Sehome High School February 2016 Important Links

Sehome High School
Home of the Mariners
February 2016
(360) 676-6481
Message from the Principal
Important Links
Sehome Website
Calendar
Counseling Dept.
Learning Center
Career Center
Athletics
PTSA
Bellingham School
District
Winter Weather
Information
Bellingham Promise
Signs of spring are popping up everywhere, including the start of our second semester, the
end of our winter athletic season, and the planning for 2016-17 registration.
Having navigated first semester, we stand ready to jump into the second semester with
confidence. My hope is that you, too, will look forward to the challenges of the new
semester. I encourage students to use this time to reflect on their hard work, identify their
areas of strengths as well as areas in which they can improve.
Parents, please continue to reinforce good attendance habits with your son/daughter.
Attendance and accuracy of attendance is extremely important in school. Excessive
absences may result in missing work and ‘seat time’ in class, which is difficult to make up.
Encourage your student to be on top of their missing assignments by making it a weekly
habit to log-into Skyward. Many of our students find it helpful to upload the Skyward App
on their phone, which makes it easier and more efficient to check their work and/or missing
assignments. If you, or your student, feel they need additional academic support, please
suggest to them the following:
 The after school Learning Center. Bus passes are available for students who visit the
Learning Center.
 Anchor Class. This is time is a time to get academic support, make-up tests or
missing assignments, and work on homework. Please encourage your student(s) to
get a pass from a teacher so they can be sure to meet with them during their Anchor
time on travel days.
 Communication with their teacher. Encourage your student(s) to take ownership of
their learning by emailing or talking with teachers if they see an assignment is not
entered or missing in Skyward. These are important skills to have in place when they
leave high school.
As an update on the progress of plans for the new high school, I am happy to report that
our Educational Specification & Advisory Committee has been hard at work. Our team
visited four comprehensive high schools earlier in January and came back ready to use
these concepts to align them with the ideas and visions we elicited from our students, staff,
and families of the Sehome community. In February, as part of the early stages in the
design process, the architects will sit down with our staff to listen to their instructional
vision and needs for the new building. Look for information later this spring when these
ideas and concepts come to life in the preliminary sketches of the new Sehome High
School.
Be sure to check out all of the amazing activities, celebrations, events, and much, much
more in this month’s Mariner Memo.
Michelle Kuss-Cybula
The Mission of Sehome High School
The mission of Sehome High School is to support students in creating a vision for their future, realizing their
potential, and cultivating their growth as contributing citizens of our world. We provide a learning environment that
tends to students’ academic, social, emotional and behavioral development with provisions for individual learning styles
and needs. Learning is the collective responsibility of the entire school community including students, their families,
staff and community members.
Student, Family, and Community Engagement
Save the Date
Attendance Reminders:
All student absences must be excused
within 48 hours of return to school.
Parent notes, e-mails & phone calls are
accepted. Call 676-6470 x5211 or email
[email protected]
To expedite the process of picking up your
student for an appointment, send a note
with him/her in the morning, or call/email the
office. Your student will then receive a pass
to leave class. All students should stop by
the office to sign out before leaving campus!
Need help logging into Skyward? Click here
for information, or call 676-6470 ext 5205
for assistance.
Parents, please remember to check in at the
main office when picking up your student (if
you haven’t sent a note, emailed or called;
delivering an item for your student; or when
visiting campus for any reason during
school hours. Visitor parking is located near
the cafeteria off Ferry Avenue. Please do
not use the bus loop during the hours of
7:15-7:45 and 1:45-2:20.
The purpose for Anchor travel
days is to provide an
opportunity for students to seek
academic support from
teachers and for teachers to
call in students who they feel
would benefit from more
guidance and support.
In order for a student to meet
with a teacher who is not their
Anchor teacher, the student
must obtain a pass in advance
of Anchor.
Feb. 1
Nomination window opens for
Promise Awards (link)
Feb. 2-16 ELL Testing
Feb. 5
High Capable referrals due
Click here for information
Feb. 8
Design Your Future College
Planning Workshop; SQHS
Feb. 9
School levy measures
deadline for ballots
Feb. 11
Due date for personal hygiene
products drive (see bulletin)
Feb. 12
Feb. 15
No School—Presidents’ Day
Feb. 17
Spring Athlete Meeting,
2:20
Feb. 19
Blood Drive
Feb. 24
PTSA Board Meeting, noon
May 7
Junior/Senior Prom
8:30-11:30
Ferndale Events Center
May 14
Raise the Sails Auction
Microsoft Office Suite Available for ALL
BPS Students and Staff
All students and staff members may install
the Microsoft Office suite of programs on
their personal computers. It’s easy; just follow these steps:
Go to https://portal.office.com
Log in with your email address
([email protected]) and
the password used to access the computers
at school
Scroll down and click “Install” under “Install
Office on More Devices”
Click the “Install” button
The office keeps a supply of basic first
aid, like ice packs, bandages; and hygiene
supplies. Sehome’s nurse, Alyssa Johnson, has office hours each week. If your
child needs meds at school please pick up
a form for your doctor to sign.
Student, Family, and Community Engagement
The 4th Annual Whatcom
County Science and
Engineering Fair will be held
on Saturday March 12th, 2016
at St. Paul's Academy's
Markell Hall, 1509 East Victor
Street, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information
about registration, volunteering to judge the
event or helping out, please contact Science
Fair Coordinator Theresa Wines:
[email protected]
Check out the talent
coming from Lonnie
Schang’s Ceramics
students! Click here for
“art walk!”
Sehome’s William Zhang won 1st place in
the Bellingham Music
Club’s high school piano
competition in January
(he won 1st place last year
as well!). Click link for highlights and
information about BMC:
https://bellinghammusicclub.wordpress.com/
Our Sehome Bowling Team finished 2nd in
Districts! Kelsey Melvin was 22 pins short
of qualifying for state as an individual and
the team had a great end to our season
(especially considering 4/5 of them started
bowling last November). Please congratulate these ladies when you see them, and
thank you to everyone who came out to
support the team this season!
Carolyn Stewart
Maggie Morrow
Maggie McCracken Katie Bach
Tess Griffin
Alisha Hofkens
Kathryn Gerner
Kelsey Melvin
Stella Klein
Erin Furda, Advisor
Rotary
Senior of the Month
Anna Kirkpatrick, Science
January 2016
Here are results from the Thespians
Thespianscompecomtition in Seattle!
Drama
competes
in the
petition
in Seattle!
Drama
competes
in the
Washington State Thespian Association,
and the qualifying regional events for State
and Nationals were held in mid-January.)
Jocelynn van Weerdhiuzen competed in
the Stage Management event for her work
on The Crucible, which required her to present a 10-minute portfolio presentation to a
panel of adjudicators. She scored in the top
10% of Washington State, earning her a
Blue Ribbon at State and qualifying her for
the National Thespian Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska in July!
Olivia Messenger competed in the monologue event with her monologues from last
year’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and this
year’s The Crucible. She scored in the top
20th percentile of Washington State, and will
be honored with a yellow ribbon at State in
March.
Here’s who else competed – they all did a
fabulous
fabulousjob
joband
andrepresented
representedSehome
Sehomewith
with
true Mariner spirit:
Ciara McCarty
Kyle Wong
Ry Dozier-Lerum
Maya Helms
Emma Oppenheimer
Anica Johnston
Rebekah Oviatt
Rachel Taylor
Nikko Tsoulouhas
I’m so proud of the Sehome thespians – be
sure to give them all a big CONGRATS if
you see them!
Kandace Arens, English and Drama
Student, Family, and Community Engagement
College Planning Day at WWU!
The 50th Annual Masonic ScholarsCitizen Awards Program!
The Masonic Education Council annually
recognizes outstanding members of the
Junior Class of each public high school in
Whatcom County. Any junior student may
enter this competition by submitting an
application to the SHS Career Center on or
before Monday, March 7, 2016.
Applications are available in hardcopy only
from Mrs. Zender in the Career Center.
Summer Opportunity and GAP Year
Fair Thursday, Feb 11 during Anchor
Attending a summer camp is a great way to
build skills, meet new friends, and, oftentimes, earn college credit! A GAP year is a
period of time between completing high
school and beginning college when a student might choose to explore the world and/
or volunteer. The Assistance League
of Bellingham will share information about
their scholarship that can offset some of the
cost of attending a summer academic
camp. This event provides an opportunity
for students to take charge of their education and future! Contact Martha Zender in
the Career Center if you have questions.
Art Institute of Seattle
Sehome High School National Hispanic Society
Evergreen Boys and Girls State
AFS-USA
Assistance League of Bellingham
Washington Trail Association
WWU Summer Camps
Go Global
Northwest Cascades Institute
WWU is host of the 2016 College Planning
Day on Monday, March 21, 2016.
Each student chooses four, 30-minute
presentations, which allows for interaction
with college representatives. The CPD is
supported and attended by representatives
of many Washington colleges and universities. This is a great first step to researching
colleges! Having this event on the college
campus during spring break allows students
to experience a slice of college life.
See Mrs. Zender in the Career Center for
permission forms. We will need parent
chaperones (you can sit in on presentations if your student is on the field trip.)
Please phone Martha Zender at 676-6470
ext 5259 or email [email protected] and
plan to complete the volunteer packet 3
days prior to the event.
The Whatcom Dollars For Scholars
Scholarship went LIVE on February 1!
Seniors can begin working on their portfolio
on the WDFS website now! Click here
Career Fair 2016!
Thursday, March 10 during Anchor,
students will have an opportunity to explore
careers and speak with community
members representing 16 career clusters!
Nearly forty tables will be filling our
cafeteria. We are looking for someone to
represent Government/Public Admin. If you
can help please contact Martha Zender in
the Career Center.
Student, Family, and Community Engagement
20 DECA students competed in January in
Monroe against students from three
counties. Six students qualified to advance
to the state conference in March. The
competition included a written exam and
role playing to demonstrate marketing /
business knowledge in a real-world
scenario.
Lera Anders and Maggie McCracken
(10) placed sixth in Business Law and
Ethics. This is their second year in DECA
and second trip to state.
Drew Govender (12) and Calum Reid (11),
a first-year team, placed second in Sports
and Entertainment Marketing
Joseph Mueller (11) also placed second in
Marketing Management. This is Joseph's
third year in DECA and third trip to state.
Olivia Berger (11), also a first-year
competitor, placed third in Human
Resources Management.
Other competitors included: Brianna Chang,
Katie Heilborn, Erik Johnson, Madison
MacPhee, Taylor Firmstone, Oceanna
Boulanger, Kate Vander Griend, Gina
Eisses, Lily Lind, Indigo Bruno-Hopps,
Kennedy Garrison, Riley Hewitson, Elliott
Johnson, and Zach Williams.
Dana Smith, DECA Advisor
The Sehome Math team earned 5th place at the
Northwest Math Championship January
30. William Zhang received 2nd place in
individual competition. In photo, from left to right:
Ethan F., William Z., Danny G., Olivia Z., Mr. Vis
We have three Punta Arenas students
visiting at Sehome from January to March.
Fernada is with Izzy C.
Marcela with Dana R.
Millaray with Mason M.
Here are highlights from their experience
here in the Pacific Northwest: so far





People at Sehome are as kind as the
people back home. The relationship
between teachers and students is
similar too (very close!).
Sehome is much bigger than our school
and we can’t choose our classes.
Favorite Foods – Cinnamon rolls, Sour
Patch Kids, gummi bears, and eggnog
(maybe not together though!)
Favorite Activities – Watching movies,
music, playing instrument, singing,
hanging out with friends, talking with
host family, reading, cooking
Favorite Classes – At home: English,
music, history, math. At Sehome:
Psychology, yoga, Biology
From a pool of Sehome
juniors recommended by
their teachers, Chloe
North and Jackson
Schroyer have been
selected to represent
Sehome High School in this year’s Awards
In Writing competition, sponsored by the
National Council of Teachers of English.
This annual competition is one of the most
prestigious writing competitions of the
year. Our students have often placed well
in this event, and the Sehome English
Department is delighted that the final
selection from the talented pool was so
difficult and that our school is being
represented by such accomplished writers.
Jim Gaines, SHS English
Student, Family, and Community Engagement
Congratulations go to the Sehome
Seahorses FTC robotics team! We
finished our season Sunday, January 17
with a 20th place finish out of 35 teams at
Cascade High School in Everett. If you don’t
already know, the Seahorses are a rookie
robotics team composed of all girls. We
compete in the FIRST organization, whose
goal is to promote science and technology
to young people through friendly
competition. Our team had a great season,
and we look forward to continuing a strong
Seahorse tradition into the future!
Chuck Schelle, Sehome Science Teacher
Bellingham United Debate Club
Over 700 kids from 57 schools in six
states, assisted by 250 adults, took over the
UPS campus in January for one of the
largest forensics tournaments in the PNW.
In Open Policy debate, Team Braley (Bryce
Henshaw/Haley Reed from Sehome) went
5-1 in their preliminary rounds and
advanced to semi-finals. Bryce and Haley
took 9th and 10th place speakers in Open
Policy.
Open Policy Team Bad Cop/Worse Cop
(Hunter Renz - BHS/Katie Clarke Sehome) went 4-2, with Hunter taking 8th
place speaker in Open Policy.
In Public Forum debate, Novice Team Fish
(Emmy Gardner - Sehome/Alyssa Diller Squalicum) went 4-2 in prelims and
advanced to quarter-finals.
Novice Public Forum Team Christmas Rose
(Denise Navidad/Spencer Rose Sehome) went 3-3.
Novice Public Forum Team Flyboys (Henry
Grant-Tetlow/Dylan Kahn - Sehome) went
2-4 and Open Public Forum Team Asian
Persuasion (Caroline Chen - Sehome/
Kieran Dang - BHS) went 1-5.
Many thanks to our wonderful drivejudge
parent volunteers, and BSD staff who
support these students!
Laura Livingston, Coach and Forensics
Advisor, Bellingham United Debate Club
Communication—Collaboration—Caring
I’d like to familiarize you with
our Master Mariner and
Good Samaritan Awards.
These are two programs
created to catch our students
doing good things.
The Good Samaritan
Award is for turning in lost
items of value such as keys, electronic
devices, money, jewelry and other
valuables. The student will receive a “Good
Samaritan Certificate” with their name and
our mission on it as well as a $5 gift card to
a local business.
The Master Mariner Award is different in
that any adult in the building is invited to
award a student for doing something good.
These can include random acts of kindness
such as helping another person, using kind
words and maybe even just being a nice
person in general. My goal is to catch the
students doing good things and provide a
little recognition for it. Students will be
entered into a weekly drawing and their
photo (if they let me) posted by our ASB
office. Selected winners also receive
Mariner Gear. Thank you PTSA for
supporting this positive program and
donating the gift cards and mariner gear.
January Master Mariners
Isaac Fox
Gracie Henoch
Darren Ma
Jorge Prado
Bellingham Schools, in collaboration with
the Bellingham Human Rights Film Festival,
will show the award-winning
documentary Paper Tigers on February 25
at 7:00, with discussion to follow, at
Sehome High School Little Theatre.
Sponsors: Steve Morse, Bellingham School
District Student Services and Restorative
Justice; and the Bellingham Human Rights
Film Festival.
Cost: Event is free and open to the entire
community, with school district staff,
students and parents especially encouraged
to attend.
Please encourage your students to see me
if they have lost an item of value.
Peggy, Campus Monitor
I am thrilled to report that the BUDC team of
Bryce Henshaw/Haley Reed (SHS) clawed their way to the elusive State Debate bid at the
final District tournament by winning ALL of their six rounds, against impressive
opposition. Their determination, dedication in writing a new case just two days before the
tournament and their intensive prepping for cases on Common Core, bitcoin/moneylaundering legalization and export controls gained them and a lot of respect from other
schools. BUDC has won every District tournament so far. Katie Clarke(SHS)/Hunter
Renz (BHS) won Sedro-Woolley, Snohomish and Cedar Park and Bryce Henshaw/Haley
Reed (SHS) won Kamiak. I don't recall that this has happened in the three years I've been
coaching.
Laura Livingston, Coach and Forensics Advisor, Bellingham United Debate Club
Below are the students from Sehome High School that were the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners
in each of the music categories that competed at the SJMEA (San Juan Music Educators’
Association) Solo/Ensemble Contest at Bellingham High School on January 30. In late
April, the winners will go on to the state competition to compete against the regional winners
from around the state. Please congratulate these students on these wonderful achievements.
Kirstin Doud, Jessica Schlichting, and Craig Snyder – Music Department
Women’s Small Vocal
Ens.
3rd Place
Hannah & Emma
Hannah Wong & Emma Shaughnessy
Violin
1st Place
Mary From
3rd Place
Allie Raduege
Viola
1st Place
Juliet Hope
Small String Ens.
1st Place
Beethoven Trio
Mary From, Juliet Hope, Lily Johannessen
Sucia Chamber Orchestra
Corina Chon, Aili Emory, Allie Raduege, Zoe Dietrich, Sophie Porterfield, Elisabeth Hale, Maya Davies, Kate Rose, Sophia Hall, Juliet Hope, Isabel
Davies, Joe Sawyer, Lily Johannessen, Amelia
Mundell, Sam Patrick
Large String Ens.
2nd Place
Clarinet
2nd Place
Tadeuse Pforte
3rd Place
Jacob van’t Hoog
Bassoon
1st Place
Alexander Harris
Soprano/Alto Saxophone
2nd Place
Frank Youngblood
3rd Place
Lhiam Herwill
Piano
3rd Place
Ry Dozier-Lerum
Sehome PTSA
The PTSA has partnered with
ShopwithScrip.com to offer access to
Scrip from multiple (over 100) retailers.
Think Safeway, Amazon, Whole Foods,
Starbucks, Gap, Mary’s, Best Buy. If you
would like to participate, order online at
the above link. Establish an online
account using our code,
71A8CF9B2L766. You can also pay
online (allow two business days to set up
PrestoPay option) or you can drop off a
check to the ASB Office.
We are please to offer Pizzazza gift
cards for great pizza available at Yorky’s
convenience store in Fairhaven. Cards
are available in $25 denominations, with
20% of the profit going to Sehome.
Thank you, Pizzazza!
Sehome PTSA
is seeking corporate matching dollars
(from BP/others) as a non-profit. It
you've joined the PTSA and have
business ties to a corporation that
matches, we'd appreciate the support.
Thank you!
Sehome PTSA is seeking volunteers.
Whether you need to work from home or
have just a few hours each month, we
hope you’ll consider taking on a fun
project!
 Auction Crew: Team will be working
up to and at the May 14th Auction at
the Four Points by Sheraton,
formerly Lakeway Inn.
PTSA Board Meetings—
all members welcome
Dates: Generally the 4th Wednesday of
the month
February 24, 2016
March 23, 2016
April 27, 2016
May 25, 2016
June 9, 2016
Time: 12:00 to 1:30 p.m.
Place: Main Office Conference Room
May 25 at 7 PM we'll have our college
prep information night in the Sehome
Library.
 PTSA could use some help working
in Excel, tracking purchases.
 We are looking for a nominating
committee of two to three people to
help with next year’s board selection
process.
 Senior reception chairpersons
needed (freshmen to junior parents).
Event is scheduled for May 19 at
2:30 in the lounge. Organize baked
goods and drinks as well as decorate
for the senior families.
Contact [email protected] to learn
more.