HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS

FEBRUARY, 2020

Hello Students and Families,

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Term 3 is off to a great start! Many students have started new courses and we continue to work and grow in our Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). In our PLCs our teach- ers talk about continuous improvement with a focus on three major areas: student learn- ing, collaboration, and results. Our staff is striving to answer four key questions: what do we want all students to know and be able to do, how will we know if they have learned it, how will we respond when some students do not learn, and how will we extend the learn- ing for students who are already proficient? Our teachers are working to implement a guaranteed and viable curriculum unit by unit: selecting priority standards and learning targets, developing common formative assessments, developing common summative assessments, and using data to improve instruction. We have course level teams in vari- ous places of this process and we are committed to learn and grow as we continuously improve in the focus area of student learning.

Junior class and Sophomore class Advisors have started to work through our 2020 ACT Test Prep. In December we shared the Parent/Student Method Test Prep Video. The 11th Grade ACT Test, March 3rd, along with our 10th and 9th grade Aspire Test, April 22nd and 23rd, play an important part of our School Report Card. We use this data to determine where we have gaps in our curriculum or instruction. Please encourage your 11th and 10th grade son/daughter to take full advantage of the free Method Test Prep. March 3rd also marks our 3rd Annual ACP (Academic and Career Plan) Day. While our juniors are taking the ACT, our freshmen will be exploring careers as they visit local businesses, sophomores will explore post secondary options as they visit a local public and private university along with a technical college, and lastly, our seniors will have a variety of ac- tivities planned from Servant Leadership to Wellness.

Parent Teacher Conferences will take place on February 24th from 3:15 - 7:00 p.m. The format will remain the same as the last time with teachers meeting with parents in their classrooms. We will be sending out a document with detailed information as we get clos- er to February 24th.

We will have an Orientation for the 8th grade students and families on Monday, March 2nd. It will start promptly at 6:30 pm with a brief overview and then break out into smaller groups, in which our Student Services counselors will share information about schedul- ing and some class offerings at the high school. After meeting with our Student Services counselors, students and families will then have a chance to visit our curricular and co- curricular fair in the gym and commons, where we will showcase the wide variety of activ- ities we have for student involvement.

Be Your Best,

Wayne E. Sackett, Principal Phone: (608) 526-3372, Extension 6107 Email: [email protected]

Vision Statement: Learning together, every student, every staff, every day.

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PARENTS WANTING TO REACH STUDENTS DURING THE SCHOOL DAY: - If there is a family emergency, certainly call the front office. - If this is a message for the student which is a non- emergency, please email their school email or personal text message. We will be reminding students to check email accounts and phones during lunch or in-between classes. - Thank you for your attention to these requests; our front office is often unable to get requested messages to students in a timely matter. SCHOOL UPDATES: - We encourage parents and students to LIKE our school FACEBOOK page @HolmenVikings for celebrations and occasional news. HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS P A G E 3 PAGE 4 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS

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Are you ready to Dance? Attached is our annual Valentine's Dance that Project Bridge hosts for special education students in the surrounding area. This year we have invited 17 school dis- tricts and we hope you can join us too. We would love for you to stop down with your class and "bust a move" with our stu- dents. There are also other activities happening such as a pop- corn bar, cookie decorating station and a Photo Booth. Please put this on your Agenda for the day. If you have any questions, just let me know. This is a wonderful opportunity for collaboration between special education students and their peers. Regular Ed Classes are welcome to attend with their teachers. Come one, come all, hope to see you there!

Save the Date Valentine’s Dance 7th Annual Wednesday, February 12th, 2020 9:00 – 11:00 am Holmen High School Gym C

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Theme for Prom 2020 is : Rustic Romance

Saturday, April 25th PAGE 10 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS

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A NOTE FROM THE NURSE: PAGE 14 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS

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It seems like every time you turn around, there's a new app -- or type of app -- that's popular with tweens and teens. While the old standbys like Snapchat and Instagram are still going strong, there's no shortage of social media apps that are popular but not nec- essarily household names. And social media apps are just the beginning. Of course, it's nearly impossible to keep up with every hot new app, which makes knowing the risky features -- like interaction with strangers, anonymity, privacy concerns, and iffy content - - a solid first step. But it's still important to know the specifics of what's on your kid's de- vice and whether or not you'll allow it to stay there.

Check out the titles below so you have a sense of what your kid -- or your kid's friends -- may be using and what you need to know about each app. And since all of these are free, be aware that the developers make money on them through in-app purchases, ads, selling user data, or all of the above! BIGO LIVE - Live Stream

Kind of like Twitch and YouTube, BIGO LIVE lets teens stream live video of themselves that other users can see and comment on in real time. You can also receive and send "Beans" -- BIGO's term for virtual gifts -- that cost real money. You can level up and im- prove your ranking by logging in every day and sending gifts. The platform is designed for people who supposedly want to get famous, but it seems to be filled mainly with peo- ple competing for gifts.

What parents need to know BIGO has a lot of mature content, including sexy talk and clothing, and users' com- ments are often predatory and explicit. Also, its focus on status and spending money, as opposed to creativity and talent, makes it feel shallow.

Similar apps: Tagged - Chill, Chat & Go Live! and imo video calls and chat. BitLife

In this simulation game, you're assigned an identity to play through the entire game, from infancy to death. As you play -- and your character gets older -- you can make text -based choices about how to make money, spend time, and develop relationships with pretend profiles (which aren't connected to real people). Those choices determine your levels of happiness, health, smarts, and appearance. When you die, you can start all over. HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS PAGE 17

What parents need to know While kids can't engage in actual risky behavior, BitLife exposes them to mature ideas. As your character gets older, you can choose to "hook up" with the pretend profiles, drink, do drugs, gamble, and commit crimes. (On the other hand, you can make healthy choices such as going to the gym and meditating.) It's also easy for players to be- come overly fixated on the idealized world of sim games. Because you can start over when your character dies, there's the promise of endless free play, which could be a concern if your teen is really into the game.

Similar app: Reigns HOLLA: Live Random Video Chat

This app is all about connecting with strangers. Once you sign up using a phone num- ber or your Facebook account, you can get matched instantly with a stranger -- and both you and they appear on camera. Or you can swipe Tinder-style until you like someone and they like you (by tapping a heart). You can also enable location tracking to be paired with someone nearby.

What parents need to know Video-chatting with strangers can be risky for teens. When it's paired with location, it's a no-go. Also, while HOLLA supposedly bans iffy content -- like nudity and violence -- us- er reviews indicate that masturbation, fake identities, and negative comments are com- mon. The app's age-matching is a red flag, too. It was easy for our tester to pose as a 13-year-old and get paired with 16- and 17-year-olds.

Similar apps: Yubo, MeetMe - Chat and Meet New People, Spotafriend - Teen Meeting App To Make New Friends, ChatLive, Random Video Chat IMVU: 3D Avatar Creator & Chat

Using the website or the app, users interact through elaborate 3D avatars. You can dress them up, place them in public or private rooms, and follow other users and chat with them. You can also buy a wide variety of objects using virtual coins -- earned pri- marily through taking surveys or watching ads or through buying outright with real mon- ey. There's no game or goal other than acquiring outfits, rooms, furniture, and other items or chatting with other users.

What parents need to know Virtual sex and user privacy are the main issues for teens in IMVU. The avatars sport highly stereotypical body types with big muscles or breasts, and many of the outfits are skimpy. It also appears that users generate a follow- ing on other platforms by sharing their IMVU usernames, which invites more contact with people they don't know. Finally, the search term "IMVU sex" results in lots of advice about how to have (virtual avatar) sex and where to find it in IMVU. Similar app: Avakin Life PAGE 18 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS

Like - Magic Music Video Editor

Similar to the video lip-synching service Tik Tok, Like lets you create short vid- eos that often involve lip-synching. You can also follow other users, climb a leaderboard (based on how many likes you've gotten), send direct messages, and send virtual gems -- that cost real money -- to other users.

What parents need to know Also like Tik Tok, Like features mature music and dancing and allows strangers to interact. The leaderboard motif encourages kids to post frequently and gather likes -- basically to keep kids on the app longer and increase their circle of friends (which only benefits the company). So while it can be creative and fun, it's best used with strict privacy settings by teens who are savvy about keeping themselves safe online.

Similar apps: Funimate, Triller, and Lomotif. VSCO is another popular photography- related app, but it's not about performance or music and tends to be tamer. Yolo: Q&A

Yolo got popular fast because it only works with Snapchat, which makes it an easy add- on. It lets users ask anonymous questions and get "feedback." Teens can then choose whether or not to make the responses public.

What parents need to know

Tweens and teens love anonymous feedback apps because they're concerned about what others think about them and want the freedom to be "honest" online. Because teens love them, these apps keep turning up like a bad penny. Like Sarahah as well as Lipsi, which is often used in conjunction with Instagram, lots of posts are positive, but anonymous feed- back services are generally a recipe for bullying, trolling, and hurt feelings.

Similar apps: Lipsi, Sarahah, Tellonym, Profoundly: Anonymous Chats, LMK: Anonymous Polls Socratic by Google

This app lets you take a picture of a homework problem or question and get an answer and explanation in return, similar to Photomath - Camera Calculator. Because it's more focused and filtered than an open internet search, the results are more targeted and helpful (in other words, it gives you the answers). HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS PAGE 19

What parents need to know The biggest concern is cheating: If your kid decides to use this app as an easy way out of homework, they'll lose a lot of learning. Secondly, since the answers come from the internet, they aren't always right. Used with good judgment (and monitoring by a parent), a teen could legitimately use Socratic to dig into tough concepts, but it's pretty easy to use for cheating.

Similar apps: Photomath - Camera Calculator, Mathway, Got It Study - Homework Help Episode - Choose Your Story

This app features dynamic stories that let users make choices about the direction the story takes. Most center on subjects teens care about, primarily romantic relationships. Users can also create their own stories and participate in user discussion forums.

What parents need to know

On the surface, this app has a lot to offer: It gets kids reading and allows them to create sto- ries. Unfortunately, most of the stories have sexual content or innuendo, a focus on appear- ance, substance use, and swearing. There's also quite a consumer push that encourages kids to spend real money to get the rest of a story faster. So while this app has a lot of posi- tive potential and can provide a creative outlet for kids, it also has a lot of iffy messages that aren't appropriate for younger teens. PAGE 20 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS Congratulations to the Holmen High School December Students of the Month:

Freshman: Nora Lee, daughter of Angie and Brian Lee Freshman: Gage Olson, son of Jarrod and Jill Olson Freshman: Molly Twitchell, daughter of Amy and Joshua Twitchell Sophomore: Savanna Vang, daughter of Kia Yang and Steve Vang Junior: Ethan Whiteaker, son of Michael Whiteaker and Anjie Whiteaker Junior: Jacob Cook, son of Dana Cook and Chad Cook Junior: Charles Koscianski, son of Leah and Thomas Koscianski Junior: Bridget Torud, daughter of Karen and Aaron Torud Senior: Salina Vang, daughter of Tang Her and Thor Vang Senior: Vang Thao, son of See Vang and Ge Thao

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HOLMEN BOOSTER CLUB NEWS Please come and join us and learn what we are doing to support the stu- dents, all are welcome! We can still use help on our committees for the year, come and show off your talents. The Booster Club supports our students in many ways throughout the school. We support many activities, not just athletics. Meetings are at 6:30 PM at Pizza Corral, upcoming dates:

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

DID YOU ALL KNOW? We just completed another basketball tournament, one of our biggest fundraisers of the year. Thank you to Boys and Girls Tennis, Boys and Girls Golf and NHS Students for volunteering your time, we appreciate it. The Booster Club has also taken on weekday game concessions; please contact a booster member or the sign up genius on our Facebook page to volunteer your time. Students and parents are welcome to help!! Our new email address is: [email protected] Also, check out our Facebook page at Holmen Booster Club or our website at: www.holmenboosterclub.com PAGE 22 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS

TRADE TUESDAY An exciting new event has started at Holmen High School to spread awareness about the trades and different occupa- tions! Trade Tuesdays is taking place during our student lunch waves on Tuesdays throughout the semester. Local businesses are coming to the high school to promote careers and occupations within the trades! This great opportunity allows students to en- gage with employers, ask questions about careers and the busi- nesses and learn more about the trades! If you work for a compa- ny that would be interested in being part of Trade Tuesdays please contact the Holmen High School ACP Coordinator Lindsey Seipp at [email protected]. A special thank you to Kwik Trip, Inland, Mathy Construction, Regal Beloit, Fastenal and L.B. White for participating in Trade Tuesday!

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