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Hudson~Litchfield News


Volume 21 Number 8 September 10, 2010 18 Pages at 2010 Thespian Festival Alvirne Showcased


submitted by Maureen Gillum Twenty-three Alvirne High School students and five chaperones traveled from Hudson to the University of Nebraska- Lincoln to experience the International Thespian Festival 2010 this summer. AHS’ Class Act Thespian Troupe #6986 joined more than 2,500 other dramatis personae at “Festival” to thoroughly celebrate excellence, on stage and off, from June 21-26. Festival is a showcase of nearly 50 performances by high school students worldwide. It is six long days packed with learning workshops on every aspect of theatre, including acting, playwriting, singing, scene-building, choreography, and tech production. For upperclassmen, it is a


wonderful forum to explore college options and audition for admission and scholarships. Most of all, it is a massive celebration of


excellence—the best of high school theatre in the United States and around the world. “This is the Super


Bowl of High School theatre,” explained a graduating senior from AHS Class Act. “It is a lot of work and a total blast!”


“Nebraska was amazing!” AHS Class Act’s Wiley and the Hairy Man at the 2010 Tespian Festival in Nebraska


enthusiastically shared AHS thespian Jordan McAdam, “There was so much to do with classes, performances, and lots of people from all over.” From their


performance at the New Hampshire


Theatre Conference at University of New Hampshire-Durham on January 9, Alvirne’s Class Act Thespian Troupe #6986 landed among the top five percent invited by the Educational Theatre Association (www.edta.org), out of more than 250 high schools, to perform in the Chapter Select Showcase. It was a great honor and exciting opportunity for AHS Class Act to be selected as one of only 15 shows in the country to perform at this festival showcase.


Shortly after the NH conference, the cast and crew of Wiley also thoroughly enchanted many of Hudson’s younger students in a local run around Hudson’s elementary schools. While the younger


continued to page 12- Thespian Festival


Left: Class Act Tespian Troupe #6986 heads to the 2010 Tespian Festival in Nebraska


Steve Noel: Hudson’s Own Music Man


by Doug Robinson I measure four inches in diameter, and I can enunciate 21 musical notes. I am not a keyboard or a piano. I can make music loud enough to give a crescendo, and I can harmonize in six tones. I can also hold a note as long as you can push your breath. There are no teachers who teach me. If you want to learn me, then you need to find another who has taken the time and patience to learn me. What am I? Such is the story of harmonica virtuoso and local resident Steve Noel of Hudson. Holding three harmonicas in one hand and two harmonicas in the other, Steve’s face becomes alive when he speaks about his love—the harmonica. “I owe it to my brother, Peter [Nooka] Noel, who got me into playing the harmonica. I remember stealing his harmonica when I was about 10 years old,” recalled Steve, “and I have not put it down since.”


Born and raised in Hudson, Steve also


plays the guitar, and in high school, he played the trombone. Like most musicians, Steve played for


years, and then put the instruments down, only to pick them up again. “There wasn’t anyone who could teach the harmonica when I was a kid and I still do not know of any harmonica teachers. I have always been a big fan of Bob Dylan, as he played


bluegrass, and rock and roll.” According to www.celticguitarmusic. com, the story of the harmonica begins with the Chinese Emperor Nyn-Kwya, who in 3000 BC invented a free-reed instrument called the “sheng” (sublime voice), which is considered the forerunner of the modern harmonica. The sheng was brought to Europe in the 18th century, where the idea of the free-reed principle was used in the creation of the reed organ, the accordion, the concertina, the saxophone, and the harmonica.


Steve Noel displays his technique for the holding of many harmonicas when he plays


the harmonica. I also have been a fan of Paul Butterfield and J. Geils. Playing the harmonica takes a lot of patience.” Steve recalled that he really came into


his own with the harmonica during his duty days aboard the U.S.S. Nimitz between 1975-1979. “The ship was a melting pot of musicians. There were lots of country musicians and the ship was a common ground for us to learn from each other. learned more in-depth blues, country,


I


In 1821, it is told that 16-year-old Christian Friedrich Buschmann registered the first European patents for his new musical invention. His so-called ‘aura’ was a free-reed instrument consisting of a series of steel reeds arranged together horizontally in small channels. It offered only blow notes arranged chromatically, states the History of the Harmonica. The harmonica spread all over Germany, and with the mass emigration of Germans in the latter half of the 19th century, all over the world. By the time of the American Civil War, the harmonica was well established in the United States, and many soldiers on both sides played them. At first, the repertory in this country for harmonica consisted of folk continued to page 10- Steve Noel


New Truancy Policy Emphasizes Success, Targets a One-Percent Dropout Rate


Hudson’s


by Maureen Gillum This is the first of two articles addressing the changes in Hudson’s new district-wide school attendance policy. Part one provides an overview of the issues, implementation, and objectives of Hudson’s new truancy policy, primarily based on an in-depth interview on September 3 with Superintendent Randy Bell and Drop Out Task Force (DOTF) co-chairs Laura Bisson, Hudson School Board; and Irene Sousa, Director of Special Services. In the Hudson~Litchfield News September 24 edition, part two of this important series will offer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the new policy, largely driven from initial community input and questions, to promote conversation and understanding of these controversial and transforming changes.


Last week, the parents of more than 4,000 children attending Hudson public schools received a letter from Superintendent Randy Bell outlining the new and stricter district-wide attendance policy. In essence, the School Board’s policy now defines truancy as five days (or 10 half-days) of unexcused absences, instead of the 20 previously allowed. Further, the policy defines “excused” and “unexcused” absences, includes a five-day documentation provision, and provides a series of stepped interventions, as later highlighted and fully detailed on the Hudson SAU 81’s Website (www.sau81.org). Like it or not, the new policy is largely mandated by state laws (e.g., HB 154, RSA 193:1) and backed by major education initiatives at the national level. The clear message of the District’s new truancy policy is that school attendance is critical to successful school performance. By ensuring that students are “in school and learning,” the policy emphasizes the importance and value of education. “This isn’t aimed at the majority of Hudson families who take attendance seriously. Principally, we are addressing the minority of at-risk students and habitual offenders who are too frequently absent and tardy,” explained Superintendent Bell. As he emphasized at a recent School Board meeting, “If parents can get the students there, we will be sure that we do all we need to do to educate them.” Attendance also directly correlates to a long-standing issue Bell is passionate about: Hudson’s higher-than-state- average (6.7 percent) dropout rate (DOR) of 8.9 percent (2008-2009). While Hudson’s DOR is down from its high of


15.4 percent (state average: 12.2 percent) in 2006-2007 – largely because the legal age to drop out in New Hampshire went from 16 to 18 and GED/ alternative education programs are now counted – it is still too high. The severity and tremendous costs – human and financial – of the U.S. dropout crisis is astounding. Roughly 1.3 million U.S. high school students drop out every year; typically, some 40 Hudson students don’t graduate annually. This silent epidemic takes a huge toll: high school dropouts face up to two times higher unemployment rates; far lower earnings ($9,600 less annually than high school grads; about one- third of college grads); higher incarceration rates (up to eight times); more teen pregnancies, and shorter life spans, according to the Alliance for Excellent Education. The Alliance also estimated if male graduation rates increased by only five percent, the nation would see an annual savings of $4.9 billion in crime- related costs alone (2006). Such statistics validate former Harvard University president Derek Bok’s declaration: “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” America’s Promise Alliance


(www.americaspromise.org), a education advocacy group led by General Colin Powell, announced “Grad Nation” (March 2010), a 10-year campaign to battle the dropout crisis. Powell deemed the crisis “a moral catastrophe,” as well as an “economic” and “security problem” that “we all pay for.” The campaign’s ambitious goals are to raise the current rate of fourth- graders graduating from high school on time from 70 percent to 90 percent, and help America become the world leader in proportion of college graduates by 2020. Grad Nation plans to focus on the 12 percent of U.S. high schools that produce half of the nation’s dropouts. Backing this, President Obama recently announced $900 million in government grants to assist underperforming schools. Closer to home,


Superintendent Bell initiated Hudson’s DOTF (January 2010), when he asked Irene Sousa, Hudson’s Director of Special Services; and Laura Bisson, Hudson School Board Representative, to champion the cause as committee co-chairs. Mary Ellen Ormond, Associate Superintendent, provided the DOTF “invaluable structure and focus” through extensive Project Management. Soon, more than 20 staff members, representing all five Hudson schools and functional cross- Truancy- continued to page 9


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