Decatur County Community High School
605 E Commercial St, Oberlin, KS 67749
October 13, 2024 (Schedule at the bottom, Skip What You Want)
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Decatur community,
Several times throughout the school year, I will mention and/or remind everyone that I was once a history teacher, and I will frequently share information that I feel may be of, at minimum, interest to some.
This week is Mr. Lindquist's Test.
In 1959, the first American College Test (ACT) was given. Created by Everett Franklin Lindquist, a college professor from the University of Iowa, it was a test created to challenge the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) which had been around approximately 20 years longer. The biggest difference was that the ACT had the goal of trying to test students on the direct competencies that they were studying in schools.
Today, there are over 2 million high school graduates that take the ACT each year, and this week, several of our students will take the ACT, many for first time.
In a section below, I have included the standard overview of the ACT, and what it looks like. I also included some sites with tips. For some of our students, they will take the ACT multiple times as they try to improve their scores throughout their high school careers.
Shoutout to the Lady Devils' volleyball team for taking 2nd place at the NWKL Tournament this past weekend. They defeated Atwood for the third time on the season in the semifinals before falling to League Champion Wallace County. The girls will wrap up their regular season with "Senior Night" Tuesday as we host Colby and Quinter. About half of their losses this season have gone 3 sets, showing that we are not going to be a team that anyone is going to be excited to see come postseason. Congrats, ladies.
After this week, the girls will travel on Tuesday, October 22 for a Regional-Tri where the top two teams will advance to Sub-State. So far this year, about 20% of our matches have come against Atwood, and we have come out with a 3-2 record against them. Guess what? They're in our Regional.
Here are the 3 teams in our regional hosted at Mankato-Rock Hills:
Mankato: 31-3
DCHS: 12-19
Atwood: 12-19
Shoutout to the boys football team for getting back on track before another huge game this week. The boys cruised past Stockton with a 54-0 win. We have had some big games this year, and this coming may be the biggest of them all, as we travel to rival Atwood. Though Atwood currently sits at 5-1, our seasons have been very similar. We both lost tough contests to Dighton, but Atwood still has not played Hoxie. The winner of this game is in the driver's seat to host a week 9 game on Halloween, and both teams will be primed to bring their best to the table.
Shoutout to science teacher Mark Bricker. I actually meant to put this shoutout in a few weeks ago and remembered this week. A few weeks ago, Mr. Bricker learned that the 5th grade was studying space. He reached out to the elementary school to see if he could possibly come and talk to the young scientists to extend their knowledge and challenge them to look into the sky that night to see a star that would be visible at a certain spot in the sky. It's great to see a veteran teacher that has not only passion for their content but also passion to share that with younger students.
Shoutout to these students for attending the KMEA Mini-Convention I for JH District Honor Choir:
Kennedy Chambers
Coulter Coryell
Jenna Fuentes
Brooklynn Gehring
Justin Glass
Gracie Lango
Gemma Louderback
Landry Mendenhall
Graham Spivey
Jade Tuttle
Tessa Witt
Shoutout to 8th grade students Arely Mandujano-Aguilar and Serenity Ozaeta for being accepted into the JH District Honor Band. They both play the clarinet.
Shoutout to senior Cameo Counter for being accepted into the high school District Honor Jazz Band. Cameo plays the trumpet.
Shoutout to senior STUCO president Michaela Wasson. There are few students that I have come across in any school that I have taught or been a principal of that have been as involved, self-motivated, and willing to lead as Michaela. I could talk about STUCO, sports, and music, but this past week, she visited the 6th grade students to talk about newspapers. Michaela publishes a weekly update on the district website called The Toilet Paper News. She started this last year and has stayed committed. I love that her positive leadership was able to be an example for our younger students.
Shoutout to DCHS special education teacher Patti Hendrickson. Sometimes you look around the state and see the massive amount of job openings in the education field, especially special education. We are fortunate to not only have a special education teacher, but also have a great one. Mrs. Hendrickson does an outstanding job of communicating with teachers, keeping students involved, and managing a large amount of material with a positive attitude. We are lucky to have her.
Shoutout to senior Raelyn Bailey. A few weeks ago I went to to Colby Community College with a few students to attend a college fair. Almost every institution in the state of Kansas was represented. On the way, I had a great conversation with Raelyn, possibly the most focused college conversation I've had with a student in awhile. Raelyn talked about zoo programs and how Friends University in Wichita has one of the few around. I mentioned my time in Wichita and youthful memories of bike rides on Friends campus which was near some of my family. I also mentioned that Wichita had an amazing zoo. Long story short. Raelyn just got accepted into Friends. Congratulations, Raelyn!
ACT (Mr. Lindquist's Original Design)
Tuesday, about fifteen of our students will be taking the ACT. This is our onsite, voluntary signup test that will include seniors looking to improve one last time, and juniors that are getting a taste for the first time. The juniors will also be given the opportunity to take the test again at the State's expense in the Spring if they choose to do so.
OVERVIEW OF ACT TEST SECTIONS
English
- 75 multiple–choice questions
- 45 minutes
- Tests grammar, punctuation, sentence structure and rhetorical skills
- Learn more about the ACT English Test
Math
- 60 multiple–choice questions
- 60 minutes
- Algebra I and II, geometry, and some trigonometry
- Learn more about the ACT Math Test
Reading
- 40 multiple–choice questions
- 35 minutes
- Four passages (prose fiction, social studies, humanities, and natural sciences) with 10 questions per passage
- Learn more about the ACT Reading Test
Science
- 40 multiple–choice questions
- 35 minutes
- Questions on science-based passages presented with graphs, charts, tables and research summaries
- Learn more about the ACT Science Test
PreACT (Descendant of Lindquist's Test)
The PreACT is a low stakes test, meaning that there is no accountability at the state level and no college is going to look at it.
Having said that, the PreACT was started in the fall of 2016. The intention of the test was to target younger students and give them a shortened version of the ACT and see how well they would perform. It gives a very accurate indication of how well a student will do on the ACT when the time comes.
This Wednesday, our 9th grade students will all take the PreACT. Fortunately, the state offers this test once a year in the fall for all 9th grade students to take free. Here's a bit more information on the PreACT:
English: 45 questions, 30 min (40 seconds per question)
Math: 36 questions, 40 min (67 seconds per question)
Reading: 25 questions, 30 min (72 seconds per question)
Science: 30 questions, 30 min (60 seconds per question)
Senior Citizens' Thansgiving Meal Coming November 14th
On Thursday, November 14th, we will have our second Senior Citizens' Thanksgiving. This event will be open to any senior citizen. Doors will open at 10:30 with a small program beginning at 10:45 in the cafeteria. Lunch will be served at 11:00.
A golf cart will be available to allow for easy access to and from the entrance to the parking lot.
Coats will be hung by students upon arrival.
MENU: This will be updated in the next few weeks.
Parents and students, please spread the word. We would really like to get a head count so that we can be prepared.
Please reach out to the DCHS office at 1-785-475-2231 or by direct email to jholloway@usd294.org to let us know that you will be attending.
Varsity Volleyball Season Record (12-19)
L vs Wheatland 25-23, 22-25, 14-24 (0-1)
L vs Hoxie 13-25, 22-25 (0-2)
W vs Quinter 25-16, 25-16 (1-2)
W vs Dighton 24-26, 25-21, 25-22 (2-2)
L vs Atwood 21-25,14-25 (2-3)
W vs Atwood 26-24, 14-25, 28-26 (3-3)
L vs Wallace County 16-25, 25-23, 15-25 (3-4)
L vs Cimarron 25-19, 11-25, 18-25 (3-5)
L vs Golden Plains 17-25, 23-25 (3-6)
L vs Wheatland 25-22, 24-26, 16-25 (3-7)
L vs St. Francis 17-25, 22-25 (3-8)
L vs Golden Plains 25-12, 21-25, 24-26 (3-9)
L vs Gering 18-25, 14-25 (3-10)
L vs Cambridge 22-25, 19-25 (3-11)
W vs Valentine 25-10, 25-17 (4-11)
L vs Cheylin 18-25,17-25 (4-12)
W vs Logan 25-21, 25-10 (5-12)
L vs Southwest 16-25, 15-25 (5-13)
W vs St. Francis 25-21, 17-25, 25-20 (6-13)
W vs Atwood 25-20, 25-20 (7-13)
W vs Dundy Coutnty 25-11, 25-18 (8-13)
L v St. Francis 25-22, 19-25, 19-25 (8-14)
L vs Hoxie 22-25, 9-25 (8-15)
W vs Goodland 28-26, 25-23 (9-15)
L vs Atwood 25-20,12-25, 18-25 (9-16)
L vs Hitchcock Co. 17-25, 23-25 (9-17)
L vs St. Francis 25-16, 21-25, 25-27 (9-18)
W vs Greely Co. 25-21, 25-22 (10-18)
W vs Quinter 25-19, 19-25, 25-23 (11-18)
W vs Atwood 25-23, 16-25, 25-23 (12-18)
L vs Wallace Co. 17-25, 12-25 (12-19)
JV Volleyball Season (6-1)
W Wheatland 25-13,19-25,15-4 (1-0)
W Hoxie 25-17,25-21 (2-0)
L Rawlins 12-25, 25-21, 11-15 (2-1)
W vs Quinter 25-18, 25-17 (3-1)
W vs Rawlins 25-18, 25-18 (4-1)
W vs Wallace County 25-15, 25-20 (5-1)
W vs Cheylin 25-9, 25-21 (6-1)
W vs Southwest
W vs St. Francis
W vs Atwood
W vs Hoxie
W vs Leoti
W vs St. Francis
Decatur County Community Junior/Senior High School
Email: jholloway@usd294.org
Website: https://www.usd294.org/vnews/display.v/SEC/DCHS
Location: 605 East Commercial Street, Oberlin, KS, USA
Phone: 785-475-2231
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Decatur-Community-JrSr-High/372347636275932
Twitter: @DCHSREDDEVILS