Portage Northern High School • Jim French, Principal • nhs.portageps.org • 269.323.5400 • November 2019 VARSITY FOOTBALL PLAYS FOR DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP! Our Huskies earned the 2019 Conference Championship on Friday October 24 with a 27-21 win over St Joe. They will start Playoffs this Friday, taking on Portage Central here at home with a 7pm kickoff. It’s going to be a great night of Huskie football!! Tickets will be on sale in the athletic office (inside our main office) Thursday and Friday from 7:30am-3pm, and at the Stadium ticket booth on Friday starting at 3pm. Tickets are $6, cash only. This is an MHSAA event so NO PASSES can be used – no staff passes, no student activity cards, no senior Gold Cards. We are playing PC so you know this game is going to be packed – get your tickets early so you don’t have to wait in line. “IS ANYBODY THERE?” Did you know that each of our grade offices is responsible for 650 students each day? If you call either office and get voice mail, please don't think "no one's in the office", or "they never answer their phone". Our very busy secretaries are likely helping one of your darling children with something. Customer service is very important to us but we are glad that a huge majority of our parent calls can easily be handled via voicemail. Go ahead and leave that detailed message and know someone will either handle your need or get back with you as soon as possible. #customerservice #youareourcustomer END OF 1ST QUARTER, FRIDAY NOVEMBER 1 November 1 is the end of the first quarter so students will want to have all assignments and projects turned in at that time. Students can check with their teachers with specific questions regarding deadlines. Teachers will have the weekend to finish entering all grades, so Skyward may not reflect their final quarter grade until the afternoon of Monday November4. Note that Friday will be a half day with dismissal at 10:55am. FALL CONFERENCES Save the Date! Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place on Monday November 4 and Wednesday November 6, 3:30-7:15pm in the Lower Level Commons. Parents do not sign up for time slots in advance. Simply bring your student’s schedule and all of his/her teachers will be at tables in the Commons waiting to go over your students progress and answer any questions you might have. You might be wondering… “Since I can get up-to-date information on Skyward, why should I come to conferences?” Great question. Speaking with adults who see your student daily can provide insight on what’s behind the grades, plus other issues such as how your student is doing socially. Partnering with teachers now also opens a door for communicating with them later. That will come in handy when helping your teen plan for next semester, next year and beyond. COLLEGE BOARD SCORE REPORTING Monday November 4 at 6pm, Principal Jim French will give a detailed presentation regarding score interpretation for all College Board assessments (PSAT/SAT) and the MME scores for grades 9-12. This will be in Community Room A during conferences. He will familiarize parents with how to read and understand the score reports and explain how to link College Board and Khan Academy for individualized test prep for students. Huskie Tracks - November 2019 - Page BREADLIFT Breadlift is coming November 23! In this annual event, students go door to door in the greater Kalamazoo community offering a loaf of bread in exchange for a donation to the March of Dimes. This is the 54th anniversary of PNHS Breadlift. Huskies have raised over $425,000 so far and have a goal of $25,000 this year! There will be an informational assembly on November 5 for freshmen to explain how to get involved with Breadlift—if you have a 9th grader, ask them all about it. Our ever-popular tshirts will be available during the week of November 18. Students get even get a a free shirt with a minimum donation to the March of Dimes. Watch the daily announcements for details on shirt sales. Breadlift will run from 9am-4pm on the 23rd. This event is a great way for our students to earn service hours for social studies requirements as well as NHS and IB CAS. Parents or community members are welcome to stop by "Bread-quarters" in the Lower Commons that day to make a donation in person! TRAVEL TO JAPAN? Want to send your student on the trip of a lifetime? Ms. Nott is taking students to Japan in the summer of 2021! This is our second time visiting Japan and our first experience was AMAZING. If your child is interested in this trip, visit http://www.educationaltravel.com/Nott-2021 or email Ms. Nott at [email protected]. DON’T MISS OUT ON YOUR YEARBOOK The 2019-2020 Yearbook will be completed and distributed before seniors graduate and before underclassmen leave for the summer. Order details and a printable order form can be found at nhs.portageps.org/organizations/yearbook. This one-stop shop is where you can buy your yearbook, submit a senior picture, and order any extras like a name plate, etc. If you’d rather pay with a check versus online, please make all checks payable to PN Yearbook, and write the student’s first and last name and graduation year on the memo line. Students can deliver it to the Main Office or to Ms. Wangler, our yearbook advisor. The full package price will be $75.00 until March 1, 2020 - the final order deadline. After March 1st, any additional copies will be available at an increased price. SPANISH CLUB GREENERY SALE PN Spanish Club will be selling poinsettias from Panse’s Greenhouse. Proceeds will help students traveling to Perú in June 2020, as well as provide enrichment activities for Spanish classes and Spanish Club. The sale will run thru November 22, with pickup here at the school on December 7. Plants can be ordered with the following options: Colors: Red, White, Pink · 6.5” (Most popular) - $10 · 8” (Premium) - $15 · 10” (Deluxe) - $20 To order, email Sra. Caneneguez at [email protected]. Huskie Tracks - November 2019 - Page 2 PN DRAMA PRESENTS THE HILARIOUS SPAMALOT! Winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical, Spamalot is a musical comedy adapted from the 1975 film Monty Py- thon and the Holy Grail. Follow King Arthur (Hunter Pitsch) and his trusted servant Patsy (Charlie Marsh) as they travel through England re- cruiting Knights to serve at the Round Table in Camelot. With them along the way are the Lady of the Lake (Ellie Mancina) and her Laker Girls, the Strangely Flatulent Sir Bedevere (Britton Gustafson), the Dashingly Handsome Sir Galahad (Ben Eiler) , the Homicidally Brave Sir Lancelot (Jordan Bruner) and we can’t forget Sir Robin, the Not- Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot (Jason Koch). Adding to the fun, classic Monty Python characters such as the French Taunter, the Black Knight, Tim the Enchanter and the Knights Who Say Ni! all have their place in this gut-busting, laugh-out-loud show. Get your tickets by visiting our website at pndrama.org. You don’t want to miss this show! Performance dates: Friday, November 8 at 7:30pm Saturday, November 9 at 7:30pm Sunday, November 10 at 2:00pm Friday, November 15 at 7:30pm Saturday, November 16 at 7:30pm Sunday, November 17 at 2:00pm EGG CARTONS NEEDED Our art department can always use clean empty egg cartons—they need to have a lid and plastic or foam only please. These can be delivered to our main office, or students can take them directly to the Art department. ARE YOU READY FOR SNOW? Here at Northern, our students have two options for local ski discounts. We offer discount cards at both Bittersweet and Timber Ridge. Students can pick up forms in our grade offices, or print from our website. These are discount cards that may be used at student/parent discretion and convenience. We do not offer ski ’club’ nor an organized club time, and we do not provide any transportation. More details, pricing and forms can be found on our website at https://portageps.org/nhs/student-activities/ski-club/. Huskie Tracks - November 2019 - Page 3 DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION The DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) Good Citizens program and scholarship contest rewards the qualities of good citizenship. The program is open to all senior class students enrolled in accredited private and public secondary schools that are in good standing with their State Board of Education. The student selected as the schools DAR Good Citizen must exemplify the qualities of dependability (which includes truthfulness, loyalty, and punctuality); service (which includes coop- eration, courtesy, and consideration for others); leadership (which includes personality, self-control, and ability to assume responsibility); and patriotism (which includes unselfish interest in family, school, community, and nation) to an outstanding degree. Each school’s DAR Good Citizen is awarded a pin, certificate, and wallet recognition card. The student is then eligible to enter the DAR Good Citizen scholarship contest. This contest consists of completing a personal narrative and information form. Two letters of recommendation are also submitted on behalf of the student. An essay is administered under the supervision of a faculty member and must be completed in one sitting, within a two hour time period, and without assistance or reference materials. Each contest entry is evaluated by the independent, non-DAR judges.