Sophmores, Juniors, and Seniors

The ASVAB test will be offered at the school, Wednesday, January 18, 2012 @ 7:45 am in the library at no cost. It is a series of eight short test that helps you identify your skills in a variety of academic and technical areas. It will match those particular skills with suitable occupations and career interests. It is recommended for students who are interested in college, preparing for a job or entering the military.
Please sign up in Guidance. / Mr. Leroux

Pathfinder Annual Open House

Wednesday, November 16, 2011 6:00-8:30

Program Advisory Meeting

Program Advisory Meeting will be held on Monday,
November 7, 2011 @ 6:00 to 8:00 PM

PSAT Sign Ups

PSAT sign up on Wednesday October 12th at 7:45 in the libary.
Sign up in guidance cost is $14.

Remember the moment forever!

Pathfinder Reg. Voc. Tech High School Graduation Photos
Remember This Moment Forever!
Graduation images will be posted online shortly after graduation at
 www.lifetouchevents.com
Event Password:  PATHFINDER64
Lifetouch has made it easy for you to order pictures of this important milestone! Use the above password to access the website to view & purchase images from graduation. Pre-register for an online reminder; and Lifetouch will inform you via email when the graduation photos are ready for you to view. As a thank you for pre-registering, you will also receive a coupon code for 15% off your first order.
Photos will be available for viewing and purchase for 90 days.

Barnes and Noble Poem Night

The Holyoke Barnes & Noble Bookstore will be hosting an evening of Pathfinder Poets. The date is Thursday, May 19th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.

Everybody - Students, Staff, Parents and Friends are invited.

The Event is free, and guaranteed fun!

Any questions please contact Ms. Durkin, ext 201

Horticulture Spring Sale

Operating Hours

Mon-Wed-Fri 9:00-11:45

Tue-Thurs 8:00-11:45

May 3, 2010

Automotive Participates in Ford/AAA Competition

The Automotive program enjoyed many successes this year. Fourteen students from Pathfinder along with 350 students from across the state of Mass participated in the written portion of the Ford/AAA competition in February. Jason Bren and Brendan Elliott's combined score qualified them, along with 9 other teams, to go on to hands-on competition. This competition was held May 12^th at Universal Technical Institute in Norwood, Ma. Each team was working on a 2010 Mercury Milan and all contained the same problems. Pathfinders duo did well placing 6^th in the overall competition. However of the 350 students who took the written qualifying test Jason Bren's score earned him TOP honors for this part of  the competition and the combined written score of Jason and Brendan Earned them and Pathfinder the TOP combined score across the state. Although Jason and Brendan came away from the competition a bit discouraged, the students and instructors in the automotive program are proud of their accomplishments. If you happen to be a AAA club member, look for the picture and article in your newsletter in the coming months.

Mr. LaValle

May 3, 2010

Robotics Team

The robotics team had a very successful trip to Atlanta, Georgia to compete in the FIRST World Robotics Championship. Leading up to the world event, their level of robotics consisted of 1190 teams. The 100 "best" teams received an invitation to the world championship. The 100 teams were split into two divisions of 50 at the event.

Upon the conclusion of three consecutive days competing, the Pathfinder team placed 20th.

This ranked the team in the top 2% nationwide.

Thank you to everyone that supported this endeavor.

Eric Duda

Guy Nyzio

Josselyn Winter

April 14, 2010

Student Award Banquet

Thursday evening the 24th Annual Outstanding Vocational Technical Student Award Banquet, sponsored by the Massachusetts Vocational Association and the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators to honor the top students in technical school programs throughout the state of Massachusetts, will be held at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. Desiree Fernandes, a senior in Web Design and Programming, will be representing Pathfinder at the award ceremony this year.

April 14, 2010

National Honor Society Induction Ceremony Wednesday

We are proud to present 19 students at the National Technical Honor Society induction ceremony this year. Nine of the seniors were inducted as juniors and have met the standards required to continue as members. This year two additional seniors and eight juniors have met the standards to become members.

The induction ceremony will be held in our library on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. A reception will be held in the Tea Room immediately following the ceremony. We are privileged to recognize these students for their outstanding academic achievement and hope that you will join us!

This year's members are:

SENIORS

David Collette

Nicholas Criegle

Desiree Fernandes

Amber Ingalls

Benjamin Manning

Kelsey Masse

Erin Messier (new inductee)

Hayley Morin

Jessie Prucnal (new inductee)

Jarrett Sumwalt

Ashley Therrien

JUNIORS

Samantha Bradway

Alexa Czuprynski

Joshua Deland

Jeffrey Nelson

Dillon Oster

Monique Piquette
Jeffery Sawyer

Nicholas Southworth

read more...

March 10, 2010

'Time to shine' for Palmer robot team 'Time to shine' for robot team

Written By LORI STABILE for the Republican

lstabile@repub.com

PALMER - After winning the prestigious "inspire award" at the Massachusetts FIRST Tech Challenge, Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School's Robotics Team will head to Georgia to compete against 100 teams from all over the world.

Pathfinder's team of seven students won the award at the third annual For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Challenge at the school on Feb. 27, beating out 31 other teams, including ones from Agawam and Wilbraham.

But before they go "Atlanta or Bust," as one team member's car now advertises, they must raise $9,000, the trip's cost, and are soliciting donations. Already they have raised $895, according to Eric A. Duda, an electronics and robotics technology instructor.

"They own it. I couldn't be more pleased with them. They really went above and beyond. They really stepped up to the plate," Duda said on Friday.

Duda said the students - seniors Tyler A. Wood, Andrew S. Roche, Matthew A. Johnson, Brandon M. Granger, Glen M. Corrow and Justin T. Bren, along with sophomore Ryan P. McQuaid - spent a lot of time on the project, coming in after school, staying until 8 at night, and even showing up on snow days and winter vacations to work on their robot, which can shoot Wiffle balls with precision into their intended target.

The team performed demonstrations with the robot for the Rotary Club and at the Veterans Affairs facility in Leeds. Rotary donated the cost of the robot kit, approximately $1,000, Duda said.

Wood, Johnson, Corrow are from Palmer; Granger, Roche, Bren and McQuaid are from Monson.

Team members said it took time to get the final robot design, with Roche estimating they went through five or six options. They started the project in November. Corrow said they had been watching robotics teams at the school since they were freshmen, waiting to compete.

"We sat on the sidelines. Now this is like our time to shine ... We are completely ecstatic," Corrow said.

The students said they are not anxious about competing against teams from 31 countries. The competition will be held April 14 to 18.

"Our robot is extremely accurate and doesn't have too many flaws, and the flaws it does have, we have seven weeks to fix them," Roche said.

Corrow said getting the inspire award is even more prestigious than placing first. (That distinction went to a team from Sharon that also will be heading to Atlanta.) The award is given to a team that best represents a "role model" and is an inspiration to the other teams, "acting with gracious professionalism both on and off the playing field," according to information provided by Duda.

Duda said team members helped other teams when they encountered glitches with their robots.

"We sacrificed work on our own robot to make sure everybody had a good time ... We came together as a team," Roche said. The team got as far as the semi-finals. Roche described the state championship as like "a huge sporting event." Pathfinder's team even had its own cheering section.

The Pathfinder robot is laptop computer-controlled and runs on a battery pack. The students were given specific building guidelines, such as the robot had to fit inside an 18-inch by 18-inch box, and were told the balls could not shoot higher than 4 feet or farther than 10 feet. Duda said they wrote the computer code for the robot and incorporated Bluetooth technology.

Duda said the team will now qualify for scholarships. It also won the "innovate award."

The Springfield Republican also published an article highlighting the team?s accomplishments (the article is at the end of this email). The students are trying very hard to solicit donations and fundraiser $9000 before The World Championship in April. Incredibly, they have raised $2185 to date.

The Pathfinder Robotics Team was featured on a Masslive Video Report yesterday:
http://videos.masslive.com/republican/2010/03/pathfinder_robotics_team_wins.html

Awards:

Motivate Award - Team 3057, Girls Like Bots from Hinham, MA

Connect Award - Team 3397, Essex High School from Essex, VT

Rockwell Collins Innovate Award - Team 785, Team Pathfinder from Palmer, MA

Think Award - Team 1, Team Unlimited from Sharon, MA

Inspire Award - Team 785, Team Pathfinder from Palmer, MA

February 23, 2010

Drama Club Play

On March 12th and 19th the Pathfinder Drama club will be presenting "Almost the Bride of Dracula" at 7:00 PM in the school cafeteria. This is a comedy in which Count Dracula reminisces about three former girlfriends, none of whom worked out for him. The cast includes:

• Ethan Delaney and Lucas McDiarmid as Dracula

• Mitchell Benedetti as Charles; the Butler

• Dalton Czupyna as Dracula's mother

• Samantha Gancorz as Dracula's sister; Melrose

• Bethany Czupyna as Donna

• Alexis Malouin as Dracula's cousin; Vaslisa and as Becky

• Brenda Klusman as Lisa

• Evan Blouin as Jack the Ripper

• Becca Kowalik as Becky's mom

• Dylan Chevrette as Becky's dad

• Joshua Foster as Hank

• Amie Clark and Donna Snow as Sheila and Amelia

The show is about 90 minutes long, with one intermission. Tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for seniors and children under 12.

February 4, 2010

2nd Annual Motorcycle Rally

On behalf of the Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical H.S. Machine Technologies Department, we would like to thank you very much for the most generous sponsorship you provided for the 2nd Annual Motorcycle Rally held on September 12th 2009. The rally was a great success. The $10,000.00 proceeds are being put to use right away with the purchase of a Tormach PCNC1100 CNC Machine. This machine will help to enhance our 9th grade exploratory program and will also be used by the upper class students for CNC training.

Special thanks go out to Dan Walker for the many hours spent organizing and soliciting company sponsorships for the event. Without Dan’s help and guidance the Bike Rally would not be possible. Also, Hoppe Tool showed a great deal of support in time and money to help make the rally a success. The Western Massachusetts Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Associations sponsorship of $3,000.00 was a huge help in reaching our goal of $10,000.00. It is with the support of individuals and industry leaders like you that makes Pathfinder Machine Technologies Department one of the most progressive and quality vocational education facilities in the Pioneer Valley.

We hope that you will continue to show your support and make the 3rd Annual Motorcycle Rally in the fall of 2010 bigger and better. Happy New Year and thanks again.

January 15, 2010

No Name Calling Week

Pathfinder will once again be observing No Name Calling Week from January 25th to the 29th. This is an unfunded Federal DOE initiative that we gained some notoriety and good press from last year, as we were the only area school participating.

• Students will be made conscious and aware of just how pervasive name calling is, both in our society and in our school.

• Students will be made aware of now hurtful name calling can be.

• Teachers and students will gently remind each other when they do name call.

The goal is to create a more tolerant, caring atmosphere for all of us at Pathfinder. We will be conducting an essay contest through the Freshman English classes.

"Students don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."

Cavett Roberts

December 7, 2009

Massachusetts State Auto Dealers Association Competition

Nineteen students from Pathfinders Automotive Technology Program competed in the written portion of the Massachusetts State Auto Dealers Competition on October 22nd. This competition was held at Worcester Technical School and included over 400 students from technical schools across the state.

From this qualifying test, 8 teams of 2 were selected for the hands-on upperclassman competition. Joshua Ocasio and Brendan Eliot won the honors and were named to Team Audi. Josh and Brendan would then be debugging a 2010 Audi A4.

In the underclassman competition, Daniel Hayden and Jason Bren finished in the Top Ten to go on in their respective hands-on event.

These 4 students traveled to Mass Bay Community College on December 4^th. Joshua Ocasio and Brendan Eliot did well finishing 4^th in the upperclassman event while Dan Hayden finished 1^st and Jason Bren finished 3^rd respectfully in the underclassman event.

Congratulations to these 4 students on their achievements and to representing Pathfinder and its automotive technology program.

November 9, 2009

H1N1 Information

Message from the school nurse Click Here

Swine Flu Symptom Checklist from the Department of Public Health Click Here

October 27, 2009

Jeans & Pink for the Cause

Friday, October 30th

Donate $5.00 and show your support by wearing jeans and pink!

All proceeds will be donated locally to

The Baystate Regional Cancer Program.

*See Mrs. Storey in the reception office to donate and put your name on the card to Baystate.

Cancer care offered by the Baystate Regional Cancer Program includes:

• Radiation oncology

• Medical oncology

• Surgical oncology

• Our renowned Comprehensive Breast Center

• Integrated medical and surgical services, including thoracic surgery, neurosurgery, plastic surgery and more. As well as support services such as social work, spiritual services, financial consultations,etc.

Forestry Contest

Congratulations to the Pathfinder students who represented the state of Massachusetts in the Forestry Contest. The contest was held at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. The team, which included Chris Nau, Hayley Morin, Katlynn Holmes, and Jessie Prucnal, receives silver as a team and each went home with an individual award.