PRIDE
THE NEWSLETTER OF AVON PARK HIGH SCHOOL
Avon Park, Florida
Tealy Williams, Principal
March, 2016
Preparing Students for the Future!
NIGHT OF STARS
Volume 1, Issue 7
PRINCIPAL OF THE DAY
March 22, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Parents, Students and Families:
Come to the high school for a night of fun and
a celebration of our students. The event will
include performances by choir and band,
displays of student work, and opportunities to
see our clubs and organizations. BBQ sandwiches will be on sale to support our SAC
Committee and Project Grad will be hosting a
Drive One fundraiser. Mark your calendars for
March 22. We hope to see you there!
VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE
SGA is sponsoring a voter registration drive
on April 5 during lunch and advisement.
Students and teachers will be able to register
to vote, change party affiliation or make
updates to address information. Students who
are 16 or 17 may pre-register so they will be
ready to vote after their 18th birthday.
Teachers can register during their lunches.
Junior and Senior Advisement classes will be
invited to come during 4th period. Anyone
who wants to register or pre-register will
need to bring a driver’s license or the last four
digits of their social security number as identification. See Mrs. Word for more information.
STUDENTS OF THE MONTH
Congratulations for February: Iesha Nelson,
10th; Montserrat Sanchez, 10th; Laurynn
Blaylock, 11th; and Chase Langston, 12th .
Sophomore Rosalinda Jaramillo was selected as
Principal of the Day for February. She spent her day with
Mr. Williams meeting the staff, learning the job and
observing teachers and classrooms. Jaramillo said, “I
valued meeting the staff because I got to see all the
people that help run APHS. As principal I learned to
analyze teachers. This was important because you see
how to improve the teacher’s way of teaching.”
She said being principal is “not an easy job. You have to
be considerate and responsible.” Rosalinda feels that the
qualities Principal Williams brings to his job are “being a
strong leader and a problem solver.” She would not
want to be a principal, feeling she could not handle so
much responsibility.
Her advice to new freshmen at APHS is to “try not to
procrastinate, because high school prepares you for
college.”
Rosalinda is an only child who loves to spend time with
family and friends. She enjoys meeting new people and
solving problems. Her favorite subject is math. She plans
to go to college and pursue a career in health care.
Her favorite part of the day was going into classrooms
and observing teachers.
“Throughout my day as
principal, I acknowledged all the work Mr. Williams does
to keep APHS a great school. Being principal was a great
opportunity and I enjoyed it.,” Jaramillo said.
MARCH, 2016
CONGRATULATIONS
Sophomore Brittany Castillo
is this year’s Take Stock in
Children scholarship recipient.
She will receive a two year
tuition scholarship to SFSC.
FFA WINNERS AT FAIR
According to FFA sponsor Mr. Dressel, AP
students did well showing their animals at the
Highlands County Fair this year.
Swine show results Senior Division:
Kinsey Bachman, 2nd in class, Grand
Champion Showmanship; Courtney Ball,
4th in class; Garrett Barr, 3rd in class,
Reserve Grand Champion Showmanship;
Kinley Bennett, 2nd in class; Bo Deen,
4th in Class; Jimmy Frazier, (APH Chapter
Pig), 1st in class, Showmanship; Kaitlyn
Williams, 6th in class, Showmanship; and
Laurynn Blaylock also showed. Home
school students; Kassidy Carroll, 4th in
class and Destiny Garza, 7th in class.
Heifer show results Senior Division
Lauren Ahrens, 3rd in class.
Steer show results Senior Division:
Jeremy Ahrens, 4th in class; Scotty
Williams, 3rd in class; Jordan Faucett
(pictured below) won Reserve Grand
Champion. He also won Grand Champion
with a different steer at the South Florida
State Fair in West Palm Beach earlier.
A NIGHT TO REMEMBER
The annual Project Graduation Ms. Leap Year fundraiser
pageant was held Feb. 20. The eight contestants started
off the evening with a group dance. They then competed
individually, showing off their sportswear and evening
gowns, and answering a random question. Pictured above
from left: Mz. Leap Year 2016 Nick Ramnararin
(Naughty Nicholette); 1st Runner-Up Josh Williams
(YaQueen Dafinest); and 2nd Runner-Up Leighton Jahna
(Lavishing Leightina). Congratulations to all who were
involved and thanks for the memories.
SELECTED FOR BOYS STATE
Congratulations to juniors Jeff Burch and Jacob
Schlosser who were selected to attend the American
Legion Boys State in Tallahassee this summer.
SCHLOSSER CROWNED
Freshman AMY SCHLOSSER
took top honors at the 2016 Jr.
Miss Highlands County pageant
held in conjunction with the
Highlands County Fair, besting
twelve other contestants to win.
She took 2nd place in last year’s
pageant and is also currently the
2015 Jr. Miss Avon Park.
AFJROTC CADETS EXCEL
Twenty three AFJROTC cadets took the Obstacle Course
and Physical Fitness Test that all sheriff’s deputies must
pass each year. All cadets passed it under the time
required, and Cadet Zachary Hutchins completed the
test in a new record time of 2 minutes 42 seconds. That is
the fastest time anyone has ever completed the test,
including members of the Sheriff’s Department.
MARCH, 2016
TIPS AND TOOLS
According to Khan Academy, you only have to know
one thing: #You Can Learn Anything. Your brain is
like a muscle. The more you use it and struggle, the
more it grows. There are tips, tools and free online
sites available for parents and students to help with this
process, and to better prepare for testing they will have
to pass. APHS recommends these FREE resources:
Millions of students learn at their own
pace on Khan Academy every day,
tackling math, science, history,
economics and more. Visit their web
page at http://www.khanacademy.org.
The University of Florida created
Algebra Nation to help students prepare and pass the required Algebra 1
End-of-Course exam (EOC). They are
available 24/7. Visit their web page at
http://www.algebranation.com.
CHOIR NOTES
The chorus will travel to Lakeland to participate in a
District-wide Music Performance Assessment March 3.
95 students will sing in either the Concert Choir or
Women’s Choir. Choirs earning superior ratings will
advance to the State contest in April.
From oranges to the Big Apple, it’s finally here! After
months of fundraising and rehearsing, 22 choir students
will leave for New York City on March 10. They will
join other choirs from around the nation to form a
National Youth Chorus, performing on the Carnegie
Hall stage on March 12. They will also visit the Statue
of Liberty, the 9-11 Memorial, ice skate in Central Park
and see the Broadway Show “The Lion King”, among
other things. Thanks to the hundreds of people who
have supported these talented and hard working
students. Thanks also to the chaperones: Wade and
Melanie Jackson, Amalia Velazquez, Esther Rivera,
Miriam Rivera, Cheryl McGovern and Vicki Myers.
SALTY DOGS PERFORM AT APHS
Band students got a lesson in blues from the
professional music group Salty Dogs, who visited
our campus prior to an evening performance at
South Florida State College.
The ensemble has players on tuba, trombone,
clarinet, piano and drums. They performed for
music students, and included music theory, song
backgrounds and musicians from the big band era.
Band Director Mr. Jones commented, “It was
awesome to bring a group in to play jazz and
Dixieland music to a group of students that had
not been exposed to this type or genre of music.
It truly was a great experience for my students.”
NEED GUIDANCE?
See your Counselor
**ATTENTION SENIORS**
TESTING DATE DEADLINES
SAT test April 9 - register by March 4
ACT test May 7 - register by April 8
**FRESHMAN ORIENTATION**
Friday, March 11. All 8th graders from APMS
and HGMS zoned for APHS will be visiting the
high school to learn about our programs, get
scheduling packets and tour the campus.
MARCH, 2016
APHS:
WHERE EXCELLENCE
IS A TRADITION
Check out the APHS Web Page calendar of
upcoming events to find dates, times and other
information for these sports:
WEIGHT LIFTING (Girls and Boys); TENNIS
(Boys and Girls); BASEBALL (Varsity and JV);
SOFTBALL; RUNNING, and
TRACK AND FIELD
Come out and support your RED DEVILS!
HIGHLIGHTS
WRESTLING: Congratulations to the wrestling
team who became the District Champions for the
5th year in a row by winning the District Tournament in Lakeland. There were seven individual
weight class champions, the most individual titles
by any Highlands school, and eleven wrestlers
who qualified for the Regional Tournament at Fort
Meyers.
The weight class champions were:
Travon Spry;
Timothy Ferreira;
Dre
Neely;
Junior Pontinela;
Kenny Egan;
Christopher Garcia and Javier Arango. Other
team members going to Region were: James
Ferreira; Henry Grice; Arlan Hutchinson;
Corey Harris; Brandon Brignoni and Jacob
Baldridge. The top four in the Region qualify for
the State Championship Tournament March 4.
KEY CLUB is looking for clubs to help organize
and put together a Relay for Life Team here at
APHS. The event is Saturday, April 2. People are
needed to set up, clean up, promote the event
and participate during the walk. New board
members will be elected soon. They are always
looking for new members. Dues are $20 for the
school year and includes your shirt.
The AVID film crew visited our school Feb. 24. They
filmed a mid-year AVID update with our community
sponsors, Charles and Stephanie Devlin of
DevTech, Inc. They also visited classrooms, filmed
our campus environment, interviewed teachers,
students and Mr. Williams about college culture,
leadership and how AVID has made a difference in our
school community and students’ lives. The film crew
and AVID staff were extremely impressed with our
staff, students and campus.
Freshmen and sophomores will travel to USF in
Tampa on March 30. The cost is $10 to attend.
Juniors and Seniors (pictured below) visited
Southeastern University and Florida Polytechnic
University on Feb. 10.
AVID recruitment is in its beginning stages. If you are
interested in applying for AVID for the upcoming
school year, please see Miss Henderson or your
guidance counselor.
NHS: Seniors, your blue NHS graduation stole is
$20 before March 10; $25 before April 30. There
are limited stoles to borrow that may be checked
out in May. ALL NHS members are required to
attend Night of Stars March 22 and the NHS Induction May 3. Applications for NHS have been distributed to qualifying 10th and 11th graders and are due
by March 4. Late applications will not be accepted.
STEM Parent Night is Thursday, March 31 from 6
to 7 p.m. in the Media Center.
MARCH, 2016