Norfolk

King Philip Students Win First Place at International DECA Conference

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King Philip Regional School District
Paul Zinni, Superintendent
18 King Street
Norfolk, MA 02056

For Immediate Release

Thursday, May 9, 2019

Media Contact: Benjamin Paulin
Phone: 781-428-3299
Email: [email protected]

King Philip Students Win First Place at International DECA Conference

NORFOLK — Superintendent Paul Zinni is pleased to share that multiple King Philip High School students took first place during competitions at DECA’s International Career Development conference in April, and several others were named top international finalists.

DECA, a nonprofit student organization, works with high schools and colleges to prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

A group of 63 students from King Philip’s DECA club attended the April 27-30 conference in Orlando, Florida, where they participated in competitive events to test their professional skills. The students qualified for the competition after placing in state and regional competitions designed to stimulate real-life business scenarios and test students’ academic understanding and skills development earlier this year.

Approximately 21,000 students from around the world competed during the conference.

In the Integrated Marketing Event, Dan Sammarco, a senior from Plainville, and Ryan Wood, a senior from Wrentham, took first place.

Tony Bozza, a senior from Norfolk, and Dylan Powers, a senior from Wrentham, also took first place in the Integrated Marketing Service competition.

Several King Philip Students were named Top 10 International Finalists, including Kat Caravaggio, a senior from Wrentham, in the Start-Up Business Plan competition; Hannah Mahoney, a junior from Norfolk, and Emily Melanson, a junior from Norfolk, in the Learn and Earn Project competition; and Zach Ball, a junior from Plainville, Kyle Hurley, a junior from Plainville, and Ramez Saad, a junior from Plainville,  in The Independent Business Plan competition.

Ryan Hastings, a senior from Plainville, was also named a Top 16 International Finalist in the Creative Marketing Campaign Competition.

In addition to career-based competitions, DECA members engaged in leadership academics and networking opportunities with over 60 internationally recognized businesses at the conference.

“Our DECA students worked incredibly hard to prepare for this conference,” said James Dow, the adviser of the King Philip DECA club. “These students are dedicated to learning important skills for their futures as leaders, entrepreneurs and professionals, and they showcased their knowledge and abilities impressively in these competitions.”

About King Philip DECA
King Philip DECA is a high school business club. The group is part of a larger network of over 215,000 high school students around the world. DECA prepares young leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges globally.

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King Philip, Norfolk, Wrentham, and Plainville School Districts Receive Grant for Mental Health Services

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, April 5, 2019

Contact: Benjamin Paulin
Phone: 781-428-3299
Email: [email protected]

King Philip, Norfolk, Wrentham, and Plainville School Districts Receive Grant for Mental Health Services

NORFOLK — King Philip Superintendent Paul Zinni, Norfolk Superintendent Ingrid Allardi, Plainville Superintendent David Raiche and Wrentham Superintendent Allan Cameron are pleased to announce that the four school districts have been awarded a $311,150 grant from Governor Baker’s office to support student behavioral and mental health services.

“Like all school districts, many students in our four districts struggle with social-emotional challenges and behavioral health,” Superintendent Zinni said. “We are all thankful that the Baker-Polito administration recognized our need to offer more comprehensive supports and programming to our students, and are looking forward to putting these initiatives in place.”

The majority of grant funds will support the hire of two full-time social workers who will service all four districts, as well as the hiring of a wellness director that will act as a consultant to the districts for one year.

“These new positions across the districts will provide much needed support to students in all grades,” Superintendent Cameron said. “It is our hope that their presence will offer students an accessible, comfortable avenue to access counseling, programming and other supports.”

The social workers will support students in need of social-emotional and/or behavioral health support through counseling, family stabilization services and by connecting them to local and regional resources.

The wellness director will work with the district for one year starting on July 1 to bring in outside resources to the schools, identify the supports available locally to students and coordinate health and prevention programming and supports between the four districts.

A portion of the grant, approximately $26,000, will also fund professional development among leadership teams in the four districts, including superintendents, principals and special education directors. The training will focus on supporting students dealing with trauma, social-emotional challenges and behavioral health needs, and will emphasize the creation of safe, welcoming environments for students. The grant will also fund new anti-bullying curriculum at each district.

“We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of students struggling in the area, and statewide,” said Superintendent Raiche. “We’re so thrilled to be able to connect students and their families to wraparound services that will provide much needed support.”

Allardi also praised the collaboration between the districts to seek out the grant.

“We’ve been working really hard to collaborate between the four districts to share services and resources,” Superintendent Allardi said. “It has been a fantastic partnership. This has been a great example of what we’ve been able to do, collaborating as a region.”

 

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King Philip Middle School Student Council Visits Elementary Students on Read Across America Day

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King Philip Regional School District
Paul Zinni, Superintendent
18 King Street
Norfolk, MA 02056

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Media Contact: Benjamin Paulin
Phone: 781-428-3299
Email: [email protected]

King Philip Middle School Student Council Visits Elementary Students on Read Across America Day

Members of the King Philip Regional Middle School Student Council wore Dr. Seuss hats and read to elementary school students Friday, March 1 in celebration of Read Across America Day. From left to right: Front row — Alyssa Legere, Heidi Lawrence, Danielle Gresham, Alysse Moskal. Back row: Jack Chisholm, Rachel Barros, Sarah Brown, Colby Cloutier, Kayden Henry, Andre Bubluski, Philip Harmon, and Lily Gallagher. (Courtesy Photo King Philip Regional School District)

NORFOLK — Superintendent Paul Zinni is pleased to share that the King Philip Regional Middle School Student Council visited several elementary schools last week to celebrate Read Across America Day.

Read Across America Day is an annual reading event that was launched in 1997 by the National Education Association around the time of Dr. Seuss’ birthday on March 2. The annual reading initiative seeks to motivate students to read, and have fun while doing so. Each year, schools, libraries, municipalities and community groups hold activities on Read Across America Day to celebrate reading.

The King Philip Regional Middle School Student Council and their advisers, math teachers Jenna Brady and Whitney Hartwell, have annually visited local elementary schools to celebrate Read Across America day for approximately 15 years. This year, the student council visited the Anna Ware Jackson School in Plainville, the Delaney School in Wrentham, and the H. Olive Day School in Norfolk.

“Every year, members of the student council look forward to Read Across America day,” Hartwell said. “It’s a special time to connect with younger students, and spark their excitement about reading. This year, students wore Dr. Seuss hats and really got into the spirit of the day.”

Members of the student council include eighth grade students Andre Bubluski, Lily Gallagher, Danielle Gresham, Phil Harmon, Kayden Henry, Alysse Moskal, and seventh grade students Rachel Barros, Sarah Brown, Jack Chisholm, Colby Cloutier, Heidi Lawrence, and Alyssa Legere.

“Read Across America Day is a great initiative that generates excitement every year about reading,” Superintendent Zinni said. “The student council did a great job visiting our local elementary schools, and served as role models for younger students to look up to as they develop their reading skills.”

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King Philip Students Donate to Peace Corps Project 

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King Philip Regional School District
Paul Zinni, Superintendent
18 King Street
Norfolk, MA 02056

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019

Media Contact: Benjamin Paulin
Phone: 781-428-3299
Email: [email protected]

King Philip Students Donate to Peace Corps Project 

NORFOLK– Superintendent Paul Zinni is pleased to announce that eighth grade students at King Philip Middle School have donated nearly $1,000 to support a Peace Corps project this month.

Approximately 400 eighth grade students at the school donated their own money to a Peace Corps Partnership middle school latrine project in the West African nation of Mali. Donations were raised in one week this month before students went on February break. A total of $961 was raised by the middle schoolers.

The fundraiser was inspired by lessons on global poverty covered in their language classes. After watching the documentary “Living on One” that follows four American college students as they attempt to replicate the poverty of living on $1 per day in Guatemala, they felt a desire to help.

“Many students were moved by the lack of basic sanitation and educational opportunities presented in the video and they felt moved to help others,” said Spanish and Cultural Studies teacher Katie Brenneis.

Since 2005, Brenneis, Spanish teacher Howard Bean, and Spanish and French teacher Mimi Laetitia Lussiez de Narvaez, have annually chosen a Peace Corps Partnership project based on student interest to support.

The three teachers each served in the Peace Corps in Latin American countries in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

This year, students donated more than any class prior. One student was so moved by her studies, she donated $200.

“It’s great to see students coming together to support a project, and using their studies to identify real, global problems,” Superintendent Zinni said. “The language and culture teachers at King Philip Middle School have done an excellent job opening students’ eyes to global poverty, and showing them how they can help make a concrete, positive impact.”

When choosing a project to support, students wanted to select a project that would help improve water and sanitation conditions. The latrine project was tied to a regional middle school in a French speaking country, which offered French students a connection to their language of study. The project also allowed students to support and follow a project to benefit students their age.

“This is strictly a labor of love for us as teachers and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCV),” Brenneis said. “We do it because we feel it makes the world a smaller place and helps our students feel that even a small contribution can make a huge difference.”

The teachers believe the project aligns with two components of the Peace Corps mission: to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the people the Peace Corps serve and to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Each year, the school hears back from the Peace Corps volunteers working on the project students donate to, and classes in the past have connected over email, Skype, YouTube, and other platforms with Peace Corps volunteers to watch the project progress over the course of the school year. 

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