Bristol County Agricultural High School: Aggi Weekly-February 8th

Good Afternoon Students, Parents, and Community Members:
This week our students and staff enjoyed atypical weather in the beginning of the week. As always, classes took advantage and used the outdoors as their classroom. We do this year around, but there were more smiles given the beautiful weather!

Black History Month: Below was copied from the Pioneer Institute Public Policy Research
In the month of February, the nation honors the achievements of African Americans; their stories and historical accomplishments are worthy of recognition year round. That's why Pioneer Institute has sponsored events, produced videos, and published opinion pieces informing the public about important leaders and key milestones in the African-American experience, as well as the need for more educational choice options for all children. Pioneer supports school choice and improvements to academic instruction, especially in U.S. history, so all schoolchildren learn about African-Americans' long struggle for freedom and equal opportunity. Below, we share some highlights from our coverage of seminal figures, topics, and periods such as slavery during the Founding era, the Civil War, and Civil Rights icons such as Fannie Lou Hamer, the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Robert Moses, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail

As a nation, we have a long way to go to address continued injustices. Persistent academic achievement gaps between African-American students and their white peers threaten to undermine prospects for upward social mobility. To address this disparity, Pioneer has actively promoted education reforms that have proven successful at helping minority students reach their full potential: private and parochial schools, charter public schools, the METCO inter-district school choice program, vocational-technical education, and a menu of school options.

Through events and op-eds placed in regional and national publications, Pioneer has advocated for expanded school choice to give inner-city students a lifeline out of failing public schools. Last month, we produced a feature-length documentary film, "Big Sacrifices, Big Dreams: Ending America's Bigoted Education Laws," that seeks to raise public awareness about constitutional barriers in 38 states that block underprivileged children from attending private or parochial schools. Here in Massachusetts, the so-called Know-Nothing amendments prevent more than 100,000 urban families with children in chronically underperforming districts from receiving scholarship vouchers that would provide additional educational alternatives. Repealing these laws would immediately help low-income and minority students. As film narrator and Pioneer school reform advisor Gerard Robinson concludes, "Past bigotries are an unforgivable limitation on our children's future."

In celebration of Black History Month, swing by our library to explore our resources on African American history, literature, and culture.

Visit this “.gov” website for more information.
( a collaborative project of the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)

Taunton Daily Gazette Feature: Senior Tiffany Cabral:
Bristol Aggie’s Cabral looks forward to playing baskeball in college. Click here for the full story by Steve Sanchez

Despite suffering season-ending injury, Cabral hopeful for future
DIGHTON — Sometimes student athletes fall short of reaching their goals in high school due to injuries.
That was the case with Bristol-Aggie basketball player Tiffany Cabral.
With less than 30 seconds remaining in the game with Norfolk Aggie, Cabral collapsed near the baseline after sustaining contact while going to the basket.
The end result, a season-ending ACL injury to her right knee.
“I was really upset and disappointed because I was so close to so many of my goals,” Cabral said. “I’m just glad to have the team that I have and the support that they have given me. This will help me get better.”
Since playing varsity, the Chieftain senior captain had hopes of becoming the first girl in school history to reach 1,000 career points. She even stood underneath the banner in the gym as a freshman and vowed to her father, Tom Cabral, that she will break the mark.
Cabral fell short of the mark by 38 points (962).
She was honored one last time on her home court on Wednesday along with senior players Raquel Hebert, Emma Duarte and Kennedy Alves. Cabral has not played since injuring her right knee 13 days ago.
She was averaging nearly 22 points a game for BA when she went down and was on course to record over 1,100 points. The Chieftains was also fighting for a postseason berth.
“I’m going to us my injury to help me get better,” said Cabral, who is was a first-time Taunton Daily Gazette All-Scholastic last season. “While rehabilitating, I’ll work on my form. After my surgery, I’ll get back out there and work harder than I’ve ever had and get stronger that I’ve ever before so I can play college ball.”
Earlier this year, Cabral became the school’s all-time leader in points scored by a girl, a record was previously held by Hannah Rogers (760).
She hopes to play basketball for Division III College Eastern Nazarene in Quincy after graduation.
“Our offense has always run through Tiffany,” Chieftain head coach Mike Johnson said. “There’s a girl on Eastern Nazarene who is recovering right now from the same injury that Tiffany has suffered. So the two of them are talking and helping each other out. She knew she was close to the record but her goal wasn’t to reach 1,000 points. Her goal was to have the team reach the tournament. Even out there in her diminished role, she is out there helping the other girls out. She hasn’t packed it up yet.”
Cabral helped lead the Chieftains to their first postseason victory since 2001 after beating Cape Cod Academy in a Division IV South preliminary game at Bristol County Agricultural High School last winter. Cabral finished with a game-high 27 points.
The BA point guard netted just 80 points her freshman year and improved with 200 points her sophomore year. Cabral was the leading scorer in the Mayflower with a career-high 382 points, including a school record of 32 points in a game. She was close to 300 points this season when the unthinkable hit her.
Many athletes never fully reach their goals in high school. But it’s the journey that inspires all of us to remember them by.
Cabral hopes current disappointments can lead to future accomplishments.
“I’m so grateful to my teammates,” Cabral said. “It’s not over and not the end of the world. If you want to play college ball you can do it and keep doing what you love to do.
Cabral played basketball at a young age.
She said nothing will stand between her and a return to the court in the future.

Visit HERE to learn more about the MCAS and to take a Computer-Based Practice Test.

In the Classroom:
NRM: Students are working after school with Mass Wildlife PIT tagging turtles. #BAPRIDE

Landscape: On Wednesday and Thursday, students took full advantage of the weather taking learning outside! #BAPRIDE #OutdoorClassroom

Juniors in the Hardscape Shop got some fresh air working with overhead doors open.

Sophomores enjoyed a Measurement Scavenger Hunt on Wednesday.
Landscape continued ...
Friday’s guest speaker, Mr. Mike Rocha treated Mr. Ryan’s junior landscape students to an interactive and engaging demonstration of special landscape design software. Mr. Rocha exhibited the features of the software and how it is used. Together, he and the students created a 3-D plan that included hardscape and greenscape elements to produce a dynamic and professional drawing. In addition to his technology application, he added practical real-world experience by discussing such considerations as how to plan the position of a fire pit, for instance, that entails accounting for things such as wind conditions and proximity to other structures. Furthermore, he showed how he uses the software to design around an inground pool; his illustration of the software’s landscape design value was dramatic and inspiring. Mr. Rocha is the owner of Mike’s Lawn and Garden and is one of the business owners on the landscape advisory board. Thank you, Mr. Rocha for sharing your expertise with our students!

Arbor: On Wednesday and Thursday, students took full advantage of the weather taking learning outside! #BAPRIDE #OutdoorClassroom

University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) Presentation

Steve Clavett & Thomas Larose, East Coast admissions representative for the University of Northwestern Ohio spent time giving a detailed presentation to the junior and senior agricultural mechanics students on Thursday.

Thursday’s presentation focused on their COLLEGE OF APPLIED TECHNOLOGIES
which offers the following programs:

Automotive Technology
Automotive Technology Supervision
Robotics and Automation Technology
Diesel Technology
High Performance Motorsports Technology
Alternate Fuels Technology
Agricultural Equipment Technology
HVAC/R Technology

Mr. Clavett enthusiastically conveyed how students can earn the degrees, learn the skills, and acquire resources that lead to the careers of their dreams. Mr. Clavett emphasized that students receive real-world education from day one. He enhanced the presentation by sharing with them stories of successful business owners and operators who use their learned skills to earn a good living because their work is in high-demand. Mr. Clavett is proud of the fact that 83% of College of Applied Technology graduates are employed or continuing their education (based on recent surveys).

In particular, he brought to light for the students the many advantages that UNOH has to offer such as their state-of-the-art facilities, hands-on experience, and career opportunities.

Their website sums it up nicely: “UNOH will give you the power to do big things and we provide this power by delivering accredited academics at an affordable price with small classes, a rich campus environment, industry relationships, and so much more!”

UNOH offers other degrees and programs, and its list of degrees and programs is extensive. Bristol Aggie has matriculated students in the past to UNOH who have had good success.