Happy Friday before Spring Break! We had an awesome week of deep learning, opportunities, and relationships! I had the chance to observe students and staff working collaboratively in Tech Theater to build new sets for the spring musical, Chemistry students practicing calculations to determine the limiting reactant, and English students presenting about song lyric analysis. The depth of learning and partnership across all of our stakeholders is truly so inspiring.

Additionally, today we honored Stacy Thomson as she completed her last day as our administrative assistant in the MSHS front office as she will be transitioning to her new role as Human Resources Specialist. We will miss her deeply, but we are very excited for her to pursue this new experience!

I hope you all have a fantastic break!

Anna Conrad

Manitou Springs High School

Interim Principal

Spring is a very busy time of the year at the high school, including the spring assessment cycle. For our 9th-11th graders the state assessments will be the SAT Suite of assessments on April 12, 2023 (with makeup testing on April 25, 2023). Furthermore, our 10th and 11th graders will be engaging in an additional assessment this spring: the ACT Career Readiness Assessment for 10th graders and the Science CMAS for 11th graders, both of which will occur April 18, 2023. All of the aforementioned tests are state assessments, except for the ACT Career Readiness test, which MSSD14 gives to sophomores to assess their readiness for post-secondary life and to help them fulfill the new graduation guidelines from the state of Colorado.

While we will accommodate students for makeup assessments, it is most ideal for your student to be at school for the original testing day. Research shows students do better on testing day and it will ensure they aren’t pulled from regular scheduled class time to complete make up testing. Please take this into consideration as you are scheduling time that your student(s) will not be in attendance. Manitou Springs School District encourages full participation of every student in assessments.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the School Assessment Coordinator: Jessie Nunley (jnunley@mssd14.org)

As part of the D14 district-wide plan to highlight student attendance, MSHS is doing an “Attendance Matters” campaign this spring. Our goal is to spread awareness about the impact of absences from school. We’ll be reaching out to families directly & also sharing information via our newsletter. Thanks for partnering with us to promote MSHS Mustang student success by students attending school daily.

SRO Strider and Safety and Security Director Janie Anderson have added information to the Manitou Springs School DIstrict 14 website that parents may be interested in.

Some of the information that has been added is about threat assessments, how to monitor your child's phone and other safety information.

You can find the information here - https://www.mssd14.org/departments/safety_and_security

PaC-MAN (Pedestrian and Cycle Manitou) and Bike Colorado Springs (Bike COS) would like to help disseminate roadway and trail safety information, and organize classes in an effort to save lives and prevent crashes on our roadways.

The attached Laws Handouts cover what is taught in the Bicycle Friendly Driver (BFD) and Auto Friendly Bicyclist (AFB) classes that PaC-MAN and Bike COS teach. Please also know that the League of American Bicyclists now offers Bicycle Friendly Driver training FREE online.

If you have ideas on what other information you would like to see please from Safety & Security email Janie Anderson at janderson@mssd14.org or SRO Strider at astrider@mssd14.org

Physical science tools built tops from Zometools because of the generous donation from this local company. NASA started using Zometools for AIDS virus research in space, and for a space station project. After the discovery of quasicrystals, for which a 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded, both David Shechtman and 2-time Nobel laureate Linus Pauling used Zometool during the debate over whether quasicrystals were real Zometool was and still is the only system capable of modeling quasicrystals. Mathematicians such as Roger Penrose of Oxford University and John Conway of Princeton University use Zometool to model complex geometric forms. Thank you for inspiring students!

Bonus Mustang Strong time digging into thermal heat transfer in an engine with physical science student, Cameron Thompson. During advisory, Cameron is learning more about how an engine works while dismantling it with U.S Air Force Colonel Hyland.

Last week, Manitou High Schools’ Key Club hosted a schoolwide Hunger Week. Throughout the week, the club had dress-up days, a bake sale, a food drive, and a ticket sale to pie the club's advisor and school math teacher, Mike Talbott, at the girl's soccer game. The week was a major success, fundraising more than $350 and gaining over 90 food items to donate to the Food Bank of the Rockies.

The Prospector Article of the Week: Stacy Thomson accepts new position in the MSSD

Gently used formal wear is available for FREE inside the high school media center. The boutique is open now until prom.

French 1 and 2 students practiced their language skills by participating in Journée Café. They used their new French language skills to call over their server, order from a menu, converse with their friends, ask for their bill, and pay using Euros.

Spike W. detailing the artroom's skeleton before spring break!

How I Became an Athletic Trainer (from MSHS Trainer - Jimmy Morin)

My story of how I became an Athletic Trainer starts in High School, 2002, when I suffered a back injury while weight lifting during off-season football. Before this injury, I had no idea what an AT was except we had a guy taping us and watching our games from the sideline. Following my injury, I was in tremendous pain. It was constant and debilitating for over half of my senior year in high school. I visited 2 separate MDs who could not tell me why I was in pain. Frustrating.

I eventually went to a PT clinic where an ATC did my initial eval. He performed a couple tests and without a doubt said, “Oh, this is your sciatic nerve!” No imaging necessary, he just put his hands on my leg and back!! 3 days later an MRI confirmed pinching of my sciatic nerve due to a disk herniation. After that, I told myself “that’s exactly what I want to do”. I still think about how cool that was.

Today I am in year 11 of my professional career. I have worked at the high school level and collegiate, while volunteering with professional football and mixed martial arts. Every year I strive to continue to learn and grow. I have a Masters degree in Physiology, I am a strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS), and currently I am working on a PhD in Higher Education. Medicine continues to evolve, just as human beings do.

I consider it a privilege to always stay prepared so the athletes here at Manitou Springs High School can perform at their very best.

Yours in Healthcare and Sports Medicine,

Jimmy Morin, MS, ATC, CSCS

Saturday, March 25th - Track & Field Varsity Invitational @ Broomfield HS - 9:00am

Saturday, March 25th - Robotics @ State - Magness Arena - All Day

Enjoy your Spring Break! Students return on Monday, April 3rd

Wednesday, April 5th - Late Start Wednesday - school starts at 10:05