Fowler USD #225
October 2018 Newsletter
FOWLER SCHOOLS
Email: erarden@usd225.org
Website: www.usd225.org
Location: 100 East 8th Avenue, Fowler, KS, USA
Phone: 620-646-5661
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Fowler-USD-225-121272627970328/?ref=ts
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Fowler Spiritwear
Important Notice
ACT News
The Kansas Legislature appropriated funds for a statewide contract to provide one free ACT assessment to all high school juniors and any seniors who haven’t had the opportunity to take it. The test date will be Wednesday, February 20, 2019. FHS will be making arrangements for students to take advantage of this opportunity.
Homecoming Royalty Crowned
Saul Medina and Jackie De La Torre were crowned Fall 2018 Homecoming King and Queen. The other candidates were Jurney Bird, Savannah Bollinger, Alexa Snook, and Kambrey Weber.
Student Councils Elected
High School StuCo:
Savannah Bollinger, President
Saul Medina, Vice President
Kambrey Weber, Secretary
Caleb Heinz, Treasurer
Alexa Snook, Senior Rep
Hannah Masri, Junior Rep
Oscar Teran, Sophomore Rep
Charlie Littlewood, Freshman Rep
Middle School StuCo:
Jacelyn Huelskamp, President
Lexus Shelby, Vice President
Abby Zortman, Secretary
Wyatt Ellis, 8th Grade Rep
James Littlewood, 7th Grade Rep
Veronica Garcia, 6th Grade Rep
Spotlight on Internships - Kambrey Weber
Spotlight on Exchange Students - Hannah Masri
Hannah Masri joins us this year from Brazil. Her host parents are Randy and Lisa Tatro. Hannah chose to become a foreign exchange student because she knows it is good to take advantage of opportunities and take chances. She hopes this experience will create a spark about what she wants to do later in life and expose her to new ideas for career options.
Hannah has enjoyed the kindness of the people of Fowler. She observes that our students are accepting and not mean. She originally hoped to go to a large city, but now realizes that this is a great environment for her. Hannah's biggest challenge at school this year has been math. In Brazil students take 4 years of integrated math rather than single years of single subjects, such as algebra, geometry, etc. Also, math class in Fowler involves a lot of application and inquiry which she is not used to, but is starting to become more comfortable with. When asked about what she likes/dislikes, Hannah shared that she thinks oatmeal is disgusting.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Summit Learning Platform
Here are some Frequently Asked Questions about the Summit Learning Platform. As always, should you have a question or concern please contact the school to discuss with Mr. Bollinger and Mrs. McDowell.
My student is frustrated.
We acknowledge this feeling in our students. It is a normal part of the learning process, especially in starting something new.
One part of the new program is learning positive habits and dealing with stress.
It is okay to struggle in the learning process because it leads to growth, but we’re also mindful that we don’t want the struggle to stop productivity. This is why the mentoring program is key. Students are able to process their feelings and set realistic goals with their mentor.
My student is not making progress in focus areas.
This is a new system. It is more rigorous than students are accustomed to. Students are shifting from memorizing information to applying it, which will lead to a greater understanding of content.
Focus areas are not graded until they are mastered.
As the process identifies areas of struggle, teachers will offer workshops. Workshops are mini-lessons that target a specific skill.
Focus Fridays are available every Friday from 9:00-11:00 for extra help.
SDL Focus Groups will be offered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4:00-5:30 during Aspire.
Parents can monitor progress through the Summit Platform. Contact the HS office for your parent login information.
My student doesn’t know how to get help.
Students can express their need for help in several ways:
Put their name in the “Help Request” column in the learning lab.
E-mail or talk to the subject matter teacher directly.
Share with their mentor during their weekly meeting and develop a plan.
Attend Focus Friday.
My student doesn’t understand how they are graded.
Projects have steps, or checkpoints, throughout the process that help them receive feedback on the quality of their performance. Upon completion of the final product, they will receive a grade. Projects can take several weeks to complete. Even after completing the project, students can improve their grade by making edits based on the feedback received from the teacher.
Focus areas receive credit when completed. If a student has not yet passed a focus area, it is not yet included in their grade.
My student wants to work on Summit outside of school time.
Students are allowed to work on their projects and focus areas outside of school.
Students may not take content assessments outside of school because assessments have to be monitored.
We ask that parents be involved in monitoring at home work to help students to stay focused on their tasks.
I am concerned that in another town, a link to a resource presented an ad that when clicked, went to an inappropriate site.
The Summit resource was not inappropriate, but the ad that popped up could lead to inappropriate content.
This was in another town and did not affect us directly, but Summit has fixed the issue and is currently re-vetting all of their resources.
We do have filters set up with our devices and our devices are locked, meaning the devices are filtered even when outside of our building.
We also have additional monitoring software that provides alerts to content and also allows the principal the ability to check student devices at any time.
We actively monitor our learning areas and classrooms and encourage parents to do the same when their students are working at home.
Summit learning constantly reviews, vets and updates links. Our teachers also review the resources in their subject matter.
With that said, and as we do the best we can, there is no guarantee that every bad thing can be blocked in the internet age. Not everything can be prevented. The best recipe for success is that we constantly review and monitor our students and children as educators and parents. At school and at home. Please communicate with your children about internet safety.
Thank you.
Mr. Bollinger
The Leader in Me
Our new social-emotional program is off to an exciting start! Currently, students are servings as greeters in the morning before school, and the Lighthouse Leadership Council has been newly elected. 7 habits theme songs and encouraging announcements kick-start our day. Students are learning to record data about their attendance and academics in their Leadership Notebooks, and our school is fully on track to meet our Wildly Important Goal for the first quarter. We are putting the finishing touches on our school banner and the frames for our class photos which will brighten up our main hallway. In addition, this month you will begin to see additional opportunities for students to serve in a wider variety of leadership roles throughout the school. Information about the habit we are studying this month is shared below. Teachers and students are loving "The Leader in Me" program!
Leadership Notebook
Greeters
Greeters
Habit 1 - Be Proactive
This month students will begin learning about the first habit- Be Proactive- in more detail. Being proactive means that we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We can be happy and accept those things that at present we can't control, while we focus our efforts on the things that we can.
Here is a kid-friendly description of the first habit:
Habit 1: Be Proactive
I am a responsible person.
I take initiative.
I choose my actions, attitudes, and moods.
I do not blame others for my mistakes.
I can only be offended if I choose to be.
You can reinforce what your child is learning at school by using the phrases above in your home.
Lighthouse Leadership Council
Landon Bollinger, President
Eliana Zortman, Vice President
Class Representatives- Micah McDowell, 5th; Jacob McNemer, 4th; Bobby Littlewood, 3rd; Beau Swope, 2nd; Carlie Bartlett, 1st; & Charles Gainey, Kindergarten.
*Abby Cunningham will serve as 1st grade representative during 2nd semester.
ATHLETICS & ACTIVITIES
Fall sports teams:
High School Cross Country
Elijah Zortman
Coach: Mr. Taylor Bollinger
High School Football
Charlie Littlewood
Felipe Granados
Alex De La Torre
Oscar Teran
David Hewitt
Daniel Garcia
Taein Nam
Darien De La Torre
Blaze Bilodeau
Alejandro Arnillas
Saul Medina
Emie Carrillo
Coach: Mr. Craig Maynard
Assistant Coach: Mr. Drew Glenn
Junior High Football
James Littlewood
Jimmy Fink
High School Volleyball
Avery Bollinger
Odalis Castillo
Hailey Ellis
Morgan Durbin
Hannah Masri
Sydney Bollinger
Kambrey Weber
Alexa Snook
Savannah Bollinger
Manager: Logen Black
Coach: Mr. Jeff Bollinger
Junior High Volleyball
Shaylin Garcia
Ryleigh Foster
Joselyn Romesburg
Kimberly Velez-Prieto
Jacelyn Huelskamp
Abby Zortman
Veronica Garcia
Olivia Durbin
Lexus Shelby
Kiera Holt
Willow Juenemann
Coach: Mrs. Corri McDowell
High School Cheer
Kenzie Anderson
Avery Bollinger
Jackie De La Torre
Morgan Durbin
Hailey Ellis
Jackie Hewitt
Angelica Mendoza
Odalis Castillo
Jahim Ross
Coach: Mrs. Lisa Tatro
Junior High Cheer
Kayla Allen
Jayden Bartlett
Olivia Durbin
Veronica Garcia
Kiera Holt
Danny McLachlan
Lexus Shelby
Lily Hankins
Jacelyn Huelskamp
James LIttlewood
Ethan Boese
Ryleigh Foster
Shaylin Garcia
Samanta Granados
Joselyn Romesburg
Damian Teran
Kimbery Velez-Prieto
Coach: Mrs. Erica Littlewood-Rarden
Good Luck Scholars' Bowl
MONTH IN REVIEW - Our Experiences
Mrs. Federau - Guest Presenter at K-State
On September 11, Cheyenne Federau taught a few lessons of the CASE Intro to Food and Natural Resources course to college students at Kansas State. CASE (Curriculum for Agriculture Science Educators) was designed to incorporate more science into agriculture education, while challenging students using inquiry and project based learning.
Because the CASE platform in so in depth, teachers must be trained to teach the curriculum. Mrs. Federau attended her CASE training for AFNR during the summer of 2017 in Minnesota; she uses this resource for her Intro to Ag classes. The last two years, Kansas State had trained their ag ed students the semester before they student teach to help prepare them for the classroom. Mrs. Federau was asked to help train these future teachers, and thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to give back to the ag ed profession.
Fowler High School is proud of Mrs. Federau for her leadership and for representing our school in this way!