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.