Monthly Archives: December 2020
2020: The Year in Review
Dec. 31, 2020
The year 2020 is one that most would like to forget. However at RHS, pre-pandemic, there were several memorable moments, and even after the school’s shutdown in March, administrators and students worked to make the best possible experiences happen for students, and especially for the Class of 2020.
In the school year that began in September, 2020, students, while longing for better days, have also worked hard to make the most of a difficult situation.
So, here’s the Veritas’ annual “Year in Review” for this year.
January 28, 2020 Mat Bruzzese takes first place in Poetry Out Loud
Senior Mat Bruzzese was the winner of the annual Poetry Out Loud contest sponsored by the English Dept.
Senior Mat Bruzzese came in first in the 2020 Poetry Out Loud Contest held on Jan. 27 in the lecture hall.
January 31, 2020. Mrs. Ellis Retires
Mrs. Jane Ellis retired in January after 32 years as the principal’s secretary at RHS. Mrs. Susan O’Brien assumed her duties.
Left to right: Principal John Harrison, Mrs. Ellis and Mrs. O’Brien prepare for Mrs. Ellis’ retirement.
February 11, 2020. Students Recognized for Academic Accomplishments. Forty RHS students were recognized on Tuesday, Feb. 11 with a special luncheon, catered by Chipotle, in the media center. The luncheon was in recognition of the students’ achieving high honor grades in term 1, term 2 or in both terms.
Freshman Petr Quinn receives his high honor certificate from Principal John Harrison and Asst. Principal Ms. Paulding.
March 8, 2020. Girls Basketball Team defeats Archbishop Williams, then play at Boston Garden
The girls basketball team advanced to the state semifinals by defeating Archbishop Williams on Friday night, March 6, by a score of 53-37. That game gave them the Division 3 So. Sectional title. Next, the girls , for only the second time in 20 years, played in the Division 3 State Semifinals on Weds. March 11 at TD Garden in Boston at 2 p.m. They lost to St. Mary’s of Lynn in the last game any team would play because of the pandemic shutdown of all activities on March 12. This would also be the last athletic event at RHS supported by student fans in the year 2020.
April 26, 2020. Lara Glennon wins annual Spellman Oratorical Contest
Rockland High School English Department Coordinator, Carol Cahill has announced the winner of the 2020 Spellman Oratorical Contest: Lara Glennon. Tyler Gambon placed 2nd in the contest, while Sarah McLellan and Ashley Gallagher tied for third place. Kerin Dalton and Neleh Dunn rounded out the contestants who taped their performances at home and submitted them to judges.
May 27, 2020. Senior Parade Held on Last Day of Classes for Class of 2020
The annual senior parade was held on May 27. These photos from the Patriot Ledger capture the excitement of seniors on their last day of classes at RHS.
July 30, 2020 National Honor Society Induction
On July 30, 2020 at 7PM, Rockland High School inducted five seniors and ten juniors into the National Honor Society. Twenty five current senior members were also present at the ceremony, along with friends, family, and multiple staff members to support new and old members of the Society.
August 1, 2020. Class of 2020 Graduation
Two months after their originally scheduled ceremony, Rockland High School’s Class of 2020 finally had its Graduation. On August 1, a beautiful Saturday night, 149 members of the Senior Class paraded into Veterans Memorial Stadium, ready to finally say their goodbyes to this year and to their high school careers.
Sept. 2020. School Year Begins.
The 2020-2021 began a little later than usual but hopes were high that all the precautions in place would lead to a safe and effective learning environment.
October 2020. Student Gov’t Goes Forward for 2020-2021 School Year
Student Government elected its officers during its second meeting of the year.
November 2020. Fall sports teams adapt and excel
The boys and girls soccer teams, boys and girls cross country teams and the golf team were all able to compete this fall with abbreviated but successful seasons.
The girls cross country team.
December, 2020. Theatre Dept. performs Monologues and Band performs for the Holidays
Finding creative ways to perform their crafts, the Theatre Dept. put together a production called A Medley of Monologues and the RHS Band performed “Let It Snow” virtually.
Keep the faith RHS! Better days are ahead!
‘Tis the Season
December 21, 2020
Each year at this time the Rockland High School Band presents its annual Holiday Concert in our auditorium. While social distancing and the pandemic would not allow that to happen this year, the RHS Concert Band students found a way to bring us some holiday spirit with this virtual recording of “Let It Snow” in their video: “Tis the Season.”
These are our Concert Band students: Hugo DaSilva, Mia Gomes, Robert Ivil, Emma Krog, Kathleen Nee, Adam Pollard, Conor Quackenbush, William Robinson and Zachary Solomon. John Piazza, RHS Band Director explained that the video was created by the students. He said, “The class recorded and filmed their parts.” Mr. Piazza then mixed and edited their performances. The rendered product was sent to WRPS’ Dave Cable-Murphy who posted the final video on YouTube.
And here is their performance!
The December Edition of the Veritas Is Here
Dec. 21, 2020
This is the first page of our December edition of the Veritas for the 2020-2021 year. Our regular print edition will not be distributed in school at this time.
Journalism students, along with senior editor Althea Olsen have worked hard through the ever changing schedule and academic environment to produce this paper. Here is the entire paper: December Veritas
Happy Holidays!
“A Medley of Monologues” Presented by Theatre Department
Dec. 2, 2020
-from Rocklandschools.org post
Although this year looks a little different, there is one thing we can all agree upon – The Show Must Go On, or at least according to the Rockland High School Theatre Department.
This fall, Joanne White and Julia DiCanzio, directors of the RHS Drama team came up with an idea to put together a production with the Drama Club students. Ms. White explained, “We needed to figure out a safe, manageable way to put together a production that still allowed students to be creative. We wanted to make it as supportive as possible for them with everything going on.”
Students had the option to choose or write their very own monologue. It took about three weeks to put together with virtual rehearsals, virtual meetings and recordings. Christopher Burnieika of WRPS helped record it.
The final product is called “A Medley of Monologues.” (Video link here)
Performers included:
Alex Anzivino as the Smoldering Spencer from “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”
Elias Carbone performing The Circle of Life from “The Lion King”
Anthony DiNino wrote and performed a personal monologue – “The Multiplication Train”
Dillon Doyle crushed it as Buddy the Elf from the hit movie “Elf”
Callie Gillan performed a dramatic monologue from “True Crime”
McKenna Maher nailed it with her performance from “Pretty”
Fiona Overstreet performed a comedic monologue from “The First Dear Evan Hansen Letter”
Ben Pattison had us all laughing as Louis from “Hot Dogs”
Jonah Pishkin wrote and performed an inspirational monologue called “Fear, Chaos, Pain”
Luci Pumphrey presented a dramatic performance as Linda from “Pay Attention”
Cailin Sullivan closed the show with her dynamite performance as Lyndsey McElroy from the comedy show, “Two and a Half-Men.”
The students took the new challenge head-on and recorded an outstanding performance of “A Medley of Monologues.” Enjoy!
Directors Ms. White and Ms. DiCanzio
Get ready for Spirit Week
Student Government Council has announced that next week will begin a celebration of Spirit Week. The week of Dec. 7 – 11 will be for Cohort A and the following week, Dec. 14-18, will be for Cohort B. Principal Harrison is encouraging all, including faculty and staff to participate.
The first day will be Comfy Day/Groutfit* Day. Check back to see photos of each day!
(*Groutfit means wearing outfits that are all gray in color!)
Bulldog Apparel Store Now Open
December 3, 2020
The Student Government Council at RHS has announced the opening of their on-line Bulldog apparel store.
Junior Maria Pala who is the SGC member overseeing the store answered some questions from the Veritas. “I was put in charge of the project, but I was working closely with our advisor, Mrs. Bartoloni, and I had a lot of help from my committee members with choosing designs.”
She also explained,”The money will go towards the SGC so we can host more school wide events in the future. Our store is only online and the deadline for orders is December 11th.”
Orders will be delivered after Christmas. Here is the link for the store: Bulldog Apparel Store
If you have any questions, contact Maria at mpala2022@rocklandschools.org
Fall Sports Teams Wrap Up Their Seasons
Nov. 25, 2020
James Tsiantoulas, Veritas Staff
With the fall sports season officially all wrapped up, we take a look back at all of the teams who gave it their all this year
The 2020 Girls Soccer Team
Girls soccer led by captains Kendra Peretzman, Chloe Jones, Allison Trainque, and Hannah Rich had a great year. They finished their season with two crushing losses to Middleborough in the tournament but that does not affect their heart and drive.
Peretzman commented on the team. “The team struggled a bit since we had our first tournament game right after the two week quarantine which meant we went in with having not played as a team for two weeks. This definitely showed in the first game. However, we played the same team in our second game and greatly improved. We went from a 5-0 loss to a 1-0 loss.”
The seniors leaving the program are Mckenzie Tsiantoulas, Hannah Rich, Hannah Makarski, Chloe Jones, Devin Cavicchi, Allison Trainque, and Greta Russo and Kendra herself.
Boys soccer led by their captains Nick Blonde and Andrew Norton had a great year as well. They finished their season after losing in the SSL championship with their heads held high.
Norton had some high praise for his team. “I thought that this was a great team this year, out of my four years playing for Coach Kimball it was one of the best teams. Absolutely I wish we could get a season redo, it would have been nice having a full season.”
The team finished their year on an incredibly high note and look to repeat their success next year. The seniors leaving the program are Nick Blonde, Andrew Norton, Daniel Donahue, Fernando Alexander, Renan Souza, and Yggor Batista.
Boys Cross Country Seniors
In addition, the boys and girls cross country teams finished out their season with a few more meets. Captains Arthur Norton, Jimmy DiCarli, and Billy Robinson finished out their season with three wins.
Norton had some words about his team’s season. “We got 4th in our all league meet and ended up beating Abington in our final meet.” They looked to notch another win during the season but that was cut short for them.
Girls Cross Country team
Also, the girls cross country team led by captains Sarah Gormley and Maggie Flaherty finished the season with four wins. They had a fantastic season and look to improve next year. The seniors leaving the program are Arthur Norton, Jared Allen, Damon Welles, Jimmy DiCarli, Billy Robinson, Robert Ivil, Nick Earner, Zach Solomon, and Sarah Gormley.
Finally, golf had wrapped their season up during those sudden two weeks of in person stoppage in the school. The team did not participate in the SSL tournament, but the seniors gave it their all during the season. The team led by athletes from every grade finished with two wins on the year. The seniors leaving the program are Cullen Rogers, Joey Nguyen, Hunter Wardwell, Ryan Dobay, Anthony Morreale, Emily Marquis, Zach Phripp, and myself.
With the teams participating in these tournaments and extended seasons, it really shows that sports right now are in good hands. Check back for news about the upcoming winter season which is now scheduled to begin on Dec. 14.
THE VERITAS 