Kestyn Ritchotte of Northwood was named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She is at ODU’s College of Health Sciences.

Congratulations Kestyn!

Northwood Candidates Night

Candidates Night will be held at the Northwood Town Hall Wednesday, February 19,  at 7 p.m., at the Northwood Town Hall.  All candidates for office are invited. The public is encouraged to attend. Refreshments will be served.

Snowmobile Poker Run

Suncook Valley Sno-Riders 3rd Annual Poker Run.

Saturday February 22nd, 2014 Registration 10:00am-12:00 noon

Starting at PYBA field on Tilton Hill Rd in Pittsfield.

Accessible by Sled or vehicle. Come play a hand or two and join the fun!

If you have questions, call Laura 435-8729.

Coe- Brown Students Recognized For

2014 Scholastic Writing Awards

A number of Coe-Brown Northwood Academy students were recently recognized by the National Writing Project in New Hampshire through The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. This is a remarkable achievement and milestone for young writers at CBNA who were mentored by English department faculty.  A panel of writers, teachers, and literary professionals selected their work as being among the best works submitted by New Hampshire teenagers. Students are judged against other entries in the following categories: fiction, flash fiction, poetry, personal narratives, persuasive essays, humor, science fiction and fantasy.  Of the more than 300 submissions to The Scholastic Writing Awards which New Hampshire students sent this year, the following students from CBNA were honored:

• Gold Keys— Nicole Durell (Barrington), Caroline Lavioe (Barrington), Jake Scarponi (Barrington)

• Silver Keys—Summer Barnes (Strafford), Kayla Cates (Barrington), Sophia Chartier (Nottingham), Abigail Devaney (Northwood), Samuel Fortier (Strafford) (3), Megan Leduke (Northwood), Kristina Seavey (Northwood), Kelsey Wallace (Strafford) (2), Kylee West (Northwood)

• Honorable Mentions – Kira Cameron (Barrington), Kayla Cates (Barrington), Christie Clause (Barrington) (2), Claire Hammond (Nottingham), Morgan Labrecque (Strafford), Catie Langdon (Barrington), Megan Leduke (Northwood), Becca Masison (Northwood), Brihanna Neily (Strafford), Zack Pine (Strafford), Alli Pratt (Northwood), Tanner Richards (Strafford), Jake Scarponi (Barrington), Kristina Seavey (Nottingham), Lilygrace York (Ctr. Strafford)

On Friday, May 9, 2014, all award recipients, including those whose work was selected as honorable mention, will be invited to attend the NH regional awards ceremony to be held at Plymouth State University. In addition, every piece of writing which received a gold or silver key will be published in this year’s edition of Middle/High School Voices.  Congratulations to this next generation of writers.

Coe-Brown Student Named As 

National Merit Scholarship Finalist

Coe-Brown Northwood Academy is proud to announce that one senior, Erik C Gunderson, has been named as a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Of the 1.4 million juniors from across the United States who took the PSAT test last fall, the qualification process has narrowed down the participants to just 15,000 finalists nationwide. 

From this select group, Mr. Gunderson has earned distinction as a finalist. He is now part of the final round, where he may be named one of 8,200 National Merit Scholarship award winners this spring, sharing in $34 million in scholarships and awards.

Nature Lover’s Hike In The NALMC Neighborhood

Join Ecologist and Master Naturalist Rick Van de Poll Saturday February 22 from 9-12 am at the entrance to Northwood Meadows State Park along Rt. 4 for a winter tour of Northwood Meadow State Park and the northern section of the NALMC neighborhood in search of tracks, dens, scrapes, bone, fungi, lichens, winter crane flies, and whatever else crosses our path! This will be an easy to moderate ramble and we’ll follow well-used trails on snowshoes (if required), and do a little bushwhacking across Meadow Pond and assorted open wetlands. The focus will be on winter mammal track and sign, as well as the general ecology of this remarkably pristine upper Lamprey River watershed area. Be sure to bring plenty of layers, water, and snacks! 

For more information contact: Carl Wallman – 435-5209 or Maryalice Fischer – 664-5097.

Northwood School 2nd Quarter  Honor Roll

5th Gr. High Honors

Jennifer Bettencourt, Adrianna Bingham, Joshua Bowers, Amelia Brackett, Addison Cox, Gabrielle Critchett, Porter Heigis, Liam Jozokos, Shelby Lefoley, Emma Pinard, Brenna Roy

5th Gr. Honors

Edward Bailey, Kaden Beliveau, Aaron Bono, Peter Burgess, Tyler Hartford, John Levitow III, William Moehlmann, Benjamin Peverly, Jacob Phinney, Andrew Quaglia, Angelina Rene, Darin Sweet, Luke Tkaczyk, Caitlyn van Gerena

6th Gr. High Honors

Hunter Adams, Katherine Blake, Benjamin Brieger, Matthew Davis, Evan Lentz, Mary Thoms

6th Gr. Honors

Jaden Boulanger, Brianna Burke, Makayla DeButts, Hailie Holland, Scott Ireland, Brianna Jackson, Victoria Johnston, Sophie Laird, Ethan Meeker, Patrick Murray, Kendall Nester, Ryan Nester, Eli Pinard, Jacob Shutt, Mark Sommer, Morgan Tatem, Elijah Tomlinson-Burrell, Paige Valli, Samantha Welch, Isaac Wells

7th Gr. High Honors

Elijah Allen, Braelin Ash, Clayton Canfield, Olivia Farrar, Jonathan Moehlmann, Jacob Rich, Emma Tobbe, Megan Wimsatt

7th Gr. Honors

Rebecca Bailey, Derek Capo, Dylan DeTrude, Alivia DiPrizio, Dylan Harlow, Sarah Jensen, Madelynn Kenney, Nicolas LaMontagne, Cooper Leduke, Mary Lee, Lillian Marie, Lucas McCusker, Carly Ramsey, Zachery Sheehan, Emily van Gerena

8th Grade High Honors

Emily Cunningham, Hannah Halka, Ahna McCusker, Kayla Pollak

8th Grade Honors

Taylor Bettencourt, Nicole Carter, MaKenna Iller, Brady Johnson, Kassandra Lavoie, Emily Lentz, Michaela McAllister, Stephanie Messina, Aiyana Rollins, Julia Sommer, Scott Spenard

Northwood Recreation Update

Kid’s Ice Fishing Derby - Northwood Recreation is holding our Annual Kids Ice Fishing Derby.  The Derby will be held on Harvey Lake from 8:00 AM to noon on Saturday, February 22nd. 

This event is open to all children 15 years and younger.  Children do not need a fishing license.  Adults are welcome to fish, but must be licensed to fish in the State of New Hampshire.  Prizes will be given to children 15 and under in a variety of categories including first fish. 

Please bring your ice fishing gear.  If you are not an avid ice fisherman, the Recreation Department will be providing some tip-ups and bait for those who would like to try something new. 

The cost is $2.00 per child or $5.00 per family.  Hot beverages and snacks will be available for purchase. 

Parking is available at the Northwood Congregational Church. 

Registration in advance is not required.  Contact the Northwood Recreation Department at 942-5586 x209 or by e-mail at [email protected] for additional information.

Letter To The Editor

Full Day Kindergarten?

Is more kindergarten better for children? Northwood citizens are being asked in a Warrant Article to expand kindergarten from half a day to a full day.

This question has been dealt with in a major study by  Rand Education, with support from the Ford and Rockefeller foundations. The full text of the study report is available on several prominent education websites.  “School Readiness, Full-Day Kindergarten, and Student Achievement” looked at the progress of thousands of students over the course of their kindergarten to fifth grade years.  In addition, the scholars reviewed the research of others. 

They came to the following conclusions:

Math and Reading: “There was no evidence that full-day kindergarten participation enhanced mathematics and reading achievement.” In fact, a “full-day program may not enhance achievement and may actually be associated with poorer mathematics performance.”

Behavior: “Children who participated in a full-day kindergarten program demonstrated poorer dispositions toward learning, lower self-control, and poorer interpersonal skills than children in part-day programs.”

Social Readiness: “Full-day kindergarten programs may actually be detrimental to the development of nonacademic readiness skills.”

Stress: Children in full-day programs were more likely to suffer from the “presence of anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem, and sadness.”

Other Studies: “There appears to be growing evidence that attendance in full-day kindergarten programs is not associated with long-term academic benefits.”

Cost/Benefit:  Because of “the lack of enduring benefits and the potentially negative impact on nonacademic skills,” there is no evidence that full-day kindergartens “merit the costs associated with their implementation.”

Michael Faiella

Northwood

Letter To The Editor

A school board member’s recent letter incorrectly correlated the town of Northwood’s fund balance with our school’s fund balance. A town’s fund balance is the difference between its assets and liabilities. However, one large asset in most towns is the amount of overdue property taxes still outstanding, which schools do not have.  

In 2013 Northwood’s total tax rate was $24.49. The school tax represented 79% of this total ($19.31) while the town was only 17% ($4.09). The balance of 4% was our county tax at $1.09. Our school taxes represent more than four times our town tax. 

The school budget is close to $12 million while the town is only about $3 million. Last year our school board voted to put $218,000 into reserves, rather than returning those excess funds to the town to reduce property taxes.  

Northwood still has one of the highest “full-value” tax rates in Rockingham County, while being one of the poorest. The school board’s proposal to increase school taxes even more by establishing possible emergency accounts is not necessary. Previously schools would hold special meetings to raise funds when they needed it rather than raising taxes in case there was an emergency. 

The letter stated the school board “presented a budget for next year with great pride that is $364K less than this year’s budget”. However, it failed to mention that the majority of that decrease is due to a dramatic drop in the number of 8th grade students graduating and going into Coe Brown. 

The completed November 2013 SAU#44 Special Education Study contains several recommendations that can save the school district and Northwood taxpayers thousands of dollars. Hopefully our school board will not get bogged down with “analysis paralysis” and implement the best practices from that study sooner rather than later. 

Sincerely,

Jim Hadley

Jane (Dalrymple) Labaro

Jane (Dalrymple) Labaro, 66, of Las Vegas, NV passed away peacefully surrounded by family and loved ones.

Jane resided in Portsmouth, NH where she attended Sherburne Elementary. Her family then moved to Northwood, NH where she attended Brookside and Ridge Elementary schools, later graduating Coe-Brown Northwood Academy class of 1965. After marrying she and her family moved to Oklahoma, later settling in Las Vegas where Jane worked at the Las Vegas Airport until retiring. She was born July 7, 1947 at Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, ME. She was predeceased by her paternal grandparents: Dr. Alfred Dalrymple and Dr. Ada (Whitemore) Dalrymple, her maternal grandparents: John J. Henson and Ruth Henson, parents James Dalrymple, Sr. and Marion Dalrymple and brother Dr. James Dalrymple, Jr. 

Jane is survived by her husband, Raeve Labaro, five children: David, Jill, Anne, Robin and Mariel; seven grandchildren:  Samantha, Tony, Hollie, Audrey, Brendan, Stevie and Nicholas, two greatgrandchildren, Adyn and Alec, brother Alfred Dalrymple and sister Diane Robinson.

Jane was a wonderful sister, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and wife. She loved to cook, had a keen sense of humor and was a kind and generous person.

Funeral services were held at the Davis Funeral home with the burial following at the Southern Nevada Veteran’s Memorial Cemetary in Boulder City, NV. To sign Jane’s guest book go to: www.reviewjournal.com/obituaries