Chadron High Lipdub Dec. 21, 2011

Here it is ... our first ever lipdub!  What a blast!!!
CHS Lipdub

Have a Great Winter Break!!!

English I Students Perform Romeo & Juliet

English I Students Perform Romeo & Juliet

By Heidi Beguin

Mrs. Beguin’s English I class is wrapping up their final book, Romeo & Juliet by completing a number of different projects, each relating to the book. Students may choose the tasks they complete, making sure they do enough to earn up to 100 points. Some of their options are to perform an act from the play with a partner, create and perform a paper bag puppet play, draw a comic strip that shows a favorite scene from the play, create a review game, and memorize a 10-line monologue and perform it.

Currently the project completed by the most people is to create a crossword puzzle and flashcards of vocabulary from the book, followed closely by creating paper bag puppets and performing a scene with a partner.

 (Photos show KayLeah Deines, Veronica Parish and Shay Chamberlain performing a scene of the play and Willy Cogdill, Paul Watak and Jackson Dickerson acting out their paper bag puppet show.)

Finish Strong!

As we near the end of first semester, I'd like to remind our students to finish strong! Here in Chadron High School we follow a block schedule, meaning that most of our classes meet for 90 minutes each day. Therefore, when the semester ends next Wednesday, our students will be finished with their classes. Our students will return to all new classes on January 4th.

There are many advantages to block scheduling. For the students, block schedule not only gives the benefits of depth of lessons and more activities and labs but it helps to transition into the college classrooms where classes end each semester.  This makes this final week very important for students. Final chapter tests and projects come to an end and most classes begin studying for the big semester final exam. I strongly encourage students and parents to focus on the importance of finishing each semester strong, making sure time is spent on those missing homework assignments as well as studying for final tests.

Good luck to all of our students in their efforts to finish strong this semester. We look forward to a well deserved break to enjoy our families and friends.

As a note: We will begin dismissing high school students as early as 1:00 Wednesday, Dec 21st for winter break.  Releasing students 30 minutes earlier than the scheduled 1:30 time is for special recognition of the success of our recent food drive hosted by our FBLA.

Coming Soon - CHS Lib Dub!

On Wednesday, Dec. 21, CHS will film our first ever lip dub!

What's a lip dub? The term "lip dubbing" was first coined in 2006 and is a type of video that combines lip synching and audio dubbing to make a music video. Many schools have used a lip dub to promote school pride and to show the many activities that take place within the school. The trick to filming a lip dub is that there in only one non-stop recording from beginning to end, so once 'record' is pressed, the camera will walk throughout the school as students and staff representing the many clubs and activities, lip sync to a song.

Our lip dub is being organized by teacher, Jill Paopao and her Performing Arts classes. The CHS student body voted to use the song, Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO. We plan to film from 10:00-11:30 Wednesday morning with the hopes of returning after lunch to watch the video before dismissing for break.

If all goes well, the video will be hosted online so families and friends can view the lip dub during the holiday break.

Newspaper Article On Our Aging Building

Recently, The Chadron Record staff writer, Kerri Rempp spent a couple hours touring our school interviewing staff and students on the condition of our high school building. For many years our ceilings have leaked rain water and condensation from an aging HVAC system. Chadron High School was constructed in 1968 and most of the infrastructure like heating, air conditioning, and lighting is the original to the building. For many years, it has been a repeated cycle of patching the roof and replacing ceiling tiles. Next spring we hope to renew a bond that would provide the funds to finally put an end to our leaks and to provide an updated, more efficient heating and air conditioning system that would give our students and staff a warm, safe, and dry environment in which to work and learn.  Read the full article here: Aging CHS In Need Of Repairs

Spanish Class Constructs Pinatas!

College Mascots

Mickey and Friend

A Whiny Ghost

Mr. McCarty and his look-alike

Mock Trial Team Finishes 3rd in State!

Congratulations to the Mock Trial Team and Coach Joe McCarty on their 3rd Place finish in the Nebraska State Championships!

CHS Mock Trial Students

Team 1 at Regional Competition

Student Council Shops for Christmas

Members of the high school student council shopped for Christmas presents to be given as part of the local community caring and sharing project.  The student council is responsible for all fall concessions and ½ of the winter concessions for high school activities. They spend hours providing this service for the district.  The money raised is then used for local service projects such as the sharing caring Christmas fund for Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas presents for children.  This year the council voted to give a total of $700.00 for those projects.  This group is also responsible for putting on the homecoming dance in the fall and they vote to award most of the remaining money at the end of the year to be awarded as scholarships for seniors.  As much as $4000.00 has been awarded for scholarship in the past.  This is an example of busy young people taking time out of their day to first volunteer to work and then to take time for those less fortunate.

Anti-Bullying Programs

On Monday, Dec 5th we had the honor of hosting Mike Smith to present programs to each of our four schools and a parent program. Mr. Smith spoke about his days as a high school student in Imperial, NE and how bullying leaves long lasting scars. He presented the example of a fresh sheet of paper as what we look like before we've been bullied, then, with each negative experience we have a new 'crinkle' or scar appears. He shared that over time those scars end up looking like a completely crinkled sheet of paper. He had a student come forward and try to straighten and flatten out the crinkled sheet of paper, but despite all attempts, the paper never fully recovers from the deep creases much like the scars of bullying never leave us. He asked several adult staff if they could remember a time they were bullied in school, almost all can recall the name and incident of a time they were bullied. Those are the creases that never leave.

One of the most powerful visits came in the evening when he presented to a group of parents. Mr. Smith reminded parents that it is not the school's responsibility to stop bullying, that they are merely a partner along side the parent. That parents have the responsibility to raise their children to be productive young adults and that teaching them the harmful affects of bullying is a necessary part of that process. Specifically, social media was addressed and parents were encouraged to remember that these are privileges for children, and that they need monitored. Its was noted that a majority of cyber-bullying is done by children younger than 16 years old.

A special thanks to all of the student groups that funded Mike Smith's programs. The Chadron Middle School H.O.P.E. group and the high school FBLA and C-Club. For more information about Mike Smith and his programs, view his website and blog at www.mikesmithlive.com .

FBLA Hosts Food Drive Challenge

No, this isn't in our school. But it'd be fun to build!

The Chadron High FBLA is hosting a food drive challenge this week for each grade in the high school. As a new format to the challenge, each grade earns points for items brought. Examples of points:  Canned Meat 10pts; Pasta Sauce/Canned Tomatoes 7pts; Canned Vegetables/Fruit 5pts; Canned Soups 5pts; Cereals 10pts; Macaroni & Cheese 2pts; etc.

Any grades that accumulate 3,000 points will get dismissed 30 minutes early for winter break on December 21st. All of the food products will be distributed by the FBLA to area food pantries in Chadron.