Rams Fans on Notice

CIAC warns New Canaan's student cheering section to be nice.

New Canaan High School Principal Tony Pavia is putting students on ice for what he calls "inappropriate" behavior at last Saturday night's FCIAC Championship Hockey Game, in which the Rams stomped Ridgefield 6-1. In a "Dear Rams" letter sent to students and copied to parents, Pavia laments a "troubling and embarrassing development" that's come in the form of a stern warning from the CIAC. The state athletic conference, Pavia relates, has told New Canaan that for the balance of the tournament, "upon the first incident of negative, obscene, or inappropriate chants, the entire student section will be ejected from the arena" with no first warning.In other words, the CIAC means business.I wasn't at the game last Saturday, so I turned to the …

Board of Ed Obliges Request for More Cuts

The Board of Finance asked for further givebacks from an already trim budget.

The Board of Education had pitched a historically low year-on-year increase of less than 2 percent (while still paying out a 2 percent raise to faculty and staff) to the Board of Finance Feb. 4 and it seemed the proposal would pass with flying colors.  But then Thursday, the Board of Finance asked the Board of Education for the $400,000 in additional cuts as part of an effort to excise $1 million from the full town budget, just days before a summary would be released to the community for review ahead of a March 16 public hearing. "While we were disappointed with the town's request, particularly given the historically low increase, we were not devastated, nor were we surprised." Chairman Nick Williams said at the Board of Education meeting …

The Final Minute—Pomperaug Ends Rams Girls B-ball Season

New Canaan Girls Basketball vs. Pomperaug, CIAC Round 2

The Rams kept it up against the No. 1 seeded Pomperaug High School team as the clock wound down on their season.  Read the full story of the game here: http://patch.com/RzlI 

Taking High School Theater to New Heights

NCHS students get flying lessons for the big musical.

In the play within the play, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, while in Princess Puffer's opium den, John Jasper  has a drug-induced dream in which he fights with Edwin Drood over Rosa Budd in mid air. If lead actors Jelani Alladin (Jasper), Charlotte Fager (Drood), and Brooke Singman (Budd) walk a little funny during the first act of New Canaan High School's production, it's probably because underneath their costumes they have five-pound leather and metal harnesses strapped tightly to their chests and hips so that they can really fly. It's only the second time in school history, NCHS students will be taking flight. Over the past three days, instructor Tim Makay from Flying by Foy—the same company that flew Mary Martin when she played Peter Pan …

Kira Goldenberg

8:01am on Friday, March 5, 2010

What a fabulous video!  more ›

The Mystery of Edwin Drood's Ending

New Canaan High School's production of  The Mystery of Edwin Drood is already a bit chaotic with nearly 100 students involved as cast and crew. But this musical, created by Rupert Holmes, is based on an unfinished Dickens novel, and the actors won't know until the performance how it ends.  The show opens March 11.   

Shipwrecked But Not Shaken

Chase Barada was on the SV Concordia when it sank off the coast of Brazil

It was 6:19 a.m. on Feb. 22. After 41 hours at sea in a life raft 300 miles off the coast of Brazil, 18-year-old Chase Barada scrambled up a 60-foot vertical ladder in roiling waves onto the deck of a merchant vessel from the Philippines and he knew he was home free. Barada, New Canaan High School class of 2009, was half-way through a gap year at sea aboard the SV Concordia, a 188-foot floating classroom when suddenly a rogue vertical wind, the equivalent of an upside-down tornado, struck the vessel during a fierce rain squall on Feb. 21. Within 15 minutes, the immense majestic tall ship had capsized. In the end, all aboard—the captain, its professional crew, teachers, students, 64 people in all from Canada, the U.S., Germany and …

Board Makes SRO Policy Official

School administrators and Board of Ed members call school resource officer program a success

The Board of Education codified the School Resource Officer program Monday, approving an official policy regarding the SRO's placement in New Canaan High School.  There's been a New Canaan Police officer assigned to the high school for the last three years (and for some of that time there was also a part-time officer at Saxe), but until now the board's policies have not reflected that.  The new policy outlines the SRO's role first and foremost in promoting a positive relationship between students and law enforcement by fostering programs and activities, like the Police Club, to improve students' knowledge of and respect for the law.  Toward that end, according to Police Department statistics, Officer Ron Bentley helped teach 16 classes and…

Tumbling to the Finish Line

New Canaan gymnastics team fights through an injury plagued season

The list of injuries is long: a dislocated elbow, sprained ankle, dislocated hip, injured knees, broken wrist, and even the flu. All have conspired to derail the season for the New Canaan High School girls gymnastics team but none could break their spirit, as the Rams go tumbling forward toward the end of the season. "Injuries have been a big factor," said co-caption Maria Altamura, "but we still feel like we can do some good things." The Rams are winless so far this season, sitting at 0-5 going into Thursday's meet at Westhill. It will be the squad's last contest before heading to the FCIAC championships on Feb. 12. Head Coach Ann Tomaselli is still optimistic that her squad can make some noise in the next couple of weeks, building on …