RANGERPALOOZA!

See you all next year!

Honor Roll Breakfast

I told the students, we celebrate sports, art, drama, band, National Honor Society, and so much more. All of it is worthy and all of it is important, but nothing is as important at a school as academics. Help me celebrate our Honor Roll! Congratulations and GO RANGERS!!

December Objectives

Vocabulary Enrichment: Using the words around unfamiliar words to determine meaning (context clues)

Percents & Fractions: Changing percents to fractions, like .50 to 1/2

• The dodge ball tournament for Dec. 15th has been cancelled, but will be brought back in the spring.
• On December 17th the Principal Advisory Council will meet at 5:30 here in the main office conference room. Feel free to join us! Call Mrs. Anderson at 445-0541 to give her an email address so you can receive an agenda.
• The Bus Buddies Holiday meeting is on Dec. 19th at 2:20. Come join your student to celebrate his or her commitment to safety on our buses!
• 4th and 5th hour on the 19th the 7th and 8th grade local spelling bee competition will be held to determine who will compete in the county bee.
• 4th and 5th hour of the 20th the 7th and 8th grade will be singing carols and helping decorate at the Cass County Medical Care Facility.
• Dec. 19th is also the night of the holiday band concert at 7:oo PM in the auditorium.
• Dec. 21st is the last day before holiday break, and the day of Rangerpalooza, a celebration of the musical talent in our school. We will run an assembly schedule and tickets will be sold for two dollars. We have very talented students and it will be a great time!
  

Quote of the Week

If two people agree on everything, then we don't need two people. -Todd Whitaker

The Real Celebrities

The other day, a member of the community came up and introduced herself and I did the same, not having met her in the past. A few minutes later she came up and apologized. I asked her why she was sorry and she said "Well, you're a local celebrity and I should have recognized you." All I could think is how I am anything but a celebrity. Celebrities are the stars of the show. They are the people that spend every day making it possible to teach our students what they need to learn "...the academic, technological and cultural competencies necessary to compete in a global society." Celebrities are supposed to be celebrated and too often that is some kind of a figurehead (like a principal) when the real celebration should be taking place for the people who have to adjust everyday and make it all happen. One of those groups of people is our custodial staff.

We have a fantastic custodial staff. They work under difficult conditions and always get it done. In-between cafeteria set-up, classroom clean-up and game preparation and tear-down, there is the student who was sick in the hallway, the play, or presentation, or concert in the auditorium, the board meeting in the library, clogged drains in the kitchen and on and on and on.

They do it all and they do it for students.

Help me celebrate them with a smile, a handshake, or a thank you the next time you see them in the hallway or at the grocery store. They deserve it. No student, school or principal could survive without them. They are the celebrities we should all apologize too because we don't notice them enough, and I am the most guilty because it is so easy to take for granted something that works so well you hardly see it. Thank you, I, and our students, appreciate it.

December Objectives

Vocabulary Enrichment: Using the words around unfamiliar words to determine meaning (context clues)

Percents & Fractions: Changing percents to fractions, like .50 to 1/2

• December 12th Herff Jones will be here at 10:15 AM to meet with seniors to take orders for invitations and other graduation accessories.
• December 12th is the Honor Roll Breakfast-Invitations and other information will arrive in the mail soon.
• On December 15th the Afro Club will have a Dodge Ball tournament. Call Mrs. Haines at 445-0508 for more information.
• On December 17th the Principal Advisory Council will meet at 5:30 here in the main office conference room. Feel free to join us! Call Mrs. Anderson at 445-0541 to give her an email address so you can receive an agenda.
• The Bus Buddies Holiday meeting is on Dec. 19th at 2:20. Come join your student to celebrate his or her commitment to safety on our buses!
• Dec. 19th is also the night of the holiday band concert at 7:oo PM in the auditorium.
• Dec. 21st is the last day before holiday break, and the day of Rangerpalooza, a celebration of the musical talent in our school (more info to follow!)

Quote of the Week

Most people don't aim too high and miss, they aim too low and hit. -old adage

A Time for Reflection

This Year's 31 National Honor Society Inductees!

I am hoping to have the following commentary published in the Vigilant:

The sparkling lights on the houses, the crisp winds and the home baked treats can only mean one thing, the holiday season is upon us. Amongst all the bustle, I try to use this time to look at what I wanted to get done in the past year, what was actually accomplished, and where I need to go from here. I do this on a personal, spiritual and professional level. I also think it’s an appropriate time to do it for Cassopolis Ross Beatty Junior/Senior High School.

Last year we took a hard look at our curriculum and saw that some changes needed to happen. Without getting into the specifics (which I will be happy to do with anyone who would like to call or come by, 269-445-0541), we needed to increase our college level offerings and advanced classes, raise the bar for all our classes and, above all, improve our test scores.

This is what needed to get done.

To increase the number of college/advanced offerings, we had to take a step back to move forward. We will switch between College English and World Literature yearly, and we had to rebuild our AP Calculus program starting with proper training for the teachers. It will be back next year.

Despite that, we ran four college/advanced classes in the 2006-2007 year: Accounting, Computer Applications II, College English, and Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus. We are running eight such classes on campus this year: AP English, World Literature, Physics, Advanced Biology, Accounting, Computer Applications II, Horticulture and Animal Science. More are planned for next year.

In order to improve the curriculum classes, science, math and English all were reviewed and redesigned last year, and social studies is currently doing the same. For science, every student will take earth science and the first halves of both chemistry and physics. In addition, every student must pass biology and either the advanced part of chemistry or physics to graduate.

For math, the state objectives have been raised so much that Algebra I is taught from both Algebra I and Algebra II books, Algebra II is taught from Algebra II and Pre-Calculus books and Pre-Calculus is being taught from Pre-Calculus and Calculus books. No publisher has yet created individual books that meet the Michigan standards, but we are looking into other options.

For English, the curriculum has become almost entirely literature-based. I overheard the comment from one English teacher that, “What we used to teach as our [advanced] junior curriculum has now become our standard sophomore curriculum.” These curricular improvements have come a long way in helping us raise the bar for all our students.

To improve our test scores we have implemented the Plan/Do/Check/Act (PDCA) model. (To learn more about this model, please visit the blog at RBJSHS.blogspot.com and read the August 16, 2007 entry.) For us, that means, based on past standardized and teacher-written tests, every student receives time during school for either extra help understanding important concepts or educationally enriching activities if they already understand the concepts. In addition, broad monthly objectives are talked about every day, posted in every classroom and announced each morning by administration. Staff members have visited us from another school interested in seeing what we are doing so they can adopt it for their own building, and we expect another in the near future.

It needs to be noted that this whole process has been teacher driven. If it weren’t for our teachers’ dedication to our students and their drive to improve what and how students learn, all the good intentions would fall flat. Specifically, Mrs. Kelly Hargrove and Mrs. Brooke Hari have led the charge and done all of the detail work that has made this a successful program.

We will have a better idea of how effective the process has been after the students receive the Michigan Merit Exam (MME) scores towards the end of the year. The MME is the exam all juniors take in March and includes the ACT college entrance exam. We will take the scores the students receive on the ACT and compare them to the scores they received as sophomores when they took the PLAN, a sort of pre-ACT exam. These results will be presented to the board and should tell us how successful the PCDA process has been. After that, we will be able to locate our areas of weakness, adjust our methods, and continue to improve.

This is how we have started to address these issues.

Next year, we have several things planned for continued improvement. We plan on including two more AP classes, and I am hoping to receive approval for more direct college credit classes. In addition, the PDCA process will be expanded so greater amounts of extra help in a variety of areas will be available to our students. Graduation requirements should be expanded to include preparation for certification on Microsoft Office Products. A foreign language credit will be required for all students. We are moving toward a place where every student will leave Cassopolis with a part of their college degree already completed.

This is where we need to go.

The holidays are a time for celebration, but also a time for reflection. 87% of the seniors who graduated in 2006 are currently attending college. I won’t believe we have arrived at where we need to be until 100% attend college. The best way I can see that happening is to make sure that every student has a start on their degree before they ever leave. If you have ideas or concerns and you would like a chance to voice them, the Principal Advisory Council meets every third Monday at 5:30 PM, or just drop by the high school. To make sure I am here to greet you, you may wish to contact us at (269) 445-0541, but it is not required. You can also keep up with our goings on by reading my weekly blog at RBJSHS.blogspot.com. Have a great holiday season!

December Objectives

Vocabulary Enrichment: Using the words around unfamiliar words to determine meaning (context clues)

Percents & Fractions: Changing percents to fractions, like .50 to 1/2

• December 5th, from 8-8:30 AM Herff Jones will be here to meet with seniors about invitations and other graduation information.
• December 5th, from 3:00-5:00 PM, the district will be honoring Mrs. Christine Locke, our board president, for achieving the platinum recognition from the Michigan School Board Association with a tea here in the high school cafeteria! Join us in celebration!
• December 8th is the District Christmas Party!
• December 12th Herff Jones will be here at 10:15 AM to meet with seniors about invitations and other graduation information if anyone missed the first meeting.
• December 12th is the Honor Roll Breakfast-Invitations and information to follow.
• On December 15th the Afro Club will have a Dodge Ball tournament. Call Mrs. Haines at 445-0508 for more information or to sign up a team.

Quote of the Week:

Nothing will work unless you do.-Maya Angelou

Blog To Resume Nov. 29

November Objectives

Everyday use of fractions to build confidence when using them.

Recognizing and writing main ideas and using supporting details.

• The fall play, "It's a Wonderful Life" runs November 16th, 17th, and 18th. Times and details can be found by calling 445-0540
• The Principal Advisory Council meets on Monday the 19th at 5:30 PM in the high school conference room. If you are not part of the council and wish to attend, please call Mrs. Anderson at 445-0541 and let her know. All parents are invited.
• The Fall Sports Banquet is on November 20th at 7:00 PM in the auditorium of the high school.
• Final Exams for the Trimester are on the 20th and 21st, and the 21st is a half-day for students.
• Thanksgiving break is the 22nd-25th
• The new Trimester begins on the 26th!

Quote of the Week

We are not going to solve today's problems relying on the past's paradigm. - Unknown

There will be no Blog until Nov. 29th

Etiquette Day, EMU College Fair and Poultry Day

November 7th was a very busy day. Several students were at the Poultry Day for FFA. Our FFA advisor, Mrs. George took the students to an affair that I was assured had nothing to do with chicken races or eating to excess.

It was also the day that the Cass County Council on Aging held their annual Etiquette Day. On this day, all the area high schools are invited to hear speakers and participate in activities on subjects like the importance of life-long learning and which fork goes with which course during a formal meal. They also share a meal with some of our most experienced residents and a lot of learning happens. It is a very valuable day for those students that attend.

Finally, a group of juniors and seniors went to Eastern Michigan University to a large college fair with a special focus on traditionally black universities. The students were accompanied by parents, Mr. Francisco, and led by Ms. Haines. I know the students were excited to be going, and I have posted some pictures of what happened there. There is a lot of money for college to be had at these affairs, and connecting our students with these opportunities is a priority for this district and for me. It was a long bus trip and did not get back until 11:00PM, but it was well worth the time. Thanks to all our chaperones for your commitment, both the students and I appreciate your effort.

November Objectives

Everyday use of fractions to build confidence when using them.

Recognizing and writing main ideas and using supporting details.

• We have Parent-Teacher conferences on Nov. 8th from 2:30-5:00 PM and from 6:00-8:30 PM, and on Nov. 9th from 9:00-11:30 AM and from 12:30-3:00PM
• The School Improvement Team meeting at 2:50 PM in the library on November 12th HAS BEEN CANCELLED. The next one will be announced.
• Northern Michigan University will be here at 10:00AM on the 12th.
• November 15th there will be "Coffee with the Principal" for the students. Students can sign up with Mrs. Anderson in the office.
• The fall play, "It's a Wonderful Life" runs November 16th, 17th, and 18th. Times and details can be found by calling 445-0540
• The Principal Advisory Council meets on Monday the 19th at 5:30 PM in the high school conference room. If you are not part of the council and wish to attend, please call Mrs. Anderson at 445-0541 and let her know. All parents are invited.
• The Fall Sports Banquet is on November 20th at 7:00 PM in the auditorium of the high school.
• Final Exams for the Trimester are on the 20th and 21st, and the 21st is a half-day for students.
• Thanksgiving break is the 22nd-25th
• The new Trimester begins on the 26th!

Quote of the Week

Always be in a state of becoming. - Walt Disney