CHS Hosts Local Welding Competition

On April 13th, the day of the Chadron State College Scholastic Day Contest, Chadron High School will host a welding contest to promote the Industrial Arts program.

Schools from Crawford, Pine Ridge Job Corps, Chadron, and Gordon-Rushville will bring students to compete in individual and team competion in two divisions: Welding I and Welding II.

In Welding I, each team will be able to have one first-year welding student compete in the Oxy-fuel welding, Mig welding, arc butt & lap welding and finally the tee welds.  Welding I students will also complete a 30 question welding exam.  In the the Welding II competition, teams of two students will complete welds in the vertical up and down tee weld, as well as horizontal and overhead welding. Teams of four students will weld in the cube competition.

Schools were sent designs which list the specific skills and are bringing their own welding rod, metal cut to size and tacked, and safety equipment.

This is the first year that a welding competition has been organized. A special thanks to Chadron High teacher, Jon Cogdill for his efforts in putting this competition together.

2nd Annual Big Buck Contest

 Today after school, Chadron High Students participated in the 2nd Annual Big Buck Contest. This 'contest' is actually an event held to teach students different scoring elements of deer antlers. Any student is welcome to participate by bringing 'cleaned' antlers from deer, typically from last fall's hunting season. Nebraska Game and Parks Wildlife Biologists, Steve Masek and Nick Dobesh, showed students how to properly measure antlers of deer for scoring for Boone & Crockett (rifle season) or Pope & Young (archery season). Students are also taught the differences in scoring between white tail and mule deer breeds as well as the differences in typical and non-typical scoring. Further, our local wildlife biologists share insights to aging a deer by inspecting the teeth of the deer.

This event involves a lot of measuring using scoring sheets and provides an opportunity for students to learn more about topics in wildlife sciences as well as the mathematical elements involved in measuring and working with fractions.

This event was first created last year through discussions with several Chadron Public School teachers: Jon Cogdill, Clete Budler, Jerry Mack, CJ Bach, and Eric Calkins. In our area of the state, many students (and teachers) have an interest in hunting. Connecting educational content with this interest helps open our classroom subjects to the outside world.

A special thanks to the Nebraska Game and Parks for their time and support of this program.

(Updated) No School Tues (March 27th) Due to Wind Damage

No school for high school students March 27th!

Due to a strong gust of wind Monday evening at approximately 5:45pm, major damage was sustained to the high school gymnasium roof. Sections of the roof are completely missing, witnessed blowing as far as Cedar Street.

Roofing contractors will arrive at 7:00am Tuesday morning to assess the damage and safety of the structure. Students and staff at the high school will not have school to give time for a proper evaluation. Loose pieces of roofing are observed hanging over the edges of the gym, causing hazards around the exterior of the school.

All K-12 students are already dismissed from school on Wednesday, March 28th for a district-wide inservice for staff.

(Updated) After the Tuesday morning inspection, it appears that the damage was limited to the roof of the gymnasium. Our current plans are to lock off all entrances to the gym, we'll still have access to the rest of the building, including locker rooms. At this time, the gym will be closed indefinitely to allow for immediate work for contractors.

Inspection shows that at least half of the gym roof separated from existing structures, causing part of the roof to tear apart scattering debris across the roof and nearby grounds.

Aggregate Science Lab

Mr. Lecher's Aggregate Science class has been studying preliminary physics and as part of the unit they learn how machines change change the size or direction of a force.  Pulley systems are used to demonstrate this principle.

Anatomy Class Dissect Hearts

 This week, students in Mr. Lecher's Anatomy and Physiology class dissect hearts. After studying a unit on the human heart, students then dissect and have to identify the many individual parts and purposes of a heart.   

....eeeeewwww!  This reminds me why I wasn't a life science teacher!

Guest Speakers From Africa Visit CHS

     Four Job Corp students from Africa came to share their culture with our World Geography and World History students.

-----Ahmed iLm came to the United States from Somalia because of a civil war and fights over oil in his homeland.  He came without his family and explained how difficult his journey was, especially not being able to speak English.

-----Grace Lkiti traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska from the Congo and Gabon.  He described trying to go to school while working full time and trying to learn English.

------Ramla Bakari arrived one year ago from Kenya.  She wears a scarf to cover her head rather than a burka, which is more traditional in her Muslim religion.

------Nyakhor Dolavol has been in the United States since she was five years old.  She also left her country because of civil war.  Her family is glad that Sudan has been divided into two separate countries.

     All spoke of experiences in refugee camps and each missed elderly relatives they had left behind in their homeland.  They were all grateful to the United States for giving them so many opportunities, but they do miss Africa.

     Mr. Brian Kizer made the arrangements with Don Richards to bring the Job Corp students into town and help them with their presentations.  Ms. Nancy Swiftbird helped the students prepare their power points.

AP Biology - Chicken Embryology Lab

     For the past 18 days, the AP Biology students have been diligently caring for fertilized chicken eggs.  Mr. Terran Hornerkamp donated 12 chicken eggs to be incubated and studied.  The gestation period for baby chicks is 21 days.

       Ten days into development, the class broke through an egg shell using a Dremmel drill.  The baby chick had fully developed organs but a soft beak and feet with no talons.  The chick even had the beginnings of short dark feathers along its dorsal side. 

    

       At 17 days, the class broke through another egg shell and found a very well developed and still partially alive chick.  The baby responded to mechanical stimuli and could move wings, legs, head, and beak.  The umbilical cord was easily noticeable and its’ head and eyes seemed proportionate with its body size.  Additionally, the feet were scaled and complete with talons.  The chick had a full coat of dark feathers.   Stop by the biology room to see the 17 day embryo in a jar.

       The estimated arrival date for the baby chicks to hatch is Friday, March 23^rd.   See pictures below!!!!

Attendance Makes a Difference!

Recently I read the following quote, thought I'd share.


"The single most important factor contributing to student achievement is school attendance. Students must be in school to be successful." (Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 89 No. 3)

Did you know that students who attend school regularly ...

• have higher test scores?
• are more involved in school activities?
• feel safer?
• maintain healthy friendships?
• are less inclined to participate in at-risk behaviors?
• are more likely to graduate?
• are more likely to attend college? 

Habits that children develop in their school 'career' often transfer to their work career. Help your child develop the habit of attending school every day, on time, and being prepared for the day!  The Chadron Public Schools strongly believes that daily attendance is critical to academic achievement. We expect every student to attend school day and classes on time every day. 

History Students Study WWI

Here is one of the many chalk designs currently on the sidewalk outside the high school today. Students in Mr. McCarty's  History class designed several maps of Europe indicating the countries and their involvement during World War I.

Six Students Qualify for State Speech Competition!

Here are the following results from District Speech:

Caston Stack - 5th in Informative

Logan Lembke - 6th in Extemp.

Michael Kruse - 5th in Serious

Kodi Milburn/Jenny Van Vleet - 4th in Duet

The Hobbit: Geoffrey Ledbetter, Cortland Goffena, Giovanni Zimmerman, Terran Honerkamp, and Garrett Meisman -  4th in OID

State Qualifiers:

Lane Chasek - District Champion in Extemp

Zach Banzhaf - 2nd in Entertainment

Terran Honerkamp - 3rd in Entertainment

The Little Shop of Horrors: Kodi Milburn, Aaron Gaswick, Haley Kizer, and Zach Banzhaf - 3rd in OID

 

Congratulations on a successful season, good luck at state!!

Chadron High Post-Graduate Survey 2010

At the end of each July we have LifeTrack Services, Inc. mail surveys to our May Graduates. This week I've been reading the results of the survey from our last graduating class. These surveys are mailed to all graduates, 57% returned the completed survey last fall.

The first question shows that 65% of the graduates are enrolled in a 4-year college, 22% in a 2-year college or vocational/technical school, 22% are working full time, 16% part time and 3% are in the military. We are proud that so many of our graduates seek more education beyond high school.

Over 89% of the graduates responded that they were offered a well-rounded education through a rich variety of experiences at Chadron High School.  5% responded no, and 5% did not respond to this question.

In the next question, again 89% of the graduates said that their CHS teachers hold high academic standards and require quality work.  8% responded no to this question with 3% did not respond.

"Was the reading that was encouraged or required in your coursework and/or for pleasure made a priority at CHS?"   95% responded yes, 3% no, 2% did not respond.

"Since graduation, have you found your skill level of reading and writing to be adequate for your present position in college and/or the workplace?"  92% responded yes,  5% no, 3% did not respond.

There are many other exciting results specific to courses and other socio-economic data is collected as well. We use this data to fine tune our offerings and track our progress each year.

These results are encouraging for our staff here at Chadron High School. We have made several efforts in the past four years to implement new Advanced Placement courses as well as adding more relevant and rigorous material in other advanced classes. At the same time, we hold firm that our applied and fine arts classes continue to allow opportunities for students to seek a variety of technical skills incorporating a 'well-rounded' graduate.

Next year, we will be partnering with Chadron State College with offering some of our classes for dual credit. We are still in the planning phase, but it looks as though we will be able to offer up to 11 of our current classes for college credit. Juniors and seniors will pay a one-time $15 matriculation fee then are able to pay only $50 per credit hour to take our classes, here at the high school, and receive college credit from Chadron State. We hope to have the plan finalized this spring. This will be the first time that high school classes can receive credit from a 4-year institution. We hope that this will not only be a tremendous cost saving effort for families but will install a sense of college success for our graduates leading to a higher percentage completing college degrees.

Thank you to all of the graduates that took the time to complete the LifeTrack survey, and thank you to all of our staff for the outstanding job that they do in preparing students for future successes!

CHS Student Alisha Rising Wins Service Award

Chadron High senior, Alisha Rising, has been honored for her exemplary volunteer service with a President's Volunteer Service Award.

The award, which recognizes Americans of all ages who have volunteereed significant amounts of theri time to serve theri communitites and their country, was presented by The Prudential Spirit of Commuity Awards program on behalf of President Barack Obama. Alisha participated in the Spirit of Community program this year as a representative of Chadron High School.

Alisha earned her reward by working with former Chadron High graduate, Abbey Dorshorst, in planning and presenting a school-wide assembly on the dangers of distracted driving last spring. Alisha further pursued this program by contacting other National organizations like P.E.E.R. awareness in planning further school events.

Sponsored by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program recognizes young people across America for outstanding community service activities. More than 345,000 young people across America have been considered for these awards since the program began in 1995.

We are proud of the endeavors of Alisha Rising in her pursuit to create the awareness of the dangers of distracted driving for our community. Alisha will be presented with her certificate signed by President Barack Obama at our Awards Night on May 7th.

CHS Cardinal Singers Present: Sweet Singsation

Join us with an evening filled with fantastic music followed by a sweet dessert buffet!

You won't want to miss out on this Sweet Singsation, the performance starts at 7:00pm this Friday, March 16th. There is a $5 admission fee at the high school auditorium, dessert buffet to follow in the high school commons area. The Cardinal Singers are looking to provide a sugar crazed night!

Note: The Chadron High School Cardinal Singers were recently asked to perform an opening act in Kearney at the NRCSA (Nebraska Rural Schools) Conference on March 22nd. This performance will help to raise money for the travel and overnight stay. Sponsor Jon Marquez has also scheduled an opportunity for our Cardinal Singers to work with acclaimed clinician, Fritz Mountford, from Hastings College before they return.

 It was so exciting to be in Lincoln this past weekend for the Nebraska State Girls Basketball Tournament to support our Lady Cardinals. Even though we had 450 miles to travel, we had a good showing of fan support from our student body. Friday at the Devaney Center, our students dressed in hunting clothes, many sporting mustaches in support of Coach Holmquist's trademark 'stache. This is what high school sports should be ... fun and supportive! I received several compliments from the State Basketball staff on how well our students supported the team. Our student body was much smaller due to the further distances Chadron travels to the tournament, but they were every bit as loud. Congratulations to the Lady Cards and their record setting season, and congrats to our student body to the support and sportsmanship they portrayed all year.