as raider as it gets

QNQ Robotics

At the FIRST Robotics WPI Event Team HYPER, our QNQ Robotics team competed in a field of 36 teams from all over New England.  HYPER did well enough in the Qualification Rounds to be selected to the second seeded alliance.  In the Playoffs, this alliance made it to the finals of the competition, giving HYPER a second place finish, capping a great weekend for the team. 

🌎april: celebrating earth day!!🌎

Earth Day is an annual celebration in the United States that honors the achievements of the environmental movement as well as raises awareness for the need to protect Earth’s natural resources for future generations, practicing sustainability. It’s celebrated on April 22nd in the United States, but other countries will either celebrate on April 22nd or the day the spring equinox occurs. 

The Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, the first organizer of Earth Day, was inspired by environmental activism during the 1960s, so he wanted to create a national celebration to unite the environmental movement. On April 22, 1970, he educated participants on the necessity and importance of environmental conservation. Twenty million people across the United States attended and demonstrated. The event strengthened support for environmental legislation like the Clean Air Act to be strengthened and for the Endangered Species Act to be created. 

Then in 1990, Denis Hayes, a graduate student from Harvard University and one of the people who helped Gaylord Nelson during the first Earth Day, organized a global Earth Day that had over 200 million participants in over 140 countries. Earth Day is now a globally recognized holiday where citizens and activists across the world are brought together to raise awareness and take action in their respective countries regarding environmental concerns like global warming and renewable energy. 

Today, the Earth Day Network (EDN), which has more than 20,000 partners and organizations in over 190 countries, supports the mission statement of Earth Day all year round. Their mission statement is based on the premise that all people, regardless of race, gender, income, or geography, have a moral right to a healthy, sustainable environment. They pursue this mission through education, public policy, reform, and activist campaigns. These campaigns reach more than one billion people every year, which makes them one of the largest public, secular events in the world. 

Earth Day, as well as being an event to increase awareness of environmental problems, is also a way for a community to gather together to clean up litter, plant trees, or simply reflect on the beauty of nature. Here are four ways to improve your local environment!

1. Clean up trash in your neighborhood or local park/beach

• Try going on a walk with a trash bag and help clean up any litter or trash that has accumulated. Maybe you know of a nearby ditch or drainage area that is polluted with trash! You will start to notice just how much pollution there is just in local areas, and don’t forget to recycle! Recycling Plastic Chart

2. Swap out your kitchen and household products

• A popular line of kitchen and household products can be found at Walmart, Amazon, Target, etc. It's called “If You Care”, everything is biodegradable and does not use chemicals or plastic. Their motto is: “We care simply because it’s the right thing to do!” Find a local store with the store locator. 

3. Plant a Tree!

• Trees capture carbon, cool overheated places, benefit agriculture, support pollinators, reduce risk of disease transmission, and boost local economies. You can try reaching out to local government about planting more trees and native garden beds in public spaces, or even consider planting some on your own property! See here for advice on how to plant a new tree

4. Support Pollinators

• If you garden, select the right plants that are pollinator friendly. You can bring in native bees and butterflies into your garden. Here is a list of plants that attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and pollinating bees. 

Sources: National Geographic Earth Day

EPA History: Earth Day

  How to celebrate Earth Day 

~ Avery W.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT CONCERNING ALL NQHS STUDENTS & Families!!! 

click here iMMEDIATELY!!!

Marine Corps Parris Island Band visit NQHS!

North Quincy High School had the honor of hosting the Marine Corps Parris Island Band on Tuesday, March 12th. The Marine Corps Parris Island Band performed in the auditorium for the QNQ Band. The idea to have the Marine Corps Parris Island Band perform first came about when Sergeant Sweeney stopped by NQHS on a surprise visit with two of his command staff, Major Thompson and Master Gunnery Sergeant Snyder. The impressive amount of clubs and programs that both schools - North Quincy and Quincy High - have was mentioned, including the band, and Master Gunnery Sergeant Snyder proposed the idea that they could have the Marine Corps Parris Island Band perform at North, when they just so happened to be on tour. The request was sent to Mr. Gilbert, who approved it quickly.

The first few pieces were conducted by Warrant Officer Mardia Tompo, who serves as the Officer in Charge for the Parris Island Marine Corps Band; and then was handed over to Staff Sergeant Michael Barnett, who serves as the Ceremonial Conductor in the Parris Island Marine Corps Band. To start the performance, North Quincy’s Air Force JROTC did the Presentation of Colors, followed by the NQ Class of 2024’s only Marine Corps Poolee, Chloe Hawco, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. For their final performance, Warrant Officer Tompo handed over the baton to our very own Mr. DeMarco to conduct the band’s performance of “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” 

Amongst the crowd of the QNQ Band was Christine Cugini, the Director of Veteran Affairs for the City of Quincy; accompanied by Mildred Cox, a Marine Corps Veteran who served in World War Two and is turning one hundred years old this year. NQ’s Marine Recruiter, Sergeant Sweeney, also had the pleasure of watching the band perform. Thank you to Mr. Ragusa, Mr. Gilbert, Mr. Cavanaugh, Mr. DeMarco, and - of course - Sergeant Sweeney for making this amazing performance possible!

Interested in finding out more about the United States Marine Corps?

Contact Sergeant Sweeney at 617-320-2655 or read more about him here!

A Winner APP for NQHS Students!

North Quincy students again took home the first prize at the 3rd Annual CGI IT Girls Challenge. Students were tasked with working in a team, developing an idea for an app, and then learning how to use coding and programming software to develop a prototype to present to a panel of professionals. Hannah Moriarty, Alexia Laci, Melani Wijaya and Xuan Mai Ippolito (all NQHS 11th grade students) created FalconFocus, a focus app geared toward high school students and won a $20,000 scholarship for their work and presentation of their work. Last year, current seniors Nichole Chen and Jialin Yu won the competition for the app design and pitch. 

QNQ JAzz gets the gold!

This past weekend, the QNQ Jazz Ensemble directed by Matt Cavanaugh performed in their first ever MAJE State Finals at Norwood High School and brought home GOLD! An outstanding musicianship award was given to sophomore tenor saxophonist Nathan Aronoff. The group will be featured at the MAJE Gold Medal Showcase on May 5th at the Hatch Shell in Boston. Congratulations QNQ Jazz! 💙♥️♥️🎶

Special thank you to Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Tag who came out to see us!

Scholarship Celebration!

NQHS seniors, Sofija Slezas and Vincent Chen, traveled with Mr. Gilbert to the Quincy Neighborhood Club to celebrate their awarding of the Reuban and Lizzie Grossman scholarship. This scholarship was awarded to two seniors who were chosen by Mr. Gilbert for showing their participation in the North Quincy High School community. Two seniors from many high schools in the South Shore area were selected to go to this lunch in and learn about how much the Grossman family has given to the school systems in the South Shore areas. 

~Sofija S

qnq jazz continues to shine!

LAST NIGHT, QNQ JAZZ MADE STATES FINAL FOR FIRST TIME EVER! 

Students in the QNQ Jazz Ensemble are going on to state finals for the first time in our district's history. Groups are only extended an offer to state finals if they receive a gold medal, or a high enough silver medal rating to warrant an invitation. Tonight our students received a high silver with an invitation to state finals! 

Outstanding Musicianship Awards were given to Sophomore Tenor Sax - Nathan Aronoff, Sophomore Bassist - Dave Jean-Philippe , and Senior Vibraphonist - Lyna Dang. 

We are so proud of our students’ dedication to the medium and art form of Jazz in the Quincy Public Schools. 

On to state finals on Saturday March 16th at Norwood High School!

Congratulations QNQ Colorguard!

This past weekend the QNQ Winter Colorguard competed in their first show of the 2024 season at Dartmouth High School. They placed 3rd with a 70.75 in the Scholastic Regional A-White division. Their show this year is titled Jump, Jive, & Shimmy and features jazz inspired video game music from Cuphead written by Kristofer Maddigan. 

We wish you luck this month with all of your competitions, keep up the amazing work QNQ Winter Colorguard!

NQHS Celebrates Lunar New Year!

Senior Johnny Hoang & junior Carlin Chan performed the Lion Dance while juniors Kalven Lin and Mike Zhu played the drum and cymbals (respectively)  during all four lunches on Thursday, February 15th, to celebrate the Year of the Dragon. It was an amazing performance! Check out the videos and pictures below!

Winter Recital Night

Select vocal and instrumental students from Quincy and North Quincy High Schools had the opportunity to perform at North Quincy High School’s Peter Chrisom Auditorium on Wednesday, January 24 for our Winter Recital Night. Twenty six students in sixteen different groups were featured and performed a varied repertoire of solo, chamber, and popular music. Our spring recital will be on April 24 at North Quincy High School. 

🎼congratulations are in order!🎵

The Quincy Public Schools would like to recognize the accomplishments of the following students who were recently selected to participate in the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) Senior District and All-State Music Festivals.

North Quincy High School Choir student, Michael Romeo, and Band students, Anders Eshelman, Alvin Nikolla, Fanny Yang, and Justin Zhao, as well as Quincy High School Choir students, William Caberoy, Devereux Fuller, and Matthew Hollatz, and Band student, Owen Veith, were selected to participate in the MMEA Senior District Festival on January 5th and 6th. The Festival took place at the Milton High School on January 5th and 6th and ended with a concert that featured the Orchestra, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, and Mixed Chorus. The Festival included high school musicians, selected by audition, from 30 Eastern Massachusetts cities and towns.

Additionally, QHS Choir student Matthew Hollatz, and QHS band student Owen Veith met the qualifying scores and were selected to perform at the upcoming MMEA All-State Music Festival, which will take place in March at Symphony Hall in Boston. 

Auditioning MMEA students are required to prepare musical scales, an assigned vocal or instrumental solo, as well as demonstrate their sight-reading skills. Every step in this process is evaluated by judges from around the state and only the top-ranking musicians in grades 9-12 are accepted. With each round of auditions, the process becomes more selective as the pool of students grows. 

The Quincy Public Schools high school music faculty includes choral directors, Timothy Carew and Joanna Compitiello, and band directors Matthew Cavanaugh, and Michael DeMarco. DeMarco is also the Citywide Music Department Chair. 

Check out these Star Students! 

Way to go, Raiders!

Check this out!!

Alm❤️st, Maine

Did you see the Drama Club's production of Alm❤️st, Maine, last week! Here are some pictures, courtesy of Mr. Ragusa. Well done, actors!

SADD MAKES SANDWICHES!

The students from SADD make sandwiches every other week for Mrs. McCarthy to give to a community outreach partner.   

The 2023 Holiday Shopping Expo 

NQ's Official Start to the Holiday Season!

The Holiday Shopping Expo was held on Saturday, November 11th. For a $5 entrance fee, you got access to dozens of pop-up shops run by local as well as personally owned businesses. These shops ranged from those targeted at young kids all the way to nice gifts to give grandparents. These stands included handmade jewelry, decorative wreaths, soaps, collectables, dog accessories, tie-dye clothing, paintings, and raffle baskets. The raffle baskets were set up in the Hunt Street lobby, where you could buy a couple of tickets and enter them into the baskets you would like to win. North Quincy cheer and volleyball had shops in the gym along with the other stands. Ginger Betty was set up in the cafeteria right next to a photo opp with Santa Claus. There was a chance for the kids that attended the event to take a picture with Santa as well as the Grinch who was walking around all the rooms. Outside of the school, two food trucks were set up with comfort food. One of these trucks served a variety of dumplings, while a stand set up had grilled foods such as hot dogs with various toppings. The expo is a great opportunity for small business owners to get their products out to people who might not know them. It was also a great way to support NQHS PAC and the Senior Stay Out, all while people get a head start on their holiday shopping with heartfelt handmade gifts, or they get to make memories for their children with a picture with Santa. Thank you to Ms. Warren for providing pictures of the event. 

- Aryanna P