Hillside News Brief
September 17, 2021
Important Dates for You
Thursday, September 23: 6:00 p.m. Community Club meeting in the Hillside teachers' lounge (please wear a mask)
Friday, September 24: Spirit Day at Hillside! Get into the spirit by wearing some spiritwear OR blue/orange!
Friday, September 24: 6:00-8:00 p.m. Hillside Family Picnic (outside on the Hillside grounds). Bring your picnic basket and a blanket! KONA ICE will be there to sell frozen treats! Since this event is outside, masks are optional.
Tuesday, September 28: 5:30-6:30 p.m. is Westside's Unified Event Fishing at Towl Park
Thursday, September 30: One School, One Book Family Activity Night
Tuesday, October 5: Picture Day at Hillside. Say cheese!
Bringing Personal Items/Devices to School
If your student chooses to bring a device to school (phone, tablet, etc.), PLEASE make sure they lock it up in their classroom at the start of the day. Because we do not have student lockers (we just have cubbies), backpacks are unsecured and vulnerable to occasional theft in the hallway. While this is not a regular occurrence at Hillside, it does happen. Our school policy is that all students LOCK UP valuables with the teacher (or, even better, they do not bring these items to school, if at all possible). We cannot be responsible for damage or loss to personal devices; please encourage your student to lock up their devices with the teacher every day. Thank you.
Results of the latest Tik Tok challenge
Hillside Families:
We are aware of a new trend on social media encouraging students to vandalize school bathrooms and other school property and post it on TikTok. Unfortunately, we, like many other districts across the country, are seeing the negative effects of this in our district buildings, including damage and the required closures of some bathrooms to prevent additional problems. Here is more information in a story shared by WOWT this week: https://www.wowt.com/2021/09/14/trending-tiktok-challenge-encourages-omaha-metro-students-steal-various-school-items/
We encourage you to talk as a family about making poor decisions with social media. Students caught damaging school property or otherwise causing harm/disruption online will face severe consequences. We also hope you can join us at our Digital Citizenship Forum next Thursday, September 23 at Westside High School at 6:30pm. We will have detailed information for families about Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, and warnings on important topics and behaviors to watch for like sexting, cyberbullying, and dangerous trends like this current ‘challenge’ on TikTok. We will provide this event live for those who cannot attend on our district Facebook page: Westside Community Schools – District 66. This is open to all staff, parents, and students.
We want to constantly reiterate to our students that 5 seconds of attention on social media or through a text is not worth the long-lasting consequences that could result.
We are seeing the results of the latest Tik Tok challenge at Hillside. We could really use your help and support.
Social Media: What You Need to Know
We have a rare opportunity to hear area experts discuss all we need to know about social media out there right now. Adults, especially, need to stay informed about social media because students' digital lives are ongoing and ever-changing.
Karen Haase and Bobby Truhe from KSB School Law Firm in Lincoln, Nebraska, will present this informaiton. See below for details regarding where and when to attend.
Safety During Arrival and Dismissal
- Consider putting your child seat on the curb side of your back seat; this helps kiddos to enter and exit the car quickly. If you are able to teach your child to buckle up, even better!
- Please do NOT walk through traffic in our circle drive during arrival or dismissal; cars are fast and furious during these times, and we have a sidewalk available for you and for students to walk around
Thank you for helping us to keep everyone safe at arrival and dismissal.
TAGG at Hillside: Together a Greater Good
Homecoming Parade Information
It is time to start planning for homecoming! This year the parade will take place on Wednesday October 6th at 6:30. Westside High School would like to have as many groups as possible participating. They encourage any school club, sports team, or community group to participate.
If you have a group that would like to participate in the parade please fill out the form below. You can have a float or you can walk in the parade.
Link to form: https://forms.gle/BarRJK1cGciEZuw7A
If you have questions, please contact Mrs. Bailey or Mrs. McGuire, and they will find answers for you!
PBiS Skill of the Week for Next Week
Hillside announces daily the social Skill of the Week. This is the skill we are focusing on as a building for the entire week. Next week's Skill of the Week is: Making an apology. When you make an apology, you look at the person to whom you are apologizing and say, "I am sorry for..." (and then what you did). Then you tell them how you plan to do better in the future. You can also ask the person if they accept your apology and/or thank them for listening.
This is a great skill to practice any time you need to make an apology. Apologies can be challenging!