The Pulse
Pikes Peak Early College, December Edition
A Note from Rochelle Kolhouse, Principal
Welcome back! I hope everyone had a nice and relaxing Thanksgiving Break. This semester has simply flown by! It’s hard to believe, but there are just three weeks left in this semester. With that said, these next few weeks can be smooth sailing for students who are caught up, but can also be extremely stressful for students who are behind. Now that we are operating in an enriched virtual model, it is very important for students to make sure they are checking in with their teachers and keeping with their school work. We have adjusted the amount of work required in Edgenuity to account for the delayed start to our school year and to account for our recent shift from blended to full virtual. Each PPEC teacher has a Zoom session schedule and students should be attending those Zoom sessions accordingly. We also continue to offer in-building support on Mondays and Wednesdays for any student who needs to come in on their cohort day.
PPEC’s vision, “To Prepare Every Student” and our mission, “To inspire a diverse student population through safe, high quality blended/online, college preparatory experiences with low costs, flexibility, and personalized choices. To empower PPEC students to develop their own learning paths and become college and career ready, attaining a two-year degree, professional certifications, or transfer credit”, remains the same regardless of the current learning model.
Students, you are so close to the finish line, let’s finish this first semester strong! Here are some things you should be doing in order to finish this semester out successfully…
Put in the time each day in each of your classes to either stay on top of your work or to get caught up. Now is not the time to “disappear” and hope your school work will just go away because it won’t. Hope is not a strategy and classes will end for the semester on December 17th!
Attend your teacher’s Zoom sessions with your camera on and your microphone at the ready. Having your camera on and using the microphone to communicate (not the chat feature) shows your engagement and is an expectation for all students (something you should have been doing all along anyway).
Come into the building on your cohort day! We may not be running classes like we did before eLearning, but we do have teachers available to help on Mondays and Wednesday from 9 am - 3 pm. Sometimes it just helps to sit in your classroom and work on school for an hour at a time with a teacher right there to help you if you get “stuck”.
Check your email every day! If your teacher invites you to attend a Zoom session or asks you to come into the building, follow through. Your teachers are reaching out to help you and “ghosting” their invitations indicates a conscious choice to not succeed.
Students, we want to celebrate the end of this challenging first semester with YOUR success on December 18th (details to follow)! You’ve got this, Yetis!!
Math
Math Fa (La)8
Math is pushing hard for the completion of Aleks at 85% or better by the end of the semester. From December 7th -18th and progress at 85% or higher, and review topics to prepare for Final Knowledge Check.
***Once at 85% progress or higher, students must start and finish the Aleks Final Knowledge Check between Dec 6-16. This progress must be maintained in order to complete the course.***
Pre-Calc has been working hard on conceptualizing graphs and their behavior including, even and odd functions and tying this to projects like modeling the cables on the Golden Gate Bridge or designing functions that approximate the cross section of a skate park “Half-Pipe.” This semester has been a great success. This semester has been challenging, but students continued to work hard.
Science
As 2020 winds to an end, the PPEC science lab is no longer a bustle of activity. However, students are still hard at work wrapping up their courses. Honors Chemistry students are exploring the structure and bonding of organic molecules by analyzing organic molecules and investigating different classes of organic compounds. In the final weeks of the semester, Non-stem Chemistry students are diving into a virtual lab that touches on concepts of chemical reactions, stoichiometry, data analysis and more as they wrap up their first semester of Chemistry! December will find all Biology students exploring the process of protein synthesis. Through a virtual laboratory activity, students will further understand the ability of DNA to code for proteins and therefore preserve the continuity of life within an organism/species. ALL science students have wrapped up their major writing assignment that is submitted into ThinkCERCA..
I will be available in the building to help with Monday cohort students and Ms Watson will be available to help with Wednesday cohort students that have any science concept needs as well as virtually through Zoom the rest of the week. Please reach out if you find yourself struggling or stuck on something!
Organic chemistry is difficult. Those who study it have alkynes of trouble.
Explanation: An alkyne is a common type of carbon compound with one carbon-to-carbon triple bond. They are frequently used and studied in organic chemistry. It's pronounced like "al kine." So, alkynes of trouble sounds like all kinds of trouble.
English
‘Twas the month of December and all through the school,
Most students aren’t here- they’re following the rules.
While some may feel like they will meet their doom-
Have no fear! We can help you on Zoom!
The projects are assigned,
and instructions have been sent.
With each moment of hard work,
students are making a dent!
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a wonderful email...asking how to finish the year.
I jumped online and made videos and lists…
To keep my students from pounding their fists.
Though the distance has made this year so tough,
And we have all had just about enough…
We are here for you and your family,
Through the good and the rough!
While students complete their final projects, know that I am available to talk, text, Zoom, and help however I can. We are in this together and I have complete confidence in the resilience and strength of our PPEC students!
World Languages
Well! It’s almost the end of our first semester and we are now getting ready for winter break!
We have faced many challenges together, and through it all, our students have put their education first. We are proud of how hard our students are working to develop their leadership and grow academically.
Before the break, we have devoted ourselves to reviewing everything learned throughout the semester in preparation for the world languages final exam on December 2nd , and present their end of semester project.
Remember that learning other languages allows you to enrich your life, experience new ideas, exercise your mind, benefit from world cultural diversity, obtain scholarships for postgraduate studies, work in a transnational company, as well as the ability to express yourself in a different way. . Not to mention, this can improve social relationships for students! That is why we encourage all of our PPEC students to learn another language.
Have a Happy Holidays Season and stay healthy!!!
Tech Electives
I hope everyone has a safe and healthy holiday season. As we continue to journey through unprecedented times we must remember our Yeti traits and finish the semester strong. Students this semester have shown resilience, grit, and are persevering this semester and the hard work does not go unnoticed. As we continue to plan for next semester I wanted to highlight our Computer Science courses and new innovative elective courses at the Campus.
Are you interested in learning how to code? The Campus offers a 2-year python coding pathway that will prepare all students for an in demand career. There is a great demand for workers skilled in computer science, and that demand is only growing. Developing coding literacy and a depth of knowledge in computer science prepares students for countless career and college opportunities. Sign up for Computer Science for next semester.
We are excited to offer a new innovative opportunity for students at Pikes Peak Early College and Springs Studio. New electives will be available for students to take starting in the Spring of 2021 (2nd semester) designed around future-focused careers. These pointful learning courses are designed as a hybrid experience for students with an online part of the class in Schoology that you can complete on your own, and a hands-on lab (Robotics and Automation Lab) that will be delivered either in-person or via Zoom (as appropriate) and attendance and participation is required. There will be supplies you need to pick up from the school throughout the course and if the school is in virtual learning.We have two options and plan to expand the offering in the future. The courses for Spring 2021 are Cloud Technologies & the Internet of Things and Robotics & Artificial Intelligence. Please contact Natalie Cummings for any questions about elective courses.
Students if you are interested in meeting on zoom for a social lunch join Ms Cummings 11:30-12:00 on Wednesdays and Fridays. Check email for invite!
Counselor's Corner
“At the end of the day, your mentality is what really determines
your stress levels. It’s what makes, breaks, and prevents stress”
Are you feeling stressed out? Anxious? Emotional? You are not alone! As we approach the end of the strangest, craziest, weirdest year ever, remember that you all have prevailed, shown grit and resilience and beat adversity. Choose to be mentally resilient right now in order to curtail stress from the holidays, upcoming finals and the unknown. Perhaps re-frame things and instead of looking at the negative side to everything, change the story you tell yourself about the experience. Bursts of happiness can lead to greater resilience toward stress and many of the things that can lift our moods—playing with a pet, watching a funny video, or even eating chocolate, for example—are quick and easy to fit into one’s day.
As students start applying for colleges, they will encounter questions asking about job shadows, internships and experiential learning. D49 and PPEC work with Pikes Peak Business and Educational Alliance who have a multitude of opportunities for students. Students need to simply create an account using their school email account and Mrs. Bonavita as their advisor to have access to these. Not only can your student "try on" a career and experience real-life, hands-on training, but they have recorded conversations with individuals in careers as well as career ‘templates’ for students to learn more about the industry. Check out the D49 Careers page to learn more about the work based learning opportunities that exist today, in the COVID world!
As always, if you have any questions or are struggling with anything at all, please reach out to Mrs. Bonavita.
Check out the links below for some great information!
Daniels Scholarship Fund
College Covered
Pikes Peak Business and Educational Alliance (PPBEA)
Family Engagement Council
Spotlight Yeti of the Month
We are pleased to announce the Yeti of the Month for December, Zach Austin! Zach is new to PPEC this year and has already made quite an impression among his peers and teachers. Zach is a very hard worker, who is not afraid to tackle anything that comes his way and he is very kind to everyone. Zach has mastered the Yeti Traits of never quitting and being relentless in the face of adversity and extreme obstacles. Zach's bio will be featured in our January newsletter so please check back next month to learn more about our amazing Yeti, Zach Austin!
Upcoming Events
December 11th Edgenuity Course Work Ends
December 17th End of Fall Semester
December 18th Student Success Celebration
December 21st-January 6th Winter Break
January 7th Second Semester Coursework Begins