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This is Literacy Week on the main campus. It falls in coordination with other schools around Florida celebrating the annual Just Read, Florida! Celebrate Literacy Week. The week is set out to promote literacy and reading for pleasure and it carries with it special events for our Grenadiers. If you have a student at Colonial this year, please encourage them to participate each day this week (please see "Media Minutes" segment below for details).
It seems like every time I engage in a business transaction somewhere a "survey" will soon find me via email or text. You name the organization and they have a survey ready for you once you make a purchase: airlines, banks, drug stores, hotels, fitness centers, retail stores, fast-food restaurants ... the list goes on forever.
I share this experience with these "e-surveys" as in this issue you will find a link to our 2021 Parent Survey which is not to be at all confused with these other surveys we all get. Below is some additional insight on the survey for our parents & guardians, but I wanted to remind you that our Parent Survey runs only 1X per year and that we depend upon it greatly to prioritize school improvement efforts to benefit the students.
If you are opening this on Sunday evening, I hope you enjoyed a relaxing weekend. Let's make this 4th week of 2021 a strong one Grenadiers!
It's Great To Be A Grenadier!
Dr. Maestre
Principal
Colonial High School
Pictured above: Students enjoying socially distanced lunch outside our Performance Arts Center.
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Main Campus:
6100 Oleander Drive
Orlando, FL 32807
(407) 482-6300
Freshman Campus:
7775 Valencia Collage Lane
Orlando, FL 32807
(407) 249-6369
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Jan. 25: SGA Veterans Supply Drive continues this week
Jan. 27: OCPS Annual Stellar Awards (this year virtual, 7pm)
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Remembering Mr. Hernandez |
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Our dearly missed teacher, Mr. Salomon Hernandez, has been immortalized with the naming of one of our academic hallways after him. |
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Congratulations to Nate Rivera! |
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Grenadier Students and Parents:
We know this has been a most unusual year for all of us. Colonial High School would greatly appreciate your feedback. How are we doing?
Please take 5 minutes to complete the CHS Parent Survey: Spring 2021. The results of this annual survey are used by school leadership, School Advisory Council, and PTSA to make positive changes to our school systems and our school culture. We value your input! Tell us what is working for your student and family, and tell us improvements we could make to enhance your educational experience. Data is collected anonymously.
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Our Grenadier mascot helped distribute CHS T-Shirts to our LaunchEd Grenadiers who are learning from home but can still show their school pride when taking classes online! |
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Community Reminder:
SGA Veterans Supply Drive continues this week.
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SGA is doing a Veteran Supply Drive from January 19 - February 12 and we need your help! Please send in with your student or drop off at the main office. |
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Social & Emotional Learning Corner |
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- Please click here for a larger view of this week's SEL message.
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2020-2021 Boys' Basketball Senior Night |
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LaunchED@Home students,
All school-owned computers must be inventoried. We do this when you log-on to your device. Please make sure that you are using your school-owned laptop by logging on and signing in into Launchpad for class. It is very important that you do this in order for your device to be inventoried. If you can't log in to your school-owned device because it is not working, please submit a tech request so you can be contacted through your student email for repair.
Thank you,
Mrs. Mentzer, Media Specialist
Ms. Dorries, Assistant Principal
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Please click here for a larger view of the Freshman Campus calendar
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While difficult to see in the picture above, when this snapshot was taken the discussion was on Colonial's NAF Information Technology Magnet program. In the private sector, jobs in this field are in high demand.* Please see below for additional information or contact the school.
- Employment in computer and information technology occupations is projected to grow 11 percent from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations. These occupations are projected to add about 531,200 new jobs. Demand for these workers will stem from greater emphasis on cloud computing, the collection and storage of big data, and information security.
- The median annual wage for computer and information technology occupations was $88,240 in May 2019, which was higher than the median annual wage for all occupations of $39,810.
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Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Read report
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Colonial's NAF Information Technology Magnet
(Application deadline is Feb. 15)
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The NAF Information Technology Magnet is affiliated with the international National Academy Foundation (NAF), based in New York City, New York. This magnet is designed to for the study, development, implementation, support and management of computer-based information systems.
In their freshman year, Colonial students build their technology foundation in Introduction to Information Technology. During their sophomore year, our Grenadiers select one track in an area of concentration, IT Support (PC Support and Network Design), which is our Cyber Security track (CompTIA A+, Network+, and Security+ Certifications) or IT Communications (Digital Video Production and Digital Print Media).
As a member of NAF IT Magnet, qualified students are eligible for an internship after their junior year and for competitive scholarships through the National Academy Foundation and the Central Florida National Academy Foundation Board. Additionally, students in this program may also qualify for Gold Seal Bright Futures scholarship money.
This high school magnet is conducive to post-secondary education in one of the following arenas: Career and Technology Education in conjunction with Orange County Public Schools, year AS or AA degrees as found in local community colleges or four year BS or BA degrees from colleges or universities in information technology or business.
Students throughout the Orange County School District may apply for this program. Participating students enter the program as freshmen and a limited number may enter as sophomores.
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onePulse Foundation Legacy Scholarship |
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Important Links (updated regularly) |
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OTC Dual Enrollment - 10th & 11th
(Orange Technical College)
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- Please CLICK HERE for a larger view of the many programs OTC offers.
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School Advisory Council (SAC) |
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SAC meets the second Thursday of each month at 6pm on Freshman Campus. |
- February 11
- March 11
- April 8
- May 13
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Students - speak up using the link on your Grenadier Gate Canvas page. |
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Herff Jones graduation links and information:
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Monday's Motivational Moment |
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Viktor Frankl's problems put our own challenges into perspective.
Wednesday, January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The following true story may help lend some perspective on those most difficult of days.
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Viktor Frankl (1905-97) was born in Vienna, imperial capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where his father worked in the government. Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist living peacefully in Austria when the Nazis came for he and his family.
In September 1942, Frankl and his family were arrested and deported to a camp in Theresienstadt, Czechoslovakia, where families of professionals like Frankl and community leaders stayed until the Nazi SS decided their fate. His mother, father, brother, wife and her mother all died. In fact, of the 140,000 who arrived, 33,000 died from illness or starvation; 90,000 were killed at extermination camps.
Knowing that any moment he might be executed, Frankl spent most of the next three years in the camp doing arduous work, often in freezing weather and wearing rags for clothes. Food was scarce. He suffered from typhus and got little sleep in crowded rooms full of rats and lice.
But out of this nightmare came an understanding that human beings can emotionally withstand anything if they refuse to let conditions dictate their attitude.
After the war ended in 1945, Frankl wrote about the lessons he learned during imprisonment.
His book, "Man's Search for Meaning," has sold 12 million copies. In a 1991 survey by the Library of Congress/Book of the Month Club, readers said it was among the 10 books that most influenced their lives.
Here are some of his observations about life that Frankl made based upon his experience during his holocaust experience:
- "Also amid the squalor were inspiring examples of courage and humanity. We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They offered sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
- He noticed that those who gave up hope died fast. Also, those that had work to do each day such as maintaining the German railroad tracks, fared better as at least they had a purpose. The others left behind in the crowded barracks, usually never made it.
- Frankl observed that attitude was a key to survival. He later wrote, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
The lesson for our Grenadiers? Seize each day as a new set of opportunities and keep a positive attitude regardless of challenging circumstances. Show kindness to others as you never know what difficulties they may be facing. And above all, always remember you are not alone like Victor Frankl was in the Nazi concentration camps - every teacher, coach, and staff member at Colonial wants you to succeed and is always ready to help in any way they can!
Dr. Maestre, Principal
Colonial High School
Sunday, January 24, 2021
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This communication may contain information that is legally privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure, and intended only for the use of the addressee(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, please note that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Anyone who receives this message in error should notify the sender immediately by telephone or by return e-mail, and delete the message from their computer and any printout thereof. Please note that OCPS utilizes spam and junk e-mail filtration applications in its e-mail systems. That filtering process may prevent or delay delivery of certain e-mail communications. If you do not receive a timely response to an e-mail communication, please contact the intended recipient by phone. |
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Copyright Notice
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-Colonial High School is forbidden without written consent. Thank you for your support of the Orange County Public Schools and OCPS-Colonial High School. Please contact Ms. Mary Vetter (assistant principal) at mary.vetter@ocps.net with any questions.
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