News

‘A Significant Achievement’: New Canaan Students’ Test Scores in Latin Exceed National Average

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In his 21 years of teaching Latin at New Canaan High School, Dave Harvey has never had a regular level class beat the national average on the National Latin Exam. Until now. This year, Harvey’s Latin II class of 23 underclassmen scored 5.2 percent above the national average which is a 26 out of 40 or a 65 percent. “All Latin students in New Canaan Public Schools take the exam starting in at least seventh grade and it progresses in difficulty from year to year,” Harvey said from amid fiesta-style decorations and a Mexican food feast in his classroom, Room 114, during a party to mark the achievement. As Harvey pared his class for the exam over a 12-week period, he proposed a challenge: if the students’ average is above the national average, then he would throw his class a party.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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To help promote the 2015 Books, Blues, and BBQ party to benefit the New Canaan Library, the event’s committee members are encouraging residents to post on the library’s Facebook page photos of themselves wearing a favorite cowboy hat. “Over the years, cowboy attire has become associated with this important fundraising event,” Holly Parmelee, committee co-chairperson, said in a press release. “It is common that party-goers come decked out in cowboy hats and boots. So we thought it would be fun to encourage community members to show their support for the library and the event by posting a photo of themselves wearing their favorite cowboy hat.” See the gallery above for some familiar faces around town that are already participating. ***

Some disturbing news here: We’re hearing that some residents of Spring Water Lane last Wednesday discovered ‘#WhiteLivesMatter’ flyers, in Zip-loc bags and weighed down with rocks, on top of their mailboxes.

News

‘Factum Est’: Generous Offer Has New-Look NCHS Teacher David Harvey ‘Pink’ for a Full Week

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Many New Canaanites by now have heard about New Canaan High School Latin teacher David Harvey’s plan to attend school Friday with his hair dyed pink. An incentive for a fundraising effort that will benefit a summer camp for kids who have cancer or who have had cancer, the deal was that if an extracurricular club dedicated to Camp Rising Sun could raise more than $200, Harvey would come to school with pink-dyed hair on Friday. (They raised $279.66.)

It’s an especially meaningful effort for Rising to the Cure Club founder Olivia Park, a 17-year-old NCHS senior who has attended the camp in Colchester, Conn. every year since she was seven, the summer after she was diagnosed with a tissue cancer (she has been in remission for 10 years). Hearing the story, town resident and local builder Arnold Karp decided to step up and encourage the club to exceed its original goal: He’s offering a dollar-for-dollar match for any additional funds, up to $1,000, that Olivia and the others can raise through next Friday.