D.C. Everest Senior High School Staff Update
Weekly Happenings
If you see the following DECA students make sure to congratulate them on their success the past week in the State Career Development Conference. Great job by Jodi Peterson and Alex Schremp in helping these students find success!
Mike Brierton - 2nd place in Business FinanceLiberty Christianson - 3rd place in School Based Enterprise
Rylee Hommerding - 3rd place in School Based Enterprise
Kayleigh Oestreicher - 7th place in Restaurant and Food Service Management
Morgan Stenstrom - 8th place in Principles of Marketing
Ashlyn Lewis - Medalist in the Quick Serve Restaurant event
John Belton - Medalist in the Entrepreneurship event
Emma Footit - Medalist in the Human Resource Management event and Wisconsin DECA Scholarship award winner
The DC Everest DECA Chapter earned the top level a chapter can earn, the Gold Chapter Award.
A couple photos from the week courtesy of Audrey Kemp:
Curriculum and Instruction
Equity in Action Pages 76-77
Research Matters / Moving from Absent to Present
Susan Shebby and Tameka PorterLack of engagement is often a school-environment issue, not a student characteristic
In March 2020, the Los Angeles Times reported that more than 15,000 L.A. high school students were not checking in online after school closures, thus highlighting one of the most critical consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on K–12 education: absent students (Blume, 2020). Since then, we've had additional clarity to the scale of the issue—approximately three million U.S. students may have stopped attending school when the pandemic forced many schools to physically close in spring 2020 (Korman, O'Keefe, & Repka, 2020).
Studies on chronic absenteeism suggest that while some students miss school due to family or personal circumstances, others are voluntarily absent because they are simply not engaged with the classroom materials, their teachers, or both (Welsh, 2018). Specifically, when students feel cognitively challenged and emotionally supported in classrooms, feel connected to their schools via extracurricular activities, and have meaningful relationships with adults in the building, they are more likely to attend school (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004).
For many students, the rapid shift to online learning in the spring of 2020 appears to have accentuated existing disparities in engagement. Recently, McREL International (Holquist et al., 2020) invited focus groups of students to share their learning experiences before and after the shift to remote learning. Many reported remaining adequately engaged after the shift to remote learning— but only in classes with teachers whom they found to be engaging prior to the pandemic.
Focus First on Relationships
Relationships do matter. Decades of research show that students who have mutually respectful, trusting, and cooperative relationships with their teachers are more likely to develop confidence in their academic abilities, increase their interest and investment in learning, improve achievement, and have better social-emotional outcomes (Hamre & Pianta, 2001).
These simple practices can promote positive teacher-student relationships:
Disengaged students are rarely overwhelmed; they are more typically, underwhelmed and bored (Bridgeland, DiIulio, & Morison, 2006). So, instead of "dumbing down" material to reach disengaged learners, teachers should increase the cognitive demands of their classrooms by engaging in these promising practices:
We have long known that students who do not feel engaged in school are more apt to be frequently absent (Lehr, Sinclair, & Christenson, 2004). Perhaps the most important takeaway from research, though, is that student engagement is often an environmental condition, not a student characteristic. Thus, it's relatively easy to change. Although approximately three million U.S. students may have stopped attending school when the pandemic began, all hope is not lost. While systemic issues or challenges involving technology access, family situations, or lack of resources are often involved in student absenteeism, educators can often play a role in re-engaging students by supporting them, making them feel connected to the classroom environment, and helping them move from absent to present.
Relationships do matter. Decades of research show that students who have mutually respectful, trusting, and cooperative relationships with their teachers are more likely to develop confidence in their academic abilities, increase their interest and investment in learning, improve achievement, and have better social-emotional outcomes (Hamre & Pianta, 2001).
These simple practices can promote positive teacher-student relationships:
- Notice your students as individuals. Students value regular, consistent, meaningful, and individual interactions with their teachers (Yu et al., 2018). They respond well to teachers who correctly pronounce their preferred name, are aware of their academic abilities, and celebrate their success both inside and outside of the classroom.
- Show them you care. A meta-analysis of 119 studies with a sample size of 300,000 students linked teacher empathy and warmth to better student behavior, motivation, and achievement (Cornelius-White, 2007). In a seminal study, Kleinfeld (1972) observed the most effective teachers integrated "high personal warmth with high active demandingness." Their students, in turn, demonstrated high levels of engagement, working hard to please their so-called "warm demander" teachers (p. 29).
- Engage in "same-level" conversations. Studies find higher levels of student engagement and learning in classrooms when teachers interact with them as human beings, not merely pupils. One simple way teachers can show students they value their knowledge is to encourage them to share their ideas, rather than just recall information.
Disengaged students are rarely overwhelmed; they are more typically, underwhelmed and bored (Bridgeland, DiIulio, & Morison, 2006). So, instead of "dumbing down" material to reach disengaged learners, teachers should increase the cognitive demands of their classrooms by engaging in these promising practices:
- Share high expectations and high hopes for learning. Setting a high bar for students and communicating confidence in their ability to master the material through effort helps students develop a growth mindset, which has been found to mitigate the effects of poverty on achievement (Claro, Paunesku, & Dweck, 2016).
- Help students connect effort with success. Research links student academic self-efficacy—believing that with effort, they can succeed as learners—to engagement and academic performance (Dogan, 2015). Encourage students to track effort and progress over time and reflect on the link between them.
- Personalize learning. Ask students what interests them about a particular topic. It not only shows respect for their voices, but also gives them choices in learning, which a meta-analysis of 41 studies showed to be strongly linked to intrinsic motivation, task performance, and engagement in challenging learning tasks (Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008).
We have long known that students who do not feel engaged in school are more apt to be frequently absent (Lehr, Sinclair, & Christenson, 2004). Perhaps the most important takeaway from research, though, is that student engagement is often an environmental condition, not a student characteristic. Thus, it's relatively easy to change. Although approximately three million U.S. students may have stopped attending school when the pandemic began, all hope is not lost. While systemic issues or challenges involving technology access, family situations, or lack of resources are often involved in student absenteeism, educators can often play a role in re-engaging students by supporting them, making them feel connected to the classroom environment, and helping them move from absent to present.
Announcements/Week Ahead
Faculty Meeting - The faculty meeting has been changed from Wednesday this week to Monday. Please attend if you are able. The main topic of conversation will be the fourth quarter plan that will be presented to the school board on Wednesday of this week. The sophomore Forward test will also be talked about. Link to the WebEx will be emailed on Monday.
Staff Appreciation Luncheon - Student Council wants to commend all senior high staff for their hard work and dedication to our student body during this crazy school year. We decided to hold a staff appreciation day Friday, March 19th. This day would contain lunch catered in available for everyone at 12:45pm held in the cafeteria. After lunch around 1:30pm, an Amazing Race will follow if you so choose. You can sign up in a group of up to 4 staff members to complete in a series of tasks in order to be eligible to win prizes.- 1st place- Stuco grubhub. Council will bring in food from anywhere you would like on a following Friday for you and your team. (Beccas, Qdoba, Vino Latte, Subway..)
- 2nd place- Stuco grubhub. Council will bring your favorite drink in from anywhere for a whole week (Starbucks, Dunkin, Soda...)
- 3rd place- Politos gift card
- Most Creative team Names/amazing race gear- Briqs gift card
ACT Makeup Testing - ACT makeup testing will be Tuesday, March 23rd, during periods 1-5 in the IMC. There will be no bells and no access to the IMC until the test is over. We only have 25 students to take makeups so thanks to all of you that encouraged the students to come last Tuesday and again thank you for everyone for making the ACT process go smoothly.
Important Dates for March:
15 Virtual Faculty Meeting, 2:50pm CHANGED from 3/17
17 Happy St. Patrick's Day!
17 Board Meeting, 6:30pm
17 Board Meeting, 6:30pm
19 Staff Appreciation Day 2021, Lunch for all by Student Council
23 NO Bells periods 1-5, ACT Makeup Day
24 BLT Meeting, 2;50pm
24 NHS Virtual Induction Ceremony
25 Quarter 3 Ends
26 PD Day for Grading
29-2 Spring Break!!!!!
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