Red Devil Ready: Weekly Message

Week 21: LZ100

zoom_out_map

Decatur County Community High School

605 E Commercial St, Oberlin, KS 67749

January 14, 2024 (Schedule at the bottom, Skip What You Want)

Follow us on Twitter at @DCHSREDDEVILS or

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Oberlin294/

Decatur community,

As my inner Dr. Seuss comes out, I will start off with saying that it was an icy, windy, horrible, cold, blustery, snowy, slippery, no-good-weather of a week.

Yes, there were two snow days, but they weren't exactly the build a snowman, sled down the hill with your buddies, and sling the snowballs at each other kind of snow days that we all love. The snowballs would have felt like bricks, and you may have never found your way back home from sledding if you went too far.

Having said that, I know the students enjoyed it, and we were able to get all of our home activities in. I have shoutouts to mention later to a few that were important in making that happen.

We had our senior night for wrestlers, our home basketball game, and the annual Buzz Matson Wrestling Tournament, the final time our seniors would wrestle at home, the final time that Lukas Zodrow "LZ100" would wrestle in his home gym for DCHS. Lukas actually won his 100th match last week at the Norton Tournament. A few days later, he was named Nex-Tech Wireless Western Kansas Athlete of the Month.

Lukas is one of the first kids that I met when I moved to Oberlin, one of the kids that helped me unpack the moving trucks. For the past two years, I have watched him quarterback his football team, lead them in tackles, and qualify for State in wrestling, hoping for the same this year, and this past week he ended his home wrestling career by winning his last Buzz Matson Tournament. Lukas is a great kid that leads by example, both as an athlete and a student, the kind of student-athlete that coaches and teachers love to have.

Yeah "LZ100" may not be his official nickname, heck, it's already outdated as his record is already up to "LZ100+", but like many with nicknames, he won't soon be forgotten.

Congratulations to Lukas on the 100th win, the Buzz Matson Championship, and the NW Kansas Athlete of the Month recognition.

SHOUTOUTS

zoom_out_map

Shoutout to two our two senior wrestlers and their families.

Lukas Zodrow, I mentioned earlier. Lukas' parents are at every event. Just watching the two of them, you can tell that they have been there and done that (meaning wrestling tournaments) for a long time. It is always awesome to see two parents so committed to being at all of their son's events. Deena and Mory are the perfect example of parental support, and show up to support all of our students regardless of what they are playing.

Our other senior is Reid Fort. Reid is about as outgoing and friendly a kid as you are going to find, obviously appreciated and loved by his fellow students (evidenced by his Homecoming King recognition), and his commitment to wrestling is intense. Over the past few years, I have watched Reid transition twice from the starting safety in the fall to the 130 lb. or less wrestler, and that takes willpower. He is one of my favorite wrestlers to watch. His mom is Libby Fort, our own DCHS graduate turned English teacher, and she, too, is at all of the events. Ms. Fort has a heart for all kids that I get to see on a daily basis, and it has been a privilege to watch her interact with Reid the past few years.

Shoutout to AD Brandon Gehring and Wrestling Coach Denton Bailey. As some teams were dropping out of the Buzz Matson Tournament this past weekend, others were joining, thanks to our AD and coach both reaching out to schools and connections to keep it going. It was a well run tournament that could have looked much different without their diligent efforts. Special mention to Coach Bailey who took the time to call KSHSAA to ask the question of whether or not the wrestlers could get a few extra pounds of weight due to canceled school. KSHSAA said yes. I had never had a wrestling coach ask this question. Good call!

Shoutout to our wrestlers for some great finishes at the Buzz Matson Invitational

Shayla Kisner - 2nd Place

Kyra Sowers- Champion

Guss Emigh 3rd Place

Josiah Pattangall - 3rd Place

Sage Bryan - 2nd Place

Garrett Emigh - 2nd Place

Lukas Zodrow- Champion

Shoutout to Superintendent Dr. Joel Applegate. Dr. Applegate was ahead of the game last week. Many schools were closing across NW Kansas last week, and it was Dr. Applegate that was one of the superintendents to do so. It is so much easier for students, parents, and staff to be aware of these things ahead of time to plan.

Shoutout to Mrs. Jenny Tally. Maybe someday they will come out with a new reality series called "Hospitality Room Wars" where competitors compete to have the best Hospitality Room during major events. Her beef stew was amazing this past weekend during the Buzz Matson. I looked in early and came back later, and there was nothing left. I have never seen a giant crockpot so cleaned out in my life. Mrs. Tally has been a great go-to for Mr. Gehring in these situations since I have been here.

Shoutout to Senior student Shakira Cook. Earlier this year, Shakira came to me so that I would put something in her file that made it known that she was a part of the Volunteer Fire Fighting Service and would have to leave school if a fire ever occurred. I honestly never thought I would see her use this, but I thought it was commendable. Unfortunately, she did have to use it this past weekend. I am so impressed by her and thankful to the community members that reached out to me with the photo you see here.

Things You Should Know

zoom_out_map

Teachers to Attend Greenbush University

Of course there is no school tomorrow, at least for the students, but teachers will be in a large variety of meetings throughout the day, meetings with many topics that they get to discuss for themselves. This has become a tradition of the Greenbush Service Center, and it will be the second year that we have participated.

Here are just a few examples of the types of meetings teachers will be attending:

Color Code - Understanding Student Personalities: Using the science of Color Code to understand the wants and needs of four personality types that walk into your classroom every day.

So, But, Because: Helping Students SHOW what they Know by Crafting Enhanced Sentences: Unlock the power of “But, Because, So” in this sentence writing session. Join me to delve into an exercise from the Hochman method designed to enhance literacy and writing skill. This simple yet impactful technique challenges students to expand sentences in innovative ways. From science to history, the versatility of "But, Because, So" helps you assess comprehension and students to develop as skillful writers.

NWKL Basketball Tournament Brackets Set for this Week

Attendance Checks

At the end of this week I will be sending out these "attendance check" emails to anyone that it may apply to. It's very likely that most are aware of the absences that they have had, and some may not have had doctor's notes. As the policy states, you are allowed 6 of these parent-excused absences per semester. If your student is on pace to have more than 6 absences in a semester without a doctor's note, you will get the email below. These emails will come every two to three weeks, and they are meant to keep everyone well notified.

You are receiving this automated email due to the fact that your student has missed several days of school this semester and has exceeded, or is on pace to exceed, their maximum allowable parent-excused absences this semester. If you have doctor’s notes that you can provide for prior absences, please have them sent over to the high school so that we can update your records.

Here is the current attendance policy:

Doctor’s Excused Absences: These absences do not count against your attendance total. The school reserves the right to verify these absences if there become too many. These absences are strictly related to illness and or injury. For the most part, these do not factor into the equation.
Excused Absences: These are absences that a parent can call in. You may not need to see a doctor every time you don’t feel well. These can be used at any time. Students are allowed 6 parent excused absences per semester without a doctor’s note. (December 20) When they hit the 7th call in, it is unexcused without a doctor’s note.
Unexcused absences: Absences that are unaccounted for or are over the 6 excused days and no doctor’s note is provided.

School policy states that unexcused absences result in the following:

1. Loss of free time, potentially for the remainder of the semester

2. Potential ISS for repeated offenses

3. Truancy letter turned into the Decatur County Attorney if meeting the criteria below:

State Law says that truancy kicks in when there are one of the following:

3 unexcused absences in a row
5 unexcused absences in a semester
7 unexcused absences in a school year

Your student's current attendance:

Parent Excused Absences without a doctor’s note: (6 is the max)

Parent Excused Absences Remaining:

Unexcused Absences:

If you have any questions or further information, please feel free to reach out to us at 785-475-2231.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Holloway

Red Devil Ready

zoom_out_map

I don't know about the rest of you, but my internet has been horrible since the snow started last week. Completely out? No. Slow? Not really the best to describe it. Very Slow? Yes, that sounds about right. I heard a few comments from frustrated friends and coworkers that weren't able to watch the Chiefs' game last night.

Either way, at least the Chiefs are still in it, while my Broncos are thinking about the Draft later this spring.

That's going to do it. Stay warm, and let's hope no pipes burst this week.

Next week, the official First Semester Honor Roll!

Jeremy Holloway

Red Devil Ready!