Weekly Bulletin for January 4, 2016

Art Club Canvas Night!

"The future depends on what we do in the present."

-Mahatma Ghandi

Important Dates

January 4 - 1/2 Day Professional Development, 1/2 Teacher Work Day

January 6 - 8:00 am - Cafe Achieve Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

January 6 - 2nd quarter grades due

January 7 - Alex Sheen All School Assembly - One-hour presentation beginning second period. Shortened bell schedule will be presented.

January 8 - Report Card Distribution

January 11 - Department Chair Meeting

January 16 - Saturday School

January 18 - No School - Martin Luther King, Jr Day

January 19 - Staff Meeting

January 27 - 8th Grade Visit Day

January 30 - Saturday School

January 31 - After Prom Fashion Show

Important Information

Congratulations to Mike and Vickie Murawski

Welcome Back and Happy New Year - I hope all of you had a relaxing break and you were able to enjoy time with friends and family. I wish all of you the best this new year and I will work to continue to support what you are doing in the classroom. Please let me know if there is anything specific I can do to help.

Congratulations Mrs. Janke! - If you haven't heard, Mrs. Janke and her Art Club established a hugely successful Canvas Night in which teachers, parents and students worked together to create holiday paintings.  One of the main goals for the event was to generate funds for needy families in the area. With the help of her art club students and teachers in the building, $2,429 was raised to help support three West Geauga families during the holiday season.  Mrs. Janke stated, "With the efforts of art club, cash donations, jean week, collections in Booth, Ledman and Fish's classrooms, we were able to raise a total of $1,854. Local businesses donated $575 in merchandise and gift cards."  Great work, Andi.  Thank you for spreading holiday cheer!

Mr. Murawski - Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Mike Murawski. Vickie and Mike were married the day after Christmas in a beautiful ceremony and reception in Chesterland. Following their wedding, they departed for a Caribbean Cruise. Congratulations, Mike. We wish you and Vickie the best!

Cafe Achieve Ribbon Cutting - On Wednesday, January 6th at 8:00 am, we will officially cut the ribbon on the Cafe Achieve store. Please be aware that Geauga Achieve and Entrepreneur students, donors and board members have been invited to attend the ceremony. Congratulations to Jessica Duncan and Danielle Emans for working with our students to make the store and it's learning programs a success!

Graduation - There is an exciting change in this year's graduation. On June 2nd, our senior class will graduate from the Palace Theater in Cleveland. This venue looks to be very nice and I appreciate the hard work and research that Cheslea Talty and Christina Sherwood have put into finding a new location. During the past two graduations, many of you have supported our students and the profession by being a part of the ceremony. I would like the tradition to continue and will work with you to make this happen.

Semester Grade Error - Prior to break we had an issue entering semester course grades in Progress Book. Please know that Sean Whelan fixed the problem.

Molly Update - Molly has continued to make great progress in her recovery. She was released from the Cleveland Clinic prior to Christmas and was able to spend the holiday with her family at home. She will continue to recover at home for several months and appreciates the continued thoughts and prayers. Joyce has set up a collection for Molly and her family for anyone wishing to directly contribute to the many expenses they have accumulated over the last month. Please see Joyce for details.

College Fair - WGHS and WEDGE will be hosting it's third annual college fair for current 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th graders on April 25th.  College admissions counselors loved the last two fairs and want to bring it back again.  This fair provides an excellent opportunity for students to get in front of admission counselors and inquire about their next steps in their education.  Please help get the word out by explaining the benefits and wonderful opportunity to have the program on our campus.  The fair is open to anyone from surrounding communities. 

Feedback- Feedback is considered a high impact strategy for influencing students' learning. Please take a moment to read the infographic as the information will help make your feedback effective.

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Good Professional Reading (or Watching)

Glossary of Hattie’s influences on student achievement
Why are so many of our teachers and schools so successful? John Hattie at TEDxNorrkoping

Self reported grades with John Hattie