Hawk Highlights

Having new students in your classroom is a new beginning. In an effort to connect with the social-emotional needs and build relationships with your new students its important to listen and talk with them. Challenge #10 is a re-issue of the second challenge. Use the 2x10 strategy which works like this: every day for 10 school days, engage a student that you are just meeting in a two-minute conversation that has nothing to do with academics. Use https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e10zHwgZygBwYT_Nuszfk46kN2yRwMSXELoqtief7m8/edit?usp=sharing to report back what you learned about that student and how that conversation strengthened your relationship with the student and how that relationship will help that student achieve success in your classroom. CTE instructors and support staff, I ask you to conduct this challenge with students you feel you need to reconnect with.

• TEDX Youth @St.G (Equity Beyond an Idea): The event will be held Saturday, May 16th from 10-2 (apx.). Mrs. Bell posted additional information on schoology. Here is the TEDx Google Slides Mrs. Bell used to guide the meeting on 1/15/20:
  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1A64jnLvloshYY6qMmqmEuii394HlrzQdeqRfvIKShj8/edit?usp=sharing. This very exciting work!

• CTSO Competitions: Preparation for our CTSO statewide competitions are in full swing. CTSOs are an important part of our CTE curriculum and our goal every year is to send our students into competition feeling prepared and supported by their CTE instructors and our St. Georges staff. Please feel free to approach our CTE instructors or Jamie Williams to see how you can support our CTSO efforts.

• Positive Office Referrals- As content area classes are changing at the start of the second semester, don't forget to recognize students that are exemplifying our core values by submitting a positive office referral. A new student in your classroom will appreciate your acknowledgment of their contributions to the St. Georges Way.

• Grading: Please remember proper grading protocols along with semester exams taking place on January 16th-17th:

• Make sure that your course is set up correctly for exams and semester grades.
  
• Exams (midterms for CTE courses OR finals for semester courses) should NOT be entered as regular assessments.
  
• For career programs (full-year), midterm exams are set at 10% and finals at 10%. For semester courses, final exams are set at 20%.
  
• After you click on the Load from Gradebook icon to upload the 2nd marking period grades, manually put the exam grades and comments in the correct columns.
  
• Do NOT put anything in the FIN column.
  
• Attendance is automatically uploaded when Guidance runs the grade calculations. Teachers do not manually enter attendance numbers.
  
• Remember to click on SAVE when working in the RC screen.
  
• Grades are due Friday, January 24th by 3:00 P.M. Report cards are ready January 31st.
• Calling Parents for D’s and F’s: Teachers are required to contact the parents when a student receives a D or F for the marking period and/or final grade. Please make every effort to contact parents before report cards are distributed. Parent contact should be by telephone. If you leave a message because the parent doesn’t answer, please follow up with an email letting families know that you left a voicemail and that you would like for them to call you back. We need to ensure that parents are fully aware of the D or F their children will be receiving. It also covers you in the long run if you have tried multiple ways to let the families know. If you have any questions, feel free to contact your direct supervisor. Thanks for all of your help.

• Turnaround Day/Site Visits: Tuesday, January 21st is scheduled as a turnaround day for all teachers. This time is set aside to finalize grading and prepare for the second semester. Academic and support staff need to swipe-in by 7:30. CTE instructors may use this time to conduct site visits.

• 504 Plan Information: Although all teachers have received their new student’s 504 plans for the second semester via email, as a result of schedule changes, there may be students in your class who you did not receive an emailed 504 Plan for. Please double check your students names in eschool and look for the empty yellow triangle (which is an indication of the 504 Plan). All 504 plans are located on Schoology (Materials – Students – 504 Accommodation Plans).

• School Psychologist Newsletter: Please check out the newsletter from our school psychologist posted below. Tenika provides excellent information about the importance of brain breaks. Also, she gives examples of how to appropriately incorporate brain breaks.

Jermaine Williams and Dr. Harrison were meeting at Corporate Interiors in New Castle this week to setup a potential business partnership. They took a tour to look at the resources and facilities. They found Chris Steffy, Class of 2018 Carpentry student, working in the custom cabinetmaking shop. The Corporate Interior leaders remarked how much they love Chris as an employee! This is a testament to the staff and how we work with students to prepare them for bright futures. See Chris at work in the above photograph.

Take a Look Back at Several First Semester Positive Office Referrals

Core Values Exemplified- Be Positive

"TJ wanted to make a fresh start freshman year and break away from middle school habits. He has been incredible this year; working to his fullest potential at all times (especially in Science) and acting as a role model for his peers. TJ has taken on all the rigors of 9th grade successfully. We are so proud of you!" ~Ms. Dooley & Ms. Davis

Core Values Exemplified- Be Kind, Be Positive, Be Supportive, Be Innovative, Be Leaders with Integrity

"Adam was very patient and kind working with our visually impaired student. Adam made sure our freshman was able to complete his assignment of making a stand to hold his Ipad. Thank you, Adam, for your kindness and caring of others." ~Mrs. Eklund & Mrs. May

Core Values Exemplified- Be Supportive, Be Kind

"Nila assisted with Open House and as per her usually theatrical, outgoing personality, each and every person that spoke to her complimented on how knowledgeable she was but also her outgoing personality made her so easy to talk to! She is always smiling and ready to assist all!" ~Mrs. Bowe

Special thank you to Chad, Jaime, Jim, Lindsay, and Marcus for serving hot chocolate to our students on Friday. The hot chocolate bar was our quarterly student appreciation activity. ~Shanta Reynolds

Once again, thanks to each and every staff member for a terrific first half! I sincerely appreciate everyone's hard work and dedication. I am excited to see students and teachers learning and growing together during the second half of the school year. ~Shanta Reynolds

Monday, January 20th

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day- Schools and Offices Closed

Tuesday, January 21st

• Turnaround Day- CTE Instructors May Elect to Do Site Visits

Wednesday, January 22nd:

• The St. Georges Wrestling Team is hosting a Teacher Appreciation Night on Wednesday, January 22 at 6 pm to honor all of our wonderful teachers and staff. Teacher Appreciation Night will be held during our wrestling dual meet against Delcastle Technical High School. - Pat Atkinson and Dustin Craighton

Thursday, January 23rd

• Department/Cluster Meeting
• Throwback Turtleneck Thursday Committee Picture (7:30 a.m. in front of Hawk Cafe)

Friday, January 24th

• NEA 10-Minute Meeting