If you missed it, our MHS Student Council, MHS Media and Technology students, MHS Choir, MHS Band and Missouri Military Academy cadets and band all combined forces to bring a memorable veterans assembly to our community veterans and their families on November 11. I appreciated the turnout from our veterans and their families as well as the handling of all the parts of the program by MHS students and MMA cadets. As a veteran, I felt it was a heartfelt tribute from our students and an essential learning experience for our students in attendance and the students participating in the program.
Thanks to all veterans that took the time to receive our thanks and help us instill a quality learning experience in our young people.
Dr. Robinson
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Monday, October 14, 2013
1st Quarter Review Fall 2013
Thanks to everyone for a great Parent-Teacher conference time in October. It is always great to have you all here for conferences as we partner to educate your son or daughter. Over 90% of parents attended or were contacted during Parent-Teacher Conferences and over 90% reported having a positive experience indicated by our post-conference survey data.
This is year number four for me at MHS and I'm gaining a longer view of what is happening at MHS. Your high school is steadily improving and building on success. Each year we have reviewed what we do and how we do it to improve the educational opportunities for young people. Our ACT practice days, the free ACT approved by our school board, better collaboration and course offerings at HCC, achieving statewide recognition for behavior improvement, and added technology for our students and teachers in key academic areas are all indicators of strong community support and teacher commitment to our students. Teacher leaders are rising up in MHS and making an impact on learning and other teachers.
It's difficult for many to understand the high schools of today. We often hear so many dire reports about high schools and their "lack of progress" or "failing high schools". It can be difficult sometimes to see our own high school as a verifiable positive in the lives of young people -- it is, despite some difficult challenges. Probably the toughest challenges we face which distract and tear down a quality education for young people today are drug use, the loss of traditional and supportive families, abuse, and poverty -- these all crumble our efforts to engage young people, yet we still try and believe in our kids. Every child can be educated and can achieve at high levels, despite disadvantages or circumstances and despite making some poor choices. I've been proud to work with committed educators and a community of parents seeking to engage our young people in meaningful experiences in our district.
A lot happens in a school year so I've posted portions of our past board reports this quarter with instructional reports below for your review.
September 2013
Current Enrollment: 666
This is year number four for me at MHS and I'm gaining a longer view of what is happening at MHS. Your high school is steadily improving and building on success. Each year we have reviewed what we do and how we do it to improve the educational opportunities for young people. Our ACT practice days, the free ACT approved by our school board, better collaboration and course offerings at HCC, achieving statewide recognition for behavior improvement, and added technology for our students and teachers in key academic areas are all indicators of strong community support and teacher commitment to our students. Teacher leaders are rising up in MHS and making an impact on learning and other teachers.
It's difficult for many to understand the high schools of today. We often hear so many dire reports about high schools and their "lack of progress" or "failing high schools". It can be difficult sometimes to see our own high school as a verifiable positive in the lives of young people -- it is, despite some difficult challenges. Probably the toughest challenges we face which distract and tear down a quality education for young people today are drug use, the loss of traditional and supportive families, abuse, and poverty -- these all crumble our efforts to engage young people, yet we still try and believe in our kids. Every child can be educated and can achieve at high levels, despite disadvantages or circumstances and despite making some poor choices. I've been proud to work with committed educators and a community of parents seeking to engage our young people in meaningful experiences in our district.
A lot happens in a school year so I've posted portions of our past board reports this quarter with instructional reports below for your review.
September 2013
Current Enrollment: 666
Administration Team
Dr. Terry Robinson, Principal:
Whole Faculty Study Groups (WFSG) had their first meeting on
Wednesday, September 11. Mrs. Gina Gilman, our curriculum facilitator will continue
to support this effort and small groups of teachers will work to implement the
principles found in Schmoker’s work Focus.
Teachers attended training on August 30, 2013 with Mr. Ned Miller.
The focus on this professional development day was student engagement
techniques and teamwork. Teacher teams met in the afternoon to work on goals
and action steps related to their assessment data. Teacher teams will present
their plans for improvement on our professional development day on September
20, 2013 and Mr. Miller will return for part II of his training.
Student Involvement Day (SID) –was held on August 6. Class clubs
and organizations were on hand on the front lawn to meet with potential new
members. Some clubs and organizations sponsored games and some provided snacks.
A big thanks to student council and the student council sponsors for helping
organize SID – Mrs. Yancey, Mr. Clow and Mr. Hagedorn.
The MHS administration team is currently operating two Twitter
sites online to better disseminate information. One Twitter account is related
to general announcements and academic information, the other account is used to
disseminate sports information. Links to helpful parent and student information
is included along with pictures of some events .
Twitter feed of general
announcements and academic information:
MexicoMoHS
Twitter feed of sports
information:
mexicohssports
Students will choose a teacher of the month for September during
the next week. Students have an expanded rating and comment card to nominate
their teachers.
The English and Social Studies department teams met for ½ day team
work days on August 28, 2013 focused on improving their curriculum and action
steps to help more students succeed in these subject areas. Mrs. Gilman and Dr.
Robinson assisted in facilitating these team meetings.
Mrs. Williams media classes have seen increased enrollment this
school year and students are continuing to develop short video segments called
“This is MHS” about positive improvements and academics at MHS. Student
reporters Shelby Gish and Miranda Lierheimer produce this segment. The two
student reporters have a poster with a QR code which takes the person using the
code directly to their latest video highlighting MHS. These posters have been
placed in area businesses with the owner’s permission. Past “This is MHS” segments
have covered science dissections, MHS students participating in JROTC, new
graphic calculator use in Math, and technology use at MHS.
In other technology news, teachers received training on August 30,
2013 on the use of Google functions from Mrs. Jenn Kraft. Teachers received
familiarization training on Google forms, sites and email functions. In
addition, Ms. Dana Hunt provided Smartboard slates training. Slates
are used by teachers to interact with Smartboards from anywhere in the room and
provided wireless interactive control
teachers can write on or manipulate which appears on the Smartboard as well as
the teacher’s slate.
Response to Intervention
Twenty-five students are part of this
course offering to assist students with their study skills and transition to
the high school. These students were identified by Mexico Middle School and
will be working with Mrs. Christine Beshears.
PBIS – Positive Behavior
Intervention and Support Team – Coordinator Patty Swisher
This year our focus on PBIS will be to increase our
recognition of students' positive behavior to a 4 to 1 ratio (4 positives to 1
negative). We will continue to promote and remind students about making
appropriate choices in regard to the school-wide expectations. This will
include a weekly focus area announcement in the bulletin. Lastly we will
strengthen our Tier 1 school-wide strategies and practices with an emphasis on
classroom management. Our goal is to get ready for Tier 2 implementation
and maintain our Bronze recognition.
Guidance and Counseling Team:
Our counselors spoke
at freshman and new student Orientation on August 26 at our Open House in
Emmons along with teachers and administrators.
In addition, Mr.
Neely and the counseling team provided additional information concerning A+ and
Mrs. Turlington provided information regarding ACT online prep. The guidance team was also available
to help parents with email addresses and parent
portal at Open House.
Guidance Team completed all beginning of the year schedule changes
Kris Turlington and Gail Lankford attended Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act training in Jefferson City, MO
Guidance Team completed all beginning of the year schedule changes
Kris Turlington and Gail Lankford attended Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act training in Jefferson City, MO
Activities/Athletics
Fall Sports are off
to great start. Boys Soccer, Girls Golf & Boys & Girls Cross Country
started the season with wins and all teams continue to improve.
Auditions for the
Fall Play, “The Secrets of Mildred Wild” are being held. The play will be November 15th, 16th
& 17th.
Homecoming will be held October 18th
with parade @ 3:00 pm and the Football game starting at 7:00 pm. This will also be Senior Night for Band,
Color guard, Football & Cheer with our students and pare
Academics
Mr. Robert Cotez, Band Instructor:
Dr. Terry Robinson, Principal:
Parent-teacher conferences were held in the MHS cafeteria and band room on October 1st and 2nd.. Survey data was taken wirelessly via laptops set up for parents after conferences. These surveys were used to assess parent satisfaction with their conference experience. 522 parents attended parent teacher conferences, 171 parents took all or some of the survey. I've shared some of the key survey indicators about our PT Conferences below:
Please respond to the following statement. Teacher(s) were respectful of me as a parent or guardian during parent-teacher conferences..
Month/Year: October 2013
Current Enrollment: 665
Students of the Month: September 2013 - Abby Gooch and Christian McKeown
Teacher of the Month: September 2013 - Mrs. Sara Given
Academics
Ms. Julie Pappas - Vocal Music
On October 2, Noteworthy performed for the "Thank you, Volunteers" lunch at the Veteran's Home. The students enjoyed getting to eat Elk's Lodge lunch, and the standing ovation the crowd gave after their last song – At the Hop.
Ms. Michelle Yount, Biology Club Sponsor:
The Biology club will travel to the St. Louis Zoo for a field trip this month.
Mr. Robert Cotez, Band Instructor:
The marching band participated in a marching competition with over 30 bands in attendance in Fayette, Missouri this month. Evaluators of our band stated they are noticing improvements to our band performances.
Mrs. Sara Given, Speech & Theatre Teacher:
The MHS Advanced Children's Theatre class has taken on a new outreach project this year called "Drama Dawgs". We held auditions in September for the newly formed "Drama Dawgs" program. We auditioned over 50 3rd, 4th and 5th graders for the 27 spots on the team. The panel of judges for auditions consisted of the MHS veteran members of the Advanced Children’s Theatre class who worked with other students in the class to host auditions, evaluate performances and make the decisions for who would be on the first Drama Dawgs team. The elementary students in Drama Dawgs are learning basic acting techniques to prepare them for a performance to be held on December 16 on the Emmons stage. This will be a community performance and will consist of various Fractured Fairy Tales and stories that are directed by students in the Advanced Children's Theatre class. Much in the style of our traveling Children's Theatre Troupe, the elementary Drama Dawgs will learn how to suggest character and setting through simple set and costumes changes. In addition to performing for the community on December 16, the Drama Dawg students will join the high school students in a performance at their elementary when when tour in December. The program is supervised by Sara Given, but the high school students are serving as teachers and directors and essentially running the program.
Ms. Bridget Bingham, Special Education Teacher:
My math students will be listening to a story to help start the unit on budgeting. After listening to the story, they will have to count up how much money the family found in the house, then construct a budget for the family to be able to use at a restaurant. They cannot go over budget. They will have a scoring guide to help them, along with highlighting tape. In addition, my classes have prepared soil and planted mums to grow from our Vocational Agriculture greenhouse. We planted them near the circle drive of MHS.
Administration Team
Dr. Terry Robinson, Principal:
Mid-semester Exams, ACT Prep and Training for Teachers
Teachers are preparing mid-semester exams for all classes to assess objectives taught during the first quarter of the school year. SCANTRON machines and the accompanying software will be used to analyze assessment results at the department level to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement. These assessments will reflect the format and rigor of the ACT and EOC assessments, but are based on what teachers have taught in their classrooms thus far. Also, Mr. Ned Miller will hold small group meetings on October 16 with teachers to assist them in implementing engagement strategies in the classroom. This is a follow-up meeting from two previous trainings Ned has conducted at MHS. Two members of the English department will attend training on October 16 in Lake of the Ozarks with reading specialist Judy Bruner. Seniors participated in a practice ACT at MHS on October 8. The results were analyzed the same day using SCANTRON data for students to better understand their scores and where they can improve.
Parent-teacher conferences were held in the MHS cafeteria and band room on October 1st and 2nd.. Survey data was taken wirelessly via laptops set up for parents after conferences. These surveys were used to assess parent satisfaction with their conference experience. 522 parents attended parent teacher conferences, 171 parents took all or some of the survey. I've shared some of the key survey indicators about our PT Conferences below:
Please respond to the following statement. Teacher(s) were respectful of me as a parent or guardian during parent-teacher conferences..
1 - Strongly DISAGREE 4 (2.4%)
2 - Disagree 1 (0.6%)
3 - Neutral 1 (0.6%)
4 - Agree 20 (12.0%)
5 - Strongly AGREE 137 (82.0%)
Please respond to the following statement: The communication of teachers about my child's progress was helpful to me as a parent or guardian.
1 - Strongly DISAGREE 4 (2.4%)
2 - Disagree 2 (1.2%)
3 - Neutral 5 (3.0%)
4 - Agree 40 (24.4%)
5 - Strongly AGREE 113 (68.9%)
Please respond to the following statement: I understand how my child's grades are being determined by his or her teachers.
1 - Strongly DISAGREE 4 (2.4%)
2 - Disagree 3 (1.8%)
3 - Neutral 11 (6.6%)
4 - Agree 73 (43.7%)
5 - Strongly AGREE 76 (45.5%)
Please rate your overall experience at parent-teacher conferences.
1 - Very negative 0 (0.0%)
2 - Negative 1 (0.6%)
3 - Neutral 9 (5.6%)
4 - Positive 59 (36.9%)
5 - Very Positive 91 (56.9%)
Guidance and Counseling Team:
Approximately 110 seniors participated in a Practice ACT on October 8. This practice is to help prepare our students for the Board Funded ACT that will take place on December 14th. -- Phil Neely, Senior Counselor
Mark Holman attended MO Connection Training this month
EXPLORE testing was completed for freshmen this month
PLAN testing was completed for sophomores this month
Kris Turlington and Phil Neely attended the MU Counselor's Luncheon
Phil Neely attended Tech Ed Advisory Meeting
Counselors attended the HCC Area Counselor Meeting
Mr. Neely met with Senior Seminar Groups
Senior Parent Night was held in September and about 80 parents attended
MACC enrollment for Dual Credit Classes
The ACT was given on September 21st at MHS.
Guidance hosted 7 college/university visits, 3 military visits, 8 agency visits in September
The ASVAB test was given at MHS: 143 of 167 seniors were tested on October 3
15 new students were enrolled in September
9 students transferred from MHS in September
Activities/Athletics
Mr. Jeff Anderson – Vice Principal/Activities Director:
The girls golf team placed first at district competition and all five girls were all-district; Abby Gooch, Abby Hoer, Kaylee Stone, Jessica Slagle, Layne Ray, Kaylee Stone. Eight student-athletes are currently participating in after school intervention study hall (AISH).
Upcoming MHS Events and Activities:
Homecoming - Friday, October 18th; "Coming Home for the Holidays", Freshmen - National Sports Day, Sophomores - 4th of July,
Juniors - Christmas and Seniors - Halloween.
Spirit Days - Monday; Hippie Day, Tuesday; Duck Dynasty Day, Wednesday; Class Color Day, Thursday; Grandparents Clothing/Thrift Shop, Friday; Red and Gray Day (class colors: 9 - white, 10 - gray, 11 - black, 12 - red)
Wednesday, October 16th - Powder Puff Game @ 7
Friday, October 18th - Parade @ 3, Game @ 7, Coronation held after the game
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Parent teacher conferences feedback
Parent-teacher conferences are tonight and tomorrow night. Oct. 1 and 2 from 4:00 pm to 7:45 pm.
Please let us know where we can improve by taking our survey after attending.
http://freeonlinesurveys.com/s.asp?sid=ywd4hzec3gbu52e342920
T.
Please let us know where we can improve by taking our survey after attending.
http://freeonlinesurveys.com/s.asp?sid=ywd4hzec3gbu52e342920
T.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Hi Everyone,
This past school year has had some great improvements to both academics and our school culture - the way we teach and reach our students.
For me, MHS is first and foremost about serving our students. This year brought many new challenges. We have been endeavoring to maintain a low failure rate (students failing courses) and students off-track to graduate on time (students should earn at least 6 credits per year to graduate on time and be on track). I'm proud to report that we continue to maintain around a 10% course failure rate and our students on-track to graduate on time continues to be high. In addition, we have earned bronze level recognition for positive behavior intervention and support from the state regional professional development program. Finally, our faculty helped students raise their end of course test scores in every area with only one exception.
An interesting statistic came from a look at ACT results in April. At this point we had received all but the final scores from our seniors. These scores indicated students taking the test several times were very likely to score higher each time. Almost 90% of the students attempting the ACT more than once scored higher on subsequent attempts. We will continue to encourage students to try and if they fail, to try again. I was pleased to see our teachers were successful encouraging so many young people to work hard - it pays.
Finally, I was proud of our senior class of 2013 and their scholarship accomplishments. This class worked hard and earned approximately $100,000 more than the class of 2012. While college selection and other factors come into play when arriving at the final figure for all scholarships awarded, the number is a positive indicator of their success.
I've attached our final board report for 2013 below.
T.
Month/Year: May 2013
Current Enrollment: 660
Free / Reduced Lunch Enrollment: 234/42
Student Services Listing: 68 IEP
Students of the Month: Austin Bise and Haley Auwarter
**Teacher of the Month: January - Ms. Yount, February -Mr. Clow, March - Ms. Silver, April - Ms. Beshears
**see note in Dr. Robinson’s portion of this report on how this is determined
Academics
Ms. Michelle Yount, Biology Club Sponsor: Bio Club planted 7 trees that were donated by the city along the parking lot by the practice field on Monday, May 6th.
Mr. Robert Cotez, Band Instructor: On April 25, ten students represented Mexico High School at the MSHSAA State Music Festival in Columbia. Six of our students qualified for State Medals; Jared Melton (Piano Solo), Lillian Rotte (Vocal solo), Jacob Lauer, Madeleine Prince, Chelsea McCord, and Haley Barnes (Saxophone Quartet) - all these students were awarded an Excellent Rating (2) at state. Also participating in the State Music Festival were Austin Weber, Cassandra Schmidt, Lucas Handlin, and Caleb Quinlan (trombone quartet).
Members of the Mexico High School Band performed the National Anthem at Busch Stadium on May 1, 2013. In 2006, the band was the first-ever high school marching band to perform at the New Busch Stadium, and has performed there for eight straight years, sponsored by Great American Opportunities.
The Mexico High School Jazz Band and Dixie Gray Band performed at the annual Parade of Bands on May 7 to a packed house in the Sports Complex Gym. Members of the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade bands from Mexico Middle School also performed.
The Mexico High School Jazz Band performed at the Mexico Public Safety Awards night on Friday, May 10, at Presser Hall.
Mrs. Sara Given, Speech & Theatre Teacher:
Jordan Henry placed 4th in Radio Speaking at the MSHSAA State Speech Competition. The one act play "Rinse the Blood off My Toga" qualified for State competition and finished 4th in its pool at the competition. Although we did not advance to the final showdown, the ranks were AMAZING! The Jellybean Conspiracy production raised $2,135.50 for our local Special Olympics Team. Loralee Hays, senior, auditioned and was accepted to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles, California.
Ms. Laura Haynes - Art Teacher:
Art In The Park exhibition was held in Gooch gym on Tuesday, May 7th.
Mrs. Jami Willaims - Multi-Media Teacher:
Introduction to Multimedia - The Introduction to Multimedia class was invited by the website www.codehs.com to submit a testimonial about how they utilized the website to learn and write computer programming code. The testimonial by Ms. Williams is currently featured on the testimonial page of the website. Ms. Williams was invited by Brentwood High School in St. Louis, MO to assist their mathematics department in writing a semester long curriculum incorporating multimedia into mathematics using the codehs.com program.
Journalism - Congratulations to Marissa Bradford for being chosen and Editor in Chief and to Sierra Forsee for being chosen Design Editor of the 2013-2014 volume of The Growl.
Publications - Mexico High School has been inducted for the second year in a row to Walsworth's Gallery of Excellence. The Gallery represents the top five percent of all yearbooks printed by Walsworth. The 2012-2013 edition of The Mascot will be made available nationwide as an example of excellence in theme, design, copy and photography. Mexico High School is one of the smallest high schools in the nation to be inducted into The Gallery two years in a row.
Broadcast Journalism - The Bite (The Mexico High School student network) will be featured on the Academy of Scholastic Broadcasting website as one of schools who are making broadcast journalism work well with the current technology in our district. The Studio Tour feature is by invitation only after viewing clips of student work. Mexico's program was selected based on the quality of the work produced. According the Academy of Scholastic Broadcasting founder Dave Davis MHS has "The kind of stuff you expect to see from the multi-million dollar facilities; the kind of work that puts those schools to shame when you compare the facilities. Proof positive that quality has nothing to do with money and equipment and everything to do with commitment, quality standards and teachers who demand the best..."
Administration Team
Dr. Terry Robinson, Principal:
We met our goal to achieve Positive Behavior Intervention and Support Bronze level(level 1) with the hard work of everyone in our building. Valuable leadership from Ms. Patty Swisher and Mr. Ellebracht was key to helping our team stay on track and guide the effort. The team will travel to a statewide networking meeting in June to begin working toward the next level of certification (silver).
We have been planning our last day of school celebration of success assembly and field day/bar-b-q for students; all students may attend if they have finished their finals on the two days prior.
A school wide survey was given to all teachers and the results are being used to guide academic improvement efforts with the instructional leadership team (dept. chairs and key personnel are on this team). The team focuses on the first two questions every professional learning community attempts to answer:
1. What is it we want our students to learn?
(essential skills, objectives, essential learning, standards)
2. How will we know if each student has learned it?
(formative and summative assessment)
Recently the team assisted with planning our past “Find Your Path” night for incoming freshmen and decided the best placement of 6 additional minutes of instructional time for the 2013-14 school year -these minutes will be added to our lunch period to alleviate the effect on split lunch classes. Finally, they contributed to how our online courses should be handled (E2020) in relation to awarding credit. The team will meet at a time to be determined in late July to make instructional decisions for 2013-14, to review EOC and ACT results, and plan for teacher team learning.
ACT - an analysis of senior ACT results (prior to our last free test in April).
125 students had taken the test at least once.
151 students had not tested yet.
Of the 125 students tested, 83 students attempted the ACT two or more times (up to 4 times in a few cases).
74 students or 89% of students raised their scores from 1 to 11 points. This is an indicator additional student effort (perseverance) and MHS preparation are making a positive impacts on college and career readiness results measured by the ACT. We do not have the final results from the last free ACT in April yet.
**We have field-tested a new process to provide customer (student) feedback to our teachers. We have surveyed approximately
15% -20% of the entire student body every month since January 2013 and asked: “Which one of your teachers is working hard to help you learn and deserves to be recognized as teacher of the month?” Students also have to provide one statement why they believe the teacher deserves the recognition. Mr. Anderson, Mr. Ellebracht and Dr. Robinson distribute feedback cards to students randomly each month ( over 100 are collected) and they are then tabulated. The teacher with the highest percentage of positive feedback is named teacher of the month. The teacher receives the best parking space parking pass, a gift card from Dr. Robinson and all teachers receive their feedback cards from students.
Activities/Athletics
Mr. Jeff Anderson – Vice Principal/Activities Director:
Spring Sports Report:
Boys Golf – Brock Lunceford, Alex Bledsoe & Austin Kelsay made the cut at Districts and went to Sectionals on the 6th of May. Austin Kelsay had a wonderful day of golf at Sectionals and qualified for State! State golf is the 13th & 14th of May. Brock was also All-Conference for Golf.
District Track was held here on the 10th of May with Jake Anderson, Jon Anderson, Anne Baker, Karen Baker, Jami Brandow, Colin Cosby, Kamden Ekern, Phoebe Frazer, Malik Holman, Zori Holman, Sean Kelly, Christian McKeown, Alex Shaw, Tori Shaw & DayNeisha Shivers all moving on to Sectionals. Sectional Track will be held in Mexico on the 18th of May.
Baseball, Girls Soccer and Boys Tennis are all competing at the District Level this week.
The Spring Sports reception will be held on May 22nd with Cookies & Punch starting at 6:30.
Dead Week is August 3-11 and the first day of Fall practices will be August 12th.
Guidance and Counseling Team
Guidance office April activities:
Provided EOC training for Teachers at MHS, MEC and MMS.
Assisted with career Path Breakout Sessions
Counselor had several Scholarship committee meetings for Local Scholarships
Phil supervised the ASVAB test, and EOC testing and EOC make up testing
Organized A+ Summer School tutors
Career Path parent night at MHS
Student Presentation at MMS and St. Brendans for 2013-2014 course requests
Supervised the ACT/Aspire Testing
3 college/university visits
8 agency visits
4 military visits
Thursday, April 25, 2013
A Look Inside with "This is MHS" and other videos from our students
Hi Everyone,
Did you ever wonder about what's happening in the classrooms of MHS? Maybe you wonder what students are thinking about current topics, homecoming, activities...we'll take a look at this link with several videos created this school year from Mrs.Jamie Williams Media and Broadcasting class.
In particular, I asked students to create a "This is MHS" video with the classroom as focus. I hope you enjoy taking a look as some of what is happening at MHS.
HERE's THE LINK:
http://www.schooltube.com/organization/164887/
Dr. Robinson
Did you ever wonder about what's happening in the classrooms of MHS? Maybe you wonder what students are thinking about current topics, homecoming, activities...we'll take a look at this link with several videos created this school year from Mrs.Jamie Williams Media and Broadcasting class.
In particular, I asked students to create a "This is MHS" video with the classroom as focus. I hope you enjoy taking a look as some of what is happening at MHS.
HERE's THE LINK:
http://www.schooltube.com/organization/164887/
Dr. Robinson
Monday, April 15, 2013
Reflecting on a Positive 2012-13
Hello Everyone,
It has been a quick school year and it is hard to believe we only have a few weeks remaining! At this time of year I begin to notice all the great seniors around our building and realize they won't be with us next year. Senior leadership makes a difference at MHS and the class of 2013 has made their mark in a positive way at MHS. Their school spirit, their leadership in sports, student council and many other activities along with their academic prowess has helped improve the atmosphere at MHS.
In general this time of year we start to look back on what we can improve and be an even better service to our students and their families. At this time of year I hope you remember our teachers and all support staff as we wind down the year and offer them a kind word of thanks. We are all reflecting on what we were able to accomplish and what we plan to improve for the coming 2013-14 school year.
Thank you for your trust in us to lead your young person to success.
T.
REPORT TO OUR SCHOOL BOARD FOLLOWS:
Month/Year: April 2013
Current Enrollment: 656
Free / Reduced Lunch Enrollment: 273
Student Services Listing: 69 IEP / 9 LEP
Students of the Month: Kamden Ekern and Danielle Blair
Academics
Katrina Dukes - P.E.
We have incorporated new activities in our Girls Strength and conditioning classes: zumba, P90X, insanity, and Pilates (just to name a few).. Many of the students enjoy the different workouts and are investing in these programs on their own.
Mrs. Lindsey Yancey/ Librarian and Student Council Sponsor:
Mrs. Yancey, Jacob Lauer, DayNeisha Shivers, Victoria Shaw and Gabe Jones attended the State Student Council Convention in Washington, MO over spring break. Jacob and DayNeisha were group leaders of discussion rooms for students from schools throughout the state! We were able to share many of the great things we do at MHS as well as pick up new ideas where we can improve!
The MHS Student Council was awarded the Gold Level Honor Council award. To meet the qualifications for this award we had to meet standards for community service, student and teacher appreciation, involvement with Special Olympics, attendance and involvement at the district and state level of Student Council and many other things. The MHS Student Council sponsors are very proud of the work our students have done!
MHS Speech and Theatre and Student Council are partnering for a very special community event. The Jellybean Conspiracy is a Reader's Theatre piece performed by regular as well as special services students and carries a very moving message of tolerance and the value of all people. This will be performed on April 17 at 7:30 in Emmons Hall. Please consider attending this event, see how talented and amazing our students really are! Cost is $5 at the door, doors open at 6:30.
Mrs. Bridget Bingham - Special Services
The Home Management Class is tickled pink! We went to the library today to check our pencil machine. (this was an additional project for students in Mrs. Bingham’s class this year) We had some money! The students counted $27.50!! The students are excited to see the deposit ticket. We are also having a guest speaker from the United Credit Union come talk with my math class about banking this April.
Mrs. Linda Rice - FACS and FCCLA
Eight Mexico HS students will be attending the FCCLA State Leadership Conference April 7-9 in Columbia. They have been preparing all year for the conference.
FCCLA will hold an officers election on April 24. The event will be a formal dress-up affair. Students interested in running for office for 2013-14 will give speeches and have a friend give a speech. Elections will be held April 25.
FCCLA will sponsor a banquet on May 11 at 4 PM for members and parents. Dress will be formal. A candlelight induction ceremony will be held.
The Life On Your Own classes learned how to plan menus based on the meal planning principles of variety in color, texture, taste, temperature, size and shape of food. The meal had to be nutritious, representing all the food groups on the USDA MyPlate, and not cost more than $1.50 per person. In one class, Brent Hildebrand brought an electric smoker and his group smoked ribs, while another group made homemade rolls, fruit salad and chocolate torte. Lyssa Smith brought her family recipe for Cajun chicken which was served with homemade mac and cheese and tie-dyed cupcakes. Emri Kerr showed off his cake decorating skills by teaching students to decorate cupcakes using homemade frosting and decorating tools.
The Advanced child Development class is designing a day care. They named it "Da Crib". They decided on what centers to offer, what toys and equipment to put in the centers, and planned a daily schedule to begin at 6 AM and close at 7 PM. They are publishing an activities booklet containing children's games, crafts, recipes and their favorite story books. They made hand puppets and are planning to invite in some small guests to play with us.
There's never a dull moment in FACS. Stop in sometime for a visit. We will make you smile!!!
Administration Team:
Dr. Terry Robinson, Principal:
Our Career Path Night for incoming Freshmen and their parents was held on April 4. We changed the format of this meeting to include an informational video created by Mrs. Williams and I and invited teachers from HCC and MHS representing our college and career pathways to meet with parents and students. The counselors also provided information about scheduling and planning to take courses focusing on a career path. The event was well attended with approximately 200 parents and students in attendance.
All departments are focused on final preparations for the End of Course tests. Teachers have had the added advantage to examine student progress with the addition of a SCANTRON machine. In addition, departments have met to review their curriculum scope and sequence. Our focus has been on developing an answer to two essential professional learning community questions: 1)What do we want our students to learn? 2) How do we know they have learned?. For 2012-13 teachers were directed to measure their results regularly so they could know if students were learning. In addition, I’ve collected survey data from our faculty to better inform our building plan for 2013-14 as we continue to address professional development needs and overall building needs. Almost all teachers provided valuable feedback and the Instructional Leadership Team made up of building teacher-leaders and administration will be reviewing the feedback to plan well for 2013-14.
I attended an AdvancED review of Vashon High School in St. Louis. MO on April 2-4. This review was a new enhanced version of the review of Mexico High School last school year. It offered some new tools to measure school success and systems for students. Vashon High School faces many of the challenges of MHS that are coupled with students from a disadvantaged background. It was a valuable learning experience.
PBiS - Positive Behavior Intervention and Support
Since our last review went well, we have decided to submit our application for Bronze status. We believe we have a very good chance of being certified ahead of schedule. If not, we will have the benefit of being reviewed again and receive quality feedback about where we can improve to achieve Bronze status.
Mr. Jeff Anderson – Vice Principal/Activities Director:
Activities/Athletics
Spring Sports have begun. Many reschedules due to the wonderful winter weather sticking around longer than we would like. Track will be hosting the Ron Whittaker Classic on the 20th with many teams attending. Baseball will host a Freshman Tournament on the 27th and Varsity will play in the Marshall & Fulton Tournaments. Boys Tennis & Boys Golf are both well into their seasons. Tennis has an upcoming Tournament in Hannibal. Girls Soccer will be competing in the Camdenton Tournament the 26th & 27th.
Mr. Robert Cortez - Band and Orchestra
The Dixie Gray Band will be performing the National Anthem at Busch Stadium on Wednesday, May 1.
Here's the update from Music Festival . The Annual MSHSAA Music Festival was held March 21-22-23 at Mexico High School. Ten students qualified for the State Music Festival in Columbia.
Results from Mexico High School are as follows:
State Music Festival - Large Groups
Mexico High School Band - Robert Cortez, Director - 1 (Superior)
Mexico High School Choir - Julie Dreier, Director - 2 (Excellent)
District Music Festival - Solos and Small Ensembles
SUPERIOR (1) RATINGS - Advance to State Music Festival in Columbia (April 25)
Lillian Rotte, Vocal Solo
Jared Melton, Piano Solo
Saxophone Quartet (Jacob Lauer, Madeleine Prince, Chelsea McCord, and Haley Barnes)
Trombone Quartet (Austin Weber, Cassandra Schmidt, Lucas Handlin, and Caleb Quinlan)
Guidance and Counseling Team:
Guidance Office hosted 4 college visits, 6 agency visits, 6 military visits
Guidance Office hosted the ZAPS-ACT workshop on March 26th.
Local Scholarship deadline was March 15th, with 68 Seniors turning in 2064 scholarship applications. In addition, 24 current college students turned in 55 scholarship applications.
The 2013-2014 course Catalog was finalized and enrollment will begin the week of April 1st.
The CHECS program hosted four community volunteers within the Career Paths of Business, Management, & Technology & Human Services. Juniors, based upon their selection of possible career paths, attended the Career Path Breakout Sessions. Mr. Neely, Mrs. Turlington and Mr. Louder facilitated the sessions.
Mr. Holman organized the 8th grade high school tour on March 5th.
Upcoming MHS Events and Activities:
4/17 & 7/18 - Jellybean Conspiracy Performance in Emmons @ 7:30p.m.
4/19 & 4/20 - State Speech & Debate in Columbia
4/20 - Ron Whittaker Bulldog Track Classic
4/23 - ACT Free Testing for all Juniors and Seniors
5/4 - Prom “A Roaring Night Under the Lights”
5/7 - Parade of Bands
5/8 - Band Banquet
5/9 - Spring Choir Concert in Emmons
5/10 - Noteworthy Dinner Theatre in Emmons
5/14, 5/15 & 5/16 - Senior’s Finals and Grades Due
5/16 - Last Day for Seniors
5/17 - Senior Awards Assembly @ Sports Complex 9:00a.m.-11:00a.m.
- Graduation Practice & Senior Class Panoramic Picture @ 1:00p.m.
5/19 - Baccalaureate in Emmons @ 6:00p.m.
5/20 - 2013 Commencement Ceremony @ Hawthorne Heights 8:00p.m.
5/22 - 5/24 - Finals and Grades Due
5/24 - Last Day of School
It has been a quick school year and it is hard to believe we only have a few weeks remaining! At this time of year I begin to notice all the great seniors around our building and realize they won't be with us next year. Senior leadership makes a difference at MHS and the class of 2013 has made their mark in a positive way at MHS. Their school spirit, their leadership in sports, student council and many other activities along with their academic prowess has helped improve the atmosphere at MHS.
In general this time of year we start to look back on what we can improve and be an even better service to our students and their families. At this time of year I hope you remember our teachers and all support staff as we wind down the year and offer them a kind word of thanks. We are all reflecting on what we were able to accomplish and what we plan to improve for the coming 2013-14 school year.
Thank you for your trust in us to lead your young person to success.
T.
REPORT TO OUR SCHOOL BOARD FOLLOWS:
Month/Year: April 2013
Current Enrollment: 656
Free / Reduced Lunch Enrollment: 273
Student Services Listing: 69 IEP / 9 LEP
Students of the Month: Kamden Ekern and Danielle Blair
Academics
Katrina Dukes - P.E.
We have incorporated new activities in our Girls Strength and conditioning classes: zumba, P90X, insanity, and Pilates (just to name a few).. Many of the students enjoy the different workouts and are investing in these programs on their own.
Mrs. Lindsey Yancey/ Librarian and Student Council Sponsor:
Mrs. Yancey, Jacob Lauer, DayNeisha Shivers, Victoria Shaw and Gabe Jones attended the State Student Council Convention in Washington, MO over spring break. Jacob and DayNeisha were group leaders of discussion rooms for students from schools throughout the state! We were able to share many of the great things we do at MHS as well as pick up new ideas where we can improve!
The MHS Student Council was awarded the Gold Level Honor Council award. To meet the qualifications for this award we had to meet standards for community service, student and teacher appreciation, involvement with Special Olympics, attendance and involvement at the district and state level of Student Council and many other things. The MHS Student Council sponsors are very proud of the work our students have done!
MHS Speech and Theatre and Student Council are partnering for a very special community event. The Jellybean Conspiracy is a Reader's Theatre piece performed by regular as well as special services students and carries a very moving message of tolerance and the value of all people. This will be performed on April 17 at 7:30 in Emmons Hall. Please consider attending this event, see how talented and amazing our students really are! Cost is $5 at the door, doors open at 6:30.
Mrs. Bridget Bingham - Special Services
The Home Management Class is tickled pink! We went to the library today to check our pencil machine. (this was an additional project for students in Mrs. Bingham’s class this year) We had some money! The students counted $27.50!! The students are excited to see the deposit ticket. We are also having a guest speaker from the United Credit Union come talk with my math class about banking this April.
Mrs. Linda Rice - FACS and FCCLA
Eight Mexico HS students will be attending the FCCLA State Leadership Conference April 7-9 in Columbia. They have been preparing all year for the conference.
FCCLA will hold an officers election on April 24. The event will be a formal dress-up affair. Students interested in running for office for 2013-14 will give speeches and have a friend give a speech. Elections will be held April 25.
FCCLA will sponsor a banquet on May 11 at 4 PM for members and parents. Dress will be formal. A candlelight induction ceremony will be held.
The Life On Your Own classes learned how to plan menus based on the meal planning principles of variety in color, texture, taste, temperature, size and shape of food. The meal had to be nutritious, representing all the food groups on the USDA MyPlate, and not cost more than $1.50 per person. In one class, Brent Hildebrand brought an electric smoker and his group smoked ribs, while another group made homemade rolls, fruit salad and chocolate torte. Lyssa Smith brought her family recipe for Cajun chicken which was served with homemade mac and cheese and tie-dyed cupcakes. Emri Kerr showed off his cake decorating skills by teaching students to decorate cupcakes using homemade frosting and decorating tools.
The Advanced child Development class is designing a day care. They named it "Da Crib". They decided on what centers to offer, what toys and equipment to put in the centers, and planned a daily schedule to begin at 6 AM and close at 7 PM. They are publishing an activities booklet containing children's games, crafts, recipes and their favorite story books. They made hand puppets and are planning to invite in some small guests to play with us.
There's never a dull moment in FACS. Stop in sometime for a visit. We will make you smile!!!
Administration Team:
Dr. Terry Robinson, Principal:
Our Career Path Night for incoming Freshmen and their parents was held on April 4. We changed the format of this meeting to include an informational video created by Mrs. Williams and I and invited teachers from HCC and MHS representing our college and career pathways to meet with parents and students. The counselors also provided information about scheduling and planning to take courses focusing on a career path. The event was well attended with approximately 200 parents and students in attendance.
All departments are focused on final preparations for the End of Course tests. Teachers have had the added advantage to examine student progress with the addition of a SCANTRON machine. In addition, departments have met to review their curriculum scope and sequence. Our focus has been on developing an answer to two essential professional learning community questions: 1)What do we want our students to learn? 2) How do we know they have learned?. For 2012-13 teachers were directed to measure their results regularly so they could know if students were learning. In addition, I’ve collected survey data from our faculty to better inform our building plan for 2013-14 as we continue to address professional development needs and overall building needs. Almost all teachers provided valuable feedback and the Instructional Leadership Team made up of building teacher-leaders and administration will be reviewing the feedback to plan well for 2013-14.
I attended an AdvancED review of Vashon High School in St. Louis. MO on April 2-4. This review was a new enhanced version of the review of Mexico High School last school year. It offered some new tools to measure school success and systems for students. Vashon High School faces many of the challenges of MHS that are coupled with students from a disadvantaged background. It was a valuable learning experience.
PBiS - Positive Behavior Intervention and Support
Since our last review went well, we have decided to submit our application for Bronze status. We believe we have a very good chance of being certified ahead of schedule. If not, we will have the benefit of being reviewed again and receive quality feedback about where we can improve to achieve Bronze status.
Mr. Jeff Anderson – Vice Principal/Activities Director:
Activities/Athletics
Spring Sports have begun. Many reschedules due to the wonderful winter weather sticking around longer than we would like. Track will be hosting the Ron Whittaker Classic on the 20th with many teams attending. Baseball will host a Freshman Tournament on the 27th and Varsity will play in the Marshall & Fulton Tournaments. Boys Tennis & Boys Golf are both well into their seasons. Tennis has an upcoming Tournament in Hannibal. Girls Soccer will be competing in the Camdenton Tournament the 26th & 27th.
Mr. Robert Cortez - Band and Orchestra
The Dixie Gray Band will be performing the National Anthem at Busch Stadium on Wednesday, May 1.
Here's the update from Music Festival . The Annual MSHSAA Music Festival was held March 21-22-23 at Mexico High School. Ten students qualified for the State Music Festival in Columbia.
Results from Mexico High School are as follows:
State Music Festival - Large Groups
Mexico High School Band - Robert Cortez, Director - 1 (Superior)
Mexico High School Choir - Julie Dreier, Director - 2 (Excellent)
District Music Festival - Solos and Small Ensembles
SUPERIOR (1) RATINGS - Advance to State Music Festival in Columbia (April 25)
Lillian Rotte, Vocal Solo
Jared Melton, Piano Solo
Saxophone Quartet (Jacob Lauer, Madeleine Prince, Chelsea McCord, and Haley Barnes)
Trombone Quartet (Austin Weber, Cassandra Schmidt, Lucas Handlin, and Caleb Quinlan)
Guidance and Counseling Team:
Guidance Office hosted 4 college visits, 6 agency visits, 6 military visits
Guidance Office hosted the ZAPS-ACT workshop on March 26th.
Local Scholarship deadline was March 15th, with 68 Seniors turning in 2064 scholarship applications. In addition, 24 current college students turned in 55 scholarship applications.
The 2013-2014 course Catalog was finalized and enrollment will begin the week of April 1st.
The CHECS program hosted four community volunteers within the Career Paths of Business, Management, & Technology & Human Services. Juniors, based upon their selection of possible career paths, attended the Career Path Breakout Sessions. Mr. Neely, Mrs. Turlington and Mr. Louder facilitated the sessions.
Mr. Holman organized the 8th grade high school tour on March 5th.
Upcoming MHS Events and Activities:
4/17 & 7/18 - Jellybean Conspiracy Performance in Emmons @ 7:30p.m.
4/19 & 4/20 - State Speech & Debate in Columbia
4/20 - Ron Whittaker Bulldog Track Classic
4/23 - ACT Free Testing for all Juniors and Seniors
5/4 - Prom “A Roaring Night Under the Lights”
5/7 - Parade of Bands
5/8 - Band Banquet
5/9 - Spring Choir Concert in Emmons
5/10 - Noteworthy Dinner Theatre in Emmons
5/14, 5/15 & 5/16 - Senior’s Finals and Grades Due
5/16 - Last Day for Seniors
5/17 - Senior Awards Assembly @ Sports Complex 9:00a.m.-11:00a.m.
- Graduation Practice & Senior Class Panoramic Picture @ 1:00p.m.
5/19 - Baccalaureate in Emmons @ 6:00p.m.
5/20 - 2013 Commencement Ceremony @ Hawthorne Heights 8:00p.m.
5/22 - 5/24 - Finals and Grades Due
5/24 - Last Day of School
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