Bearcat Brief
January 3
Notes from Niki
- Next Friday is our day basketball game. I have inserted a picture of the schedule below this text box (this program is not friendly with tabs and columns). 4th-6th grade teachers, please arrange for some alternative activities for students who may not have the stamina to watch both games as you did for the fall girls' game. If there is a significant amount of time after the games, we will award December student of the month certificates. I will send that nomination form out today.
- We will start giving coupons for students who have no tardies during the second half of a quarter rather than the no tardy party. We will maintain no tardy parties at the mid-quarter as long as that remains a meaningful incentive.
- Please make your lunch plans for today so that you are back here by 12:45. I want to have a really quick meeting for certified staff in the library.
Professional Reading/ Resources:
Life Advice for High-School and College Kids
(from Niki: I don't know about the calculus vs. economics bullet, but the rest of these seemed pretty relevant for adults, not just students)
In this New York Times column, Nicholas Kristof shares four things he believes students should consider if they want lives with meaning and deep success:
• Study economics and statistics rather than calculus. “Education isn’t about filling a bucket but about gaining a tool belt,” says Kristof, “and economics and statistics offer terrific tools that for the rest of your life will help you analyze problems in more rigorous ways.” Even philosophers and playwrights, he believes, “should have present value and standard deviations in their citizen tool belts.”
• Connect to a cause larger than yourself. Kristof dislikes the hackneyed advice to spend the first third of one’s life studying, the second making money, and the remainder giving back. “If you dropped dead of a heart attack at 50,” he says, “you’d be gnashing your teeth for all eternity.” Better to take on a cause when you’re young – ideally something involving the less fortunate.
• Love. “The most important decision you will make is not the university you attend, nor your major, not even your first job,” says Kristof. “It’s who you marry or settle down with… Learning to manage a relationship may take practice, so get started and cuddle!”
• Escape your comfort zone. Education is incomplete, in fact, a failure, “if it exposes you only to people like yourself and doesn’t prepare you to engage with other cultures,” says Kristof. And he advises against traveling only to places that mirror your own culture, including English-speaking countries. He recommends spending a gap year, volunteering, or studying abroad in countries like Colombia, China, Senegal, Oman, India, or Ghana – or working with disadvantaged students in the U.S.
“The Four Secrets of Success” by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times, December 8, 2019,
Upcoming Events
January
January 1- Happy New Year- no school
January 3- Work Day for Teachers- no school for students
January 3- Grades Due by 2:30
January 6- Second Semester Begins- first day back to class for students
January 7- Monthly PBIS Leadership Committee Meeting, 3:20 in the conference room
January 9- 4th-6th Grade PLC's
January 9- 7th and 8th Grade Boys’ Basketball vs. Sullivan, 5:30
January 9- Board of Education Meeting, 6:00
January 10- 7/8 PLC Group A (?)
January 10- Day Basketball game vs. St. Clair
January 11- Middle School Conference Band @Waynesville
January 12- Music Boosters Trivia @HHS, 2:00 p.m.
January 13- 7th and 8th Grade Boys’ Basketball @ Owensville, 5:30
January 14- Faculty Meeting, 7:20
January 14- 7th and 8th Grade Boys’ Basketball @ Washington, 5:30
January 16- PBIS Training in Columbia
January 16- 7th and 8th Grade Boys’ Basketball @ Union, 5:30
January 17- 7/8 PLC Group B
January 20- No School, Marting Luther King Day
January 21- 7th and 8th Grade Boys’ Basketball @ New Haven, 5:30
January 23- 4-6th PLC Meetings
January 23- 7th and 8th Grade Boys’ Basketball vs. Washington, 5:30
January 24- 7/8 PLC Group A
January 24- Courtwarming
January 25- Blue and White Night, 5:00 @Hermann Hill
January 25-26: Building use for 5th and 6th-grade Basketball Tournament
January 26- 28- Powerful Learning Conference @ Lake of the Ozarks
January 27- Professional Development Day for Teachers
January 27-Feb 1- Hermann Tournament (MS gym used 27-30)
January 27-30- 7th Grade Boys' Basketball Tournament @ Sullivan
January 27-30- 8th Grade Boys' Basketball Tournament @ St. Clair
January 31- 7/8 Grade PLC Group A
February
February 3-8 School Counselor Appreciation Week
February 4- PBIS Leadership Team Meeting, 3:20 in Conference RoomFebruary 5- End of Mid-Quarter 3
February 6- 4-6th Grade PLC's
February 7- Grades Due, 8:00 .m
February 7- 7/8 PLC Group B
February 7- No Tardy Party
February 8-9: Building use for 5th and 6th-grade Basketball Tournament
February 11- Faculty Meeting, 7:20 a.m.
February 11- Freshmen Orientation @ HHS, 6:00
February 13- Intruder Drill, 1:00 pm
February 13- Board of Education Meeting, 6:00
February 14- Valentine's Day
February 14- 7/8 PLC Group A
February 17- No School, President's Day
February 19- PLC Leadership Team Training in Jefferson City
February 20- PBIS Leadership Training in Columbia
February 20- 4-6 PLC Meetings
February 21- 7/8 PLC Group B
About Us
Email: nbuschmann@hermann.k12.mo.us
Website: www.hermann.k12.mo.us
Location: 164 Blue Pride Drive, Hermann, MO, United States
Phone: 573.486.3121
Twitter: @HMSBearcats