Regina Jr Sr High Newsletter
January 2021
From the Principal
I hope everyone had a relaxing and joyous Christmas. This will be an abbreviated January newsletter due to the timing coming off of Christmas break. I hope to get more information (if needed) sometime mid-month.
We have semester assessments scheduled for next week (January 13-15). The schedule for those days is below. Please note the student dismissal times and that lunch will not be served to Jr Sr High students those days. Students who have to wait for rides or the school bus will have a space to wait (quietly) and eat lunch.
Catholic Schools Week starts on January 31. The pandemic has altered what we are usually able to do this week, but we are still planning activities for that Friday, February 5. More information will go out when we have definite plans.
This month's newsletter has the following:
- Winter Sports Protocols
- Department Updates
- Semester Assessments Schedule
I would like to share this New Year's Blessing I found in Give Us This Day.
O God of ancient blessing,
your servant Mary pondered in her heart
the treasured words spoken about her Son,
our Savior Jesus Christ.
Bless us as we gather in his name,
and prepare our hearts to receive his Spirit,
that our tongues may confess him Lord,
every day of this new year,
and for ever and ever.
Amen.
Prayers for a great start to our new year,
Glenn Plummer
Upcoming Events
1/4: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
1/5: St. John Neumann, Girls (JV, V) & Boys (F/S) Basketball vs. Cascade
1/6:
1/7: V Wrestling @ Regina
1/8: Girls (JV, V) & Boys (F/S) Basketball @ West Liberty
1/9: V Wrestling @ Highland, Girls (JV, V) & Boys (F/S) Basketball @ Monticello
1/10: Baptism of the Lord
1/11:
1/12: Girls (JV, V) & Boys (F/S, JV, V) Basketball vs. West Branch
1/13:
1/14: V Wrestling @ Durant
1/15: Girls (JV, V) & Boys (F/S, JV, V) Basketball @ Tipton
1/16: V Wrestling @ Cascade
1/18: In-Service Day - No classes
1/19: Girls (JV, V) & Boys (F/S, JV, V) Basketball @ Wilton
1/20:
1/21: St. Agnes, JH Boys Basketball vs. Tipton (7-away, 8-home), V Wrestling @ North Cedar
1/22: Day of Prayer for Legal Protection of Unborn Children, Girls (JV, V) & Boys (F/S, JV, V) Basketball @ Anamosa
1/23: V Wrestling @ Midland, Girls (JV, V) & Boys (F/S, JV, V) Basketball @ Solon
1/25: Conversion of St. Paul, JH Boys Basketball vs. Durant (7-home,8-away), JV Wrestling Conference Tournament @ Anamosa
1/26: Sts. Timothy and Titus, Girls (JV, V) & Boys (F/S, JV, V) Basketball vs. Mid-Prairie, Board of Education Meeting
1/27:
1/28: St. Thomas Aquinas, JH Boys Basketball vs. West Branch (7-home,8-away)
1/29: Girls (JV, V) & Boys (F/S, JV, V) Basketball vs. Durant
1/30: V Wrestling Conference Tournament @ Monticello, V Girls Basketball vs, Xavier, JV/V Boys Basketball @ Northeast
1/31: Start Catholic Schools week
Semester Assessment Schedule
Jan. 13-15 (A Day all days)
Wednesday, 1/13
8:20 – 9:35 1st Period Classes
9:45 – 11:00 3rd Period Classes
11:10 – 12:25 5th Period Classes
1:00 – 3:30 Test Make-up Period
Thursday, 1/14
8:20 – 9:35 2nd Period Classes
9:45 – 11:00 4th Period Classes
11:10 – 12:25 6th Period Classes
1:00 – 3:30 Test Make-up Period
Friday, 1/15
8:20 – 9:35 7th Period Classes
9:45– 11:00 8th Period Classes
11:00 – 3:30 Test Make-up Period
**Students reporting late to a testing period will not be given additional time**
- No lunch service will be provided over these three days of testing. If a student is staying at school they will need to bring their own lunch.
- Students need to make arrangements for transportation in order to leave school immediately after their last testing period or test make-up period.
- All students are to be in their scheduled classes from 8:20-12:25 on Wednesday and Thursday, and from 8:20-11:00 on Friday. All students may be excused from their study hall.
Discover Regina Nights
Rosary Every Wednesday
Winter Sports Protocols
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused us to modify many events, programs, and activities at Regina. With our winter sports season approaching we want to inform you of the necessary changes that will be taking place to start our winter sports season. These changes will hopefully ensure the safety of our students, coaches, and community members. As with everything during this time, these changes may be modified based on a variety of circumstances.
Face coverings are mandated by the River Valley Conference for all spectators, coaches, and players sitting on the bench.
School-issued tickets will be required to attend all Regina events. This applies to away teams as well. Each student athlete in grades 7-12 participating in basketball or wrestling will be given 2 tickets.
Areas will be blocked off and social distancing is the responsibility of the spectators.
No fans will be allowed for games in the elementary gym.
Junior high games/meets will take place in the high school gym unless there is a conflict with scheduled high school games.
The concession stand will be open.
We all understand that this is not an ideal situation and pray for the day we can all gather for games, concerts, and religious celebrations. Thank you for your understanding.
Bryce Smeins, Jr Sr High School Activities Director
Glenn Plummer, Jr Sr High School Principal
Chromebooks
Also, please remind your students to charge their Chromebook every night.
Department Updates
English Language Arts
9th grade English - We read A Christmas Carol before the holiday break and we are completing an expository essay reflecting on how Scrooge changed throughout the novel. We are also continuing our grammar review. The midterm semester exam will cover A Christmas Carol and grammar. We will begin reading Romeo and Juliet soon.
11th grade English - We read Macbeth before the holiday break and we are completing an analytical essay on a chosen theme of the play. The midterm semester exam will cover Macbeth and SAT vocabulary. We will begin reading poetry from Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson soon.
AP Language and Composition - We are reviewing the first three AP units we covered during the semester. The major focus has been on rhetorical analysis and argument and these concepts will be covered in the midterm semester exam. We will begin reading The Great Gatsby soon.
Science
7th grade science - Mrs. Coffin
7th graders will be taking a STEAM virtual field trip on the first two days of school when we return from break. We will be participating in the Kirkwood STEAM Institute. The students will have the opportunity to view videos of guest speakers who work in one of the STEAM career fields. It should be great, as the students get to choose which speakers they would like to view. We will then finish up the human body systems. We will dissect and we will cover the human reproductive systems. Moving on to semester two, we will begin genetics!
8th Grade Science - Mrs. Goldsmith
Science 8 students are finishing up the topic of waves and will be moving on to sound and light. The last test for the semester is waves, but we will start the sound and light unit to wrap up the semester. The Semester 1 Science 8 grade will include a cumulative final exam. We will definitely be discussing this often in class. When Semester 2 starts, we will continue with Sound and Light and then move on to Earth and Space Science topics.
Earth & Space Science - Mrs. Coffin
After we return from break, we will complete our model building projects of Earth’s atmosphere. We will take a unit test and then review for finals. The second semester will start with learning about Earth’s systems. We will learn about moving tectonic plates, volcanoes, and earthquakes. To end this unit, students will design and build houses that can withstand a volcanic eruption or an earthquake! (Students get to build the earthquake tables!) Lots of engineering in the second semester! Please make sure you have a supply kit ready to go!
Biology - Mr. LaKose
After break students are finalizing our investigations of protein synthesis, including transcription and translation, and introducing evolution in a biological context. This will serve as a precursor and the underlying theme to the study of biodiversity seen in semester two.
Chemistry - Mrs. Goldsmith
Chemistry students are finishing up their unit on The Mole. We won’t test over 6B (percent composition and empirical & molecular formulas of compounds) until after semester exams. From there we will move on to Chemical Reactions, which is probably one of my favorite topics. The unit will include a great Qualitative Analysis lab, which students always enjoy. After that will be Stoichiometry, which has another fun lab. With a lot of the foundational topics covered, we are able to get a lot more involved with chemistry labs in semester 2!
Anatomy & Physiology - Mr. LaKose
Students will be working with fetal pigs as our sample mammal to dissect and learn the basic musculature of a sample specimen. Our lab practicum final will include various stations with pins isolating specific muscles that students will need to identify, as well as state the action of said muscle.
AP Biology - Mr. LaKose
Mitosis, meiosis, and cell signaling is the overview of unit 4, which is our focus for finals week. Students reviewed mitosis and meiosis already, and will investigate how cells communicate with each other prior to their final.
Principles of Biomedical Science - Mr. LaKose
The Anna Garcia saga is behind us, and students applied all of their knowledge thus far to a new case: Marcel Newgard. Each of the four groups had a different underlying cause of death to which the evidence presented steered them in the appropriate direction, ultimately creating an evidence board to present their findings to their peers. Unit 2 is our current focus, entitled Clinical Care.Social Studies
7th Grade Global Studies
During 7th grade Global Studies this week, after the break, we will be continuing with our US Policy in the Middle East simulation. For the US Policy simulation, the chosen members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will be listening to presentations from our four policy groups and then will be selecting the best policy for the US in the Middle East. The students then will select and defend one of the four policy options for their assessment during finals weeks. A reminder that all missing work and retakes should be completed by Friday, January 8th as well!
World History
The Medieval Times is upon our class. Students have been learning about knights, the power struggle between the Church and the State, feudalism society, and the Crusades. The beginning of the 2nd semester will start with the idea of nationalism and how that will affect France and England. Students will learn about what is meant by nationalism, the positive and negative outcomes of nationalism, and the struggles Europe is facing with the Protestant Reformation. The second semester will feature the scientific revolution, protestant reformation, industrial revolution, American and French revolutions, Chinese history, and will end with a world perspective on the world wars, cold war, and Vietnam war.
Government
Since the government class is just a semester, the class is ending with the judicial branch unit. Students have learned about landmark Supreme Court cases, how a jury operates, the differences between a civil and criminal trial, rights as a citizen in the judiciary system, and much more. Students have also been following the electoral college votes and the Georgia runoff for senate seats. Absolutely love when real live government decisions are unfolding before our eyes.
AP World History
The class is ending the semester by studying the moments before the centuries of revolutions. The world right now in class is pretty messy. We have thinkers questioning the church, the scientific revolution is upon us, the Enlightenment is questioning the government, and the Americas are just starting to have their own identity. Once 2nd semester starts, the class will dive headfirst into the REVOLUTIONS including the industrial, American, French, and Latin American.
AP US History
In AP US History, Abe Lincoln was able to spend the holidays with his family as we were just at the start of the Civil War as we left for break. When we return from break, we will be finishing up the Civil War and will conclude with the Reconstruction era before the end of the 1st semester. For the finals assessments, the students will be taking the Period 5 exam. A reminder that all missing work and retakes should be completed by Friday, January 8th as well!
Spanish
Spanish I - Review materials studied during the first semester in preparation for the First Semester Spanish I Exam. Students in the Spanish I class are expected to introduce themselves appropriately with complete sentences in Spanish: (name, age, birthday, physical traits & personality, activities according to preferences, describe the weather, day of the week, describe the Spanish class and supplies needed, time of class, etc.)
Spanish IV - Review materials studied during the first semester in preparation for the First Semester Spanish IV Exam. - Students in the Spanish IV class are expected to do all the above appropriately.:
- Discuss all the quehaceres (household chores & responsibilities) with Ud., Uds., and Nosotros commands.
- Express points of view and opinions using various expressions learned + nosotros command forms of verbs with all the 'Human Rights' and the 'Environment' vocabulary learned.
- Use Reflexive Verbs to describe daily activities using adverbs of time, nouns, time of activities, etc. in all six learned tenses(present, preterite, imperfect, future, conditional, and present perfect tense) as well as in the Present and Present Perfect Subjunctive Mood..
Mil Gracias! Sra. Lazarre
Español 2: ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! We are preparing for our semester exam. Students were given a study guide before Christmas break and we are going over it this week. We are also going over the Present Progressive. All this first week of January we will be reviewing for the semester exam. At the start of second semester, we will learn/review the Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns and we will also work on our next oral presentation.
Español 3: ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! We started the New Year going over the Imperfect Tense and the study guide they received before Christmas break. We will go over the guide and review for the exam. For the second semester, we plan to work with the differences between the Preterito and the Imperfecto, as well as continue working with writing, reading, speaking, and listening comprehension exercises. Sra. McAndrew
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