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. P A G E 2 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS 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 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS PAGE 5 PAGE 6 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS PAGE 7 PAGE 8 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS 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 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS PAGE 9 Theme for Prom 2020 is : Rustic Romance Saturday, April 25th PAGE 10 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS PAGE 11 PAGE 12 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS PAGE 13 A NOTE FROM THE NURSE: PAGE 14 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS PAGE 15 PAGE 16 HOLMEN HIGHLIGHTS 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.