Hopkins High School

As we began our year last week our staff was ready to greet and invite our students aboard for the 2023-2024 school year. There are a few things that I would like to share with you that we are excited about:

• Houses and Homerooms… we enjoy the fact that we are giving our students a place to belong with a chance to form caring relationships with adults in our building. We can keep our students safe physically, emotionally, and academically.

• We welcomed seven foreign exchange students to our community. They are visiting and experiencing Hopkins from; Italy, Spain, Germany, Slovakia, and Brazil. We look forward to learning from them as much as they are learning about us.

• All grade levels are meeting with our counselors to receive information about the year ahead and planning for the future. They will hear and receive physical information about what to expect and what assistance there is to get to their goals. Whether it be planning for college, trade school, the world of work, or weighing the options these meetings are informative and beneficial. Visit our Counseling tab at our school’s website for more information.

• We have a chance to highlight our community in a very visible way. We are the host of Wood TV8 Football Frenzy on Friday, September 29. Beyond the football forward focus, we will be highlighting one of our many successful programs, honoring a Student of the Week, and hosting a food drive where donations will be given to Feeding America-West Michigan. We have so much to celebrate because we are Hopkins High School!

So good to be a Viking… so many moving parts, all so positive!

Yours in Education,

Ken Szczepanski, HHS Principal

Last Names A - K Ms. Wagenfuehr

Last Names L - Z Mr. Crook

Do you know the 3 main areas School Counselors work with students are …

1. Academic - talk about any academic concerns, study plans, organizational skills, academic plans, Tech Center, AP classes, and more.

2. Personal/Social - concerns with friendships, family, other interpersonal concerns, anxiety, stress, coping skills and more

3. Career/College - deciding after high school plans and what to do when students are in high school to make those plans happen. Will a student go to trade school? 2 or 4 year college? Military? Apprenticeship? Other?

We meet with students during individual appointments, by conducting small groups, and when visiting classrooms. We also talk with parents/guardians on the phone and in person.

SCHEDULE CHANGES -

Sometimes students want to ask their school counselor about a possible schedule change because they no longer need a class or are in the wrong class, etc.

Possible schedule changes for the entire school year can be discussed and requested with your school counselor at Orientation.

For Trimester 1 requests, they need to be made at Orientation and up through the 1st Day of School.

For Trimesters 2 and 3, changes for the trimester need to be requested up through the Friday before Exam Week of the prior trimester.

AP Exams May 2024

For those students taking an AP class this year, note the following dates of the AP Exams. Please plan doctor appointments and other school absences around these dates so that students will be in attendance for the exams. These dates are set in stone and set by College Board and all test-takers around the world take these tests on the same day:

Monday, May 6 8am - US Government

Monday, May 6 12pm - Chemistry

Wednesday, May 8 8am - English Literature and Composition

Thursday, May 9 12pm - Psychology

Friday, May 10 8am - US History

Monday, May 13 8am - Calculus AB

Monday, May 13 12pm - PreCalculus

Tuesday, May 14 8am - English Language and Composition

Thursday, May 16 12pm - Biology

1. New Students - Did you recently move to the Hopkins area/Hopkins HS? The school counselors will be gathering all of you soon for a New Students Group Meeting - a chance to meet all the new students!
2. Exchange Students - Welcome to Hopkins, MI USA !! The school counselors are excited to gather all of you soon for an Exchange Students Group Meeting.

• Senior Packet -please read and refer to throughout the school year - the Senior Packet can be found here: Senior Packet

• School Counselors will be in the cafeteria on Wednesdays as well as available during Homeroom on Tuesdays and Thursdays this month to answer college/career related questions.

• DEADLINES - As you prepare for and apply to 2-year colleges, 4-year colleges, and trade schools, make a list of application deadline dates, so you can plan ahead and don’t miss any deadlines. Sometimes a college will have different deadline dates, so look into that as well to see which deadline is best for you. See you school counselor with any questions.

• Apply on website or through the Common App? Check your college or trade school website to find out how they want you to apply ….some will have you apply on their website, while others want you to apply via Common App.

• APPLICATIONS - you might need to write an essay and/or obtain recommendation letters for your college and trade school applications. Make sure you give yourself enough time to write and obtain these parts of your application.

• FAFSA - Students applying to 2-year colleges, 4-year colleges, and trade schools are encouraged to complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) to be eligible for scholarships, grants, and federal aid. Most post-secondary schools participate with federal student aid programs, however, you can check with each school to be certain. Schools also sometimes use the FAFSA information to determine eligibility for their own in-house scholarships and grants. Students and Families can obtain FAFSA ID beginning in October (this is the 1st Step) and then the FAFSA opens later this year in DECEMBER for students and families to complete - the sooner you complete, the more opportunities students are eligible for. See your school counselor with questions. You can also refer to: https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa

• This is the school year you will start to make more solid post-secondary plans - what you will be doing after high school graduation! This planning can be exciting as well as sometimes a little daunting. Your school counselor is here to help. Also, refer to the Junior Packet of information. The Junior Packet can be found here: Junior Packet

• This year you will continue to grow and develop as a high school student as well as think about and plan for any Tech Center programs, AP classes, and more. Your school counselor is here to help. Also, refer to the 10th grade packet of information. The 10th Grade Packet can be found here: 10th grade Packet

• A special WELCOME to our 9th graders in this first newsletter of the school year. Remember your school counselor is available to answer any questions and provide support - stop by to see us in the Office and if we are not available, complete a GREEN appointment request sheet. We will then call you down to meet.

• 9th Grade Packet can be found here: 9th grade Packet

The Hopkins High School Marching Band is presenting its show "CREEP" at all home football games. They will also be performing at 3 invitationals and district marching band festival! Music to be performed includes: "Hymn to Red October" from the movie Hunt to Red October, "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder, "Psycho" from the 1960 scary movie by the same name, "Creep" by Radiohead, and "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell. More information on performance times are available through the band office.

9/30/23 Otsego Band Invitational

10/10/23 District Marching Festival

10/14/23 Grandville Marching Invitational

10/21/23 East Kentwood Marching Invitational

Did you know that College Representatives and the Branches of our Military visit our schools throughout the year? If you would like to get more information about the options for your future please sign up on the attached Google Document. Please check often as representatives add frequently. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tMpI84_Xhsek4jkRebJVKIoAUrTmu8h6bND-77e_06E/edit?usp=sharing

September

• 9/11 Saginaw Valley State University 2:15

• 9/12 Northern Michigan University A Lunch

• 9/12 Butler University 2:15

• 9/13 Kuyper College 2:15

• 9/14 Michigan State University 2:15

• 9/15 Aquinas College 2:15

• 9/18 Lake Michigan College B Lunch

• 9/21 Davenport University Both Lunches

• 9/22 Douglas J. Aveda B Lunch

• 9/26 Calvin University B Lunch

• 9/26 Alma College 2:15

• 9/27 Army National Guard Both Lunches

For some of you, you are just getting used to the fact that your child is in High school, for others its been a year or two and it is getting easier, however, the reality that senior year is fast approaching is there. With that being said, are you hoping to be a helping hand for the memorable night of your child's senior year? Their very last night together with their class? Yes, Grad Night, that amazing all night party before we turn them out into the real world. One last night to be kids and have so much fun with their classmates.

With that being said, it takes a lot of time, energy, and money to give them memories of a lifetime.

Some of you may be familiar with Big Buck Night, which is actually a great community event, but the

profits from that event are for the Grad Night. It is such a fun night, but it is a huge undertaking and

changing hands and chairpersons each year. There are pros and cons to this, but the hardest is the

unknown. The new chairperson, some of who have never even attended as a guest, is searching files,

flash drives, Google forms, and notebooks to figure out what the plan is. What the timeline is, how

much help they need, how many donation letters need to go out, is the hall rented is the food

organized, are the hunters registered, are the prizes, raffles, and guns all purchased. Do I have enough help and will they know what to do. Ok, now, do not let all of that scare you. I am on my third BBN and it is still overwhelming, but in a good way, and it is so much fun, and the profits the past few years have grown to over $40,000, which is about half of the al night party funds, so it is very important.

Here is where you come in. My perfect plan is that I can recruit one freshman, one sophomore and two junior parents to form a BBN committee. You would commit to stay on this committee until your child graduates. In return your $100 is waived and you are at the top of the list after Officers to be a

chaperone if you desire (you do not have to, we understand not all want to or are able). I really feel like this event would be less stressful for the senior chairperson since each year going forward there would be many chairpersons with different levels of experience. Each year going forward you would add a freshman and a junior parent as two senior parents "fall off" essentially.

I will walk you through every step this year, I will, even without a child in school, help you along the way for the class of 2025 as well. If you have any desire to find out more. Please join me for an informational meeting on Wednesday, September 27, @ 6:30 in the High School Cafeteria.

Could you please pop me a quick email and let me know if you will be attending? I would love to have

information in print and have enough to go around.

Thank you for considering this undertaking, I know it is a long commitment if you are coming is as a

freshman parent, but keeping Big Buck Night as fundraiser is huge for the grad night.

Thank you again,

Sherry Schricker

sherryschricker@gmail.com

Jason Babiak --------------- jasobabi@hpsvikings.org Ext. 2104

Alyssa Bargabus ---------- alysbarg@hpsvikings.org Ext. 1119

Alexandra Bosanac ------ alexbosa@hpsvikings.org Ext. 1110

Tara Burgess ---------------- taraburg@hpsvikings.org Ext. 1112

Erica Chamberlin ---------- ericcham@hpsvikings.org Ext. 2101

Jessica Couch -------------- jesscouc@hpsvikings.org Ext. 1104

Alexander Cross ----------- alexcros@hpsvikings.org Ext. 3129

Tim Dommenick ----------- timdomm@hpsvikings.org Ext. 1117

Kaitlyn Dudek --------------- kaitdude@hpsvikings.org Ext 1593

Rebecca Ellithorpe ------- rebeelli@hpsvikings.org Ext. 2111

Trenton Feyen -------------- trenfeye@hpsvikings.org Ext. 2110

Cody Francis ---------------- codyfran@hpsvikings.org Ext. 2109

Melissa Haverdink ------- melihave@hpsvikings.org Ext. 2119

Ben Herrick ------------------ benherr@hpsvikings.org Ext. 1103

Julie Irwin -------------------- juliirwi@hpsvikings.org Ext. 2120

Diane Kamps --------------- diankamp@hpsvikings.org Ext. 2108

Lindsay King ---------------- lindking@hpsvikings.org Ext. 1101

James Kiss ------------------ jamekiss@hpsvikings.org Ext. 1102

Zachary Miller -------------- zachmill@hpsvikings.org Ext. 2103

Phil Moerdyke -------------- philmoer@hpsvikings.org Ext. 1109

Lisa Nagengast ----------- lisanage@hpsvikings.org Ext. 2102

Matt Oeverman ------------ mattoeve@hpsvikings.org Ext. 1113

Jaclynn Rewa ---------------- jaclrewa@hpsvikings.org Ext. 1107

Casey Schoenborn ------ casescho@hpsvikings.org Ext. 2106

Susan Snoeyink ----------- susasnoe@hpsvikings.org Ext. 1108

William Spoelhof --------- willspoe@hpsvikings.org Ext. 2100

Russ VanDommelen --- russvand@hpsvikings.org Ext. 1118

Jessica Williams --------- jesswill@hpsvikings.org Ext. 3129

Amy Yuengert ------------- amyyuen@hpsvikings.org Ext. 2107

The 2022-2023 District and School Annual Education Reports are now available at www.hpsvikings.org. Hard copies are available in the school office.

Ken Szczepanski, Principal

kenszcz@hpsvikings.org ext. 1509

Jessica Robrahn, Assistant Principal

jessrobr@hpsvikings.org ext. 1507

Todd Crook, Counselor

toddcroo@hpsvikings.org ext. 1520

Christine Wagenfuehr, Counselor

chriwage@hpsvikings.org ext. 1510

Andrew Mains, Athletic Director

andrmain@hpsvikings.org ext. 1511

Email: highschool@hpsvikings.org
Website: hpsvikings.org
Location: 333 Clark Street, Hopkins, MI, USA
Phone: 269-793-7616
Facebook: www.facebook.com/HopkinsHighSchool

The Hopkins Public School District Board of Education complies with all federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, age, sex, marital status, height, weight, or disability in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies: Mr. Scott VanBonn Superintendent of Schools, Hopkins Public Schools, 400 Clark Street, Hopkins, MI 49328 Phone 269-793-7261.

The Board does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation or gender identity), disability, age (except as authorized by law), religion, height, weight, marital or family status, military status, ancestry, genetic information, or any other legally protected category, (collectively, "Protected Classes") that are protected by Federal civil rights laws in its programs and activities.