Benicia High is hosting our annual Open House event with special features, including:

• 8th Grade Parent Night - Special presentations geared toward 8th grade parents and students
• Returning & New Families - Moving into the area or returning to BHS? Come learn about our classes and programs!
• AP Night to learn about the 20+ Advanced Placement classes offered at Benicia High School - Talk with the teachers of these classes and learn about your options
• Elective Fair - This event runs throughout the day for students to visit and learn about all of the different elective class options as they consider what classes to take next year. Then, at Open House, this event continues so that parents and incoming students can join the fun. This is a hands-on opportunity to see student work and explore your interests.
• Counseling Presentations - Learn about graduation requirements, college entrance requirements, and more!
• Open Gym - Want to check out the BHS gym and see what it would be like to be a student-athlete at BHS? Head to the gym during Open House to meet our Physical Education teachers and some of our coaches

We invite every family to attend to see what's happening at BHS and to get ready for course selections for the 2020-2021 school year!

Hello Panthers,

Every February, the Benicia High School Counselors meet with all 9th-11th grade students in their English Classes in order to provide them with information about classes for next year, graduation requirements, and other important information for considering their schedule selections for next year. They also visit with 8th grade students at Benicia Middle School to introduce our "Future Panthers" to the high school. On February 13th, our students will visit the Elective Fair during the school day and that evening we host our annual Open House event for all current and future families to gather information to help make decisions about course selections.

Course selections time can be very exciting, but it is also an important time to consider how each student's choices will best prepare them for graduation and for their preparedness for their path after high school, including what choices they will have. Benicia High focuses on making sure that EVERY student graduates and has set the goal to make sure that EVERY student graduates College and Career Ready. Over the past few years, we have worked towards this goal and experienced great progress that we want to share with you. We are celebrating an increase of students being prepared for College and Career from 46.9% in 2017 to 74.8% in 2019; this growth of 27.9 percentage points represents a 59% increase in three years (see chart above).

Our Goal: EVERY STUDENT prepared for College and Career Readiness when they Graduate

How does a student meet College and Career Readiness? There are several ways this can happen, which provides flexibility based on the students' own interests and plans. We begin talking with students in 9th grade about how to explore their interests, how to plan, and how to continue to develop their plan as their interests or decisions change. We encourage students to cultivate experiences - try different classes, job shadowing, internships, volunteering - to learn about what they like or don't like. There are 6 ways for students to demonstrate College and Career Readiness at Benicia High School. We want students to select at least one of the following as their path:

1. Academic Proficiency with Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments (SBAC exams at 11th grade) - Score of Level 3 "Standard Met" or higher on both the English Language Arts and Mathematics tests, which are given in May of their junior year.
   
2. Advanced Placement (AP) exams - Score of 3 or higher on two AP exams.
3. Career Technical Education (CTE) - Student completes a CTE Pathway (2 or more classes in one industry area) with a grade of C- or better plus college course credit or qualifying SBAC exam scores.
4. State Seal of Biliteracy - State Seal of Biliteracy awarded AND score of Level 3 or higher on the English Language Arts SBAC exam
5. College Credit Courses - Two semesters or three quarters of of college coursework with a grade of C- or better in academic and/or CTE subjects where college credit is awarded. This can be accomplished with articulated classes offered at Benicia High School or classes at a community college.
6. University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) Entrance Requirements - Also known as "a-g requirements," student completes the required course list with a grade of C- or better, plus completion of CTE Pathway, college course credit, qualifying SBAC exam scores, or score of 3 on one AP exam.

The path that is the fastest growing is Career Technical Education, with 7 different industry Pathways currently offered at Benicia High School. These courses are hands-on and offer vocational learning with industry professionals. The Pathway options at BHS include:

• Patient Care (Medical)
• Residential & Commercial Construction
• Engineering Design
• Performing Arts (Dance)
• Design, Visual & Media Arts
• Games & Simulation (Computer Technology)
• Welding & Materials Joining

Likely this information leads to more questions, which we look forward to answering at our upcoming events. The 2020-2021 Course Catalog is now available and is a good starting point for more information about graduation requirements for Benicia Unified School District, college entrance requirements, and all of the classes we offer for next year. The Course Catalog also indicates which classes are articulated with local community colleges so that students have the opportunity to earn college credit while taking classes at BHS. We look forward to welcoming you to the Open House event and helping your student create their individual path towards College and Career Readiness that best captures their interests, goals, and dreams!

Go Panthers!

Brianna Kleinschmidt, Principal

Below is a chart that shows how a student can earn the State Seal of Biliteracy - the requirements outlined by the California Department of Education. Each Spring, we review our Senior Class to evaluate who has met the criteria and will receive the seal on their diploma. We have seen a small increase: Class of 2017 had 28 students, Class of 2018 had 30 students, and the Class of 2019 had 36 students receive the recognition.

More information about the State Seal of Biliteracy is available on the California Department of Education website.

BHS is starting an all female competitive cybersecurity team! Meetings are on Mondays in room B-107. Questions? Talk with Mr. Kaiser or email him at akaiser@beniciaunified.org

This is a growing field! Here are the facts:

• There will be over 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs over the next 5 years.
• Average salary is $100,000+
• Current % of female cybersecurity professionals: 15-20%
• The US needs more cybersecurity professionals (article linked here).
• The cybersecurity profession needs more women (article linked here).

The CyberPanthers will be an all-female team competing online against over 1,000 schools.

No experience is necessary and no after school commitment!

The Arata Gallery will also be hosting a Student Art Show February 1st through March 30th, with student artwork available for purchase. For each sale, the Arata Gallery will donate a portion of the commission back to the Benicia High School Visual and Performing Arts Department. A Special Student Reception Event will be held on February 8th, from 1:00 - 3:00 pm. Any student interested in submitting a cohesive portfolio for this show should contact Ms. Seilonen in room B-206 by January 10, 2020 (bseilonen@beniciaunified.org).

Juliann Garey writes about how we can recognize unhealthy thinking errors called 'cognitive distortions' so that we can help our children and our students when they are stuck in negative thinking patterns. This is important because negative thinking can contribute to depression, anxiety, and a sense of overwhelmed by painful emotions. We often grant negative thoughts much more influence than we do our positive thoughts. Despite negative thinking often being unrealistic from an outside perspective, they are real and significant to those experiencing these thoughts, impacting the person's emotions, behaviors, and world views. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on learning how to recognize negative thinking patterns that are making the person feel bad, and categorizes 'cognitive distortions' into 11 categories.

1. All-or-Nothing Thinking: Seeing things in only two categories, so they’re either good or bad. A common distortion that makes you think, and therefore feel, that if something is not all of what you want then it’s none of what you want. It’s also thinking that you have to perform well on everything (perfectionism) or you’ve totally failed.
2. Emotional Reasoning: Believing that because you feel something it must be true, even when there’s no evidence other than the feeling.
3. Overgeneralization: Taking one negative event or detail about a situation and making it a universal pattern that is a truth about your whole life.
4. Labeling: Putting a negative label on yourself or someone else so that you no longer see the person behind the label. When you lock someone in place like that, your understanding becomes so rigid that there’s no wiggle room to see yourself or another person differently.
5. Fortune-Telling: Predicting something is going to turn out in a negative way. This can become a pessimistic way of viewing the future, and it can impact your behavior, making the event you’re fortune-telling more likely to turn out badly.
6. Mind Reading: Assuming that you know and understand what another person is thinking, and typically being sure it reflects poorly on you.
7. Catastrophizing (or Magnification): Taking a problem or something negative and blowing it up out of proportion.
8. Discounting the Positive (or Minimizing): Taking something positive that happened and minimizing it so that it doesn’t “count” as a good thing in your life or experience. It discounts any evidence against our negative view of ourselves or our situation.
9. Mental Filter: Seeing only the negative instead of looking at all the positive or neutral aspects of an experience.
10. Personalization: Making things about you when they are not. This includes blaming yourself for what is beyond your control and also taking things personally when they are not intended to be harmful to you.
11. Imperatives: Thinking in “shoulds” and “musts,” OR “should nots” and must nots.”

How Parents Can Help:

By recognizing when a person is stuck in negative thinking patterns, we can help to talk about this and reduce their intensity. It is also recommended that we be able to recognize 'cognitive distortions' in our own thinking and learn to regulate ourselves. Avoid being judgmental, to ourselves or to others, when we recognize negative thinking. We all make mistakes, and we all need reminders at times to remove ourselves from negative thinking. If an adult or child feels that more help is needed, they can reach out to our Counseling Office, a School Psychologist, or a family's own health provider.

For more information on this topic, please CLICK HERE.

Come experience a truly mesmerizing feat of theatre; 8 scenes that go from inception to stage in 24 Hours! The 24 Hour Plays will present 8 original works based on the theme of "FIXED"; all scenes will be written, directed, rehearsed and performed by BHS students in the span of 24 hours. Don't miss out on this raw, gritty, and debut evening of 8 brand new works of theatre.

ONLINE TICKETS to 24 HOUR PLAYS

Benicia High School is EXCITED to announce a special new event coming up on Monday Feb. 24th - Unified Basketball! This is an inclusive sports program that brings students with & without disabilities together as teammates. We will be playing American Canyon High School's Unified Team with one home game and one away game.

Free Entrance - Come out and Show Your Spirit!!!

February 24th at BHS - 6:00pm

March 9th at ACHS - 6:00pm

Purchase Tickets Online (debit/credit only) between February 3-21 or at the BHS Finance Office (cash/debit/credit). Students with a 2019-2020 ASB card will receive a reduced price on their dance ticket.

Students are allowed to request to bring a guest and must turn in a Guest Request Form by the February 19th and receive approval. With approval, students can then purchase a ticket for their guest in the Finance Office. Guest tickets are not available online.

To attend this dance, students must be in good standing, meaning that they cannot be ineligible, and cannot be on social probation or suspended. Purchase of a ticket to this event signifies that the student agrees to follow all school and dance rules.

District programs, activities, and practices shall be free from unlawful discrimination, including discrimination against an individual or group based on race, color, ancestry, nationality, national origin, immigration status, ethnic group identification, ethnicity, age, religion, marital status, pregnancy, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, or related recovery, parental status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, or genetic information; a perception of one or more of such characteristics; or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.