Regina Jr Sr High Newsletter
April 2024
From the Principal
April is a busy month at Regina. We enter the Easter season as April begins and our seniors depart on their senior trip the evening of Easter Sunday. We then have ISASP testing the week of April 8. More information on ISASP's is given later n the newsletter. We also have prom, our Junior High play, and spring activities.
The monthly intention of Pope Francis for April is for the role of women. The intention is "We pray that the dignity and immense value of women be recognized in every culture, and for the end of discrimination that they experience in different parts of the world." One particular woman who played a huge role in the Catholic Church is St. Catherine of Siena. Her feast day is April 29. The Italy trip travelers were able to see St. Catherine's reliquary at Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome and her head at the Basilica of San Domenico in Siena. This month's prayer is St. Catherine's prayer to the
Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit, come into my heart; draw it to Thee by Thy power, O my God,
and grant me charity with filial fear.
Preserve me, O beautiful love, from every evil thought; warm me, inflame me with Thy dear love, and every pain will seem light to me.
My Father, my sweet Lord, help me in all my actions.
Jesus, love, Jesus, love. Amen.
Yours in Christ,
Glenn Plummer
Upcoming Events
Our Activities Calendar can be found at https://www.rivervalleyconference.org/public/genie/628/school/9/.
Regina Spirit Days
We will have Regina Spirit days throughout the year. The dates below will be Regina Spirit Days.
Students are allowed to wear Regina Activities, Club, or other Regina clothing on these days. Bottoms can be jeans or any dress code bottom. (No sweatpants, yoga pants, or athletic shorts.)
Apr. 5, 18
May 3, 17
Monthly Adoration
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F054DAFA72CA75-eucharistic
ISASP Information
The Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) will be given the week of April 8. The testing schedule will be one test each day on Monday-Thursday. Seniors do not need to report until 9:30 or their first scheduled class. Students in grades 7, 9, 11, and 12 do not need to report until 9:30 on Thursday as only 8th and 10th graders take the Science exam. The full schedule is here.
Students are encouraged to get a good night's sleep and eat a good breakfast prior to these tests. Data gathered from these assessments are used to measure program effectiveness and student progress.
To ensure integrity and security during ISASP testing, the Student Honor Code will be read to each student. This communicates behavioral expectations during testing.
InQuizition
27. According to the Gospels, Jesus' first public miracle was:
- walking on water
- causing a gigantic catch of fish for Peter, James, and John
- healing a leper
- the multiplication of the loaves
- changing water into wine
28. Jesus called these two disciples "Sons of Thunder":
- Peter & Andrew
- Peter & Paul
- James & John
- Aquila & Priscila
- Philip & Bartholomew
Post Prom Information
The parents of the class of 2025 have planned a great tailgate-themed Post Prom event to be held April 13, 2024 from 10:30pm - 2am at the Iowa Memorial Union. All upperclassmen (regardless of attendance at Prom) and their dates are encouraged to attend! See attached flyer with details.
To-Do: Return a signed Post Prom Liability Release and Early Departure Form - *All students and guests (including underclassmen dates and guests from other schools) need these forms signed by parents/guardians and returned by the deadline in order to attend. Due Friday, April 5 Pay the Post Prom fee. Post Prom is $25 per student (please see the attached flyer). This includes pizza, soda/water, and desserts, helps cover the rental fee for the space, cost of prizes, and the price of the magician! Checks can be made out to Regina Class of 2025. In the memo line please note 2024 Post Prom.Due Friday, April 5 Sponsorships and Prize Donations: Post Prom Donations/Sponsors sign-up Monetary donations: Send a Venmo to: @Annie-Gavin-1 or cash/checks can be dropped off at the school. Money raised will be used to acquire additional prizes and support the 2024 Post Prom. *One of the BEST parts of Post Prom is the PRIZES! These will be given out at the end of the night and students and guests must be present to win.* Please note that the above information is for the 2024 Post Prom party ONLY – not for the Regina Prom dance, which will be held earlier in the evening at Old Brick.
Department Updates
Counseling
From the School Counselors’ Desks
Recent & Upcoming Highlights:
Mental Health Minute:
Look in your inbox for this new monthly resource. It provides ideas for strengthening student, family, and staff well-being. Here is March's Mental Health minute on unlocking the power of quality sleep.
Up-Coming College Visits
In the month of April, the following schools are visiting Regina to meet with students during lunch:
Kirkwood Community College April 9th
Morrison Institute of Technology April 16th
Post-Secondary Opportunities:
The FAFSA is open for the 24-25 school year. Step-by-Step Virtual Completion Assistance is still available through ICAN and can be scheduled here on the ICAN website
For rising 11th and 12th grade students: Kirkwood Academy course registration is going on now. View the Kirkwood Academy Plan of Study and complete the Kirkwood Registration steps. Students are accepted on a first come first serve basis.
For rising 11th and 12th grade students: the Kirkwood catalog for Fall 2024 opened on March 1st. Students can view course options by logging in with their K# and password at www.kirkwood.dualenroll.com Registration opened on March 18th. A Kirkwood rep visited on March 21st to help students with questions and registration.
On March 6th, Mrs. Zoulek brought 8 students to the Young Women in Leadership Conference at UNI. There they heard from speakers about leadership and “owning your brand” of uniqueness.
Scholarships:
National opportunities for seniors here, with deadlines approaching.
English
Seventh Grade–I am so glad to be back after my ordeal with two tumors. In the month I was off, I missed my students immensely. I grew closer to the Lord as He showed me to wait on Him for the results of my pathology. They told me two weeks. It was four. I actually got my result after my return to the classroom. He strengthens us in our infirmities. We are presently working on the Outsiders. We have a test this week over Chapters 1-5. Then, we will proceed with Chapters 7-12 and test again over those. As we move through Spring, we will be going into The Five People You Meet in Heaven. In Language Arts we are doing a project on Family History. They are working on their Pedigree Sheets this week. April 12th, they have a Book Report Due–their last. On April 26th, they have a Report Due on where their grandparents settled and what is special about that area–farming, natural resources, what they might have done for an occupation, etc. On May 17th, they will turn in a Family Tree with their information put to a nice project that they can keep as a keepsake or memento of their family.
English 8 and ELA In English 8, we are wrapping up The Hobbit this week and beginning a new mini unit on poetry. We will be studying traditional and nontraditional poetry and will read poetry from Robert Frost, Alice Walker, Julio Noboa,Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, Marilyn Nelson, and more. In Language Arts, we are working on how to write a classic five-paragraph essay in preparation for ISASP. We are also beginning a new unit on commas and will be learning how to take notes independently from nonfiction that we read.
9th Grade English The ninth grade students are currently working on the formatting of the 5-Paragraph essay. This will be continued through the first weeks of April in addition to the ISASP testing. We will complete the unit the week of April 15-19, after which we will begin the poetry unit that will carry us into May. The highlight of the poetry unit is an analysis of the book Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds.
10th Grade English The tenth grade class has begun work on their semester final essay, which will continue to be worked on between our other units. ISASP practice and testing are the focus of the first two weeks of April. During the week of April 15-19 the classes will analyze the film version Speak. This analysis will involve in-depth Socratic discussions that should be very interesting for the students. We will complete the month of April with work on the poetry unit.
11th Grade English: We are finishing The Great Gatsby and will write a paper on The American Dream. After we prep and complete the ISASP testing, we’ll move on to reading Of Mice and Men. Students usually enjoy this sad and touching Steinbeck novel. We will continue our weekly ACT prep and do some ACT multiple choice prep as well.
12th Grade English: We are reading 1984. They seem to be enjoying this dystopian novel and the interesting topics raised in it. Seniors are also finishing their Senior Seminar research papers, which were in collaboration with English class.
AP English Language and Composition: We are finishing our argument essay prep and moving into the synthesis essay, which is basically an argumentative essay using documents as support. We are also in full test prep mode as the May exam is quickly approaching.
AP English Literature and Composition: We are completing our Poetry Madness brackets and reading many wonderful poems. It will be interesting to see which poem will be chosen as the winner. Students are also reading their second outside reading novel. At the completion of that read, they will compile an extensive review project based on all of the novels we have read in preparation for the AP exam.
Math
Math 7: We finished our unit on Data Analysis that covered Survey’s, Samples, Probability and Measures of Central Tendency. The students did their own surveys, graphed them and presented their findings to the class. In April, we will be revisiting solving equations to maintain those ideas, as well as other maintaining skills to prepare for the ISASPS. For Pi Day we did a representation of the first 20 digits. Pictures are included of some surveys and the Pi digits.
PreAlgebra: We have started the unit on Geometry. This includes angle relationships, properties of polygons, area and volume. The students will have a lot of vocabulary to know for the assessment on geometry. Then for Area, they will get an opportunity to create their own zoo based on what space is required for different animals. To conclude the Geometry Unit, the students will do some research on buildings and create a toothpick tower to hold a baseball.
Religion
Theology 11: Our students have started the unit on the Vocation of Marriage. This will include an interview of a married couple and researching different cultures’ wedding traditions and comparing them to the Catholic Sacrament. We will finish the year with the Vocation of Holy Orders and better understand the call to those orders. Hopefully we can have a priest visit to gain an understanding of their vocation.
Science
7th Grade Science - The students are taking a whirling tour through Genetics. The picture shows the students doing an essential vocabulary sorting activity. SpongeBob Square Pants and Zorks will help the students predict possible trait outcomes with Punnett squares.
Science 8: 8th grade students just finished up their unit on chemical reactions in science class. They had a lot of fun exploring various reaction types and are now very ready for Chemistry class in high school. April will see students learning about waves, sound, and light.
Earth and Space Science - The students are using the steps of the
engineering design process to design and build a disaster-resistant structure. We will be testing for earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes. Pray for warmer weather so we can go outside and do our testing! Stay tuned for video and pictures!
Chemistry: Students in chemistry class are learning about acids and bases. They used red cabbage juice and universal indicator pH paper to determine acidity of various substances.
7th grade Science
Genetics Vocab
8th Grade Science
Types of Chemical Reactions
Chemistry
Acids-Bases Lab
Social Studies
Ms. Osweiler Classes
AP Modern World History: Students are learning about global conflicts around the world within Russia, China, the Ottoman Empire, Mexico, and European Countries. World War One and World War Two will be discussed as well.
World History: Students are learning about The Great War. Students are learning about the MAIN cause of the Great War, the advancements in technology, the use of propaganda, and the impact of the outcomes of the war.
Government: Students just started their unit on the executive branch. They will learn about the jobs of the president, vice president, cabinet members, and the bureaucracy.
AP Government: Students are starting their last unit on political participation. Students will learn about the impact of the voter, how elections are run, the impact of the media, and much more.
Mr. Moeller’s Class
Economics: Students are taking some time to learn about how and why we make some of the decisions we do on a daily basis by comparing supply and demand. We talk about how this relates to everyday items like a concession stand to willingness to babysitting for a set fee. As we round out this unit we will then move on to discussing different market structures and how they exist in our society.
Mrs. Wallace’s Classes
AP US History: The APUSH students are busy finishing up Period 7 which includes such expansive topics such as WWI, the Roaring 20s, The Great Depression, and WWII. As we start our prep for our AP exam on Friday, May 10th, the students have also started timed LEQ & DBQ essays in class.
7th Grade Global Studies: In Global Studies, the 7th graders have begun their unit over Africa. We are beginning with a chapter over Southern & Eastern Africa and will be zeroing in our focus on the system of apartheid in South Africa and its effects.
AP Human Geography: We are just finishing our second to last unit in APHG over urbanization. We studied such major issues related to urbanization such as sustainability, urban sprawl, and smart growth policies. We will then begin our last unit over global trade & industry before we start to review for our exam on Tuesday, May 7th.
Kahler’s 8th Grade History :
We are studying the US vs Mexico War, writing a DBQ if it was justified or not. Our next unit will be the Oregon Trail. Then we will move onto the tensions between the North and South. At the end of the month we will finish the last biography of the year.
Spanish
Spanish I Unit 6, Lessons 1-2
Students are learning about household chores and responsibilities.
They are learning the Usted and Ustedes commands to tell others politely to do various things. They are learning the verbs saber to talk about what they know; and conocer to talk about whom they know.
Spanish II Unit 6, Lessons 1-2
Students are learning the Usted and Ustedes command forms of verbs to tell others politely to do various things; they are studying verbs esperar, desear, and querer to express hope and wish for the future; They are using impersonal expressions in Spanish sentences.
Spanish III: Somos 2 Unit 3 - Los jóvenes
Students are focusing on past tense verbs using short stories, songs and videos. Students listened to the song "Todo Cambio" by famous Mexican band Camila.Unit aligns with the AP themes Communities, Friendship and Family Structure
Spanish IV: Huellas Unit 2 - Parecidos
Students are using past, present and future tense verbs to communicate similarities and differences between things and people. Students are reading short stories and watching authentic videos and using them as opportunities to compare and contrast things and people. Unit aligns with the AP theme of Families and Communities.
Regina Junior Senior High School
Email: glenn.plummer@regina.org
Website: www.regina.org
Location: 2150 Rochester Avenue, Iowa City, IA, United States
Phone: (319)-338-5436