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Hello Patriots. Welcome to the five time, "A" rated, Freedom High School where learning is our top priority and our focus is on literacy, rigor and relationships. Our school's pillars of honor, excellence and tradition continue to be on display on a daily basis by our students, staff and community.
Cowboy Up!
This past Thursday, the Freedom High community lost one of our very own, Coach Dave Wheeler. Coach Wheeler was a friend, father, husband, mentor, and a coaching icon to the Central Florida high school baseball community. Coach Wheeler was a great coach who impacted many students' lives on and off the field. Not only was Coach Wheeler a great coach, he was also a distinguished role model and was always willing to lend a helping hand to anyone. Freedom will forever be grateful and indebted to the many sacrifices that Coach Wheeler and his family made toward supporting our FHS community. The slogan, "Cowboy Up" was dedicated to Coach Wheeler and many are wearing this shirt today in support of his fight.
"Cowboy Up, Don't back down, don't give up, do the best you can with the hand you're dealt."
If you would like information of FHS efforts to support the Wheeler family, please contact our Athletic office at 407-816-5600 ext. 6082281
Modified-Block Schedule
Parents, this Monday and Tuesday March 13th and 14th, Freedom High will be on a modified-block schedule. Modified-block provides our teachers the opportunity to re-teach standards previously taught for increased mastery toward FSA standards and AP concepts. In our science classes, this time provides teachers the opportunity for extended lab time. To review the schedule please open the link:
schedule
Parents, as of today FHS still needs your support in gathering information that will be used to enhance the quality of school improvement plans. Please look for a text message from me on Monday, March 13th providing a link to complete the short survey, or you can visit the Freedom High Website homepage at
www.freedom.ocps.net to access the survey link today. FHS needs over 700 responses to reach our goal. Thank you in advance for your vital input.
Spring Break
Patriots, please be mindful there will be no school on March 17th. Spring break for the 2017 school year will start on Monday, March 20th -24th. Our campus will be closed for normal business functions during this time. I wish all of the FHS community a restful spring break. If you are traveling during this time, please be safe and we look forward to our students and faculty returning on Monday, March 27th.
Sincerely,
Rolando R. Bailey
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 Mar. 13 Boys Lacrosse (vs Winter Park), 6:00 pm
Mar. 14 JV Baseball (vs Lake Nona), 4:00 pm
Mar. 14 Flag Football (vs Cypress Creek), 6/7:30 pm
Mar. 15 NHS Spelling Bee, 5:00 pm
Mar. 15 Baseball (vs Gateway), 4:00 pm
Mar. 15 JV Softball (vs University), 4:00 pm
Mar. 15 Boys Lacrosse (vs Boone), 6:00 pm
Mar. 16 Baseball (vs Lake Nona), 4:00 pm
Mar. 16 Softball (vs Dr. Phillips), 4:00 pm
Mar. 16 Girls Lacrosse (vs Edgewater), 6:00 pm
Mar. 17 Student Holiday
Mar. 20 - 24 Spring Break
Mar. 27 Softball (vs Winter Park), 4:00 pm
Mar. 27 Boys Lacrosse (vs Wekiva) Senior Night, 7:00 pm
Mar. 28 Flag Football (vs Colonial), 6/7:30 pm
Mar. 29 Extended day for testing
Mar. 29 Baseball (vs Cypress Creek), 4:00 pm
Mar. 29 Volleyball (vs Harmony), 6/7:30 pm
Mar. 30 Blood Drive
Mar. 30 Tennis at Osprey Park (vs Wekiva), 3:15 pm
Mar. 30 Girls Lacrosse (vs East River) Senior Night, 6:00 pm
Mar. 31 Softball (vs Oak Ridge), 4:00 pm
Mar. 31 JV Baseball (vs Cypress Creek), 4:00 pm
Apr. 01 Saturday School, 9:00 am
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OCPS 2016-2017 School Calendar
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Click on the
OCPS website link to access the Orange County Public Schools 2016-17 calendar.
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Orange County Public School's department of AdvancED is requesting your input through this year's Parent Survey. The purpose of this survey is to gather information which may be used to enhance the quality of school improvement plans. Please visit the Freedom Website homepage at
www.freedom.ocps.net to access the survey link. The survey link may also be found on our School Edmodo, Facebook, and Twitter pages. The survey period is open now and will close on March 17th, 2016. Thank you in advance for your vital input.
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Featured Department
World Languages
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Bottom left to right: Ms. Hernandez (BLA), Ms. Perez Cedeno (Dept. Chair), Ms. Tawil.
2nd row: Ms. Hernandez-Esquilin, Ms. Cruz, Ms. Zhang, Mr. Tomassoni.
top row: Ms. Seiki, Mr. Miscannon, Ms. Witt, Ms. Morales.
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Curriculum: 'Rigor in the Classroom'
An on-going look at student engagement from around campus . . .
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AP United States History Webinar
Dr. Jason Stevens, History Professor, Ashland University
A group of students from Mr. Bennett's and Ms. Christiano's Advanced Placement United States History classes had the opportunity to participate in a Teaching American History webinar sponsored by Ashland University. The webinar is part of the Bring a Scholar to Your Classroom initiative. The focus of the webinar was President Franklin Roosevelt's 1944 State of the Union Address. Dr. Jason Stevens, Professor of History at Ashland University, facilitated the webinar. He led students to think deeper about this primary source document which will help them practice for the required document analysis on their AP exam in May.
FHS AP U.S. History students participate in the online webinar which covered President Franklin Roosevelt's 1944 State of the Union Address.
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In the Spotlight!
Sanuki Prematilleke & Mehdi Baqri
2017 National Merit Scholarship Finalists
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 Congratulations to FHS seniors, Sanuki Prematilleke and Mehdi Baqri, for their selections as finalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program.
The National Merit® Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (
PSAT/NMSQTA) - a test which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.6 million entrants each year-and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements. Recently, Sanuki and Mehdi were notified that they have progressed to the finalist level.
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Nelson Quezada
Shakespeare Competition winner
FHS would like to recognize senior, Nelson Quezada, for his efforts as the first ever winner of a Shakespeare competition run by the English Speaking Union. Nelson won the school competition and competed in the regional competition with a piece from Macbeth.
Nelson Quezada, Class of 2017
STEM Game Show Competition Team
Congratulations to five of our FHS students that recently competed in a STEM game show at Lockheed Martin. The team did a fantastic job placing fourth in the completion that consisted of answering questions in the fields of math, computer science, physics, chemistry, and biology.
Pictured left to right: Zachary Assid, Kyle Pazmino, Gayoung Choi, Mehdi Baqri, Zachery Utt
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Summer Opportunities
There are many opportunities for students to attend pre-college programs during the summer before their senior year. There is a list in the Summer Programs Folder of the Freedom HS College Information Edmodo Group. The code to join in bcxa62. (This code changes periodically.) Taking part in a summer program is enriching, looks great on college applications, and is a nice transition experience that makes going away to college a bit easier.
Questbridge College Prep Scholars Program
One of these summer programs is the Questbridge College Prep Scholars Program. College Prep Scholars could receive full scholarships to college summer programs at Stanford, Yale, Emory, Penn, and more that cover travel, tuition, and room & board. The applicant should be a junior who:
* Has mostly A's in the most rigorous courses available
* Comes from a household earning less than $65,000 annually for a typical family of four
* May be eligible for free or reduced lunch
* May be part of the first generation in their family to attend college
The application is due March 22. Apply online at www.questbridge.org
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FSA ELA Reading Retakes
Juniors and seniors that have not met the reading graduation requirement will take the FSA ELA Reading Retakes on March 30th and 31st. The FSA ELA Reading Retakes is given over two days. Each session is 90 minutes long. Juniors and seniors can continue testing until ½ the typical school day if needed.
FSA Algebra 1 EOC Retakes
Students that have already completed the Algebra 1 class but not yet met the Algebra 1 EOC graduation requirement will take the FSA Algebra 1 EOC Retakes on March 30th and 31st. All FSA End of Course exams are given over two days and are 90 minutes long. Students will be allowed to continue testing until ½ the typical school day if needed.
If a junior or senior needs to take the FSA ELA Reading Retake and the FSA Algebra 1 EOC Retake, they will take the reading retake on March 30th and 31st and the Algebra 1 EOC on April 3rd and 4th.
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Club News
Environmental Club / Neuroscience Club
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Recently, students from Freedom High School participated in the 2nd annual beach cleanup. The FHS Environmental Club's president, Caitlin Jesse, and other members spent over two hours walking up and down Cocoa Beach picking up trash as part of the club's community outreach program. Big props to our Environmental Club for helping keep our Florida beaches and oceans letter free.
Ramon Pereira at the UCF for the Central Florida Brain Bee Competition
This past February, the FHS Neuroscience Club competed in the first ever Central Florida Brain Bee Competition at the University of Central Florida. FHS was represented by 10 students with three of them, Ramon Pereira, Tayler Klinkbeil, and Bianca Parra, making it to the final round. In the final round, sophomore Ramon Pereira (pictured above) finished in third place.
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Performing Arts
FHS Chorus earns high marks at their 2017 Music Performance Assessments
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Recently our FHS Chorus, under the direction of
Ms. Shannon Lyles and assisted by
Mr. Eric Glaze, participated in the District 8 Music Performance Assessments. FHS is proud to announce that the choirs continued the tradition of outstanding achievement at MPA with the Freshman Women's Choir, Men's Choir, Combined Choir, Mirabel, Varsity Choir, and Patriot Singers all receiving straight superiors. In addition, the Women's Choir received an overall excellent rating with a superior in sight reading. Finally, our Varsity Choir and Patriot Singers were two of three choirs in the district to receive a superior with distinction in sight reading evaluation.
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Baseball
The Freedom baseball team aare 3 - 3 - 1 on the young season. The team's wins have come against Winter Park, Pensacola Milton High and Dr. Phillips High School. Senior,
Justin Driscoll pitched a strong game earning the win against district rival, Dr. Phillips.
Boys Volleyball
The FHS boys volleyball team is currently 3-0 in their young season. The team has been led by the play of senior hitters Geraldo Rivera and Danny Hermida and by the outstanding defensive play of senior Libero Moises Garcia and defensive specialist sophomore Ryan Lynch. The team will begin district action this week against rival Cypress Creek on Wednesday, game time is at 7pm.
The boys and girls tennis teams are both having amazing seasons! The teams are halfway through the season and are showing they are able to compete with the tougher teams in Orange County. The boys' tennis team defeated Winter Park for the first time in school history! The boys are now 7-1 overall, 6-0 in Metro and 3-0 in District. The ladies are now 6-2 overall, 5-1 in Metro and 3-0 in District. They will complete a match against University on Tuesday at home that was called due to rain and will travel to Cypress Creek on Wednesday.
Boys Lacrosse
The boys lacrosse team is currently playing better than in the last 6 years! With approximately 50 players on the Junior Varsity and Varsity teams, they have been growing and improving daily. Most players have just picked up the game and are still learning the game. Some have played for just 2 years. The Varsity is currently 2-10. They came out on the short end in an exciting 7-8 overtime loss to Celebration last Friday evening. It was an exciting game as the team came from behind to tie the score and send the game into overtime. With five more games left in the season, please come out and support your Freedom lacrosse teams! Go Patriots!
Flag Football
The FHS flag football team has played three preseason games. Their first game of the regular season takes place Tuesday as they will host Cypress Creek.
Weightlifting
The Freedom boys' weightlifting team competed last Wednesday at the East Metro Weightlifting Championships. Freedom finished with 2 top 5, Matias Pedraza, who captured the championship in the unlimited weight class, and Peter Joseph, who finished fifth in the 154 pound weight class. Next up, Freedom will head to Colonial High School on Wednesday to compete in district state qualifier meet.
Water Polo
Boys and girls won both of their games against Cypress Creek last week, which was also their Senior Night. That brings this season's records to: boys 3 games out of 9 and girls 1 out of 9. The last game of the season was March 8th against Winter Park at Winter Park High school. From there, the boys' team will be moving on to our district competition.
Spring Sports at FHS
Below is a list of our spring sports at FHS along with their respective head coach. Feel free to contact the head coach for information.
* Baseball, Dave Wheeler David.Wheeler2@ocps.net
* Softball, Ramon Lamboy ramon.lamboy@ocps.net
* Tennis, Amy Swederski Amy.Swederski@ocps.net
* Volleyball, Gina McFerren gina.mcferren@ocps.net
* Boys Lacrosse, Scott Brown scott.brown@fijiwater.com
* Girls Lacrosse, Gregory Miller Gregory.Miller@ocps.net
* Flag Football, Carl Holden David.Bush@ocps.net
* Boys Weightlifting, Corey Brinson Jeremy.Jackson@ocps.net
* Track & Field, Leonard Malech lmalech@aol.com
* Water Polo, Andrea Dunlap Andrea.Dunlap@ocps.net
* Athletic Director, Roy Peters
roy.peters@ocps.net
* Asst. Athletic Director, Tyrhon Crawford
tyrhon.crawford@ocps.net
* Asst. Athletic Director, David Bush
david.bush@ocps.net
* Athletic Trainer, Te Shondra Abner
teshondra.abner@ocps.net
* Athletic Trainer, Tiffany Wattenbarger
tiffany.wattenbarger@ocps.net
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Senior Class of 2017 Dates & Events
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 March 13-16: Grad Bash Ticket Sales
Grad Bash 2017 tickets on sale after school in the cafeteria. Only FHS seniors may purchase a Grad Bash ticket. Tickets are $80.00, cash only, and are non-refundable. Annual passes and employee passes will not work for this event.
April 25: Academic Signing Day
9:00 am in the FHS gymnasium. To participate, seniors must turn in their college acceptance letter to their counselor.
April 26: Senior Exams (block schedule) periods 1 & 4
April 27: Senior Exams (block schedule) periods 2, 5 & 6
April 28: Senior Exams (block schedule) periods 3 & 7
April 29: Grad Bash
Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Fifth Harmony is performing! Attendees (FHS seniors only) will board buses (you must ride bus; no student driving) at 4:30 pm in bus loop of the school then return by 2:30 am. Attendees must ride the bus to and from. No exceptions.
May 1-5: Senior Day Ticket Sales
Tickets for Senior Day will be on sale after school inside the cafeteria for $30.00 each.
May 6: Prom at Rosen Plaza Hotel
Prom questions should be directed to Ms. Fierle at
Michele.Fierle@ocps.net
May 8: Senior Device/Textbook Check-in (last names A - M)
May 9: SENIORS' LAST DAY IN HIGH SCHOOL!!
Senior Device/Textbook check-in (last names N - Z)
Senior Walk-Out during sixth period
Senior Assembly in the gym during 7th period
Traditional event when senior class of 2017 will walk out of Freedom together, as a class, for the final time. A senior assembly in the gym will follow the walk-out.
May 10: Graduation Rehearsal (Mandatory)
8:00 am to 10:00 am at the UCF Arena. You must attend rehearsal in order to participate in the graduation ceremony. You provide your own transportation. Parking in garage is free with student ID.
May 15: Senior Day at Renaissance Orlando at Sea World
Activities include senior breakfast (buffet), senior awards ceremony, yearbook distribution and signing party, SGA presidential address, and the senior video presentation. You may also purchase a cap and gown at Senior Day. Senior Day begins at 8:00 am.
May 16: Ticket pick-up/final device check-in (last names A - M)
8:00 am to 11:00 am in front of the school.
Obligations must be cleared in order to pick up tickets and participate in the commencement ceremony. Each senior will get 7 tickets. No extras.
May 18: CLASS OF 2017 COMMENCEMENT, UCF ARENA, 7:00 PM
* For updates and information, visit the FHS website at
www.freedom.ocps.net then click on "Class of 2017 Information and Dates" which is located at the bottom of the homepage.
** Our cap/gown and announcement company is Jostens. Any questions regarding orders can be answered at
www.jostens.com or call them at 407-894-3131.
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Reproduction of this material, either written or electronically, including the general layout, graphics, analyses, and content topics without the express approval of Target Performance Systems, Inc., a Florida corporation, and OCPS - Freedom High School is forbidden without written consent. Thank you for your support of OCPS - Freedom High School and the Orange County Public Schools. Please contact Charles Youtz at
