CHS Newsletter
News You Can Use - September 2018
Clinton High School
Email: jagile@clintonwis.com
Website: http://clinton.k12.wi.u
Location: 112 Milwaukee Street, Clinton, WI, USA
Phone: (608) 676-2223
Facebook: https://facebook.com/clintoncommunityschooldistrict
Twitter: @clintonwischool
From the Principal--Homecoming Week
As we are settling into another school year and are ready to kick-off Homecoming Week 2018, I had an amazing realization. I actually started at CHS the year that many of these Seniors were born!! While my first thought was, “Wow. I’m Old.”, my next thoughts were about all the students, staff, families and community members I have been able to interact with over those years. When I think about the true purposes of Homecoming, welcoming back alumni and celebrating a school’s existence, I thought about the opportunities that CHS Homecoming provides for those very things. Between the traditions of “decorating” the high school, the Homecoming Pep Assembly and game to the FFA Alumni Pork Chop Dinner-it’s a time to bring alumni and current staff and students together to celebrate the school and the community.
Homecoming is a time of celebration, not only for the students of CCSD but also for the community and staff. The future CHS Cougars (aka Elementary and Middle School students) get excited about the parade and seeing the “big” kids in the games. It is wonderful to see so many alumni at the football game and to see the Cougar yard signs and decorations (yes, sometimes it’s toilet paper) around town. Catching up with former students and participating in dress-up days and games with current students helps staff survive what can be a stressful week with the added activities and student energy levels.
While the goal is always to promote school spirit and student accomplishments, it is important to also remember student and school safety. When adolescents get together, even with good intentions, they may not consider the possible consequences of their choices. We encourage you to discuss activities and expectations at home, as we have at school so that we can have a fun and celebratory Homecoming week! Go Cougars!!
Important Dates
Sept. 28: Homecoming FB Game vs. McFarland (7:00 p.m.)
Sept. 29: Homecoming Dance (CHS Commons 9-11 p.m.)
Oct. 1: No School for Students
Oct. 15: Picture Retake day for CHS
Oct. 22: No School for Students
Parent/Teacher Conferences 11:00am-7:00pm
Homecoming 2018 Information
Junior Parents (Class of 2020): Watch your email for important information regarding helping with the Junior Class Fundraiser--Homecoming Concession Stand!!
Department & Extracurricular Information
Ag
The Clinton Ag. department is off to a roaring start with the new Ag. teacher Ms. Braukhoff! Animal Science classes are starting to develop their base knowledge of livestock terminology and will begin preparing their understanding for their trip to World Dairy Expo on October 2nd. The Wildlife and Natural Resources classes are busy exploring biodiversity, even outside around the school! The 7th graders are continuing to explore local, national, and international agricultural products while our Landscape class has been building their basic knowledge of plant life cycle and plant identification. They even helped prepare the new playground at the elementary school! We have lots of great opportunities to come in Ms. Braukhoff’s agriculture classroom!
Art
New to the art department 1st quarter is Ms. Johnson our student teacher from UW-Whitewater. She is a great asset to our classroom and the students are enjoying having her here. All classes are off to a great start. Drawing classes are focusing on Right Brain drawing skills and line. Advanced Art 1 is beginning to work out their designs for their Batik projects. Advanced Art 2 is working on Self Portrait unit. Photography is working on getting to know their cameras. Finally, Yearbook is working on a photography unit as well as getting to know Yearbook Avenue program.
Band
The Clinton High School Marching Cougars have had a very busy start to the school year. The week of August 20, most band students attended band camp to prepare for a very early parade performance and for field show marching band. On September 8 and 9, 70 members of the marching cougars and chaperones headed for Wisconsin Dells. After swimming most of the afternoon and evening, the band stayed overnight at the Wilderness Resort. On Sunday, the band loaded up and headed for Cashton, WI and marched in the annual Cashton Fall Festival parade. The trip was a huge success and was enjoyed by all!
Last Friday, September 14, the high school band played for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new playground equipment at the elementary school. The kids really enjoyed playing for the ceremony! Then a couple hours later on Friday evening, the band made its first appearance at the home football game playing pep band for Cougar Fest. This was also the first opportunity for new freshman members of the band to play pep band!
We are currently working on learning drill and music for our first full-field show performance to premier next Friday night at homecoming, September 28. The students are working hard and I am proud to showcase their talent at Homecoming!
Please follow us on facebook “Clinton High School Band” and on twitter @clinton_band or #GoClintonBand
GO Clinton Band!
Business & Marketing
We are excited to announce our 2018-19 Cougar Cave Managers/DECA officers: Erin Bauer, Riley Anastasi, Kallie Inman, Jordyn Waite, Tiffini Elgas, and Kendyl Bagley.
Cougar Cave Managers provide valuable leadership to our Business and Marketing students as we prepare our department retail lab, the “Cougar Cave”, for our Grand Opening! In class students have been busy product planning, setting prices, and creating promotions. If you did not catch us at Cougar Fest watch for us at the Varsity Homecoming Football game. We have a variety of spirit items for youth and adults.
We are also very excited to be kicking off our participation in the Blackhawk Technical College Business Diploma Program at CHS! Many of our courses are transcripted with BTC. This is a great opportunity to earn college credit and reduce post-secondary expenses. If you have questions, we’re happy to answer them!
We would like to congratulate CHS Business & DECA Alum Devontae Sisk for winning the 2018-19 Business Education Scholarship at UW-Whitewater! We are so proud to have one of our former DECA leaders pursue a degree in Business and Marketing Education.
DECA Officers
DECA Officers
Devontae Sisk
Choir
The choir classes have been busy this year getting ready for Cougar Fest. They did a fantastic job showing off their skills for the hundreds of parents and community members present. The concert choir will begin working on music for their concert and the choir New York trip planned for Spring Break.
The Honors Choir, known as the Blenders, are working on contest music for the ICHSA competition this year. We made it to the quarter finals last year and hope to do better this year.
English
The high school English classes are busy working on improving students' reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking skills. Currently, seniors are able to choose three different English classes to meet their credit requirement. Of these three classes, two are for college credit through Blackhawk Technical College: Written Communications or Oral Communication. Students who maintain a specified grade will receive college credit, which is a great opportunity for many of our students; moreover, they are able to receive college credit while taking the class here at CHS. The 11th-grade classes are reading short stories from Romanticism and Gothic Literature and analyzing them for hallmark characteristics of the genre while also discussing how literary elements help emphasize those particular characteristics. The 10th-grade classes are learning about Shakespeare, preparing to read A Midsummer Night's Dream, and analyzing literary elements and for deeper meaning. And, the 9th-grade classes are reviewing important English vocabulary and reading grade level stories to answer text-dependent questions. All English classes are gearing up to complete the STAR360 reading benchmark. This test gives teachers immediate feedback about what grade level skills students need to continue working on to reach mastery.
To continue to check in on what the students are doing, please check Twitter. Pictures will periodically be posted of students learning in the classroom. #clintonhsenglish9 #CHSEnglish 10 #CHSEnglish 11 #chsenglish12
Family & Consumer Science
The Family and Consumer Science Education Department is offering two new classes this school year: Food Science and Advanced Child Care Teacher. Food Science will give students who have completed Foods 1 & 2 the opportunity to learn about the scientific properties of food by conducting experiments in the foods kitchens. Advanced Child Care Teacher is a certification class open to 11th and 12th-grade students. This class will train them to work in a daycare and will provide certification--a work-skills certification--for students successfully completing the class.
FFA
A lot is happening with the Clinton FFA Chapter! The officer team voted to elect positions and your 2018-2019 officers are: President Zach Wynstra, Vice President Clay Ward, Secretary Olivia McDonald, and Treasurer Maddie Rankin! If students are interested in FFA membership, membership forms are posted outside room 310 at the high school, in students’ emails, on the chapter Facebook page attached to the September newsletter, or students and parents can talk to Ms. Braukhoff!
Tuesday, September 18th was our traditional Tractor Day! Students met at the Clinton Kitchen for breakfast and in the afternoon traveled to the Elementary School and Alden Meadow Park to share their tractors with the community. Our first chapter meeting was Wednesday, September 19th. Our chapter meetings this year will be on the 3rd Wednesday of every month at 7:30 am in room 310 at the high school. To round out the month of September our leadership team will be attending the Section 5 Leadership Conference at EPIC in Verona and everyone is welcome to attend the FFA Alumni Porkchop Dinner on Friday, September 28th from 4 - 6:30 pm in the Middle School cafeteria. Grab a 2 pork chop meal for $10 and then head on over to the homecoming football game! FFA members don’t forget we could use your help at this event!
In October the FFA members can look forward to the next chapter meeting on October 17th at 7:30 am in room 310, National Convention on October 24th-27th, and a chapter visit from our Section 5 State officer on Tuesday, October 30th! We also invite anyone interested to our FFA alumni meeting on Monday, October 8th at 7:30 pm at The DeLong Co.
Library
There has been a flurry of activity in the library to begin the new school year. It is the hub of Chromebook operations and houses quite a few students during their study halls. Ms. Sample and Mrs. Anderson, with the assistance of technology and maintenance staff, are working to create a more collaborative space by adding a green room for video recording. It is not running yet, but we are hoping to draw more students and classes to the library with this 21st-century learning space in the next couple of weeks. In the same area we will soon be opening a small group collaboration area.
Mrs. Anderson will be visiting Mrs. Sullivan’s Written Communications classes this week to share information on how to detect fake news and determine the validity of other sources. They will be reintroduced to our databases and take an interactive “fake news” quiz to test their understanding.
Banned Books Week runs from September 23-29. This year’s theme is, “Banning Books Silences Stories.” Ms. Sample created a display to acknowledge the week and help students understand concerns regarding the censorship of information.
Math
AP Calculus students will be learning how to find Limits graphically, analytically and algebraically.
Precalculus students will be diving into complex numbers and how they add, subtract, and multiply them. They also learn how to divide complex numbers.
Algebra 2 students are learning how to tell the difference between a linear, quadratic, and cubic polynomials by looking at the successive differences from a table of values. They will also be learning how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide polynomials.
Geometry students are learning basic constructions using a compass and a straightedge.
Algebra 1 students are looking at the differences between linear, quadratic, and exponential functions.
Applied Math students calculating salaries, employment opportunities, commissions and payment by item, and finally deductions on a paycheck.
The Math Team will be working concessions to earn money towards expenses for their math competitions. The Math Team will be preparing for their first competition, which will be held in late October, up in Madison.
Phy Ed / Health
Fitness testing is a great way to monitor and assess students' ability as it relates to aerobic fitness, strength, and flexibility. It can also help students understand how healthy they are and learn to set goals to improve their health-related fitness.
There are two types of fitness: Health-related fitness and skill-related fitness. Skill-related fitness refers to abilities such as speed, reaction time, agility, balance, coordination and power. Fitness testing refers to health-related fitness and includes aerobic capacity, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility and body composition.
Science
Science fall 2018
We continue to move forward with the coming implementation of standards based grading, and the science department has established the following Pillar Standards for their science courses.
Pillar Standard 1. Conduct investigation, gather evidence and interpret data.
Pillar Standard 2. Modeling
Pillar Standard 3. Communication
Instruction and learning within the science department will be directed by these 3 pillar standards. With assessments designed to measure student progress in these areas, each teacher uses their specific discipline, be it Biology, Chemistry, Physics, or Anatomy and Physiology, to teach the skills.
Pillar Standard 1 Conduct investigation and gather evidence.
- Physics students used Vernier data collection motion detector to plot a real-time graph of their own motion. Position, time, and velocity data was gathered.
- Anatomy students used the scientific method to gather student data on arm length and height. Students developed a hypothesis based on their observations.
- Chemistry students measured samples to determine their mass and dimensions.
- Biology students completed lab activities to demonstrate their knowledge of lab safety and to find evidence of yeast displaying characteristics of living things and using microscopes too.
Pillar Standard 2 Modeling was in full display this September in the science department.
Data was used to calculate density while chemistry students graphed mass vs. volume to show the relationship between slope of line and density.
Interpreting data through the use of tables and graphs in Physics showing displacement and velocity in one dimension.is
Anatomy students have used the human torso to identify major body cavities and organ systems. They have also identified relative positions of body parts and regions.
Pillar Standard 3 Communication
Exploring rules governing the reporting of data and the significance of significant figures.
Using Claim, Evidence and Reasoning strategies for arguments.
Physics students evaluate and communicate what graphical evidence displays.
Anatomy students are able to communicate effectively using accurate anatomical terminology.
Social Studies
Mr. Manske's Class
Back to school means back to Social Studies which means back to simulations in Mr. Manske’s classroom. Global Studies students are conducting a global trade simulation while World History students will be seeing what the Silk Road was all about. Introduction to Psychology isn’t being left out as they are experiencing several different forms of therapy - including music, art, and physical activity.Badger Boys and Girls State
A small group of students who were nominated to be part of the Badger Boys and Badger Girls State as juniors have been invited to attend a dinner to the local VFW and give a presentation on their experience last June. This program is an exciting week in which students learn much about local, state and national politics. Local organizations such as the VFW are sponsors of these young people.
Economics
Students will have a chance to apply what they have learned by participating in the State Stock Market $100,000 challenge. Groups of 3-5 can invest an imaginary $100,000 over a 10-week time span.
US History & AP US History
Both classes are in the colonial time period. Preparation is underway to take the state civics exam (state requirement) sometime later this fall.
American Political Studies
Our class is covering the philosophy of what government means. Later in the semester, another political debate is being organized as we get closer to the election in November.
Student Services
Clinton High School is excited to welcome and introduce our new School Counselor, Shanae Woodward. Mrs. Woodward comes to us from the Madison area and is excited to be jumping right into her first counseling position, as she graduated in December 2017. Keep your eye out for Mrs. Woodward’s ”News from your School Counselor” newsletter that will have important information regarding deadlines, scholarships, testing and more!
On Monday, September 17th, the Junior class traveled to Delavan-Darien High School to visit the WEF College Fair. Representatives from all over the state (and beyond!) were there and provided the students with all the information they will need about their possible future schools.
The counseling office has been very busy since the start of the new school year. Mrs. Barker and Mrs. Woodward have been working hard on student scheduling, making sure everyone is in the classes that they need and want. We recommend checking your transcript to make sure you are on target to graduate!
Follow this link for the specific September Counseling Newsletter
Reminder: ECCP and Start College Now applications are due by October 1st!
Tech Ed
We are excited to welcome and introduce our newest Technology Education teacher, Mr. Tom DuVal. Mr. DuVal is coming from the construction industry with several years of experience. He will be teaching Woods, Small Engines, Auto Basics, and Engineering classes this year as well as being the High School SkillsUSA Advisor. Tom is excited to be here and ready for the school year.
Christmas in September! Mr. Thieding and Mrs. Gile partnered with Blackhawk Technical College last May on an equipment grant for the manufacturing program. We are excited to announce the grant was approved in June and new equipment is beginning to arrive. The new equipment consists of a Metal Turning Lathe, Wire Feed Welder, Vertical Band Saw, Horizontal Band Saw and a Drill Press. Mr. Thieding is excited to use this new equipment with his students.
Work Based Learning
Even though Summer gives students a break from the traditional classroom learning experience, a handful of Clinton students chose to participate in work-based learning during their time off. It was a busy and exciting summer for many of them. Thirteen Youth Apprenticeship students moved from Level 1 to Level 2 over the summer in a variety of pathways including: Manufacturing, Hospitality, Transportation, Agriculture, Health, and Construction. Besides participation in the YA program a few students decided to participate in other summer programs offered around the county.
Trevor Hage participated in the Rock Internship program through BTC this summer. Monday-Friday he was on the job at SSI Systems in Janesville and on Fridays he reported to BTC to improve soft skills. Trevor was paid $10 an hour for his time commitment to the program. During the four weeks, Trevor worked under a mentor as a die setter. He exceeded their expectations and was offered a job to stay on as a Youth Apprentice for the 2018-19 school year, with hopes of continuing this even after he graduates. SSI has also offered to pay for him to continue his post-secondary education.
Elis Spears participated in the Craftsman with Character program this summer through CareerTek. He was placed at three businesses for two weeks each including: CCI, Foley Electric, and Morse Group. During the week he learned/observed on the job in the different fields and on Fridays he reported to CareerTek for class/discussion. Eli completed his Osha 10 training during the first few days of class before he could report to the job sites. Eli earned credit from Clinton and BTC for completing the program. At the completion of the program, Eli presented what he learned throughout the six weeks at CareerTek to business stakeholders. Not only did Eli learn different job skills he also learned great work ethic skills.
Trevor Hage
Rock Internship Program @ BTC
Trevor Hage Working as a Die Setter
World Languages
Greetings! The school year has been great so far! My name is Mrs. Patterson-Rivera and I am the Spanish teacher at CHS. I am from Lima, Peru and I have been in the field of education for the past 20 years where I served as an educator and administrator. It is so exciting to have the opportunity to work with your child and direct my instruction toward meaningful communication and genuine interaction through classroom activities that are embedded in authentic and real-life contexts.
We had recently reviewed basic topics that include personal introductions, family information, and favorite activities through several classroom presentations. These activities allowed students to practice their communication skills with strong emphasis on language proficiency. Students work with a new platform called flipgrid that involved video recording. In addition, the course syllabus, classroom expectations, resources, and assignments are posted on Google Classroom. I am looking forward to a great school year!
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email: mipattersonrivera@clintonwis.com or (608) 676-2223 (ext. #2114)