Admiral's Log Nov. 23, 2020
Admiral Strong - Honor, Courage, and Steadfastness
Happy Thanksgiving!
FIS Giving Tree
Farragut’s Project Giving Tree is underway! It will look different this year, but we are grateful to still offer gift assistance to our Farragut families in need of extra help this holiday.
Due to COVID protocols, we will not conduct our traditional tag distribution and gift collection. Instead, we aim to collect 500 gift cards to cover the costs of an outfit and toy or gift for each child in our program. In 2019, we served over 80 families with nearly 240 children. We expect to serve as many families this year, if not more due to the financial impacts of COVID in our community.
Our Giving Tree collection will run until December 4th. The sooner you give, the better opportunity we have to create our Giving Tree gift bags. Our Giving Tree families will receive a mix of gift cards and purchased gifts if private shopping becomes available.
We understand COVID has impacted everyone, so please consider giving as you are able. Every gift makes a difference!
Three easy ways to give!
1. In-person students: Simply send in gifts cards with your student to turn in to his/her homeroom teacher in an envelope marked GIVING TREE. We recommend/request a $25 gift card to local stores such as Kohl’s, Marshalls, and Old Navy, but gift cards of any denomination and to other local stores are all appreciated.
2. Virtual and in-person families may give online via Venmo @FISPTA. FIS PTA will collect and administer funds to either purchase additional gift cards or shop directly for our Giving Tree families.
3. In addition to gift cards:
In-person FIS students may also turn in colorful socks or wrapping paper/bags in a collection box OUTSIDE FIS at drop off each morning from Nov. 9 - Dec. 4. Please remember we serve children from birth to age 18, so a variety of sock sizes and styles are needed.
Questions? Please email farragutgivingtree@gmail.com for more information. Thank you from the Farragut Giving Tree Team!
Christy Davis & Nikki Hickman, FIS Giving Tree Co-chairs
Tech Tip
This week’s Tech Tip continues from a previous post regarding Digital Citizenship and keeping students safe on their Chromebooks. As stated in the earlier post, Mrs. Shedden, our Computer Science teacher, has completed lessons with each student in our school on the dangers that can be online and how to remain safe. In addition to internet safety lessons at school, Knox County Schools is mandated to have internet filtering software at each school, however, many families would like to know what they can do at home to help keep their students’ safe.
There are some controls you can use at home to help filter out inappropriate sites. Here are some tips:
On Your Router
One of the easiest ways to set up parental controls is by configuring them on your router. Your router functions as the choke point where all the Internet traffic for your network flows through. Setting up parental controls here will allow you to perform web filtering for all the devices on your network — computers, smartphones, tablets, and even game consoles with built-in browsers.
Some routers ship with built-in parental controls. If your router has this feature, it will often be advertised on the box and will generally be explained in the manual. You can go to the router’s web-based configuration pages and set up the parental controls for your network.
Many routers don’t include parental controls, but you can use OpenDNS to set up parental controls on any router. To do this, you’ll just need to change your router’s DNS server settings to use OpenDNS. OpenDNS allows you to set up an account and configure web filtering — you can select different types of categories of websites to block. Websites you block will redirect to a “This site is blocked” message when visited on your network.
For more information about changing your router’s settings, refer to its manual.
If you would like a device on your network not to be filtered, you can change its DNS server manually so it won’t use OpenDNS. Of course, this means that anyone on your network can change their DNS server and bypass the filtering. Like we said, such filters can be helpful for your children, but a teenager can get around it.
With Third-Party Software
You can also turn to third-party parental controls. Many Internet security suites come with built-in parental controls. If you have a security suite installed on your computer, check if it has built-in parental controls.
There are also dedicated parental control solutions you can pay for, like the famous Net Nanny that everyone has heard of. However, you don’t need to pay for a parental control solution. There are many other free web filtering solutions you can use. For example, Norton offers a free Norton Family parental control application that seems to be widely recommended. Try doing a search online and you’ll find many other options that may fit your needs.
Of course, no parental controls are perfect. They won’t block everything bad and may occasionally block something good. Sufficiently motivated teenagers can also get around them, if only by leaving your house and accessing the Internet elsewhere or using their smartphone.
(Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/167545/4-ways-to-set-up-parental-controls-on-your-home-network/)
Remember, home filtering only works when the child is using that internet. If they connect to a cellular data hot spot or an open WiFi network within range the filtering will not work. Also, filters can’t catch everything. There will be sites that can pass through the filter. Internet filtering is a good idea for young children however, older children will eventually figure out ways to circumvent controls put in place. The best filtering device is you, the adult. Remember to be present when your child is using their device, whether it be a phone or computer. Make sure the student is using it in a common area, like the kitchen, dining room, or shared living space. Have conversations with your child about appropriate use. Let them know that they should report any suspicious or bullying behavior to either an adult at home or at school. This article(https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/why-the-best-parental-control-is-you) from Common Sense Media discusses more regarding students’ parents or guardians being the best source of control.
Giving Thanks - From Our FIS PTA
On Friday, November 13th, the FIS PTA and Zaxby's Turkey Creek treated the entire FIS staff to a delicious Grab and Go lunch of Zaxby's Chicken, Zaxby's Zalad, Zaxby's homemade chips and tasty individual pies as a small token of their appreciation for the terrific job the FIS staff is doing during this unusual time. We give thanks every day for your commitment to making this a successful school year. And thank you Zaxby's Turkey Creek for your generous and delicious donation! With a grateful heart, we give thanks!
Dates to Remember
Nov. 25-Nov. 27 - Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 2 Interim Reports Go Home
Dec. 18 Report Cards Go Home, 1/2 day for students
Dec. 19-Jan. 1 Winter Break
FIS Office Hours
Office Phone: 865-966-6703