What's Happening in Teacher Preparation

Dual enrollment has closed for Semester 1 Teacher Preparation students. We are very excited to share that 49 students have signed up for the SNHU dual enrollment credits. We love to see the students taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity that gives them a head start on their college career.

This past Monday, our seniors began their first internship of the year. Students are interning at  preschool, elementary, middle, and high school classrooms in Concord, Loudon, and Pembroke. Throughout the year students will have the chance to go out on three separate, four week long internships to get a real feel of teaching in the classroom.

What's Happening in Information Technology

We have a very exciting semester in Info Tech as we begin the year with Robotics. Students will be learning the fundamentals of Science and Engineering through the hands on activities of building and programming robots. Students are challenged to use Science, Technology, Engineering and Math to solve problems and complete individual challenges using both physical robots and robots in virtual worlds.

What's Happening in Health Science

David Dumas and Derrick Martel from the Concord Fire Department and who also teach our Fire Science program, came into the Health Science classes to demonstrate how to put out a fire. Each student received a hands on experience on how to extinguish a fire. They practiced PASS( Pull, Aim, Squeeze and Sweep) which is a universal acronym for remembering the sequence of using an extinguisher.  

What's Happening in Graphic Arts

Graphic Arts will be sending seniors off to their first internship site at NH Bindery next week. They will learn how the graphics they create in the classroom get applied to actual industry publications. They will be able to see  the process up close with the added bonus of making their own custom sketch book. Next month, seniors will be preparing for industry certification by preparing to take the Adobe Certification Associate exam in Photoshop. We are the only school in both high school and college in NH to offer our students the opportunity to take this exam. It propels students to such a high level of understanding and knowledge, they essentially become qualified, as high school students, to teach Photoshop. Juniors are in the process of learning the basics of graphic design principles utilizing Photoshop to work on projects. They will soon be shifting gears to learn Illustrator, a vector based program. Up ahead will be entries into video editing with Premiere, 3D modeling and animation using 3DS Max and website work using WordPress. As always, industry professionals and colleges come in to speak directly to the Graphic Arts students.

What's Happening in Culinary Arts

Students are currently getting ready for their first “Chef to School” event happening on October 17. For more information on this event click here. Culinary Arts is also pleased to announce its new Loaf & Ladle Club. The club is made up of student volunteers in our culinary program and focuses on catering, but also on serving lunch in our Crimson Cafe. Every Thursday and Friday beginning November 6, the Crimson Café will be open to serve you and your pals lunch from 11-1. The menu will be posted on the Crimson Café door and in our blog each week. This is open to the general public as well. The Loaf & Ladle Club can fulfill all of your catering needs. Submit your order 21 days prior to your event to ensure our students will be able to meet your needs. This service is available Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays with other days available based on the circumstances.

What's Happening in Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice students are off to a fantastic start this year. We've explored the History of Law Enforcement Era from the Pharaohs to present day. We've discussed corruption and identified the skills and characteristics we all need ​to work ethically in today's Criminal Justice field. This week we got our hands dirty as we started a unit on fingerprinting, learning how to roll ink fingerprints from a suspect and compare them with prints we covered at a crime scene.  Next week, we have our first physical fitness test which includes doing push-ups, sit ups, and the 1.5 mile run. Go CJ!

What's Happening in Cosmetology

On October 19, our future professionals will be giving back to our community and walking in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event. This will mark the sixth year “CRIMSON CREATIONS CUTS 4 A CURE” has had a team. Students have been holding open salon nights in order to help raise money and awareness for their team. As of right now, they have reached the halfway mark of their $1,200 fundraising goal. If you would like to donate to this great cause, you can do so here.

What's Happening in Construction

Con Tech I and Con Tech II students attended Construction Career Days in New Boston on Thursday, September 18. More than 60 exhibitors took part with many hands on activities and demonstrations. The students spent the morning learning about the different construction related fields available as potential careers.

Currently, Con Tech I students are learning about safety in the lab and working with power tools like circular saws, table saws and drills. Students are demonstrating their skill as they construct sawhorses they may take home. Con Tech II students are using previously learned skills to construct a two story learning lab where they will demonstrate new skills they will acquire this year.The new skills include hanging and taping sheetrock, installing windows, doors and stairs. Students may come in every Thursday from 3pm to 5pm to receive extra help and to make up absences. This Saturday, students may choose to work on the baseball shed at Memorial Field as a way to hone their new skills.

What's Happening in Automotive

The automotive shop is open and ready for your business! If you are a student, parent, teacher, or affiliated with a school district, bring your car to us! This is a great opportunity for students to experience working on customer vehicles, while offering you quality repairs at affordable prices. We offer oil and filter service, state inspections, tire balancing and rotation, brake system repairs, steering and suspension repairs, and much more! Stop by the Auto Shop or email Scott at smayotte@concordnhschools.net to make your appointment today. Last Monday also marked the start of our automotive internships. We currently have 10 students working at 10 different local garages. Wednesday of last week, after only 3 days at the site, a CRTC student was offered and accepted, an entry level technician job at Banks Chevrolet!

Culinary Institute of America Comes to our Kitchen!

Don’t miss our “Chef to School” kickoff event! Throughout this coming school year you will see our Culinary Arts students teaming up with some of the finest chefs from area businesses and nationally known colleges to prepare gourmet, multi-course meals. This collaboration, “Chef to School”, is sure to be a rewarding experience not only for the students, but for our guests as well! Please join us on Friday, October 17, 7pm in the Crimson Cafe for our first “Chef to School” dinner. As it is our first event, we are offering a discounted admission for a limited time. Hurry seats are going fast!

The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is one of the world’s premier colleges for Culinary Arts. Their chefs will work alongside our students to make a grand, three-course, mouthwatering meal. We will start off with a poached pear and goat cheese salad which will lead the way for a red pepper gnocchi on a bed of spinach. Enjoy a tasty lemon cream tartlet to wrap up the meal. Each student in our culinary program will have the chance to work side by side with one of the CIA’s top chefs gaining expert experience. Our seniors will come back that afternoon to finish the final preparation. Space is limited so be sure to call today to hold your spot!

CRTC Parents & Students	$15	Promotion deadline 10/13
CHS & Sending School Staff	$20	Promotion deadline 10/13
General Public	$20	Promotion deadline 10/13
All seats	$25	After promotional deadlines

To purchase tickets, please e-mail Kaleena Guzman: kguzman@concordnhschools.net or call 603-717-7654 x6044

Our SPUR Process Has Had an Update

Dear CRTC Students and Parent/Guardians:

The CRTC has led the way with regard to competency-based education for the past six years since the advent of our self-created SPUR process.  The SPUR process is the cornerstone of our organization’s focus  to build a system whereby our instructors and related mentors leverage their positive relations with students to provide them with the most impactful, discrete and actionable performance feedback possible. The CRTC’s overall mission is for students to realize their greatest potential and ultimately, be college and career successful.  

Various elements of the SPUR process are covered in our “Compass” Handbook.  At this point, we need to amend the “Compass” with a number of changes for the coming school year including:

• How students earn credits:  This is a very significant change for us that will affect, based on historical data, a relatively small group of students.  Despite our advances in assessment, we still feel a number of students were passing the CRTC without demonstrating they were competent.  These students received detailed feedback to improve, but the system did not hold them accountable to show vital improvement.  Effective immediately, students will be expected to be rated a “3” (competent) out of “5” on ALL hard skill competencies to earn year-end credits.  This change comes with one major caveat: the student MUST have a personal performance target (PPT) of “5” on that competency.  Our PPT model allows teachers to set personalized goals for students.   The performance rating (1-5 scale) when combined with the goal (2-5 scale) determines the grade (as established by the CRTC Conversion Table).  In general when we introduce a concept, the target may be lower (“3”).  Likewise, depending on a student’s learning abilities, the goal may also be lower.  In many cases, the target will eventually reach a “5”; therefore, students receiving a competency performance rating of less than “3” MUST budget the time and energy to improve to earn credits.  This expectation does NOT apply to CRTC Soft Skills.  Of particular note is once a target goes up, the previous grade will be reduced; thus a “3” when the target is a “3” earns a 95; but if the target goes to a “5”, that “3” is now equivalent to a 75.  The 75 is what counts at year-end.  Our focus is not the middle, but the end with regard to college and career readiness.
• Use of Rolling grades and Reassessments (or retakes):  This is another significant change for us.  This change opens the door for students to address areas in need of improvement and if successful in doing so, allows them to discount older (and weaker) grades that are no longer relevant due to performance gains.  Rolling grades basically means when we report grades every quarter, the reporting window will no longer reflect a two or so month stretch of time, but will include all performance data from the first day of the school year to that point in time.  Thus if three hard skill competencies were introduced and rated/graded in Quarter 1 (Q1); four in Q2, and two in Q3, the Q3 report card will cover nine competencies.  If a student earned a 2.5 on a hard skills in Q1 the grade will stick with him/her for the entire year; UNLESS he/she pursues reassessment (and the practice work associated).  If the student improves and raises his/her score to a “4” on the reassessment in Q3, the Q3 report card will count the “4” and not the “2.5”; thus the 2.5 “tells the story”, but is no longer included in the final grade.  In essence, every quarter grade reflects performance for the year.  Again, our focus is not the middle, but the end with regard to college and career readiness.
• Modifications to Conversion Tables: Finally, we made some minor changes to our conversion tables this year.  The most significant is that a “3” in soft skills now converts to an 80.  After working with our industry partners, we adjusted our conversion to better reflect workplace expectations.

We believe these changes will enhance the CRTC and build an environment where students can best meet our motto, “Own Your Education at the CRTC”.  Please feel free to contact with me questions.

Sincerely,

Steve Rothenberg

Director

sroth@concordnhschools.net

603-717-7654