Health & Fitness
Trumbull High School Freshman Wins Anti-Bullying Poster Award
THS freshman Danielle Epstein displayed an award winning poster and several teachers and other students had their accomplishments cited at Tuesday's BoE meeting
Danielle Epstein, a THS freshman, won an award for a poster she created for a competition sponsored by the Center for Women and Families in Bridgeport. Teacher Deb Owen displayed the poster for the Board of Education at Tuesday’s meeting.
Superintendent of Schools Ralph Iassogna congratulated Ms. Epstein, noting that “bullying is an escalating problem nationwide.” It was addressed by a state mandate approved last summer that requires every school district to establish a climate in every building designed to eliminate the problem.
The program was reinforced at a recent “Truth About Hate” assembly put on by THS’s Peer Leaders for all freshmen. Most of the students who attended called it the best assembly ever.
The centerpiece was an open microphone. More than 40 students took it to share stories about being bullied. At an earlier education board meeting Principal Dr. Robert Tremaglio said the administration “sought a community conversation… (yet) the open mic was a lot of risk.”
Board member Lisa Labella said at that meeting that she is concerned because it took this forum to get students to “open up.” She asked what the implications are and “how do we, as a district, mitigate the problems?”
The assembly “hit a nerve,” the superintendent stated. 10% of the students at the assembly spoke, and more would have if time allowed. He said he was “shocked by the openness of the students, but also saw a “sense of unity.” The hope is that students “will now be more careful about the words they use.”
Curriculum Director Dr. Linda Paslov next presented awards to elementary physical education teachers for leading their students in the Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops competition sponsored by the Connecticut Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
Board Chair Steve Wright accepted a plaque recognizing the support of Trumbull’s schools. He said our district was one of the first to join this program - and recalled his children participating in past years.
During its 30 years of participation Trumbull’s elementary schools have raised over one million dollars.
Iassogna recalled the personal gratification he received in 1995, following his open heart surgery. He thanked the teachers, saying “it’s great to have such dedicated teachers going above and beyond.”
Media Specialist Dean Pelligra returned to the board to seek funding to enable the THS Academic Decathlon team to participate in a national competition in Albuquerque from April 25th to April 28th. They won the Connecticut championship and have been invited to the national event.
Academic Decathlon is a competition in which students from high schools nationwide answer questions in eights facets of a single topic. This year’s is The Age of Imperialism: The Making of a European Global Order.
The full group includes 27 students, seven of whom make up the “travel team.” They meet after school to master some 1,000 pages of information about the art, economics, language and literature, math, music, science and social science of the era.
One team member, Annie Lane, helped the cause by creating podcasts of music from the period. And many, Pelligra said, also use social media to hold “virtual studying” sessions.
A final item, one from the prior meeting’s agenda, but needing mentioning is Dine for DECA. The organization, Distributive Education Clubs of America, prepares high school students for careers in business. Several students will travel to Salt Lake City, UT to participate in a national competition from April 28th to May 3rd.
The students raise money to fund their trip. Olde Towne Restaurant is generously supporting DECA by donating 10% of every dollar spent dining in between 4:00PM and 10:00PM on Monday, April 2nd.
Please eat a bit more than your fill to help our DECA students.
