Regina Jr Sr High Newsletter
November 2019
From the Principal
I can't believe we are entering November. The weather this week has made winter more real. Here are some reminders:
- Our fall activities finish up with their championship seasons and productions this month while our winter activities kick off.
- Parent-Teacher conferences are at the end of next week. We have an online registration for times. An email was sent out with directions on how to sign up for conferences. Please contact the office if you did not receive these directions.
- We also have our senior citizen Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks. This is a great day for our students to say thank you to our senior citizens and provide them with a great meal.
- Please make sure you have the correct information in your Powerschool contacts. This is the information that is used for emergency and weather notifications.
- Our immunization audit will be this month. Many emails have gone out to those who need mandatory immunizations. Iowa Code states that students not up-to-date with immunizations should not be allowed to attend school. Please contact the office if you have any questions about your student's immunizations.
November has many important holidays and celebrations. Among those is the American feast day (Nov. 13) for Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini. She was the first American citizen to be canonized based on her missionary work in America. I found the following to Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini that I liked.
Fortify me with the grace of your Holy Spirit and give your peace to my soul that I may be free from all needless anxiety, solicitude and worry. Help me to desire always that which is pleasing and acceptable to you so that your Will may be my will. Grant that I may rid myself of all unholy desires and that, for your love, I may remain obscure and unknown in this world, to be known only to you. Do not permit me to attribute to myself the good that you perform in me and through me, but rather, referring all honor to your Majesty, may I glory only in my infirmities, so that renouncing sincerely all vainglory which comes from the world, I may aspire to that true and lasting glory which comes from you. Amen.
God our Father, you called Frances Xavier Cabrini from Italy to serve the immigrants of America. By her example teach us concern for the stranger, the sick, and the frustrated. By her prayers help us to see Christ in all the men and women we meet. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Glenn Plummer
Upcoming Events
Monday, Oct. 28: Varsity volleyball regional at home @ 7:00
Tuesday, Oct. 29:
Wednesday, Oct. 30:
Thursday, Oct. 31: Varsity volleyball regional at Hudson @ 7:00
Friday, Nov. 1: All Saint's Day K-12 Mass @ 9:30, Varsity football playoffs at Mediapolis @ 7:00
Saturday, Nov. 2: State cross country meet at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge @ 2:00 (girls) & 2:30 (boys)
Monday, Nov. 4:
Tuesday, Nov. 5: JH girls basketball vs. Tipton @ 4:15 - 7th (away), 8th (home), Volleyball varsity regional at Regina @ TBA
Wednesday, Nov. 6: 7-12 Mass @ 2:15
Thursday, Nov. 7: Parent-Teacher conferences from 4:00-8:00
Friday, Nov. 8: Parent-Teacher conferences from 8:00-12:00, Fall Play on elem. stage @ 7:00, Varsity football playoffs TBD
Saturday, Nov. 9: Fall play on elem. stage @ 7:00
Sunday, Nov. 10: Fall play on elem. stage @ 2:00, Turkey bingo @ 5:00
Monday, Nov. 11: JH girls basketball vs. Durant @ 4:15 - 7th (away), 8th (home)
Tuesday, Nov. 12: JH wrestling at Wilton @ 4:15
Wednesday, Nov. 13: 7-12 Mass @ 2:15
Thursday, Nov. 14: JH girls basketball vs. West Branch @ 4:15 - 7th (away), 8th (home)
Friday, Nov. 15: RVC 7-12 band festival at Monticello @ 7:00
Saturday, Nov. 16:
Monday, Nov. 18: JH girls basketball vs. Mid-Prairie @ 4:15 - 7th (home), 8th (away-Kalona), JH wrestling at Durant @ 4:15
Tuesday, Nov. 19:
Wednesday, Nov. 20: 7-12 Mass @ 2:15, Finance Comm. @ 4:30
Thursday, Nov. 21: Senior citizen Thanksgiving dinner @ 11:00, JH girls basketball vs. West Liberty @ 4:15 - 7th (home), 8th (away), JH wrestling at home @ 4:15
Friday, Nov. 22:
Saturday, Nov. 23:
Monday, Nov. 25: JH girls basketball vs. Wilton @ 4:15 - 7th (away), 8th (home), JH wrestling at Northeast @ 4:15
Tuesday, Nov. 26: K-12 Thanksgiving Mass @ 9:30, Regina BOE meeting @ 6:30
Wednesday, Nov. 27: No school
Thursday, Nov. 28: No school
Friday, Nov. 29: No school
Saturday, Nov. 30:
The Fall Play is Nov. 8-10
For seven years, a certain boy wizard went to a certain Wizard School and conquered evil. This, however, is not his story. This is the story of the Puffs...who just happened to be there, too. A tale for anyone who has never been destined to save the world.
NHS Thanksgiving Dinner
7-12 Service Day
Health & Safety Board Committee Looking for members
The Health and Safety Committee is looking to expand its members to include parents who have an interest in the Health and Safety concerns for Regina. We currently meet on the 3rd Thursday of the month in the HS library at 5:30 pm.
Any questions feel free to contact Sue Kloos, Chairperson of the Health and Safety Committee
Regal Learning Program In Need Of Student Tutors
The Regal Learning Program (RLP) is in need of tutors. Many times, the commitment is only once or twice a week, before or after school hours. This time also counts toward silver cord hours. There are applications in the front office on the wall.
Email Michelle Winders, the RLP coordinator, for more information.
STO Update
Regina is currently at about 13% of our allowed contribution and the entire STO is at 40% of its goal. Member schools have until November 30 to achieve their goal. If you plan on giving to the STO then we suggest doing so as soon as possible in order for Regina to have the best chance at receiving its share of the donation.
More information is contained in the flyer attached below.
Regina student competes at national competition
All American Quarter Horse Congress
Iowa 4-H Team
Isaac DeGroot with Coach Katelyn DeGroot
Regina student takes 1st place in regional competition
Book Challenge
Listening to Teens: It's Not Easy, But It's Worth It
Stress, anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts are just a few of the mental health issues with which teens are struggling. Here are a few tips for listening to the young people in your care. You'll have to adjust them to fit your personality and gifts. However, this is a pretty good step-by-step process for transformative listening.
- Recognize that listening to teens is hard. Teens are wonderful; but they exaggerate, minimize, catastrophize, manipulate, panic, and even lie. If you believe accompanying teens through listening is easy, you'll quickly get discouraged.
- Pat attention. Teens know when we are paying attention to them, even when they're not paying attention to us.
- Don't interrupt. When your thoughts and feelings come up during your listening, it can take great resolve to set them aside and continue listening. Interrupting to share our thoughts tells the teen that this conversation is about us, not them.
- Mirror back what you hear them saying. Teens, like most people, want to know that you are understanding what they are saying. This normally happens by the listener, like a mirror, reflecting back what they understand the person saying. This simple skill validates and heals teens at a deep level. When we do this, teens feel "I am a beloved child of God. I am understandable. Even in the struggles I don't understand myself, I am knowable and understandable to another person."
- Ask "How can I help?" Many times teens just need to verbally process their "stuff." Research has proven time and again that when people feel heard and understood, their brains heal, their wounds heal, and their problem-solving abilities skyrocket.Sometimes teens will ask, "What do you think I should do?" You might ask, "What are your options here?", "What do you realistically think you could do?", or "What do you feel you should do?"These questions continue to help teens problem solve while strengthening their ability to do it in the future. If they do ask for advice, say fifty percent less than you would like.
From the School Counselor
Field Trips:
- 30 seniors attended a college fair at Kirkwood
- 18 seniors attended a college visit to the University of Iowa
- 42 freshman attended the UIHC Health Careers Info Day
- 7 sophomores and juniors attended the National Guard STEM Day
- 4 junior high students attended the "open Mind, Open Doors" STEM conference for girls at Coe College
Job Shadows
110 10th-12th grade students have been connected with job shadow opportunities through the Workplace Learning Connection.
College rep visit calendar:
October 30th at 10:50--St. Johns/St. Bens
Nov. 6th at 12:30--Indian Hills Community College
Nov. 7th at 10:50--Iowa State University
Nov. 14th at 10:50--University of Iowa
CollegeBoard AP Change Reminders:
- The CollegeBoard has also changed the way schools order AP tests.
- Due to this change, the fee for each AP exam will be due to Regina in November 2019 and will be billed through Smart Tuition. Each test is $94.00. - - - For semester two only AP courses, the exam fee will be billed through Smart Tuition in February 2020.
- Students who would like to sign up for an AP exam, independent of taking the class, can still do so before November 15th (preferably sooner). Students should see Mrs. Zoulek to add this additional test to their order. The test fee would remain $94 per exam and would need to be paid before November 15th.
- Students who may need special accommodations for their AP exam should see Mrs. Zoulek no later than December 13th to complete the application process. It is preferable to do this before November 15th to order the appropriate test.
Math Department News
In Prealgebra, the students have finished the unit on Pythagorean Theorem. Each student came up with their own word problem, solved the problem and created a 3D model to present to the class. Overall, this helps the students understand when the Pythagorean Theorem is used in real life situations. Pictures of some of their models are included. Our next unit will focus on solving equations.
Algebra 2: We are finishing up Chapter 3 (Linear Systems) before conferences. Students are working on their critical-thinking skills in doing a linear programming project. Next up is Chapter 4 (Quadratic Functions and Equations).
High School Calculus: We finished up Limits, and we are now working on derivative rules.
AP Calculus AB: Students will take the Unit 3 test (Differentiation: Composite, Implicit and Inverse Functions) before conferences and then start on Unit 4 (Contextual Applications of Differentiation).
AP Calculus BC: Students have covered Parametric Equations (see the photograph for the Spirograph artwork students did in investigating graphs of parametric equations) and are currently working on Vectors. Our next topic is Polar Equations.
Math Club Information
We will do a written competition each month that has Junior (7th to 9th grade) and Senior (9th to 12th grade) divisions.
In addition, we will compete in Math League competitions. These are the currently scheduled competitions:
Saturday, 11/9 (Waverly-Shell Rock)
Saturday, 12/7 (City High School - Iowa City)
Additional competitions are yet to be scheduled.
You can sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0C4FAAAD28A1FE3-math1
Please email Mrs. Hill (beth.hill@icregina.com) with any questions.
A Blurb from Mr. Rouse
7th Grade LA- We are currently working through our Pronouns unit,
learning and practicing different types such as Personal Pronouns and
their Antecedents, Interrogative, Demonstrative, and Reflexive and
Intensive Pronouns. To see an extensive example of pronouns and parts
of speech, the students were shown the classic Abbot and Costello ski
"Who's on First"
Our test over the unit will be next week and after that we start our
switch from Parts of Speech back to Story Genres with Fables.
11th Grade,7th/8th grade Speech- Both classes are hard at work on
their Informational Speeches. They begin presenting their topics to
the class soon.
News From Orchestra
On Friday, November 22, Riordan Smith will be representing Regina in the Iowa Junior Honor Orchestra Festival in Ames, part of the annual Iowa Music Educator Conference.
On Saturday, November 2, Genevieve Burger, Peter Burer, and Riordan Smith will be participants in the University of Northern Iowa's Viola Festival.
On Saturday, October 26, Julia Correia and Peter Burer auditioned for All-State Orchestra. In a highly competitive field, they represented Regina very well and with pride!
On Sunday, October 6, Peter Burer auditioned successfully into the Two Rivers String Quartet program, receiving the opportunity to be coached by UI School of Music faculty throughout this year. Congratulations to Peter!
All musicians in HS and JH Orchestras are busy preparing for their concert on December 18, 7pm, at Coralville Center for the Performing Arts. We look forward to sharing the music we are learning!
Notes from Ms. Owen
I'm looking forward to meeting the many parents who signed up for conferences next week. Here's a summary of my classes:
- 9th grade: The freshmen just finished a unit on humor that included Twain, Thurber, Lear, and humor in advertising. Their original Limericks (a few pictured here) and humorous advertising pitches were fantastic. We now begin Fahrenheit 451, one of my favorite books.
- 11th grade: The juniors completed a poetry unit I created featuring Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, William Carlos Williams, Langston Hughes, and Wallace Stevens (my favorite poet). They memorized and recited poetry (loved this!) and wrote an in-class poetry analysis essay. Now we start a four-week unit on The Great Gatsby.
- AP Language: These amazing juniors and sophomore (0ne) are gearing up for their reading conferences. Each student chose a non-fiction book from a list I distributed in September. We'll meet one-on-one to discuss the books they read. They've been taking weekly online College Board exams as a summative exercise. Our next book is My Antonia by Willa Cather and next month, the students will complete a Rogerian argument project on . . . . wait for it . . . a Pixar movie! We're a third of the way through the AP pacing guide and, to paraphrase Frost, 'We've miles to go before we sleep.'
Religion Department Updates
VIA: In VIA, we have begun our unit on Drugs and Alcohol. We will have a rotation of three for this. One rotation focuses on alcohol, another on prescription and over the counter drugs, and the third on tobacco and vaping. We also continue to go over the Gospel each Friday and reflect on how it relates to our life. On Oct. 25th, each 7th and 8th grader was able to participate in Service Day. They chose different locations around the community to help do yard work or other activities of service. It was a great day!
Theology 10: The periods did a Rosary in the chapel, for the month of Oct.
This was a student led Rosary. We have been studying Old Testament stories of Abraham, Noah, Moses and Joseph.
Theology 11: In Junior Religion, the students have been working on Law and Morality. They have learned what St. Thomas Aquinas' elements of a moral law are and how to use those elements in analyzing a civil law. The students have created research presentations about a law of our country and related it to morality based on the Catholic Church. We also had Service Day on Oct. 25th. The juniors were able to drive around and help rake leaves and do other yard work around the community.
Theology 12: The seniors completed the book, Behold the Mastery - A Deeper Understanding of the Mass, by Mark Hart. Each senior completed a one-pager project to close out the unit. Each one-pager was required to have quotes, scripture, image and Vocab words. Their submissions were wonderful and most exceeded my expectations! We started our study of the Sacraments and the Sacramental nature of the Church.
Service Day: The Regals were out and about in the community on Friday, October 25 for our annual Service Day! Some raked, some baked, some painted, some organized, some built and all practiced the virtue of charity! It was a wonderful day to give back to our community and serve the area.
Retreats: 9th grade had their annual retreat at St. Pats Catholic Church, led by 12 senior RTL's! The focus was the dignity of life and friendships. It was a wonderful day of building community and fostering deeper friendships.
Social Studies Updates
The 7th graders are finishing up their unit over South & Central America. We will be testing over Chapter 7 on Brazil the week of October 28th and then will be moving onto the study of Europe. Through our study of Brazil, we focused in on the favelas of Rio de Janerio and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The students completed a Google experience titled Mapping Rio in which they traveled virtually throughout the favelas and listened to the stories of the people of the favelas. We also continue our weekly study of current events and the students are still being strategic Fantasy Geopolitics players by trading their countries daily!
8th grade US History (Mr. Kahler)
watched "How States got their Shapes" video by the History Channel.
Studied the French and Indian War, and watched a lesson on Pontiac in our on- line text book. Did a bracket challenge on Explorers and defended why the selected explorer moved on in a 16 bracket. Columbus came out on top, followed by Blackbeard, John Smith was 3rd.
World History (Ms. Osweiler)
We have just completed Module 4. Module 4 focused on the first early empires of Egypt, Assyria, Persia, and China. We have explored the commonalities and differences between the empires to evaluate how early empires rose to power and eventually fell. This will be a common theme throughout the next few modules coming up including Alexander the Greats empire and the Roman empire. Our next module, Module 5, will encompass the history and struggles of Greek society. There will be a discussion on the difference between a republic and a democracy. We will closely look at how the differences and similarities between Sparta and Athens affected the Persian War and the Peloponnesian War. Finally, we will explore how the Persian empire affected Greece, how Greece affected Macedonia, and how Greece, Macedonia, and Persia influenced Rome. So much fun and excitement is coming our way in this next Module.
Government (Ms. Osweiler)
Tis the season, election season that is. I absolutely love teaching during an election year especially a presidential election. Students just finished researching our representative and our two senators. They explored who they are, what committees they are apart of, and what bills they have supported while in office. We have been keeping up on current news from immigration, to the impeachment process, to the NBA and China relations, to Cummings’s death, and much more. We just completed the legislative branch unit and started learning about the executive branch. The students are going to be shocked by all the components in the executive branch. It is way more than just the president. Each student will research and making a presentation on their cabinet position. The executive branch will keep us busy until Thanksgiving.
AP US History (Mrs. Wallace)
In AP US History, we have just finished our study of the American Revolution. As we begin to discuss the Constitutional Convention, the students are also working on a document-based writing of the French and Indian War as we finish Period 3. The students are working hard to cite specific historical evidence within their writing and we will continue to work on these skills throughout the year. We should be finishing up with Period 3 in a couple of weeks as we work our way towards the War of 1812.
AP World History (WHAP - Ms. Osweiler)
We have been off to the races with no sign of slowing down. We just completed our first major unit over Indian Ocean trade, early India, early China, early Europe, major religions, and the Islamic empire. Our next adventures will include nomadic empires and Eurasian integration, states and societies of Sub-Saharan Africa, the increasing influence of Europe, the Americas and Oceania, and the expanding horizons of cross-cultural interaction. AP History does not stop just at the content being covered. We will also be working on key vocabulary needed to better understand the AP exam, expanding our practice on document-based questions, and diving deeper into comprehending the ideas of contextualization and causation. I will leave you with one of the students quotes “A hurting brain is a thinking brain!”.
Science Updates
From Mrs. Coffin:
7th Grade Integrated Science: We have moved on from Thermal Dynamics with the creation of ice preservation chambers! We are now working on learning about force, motion, and Newton's Laws. Watch for the construction of our class Rube Goldberg machines!
HS ESS: We found our place in the universe and are working to understand stars and how stars are related to the construction of the Earth. The challenge, creating and interpreting the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Once we understand why stars are important to Earth, we will begin to learn about Earth's deep history.
Biology:
Students are learning about the transfer of energy involving food chains and food webs. They are creating a food web involving 15 different organisms and then will present these to the class. FYI- A rabbit does not eat a mountain lion!
Biomedical Science:
As we continue to explore the mysterious death of Anna Garcia, one of the key pieces is the autopsy report. While discussing an autopsy we watched a video titled 1-800-Autopsy about a company located in California. We got to see them perform an autopsy (discreetly) and solve a case based on the autopsy findings.
AP Biology:
Students are anxiously (with great excitement) counting down the days until the AP exam! They will be taking the Unit 2 Cells/Cell Transport assessment at the end of this week to test their knowledge before we investigate cell respiration.
Anatomy/Physiology:
After some awesome presentations of Immune/Lymphatic disorders from the students, we will be concluding our study of this system. Next up, we will see if the students have any heart, as we endeavor to learn about the Cardiovascular System.
From Mrs. Goldsmith:
8th Grade Science:
Students are finishing up the final body systems in our life science unit--Nervous System, Endocrine System, Reproductive System, and Pregnancy and Birth. We have had some great discussions about how the human body works and many, many questions have been answered. After the unit test, we discuss the diversity of life before moving on to physical science (forces and waves).
Chemistry:
Students have just completed their test over writing and naming chemical compounds. Now they are studying how chemical bonding occurs and the various shapes molecules can take. Coming up after that: chemical reactions--students always have a BLAST with that unit!
AP Chemistry:
We just completed Unit 2--Chemical Reactions and Electrochemistry. AP Chem kids can tell you exactly how the battery in your car works, in great detail! They also know how to turn water into fire. Up next: Thermodynamics!
Spanish Department News
This past month is Spanish I, we learned how to talk about activities, say what we like and don't like to do, and names of snack foods and beverages. We also learned subject pronouns (I, informal you, s/he, formal you, we, you all, and they) and how to conjugate (put into different forms) the verb "ser" (to be). We also used "ser" to talk about where people are from. In addition, we read about Los Premios Juventud, an awards show in Miami and CubanAmerican artist, Xavier Cortada.
Español II (Spanish II)
We got done with oral presentations. Students did an excellent job of introducing themselves, telling about their likes, dislikes, school, favorite season using descriptive words and giving reasons as to their likes and dislikes. We just had a big chapter test that covered most of what was studied in level 1. They
did a great job on the test! We started reviewing the ER and IR verbs and some irregulars in the present tense. We are learning to write numbers from
100 -1,000,000, and we are learning more vocabulary for foods and adjectives. For our culture component, we watched a video about the celebration of Día de los Muertos in México, its meaning and customs.
Español III (Spanish III)
This past month in Spanish III, we have been learning how to describe people (their personality and physical appearance), talk about experiences, interactions, and list accomplishments. We have also reviewed rules and forms of "ser" and "estar" (both verbs mean: to be), the rules and forms of the imperfect and preterite tenses, and how to conjugate (put into different forms) the present and past perfect tenses.
Español IV (Spanish IV)
We just finished reviewing and taking a test on the preterite form of irregulars and the difference between preterite and imperfect tenses. Not an easy task for some, but they are willing learners. We also tested over numbers from 0-1,000,000. We continue to review vocabulary from level 3 and we are preparing to start a unit on reading comprehension and writing. By the end of November, students will also be doing an oral project using the future and conditional tenses. For our culture component, students learned about the Día de los Muertos celebration. Part of this included watching the movie Coco and completing a questionnaire about the characters, customs and beliefs related to the afterlife.
Regina Junior Senior High School
Email: glenn.plummer@regina.org
Website: www.regina.org
Location: 2150 Rochester Avenue, Iowa City, IA, United States
Phone: (319)-338-5436
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReginaEducation/
Twitter: @gap_4