By Elizabeth Gillingham | Patrick Henry High School News
‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’
PHHS Player’s Club is proud to announce their upcoming production of Dale Wasserman’s, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” which will be presented Oct. 24–26 at 6 p.m. in PHAME! Tickets are $5 at the door.
The play is based on the book by Ken Kesey. This comedic-dramatic play is about a charming rogue who contrives to serve a short sentence in an airy mental institution rather than in a prison. This, he learns, was a mistake. He clashes with the head nurse while taking over the yard and accomplishes what the medical profession has been unable to do for 12 years; he makes a presumed deaf and dumb inmate talk. He leads others out of introversion, stages a revolt so that they can see the World Series on television, and arranges for a rollicking midnight party.
Come see our cast in this mature production: Noah Howard, Ryan Zook, Gavin Ayers, Logan Aviles-Davis, Keira Olive, Colby Koo, Justin Starr, Alex Aguilar, Olivia Newell, Andrew Minjares, Maya Dixon, KC Anderson, Sierra Taylor, Izaiah Newsom, Kella Smith, Nina Breister, Emily Nguyen, Zander Johnson, Kassandra Alduenda, Bella Havens, Ally Manderville, Maggie Robinson, Via Ruiz, and Caroline Beail.
__________________________________________
PHHS Student of the Month
Senior Madison Simmons was nominated for the Kiwanis student of the month and was honored last month at the Kiwanis Breakfast. Vice Principal Jennifer Pacofsky accompanied Simmons and her family and she presented to the club why she was selected.
“We chose Maddie for being an amazing student and athlete (she plays softball and is the leader of the girl’s golf team), but she is an even better person,” Mrs. Pacofsky stated. “I have had the pleasure of working with Maddie for the last four years and I have seen her evolve into a mature, well-spoken and courteous young adult. She is a student that helps others and shows compassion to those in times of need.
“She is eager to be a part of her education and help in the learning process of others. She is an excellent academic model for classmates, using class time well, helping classmates when they need assistance, and asking for clarifications or explanations when something isn’t clear (which her teachers appreciate because she always does it in a tactful way and it helps keep not only them, but the class in general, on track.)
“She has helped in the office where she assisted with answering phones and helping visitors before running off to play softball for Henry. Maddie is also a member of the Henry Link crew. She is a model student and always goes above and beyond her job duties. She enjoys volunteering and will often come in early and help out whenever a helping hand is needed. She is very responsible and can be trusted with any task given to her. The best thing about her is she does it all with a smile and a very welcoming, warm demeanor.”
__________________________________________
New staff members
Every year, we add a few new members to our teaching staff as others take on new jobs across the district or retire. This year, we welcomed a small number in several key areas around the campus.
Samson Pak is our new school police officer and comes with lots of experience after serving with the El Cajon Sheriff’s Division and later as a campus police officer at Madison High School. He came with high recommendations from everyone who worked him and has already impressed the students with his presence on our campus.
Our nursing office has had a clean sweep in changes, as both Nurse Kathy Ryan and our health tech, Jessica Pearson, took new assignments in the district. Replacing them, we added two nurses: Lynn Vogelgesang (full-time) and Amy Berwind (part-time) and one health technician, Sharon Hackett, who will be at Henry two days a week. Vogelgesang retired from the Navy and joined our district to continue working as a nurse and to support others. The nurse’s office has additional support with Nurse Berwind who comes in twice a week to help us with reports, provide preventive measures, and help our students who show up sick.
We also added a new part-time counselor. Erik Gonzales joined our team this year and will serve students whose last name begins with the letters Nears-Rion. Gonzales has been in the district as a campus security support at Serra High School until he finished his counseling license and became a counselor at Serra High School as well. We are thrilled to add him to our team as he also has a welcoming and calm demeanor that fits well with our teaching staff.
We have also added a few teachers in several different areas. In science, we were able to add a part-time biology teacher, with Akeya Del Aguia, and a full-time chemistry and physics teacher with Mr. Kevin Trombley. Del Aguia just completed her credential and is starting her career with us at Henry. Trombley transferred from Serra High School and enjoying the students and staff who have welcomed him to his new assignment.
Tricia Tigli replaced Mrs. Malphurs, who moved to Japan. Tigli is our new French teacher, who comes with much experience as she is a native French speaker and can bring the Parisian culture into her teaching.
Shanika McCarty joined Henry halfway through the year when a teacher left for personal reasons. When an opening in the English department came up, she was a quick call to join on team on a full-time basis.
__________________________________________
PHHS seniors excel
Patrick Henry High School seniors Sarah Kosic, Nhi Nguyen, and Maya Rozenshteyn have won the prestigious 2018 SWENext Club Challenge, a national competition put on by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). They will be honored at the annual SWE national conference held in Minneapolis, Minnesota Oct. 17–21.
To win the Club Challenge, Kosic, Nguyen, and Rozenshteyn put together a poster and a video describing Stephanie Kwolek, a chemical engineer who revolutionized the fiber industry though her invention of Kevlar (a synthetic fiber stronger than steel which can be used for military equipment, bulletproof vests, long distance ocean cables, suspension bridges, athletic equipment, and more — helping save countless lives). Their video also included a demonstration of the properties of chemical polarity. The video can be found at tinyurl.com/phhsswevideo. They would like to thank their AP Chemistry teacher, Mr. Kiffe, for introducing them to the experiment that was used in the video.
SWE is an international nonprofit organization that supports women in engineering. SWENext is SWE’s program for girls 18 and under to get involved in the organization, learn more about engineering, and receive access to resources that support their interest in engineering. For more information about SWENext, visit bit.ly/1Czrf5e. For more information about the Society of Women Engineers, visit swe.org. For more information about the PHHS SWE Club, visit tinyurl.com/phhssweclub.
__________________________________________
Open enrollment for SDUSD
Schools in San Diego Unified School District may enroll pupils who do not live in the neighborhood through the School Choice process. The Choice application period for school year 2019-20 will be from Monday, Oct. 1 through Tuesday, Nov. 13.
Choice applications to any Henry cluster school should be submitted at this time for:
- Incoming TK/K sibling of current Choice pupil.
- Child of any employee at our school who is interested in having their child(ren) attend any school in the Henry high school cluster.
- Currently enrolled students who have recently moved, or will be moving out of our neighborhood but would like to continue enrollment at our school.
- Currently enrolled magnet pupils who wish to articulate to the next level magnet program.
- Students originally enrolled via Choice as SDUSD residents, who have moved, or are planning to move outside of the SDUSD boundaries into a different school district (Poway, La Mesa/Spring Valley, Chula Vista, etc.).
- Students whose parents are interested in transitioning from a different school into ours.
Choice applications are not necessary for resident students, or students already accepted to our school via Choice who currently reside in the SDUSD boundaries.
If you know of any family that may be interested in our school, please invite them to attend a school’s tour. PHHS host tours are on the first Wednesdays of every month. For more information about our schools, please view any school’s website.
The 2018-19 Enrollment Options applications may be submitted online at sandiegounified.org/apply. For personal assistance, contact or visit the Family Welcome and Enrollment Center located at our district headquarters at the Eugene Brucker Education Center, 4100 Normal St., Annex 12, San Diego, 92103. Questions regarding the choice process may be directed to 619-260-2410. The center is open to the public Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
__________________________________________
College information from our counseling team
College applications have opened up. Seniors interested in applying to four-year universities should be actively applying to campuses now!
Below are three links for three different university systems. On Thursday, Oct. 18, Patrick Henry counselors will be hosting a senior college application student and parent meeting at 5:30 p.m. in our PHAME building. The meeting will go over specific university systems as well as applications. Everyone is welcome to attend and it’s free!
CSU application: Open Oct. 1; deadline Nov. 30. Application can be found at www2.calstate.edu/apply.
UC application: Has opened; deadline Nov. 30. Application can be found at bit.ly/1g1spMA
Common Application: Has opened; deadlines on various dates. Application can be found at commonapp.org.
—Elizabeth Gillingham is principal of Patrick Henry High School.
