End of Quarter is near!

The title says it all, the end of the quarter is just over a week away. What that means is that students better get their make-up work done - and that includes tests and quizzes - if they want to get them included on their report card. Otherwise they will remain a "0" on the quarter average. Check SPAN if you are not sure what you are missing!

This Friday is an early release day - school will let out at noon. Make sure you have a way home!

Spirit Week and Homecoming

Just looking at the calendar you will see that this week is Homecoming! That means Spirit Week festivities, homecoming football game, and the dance on Saturday Night. Spirit Week is always fun to have the grades compete against each other. The competition takes place in 1st period where teacher will count the number of students dressed in the appropriate Spirit Week attire. Each day is celebrated with a different type of outfit as follows:

• Monday: "Monochromatic Day" - dress all in one color
• Tuesday: "Tacky Tourist Day" - Bermuda shorts, Hawaiian shirts, and your Polaroid Camera
• Wednesday: "Favorite Movie Character Day" - Harry Potter, Edward Cullen, Alvin and the Chipmunks?
• Thursday: "Nerd Day" - I'm thinking Steve Urkel?
• Friday: "Green Out Day" - Show your support for the Pride football team by wearing your Leesville Green!

But this also means that there will be a Homecoming Football game on Friday at Marshall Hamilton Stadium (LRHS) as the Pride takes on Wakefield, the game is set to kick off at 7pm. In addition, homecoming queen will be crowned before the game, so be early!

And that's not all. Look for festivities throughout the week, like the first annual Community Night. From Mr. Lyons' phone message, 28 September 2010:

"Leesville Road High School is proud to hold our first annual community night on Thursday, October 7 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. There will be a barbecue dinner served at 6:00; carnival booths such as a dunk tank, pie-a-teacher, face painting, and pictures with the mascot; and Powderpuff games. Tickets cost $8 and the food is included in the price. Tickets must be purchased in advance. They will be sold this week on Wednesday and Thursday September 29th and 30th during lunches and Thursday, September 30th after school from 2:30 – 3:00. Please come out and join us for a great night!"

There will also be a faculty v. student volleyball game during the week. The fun wraps up Saturday night at LRHS with the Homecoming Dance from 7 - 11 pm. Bring a date, friend, or a group, or come alone. But anyway you do, it is sure to be a good time.

This week will be a lot of fun, so come out and enjoy the festivities!

Interims, Pictures, and a Workday

Parents should be expecting Interim Reports to come home on Monday. Interim reports should be distributed by ALL teachers in ALL classes. The information on the interim reports should be the same as in SPAN.

Thursday this week is Picture Day. Photos for the Yearbook will be taken throughout the day. Parents should have already received literature for purchasing pictures through their student's second period teacher. Even the students who are not ordering pictures will be taking picture that day as well. These pictures will not only be in the yearbook but also be the student's identification picture for their Leesville ID. Leesville ID are required for entry to some school events, such as dances. So be sure to dress for pictures on Thursday!

Friday is a Teacher Workday, the beginning of a long weekend for the students (and a chance for teachers to catch up in whatever they have fallen behind in - and I know I have a lot of catching up to do in my classroom). Students should not be on campus on Friday, October 1.

Week of 13 September 2010

This week will be a bit different than most as we have our first 2 1/2 hour early release on Friday. In addition we will have a fire drill on Monday near the beginning of 2nd period, soon after announcements.

So far we are off to a good start. The students are settling and are hopefully becoming accustomed to the classroom and the expectations. However, I do fear, some students are not taking their homework and academics as seriously as they should. I will keep a careful eye on students' habits and be in touch with parents when the need arises. In that vein, later this week grades we become available for you on SPAN. All students automatically have access to their own grades on SPAN, but parents do not. If you would like such access with your own login, visit the Forms page on Leesville.org, print the appropriate SPAN form for you and submit it.

I am looking forward to a great week, the topics will keep getting more and more interesting!

School Supply Drive & Twitter Update

We have had a great week so far, and I am anticipating a great semester for us all. Please make sure this weekend that you get your school supplies, if you have not already done so (please refer to your course page for the specific list for your class). As you are buying supplies for your student, please consider participating in the Social Studies Department's School Supply Drive. During the first five days of school, Social Studies teachers are collecting basic school supplies to donate to the guidance office who have and will identify students here at Leesville who are unable to buy school supplies on their own. Requested items are:

• backpacks
• notebook paper
• pens
• pencils
• colored pencils
• composition notebooks
• spiral notebooks
• 3-ring binders
• graph paper
• highlighters
• planners/organizers
• pocket folders
• *anything else students might find useful*

Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciate and will help a less fortunate student start their school year off right.

New to the course home pages, I have added a feed directly from the twitter page for each course. What this means is that the homework is posted directly on the website, you do not have to go to twitter to find it (however, you may still access it via twitter)! I am very excited about this update!

Have a great weekend!

Open House

Thank you to all the parents who were able to attend Open House last night at Leesville. It is always nice to get at least a moment to meet and see the parents. For those of you who were unable to attend know that you were missed but can still keep up with what we did. Head over to your stduent's course page (World History or Civics and Economics) and in the "Handouts" section click on the "Course Overview" correct period for your student and flip through the PowerPoint presentation. It includes information on School Supplies, Contact Information, Scope of the Course, and brief bit of information regarding keeping up with what is going on in the course.

I am looking forward to seeing all the students this Wednesday and beginning our adventure in Social Studies. I am anticipating a good semester and year, with your help as well! So enjoy this weekend and get plenty of rest leading up to the first day of school next week, Wednesday, August 25!

Mr. C

Week of 4 April 2010

Welcome back! I hope you are well rested and ready to go! We have a fire drill this Friday during 2nd period. Also on Friday, report cards will be distributed during 2nd period.

Now that the 3rd quarter is over, it is time for a fresh start, everyone has a clean slate - 100% for all. What are you going to do with it? Are you going to try your best to keep it or are you going to squander the opportunity? The choice is your, but choose wisely, it could be the difference between completing Civics & Economics and having to take it again.

We are still looking for window cleaner for the dry erase board and tissue for the classroom.

Thanks!

Mr. C

Week of 29 March 2010

Big week ahead of us. It may only be a single day in class, it will be important to make sure you get plenty of rest and recuperate from the 3rd quarter. The 4th quarter is here, the last push leading up to the End-of-Course exam. We are doing well with regard to pacing and where we are in the curriculum, however, the last week or so I do not feel that I have personally done a great job in class. When we get back from Spring Break, I hope to have more interesting methods planned as well as some engaging activities.

Whatever it is you plan to do over Spring Break, please be smart and safe and we look forward to seeing you when you get back to school on Tuesday, April 6.

As a reminder, the class could still use donations of tissues and perhaps a bottle of glass cleaner for the "dry" erase board. Thanks!

Week of 22 March 2010

The last week before Spring Break! But keep in mind, it is still BEFORE Spring Break, we have enough to do this week. As a result, I ask that you do your best to keep on task and NOT behave as though you are already on break. Thanks in advance.

We are also running low on some supplies for the classroom, particularly tissues. Considering it is allergy season with all the pollen in the air, donations of facial tissue would be greatly appreciated by all.

Week of 15 March 2010

Well, well, well, a pleasant surprise... It finally looks like a normal week! No altered bell schedules due testing or "Super Early Release." Just keep in mind that there are two weeks remaining this marking quarter. If you have any work to make up, you schedule time to make it up - even if it means during Pride Period!

And in case you forgot, did you set your clock ahead a hour this weekend? Don't be late to school on Monday!

Week of 8 March 2010

This week is going to be a little bit different than the average week. The 10th grade writing test will be conducted on Tuesday during 2nd period. The morning schedule will be altered to accommodate the duration of the writing exam.

Tuesday Bell Schedule

Period 1: 7:25 - 8:24

Period 2: 8:30 - 10: 46

Periods 3, 4 and lunches will be at the normal schedule for a Tuesday.

Wednesday will also be a little different. Instead of the one hours early release for a normal "Wake Wednesday" it will be a 2 Hour Early Release.

Please plan ahead for these changes in the schedule. Also, please plan for the writing exam. Students are encouraged to get ample sleep Monday night in order to be as fresh as possible to write their essays. I am sure the English teachers will remind the students of the rules for the writing exam, but not everyone has English this semester and may not have time with their English teacher before the exam. Please remember:

1) Use Pencil Only!

2) You must limit your writing to the space provided

3) You may NOT "double stack" lines on the lined paper provided

Good luck in advance!

Drills this week

A couple of changes to the schedule this week. The fire drill has been moved to 1:15 on Thursday (during 4th Period) and a Severe Weather/Tornado Drill has been announced for Friday at 8:55 - during pride period. The time of the tornado drill may change, but as of right now that is the schedule. A note regarding the tornado drill, for severe weather, the students in the trailers are to move into the building. For us, we will locate in the hallway on the first floor near room 107. Students will be required to kneel on the floor facing the wall to simulate an actually event. This position will best protect the students from any debris that may be blow in the building if a window should break in a real severe weather event.

Week of 1 March 2010

Amazing that March is already here. Just to keep you updated on a few things. Thursday there will be a fire drill at 8:35 - during 1st period. Dress appropriately. Also, the 3rd quarter will be ending on March 26. It seems like a far way off, but it the four weeks will be over before we know it. Make sure to keep up with work AND make-up work.

A Few New Things

There a couple of new things added to the website, primarily on this home page. On the left are a few relevant links to history and the school, while on the right is a link to download Adobe Acrobat Reader - a necessary program to properly open documents used in class.

Coming Soon!!

Just a reminder of a couple of things:

1) Winterfest Dance will be this Saturday, February 20, at Leesville Road High School. If you plan on attending, please make sure you have the proper identification for you and your guest.

2) Interim Report will be distributed on Monday, February 22. Every student will receive one. It should be signed and returned.

Week of 15 February 2010

Although we are not experiencing any inclement weather weather so far this week, we are still feeling the effects of weather days gone by. This Monday, February 15, was originally scheduled to be a Teacher Workday. Due to the weather and having the day off on February 1, we are making the school day up this Monday. Also, as a precaution, the snow that fell Friday and the ensuing cold temperature gave the County cause to cancel any events that were to take place over the weekend. As a result, this past Saturday's scheduled Winterfest Dance has been postponed until this coming Saturday, February 20.

In addition, I am working on embedding a calendar on the front page of the website that will include updates for all three classes as well as updates on the school calendar. I will let you know when it is up and functioning.

Weathery Weekend

Looks like the threat of weather has given the county cause to be cautious and require all schools to cancel/postpone weekend activities. As a result, this weekend's Winterfest Dance has been postponed one week until Saturday, February 20. It doesn't look like the weather we will receive will cause any interruptions to school on Monday, but IF it does, I will post here and on twitter the updates to our schedule. Just remember, if we miss any more days due to weather, the county will continue to take more and more days away from Spring Break.

Week of 1 February 2010

So this week has almost been an entire wash out. Hopefully we will be able to salvage a couple of days at least. According to Mr. Lyons, if school is to be held on Thursday, and I cannot see why it would not, and if after school activities are to be normally conducted, then Open House will proceed as originally scheduled. I look forward to seeing the students and parent tomorrow - during our unplanned "short week".

Week of 25 Jan 2010

Welcome to the Second Semester! I am looking forward to a successful semester. Working together we will achieve that goal. This week we will be going over the class expectations, syllabus, scope and sequence of the course and jumping right in with the first. Below is a wish list of supplies that we could use in the classroom:

1) Glass cleaner (for the dry erase board)

2) Tissues

3) Hand sanitizer

This website is currently a work in progress. In addition to being brand new, I am still learning the new code as well as all the tricks to make this site useful and user friendly. Please bear with me.

Are we all set, then? Let's get started....