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FOREST CITY HIGH SCHOOL
PRIDE TRIBE PULSE
November
2017
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Photo courtesy of Colleen Hovinga
FCHS successfully debuted the first U.S. production of "The Battle of Boat" musical
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First trimester has come and gone, students have taken the Iowa Tests, and now it is dark when we get up and dark shortly after students are released from the school day. As I reflect over the first twelve weeks of the year, I am so pleased with the progress.
A quick review of first trimester grades indicates that approximately
98.1% of all courses were passed by students
. Even though this is percentage is very high, this still leaves us with students who are not learning the content or who are not able to demonstrate the required learning.
The importance of school attendance
One area that can negatively impact the ability of a student to be successful in school is poor attendance. Over the course of a trimester, if a student misses just three days of school, this can negatively impact a student’s ability to be successful academically. Some might say, “How can this be?” Well, when one identifies that the typical student has seven classes each day, missing three days means that twenty-one class periods have been missed. That is twenty-one periods of instruction, twenty-one opportunities to practice and build skill, and twenty-one periods where a student can not ask or hear answers to questions over the content, and twenty-one potential homework assignments, missed formative assessments or summative assessments. If a student’s day is broken down like this, one can begin to see how a bit of a mountain is formed by missing just three days. Now what if a student misses more than three days?
Going a bit further with attendance and just how important student attendance is in relation to success, let's look at one of the qualifiers for students to be eligible for the Academic Banquet (
See the complete list of qualifiers below
): A student must have an attendance rate of 97% at the end of the second trimester. This calculates to a student being present for 116.4 of the 120 possible days (if both trimesters are 60 days in length).
Please keep in mind the importance of school attendance as it relates to student success in their coursework.
Sincerely,
Ken D. Baker
HS Principal
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The Forest City Education Foundation Academic Banquet began in the spring of 2013 with the sole purpose of recognizing strong academic performance by Forest City High School students. The Academic Banquet for this year is scheduled for March 22, 2018. This event will take place in the HS Gymnasium and will begin at 6:00 p.m.To qualify for the banquet, students must meet two of the following criteria:
- Top 7% of their class.
- Score in the 85th national percentile rank (or higher) in the reading, math, and science sections of the Iowa Tests.
- An ACT Composite score of 27 or higher.
- A cumulative G.P.A. of 3.6 or higher after a minimum of two trimesters at FCHS.
- Attendance rate of 97% or higher. **The only absences not included in this rate are absences for school related activities.
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Forest City Interact Club
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Interact Students completed the annual "Rake and Run".
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Interact is a Rotary-sponsored service club for high school students that works directly with Forest City Rotary Club. The program gives young people an opportunity to participate in fun, meaningful service projects while developing leadership skills and meeting new friends. Through service activities, Interactors learn the importance of developing leadership skills and personal integrity, demonstrating helpfulness and respect for others, and advancing international understanding and goodwill.
There are about 60 members in the club this year and a small group of juniors and seniors organize meetings and arrange the service projects. One of the organizers, senior Madison Kleveland, said, "I enjoy so much about Interact. I really enjoy coming up with the different service projects and of course, participating in them! I also love that I get to volunteer with my friends and we can spend time together outside of school.
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She added, "I always leave the service projects feeling happy and less stressed than when I came. Community service is something that you can participate in for the rest of your life, so why not start now?"
The Forest City club has completed numerous service projects over the years. One of the recent projects was the annual "Rake and Run". Interact member Danica Bang said, "This project involves club members raking leaves at a person's house who may not be able to do it themselves. My favorite part about this project is simply the fact that the person doesn't know we're coming. The club shows up and starts raking leaves without even knocking on the door."
Other service project examples including volunteering at the movie theater, caroling at the nursing home, making May Day baskets for teacher appreciation and volunteering at the Humane Society. The high school club also supports all of the Forest City Rotary Club service activities.
Thank you to all of the students who take the time to help others!
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- Left to right: Fabiana Cocco (Sanluri, Italy), Fernanda Corral (Santiago, Chile) and Kwan Muangjaila (Krabi, Thailand)
Welcome Fabiana, Fernanda and Kwan to FCHS and our community! The three AFS students arrived shortly before school began and will stay with their host families until June. All three are active in various activities and are enjoying their time here. They are looking forward to the snow, but not the cold weather!
When asked how high school in America differs from their high schools, they all said that there are a lot of differences. Fabiana and Kwan's schools are focused solely on academics and do not offer extracurricular activities. Fernanda said that there is soccer, basketball and volleyball offered at her school. Fabiana's credits earned at FCHS will count when she returns to school in Italy; however Kwan and Fernanda will have to repeat this year in their schools. When entering high school in their countries, they chose a specific path, like Science or Math, and their classes are mainly focused on those subjects. Fabiana said that there are about 20 students in her class and they stay in the same classroom and teachers come into their classroom to teach them. Fernanda and Kwan rotate classrooms throughout the day, but are always with the same group of students.
Overall, they mentioned that they really appreciate being able to choose some of their classes at FCHS as it allows them to explore different interests. They like to opportunity to be involved in extracurricular activities. Kwan participated in cross country, was in the musical and is now cheerleading and a member of the show choir. Fernanda is out for basketball and in choir. Fabiana played volleyball and is now cheerleading and in show choir.
Kwan's host family is Chad and Kris Reece. Fernanda's host family is Andy and Keila Buffington and Fabiana's host family is Jeremy and Elissa Hanna. The AFS committee will begin looking for sponsors for next year's students soon. If you are interested, please contact Tami McInroy or Eunice Clouse.
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Conceptual Physics Solar Ovens
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Mr. Putney and Mr. Sparrgrove's 9th grade science students were tasked with designing ovens out of pizza boxes to cook s’mores using only the sun for energy.
The ovens were made from a pizza box, aluminum foil, plastic wrap and a sheet of black paper. A flap is cut out of the pizza box lid and lined with foil. This reflects sunlight into the box. The opening is also sealed with plastic wrap which acts like a greenhouse roof allowing the sun to pass into the box while retaining heat. The black paper is used at the bottom of the box to act as a heat sink that absorbs the sun's warmth so food is warmed when placed on top of it.
"This is a fun project for the kids and they had a blast," said Mr. Putney.
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Illustration by Middle School Student
Estrella Pantoja
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We were proud to have all our students take part in the Veterans Day program on November 6th.
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This month, I wanted to share information about the Indian PALs mentoring program. Students in grades 10-12 can participate and earn credit while gaining the opportunity to be a mentor to elementary, middle or high school students. There are currently 26 Indian Pal connections this year. Please contact me or ask your student to contact me if they are interested in being part of this rewarding program!
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Check out social media through the counseling office for updates and important information available to help all students at Forest City:
Please subscribe to “FCHS Counseling” on SchoolWay
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2017 All State Choir (Anna Weaver and Sarah Hovinga), All State Orchestra (Shaden Tweeten) and All State Band (Trey Blaser and Jasmine Sanasinh) participants with teachers Mr. Teske and Mr. Schmidt.
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Waldorf University students Rakailla Pauley and Mandi Wright taught junior English students about poetry and the variety of forms a poem may take.
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Former Forest City student Zach Lilliquist visited with members of FCA.
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Elissa Hanna visited the Child Development class to talk about embryonic adoption. Teacher Tammy Lambert said, "It's a great way for the class to hear a personal story about information they have studied and to then be able to apply it to a real life situation."
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Grady Hovenga, Hannah Buffington and Ryan Theel were honored to be selected for the
All Star Senior Cross Country Meet
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