November 2013
Volume 13, Issue 4
November
The Trojan Times
FINDLAY HIGH SCHOOL
PHONE~ 419.425.8289
A Message from the Principal
1st Grading Period Comes to a Close
The first grading period ended on October 18th and teacher grades were due on
October 23rd. The 1st - 9 week report cards were handed out to students last week, so
your child’s report card should have made it home sometime last week. If your child
did not bring home a report card last week, please call one of the following
secretaries and they can mail one home for you: Freshman students – Mrs. Holdman,
419-420-7059; A-G 10th-12th grade – Mrs. Apple, 419-425-5439; H-Q 10th-12th grade
– Mrs. Line, 419-425-8289; R-Z 10th-12th grade – Mrs. Leddy, 419-425-8260.
My Child Needs Academic Help. What Can I Do?
Often times when our children struggle it is best to speak with the teacher in order
to get to the root of the cause. If you have questions regarding your child’s progress,
we encourage you to email or make contact with your child’s teacher as soon as
possible in order to share your concerns. A staff directory can be found at: http://
www.findlaycityschools.org/cgi-bin/addrbook.pl. Another way to make contact with
your child’s teacher is during Parent/Teacher conferences. The next parent/teacher
conference night will be December 4th from 3:30-7:30 pm. You can call Mrs. Greiser
at 419-427-5412 to schedule an appointment.
If you find that your child could use tutoring, Findlay High School now provides
free tutoring in Language Arts and Math, and we have a few limited times for students
in need of additional assistance in other subject areas as well. We currently have
three tutors, Mrs. Engle, Ms. Musgrave, and Mrs. Boes. Referrals can be made by
parents, teachers, counselors or administrators, or students can make a request for
tutoring on their own behalf. A Student Intervention Tutoring Plan will be initiated for
each referred student. The plan will list the area in which tutoring intervention is
requested, other services the student is receiving, a description of the concern(s),
factors which contribute to the concern, information from a student interview, specific
goals for success, timeline for intervention, and progress monitoring. Identified
students will receive tutoring intervention services during a study hall period when
available, at lunch time or before/after school when appropriate. Please contact your
child’s guidance counselor if you would
like more information on tutoring services
Highlights in This Issue:
or how to make a referral.
Testing Info ............................................. 2
Progress Book Alerts for Missing
Assignment or Low Score Alerts
There is now a link on Progress Book
that parents can sign up for once they
have registered in Progress Book. Once
you sign up for these alerts, AND the
Continued on page 9
Save the Date ......................................... 3
Resources ............................................... 4
FHS Contact Information ........................ 4
Activities .................................................. 5
Upcoming Announcements .................... 7
Yearbook Information ............................. 8
Exam Schedule - Permission Slip .......... 10
SAVE THE DATE
ACT Test
SAT Test Dates
SAT Dates
*at FHS
Registration
Deadline
ACT Dates
Late Registration
Date (addl. fee)
*NOT at FHS
Registration
Deadline
Late Registration
Deadline (addl. fee)
Dec. 7, 2013
Nov. 8, 2013
Nov. 22, 2013
Dec. 14, 2013
Nov. 8, 2013
Nov. 22, 2013
*Jan. 25, 2014
Dec. 27, 2013
Jan. 10, 2014
Feb. 8, 2014
Jan. 10, 2014
Jan. 24, 2014
Mar. 8, 2014
Feb. 7, 2014
Feb. 21, 2014
Apr. 12, 2014
Mar. 7, 2014
Mar. 21, 2014
*May 3, 2014
Apr. 4, 2014
Apr. 18, 2014
*Jun. 14, 2014
May 9, 2014
May 23, 2014
Jun. 7, 2014
May 9, 2014
May 23, 2014
~~~~
Parent Teacher Conference Schedule for 2013-2014
You will want to mark your calendar now for the dates of Parent-Teacher
Conferences for 2013-2014
Wednesday
Thursday
Wednesday
December 4
February 20
May 7
3:30 -7:30 p.m.
3:30 -7:30 p.m.
3:30 -7:30 p.m.
Additional information will be included in upcoming issues of The Trojan Times.
~~~~
The High School will be closed Monday through Friday of Thanksgiving Week. Other FCS
buildings will have parent-teacher conferences on Monday & Tuesday, but FHS conferences are
scheduled as above, instead. Have a wonderful, thanks-filled, holiday!
~~~~
On Thursday, November 7, we will be running on a normal schedule. There is no
collaborative teacher time because of Challenge Day.
~~~~
The Mission of the Findlay High School is to develop within each student the ability to
recognize and realize their individual potential to be lifelong learners who are
caring, flexible, contributing citizens in an ever changing society. This is
accomplished through families, students, staff, and community working together
to provide a positive atmosphere where all students can attain the virtues
necessary to achieve their mental, physical, and emotional potential.
Congratulations to everyone that guessed “Ben Franklin” as the author of the quotes last
month. This month’s author won’t be as easy to guess.
Decide if you want it more than you are afraid of it.
page 2
SAVE THE DATE
How to Parent a Gifted Child
presented by:
JIM DELISLE, Ph.D.: Nationally Acclaimed Gifted Author
Thursday, November 14, 2013
7:00-9:00 PM
Glenwood Middle School Cafetorium
1715 N. Main St.
Findlay, Ohio 45840
This program is co-sponsored by the Findlay Enrichment Programs, Inc. and Findlay City Schools
You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything, even poverty,
you can survive it.
page 3
RESOURCES
Academic/Behavioral Resources Available
Did you know that RtI (Response to Intervention) is a school-wide system at Findlay High School that is
available to all students? What is RtI, you ask? RtI is a framework for providing comprehensive support to
students. A goal of RtI is to minimize the risk for long-term negative learning outcomes by responding
quickly and efficiently to documented learning or behavioral problems. The RtI framework provides a
system for delivering instructional interventions of increasing intensity. These interventions effectively
integrate academic instruction with positive behavioral supports. Typically, RtI serves students who are
struggling academically and/or behaviorally.
In conjunction with the mission of Findlay High School, RtI seeks to facilitate success in order that students
may “recognize and realize their full potential”. The team regularly strives to provide students interventions
to ensure success both inside and outside the classroom. Teachers, counselors and administrators can
refer a student to the RtI Team. When a student is referred to RtI, the student is assigned a case manager
who contacts the student’s teachers, counselors, administrators, parents and student. This group of
individuals then meets to discuss and implement interventions to help the student be more successful with
specific academics and/or behaviors.
The RtI Team is comprised of four teachers; Laura Davis, Mark Laux, Justin Shank and Jimmy Orr. If your
student can benefit from this resource, please feel free to contact your student’s counselor.
~~~~
Tracking Student Grades on Progressbook
We would like to remind parents that they have the ability to check their student’s
progress and grades on-line. FHS teachers use ProgressBook to post scores and/or grades
and you can access that information for your student with your parent password. If you did not
receive a password or have misplaced yours please contact the FHS ProgressBook Manager at
[email protected] to retrieve your password.
How to Contact the Administrative Team
Mrs. Victoria Swartz, Building Principal
Phone: 419-425-8302
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Nate Weihrauch, Athletic Director
Phone: 419-425-8399
Email: [email protected]
Ms. Janice Panuto, Associate Principal (Freshman)
Phone: 419-425-8279
Email: [email protected]
Mrs. Kristi Gerdeman, Guidance Counselor (Freshman)
Phone: 419-425-8269
Email: [email protected]
Ms. Lynsey Davis, Assistant Principal (A-G)
Phone: 419-427-5409
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Ray Elbin, Guidance Counselor (A-G)
Phone: 419-427-5414
Phone: 419-427-5433
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Ryan Imke, Assistant Principal (R-Z)
Phone: 419-425-8313
Phone: 419-425-8304
Mr. Greg Distel, Guidance Counselor (R-Z)
Phone: 419-425-8356
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Nate Sorg, Assistant Principal (H-Q)
Mrs. Mary Burget, Guidance Counselor (H-Q)
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Parents are not interested in justice, they are interested in peace and quiet.
page 4
FHS ACTIVITIES
October 23 - MOLE DAY
What’s “mole” fun than a barrel of
monkeys? A chemistry classroom full of mole
lovers. Wednesday, October 23rd, the FHS
chemistry classes celebrated mole day with
Mole-lympics and mole food ranging from
mole-asses cookies to guaca-mole.
So what is a mole? In 1811, Amadeo Avogadro formulated Avogadro’s
Law and the first concept of the mole. The end result was Avogadro’s
Number, 6.02 x 1023, which equals one mole. One mole equals 602 billion
trillion atoms or molecules. To make it simple, look at aluminum. The atomic mass of
aluminum is 27 because it has 13 protons and 14 neutrons. If you would weigh out 27
grams of aluminum you would have 6.02 x 1023 atoms of aluminum. A mole is just a
quantity - just like a dozen equals 12, a mole equals 6.02 x 1023.
~~~~
Dress A Girl Around the World
Findlay High School students and employees, community volunteers and
employees from Kohl’s spent Saturday, October 19th, sewing dresses for
the Dress a Girl Around the World project, a branch of Hope 4 Women
International. This year, the team of very ambitious students set their goal
for 1500 dresses! Last year’s efforts produced 1265 dresses so the team
thought they could do better still. They also added a component called
Britches for Boys. The final count on Saturday afternoon was 1435 dresses
and 10 pair of britches. Many people took materials home to complete, so
the goal should be easily met by November 9th. 125 sewers from age 5 to 88
created beautiful girls’ dresses that will be cherished by children around the world in 38 different countries.
The team is very thankful for the donations of fabric, ribbon, time and talents that made this day such an
enormous
success!
A word to the wise ain’t necessary – it’s the stupid ones that need the advice.
page 5
FHS ACTIVITIES
Mrs. Baer and her class celebrate reading the book Alice in Wonderland. Mrs. Baer is dressed as
Alice, with DJ Kleman as The Mad Hatter. In the spirit of diversity, some students chose to dress
as characters from other books or movies. The class enjoyed a tea party and watched the
newest version of the Alice in Wonderland movie.
Respectful and Responsible Trojans
We are excited to announce that the first nine weeks of recognizing respectful and responsible
students has been a huge success. Over the course of the first nine weeks, 2,518 tickets were
collected for weekly and end-of-the-nine-weeks drawings. We would like to congratulate all of our
weekly drawing winners and also the winners of the end-of-the-nine-weeks drawing listed below.
Congratulations, students, and let’s continue to be respectful and responsible!
Final Nine Weeks Drawing Winners:
McDonalds Gift Cards: Misty Spence, Brionna Brown, Nate Harmon, Brandon
Tate, Nola Jackson, Haili Ball
Coffee Amici Gift Cards: Kiya Schlievert, Maria Rodriguez
Class Ring donated by Herff Jones $349 dollar value: Mitresha Henderson
Graduation Cap, Gown, and Tassel donated by Herff Jones: Hunter Girdler
$25.00 Gift Card donated by Meijers: Heather Wolfe
Respectful and Responsible Trojan Parking Spaces: Victoria Cox, Michael Clark
I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
page 6
FHS ANNOUNCEMENTS
I often try to tell kids to think about all the people who love you, don’t cry over the one person who doesn’t.
page 7
YEARBOOK
Senior Salutations
The deadline to order a Senior Salutation is February 28, 2014. You can express
friendship, love, or congratulations to that special senior student in your life with a
colored personal ad in the yearbook. You may design and pay for your
congratulations message starting August 1, 2013, by logging on to:
www.YearbookOrderCenter.com, code 13778. You can then select the desired size
and personalize the ad with your own message and photo(s). Ad information prices and sizes include: ½
page for $150, ¼ page for $90, 1/8 page for $55.
If you prefer, the yearbook staff can design the Senior Salutation for you. You can either e-mail the photos
and text to be included to [email protected] or bring in the photos and text to be included to
Room 104. Questions? E-mail Mrs. Rinker, the Yearbook Advisor, at [email protected]. The
staff will be happy to serve you!
To Order Your 2013-2014 Findlay Trojan Yearbook
Don’t forget to order your 50th Anniversary 2013-2014 yearbook. You can now log on to
www.YearbookOrderCenter.com, code 13778, to get the Early Bird price of $60 until January 1, 2014,
then the price will increase to $65 until February 28, 2014. After that, the price will increase to $70 on March
1, 2014. For only an additional $10, you can have the yearbook sent directly to your home. The last day to
order the 256 page, full color 2014 Trojan Yearbook is April 15, 2014. We will not be ordering extras.
Don’t miss out! One Year. One Book. Last Chance to Preserve it All!
If you have any problems trying to order online, just bring your check/money to Room 104 and we will order it
for you. Please make your check payable to Findlay High School.
Siblings
The 2013-2014 Trojan
Yearbook will also have a
Siblings section in the
yearbook. Please either
e-mail the photo to Mrs.
Rinker
(rrinker@findlaycityschools.
org) or drop it off to Room
104 no later than April 15,
2014.
2012-2013 Findlay Trojan Yearbook
You may pick up your prepaid 2012-2013 Findlay Trojan Yearbook in Room 104 from 7:15 a.m. until 3:30
p.m. Monday through Friday. If you forgot to purchase a 2012-2013 Findlay Trojan Yearbook, a few copies
are still available for purchase in Room 04. The cost is $75, please make your check payable to Findlay
High School.
Nothing I’ve ever done has given me more joys and rewards than being a father to my children.
page 8
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE (continued)
teacher marks an assignment as missing, the parent will receive an email notice after 5 pm that their student
has a missing assignment. The email that you will receive will look like this:
I highly encourage parents to sign up for this Progress Book Missing Assignment and Low Score alert
system.
Preparing for the Holidays, Vacations and Exams
Now that the first nine weeks of school are behind us, we begin to look forward to the holidays spent with
family members and friends, vacations that take us away or allow us to relax, and we begin to prepare for
semester exams. We ask that you emphasize to your child the importance of preparing for and attending all
exams. In this issue of the Trojan Times you will find the Parent Form for semester exams. The intent of this
form is to give you and your child important information regarding the exam schedule and to give parents and
students a method for communicating your child’s attendance to us for exam days. This form needs to be
turned in to the appropriate attendance clerk as early as possible and prior to any absence in order to excuse
absences on exam days.
Semester exams will be Wednesday, December 18, Thursday, December 19, and Friday, December 20th.
In the event of inclement weather, any make-up exams due to district issued delays or calamity days will
begin on Monday, January 6, 2014.
News from the Ohio Department of Education
Ohio schools received some disappointing news from Columbus this month. We have been informed by
the Ohio Department of Education that, at this time, schools will be required to give the Next Generation
Assessments during the next school year (2014-2015) and next year’s 10th-graders (the Class of 2017) must
also take the Ohio Graduation Tests. According to current legislative requirements, Ohio students will need
the graduation tests to meet legislative graduation requirements. State Superintendent, Dr. Richard A. Ross,
stated, “Necessary changes in legislation and related timing issues have prevented the Ohio Department of
Education from establishing how the Next Generation Assessments will affect future graduation
requirements.”
He went on to say, “A Graduation Requirements Committee of the State Board of Education is working to
develop the new graduation rules. However, legislation is needed to make the rules effective for the Class of
2018. Until we know if or how legislation will change, the department will not be able to tell schools which
assessments will be used for graduation requirements for the Class of 2018 and beyond. Reaching a decision
on this and providing guidance to schools are high priorities of the department. We will be working closely
with the Ohio General Assembly to get closure on this issue.”
Writing is more fun than performing, because I get to color with words.
Page 9
Please fill out and return the bottom section of this page and return it with your student.
Your student needs to return this to his/her attendance secretary.