Bright Local Schools is excited about our local report card. As a district we have evaluated the areas for improvements and have taken necessary step's to make positive changes. We will celebrate our success and not become complacent with our success. A huge THANK YOU to the entire staff who works tirelessly helping our students. Student Growth/Student Achievement/Student Well Being !

Please see the attached rating for Bright Local Schools Special Education Program. As you see our District excels in meeting the needs of all students. We are proud of our special education teams throughout the district. Along with the special education teams is a heartfelt thank you to the teachers for putting in all the time for creating differentiated lessons for all students.

Last but not least please be sure to give out Special Education Director Ms. Beresford a huge congratulations for the hard work and dedication to our students

On Behalf of Bright Local Schools we would like to thank First State Bank for their commitment to our students and staff.

About FSB

16 locations across Southern Ohio and Eastern Kentucky

Founded in 1884 and locally owned and operated (local decision making)

Employee 178 people and we are headquartered in Winchester

We are very involved in our communities with “Give Backs”

We offer digital banking services

Online and mobile banking – including mobile check deposit

(for personal and business)

Our new debit cards will have the contactless technology (tap

to pay) and can be added to your mobile wallet

Final Call for Spirit Sales

HS is Ivree Burns & Jr. High is Jenna Canada

The Scholastic Book Fair begins Monday, November 13th - 17th. Online book fair will open on Friday, Nov 10th and run through Nov 23rd. Go to the book fair webpage for more information and to preview some of the titles expected at this year's book fair: bit.ly/3seKO9x

For easier purchasing, setup the eWallet (bit.ly/3SiWF0S) which is a safe cash-free way for your child to shop the Fair. A portion of the purchases will help support the Bright Elementary Library in purchasing new books.
Thank you!

Fire Safety at Bright Elementary

Congratulations to 1st 9 Weeks Awards for Mrs. Farris preschool classes !

Mrs Nancymae Ogden was nominated by Mrs. Shelton as our hardworking Wildcat!! She is an amazing intervention specialist, always working to help all students make growth!!!

Sophomore parent night @ Southern Hills CTC in Georgetown will be on Monday November 20th beginning at 6pm.

On November 3rd, Bright Local proudly hosted the highly anticipated Highland County College Fair. The event proved to be a resounding success, with over 30 colleges, universities and military branches in attendance.

The college fair, held at Whiteoak, provided a valuable platform for students to explore various higher education opportunities. Representatives from many institutions were present to engage with eager students and provide them with valuable insights into their programs.

The success of this event would not have been possible without the dedicated efforts of several individuals. Bright Local extends its heartfelt gratitude to Ashlie Webster, Karie Emery, Kaylnn Bell, Taylor Reed, Kristen Cover, Matt Risner, and Travis Bogart for their invaluable contributions in making this event a success.

Whiteoak High School, in particular, was honored to welcome students from all Highland County High Schools. Over 200 students had the opportunity to attend the fair, broadening their horizons and gaining exposure to a multitude of educational pathways.

Looking ahead, we eagerly anticipate hosting this remarkable event again next year. The college fair serves as a crucial stepping stone for students as they consider their post-graduation options. Whiteoak remains steadfast in its commitment to supporting all students in achieving their college and career aspirations.

As the academic year progresses, we will continue to provide guidance and resources to ensure that every student is equipped to pursue their chosen path successfully. Together, we can empower our students to reach their full potential and forge a bright future.

Whiteoak is reaching out to community members to become part of their mentoring program. In a world where young individuals face numerous challenges and uncertainties, the role of adult mentors has never been more crucial. Research consistently shows that having a supportive adult figure in a young person’s life can significantly enhance their personal growth and development, leading to improved academic performance, increased self-confidence and a brighter future. By matching caring adults with young individuals in need, the program seeks to foster a nurturing environment where dreams can flourish and potential can be unlocked. The benefits of becoming a mentor extend far beyond the mentee's growth. Mentors often find the experience personally rewarding, gaining a sense of fulfillment by making a difference in someone's life.

To us mentoring means helping each other grow as people, learn new skills, meet new people, and become the best version of ourselves. I formed a friendship with Becca and Mia. They teach me about what teens are experiencing in the world today and I hope to help them in challenging life transitions. Becca and Mia gained a deeper relationship with each other, increased their communication skills, and are learning to support, encourage one another. We all agree that we would recommend mentoring. Our connection is built on trust, and we are building a meaningful relationship with each other. Our project is to try and cook a different item once a month throughout the school year.

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Whiteoak invites individuals from all walks of life to join the mentoring program. Whether you are a seasoned professional, a retiree with a wealth of wisdom, or a young adult looking to give back, your unique perspective and guidance can make a lasting impact. By participating as an adult mentor, you will have a chance to build a meaningful relationship with a mentee, providing them with support and encouragement. Together, you can navigate challenges, set goals, and celebrate achievements, creating a bond that will leave a lasting impression on both of your lives. WHS will provide you with training and ongoing support to ensure that mentors are equipped with the necessary tools and resources to make a meaningful difference. If you would like to join the movement, please contact Ms.Bach at Whiteoak. Together, our mentors will help unlock students’ potential to shape a brighter future for our community.

Creative Minds of WHS

Whiteoak High and its driver education contractor, The Driving Authority, have partnered to provide a quality basic Driver Education program to all students. The goal of the program is to provide new drivers with a base of knowledge and safe motoring skills so that parents can continue the state-required additional instruction and supervision of their young driver, as they develop the knowledge, skills, and experience essential to becoming a safe driver. Any student completing both the 24 hour course and the behind the wheel experience with The Driving Authority will be eligible to receive high school credit.

Driver Education Age Requirement:

The state of Ohio requires anyone under the age of 18 to complete a certified driver education course consisting of at least 24 hours of classroom instruction and a minimum of 8 hours of behind-the-wheel experience.

To be eligible to register for a class session, students must be 15 years and 5 months old by the first day of class. Once a student is age eligible, parents and students can contact the office for a free access code for the online driver education course. The Bright Local Board of Education recognizes the importance of drivers education and will be providing this course at no cost to the student. Once students have completed the course, and have obtained an Ohio driver permit, behind the wheel drives can be scheduled with The Driving Authority. This 8 hour driving portion can be completed during school hours or after school depending on the students availability. The cost of the behind the wheel experience will be offered by The Driving Authority at a discounted price for Bright Local Students. There also may be financial assistance available to students.

For more information, please contact the Whiteoak High School or The Driving Authority. https://thedrivingauthority.com/

JP Gauche

Principal

Whiteoak JH/HS

44 North High St. Mowrystown OH 45155

(937) 442-2241 Ex. 11121

Congratulations to Mrs. Sutter for being selected as our Hardworking Wildcat. Mrs. Sutter is a asset to our district and has been instrumental in getting out Atomic Credit Union off the ground and running. Mrs. Sutter is also our Academic Team Coach.

Congratulations to Mrs. Emery for being selected as our Hardworking Wildcat of the week. Mrs. Emery is consistently helping with students graduation checklist. Mrs. Emery has been a key stakeholder in our college, career, workforce and military readiness.

Annual Staff vs Students Volleyball game. The 8th grade defeated the 7th Grade in game #1. The Staff dominated the final game of the day over the Seniors.

Please be sure to log onto Final Forms and complete the necessary signatures for the 2023-2024 school year. Access information is sent the the email you provided the district.

Parents we need your assistance in getting all the signatures completed. As we prepare for upcoming field trips your student will not be able to participate in events or school functions without completion of all forms.

Any questions please contact:

Travis Bogart

travis.bogart@blsd.us

Cathy Forsythe

cathy.forsythe@blsd.us

Our Mowrystown FFA completed its harvest on November 6th. A special thanks to Eli Roberts and Roberts Farms for completing the harvest. A special thanks to John Gillespie who planted the beans on June 1st. The weed control was managed by our local Nutrien Ag and the seed donation of Ethan Howard/Channel Seed. We greatly appreciate your support of our programs.

Whiteoak HS Graduates Chandra Hill, Bobby and Jessie Satterfield are also receiving their American FFA degree

President- Addison Roberts

Strengthening AG VP- Lydia Carr

Budling Communities VP- Elly McMullen

Growing Leaders VP-Sydney Shelton

Secretary-Kara Deatley

Treasure-Marly Gobin

Reporter-Adrionna Phillips

Sentinel-Tyler Wessner

Student Advisor- Eli Roberts

Congratulations to our elected student council officers.

President --Tyler Wessner
V. Pres. Addison Roberts
Secretary-Sydney Shelton
Treasurer--Lydia Carr
Historian--Christopher Wessner

Mr. Lanham is the advisor for student council.

Our students are working to prepare for Veteran's Day ceremonies.

Save the Date as we honor our local Veterans ! November 10th

- We would like to invite all our active/reserves and veteran's to join us in honor of the service and sacrifice ! We encourage all students to invite a relative or a community member

Whiteoak JH/HS Celebration

7:30 Breakfast- Assembly to Follow

Director of Bands

Contact :

Mr. Alexander McKenna

Director of Bands Whiteoak High School

alex.mckenna@blsd.us

Contact Athletic Director Mr. Miah Call

miah.call@blsd.us

Please mark your calendar and make it out to a game. Please find the new updated schedule for the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year. Winter sports are gearing up. If you have an athlete that is participating in Winter Sports they must have all parent and student forms completed in Final Forms.

Beginning this Winter Sports Season, we are excited to announce that ALL LIVE Streaming will be hosted on a new Platform. Our streaming service, Hudl has created a Whiteoak Fan Page (fan.hudl.com/US/OH/Mowrysto…) where all LIVE Streams & Recordings can be found. We will continue Stream all Whiteoak Basketball HOME Games and were available, some AWAY Games. Viewing is still FREE of charge.

Coach Veidt will be inducted on January 19th in Columbus Ohio.

Please see the attached schedules. These schedules are tentative and subject to change. UPDATED

For the first time in our still very young program, we are going to be sending a record number of four teams to the state tournament to represent Whiteoak!

Boys Passers

Boys Wings

Boys Kickers

Girls Strikers

Our Athletic Boosters at the JH & HS are in need of new members. Please consider joining and helping our athletic department run smoothly.

We need volunteers. Our athletic department is ran on supportive and caring parents/guardians who have vested interests in our student athletes. Over they past few decades parents have stepped up to help and lead the athletic boosters. We need your help !

Contact Kim Carr for details kim.carr@blsd.us

Bright Elementary - There are some new state requirements beginning this school year. All school districts in the state of Ohio are required to provide curriculum in child sexual abuse awareness and prevention as apart of HB 85. Ohio passed Erin's law which requires schools to provide developmentally appropriate instruction each year to students K-12th grade on this topic.
Bright Elementary will be starting this instruction on Monday, November 6th. We will be using a state approved curriculum called “Fight Child Abuse”. The videos and lessons can be easily located by clicking the link provided at FightChildAbuse.org. Parents/Guardians may view these videos/lessons and have the option of sending in a note asking that your child(ren) be excused from this instruction. Please provide the notes no later than Monday, November 6th.

Any questions, reach out to Principal Gobin.

Please stay tuned for information regarding JH/HS Updates

We are grateful for our amazing JH/HS School counselor Ms. Bach. If you have any questions or concerns with your students schedule, graduation pathway, financial aide, scholarships, social/emotional needs ,mentoring, CCP courses, mental health services, etc

UPCOMING REMINDERS AND DATES

ASVAB test will be given to all juniors on line this year for the first time. This will be a quicker way for students to receive their test results.

Oct 20th Connect To College Event for juniors and seniors. Students will travel to Brown County Southern State Campus to participate in this event.

The Connect to College program is open to juniors and seniors from area high schools to get a glimpse of what Southern State has to offer from a technical degree perspective (i.e. early childhood education, business, computer science, etc.) post graduation. There will be conversations about scholarship opportunities, pathway programs, and break out sessions for students to attend.

Southern Hills Career Center will be visiting WHS on October 24th to share information with the 10th graders.

Contact Ms. Alison Bach alison.bach@blsd.us

Reminder to Bright Local Junior parents our practice ACT will be given to all Juniors on November 16th

ASVAB test date OCT 25th for juniors and interested seniors (old gym 7:30)

ASVAB interpretation date Nov 9th 7:30

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is a multiple-aptitude battery that measures developed abilities and helps predict future academic and occupational success in the military. It is administered annually to more than one million military applicants, high school, and post-secondary students. If your student is considering the military, please feel free to contact Ms. Bach for further information. alison.bach@blsd.us or 937-442-2241 ext. 11112

Links for information and practice tests

FAFSA NIGHT ( seniors and parents come out for some help with the FAFSA Nov 2nd 6 PM WHS library)

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a form available every year that determines your eligibility for college-related financial assistance. This can be overwhelming, so if you need support or have questions please contact Ms. Bach at alison.bach@blsd.us or 937-442-2241 ext. 11112

ACT (American College Test)

We believe in helping all students strive and thrive to meet their career readiness goals. Bright Local recognizes that each student is unique and will follow their own pathway for after graduation. Some students may consider serving in the military, some may consider entering the workforce, while others will pursue a college track.

The ACT is a test that all juniors are required to take at WHS. Those students planning on a college pathway should consider this test as a high priority. The higher the test score the more potential for scholarship dollars. We are preparing our students to do their best on this test. Students will be provided test prep, as well as individualized support when requested. Please find below information regarding test prep dates and test dates.

ACT prep for juniors/seniors

ACT dates for 23-24 ( students may qualify for a test waiver and can see Ms. Bach for details)

Click link

Mentoring

Whiteoak is proud to have a peer/adult mentoring program. If you have a student that would like to have a mentor or have questions about the program contact Ms. Bach for more information. We are also looking for community leaders willing to mentor students. IF you are interested in being a volunteer please reach out to Mrs. Bogart or Ms. Bach. Last year we served over 30 students in the mentoring program. Mentoring can help make a difference in a child’s life.

Each year students in grades 6-11th are provided with the opportunity to participate in the College Credit Plus opportunity. Parents and students are required to attend the information session that is provided each year. This information can be found on the school website. The information session for students wishing to participate in the 24-25 school year will be announced soon, please stay tuned.

Whiteoak collaborates with several area colleges to give students the opportunity to take college classes. Here are a few of the links to area colleges and additional information links.

Please contact Mrs. Gobin for questions or concerns

Right now, we have 38 active student members and multiple pending applications. After today, our third day operating, both schools combined have had almost $1600 in deposits. The high school is doing a membership drive until November 8th as a competition between the workers to see who can get the most referrals. So far it is going well and bringing in new members. We will be having a pizza party lunch for any HS student that is a member between now and November 15th. Atomic is hoping to attend any events the schools are having so that we can reach more parents. Thank you for all the support we have been given!

Atomic Credit Union Starting soon. Please watch for district updates.

Bright Local Schools is currently looking for qualified individuals to give quotes on:

Concrete work @ Whiteoak JH/HS

Land- Leveling grade work @ the Elem

If interested please contact Maintenance Supervisor

Matt Risner

913-442-2241

*Bright Local Schools is currently accepting applications for substitute/full time bus drivers.

lynn.decker@blsd.us

Parents and community members are invited to follow us on Facebook (Bright Local Schools) and Twitter (@BrightLocalSD) to receive updated information from the district.

If you have items you would like to be included/considered for the Bright Local Newsletter, please send to jason.iles@blsd.us