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5/9/08 We are actively pursuing new teachers to replace our retiring teachers. Our goal is to have a full staff by the middle of June. It gives the new teachers a chance to stabilize themselves and provides some time for the community to interact with them. We are going though resumes daily and are looking for the best of the best. Rebel Without a Cause is playing at the Dogwood this weekend. Come on out and enjoy Fremont Theater’s Spring production. 5/7/08 Lots of colds are going around. The off and on weather brings them on this time of the year. Every classroom I have visited today seems to be filled with coughs. We just received some pamphlets for parents on the topic of underage drinking prevention. If you would like one, please stop by the office. We will also be giving them away at our first conference next year. 5/6/08 Prom was held on Saturday night and it could not have went better. The students were great and the majority of them stayed until the final song. I am very proud of the students and their representation of their school. 5/1/08 The annual talent show was held today and the students performed very well. It is amazing how much talent our school holds. The spectators were very well behaved and it was a great event. 4/29/08 Prom is this Saturday night and the students are getting very excited. After going through almost 20 proms, it never ceases to amaze me at the amount of money spent on the event. I’ve seen many studies that report the average cost of prom per couple is $1000.00. All students will undergo a breathalyzer test upon entering and may receive one when leaving. A uniformed police officer will be present as well as a few off-duty officers. We have also told the students that the police department may choose to bring in their K-9 unit to sniff vehicles. This is all being done to keep prom safe and to give the students an excuse to avoid negative influences. I visited Julie Gardenour’s
class room today and watched her teach the students water survival
techniques. I clearly remember that lesson while I was in her classroom years
ago. It has stuck with me all these years and is one of those “hidden”
lessons at 4/25/08 Wow…the humidity has come early this year! With the heat approaching, we are asking parents to encourage their students to dress appropriately for school. Skirts and shorts are getting shorter as the days get hotter. I realize it is a never ending battle between fashion and school but we want to make sure that students are covered. It sure has been good weather for track, baseball, softball, tennis and golf. It’s great to watch the kids but it is even better to watch them in good weather! Recommending 4/23/08 We
are very proud to announce that 4/17/08 Many people are beginning to ask who is retiring from the high school. Mr. Houston and Mr. Zinnecker are both retiring but will be coming back for a few sections next year. They will also continue to Coach Football and direct theater, respectively. Mr. Goebel is also retiring. Together they have worked over 90 years (almost as many years as Mr. Houston has been alive!!!). We will miss their continual presence. 4/11/08 Thank you for the calls about the sever weather watch. It is a good thing that we had a tornado drill this Wednesday…I am confident that because of that drill, our students and staff will know what to do in a weather emergency. If the tornado watch turns into a warning, we will immediately move the students into a safe location. We are not allowing any classes outside and makings sure that everybody is within communication distance. 4/7/08 The kids are back from spring break looking tanner. Some have already started developing their post spring break cold. Schools usually fight colds for two to three weeks after spring break due to all of the new germs. Prom is right around the corner and students are talking about dresses. I continually think about the kids who can’t afford such an event. We are telling students that if they can’t afford tickets, we will find a way to pay for them. If students are bringing a guest from another school, please make sure the student gets a “dance guest pass” filled out. 3/27/08 It’s tractor day!!! Students were allowed to drive their tractors to school today as part of an FFA event. Over 30 tractors were driven and parked outside the school. Mr. Smith organized the event and it included a cook out. 3/23/08 Coca-Cola has switched FHS over to sugar free products.
There will be no 20 oz sports drinks either. This comes from an agreement
between the American Beverage Association and the State of 3/22/08 Conferences are tonight from 5:00-8:00 and Wednesday night from 3:30-6:30. 3/21/08 We had the Pride team in today and I was amazed at their performance. Those students must put an enormous amount of time into practice. The students enjoyed their performance and were surprised to learn that Mr. Z., Mr. Houston, and Mr. Moon will be doing the exact same performance next week…just kidding. 3/18/08 I have spent the better part of the last three weeks researching drug awareness programs and the related research associated with the programs. I found many things that alarmed me. Most of the studies concluded that children had established their drug/alcohol stance (coping mechanisms, rational, etc.) by the 6th or 7th grade! In addition to that finding, most of the studies concluded that the summer between 8th and 9th grade was the time that many, many students begin experimentation/addiction. Those are not good findings. 6th grade seems so young…too young. Using the research, the high school staff is beginning to formulate a plan for how to reach the middle school students when they most need the support. Most of the studies indicate that besides parental involvement, the only way to help students formulate strong anti-drug/alcohol stances is through older student involvement. We will be working with the middle school administration to organize and support the development of our program. We hope to have a basic plan in place for next fall and build on it in the years to come. 3/13/08 Today, we will award the daily ACT prizes for Monday and Tuesday. We will give the big ACT prizes away on Friday. There was a shipping delay due to the IPods (out of stock) but we will go ahead with the awards tomorrow and just give them out when they arrive. Testing has gone very, very well. We are very happy with the students’ effort. 3/10/08 Tomorrow begins the ACT/MEAP testing for juniors. We are awarding prizes through a drawing to students who show acceptable effort and who behave acceptably. All of the money used to purchase these prizes was obtained through sponsorships for this purpose. Here is the form that students will receive tomorrow: In order to
qualify for the daily reward, the student must show acceptable behavior and acceptable
effort on the day of the reward. In order to qualify for the prizes on day
three, the student must show acceptable behavior and acceptable effort for
all three days. Acceptable
behavior is defined as attending the test session, showing up to the session
on time, returning from break on time, being considerate of others, not being
a disturbance, remaining on task and following all school rules. Acceptable
effort is defined as working through the entire exam, giving your best effort
for the duration of the exam, and rechecking your answers if time permits. The teachers in
the room are the first and final judges. There is no appeal. If the teachers
believe that you have shown acceptable behavior and effort for the exam, they
will sign this slip at the end of each day’s session. Student’s Name
___________________________ Day One Teacher
Signature or Mark _________________________ Day Two Teacher
Signature or Mark _________________________ Day Three Teacher
Signature or Mark __________________________ Our goal is to encourage students to do their best and to be present. This test means a lot to many of our students but means a great deal to Fremont Public Schools. We want to make sure that all of our students have a reason to work hard on the tests and we hope that they take it seriously. Prizes will include many gift certificates to stores in the area, a number of digital cameras, IPods and mp3 players and many more items. 3/07/08 What a week! The start of a new trimester always brings a lot of jobs but the start of the third trimester begins the big push for graduation. Seniors begin to take center stage here and it won’t be long before they are walking across the stage. Just a reminder that all class adjustments have concluded and classes are now completely formed. 2/25/08 What a weekend for sports at This week is exam week. We will begin with 1st hour exam on Wednesday. I will be out of the school from Wednesday through Friday for a minor surgical procedure. 2/21/08 Mr. Lienau, a student intern for
Mrs. Bahorski, welcomed U.S. Representative Peter Hookstra
into his classroom today. The students were able to ask Representative Hookstra questions ranging from life in The girls basketball team showed a lot of heart to come from behind to defeat Big Rapids. I brought my son to the game and was able to sit him behind the girl’s bench. My son learned a lot about sports by being near Coach Moon when he spoke to his team during timeouts. After the game, I asked my son, who is five years old, what he learned. He replied, “well Dad, you have to work hard all the time when you play basketball and you have to talk to your teammates to let them know where you are. Hard work and communication: two things my son learned from Mr. Moon in less than 2 minutes. Sports really do teach life lessons…I am now formally inviting Mr. Moon to my home to see if he can teach my son how to pick up his toys so his daddy doesn’t hurt his feet on Transformers in the hallway. 2/18/08 Last Friday night, our students received another compliment from an official for our positive student section. It is great to hear wonderful things about our students. Last Saturday night, I attended the FHS theater production. The play was very well done. It was great to see so many of our current students in attendance. I am sure the actors enjoyed their fellow student’s support. 2/13/08 Last night I had the opportunity to visit the FFA district competition. That entire program has recreated itself and is now a leadership and debate organization which uses the topics in agriculture as a platform. It is very cool to see our students involved with this organization. The girl’s basketball teams swept Fruitport last night in convincing fashion. 2/12/08 Another week, another snow day. UGH!!! There has been a
lot of talk about the high school having to make up time to meet the State of
The power of the internet is an amazing teaching tool. I visited Mr. Panozzo’s class today and he broke up his lecture up with a 3 minute internet video on “water.” It allowed the students to reframe their minds and put the lesson into focus. I hope to add more machines like Scott’s so that every teacher can utilize that type of power. 2/6/08 The snow is coming down again and the kids are a little excited. My prediction is that the snow will stop just in time for us to have school tomorrow…at least I hope. After the sewer problem and multiple electrical issues, the high school only has one day to use before making them up. I visited Rebel Smith’s agriculture class the other day and I was amazed at his ability to plan a quality lesson. There is so much more to ag classes than farming and I learned a lot of things I didn’t know (and I grew up on a pig farm!). He is a solid teacher who really cares about the kids. All evening events and practices are canceled for tonight. 1/31/08 After 2 snow days, it is sure nice to see the kids back in school. The school feels so empty without the kids. We are now just one month away from completing the 2nd trimester. The exam schedule will be the same as the last one and we are encouraging students to begin studying now. Boy’s basketball is home tonight and the Mid-Winter Festival is tomorrow at the girl’s basketball game. Hope to see you there! 1/24/08 The entire high school sends their condolences to the Krystiniak family. May God be with you and grant you peace in your time of need. 1/18/08 I am so happy with our student cheering section. Even when we were losing last night, our section remained positive and encouraging. Two adults approached me last night to comment on how great our cheering section was this year. I am very proud of the kids. Today, I subbed for Mrs. Hunt in statistics class. I absolutely love being in the classroom and after all these years, I still miss it greatly. Each time I sub, I get a chance to make connections with the students and listen to their concerns (in addition to following the sub plans). During those times, I do my best to elicit responses from all the students, especially the quieter ones. Their insight and honesty never ceases to amaze me. 1/15/08 One of our officials said that our student cheering section was the most positive and best cheering section he has ever seen. That is a long way from getting a warning of a technical foul for negative cheering at the first game. I am so happy and proud of our students. 1/14/08 Our parent-teacher raffle was held last Thursday and the winners were Marta Przyrembel and Jordon Harris. Thank you to all of you who participated. This raffle and all other student prizes given away this year were donated by the Coca-Cola corporation. No tax dollars have been spent or will be spent to provide rewards for the students. I spent part of the morning observing Ms. Cook in her Chemical Science class. I was very impressed by not only the lesson but also how the students responded to her prompts. The students clearly knew how to study, how to take a test and what to study. All students were involved and actively engaged. It was nice to see a person (Ms. Cook) get so excited about the table of elements. I am convinced the students in that class understood how the table was constructed and how to use the information on the table. We also had a couple of calls from parents about a fire in the high school. There was no fire in the high school. A student badly burned their popcorn in the multi-purpose room and it smelled (still does as a matter of fact) a lot like something was burning. I’ve done that more times than I care to admit. Boy’s basketball is home tonight. Go Packers! 1/11/08 Tonight the boys basketball teams
travel to 1/8/08 Tonight is our final Parent-Teacher conference for the 2nd trimester. We will begin at 3:30 and conclude at 6:30. 1/6/08 Tonight (5-8 pm) and Wednesday (3:30-6:30) we are holding Parent-Teacher conferences. We are having a raffle for parents who attend and will give their student a prize as well. The following directions are going to be given to students third hour today along with a “raffle ticket.” Students, You and your parents can win a prize just by sending
your parents to parent-teacher conferences. Give this raffle ticket to your
parents for parent-teacher conferences held tonight from 5:00 – 8:00 and
Wednesday, February 8, from 3:30 – 6:30. Parents need to hold conferences
with the teachers in at least three of your classes and submit this ticket to
the raffle box (located by the schedule table) during parent-teacher
conferences. There will be two sets of winners drawn from the submissions on
Friday, January 11, 2008. The student prize will be a $25.00 gift certificate
to Best Buy and the parent will receive a $25.00 gift certificate to Bill’s
Shop-n-Save. 1/3/08 I just spent about 20 minutes in Ms. Tarala’s
room participating in the class discussion surrounding the topics of empathy
and respect. The discussion formed a double edged sword in my mind. I
listened to the majority of students talk about how they felt the high school
and specifically, their classes were big families. In their minds, they could
say anything to each other and not offend/hurt each other. That is a great
feeling and I am very happy that so many vocal students feel that way. That
is exactly the way I felt growing up here in From pedagogical studies, we know that high school age students are still forming their personalities as they relate to empathy. It was amazing to see the students try to look through the eyes of the disassociated students. Empathy is a powerful tool for parents and educators. A few new studies have shed light on empathy development. One of the abstracts can be found here: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEFDD1730F931A25754C0A966958260 . I was surprised to see that the amount of time a father spends with their young children was a much stronger predictor than how warm parents were towards their children. 1/2/08 Our first day back was largely uneventful…with the exception of heating issues that seam to be plaguing us this year. I can’t believe we are through Christmas and looking at prom and graduation plans already. Scholarship applications are rolling in and I am thankful to all the students who are asking for a recommendation a few weeks ahead of the deadline. If you see me with my clipboard at the basketball games, odds are I am writing a last minute recommendation. Over Christmas break, I received a letter from the Fremont Area Foundation stating they were moving their scholarship deadline ahead from that of last year’s. Please make sure you review the scholarship deadlines to assure your student the best chance for an award. I would also like to thank everybody who sent the office a Christmas card. It is nice to be remembered and we appreciate your acknowledgement. I enjoyed the treats that people shared during the last days of school and as a result, my belt had to extend into new territory. 12/18/07 This is a new one on me: Sewer problems! I can’t believe we had to close school for plumbing/health reasons. The problem is now remedied, cleaned, and sanitized. Boys Basketball will be at the High School as scheduled. Boys Swimming will be traveling to Hudsonville as scheduled. School will be back in session tomorrow. 12/17/07 Yesterday, I attended the Choir concert. While they didn’t let me sing, I still had a good time. The kids looked like they were having fun and I know Mrs. Homsher was having fun. The Dogwood was packed to the point of standing room only! High School Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on: January 7, 5:00-800 and January 9, 3:30-6:30. This is a great time to meet your child’s teachers and to ask questions. We hope to see you there. 12/14/07 Last night, I attended the district band concert. The kids did an incredible job and Mr. Breza infused a lot of humor in the event. The progression of levels never ceases to amaze me. 12/13/07 I attended the orchestra concert last night and was very impressed and entertained. I could listen to Silent Night and Amazing Grace all day long! As I was sitting in the audience, I couldn’t help but wonder how many combined hours of practice were required by our students to get to that performance level. I am sure it is in the tens of thousands. Last night’s program allowed us to highlight a dynamic program and most importantly, allowed us to recognize our incredible students. 12/10/2007 On 12/6/07 we had our first lockdown for the State of We followed that lockdown with a non-violent lockdown later in the morning. The Newaygo County Sheriff’s department came in with their K-9 narcotics unit to look for illegal drugs. I am happy to say that we did not have any drugs found within the school but did have 3 instances of drugs being found in cars. We will continue to invite the K-9 unit back in throughout the year and will continue to change our search patterns to keep this school free of drugs. 12/5/07 At around 1:30 pm today, we had some issues with our phone message system. Some messages left were not able to be recovered. If you have left a message with the office staff and have not received a call back by the end of the day, please call us back. The issue seems to be resolved now. We will be
having our first “lock down” drill tomorrow during first hour. The Fremont
Police Department will be on hand to conduct the drill. We expect the drill
to take no longer than 30 minutes. This is the first of two lock down drills
which are mandated by the State of
11/30/07 The first snow of the season! With the snow storms coming, I would just like to remind parents to urge their students to ride the school bus. I know it is not “cool” but is much statistically much safer. Another benefit is that the students who ride the school bus are never late or marked absent. If a student drives and is late, those days fall under the attendance policy. 11/20/07 We were notified earlier today that we have had a student test positive for a MRSA infection. This is our first confirmed case in the district. Clearly this case is not the virulent type and all prohibitive measures have been taken. We have ordered the complete cleaning/sanitizing of our athletic facilities, locker rooms and training facilities. We will also be cleaning our classrooms just to make sure the virus does not spread. This work will be completed by the beginning of the school day tomorrow. We are fortunate that we are on the cusp of a long weekend which will give us time to go over the facilities again. Normal precautions that parents can share with their students include:
We will also be sending home informational pamphlets on MRSA with report cards. If you have any questions or concerns, please call the high school office at 924-5300. A couple of parents have called and asked about cancelling school and the like. We have acted on medical advice and even went far beyond recommended precautions so there is no need to close the school. Our custodial staff members have been working from the first notice of this issue and are using chemicals specifically for this issue. For more information, parents may go to www.michigan.gov/mdch 11/19/07 Today is the first day of exams for the 1st trimester. We will finish the week with 2nd and 4th hour exams on Tuesday and 3rd and 5th hour exams on Wednesday. This following is offered by Mrs. Whittle: Chamber
Music Program Offered to Students High
school band and orchestra students are invited to participate in January in
an intensive retreat to advance their musical abilities. Students must sign
up by November 26 with their ensemble and music selected. Ensembles must be quartets or quintets.
Cost is $15 per student. “Studying
chamber music is like turbo-charging the learning process,” said Becky Jansma, coordinator of the Chamber Music Retreat. “The experience is intense and when they
perform, the kids feel such a sense of accomplishment. Chamber music is for small ensembles in
which players perform one to a part, each instrument having equal importance. There’s no hiding behind anyone. Everything is exposed so the students
really work. Each ensemble receives their own coach, so the teacher/student ratio is nearly
like a private lesson.” “And
it’s fun,” adds Jansma, who is bringing in college
music education majors to coach the ensembles. “These future teachers coming from CMU are
not that much older than the students they will be coaching, so the energy
level will be high.” The
highlight of the retreat will be the master class where college faculty will
work with the ensembles. This gives
the students the experience of college-level training. A few ensembles will be chosen to perform
for the master class while the remaining students watch the
demonstration. Parents are also
invited to observe the master class. A
fundraising dinner will be provided on-site, and select participating
ensembles will play during the dinner.
After dinner the students will receive free admission to a public
concert, and their families will be given a discount as well. “The
experience of a live performance of professional musicians is so very
beneficial to students of music,” said Jansma.
“I’ve selected some outstanding musicians to perform and asked them to knock
our socks off!” The concert will be at
the Dogwood at 7 pm, January 5th and also at the Grant Fine Arts Center at 7
pm on January 12. Tickets are $10 for
the general public. The
Chamber Music Retreat for Strings will be at the The
Chamber Music Program is made possible by a generous individual donation and
the collaboration of the Newaygo County Council for the Arts, 11/15/07 What an odd feeling it was to walk around the high school and have the halls be so empty. I hope all of our hunters were safe and successful. Classrooms observed today: Mr. Bull, Mr. Moon, Mr. Vissia News: 1. WZZM stopped in to ask about student attendance on the first day of rifle season. 2. Telephones were down momentarily today so if you called and didn’t get an answer, we were having some technical difficulties. 3. Attendance was at around 60% for the day at the high school. 11/13/07 This is the first entry of the Principal’s Blog! Our technology department is working on dressing this format up a bit but until that time, this will be fine. Please understand that these entries will be used for quick communication and are not proof read by anybody except for me. Although I wish I could blame somebody else for mistakes, all of those contained in this blog will be mine alone. My goal is to have at least two entries per week. Classrooms observed today: Mr. Houston, Ms. Cook, Mr. Zinnecker, Mr. Herlein, Mrs. Pumford, Mr. Moon News:
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