Comet Nation,

It is hard to believe we are already two weeks into the 2023-2024 school year! Thank you for your patience and continued support as we settle into this school year. We hope you enjoy this edition of the Steele Report which contains information on homecoming, department updates, and important upcoming dates.

As always, feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns at 440.988.4433. Have a great weekend and Go Comets!

Mr. Tellier

Homecoming 2023 is right around the corner! Festivities begin on Friday, September 29th with a Pep Rally during the school day for students followed by the Homecoming parade down Park Ave. at 5:00 pm. Following the parade, the Comets will be home for a football game starting at 7:00 pm. The Homecoming Dance will be held on Saturday, September 30th from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm in the main gym.

Juniors and seniors! You are cordially invited to attend the 2023 Amherst Schools Distinguished Alumni Gallery of Success induction ceremony on Homecoming Friday, September 29 at 10:00 am in the main gym.

The Gallery of Success was started in 1986 with the purpose of recognizing Amherst’s alumni for their achievements as well as encouraging current students to strive for their goals. Its only requirement is that inductees must have graduated from the Amherst Schools. Past inductees have achieved success through diverse avenues. Just a few examples include:

• Dr. Dale Swift, class of ‘76, is a pediatric neurosurgeon who successfully separated conjoined twins.

• J. Ross Baughman, class of ‘71, is a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist.

• Jim and Gloria Dodson, both class of ‘70, have dedicated their lives to fostering children who would have had nowhere else to go.

• Mr. Powers, class of 1906, and Miss Steele, class of 1903, both of whom built the foundation of the Amherst Schools.

This year, nine new alumni selected by our own student council members will be inducted into the Gallery of Success, each with his or her own path to achievement.

This year's inductees are:

• Joelle Ré ARP-Dunham, ‘86 - Actress & Director

• Dan Knepper, ‘79 - Artist

• Ryan McNaughton, ‘92 - Marketing Director & President, Syracuse Alumni Association

• Joe Miller, ‘87 - State of Ohio Representative

• Dr. Richard Newhart, ‘79 - Periodontist

• Chase Ritenauer, ‘03 - Youngest Mayor of Lorain, Leadership at Allied Waste

• Ronda Stewart, ‘81 - FBI Analyst

• Dr. Jeremy Watson, ‘99 - Chiropractic Physician

• Dave Zvara, ‘69 - Educator and Coach

We look forward to welcoming the junior and senior classes to attend this wonderful event on Homecoming!

All emergency, medical, and contact information for all K-12 students will be collected through the Returning Student Registration process in your PowerSchool Parent Portal account at the start of each school year.

To complete the process, please go to your PowerSchool Parent Portal account, click on the Returning Student Registration link in the left menu, and follow the prompts. For step-by-step directions, please refer to this Online Returning Student Registration Directions document.

If you completed this process last year, most of your child's emergency and contact information will be pre-filled on this year's form. You will simply need to check, verify, and update any changes.

Thank you in advance for updating your returning student's information as soon as possible.

The Ohio Health Department, under Ohio Revised Code 3701.13 and 3313.671, requires all students entering the 12th grade to provide written proof that they have received a dose of the Meningococcal (meningitis) vaccine after age 16.

Please ensure the school has proof of your child’s vaccine on file by September 12th. Students without proof of the meningitis vaccine may be subject to exclusion from school.

A huge shout out to our Link Crew Leaders for all their hard work in making Freshmen Orientation a success! It was great seeing our freshmen start to build relationships with their leaders and fellow classmates. Link Crew cannot wait to continue working with our freshmen throughout year! Please look for further announcements from Link Crew throughout the school year.

This fall on Tuesdays & Thursdays Steele will be hosting college recruiters for a 30-minute presentation with an overview of the college they are representing. College Rep Visits are a great opportunity for juniors and seniors to learn about a college of interest. The recruiters will cover majors, scholarships, support services, and more.

We encourage all juniors and seniors to sign up for at least two visits of interest. Students can sign up to attend the visit by logging into their school-issued Naviance account or they can see Ms. Santos.

The current fall visit schedule is below, but students can tune into SNL to stay in the loop of upcoming college visits!

Seniors, as you begin to plan for college you may have questions such as how to request your transcript or letters of recs, etc. The MLS College & Career Guide has been created with step-by-step instructions to help you through the initial process. Please be sure to check it out.

Link: https://bit.ly/MLSGuide

Students can put a request in to see their counselor by using the QR code that is posted in all classrooms and in the Steele Counseling Office or by clicking this link.

School Counselors:

Mrs. Diaz, Grades 9-11, Last Names A-K

Ms. Rigda, Grades 9-11, Last Names L-Z

Ms. Santos, Grade 12

Need Volunteer Opportunities to meet Ohio's Graduation Requirements? The teachers within the Marion L. Steele Social Studies Department can help! Students can accumulate volunteer hours to show readiness and earn a community service seal. Students are encouraged stop by a social studies teacher's classroom or send an email to learn how to get involved.

In collaboration with Amherst Historical Society, students can get involved with a great local organization that needs volunteers for various events throughout the year. The Amherst Historical Society is located at 113 S. Lake St. in Amherst.

Have you or a family member worked in the Northeast Ohio quarries? Or do you know someone who has worked in the quarries? The Amherst Historical Society would love to interview people with a quarry connection to keep the important stories about the quarries alive! Interviews are being planned to begin in the fall, around September or October. More details will be announced soon!

For more information, please contact the Amherst Historical Society at 440-988-7255 or office@amhersthistoricalsociety.org.

Students can count on the Social Studies Department to help them register to vote! There are voter registration forms located in junior and senior classrooms. Registration requirements for elections include:

* being a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old on or before the day (T, 11-7-23) of the general election (please note: 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by the date of the general election may vote in the primary election for candidates only)

* a resident of Ohio for at least 30 days immediately before the election

* registered to vote at least 30 days before the election. (If you have recently moved to Ohio, you must file a new registration form).

Citizens can also register to vote online through the Ohio Secretary of State's website https://olvr.sos.state.oh.us/ or go to the Lorain County Board of Elections webpage mhttps://www.voteloraincountyohio.gov/

The fall athletic season is underway! Get out and support your peers at our athletic and extracurricular events. Your energy and support of your peers this year at home games has been awesome! Keep it up! Let’s get out to as many events as possible. Our Comet Teams know when you are there and feed off of your energy! Click the link below for a full schedule of our events.

Please consider purchasing a student home athletic event pass. For $50 you can get into all HOME regular season athletic events (HS and Junior HS). The pass does not work for OHSAA or SWC home athletic events. If you have not purchased your pass, yet, please email Mr. Wolf at casey_wolf@amherstk12.org to get instructions and a passcode to purchase your pass.

Stay tuned to various social media platforms for whom the Sliman's Comet Cookie Crumbl Team of the Week will be! Look for announcements each week!

All student athletes (Fall/Winter/Spring), please check your schedules to verify you are in the equivalent of at least five (5) one credit courses each grading period. Please note, that PE courses do NOT count towards your academic eligibility because they are only worth the equivalent of a half credit. If you need to add courses, please see your school counselor. If you are unsure or you want help verifying your eligibility, please see Mr Wolf or your school counselor.

As always, our daily, live, news program will broadcast every school day to bring you up to date information. If you miss a show, make sure to check out the SNL YouTube Channel for past shows and the SNL Twitter feed for highlights of the news.

Important First Quarter Dates:

Monday, September 4th: No School, Labor Day

September 11th - September 15th: Comets Care Week

Tuesday, September 12th: C-Schedule, Jostens Class of 2024 Meeting

Tuesday, September 12th: Proof of Meningitis Vaccine due for Seniors

Tuesday, September 19th: C-Schedule, Jostens Class of 2026 Meeting

September 25th - September 29th: Homecoming Week

Friday, September 29 - Med Tech Health Fair 10:40 am - 12:15 pm

Friday, September 29th: B-Schedule, Homecoming Pep Rally

Friday, September 29th: Gallery of Success

Saturday, September 30th: Homecoming Dance, 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Wednesday, October 11th: PSAT for 9th, 10th & 11th

Thursday, October 12th: Parent-Teacher Conferences, 3:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Friday, October 13th: No School, NEOEA Day

Thursday, October 19th: End of First Grading Period

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