The Norfolk Times

King Philip Graduation 2013

On June 2nd, King Philip Class of 2013 ended their days at the high school. Photographer Christina Allan pointed the lens of her camera at the celebration to capture the feel of the day.

Photo by Christina Allan.

To view Allan's complete photo essay click King Philip Graduation 2013.

KP Middle School Received Donation from Stop & Shop

Stop & Shop’s A+ School Rewards program has generated $2,081.70 for King Philip Middle School. It was part of the grocery stores' 4 year old program that has resulted in more than $778,000 for schools in the state of Massachusetts. The program allows customers to earn points which translate into money for schools of their choice with each shopping visit using their registered Stop & Shop card.

This year, 1,238 schools in Massachusetts will benefit with funds going towards scholarships, technology, sports equipment, field trips and other educational needs.

In addition to the donation to KP, the Stop & Shop program provided funds to Plainville and Wrentham Schools:

Delaney School, Wrentham - $2,081.48
Anna Ware Jackson School, Plainville - $4,077.37
BH Wood School, Plainville - $3,350.59
King Philip Middle School, Norfolk - $2,081.70

For more information or a complete listing of participating schools and rewards earned for the 2012-2013 school year, visit www.stopandshop.com/aplus.

DARE to Dream Extends Deadline

The DARE to Dream Summer program has extended its registration enrollment date to June 14, 2013. There is still time to send in an application.

DARE to Dream Summer is run by D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officers and teachers from Norfolk, Plainville, and Wrentham for students exiting the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh grades. The summer program includes activities to reinforce the concept that we can all have fun while staying drug free. Some events will include shipwrecked, arts and crafts, safety workshops, Water Wizz, and D.A.R.E. lessons on “Alternatives and Building Self-esteem.”

For more information visit www.daretodreamsummer.com. The group also operates an active Facebook Page that provides information throughout the spring and summer about the program dates and activities.

Registration forms can be downloaded under the registration tab of the DARE to Dream website. Several of the schools may have extra copies in the main offices, too. Please pay particular to the registration form, and make note that cell phones are not allowed.

Grant Awarded to Support Graduation Safety at KP

Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey stopped by King Philip Regional High School on May 30, dropping off an “Operation Graduation” grant check supporting the school’s safe graduation activities.

“The parents and school officials who organize substance-free events on graduation day are doing their kids and their community a great service,” District Attorney Morrissey said. “Providing seniors with a constructive place to meet their classmates creates an important alternative to being on the roads, perhaps driving from party to party, or in situations where there is underage drinking or other high risk behavior.”

Morrissey awarded 15 “Operation Graduation” and 10 “Project Prom Sense” grants county-wide this spring, each for $250. All of the money used was drawn from assets seized from drug dealers successfully prosecuted by the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office – not tax dollars.

“The work these parents do is very important, and I’m pleased to be able to offer the support and assistance of the District Attorney’s Office,” Morrissey said. “What they do makes a real difference.”

The King Philip class of 2013 will graduate Sunday.

For more information on DA Morrissey’s community outreach efforts, underage drinking prevention and roadway safety initiatives, please visit www.norfolkda.com.

KP's Sathwik Karnik Wins 2013 National Geographic Bee

Sathwik Karnik of Plainville, a 12-year-old seventh-grader at King Philip Regional Middle School in Norfolk, southwest of Boston, took top honors at the 25th annual National Geographic Bee held at The National Theatre in Washington, D.C., today. He won a $25,000 college scholarship, lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society and a trip for two to the Galápagos on an expedition aboard the Lindblad ship National Geographic Endeavour.

The winning question was: “Because Earth bulges at the Equator, the point that is farthest from Earth’s center is the summit of a peak in Ecuador. Name this peak.” Answer: Chimborazo.

Fifty-four state and territory winners took part in the preliminary rounds of the 2013 National Geographic Bee on Monday, May 20. The top 10 finishers in the preliminary rounds met in today’s final round, which was moderated by “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek. The six other finalists, who each won $500, were Tuvya Bergson-Michelson of California, Pranit Nanda of Colorado, Neha Middela of Michigan, Neelam Sandhu of New Hampshire, Harish Palani of Oregon and Asha Jain of Wisconsin.

National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD will air the final round at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 23. It will be aired later on public television stations; check local television listings for dates and times.

The three-person team that will represent the United States at the National Geographic World Championship in St. Petersburg, Russia, from July 28-31, 2013, will be selected from this year’s and last year’s top 10 Bee finalists.

Nearly 4 million students took part in the 2013 National Geographic Bee, which was sponsored for the fifth year by Google.

This is the third year in a row that a member of the Karnik family has placed in the top 10 of the National Geographic Bee. Sathwik’s brother, Karthik, took fifth place at the 2011 Bee and sixth place at the 2012 Bee.

After moderating the finals of the National Geographic Bee for 25 years, since its inception in 1989, Alex Trebek is stepping down. It was announced today that the new Bee moderator will be award-winning journalist, filmmaker and television host Soledad O’Brien.

Here's a video about Karnik he prepared before heading to Washington to complete. 

 

Host Family Sought for Exchange Student

Center for Cultural Interchange Greenheart, a non-profit that organizes cultural exhange programs, is looking for a family to host Kristian from Norway during the 2013-2014 King Philip Regional High School year. Kristian is 17, an A student, and will be a senior. He is fluent in English and Norwegian and he is learning Spanish.  As a true Norwegian he says "I was born with skis on my feet,"  but he also plays soccer and enjoys staying fit in the gym.  He plays guitar, enjoys many genres of music and books. He is interested in international business and he currently mentors younger students as part of his school's YoMe (young mentors) program.  Kristian makes friends easily and enjoys socializing with children, peers, and adults.

The host family does not need to have high school aged children.

If you would like more information or have any questions, please contact Ross Gilleland our international exchange coordinator at rossgilleland@yahoo.com  or 508-431-4191.

KP Hosts Celebrity Hoop Game

By Bob Cohen

Members of the New England Patriots Celebrity Basketball team took on an impressive lineup of King Philip faculty, business owners, and local elementary school students at the high school gym Tuesday night. While the football players scored the most points, the winner of the night was the KP Booster Club, the host of the first annual Patriot Celebrity Basketball event.

Before the opening tip-off, the MC led the crowd in a solemn tribute to the Boston Marathon bombing victims Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell, and Lu Lingzi , the 264 injured and MIT Police Officer Sean Collier who was shot during the manhunt for the bombing suspects.

The KP community showed its Boston Strong mettle by following the example set by Bruins fans at the April 17 game against the Buffalo Sabres when it did its own unaccompanied rendition of the National Anthem.

In true New England spirit, once the game began, the fans cheered loudly and gave their attention to the matter at hand.

The KP All-Stars roster included vice-principal John Gould, social studies teacher Andy Connors, boys varsity coach and Division I basketball player Tim Clifford, children’s book author Jeff Kinney of Plainville, oral surgeon Bob Moskal, and students Adian Bender, Jacob Mingles, and Brad and Will Kinney.

Cornerbacks Kyle Arrington and Aqib Talib, defensive back Devon McCourty, tight end Daniel Fells, running back Shane Vereen, and retired quarterback and Wrentham resident, Scott Zolak, represented the Patriots’ honor and were joined by Ian Zimmerman and Wrentham firefighter Bobby Holst.

The KP All-Stars jumped to an early lead. They traded buckets with the Pats and managed to end a 19 – 17 first quarter within two points of the lead.

KP’s offensive output dropped in the second quarter scoring 14 points as they played and amiable foil to the Pats athletic pyrotechnics who added another 25 on the scoreboard to end the quarter 44 – 31.

At half time the MC cranked up the music as event goers queued up at the autograph tables, which also included Kinney who is best known for the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series of books and movies.

The autograph session was very well managed. That atmosphere was festive and the lines moved quickly. People had more than enough time to get signatures from all six Patriots and Jeff Kinney.

The start of the third quarter for KP set the Kinney boys, Jeff, Will, and Brad and CJ Parker and Andy Connor against Zolak, Arrington, Talib, McCourty, and the offensive surprise of the night Zimmerman who played all four quarters and whose double digit scoring effort put a smile on everyone’s face.

At the end of the third quarter the MC held a drawing for the raffle and announced the winners. Spectators paid a dollar a ticket for an opportunity to win one of several footballs signed by all the Patriots attending the event. With the music cranked up, the winners were called out onto the court to receive their prize by airmail. All the Pats took a turn at hucking the ball to smiling fans. The game ended in a flurry of alley-oops and dunks with a final score of 91 to 72.

KP Boosters hosted the event to “Fund our scholarships and special projects,” according to a letter from Board President Patty Bingel and members Kelly Foxx, Arthur Keegan, and Carysue Hogan.

Recent projects include donations for scoreboards and banners, equipment purchases, batting cages, and the practice fields. They also hope to raise money for an artificial turf field.

King Philip Class of 1983 Gathering at Newport Polo Match

A message from the Class of 1983:

Come join your classmates to begin our year long celebration of our 30th class reunion! We will be meeting at the Newport Polo Series in Portsmouth, RI on June 15th. Our class President, Therese, guarantees a good time had by all. Tailgating starts at 1 p.m. and the match begins at 5 p.m.

This is one of two functions we are planning before the actual reunion in November. Who knows, you just might enjoy yourself. To set the mood, Scott Kelly said he would read some Shakespeare to us all. Worth the price of admission right there. $12 per person in advance or at the gate. More info on grills, chairs, food and car pools when we get closer.

For more information, go to the following link on Facebook.

KP Budget Meeting Planned for Tuesday Night

King Philip Regional School Committee will discuss the District’s FY2014 Budget at its next meeting. The meeting is open to the public and residents of all three towns are invited. The School Committee will address the financial difficulties the District is currently facing. The meeting will be held Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 7 p.m. in the KP Regional High School Library, 201 Franklin St., Wrentham.

"Shine Bright Like a DECA Diamond"

By Tory Atkins, Vice President of Public Relations, King Philip DECA

This past week, King Philip DECA had an unprecedented series of wins at the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Anaheim, California. The conference hosted over 16,000 state and provincial winners from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, China, and Puerto Rico.

DECA is an organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. 

Massachusetts brought just over 400 delegates to the conference including 64 from KP. Attendees competed in written projects and oral presentations such as written business manuals 5-30 pages in length, 10 minute oral presentations, and a series events, which consist of a business terms exam and a situational role play.  KP had 29 written projects, one individual professional selling series event, and one team decision making series event.

Many other students attended leadership workshops. Alicia Cuoco and Theresa Harvey attended the Thrive Leadership Academy at ICDC. Matthew Capobianco attended the LEADS State Officer Training Academy in preparation for taking office as a MASS DECA State Officer for the 2013-2014 school year.

Students in competitive events were split into 8 "flights," labeled letters A-G, each containing approximately 16 teams or individuals. Most events contained a minimum of 200 participants. In order to proceed to the final round of competition, students must be selected as one of the top two in their flight. The top two that each judge selects from each flight makes up what is known as "the Sweet Sixteen," the competitors who are called to stage as international finalists in the preliminary awards session.

The first surge of KP pride came at this preliminary awards session, when an astounding 9 KP teams and individuals were selected as international finalists. Seniors Kristen Aucoin (Plainville) & McKenna May (Wrentham) - Financial Literacy Promotion Plan event; Larissa Grace (Wrentham) &  Katherine Genesky (Norfolk) - Learn and Earn Event; Shannon Poirier - Hospitality & Tourism Professional Selling Event; Kellie Mahoney (Norfolk) & Camille Govoni (Wrentham) - Sports and Entertainment Operations Research; Erin McGuire (Wrentham) - Creative Marketing Plan; Emily Harrington (Norfolk) & Meghan Garrity (Wrentham) - Hospitality Services Team Decision Making Event; juniors Emily Lambalot (Wrentham) - Entrepreneurship Participating Franchise Event; Katherine Lukes (Wrentham)- Entrepreneurship Participating Independent Event; and Molly Mallgraf (Wrentham) & Audrey Foxx (Wrentham) - Entrepreneurship Promotion Plan.

A total of 24 Massachusetts teams/individuals advanced to the finals, with KP represented by 9 teams. The finalists then competed once more, this time for a chance to be called to stage as a member of the Top Ten during the Grand Awards session. Again, KP had a huge success rate. Out of the 9 teams who had received Sweet Sixteen status, 7 were called to stage in the Top Ten in the world in their event. They were: Kristen Aucoin & McKenna May, Larissa Grace & Katherine Genesky, Erin McGuire, Kellie Mahoney & Camille Govoni, Emily Lambalot, Katherine Lukes, and Molly Mallgraf & Audrey Foxx. Ten competitors from Massachusetts were called as Top Ten international champions, and KP had 7 out of that 10.  Over the past four years, KP has had a total of 5 finalists.

This year broke all expectations that KP DECA advisor James Dow had for the conference. "I would have been thrilled with two, I was shooting for two and we came out with 9... I am so happy for and proud of these kids. They've really put their heart and soul into their projects, and now all their hard work has paid off," says Dow, with a huge grin.

Not only did KP receive 9 Sweet Sixteen and 7 Top Ten nods, the most in the state of Massachusetts, they received an overwhelming amount of Certificates of Excellence, awards given to show exemplary performance and scores in one's event. 23 of 29 King Philip written projects received Certificates of Excellence. KP has long been a huge contender at the Massachusetts State Career Development Conference, and has always sent many competitors to ICDC, but has struggled to place more than two teams annually at the international conference. Because of this, 2013 will forever be a huge banner year for KP DECA.

In a statement to the chapter, DECA President and Sweet Sixteen international finalist Shannon Poirier commented on the chapter's success: "I'm so glad we're finally getting the national recognition we deserve. I am so proud of you guys,” she said.

The international conference was a perfect ending to an already stellar year for the King Philip DECA program. We are so proud of our entire chapter, and we look forward to welcoming the class of 2015 into the KP DECA family’s tradition of excellence next year.