and reliable student. She has a pleasant attitude and is well-respected by her teachers. She is an honor roll student and a member of Best Buddies, the Builders Club, Peer Advocates, the softball team, and the yearbook staff. Kelsey plays town softball and basketball, volunteers for Giving Back Girls, and enjoys the company of friends and her visits to Lake Compounce.

Troy is an enthusiastic learner who always performs at his highest level. He enjoys helping around the classroom and explaining academic concepts to his peers. He is an honor roll student, a member of the National Junior Honor Society and the Ping Pong Club. He plays town football, basketball, and baseball, and enjoys working in the field of art.

Samuel is considerate, polite, and kind. An extremely hardworking and diligent student, he has a great attitude and is faithful in doing his best in all his classes. Sam is a member of the Bowling Club and the Builders Club.

Eighth grade students of the month are Natalie Diaz, Colby Johnson, Jamie Lamson and Marissa Robarge.

Natalie is a strong student who takes initiative in the classroom, she is cheerful and polite, enthusiastic and conscientious, also an honor roll student. She is a member of the National Junior Honor Society, the Builders Club, the band, the stage band, and the cross country team. Natalie does YMCA gymnastics and she is an altar server at her church.

Colby is a hardworking, conscientious, and friendly student. He works hard in all his classes and regularly assists other students. He is a member of the Bowling Club and is also a Boy Scout.

Jamie is a hardworking, responsible student who is kind to staff and peers. He puts 100 percent effort into all that he does, and is an asset to his team. Jamie is an honor roll student, and a member of the JFK baseball and basketball team. He also plays town football, baseball and basketball. Outside school, he enjoys playing sports with his friends.

Marissa is the eighth grade World Language student of the month. She is a dedicated and studious student who completes all her assignments on time with excellence, in precision and accuracy. With an A+ average, Marissa volunteers daily to answer questions, provide examples, explain Spanish language rules, and provide guidance to partners in class. She is a role model and an honor roll student. She is a member of the Builders Club, the school newspaper, the yearbook, Friends of Rachel, Acts of Kindness, the band, and the stage band. Marissa volunteers at the YMCA and for Giving Back Girls. She also enjoys reading, practicing her clarinet, and spending time with friends.

By LINDSAY CAREY

STAFF WRITER

The Board of Education has approved the use of an online data management system, which has been implemented by other towns regionally and nationally, starting with kindergarten registration in February.

Executive Secretary and District Registrar Michele Passamano said she has spoken to staff from two of the 21 school districts in Connecticut that use InfoSnap, including the neighboring town of Plainville. Based on her research, she feels that the program will make school registration more efficient for Southington.

Palmisano said the registration information forms will not change, however all new families to the district will be asked to complete the forms online through InfoSnap

After submitting their application for registration, parents will be able to make an appointment with the district registrar online based on her availability. As district registrar, Passamano will immediately be notified via email about the new appointment and will be able to review the information before the parents come in to meet with her.

This would be beneficial because Passamano will be able to see if there were any documents missing or conflicts with the information provided prior to meeting with the parents.

“I can shoot them an email or a phone call and say, ‘Hey, prior to coming in bring this with you,’” said Passamano as she pitched the program to the board. “That does save them from having to go back and forth or having to leave an appointment with me to schedule another appointment.”

The district registrar said that those appointments are not only for checking proof of residence and birth certificates, but are also an opportunity for families to be welcomed into the Southington Public Schools.

“One of the things that I think Southington does take pride in and I take pride in myself is to welcome families,” said Passamano. “I think having that welcoming face is a big advantage and we’re not losing that by going with this.”

Passamano said she feels this will open up more time in the appointments for parents to speak more about their child’s needs and allow her to share with them some positive information about the school their child will be going to, instead of simply what documents they are missing.

“Any type of information that I normally might rush through, I think I can actually take some time and give a little more one on one personal time with them, so we’re not losing who we are by going in with this registration program,” said Passamano.

She also said using InfoSnap would save time for the secretaries who have to enter all the data for the 200 plus incoming kindergarten students and at the same time reduce the risk of human error. The information would automatically be available through the PowerSchool portal, which staff and parents at the high school and middle schools are already using.

She also shared that moving to online registration would save money and time for the staff members who have to put together all the pages the school sends out at the start of the school year. Annually the school system is making about 99,284 copies, which translates to about 20 cases of paper, for distribution of information at the beginning of the school year.

Board of Education member Patricia Queen noted that, as a parent, filling out all of the forms only to provide the same information can be frustrating. Passamano said using InfoSnap will remedy this problem.

If the personal information like the home address and emergency contacts remain the same from year to year, parents can just confirm the information is up to date without having to fill everything out again. Reminders would be sent out to parents to update their information annually, however, parents would be able to go in and update the information at any time throughout the year.

She also shared that parents whoo are registering a younger child could simply add a new student file to their account and most of the information would be copied over.

Passamano shared parents could potentially use InfoSnap for medical forms, permission slips, PTO membership, and applications for free or reduced lunches. The school system would be able to customize the program to whatever they would like it include.

For parents who do not have access to computers, Passamano said that there will be laptops available in her office for registration and on kindergarten information days there will be five laptops available at each school for the influx of parents on those days. She also said the district could recommend that parents use the library.

To start the program up for the first year with just kindergarten registration will cost the district $6,120 and the payment for the next year would be $12,240. For the 2016 school year, the cost of the program will be based on the number of students registering in the district.

By LINDSAY CAREY
STAFF WRITER

A leak in the heating system at John F. Kennedy Middle School forced one class to evacuate the room on Tuesday, Dec. 9 around 12:30 p.m.

Assistant principal Kelly Latham said a leak occurred when one of the joints of a pipe in the heating system gave way and a non-toxic product called “glycol” leaked out.

Nineteen students and one teacher were evacuated and relocated to another classroom, according to Latham.

Newfield Construction workers, who are handling the renovation at the school, immediately came in to work on the leak and Director of Operations Pete Romano immediately headed to the school to assess the situation.

“We were very lucky, because only one room had to be evacuated,” said Latham.

For the remainder of the day, the staff made sure to keep students out of the hall and made sure the area was clear in general.

Latham also said that work would continue to be done overnight to repair the pipe.

“They’re going to be working on the room all night going to make sure it’s done before the kids get in to school tomorrow,” said Latham on the day of the incident.

According to Romano, the school had a cleaning company come in after the incident to clean up the liquid.

“It’s a liquid that when it dries it’s like if you ate fruit it’s really sticky on your face,” said Romano. “It’s really sticky, but it washes right off.”

He also said that there was definitely some damage to the ceiling tiles and possibly some of the desks in the classroom.

Romano could not confirm if personal property had been damaged by the leak. However, the heating system has been repaired and the school has made sure that everything is sanitary for classes to return to the room.

By LINDSAY CAREY
STAFF WRITER

The Board of Education has appointed Jamie Olander as the new director of technology for the Southington Public Schools.

Olander has served as the executive director of institutional data for the Hartford Public Schools since 2012. Prior to that, he worked in analytics, information, and marketing at The Hartford, an insurance company.

Some of Olander’s skills include technical support, programming and application design and data management, which the committee of administrators and staff who conducted the interview process found appealing.

The new director of technology said that he is really excited to join the Southington Public Schools, because it seems like a close-knit town. Olander said he is looking forward to being able to have more face-to-face interaction with board members, students and teachers, which he was unable to do in his former position because of the size of the school system.

“Coming from Hartford with 22,000 students to a 6,500 student base, I just think that I can have that one on one communication,” said Olander. “I love the fact that I can really dig in deep and get to the bottom of what we need to do with technology to give us a better place to take care of our students.”

Chairman of the Board of Education Brian Goralski said Olander’s experience proved he was capable in both the private sector and in public schools to use data and computers to improve performance.

“He seems to have a very good understanding of the educational software and also experience in leaders doing different projects within the school system,” said Goralski.

According to Goralski, the position was difficult to fill because the former director of technology Karen Veilleux had such a unique skill set.

“This was a complicated position to fill, because Karen was with us for a very long time and she built the program,” said Goralski. “We actually reopened the pool a few different times.”

Olander’s start date is still to be determined by Superintendent of Schools Tim Conellan.

The Southington Police Department announced an arrest in connection with the Dec. 22 bomb threat at Southington High School.

Benjamin Egan, 18, of Southington was arrested at 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 23 and charged with threatening in the first degree and breach of peace in the second degree.

In a press release, the Police said that the investigation revealed that Egan used his cell phone and an anonymous social media app named Yik Yak to post the message, “Im going to set off b ombs today and a half of tomorrow at shs!”

Egan was released on a $10,000 bond pending a Bristol Superior Court appearance on Jan. 5.

On Thursday, Dec. 18, DePaolo Middle School held its annual holiday concert. Music was provided by the stringed orchestra, the concert choir, and the jazz band.

On Tuesday, Dec. 23, Thalberg Elementary School students enjoyed a pajama day with fun and stories, like The Polar Express, to ring in the holiday break.

Parent volunteer, Christine Paulus reads to the children in the cafeteria.

The students enjoy the reading of The Polar Express.

Ana Dauphin’s second grade class, and intern Meghan Constantinou.

By LINDSAY CAREY
STAFF WRITER

An incident report from Southington High School reveals how the school handled an intoxicated teacher on Nov. 6 and provides details surrounding a teacher’s inappropriate behavior towards students.

Based on the report, a few teachers came to the main office to report that teacher John Hansen had caused a loud disturbance in the hall during the Pledge of Allegiance.

The teachers reported to Assistant Principal Michael Halloran the disturbance was described as mutual horseplay, between Hansen and the student, who were both laughing and smiling.

Approximately 10 minutes later, a student went directly to Halloran’s office with even more news.

“We need your help upstairs, now,” said the student, according to the incident report. “Hansen is either drunk or high. Half the class is really freaked out and the girls are scared.”

Halloran responded by removing the teacher from the classroom and escorting him to meet with Principal Dr. Martin Semmel.

According to the report, Halloran noticed Hansen was “having difficulty walking down the stairs and bumps into lockers multiple times while walking down the front hallway.” The report also said that his “speech was noticeably slurred.”

Another teacher stepped in to take over Hansen’s classroom and the school psychologist also joined the class to help students process the events, according to the incident report.

When questioned about his behavior during the Pledge of Allegiance, Hansen said “it was not malicious, but instead playful.” However, he did acknowledge his behavior with the student was inappropriate.

The report also says that Hansen said he wanted to be honest about his behavior and made a confession.

“He confirmed he had drunk a bottle of vodka the previous night and had been intoxicated,” said the report. “He stated he did not feel intoxicated at the time and denied drinking on the way to or at work this day.”

After speaking with the director of personnel, the report explained, Semmel was advised to have Hansen escorted by school staff to a medical facility for testing. Hansen was escorted to the Hospital of Central Connecticut where the report said Hansen failed a breathalyzer test.

There were reports that there was video and pictures of Hansen’s behavior being circulated on social media. According to the report, Semmel met with one of the students who had video evidence of the incident. Semmel also consulted with the substitute school resource officer.

Later that day, Semmel met with school counselors and set a plan to have all students involved in the incident meet with their counselors. Semmel also sent out an email to the parents of the students involved informing them that there was an incident and the teacher was removed immediately.

The following day, seven students from the first period class and eight students from the second period class were interviewed by two SHS assistant principals.

Some of the comments noted in the report include that Hansen’s face was “noticeably red,” he had “repeated aspects of the lesson verbatim in immediate succession,” and there was “a wet spot on his pants in the groin area.”

There also were several comments from students quoting Hansen’s profane language both while speaking to himself and directly towards students, said the report.

Although it is not clear from the report what happened to the videos taken by students, the report said video evidence from the schools surveillance was used in the investigation.

According to the incident report, the footage shows Hansen entering the building that morning with “an erratic walking pattern that included veering off and bumping into the lockers as he walked down the hall.”

The incident report also explained a DCF worker from the New Britain office took an interest in the case.

Hansen has since resigned from his position. He also surrendered to the Southington Police Department on Dec. 9, after learning there was a warrant for his arrest because of the incident. He was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

SOUTHINGTON OBSERVER

Southington High School students were sent home early last Monday when a bomb threat posted on a social media website came to the attention of law enforcement officials. A suspicious package was found, but turned out not to be a threat, said police. In the end, no bombs were found.

Police said that on Monday, around 1:35 p.m., officers received a complaint about a bomb threat. The complainant  told officers that he was reading through the “Yik Yak” application on his cell phone and observed that an unknown / unidentified person posted, “Im going to set off b ombs today and half of tomorrow at shs!” (sic).

Police said, according to the screen shot of the message, the message was posted at approximately 8:30 a.m. on Monday

Police said the social media app is anonymous and does not require or display any user names or identifying information for the people who post messages.

Yik Yak describes the app as giving a user the ability to “Send and receive anonymous messages based on your location. No sign in, no profile, just chat with anyone around you.”

The school resource officer at SHS was advised of the threat, said SHS police. Officers and the Southington Fire Department then responded to the scene, said police.

The school’s principal, Dr. Martin Semmel, subsequently dismissed school and ordered all students and personnel to leave the building, said police.

Police said officers teamed up with members of the school administration and all conducted a cursory search of the school. During the search, a suspicious bag was located in the Agricultural Science building in room A106. The building then was evacuated and the exterior doors were locked.

Police said the Hartford Bomb Squad arrived at SHS at 4 p.m. Southington police took the bomb squad to the Agricultural Science building where they could inspect the suspicious item.

Police said the bag contained only clothing.

In addition to the bomb squad, police said a K-9 Bomb Squad Personnel from East Hartford and the State Police were dispatched to Southington. All agencies along with Hartford Bomb Squad conducted a search of the common access areas within SHS.

No explosives were located during the search, police said.

According to police, Semmel stated that custodial personnel were going to remain at the SHS throughout the night from Monday till Tuesday morning. The half day scheduled for Tuesday was not cancelled.

All law enforcement agencies were cleared from SHS at 5:10 p.m. on Monday.

Southington High School is currently accepting applications to the Project Lead the Way Program for the four year pre-engineering program. The PLTW application can be found at: www.southingtonschools.org/page.cfm?p-10616

Students currently attending DePaolo Middle School or Kennedy Middle School will submit their applications directly to their middle school. All other applications should be mailed to: Lee Ann Miller, 720 Pleasant Street, Southington, CT 06489.

Parents or students who have questions can call Ms. Miller at (860) 628-3229, ext. 244 for more information.