The Bear Pride
Cypress Creek High School Community Brief
CCHS Community Member,

This Monday we open a brand new month and are now quickly approaching the mid point of the third nine-week quarter of 2020-2021. I hope this edition finds you having enjoyed a positive and healthy January and if you mapped out some New Year's resolutions for yourself, hopefully you are still on track.

One of the challenges with New Year's resolutions is that for many people by the time February 1 arrives, some of those well laid plans have already gone astray. That can feel like a colossal let down. If this has happened to you or someone you know, look at February as a fresh start. Moreover, consider thinking in terms of "ministarts" each time a new week begins. By this I mean as each week ends and another is about to begin, look back on what you did over the past seven days. This means progress academically, number of days in school plus on time to all classes, time with friends & family, hours of exercise, dollars spent (sticking to your budget), and so forth. These become your stats and reflect your "Week Game" -- they should help you get back on track.

A series of constant fresh starts over time adds up to a life well lived and can take a whole lot of stress away from a once per year New Year's goal. Moreover, changes in life require momentum and these mini starts all year long will give you that.

Make this February a terrific month and make the most of each day as it comes. Try to make each day the BEST possible day and always shoot to learn something new!

In Bear Pride,

Dr. W. John McHale
Principal
Cypress Creek High School

Pictured very top: C
Monday, Feb. 1, 2021
Useful Links 
Reminders
Feb. 01: Start of Black History Month
Feb. 15: Presidents Day - No School
Feb. 15: Last day for 2021-2022 Magnet Choice
Connect with CCHS
1101 Bear Crossing Drive
Orlando, FL 32824
(407) 852-3400
Dates To Watch For / Special Events
Feb. 01: Start of Black History Month

Feb. 15: Deadline for OCPS Magnet program applications

Feb. 15: Presidents Day - No School
Bear Athletics
Bear Success Story: FFA
This past Thursday, the Florida FFA Association held the state finals for the Environmental Science and Natural Resource Career Development Event (CDE) at the Florida FFA Leadership Training Center in Haines City. Cypress Creek's FFA team earned the 4th Place State Honor!

What makes this success story even more impressive is that our FFA Chapter is only in its 3rd year! Moreover, during such an extraordinary year!

In this competitive event, the students had to take a comprehensive exam covering environmental science, demonstrate skills in water quality testing, properly use a global positioning system (GPS), discuss proper environmental management practices in a team presentation and correctly identify tools and species of animals found in the environment.

By winning 4th in state, the Cypress Creek HS FFA team will be recognized at the Florida State FFA Convention in June where they will receive their team awards.

Congratulations FFA! Go Bears!
Florida State Fair Wall of Excellence!
Art Portfolio Contest for High School Seniors
Student: Walter Morales, Class of 2021
School: Cypress Creek HS
Title: "Unknown Balance"
Media: Sculpture - Metal, Wood & Concrete
Community footnote: This year's Florida State Fair has been postponed until April 22. At that time, Walter's art work will go on display along along with a handful of select students from schools all around Florida. Please click here to view some all of the other student art pieces.
OCPS is Looking for Talented CCHS Bears!
REMINDER: Parent Survey
Cypress Creek Students and Parents,

We know this has been a most unusual year for all of us and Cypress Creek High School would greatly appreciate hearing your views on the 2020-2021 school year.

We are asking parents of our Cypress Creek community to invest a few minutes to complete the annual OCPS Parent Survey. The results of this survey are used by Cypress Creek's leadership team, the School Advisory Council, and the PTSA to make positive changes to our school. Please tell us what is working for your student and family, and let us know what improvements we might make.

Please understand that the survey feedback is collected anonymously, but that we do see the overall, combined results. We depend upon this feedback to prepare our school improvement plan which directly benefits our Bears.*

Thank you very much for your support! This takes very little time, but your input helps to guide CCHS immensely.

Please click on this link: Parent survey

Hispanic Scholarship Fund
The Hispanic Scholarship Fund is pleased to announce the first-ever virtual HSF College 101 Series. This series will be hosted three Wednesday evenings, beginning February 10, 2021.

HSF College 101 is a FREE, bilingual program held in various time zones, designed to help middle and high school students and their parents prepare, plan, and pay for college. Subject-matter experts will provide useful information, joined by Admissions and Financial Aid representatives from various universities.

Below are the dates and registration links for each of the three HSF College 101 webinars:

  • Wednesday, February 10, 2021, 6:00 p.m. PT
  • Wednesday, February 24, 2021, 6:00 p.m. CT / 5:00 p.m. MT/AZ
  • Wednesday, March 10, 2021, 6:00 p.m. ET

To learn more about the event, please visit bit.ly/hsfcollege101.

For more information: HSF: Home
Food for Thought: Week of Feb. 1
1) Fastest growing US jobs:
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics (updated 9/1/2020); Access data
Caution Cypress Creek Bears: The salaries the BLS provides are median figures for the USA and vary depending upon local area, employer, education, and experience. For example, jobs for Nurse Practitioners are forecast to grow +52% by 2029 with a median salary of $109,820. They normally pay very well, but that depends upon the factors just mentioned. In choosing a career path, there is also much more to consider than income alone. However, the chart does offer some insight as to what jobs are thought to be in the greatest demand on a national level based upon the latest projected percentage changes in employment between 2019 and 2029. In this extraordinary period due to Covid-19, interested students should visit the BLS website for job projection updates going forward. These are the most current available projections.
2) Fastest growing STEM jobs:
Source: SmartAsset (March 2020): Read full article
Other data on STEM job demand (Sept. 2020): Please see the latest projections from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics - click here
3. US dietary intakes compared to recommendations:
4) Super Bowl victories by team:
Source: Statista
5) Wisdom To Live By:
Hank Aaron On Perseverance
My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.
~ Henry Aaron, baseball player

Beverly Sills On Risk
You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.
~ Beverly Sills, opera singer

Ford On Education
Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.
~ Henry Ford, automaker

Wooden On Leadership
Never criticize, nag or razz a teammate.
~ John Wooden, basketball coach

Jeff Bezos On Innovation
Being wrong might hurt you a bit, but being slow will kill you. If you can increase the number of experiments you try from a hundred to a thousand, you dramatically increase the number of innovations you produce.
~ Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder
Leadership Team
Administrators and Deans
1101 Bear Crossing Drive
Orlando, FL 32824
Phone 407-852-3400
Fax 407-850-5160 | EEO Statement
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.
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 - Cypress Creek High School is forbidden without written consent. Thank you for your support of Cypress Creek High School and the Orange County Public Schools. Please contact Dr. McHale at walton.mchale@ocps.net with any questions or for further information.