On Friday, students enjoyed a day in NYC experiencing Chinese Culture with Mr. Wang. It was the eve of the Chinese New Year, the year of the dragon, and unfortunately, there were no street performances. Yet, the weather was beautiful, and we had a great time visiting a Buddhist temple, trying different cuisines and boba teas, as well as shopping at art and craft stores that display culturally rich products from China. Special thanks to Ms. Stephanie Chen, who knows the place so well, and who has made our trip so much more enjoyable. Happy new year everyone! May the year of the dragon bring a lot of luck and happiness to all.

Students have been studying the impact of technology and science in the USA and in the Spanish-speaking world.  One of the tools for students to be able to communicate ideas about this futuristic thinking is the different grammar structures of the future tense in Spanish. After a week of conjugating, answering questions and writing in the unit packet, it was time for students to practice the future in some real contexts such as the following: reading the horoscope from a Spanish newspaper, practicing with a fortune teller made of paper, and pretending to read the future with a ball as a professional fortune teller.  Students used euros to pay for the service. Students talked in Spanish throughout the class. Who said that it wasn’t possible to speak in Spanish for 30 minutes ?
 
By Adivino: Sr. Vazquez

This past weekend, I hope you were able to enjoy the fabulous talents of our students. Under the direction of Kristine Pekar, it was a truly an entertaining show!  Between the props, singing, dancing, and the music... it was a professional, amazing and  wonderful performance by all.

The Old Lyme Players debuted their 2024 Musical, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Thursday night to a packed house. Set in the 1920s, Nice Work If You Can Get It is the story of charming and wealthy playboy Jimmy Winter, who meets rough female bootlegger Billie Bendix the weekend of his wedding. Jimmy, who has been married three (or is it four?) times before, is preparing to marry Eileen Evergreen, a self-obsessed modern dancer. "Nice Work If You Can Get It" was originated at the Goodspeed Opera House by Joe DiPietro and opened on Broadway in 2012 featuring a music score by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. 

​Sienna Bari created this amazing art for the English department’s bulletin board promoting  reading. Based on Sienna’s artwork, reading does indeed light up the mind. Blackout poetry and book overviews were created by Ms. Baklik, Ms. Carbone, and Mrs. Cleveland’s classes. 

At Friday's Regional Competition, LOLHS' Mock Trial team won both trials! The are  advancing to the round of 8! Once again, the team won accolades from the judges indicating how impressed they were with their presentation and their ability to think on their feet. They continue to represent LOLHS proudly. The round of eight will be on March 8th in Middletown.

 By: Sr. Vazquez & Emma
On Wednesday, January 3rd, we were so fortunate to have a former LOLHS and Spanish Honor Society member present for us as a guest speaker.
Emma Bass is currently a senior studying Biomedical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. While in Ecuador, she was able to work with an organization called PRIMOK that teaches English to students in the Cañar Province of Ecuador. Her team was able to collect some of the indigenous legends and stories of the Kañari people in order to translate them into English. They condensed the legends into smaller picture booklets and scaled them for each of PRIMOK's four learning levels. Currently, their booklets are now published in Ecuador and are being used in eight schools around the Cañar Province (with hopefully more in the future)! Getting to explore Ecuador and learn more about its beauty and culture was definitely a life-changing experience for Emma, and she hopes to be able to go back and visit soon.
We were very fortunate to have Emma share such a great experience and encourage our students to do the same before, during or after college. Good luck with everything Emma!

The Spanish Honor Society is holding a supply drive in collaboration with Safe Futures out of New London. Please consider donating teen toiletries (body wash, face cleaner, chapstick, lip stick, deodorant), sanitary supplies (pads and tampons), or household cleaning supplies (dishwashing liquid, all purpose cleaner, paper towels, sponges). Bins will be distributed to homeroom teachers to collect products between February 5 to February 16. Any help goes a long way, so please consider donating! Linked below is more information on Safe Futures.
https://safefuturesct.org/