CHS extracurriculars riding historic wave of success

Members of the state semifinalist CHS mock trial team are dressed for success.

CHS extracurriculars riding historic wave of success

From the sustained excellence of its volleyball and ice hockey programs to the individual brilliance of many wrestling and track stars, Canton High School has long been a household name in the arena of competitive athletics.

But success at CHS is certainly not just limited to sports — a fact that has been proven time and again by the school’s elite math team and one that was hammered home again this winter by a trio of triumphs in competitive extracurriculars.

In late February, the school’s robotics team, the Robodogs, won the state championship as part of an alliance with other area high schools. Then in March, the CHS mock trial team advanced through tournament play all the way to the semifinals of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s statewide competition. Finally, three students in the school’s television production program competed at the 2016 Student Television Network Convention in Atlanta and took home first place in the Public Service Announcement category for a video they produced on site.

Incredibly, all three achievements occurred within a few weeks of each other and all were unprecedented for their respective programs.

In the case of the Robodogs, the team only began competing a few years ago and already has a state championship under its belt.

The squad is coached by Katie Healey, who teaches science and engineering courses at CHS. Healey said it was her oldest son, Noah, and his friend Andre Chmyrov who inspired the formation of the team after participating in robotics at the Galvin Middle School.

Seeing a need for a similar program at the high school, Healey solved the problem by applying for grants from the Canton Alliance for Public Education and the Paul R. Matthews Charitable Foundation to support the creation of a robotics team. “The three of us got it up and running,” Healey said.

Canton now participates in the FIRST Tech Challenge, which began the season in September. This year, students were charged with building a robot that measured 18 inches that could meet the designated challenge of being able to scoop up items.

The Robodogs went on to have tremendous success with their creation, winning every league meet and snagging an invitation to the state championships.

The CHS Robodogs with coaches Leo Nelson (left) and mentor Chris Thomas (right) at the conclusion of the state championship meet

After the league meets, the team met to discuss what did and did not work as well as to redesign the robot in preparation for the state competition. They also formed an alliance with two other teams, the Lincoln-Sudbury Gearticks and the Lexington 2 Bits and a Byte, and together they captured the state crown while also earning a ticket to the FTC East Super-Regional competition.

Seventy-two teams competed at the regional event at the University of Scranton and the Robodogs finished 10th in their division of 36 teams.

“It’s one of the things I’ve been most proud of in my life,” Healey said. “It was such an amazing season.”

In addition to co-captains Healey and Chmyrov, the Robodogs members are Aba Achildiyev, Peter Bartlett, Thomas Cahill, Yuheng Dong, Matthew Gaughan, Jonathan Gong, Timothy Gong, Jack Healey, Kelsey Jay, Matthew Larsen, Calvin Lennon, Jack McCabe, Chris Milne, Jonathan Sutton, and Noah Wolf. Leo Nelson is also a teacher-coach while CHS grad and Lockheed Martin mechanical engineer Chris Thomas is the team’s technical mentor.

Also soaring to newfound heights this year was the Canton High mock trial team, which capped its most successful season to date with a storybook run to the state “final four.” Canton defeated Malden Catholic in the round of 32, St. John’s of Shrewsbury in the round of 16, and Bishop Feehan in the tournament quarterfinals before falling to Boston Latin in a closely contested battle in the semifinals.

The CHS mock trial program was launched in 2000, when CHS student Diana Cole, who is now an attorney, spoke to then principal Henry Lukas about starting up a team. Lukas was supportive and turned to Donna Creed Bauman for help. Lukas knew that Bauman, an adjustment counselor, had worked as a court liaison for the Department of Youth Services at one time and asked if she would coach the team. Bauman agreed.

This is the 31st year that the state Bar Association has sponsored a mock trial program for high school students. Teams receive the case in early November, and after analyzing all of the facts and looking at the case from all angles, they then set about writing motions. The coaches assign roles for the students.

This year, the fictitious case involved a malpractice suit that was filed after a high school student was injured in a soccer game and his injuries were misdiagnosed.

Bauman’s husband, Steven Bauman, a lawyer, and attorney Gabrielle Denby assisted the team with preparing the case. Denby’s wife, Trish Denby, who is a paralegal, served as a consultant for the team.

“Most of the team has been together for three years, so that made a big difference,” Bauman said. “They were so excited. They were so ready for it, grooming for it.”

Bauman added that the team’s success was due to support from the whole school. She mentioned K-12 Performing Arts Director Ida Pappas, Principal Derek Folan, and all the teachers who allowed team members to get together to practice for the trials.

“[The students] most benefit from the critical thinking skills, the public speaking, the ability to analyze data and the team building,” Bauman said.

Members of this year’s mock trial team are Nathan Achildiyev, Eli Julier-Albert, Melissa Barrett, Peter Bartlett, Shourik Choudhury, Jeevith Chandrasekar, Kate Devine, Kerry Flavin (captain), Ann Joseph, Evan MacDonald (captain), Anjali Mandal, Nicole Mason, Lillian Tian, and Rachel Vatelia (captain).

Meanwhile, around the time that the mock trial team was advancing through the state tournament, a group of 10 CHS TV production students and their teacher, Ed McDonough, headed down to Atlanta for the Student Television Network (STN) Convention.

L-R: Mia Tess, Jason Kaplan, and Roni Polsgrove accept their award at the Student Television Network Convention.

Every year, thousands of broadcast journalism, film and media students from across the country attend the convention, which features a variety of professionally hosted workshops and student contests.

At the 2016 convention, CHS students Jason Kaplan, Roni Polsgrove and Mia Tess competed in the Public Service Announcement contest and were awarded first place for a video they created on site about getschooled.com, a financial aid website founded by Viacom and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The team had six hours to work on their entry: three hours for shooting the video and three hours for editing. They picked up a pouch that contained the prompt at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. “They had no idea what the topic was until they picked up the pouch,” McDonough said.

They wrote a script, scouted locations and then filmed. Their finished product is 29 seconds long and features Tess in the role of a high school senior who has received an offer of college admission and is trying to figure out how to pay the tuition.

“We had to provide our own equipment,” McDonough said. They used a combination of school and personal cameras and computers. Kaplan, Polsgrove and Tess were named the winners at a ceremony the following afternoon.

“I’m tremendously proud of them,” McDonough said. “It’s a nice potential for them.”

McDonough, Kaplan and Tess also gave a presentation during the convention on the school’s Lip Dub project — an ambitious video set to music that captures the many facets of student life at CHS.

Following the convention, the Canton High contingent spent an extra day in Atlanta, visiting Katz Broadcasting and the news operations at CNN. Other attendees from CHS included Mike Albert, Emily Bornstein, Kevin DeOliveira, Connor Finn, Kevin Praik, Jake Sockett, and Jenny Wolinski.

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