Week Ending April 1, 2016

April Fools Day

Well it may be a simple picture, black and white, and if you follow it’s message you will be better today than you were yesterday. It also is a great metaphor for almost any new idea, task, or goal you set for yourself. We have a couple of weeks before the April break. Read this definition of a “Workout” that I took from Coach Gilmartin’s office door and apply it to something, which may require great effort, that you have been meaning to do for yourself. You deserve it.

Good News

Jess Wolke wrote and received a $1000 grant from Representative Craven for her work with Varsity Athletes Against Substance Abuse. The students in VAASA travel to DMS, WMS and Jamestown to talk to the students about

transitioning to the high school in a drug free environment. They will use the money for the bus transportation and to also host the incoming 9th graders at an ice cream social. Nice work.

The NKHS/PE Dept will receive $1800 dollar grant through the Healthy Schools Initiative to help spread health and wellness throughout the school, in the weight room, mostly for our students but also for the faculty, if they so choose. New Plyo Boxes, yoga accessories and heart rate monitor equipment all will add to the current equipment the PE teachers use to create the ideal environment for students to reach their fitness potential.

Congratulations to Norma Caiazza and her students; both the orchestra and concert choir had state festivals this week and both groups earned the highest rating of "Superior". This is excellent news.  

Students as Learners

Mr. Simmon’s first period Project Lead the Way Principles of Engineering class. What a great room to walk into first thing in the morning. Students couldn’t stop talking about what they were doing and why they love this class. It was barely 7:30 am! Many of them are heading off to college to study engineering. Here are a few pictures of their work on their first build of another type of turbine. After they show that they can make it like the professionals suggest they can add their own variations to see if they can improve upon the design.

Consumer Math students in Joy Tavano’s and Amy Messerlian’s class learned that math can be tasty!

From Joy: Yesterday in Consumer Math, Ms. Messerlian and I conducted a taste test with our students. We have been digging deep into monthly budgeting and the students have been learning about and discussing food costs. Students had the chance to participate in a blind taste test to determine if they could distinguish between brand name and generic products. Everyone had a little "snack salad"of Pop Tarts, Life cereal, Del Monte mandarin oranges, and Welch's white grape juice along with the cheaper Walmart brand. We later calculated unit price so that we could really see how much the savings were. All in all, we decided, that for these products, it was worth spending the few extra cents for the better tasting product. I guess NKHS kids have distinguished palettes!

Health and Wellness

From Karen D’Abrosca

The word of the month is “Balance”.  Seems simple but so many responsibilities pull us in many directions.  Increasing daylight hours may give us more energy and we may add more to the “to do” list.  If time seems short, check out this posting from Human Resources on ways to build movement and smart eating into your day!  

“Workplace Workout:  10 ways to get fit on the job” / “Office Approved Snacks”

(Debbie Gardiner  -  workplace and snack tips -   MAR 30 email)

Upcoming Events/Important Dates

April 1 -- Hussey Bridge closed

April 4 – Booster Club Meeting

April 6 – Post High School Planning Night

April 9 - Evening of Champions

April 10 – Cup Cake Wars – 12pm – 3pm

April 12 - School Committee Meeting - 7pm

April 18 – 21 – No School - Spring Recess

April 26 - School Committee Meeting - 7pm

April 29 – Blood Drive

Student Services Office

Donna and the Deans are starting to plan for next year and are seeking input about creating monthly themes to build School Culture.  The SSO will be working with key stakeholders including staff, community and students to create these monthly themes.  A small focus group has already weighed in on the topics, but your input is also welcomed.  Find the survey here:

http://goo.gl/forms/o9J7wxZ8cV

Congratulations to Beth Conrad for being nominated for this week's Skipper Pride for Excellence Award by last week's winner, Tholerme Aldriche.  From Tholerme:

Dear Ms. Conrad,

You are being a very good person to me and my family.  I appreciate you and I think you're a special person because of that I think you are well deserving of this award.

School Culture

Today the Hussey Bridge in Wickford will be closed for renovations until June 24th and that is not an April Fools joke. The busses were able to get out and right up  Annaquatucket to Tower Hill with the help of administration, the deans, the SRO and the NKPD. I am waiting to hear from the Transportation Department for the “all went well.” Thank you to anyone who stayed a few extra minutes to avoid backup. On Monday, the morning will be hectic. We will do our best to get students into your classrooms.

From the Deans
Updated discipline report for the 2015-16 school year.

Some important points to note:

*Only 280 students have referrals thus far this year for a total of 1,717 referrals.   

*Almost 800 of them are for tardy to class/school and 531 for cutting/skipping classes.  

This report includes any and all students that have attended since September 8th. A few of the

students that are no longer enrolled are included.

*Please continue to address the students in your classroom and the hallways that are wearing

hats.  We have had conversations with the parents of the frequent offenders and have assigned

detentions to those students.  Consistency in all classrooms is important and we understand that the consistency starts with us.  We can assure you that we will be very diligent with all students that we see, assigning detentions and calling parents.  If you ask a student for his hat, please call x1030 and ask Kris Anderson to have one of us come and retrieve it.

We recently had a student protest the use of large handbags/purses throughout the school day;

the student was using a box to carry his personal items.  His argument was the size of the

handbags and the ability to carry books in them.  Please ask students that are using over-sized

handbags, for the purpose of carrying book, to put them in their locker; much like we would a

backpack.  No student should use a book bag during the school day, except for period 5.

Videos Worth Watching

Donna hosted the SK coalition. The same people who presented to us regarding the vap pens in the fall. In addition, the United State’s  Attorney for Rhode Island,  Peter Neronha whose son, Joshua, is in our 10th grade class at NKHS, presented on opiods, heroin and your medicine cabinet. His piece is within the first 9 minutes of this video and worth the watch.

Articles Worth Reading

Motivated to Learn: A Conversation with Daniel Pink

Food for Thought

“When the reward is the activity itself--deepening learning, delighting customers, doing one's best--there are no shortcuts.” ~Daniel Pink

Until next time, Think, Create, Innovate...Denise