CELEBRATING SUCCESS...
Wow, what a week! And, how bout them Panthers? The most talked about news around town is the city championship upset, woohoo Panthers! if you haven't heard our Panthers beat the Eagles Friday night in the Football City Championship game. Click here to read the article in the Daily Sun. Congratulations to Coach Smith, his coaching staff and, of course, our Varsity Football Players.
The pre-game show with our amazing band, cheerleaders, dance team and student council, helped set the tone for the big win, thank you to all who helped showcase CHS on Friday night.
Speaking of showcase, congratulations are in order, also for our very own CTE Department who showcased our school on Wednesday. Our CTE students, teachers and programs really shined for the 30 plus community leaders who came to CHS last week to learn more about CTE, way to go team!
There's more...
The Career and College Day was a smashing success as well, thank you to the counselors and Kira Blair for the behind the scenes hard work to bring and host 40 colleges or post-secondary opportunities for our CHS students.
And more...Last week Russ Randall was recognized by the NAU Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and received an award for being the 2017 outstanding community partner. Great work Russ, congratulations!
One last note here, the halls and doors are awesome! Thank you, Laura Locke and Interior design students for adorning our hallways with college knowledge and teachers thanks teachers for joining in and decorating your doors for the college application campaign.
WELCOME TO THE PANTHER FAMILY...
Please join me in a warm CHS welcome to our new math teacher, Kristina Hover. Kristina is teaching geometry and we are fortunate to have her here at CHS. Welcome, Kristina!
HALLWAYS AT LUNCH...
Historical Perspective
Six years ago our halls were open during the lunch periods. Students roamed, conversed (often loudly), ate, drank, stood at doorways waiving at their friends who were in class, played music, etc. The learning environment was disrupted and we knew we needed to make a change. The decision was made to close the hallways at lunch. We knew in order to make this change we would need additional manpower to help monitor the halls, so we assigned lunch duty attendants. We also asked that teachers who were expecting students to their classrooms at lunch would give students a pass. This seemed to work for a few years, but for some reason, the passes idea has deteriorated. The hallways are still closed and monitored and the only way to know if students are supposed to be in the hall heading to, or coming from a teacher's classroom, a meeting, study hall etc, is if they have a pass. We have discovered that more often than not when students don't have a pass, but they say the teacher knows they are coming, they are not completely honest. (we have accompanied students to the classes, and the teachers were not aware the student was coming to their room). If they have a pass, it makes it simple, no argument, no confrontation and just all around more pleasant and positive for all.
Becky is creating a lunch pass template which will be in your boxes this week. Feel free to use this template or create your own, but please issue passes at for lunchtime visitors. Thank you!
LAUNCH FLAGSTAFF...
Several CHS teachers made to one or more of the recent films, during the Launch Flagstaff Film Festival, and found the film to be excellent and relevant. The next school related project and film series are regarding the impact of personal technology devices on learning. The date for the next film festival has not been confirmed but looks like late January. This film, Screenagers, is relevant for us and a topic of conversation in 90% of the conversations regarding student motivation in school. If you have a couple of minutes, I highly recommend you take a peek at his movie trailer. I will share details about the upcoming film festival and related works as I learn more. Click here for the trailer to the movie Screenagers
WHAT'S UP THIS WEEK?...
10/31 ~ College Application Campaign Day
*Halloween note ~ Each year, some students come to school in costume. Please remind students that that full face paint, masks and head dress or head adornments, such a cat ears, rabbit ears etc., are not permitted while at school, even on Halloween.
NEXT WEEK...
11/7 ~ Prep hour meetings
Press on! Panther Strong!
Please acknowledge you have read this post by clicking here
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Update ~ October 23-27, 2017
DELIBERATE PAUSE...
Sometimes in education, and I suppose in other fields as well, we use catch-phrases or “buzzwords” in our conversations without really pausing to talk about what the word really means. It dawned on me last week as I was writing some evaluations that I use the phrase, "This teacher supports our school's continuous improvement efforts," quite frequently. However, I’m not sure if we take enough time to define what the continuous improvement cycle really is. So I thought I would share my thoughts about this catch-phrase with all of you here in the Blog.
I see our school as a place of learning (more formally as a learning organization) and as such, our community of educational professionals continue to learn, change, evolve and maybe even transform. This continuous learning is paralleled in our hope for our students. We are futurists; we have a long-term perspective to prepare students and our school for the future, explore what's possible and work together to make it happen. As a learning organization, we set goals, we identify barriers, find solutions, and we make it better; that's the cycle.
We know learning is an ongoing process. Learning is inherently additive and socially constructed, therefore, we work together and continuously learn from one another. That’s what motivates me as a learner, and hopefully, that’s part of what motivates all of you as well.
It is a great pleasure working in a school where teachers are willing to take risks with one another (and in their classrooms) and where we share the common purpose of creating better learning opportunities for the students that we serve. This is where our common vision is born: To create a vibrant school culture that exemplifies academic excellence and model global citizenship. As we continuously work towards making this common vision a reality, we have a multitude of ways to get there. Collaborative teams and committees serve as intentional spaces in which we can work together to learn, grow, reflect, critique, and improve upon our practice. While some of these groups have already met, some will be meeting for the first time in the upcoming weeks. I am excited about the work we are planning for this year and beyond. Thank you for being who are and for being part of the Panther community,
This year's committees: PBIS, Masterboard, Department Chair, Safety, IB Exploratory, Purpose and Direction, Governance and Leadership, Teaching and Assessing for Learning, Resources, and Support Systems, Using Results for Continuous Improvement and International Baccalaureate Exploratory.
You can expect an email invitation for committee meetings in before the end of this semester.
REMINDER...
This week we have two days with different bell schedules; Monday and Friday. Please note, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will follow the regular bell schedule for those days. Please view last week's PantherReport to view the bell schedules and check Schedule Star for Rivalry Week Sports Schedules.
Also...
10/26 ~ CHS College Fair in the Main Gym 1:00-2:30pm
10/27 ~ PEP Assembly 9:45-10:40 am
10/27 ~ PEP Assembly 9:45-10:40 am
10/27 ~ College Door Decorating Contest
10/27 ~ CHS & FHS Tailgage party at the NAU Dome 4:40pm hosted by KAFF Radio
10/27 ~ CHS & FHS Tailgage party at the NAU Dome 4:40pm hosted by KAFF Radio
10/31 ~ College Application Campaign
This week, all week long, if you eat at Chick-Fil-A, mention CHS and the proceeds will go directly to our school.
Go Panthers!
This week, all week long, if you eat at Chick-Fil-A, mention CHS and the proceeds will go directly to our school.
Go Panthers!
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Update ~ October 16-20, 2017
CELEBRATING SUCCESS...
Welcome back all y'all - Hope you had a nice mini holiday. If you have a chance to meander up to the gym during lunch this week, I think it will put a smile on your face. With each passing week, more and more students are showing up for open gym. The regular open gym schedule is new this year and we are so pleased to see it has been so well received. Shout out to Theresa Freas for making it happen!
TIS THE SEASON...
For formal observations. By now most of you have already participated in the pre-observation conference with your evaluator, if not, please schedule this soon. First semester observations have begun.
What are we looking for?...
We are looking for sound lessons, effective instruction and high levels of learning. According to a cadre of researchers (Hattie 2009; Marzano, 2007; Popham, 2008; William,2007; Schmoker, 2016), excellent instruction is based on the basic features of a good lesson. Good lessons should begin with a clearly written and prominently posted learning objective that establishes the purpose of a lesson. Each lesson should include step by step teaching accompanied by ample opportunity for practice and or application, checks for understanding and adjustment of the instruction accordingly. These basic moves are fundamental to highly effective instruction and these routine components should be present for every lesson in every classroom in every subject. We know you do many other wonderful things in your classrooms and we enjoy seeing that too - we also know that sound instruction will have greater benefits for our students than anything else we do. That's the heart of the matter, and Steve, Cris and I look forward to observing in your classrooms in the next few months.
CALENDAR...
This week, October 16-20 ~ Regular schedule all week
LOOKING AHEAD...
October 23 ~ 27 ~ Last week of fall athletics. Fall spirit week
October 23 ~ Combined Lunch, class periods remain 55 minutes long. Schedule below.
October 27 ~ Rival Week Pep Assembly. Schedule below
November 7 ~ Prep Hour Meetings.
Have a great week everyone and press on, panther strong!
Please acknowledge you have read this post by clicking here
Welcome back all y'all - Hope you had a nice mini holiday. If you have a chance to meander up to the gym during lunch this week, I think it will put a smile on your face. With each passing week, more and more students are showing up for open gym. The regular open gym schedule is new this year and we are so pleased to see it has been so well received. Shout out to Theresa Freas for making it happen!
TIS THE SEASON...
For formal observations. By now most of you have already participated in the pre-observation conference with your evaluator, if not, please schedule this soon. First semester observations have begun.
What are we looking for?...
We are looking for sound lessons, effective instruction and high levels of learning. According to a cadre of researchers (Hattie 2009; Marzano, 2007; Popham, 2008; William,2007; Schmoker, 2016), excellent instruction is based on the basic features of a good lesson. Good lessons should begin with a clearly written and prominently posted learning objective that establishes the purpose of a lesson. Each lesson should include step by step teaching accompanied by ample opportunity for practice and or application, checks for understanding and adjustment of the instruction accordingly. These basic moves are fundamental to highly effective instruction and these routine components should be present for every lesson in every classroom in every subject. We know you do many other wonderful things in your classrooms and we enjoy seeing that too - we also know that sound instruction will have greater benefits for our students than anything else we do. That's the heart of the matter, and Steve, Cris and I look forward to observing in your classrooms in the next few months.
CALENDAR...
This week, October 16-20 ~ Regular schedule all week
LOOKING AHEAD...
October 23 ~ 27 ~ Last week of fall athletics. Fall spirit week
October 23 ~ Combined Lunch, class periods remain 55 minutes long. Schedule below.
October 27 ~ Rival Week Pep Assembly. Schedule below
November 7 ~ Prep Hour Meetings.
Have a great week everyone and press on, panther strong!
Please acknowledge you have read this post by clicking here
Sunday, October 8, 2017
Update ~ October 9-11, 2017
CELEBRATING SUCCESS...
Inspiring hope, that's what our very own Kira Blair, our counseling secretary, is all about. Kira's non-profit, called Building Bridges Youth Farm, gives young people the opportunity to work with animals, who love them unconditionally. The mission of the Youth Farm is to empower youth and strengthen communities. A shout out and congratulations to Kira for being recognized by the "Women Empowering Northern Arizona" organization and for being awarded $10,000.00 through this same organization to help support the Farm's noble mission. We are so proud of Kira and so glad she is part of the CHS family.
LETTER GRADE...
CHS received a "C" from the Arizona Departement of Education for the A-F letter grade for schools designation. We were a "C" on the old system as well. We'll just keep working and getting better all the time. Click here for this weekend's article from the AZDaily Sun
MTSS...
Thank you to those who have sent names of students in need of extra support. Please continue to send the names of students whose misconduct is getting in the way of learning. Cris' request is a first in a series of requests you will receive asking you to send names of students, to help us identify students in need of early intervention. Following the fall break, another email will be sent, asking for the names of students who you feel are seriously struggling with academics and are not learning, no matter what you are doing to help support their academic success.
MIFs...
Please remember to complete minor Infraction Informs when sending students to the RTR. The MIF serves multiple purposes; A pass to the RTR, detailed documentation of the concern, informs students of the disruption to the learning environment, provokes conversation between the classroom teacher and student and informs the RTR teacher of the misconduct. We are researching the possibility of creating and implementing a digital MIF, using the Synergy system, I will keep you posted on this progress.
POWER OF YOUR PRESENCE...
Thank you all for standing at your doorways during passing periods, your presence truly makes a difference in the climate of our school.
SMILE...
This Tuesday, October 10, at 7:30am we will take a group CHS Faculty and Staff photo. We'll convene in front of the main entrance at the flagpole and use the steps to fit everyone in the photo. Also, the 10th is Picture retake day for students who missed the first picture day. I apologize in advance for the announcements throughout the day and any disruption this may cause.
SPECIAL COLLECTION...
You might have heard that one of our CHS custodians learned that her parent's home was destroyed in the recent earthquake in Mexico City. Maria is very worried about the well-being of her elderly parents who are now without shelter and other basic supplies We are taking up a collection to help Maria to help her parents. If you would like to contribute to the collection, please see Becky.
Press on! Panther Strong!
Please acknowledge you have read this post by clicking here.
Inspiring hope, that's what our very own Kira Blair, our counseling secretary, is all about. Kira's non-profit, called Building Bridges Youth Farm, gives young people the opportunity to work with animals, who love them unconditionally. The mission of the Youth Farm is to empower youth and strengthen communities. A shout out and congratulations to Kira for being recognized by the "Women Empowering Northern Arizona" organization and for being awarded $10,000.00 through this same organization to help support the Farm's noble mission. We are so proud of Kira and so glad she is part of the CHS family.
LETTER GRADE...
CHS received a "C" from the Arizona Departement of Education for the A-F letter grade for schools designation. We were a "C" on the old system as well. We'll just keep working and getting better all the time. Click here for this weekend's article from the AZDaily Sun
MTSS...
Thank you to those who have sent names of students in need of extra support. Please continue to send the names of students whose misconduct is getting in the way of learning. Cris' request is a first in a series of requests you will receive asking you to send names of students, to help us identify students in need of early intervention. Following the fall break, another email will be sent, asking for the names of students who you feel are seriously struggling with academics and are not learning, no matter what you are doing to help support their academic success.
MIFs...
Please remember to complete minor Infraction Informs when sending students to the RTR. The MIF serves multiple purposes; A pass to the RTR, detailed documentation of the concern, informs students of the disruption to the learning environment, provokes conversation between the classroom teacher and student and informs the RTR teacher of the misconduct. We are researching the possibility of creating and implementing a digital MIF, using the Synergy system, I will keep you posted on this progress.
POWER OF YOUR PRESENCE...
Thank you all for standing at your doorways during passing periods, your presence truly makes a difference in the climate of our school.
SMILE...
This Tuesday, October 10, at 7:30am we will take a group CHS Faculty and Staff photo. We'll convene in front of the main entrance at the flagpole and use the steps to fit everyone in the photo. Also, the 10th is Picture retake day for students who missed the first picture day. I apologize in advance for the announcements throughout the day and any disruption this may cause.
SPECIAL COLLECTION...
You might have heard that one of our CHS custodians learned that her parent's home was destroyed in the recent earthquake in Mexico City. Maria is very worried about the well-being of her elderly parents who are now without shelter and other basic supplies We are taking up a collection to help Maria to help her parents. If you would like to contribute to the collection, please see Becky.
Press on! Panther Strong!
Please acknowledge you have read this post by clicking here.
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Update ~ October 2-6, 2017
CELEBRATING SUCCESS...
A shout out and big thank you to Gaby Garcia and the Student Council for the many hours of work to make this year's homecoming the best ever. Also a special thank you to Jeremy Gemetta and the Digital Media Crew for the planning, orchestration, and courage behind this year's CHS Lip Dub. We now anxiously await the screening of the 5th annual Lip Dub. And how bout our band? Thanks, Andrew Shwerzel and CHS musicians for entertaining us and the crowds all day and into the night on Friday. I would remiss if I didn't also thank our amazing custodial crew who helped set up and tear down each event and activity during the week. Thanks, also to everyone for the flexibility and positive attitudes during the organized chaos of the week. It was a great CHS homecoming for our students, with all sincerity thank you all!
Time to push restart and get back to the heart of the matter.
Have a great week!
Press on! Panther Strong!
The acknowledge link will return next week.
A shout out and big thank you to Gaby Garcia and the Student Council for the many hours of work to make this year's homecoming the best ever. Also a special thank you to Jeremy Gemetta and the Digital Media Crew for the planning, orchestration, and courage behind this year's CHS Lip Dub. We now anxiously await the screening of the 5th annual Lip Dub. And how bout our band? Thanks, Andrew Shwerzel and CHS musicians for entertaining us and the crowds all day and into the night on Friday. I would remiss if I didn't also thank our amazing custodial crew who helped set up and tear down each event and activity during the week. Thanks, also to everyone for the flexibility and positive attitudes during the organized chaos of the week. It was a great CHS homecoming for our students, with all sincerity thank you all!
Time to push restart and get back to the heart of the matter.
Have a great week!
Press on! Panther Strong!
The acknowledge link will return next week.
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