Dear Bulldog Students, Families, and Friends,

I hope each of you had a restful and meaningful winter break. Time spent with family and pursuing individual interests recharges all of us. I am; however, eager to be back at SHS for this first month of 2023 to feel the energy and excitement that the students bring as they enter through the doors.

Students have many opportunities to be involved at SHS, both academically and in extracurricular pursuits. We are winding down the last few weeks of the first semester, so it is important to be punctual, come every day, and complete coursework. Friday, January 27th is a non-student day and the end of the marking period. Please encourage your student to check Schoology and to end on an academically strong note. There are also many opportunities to participate as a Bulldog community throughout this month as well. A highlight we are looking forward to is hosting the Battle for the Paddle against Lakeland on January 20th. Check on the SHS homepage to access our daily announcements and monthly calendar. Please look up our updates on Facebook as well.

The beginning of this new year provides us with 365 new pages for the book of 2023. It is thrilling to see all the opportunities for the potential in the year ahead. Please encourage your student to get involved, set goals, and do their very best everyday. Please feel free to reach out with any questions you or your student may have.

Sincerely,

Principal Jacki Crossingham

• -Erin has gone above and beyond this month to help build culture and share out a positive climate as SHS. She organized the school board presentation, connection activities, and a pre-battle for the paddle connections assembly!
• -She is very inspirational and encouraging
• -Because I love Erin. She is amazing!!!
• -Erin infuses positive connections throughout the school and is always willing to take student ideas and make them happen. Whether it is movie night, team building, weekend of miniRyla, board presentations, and connections...she is working to make our whole school feel connected!

The cheer team recently competed at the Lakeland Holiday Classic. They were first in Sideline, second in Pom and third in Jump! Cogratuatiions team! First row left to right: Mia P, Kenzie W, Cadence G, Rose R, Annie M. Second row: Annie G, Shaina C, Shailey J, Lily B, Taylor G, Jordan R Third row: Kayla R, Donna T, Kaylie N, Kena K, Emma L, Sanne H, Kiera B

Shout out to Coach Al, who is so good with our students in Adaptive P.E. class. Most of these were taken during their last PE class before Christmas. This bunch always has a good time with Coach Al, and their peer models that she trains to work with them one-on-one. EVERY student benefits from this class. To me, one of the greatest outcomes is the character development the gen ed kids achieve working with our Exceptional Bulldogs:)

But you can see on THAT crew the joy they get from taking this class together. - Ame Watkins

We are so happy to have won this basket! Thank you so much! We waited until Christmas to unpack it, and it was just so much fun going through it;) Every little thing in it was so special, useful or just plain fun!

Sandpoint High School Activities is very grateful to continue our wonderful partnership with Parker Subaru. Thanks to the generosity of Jim Parker, his family and Parker Subaru, for the last 7 years a brand-new vehicle has been donated to SHS to raffle. One hundred percent (100%) of the proceeds from this raffle go directly to the programs that choose to sell tickets. Parker does not take a percentage of the proceeds, and neither does the athletic department. If a program sells a ticket, that money stays with that program. What an amazing and generous opportunity for our community! On January 20, at halftime of the Boys Basketball game and during the Battle for the Paddle, we will be drawing the winner for this year. This is always a fun and entertaining part of the event. We make a call to the winner following the drawing, and the surprise is priceless! Thank you to all who have supported this program throughout the years, as it has benefited so many students. There is still time to get tickets, so if you would like a chance to win a brand new Subaru Crosstrek tickets are still available. Please contact SHS if you have any questions!

AcaDeca wins Invitational

On December 10, the SHS Academic Decathlon teams competed against the Priest River

Lamanna High School team to win first and second place at the Idaho Academic Decathlon

Invitational Meet for North Idaho. This year’s topic is the American Revolution. Twenty-eight

SHS students competed against seven Priest River students. The five SHS teams won a

combined 31 gold medals, 32 silver medals, and 39 bronze medals; and they swept the medals

for overall highest scoring decathletes. The students are now preparing the IAD Regional Meet

scheduled for the end of January. They will then compete at the state championship on

March 17-18 when they hope to win a fifth state championship in a row.

This year, 10 French students entered the French Department’s 16 th annual Bûche de Noël

contest on December 12. A bûche de Noël is the traditional Christmas cake in France. It is a

rolled cake that has been decorated to look like a log to represent the Yule log. Cakes were

judged by SHS staff members and former French students on the basis of creativity,

neatness, and overall appearance. This year’s co-champions are Maddie Mitchell (French

III) and Bailey Lancaster (French II).

French Club students got into the spirit of things by holding their first culture night since

the pandemic began. They gathered at member Maddie Mitchell’s house for a delicious

evening of both cheese and chocolate fondues. While they enjoyed their gourmet cuisine,

they also watched a French film (with English subtitles, of course! Not all club members

speak French.)

SAVE ON LACROSSE REGISTRATION: REGISTER BY JAN 14!

Is your high school student interested in playing a fast-moving, fun sport? The Sandpoint Lacrosse Club is committed to inspiring our student athletes to achieve their fullest potential as competitors, as students, and as human beings, to the best of our, and their ability, while fostering an atmosphere that thrives on the passion and fun of playing the game of lacrosse. All interested student athletes are welcome, including beginners! Games start in March.

Teams are being formed now:

• High School Boys Varsity
• High School Boys JV
• High School Girls Varsity

Registration is now open! Register by January 14 to catch early-bird pricing.

Program and Registration Information:

https://www.sandpointlacrosse.org/programs

Questions?

Email SandpointLacrosse@gmail.com

January Artists of the Month- Sandpoint High School Art Students
We welcome the students of Sandpoint High School advanced art class as our January Artists of the Month. These students have dedicated much time and talent to present a variety of pieces for the Pend d’Oreille Winery. The students involved in this show are Juniors and Seniors of the Pre-AP and AP Art classes at Sandpoint High School. The projects represented are different expressions of topics that the students spin, manipulate, build, and create. The students will use these works in their AP portfolios during their senior year. These examples are just a tiny glimpse of their development throughout the Sandpoint High School Art Program.
Please stop in through the month of January to appreciate the paintings of our local students. Join us for the artist reception on January 12th, 5:00-7:00pm.

Battle for the Paddle is coming to Sandpoint High School on Friday, January 20th.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, January 5th until Friday January 20th.

Alex Manning at the Lions Club presenting to Janice Rader, club president, a check from SHS for Toys for Tots!

The Sandpoint High School Esports Team is seeking new players for the spring season. We are offering new game options, and there is a game for almost everyone! Even better is that Ting has covered almost all costs to players making it even easier to participate! In the fall each active player made it to the national playoff bracket. Help us pull a repeat this spring! This spring we will also be participating in an Idaho-only league as well as our national league. Join up to help us defeat Bishop Kelly, Blackfoot, Thunder Ridge, and more! We are tentatively looking to compete in a state tournament in Boise on May 12th and 13th at Boise State University should we qualify over the spring season! We will have an informational meeting on January 13th in S1 right after school. All high school-aged students are welcome to attend, including Charter and homeschooled students.

Thank you,

Dalton Hawkins

Computer Science Teacher - SHS - Ext. 4169

Technology Integration Instructional Coach - LPOSD - Ext. 1023

Esports Adviser/Coach - SHS

Counseling Department Mission: We will ensure and empower every student at Sandpoint High School to achieve academic success, strengthen personal and social growth, and develop achievable post-secondary plans.

Students are assigned to counselors by their last name:

A-G: Shannon Kerrigan; 11-12 A-F

H-O: Sara Gosling

P-Z: Tavi Brandenburg; 11-12 G

Post Secondary Transitions Counselor: Jeralyn Mire

College and Career Mentor: Angie Dail

Counseling Office Coordinator/Registrar: Amanda Skinner

Counseling Office Coordinator: Erricka Brownell

The counselors have been working closely with the juniors on finding and understanding their PSAT scores, along with working on what a SMART goal is and how to set them. Starting next week, counselors will be going into freshman English classes to help them begin their research papers, which will be focusing on a potential job they are interested in. Next up will be the Sophomores; counselors will be in their English classes at the end of the month to help them figure out the "how" of obtaining a career they are interested in. More information will be headed out to Seniors in February regarding local scholarships!

Coming soon! Sources of Strength Peer Leader training. Seventy-six students have been nominated and invited to participate in the training because they’ve been identified by staff as leaders and connectors within their peer groups. Once trained, these students will be meeting once a month to plan Sources of Strength “campaigns” throughout the school year that focus on hope, help and strength and building connections within the SHS student body.

The mission of Sources of Strength is to provide the highest quality evidence-based prevention for suicide, violence, bullying and substance abuse by training, supporting, and empowering both peer leaders and caring adults to impact their world through the power of connection, hope, help and strength.

Sources of Strength trains student leaders, along with caring adults, in a mission to help make a difference and spread hope, help, and strength in your school and community. Peer Leaders for Sources of Strength will create a culture promoting wellness where students feel comfortable getting help when they are struggling emotionally, might feel suicidal, or are having a tough time with anger, anxiety, or depression.

Practice Gratitude from the Character Lab

Why does gratitude matter?

When you feel gratitude, you feel a sense of abundance. When you express gratitude—especially when it’s heartfelt—you strengthen your relationships with others. Grateful people are happier and more fulfilled. And gratitude leads you to be nicer to other people: more cooperative, patient, and trusting.

Pulse Check

Think about how your day is going. How many of these things are true?

• I said “thank you” to someone.

• I did something nice to show my appreciation.

• I can list lots of people and things that I’m lucky to have in my life.

• I noticed when someone helped me.

• I felt a sense of thankfulness.

How do I encourage gratitude in others?

Model it. Talk about the good things that happen to you: “I love this gorgeous spring day!” Reframe difficulties by highlighting positive aspects: “Work has been stressful lately, but I’m grateful that my boss trusts me with important responsibilities.”

Celebrate it. Acknowledge when someone demonstrates gratitude: “It makes me feel really great when you thank me for what I am doing.” Display thank you notes you’ve received where others can see them. Post Three Good Things on social media.

Enable it. Keep stationery handy for writing thank you notes. At dinner, make it a habit to begin by sharing one good thing that happened that day. Establish a birthday ritual to write notes of appreciation.

Want to learn more? Take 4 minutes to listen to Dr. Emmons of UC Davis discuss how to help develop gratitude in self and others.

Authors: Angela Duckworth, Giacomo Bono

Having trouble getting information from your student? Then this is the guide for you! Schoology for parents will provide you with important information. You will be able to see grades, course information and assignments. Please click the link below for complete instructions. If you need assistance with the password, please call the front office. 208-263-3034

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gCpclQoooqUVM0prJeWJazB9Df5gs7lTfu_mdHkJH7Y/edit?usp=sharing

It's that time of year again when students and their parents really start looking at grades. The end of the semester is coming soon and we want everyone to do their absolute best and pass their classes! I have found there are a few different approaches parents take when it comes to checking a student's grade. One method is that a parent gets their own access code from their student's school, so they can have a real-time view of assignments in the classroom. Parents will have their own login and can even access how their student is doing on their phone via the Schoology App. Make sure to go and change your settings so you get only the notifications you want! Contact your SHS to get your code to both PowerSchool and Schoology!

Another method is to have a student log into their own account and check the grades from there. My biggest suggestion for this is to click the refresh button when you look at this screen; some students have started to learn they can change the HTML (the code that tells the computer what to display) so that their grade looks different than it actually is. As a programming teacher, I love the self-discovery of this, but the ethics, not so much. Also, it could be an old screen from earlier in the day. I don't know the number of times a student has come to me looking at a screen from before school asking what they got on a grade I entered at noon.

Yet another method is the surprise method where the parent just waits for the report card to come out and is surprised by the grade, 0 out of 10, would not recommend it.

Thank you,

Dalton Hawkins

Computer Science Teacher - SHS

Technology Integration Instructional Coach - LPOSD

NO Food Deliveries: SHS does NOT allow or accept food deliveries from paid delivery services such as Doordash, GrubHub, Uber Eats or any other vendor delivery service. All deliveries will be denied. SHS is not responsible for any loss of cost or food.

This year we switched over to a new student management system, during the process of transformation we encountered some difficulties and may not be reaching you with emails, texts or phone calls. You have the ability to log into Power School and review the contact information we have on file. Please take a few minutes to do this and edit if necessary. You can update phone numbers, addresses and emails. We send out this monthly newsletter along with progress and report cards via email. We also send important messages via text and phone messenger. In case of an emergency, with your student here at school it is important we have the most accurate and up to date information as possible. Please help us help you by logging into Power School.

Safety Update

• This month SHS will conduct another lockdown drill.
• Just a reminder, the front doors are locked after the start of school. We are a single point of entry school.
• ALL visitors must check in at the front office.
• The Raptor technology system is currently in effect. Visitors may be asked to sign in with an identification card. Parents/guardians who are checking students in and out, or dropping off items will not be checked in/out through this system.
• Please be aware of the buildup of ice under the snow in the parking lot and on sidewalks. Be careful when entering or exiting the parking lot. Please report falls and accidents to the front office.

All visitors will now sign in with an identification card and wear a badge in all LPOSD buildings. Lake Pend Oreille School District is utilizing Raptor to help protect our students at school.

"Founded in 2002, Raptor has partnered with over 52,000 schools globally, including over 5,000 K-12 U.S. school districts, to provide integrated visitor, volunteer, emergency management, safeguarding, and early intervention software and services that cover the full spectrum of school and student safety."

To learn more about Raptor Technologies, visit raptortech.com