High School Happenings

If you're like me, you are finding it hard to believe that we have completed the first quarter of the school year already. It has been a great start and I look forward to the rest of the year.

Soon it will be winter and the nightly thoughts of having a "snow day" will begin. It will also soon be time to take the dreaded end-of-semester final exams. Now is a good time to begin speaking with your student about how to study for these important tests. A few suggestions include:

1. Ask the teachers if the final exam is going to be cumulative.
2. Find a study place in the house that is free from distractions.
3. Spend at least 20 minutes reviewing past work and notes.
4. Schedule a time to meet with the teachers for a review session.
5. Look online for practice exams and/or classes that will help review your material.

Don't forget to stop by for our family friendly Halloween celebrations at the end of this month. The drama department has put together another spooktacular Haunted House and, for the little ones, we have our STUCO sponsored Treat Street.

Sincerely,
Del Garrick
Principal, Woodland Park High School

Announcements

From the Visual Arts Dept.

* Empty Bowls is a fund raiser that all the district art teachers participate in every three years. Pictured at the right is a bowl created by Kristen Tidquist from Ms. Ray's crafts class which is one of the items that will be available for auction on November 20th at the Cultural Center. All proceeds from the Empty Bowl Auction are donated to the Community Cupboard.
* The ART CLUB meets Fridays after school in Room 616 until 4:30 sometimes 5:00 p.m. Come join the fun!
* The Adduce Foundation for Student Workshops at UCCS is offering free classes in Watercolor, Digital Photography, Acrylic Painting, and Altered Books. For more information email Ms. Ray.

Dates to remember...

* The district office is presently exhibiting student art work in their show case.

* The 3V Art Therapy Studio located at 312 West Henrietta Ave., Suite B, in Woodland Park is hosting a WPHS Black and White photography exhibit at their Open House on Friday, October 24th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Call 200-7895 for more information.

* The Denver based Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design from will be at the WPHS Counseling Center on November 17th at 2:15 p.m. to provide information on their program.
* Taylor Sprague from WPHS is exhibiting at the Broadmoor Show starting on the 24th of October and with a show open to the general public from December 4th to the 6th

Seniors!
Pictures for yearbook and composite are due to Mrs. Stocking by November 7th.

Plan Test

The PLAN test will be administered to all 10th grade students on Wednesday, October 29th from 7:35AM until 11:10AM. All other students will be following their regular schedule. Please make sure your student arrives on time and ready to test that day!

Congratulations to Johnny Schaefer!

Johnny was selected as this year's WPHS Good Citizen
in the DAR Good Citizens Program in recognition of his outstanding qualities of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism. Johnny will be entering the national DAR Good Citizens Scholarship Essay Contest.

We need your input...

If you have ideas for future newsletters or information you'd like included as a regular article, email the HS Building Secretary, Cindy Wallace, at cwallace@wpsdk12.org.

Counseling News

Thinking of the Future

The counseling center staff has been very busy working with your students in regard to achieving academic success, post-secondary planning, and personal issues and concerns. We're off to a good start this fall and we encourage you to continue to communicate with us here in counseling.

Mrs. Wilson has done some fun activities with the alternative education students such as ropes courses and rock climbing. In addition to this and working with our ninth graders, she stays hopping. Mrs. Gustafson organized our assemblies yesterday, Journey to a Hate Free Millennium, and is now working on our PSAT and PLAN testing times as October is a big testing month. Mrs. Foster is having a ball with our AVP kids as she is in charge of that program. They continue to do a nice job in their college classes at PPCC. Mr. Martin is calling in all seniors one by one to work on post high school planning with the students. This class is already showing a nice amount of initiative in reference to getting things rolling.

A couple IMPORTANT reminders for our seniors are to sign up for the COF (College Opportunity Fund) now for a stipend to come back from the state and to sign up for the FAFSA pin numbers now at www.pin.ed.gov to be ahead of the game for the financial aid season which begins on January 1, 2009. Parents are encouraged to visit and browse around our Career and College Center which is housed here in the Counseling Center at any time and be in touch with us regarding your child.

Thank you,

Mark Martin, Senior Counselor

686-2072 direct line

Parent Group Corner

Report of 10/14 Meeting

Mr. Martin from the Counseling Department was the guest speaker at our meeting on October 14, 2008. He discussed ways students and parents can begin the road to college. Mr. Martin's presentation was full of important information, including test dates and locations, web sites for colleges, financial aid, and vocational information. For those of you who were unable to attend our meeting, please note that the Counseling Department will be presenting "Junior & Senior Parent Night" on November 3, 2008 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Please call the Counseling Department at 686-2074 to reserve your spot. Our appreciation goes out to Mr. Martin for his presentation. We encourage all of you to attend the meeting in November.

The Counseling Department is working on scheduling "Financial Aid Night" in January. Please watch the Counseling Department web site, Infinite Campus message board, and Important Announcements for more information.

We would like to announce the following positions:

Pam Streck and Dawn Ganoza will be Co-Chairs of the Hospitality Committee
Pam Streck will also be taking meeting notes that will be emailed to our Parents. (If you would like to receive these emails please contact Leticia Watters 687-0467.)
Diane Anna will be in charge of "Communications". She will be forwarding information, such as meeting dates, agenda, and informative announcements, from the WPHS Parent Group to parents via email.
Constance Brown will be our Parent Representative with the 21 Century Committee and Susan Hicks is our Parent Representative for the Building Advisory Committee.

WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK PAM, DAWN, DIANE, CONTANCE, AND SUSAN FOR STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE!

Our next meeting will be held on November 11, 2008 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. in the High School Library. Please consider attending, we know you will find it worth your time!

Sincerely,
Leticia Watters 687-0467
Co-President
Tracey Cannella 330-8442
Co-President

Panther Actitivities & Athletics

Updates from Brian Gustafson

Greetings, Panther fans! October marks the 'stretch run' for many of our fall athletic teams. The post-season is on the horizon and our competitors face exciting opportunities to compete for play-off berths.

As of October 20th, the Boys Golf team has completed its season and had one golfer fall just one stroke short of qualifying for the state tournament. The Girls Softball Team closed the season with a strong push and an 11-7 record. The Girls Volleyball Squad is preparing for the District Tournament and currently sports a 13-6 record and finished 3rd in the Colorado Springs Metro League. Our Cross-Country teams continue to bring home hardware from meets around the state. The girls team qualified for State on October 24th, as did Shawn Dubbs for the Boys. Boys Soccer closed out the regular season with a 3-0 win over Wasson under the lights on Senior Night..

Unbelievably, Homecoming week has already come and gone and was as exciting and enthusiastic as ever. Students from all schools in the district participated in, or attended, the Bonfire, Parade and of course the football game. The Football team will put its 4-2 league record on the line against Pueblo Centennial on October 24th. The Panthers have a very good shot at the playoffs, so the final two weeks of the season will prove to be exciting.

Activities and clubs around Woodland Park School District are engaged in all sorts of fundraisers, performances and community service events. For example, the S.O.S. Club at WPHS recently gathered 10,638 pounds of electronics for responsible recycling.

By the time the next newsletter comes out it will be November and Winter Sports Tryouts will be just around the corner. It's not too early for students to get signed up for Wrestling, Girls Basketball and Boys Basketball. Plan ahead: Paperwork for high school athletes should be in to the Activities Office by November 6th and Tryouts begin on November 12th. The Winter Sports 'Meet the Coaches Night' is scheduled for November 18th at 6:30 p.m.

Good luck to all of our participants in October. If schedule information is ever needed, be sure to go to www.highschoolsports.net.

As always,
GO GREEN!

Getting to know...

Dan Read, Social Studies

Dan has been a teacher at Woodland Park High School for 14 years. During the 2002-2003 school year he was named our Teacher of the Year. Currently he is teaching World History, Honors World History and American History. Dan is also involved in sponsoring our Knowledge Bowl Team and, in the past, he has sponsored the SOS Club and helped out with our Forensics Team. Mr. Read is involved with many other extra-curricular activities; serving as event manager, scorer, announcer, and being part of the chain crew during football. Outside of school Dan has two other passions. One is his daughters who he loves spending time with. The other is his band, Radio London, that can be heard playing all around the Pikes Peak area and has even opened for headliner acts such as ELO. We are fortunate to have Mr. Read working with our students and helping make WPHS such a great place to be.

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Panthers in the Field

Athletic Training Class Travels to the AFA and Olympic Training Center

The athletic training class took a field trip to the Air Force Academy and the Olympic Training Center to discover what resources different levels of sports have available to them in the field of sports medicine. At the Air Force Academy the students got to see three of the four athletic training facilities, many of the practice facilities, the indoor track, the weight room, and the human performance lab. They also got to see a former student (Nicole Stilwell) at a volleyball practice. Students were able to experience some of the vision training that ALL Air Force Academy athletes participate in. The students then went to the Olympic Training Center and toured the general facility and then had a specialized tour of the athletic training facility and the exercise physiology lab. The students were able to see the differences between facilities that are funded through a budget (Air Force Academy) and facilities that are funded through corporate sponsors and donations (Olympic Training Center). The students saw how having a budget like the Air Force Academy's enables them to have much nicer, up-to-date equipment and facilities. Whereas the Olympic Training Center, although they are working with the nation's most elite athletes, is limited on the facilities they can provide that are funded solely on donations from the community and corporate sponsorships.

Visual Art Department

Ms. Rays' Art Class traveled to Manitou to participate in the first Friday Art Walk on October 3rd. Some of the students planned out in advance what they wanted to do while others used freestyle to create their chalk designs on the spot. This amazing chalk art only took them an hour and a half working in teams of four.

Collaboration

September 24, 2008 and October 8, 2008

Industrial Arts - Working on vocational certification for the woods and construction laboratory (already have for the metals lab). Working on personal certification for all programs. Certification provides the program additional monies through Perkins funds. Also researching how best to further the goals of the entire CTE department.

Foreign Language - Discussion on a conference that Debbie LaBarre attended on teaching reading and writing in a foreign language. Also prepared information, slide shows, and dialogues for the first instructional podcasts being done by Debbie LaBarre and Kathleen Lisi.

Science - EarthComm teachers working on a syllabus and activities for Chapter 3 and then discussing what topics to cover after completing the core materials in Chapters 1 - 3. Emphasis will likely be placed on those topics most likely to be included on CSAP. Also a discussion was held to plan the incorporation of probeware laboratories in the curriculum of various science classes. Vernier lab guides were reviewed for future inclusion in classes.

Language Arts - discussion on how to best serve our Panther Academy students and meet the needs of the teachers in the entire school. Broke into smaller groups and worked on incorporating student assessment of work in creative writing and proper placement and help for students reading below their grade level.

Social Studies - initiating an all district "kids voting" process to teach citizenship skills, behaviors and responsibilities, as well as piloting some new technology, all of which ties into the 21st Century ideas of technology, relevance, citizenship and appropriate behavior. Discussing new courses for next year including both an AP European history course and an AP Government course.

Physical Education - working on curriculum for each sport being taught, discussed equipment needs, budget, grant writing, and creation of a department web page. Looked through course descriptions and turned in changes to Jim Bonavita. Discussing strength and conditioning through the grade levels.

Panther Academy Update

The Academy is Thriving!

Panther Academy is thriving this year with the addition of eight new teachers and the entire freshman class. The Panther Academy is split up among three teams of fantastic teachers. Team A is led by Sara Olson, English, consisting of Ken Boyer and Jonathan Bergmann from Science, Lois Devaux from Math, and Larry Ingram from Social Sciences. Team B is led by Max Engelhardt, Social Sciences, and consists of Lisa Alexander from Math, Laura-Lee Barron from English, and Kendall Hovel from Science. Team C is led by Chris Winstead, Science, and consists of Jennifer Stone from English, Jon Critzer from Math, and David Graff from Social Sciences. Each team meets weekly to discuss student and curriculum progress which enables teachers to better communicate with parents and students.

In addition to meeting every week, teams are furthering the communication process through several innovative avenues. Each team meets with the freshman counselor, Kari Wilson, once a month to determine individual student need. Furthermore, teams meet with parents as a team during their team collaboration time per parent request. Teams also have an on-line calendar for each freshman class that informs parents and students of daily assignments. Grades are communicated home by way of parent postcards, e-mails through Infinite Campus, signed parent progress reports and of course the old fashioned phone call. Although the Panther Academy Team continues to serve their students through progressive pedagogical practices, their work is never done. Quarter 2 will bring about a new system where parents with students receiving D's or F's will start receiving automated phone calls. This will reiterate to parents that each child's success is important. The more the parents are informed the better chance each student has for success. Panther Academy teachers are hard at work trying to make Woodland Park High School the best place to attend high school.

Library Information Center

Web Page Access!

Woodland Park High School Library Information Center has a Web page that provides easy home access to all of our databases and our electronic catalog. Be sure to bookmark this address in your Favorites!

Library Media Access Online
The Username for ALL of our Databases is: wpsd2
The Password for ALL of our Databases is: panther

Gale databases include:
Student Resource Center: Full-text magazine and journals
Biography: Thousands of biographies
Opposing Viewpoints: Get both sides (and more!) of any current issue.
Literature Resource Center: Everything you need to get an A in English!

WorldBook Online is more than an encyclopedia. It is appropriate for all levels and subjects, and returns not only encyclopedia articles, but also articles from other magazines and especially relevant Web sites. Check it out!

The Encyclopedia of Daily Life covers hundreds of cultures and every time period throughout recorded history. You can search the database by region, time period (including timelines), or subject. The subjects include domestic life, economic life, intellectual life, material life, political life, recreational life, and religious life.

The CQ Researcher Online is a product of the Congressional Quarterly, and is comprised of weekly in-depth analyses of crucial and timely issues. It covers all sides of the issues, includes a history of the issue, as well as a timeline of how the issue developed. It makes recommendations for the future, and also provides a bibliography for further reading.

Podcast Address: http://podcasts.wpsdk12.org

Your school email address is: YourNetworkLogin@wpsdk12.org
For example, student Jane Marie Doe's school email address would be: jmdoe@wpsdk12.org

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