
Housatonic Valley Regional High School senior Lou Haemmerle is finalizing work on her Capstone.
Patrick L. Sullivan
Housatonic Valley Regional High School senior Lou Haemmerle is finalizing work on her Capstone.
FALLS VILLAGE — Seniors at Housatonic Valley Regional High School discussed their “Capstone” projects with The Lakeville Journal Friday, Feb. 14.
Lou Haemmerle of Salisbury will attend New York University in the fall. Interested in music production, Haemmerle’s Capstone project started off by releasing music to online platforms such as Spotify.
“But I did that early.”
So the scope of the project was widened to answer the question “How do I implement myself in the creative industries?”
Asked for more details, Haemmerle said she did a number of internships, which required some travel — to Los Angeles. The internships included set design, soundproofing music studios and videography. Haemmerle was aided in this by a grant from the 21st Century Fund for HVRHS.
Haemmerle said the result was “a lot more learning and information on the industry that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise.”
There was some pressure involved. “I had to be on site, and put on my big girl pants.”
HVRHS senior Jake Bosio is finalizing work on his Capstone.Patrick L. Sullivan
Jake Bosio of North Canaan, with the help of a grant from the Region One Athletic Fund, installed a golf simulator in the Hewatt-Mahoney Science and Technology Center.
He explained how this works. There is a 10 foot screen and a projector. The player boots a golf ball into the screen, and a “launch monitor” provides club and ball data.
Plus the device shows the golfer where the ball wound up on the virtual course.
Bosio said he is the captain of the HVRHS golf team and wants to be a golf pro, so his Capstone was truly a “passion project.” He added his handicap is 13.
He will attend the University of Hawaii.
Ellie Wolgemuth is a senior at HVRHS who has recently completed her Capstone project.Patrick L. Sullivan
Ellie Wolgemuth of Salisbury’s Capstone revolves around her four years as being the primary student intern working for the Kearcher-Monsell Gallery, located in the HVRHS library.
Ellie saw a need for the job’s requirements to be spelled out clearly, for whoever takes over.
Things like “how to hang a show, host an opening, make sure things run smoothly.”
Ellie wound up with a “60,000 word Google document” that can be accessed and modified by future interns.
Ellie was not sure what the next step was — possibly Princeton, maybe the Rhode Island School of Design and/or Brown University.
Diana Portillo is a senior at HVRHS who has recently completed her Capstone project.Patrick L. Sullivan
Diana Portillo of North Canaan, a volleyball and softball player, made friendship bracelets, some adorned with the mascots of other Berkshire League schools, some without, and gave them to players on opposing teams.
The idea was to promote sportsmanship among the league schools, and to foster a sense of community among student athletes.
The first bracelet was given to a Gilbert player.
Each bracelet came with a QR code that took the recipient to a Google form, where the recipients could enter their personal information.
It took a little while to catch on, but it worked.
“From 75 bracelets I got 75 responses.”
Daniela Brennan researched theology for her Capstone.Patrick L. Sullivan
Daniela Brennan of North Canaan was unsure where she would attend college, with Worcester Polytechnic Institute a strong possibility. She plans to study mechanical engineering.
Her Capstone project headed in a different direction.
A Roman Catholic, she was curious about other faiths, and acquired first-hand experiences with Judaism, Muslim and Hindu congregations.
She kept track of her observations and thoughts in a journal.
She said that “in monotheistic faiths, the core beliefs are similar.”
“The way they show it makes them seem different, and that’s where biases and misassumptions come from.”
Asked how she decided on this course of inquiry, she said “I get it from my dad, he loves philosophy and religion.”
“And learning about it helps me learn my own faith.”
Jassim Mohydin “reverse engineered last year’s robot.” Patrick L. Sullivan
Jassim Mohydin of Lakeville, who will attend Florida Institute of Technology to train as an airline pilot, turned his attention to computer aided design, or CAD, for his Capstone project.
Specifically, he used CAD in conjunction with his activities with the HVRHS Robotics team.
“I reverse-engineered last year’s robot,” he said. He identified deficiencies and came up with solutions.
Because robotics is a collaborative effort, his work will inform future Robotics team members.
“You have to think about the whole robot, not just your bit.”
All six students agreed that the Capstone projects required them to get out of their comfort zones and provided opportunities to do things that they might not have attempted otherwise.
Charlie Castellanos, left, and Allegra Ferri, right, sitting in the HVRHS library to talk about their experiences in the U.S.
“I would say if you are thinking about doing the program, do it because you get out of your comfort zone and learn so many things...” —Charlie Castellanos
Every year, Housatonic Valley Regional High School welcomes foreign exchange students to attend classes through the AFS Intercultural Programs. This school year, two students traveled to Northwest Connecticut to immerse themselves in American life and culture. Allegra Ferri, a 17-year-old from Italy, and 16-year-old Charlie Castellanos from Colombia sat down to reflect on their experience at HVRHS. As the academic year is coming to an end, they shared a few highlights of their time in the U.S. and offered advice to prospective exchange students.
Allegra: “My favorite part of this exchange year was coming here and experiencing an American high school.”
Charlie: “My favorite part is coming to high school and living the American dream and probably going to ski [for the first time].”
Allegra: “I played volleyball in the fall and I really liked it because everyone was so nice. Then during the winter, I was part of the crew for the musical and now I’m doing tennis. I really enjoy it because it’s a good team. I love how American high school has sports and activities after school.”
Charlie: “I did soccer in the fall, which was my favorite. I did the play in the winter and right now I’m doing track and field. We don’t have school sports in Colombia. This is one of the things I’m going to miss the most.”
Allegra: “I would say do it because living in another country is a great experience to grow and improve another language. It improves your skills of being by yourself.”
Charlie: “I would say if you are thinking about doing the program, do it because you get out of your comfort zone and learn so many things like culture, language and it’s just a completely new experience. It will stay with you your entire life.”
WATERTOWN — Housatonic Valley Regional High School girls lacrosse played Watertown High School for the Western Connecticut Lacrosse Conference championship Wednesday, May 28.
The cold, rainy game went back and forth with three ties and three lead changes. Watertown was ahead when it counted and earned a 6-4 victory to claim the league title.
Under the lights in Watertown, both sides displayed defensive discipline in a hard-fought match. It was the third meeting between these two teams this season and Watertown completed the sweep in the title game.
Watertown scored first in the opening minute. Housatonic quickly evened the score when freshman Annabelle Carden tucked a shot past the goalie on a fast break. The first quarter ended 1-1.
Freshman Annabelle Carden, no. 9, scored the first two goals for HVRHS in the title game May 28.Photo by Riley Klein
HVRHS pulled ahead with another goal from Carden in the second quarter. A few minutes before half time, Watertown tied it up again at 2-2 going into intermission.
Watertown regained the lead in the second half before HVRHS answered with a goal by senior Tessa Dekker. With seconds left in the third quarter, the Warriors went up 4-3.
As the sky darkened and rain intensified in the fourth quarter, Watertown built a lead. They scored twice in a row to start the final period and entered clock-management mode to drain time. Senior Lola Clayton scored once more before time was out and the game ended 6-4.
Housatonic's defense held Watertown to six points in the championship game. Watertown, the number one team in the WCLC, averaged more than 12 goals per game this season.Photo by Riley Klein
The championship’s most valuable player award went to Malia Arline of Watertown. HVRHS had five players chosen to the 2025 all-league team: Lola Clayton, Lou Haemmerle, Mollie Ford, Neve Kline and Georgie Clayton.
“Incredible finals. Incredible game to watch,” said HVRHS Coach Laura Bushey to her team post-game. “You should all be very proud of yourselves.”
“Holding a team to six points is something to be really, really proud of. Especially a team that’s as good as these guys,” said assistant coach Erin Bushey.
HVRHS qualified for the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class S lacrosse tournament. The Mountaineers got matched against Wolcott High School in round one, Friday, May 30, 5 p.m. at HVRHS.
Lou Haemmerle created offensive opportunities for HVRHS in the league final.Photo by Riley Klein
“Some I prefer are the grilled cheese. Pizza’s okay with some sauce. Hamburger too, I guess. The least favorite that I’ve tried is probably the hot ham and cheese. I don’t like that. I’ve started to see that they’re doing French fries, which I kind of like. They should probably start doing more of that.”
“My favorite lunch is probably the mac and cheese and popcorn chicken. I’d like to see it more frequently. Grilled cheese, cheese quesadilla, french toasts sticks, and chicken fajita
can all go.”
“My favorite is beef nacho grande. My least favorite is probably the fajitas.
I wish we had chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes more often.”
“General Tsou’s chicken is my favorite lunch. Also, the popcorn chicken and mac and cheese.
I really don’t like the French toast sticks or that we have pizza every Friday. We need some more variation.”
Photos by Ibby Sadeh and Mia DiRocco
As the 2025 school year concludes, so does the first full year of the Bias Education and Response Team being utilized at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
This team, or BERT for short, is a team made primarily of students, with staff to supervise, that respond to incidents of bias in the school. This program was presented as an opportunity to combat and respond to incidents of bias and educate the students and faculty on what bias is.
BERT was introduced with a presentation from two counselors and educators outside of the HVRHS community, Carolyn Corrado and Karen Garrity. They taught the school about the Bias Incident Reporting System, or BIRS, which is a google form that anyone from the school community can fill out, reporting bias that they have seen or heard. Then, students on the team respond to these incidents. This system aims to create a positive school environment through addressing bias.
Students and faculty involved with the program traveled to Shepaug in October for the Youth Climate Summit, an event where high schools all over Connecticut came together to discuss ways to improve their schools. The entire team gave a presentation on BERT, the work they’ve been doing, and how to utilize the system. “By seeing and potentially utilizing programs that other schools have implemented and found successful in ours could make the schools climate far better for all students and faculty members,” said Silas Tripp, a member of BERT who attended this summit.
On April 3, three of the team members — Maddy Johnson, Silas Tripp and Ayden Wheeler — and the principal, Ian Strever, made their way to Nashua, New Hampshire, to give a presentation at the New England Association of Schools and Colleges Conference. This was a huge success for the team, Wheeler said, “the presentation seemed to be received well with some school representatives coming up to us and wanting to integrate it into their schools.”
“The goal is to make our school a safe environment for all and to make the students feel at home at our school and I truly believe our attendance to these gatherings are helping us reach this goal,” Tripp said. The team also has plans for reaching out to the regional middle schools and making a presentation in the fall to promote lessons of kindness and equality in grade K-8, said Johnson, the subcommittee lead for this objective.
Richie Crane, Carmela Egan, and Georgie Clayton, the members of the “Who We Are” subcommittee, created an instagram account where they post educational information and videos to spread the word about BIRS and what bias is, which you can follow @hvrhs.bert on Instagram.