Greetings, Comet Nation,

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I would like to give a special shoutout to a couple of our staff members. I would like to thank Britni Cohen-Wicher for organizing and bringing in the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra as they added Albany as one of their stops along their tour of southern Wisconsin. This was an amazing performance put on at our school for our students and staff. Additionally, I would like to thank Jeff Campbell for his work on organizing and bringing in our local Veterans for this year's Veterans Day assembly. Again, this was a great opportunity for our students to connect with those local service members as we pay respect for their service.

Our core value focus was Citizenship for quarter 1. Staff selected 2 students in each grade who demonstrated outstanding Citizenship. I would like to acknowledge and congratulate our students being recognized at this time:

4K: Jaiden Luedy & Danielle Kiesmore

K: Sara French & Lane Calkins

1: Aria Cavin & Elias Hill

2: Tysen Boss & Braxton Miller

3: Cooper Hamilton & Violet Milbrandt

4: Beau Armitage & Hunter Hedlund

5: Sophie Houlberg & Emma Kopp

6: Michael Schwartz & Izayah Scott

7: Lexi Eastwood & Tatum Doescher

8: Landon Noble & Lydia Ahnen

9: Kaleb Broughton & Priscilla Smith

10: Leon Parker & Kierra Cleasby

11: Ava Ahnen & Skyler Stephens

12: Camden Pryce & Gage Roth

Each student received:

• A certificate of acknowledgment at our quarter 1 PBIS assembly

• A Comet CARE “Swag Bag”

• A Comet CARE “Superstar” t-shirt

• A postcard mailed home with the specific reason for being recognized

We will continue with the same format and select 2 students from each grade level for:

• Quarter 2: Achievement

• Quarter 3: Respect

• Quarter 4: Excellence

Christmas and our holiday break are right around the corner. Before we know it, quarter 2 will be complete and we will be halfway through the 2022-23 school year. If you have questions or concerns about anything related to school, I encourage you to reach out to your child’s teacher(s) and/or reach out to me directly. As we have said, the partnership between home and school is critical to our success.

Yours in Education,

Mr. Ritzert

4K-12 Principal

stuart.ritzert@albany.k12.wi.us

(608) 862-3135 ext 2412

I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself - or re-introduce myself. My name is Amber Becher. This is my fifth school year as the district's Speech Language Pathologist, and my fifteenth year in education. Starting this November, I am also the district's Director of Special Education and Student Services. The Director of Special Education ensures that districts follow all state and federal regulations for the identification and placement of students, and program development for special education. I will work with students, parents, teachers, and administrators to ensure that all students receive a quality, inclusive education. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me throughout the school year.

Amber Becher

Director of Special Education & Student Services;

Speech Language Pathologist

amber.becher@albany.k12.wi.us

608-862-3135

A HUGE "THANK YOU" to the Green County Fall Nationals (Joanna Hawthorn ) for the AED donation to the Albany School District. This AED will be placed outside the High School gym.

Please click on the link below to see what the Elementary, Middle and High School students did this past month....

https://www.smore.com/c4zsk

The eighth grade U.S. History students just wrapped up their unit on life in the colonies and the French and Indian War (Seven Years War). We have been discussing how the debt caused by the war led to an increase in taxes on the colonists and the anger that arose from lack of representation. Soon, we will be discussing the effects of that anger and the start of the American Revolution.

The ninth grade U.S. History class has been discussing how the south transformed after the American Civil War and how westward expansion greatly increased after the war. This includes the building of the Transcontinental Railroad and the Sioux Wars. Soon, we will begin discussion on the Progressive Era and the Gilded Age.

The Civics students recently held our annual Veterans Day celebration. They did a wonderful job and received many compliments from members of the community and staff. Students were responsible for planning the event and the implementation. I'm proud of them for all of their hard work for such a great cause! Simultaneously, we also worked on learning more about elections and how the process of running for office works. Shortly, we will wrap up our discussion by talking about the role of the media and interest groups in politics.

In our Psychology class, we have been talking about states of consciousness. This ranges all the way from getting good sleep to sleep disorders. This also includes the effects that stimulants, depressants, and opioids have on the body and mind. Soon we will start our next unit on learning. Specifically, we will discuss how learning takes place and how we store and retrieve information in the brain. Our Global Issues class has been working hard on their independent research projects. Their topics include teenage pregnancy, COVID-19, adoption, and vehicle electrification. Students will present these projects at the end of November. Soon after, we will start research on an action research project where they will be required to do something to benefit the community. I look forward to seeing how they plan to help the community!

5th Grade US History--Students in US History have been working diligently to master summarization and note-taking skills. Students have also been focusing on life in the colonies.

6th Grade Geography--Students have just started the new unit on North America! In this unit, geographers will aim to memorize the location of all 50 states, analyze the pros/cons of NAFTA, examine the different cultures and government styles of Canada, Mexico, and the US, and develop mastery of using an Atlas to locate attractions and routes throughout America.

7th Grade Ancient History-- We just finished our unit on Ancient Egypt! Next, students will be working on analyzing Ancient Israel, focusing on primary source analysis and constructing & reading a timeline.

10th Grade World History--Students are currently studying the Age of Exploration from the perspective of South Americans and European Leaders. During the unit, students will aim to answer essential analytical questions as well as master presentation skills and biographical writing techniques.

English 9- Students are beginning their Greek mythology unit. TO begin, students were tasked with creating a poster about a Greek God or Goddess of their choosing. We have also documented the steps of the hero's journey and will be using this model to document Odyssey's journey as we start to read.

English 10- Students are reading the novel The Secret Life of Bees.This novel takes place during the Civil Rights Era. Due to this students have taken a deeper look at some significant events that have taken place during this time. For example, students took a look at the Birmingham Church Bombing and were tasked writh creating an assignment that reflected how learning about this made them feel.

American Literature- Students have finished reading the novel, The Things They Carried. Students then created projects to show their knowledge of both characters and themes present throughout the story.

Written Composition- Students are currently learning about how to identify logical fallacies in media and writing. They then were in charge of writing a skit that contained two logical fallacies.

During the month of October, 6th & 7th grade students in Mrs. Nienhaus & Mr. Doescher's ELA classes participated in the LIONS INTERNATIONAL PEACE POSTER CONTEST. This opportunity is sponsored by our local Albany Lions Club and its members.

Students are asked to create a hand-drawn poster related to the sponsored theme. This year's theme was: "Lead with Compassion." All of the students did an outstanding job & put forth great effort. This year's top three place finishers were:

1st Place ~ Emma Thompson

2nd Place ~ Peyton Monasmith-Pickett

3rd Place ~ Kaydra Cleasby

The top three place winners will have their posters sent to the STATE LEVEL of competition. In the spring, the Albany Lions Club will have a special dinner of recognition for these three students.

Mr. Doescher & Mrs. Nienhaus would like to thank all the 6th & 7th grade students for their efforts. They would also like to thank the Albany Lions Club for sponsoring this educational competition.

ELA 7- Students have finished reading the class novel Stand Tall by Joan Bauer and will be working on a project to showcase their learning. We continue to freshen up our grammar skills and knowledge by reviewing the parts of speech.

ELA 8- Students started the month editing and revising both their Spooky Story for final submission, then moved on to writing business letters to Helping Hands. We started our SSR novel letters each week as well. Spelling and grammar have continued to be a main focus. We are moving into prefixes and suffixes as we start reading short stories revolving around unit themes in our 8th grade textbook.

Algebra 1 - The Algebra 1 will be undergoing a transition to a new math teacher Until then, they will be working on solving systems of equations with Mr. Schwab.

Foundations of Algebra - The students will be balancing equations using inverse operations and learning to solve various linear equations.

Geometry - Students will be demonstrating their knowledge by connecting geometry terms to real-world photographs in their Geometry in the Real World Project.

Algebra 2 - In Algebra 2, we will be exploring the relationship between fractional exponents and radical expressions.

Statistics - We will be starting our observational studies. The students will be collecting data and analyzing their data using probability and sampling distributions.

Precalculus - Different types of sequences and series will be discussed including the infinite geometric sum theorem which adds up an infinite amount of numbers to a finite sum!

Calculus - In Calculus, we will be learning how to take derivatives on exponential functions, logarithms, and relations which are not functions.

Senior Math - The students will be collecting data for their applied math project. They will be using the topics of accuracy and precision to correctly analyze their data!

Please see the link below to the fun we had in the past month in FFA:

https://sites.google.com/albany.k12.wi.us/albanyffa/home

-Hala Ryan

Albany Agricultural Educator

Albany FFA Advisor

Mr. Wachholz will be taking over for Mrs. Hull's math classes. Please contact him for any further math questions.

Confectionary Arts

Students are engaged in Cupcake Wars and we are anticipating some phenomenal displays with tasty cupcakes. Their next unit will be Preparing, Baking and Decorating Cakes.

Intro to Culinary Skills

Our budding chefs will continue to perfect their kitchen math skills as they dive into the Dairy Unit. We will be taking a brief break during this unit to learn about the tradition of holiday gingerbread houses. Students will make the dough, roll, cut and bake pieces to construct their individual houses.

Adulting

We enjoyed a delicious Friendsgiving Meal, planned and prepared by the class. Students will be collecting ideas for and preparing simple healthy dishes perfect for a busy college student.

Parent and Child

Students will be researching and sharing their findings about birth defects. We have several guest speakers scheduled to share their expertise on the topics of adoption, midwifery, and reproductive health.

Exploratory FACS - Seventh Grade

The students are studying to earn their sewing machine operators licenses and then will construct their Albany Comets pillow.

• 6th Grade Spanish has been working on movement words such as "walk" and "run". They also have learned to talk about likes and interests. Be sure to ask them about the sugar skulls that they made with the Spanish 4 kids in art class to celebrate Day of the Dead.
• Spanish 1 learned vocabulary for family members and relationships. They also have learned to express their emotions in Spanish! They celebrated Day of the Dead by making calacas to remember a deceased loved one or celebrity.
• Spanish 2 just finished up their sports unit! They can tell you about which sports are and aren't popular in Spanish speaking countries. They also celebrated Day of the Dead by making calacas to remember a deceased loved one or celebrity.
• Spanish 3 is working on a unit that builds the vocabulary to understand the story of Luis Soriano and his donkey library that he created to bring books to the kids in La Gloria, Colombia. They also taught the lesson on Day of the Dead to some elementary classes and led their sugar skull project.
• Spanish 4 is just about done with their Zorro book! They taught the lesson on Day of the Dead to 6th graders and led their sugar skull project.

5th & 6th Grade Physical Education

Students have started learning about the components of fitness - specifically cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and flexibility. Students are working to define the components as well as identify what area of fitness our activity for the day focuses on. Students also played a favorite game called Elephant Ball, which is a high-intensity cardiovascular endurance game.

Hello Kindergarten - 6th grade parents and/or guardians!

Students will be roller skating in Physical Education from January 23rd - February 10th. If you haven't already done so, please pay the $12 roller skate rental fee at your earliest convenience. You can pay via Infinite Campus, cash, or check written out to Albany School District. Thank you!

The HS/MS physical education classes during the month of November have been focusing on kicking skills and team based games. It began with a unit on kickball that prioritized using proper kicking techniques as well as working together on offense to make smart plays and defense working together to prevent scoring. Another unit that was visited was the activity called speedball. This game incorporates elements of soccer, basketball, and ultimate football. The students learned to make decisions based on their team's strengths and weaknesses and decide the best way to score points. Lastly, before the week of thanksgiving the classes played a fun activity called gaga ball. This gave the students a break from team games and had a competitive game.

Hello from the Choir Room! Our November is almost over, but it’s been an eventful one. The middle school choir went to Conference November 14th in Monticello. The 6th-8th graders had a packed day working with a clinician in preparation for the concert that evening. The concert was well attended, including by a number of Albany parents. To those of you who came, thank you for supporting your child and the music program! The students voted and determined the songs we’d then continue to work on for the Winter Concert here in Albany on December 14th.

The high schoolers are working on their pieces for the Winter Program as well. We have several pieces and are excited to share them with you in December. Communications have been sent home to families regarding the upcoming concert; if you have any questions, please let me know.

Here is the link for the band department newsletter:

https://www.smore.com/mfs5b

Please add to the district and MS/HS newsletter for the month.

Specific events to add to announcements/ staff newsletters:

• December 9th- Pep band game @ 6:30
• December 14th- MS/HS Band and Choir concert @ 7:00pm; performers arrive 6:30pm
• December 16th- Pep band game @ 6:30
• December 20th- Pep band game @ 6:30

Thanks!

Britni Cohen-Wichner

Albany School District

5-12 Band Director

britni.cohen-wichner@albany.k12.wi.us

Technology Education students are currently working on a number of projects. In-Home/Auto students are creating student-led lessons to share with their classmates. Metals/Welding students are working on rotation number 4 of 5. Comet Media students are designing t-shirts and working on production #7. Woods one students are creating wooden pens and Intro to Tech students will start welding next week.

5th/6th Grade Science- In science class last month the students worked on interpreting graphs. We looked at several different types of organisms and how their populations have changed over time. We discussed terms like limiting factors and carrying capacity. In December, the students will be creating 3D biomes and modeling the different ecological relationships that happen in each.

7th/8th Grade Science- The students have started exploring the world of electricity and magnetism. We have been discussing static charge and electric current. The students are using Ohm's Law to understand how electrical properties are related. We have been using Snap Circuits to help us understand these principles. Soon the students will be using motors and styrofoam to construct a boat. They will compete against their classmates to make the fastest moving boat.

Biology - We finished up our lesson on Chemical reactions, exothermic, and endothermic reactions. We will be starting our macromolecules unit this week.

Chemistry - Students learned about The Mole and how to calculate between moles, molecules, and grams of atoms. We are starting the next lesson on The New Atomic Model and how Quantum Physics got its start.

Anatomy and Physiology - Students are learning about all of the tissues in the body. The four main types are Epithelial Tissue, Connective Tissue, Muscle Tissue, and Nervous Tissue.

Physical Science - Students wrapped up a lesson on how energy flows through the universe and how it can change or transform into other types of energy.

Ecology - Students are learning about how predator and prey relationships affect the ecosystems that they are in.

Counseling Corner:

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Skill of the Month:

Social Awareness - Ability to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including people with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and identities.

• Taking others perspectives
• Recognizing the strengths in others
• Demonstrating empathy and compassion
• Showing concern for others feelings
• Recognizing diverse social standards, including ones that are unjust

Information found at casel.org

Business 8: Their next project will be making their own Food Truck, creating menus, and seeing what it takes to open a very small business. This is a continuation from last month.

Media Technology 7: This class will be learning more about Google Suite that they use in most of their classrooms.

Personal Finance: We will be learning all about credit. What is Good Credit and what is bad credit. Do you know your FICO Score?

Accounting: We will be learning about Cash Control Systems: Checking Accounts, Bank Reconciliations, Electronic Banking, How to handle dishonored checks, and Petty Cash.

Sports management: We will be attending a Milwaukee Bucks game on December 7. The students are really looking forward to this. We are still in the process of writing a Theme Night for the Bucks as a high school competition.

SENIOR PORTRAITS: SENIOR PHOTOS ARE DUE BY DECEMBER 15th. Any Senior that does not have a photo will still be included in the yearbook and their most recent school photo will be used.

Your Senior Portrait submission(s) should include the following:

✓ Digital format

✓ 300 resolution minimum

✓ JPEG file

✓ Color photograph

✓ School appropriate clothing

✓ ONE PHOTO MUST BE A Vertical pose of a head and shoulder shot

(see examples above)

You may submit up to THREE photos, but one must be a vertical, head and shoulder shot for the newspaper, and then up to two additional photos of your choice for the yearbook. If you do not submit more than one photo the Yearbook Club will use the same photo for both the yearbook as well as the newspaper. The Yearbook Club may have to adjust the photo for the newspaper (such as cropping). While we try to avoid making any alterations to the photos, if changes are needed this may alter the quality of the photo.

Senior Photos can be sent to the yearbook adviser in one of the following ways:

*Email: sarah.nienhaus@albany.k12.wi.us

*Drop off printed pictures, a CD/Flash drive, etc. to the Albany District Office in an envelope addressed to: Sarah Nienhaus/Yearbook Adviser. Please also include instructions regarding what should be done with the printed pictures/CD/Flashdrive etc. when finished.

BUSINESS ADS AND SENIOR TRIBUTES: Space is available for businesses and parents to give a personal message. Details will be sent out regarding the pricing of these business ad and Senior Tribute spaces.

PHOTOS: If you have any photos from any school games, matches, activities/events, please feel free to share them with us. We would love to have your pictures in the yearbook! You can send photos to Sarah Nienhaus via email (sarah.nienhaus@albany.k12.wi.us) or you can drop off printed pictures, a CD/Flash drive, etc. to the District Office in an envelope addressed to: Sarah Nienhaus/Yearbook Adviser.