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Upcoming Events:
MON. (4/7) School Site Council @ 5:30pm In Room 500
TUES. (4/8) SPECIAL COMMON CORE TESTING BELL SCHEDULE
Only Juniors In "Testing Group A" Come @ 7:48am...
ALL Other Students >>> School Starts @ 9:57am
TEACHERS --- Check Your Room, Role, and Responsibility HERE
PARENTS --- Make Sure Your Students Bring
Headphones/Earbuds If They Have Them :)
***Only Periods 2, 4, and 6 meet this day for 76 minutes each***
WED. (4/9) SPECIAL COMMON CORE TESTING BELL SCHEDULE
Only Juniors In "Testing Group B" Come @ 7:48am...
ALL Other Students, School Starts @ 9:57am
TEACHERS --- Check Your Room, Role, and Responsibility HERE
PARENTS --- Make Sure Your Students Bring
Headphones/Earbuds If They Have Them :)
ALSO...
8TH GRADE ATHLETICS & ACTIVITIES NIGHT --- 5:30pm In PAC
Food Trucks Will Be On Campus From 5-8pm :)
THUR. (4/10) Los Al Drama Presents: MIDSUMMER/JERSEY -- 7pm In The PAC
Show Runs 4/10 - 4/12, and costs $10 (click promo for details)
FRI. (4/11) MIDSUMMER/JERSEY @ 7pm In The PAC
SPRING BREAK BEGINS!! --- Come Back To School on 4/22!!
SAT. (4/12) Dr. Arnold's SAT Class Meets, 9am-Noon In Room 153/154
MIDSUMMER/JERSEY @ 7pm In The PAC
 ATHLETICS: Congratulations to Girls Softball for getting to the Finals of The Carew Classic this weekend! Spring Sports is our busiest season here at Los Al, and we have tons of great home and away events for Griffins and families to support on our way to CIF Playoffs in the ultra-competitive Sunset League. Hurry up & head out to Boys Volleyball, Boys Tennis, Boys Golf, Track, Baseball, Lacrosse, Swim and Dive today!
& On The Horizon...
4/12-4/21 --- SPRING BREAK!!!!
.............. Unlimited Possibilities!
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It's Election Season At Los Al:
Democracy Reigns Supreme In This Year's ASB Elections On Campus
You had to be living under a rock this week not to notice all the campaign images that have covered the walls, doors, and hallways of our campus this week.
Every Spring at Los Al, dozens of students campaign for the votes of their peers as ASB elections heat up in preparation for the following year's cabinet. This year, social media is playing an even more prominent role in vote-getting, as each candidate (or group of co-candidates) has their own website, Instagram handle, Twitter feed, and more.
It all goes to show that the power of brand-making and image-creation is a real one in the 21st century, and it's likely part of the necessary skill set teachers need to be building with students in the classroom.
Along with influencing their peers, then, this year's candidates are teaching all of us that production, digital literacy, and the ability to read and interpret visual texts are the requisite tools today's students need to be successful.
Campaign results will be announced this week :)
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Being "Engaged" vs. Being "On Task":
How To Know When Your Students Are Getting The Most Out Of Learning
 Throw your hands in the air, and wave 'em like you know the answer!!!
QUESTION: How do you know when a student is "fully engaged" as opposed to just merely "being on task?"
Some teachers say they can "see engagement in their students eyes." Others say it's simply the byproduct of a good teacher and a good lesson. Still others say it's not important whether your students are engaged in the material, so long as they master it and show competency towards the culminating skill.
What say you?
The Monday Morning Memo purports that engagement is a full-body experience. From the brain, to one's hands and feet, to the use of language and more, engagement in the classroom is more than just a raised-hand or a room full of quiet children.
In fact, engagement can be loud and boisterous. (Ever been to a Los Al sporting event? Is our student section not fully engaged?) And it's best if engagement is extended for long periods of time, centered around content material and skills that are focused in scope and built upon for rigor and depth and complexity and so on.
We don't have very many silent rooms at Los Al, full of students singularly on-task with whatever activity or worksheet has been set before then. Sure, there's a time and place for focused application... but any stroll along campus will reveal full-body engagement of the loudest variety in students of every discipline --- English, Math, History, Science, The Arts, Athletics, and more.
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Look, Ma! No Textbooks!!!
How Ms. Ferrell's 3-D Design Class Capitalizes On How Most People Learn
 In Ms. Ferrell's 3-D Design Class, students use the tools and tricks of the trade to make everything from rings and bracelet charms, to cool 3-dimensional dolls, toys, and action figures!
Once you get out of high school and college, it's unlikely that you'll ever use a textbook to learn anything. Sure, reading will always be an integral part of how we learn and experience, but the organization and scaffolding that textbooks provide are simply impractical (and pretty unengaging) for most learners who get to choose how they learn.
Los Al's Art Department embraces this reality. They teach students under an apprenticeship model in which extreme value is placed on DOING and EXPERIENCING so that it is actually one's mistakes and successes that are the crux of the learning experience.
Take the student examining her ring in the top right corner of the picture collage. Better than looking at a two-dimensional picture of a flawed or perfect ring in a textbook, she is examining her own product --- considering its attributes at the same time she is recalling the experiences and choice-making that got her to this point. Her eyes are squinted and focused. Her mouth is slightly open. She is immersed in learning. She will grow from this experience.
That's how real leaning occurs. Through a series of small failures and big accomplishments, human beings develop skills that help them achieve more and more in every endeavor.
This isn't new, by the way. And we don't need Common Core standards to tell us that experiential learning is critical to human development... we just need Common Sense.
And in Ms. Ferrell's 3-D Design class, there's plenty of that to go around :)
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College Admissions Season:
(An Article For Parents, By A Parent)
 Click the picture above (of the front gates to Brown University) to access Tracy Mayor's article on the College Admissions Process from a parent's perspective.
EXCERPTED FROM NYTIMES.COM...
The envelope came on a Friday in March - the last day of the last week of a college acceptance season that had been dragging on since early admissions began in October.
It figured that my child picked as his top school one of the few universities to still send out acceptances - and rejections - via snail mail. From any other institution, an ordinary No. 9 business envelope would look like an automatic "no." But I'd done my homework, so I knew Perfect U.'s acceptance letters are a mere two sheets of paper. Rejections are one.
This envelope was so flat, it seemed to contain nothing at all, like some last, cruel joke from an admissions department that had been indifferent from the start. I texted my firstborn, who was stuck on a bus in traffic, coming home from a school trip. "It's here. Not gonna lie, looks thin. Should I open?"
He texted back. "No. I will. Home soon."
It takes 18 months, this business of finding a place in the world for your child. Some people tell you, hands on hips, that the college application process should be "entirely student-driven."
As if you would let a 17-year-old make the biggest decision of his life (so far) unaided. As if a high school junior has even an hour's worth of extra time between SATs and APs and sports and school clubs and volunteering and demonstrating interest and taking leadership positions and the stuff of regular teenage life - drivers' licenses and prom dates and after-school jobs.
***** To read the rest of this article, click HERE to view it on NYTIMES.COM
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Los Al Wins Show Choir Nationals, Twice!
Congratulations To Sound FX and SoundTrax For Being Grand Champions In Nashville
Click the picture above to see a version of this year's award-winning show...
Los Al choirs doubled up this weekend as SoundFX captured the Mixed AAA Division title and was named Grand National Champion at the Showchoir Nationals in Nashville. The group also won awards for Outstanding Vocals and Outstanding Visual Effects. They joined Soundtrax who won the Women's Division on Thursday.
Performing on the legendary stage of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, Los Alamitos High School's Soundtrax choir hit all the right notes on their way to being named National Grand Champions in the Women's Division of the Showchoir Nationals. Under the direction of David Moellenkamp, Soundtrax also earned awards for Outstanding Overall Effect, Outstanding Vocals, Outstanding Visuals and Outstanding Stage Crew.
"When we came off stage, several of the girls in our group were almost in tears, because we knew we had given the absolute best performance we could. We nailed it," said one of the members of the group.
What an amazing trip for all these Griffins and their families!!!
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Mr. Doran Wins LosAl4Life:
Thank You For 41 Years Of Continued Service To Our School :)
Now in his 41st year, Mr. Doran has become synonymous with the words "Los Alamitos High School." Click the picture above to see a quick video of last week's LOSAL4LIFE Lunchtime Awards Ceremony, and Mr. Doran's surprise winning of this month's award!
We love you Mr. Droran!!!!
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Congratulations To Our National Merit Scholarship Winners:
From 16 Finalists, 2 Griffins Win America's Highest Academic Award
No, you're not seeing double. For the first-time in Los Alamitos High School history, a set of twin brothers have won National Merit Scholarships.
Ben Yeh and Chris Yeh were among 16 National Merit Finalists (the highest number of Finalists in any school in California) from Los Alamitos High School this year. After receiving some even better news in the mail last week... they are now winners!
The prestigious National Merit Scholarship (based largely on Junior Year PSAT results), is the country's most sought-after recognition for high-achieving high-schoolers. Only a handful of Finalists across America get selected for the actual award, and Ben and Chris are thankful for their consideration by the NMSQT committee for this year's honor.
Still undecided on where they'll go to school next year (Ben is between Stanford and Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering Program, Chris is between Stanford and Princeton), both of these Griffins will leave a legacy of ongoing academic excellence at Los Al for the next wave of college applicants in 2015 and beyond.
Congratulations!
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THE BEGINNING OF A NEW TRADITION STARTS NOW!!!
From now on, if you need a picture from any of these
Monday Morning Memos, Just find us on
The pics there are high quality, easy to access,
and always downloadable.
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Los Alamitos High School
3591 Cerritos Ave.
Los Alamitos, CA 90720
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