top 

VCS Voice Header

December 2014
Teacher survey time!
Honor/Merit Roll postings
VCS lends a hand
Good Things!
Contest Update
Scholarship Opportunity
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Quick Links

Find us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

View our videos on YouTube

Find us on Pinterest


Calendar of Events

Yearbook Club Meeting

December 12

 

VCS Board Meeting

December 15

 

Blendon Woods 'All About Birds' K-5 Field Trip

December 18

 

Cincinnati Public Library 'Winter Daze' K-5 Field Trip

December 22

 

Winter Break

December 19 - January 2

 

Fit Club Meeting

January 5
 
Photography Club Meeting
January 7
 
Impact Club Meeting
January 8
 
Picasso Club Meeting
January 13

Patriot Club Meeting
January 15, 29

CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR MEETING TIMES

Teacher Survey Time

onlinesurveyIf you know VCS, then you know we are constantly trying to improve our performance.

 

As the conclusion of the Fall 2014 semester is almost here, we would like for all VCS students and parents to take our VCS Teacher survey.

 

The feedback from this short survey helps us to fine-tune how we deliver effective education that meets the individual needs of each and every VCS student! 

 

This survey should take you no longer than 10 minutes to complete.  It is active now through Friday, December 19th.  

 

  CLICK HERE to take the Student Survey

 

  CLICK HERE to take the Parent Survey

 

Thanks for helping us realize our mission of

Making a difference in the life of a student!

   

Merit and Honor Roll Recipients 


 

 

We will begin posting our Merit Roll (3.0-3.49 GPA) and Honor Roll (3.5-4.0) recipient names on our website (check Student Services page) after the semester ends. 

 

Congratulations to all those who are tracking for great academic performance this first semester!

 

Your hard work will be rewarded... Honor Roll and Merit Roll recipients will be entered into a special prize drawing which will take place at our year-end student awards assembly on May 15th.


Back to the top
 

VCS staff members team up to help during the holidays 


 
Angel Brown and Doris Francis, from our Holy Trinity Success Site, spent Thanksgiving morning helping sort, pack and deliver meals to residents in need in Licking County.
 
The meal service is one of many community outreach activities sponsored by Lookup Ministries in Newark, Ohio.
VCS administrators took a couple hours on Friday, December 5th to man the phones at the Sunny 95 Nationwide Children's Hospital Radiothon.  In all, the effort netted over $136,000 for Nationwide Children's Hospital. 

"We have had numerous VCS students who were patients at Nationwide Children's Hospital over the years," shared Ginger Kehler, VCS Director of Communi- cations; "so it was an easy decision to come together to support the hospital. They have an outstanding reputation for quality care and compassion, ideals we at VCS share."  


Pictured [L-R] are Dr. Ruth Teeters, Mr. Denny Hammond, Mrs. Donna Baker, Mrs. Sara Jouadi and Mrs. Rochelle Nelson.  Not Pictured are Ms. Stacey Adkins and Mrs. Ginger Kehler

 

Good Things


Taylor Crisman
Senior Taylor Crisman was recently praised by his Science teacher, Mr, Jim Reynolds for his focus and determination.  Taylor was a part-time student with us last year when he was faced with a life challenge which made him need more flexibility in his school schedule.  Taylor became a father!  He decided to enroll in VCS as a full time student this year and has had phenomenal success with us!  Already he has completed three courses and has As in his remaining classes.  "Taylor currently has a 95% in my Earth Space Science class.  He is bright, extremely hard-working and just a very polite young man," shares Mr. Reynolds.  Way to go, Taylor! Keep up the great work!
 
         CLICK HERE to see Taylor!
 
Jordan Wooden
Jordan has been a student with us for 10 years! He is on the Reynoldsburg Thunder Special Olympics Team, competing on the bowling, swimming and basketball teams. On Saturday, Dec. 6th, Jordan swam in a number of events at the Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatic Center on the Ohio State University campus.  He captured a silver medal (2nd place finish) in the 50m Freestyle race, a bronze medal (3rd place) in the 25m Freestyle race.  He also participated in a team relay 4x50 event.  His team earned a 4th place finish. Congratulations, Jordan!
 
           CLICK HERE to see Jordan at this event!
 
 
Elisabeth Howells
Fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Howells took part in our Conflict Resolution Life Coaching Group with Mrs. DePompei for extra credit in her Health class. It takes courage and a willingness to see others' viewpoints in order to move past prejudice and build understanding.  With so much conflict being portrayed in the national news these days, we applaud you for taking part in this group, Elisabeth!
 
          CLICK HERE to see Elisabeth's learning reflections. 
 
Allison Ramsey
Spanish III student Allison Ramsey offered up an interesting project shared with us by her teacher Mrs. Gabriela Linik.  In a study on the nation of Cuba, students learned about the great Cuban poet Jos� Mart�.  One of the poet's more noted works gave rise to the famous patriotic song Guantalamera.  As part of her assignment, Allison wrote additional lyrics to append to the song and then performed and recorded it as part of her project.

          CLICK HERE to listen to Allison's performance!  (You will have to download the audio file.)

          

 

Contest Updates


Seventh-grader Sarah Howells from Vandalia, Ohio takes 1st place in our Hour-of-Code contest which concluded Fri., Dec. 12th!

Sarah earned 9 certificates and wrote over 20 lines of code!

Way to go Sarah!  Your $25 gift card will be on its way to you soon.

Other participants were:  Bradley Lear, Allison Ramsey, Samantha Wyler, Ashley Harbour, Cianna Maiolini

 CLICK HERE to see the game Sarah created!

 

Here are some other games/tutorials to have fun and learn more...


Code.org

Other Fun


LOOK FOR ANOTHER CONTEST IN JANUARY TO CELEBRATE 
National School Choice Month!

 

Back to the top

 

Scholarship Opportunity!


Do you have an interest in website design 
and development?  

Thinking about a career in this exciting field?

   VCS's website partner eSchoolView has an exciting oppor-     tunity for high school seniors who have a career interest in 
  this field and plan to attend college next year.

 

Don't delay!  
The deadline to submit your application is Feb. 1, 2015

CLICK HERE for more information.

 

Back to the top

 

 

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT:  Bennett Daniels 

Introducing Bennett (Ben)Daniels, a freshman, who lives with his mother and siblings in Columbus' Hilltop neighbor- hood.  Ben attended Mound Street Elem- entary and Hilltonia Middle School before he and his mother made the decision last summer to enroll him in VCS. When I made my decision to be home-schooled, it was a big thing, but it was for the best," Ben shares.  "When I was in my old school, I was always falling asleep in my classes.  I got Bs, Cs and Ds, but now I am getting As and Bs!"  

 

Ben says he attributes a good bit of his

  
  Ben is currently completing his VCS courses in a 
  log cabin in the heart of the Smokey mountains, as he
  travels with Ms. Becky Foreman, his learning coach.

home-schooling success to the guidance and help from his long-time friend and tutor, Ms. Becky Foreman.  Ms. Foreman is a former neighbor of the family who stayed in touch even after moving from Ohio for her job in Finance.  She now lives in Washington D.C. and travels all over the United States.   Ben, Becky, and his mother quickly realized that Ben would need the assistance of a tutor if he was to succeed at VCS.  So, he joined Ms. Foreman in North Carolina at her current assignment.  

 

Each morning before going off to her office, Ms. Foreman reviews Ben's class assign- ments and helps him set his goals for the day.  She checks in with him over their lunch together, and at the end of her work day, he proudly shows off his accomplishments for the day.  It's a strategy that, after some trial and error, has proven effective and has helped Ben become successful. 


 

Ms. Foreman and Bennett check his daily progress at the end of the school day.

Adjusting to having a teenager around full time has taken a little getting used to," laughs Ms. Foreman; "it has certainly made my business travel much less lonely and a whole lot more fun.  I'd never have rented a red Jeep before Benny!"
 
When home, Ben is a busy young man with a passion for community service.  He volunteers weekly at a 'Feed the Homeless' program sponsored by The Greater Hilltop Shalom Zone.  Ben assists in the preparation of the food at a church near his home and then helps transport and deliver it to those in
need at the old K-Mart building on West Broad Street 

in Columbus. The program offers a prayer service, followed by a hot meal and then offers a care package of toiletries, socks and sometimes propane for cooking to each individual when departing.

 

Ben's desire to be of service has also lead him to a church on West Broad St, named Agora. He attends services there on Wednesday and Saturday nights.  It's turned into somewhat a part-time job for him, going early to set up chairs for services and staying late to take them down.  He also helps to cook the food that the church provides to the local children who come to these services, often from homes without enough food to feed their families.  "They feed the kids," says Ben, "things like pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, and popcorn".  When the church can afford to pay Ben, they do; however, they are often short funds, and he does the work anyway on a volunteer basis.  He never knows if and when they'll be able to pay him.

 

Ben looks forward to finishing high school with VCS.  Ms. Foreman's assignment in North Carolina will soon conclude and her next assignment could put her anywhere in the U.S.  Ben looks forward to new experiences as he and Ms. Foreman travel the country and look for unique and creative ways to incorporate wherever they are into the lesson plans of his classes.  "The best part about home schooling is it's flexibility," observes Be.  "I went zip-lining in the mountains on a weekday this fall but was still able to get my school work done!"  Ben adds that he hopes to coordinate his schedule to be at home in Ohio for some of the events offered by VCS so that he can meet his teachers and some of his fellow students face-to-face.


We're happy to have you as part of the wolfpack, Ben!  Keep up the great work and please keep us tuned into your travels across the U.S.!

 

Watch for The VCS Voice to arrive in your e-mail the end of each month. If you have any content ideas, send them to publicity@vcslerarn.org.

Go Wolves!