Manitou Springs High School

It is hard to believe that we are officially one month into our second semester! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing so many classrooms this week: students practicing wall construction for our next Home Build, Algebra II students working together to analyze and explain extraneous solutions, and AP Psychology students practicing written responses then giving each other feedback! In addition to many deep learning opportunities in classrooms, this week included Senior Nights for Girls’ Basketball and our Wrestling team, as well as our Swim & Dive competing at their league competition! Go Stangs!

Also please remember that there is no school for students on Friday, 2/9.

I hope you enjoy your weekend!

Anna Conrad

Manitou Springs High School

Principal

Parents and students-

As we enter a new semester, a reminder of MSHS Graduation Requirements:

Class of 2024+ MSHS Graduation Requirements

English – 8 credits

Math – 6 credits

Science – 6 credits (4 credits must be lab based*)

Social Studies – 6 credits

P.E. – 3 credits

Health – 1 credit

Fine Arts/Practical Arts – 6 credits

Electives – 18 credits

Total Credits Needed to Graduate: 54

In addition to meeting the 54 credit requirement, students must also demonstrate readiness in BOTH English and Math via the "Menu of College and Career Readiness Options" See page 3 of the Curriculum Handbook for more information: https://msh.mssd14.org/departments/counseling_corner

MSHS provides many opportunities to accomplish this requirement.

Please reach out if you have any questions to your students assigned counselor:

Mschmuki@mssd14.org (last names A-K)

Astrupp@mssd14.org (last names L-Z)

Counselors visited ALL 9th grade advisory classes this week to remind students about graduation requirements. We distributed official transcripts to students as well as a credit check form so students can track their individual credit status now that they have completed their first semester of high school. Please ask your 9th grade student about this lesson and ask to see their transcript. If you have any questions please contact your students counselor MSchmuki@mssd14.org (A-K) and AStrupp@mssd14.org (L-Z).

• Our free virtual summer programs are open to current 9-12th graders who identify as girls or non-binary. Any coding experience level is welcome!

• In addition to our free programs, we offer a financial support grant of up to $300 and laptop and hotspot access for eligible students.

• This year, students can choose to learn new coding skills in game design, web design, cybersecurity, or data science and artificial intelligence! As they build computer science skills, students will learn about the many diverse careers in tech through virtual events with professionals in the field.

• Students receive priority consideration if they apply at girlswhocode.com/summerapply by February 14, 2024. Regular-decision applications are due by March 22, 2024.

Students created a one-pager book recommendation "poster" from their independent reading and posted them according to genre. As the school year goes on, we'll add more to our wall of recommendations!

Spanish II students created a poem about clothes in Spanish. Then chose a design and made sure that their poem included: one (1) clothing item, a title, colors, size, articles and demonstrative adjectives. They were very creative.

On February 1st and 2nd, French classes celebrated the French holiday “ Le Chandeleur" in which the French make crepes. The crêpes symbolize the sun and the return of spring.

Severe special needs students, Jasmine, Jeremy and Austin joined French II students to help make the batter using a pouring arm that they could activate.

Tyce Hawkins demonstrates the tradition of flipping a crêpe while holding a coin in his other hand to bring good luck for the year.

Hello Mustang Families! With our Spring sports season right around the corner, I wanted to take a moment to introduce our new registration platform. This spring and going forward, we are using an online registration platform powered by rSchool. Through the online registration platform, you will be able to upload your students' physical, contact information, any student information, sign handbook acknowledgments and make a payment. *If you prefer to pay by checks or cash, please have your students bring these payment methods to the Athletics Office.

Below you will find a link to our registration platform. Your students are not required to turn in any physical copy of their physical or registration forms. The usage of the new platform will allow coaches access to approved/denied registrations and will not require your student to obtain a physical pass to practice.

If you have any questions or need any assistance through this process, please feel free to contact me via sportsYou or email- gderziotis@mssd14.org

Link to registration: https://mssd-ar.rschooltoday.com/

Metro Placers, 2024

Name: Madi Campbell

Grade: 10

Visual Art

Class: Printmaker, Sculpture

Reason for nomination: Madi shines as a standout art student. Her creations are made with a purposeful and meticulous touch, consistently creating beautiful pieces.

Students and staff create “ kurinuki” clay pots in Mr Bonner’s clas!

The Prospector is the student-run news website of Manitou Springs High School. Check out stories we posted this week!

Front Office brings Mustangs together with new delicious dips every week by Morgan Flannery

Students and staff express opinion about hallway renovations by Cordelia Portman

Spirit week photo story by Halli Frost

Teacher Throwback: Paul Bonner by Kaleb Cervantes and Naomi Porter

Spanish Club's first ever Salsa Night by Krissy Stout

Book of the month-January: Sanctuary of the Shadow by Katelyn Fonkert

You can follow on INSTAGRAM or like us on FACEBOOK to see our social media stories and contests!

Edward Eager’s Tales of Magic Series

My wife, who works at the public library district, and I are always on the lookout for good children’s books about unsupervised children playing with magic, so when the fifth book in this series, Magic or Not? popped up in the Friends of the Library bookstore, she brought it home, and over the next two weeks we devoured the whole collection, and it touched off a renaissance of good children’s lit in our house. Edward Eager is a fantastic author from the late 50s and early 60s, whose loosely supervised children protagonists always work together to learn the rules of magic, before graciously letting it go. In many respects a time capsule of a bygone era, these books all follow a pretty standard plot where a small group of kids finds a magic tool that grants wishes, and hilarity ensues.

Perfect for readers 7 to 12, these books are great for kids because they are whimsical and fun, but they don’t talk down to kids or assume that they can’t read and think.

Ok. This one is a bit tongue ’n cheek… In AP Psychology, deep learning meets hands-on experience as students navigate the complexities of the nervous system and brain, using tongue depressors to understand the cerebellum's pivotal role in controlling the skeletal muscles in the tongue and cheek.

On February 14th, the Key Club will be sponsoring a Valentine's Luncheon for Manitou Springs senior citizens in the MSHS Media Center. The luncheon is from 12:00 to 1:00 pm. Students from the Key Club have coordinated, will set up, and entertain senior citizens who sign up for the luncheon. Seniors will be met by students at St. Andrews Church in downtown Manitou Springs, and be transported by school bus up to the high school for a delicious meal and camaraderie with some of MSHS's finest. Thanks to Food Services and Transportation for supporting the luncheon.

February's Sources of Strength (SOS) focus is on the positive impacts of engaging in self-compassion. Self-compassion is not self-pity, self-indulgence, or self-esteem. Self-compassion involves acting the same way towards yourself when you are having a difficult time, fail, or notice something you don’t like about yourself. Instead of just ignoring your pain with a “stiff upper lip” mentality, you stop to tell yourself “this is really difficult right now,” how can I comfort and care for myself in this moment? Self-compassion includes the elements of self-kindness, not self-indulgence, common humanity over isolation, and mindfulness rather than self-over-identification.

For more information on self-compassion, please visit our information board by the front office or attend a meeting at lunch, on Thursdays in Dr. Moen's classroom.

Mr. Hass's students are learning to create confidence intervals (ranges of possible values that contain a true but unknown value). In the activity, they were gathering a sample of locations on the earth and determining if the location was land or water.

Friday, February 2nd - Basketball: Boys JV/V vs. Lamar (Away) - 6:00pm/7:30pm

Saturday, February 3rd - Wrestling: Boys Varsity vs. La Junta (Away) - 8:00am

Saturday, February 3rd - Basketball: Girls JV/V vs. Lamar (Away) - 2:30pm/4:00pm

Monday, February 5th - Josten's Distribution - Lunch

Tuesday, February 6th - Basketball: Girls JV/V vs. Buena Vista (Away) - 4:00pm/5:30pm

Tuesday, Febraury 6th - Basketball: Boys JV vs. Buena Vista (Away) - 5:30pm/7:00pm

Wednesday, February 7th - PAC Meeting - 5:30pm

Friday, February 9th - Wrestling: Boys Varsity vs. The Classical Academy (Away)

Friday, February 9th - No School - Staff Work Day