Collaboration is the second pillar of the Portrait of a Graduate initiative.

Collaboration – Graduates work well with others to identify problems and create solutions with an open mind.

Core to our everyday life, collaboration is a skill that is essential for all students to learn so they can employ it in school, extracurriculars, careers, and beyond. Collaboration is the idea of working together effectively with others, including knowing how to delegate and compromise on ideas to create something that everyone is satisfied with. Within Danbury High School, collaboration is present in a variety of clubs and especially sports. The teamwork and communication learned when collaborating within clubs and sports is an experience that will only serve to aid students in the future.

Girls Track and Field – Nicholas Fraticelli, Coach

“In the context of track & field collaboration is the student athlete having a dialogue with the coach on how they are responding to the training. Student athletes helping each other in workouts, competitions is also a critical component of what makes the DHS girls track & field program special in my mind. These things are important because an athlete who feels they have agency in the process of their training is a very powerful thing and shows young people the power of their voice. This is a great learning experience because young people learn to push themselves, help others and discover what they are capable of. This has proven to be a very valuable experience for many young ladies that have gone through DHS over the years.”

Girls Track and Field – Julia Porto, Sophomore

What is collaboration to you?

“To me, collaboration is not only working together, but knowing that the people you are working with will encourage you the entire way through.  In terms of track, just cheering each other on or being able to run in a group during a workout is essential.  It may seem like an incredibly individual sport, but for a lot of us, the support of teammates is almost as important as skill when trying to get through a tough race.”

Why do you think it is important?

“I believe the collaboration we build through running will set us all up for a workplace environment.  Although you may have different skills or interests than your teammates, at the end of the day, we all find commonalities and love each other because of our differences.”

How do you think your club/sport teaches and fosters collaboration?

“Track teaches collaboration during every minute of practice.  We walk in together, stretch together, warm up together, run together.  We never leave a runner behind and it is practically a requirement to cheer everyone on-a requirement we happily and voluntarily comply with.  You simply can’t have a good runner without people by their sides encouraging them to exceed their limits.”

Girls Track and Field – Kaitlyn Taylor, Freshman

What is collaboration to you?

“Collaboration is when people are able to work together to produce something or make a change in some way.”

Why do you think it is important?

“Collaboration is important because you need multiple people’s perspectives and ideas in order to get the best results. If you are doing something alone, it is more likely that you will make mistakes along the way.”

How do you think your club/sport teaches and fosters collaboration?

“I do Track and I feel that it utilizes collaboration because if I wasn’t on the team, I would never run on my own and then I wouldn’t have gotten as far as I have. Also in Track, I have made many friends and it builds a very strong and encouraging environment.”

Girls Volleyball – Jordyn Hicks, Sophomore

What is collaboration to you?

“Collaboration to me is working together with a group of people to accomplish a goal. Volleyball is all about collaborating, you have 6 teammates on your side of the court working together with the same goal, not letting the ball touch the ground. It is not an independent sport that is based on how well you do, it is a sport where you are dependent on your teammates and how well you do together to be successful.”

Why do you think it is important?

“Collaboration is important because it can help with working with people at your job, working with a group in school, and overall help with how well you do working with others.”

How do you think your club/sport teaches and fosters collaboration?

“Volleyball helps collaboration in students because like I’ve said before, it is a team sport. Whether you are in the starting line-up or on the bench, or maybe you are the best player or the worst, you still contribute to your team and put in your effort. There is only one thing in volleyball that is solely controlled by you – serving. Every other aspect of the game you need to work together and rely on your teammates.”

Girls Volleyball – Amelia Espinal, Sophomore

What is collaboration to you?

“Collaboration is working together with people, friends, teammates, etc and using everyone’s creativity to complete a certain task.”

Why do you think it is important?

“It’s very important to me because of school and sports (such as volleyball) because everyone can help each other out which is a big factor in school.”

How do you think your club/sport teaches and fosters collaboration?

”Volleyball teaches all of us to collaborate with different plays and practices with each other. For example, if a player can’t get a hit right another player can give them new ideas or ways to try it out. Overall collaboration is SUPER important in volleyball.”

National Art Honor Society (NAHS) – Vedant Singh, Sophomore

What is collaboration to you?

“Collaboration to me is working well with others in a group setting and learning to communicate to create things.”

Why do you think it is important?

“Collaboration is an incredibly important skill in life. Not only is it used in everyday life, but there is a heavy emphasis on it in schools, work, etc.”

How do you think your club/sport teaches and fosters collaboration?

“In NAHS, creativity is a very important matter in which lots of teamwork is required, so it is important that we collaborate with each other to create great things. We had to work together to decorate Christmas trees for charity back around in December, and we’re currently working on a mural. Neither of these would have been possible without collaboration and working with each other to create these projects. 

National Art Honor Society (NAHS) – Jeremy Lopez, Sophomore

What is collaboration to you?

“Collaboration is working in groups to all contribute to an idea, project, piece, etc.”

Why do you think it is important?

“It’s very important because we use collaboration all throughout life. It is a necessary skill for the future, and learning it early such as in NAHS is really helpful to the future.”

How do you think your club/sport teaches and fosters collaboration?

“NAHS promotes a lot of collaboration because of how everyone needs to work together to create pieces of artwork. We are working on a mural right now for the school, and this requires everyone’s help, showing and teaching collaboration.”

Science National Honor Society (SNHS) – Shriya Jonnalagadda,  Underclassmen Representative

What is collaboration to you?

“Collaboration to me is based on effective communication. a unity, perhaps. Collaboration is what inspires innovation and creativity.”

Why do you think it is important?

“As I said before, collaboration sparks a certain kind of creativity that can’t be accomplished alone. Additionally, with a larger group of people, the combination of various expertise will help come up with the most intuitive ideas and make the most lasting impacts.”

How do you think your club/sport teaches and fosters collaboration?

“SNHS (Science National Honors Society) collaborates with the Science club, meaning that students from all grades are included. We often do team building activities, work in small groups at stations, and have movie nights. We are also planning a group research/volunteer project where the whole club can come together to make a difference.” 

Boys Swim – Joshua Oliveira, Captain, Sophomore

What is collaboration to you?

“Collaboration to me is working together with others to improve yourself and increase your ability. It is necessary in order to work together and effectively communicate.”

Why do you think it is important?

“Collaboration is necessary to work together in a cohesive way and effectively communicate. It can encourage you and help you accomplish greater achievements than what you could have accomplished by yourself.”

How do you think your club/sport teaches and fosters collaboration?

“Being part of a team, like swim, and working with my teammates not only encourages improvement, but also provides a teaching and learning experience as well. Teaching a teammate a new skill will better both the one teaching, through an experience, and the one learning through the skill. In swim, collaboration and teamwork is what allows for our success and achievements. It has created deeper understanding between my teammates and lifelong friendships.”

Key Club – Amy Kouch, Fundraising Chair, Sophomore

What is collaboration to you?

“Collaboration refers to the idea of communicating and cooperating with others in a group.”

Why do you think it is important?

“Collaboration is significant because it promotes efficiency and creativity. Collaborating together in a group or pair allows work to be completed in an efficient manner, and also strengthens relations between those involved.”

How do you think your club/sport teaches and fosters collaboration?

“Key Club gives opportunities to students where they can engage and work together with other members of the club, as well as other members of the local community. The various community service acts that the club offers almost always involve interaction and collaboration with other people. Key Club allows individuals to come together and collaborate for a greater cause, while simultaneously reinforcing and building upon the relations of those participating.”

Boys Soccer – Kevin Furtado, Sophomore

What is collaboration to you?

“For me I think collaboration  is something done within a group of people that contribute ideas and thoughts towards an idea.”

Why do you think it is important?

“It’s an important aspect to have within a team because it’s the main function to have, so a team, like my soccer team, can function properly.”

How do you think your club/sport teaches and fosters collaboration?

“In a club, collaboration can be seen within communication within teammates. We need collaboration in soccer because we have to all work together to play and win games.”

Boys Track and Field – Robert Murray, Coach

What is collaboration to you?

Collaboration to me is working in conjunction with others in an open minded supportive positive way.

Why is it important?

Collaboration is important in order to be able to have the most balanced approach to success.  It brings a deeper connection to all those that are part of the process to feel a deeper investment and therefore a more personal contribution to the objective. 

How does your sport teach and foster collaboration in students/athletes?

The sport of track and field requires every discipline (sprints, jumps, hurdles, throws, mid distance and distance) to work together to push each other to each person’s potential so they team can come together during competition and deliver the collective effort to be successful.

Cheerleading – Joann Tatarzycki, Coach

“To me, a collaboration is an effort by a group of people to work together, work towards the same goals, and be respectful to each other while doing so. This is especially important on a cheerleading team, as we win and lose together as a team. Every single athlete on the competitive mat is a necessary piece of the puzzle, and without one we cannot succeed. Cheerleading teaches us how to work together as a family, work out any differences or problems, motivate each other, teach each other skills and work towards our goals as a team. I have found that the cheerleaders in my program ultimately learn kindness, respect, patience, and how to work with all others, as well as becoming physically strong and in shape. These are great attributes to have as they move on to college and jobs.”

Boys Lacrosse – William Kersten, Coach

What is collaboration to you?

Simply put, collaboration is working together. In sports that usually means working towards a common goal. Those goals may be different for each team, but you cannot reach those goals without working together.

Why do you think it is important?

All great teams work together and need to in order to accomplish their goals, which are usually getting better each day and trying to be as successful as possible.

How does your sport teach and foster collaboration in students/athletes?

“I’ve been a coach for 29 years and one of the great things about sports that hasn’t changed in that time, is the great teams have wonderful chemistry, and that chemistry is built through working together for a common goal. All the sports that I’ve coached required a sacrifice by the individual player for the greater good of the team, and the idea of everyone working towards those common goals helps them to understand this. All the attributes that one needs to be successful in sports translate beautifully to academics and the work environment, which is why we love to coach and teach.”

Softball – Erica Carboni, Coach

What is collaboration to you?

“Collaboration is about two or more people, groups, etc. working together for a common purpose or goal. It’s about bringing together different perspectives to achieve success.”

Why do you think it is important?

“I think collaboration is important because it allows for multiple ideas to come together as one. It is a building block for problem solving and idea creation. As a coach I find collaboration important because I might have one idea on how a play or roster should be created, but once I sit down and speak with the other coaches and we discuss different ideas, we can together come up with the best plan of action for our team.”

How does your sport teach and foster collaboration in students/athletes?

“Although softball seems like it shouldn’t be much of a collaboration because players bat by themselves and play an individual position, that is just not true. We teach our girls to collaborate after each at bat and tell their teammates how the other pitcher is throwing and how the umpire is calling balls and strikes. While girls are on the field, it is important for them to collaborate based on the opponents at bats. They have to tell each other to move on the field, where an opposing player might hit the ball, and what the best course of action would be once the ball is in play. Like any sport, athletics prepares student athletes for the real world. What they do on the field will translate to what they do in the future whether in college or in a job. They have to know the importance of working together and figuring out solutions.”