Eagle Express
LHS Staff Newsletter--Year 19, Vol. 9, 10/14/19
Virtual & Professional Learning Day
Today is the first of two Virtual Learning days identified by the division. We will consider this an "A" day and November 5th as a "B" day. All VL assignments are to be designed either online or using paper and pencil at home, depending upon a student's preference and/or need. There is a five school day window for secondary students to complete assignments. The VL assignment should be one that takes the same amount of time to complete as if students were in class that day--NOT 5 days worth of work!
The detailed schedule for our professional learning day can be found here. Please bring your laptop to the 8 a.m. staff meeting to access the Schoology HLN All Staff group.
LHS Earns Purple Star Designation
The Virginia Purple Star Designation is awarded to military-friendly schools that have demonstrated a major commitment to students and families connected to our nation’s military. The Virginia Council on the Interstate Compact on the Educational Opportunity of Military Children has selected Landstown High School as a 2019 Purple Star designee. The Council applauds and appreciates our school’s outstanding commitment to serving the needs of military students and families and for serving as an inspiring model for other schools across Virginia.
Many thanks to Jeanita Lawrence & Jennifer Cholick for their hard work in completing and submitting the application for this award.
Pink-Out Day
The LHS Pink-Out day is Friday, October 18th. Staff are encouraged to wear pink to school and to our football game. If you purchased this year's pink-out shirt, it will be delivered on Monday. If you bought this year's pink-out shirt and wear it on Friday, you can also wear jeans. Staff members who did not purchase a pink-out shirt can pay $5 to Chelsea Brechtel for a jeans day on Friday. All proceeds are going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Leadership Workshop
The SCA will be hosting the 2nd annual LHS Leadership Workshop on March 20 and 21. They need adult chaperones and student delegates. You can indicate interest in chaperoning and/or recommend students who would benefit from attending using this form.
Student Volunteer Opportunity
I Make a Difference Award
Our first recipient of the IMAD award is Laura Newsham. The award was presented at our staff meeting last Monday with the following information: "To kick off the 2019-2020 school year- we would like to introduce our first "I Make A Difference" recipient, Ms. Laura Newsham! She is one of Landstown's unsung heroes that always makes difference! Laura develops a phenomenal rapport with each of her students and sets high expectations for them in her rigorous Chemistry classes. You can find her helping students in the hallway or giving a pep talk as they prepare to do something challenging. She has an open door policy and is willing to help any student in need! Graduates often return back to the Nest to thank her for motivating and inspiring them to do great things after Landstown. Laura's impact goes beyond the dedicated time she spends with her students. She is one of the driving forces in the Chemistry PLC and is a fantastic colleague to collaborate new strategies with - no matter what subject you teach! She was also an instrumental part of this summer's NMSI program. Laura, your spirit of excellence is contagious and thank you for inspiring Landstown every day!"
Laura is passing the award on to Wendy Barcroft this week. Laura writes, "Wendy is the science sunshine representative and truly represents what this group represents. She is always positive and kind hearted. Wendy also co-runs the science department birthday club. She bakes cakes or brownies for people in the department on their birthday. Wendy started the biology Club last school year and it has taken off. She is giving students who love science and biology a place to deepen and explore their interest. She is inspiring future scientists! Wendy Barcroft you make a difference. Thank you for going the extra mile for Landstown!"
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Our first Parent/Teacher conferences of the year will be held this Thursday. Please remember to keep all of the conference dates reserved in your calendar for the year. Here are some things to keep in mind:
- Teachers will be notified if they are scheduled for a Parent/Teacher conference via an Outlook invite by Mrs. Burgess at least two days prior to the meeting. Teachers are also invited to schedule parent teacher conferences using the Google form on the LHS Counseling webpage.
- All conferences are held in the cafeteria. Parents are asked to arrive by 2:15 pm. As you enter the cafeteria, please sign in and find the corresponding table number(s) for the student conference(s) you will be attending. After sign-in please proceed to the conferences to which you’ve been invited.
- If you have more than one conference scheduled for that day, you may rotate between tables. The majority of conferences are fairly quick and teachers speak for no more than 5 minutes to be considerate of one another’s time.
- Teachers are asked to bring grade reports and any other relevant information to share with parents.
- Counselors and administrators are present in the cafeteria and available as needed. Conferences must conclude by 3:00 pm, however most will be finished well before that.
Conference dates for the year are:
October 17, 31
November 21
December 5, 19
January 9, 23
February 13, 27
March 12, 26
April 9, 30
May 14, 28
Free NASA Opportunities For Students
The Virginia Space Grant Consortium (VSGC) provides the following FREE STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) opportunities for Virginia high school students.
9TH GRADE
Building Leaders for Advancing Science and Technology (BLAST). The BLAST program targets students with at least a C+ average and an interest in STEM coursework or those who have not yet discovered the excitement of STEM. Students will have an opportunity to engage in innovative, hands-on activities while residing on a university campus. https://blast.spacegrant.org/
10TH GRADE
Virginia Space Coast Scholars (VSCS) – Online course for 10th grade students focusing on missions flown or managed by NASA Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, with a week-long summer academy program at NASA Wallops Flight Facility. http://vscs.spacegrant.org/
11TH AND 12TH GRADE
Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars (VASTS) – Online course for 11th and 12th grade students focusing on NASA’s human spaceflight missions and the Journey to Mars with a week-long summer academy at NASA Langley Research Center. Students can earn up to four free dual enrollment college credits. http://vsgc.odu.edu/VASTS/
11TH AND 12TH GRADE
Virginia Earth System Science Scholars (VESSS) – This interactive online earth science course for 11th and 12th grade students feature NASA scientific research and data. Students can earn up to five dual enrollment college credits and can also be selected to attend a summer academy program at NASA Langley Research Center. http://vsgc.odu.edu/VESSS
See the flyer here for more information.
Professional Learning Opportunity
Please see this flyer for two professional learning opportunities that VBEA is sponsoring. They are great courses and award 15 points each. They are blended learning which means there is some face-to-face time and some online. They are open to VBEA members and non-members alike.
Food Sampling
On October 22, chefs from the division's culinary team will be at LHS making sausage, egg and cheese kolaches and will be sampling them out during lunch time to the students. This is a new scratch product that the division wants to try in our high schools and LHS has been chosen to test this item. The kolache has been named the "Eagles Nest." Hopefully the students will like it and it will be a new entrée we can start serving. If you are interested, please come down to the cafeteria during lunch and have a sample!
Live Announcements
The first broadcast of our live announcement format is Tuesday, October 15. These live daily announcements will replace the PA announcements, but we will still also have the scrolling PowerPoint announcements. An announcement will be made at the beginning of 2nd block reminding teachers to tune in to the live announcements.
If you want to submit information for the live announcements or the PowerPoint, you should access this form.
PSAT Information
The PSAT will be conducted division-wide on Wednesday, October 16. All 9th, 10th and 11th grade students will participate in this PSAT testing. Seniors will participate in a presentation by our counseling department and other activities during this testing time. This year no late bus run will be available. We will not be having Advisory on October 16.
Heritage Week Display Boards
Our third annual Heritage Week will bring back the opportunity for clubs, groups, athletic teams, and grade levels, to create a large display board. It should showcase your group's “dreams” in keeping with our theme this year, "Chase Your Dreams".
We will be decorating the boards after school on Wednesday, November 6th from 2:20-5:00. The boards will be displayed around the school until the end of November. If you are interested in having your group participate, please respond to this google form: https://forms.gle/iv3G7kjFnttu9D9w9
Heritage Week Family Carnival
This year our Heritage Week Family Night will be held Wednesday, November 20th from 6-8 p.m. and will have a carnival theme. This is a time for us to invite our students and their families to an evening of fun and fellowship. Clubs and other extracurricular activities are encouraged to sign up to host games and activities, such as bingo, cornhole, duck pond, fishing, etc. Please sign up to help using this link.
Heritage Week Color Fun Run
Kudos
Kudos to the following orchestra students who passed through the audition process and been have been selected to represent LHS at the Southeastern Regional Orchestra event. These auditions are extremely competitive with over 450 students auditioning.
Derek Poore-Abad, 9th grade- violin
Arwyn Dick, 9th grade- viola
Cody Zheng, 9th grade- viola
Lily Cake, 10th grade- violin
Jonas Martin, 10th grade- Violin alternate
Reign Hammett, 10th grade- Bass alternate
Pamela Rushing, 12th grade- 1st Bass Alternate: Symphony Level
Congratulations to the marching band who placed 1st in their class and also winning best color guard at the Grassfield competition. They placed 2nd in their class at the VMBC Tidewater Regional Championship!
Kudos to Bruce Sundberg, Michelle Dowdy, & Shelly Blanshan for setting up a Makerspace in the cafeteria recently when the Library had to be closed for an outside organization's function.
Kudos to our JV and Varsity cheerleaders who volunteered this weekend at the More Than Pink Walk.
Congratulations to the winners of our fabulous prizes at Monday's staff meeting: Jake Newman, Susan Muehlig, Fran Schoening, William Wales, Esther Coulter, Andrew Williams, Kay Gramling, & Sue Hitchings. The app that Mrs. Morris used to randomly select recipients is the Fruit Machine. It can be found here: http://www.classtools.net/education-games-php/fruit_machine
Monday, 10/14
Virtual Learning Day
Professional Learning Day
ILT Meeting, 1:00, Library
Girls Volleyball @ Currituck, 5:00
PTSA Meeting, 6:00, Library
Tuesday, 10/15 (B)
SCA General Assembly, Lunch, Auditorium
Senior Cap/Gown Orders, Lunch, Cafeteria
Field Hockey vs. PAHS, 4:00
Volleyball @ Kellam, 4:00
Wednesday, 10/16 (A)
PSAT Testing
Senior Cap/Gown Orders, Lunch, Cafeteria
Thursday, 10/17 (B)
Parent Conferences, 2:20, Cafeteria
Field Hockey @ Green Run, 4:00
Volleyball vs OLHS, 4:00
Navigating the Journey, 5:30, VBCC
JV Football vs PAHS, 6:00
Friday, 10/18 (A)
Family Picnic with Kellam HS, 5:30
Football vs Kellam, 7:00
10/14: Cindy Enroughty, Special Education
10/14: Dawn Euman, Math
10/15: Ray Manlunas, Math
10/17: Ricardo Artajo, Custodian
10/18: Laura Newsham, Science
Yearbook Info Needed
If you are a club sponsor, please fill out this short form so that our yearbook staff can plan to cover your club’s members and activities so that they are featured in this year’s yearbook. https://forms.gle/1bK2EXccpJyjsTCN7
Principal's Advisory Committee
Landstown High School
Email: cheryl.askew@vbschools.com
Website: http://www.landstownhs.vbschools.com/
Location: 2001 Concert Drive, Virginia Beach, VA, USA
Phone: 757-648-5500
Twitter: @LandstownEagles