CENTER HIGH SCHOOL: THE HIVE NEWS
PRINCIPAL'S NEWSLETTER DECEMBER. 2020 VOL#4
Message from the Principal
Dear Center High School Parents & Students,
Welcome back, and I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. It is hard to believe that we are now in December, and the end of the first semester is only three weeks away! During this time of the semester, and especially this year, it is only natural for our scholars to be nervous and perhaps a little anxious about their potential upcoming exams and current grades. Please encourage your scholars to reach out to their teachers regarding missed assessments and missing assignments.
I have had the opportunity to hear from students and families in the past few weeks through various meetings we have held, and they have expressed their concerns about the amount of work that is being assigned to students through distance learning. I want to assure everyone that Center High School leadership has heard this feedback, and we will continue to work with our staff and district leaders to reevaluate and modify instructional programs to make them as manageable as possible.
I have great empathy and compassion for all our students. Our high performing students are
struggling to maintain their levels of achievement and success in an environment completely
devoid of the positive experiences and connections that helped them thrive during in-person
schooling. Our low performing students are falling even further behind without the social aspect that the school provided (nutrition, exercise, social-emotional support). And we have our students in the academic middle who are struggling with at least one or more of the above.
I also think it is important to note that we have asked teachers to create a completely new
school in a matter of months. As a society, we are expecting teachers to prepare students for the next grade level or course. This leaves teachers having to identify learning loss, fill that gap and not miss a beat so that the student is prepared for the next course in a sequence. When we look at the Advanced Placement courses, we are again asking teachers to ensure that students are ready for the AP Exam. College Board has not issued guidance that allows the AP teachers to cut anything from their curriculum.
Ultimately, this puts teachers in a precarious position. They can slow down and risk not preparing students appropriately or they can try to keep up the pace and risk the accusations that they are unwilling to be flexible or compassionate. I have tried to turn this paradox into one of what I know to be a common value for all our stakeholders, and that is student wellness. If we are to put student wellness as our top priority, we must give teachers the permission to potentially sacrifice some norms and put student mental health first.
We also must give students grace, while also giving them permission to respectfully voice their concerns, while also teaching them to adjust their expectations during this time. In this environment, there may be a great personal cost to attempting to perform at the same level in the same way. I heard one of my colleagues say that “Many of us are still trying to run laps in a pool or swim laps on a track”. Many of our students are struggling with how to exist in this new reality where it seems the work is never done, and the volume of their responsibilities seems endless. This sentiment is echoed by students and staff alike. The way forward is to continue to communicate with each other how we are doing and what we need.
The best way to do this is for students and families to reach out to teachers directly and be explicit about what the struggle is and what help is needed. If you need assistance in identifying the issues, please reach out to your student’s Counselor, our Student Success Coordinator or one of our Center High School Administrators. We are here to partner with you in every way. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Sincerely,
Mr. Edward Tate
Center High School Principal
Herndon and Summit Tech Sign up for Sophomores and Juniors
Registration for Summit Technology Academy and Herndon Career Center is now open. Please click on the following links to explore the programs and requirements. Note that some programs are grade specific. Some require fees. For all programs student attendance must be at 95% or higher and appropriate GPA. After exploring the sites, if you wish to fill out an application, please do so.
- For Summit Tech: https://sta.lsr7.org/openhouse/
- For Herndon Career Center: https://www.raytownschools.org/Domain/12
- Herndon application can be found here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScC3bFCqQ7qxEkV-cjG6AWJi735kt_NOPvKqUjNEoDMltZL_g/viewform
Winter Sports and Activities
Important Note: Due to increases in COVID transmission, and regulations set forth by local government, our Winter Sports season will start with no spectators. That decision will be revisited in the new year. Thank you for your support and understanding.
Congratulations to Kamryn Coppock and Axel Garcia-Juarez who placed 5th in Novice Policy Debate and won both their rounds at the Debate Kansas City tournament on December 1! We are so proud of our team. These great debaters had a new topic discussion this month about criminal justice reform explaining the pros and cons of qualified immunity.
From Coach Wooten:
December 8th your Center Yellowjacket basketball team hosted the East Bears for our season opener! The freshmen team came away with an amazing victory with the final score of 43-33! The JV came away with an outstanding victory with the final score of 54-26! The varsity stung the Bears with a dominating victory with the final score of 79-29! Shoutout to Mr. Parker and his broadcasting team for streaming the games on HIVE TV!!! The varsity team will be in action again on December 15th as we enter the MRVC Tournament hosted by Harrisonville High School, playing Clinton in the 1st round @ 7:00pm. Hope to see you there! Please encourage all players and keep us in your prayers!
Winter Sports seasons have started. Contact the following head coaches for additional information.
Boys Basketball Ledale Wooten – lwooten@center.k12.mo.us
Girls Basketball Katrina Johnigan – kjohnigan@center.k12.mo.us
Girls Swimming & Diving Ashley Scarlett – ascarlett@center.k12.mo.us Jeanette Giangrosso – jgiangrosso@center.k12.mo.us
Wrestling Charles Misher – cmisher@center.k12.mo.us
Where to watch Winter Sports
Good morning CSD Family,
I wanted to share some information with you all regarding our upcoming home athletic events. We will start our Winter Sports Season not allowing any spectators to attend any home events. We will revisit this decision when we return after winter break.
Our plan is to live stream as many high school events as possible. At the present time, we do not have the capacity to live stream our middle school events. To watch our high school events, go to HiveTV CHS YouTube Channel, and search for the event.
A special THANK YOU to Mr. Steve Parker for all his hard work managing our live streams at the high school. It would not be possible without his dedication to our athletic program.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Have a great day everyone!
GO YELLOWJACKETS!
_
Samuel Simmons, Sr.
Assistant Principal & District Athletic/Activities Director
Center High School
Additional information regarding live streaming of CSD athletic events
Our middle school basketball home events will be live streamed on the Center Middle School Facebook page. A special thank you to Jessica Steffes for her willingness to live stream each middle school home basketball game. Our first event is today with our boys taking on Oak Grove at 5pm.
Our high school Girls Swimming & Diving team kick off their season at The Gladstone Community Center on Saturday, December 12th at 10:45am. Here is the link to the live stream for our Girl's Swimming & Diving meet on Saturday.
N2 Sports Tonka YouTube channel
Our home Swimming & Diving meets will be live streamed on our Center Athletics 58 Facebook page.
Please go to our CSD Athletic website to find the schedules for all middle school and high school winter sports team.
When you can't go to the theatre, Radio Drama is the next best thing
We are currently working on a spooky tale called “Beware of Tomorrow.” We have just recorded our first teaser radio ad and we would like to share it with you! Click here to listen to the advertisement! https://youtu.be/BxvM0pBBlc0
Experiments can happen anywhere for Biology students
Ms. Wolfe's Biology students did an osmosis lab at home with eggs.
Pro tip: Slides 12-15 have the most interesting pictures.
Kirsten Mora Valdez Egg Lab:
Marquan Dorch Egg Lab:
Kiana Cole Egg Lab:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1voC4XFryLxoY9UjlDwkh7EvyOKW-avYn0BB6BVIUZu4/edit?usp=sharing
Tutoring Available to all Students
Health and Nutrition classes learn about vitamins and minerals
Poster by AnneMarie Ball
Poster by Asha Pearson
Poster by Daniela Guerrero
Poster by LaVeta Haile
Poster by Kirsten Mora Valdes
Poster by Anyshya Hemphill
CHS Library news for December 2020
The next Parent University will be Thursday, January 7, 2021 at 6:00 pm
December Parent University and Follow-up survey
Here is the link for the December 2020 edition of Parent U: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BiBHaTCDqN33A1J9XXJzx6emVpxiy0Vy/view
Thank you!
Senior Graduation Orders with Jostens
Jostens had a virtual class meeting with Seniors during Yellowjacket Success Time on October 21st. They presented information about purchasing cap & gown, graduation announcements, and most importantly, senior hoodies and sweats.
To order online:
To place your order online, please use this link: https://union.thegraduationcenter.com/home?school_id=9
If you order online, hoodies and other products will be shipped to you, or you can pick them up from the Josten’s office.
If you have any questions concerning graduation orders, please contact Stephanie Parrish with Jostens directly. She can be reached at Stephanie.Parrish@jostens.com
Project Graduation 2021
Dear Senior Parents,
2020 isn’t shaping up like we hoped in 2019, but we do what we must to get by. While graduation is still months away, and no one knows what things will look like in May 2021, we’re going to prepare for the best and start planning Project Grad for the Class of 2021.
Billee Potts will be heading up the Project Grad 2021 committee this year and needs your help. If you have a senior who will graduate this year, please contact Ms. Potts to see how you can help her with Project Grad. It may not look the same as it traditionally did, but the Committee is committed to providing some sort of celebration for our seniors this year.
Please contact Billee Potts at (816)679-2237 or Msbillee@gmail.com
We look forward to hearing from you soon,
The Project Graduation Committee for the Center High School Class of 2021