Knight Notes
April 20, 2015
Happy Monday!
Good morning--
I hope you had an enjoyable weekend and are ready for another outstanding week on Hackmann Road; I know I am!
Last week was a very strong example of how awesome our kids are, and it is strong evidence of how impactful you are upon them. As you will notice in the celebrations below, our students had a huge week. They are so very talented, and I am so proud of them and their accomplishments. I am certain you feel the same way. However, my favorite moments from last week occurred at the 4.0 luncheon.
At the luncheon our students, along with those from FHC and FHHS, were individually recognized and given medals. When a student from FHN was called to receive his or her medal, there was always a loud and spirited applause from their FHN classmates. It did not matter who the student was. We had over 60 kids, and every time it was the same. It was was prideful, it was genuine, and it was so very kind.
Also, during this time, the reader, who was from a different school, inadvertently skipped one of our kids' names. It was certainly not deliberate, and everyone knew that. However, when this happened, I had two students who were on the opposite sides of the room from the student who was skipped, come up to me quietly and politely and let me know what had transpired. They were going to make sure that their classmate was acknowledged. They were not going to sit back and allow her to be overlooked, and when she was called, their applause was incredibly loud.
Our kids were awesome, and it was so noticible that one of the other principals mentoned it to me. He stated, "Your kids are just so kind. I was moved by how they treated one another. Whatever you guys are doing over there, keep it up."
Our school is a very good school because of the people who are here and because of how the people here treat one another. You model and our kids repeat! As always, thanks for all that you do to help our students be successful. Enjoy your week!
--Andy
CELEBRATIONS
- Congratulations to the FHN Winter Guard for placing 10th at the WGI World Championships.
- 30 students participated in our first annual academic signing. Congratulations to these students and thank you to the guidance department for putting on this outstanding event.
- Over 60 FHN students were recognized for having a 4.0 over the course of the last four years. They attended a luncheon at Old Hickory on Friday.
- Greg Portilla won Mr. FHN. Congratulations to him and to StuCo for organizing this competition and for raising a lot of money for charity.
- Congratulations to Knightsound for placing first in the show choir category at the Heritage Festival in Los Angelas.
- Congratulations to Pratyush Sontha for being accepted in the STARS Program. It is quite an honor.
- Congratulations to the yearbook staff on winning a Pacemaker, the highest honor for high school journalism.
- Congratulations to Daniel Bodden for being one of six runner-ups for the National Journalism Student of the Year award.
- Congratulations to Try Oesterman for placing first in state at FBLA competition and for qualifying for national competition.
- Congratulations to the FHNToday on receiving first, best of show for their website.
- Congratulations to the publications crew on being awarded the First Amendment award.
- Congratulations to the North Star for being ninth in best of show.
- Congratulations to the broadcast staff for earning fifth in best of show.
1st Annual Academic Signing Day
Troy Oesterman
Adam Cole
Mr. FHN Competition
Choir at Heritage Festival in Los Angeles
Winter Guard
Journalism Quiz Bowl Champs
Publications Crew
5 QUICK FACTS ABOUT A COLLEAGUE
Dave Fritz – French
1)I am married to Beth Fritz (22 yrs this summer), who is the choir director at Fort Zumwalt West HS. For those of you who have been around for a while, former commmunication arts DC, Mary Baker, is my aunt by marriage. She introduced Beth to me back in the summer of ’89 !
2) As young teachers who already had about 300 kids (or students) between us, we never had any of our own, but we do enjoy the 4-legged variety. We also foster animals for the St. Peters Humane Society.
3) We have a love for travel, and I have been blessed by by a job that allows me to travel to Europe with students every other summer. I led a group of 11 students + 1 adult to France last summer. This trip allows students to experience first-hand those cultural topics that we cover in class, as well as use their French in real-life situations. It is always heartwarming to see their faces light up when seeing the Louvre or the Tour Eiffel for the first time (in real life !) or successfully maneuvering their way through a simple transaction in French .
4) This is my 28th year in the district – my first year I taught French 1 & 2 at Howell High, and have been at North since ’87 (upon Ritchie’s retirement last year, I have now been at North longer than any other teacher – but I’m not the oldest…). My first two years, I traveled the third floor on a cart (sharing a room with Barb Hengehold, who was part-time math back then), and have been in room 306, er, 215 since ’89.
5) Beth and I are ‘foodies,’ so during our free time we like trying out new restaurants. I am also a fan of mid-century modern architecture, and I have an extensive vinyl collection. I also love pop culture and movies.
I nominate Jordan Steffen.
TESTING INFORMATION
EOC:
EOC testing will take place 4/13-4/28. Here is a link to the bell schedule and lunch schedule:
ACT:
The ACT will be Tuesday, April 28th. All Juniors will take the ACT on the second floor with their homeroom teachers. All other students will have classes as usual. Teachers who are normally on the second floor will travel to open classrooms throughout the building. After much discussion with various staff (PLOT and DCs), it was determined that this would provide the best testing environment for our students.
TECHNOLOGY
App of the Week
Flipagram is a free video app that allows you to create and share visual stories. It is simple and easy to use and could be applied to any class that requires a visual presentation. For more info, go to Flipagram.com.
Technology Share
- The following link provides tech updates:
http://www.fhntech.blogspot.com/
- The following link explains the difference between onedrive and a team site (Sharepoint) and when it is appropriate to save data to each of them: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Should-I-save-my-documents-to-OneDrive-for- Business-or-a-team-site-d18d21a0-1f9f-4f6c-ac45-d52afa0a4a2e?ui=en-US&rs=en- US&ad=US