Franklin High School Celebrates Student Success

Superintendent Lucas Giguere, Assistant Superintendent Tina Rogers, and Principal Maria Weber are thrilled to share Franklin High School students' success.

From the classroom to the performance stage and on the athletic fields, Franklin High School students succeeded in academics, athletics, clubs, extracurriculars, and in the community.

"We are continually impressed with our students' dedication and determination," Superintendent Giguere said. "They work extremely hard and constantly exceed the day-to-day requirements expected of them. We are thrilled to celebrate their success stories."

Some of the highlights over the last few months at Franklin High School include the following:

Academics

Forty-seven Franklin High School students have either earned the Seal of Biliteracy or are in line to earn it when they graduate. The award recognizes students who have studied and attained proficiency in two or more languages by graduation. Last year, four Franklin High students were awarded college credit for earning the Seal. 

Poetry Out Loud

More than a dozen Franklin High School students participated in a Poetry Out Loud competition on Thursday, Jan. 23. Students recited two poems from memory during two rounds of competition. Senior Ella Mahoney won the competition and plans to move forward and compete at districts at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts on Sunday, March 9, at 1 p.m. For the next round of the competition, she must select a third poem from the Poetry Out Loud website to memorize. Sophomore Abigail Schmellick came in second place and will serve as a backup to Ella for districts.

Athletics

Franklin High School Athletics teams celebrated several successes in the fall 2024 season, including a Massachusetts School Administrators' Association Div. 1 2024 Fall Cheerleading State Championship. The Cheerleading team will compete at the national level this spring.

MIAA coaches

Three Franklin High School coaches received MIAA 2023-24 Coach of the Year awards: Boys Basketball coach CJ Neely, Unified Track coach Lisa Burger, and former Boys and Girls Swim coach Jess Pridham. 

DECA

The Franklin High School DECA Chapter participated in the regional Massachusetts DECA District Two Conference on Jan. 9 and 10 in Mansfield.

DECA Chapter

On Jan. 9, over 100 Franklin students competed in the Written Event, facing intense competition from more than 700 students across various districts, all vying for the top five spots in each category. Franklin advanced one individual and 14 teams to the next stage.

On Jan. 10, Franklin High School had over 50 students competing in the Role Play Event, which featured over 450 students from other districts, competing for the top five spots in each category. Franklin advanced five individuals and four teams.

DECA Chapter 2

Franklin DECA will proudly send over 50 students to the State Competition, which will take place at the Seaport Boston from Feb. 27 to March 1. The team aspires to advance to the International Career Development Conference in Florida, the pinnacle of DECA competitions.

Visual & Performing Arts

The Franklin High School Theatre Company (FHSTC), directed by Chloe Selznik, performed "The Outsiders" in November.

Birchwood Bakery & Kitchen

Twenty-seven Franklin High School music students have been accepted into the Massachusetts Central District Honor Band, Jazz Band, Chorus, and Orchestra. Eight students placed first chair in their sections. Eighteen of the students scored high enough to be recommended for auditions for the Massachusetts All-State Festival.

Franklin High School music student volunteers performed at various community events to help celebrate the holiday season, including performances at Walmart, Shaw's, and Birchwood Bakery & Kitchen.

In collaboration with the Salvation Army, Franklin High School Chorus members sang Christmas carols at Stop & Shop on two occasions, raising $484 for the cause.

School Committee gets update from Jefferson, on Facility Planning. approves DECA trip (audio)

FM #1142 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1142 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares the Franklin (MA) School Committee meeting held on Jan 23, 2024. The meeting was held in the Council Chambers. 

All 7 members of the Committee were present in Chambers. The meeting started slightly late as the Budget subcommittee meeting prior to this ran late holding up 3 members.

Quick recap:

• FHS student update, Panther Pride night Feb 12; Jan 29 jazz concert at FHS. Course selection underway by class. Tutoring for Spanish offered. Boys and girls playing basketball vs Mansfield; Boys indoor track take KellyRex champ for first time, Sarah Dumas player of week 

• Superintendent Report, thanks to students and families for patience and safety during this winter period, safety utmost. Inclement weather process shared previously, PR firm touting various aspects of the program to share the goodness. Also on schools web page

• Newcomers update, 69 students total; 14 high school, 15 middle, balance at elementary; Interfaith group helping with after school program, library helping with English as second language training

• Slides for the Jefferson update captured via photo album; Getting a sense of "return to normalcy". Good to have the families in the building more frequently (vs COVID period) Thank you all for what you are doing!

• Motion to take the agenda out of order, and get to the DECA trip proposal. About 200 competed and about 100 moved to districts in Boston, approx 50 anticipated to qualify for the CA nationals. Also coordinating with KP, Rehoboth and other MA communities to ensure a good … MA representation. April, week conference, also an opportunity to visit Disney as part of DECA organization; Fund raising to alleviate the cost of the trip.  A. DECA International Competition - Recurring Trip I recommend approval of the request of Emily Rosborough to take DECA Student to Anaheim, CA from 4/26/24-5/1/24 to participate in the DECA competition as detailed. Motion second, passes 7-0

• Comprehensive Facilities Planning Update; Lucas presenting, slides will be captured to an album

• Draft of school committee meeting schedule reviewed, could be on next meeting for vote Review of subcommittees, some met some haven't

• Consent agenda, motion to approve, second, passes 7-0

• New business, calendar vote, budget teaser, possible school calendar draft for review also Motion to adjourn, second, passes 7-0

The meeting runs about 1 hour and 55 minutes so let’s listen to the School Committee meeting held on Jan 23, 2024. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1142-franklin-ma-school-cmte-mtg-01-23-24

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Franklin TV video link -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UrUZ9emung 

School Committee page => https://www.franklinps.net/district/school-committee 

Meeting Agenda doc  -> https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/agendas/scagenda_1-23-24.pdf 

Meeting packet folder ->  https://www.franklinps.net/district/meeting-packets/pages/january-23-2024-school-committee-meeting-packet 

Jefferson Elementary highlights -> https://photos.app.goo.gl/tmGGuhBnB3z84jwc9 

Comprehensive School Facility Plan outline ->  https://photos.app.goo.gl/aQCfP2MFdmxHyZ3c7 

My notes in one PDF file -> 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KwqPUeKnJXhqYEzyiy-v7IZi-IfxzAfn/view?usp=drive_link 

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

 

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

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Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

screen grab Facility Planning

School Committee gets update from Jefferson, on Facility Planning. approves DECA trip (video)

the Franklin (MA) School Committee meeting was held as scheduled on Jan 23, 2024. The meeting was held in the Council Chambers. 

All 7 members of the Committee were present in Chambers. The meeting started slightly late as the Budget subcommittee meeting prior to this ran late holding up 3 members.

Quick recap:

• FHS student update, Panther Pride night Feb 12; Jan 29 jazz concert at FHS. Course selection underway by class. Tutoring for Spanish offered. Boys and girls playing basketball vs Mansfield; Boys indoor track take KellyRex champ for first time, Sarah Dumas player of week 

• Superintendent Report, thanks to students and families for patience and safety during this winter period, safety utmost. Inclement weather process shared previously, PR firm touting various aspects of the program to share the goodness. Also on schools web page

• Newcomers update, 69 students total; 14 high school, 15 middle, balance at elementary; Interfaith group helping with after school program, library helping with English as second language training

• Slides for the Jefferson update captured via photo album; Getting a sense of "return to normalcy". Good to have the families in the building more frequently (vs COVID period) Thank you all for what you are doing!

• Motion to take the agenda out of order, and get to the DECA trip proposal. About 200 competed and about 100 moved to districts in Boston, approx 50 anticipated to qualify for the CA nationals. Also coordinating with KP, Rehoboth and other MA communities to ensure a good … MA representation. April, week conference, also an opportunity to visit Disney as part of DECA organization; Fund raising to alleviate the cost of the trip.  A. DECA International Competition - Recurring Trip I recommend approval of the request of Emily Rosborough to take DECA Student to Anaheim, CA from 4/26/24-5/1/24 to participate in the DECA competition as detailed. Motion second, passes 7-0

• Comprehensive Facilities Planning Update; Lucas presenting, slides will be captured to an album

• Draft of school committee meeting schedule reviewed, could be on next meeting for vote Review of subcommittees, some met some haven't

• Consent agenda, motion to approve, second, passes 7-0

• New business, calendar vote, budget teaser, possible school calendar draft for review also

• Motion to adjourn, second, passes 7-0

Franklin TV video link -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UrUZ9emung 

School Committee page => https://www.franklinps.net/district/school-committee 

Meeting Agenda doc  -> https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/agendas/scagenda_1-23-24.pdf 

Meeting packet folder (some docs are posted after the meeting, supposed to be ready on Wednesday, this is not always the case) ->  https://www.franklinps.net/district/meeting-packets/pages/january-23-2024-school-committee-meeting-packet 

Jefferson Elementary highlights -> https://photos.app.goo.gl/tmGGuhBnB3z84jwc9 

Comprehensive School Facility Plan outline ->  https://photos.app.goo.gl/aQCfP2MFdmxHyZ3c7 

My notes in one PDF file -> 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KwqPUeKnJXhqYEzyiy-v7IZi-IfxzAfn/view?usp=drive_link 

screen grab Facility Planning

Almost half of the FHS DECA competitors qualified for the State Competition in March

Superintendent Lucas Giguere and High School Principal Joshua Hanna are pleased to share that Franklin High School DECA members have qualified for the State Career Development Conference.

Approximately 200 Franklin High DECA members competed at the Massachusetts DECA District Two Conference, which was held on Jan. 4-5 at the Mansfield Envision Hotel. A total of 91 students are now moving on to compete at the State Career Development Conference in Boston this March. 91 students are now moving on to compete at the State Career Development Conference

Students competing at the district conference had to place in the top five in their respective categories in order to qualify for the state conference. Students were recognized for their hard work and efforts in the areas of marketing, community service, finance, hospitality and tourism.

FHS DECA students that were recognized at the district conference include:

** First Place Winners: Tanya Kumar, Jaret Schmidt, Sabrina Tierney, Adithya Balagrumoorthy, Weylan O'Connell, Ajay Gulati, Dheeraaj Prasanna, Jacob St. Amand, Brayden Trask, Shravan Dev

** Second Place Winners: Jordan Gaspar, Tyler Murphy, Seth O'Donnell, Aanya Goel, Victoria Oliveria, Georgia Pellegri, Neha Shah, Tuhina Pal, Siddharth Chandra, Jay Gorgas, Aayush Srinivas, Leena Alshawabkeh, Liana Warnakulasooriya, Ashmita Boopathy, Isabella Trull, Nathan Schlieman, Ritika Gandla, Colin O'Leary, Garrett Scagliarini, Nathan Marinelli, Benjamin Ryan, Ahmad Alkhalaf

** Third Place Winners: Brendan Collins, Braeden Loomis, Jack Yeulinkski, Madhav Menon, Brad Morin, Ahan Shetty, Keaton Cooper, Gavin Warnakulasooriya, Hannah Auerr, Samuel Shoneman, Steven Li, Jake Lorenzo, Ciaran Walshe, Meghan Archung, Abi Cheng, Jake Olmstead, Gianni Pazvakavambwa, Josie Drucker, Emma Pruitt, Connor Houghton

** Fourth Place Winners: Ava Davies, Jenna Simone, Vikram Chakrabhavi, Srinath Dadireddy, Manuel Romero, Owen Munichiello, Aodhfionn Downs, Pranava Ponvinayagan, Rex Cinelli, Ryan Wilson, Zeina Alshawabkeh, Kavya Dave, Haasini Sabbella

** Fifth Place Winners: Maya Abiramia, Samantha Eagerman, Abigail Robillard, Callie Verhaegen, Colton Flaherty, Luke Trinanes, Grace Tucceri, Grace Lacerda, Taylor Lacerda, Ella Mahoney, Richie Popovic, Joe Risi, Liam Lewandowski, Finn Mitchell, Elizabeth Mulvey, Zachary Winer, Katie Dowley, Nina Iannuzzi, Lily Depoto

"I am incredibly proud of all FHS students who have excelled in DECA, earning several awards," said Superintendent Giguere. "Their dedication and achievements reflect the high standards of our school. We wish them the best as they move onto SCDC in March." Find the photos of FHS DECA state qualifiers in this PDF file https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r3p6dpcqMJB_JZc4Jtj7lcgDpB-aEu4G/view?usp=drive_link

Franklin DECA Chapter wins big at the Massachusetts State Career Development Conference

FHS DECA took on the Massachusetts State Career Development Conference (SCDC) this past weekend at the Hynes Convention Center.

Several students placed top 10 in the following categories...

• Integrated Marketing Communication (Event and Product)
• Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making
• Business Growth Plan
• Finance Operations
• Research and Sports & Entertainment Marketing Operations Research

Congratulations to DECA members Sid Chandra, Jay Gorgas and Aayush Srinivas who won the Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research event and to FHS Chapter President Nihara Lijan for winning the Innovation Plan event!

The entire FHS DECA team represented Franklin proudly at the state level. Going forward, 7 students were chosen to compete at the International Career Development Conference in Orlando. 

Congratulations to Sid Chandra, Jay Gorgas, Aayush Srinivas, Nihara Lijan, Jack Hagerty, Kieran Mitchell and Anurag Kavishwar for qualifying!

"I am so incredibly proud of these students. On average, students devote about 10-15 hours per week working on their DECA projects and preparation. These students compete against some of the best students in the state to get to SCDC, so to have 80 students attend, and have so many winners, is a testament to the hard work and efforts of our students. I could not be more proud" said Paul Cadenhead, Franklin DECA club advisor.

Shared from -> https://www.franklinps.net/district/news/franklin-deca-chapter-wins-big-massachusetts-state-career-development-conference

Franklin DECA Chapter wins big at the Massachusetts State Career Development Conference

This year's Franklin High School DECA accomplishments are many!

From the Franklin DECA Twitter account (https://twitter.com/FranklinMA_DECA)   we share the good news as follows:

• A big congrats to our outgoing state officer, Aradhya Garg! Your leadership and guidance for our program has been invaluable. Your advisor can safely say that you have helped me out more times than I can count. We are so proud of you!!
• Congrats to our state officer candidate, Zeina Alshawabkeh, for a wonderfully run campaign and all her hard work and effort. We are so proud of you, as we are every day. You make our DECA chapter a better place and you have a very bright future ahead of you.
• We got our first finalists! Top 10 finishers Ryan Martin, Matt Cacciapaglia, and Sam Munitka. As Stuart Scott used to say, “Winner winner, chicken Parmesan dinner!!”
• Boston ➡️ Sunshine State. Congrats to our winners in IMC-product, Jack Hagerty, Kieran Mitchell and Anurag Kavishwar
• Gimme, gimme, gimme ANOTHER finalist!! Congrats to Aradhya Garg (not pictured) and Max Tobin on placing in Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making!
• El Presidente is heading to Orlando!! Congrats to our chapter president, Nihara Lijan, for winning her event Innovation Plan.
• Antonio Marzoratti and Arav Tyagi get top 10 on Business Growth Plan. We’re gonna need another trophy case!!
• Kavya Dave, Zeina Alshawabkeh, Haasini Sabbella are top 10 finishers in Finance Operations Research. Proud of these ladies!!
• More top 10s! Kelsey Maguire, Jenna Simone (not pictured) and Ava Davies take home medals for sports and entertainment marketing operations research. Kasey Brady and Sabrina Tierney also place top 10 in their event as well (not pictured)
• Sid Chandra, Jay Gorgas, Aayush Srinivas are Florida bound! These gentlemen won their event and qualify for ICDC in April #Booya
• Andrew Colford, Nikki Murali, Taylor Lacerda are top ten finalists in SEOR! Going back to back like Drake, these students are state finalists two years in a row
• Congrats to Brendan Collins for placing top 10 in his event!
• That concludes our SCDC Conference. Your advisors can’t say enough how proud we are of our competitors and how hard they worked to get here this weekend. Whether you advanced to ICDC or not, be proud of yourselves for coming this weekend and competing!

Welcome to awards season

Franklin DECA delivers impressive results at District Conference

Franklin DECA (@FranklinMA_DECA) tweeted on Fri, Jan 06, 2023:

262 students ➡️ 2 days of District Conference. FHS DECA #CRUSHED it at District Conference! We are proud of all of our 262 participants. 

Check out the results ⬇️ https://t.co/Eab2yQpysD

Shared from Twitter -> https://twitter.com/FranklinMA_DECA/status/1611433600020549635

PDF file of the Twitter thread ->   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yC8fYeaFQnRKuQykMQwCwcNVY09ZU7Ji/view?usp=share_link

Last but most impressively, TWENTY FIVE FIRST PLACE WINNERS!!! Congrats to all our participants and we’ll see you in March for State Conference

Pantherbook: interviews with DECA students reveal insights on the business program

Grace Tucceri writes on her interview with Aradhya Garg, elected to a state office for DECA:

"DECA at FHS has reached a new height this year. 87 exceptional students went to States, with 27 state finalists and an additional 24 of them placing in the Top 5, qualifying for the International Career Development Conference. Even more impressive, Aradhya Garg, a junior at FHS, got elected as a state officer for Action Team 64. I interviewed him about the experience and his future goals."

Continue reading the article ->

https://franklinpanthers.us/uncategorized/2022/03/28/student-spotlight-aradhya-garg/

FHS’s very own Aradhya Garg was elected to Mass DECA’s State Action Team 64 this year!

Sofia Smith interviews Abby Auerr and Maya Sankaran to get more info about the DECA State competition: 

"The DECA States competition took place on March 11th this year, with almost 90 Massachusetts teens attending the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

Abby Auerr and Maya Sankaran are two seniors at Franklin High School who attended the competition. The two students both joined DECA this year, and have been quite successful despite having less than a year of experience.

DECA is a non-profit student organization that prepares emerging adults and entrepreneurs in marketing and finance. "

Continue reading the article ->

https://franklinpanthers.us/clubs-activities/2022/04/05/deca-states-teens-experiencing-the-business-world/ 

DECA States: Teens Experiencing the Business World

FHS DECA Students take multiple awards

"Drew Mahoney ('22), Maxwell Voellmicke ('22), Sameen Shaik ('22)- ICDC Qualifiers- Financial Operations Research! Thank you "

 https://twitter.com/FranklinMA_DECA/status/1505326662837313548

"Brendan McCormick ('22), Timothy O'Keefe ('22), Evan Raider ('22)- Top 10 Business Operations Research! 2021 ICDC Qualifiers, 1st Place Districts 2022! Leadership, Character, Consistency. Any team/organization would be well served to include these 3!"

https://twitter.com/FranklinMA_DECA/status/1505323199080316928

"Nihara Lijan (‘23) ICDC Qualifier- Innovation Plan! Shout out to Mr. Bobrowsky on the collab! The power of cross-curricular project based learning on full display!"

https://twitter.com/FranklinMA_DECA/status/1504257957009178624

"Thank you FHS teachers! This experience and level of achievement doesn't happen without your support! "

https://twitter.com/FranklinMA_DECA/status/1504232979035529216

 

Thank you FHS teachers! This experience and level of achievement doesn't happen without your support!

Franklin High School: DECA News

"Congrats to all of our competitors for rocking the state conference! 25 students qualified for Nationals, and 23 more placed in the Top 10!"

Shared from Twitter:  https://twitter.com/FranklinMA_DECA/status/1372938664775454725

Franklin High School: DECA News

Pantherbook: "DECA Engages Future Business Leaders from Home"

From Pantherbook we share the following:  

"Are you interested in business? Want to be an entrepreneur? Do you just want to try something new? Then DECA is just right for you! 

What is DECA? 

DECA stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America. It’s an organization that helps students enter the world of business and get to know more about it. Franklin’s DECA organization appeals to anybody who is interested in any field of business. In DECA, students either create a written project or compete in a role play. Both events require persistence and hard work. The topics for these projects vary from Finance to Entrepreneurship to Sports and Entertainment and more.

“It is not an easy club, but if you put in the effort, then you will succeed and have fun as well!” said Mr. Carmo. Mr. Carmo teaches business and other subjects at FHS and runs DECA as well. "

Continue reading the article on Pantherbook

https://franklinpanthers.us/clubs-activities/2020/10/11/deca-engages-future-business-leaders-from-home/

DECA States 2020 (pantherbook image)