Voices Only: A Tribute to Modern A Cappella
Saturday, March 3rd
8:00pm
Gann Academy, Waltham

Enjoy the Jewish comedy and pop stylings of solo artist Sean Altman,~former lead singer/founder of Rockapella and widely regarded as the~"Father of Modern A Cappella." Vocal groups of all ages will pay tribute to his song-writing and his role in inspiring the a cappella movement across college campuses and beyond. ShenaniGanns from Gann Academy, Shir Appeal from Tufts University, Manginah from Brandeis University, and professional vocal band Similar Jones will be performing.

Tickets at www.bostonjewishmusicfestival.org or here.

Thank you to those of you, parents, staff, and friends, who came to support our robotics teams on Sunday, January 8th.  It was a very exciting day, full of close matches.  Here is a summary of what happened:

Both teams' robots passed the required inspections, and both teams did great in their presentations to the judges.  Team 5486's robot performed mostly as expected, which in engineering is no small feat.  Team 4466's robot, with its impressive scissor-lift for raising crates high in the air, made it to the elimination rounds.  Each match pits two robots against two other robots, and team 4466's alliance of two robots won the first heat of their best-of-three semifinal, lost the second, and then won the third and deciding heat with a last-second crate-lift for the decisive points (the higher the crate is raised, the more points are scored).    

In the finals, team 4466's alliance lost the first heat due to tight defense by an opposing robot.  Team 4466 adjusted their tactics and scored a last-second crate-lift to win the second heat.  In the third and final heat of the tournament, 4466's new strategy almost worked, but a technical hitch caused their robot to seize up half-way through the heat.  Fortunately, their alliance partner had corrected an earlier hardware problem, and so were able to score enough points to win the decisive championship heat.  Congratulations to team 4466, Robots And Brain Bots, Inc. (R.A.B.B.I.)!    

Team 4466 was also awarded the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award, which is given to the team that has the most innovative and creative robot design.    

Please congratulate both teams on their excellent performance today, and for all the hard work that got them here.  And please ask them what they learned from today; after all, the learning is the longest-lasting benefit of what they're doing.

Mozel Tov to Rabbi Marc Baker who was announced as one of five recipients nationwide to win the prestigious Pomegranate Prize from the Covenant Foundation. This is a new prize created by the Foundation to acknowledge Jewish educators in the first 10 years of their careers and to support their pursuit of professional dreams and goals.

"It is exciting and humbling for me to be acknowledged by the Covenant Foundation, which does so much for the field of Jewish education, and to be honored alongside such talented and passionate Jewish educators. I would not be the leader I am at this point in my career if I were not blessed with the extraordinary and supportive colleagues and partners at Gann Academy (READ MORE), all of whom are so dedicated to our school and our students, and make every day so fulfilling for me. I see this prize as an affirmation of our school's commitment to developing teachers and leaders at every level of the organization. We know that students learn best in schools where teachers and leaders are constantly learning themselves, and I hope that Gann will serve as a model of this kind for professional development in schools," said Rabbi Marc Baker, head of school at Gann Academy.

Award recipients of The Pomegranate Prize received $15,000 to further their professional endeavors as well as to promote opportunities to learn best practices in educational programming in annual gatherings sponsored by the Foundation.

The awards ceremony was held in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, November 6th where Rabbi Baker received his award and recognition in the Jewish education field.

Silent Auction for Hurricane Katrina Relief
Nearly 6 years later there is still work to be done in New Orleans. Hundreds of people still live in trailers in their front yard, and thousands are still waiting for the means to rebuild their homes. Many people are living in partially gutted houses and families are packed into small apartments.

We have 3 great items up for auction to help raise money for the St. Bernard Project. Please visit http://gannnola.blogspot.com to bid on one of the following and help a great cause:

1. 2 tickets to the Boston Celtics (6th row behind visitor's bench) with official media notes
2. $499 voucher for a Kaplan SAT or ACT prep course.
3. 4 tickets to see the New England Patriots play basketball!

Or just pledge a donation online!

Six Waltham high school students win robotics competition
Six high school students from Waltham's Gann Academy have taken home top honors in a New York robotic competition despite the fact that this was the team's first year in existence

“This is an incredible educational experience, and quite an accomplishment,” said Rabbi Marc Baker, Head of School at Gann Academy. “The work these students have done and what they have been able to achieve in such a short period of time is truly inspirational.”

The students, who attend the private school, competed in the FIRST Tech Challenge Championship in New York last month and took home the Inspire Award, which is given to the team that finishes in the top among all judging categroies. (read more)

June 3, 2010
Students in Gann’s Conceptual Physics class proudly displayed their roller coaster projects to the school community during lunch on June 3, 2010.  Students created 22 different roller coaster models under the guidance of Christine Carpenter, Steve Wood and Marc Winer.  Some of the models are pictures below, including “Disco Coaster”, “Gann Coaster, “Voldemorts Revenge” and a coaster model based on the hit TV series Lost.   

View the complete photo gallery here.

Chronicle segment for GAINES stretcher

Instructions for download:

1. Download this segment and play it in Windows Media Player or
2. Right click the link above and save the file to your computer for future viewing

Berwick 68, Gann 62: Building block season for Gann boys basketball program
Daily News Tribune

The Gann Academy boys basketball team may not have been able to turn the corner against Berwick Academy on Friday afternoon, but the program at large has reached the next level. (read more)

Czech Museum
Gann Academy exhibit celebrated the history of Czechoslovakian Jewry.

This is Rudolf Stern and Elsa Sternova, my mother’s parents. I am between them and I was about two. My grandfather was born in 1874, and died in Treblinka in 1942. My grandmother was born in 1884, and also died in Treblinka. They lived together in Kamberk, where they had a large farm estate. Twelve families lived there and worked for my grandparents in the fields and gardens, basically whatever was needed. They had horses, cows, poultry, everything.

Stories like this one were featured in Gann Academy’s exhibit on Czechoslovakian Jewry. The exhibit was made by the senior class of 2010 in partnership with The Central Europe Center for Research and Documentation (CENTROPA).Together, we had created a moving and educational exhibit that celebrated Czechoslovakian Jewry throughout the last hundred years.

Rabbi Capers Funnye speaking to the Gann Students on October 29th.

Click here to read the Waltham Tribune's coverage of Stalin Colinet, discussing "The Path to Athletic Scholarship/Playing opportunities at the College Level" to Gann Students on 11/5.

Gaines—Invention Highlight
On August 3, 2009, Dr. David K. Novick, GAINES Program Director, and Gann alumni, Alex and Ben Deardorff '09, were interviewed by Boston Channel 5's New England magazine show, Chronicle. The interview featured Gann Academy's 2008/2009 Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam's invention—a compact, weight-stabilizing, emergency stretcher. The Chronicle segment aired this past Wednesday, September 9, at 7:30 pm on Channel 5.

July 17, 2009
Noah Hodgetts '06, and several of his classmates from the
College of the Atlantic in Maine are planning on attending
a conference in Copenhagen on climate change.

Read more at http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/newton/2009/07/noah_hodgetts_of_newton_hopes.html.

2008 Gann Academy Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam
Taken at Lemelson-MIT's 2008 EurekaFest Showcase Event
Gann Academy Inventing New Engineering Solutions

The G.A.I.N.E.S. Program is a programmatic initiative formerly started during the 2007-2008 academic calendar year to foster the scientific creativity and curiosity of Gann Academy students. Students meet Tuesday and Thursdays during B block each trimester and receive one academic credit (Art or Athletic) for each term they are involved. It is open to all grade levels. For a more detailed description of this program download our PDF brochure here.

WGAN: Gann's Radio Station
WGAN is Gann Academy's premier radio station, bringing you all you need to know about Gann. Get the latest information on what is going on in our school. We share with you exclusive interviews with leading figures of our time.

Articles & Press Releases

Gann Academy Receives $12.25 Million Gift