Dear Bulldog Students, Families, and Friends,

Welcome to Spring Break! I am hoping that you are able to take time in this week ahead to spend precious moments connecting with family and friends. Sandpoint High School staff has been working alongside students this week to help them finish up the third quarter successfully. Please look for your child’s report card which will be sent to your email.

When we return from Spring Break, we will begin the mad dash to the end of the year. Current Juniors will take their SATs and will continue taking the Idaho state ISAT tests to show competence in ELA, math, and science classes. Our counseling team has spent the past few weeks gathering a “forecast” from students about which courses they are interested in, and after break will meet with each student one on one to help select the best and required courses for each student.

It’s also the time of year when we want to remind you of the importance of ensuring that your child is present at school on time, every day. As we move beyond the last few years of the pandemic, it is essential that SHS students attend class to complete their coursework. As a reminder, they may not have more than five absences in any one class. Tardies also add up to an important loss of instructional time. When you are looking at report cards, please make a plan with your child if they are near to exceeding five days of absences or have excessive tardies. We appreciate your team work to help support student success.

Please always feel free to reach out to me, the SHS administrative team, counselors, and teachers if you have questions or input.

Sincerely,

Principal Jacki Crossingham

"People may forget what you say. People may forget what you do. But people will never forget how you made them feel." Maya Angelou

My name is TJ Clary and I am thrilled to be working at Sandpoint High School. I am a local Bonner County resident and I don’t plan on ever leaving. I am an avid hunter and fisherman. My wife of 22 years loves to join me snowmobiling and side by side riding on the weekends. We camp on the St. Joe River in the summer and rally our jeep as much as possible. I attend Cedar Hills Church and currently life is good!

Although working at SHS has always been a dream of mine, I didn't think I would be here this soon in my career, but here I am. My educational experience began my freshmen year when life threw me a curveball and I dropped out of high school my freshmen year. For this reason I found my purpose in life is to make a difference in as many lives as possible so no one takes the same, difficult road I did. If anyone wants to hear more about this story, please ask and I will tell you.

I started as a special education teacher at Southside Elementary School for one year. Then I taught special education at Kootenai Elementary for three years. After that, I transferred to SMS where I taught 7th and 8th grade ELA direct instruction for two years. I also taught 7th grade ELA for three years.

I have years of coaching experience as well. I love teaching life skill applications through sports and I believe we can hold students to a high standard. Sports taught me how to “earn it” no matter how hard it is to obtain.

Becoming an administrator was always my dream and I landed that dream a year and a half ago at Southside Elementary as the principal. We had a wonderful trajectory going at Southside. When Mr. Dickinson got in a car accident and I was asked if I wanted to join the SHS family and help as an interim assistant principal. I am eager to help where I am needed so I agreed to join the team and I am loving it!

As the new interim assistant principal, I am able to bring a skill set of joy and passion to the table. As many may know, working with teenagers requires a deep level of love and patience. I have found this strength and hopefully my servant’s heart can be found in all my interactions with students. I really enjoy partnering with parents to raise the best students possible. I am passionate about learning and believe school should be a place where students want to learn every day. I am a change agent leader and education is a dream job to live out my why.

Students Darrian Resso, Scotlan Cerise, not pictured are Calvin Hinds and Owen Wimmer who all worked on the 7.5' x 12' utility trailer that took 13 weeks from start to finish! The type of welding was MIG, each student played a critical part in the completion of the project. Shout out to Bret Dvorak from CDE Electric for giving us a project to fabricate and build!

Last year our Business Professionals of America National Team received very generous financial support from businesses, organizations, and individuals in our community. This support made it possible for all nine students to compete at nationals, regardless of their financial situation. Some flight issues last year resulted in a $100 travel voucher for each student.

When planning travel arrangements for this year's national team of four, I reached out to our former all-stars. All of them, who had not already utilized their voucher, DONATED it to our current BPA National Team...paying it forward in the amount of $600 in travel vouchers to be used this year! What a special group of former students, helping current students, in the same way the community helped them.

Students in the 3D II architecture class learn to use the software Chief Architect. They complete many projects, but the first one is learning to edit library items. Their cabinet project problem to solve was: to take a library item and restructure, resize and fully change the piece to make it into furniture. The contest was open to all 3D II students. Fourteen students met the deadline to participate. Anyone in the school could vote for their top three designs. The voting was stiff and due to the results, there were ties in 3rd and 4th place! Thanks to all the participants and everyone who voted!

Freshman Emma Darrin is new to the SHS Art program and is already doing some fantastic work in Art II.

Student leadership elections dates:

• Student Leadership Applications due 4/18

• Campaigning 4/19-5/2

• Video Speeches due to mary.imaz@lposd.org 5/1

• Election Day Tuesday 5/2

Student Race Barrett finished first in both the slalom and GR race at the Special Olympics at Silver Mountain Saturday, March 18th. He had the fastest time overall and earned two gold medals.

Counseling Department Mission: We will ensure and empower every student at Sandpoint High School to achieve academic success, strengthen personal and social growth, and develop achievable post-secondary plans.

Students are assigned to counselors by their last name:

A-G: Shannon Kerrigan; 11-12 A-F

H-O: Sara Gosling

P-Z: Tavi Brandenburg; 11-12 G

Post Secondary Transitions Counselor: Jeralyn Mire

College and Career Mentor: Angie Dail

Counseling Office Coordinator/Registrar: Amanda Skinner

Counseling Office Coordinator: Erricka Brownell

Juniors: Wednesday April 12 is SAT Testing Day for all Juniors. Please bring two sharpened #2 pencils. Assigned classrooms for the test will be posted in the Foyer on the Library windows.

Forecasting (Registration): Counselors will be meeting with all students individually to work on forecasting submissions and 4-year plans.

Spring cleaning doesn't apply to just cleaning out your house. Take a moment to clean out your email and unsubscribe from that one website you joined years ago and never went back to. Many email services provide an "unsubscribe" button that you can click whicht either automatically sends a "please remove" message or can take you to the correct spot to remove the junk email. While you're at it, go ahead and delete your account on those sites. At times it might seem like a lot, but try to do bits and pieces as they come in. Not only does it reduce the amount of junk email you get, but when the company does in fact delete your email and other information it can prevent issues should they eventually get hacked.

Thank you,

Dalton Hawkins

Computer Science Teacher - SHS

Technology Integration Instructional Coach - LPOSD

Safety Update

• In March, SHS conducted a lockdown drill.
• During the month of April we will be conducting a safety hold and a fire drill.
• The controlled access entry is in effect. You will need to push a buzzer and let the receptionist know what business you will be conducting with SHS at the time of entry. Be prepared to show ID. Students must show their studet ID cards.
  
• ALL visitors must check in at the front office.

Having trouble getting information from your student? Then this is the guide for you! Schoology for parents will provide you with important information. You will be able to see grades, course information and assignments. Please click the link below for complete instructions. If you need assistance with the password, please call the front office: 208-263-3034.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gCpclQoooqUVM0prJeWJazB9Df5gs7lTfu_mdHkJH7Y/edit?usp=sharing