Paul Duke STEM Newsletter

Reminder... GCPS students will be on break from Thursday, February 16, through Monday, February 20. Students and staff return to learning on Tuesday, February 21. Note that GCPS does not offer meal service on student holidays

Test-Like Practice Without Test Day Pressure at Paul Duke STEM High School

Want to test drive the ACT without the pressure of an official score? Sign-up for Applerouth's full-length practice exam under test like conditions. Afterwards, you will receive a comprehensive score report that identifies strengths and targets areas for improvement.

To register, go to www.applerouth.com/signup and enter the event code.

Mock ACT

February 11

9:00am - 1:15pm

Event Code: M520314

Room: LH100

SENIORS: Scholastic Images will be on campus THIS MONDAY, 2/13 during lunch, so don’t miss out placing your orders for:

• Seniors, make sure to order your cap & gown package ASAP BEFORE the late fee begins on 3/1! (see flyer attached)

• Payment required in full at time of order. (Cash, Check, or Card with $4.95 processing fee)

• Letter Jacket Orders for any student who has earned a letter! (see attached image)

• For seniors, letter jackets must be paid in full at the order table (cash, check, card) and bring proof that you earned your letter (actual award letter or certificate).
• We’ll custom size you and walk you through the rest!

You can also order anytime online at www.scholasticimages.com or over the phone at (770) 614-9353! We can’t wait to see you!

9th-11th Grade: Scholastic Images will be on campus THIS MONDAY, 2/13 during lunch, so don’t miss out ordering your Letter Jacket if you have earned a letter!

Just bring a $100 deposit along with proof that you earned your letter (actual award letter or certificate) and we’ll custom size you and walk you through the rest!

You can also order anytime online at www.scholasticimages.com or over the phone at (770) 614-9353! We can’t wait to see you!

On February 17th, National PTA Day celebrate 125 years of the National Parent Teacher Association, and our parents, guardians, and community members! We appreciate your partnership and contributions to support the success of #eachandevery GCPS student

Join us for a celebration of Black life history and culture! There will be a guest speaker, activities, music and food! Fill out this form to RSVP. All are welcome!

Contact charlene.jackson@gcpsk12.org with questions.

Friday, February 24 during 5th Block (12:30 - 1:50)

Paul Duke STEM High School Commons

*Entrance "Fee": Microwaveable Shelf-Stable Single Serve Meal for our Food Pantry!

All Practices are Monday - Thursday from 2:15- 5:00 pm in BT105.

Dues are $100 and all permission slips are due by Feb 15, 2023.

Games:

Ultimate Smash Bros. (Nintendo- a team of 3)

Rocket League (PC- a team of 3)

League of Legends (PC Team of 5)

Madden 23 (PS4-solo)

NBA 2K 23 (PS4-solo)

ALL Game Matches begin at 4:00 pm Tuesday - Thursday.

Contact Coach Natrina Lawson (B116) or Coach Chris Taylor ( C 115) for more information.

Have you cleaned out your closet lately? Those shoes that have been sitting there unworn, actually have value! The PDS Mentors are collecting gently worn, used and new shoes and we need your help. We’re looking for all types of shoes: sneakers, boots, dress shoes, sandals, athletic and casual shoes. We want them all!

Three Ways to Get Involved

1. Participating in Project Based Learning Units (this involves coming to the school and providing relevant and timely feedback to students during the process of their projects and/or attending presentations at the conclusion of their projects)
2. Hosting an Intern (every senior takes the Senior Experience and Exhibition (SEE) class. One of the options for a senior taking SEE is to find an internship. We need local businesses and organizations willing to accept a senior for an internship)
3. Providing SEE Consultancy Problems (another option for students taking SEE is to stay on campus and become a consultant for a local business/organization. We are seeking problems that your business/organization might have that a group of students could solve)

The purpose of this form is to submit your contact information and level of interest in supporting students at Paul Duke STEM High School

PDS HS FAB is off to a fantastic start. Thanks to those parents who were able to attend our first information/organizational meeting on January 26.

To keep moving forward, our next task is to elect officers who will be able to make decisions or recommendations for the booster club. The nomination deadline is February 10 with elections to be held during the next meeting on February 23.

You do not have to be in attendance at all meetings in order to have a voice; however, we will be creating an email list to update interested parents and students. You will need to complete the interest form in order to be on the mailing list.

Below you will find links to several important documents

Minutes from January 26 meeting

Nomination Form - Hard Copy

Nomination Form - Digital Form

Interest form (only if not previously completed)

We hope to see even more parents next month on February 23, 2023.

We hope you were able to make it to the Fall Student Showcase. Go ahead and mark your calendars for the Spring Student Showcase.

Paul Duke STEM CLASS OF 2023! We cannot believe how quickly the year has gone by and before you know it, you will be walking across the stage at graduation! Make sure everyone knows how hard you have worked to achieve one of the best moments of your life and announce your graduation with class. Check out the attached digital flyer to see your Paul Duke STEM packages! You can use the QR code to get to the ordering site or below is the direct link to order your Official Paul Duke STEM Graduation Announcements, so don’t wait.

Graduation Product by Herff Jones

Not only will your announcements have your official school crest, but they will also be personalized with your name in the text just like collegiate announcements. We also created packages to make ordering even easier, but you can always add more to them, so no one is left out. Orders will begin to ship directly to your house, and you will receive tracking information once the order ships out.

We are so proud of you and honored to celebrate this milestone with you!

The first deadline for senior dues payment is January 1st. These dues are required for graduation and cover the cost of caps & gowns, the ceremony and other senior related activities. If paid by January 1st your student will also receive a Paul Duke STEM Senior t-shirt. Dues can be paid at scholasticimages.com.

Please reach out to Ms. Laura Elizabeth Martin with any questions you may have.

CLASS OF 2023! We cannot believe how quickly the year has gone by and before you know it, you will be walking across the stage at graduation! Make sure everyone knows how hard you have worked to achieve one of the best moments of your life and announce your graduation with class. Below is the direct link to order you Official Paul Duke STEM Graduation Announcements, so don’t wait.

https://tinyurl.com/PDSAnn23

Not only will your announcements have your official school crest, but they will also be personalized with your name in the text just like collegiate announcements. We also created packages to make ordering even easier, but you can always add more to them, so no one is left out. Orders will begin to ship directly to your house, and you will receive tracking information once the order ships out. You can also go to www.3rdascent.com, select your school, and then click on Announcements!

We are so proud of you and honored to celebrate this milestone with you!

Thank you,

Your Herff Jones Team

Sean Smith, Rebecca Vinke, Carlos Castillo, Ben Johnson, and Team

Office- (770) 594-8155

www.3rdascent.com

410 Winkler Dr suite b

Alpharetta, GA 30004

*Those that purchased the space need to have their pictures and message submitted by Dec 31

The STAR student honor is bestowed on the senior in the top 10 percent of his or her class with the highest SAT score. As part of the recognition, the STAR student selects a teacher who has had a strong influence on his/her academic career.

Abigail Donkor is in the top 6 finalist for GCPS and will be doing a final interview next week. The top 3 winners for GCPS CTE Student of the year get scholarships ranging from $500 to $1500. Abigail is also our first ever finalist too

US Department of Education to recognize top distinguished students across the nation. The main program picks nominees based off of test scores and GPA. For the CTE US Presidential Scholar nomination, it must come from the State Department of Education and there are only five students that can be picked for the state of Georgia.

Congratulations Rohan and Nathan!

2023 Candidates

...these DECA competitors for placing in the top 8 for their category and moving on to our International level. This has been a record year for these kids!

We also received several chapter awards --

• Thrive Level for Promotions & Community Service
• Thrive Level for Membership growth
• Gold level School-based Enterprise Re-Certification
• Bronze level for Chapter Campaigns
• and 16th largest chapter in the state of Georgia
• Rohan Pai's design was selected for the Georgia State Lapel Pin

Gwinnett schools competed in multiple league nights over the past few months to earn a high seed when drafting other teams to be on their alliance (since Vex is a 2v2 competition). Our team 60053B "Bonk" invited team 60053Y "Goosey" to be on their alliance, and the two of them easily routed the rest of the bracket to claim both Tournament Champion Trophies. This win secured both teams an invite to the VEX State Championship in February, where they compete to qualify as one of the 16 Georgia teams invited to the VEX World Championship in April.

["Bonk" on the left and "GooseY" on the right, the their trophies in the middle.]

Team 60053B "Bonk" is Joseph Lu (Builder), Alan Valdivia-Garcia (Driver), Lam-Dat "Leo" Truong (Programmer), Robin Giang (Programmer and Drive Team), and Vina Nguyen.

Team 60053Y "GooseY" is Neal John Cronin (Driver and Programmer), Jack Pulliam (Builder), Nuh Van Orden (Drive team strategy), Tatyana Mcvay (Builder) and Paige Kornegay (Builder)

Next stop for us is the State Championship in two weeks, where "Goosey" and "Bonk" will be competing with the top 40 teams in the state. Goosey's "True Skill" ranking (a weighted team-based strength weighting) has us tied for the 7th highest performing team in the state. 16 Georgia teams will qualify for Worlds, and we are hoping to be among them. Wish us luck.

The following PDS Band students for being selected to the Gwinnett County Honor Band!

We have the 5th most students of any GCPS school represented at the county level.

Sasha Tarassenko, 12th, Flute

Zoe Liang, 12th, Flute

Jose Hernandez-Angel, 12th, Clarinet

Mia Santillan, 12th, Clarinet

Cecelia Berenguer, 11th, Clarinet

Ashley Vinson, 11th, Clarinet

Tristan Kim, 10th, Bass Clarinet

HB Shim, 11th, Bassoon

Kevin Jacinto Lopez, 12th, Alto Sax

Brian Pena, 12th, Trumpet

Sebastiaan Baert, 10th, Euphonium

Bryan Gonzalez-Ponce, 12th, Trombone

Jorge Valdez, 10th, Trombone

Arnav Gupta, 12th, Percussion

Also, we had four students who moved onto the second round and scored high enough to make the Georgia All-State Band. Way to go Trailblazers!

Sasha Tarassenko, 12th, Flute

Cecelia Berenguer, 11th, Clarinet

Ashley Vinson, 11th, Clarinet

Tristan Kim, 10th, Bass Clarinet

We are thrilled to announce that Donald Iwejuo received a full four-year scholarship to Duke University through the QuestBridge National College Match.

She was recognized as Gwinnett County Public Schools Teacher of the Year. We are all so proud of her and honored by the impact she has on each and every student she teaches. #gcpstoty2023

On Tuesday September 6th our school received the STEM certification banner from the Georgia Department of Education. Achieving Georgia DOE STEM certification, Paul Duke STEM is now.....

the LARGEST whole school STEM certified High School in Georgia
the FIRST Title I whole school STEM High School in Georgia
the FIRST majority Latino STEM High School in Georgia
the FIRST and ONLY non-criteria admission STEM High School in Georgia!

Thanks to the @gadoe_stem_steam for the support and recognition! #TeamGCPS Gwinnett Schools

The Gwinnett County Foundation Scholarship catalogue is now available. Click here to access.

If you missed the FAFSA Night event here is the PowerPoint presentation

FAFSA PowerPoint with recorded directions

Gwinnett County has purchased a wonderful college and career planner called Naviance. Counselors will be showing students all of the features in their classrooms, but as parents, you have access to explore as well. You will need to be logged into your student's Eclass page for access.

Please click on the links below for quick "how to" videos.

How to link your Common App to Naviance

Career Assessment and Exploration

Student Journey in Naviance

Student Tour and Overview

*Click the link twice in order to open*

Gwinnett Tech is hosting an informational session from 10:00 - 11:00 in LH100 for their high demand Automotive program. Students must register via sign up genius link

FAFSA Help session - Tuesday, Feb 28 from 12:45 - 1:50 in Media Center - https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4EAAAC2DA4FDC34-fafsa1

Georgia Gwinnett College Instant Decision Day - Wednesday, March 29 from 10:30 - 11:37 in Media Center - https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4EAAAC2DA4FDC34-instant1

ASVAB - Wednesday, March 15 from 7:30 - 10:30AM Location TBD - https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4EAAAC2DA4FDC34-asvab

Applying to a college who requires supplemental writing prompts? Take a look at this website!

Supplemental Essay Guide 2022-2023. Essays are listed by college with writing tips!

Love working on cars and want to make it a career? Check out Gwinnett Tech's diploma program!

The Care Team has created a wish list to help keep our "Need One, Take One" personal care supplies stocked. It's been a tough year, and some may find themselves having to pick and choose what makes it into the grocery cart each month. We have placed a bin in one of our girl's and boy's restrooms, hoping to share items in a more discrete way.

Thank you for your support of our students!

Please, click here to view our Care Team Amazon Wish List

For only a $5 donation to the Counseling Care Team!

Form found in MYPayments Plus under School Fundraisers

More details soon...

A Certificate of Enrollment is required to test for both driver's permit and driver's license. Students must submit a request form to receive this document. The request forms are available in the front office. The cost for this document is $3.

If you lost your ADAP certificate, you may get a replacement from the front office. ADAP certificates can be replaced for $5.

Please note there is a 48-hour turnaround for Certificate of Enrollment and replacement ADAP certificate requests.

Eligible licensed student drivers must provide proof of insurance, a valid driver's license, and a completed parking application. Click here for an application. Additionally, students must pay $70 for their parking pass. Click here to pay through MyPaymentsPlus. Students parking without a valid parking pass will be subject to disciplinary consequences including a boot on their car.

Click here for INSTRUCTIONS FOR MINORS

Are you planning on doing some community services but don't know where to start?

Contact Ms. Dobbs in the Parent Center or email at olaya.liranzo@gcpsk12.org

We need students who:

*Love their community

*Have a passion helping others

*Bilingual preferred but not required

Communication is really important to us and we want to make sure you are up to date with PDS school communications.

In addition to verifying that your cell phone number is accurate in the system, you also will need to subscribe to the text message service if you wish to receive emergency texts from the school system. You can do so by texting the word “SUBSCRIBE” to the number 67587. You will receive an immediate response by text. If you do not, please contact your wireless provider, as some providers do not accept texts that use short code (SMS) messages. (Note: If you subscribed to receive text messages last year, there is no need to resub­scribe unless your number changed.)

SchoolMessenger messages from Gwinnett County Public Schools will come from the number 1-844-248-6644. Please add this phone number to your contacts so you can easily identify the call as coming from Gwinnett County Public Schools. If you miss a phone message, you can call this number to retrieve and replay phone notifications.
https://www.gcpsk12.org/Page/26742

Parents, if you have any changes to your student's phone numbers, emergency contacts, etc. please note that these can be made by you in the Parent Portal. However, address changes need to be made at the school. Thank you."

Parents, if you’re on Facebook, join the Paul Duke Stem High School (PDSHS) class groups, a virtual community hosted by the PTSA, open to all PDSHS families, we look forward to seeing you there to share information, opportunities and maybe even a laugh. Find the graduating class that corresponds to your students and stop on by

https://www.facebook.com/groups/pds.ptsa.co2024

https://www.facebook.com/groups/pds.ptsa.co2025

https://www.facebook.com/groups/pds.ptsa.co2026

We look forward to connecting, and as always thank you for your support!

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Email: olaya.dobbs@gcpsk12.org
Website: https://www.gcpsk12.org/pauldukestemhs
Location: 5850 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Norcross, GA, USA
Phone: (470) 323-3600
Facebook: facebook.com/PaulDukeSTEM
Twitter: @Paul_Duke_STEM