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REDDING, Conn. Teachers and students started the first day of school Wednesday at Joel Barlow High School.
Megan Zabilansky, a new English teacher who completed her masters program at UConn in May and student taught in Deep River, said, It was exciting to meet the students and get to know them for the first time and see how excited they are about the new school year.
Maurizio Viselli, a Barlow senior from Easton and the class president, said, Its an exciting day for students and teachers. Im excited to be back and see how everyones doing and get back in the swing of things.
Zabilansky and fellow English teachers Alison Malayter and Paige Classey discussed their challenging curriculum, which included a summer reading program. Well start by debriefing the summer reading program, Malayter said.
Students can also look forward to a variety of writing assignments, from personal narratives to creative writing. Juniors are responsible for developing a writing portfolio and seniors completing a thesis, Classey said.
Zabilansky said she gave her students a writing assignment on the first day. Theyll write about a dream they have of achieving as a journal entry, she said.
Viselli is eager to be back for his senior year. Its an exciting year to start at the top and go into the last year of high school to do something good, he said.
Viselli has participated in the Achieving With Integrity Committee, which challenges students to sign mission statements asserting proper behavior. The group also supervised collections of items that were sent to U.S. troops last year.
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