Many of you have seen pictures of Brickie Bob, but the person behind his creation is still a little unknown. Let us introduce you to Mr. Jake Fisher, who is a sophomore at Hobart High School and a determined young man who felt, for awhile, that Yohan needed a sidekick or an Avenger if you will. He is an out-going student that is never seen without a smile and is loved and respected by his fellow Brickies. He is extremely creative with no limits to his imagination and a lover of drawing - especially cartoons.

In the fall, Mrs. Patrick introduced Jake to Dr. Buffington, our Superintendent. She knew he had a great imagination and was very artistic. Jake had an idea to create a superhero sidekick for Yohan! He asked Mrs. Patrick to schedule a meeting with Dr. Buffington to show her his work. Dr. Buffington saw his determination and talked to him about working on his ideas. After several meetings of "work, work, work", drawings, and modifications, Brickie Bob was perfected. Jake thought, if he was lucky, the school would hang his picture on the wall or create a poster. However, the School City of Hobart had a bigger plan. While keeping it a secret from Jake and virtually everyone else, the school reached out to a company to assist in making Brickie Bob come to life, and when it finally arrived, they knew exactly when to introduce him, the pep rally during homecoming week!

To make the introduction even sweeter the Indianapolis Colts mascot, Blue, asked to be here when we did it. He thought the idea, story, and more importantly Jake was something he could not miss out on. So with the gymnasium full with our high school Brickie students and staff, Dr. Buffington called Jake down from the stands, who was greeted with a roaring applause and cheers. Literally, a gymnasium full of love for him. She told the story of Jake's dream and showed the drawings of the process. However, when Jake turned around and saw Yohan, Blue, and his own creation walking toward him, everyone could see what it meant to him. Holding back tears of joy and awe, Jake was introduce to his creation and sidekick, Brickie Bob! He was speechless and could not believe that we, as Brickies, took his dream and turned it into a reality. He had that familiar smile on his face and kept looking at his Mom in disbelief while hugging every Administrator and Dr. Buffington with thank you's and appreciation. It was a moment that we will always remember every time we see our sidekick! And it was a moment that Jake will remember; "All My Life I Want To Be A Brickie! Work! Work! Work!" and when you do - dreams will come true.

So, without further ado, we welcome Yohan's new sidekick - Brickie Bob!

The COREMatters Project is a 13-week, 1 day a week, multi-dimensional education program that incorporates social emotional wellness with physical fitness to teach children the tools to avoid conflict, obtain resiliency and competency, CORE strengthening, respect for self and others, and develops character through the COREMatters "Code of Conduct". Our Student Safety Supervisor, Mr. Greg Bialata, was trained by the CoreMattes Project personnel to instruct and model the curriculum by using a multi-dimensional classroom experience encompassing activities that will stimulate the three domains of education activities: cognitive, affective, and psycho-motor all while using visual, auditory, and Kinesthetic learning models; recognizing that each student processes information differently. COREMatters is being taught in the School City of Hobart to all 5th and 7th grade students.

Our Liberty 5th Graders shined brightly during the course curriculum which generates life rewarding outcomes such as:

• increased self-esteem and respect while reducing teasing and bullying
  
• willingness to be more active and engaged in their learning throughout the day, while combating childhood obesity
• restoration with trust in police and community relationships
• implementation of values: loyalty, cooperation, honesty, compassion, persistence, and more!

The students really enjoyed the class and all agree that they learned positive life lessons that will be instilled in them throughout their lives. The teachers also concur that the course has made a positive impact in their classrooms and really enjoyed seeing the students grow in their self-confidence. Great job Mr. Bialata and all of the 5th Grade Students at Liberty!

Every year the American Legion sponsors a Flag Essay Contest that helps our youth develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the Unites States flag. They also take time in the classrooms to teach students proper etiquette and respect for our Country's flag. Students were asked to write a full page essay with their personal interpretation of what the United States flag means to them personally. They then submitted their essays to the American Legion who took the time to read each and every one before deciding on winners from each of our elementary schools. On January 17th, they attended our schools and announced in front of all the students the winners, who received a certificate and a cash prize! Congratulations to those that won and great job to all that participated! #BrickieUp

Congratulations to this years Outstanding Educators! Every year the Hobart Chamber of Commerce accepts nominations for an outstanding teacher in the Elementary, Middle and High Schools. After much deliberation, the committee selects a teacher from each school level. These teachers have demonstrated exceptional dedication to the education of our students and personal development of their students. Teaching is a rewarding career that requires patience, selflessness and passion. We are proud to have these Outstanding Educators as part of the School City of Hobart Brickies. #BrickieUp

The Junior Achievement's (JA) organization helps students realize that the education they are getting today will help them to have a bright future tomorrow. The volunteers deliver kindergarten - 12th grade programs that foster work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills that inspire students to dream big and reach their potential. Here in the School City of Hobart, one person in particular has been shining bright in the JA program, Colonel Scott Buhmann, who was recently recognized as a Junior Achievement Volunteer Champion!

For several years, Colonel has been instrumental in driving JA’s High School Heroes program for his JROTC students. Through the collaboration, this year alone Colonel Buhmann was able to bring more than 90 Hobart High School Students to both Ridgeview and Liberty Elementary, making an impact in 27 classrooms and inspiring hundreds of Hobart Elementary kids with JA’s Work Readiness, Personal Finance and Entrepreneurial programs. JROTC students being teachers and mentors working with elementary kids is an amazing experience for them and the students. The level of training Colonel puts into preparing his JROTC students for their JA experience is in depth and truly helps those kids find their inner strengths while preparing them to be successful in the classroom. To make it even better, these experiences for the JROTC students has allowed them an opportunity to apply for the JA's High School Hero Scholarship! Thanks to Colonel Buhmann, the Junior Achievement program is thriving here in the Region, which makes him the best candidate for the Volunteer Champion recognition! Great job Colonel Buhmann - We are proud of you!

The Local Scholarship Booklet consists of 12 scholarships available to graduating seniors through local businesses, organizations and memorial funds. All seniors are eligible to apply. Seniors should read through the descriptions of scholarship opportunities and criteria listed in the chart, then check those for which they are applying. The application only needs to be filled out once, regardless of how many the student applies for. The application MUST be typed and will be returned to the student if it is hand-written (with the exception of signatures).

Students can only win one scholarship from the book. After they win, their name is removed from all other scholarship consideration. The deadline to turn the HHS Local Scholarship Book in is Thursday, February 15th by 3 p.m. to the Guidance Office. Questions can be directed to Mrs. Adams in Guidance.

Click here for the Scholarship Chart

Click here for the Scholarship Application

You can work with your students by helping them set specific, measurable, achieveable, results-focused, and time-bound (S.M.A.R.T.) Goals!
Our students can login into Google and access these forms. You can do this together and have them submit to their teacher. Monitor progress together!

Student Plan to Achieve My S.M.A.R.T. Goal -
https://goo.gl/forms/qle9Kv4RAgfnte7k2

S.M.A.R.T. Short-Term Goal Setting Worksheet -
https://goo.gl/forms/l0AlcQs4UwdApvAr1

3rd Quarter S.M.A.R.T Goal -
https://goo.gl/forms/Gfoo13evpbWqdJMG2

4th Quarter S.M.A.R.T Goal -

https://goo.gl/forms/VRsMP9RIBv7xrKvJ3

“A leader's job is not to do the work for others, it's to help others figure out how to do it themselves, to get things done, and to succeed beyond what they thought possible.” - Simon Sinek

Over the past few months, a group of HHS senior students (Samantha Meyer, Rebecca Meyer, Emily Zanolla, and Paige Nestich) met with our Superintendent, Dr. Buffington, and our Director of College and Careers, Mr. Krieg, and together created the Academic Brickyards. The Academic Brickyards are modeled after writing centers and tutoring centers found at most colleges and universities. During their Success Period, these students (along with some other senior student leaders they recruited) voluntarily give up their time in order to serve others. They meet with their peers to help them with Math or English work. In doing so, they are modeling the leadership skills Sinek points out since they are helping their peers figure out how to solve difficult math problems, work through syntactical difficulties, navigate the blurry lines involved in a citation, apply difficult concepts and mathematical formulas, and other related concepts. Together, they are helping one another succeed beyond what was once thought to be possible.

Our student leaders are determined to leave a legacy, and this legacy is all about service and helping our Brickies build their skills, knowledge, and competencies brick-by-brick. As leaders, this group of students is already planning the next phase of what these Academic Brickyards could entail. They are meeting with English and Math teachers, talking with Administrators, and most importantly getting feedback from their peers. In addition, they are even utilizing marketing approaches they learn about in their Business courses to promote the Academic Brickyards. They even worked with Mr. Crouch (Radio/TV Instructor) to create a promotional video that was shown to all of the students at Hobart High School, and they worked with our Director of Technology to create Academic Brickyard banners (as displayed) that are now displayed in front of each converted Learning Centers. From time to time, an English tutor may even go over to the Math Lab to get some extra help and vice versa.

Looking to the future, these students are even looking to recruit the next group of student tutors who can pick up where they left off. Leadership, as these students are experiencing, is much like a relay race - they’re running their leg but getting ready to pass the baton off to the next leaders. Not only are our Brickies getting extra help, but our student leaders are also growing as leaders and gaining experiences that will yield dividends for years to come. As these student leaders say, they hope their peers take advantage of this resource and build their knowledge and abilities one number or one word at a time.

Zack Fattore is currently a senior at Hobart High School. He serves as a leader in a number of ways, including serving as the Senior Class President and a captain of the wrestling team. He is graduating at the top of his class with a 4.61 GPA and is currently ranked as the number 2 wrestler at 170lbs in Indiana. In the Fall, he will be attending the University of Chicago on scholarship for both academics and wrestling.

His GPA and class rank were not the only things that guaranteed his acceptance into a great college or university. There is another piece of the college application puzzle that he, like every other student planning to go to college or earn a technical certificate, had to face - the SAT. With a goal in mind to help educate others about the importance of the SAT, Zack worked with Dr. Buffington, Mr. Krieg, Mr. Crouch, and the Radio/TV class to script, film, and produce a public service announcement on how Khan Academy helped him earn a PERFECT score of 800 on the Math section of the SAT and raise his overall score by over 200 points in just 15 months. You can see the video below!

When we asked Zack about how he prepped for the SAT using Khan Academy, he said:

“When I practiced, I first learned how the SAT is formatted. This helped me because when I took the SAT, I was aware of how the test works and what common questions it asks. The second thing I did was that I took a practice test to determine my current skills. After I saw where my weaknesses were, I planned to improve them. You must do the same and utilize the website’s full potential by targeting what you need. Khan is useful for learning personalization. Once I knew the test and strengthened my weaknesses, the best thing I could do was continually take practice tests and learn from what I was missing.” In Zack's closing statement, his best advice was "Start early. I made so much progress in just 15 months, when I wasn't even practicing the entire time. Imagine if you have 2 or 3 years of practice under your belt. You need to invest your time in this website because it is extremely beneficial.” Hear more from Zack in his video below!

If you haven’t already done so, please go to khanacademy.org and sign in with your school-provided Gmail account.

You Khan do it!

We invite you to explore local preschools at our annual Showcase of Preschools! Here you will be able to talk with staff from the preschools about their program, times available, curriculum, and more all under one roof! It is held at our Early Learning Center located at 400 N. Wilson Street. Hope to see many of you there!

We know that many of you enjoy vacations and look forward to planning them! Take a look at our 2018 - 2019 School Year Calendar for scheduled dates we have off so you can enjoy your vacation without missing school! Click on the link below to access our calendar on our website and happy planning!

Help Hobart High School students who don't always have the means to eat a lunch by donating to the "Brickie Lunch Box"! This new program will help ensure all student's are eating lunch & getting the nutrients & energy needed to be a successful Brickie.

Many of our parents and students take advantage of the Here Comes The Bus App and with it's new improvements, it is better than ever! You can view in real-time the location of your student's bus, when and where your child boards or exits the bus, receive notifications when the bus is near, and be able to do this all on your smartphone, tablet or computer! Visit the link below for the easy step-by-step directions and take the worry away!

Dr. Peggy Buffington and Sarah Ramos

The School City of Hobart does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, marital status, genetic information, or disability, including limited English proficiency.

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