Charger News
December 1, 2023
UPCOMING EVENTS
- DEC 6 - Two-Hour Early Dismissal
- DEC 11 - Interims Posted
- DEC 13 - Charles County Youth Advisory Council Meeting - 4-5pm
- DEC 14 - Choral Winter Concert - 6:30pm
- DEC 15 - JROTC Military Ball at North Point High School
- DEC 21 - Band and Orchestra Winter Concert - 6:30pm
- DEC 25-JAN 1 - Winter Break - Schools Closed
PRINCIPAL DAVIS' MESSAGE
December has arrived. The holiday season is in full swing. No matter the holiday your family celebrates, this season is truly a season of giving. Over the next few weeks please monitor our social media pages, website and newsletters for opportunities to support our student efforts to give back to our community. Several of our clubs, organizations and teams are sponsoring toy drives, food drives, clothing drives, and fundraisers. Many of our students and their families benefit from these efforts. Please consider joining us during this season of giving. The Charger family has always made sure our community is cared for. Let’s continue the tradition.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Henry E. Lackey High School’s Air Force JROTC participated in the La Plata Salute to Veterans Parade on November 5 and competed in the Alexandria City Drill Competition on November 11. Lackey's Drill Team placed in 3 of 8 events including 1st place in Unarmed Exhibition, 3rd place in Unarmed Inspection and 3rd place in Armed Exhibition.
Lackey JROTC marches past Town Hall during the La Plata Salute to Veteran's Parade
Lackey High School AFJROTC marches during the La Plata Salute to Veterans Parade
Armed Exhibition Team Performs at Alexandria City Drill Competition
Lackey's JROTC Drill Team Placed in 3 of 8 events
Lackey's Color Guard Team Competes at Alexandria City Drill Competition
Lackey's Unarmed Platoon Team Competes at Alexandria City Drill Competition
Holiday Card Donations
The library is collecting holiday cards to deliver to the Charlotte Hall Veterans home. Please consider donating blank cards or stopping by the library to make a card. All cards collected will be delivered after school on December 15th.
ATHLETICS
Paperless tickets start December 5
Spectators of Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) athletic events will gain admission starting December 5 through the gofan.co app or by credit card only at the gate. No cash or other forms of payment accepted. The CCPS Senior Citizen Event Card will continue to be honored for guests 60 and older for certain events. CCPS employee badges will be honored for one free admission. Anyone leaving the event without authorization will have to pay to re-enter the venue.
Cash may still be used to purchase items at the concession stand.
Combating Negative Self-Talk
Message from our School Pyschologist
Do you talk to yourself? You may not want to answer this question! We all talk to ourselves, just not out loud. There are streams of thoughts running through our head. What are you saying to yourself when you are aware of your self-talk? Do you say things that are negative like “I should have done that better”, “I am a bad parent, spouse, friend”? Or are you more positive? Thinking negatively can worsen depression, anxiety, and self-harm. Thinking positively, or optimistically, can relieve stress and increase our ability to manage stress. Positive thinking is associated with less depression, increased emotional well-being and better coping skills (Mayo Clinic Archives, 2022). Being a positive thinker does not mean burying your head in the sand and ignoring unpleasantness. Rather, it means approaching unpleasantness in a constructive manner. Positive thinking starts with positive self-talk. If we know what positive and negative self-talk is, we can work on more positive, and ultimately more constructive, self-talk.
Here are some examples of negative self-talk:
Filtering – magnifying the negative aspects of any situation (I handed in my project, but it wasn’t good enough).
Personalizing – blaming yourself for any situation (maybe they didn’t talk to me because they don’t like me).
Polarizing – you are either perfect or terrible, nothing in between.
Catastrophizing – automatically anticipating the worst. I hear this one a lot in my office: “My day is ruined!” and it is only 8:00 A.M. It is my personal weakness as well.
Here are some examples of more positive self-talk:
Instead of “I’ve never done that”, try “time for something new in my life”.
Instead of “I’ll never get better”, try “I need to practice more”.
Instead of “I don’t have the resources”, try “where can I get more resources?”
There are ways we can train ourselves to focus on more positive self-talk says author of The Self-Talk Workout Rachel Turow. Here are some of her recommendations, which were summarized in a recent article (Haupt, 2023).
Ask yourself where the negative thoughts came from. Did someone say that to you? Try to think about the origins of the thoughts.
At the end of a day, make a list of things that you accomplished. This is not a “to do list” but “already done list”. This is a powerful tool to combat negative self-talk.
Look at ways to replace negative thoughts with neutral ones, rather than forcing positivity.
Look at your self-criticisms to look and see if you can learn anything from them. If you think you are a terrible friend, you might want to focus on the fact that friendship has some value to you, and then think of ways to reach out to someone you care about.
Try some more positive thinking today and see how it works for you. Good luck!
Resources:
Haupt, A. (2023). 5 Ways to Combat Self-Criticism. Time Magazine. July 3, 2023.
Mayo Clinic. (2020). Positive Thinking: Stop Negative Self Talk. January 22, 2020.
Turow, R. (2022). The Self-Talk Workout. Shambhala Publications Inc.: Colorado.
I have enclosed my link for Bookings if you would like to make an appointment with me:
https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/SchoolPsychologist@ccboe.com/bookings/
Respectfully,
Beverly C. Hoy, Ph.D.
301-753-1753
Seal of Biliteracy
The Seal of Biliteracy is an award given to graduating seniors who have demonstrated Intermediate High proficiency in both English and a second language. The Seal of Biliteracy is a nationally recognized award that is recorded on student transcripts.
There will be a series of informational meetings on Zoom for both students and parents. Each meeting will discuss general information as well as specific skills that will be tested in order to be awarded the Seal of Biliteracy.
- December 7, 3-4 PM
On February 1, 2024, there will be a Zoom session from 3-4 PM exclusively for students about the logistics of taking the Seal of Biliteracy test for those who have signed up to take the test.
The sessions will be recorded and shared for students/parents who are unable to attend.
If you are interested, please sign up at the link below:
SENIOR NEWS
SENIOR DUES
Senior dues are $130 and may be paid by cash, check payable to the school or www.myschoolbucks.com to pay dues online. They are due no later than February 29, 2024. Dues include cap and gown, stole, tassel, senior shirt, yard sign, awards, senior picnic, diploma, and diploma cover.
YEARBOOK
2024 Charger Yearbook now on sale! Get your 2024 Charger Yearbook! To purchase online, click the link. https://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A00000000
COUNSELING CORNER
To visit our counseling center staff and view more information on the services available, click here.
College and Career Center
The College & Career Center provides students the opportunity to research information about careers, colleges, universities, technical/trade/career schools, apprenticeship programs, military service, financial aid, scholarships, volunteer opportunities, and job opportunities. For additional information click here or stop by and speak with Ms. Long, College and Career Advisor.
ATTENDANCE
Request for Absence Approval - Code 13 (Includes College Visits)
A unique life experience may include an educational field trip, athletic competitions not sponsored by the school, unique family circumstances (i.e., deployed parent visit), and/or career or alternate work experience.
An educational trip is one in which either the student is actively receiving instruction through a structured program directly tied to the curriculum, or the student is actively visiting another school, program, or college in preparation for potential future enrollment. Siblings may also be excused.
A “vacation” is not an educational trip or unique life experience.
To request an upcoming absence to be excused for these reasons, you must complete the "Parent Request for CODE 13 Excused Absence" form below at least two weeks in advance and submit it to Garcia Dixon, Supervising PPW, at gadixon@ccboe.com for Central Office approval. This form is also available on our school's website.
Attendance Reminders:
- The Attendance Secretary is not responsible for robocalls. They are auto-generated and go out for excused and unexcused absences.
- To check your student’s absences, go to ParentVUE and look under “Attendance”. If your student is marked absent, and you know they are present, please reach out to the teacher directly in ParentVUE.
- Students are only allowed 4.5 absences for extracurricular eligibility each quarter. If absent, they need to be bring a note from a parent, doctor, etc. in a timely manner.
- Attendance notes need to be submitted within 5 days of absence to be excused.
- Please clearly print the student's FIRST and LAST name, student ID number, and include the dates absent. All notes must have a parent's signature.
- Requests for administrative approval of absences must be sent to the respective grade level administrator at lease 2 weeks in advance.
Absence notes and attendance concerns should be submitted to Ms. Mullins, Attendance Secretary, at mmullins@ccboe.com.
REMINDERS
Breakfast is free for all students. Students may grab breakfast in the morning and take it to their first period class. Breakfast, including breakfast brought from home must be consumed within the first 10 minutes of first period. No food is to be consumed during classes at any other time. Parents if your child is late to school, he/she may not bring outside food into the building. Food must be consumed before entering the building when late to school. Students should refrain from bringing fast food for friends. Friends are unaware of dietary restrictions, allergies and parental restrictions.
Per CCPS policy, parents and students may not have food delivered to school during the school day. Food delivery services such as Door Dash and Uber Eats will be turned away. Students who open doors to receive food will be disciplined. The rule exists to help us maintain the safety of our campus.
Dropping off lunches:
- Parents may drop off forgotten lunches in the main office.
- Parents may drop off lunch for their child only.
- Parents may drop off food or drink during LUNCH PERIOD ONLY.
Early Dismissal: If a birth parent or legal guardian (appointed by the courts) is sending someone to pick up his/her child early from school for any reason, he/she must send a written note/email indicating who will be picking up the student and giving consent. Upon receiving the note from the birth parent or legal guardian, the school will then verify its authenticity and check ID of the adult who signs the student out of the building.
- Emergency Contact: Listing an emergency contact does not allow the individual to pick up a student at any given time in a non-emergency situation without prior written authorization from the birth parent/legal guardian (per the Charles County Public Schools Handbook: Emergency Card (2023-2024) Maria V. Navarro, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools, pg. 2).
- Free Breakfast is available for all students each school day from 7:10-7:25 a.m. MyPaymentsPlus is available to monitor your student's lunch account balance and spending.
- CCPS 24-hour information line is available301-934-7410 or 301-392-6656, or website at www.ccboe.com for school closing information.
The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Kathy Kiessling, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (students) or Nikial M. Majors, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (employees/adults), at Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, MD 20646; 301-932-6610/301-870-3814. For special accommodations call 301-934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event.
CCPS provides nondiscriminatory equal access to school facilities in accordance with its Use of Facilities rules to designated youth groups (including, but not limited to, the Boy Scouts).