Dear Parents and Guardians and Youth Pastors,
The Academic Booster Club will meet on Wednesday, November 30 at 3:30 pm in the Leading and Learning room adjacent to the main office. The past few meetings have been attended by 7 to 12 parents. We have refined our focus on supporting literacy at the high school; chiefly, we want students to have many different kinds of books to read and our high school to be a literacy rich environment.
Each Wednesday our seminar teachers support DEAR day (drop everything and read). The Academic Boosters will be planning a reading round-up of books students would like to read to support the efforts of our teachers and the librarian, Lindsey Yancey, to have enough books for all our students. During our last meeting, Mrs. Yancey led a tour of our library and we discussed plans to have a reading round-up February 14, 2012.
We need your support and hope you can attend.
T.
Dr. Terry Robinson
Principal
Mexico High School
573-581-4296
"Whatever you are be a good one" -A. Lincoln
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Academic Booster Club: October 18, 2011
Dear parents and guardians,
Last year we established links with our local youth pastors and some parents to serve as volunteers supervising our cafeteria. We have appreciated many of them coming to lunch regularly and helping us change the atmosphere of our cafeteria which was the troubled area of our building with 14 student altercations occurring during the 2009-10 school year. This past year, there were only two altercations in our cafeteria.
This year, we would like to continue to grow our connections with parents and those working with young people in our community. As I've settled into this community I've spent some time gathering areas our community can get involved and make a difference. If you would like to be a part of our fall meeting, I would be glad to meet you and discuss and brainstorm some places you can help our students.
We will have our first meeting October 26, 2011 at 3:30 pm in our conference room adjacent to our main office at the high school. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call me in the main office at 573-581-4296.
Dr. Robinson
Last year we established links with our local youth pastors and some parents to serve as volunteers supervising our cafeteria. We have appreciated many of them coming to lunch regularly and helping us change the atmosphere of our cafeteria which was the troubled area of our building with 14 student altercations occurring during the 2009-10 school year. This past year, there were only two altercations in our cafeteria.
This year, we would like to continue to grow our connections with parents and those working with young people in our community. As I've settled into this community I've spent some time gathering areas our community can get involved and make a difference. If you would like to be a part of our fall meeting, I would be glad to meet you and discuss and brainstorm some places you can help our students.
We will have our first meeting October 26, 2011 at 3:30 pm in our conference room adjacent to our main office at the high school. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call me in the main office at 573-581-4296.
Dr. Robinson
Thursday, August 18, 2011
WELCOME BACK! August 2011
Hello Everyone!
The school year is off and running! For many of our office and teaching staff we are literally RUNNING!
So much happens to kick off the school year; registration, computer entries, lesson plans, distribution of materials, cleaning, busing routes, shot records....that's just a start.
If you get a chance to thank a teacher or a staff member at our school -- please do so. The beginning of a school year is often one of the toughest parts of the school year.
I wanted to give you all this information about our seminar class:
Seminar is a ¼ credit course per semester and is taught by teachers with strong counseling and
administrator support. Teachers retain a small group of approximately 15 students (of the
same grade level) for their entire high school experience and develop strong working
relationships with them. The primary purposes of seminar are to do the following:
1) Guide young people to complete their assignments in their classes and stay on-track to graduation
2) Provide additional study time for students
3) Teach learning skills that promote success as a student and assist students in improving their overall grades and achievement
4) Promote a culture of literacy – students reading
We began with the plan and purpose above and throughout last year teachers took feedback through our building leadership team made up of teachers, adminstrators and counselors.
The following are revisions to seminar in response to teacher concerns:
1. There is not enough time to teach learning skills lessons well – time is too short
Revision: these lessons are not mandatory, but highly advised for individual students failing
Students should develop a PDSA – Plan Do Study Act – learning plan for each 6 week period, teachers will keep these plans on file and take time to meet with them individually to approve and review their plans.
2. Student Council and Leadership oriented students need enrichment – they have little need of intervention.
Revision: A seminar class has been formed for students actively participating in student council.
3. Students having more difficulty keeping up in classes need more attention in seminar; seminar class size should be reduced for these students and they should be identified so they receive more assistance in staying on-track.
Revision: Smaller classes were set up with a single digit class size of students having more difficulty.
(approx. 7 students per class) Students having more difficulty were identified by teachers via feedback to the building leadership team (BLT) All these students are located at MHS.
4. Concern about the loss of teachers with experience working with students at each grade level. Suggestion from teachers: Keep one teacher at each grade level so there is at least one person each year with the knowledge of what should happen at that grade level.
Revision: Stationary teachers were assigned to each grade level.
5. Some concern about the balance of teacher experience at each grade level was voiced.
Revision: Classes were better balanced with teachers of varying experience levels.
6. Necessary Adjustments
Our class sizes at the freshman and senior level are significantly larger than last year.
**This meant we couldn’t keep all students with the same teachers as last year.
Here are the focuses for seminar each day:
Monday:
Student Grade Checks
Tuesday:
Guided Study hall
Wednesday:
Drop Everything and Read
Thursday:
Guided Study Hall
Friday:
Guided Study Hall
And/or
Seminar: Team building activities
Seminar has also been used for class meetings, planning meetings, and special assemblies and guest speakers. Our revisions to seminar will hopefully better address our needs with students.
We are committed to continuous improvement and our teachers continue to look for ways to keep students on-track to graduation.
Additionally, the teachers and staff will begin pursuing positive behavior intervention and support (PBiS) for our students and teachers. In this 3-5 year process being pursued with the support of the Columbia Regional Professional Development Committe at Mizzou. We hope to better address poor behavior issues at the high school. We are committed to teaching students how to behave in a learning or business environment so they are successful in school and in life. Mr. Brad Ellebracht will be acting as our coordinator for this effort and the following teachers have also committed to serving on the committee: Ms. Taylor, Mrs. Breshears, Mr. Schenewerk, Mrs. Swisher, Mr. Winslow, Ms. Windmann(Crowe), Mrs. Gilles, Mr. Winslow and Mrs. Conn.
Our planners for students will be distributed next week. Student Council provided the planner choice for students to use for 2011-12. There has been a slight delay from our distributor.
Finally, MHS faculty and staff is looking forward to assisting your son or daughter as they work toward the completion of their high school education. Please call on us if you have any questions or concerns throughout the year.
Dr. Terry Robinson
Principal
The school year is off and running! For many of our office and teaching staff we are literally RUNNING!
So much happens to kick off the school year; registration, computer entries, lesson plans, distribution of materials, cleaning, busing routes, shot records....that's just a start.
If you get a chance to thank a teacher or a staff member at our school -- please do so. The beginning of a school year is often one of the toughest parts of the school year.
I wanted to give you all this information about our seminar class:
Seminar is a ¼ credit course per semester and is taught by teachers with strong counseling and
administrator support. Teachers retain a small group of approximately 15 students (of the
same grade level) for their entire high school experience and develop strong working
relationships with them. The primary purposes of seminar are to do the following:
1) Guide young people to complete their assignments in their classes and stay on-track to graduation
2) Provide additional study time for students
3) Teach learning skills that promote success as a student and assist students in improving their overall grades and achievement
4) Promote a culture of literacy – students reading
We began with the plan and purpose above and throughout last year teachers took feedback through our building leadership team made up of teachers, adminstrators and counselors.
The following are revisions to seminar in response to teacher concerns:
1. There is not enough time to teach learning skills lessons well – time is too short
Revision: these lessons are not mandatory, but highly advised for individual students failing
Students should develop a PDSA – Plan Do Study Act – learning plan for each 6 week period, teachers will keep these plans on file and take time to meet with them individually to approve and review their plans.
2. Student Council and Leadership oriented students need enrichment – they have little need of intervention.
Revision: A seminar class has been formed for students actively participating in student council.
3. Students having more difficulty keeping up in classes need more attention in seminar; seminar class size should be reduced for these students and they should be identified so they receive more assistance in staying on-track.
Revision: Smaller classes were set up with a single digit class size of students having more difficulty.
(approx. 7 students per class) Students having more difficulty were identified by teachers via feedback to the building leadership team (BLT) All these students are located at MHS.
4. Concern about the loss of teachers with experience working with students at each grade level. Suggestion from teachers: Keep one teacher at each grade level so there is at least one person each year with the knowledge of what should happen at that grade level.
Revision: Stationary teachers were assigned to each grade level.
5. Some concern about the balance of teacher experience at each grade level was voiced.
Revision: Classes were better balanced with teachers of varying experience levels.
6. Necessary Adjustments
Our class sizes at the freshman and senior level are significantly larger than last year.
**This meant we couldn’t keep all students with the same teachers as last year.
Here are the focuses for seminar each day:
Monday:
Student Grade Checks
Tuesday:
Guided Study hall
Wednesday:
Drop Everything and Read
Thursday:
Guided Study Hall
Friday:
Guided Study Hall
And/or
Seminar: Team building activities
Seminar has also been used for class meetings, planning meetings, and special assemblies and guest speakers. Our revisions to seminar will hopefully better address our needs with students.
We are committed to continuous improvement and our teachers continue to look for ways to keep students on-track to graduation.
Additionally, the teachers and staff will begin pursuing positive behavior intervention and support (PBiS) for our students and teachers. In this 3-5 year process being pursued with the support of the Columbia Regional Professional Development Committe at Mizzou. We hope to better address poor behavior issues at the high school. We are committed to teaching students how to behave in a learning or business environment so they are successful in school and in life. Mr. Brad Ellebracht will be acting as our coordinator for this effort and the following teachers have also committed to serving on the committee: Ms. Taylor, Mrs. Breshears, Mr. Schenewerk, Mrs. Swisher, Mr. Winslow, Ms. Windmann(Crowe), Mrs. Gilles, Mr. Winslow and Mrs. Conn.
Our planners for students will be distributed next week. Student Council provided the planner choice for students to use for 2011-12. There has been a slight delay from our distributor.
Finally, MHS faculty and staff is looking forward to assisting your son or daughter as they work toward the completion of their high school education. Please call on us if you have any questions or concerns throughout the year.
Dr. Terry Robinson
Principal
Monday, May 9, 2011
April and May 2011
Hi Everyone,
Spring...finally! It has been a full year and I won't pretend my blog can contain all the events and achievements of this school year. Our faculty and staff are among the busiest I have encountered and they do it all for the benefit of the students and families they serve. If you haven't done so, I know any teacher would appreciate a kind word, email or card from a parent or guardian. Sometimes, it is the little things, that kind appreciation from someone that drives caregivers like teachers. Frankly, we can all use a kind work about what we've devoted our lives to do - serve others.
T.
Month/Year: April 2011
Current Enrollment: 683
Free / Reduced Lunch Enrollment: 245/50
Student Services Listing: 72
Students of the Month: March
Dillon Shoemaker and Shelbi Prince
Academics:
From Ms. Yount, Science Department: Bio Club will be taking a trip on Monday May 2nd to Warm Springs Ranch in Boonville, MO. It is a Clydesdale Breeding ranch.
From Mrs. Julie Exendine, Foreign Language Department: Congratulations to the following French III students: Lexie Abbott, Ana Garcia, Kaitlin Harlow, Paislee House, Nikki Polston, Liesl Walser, Randi Winterhalter, Sam Wren whose original French film was awarded 1st place for Use of Language in their category and 2nd place Comedy in their category at the University of Central Missouri's Foreign Language Film Festival. I am so proud of these girls! They wrote, filmed and appeared in this entirely student created production!
From Mrs. Christina Gerber, Math Department: In Math II we just started learning how to write
2-column algebraic proofs. Once my students started to get the idea of what a proof is and how to write one, I had them come up with their own problem to prove. They did this as an individual assignment and so as a result I was able to use their proofs on a quiz. Everyone who turned in a proof (some turned in two proofs) did an excellent job as I would have written a very similar quiz. When I passed out the quiz they were all really excited to see the problem they wrote on the quiz.
Activities:
From Mr. Cortez, Band Director: We've officially survived yet another MSHSAA District Music Festival. Directors and parents alike praised our efforts in running a wonderful festival, and it could not be done without everyone's help! So, a heart-felt THANK YOU!!
Our large groups performed well, the Choir bringing home an EXCELLENT (2) RATING and the Band bringing home a SUPERIOR (1) RATING.
We had some students who will move on to the STATE level in Columbia (April 28): Vocalists Marshall Forbis and Nikki Jung, Pianists Ben Zinkel and Sabrena Joiner, Trumpet Trio of Abby Braden, Thomas Freeman, and Jonah McKeown.
The following students participated in this year's Music Festival as well: VOCALISTS: Audreonna Taylor, Alexis Mika, Shelby Hobbs, Rachel Silver, Kristin Walch, Monica Martinez, Lacie Matthiesen, Jackie Hurd, Dalyne Test, Jordan Henry. INSTRUMENTALISTS: Nandita Thapar, Piano; Marshall Forbis, Saxophone Solo; Levi Holmes, Piano; Austin Miller, Trumpet Solo; Lawrence Jerichow, Trumpet Solo; Jonah McKeown, French Horn Solo Mexico Trombone Trio (Benjamin Zinkel, Austin Weber, Cassandra Schmidt) Mexico Clarinet Trio (Sabrena Joiner, Carley Nance, Haley Mathews) Mexico Saxophone Quintet (Aaron Lightfoot, Jacob Lauer, Marshall Forbis, Chelsea McCord, Aaron Williams-Conley) Mexico Percussion Ensemble (Michael Perll, Dylan Nance, Ben Rogers, Christian McKeown, Nandita Thapar, Levi Holmes)
From Sarah Pence – Quiz Bowl Sponsor: The Quiz Bowl team finished up the 2010-2011 season on April 9th by placing 4th place in districts. Stephen Houke took home the 3rd place medal for most questions answered during the day. It has been a truly enjoyable season with exemplary students that have received compliments from every tournament that we attended for being "the nicest kids."
Nick Hoth – Wrestling Coach: The Mexico Wrestling team has been awarded the "Team of the Season" by KRCG Channel 13. The River City Credit Union presented the Mexico Athletic Booster Club with a $500 check on the wrestling team's behalf.
Speech & Debate Team – Coach Sara Given: Michael Perll and Nate Hitchcock (District Champions in multiple events) will be competing at MSHSAA State Speech & Debate Friday, April 15th and Saturday, April 16th. They are quite entertaining to watch in both their Duet and their Debate. Administration Team:
The MHS Student Ambassadors have been featured in the 3/50 Project advertisement.
Leadership in Practice was held at the Elks with 35 freshmen and sophomores as well as 6 junior consultants that had previously been through the program. A big thank you to The Elks, The Chamber, Mexico Rotary, and Noon Kiwanis for contributions. Also, thank you to our community members that spoke- Ron Hopkins, Dana Keller and Jeff Frazier.
Shelby Smith and Ana Garcia will represent the Student Ambassadors at the monthly Chamber Meeting.
National Honor Society initiation was held April 6.
Government End of Course Exams were taken March 28.
Mrs. Woolsey finished her interviews with the seniors March 23.
Paul Pitchford from the University of Missouri finished professional development of Understanding by Design with 11 MHS teachers on March 23.
Guidance and Counseling Team:
• College/University visits in March: Missouri S & T, Hannibal LaGrange and Missouri Western
• A+ Advisory Meeting/ Breakfast was on March 9th with Phil Neely A+ Coordinator
• Mexico High School Local Scholarships were due in the Guidance Office on March 15th. This year 96 Local Scholarships were offered. The Guidance Office processed 1,991 scholarship applications from our seniors.
• Scholarships have been distributed to the 96 scholarship committees, for their decisions. The Awards Ceremony will be May 20th at 9:00a.m. in the MHS Gymnasium.
• There are still several Current Scholarships being offered on the Guidance Office webpage.
• The online Government End of Course Exam was administered the week of March 28th.
• ZAPS (an ACT preparation class) was offered on March 29th in the Mexico High School Library.
Upcoming Events:
4/14 State FFA Convention
4/14-16 MHS Chamber & Women’s Choir Trip to Branson
4/15-16 MSHSAA State Speech at MU, Michael Perll and Nate Hitchcock
4/16 MHS Saturday School
4/18 & 4/19 FBLA State Competitions - Columbia, MO
4/18 MHS ASVAB - Testing Rm 308
4/20 MHS FCA Mtg - Band Rm
4/27 Health Occupations Class Blood Drive
Glory of Missouri Awards Recommendations sent to Senator Cauthorne’s office:
Benjamin Zinkel KNOWLEDGE
Shelbi Prince LIBERTY
Shaquille Curtis EQUALITY
Sierra Buck LAW
Nathaniel Hitchcock JUSTICE
Dillon Shoemaker FRATERNITY
Stephen Houke EDUCATION
Micha Willis PROGRESS
Heather Elder HONOR
Rachel Silver TRUTH
Margaret Ganzalez-Meyer VIRTUE
Amorye’ Curtis TEMPERANCE
Marissa Brown ENTERPRISE
Ryan Pickering CHARITY
Spring...finally! It has been a full year and I won't pretend my blog can contain all the events and achievements of this school year. Our faculty and staff are among the busiest I have encountered and they do it all for the benefit of the students and families they serve. If you haven't done so, I know any teacher would appreciate a kind word, email or card from a parent or guardian. Sometimes, it is the little things, that kind appreciation from someone that drives caregivers like teachers. Frankly, we can all use a kind work about what we've devoted our lives to do - serve others.
T.
Month/Year: April 2011
Current Enrollment: 683
Free / Reduced Lunch Enrollment: 245/50
Student Services Listing: 72
Students of the Month: March
Dillon Shoemaker and Shelbi Prince
Academics:
From Ms. Yount, Science Department: Bio Club will be taking a trip on Monday May 2nd to Warm Springs Ranch in Boonville, MO. It is a Clydesdale Breeding ranch.
From Mrs. Julie Exendine, Foreign Language Department: Congratulations to the following French III students: Lexie Abbott, Ana Garcia, Kaitlin Harlow, Paislee House, Nikki Polston, Liesl Walser, Randi Winterhalter, Sam Wren whose original French film was awarded 1st place for Use of Language in their category and 2nd place Comedy in their category at the University of Central Missouri's Foreign Language Film Festival. I am so proud of these girls! They wrote, filmed and appeared in this entirely student created production!
From Mrs. Christina Gerber, Math Department: In Math II we just started learning how to write
2-column algebraic proofs. Once my students started to get the idea of what a proof is and how to write one, I had them come up with their own problem to prove. They did this as an individual assignment and so as a result I was able to use their proofs on a quiz. Everyone who turned in a proof (some turned in two proofs) did an excellent job as I would have written a very similar quiz. When I passed out the quiz they were all really excited to see the problem they wrote on the quiz.
Activities:
From Mr. Cortez, Band Director: We've officially survived yet another MSHSAA District Music Festival. Directors and parents alike praised our efforts in running a wonderful festival, and it could not be done without everyone's help! So, a heart-felt THANK YOU!!
Our large groups performed well, the Choir bringing home an EXCELLENT (2) RATING and the Band bringing home a SUPERIOR (1) RATING.
We had some students who will move on to the STATE level in Columbia (April 28): Vocalists Marshall Forbis and Nikki Jung, Pianists Ben Zinkel and Sabrena Joiner, Trumpet Trio of Abby Braden, Thomas Freeman, and Jonah McKeown.
The following students participated in this year's Music Festival as well: VOCALISTS: Audreonna Taylor, Alexis Mika, Shelby Hobbs, Rachel Silver, Kristin Walch, Monica Martinez, Lacie Matthiesen, Jackie Hurd, Dalyne Test, Jordan Henry. INSTRUMENTALISTS: Nandita Thapar, Piano; Marshall Forbis, Saxophone Solo; Levi Holmes, Piano; Austin Miller, Trumpet Solo; Lawrence Jerichow, Trumpet Solo; Jonah McKeown, French Horn Solo Mexico Trombone Trio (Benjamin Zinkel, Austin Weber, Cassandra Schmidt) Mexico Clarinet Trio (Sabrena Joiner, Carley Nance, Haley Mathews) Mexico Saxophone Quintet (Aaron Lightfoot, Jacob Lauer, Marshall Forbis, Chelsea McCord, Aaron Williams-Conley) Mexico Percussion Ensemble (Michael Perll, Dylan Nance, Ben Rogers, Christian McKeown, Nandita Thapar, Levi Holmes)
From Sarah Pence – Quiz Bowl Sponsor: The Quiz Bowl team finished up the 2010-2011 season on April 9th by placing 4th place in districts. Stephen Houke took home the 3rd place medal for most questions answered during the day. It has been a truly enjoyable season with exemplary students that have received compliments from every tournament that we attended for being "the nicest kids."
Nick Hoth – Wrestling Coach: The Mexico Wrestling team has been awarded the "Team of the Season" by KRCG Channel 13. The River City Credit Union presented the Mexico Athletic Booster Club with a $500 check on the wrestling team's behalf.
Speech & Debate Team – Coach Sara Given: Michael Perll and Nate Hitchcock (District Champions in multiple events) will be competing at MSHSAA State Speech & Debate Friday, April 15th and Saturday, April 16th. They are quite entertaining to watch in both their Duet and their Debate. Administration Team:
The MHS Student Ambassadors have been featured in the 3/50 Project advertisement.
Leadership in Practice was held at the Elks with 35 freshmen and sophomores as well as 6 junior consultants that had previously been through the program. A big thank you to The Elks, The Chamber, Mexico Rotary, and Noon Kiwanis for contributions. Also, thank you to our community members that spoke- Ron Hopkins, Dana Keller and Jeff Frazier.
Shelby Smith and Ana Garcia will represent the Student Ambassadors at the monthly Chamber Meeting.
National Honor Society initiation was held April 6.
Government End of Course Exams were taken March 28.
Mrs. Woolsey finished her interviews with the seniors March 23.
Paul Pitchford from the University of Missouri finished professional development of Understanding by Design with 11 MHS teachers on March 23.
Guidance and Counseling Team:
• College/University visits in March: Missouri S & T, Hannibal LaGrange and Missouri Western
• A+ Advisory Meeting/ Breakfast was on March 9th with Phil Neely A+ Coordinator
• Mexico High School Local Scholarships were due in the Guidance Office on March 15th. This year 96 Local Scholarships were offered. The Guidance Office processed 1,991 scholarship applications from our seniors.
• Scholarships have been distributed to the 96 scholarship committees, for their decisions. The Awards Ceremony will be May 20th at 9:00a.m. in the MHS Gymnasium.
• There are still several Current Scholarships being offered on the Guidance Office webpage.
• The online Government End of Course Exam was administered the week of March 28th.
• ZAPS (an ACT preparation class) was offered on March 29th in the Mexico High School Library.
Upcoming Events:
4/14 State FFA Convention
4/14-16 MHS Chamber & Women’s Choir Trip to Branson
4/15-16 MSHSAA State Speech at MU, Michael Perll and Nate Hitchcock
4/16 MHS Saturday School
4/18 & 4/19 FBLA State Competitions - Columbia, MO
4/18 MHS ASVAB - Testing Rm 308
4/20 MHS FCA Mtg - Band Rm
4/27 Health Occupations Class Blood Drive
Glory of Missouri Awards Recommendations sent to Senator Cauthorne’s office:
Benjamin Zinkel KNOWLEDGE
Shelbi Prince LIBERTY
Shaquille Curtis EQUALITY
Sierra Buck LAW
Nathaniel Hitchcock JUSTICE
Dillon Shoemaker FRATERNITY
Stephen Houke EDUCATION
Micha Willis PROGRESS
Heather Elder HONOR
Rachel Silver TRUTH
Margaret Ganzalez-Meyer VIRTUE
Amorye’ Curtis TEMPERANCE
Marissa Brown ENTERPRISE
Ryan Pickering CHARITY
Friday, April 1, 2011
March and April! Where is the time going?
Hi Everyone,
School is FULL of events lately... thus my late posting. I apologize for not getting to this sooner, you will find some of the upcoming events are out of date by now.
It is so refreshing to see so many of our kids being CONSISTENTLY successful in the classroom and our activities. As we near the end of the year, I hope you look forward to our parent feedback surveys and encourage other parents and interested community members to be involved with our school.
We will always see improvement and your comments and suggestions are welcome. :)
Students of the Month: March
Students of the Month: Haylon Jacobs and Heather Elder
Academics:
On Tuesday, March 1st, seventy-nine students were recognized at the Sophomore and Junior Academic Recognition.
Thirty-six Mexico High School students were honored Monday, March 7th at the Senior Academic Banquet. These students carry a 3.5 or higher accumulative grade point average. Students honored Monday included: Tobin Bracht, Ashley Bridgford, Marissa Brown, Sierra Buck, Kelsey Chapman, Heather Elder, Carrie Finck, Cole Given, Margaret Gonzalez-Meyer, Amber Hawn, Jonathan Henry, Nathaniel Hitchcock, Stephen Houke, Stephen Jackson, Sabrena Joiner, Maggie Kaufman, Lacie Mattiesen, Alexandria Mosley, Regan Mudd, Carley Nance, Gatlin Orr, Abigail Orscheln, Emily Pratt, Shelbi Prince, Mercedes Printz, Rachel Silver, Alexis Stiles, William Stuart, Haley Toalson, Megan Vogt, Kenneth Walker, Robert Wathen, Colby Willer, Micha Willis, Kailee Woodward and Benjamin Zinkel.
From Mrs. Julie Exendine, Foreign Language Department
In December the Foreign Language Department wrote a grant for 3 IPod touches. Our goal is to create new methods of student engagement using innovative approaches and technologies. The iPod technology will facilitate oral and aural achievement in foreign language. This device is at the forefront of technology. Many students use an iPod on a daily basis. The iPod Touch is essentially a mini computer; it is more cost effective than a laptop or PC and has comparable functionality. If approved, this grant will allow us to have a traveling language lab. Our goal is to provide a low cost technology that will allow for research, dissemination of classroom ideas, immediate feedback during lessons and the ability to create digital content to share ideas.
From Mrs. Christina Gerber, Math Department
In Geometry we have started our unit on transformations. This unit involves translations, reflections, rotations, dilations, and glide reflections. In the past it has been difficult to get the computer lab in the library to investigate these concepts. This year the addition of the Math Lab (what used to be the business lab) has made it possible for my classes to utilize a program called The Geometer's Sketchpad (GSP) on a regular basis. We recently finished up a Reflection Golf project in which students created their own miniature golf course. For each hole on the course they calculate a path for a hole-in-one. To find this path they have to use properties of reflections to bank the ball off walls and other objects they have put in their course. Students created their golf courses using GSP and had fun applying their learning about reflections. Throughout the rest of this unit we will be utilizing GSP to explore rotations, compositions of reflections, and tessellations.
Activities:
Wrestling Team ended the 2010-2011 season as 3rd in the State. Haylon Jacobs is State Champion.
Boys Basketball were Conference, District and Sectional Champions with a final record of 26 - 2.
Girls Basketball were Conference Champs with a final record of 22 – 4.
From Mr. Cortez, Band Director
On Tuesday, March 8, the Dixie Gray Band, Choir, and some students from the Speech and Debate Team presented their Fine Arts Night, a chance for Choir, Band, and Speech students to showcase their work for various MSHSAA District Festivals. Additionally, two MHS students were accepted into the Missouri Fine Arts Academy to be held this summer at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. Carrie Finck and Marshall Forbis were chosen. Due to budget cuts at the State level, the cost of this experience is $1,500. The Fine Arts Department is continuing their efforts to raise the necessary funds for these students to attend.
The annual District Music Festival will be held on March 24, 25, and 26 at Mexico High School. This year, Mexico High School's large groups will be performing on FRIDAY, March 25 - the Band plays at 10:20 in the morning in the Sports Complex, and the Choir performs at 1:30 in the afternoon in Emmons Hall. Many different soloists and small ensembles will perform on Saturday, March 26, in hopes of qualifying for State Music Festival in Columbia.
From Julie Dreier, Vocal Music Director
Congratulations to all MHS choir students who performed last Friday at the Central Methodist Music Festival! Our Women's Choir received a 1 rating (Superior) and Mixed Choir received a 2 rating (Excellent). Additional props to those who performed solos: Lacie Matthiesen, Trevor Ward, Monica Martinez, Hannah Guerin, Dalyne Test, and Kristin Walch. Our soloists received two 1s, three 2s, and one 3 rating. Way to go!
From Mr. Keith Louder and Mrs. Pat Swisher – NHS Sponsors
On Thursday, March 10th junior students were invited to join the National Honor Society.
Students (as is the tradition) were given a carnation by a current NHS member and then invited to a brief meeting about the induction ceremony.
From Susan Gheens –Cheerleading at MHS
On February 11, prior to the Moberly game, the MHS cheerleaders hosted the first cheerleader reunion. Over 25 former MHS cheerleaders attended. Some were from the 1950's, some from the early 1990's, and several from the past 12 years. All agreed it was a great idea and wish to see it continued in the future.
Over 45 Mexico Middle School and Mexico High School cheerleaders attended a one day clinic at Central Methodist University on February 19. They were taught proper cheer skills by the CMU cheer staff and their coach.
During the week of the district basketball tournament many MHS cheerleaders and their parents donated their time and food to a cheerleading hospitality room. This was a place where visiting cheerleaders could relax before and/or after their games and enjoy a stress-free environment with plenty of food and drink. Gooch Gym was also utilized as a place for all cheerleaders to stretch and practice before their games.
Mexico High School Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Mark Buffington was named Administrator of the Year by the Missouri Cheerleading Coaches Association. He will receive his award at this organization's annual conference the last weekend in March.
From Sara Given, Speech & Theatre Instructor
MHS was represented by the following students at the National Forensic League District Speech & Debate competition: Nate Hitchcock, Michael Perll, Ben Zinkel, Andy Weber, Erik Phillips, Jordan Henry, and Aaliyah Shivers. The NFL tournament is a double elimination tournament, which means that students must continue to score in the top half in each round to continue to the next round of competition. Once they score in the bottom half twice they are eliminated. The competition at NFL Districts is extremely tough. We are competing against all of the St. Louis public and private schools. Our students represented well. Both debate teams competed in multiple rounds of competition. Nate and Michael made it to the top 15. Andy Weber and Ben Zinkel also competed in multiple out rounds. Andy finished in the top 12.
The Speech & Debate team will be competing at Rock Bridge High School on Thursday, March 17 and Saturday, March 19. Competition rounds are open to the public and we encourage your support of these students. Debate rounds will be held at 3:30, 5:00, 6:30 and 8:00 on Thursday. Our teams representing MHS are Michael Perll/Nate HItchcock and Ben Zinkel/Shelbi Prince. Competition rounds for individual events on Saturday are set for 8:30AM and 10:15AM with finals at 1:30 PM. Our competitors will be Andy Weber in Humorous Interpretation and Storytelling, Loralee Hays in Prose and Dramatic Interpretation, Michael Perll in Radio and Duet Acting, Nate Hitchcock in Extemporaneous Speaking and Duet Acting, Aaliyah Shivers in Oratory and Alex Shaw in Poetry. State competition will be held at MU on April 15 and 16.
From MHS Administration Team:
The Building Leadership Team (BLT) has continued working to develop level 2 interventions to address reluctant learners and students in need of additional tutoring and assistance beyond current interventions implemented in seminar classes. At this point the team is looking for ways to collect data regarding reluctant learners and to identify strategies to help them succeed. Adjustments to intervention efforts toward continuous improvement at the high school are being discussed and considered for the 2011-12 school year.
Leadership in Practice program will be held March 29th – 31st at the Mexico Elks Lodge. The program teaches approximately 35 emerging high school leaders the basic characteristics of positive leadership.
From the Guidance and Counseling Team:
College/University visits for the month of February:
Columbia College, Lindenwood, University of Central Missouri
Freshman Parent Night was held on February 22nd at MHS.
Tuesday, March 15th Scholarships are Due at 4:00pm in the Counselor’s Office.
The Guidance Office has been busy with class enrollment for the 2011/2012 school year. They visited and worked with MMS and St. Brendan's 8th graders.
MHS Guidance held parent appointments on the night of the 23rd and 24th regarding freshman enrollment.
Upcoming Events:
March 1 – Sophomore/Junior Academic Recognition
7 – Senior Academic Banquet
8 - Fine Arts Night
14 -18 Spring Break
15 – Scholarships are Due at 4:00pm in the Counselor’s Office
22 – Spring Sports Begin
Home – V/JV Track, V/JV Boys Tennis
Away – V Boys Golf, V/JV Baseball
23 – Understanding by Design with Paul Pitchford
Home – 9th grade Baseball
24-26 – MSHSAA District Music Festival
24 - Home – V/JV Boys Tennis
Away – V/JV Boys Golf, V/JV Girls Soccer
26 - Away – V/JV Baseball
28 – Home – V/JV Girls Soccer
Away – V/JV Boys Golf
29 – 31 Leadership in Practice
29 – Home V Track, V/JV Boys Golf, V/JV Baseball
Away – V/JV Boys Tennis, 9th grade Baseball
31 – Home 9th Baseball, V/JV Girls Soccer
School is FULL of events lately... thus my late posting. I apologize for not getting to this sooner, you will find some of the upcoming events are out of date by now.
It is so refreshing to see so many of our kids being CONSISTENTLY successful in the classroom and our activities. As we near the end of the year, I hope you look forward to our parent feedback surveys and encourage other parents and interested community members to be involved with our school.
We will always see improvement and your comments and suggestions are welcome. :)
Students of the Month: March
Students of the Month: Haylon Jacobs and Heather Elder
Academics:
On Tuesday, March 1st, seventy-nine students were recognized at the Sophomore and Junior Academic Recognition.
Thirty-six Mexico High School students were honored Monday, March 7th at the Senior Academic Banquet. These students carry a 3.5 or higher accumulative grade point average. Students honored Monday included: Tobin Bracht, Ashley Bridgford, Marissa Brown, Sierra Buck, Kelsey Chapman, Heather Elder, Carrie Finck, Cole Given, Margaret Gonzalez-Meyer, Amber Hawn, Jonathan Henry, Nathaniel Hitchcock, Stephen Houke, Stephen Jackson, Sabrena Joiner, Maggie Kaufman, Lacie Mattiesen, Alexandria Mosley, Regan Mudd, Carley Nance, Gatlin Orr, Abigail Orscheln, Emily Pratt, Shelbi Prince, Mercedes Printz, Rachel Silver, Alexis Stiles, William Stuart, Haley Toalson, Megan Vogt, Kenneth Walker, Robert Wathen, Colby Willer, Micha Willis, Kailee Woodward and Benjamin Zinkel.
From Mrs. Julie Exendine, Foreign Language Department
In December the Foreign Language Department wrote a grant for 3 IPod touches. Our goal is to create new methods of student engagement using innovative approaches and technologies. The iPod technology will facilitate oral and aural achievement in foreign language. This device is at the forefront of technology. Many students use an iPod on a daily basis. The iPod Touch is essentially a mini computer; it is more cost effective than a laptop or PC and has comparable functionality. If approved, this grant will allow us to have a traveling language lab. Our goal is to provide a low cost technology that will allow for research, dissemination of classroom ideas, immediate feedback during lessons and the ability to create digital content to share ideas.
From Mrs. Christina Gerber, Math Department
In Geometry we have started our unit on transformations. This unit involves translations, reflections, rotations, dilations, and glide reflections. In the past it has been difficult to get the computer lab in the library to investigate these concepts. This year the addition of the Math Lab (what used to be the business lab) has made it possible for my classes to utilize a program called The Geometer's Sketchpad (GSP) on a regular basis. We recently finished up a Reflection Golf project in which students created their own miniature golf course. For each hole on the course they calculate a path for a hole-in-one. To find this path they have to use properties of reflections to bank the ball off walls and other objects they have put in their course. Students created their golf courses using GSP and had fun applying their learning about reflections. Throughout the rest of this unit we will be utilizing GSP to explore rotations, compositions of reflections, and tessellations.
Activities:
Wrestling Team ended the 2010-2011 season as 3rd in the State. Haylon Jacobs is State Champion.
Boys Basketball were Conference, District and Sectional Champions with a final record of 26 - 2.
Girls Basketball were Conference Champs with a final record of 22 – 4.
From Mr. Cortez, Band Director
On Tuesday, March 8, the Dixie Gray Band, Choir, and some students from the Speech and Debate Team presented their Fine Arts Night, a chance for Choir, Band, and Speech students to showcase their work for various MSHSAA District Festivals. Additionally, two MHS students were accepted into the Missouri Fine Arts Academy to be held this summer at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. Carrie Finck and Marshall Forbis were chosen. Due to budget cuts at the State level, the cost of this experience is $1,500. The Fine Arts Department is continuing their efforts to raise the necessary funds for these students to attend.
The annual District Music Festival will be held on March 24, 25, and 26 at Mexico High School. This year, Mexico High School's large groups will be performing on FRIDAY, March 25 - the Band plays at 10:20 in the morning in the Sports Complex, and the Choir performs at 1:30 in the afternoon in Emmons Hall. Many different soloists and small ensembles will perform on Saturday, March 26, in hopes of qualifying for State Music Festival in Columbia.
From Julie Dreier, Vocal Music Director
Congratulations to all MHS choir students who performed last Friday at the Central Methodist Music Festival! Our Women's Choir received a 1 rating (Superior) and Mixed Choir received a 2 rating (Excellent). Additional props to those who performed solos: Lacie Matthiesen, Trevor Ward, Monica Martinez, Hannah Guerin, Dalyne Test, and Kristin Walch. Our soloists received two 1s, three 2s, and one 3 rating. Way to go!
From Mr. Keith Louder and Mrs. Pat Swisher – NHS Sponsors
On Thursday, March 10th junior students were invited to join the National Honor Society.
Students (as is the tradition) were given a carnation by a current NHS member and then invited to a brief meeting about the induction ceremony.
From Susan Gheens –Cheerleading at MHS
On February 11, prior to the Moberly game, the MHS cheerleaders hosted the first cheerleader reunion. Over 25 former MHS cheerleaders attended. Some were from the 1950's, some from the early 1990's, and several from the past 12 years. All agreed it was a great idea and wish to see it continued in the future.
Over 45 Mexico Middle School and Mexico High School cheerleaders attended a one day clinic at Central Methodist University on February 19. They were taught proper cheer skills by the CMU cheer staff and their coach.
During the week of the district basketball tournament many MHS cheerleaders and their parents donated their time and food to a cheerleading hospitality room. This was a place where visiting cheerleaders could relax before and/or after their games and enjoy a stress-free environment with plenty of food and drink. Gooch Gym was also utilized as a place for all cheerleaders to stretch and practice before their games.
Mexico High School Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Mark Buffington was named Administrator of the Year by the Missouri Cheerleading Coaches Association. He will receive his award at this organization's annual conference the last weekend in March.
From Sara Given, Speech & Theatre Instructor
MHS was represented by the following students at the National Forensic League District Speech & Debate competition: Nate Hitchcock, Michael Perll, Ben Zinkel, Andy Weber, Erik Phillips, Jordan Henry, and Aaliyah Shivers. The NFL tournament is a double elimination tournament, which means that students must continue to score in the top half in each round to continue to the next round of competition. Once they score in the bottom half twice they are eliminated. The competition at NFL Districts is extremely tough. We are competing against all of the St. Louis public and private schools. Our students represented well. Both debate teams competed in multiple rounds of competition. Nate and Michael made it to the top 15. Andy Weber and Ben Zinkel also competed in multiple out rounds. Andy finished in the top 12.
The Speech & Debate team will be competing at Rock Bridge High School on Thursday, March 17 and Saturday, March 19. Competition rounds are open to the public and we encourage your support of these students. Debate rounds will be held at 3:30, 5:00, 6:30 and 8:00 on Thursday. Our teams representing MHS are Michael Perll/Nate HItchcock and Ben Zinkel/Shelbi Prince. Competition rounds for individual events on Saturday are set for 8:30AM and 10:15AM with finals at 1:30 PM. Our competitors will be Andy Weber in Humorous Interpretation and Storytelling, Loralee Hays in Prose and Dramatic Interpretation, Michael Perll in Radio and Duet Acting, Nate Hitchcock in Extemporaneous Speaking and Duet Acting, Aaliyah Shivers in Oratory and Alex Shaw in Poetry. State competition will be held at MU on April 15 and 16.
From MHS Administration Team:
The Building Leadership Team (BLT) has continued working to develop level 2 interventions to address reluctant learners and students in need of additional tutoring and assistance beyond current interventions implemented in seminar classes. At this point the team is looking for ways to collect data regarding reluctant learners and to identify strategies to help them succeed. Adjustments to intervention efforts toward continuous improvement at the high school are being discussed and considered for the 2011-12 school year.
Leadership in Practice program will be held March 29th – 31st at the Mexico Elks Lodge. The program teaches approximately 35 emerging high school leaders the basic characteristics of positive leadership.
From the Guidance and Counseling Team:
College/University visits for the month of February:
Columbia College, Lindenwood, University of Central Missouri
Freshman Parent Night was held on February 22nd at MHS.
Tuesday, March 15th Scholarships are Due at 4:00pm in the Counselor’s Office.
The Guidance Office has been busy with class enrollment for the 2011/2012 school year. They visited and worked with MMS and St. Brendan's 8th graders.
MHS Guidance held parent appointments on the night of the 23rd and 24th regarding freshman enrollment.
Upcoming Events:
March 1 – Sophomore/Junior Academic Recognition
7 – Senior Academic Banquet
8 - Fine Arts Night
14 -18 Spring Break
15 – Scholarships are Due at 4:00pm in the Counselor’s Office
22 – Spring Sports Begin
Home – V/JV Track, V/JV Boys Tennis
Away – V Boys Golf, V/JV Baseball
23 – Understanding by Design with Paul Pitchford
Home – 9th grade Baseball
24-26 – MSHSAA District Music Festival
24 - Home – V/JV Boys Tennis
Away – V/JV Boys Golf, V/JV Girls Soccer
26 - Away – V/JV Baseball
28 – Home – V/JV Girls Soccer
Away – V/JV Boys Golf
29 – 31 Leadership in Practice
29 – Home V Track, V/JV Boys Golf, V/JV Baseball
Away – V/JV Boys Tennis, 9th grade Baseball
31 – Home 9th Baseball, V/JV Girls Soccer
Friday, February 11, 2011
February 2011: It's cold outside, but the kids are heating up!
Hello Everyone!
I hope everyone is doing well despite some bitter cold days and SNOW days to endure indoors when school cannot be open. I like to hear kids miss us when they've sat at home a few days with little to do (ha).
If you haven't had a chance to see the boys and girls basketball teams play, you are MISSING IT! Our young ladies and gentlemen are a joy to watch and cheer to victory. Come and see them! They are ON FIRE!
I received a lot of good feedback via email and through the online survey we tried. I plan to continue to use these methods to contact parents. You may have also noticed a Mexico Ledger article about our newly forming academic booster club. We have started with a small group of youth pastors and some parents to act as volunteers and affect our lunchroom environment, brainstorm ideas and focus our efforts.
What's that you say? You've never heard of an "academic" booster club? Well, in my philosophy of education, its a club about relationships and building up our students in every positive way we can think of to affect the bottom line: their success!
I will be sending out some information in coming weeks as we continue this effort an bring our collective knowledge together and get involved at MHS in the lives of young people. Look for my notice here, via email, and I'm considering regular mail as well - even though many believe it's "old school" to use what is called snail mail these days.
PLEASE HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS BLOG -- I think many parents would like to have an inside look at things happening at the high school and I want people to have quality information about their high school. Refer a friend to the blog, it's the modern newsletter for MHS.
I've included my board report about events and work at MHS below for your information. As always, feel free to contact me with your comments and concerns. I always welcome community input; it helps me serve you well.
REPORT FOLLOWS:
Month/Year: February 2011
Current Enrollment: 696
Free / Reduced Lunch Enrollment: 248 / 51
Student Services Listing: 76
Students of the Month: JANUARY
Micha Willis and Jonah McKeown
Academics:
ART DEPARTMENT:
MHS Students, Faculty and Staff will be judging the McMillan Elementary Fifth Grade Civil Rights Poster contest. Finalists' work will be displayed in the case outside Ms. Haynes classroom at the high school. MHS judges will choose the top 4 displays, considering creativity, craftsmanship, message conveyed. Also, many of Ms. Haynes MHS art students will be working on an art installation for the True/False Film Festival in Columbia, starting the second week in February. Work to be displayed during the festival March 3rd-6th on the Stephens campus will be on display in the MHS north art room. Two MHS students being accepted to the Missouri Fine Arts Academy this summer are Marshall Forbis & Caroline Finck.
From Mrs. Linda Rice:
February is National Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month. Our MHS FCCLA will be discussing what we will do to celebrate CTE month locally this Thursday before school at our regularly scheduled meeting.
The Association for CTE is asking administrators, teachers and students to advocate for CTE through their social media networks on Thursday, February 17. Participation is as easy as changing your Facebook status, tweeting, or writing a blog post about the importance of CTE.
From Coach Devin Brown: The after school weightlifting has been going great. We have averaged 25 eighth graders since they have been allowed to come and participate.
From Mrs. Paula Isgrig: The Basic Physical Science class built balloon cars to demonstrate Newton's 3rd Law of Motion (For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction)
From Ms. Bridget Bingham: The Home Management class is making the final preparations for the Valentine's Restaurant. Jobs have been assigned and food is being made. Students made their own invitations to hand out to two family members.
Ms. Bridget Bingham's Job Performance class is very excited. The blue recycle bin is back from the Handi Shop. This will allow them to recycle once again in the building.
Mr. Henry reported the average number of students per day assigned to BIP (behavior intervention program, formerly ISS) for discipline issues has been reduced by approximately 50 %.
Ms. Gilles's and Ms. Pence's biology classes have been studying meiosis and how cells are formed. To show what happens in each stage, students worked together to create short claymation movies. Each group created their own animated example of meiosis using laptops with editing software and pay-dough. Claymation involves sculpting clay and hand moving the figure so that they can be filmed and “animated.” Students were very creating and resourceful, using everything from pizza dough to drawings to describe what happens in meiosis.
From Ms. Jami Williams:
Jami submitted an online article entitled “The Write Stuff” and was published in the IdeaFile education online magazine sponsored by Walsworth. The magazine editors have invited her to write a regular column for the magazine. Jami was also elected ASTRA's first Outstanding Teacher of the Month for January 2011.
From Ms. Sara Given:
The MHS Improvisational Theatre workshops/ Auditions brought in a record high number of high school participants this year. Our guest adjudicators from the community theatre not only evaluated student participation, but got on stage and performed with the students. The workshops were a blast and the new Comedy Carnival Troupe was cast and is sure to impress. Show dates are April 1 & 2 at Emmons Hall.
The DC Public Speaking classes are currently working on small group communication projects in which they will create and present a betterment project for the community of Mexico. Each group must simulate the project which includes communicating with members of the community. The groups are to put together a presentation packet which they will submit to a panel of community members when they present their proposal in a formal oral presentation. Some of the group ideas include; youth centers, community centers, recreational facilities, mentor and fitness programs, and multi culture fine dining facilities. It is wonderful to experience our young adults creating what they think is needed to better Mexico.
We are looking for community volunteers who are interested in serving on the panel of "judges" for each class. If you are interested, please contact Sara Given.
From MHS Administration Team:
Kris Turlington and Deb Haag attended ACT Annual Conference February 10, 2011.
Mrs. Woolsey has been meeting with Seniors before they graduate to learn about their experience and gather data to inform decisions for improvements at the high school. The results of her meetings are shared with the MHS administrative team.
The Building Leadership Team (BLT) is working to develop level 2 intervention to address reluctant learners and students in need of additional tutoring and assistance beyond current interventions implemented in seminar classes.
Mr. Anderson and Dr. Robinson attended the Positive Behavior Support (PBS) meeting held in Columbia, Missouri at the regional RPDC on January 27. MHS will be participating with regional consultants to train school teams, provide training to staff and faculty, and assist with data collection and networking with other districts. PBS is a statewide effort to continuously improve school culture by addressing discipline issues in a meaningful way and creating exceptional environments for student learning.
From the Guidance and Counseling Team:
Phil Neely attended an A+ Meeting in Moberly for updated information concerning the program.
Mark Holman attended an anti-Bullying Conference in Columbia.
Course Enrollment Presentations for 2011-2012 school year were given to freshman, sophomore, and juniors during seminar times.
January 26th - Mrs. Turlington presented financial aid and scholarship information for seniors and parents. Also Mr. Neely discussed A+.
The Local Scholarship Book has been published on the Guidance Web Page.
Truman University visited MHS on Thursday, January 27th.
Sports and Activities:
Mr. Brailler and MHS broadcasting students at HCC have been working with technology to broadcast basketball games live. They are currently practicing their skills in preparation for the district tournament.
Jenn Kraft and Mitch Ridgway also worked to install technology and the screen donated by the class of 1986 in the sports complex lobby.
Upcoming Events:
2/9 FCA mtg
2/10 FCCLA mtg
2/11 First MHS Cheerleader Reunion
2/12 Saturday School
2/12 ACT Testing
2/15 TEAMS competition
2/16 FCA mtg
2/18 FBLA district competition in Sturgeon
2/18 MHS Band Dance for MMS Students
2/18-2/19 SBU Ozark Honors Festival (select band/choir students)
2/ 19 Saturday School – make-up for 2/5
2/19 Cheer Clinic at Central Methodist
2/23 FCA mtg
2/25 History club mtg
2/26 Saturday School
3/1 Dixie Gray Band Parent mtg
3/5 Saturday School
3/9 HCC Open House @ 6-8 p.m.
I hope everyone is doing well despite some bitter cold days and SNOW days to endure indoors when school cannot be open. I like to hear kids miss us when they've sat at home a few days with little to do (ha).
If you haven't had a chance to see the boys and girls basketball teams play, you are MISSING IT! Our young ladies and gentlemen are a joy to watch and cheer to victory. Come and see them! They are ON FIRE!
I received a lot of good feedback via email and through the online survey we tried. I plan to continue to use these methods to contact parents. You may have also noticed a Mexico Ledger article about our newly forming academic booster club. We have started with a small group of youth pastors and some parents to act as volunteers and affect our lunchroom environment, brainstorm ideas and focus our efforts.
What's that you say? You've never heard of an "academic" booster club? Well, in my philosophy of education, its a club about relationships and building up our students in every positive way we can think of to affect the bottom line: their success!
I will be sending out some information in coming weeks as we continue this effort an bring our collective knowledge together and get involved at MHS in the lives of young people. Look for my notice here, via email, and I'm considering regular mail as well - even though many believe it's "old school" to use what is called snail mail these days.
PLEASE HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS BLOG -- I think many parents would like to have an inside look at things happening at the high school and I want people to have quality information about their high school. Refer a friend to the blog, it's the modern newsletter for MHS.
I've included my board report about events and work at MHS below for your information. As always, feel free to contact me with your comments and concerns. I always welcome community input; it helps me serve you well.
REPORT FOLLOWS:
Month/Year: February 2011
Current Enrollment: 696
Free / Reduced Lunch Enrollment: 248 / 51
Student Services Listing: 76
Students of the Month: JANUARY
Micha Willis and Jonah McKeown
Academics:
ART DEPARTMENT:
MHS Students, Faculty and Staff will be judging the McMillan Elementary Fifth Grade Civil Rights Poster contest. Finalists' work will be displayed in the case outside Ms. Haynes classroom at the high school. MHS judges will choose the top 4 displays, considering creativity, craftsmanship, message conveyed. Also, many of Ms. Haynes MHS art students will be working on an art installation for the True/False Film Festival in Columbia, starting the second week in February. Work to be displayed during the festival March 3rd-6th on the Stephens campus will be on display in the MHS north art room. Two MHS students being accepted to the Missouri Fine Arts Academy this summer are Marshall Forbis & Caroline Finck.
From Mrs. Linda Rice:
February is National Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month. Our MHS FCCLA will be discussing what we will do to celebrate CTE month locally this Thursday before school at our regularly scheduled meeting.
The Association for CTE is asking administrators, teachers and students to advocate for CTE through their social media networks on Thursday, February 17. Participation is as easy as changing your Facebook status, tweeting, or writing a blog post about the importance of CTE.
From Coach Devin Brown: The after school weightlifting has been going great. We have averaged 25 eighth graders since they have been allowed to come and participate.
From Mrs. Paula Isgrig: The Basic Physical Science class built balloon cars to demonstrate Newton's 3rd Law of Motion (For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction)
From Ms. Bridget Bingham: The Home Management class is making the final preparations for the Valentine's Restaurant. Jobs have been assigned and food is being made. Students made their own invitations to hand out to two family members.
Ms. Bridget Bingham's Job Performance class is very excited. The blue recycle bin is back from the Handi Shop. This will allow them to recycle once again in the building.
Mr. Henry reported the average number of students per day assigned to BIP (behavior intervention program, formerly ISS) for discipline issues has been reduced by approximately 50 %.
Ms. Gilles's and Ms. Pence's biology classes have been studying meiosis and how cells are formed. To show what happens in each stage, students worked together to create short claymation movies. Each group created their own animated example of meiosis using laptops with editing software and pay-dough. Claymation involves sculpting clay and hand moving the figure so that they can be filmed and “animated.” Students were very creating and resourceful, using everything from pizza dough to drawings to describe what happens in meiosis.
From Ms. Jami Williams:
Jami submitted an online article entitled “The Write Stuff” and was published in the IdeaFile education online magazine sponsored by Walsworth. The magazine editors have invited her to write a regular column for the magazine. Jami was also elected ASTRA's first Outstanding Teacher of the Month for January 2011.
From Ms. Sara Given:
The MHS Improvisational Theatre workshops/ Auditions brought in a record high number of high school participants this year. Our guest adjudicators from the community theatre not only evaluated student participation, but got on stage and performed with the students. The workshops were a blast and the new Comedy Carnival Troupe was cast and is sure to impress. Show dates are April 1 & 2 at Emmons Hall.
The DC Public Speaking classes are currently working on small group communication projects in which they will create and present a betterment project for the community of Mexico. Each group must simulate the project which includes communicating with members of the community. The groups are to put together a presentation packet which they will submit to a panel of community members when they present their proposal in a formal oral presentation. Some of the group ideas include; youth centers, community centers, recreational facilities, mentor and fitness programs, and multi culture fine dining facilities. It is wonderful to experience our young adults creating what they think is needed to better Mexico.
We are looking for community volunteers who are interested in serving on the panel of "judges" for each class. If you are interested, please contact Sara Given.
From MHS Administration Team:
Kris Turlington and Deb Haag attended ACT Annual Conference February 10, 2011.
Mrs. Woolsey has been meeting with Seniors before they graduate to learn about their experience and gather data to inform decisions for improvements at the high school. The results of her meetings are shared with the MHS administrative team.
The Building Leadership Team (BLT) is working to develop level 2 intervention to address reluctant learners and students in need of additional tutoring and assistance beyond current interventions implemented in seminar classes.
Mr. Anderson and Dr. Robinson attended the Positive Behavior Support (PBS) meeting held in Columbia, Missouri at the regional RPDC on January 27. MHS will be participating with regional consultants to train school teams, provide training to staff and faculty, and assist with data collection and networking with other districts. PBS is a statewide effort to continuously improve school culture by addressing discipline issues in a meaningful way and creating exceptional environments for student learning.
From the Guidance and Counseling Team:
Phil Neely attended an A+ Meeting in Moberly for updated information concerning the program.
Mark Holman attended an anti-Bullying Conference in Columbia.
Course Enrollment Presentations for 2011-2012 school year were given to freshman, sophomore, and juniors during seminar times.
January 26th - Mrs. Turlington presented financial aid and scholarship information for seniors and parents. Also Mr. Neely discussed A+.
The Local Scholarship Book has been published on the Guidance Web Page.
Truman University visited MHS on Thursday, January 27th.
Sports and Activities:
Mr. Brailler and MHS broadcasting students at HCC have been working with technology to broadcast basketball games live. They are currently practicing their skills in preparation for the district tournament.
Jenn Kraft and Mitch Ridgway also worked to install technology and the screen donated by the class of 1986 in the sports complex lobby.
Upcoming Events:
2/9 FCA mtg
2/10 FCCLA mtg
2/11 First MHS Cheerleader Reunion
2/12 Saturday School
2/12 ACT Testing
2/15 TEAMS competition
2/16 FCA mtg
2/18 FBLA district competition in Sturgeon
2/18 MHS Band Dance for MMS Students
2/18-2/19 SBU Ozark Honors Festival (select band/choir students)
2/ 19 Saturday School – make-up for 2/5
2/19 Cheer Clinic at Central Methodist
2/23 FCA mtg
2/25 History club mtg
2/26 Saturday School
3/1 Dixie Gray Band Parent mtg
3/5 Saturday School
3/9 HCC Open House @ 6-8 p.m.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
January 2011
Hi again everyone,
It's hard to believe the school year is about half over. Our various departments have been engaged in a number of activities to serve our students. This blog is one piece of our effort to improve and maintain communication. Hopefully you find the entries give you useful knowledge about what is happening at our high school. Please tell your friends and acquaintances to join the blog followers!
We've been using online surveying as well this school year, and I appreciate the 125 responses we had to the survey which was sent via email. We have made some adjustments based on the responses from parents and in a future blog, I'll try and share those with you.
REPORT FOLLOWS:
Students of the Month: DECEMBER
Regan Mudd and Alex Mosley
Academics:
From Bridget Bingham – Special Education teacher:
My Home Management Students are preparing for a special Valentine's Lunch for themselves and 2 family members. They will be preparing breakfast items and each student will be assigned a job to perform at the 'restaurant.' For example: door greeter, waitress, silverware wrapper. We are currently working on making the menus.
From Mrs. Linda Rice – FCCLA Sponsor and FACS teacher:
The newly formed MHS Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Chapter has nearly doubled membership in the past month to 19 students. Mrs. Rice is taking a group of FCCLA members to Region IV STAR Events competition at Mark Twain High School on January 28. Mrs. Rice will serve as a judge while students will serve as assistants/volunteers as needed. Mrs. Rice is currently developing the MHS FACS program to comply with all DESE standards.
From MHS Administration Team:
Academic Booster Club:
Several youth pastors and parents have been meeting regularly since the beginning of the school year
to form an academic booster club. They asked for feedback from teachers so they can focus their work and enhance our work at MHS. An online survey was created for teachers to take anonymously and the results will focus the work of the club. A breakfast for the A.B.C. was cancelled this week due to snow, but will be rescheduled for next week.
Behavior Intervention Program (BIP) (formerly known as “In-school suspension”):
Mr. Henry received an A+ grant for a character education and life skills curriculum. It is being used as a supplement to students’ regular class curriculums. Students complete any and all work from their normal classes then they are given assignments from this curriculum so they reflect and consider changing their behavior so they can remain in the regular classroom. Mr. Henry will be monitoring the implementation of this curriculum along with building administrators.
Co-teaching Grant Writing:
Holly Johanson, Deb Haag, Kris Turlington and core area teachers met to write a grant on January 13, 2011 to support co-teaching in the classroom. If approved, the grant could provide additional resources and support funding to teachers adopting and implementing the co-teaching model.
Dr. Robinson, Mr. Buffington, Mr. Brailler, Mr. Gooch, Mr. Ridgway and the class of 1986:
Work for the sports complex live telecasts of the basketball games is continuing. MHS will host district play February 21 and the first test of live broadcasting may come prior to district play.
The Building Leadership Team (BLT) :
The BLT is continuing to refine and focus their work on lowering failure rates and meeting the needs of students in the classroom. Mr. Louder has led weekly meetings with administrative support. This team meets every Thursday morning prior to school.
Missouri State Fast-Pitch Softball Academic All-state Players:
Eight softball players from Mexico High school recommended to the academic all-state team based on team participation and overall G.P.A.
An individual student athlete qualifies for the Academic All-State 1st Team if they have a cumulative GPA after the Fall 10 semester of 3.88-4.0. The student athlete must be a varsity letter winner. An individual student athlete qualifies for the Academic All-State 2nd Team if they have a cumulative GPA after the Fall 10 semester of 3.75-3.87. The student athlete must be a varsity letter winner.
From the Guidance and Counseling Team:
The Guidance Department is currently working on the senior Scholarship Book and Program of Studies.
The department will hold a financial aid information meeting for parents and seniors on January 26, 2011 at 7 p.m. in the high school band room.
PLAN test results are in and being distributed through modern world history classes.
Mark Holman visited Freshman seminar classes to discuss Job Shadow Day.
WISE Courtesy Award Winners: Heather Elder and Toby Bracht, these students were recognized at the Winter Assembly prior to leaving for Winter break.
On December 6th Ranken Technical College visited MHS
Sports and Activities:
From Athletic Director Mark Buffington:
Our winter teams continue to show great success! Current records 1/13/10:
Boys basketball team - 10-0 record, Montgomery County Tournament champions, ranked 7th in the state.
Girls basketball team - 10-1 record, Montgomery County Tournament champions, ranked 4th in the state.
Wrestling team - ranked 3rd in the state.
From Sara Given – Speech and Theater and Drama Teacher:
MHS Speech team students have been asked to perform at Kiwanis on Feb. 1.
From Christine Bresehears – Student Council, Key Club and Youth in Government sponsor:
Student Council: is preparing a “WIN”ter Warming to be remembered. By posting the spirit week, the students are able to prepare for the week and participate. We are hoping for boast to student morale.
Key Club: The Personal Product Drive was super. The Kiwanis had a collection box and really gave our contributions a boost. The club is getting ready for a "Seniors Prom" with alumni and residents of the local retirement homes in February.
Youth In Government: The first state level meeting will Feb 19th with Michael Perll assuming his term as MO YIG Governor.
From Mr. Robert Cortez –Music and Band Teacher
Mr. Cortez attended the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago December 15 through 18, along with over 15,000 music educators from around the world. Clinicians included college professors, professional musicians, composers, and technology experts in the field of music education.
Upcoming Events
1/17-18 MHS Comedy Carnival Improvisational Theatre Troupe
1/21-22 Speech & Debate Team compete in Jefferson City
1/22 Saturday School
1/24 Mexico Young Farmer’s Soils and Crop Conference – HS Cafeteria
1/25-27 MHS Comedy Carnival Improvisational Theatre Troupe
1/26 PowderBuff Volleyball Game
1/26 Financial Aid Information Meeting for Seniors & their parents 7:00pm Band Room
1/28 Senior vs. Faculty Basketball Game
1/29 Student Council Winter Warming School Dance
1/29 History Club Meeting 7:45am
1/30 MFA Oil/Breaktime Shootout at MU – Mexico boys vs. Fulton 8:00pm
2/12 ACT 7:30am 1st North
2/15 TEAMS competition in Columbia – TEAMS annual high school competition helping students discover their potential for engineering.
It's hard to believe the school year is about half over. Our various departments have been engaged in a number of activities to serve our students. This blog is one piece of our effort to improve and maintain communication. Hopefully you find the entries give you useful knowledge about what is happening at our high school. Please tell your friends and acquaintances to join the blog followers!
We've been using online surveying as well this school year, and I appreciate the 125 responses we had to the survey which was sent via email. We have made some adjustments based on the responses from parents and in a future blog, I'll try and share those with you.
REPORT FOLLOWS:
Students of the Month: DECEMBER
Regan Mudd and Alex Mosley
Academics:
From Bridget Bingham – Special Education teacher:
My Home Management Students are preparing for a special Valentine's Lunch for themselves and 2 family members. They will be preparing breakfast items and each student will be assigned a job to perform at the 'restaurant.' For example: door greeter, waitress, silverware wrapper. We are currently working on making the menus.
From Mrs. Linda Rice – FCCLA Sponsor and FACS teacher:
The newly formed MHS Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Chapter has nearly doubled membership in the past month to 19 students. Mrs. Rice is taking a group of FCCLA members to Region IV STAR Events competition at Mark Twain High School on January 28. Mrs. Rice will serve as a judge while students will serve as assistants/volunteers as needed. Mrs. Rice is currently developing the MHS FACS program to comply with all DESE standards.
From MHS Administration Team:
Academic Booster Club:
Several youth pastors and parents have been meeting regularly since the beginning of the school year
to form an academic booster club. They asked for feedback from teachers so they can focus their work and enhance our work at MHS. An online survey was created for teachers to take anonymously and the results will focus the work of the club. A breakfast for the A.B.C. was cancelled this week due to snow, but will be rescheduled for next week.
Behavior Intervention Program (BIP) (formerly known as “In-school suspension”):
Mr. Henry received an A+ grant for a character education and life skills curriculum. It is being used as a supplement to students’ regular class curriculums. Students complete any and all work from their normal classes then they are given assignments from this curriculum so they reflect and consider changing their behavior so they can remain in the regular classroom. Mr. Henry will be monitoring the implementation of this curriculum along with building administrators.
Co-teaching Grant Writing:
Holly Johanson, Deb Haag, Kris Turlington and core area teachers met to write a grant on January 13, 2011 to support co-teaching in the classroom. If approved, the grant could provide additional resources and support funding to teachers adopting and implementing the co-teaching model.
Dr. Robinson, Mr. Buffington, Mr. Brailler, Mr. Gooch, Mr. Ridgway and the class of 1986:
Work for the sports complex live telecasts of the basketball games is continuing. MHS will host district play February 21 and the first test of live broadcasting may come prior to district play.
The Building Leadership Team (BLT) :
The BLT is continuing to refine and focus their work on lowering failure rates and meeting the needs of students in the classroom. Mr. Louder has led weekly meetings with administrative support. This team meets every Thursday morning prior to school.
Missouri State Fast-Pitch Softball Academic All-state Players:
Eight softball players from Mexico High school recommended to the academic all-state team based on team participation and overall G.P.A.
An individual student athlete qualifies for the Academic All-State 1st Team if they have a cumulative GPA after the Fall 10 semester of 3.88-4.0. The student athlete must be a varsity letter winner. An individual student athlete qualifies for the Academic All-State 2nd Team if they have a cumulative GPA after the Fall 10 semester of 3.75-3.87. The student athlete must be a varsity letter winner.
From the Guidance and Counseling Team:
The Guidance Department is currently working on the senior Scholarship Book and Program of Studies.
The department will hold a financial aid information meeting for parents and seniors on January 26, 2011 at 7 p.m. in the high school band room.
PLAN test results are in and being distributed through modern world history classes.
Mark Holman visited Freshman seminar classes to discuss Job Shadow Day.
WISE Courtesy Award Winners: Heather Elder and Toby Bracht, these students were recognized at the Winter Assembly prior to leaving for Winter break.
On December 6th Ranken Technical College visited MHS
Sports and Activities:
From Athletic Director Mark Buffington:
Our winter teams continue to show great success! Current records 1/13/10:
Boys basketball team - 10-0 record, Montgomery County Tournament champions, ranked 7th in the state.
Girls basketball team - 10-1 record, Montgomery County Tournament champions, ranked 4th in the state.
Wrestling team - ranked 3rd in the state.
From Sara Given – Speech and Theater and Drama Teacher:
MHS Speech team students have been asked to perform at Kiwanis on Feb. 1.
From Christine Bresehears – Student Council, Key Club and Youth in Government sponsor:
Student Council: is preparing a “WIN”ter Warming to be remembered. By posting the spirit week, the students are able to prepare for the week and participate. We are hoping for boast to student morale.
Key Club: The Personal Product Drive was super. The Kiwanis had a collection box and really gave our contributions a boost. The club is getting ready for a "Seniors Prom" with alumni and residents of the local retirement homes in February.
Youth In Government: The first state level meeting will Feb 19th with Michael Perll assuming his term as MO YIG Governor.
From Mr. Robert Cortez –Music and Band Teacher
Mr. Cortez attended the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago December 15 through 18, along with over 15,000 music educators from around the world. Clinicians included college professors, professional musicians, composers, and technology experts in the field of music education.
Upcoming Events
1/17-18 MHS Comedy Carnival Improvisational Theatre Troupe
1/21-22 Speech & Debate Team compete in Jefferson City
1/22 Saturday School
1/24 Mexico Young Farmer’s Soils and Crop Conference – HS Cafeteria
1/25-27 MHS Comedy Carnival Improvisational Theatre Troupe
1/26 PowderBuff Volleyball Game
1/26 Financial Aid Information Meeting for Seniors & their parents 7:00pm Band Room
1/28 Senior vs. Faculty Basketball Game
1/29 Student Council Winter Warming School Dance
1/29 History Club Meeting 7:45am
1/30 MFA Oil/Breaktime Shootout at MU – Mexico boys vs. Fulton 8:00pm
2/12 ACT 7:30am 1st North
2/15 TEAMS competition in Columbia – TEAMS annual high school competition helping students discover their potential for engineering.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
December 2010: Hope you had a great holiday season!
Hello everyone!
It has been a great first half of the school year, I hope everyone took time to recharge and be with loved ones over the holidays. We are now busy preparing report cards to go out this Friday. Unfortunately, some students will need to meet the attendance requirement by attending Saturday school or after school study hall in order to receive credit for first semester classes by March 15, 2011. For your information, our board policy allows a student to miss class 6 times before make up hours are required to receive credit. We will send a certified letter to all parents and guardians on the dates students can meet their attendance requirement this Friday, January 7, 2011. In the learning process, attendance counts!
There's a lot of information in this month's blog about our activities at our high school. If you get the opportunity, THANK A TEACHER! I have never been in a school with so many committed teachers, willing to spend countless hours meeting the needs of young people -- our community is blessed.
Additionally, thanks to the 125 parents responding to our parent-teacher conference survey I sent via email. The survey rendered some great results to help us improve our parent teacher conferences. The report that follows is part of my monthly board report and I feel all parents and guardians enjoy knowing more about the work of the high school as well. If you ever have any questions or concerns about our work, please contact me. We serve this community and we answer to you.
Dr. Terry Robinson
REPORT FOLLOWS:
Students of the Month: November
Nathan Hitchcock
Paislee House
Academics:
English Department:
The English Department is currently researching and familiarizing themselves with Amazon Kindle (electronic) readers for possible future student use. Five Kindles were purchased. Novels that are more than 50 years old are free on Kindles and other content can be downloaded to the Kindles for less than the cost of regular books for students. The teachers will be working over the break to assess Kindles as learning tools to increase engagement and reading among students. The Kindles were purchased with A+ funds. Dr. Robinson and Mrs. Haag are facilitating this study.
From Mr. Phil Long - Science Teacher:
Mr. Long's Honors Physical Science class have been studying how temperature affects a substance's energy and structure; using liquid nitrogen at -328F, students were able to observe the effect of extremely low temperatures on a variety of substances including metal, soft tissue (bananas, flowers), rubber, balloons, and food! Mr. Long would like to thank Central Welding here in Mexico for donating the supply of liquid nitrogen for the classes.
From Mrs. Linda Rice – FACS teacher and FCCLA Sponsor:
As of Friday, Dec. 3, there are 10 dues paying members in the new MHS Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Chapter.
From Bridget Bingham – Special Education teacher:
My Home Management students have made ornaments. We will be painting them this week and then we will practice gift wrapping. Each student may choose one ornament to gift wrap for a family member and they have written a Christmas card to go along with the ornament.
From MHS Administration Team:
The Mexico Area Chamber of Commerce offers leadership experience to MHS students:
Dana Keller of the Mexico Chamber of Commerce met with a representative group of students to discuss how they could represent the school as a part of the community to new visitors and potential new families.
Students will give tours of the school for new arrivals to the community (parents and students) and meet periodically with chamber member(s) and learn about promoting Mexico
Chamber Commerce Student Ambassador's met for lunch at The Chamber with Dana Keller, Russell Runge from the City and Roanetta Rogers from AMC to discuss their upcoming duties in promoting Mexico, MO. Students participating were: Shelby Smith, Shaq Curtis, Ana Garcia, Alex Hobbs, Deena Dalton, Jae'on Nunnelly.
On December 5, 2010 Deb Haag – Assistant Principal of Instruction, was invited by Optimist to talk about her position and MHS.
Dr. Robinson, Mr. Buffington, Mr. Brailler, Mr. Gooch and the class of 1986
are working to improve the sports complex and enhance HCC student broadcasting opportunities. The class of 1986 is working to find an appropriate wide screen for the sport complex. Live telecasts of the basketball games could then be projected on the screen, The show would be produced by Mr. Brailler’s HCC broadcasting classes in the lobby area. As an added benefit, this broadcast would allow food and drinks to be consumed in the lobby area and prevent excessive maintenance costs for bleacher repair. Patrons would still be able to view the game live in the lobby. At present this effort is in the development phase and may not be ready for this school year, but we hope the premiere broadcast could take place at district playoffs. Mexico will host district play February 21.
From the Guidance and Counseling Team:
The counseling department has scheduled ZAPS (ACT prep) for March 29 from 9:00-3:00 in the MHS Library.
Phil Neely, Christine Beshears, and Jane Coatsworth participated in ACCESS for ELL training for spring testing for our English and Language Learner population.
Math II classes participated in EOC testing for Algebra I.
Kris Turlington, counselor, attended a Missouri Association of Student Financial Aid Personnel workshop, National Training for Counselors and Mentors: Funding Education Beyond High School, in Columbia, Missouri.
College/University/Career Visits for November-December: Ranken Technical, Truman University, Linn State Technical and Sergeant McPike from the Missouri Highway Patrol.
The Building Leadership Team (BLT)
The team held a work day on December 8 to review their charter, the functions and focus of the BLT, improving parent teacher conferences and grade reporting/grading periods. The following information is a summary of some of the work. The team recommended MHS report grades more frequently (every 3 weeks) for the 2011-12 school year and use the total points (all the course work in any particular class) to determine a child’s grade, instead of using the average of two quarters. By using the total points allowed in a class, in many cases the grade will more accurately reflect student achievement and learning.
Additionally, the team reviewed discipline, course failure rates, and Seminar student survey feedback (prepared by upper level math students under the direction of Mr. Louder). The team also developed a focus for their work for the remainder of the year 1) Building-Wide Common Practices (such as grading and seminar expectations for teachers and students), 2) Response to Intervention (how we respond/assist students that do not learn/need more help) and 3)Academic rigor.
The BLT also approved a building-wide practice concerning the assignment of “I” grades (Incomplete).
Teachers may assign an incomplete when a counselor or principal approves incompletes in extreme circumstances. However, there must be a plan that accompanies the incomplete including a due date that the final grade will be turned in the counselors' office. The teacher will also be responsible for calling a parent to let them know about the situation and plan of action. Incompletes will with hold any student from the honor roll and athletic eligibility.
Finally, the following members were elected to leadership positions within the team:
Keith Louder- elected chairperson of BLT
Michelle Yount- elected vice- chairperson of BLT
Jason Clow volunteered for position of secretary
Steve Haag- nominated and elected
Sports and Activities:
From Coach Devin Brown:
Coach Brown reported he has begun off-season training for all prospective athletes and football players.
Any young man interested in playing football next year, spring athlete, or any young man wanting to lift weights or get into shape; there was an informational meeting with Coach Brown Wednesday, December 15 in Gooch gym. Weight training will begin Tuesday January 4th and run every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3:30pm-4:30pm. Students are encouraged to see Coach Brown if they have any questions or couldn’t attend the meeting.
From Christine Breshears Co-Sponsor of Student Council:
The student council party for 30 students from our elementary schools was a huge success.
Each child was greeted by Santa (Andrew Wortmann) and a student council representative was assigned to each child. Pictures were taken with Santa and then the kids worked to decorate a frame for the picture (the kids took these home with the picture - parents were pleased). Snacks were served and games were played. This was followed by the gift passing - 3 hours to wrap and 3 seconds to undo the work. More games were played and the kids were picked up or taken home on the bus.
From Susan Gheens – Cheerleading Coach
The Mexico High School Varsity Cheerleaders participated in the Missouri Cheerleading Coaches Association State Competition on November 20 at the Hearnes Center in Columbia. Our squad did a great job of representing MHS and received 6th place in the state in their division. The community also did a fantastic job of cheering on the squad and it was awesome to see so many come out to back the cheerleaders.
From Sara Given – Speech and Theater and Drama Teacher
MHS Speech & Debate team hosted a tournament on Friday, December 3 and Saturday, December 4. Fourteen schools were in attendance with over 80 debate teams and over 200 individual event entries. The tournament was a great success and went off without a hitch. Thank you to all the community members and faculty for their contribution judging.
The Children's Theatre class just completed their winter literacy tour to the elementary schools. All of the performances were top notch and the elementary students were great! It is a wonderful to provide real world application to lessons taught in class.
ALSO:
Mrs. Given was one of 11 speech and debate coaches in the nation recognized for a National Forensics League Diamond Award.
Eleven High School Educators Receive Prestigious National Coaching Award
PRESS RELEASE FOLLOWS:
The National Forensic League (NFL) is proud to announce its newest diamond coaches, in order of highest accomplishment and date achieved:
Coach Name School State Degree
Robert D. Nordyke Campus High School Kansas 6th Diamond
Marc Rischitelli Shrewsbury High School Massachusetts 3rd Diamond
James F. Graupner Stillwater Area School Minnesota 3rd Diamond
Wendi N. Brandenburg Centennial High School Texas 2nd Diamond
Brian Weilert Fort Scott High School Kansas 1st Diamond
Kristen L. Taylor Jupiter High School Florida 1st Diamond
Ryan Lawrence Lynbrook High School California 1st Diamond
David Galoob Cascia Hall Preparatory Oklahoma 1st Diamond
Sara M. Given Mexico High School Missouri 1st Diamond
Trey Smith East Mountain High School New Mexico 1st Diamond
Derek Davis Kerr High School Texas 1st Diamond
An NFL Diamond Award recognizes a professional career that combines excellence and longevity. The NFL provides diamond awards based on coach points received. A coach may receive 1/10th the points of every student coached and 1/10th of the points earned as a student member of the NFL. After attaining a total of 1,500 points, a member coach is entitled to wear a diamond-set key or pin; additional diamonds accrue at 3,000 points, 6,000 points, 10,000 points, and each 3,000 points thereafter. The minimum time between earning each diamond is five years as an NFL member coach.
On June 17, 2011, these coaches will receive special recognition at the Lincoln Financial Group/NFL National Speech and Debate Tournament in Dallas, Texas. Each year, the tournament draws more than 5,000 students, coaches, and parents from across the nation. Top students will receive more than $200,000 in college scholarships at the conclusion of the tournament, which has been held continuously since 1931 (except for the WWII years) and has appeared on the approved National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) National Advisory List of Contests and Activities since the origination of the list.
About the NFL
The National Forensic League (NFL) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit honorary society whose mission is to promote high school and middle school speech and debate activities as a means to develop a student’s essential life skills and values. More than 112,000 high school and middle school students, representing more than 2,800 high schools and nearly 100 middle schools, are currently building their communication, leadership, cognitive, and presentational skills as members. Since 1925, more than 1.3 million students have found their voice in the NFL.
From Julie Dreier – Vocal Music Teacher
Each year KOMU (channel 8 news) invites local choir groups to their studio to record 2 holiday songs per school. Each group will be aired a few different times between now and Christmas either before or after the news airs. All groups' videos will also be available on the KOMU website once they get them edited and posted.
This year I'm taking our two auditioned groups, so that each group gets the opportunity to perform one song for TV.
First, Chamber Choir and Women's Choir traveled to Columbia to sing for the KOMU holiday taping. The taping has already been aired twice, but aired 2 more times: 12-16 at 9:33pm on CW, and 12-21 at 6:59am on KOMU. Noteworthy then had many opportunities to perform at various places in the community over the last 2 weeks. These visits included: Kings Daughters, Pin Oaks, First Presbyterian, Teal Lake, The Arbors, and the Relay for Life fundraiser. Both Chamber Choir and Noteworthy also performed for the children at the other schools in town. Although the many performances have kept us busy, the students have really enjoyed spreading holiday cheer. We expect a big crowd on Thursday night, December 16 for the combined MMS and MHS Winter Choir Concert at 7pm in Emmons.
From Mr. Robert Cortez –Music and Band Teacher
The MHS Jazz Band performed for the Missouri Veterans' Home on Wednesday, November 10, at the Elk's Lodge in Mexico.
The Dixie Gray Christmas Concert was held on Friday, December 10. The Mexico Middle School 7th and 8th grade bands joined the Dixie Grays and the Jazz Band that evening and played for a full house at Emmons Hall.
The MHS Jazz Band helped spread the Holiday Cheer around the community, performing for the Missouri Veteran's Home and for Golden Living - Pin Oaks nursing home on Monday, December 13.
Upcoming Events
12/15 FCA Meeting 8:00 Band Room
12/16 MHS Choir Concert 7:30 Emmons Hall
1/4 Key Club Meeting 7:45am
1/5 FCA Meeting 8:00 Band Room
1/8 Saturday School 7:50am – 12:00pm
1/12 FCA Meeting
1/15 Saturday School
1/17 No School – Martin Luther King Day
1/22 Saturday School
1/24 Mexico Young Farmer’s Soils and Crop Conference – HS Cafeteria
1/26 Financial Aid Information Meeting for Seniors & their parents 7:00pm Band Room
1/29 Student Council Winter Warming School Dance
1/29 History Club Meeting 7:45am
It has been a great first half of the school year, I hope everyone took time to recharge and be with loved ones over the holidays. We are now busy preparing report cards to go out this Friday. Unfortunately, some students will need to meet the attendance requirement by attending Saturday school or after school study hall in order to receive credit for first semester classes by March 15, 2011. For your information, our board policy allows a student to miss class 6 times before make up hours are required to receive credit. We will send a certified letter to all parents and guardians on the dates students can meet their attendance requirement this Friday, January 7, 2011. In the learning process, attendance counts!
There's a lot of information in this month's blog about our activities at our high school. If you get the opportunity, THANK A TEACHER! I have never been in a school with so many committed teachers, willing to spend countless hours meeting the needs of young people -- our community is blessed.
Additionally, thanks to the 125 parents responding to our parent-teacher conference survey I sent via email. The survey rendered some great results to help us improve our parent teacher conferences. The report that follows is part of my monthly board report and I feel all parents and guardians enjoy knowing more about the work of the high school as well. If you ever have any questions or concerns about our work, please contact me. We serve this community and we answer to you.
Dr. Terry Robinson
REPORT FOLLOWS:
Students of the Month: November
Nathan Hitchcock
Paislee House
Academics:
English Department:
The English Department is currently researching and familiarizing themselves with Amazon Kindle (electronic) readers for possible future student use. Five Kindles were purchased. Novels that are more than 50 years old are free on Kindles and other content can be downloaded to the Kindles for less than the cost of regular books for students. The teachers will be working over the break to assess Kindles as learning tools to increase engagement and reading among students. The Kindles were purchased with A+ funds. Dr. Robinson and Mrs. Haag are facilitating this study.
From Mr. Phil Long - Science Teacher:
Mr. Long's Honors Physical Science class have been studying how temperature affects a substance's energy and structure; using liquid nitrogen at -328F, students were able to observe the effect of extremely low temperatures on a variety of substances including metal, soft tissue (bananas, flowers), rubber, balloons, and food! Mr. Long would like to thank Central Welding here in Mexico for donating the supply of liquid nitrogen for the classes.
From Mrs. Linda Rice – FACS teacher and FCCLA Sponsor:
As of Friday, Dec. 3, there are 10 dues paying members in the new MHS Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Chapter.
From Bridget Bingham – Special Education teacher:
My Home Management students have made ornaments. We will be painting them this week and then we will practice gift wrapping. Each student may choose one ornament to gift wrap for a family member and they have written a Christmas card to go along with the ornament.
From MHS Administration Team:
The Mexico Area Chamber of Commerce offers leadership experience to MHS students:
Dana Keller of the Mexico Chamber of Commerce met with a representative group of students to discuss how they could represent the school as a part of the community to new visitors and potential new families.
Students will give tours of the school for new arrivals to the community (parents and students) and meet periodically with chamber member(s) and learn about promoting Mexico
Chamber Commerce Student Ambassador's met for lunch at The Chamber with Dana Keller, Russell Runge from the City and Roanetta Rogers from AMC to discuss their upcoming duties in promoting Mexico, MO. Students participating were: Shelby Smith, Shaq Curtis, Ana Garcia, Alex Hobbs, Deena Dalton, Jae'on Nunnelly.
On December 5, 2010 Deb Haag – Assistant Principal of Instruction, was invited by Optimist to talk about her position and MHS.
Dr. Robinson, Mr. Buffington, Mr. Brailler, Mr. Gooch and the class of 1986
are working to improve the sports complex and enhance HCC student broadcasting opportunities. The class of 1986 is working to find an appropriate wide screen for the sport complex. Live telecasts of the basketball games could then be projected on the screen, The show would be produced by Mr. Brailler’s HCC broadcasting classes in the lobby area. As an added benefit, this broadcast would allow food and drinks to be consumed in the lobby area and prevent excessive maintenance costs for bleacher repair. Patrons would still be able to view the game live in the lobby. At present this effort is in the development phase and may not be ready for this school year, but we hope the premiere broadcast could take place at district playoffs. Mexico will host district play February 21.
From the Guidance and Counseling Team:
The counseling department has scheduled ZAPS (ACT prep) for March 29 from 9:00-3:00 in the MHS Library.
Phil Neely, Christine Beshears, and Jane Coatsworth participated in ACCESS for ELL training for spring testing for our English and Language Learner population.
Math II classes participated in EOC testing for Algebra I.
Kris Turlington, counselor, attended a Missouri Association of Student Financial Aid Personnel workshop, National Training for Counselors and Mentors: Funding Education Beyond High School, in Columbia, Missouri.
College/University/Career Visits for November-December: Ranken Technical, Truman University, Linn State Technical and Sergeant McPike from the Missouri Highway Patrol.
The Building Leadership Team (BLT)
The team held a work day on December 8 to review their charter, the functions and focus of the BLT, improving parent teacher conferences and grade reporting/grading periods. The following information is a summary of some of the work. The team recommended MHS report grades more frequently (every 3 weeks) for the 2011-12 school year and use the total points (all the course work in any particular class) to determine a child’s grade, instead of using the average of two quarters. By using the total points allowed in a class, in many cases the grade will more accurately reflect student achievement and learning.
Additionally, the team reviewed discipline, course failure rates, and Seminar student survey feedback (prepared by upper level math students under the direction of Mr. Louder). The team also developed a focus for their work for the remainder of the year 1) Building-Wide Common Practices (such as grading and seminar expectations for teachers and students), 2) Response to Intervention (how we respond/assist students that do not learn/need more help) and 3)Academic rigor.
The BLT also approved a building-wide practice concerning the assignment of “I” grades (Incomplete).
Teachers may assign an incomplete when a counselor or principal approves incompletes in extreme circumstances. However, there must be a plan that accompanies the incomplete including a due date that the final grade will be turned in the counselors' office. The teacher will also be responsible for calling a parent to let them know about the situation and plan of action. Incompletes will with hold any student from the honor roll and athletic eligibility.
Finally, the following members were elected to leadership positions within the team:
Keith Louder- elected chairperson of BLT
Michelle Yount- elected vice- chairperson of BLT
Jason Clow volunteered for position of secretary
Steve Haag- nominated and elected
Sports and Activities:
From Coach Devin Brown:
Coach Brown reported he has begun off-season training for all prospective athletes and football players.
Any young man interested in playing football next year, spring athlete, or any young man wanting to lift weights or get into shape; there was an informational meeting with Coach Brown Wednesday, December 15 in Gooch gym. Weight training will begin Tuesday January 4th and run every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3:30pm-4:30pm. Students are encouraged to see Coach Brown if they have any questions or couldn’t attend the meeting.
From Christine Breshears Co-Sponsor of Student Council:
The student council party for 30 students from our elementary schools was a huge success.
Each child was greeted by Santa (Andrew Wortmann) and a student council representative was assigned to each child. Pictures were taken with Santa and then the kids worked to decorate a frame for the picture (the kids took these home with the picture - parents were pleased). Snacks were served and games were played. This was followed by the gift passing - 3 hours to wrap and 3 seconds to undo the work. More games were played and the kids were picked up or taken home on the bus.
From Susan Gheens – Cheerleading Coach
The Mexico High School Varsity Cheerleaders participated in the Missouri Cheerleading Coaches Association State Competition on November 20 at the Hearnes Center in Columbia. Our squad did a great job of representing MHS and received 6th place in the state in their division. The community also did a fantastic job of cheering on the squad and it was awesome to see so many come out to back the cheerleaders.
From Sara Given – Speech and Theater and Drama Teacher
MHS Speech & Debate team hosted a tournament on Friday, December 3 and Saturday, December 4. Fourteen schools were in attendance with over 80 debate teams and over 200 individual event entries. The tournament was a great success and went off without a hitch. Thank you to all the community members and faculty for their contribution judging.
The Children's Theatre class just completed their winter literacy tour to the elementary schools. All of the performances were top notch and the elementary students were great! It is a wonderful to provide real world application to lessons taught in class.
ALSO:
Mrs. Given was one of 11 speech and debate coaches in the nation recognized for a National Forensics League Diamond Award.
Eleven High School Educators Receive Prestigious National Coaching Award
PRESS RELEASE FOLLOWS:
The National Forensic League (NFL) is proud to announce its newest diamond coaches, in order of highest accomplishment and date achieved:
Coach Name School State Degree
Robert D. Nordyke Campus High School Kansas 6th Diamond
Marc Rischitelli Shrewsbury High School Massachusetts 3rd Diamond
James F. Graupner Stillwater Area School Minnesota 3rd Diamond
Wendi N. Brandenburg Centennial High School Texas 2nd Diamond
Brian Weilert Fort Scott High School Kansas 1st Diamond
Kristen L. Taylor Jupiter High School Florida 1st Diamond
Ryan Lawrence Lynbrook High School California 1st Diamond
David Galoob Cascia Hall Preparatory Oklahoma 1st Diamond
Sara M. Given Mexico High School Missouri 1st Diamond
Trey Smith East Mountain High School New Mexico 1st Diamond
Derek Davis Kerr High School Texas 1st Diamond
An NFL Diamond Award recognizes a professional career that combines excellence and longevity. The NFL provides diamond awards based on coach points received. A coach may receive 1/10th the points of every student coached and 1/10th of the points earned as a student member of the NFL. After attaining a total of 1,500 points, a member coach is entitled to wear a diamond-set key or pin; additional diamonds accrue at 3,000 points, 6,000 points, 10,000 points, and each 3,000 points thereafter. The minimum time between earning each diamond is five years as an NFL member coach.
On June 17, 2011, these coaches will receive special recognition at the Lincoln Financial Group/NFL National Speech and Debate Tournament in Dallas, Texas. Each year, the tournament draws more than 5,000 students, coaches, and parents from across the nation. Top students will receive more than $200,000 in college scholarships at the conclusion of the tournament, which has been held continuously since 1931 (except for the WWII years) and has appeared on the approved National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) National Advisory List of Contests and Activities since the origination of the list.
About the NFL
The National Forensic League (NFL) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit honorary society whose mission is to promote high school and middle school speech and debate activities as a means to develop a student’s essential life skills and values. More than 112,000 high school and middle school students, representing more than 2,800 high schools and nearly 100 middle schools, are currently building their communication, leadership, cognitive, and presentational skills as members. Since 1925, more than 1.3 million students have found their voice in the NFL.
From Julie Dreier – Vocal Music Teacher
Each year KOMU (channel 8 news) invites local choir groups to their studio to record 2 holiday songs per school. Each group will be aired a few different times between now and Christmas either before or after the news airs. All groups' videos will also be available on the KOMU website once they get them edited and posted.
This year I'm taking our two auditioned groups, so that each group gets the opportunity to perform one song for TV.
First, Chamber Choir and Women's Choir traveled to Columbia to sing for the KOMU holiday taping. The taping has already been aired twice, but aired 2 more times: 12-16 at 9:33pm on CW, and 12-21 at 6:59am on KOMU. Noteworthy then had many opportunities to perform at various places in the community over the last 2 weeks. These visits included: Kings Daughters, Pin Oaks, First Presbyterian, Teal Lake, The Arbors, and the Relay for Life fundraiser. Both Chamber Choir and Noteworthy also performed for the children at the other schools in town. Although the many performances have kept us busy, the students have really enjoyed spreading holiday cheer. We expect a big crowd on Thursday night, December 16 for the combined MMS and MHS Winter Choir Concert at 7pm in Emmons.
From Mr. Robert Cortez –Music and Band Teacher
The MHS Jazz Band performed for the Missouri Veterans' Home on Wednesday, November 10, at the Elk's Lodge in Mexico.
The Dixie Gray Christmas Concert was held on Friday, December 10. The Mexico Middle School 7th and 8th grade bands joined the Dixie Grays and the Jazz Band that evening and played for a full house at Emmons Hall.
The MHS Jazz Band helped spread the Holiday Cheer around the community, performing for the Missouri Veteran's Home and for Golden Living - Pin Oaks nursing home on Monday, December 13.
Upcoming Events
12/15 FCA Meeting 8:00 Band Room
12/16 MHS Choir Concert 7:30 Emmons Hall
1/4 Key Club Meeting 7:45am
1/5 FCA Meeting 8:00 Band Room
1/8 Saturday School 7:50am – 12:00pm
1/12 FCA Meeting
1/15 Saturday School
1/17 No School – Martin Luther King Day
1/22 Saturday School
1/24 Mexico Young Farmer’s Soils and Crop Conference – HS Cafeteria
1/26 Financial Aid Information Meeting for Seniors & their parents 7:00pm Band Room
1/29 Student Council Winter Warming School Dance
1/29 History Club Meeting 7:45am
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