Regina Jr Sr High Newsletter
September 2022
From the Principal
We have had a great start to the year. It is always nice to see the students back in the halls after a couple of months of empty halls. To say student behaviors and attitudes have been great is an understatement. Each day I am reminded of how awesome our students are.
Homecoming Week kicks off on Sunday, September 18th with the Boosters Chili Supper, flag football, volleyball, and the naming of the Homecoming Court. Activities for the week are still being planned. We look forward to a great week.
This month's newsletter includes:
- 7th & 9th Grade Transition FAQ Documents
- No school on September 26
- Booster Newsletter
- Congratulations to Joe Polyak!
- Department Updates
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. According to the CDC, the overall suicide rate increased 30% between 2000 and 2020. We all need to do our part in helping those in need. One way we can do this is through prayer. This prayer is from Sr. Regina Scaringella.
God of tender mercies,
you cherish each one of us, for you created us.
When it feels overwhelming to be alive, call us by name.
Shine your light into our darkness,
and beckon us from despair.
Give us courage to reach out for help and healing,
and remind us that you never abandon us.
We ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus,
who walked this earth and understands our pain. Amen.
Yours in Christ,
Glenn Plummer
No School On September 26
Upcoming Events
Our Activities Calendar can be found at https://www.rivervalleyconference.org/public/genie/628/school/9/.
7th & 9th Grade Transition FAQ
Regina Spirit Days
We will have Regina Spirit days throughout the year. The dates below will be Regina Spirit Days.
Students are allowed to wear Regina Activities, Club, or other Regina clothing on these days. Bottoms can be jeans or any dress code bottom. (No sweatpants, yoga pants, or athletic shorts.)
Sept. 9, 23
Oct. 14, 21
Nov. 11, 18
Dec. 9, 16
Jan. 13, 27
Feb. 3, 10, 17
Mar. 10, 24
Apr. 14, 28
May 12, 26
Monthly Adoration
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F054DAFA72CA75-eucharistic
Benchwarmers Last Chance!
We have a minimum goal of selling 2 tickets per household -- like the lottery says, "you have to have a ticket to win". You are encouraged to sell to family, friends, enemies, anyone that may have an interest in winning money, or in football. To be eligible for all weeks, you must purchase by Thursday, September 8. Note: Tickets are only valid once the $20 per ticket is received, along with the ticket stub. Have fun and thank you for supporting Regina Catholic Education Center.
Department Updates
Business
Personal Finance
The students this year have done a great job of adapting to the ever changing learning environment that they have been put in. In Personal Finance class that is just as important in the classroom as it is in the real world. Our world continues to gravitate towards technology not only in the class but via the banking industry, utility payments, budgeting, etc. We are just getting started on our first unit which covers goal setting. I encourage all parents to discuss with their students as much as they can about “real world” scenarios you are facing. It is tough to discuss financing with students but I can assure you it will benefit them in the long run. Many of the tenth graders are beginning to get part -time jobs and it is important for them to understand things like FICA and how to best use their money (expenses and savings). We will continue to try and make as many real life comparisons as possible.
Senior Seminar
The world around us continues to change day by day and so does the curriculum in this class. I rely very heavily on previous alumni to inform me of what we can do better to prepare them for whatever is next. The students will spend the next few weeks looking at things like: what do I want from a school? What do I want out of a degree? How do I get a letter of recommendation? Where do I find scholarships? What options are available to me if college isn’t for me? In addition, we will beg looking at topics current teachers and students have requested we visit. For example, proper etiquette when reaching out to a professor, what is on a college syllabus, personal statements, advocating for yourself and much more. Just a reminder that FAFSA opens next Thursday and all students should continue working on their school/trade/military applications as well as scholarships. As I have told them…”Just because someone else (mom/dad, grandma, etc) is paying for part of your school..maybe...doesn’t mean you can’t save them some money by getting a few scholarships.” While we still don’t know what the future holds for the seniors and the end of the year, be sure to prepare for those things we hope happens...senior pics? Grad party? Invitations? caps/gowns?
Computer Apps
My Computer Apps students are a lively bunch, but I think they are having a bit of fun while learning more about the apps they already use, and some new ones as well. Right now we are taking time to learn what we do know versus what we will need to be successful students at Regina. That gives them some good practice, while I can take care of questions and small problems that occur. This next week we will start working on typing, google classroom, google docs and google search tools. Then we will delve into a combination of things they wanted to learn with things they need to learn.
Counseling
From the School Counselor's Desk
The school year is off and running. Schedule changes have ended. Students are adjusting to their new classes and teachers. I've met with Senior students during Senior seminar to review graduation credits and discuss the Regents Admission Index. We've hosted our Workplace Learning Connections rep to meet with our Sophomores to sign up for a fall job shadow experience. To date, we have 371 students in grades 7-12th grade taking roughly 3,400 classes. To date, we have over 100 students taking over 150 AP classes. We have 36 juniors and seniors taking over 70 Kirkwood and University of Iowa courses this fall.
Coming up:
College Fair at Kirkwood Community College--interested Juniors and Seniors are invited to attend the college fair on Wednesday, September 14th. 70+ colleges from Iowa and the Midwest will have booths available. Sign up with Mr. Moeller.
Job Shadow Opportunities
Job Shadows are available through Workplace Learning Connections for all Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. The fall application opportunities are the most plentiful, including online or in-person job shadow opportunities, 1:1 job shadows as well as group career exploration days. Job Shadows are excused absences from school. All parts of the application and approvals must be completed no later than September 23rd by 2:00 pm.
College/Career Representatives Visiting Regina during high school lunch:
September 16-- St. Ambrose University
September 22--Iowa Central Community College
September 28--St. Louis University
TBD in September--University of Iowa
PSAT--October 12th--Interested Sophomores and Juniors are invited to sign up in the high school office to register for the PSAT. The PSAT exam allows sophomores and juniors a chance to practice their test taking skills. This is also the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying test for Juniors. More information to be sent out soon.
Check out the Regina Student Services Website for more resources and information.
English
English 7: We began reading Lois Lowry’s classic, The Giver, this week with activities reflecting the lives of the characters in the book and discussing first impressions of the dystopian society of the setting, using context clues to piece together a picture of the world in the story. We will have a test over the first six chapters when we return from Labor Day break.
Language Arts 7: LA7 is rocking the review of nouns and pronouns as they prepare to explore the ways in which these types of words are used in short story literature. They have also been exploring interactive review and practice activities through Peardeck and Kahoot.
ELA 8 We are beginning the year in English 8 with reading folk tales, myths, and legends from the Americas. We are using the tales to review some basic literary elements such as theme, plot, setting, and conflict. In language arts, we are working on using figurative language such as simile, metaphor, and hyperbole in personal writing. We are also reviewing concepts in capitalization and will begin identifying subjects and objects in sentences at the end of the month.
JH Creative Writing: Starting with the Stream of Consciousness style of writing, we’ve shifted into the more concrete aspects that can be found in any piece of writing known as the Six Traits of Writing (Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Reviewing). We will begin our path towards creating a short story with first talking about Descriptive writing and practicing showing, not telling our readers.
English 9: We are starting off the year with a short story unit to reinforce the elements of plot and recognize literary elements. We will be writing some structured responses to the stories, and engage in creative writing projects, which the students enjoy. Towards the middle of the month we will begin background for our first novel, Fahrenheit 451. Additionally we are starting our vocabulary study, which usually involves a bi-weekly quiz. Our M.U.G.S. weekly warm-ups have begun, which covers mechanics, usage, grammar and spelling (MUGS), and our grammar ‘fails’ which presents a real-world MUGS mistake caught on camera.
English 10: The 10th grade students have been performing research on the 1917 Russian Revolution as well as the different forms of government used by human society. The research has prepared them for a deep dive into the book Animal Farm by George Orwell. These students will be getting up close and personal with how human government has evolved over time, and what conditions have prevailed to cause those evolutions.
English 11: The 11th grade students are looking into historical American documents in order to determine the influences which affected their creation, and the influences that their creation had on American society and the world. The students will wrap up their look into the Declaration of Independence this week, and we will begin to inspect the Declaration of Human Rights beginning next week.
11th AP Language and Composition: We are engaging in a bootcamp covering the elements of rhetoric and the introduction to rhetorical analysis. The essential topics covered include the author’s purpose, audience, claim and exigence. Our text contains many speeches and excerpts from non-fiction pieces, as does our College Board samples, that will prove challenging for examination. We will also be beginning our SAT vocabulary study as well as root word practice, which will be helpful in other disciplines.
English 12: Our focus is British literature and we began our class with background information on the Anglo-Saxon period and the development of the English language. We are beginning to read excerpts from Beowulf, the oldest surviving piece of British literature. Following Beowulf will be excerpts from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a tale of a medieval knight. We will be continuing our vocabulary and grammar study, and honing our writing skills.
12th AP Literature and Composition: We read Jane Eyre over the summer and are concluding our discussions over this popular novel, which has been referenced 19 times on the AP Literature exam. We are engaging in a bootcamp covering the elements of literature through short stories, practicing on identification and analysis of literary techniques. We will be practicing writing literary response essays and multiple choice questions based on the literary techniques. Additionally we will be reviewing essential vocabulary.
Library
Hello Regina families,
The Junior and Senior High School Library will be rolling out a new social media account in the near future through Instagram. Keep an eye out for more information as it will include the Bookish Bits series and other helpful information such as a link to the library catalog.
Thanks!
-Megan and Annie
Mathematics
Hill
Algebra 2 - Students just took their Summer Review Packet test on Friday. We will continue on with Chapter 1 next week.
AP Calculus AB - We will continue working in Unit 1 (Limits)
AP Calculus BC - We reviewed Integration techniques from AB and will continue working in Unit 6 (More Integration Techniques).
Statistics - We collected data timing each other completing small puzzles (very stressful!) and talked about real-world data from the New York Times What's Going On in This Graph project. We'll continue working on the Data Collection chapter in the book.
PreAlgebra - In PreAlgebra, the students have completed going over the summer math review packet and the test. We will begin our first unit on ratios proportions and percents. This will include scale drawings, tipping, sales tax, commission and unit rates. Happy September!
Religion
Theology 12
Seniors began the year diving right into a book called, “Behold the Sacred - A Deeper Understanding of the Catholic Mass.” Some of the seniors who signed up to be Retreat Team Leaders spent a Sunday attending Mass together and then challenging themselves with a ropes course with low and high elements.
Theology 11
The Juniors will be starting this semester with studying Morality. We will start the curriculum with learning about the nine steps to living a moral life and throughout the semester we will look at each individual step in more depth. We will focus on decision making, the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. We also will look at the Gospel each week.
Theology 10
The Sophomore’s are off to a great start. We are studying scriptures this year. Our first two lessons were about storytelling and ancient scrolls. Every Friday we are doing life skills and the Gospel for the upcoming Sunday. The Soph’s are preparing Mass on Sept 14th. We will be journaling on different topics throughout the year. Looking forward to this year with the Soph’s.
Theology 9
We are starting off the year with the book, “Bible Basics for Catholics - A New Picture of Salvation History”. This book looks at the many Covenants God made throughout the Bible and the significance of them for our future. We will also be going over the gospel every Friday in preparation for understanding the reading at Sunday mass better.
VIA
VIA classes have been helping out newest students ease into junior high and all of the changes that come with that. They have worked on getting to know each other as well as how to navigate the school day and study habits!
Science
7th grade science - Mrs. Coffin
The 7th grade science students are getting to class on time and are very excited about learning science this year. We are starting the year learning about (or refreshing) science skills. The first skills we are focusing on include making observations and inferences. The second week of school we did a small unit called Gab Labs - these allow the students to group with different students with each lab and practice science skills.
8th Grade Science - Mrs. Goldsmith
Students in 8th grade science have been very busy with labs involving states of matter, types of matter, and physical and chemical changes. Labs have involved Slime, Oobleck, and Ice Cream. They will also do a lab that explores density and another that illustrates conduction of heat. After our unit on Matter, we will move on to Heat and Temperature, which directly relates to what we are learning now. We will do a couple labs in that unit that hopefully dispel some common misconceptions about heat. At the end of the month, we should be about ready to move on to Atoms and the Periodic Table!
Earth & Space Science - Mrs. Coffin
The Earth Science students are applying their knowledge of science skills in a unit called The Nature of Science and Bias. The students are tasked with explaining various scenarios by making a claim and providing evidence to support their claims. After we finish this brief unit, we will start learning about the universe and The Big Bang Theory.
Biology - Mr. LaKose
Students are reviewing the nature of science, engineering, pseudoscience, microscope work, and the metric system for their first exam. Labs have been performed on engineering (toxic popcorn), pseudoscience (dowsing), and the scientific method (color changes with different chemical reactions). Microscope work is up next as we approach our Cell Unit.
Chemistry - Mrs. Goldsmith
Chemistry kids are busy reviewing Chemistry basics like matter, physical and chemical changes, and types of separation techniques. They have started the year with some fun labs involving Slime, Oobleck, Ice Cream, and making Curds and Whey. Their next unit will be Elements and the Periodic Table, and they have already started reviewing the 48 elements that they need to memorize the spellings and abbreviations of. Luckily a lot of this unit will be a review of what we covered in 8th grade science, so it’s a nice, easy transition into our academic adventure in Chemistry!
Anatomy & Physiology - Mr. LaKose
Students have been introduced to the Language of Anatomy, comparing different body regions using like terminology. Basic understanding of the 11 human organ systems has been assessed, and we begin our investigations of each of them individually (Integumentary, Skeletal, Muscular, Nervous, Endocrine, Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Lymphatic/Immune, Digestive, Urinary, and Reproductive). A unit on histology (tissues) will precede the organ systems.
AP Biology - Mr. LaKose
Unit 1 covers biochemistry (water, carbon, macromolecules, and enzymes). Students have designed their own experiment on transpiration using plants (including data analysis such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean) and will be conducting an experiment on water properties before we move into organic life, macromolecules, and biological catalysts (enzymes).
Principles of Biomedical Science - Mr. LaKose
Students use PLTW’s curriculum to investigate many different subjects under the umbrella of biomedical science. On day 1 students were shown a replica crime scene where a subject, Anna Garcia, was found deceased. Through a variety of tests, using forensics, students will try to piece together what happened to her (was it an accident or was there foul play at hand?). We have reviewed good scientific practices and experimental design, as we will do the following: look at hair under the microscope of Anna and the persons of interest, analyze fingerprints found at the scene, review Anna’s use of technologies and social media posts to create a digital evidence timeline, as well as analyze blood found at the scene to test for blood type. Students will also design and perform a blood spatter analysis lab as well as use DNA forensics by incorporating gel electrophoresis.
Physics - Mrs. Goldsmith
Physics students were challenged on Day 1 to Build a Boat that Floats. Their goal was to “purchase” supplies so that their boat would float the most pennies at the cheapest “price.” It was a great engineering project to start off the school year and so fun to see their creativity at work. Our first unit deals with motion (distance, displacement, speed, velocity, and vectors.) We collected motion data outside as a class and are analyzing the data in a series of graphs. This information will flow nicely into our next unit: Acceleration.
Social Studies
AP World History:
Unit 1 is all about the global tapestry. What does this mean? We are learning about the development of different regions between the periods 1200-1450. These regions include: South/Southeast Asia, East Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. We will be looking at the political, social, impact of enviroment and technology, cultural, and economic factors in each of these areas.
AP Government and Politics
Unit 1 is all about democracy and the Constitution. We will be analyzing sources such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and some of the Federalist papers. Students will learn about the competing theories of democracy and the institutions, systems, and powers that came about. Students will debate Federalist ideas v. Anti. Federalist ideas in a simulation. We will end the unit on what federalism is and how it is seen in our government today.
World History
Students are beginning there exploration of history. We are looking at how geography impacts humans and events, what makes up someone’s culture, what are the similar characteristics of the first civilizations, and the development of trade between civilizations. Students will also learn about some of the oldest religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism and the impact religion has on a group of people.
Government
Students are beginning Unit 1 which includes the principles behind American government. Students will learn the basic theories of government, how the founding fathers built the American system and look at the broad principles of the Constitution stated in the Preamble.
U.S. History 8th grade
The 8th graders are off to a great start for the year. We took the citizenship quiz to get a basic knowledge of what they know in US History. We are currently studying Native American tribes, and each student will get a tribe to research. The time period we will study this year is from Pre-America’s to the reconstruction of the South after the Civil War.
US History 11th grade
The students finished a quick unit on the Amendments to the Constitution and took a quiz. We will begin next week focus on the Reconstruction Period from 1865-1876.
Economics
Ever wonder why we make the decisions we do? Why is it that we choose to do one thing over another? Well, the economics students are studying that exact situation right now. Last week we began our unit on Scarcity, looking specifically at Opportunity cost and theory behind our choices. This week we are beginning our chapter on World Economic Systems and looking at how different systems answer the three basic questions all societies answer in regards to satisfying the one problem we all face….Scarcity. We will then be expanding on those experiences and looking at why we no longer as a society attempt to meet all of our own needs by ourselves. Instead, we now look to specialize and rely on others who have an advantage over us in doing one thing..For example, why don’t I grow all my own food or why don’t I produce my own clothing anymore? Students are also taking a look at how we measure efficiency and opportunity cost. As they have learned there is a cost to every decision we make. However, hopefully we are making the one that gives us the most benefit for the least cost. We want the best deal. The seniors, especially, are doing just this with some major life decisions right now...School? Military? Trade? Degree? What is best for me?
7th Grade Global Studies: Mrs. Wallace
During the first full week of class, we adjusted to new classroom routines and started to discuss some current events throughout the world. We then began with some world geography basics such as labeling a world map with the continents, oceans, and major lines of latitude/longitude. They will have a short quiz on this map on Friday, September 9th. I have posted a study map on Google Classroom and a review game.
We will start our first unit this week covering Europe's physical and political geography with a brief lesson on the history of Europe overall. This will provide some background information before we start to study and discuss the European Union to prepare for our debate over our main guiding question of “Is membership in the EU worthwhile?”
AP US History
In AP US History, we have jumped right into the content by covering our first main unit: Period 1. We discussed and studied the Age of Exploration and the impact of the Columbian Exchange on the "New World" and Europe. We then compared and contrasted the colonization of the Americas by the Spanish, French, and the English. The students also participated in a simulation to see if they would have survived in the Jamestown colony.
Each week, the students will have an assigned chapter to cover on their own as well from our American Pageant textbook. I post the assignments about 2-3 weeks in advance of the due date and they usually have about 6-7 days to complete each chapter. I currently have their first assessment for Chapters 1-4 set for Wednesday, September 4th. Their study guide will be due on that date as well.
Abnormal Psychology and General Psychology
The early part of the school year, the classes will be looking at the foundations, perspectives, historical figures, and approaches to the field of psychology.
AP Psychology
Students have been working through the first unit covering the historical approaches and research methods used in the field of psychology.
Spanish
Spanish I
The Spanish I students are learning the pronunciation of the Spanish
Alphabet. They can spell their names, the names of classmates, and some nouns.
They can introduce themselves and greet various people at different times of the day.
Spanish II
The Spanish II students can discuss a variety of activities they enjoy doing
at each of the four seasons and under various weather conditions. They can use a
variety of adjectives to describe themselves and others using the verb ser. They can
discuss various things they know how to do and people whom they know using the
verbs saber and conocer. The students' Spanish learning journey promises to be a very joyous one!
Spanish III
We have had a good start in Spanish III. We are presently reviewing basic grammar and Ser
and Estar. We had our first quiz this Friday. We will start a unit on culture in commemoration of Hispanic Heritage Month and will continue with an all review that will include vocabulary, verb tenses, writing, and oral practice.
Spanish IV
We started the semester reviewing verb tenses we learned in Spanish 1, 2 and 3. Students had their first quiz over this. We are now reviewing the uses of Por and Para and will continue with practice of irregular forms in all tenses learned. Also, as part of Hispanic Heritage Month
(September 15-October 15), we will study culture of Spanish speaking countries in the
Caribbean.
Vocal Music
Regina Junior Senior High School
Email: glenn.plummer@regina.org
Website: www.regina.org
Location: 2150 Rochester Avenue, Iowa City, IA, United States
Phone: (319)-338-5436