TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012
VOL. 21 NO. 1
BERLIN, N.H.
752-5858
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Three local girls to receive 2012 young leadership awards BERLIN/GORHAM -- Three outstanding high school girls have been chosen as winners for this year’s Sylvia Evans Young Leadership Award, Coos County Family Health Services (CCFHS) announced recently. The 2012 winners are Kellee June Heinemann of the Berlin Bible Academy, Jaylan Parent-Ongel of Gorham High School, and Shannon O’Neil of Berlin High School. Kellee Heinemann, an honor roll student at Community Bible Academy, has volunteered at the Brown Afterschool Program, the Berlin Public Library, St. Vincent de Paul’s Thrift Store, the Animal Rescue Shelter, the Appalachian Trail Hikers, and many other local organizations that
benefit the community. “Kellee is a dedicated group leader in the Afterschool Program and has donated hundreds of hours of her time to the program,” said Melanie Smith, site director of the Brown Afterschool Program. “I have seen many examples of her talent and have long been impressed by her diligence and work ethic.” Kellee has been accepted in the United States Air Force for September, after placing in the top 10 percent on the entrance exam. Jaylan Parent-Ongel, the senior class president at Gorham Middle/High School, has “backed up all her campaign promises,” according to her guidance
director, Christine Lemoine, including creating a Facebook page for all the members of her class so if they don’t hear the announcements, they receive a message on Facebook. “She is a very talented multi-tasker, she has excellent organizational skills and great people skills,” said Lemoine. “She wants to make a difference in the world, and I believe she will.” Shannon O’Neil is an honors student taking Advanced Placement English and history, who has “an ability to see beyond the surface,” said Guy Stever, chairman of the Berlin High School English Department. She is a student council member see AWARDS page 6
Learning, not teaching, key to Milan Village School success BY MELISSA GRIMA THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
MILAN — It may seem like splitting hairs, but distinguishing between learning and teaching seems to be working for the students and staff at Milan Village School. Gains in standardized testing, recognition as one of the state’s outstanding schools and just a general climate of achievement are some of the benefits Milan Village is seeing as a result of a shift in focus from teaching to learning, said school principal Dave Backler.
“Since 2006 we’ve made up significant ground,” Backler explained. Milan has seen 60 points of gain in their mean score on the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) testing in the last five years, outpacing the state’s 20 point increase in average for math alone, Backler said. In 2006 Milan Village School had only 52 percent of the student body score as proficient in reading, while just 50 percent were proficient in math, according to the NECAP test results provided by the Department of Education. Since that time, scores
have climbed steadily and this year Milan scored 87 percent proficient in reading and 87 percent proficient in math (not counting the third grade, which was too small to be reported in publicly released documents). Backler said the math percentage is actually higher, 91 percent proficient according to his numbers. Backler credits hard work on the part of faculty and students for the turnaround as well as a change in the overall school philosophy. “We really worked hard a few years ago to change the culture of the see LEARNING page 6
The Unified Arts Team and the National Junior Honor Society at Berlin Junior High School sponsored a Cereal Box Drive this week. Students in grades six, seven and eight brought in boxes of cereal to be donated to the local food pantry. A total of 271 boxes of cereal were contributed to the initiative. Grade six had the highest participation with a total of 116. This is the fifth year the school has sponsored the event which has netted over 1500 boxes of cereal. The drive culminated with an assembly featuring an obstacle course centered around the theme. A lucky leprechaun was on hand to cheer on the event.
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