Mustang Monthly


Elias Haddad Is Student of the Month for World Languages 

Every month the Recognition Committee asks teachers for nominations for students of the month in a certain subject area.The committee uses a blind nomination process to make their final selection based on teachers' responses. In October 2019, junior Elias Haddad was named Student of the Month for World Languages.

Elias Haddad was chosen as Student of the Month for World Languages due, in part, to his strong commitment to learn a foreign language. His teacher noted that “he regularly spends time after school to learn more complex material in the hopes of entering a more advanced level of the language next year - thus he chooses to accelerate his progress in order to better communicate in the target language.”  He is credited for his attention to details and his “perfect ability” in the language. Elias also collaborates “eagerly and efficiently” with his fellow students and “models the best way to learn the language that other students have benefitted from and emulated.” His teacher was impressed with the way he diligently takes careful notes in class, prepares for his assessments, completes his homework and takes every advantage offered by the World Language Department to achieve success. 

Congratulations to Elias, and to the other students who were nominated:

Senior Michelle DeMotte, junior Katerina Crowe and sophomore Sean Kerins.

Robert Fontenelli Wins Art Award

Junior Robert Fontenelli placed third in the student category at the Richter Association for the Arts 41st Annual Juried Art Show and Sale. Robert received a fifty dollar prize for his entry “Look Up,” a colored pencil and marker drawing. Robert is a very talented artist who enjoys drawing fantasy and comic book-type illustrations. His doodles on the art room’s brown paper table covers are legendary, according to his teacher Mrs. Quinn! 

Honor a Veteran With A Flag on the Hill of Honor    

Immaculate will once again honor veterans for their sacrifice and service. In addition to a prayer service and special assembly at school, we will create our Veterans Hill of Honor to show our appreciation for alumni, staff and family members who have served to protect and defend us. You can purchase a flag with a yellow ribbon with your special veteran’s name on it for the Veteran’s Hill of Honor for $20. The flags will be on display on the front lawn from Friday, November 8 - Friday, November 15. All proceeds will go to support programs at the CT Department of Veterans Affairs. Please click the link below to order your flag by Monday, November 4.

Purchase Flags Here

Spirit Week Recap   

Nobody does Spirit Week better than Immaculate High School!  From September 30-October 5, the students and faculty/staff of Immaculate showed their school spirit. Students wore red, white and blue for USA Day, pink for breast cancer awareness (and donated to Ann’s Place in Danbury through a Student Council bake sale), and wore yellow (freshman), purple (sophomores), red (juniors) and blue (seniors) for Class Color Day and the Pep Rally. They also wore their best pajamas for Pajama Day and dressed in creative costumes for Character Day. Seniors once again completed tasks assigned to them by underclassmen who donated money for their help - the funds benefited the Homecoming Dance that all students got to enjoy. 

At the dance, Hunter Kirkman and Victoria Bono were named Homecoming King and Queen. The Homecoming Court was: Francesca Coppola, Molly Coyle, Sophia Mingachos, Mackenzie O’Rourke, Lauren Oskam, Keelan Doherty, Sean Guiry, Ryan McNerney, Drew Mitchell and Hans Reelick.

At the Pep Rally, seniors won the tug of war, juniors won the Mustang Spirit Stick, sophomores were the basketball knockout champs and the freshman gave it their all. The cheerleaders kicked things off with a spirited routine, the Homecoming Court was announced and our Fall team captains gave a shout-out to their next home games. Finally, Deacon Jeff ended the celebration with a blessing for the well-being of all students during homecoming weekend and a prayer to St. Michael.  And at the Homecoming Game on Saturday, October 5 in Mustang Valley, the ATI football team soundly defeated Platt Tech 58-27!

Immaculate Has Spirit -- Watch the News 12 Video!  

Immaculate has great spirit and we were able to show that, and all the wonderful things we are, to News 12 when they came to visit our school and film a news segment. Our school was a winner in News 12’s School Spirit Showdown contest -- thank you to everyone who voted!  We could not be more happy or proud to share our great story! CLICK HERE to see the video story News 12 aired about Immaculate High School.  For more information about Immaculate High School, go to www.immaculatehs.org.       

Immaculate’s Got Talent  

We all know that Immaculate students and faculty have many great talents -- now is your chance to come out and see for yourself at the Immaculate’s Got Talent Show on Wednesday, November 6 at  Edmond Town Hall in Newtown at 7pm.  

The event features the various talents at Immaculate, and skits, instrumentalists, singers, dancers and more are scheduled. There will also be raffles and a bake sale. Immaculate’s Got Talent is a fundraiser for the Fine Arts Department.  Ticket prices are: premier/front 3 rows are $20, students $10, adults $15. Please order tickets by CLICKING HERE.  

Save the Date for the Fall Drama!

Once again Immaculate will put on another wonderful Fall Drama, and this year it is Play On! scheduled for November 21, 22 & 23 at 7pm. Play On! is the “hilarious story of a theatre group trying desperately to put on a play in spite of maddening interference from a haughty author who keeps revising the script.”  

Tickets go on sale November 4. You can purchase program ads, sponsorships, and tickets, including luxury/reserved seating, at: https://ihsfinearts.booktix.com/  Come out and support our student thespians:

Cast (in order of appearance)

Aggie……………………………………………………….........Remy Chila

Gerry………………………………………………………..…...Elizabeth Flaherty

Henry……………………………………………………..……..Robert Fontenelli

Polly………………………………………………………...…...Nicole Kolitsas

Marla “Smitty”......................................................................Sarah Almeida

Saul……………………………………………………………..Jack Gibowicz

Billy……………………………………………………………...Trey Michaelsen

Violet…………………………………………………………….Camille Vail

Louise…………………………………………………………...Laura Rettus

Phyllis…………………………………………………………...Olivia Hynes

Costumer (on stage and off).................................................Lizzie Varda

Piano man……………………………………………………...Vincent Fontenelli

ENSEMBLE:

Tatiana Amaral, Ethan Beaulac, Alanna Emiliano, Ollie Esposito, Ali Harco, Drew Mitchell, Angelina Radeschi, Michaela Shovak, Jude Vail

New Music Lab and Recording Studio for Immaculate Musicians and Composers   

Immaculate’s new state-of-the art music production lab is proving to be a big hit with students in the Sound Design class.  Students participating are from all grade levels and are new to music composition. In the Music Lab, the novice musicians and composers are learning the fundamentals of how music works in order to create their own beats and songs with the Apple software GarageBand. The goal of this effort is to take "non-musicians" and show them that they are capable of creating their own music. 

“In GarageBand, students manipulate fragments of music and record their own sounds to create electronic compositions,” said Niall Reynolds, IHS music teacher and band instructor. “We just finished one song as a class and are starting the next. Our goal is for each student to complete an album of original music by the end of the year,’ he said. Mr. Reynolds was able to set up the Music Lab due to a generous grant from Foundations in Education. 

IHS musicians in the Music Production Club are also creating works in the newly renovated Recording Studio. In the studio students are learning how to capture the sounds of instruments and voices.The club meets every Thursday after school and their goal is to record an album of cover songs by the end of the year. Stay tuned for some great new music produced by Immaculate student musicians and singers in our very own Music Lab and Recording Studio!

New CNA Program Prepares Students for Nursing Careers, College Programs

This school year Immaculate High School began its Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program. The classes are designed to better prepare students for arduous college nursing programs and help them learn job skills and earn CNA certification. 

The classes are a mix of textbook learning and learning/practicing real life skills.  Students learn how to properly care for, transfer and feed patients, among other specialized skills.  The main goal of the program is to prepare students to successfully pass the State test to become a certified nursing assistant -- this will provide students with the ability to work after graduating from the program. It will also help them in future college nursing classes.

“The benefits of completing this program are that students will obtain certification and will be able to get jobs immediately in nursing homes or hospitals,” said Genevieve Cummings, the program instructor. “It is also a great stepping stone for those who want to pursue a career in nursing, and I look forward to giving the students the foundation to become great caregivers with good communication skills, all of which can help them in the future,” she added.

Mrs. Cummings started her career as a student in a nursing assistant program when in high school, and worked as a nursing assistant during her time in her nursing program.”I found being a CNA helped so much when it became time to use my skills as a nurse,” Mrs. Cummings, who is a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), noted. Throughout her nursing career Mrs. Cummings has worked in a nursing home, an assisted living facility, a group home and a prison. She has previously taught the certified nursing assistant program at Harris School of Business and is also a visiting nurse for behavioral health patients.

Meet Our New School Counselor  

Welcome to Allison Longfellow, School Counselor.  Mrs. Longfellow will work with students to assure academic success, help with scheduling classes, college and career planning, make sure they are meeting graduation requirements and more. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Delaware and a Master’s degree in School Counseling from Long Island University/CW Post. 

Mrs. Longfellow was an assistant director of admissions at Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology and an assistant director of transfer admissions at CUNY Baruch. She loves musical theatre and has been involved with this art form for many years. Mrs. Longfellow and her husband (a descendent of the famous poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) have a daughter Ava and a cat named Lily.