September 27 - October 2

 D.C. Everest Senior High School Staff Update

Weekly Happenings

Philena Thompson is leaving us on Friday as she prepares to move to Florida with her husband in the coming weeks! Please stop down to thank her for over two decades of service and to wish her well!

A few pictures/videos from the week!

Students in DCE Enterprises working with the plasma cutter.

Huge congratulations to John Glynn and his students for pulling off the annual Fust Farm field trip.  Check out the story from Channel 7 here - https://www.wsaw.com/2021/09/23/trip-farm-educates-children-food-agriculture/

Great graphic this week about our students earning Dual Credit last year:

Interesting Information

Faculty - Please read the announcement from our special education staff regarding testing protocols for students who have test reading in their IEP accommodation section.  

Accessibility for students with disabilities.

To meet a student’s needs while also preparing them to be successful at the post-secondary level, the Spec Ed department has created a Canvas Course for students (who in their IEP have tests read as an accommodation) to access tests using the immersive reader function. ​Immersive reader is an accessibility feature that works in Canvas, but only through pages and when Canvas is accessed via the website. The special education department has chosen to utilize this feature because the voice does not sound robotic, therefore should increase student utilization, independence, and overall efficiency in using Canvas.

Tests will be uploaded to a Canvas page and remain unpublished. Prior to the test being given, ​when a student leaves to utilize their accommodations and reports to a testing resource room, staff will “publish” the test. At that time students can access the test and use the immersive reader. After the class period staff will “unpublish” the test deeming it inaccessible to students. Staff are working to create an apple classroom to then monitor the students while testing to enhance test security.

Immersive reader is only reading the test, students will need a hard copy of the test for images and to record their answers on.

Spec Ed teachers request that tests are emailed or given to them at least 1 day before the test, so we have time to create the page and upload the test. Currently, Maria Prust, Pete Thorpe, and Megan Ackley are able to do this part. All Spec Ed staff will be trained eventually. When emailing the test, please indicate what class this is for, student(s), and date of the test. If possible, word documents work best.

*** Only students who would need to access audio versions of test would be part of “Test Central” class.***

Announcements/Week Ahead

Fall 2021 Pay & Benefit Meetings - If you are unable to attend the meeting at the senior high on October 5th at 2:50 p.m., here are the dates at the other schools.

• Sept. 21, @ 2:45 pm                Middle School Theater
• Sept. 24, @ 7:30 am                Evergreen IMC
• Sept. 27, @ 3:00 pm                Front Area of IDEA/Odyssey
• Sept. 29, @ 7:50 am                Rothschild IMC
• Sept. 30, @7:45 am                 Weston Cafeteria
• Oct. 1, @ 7:45 am                    Mountain Bay IMC
• Oct. 5, @ 7:50 am                    Riverside IMC
• Oct. 5, @ 2:50 pm                    Senior High Auditorium
• Oct. 11, @ 3:10 pm                  Junior High IMC
• Oct. 12, @ 7:50 am                  Hatley IMC
• Oct. 26, @ 3:15 pm                  DCE PD Center, Suite 302 (Two doors down from new Admin Building)

 

Important Dates:

September:

26-2     Homecoming Activities and Dress Up Days

October:

1        Altered Schedule for Homecoming Assembly, will be emailed Monday

1        Homecoming parade at 5 p.m. and football game at 7 p.m.

4        Academic Letter Awards Banquet, SH Auditorium, 7 p.m.

5        Senior Class Picture during ELT - Do not request Seniors for ELT

5        Flu Shot Clinic at Greenheck, 2:30-6 p.m.

5        Benefits Meeting, Auditorium, 2:50 p.m.

13      BLT Meeting, Conf Rm 369, 2:50 p.m.

13      Community Open House, 5:30-7:30 p.m. (not required for staff - but welcome)

20      Faculty meeting, IMC, 2:50 p.m.

27      BLT Meeting, Conf Rm 369, 2:50 p.m.

28      No School, Teacher PD Day

29      No School

November:

1      Vertical Teaming Night 3:15-6 pm

5      Quarter 1 Ends

8      No School, PD for Grading

9      Quarter 2 Begins

10    BLT Meeting, Conf Rm 369, 2:50 p.m.

11    Parent Teacher Conferences 3-6 pm

15    Parent Teacher Conferences 3-6 pm
17    Faculty Meeting @ 2:50

February

17    Parent Teacher Conferences 3-6:30 pm

17    Week of the 17th - 3 parent contact hours

May

25    Graduation 6-9 pm

                        Upcoming Field Trips 

Field Trips - Field trips are still permitted at this point.  Please consider academic and curricular importance when scheduling.  If the guidance changes, we will let you know. See Mike Raether if you have any questions.  

*NO additional field trips on 

• 2nd Friday Count (1/14/22)
• JH Adventure Day??

Field Trip Form from District (click on '2340(A): Field Trip Request' then '2340 (A) Field Trip Request Fillable 5-289-19.pdf.

Teacher	Dates	Destination	Form & Class list
Rose Matthiae	10/13/21	CW Convention/Expo Center	TBD

September 20 - September 24

   D.C. Everest Senior High School Staff Update

Weekly Happenings

We're back into full weeks! Great to see our students settling in and also enjoying their time in many of their extra curricular events throughout the week. We have talented students and phenomenal coaches and advisers who help students reach their potential!  Our students and our community owe a huge debt of gratitude to anyone who puts in even more time outside of the normal school hours to provide opportunities for our students to shine.  A few photos below.

Also in my wanderings this week I stumbled upon Karen Wegge working on First Aid and CPR certifications with members of the Construction Trades Class.  Due to high enrollments in the Construction Trades class, Chad Pernsteiner, Aaron Hoffman and Karen Wegge partnered up to ensure the students in these classes earned CPR and First Aid certifications along with providing students training in "Stopping the Bleed."  These skills are extremely useful in a field in which accidents and injuries occur more often.  Great collaboration between departments!

Interesting Information

Maskot / Alam

Feedback has the potential to have a powerful effect on student learning, and this year, with estimated student learning loss of four to five months for math and reading respectively, that impact will be more important than ever. In his meta-analysis of feedback studies, John Hattie emphasizes that it’s not how much feedback is given that matters—the feedback must be successfully received, processed, and applied. For students to benefit from feedback, they must have the opportunity to act on it.

Here’s a feedback scenario that plays out far too frequently: Students glance at their assignments, see the grade, and discard the work in the recycling bin, completely disregarding all the feedback I have dutifully written. Or they check the online grade portal without even looking at the feedback I annotated on their digital submissions.

James Nottingham, an education leader based in the United Kingdom, says there are seven steps to effective feedback. I’ve adapted his seven steps and added an eighth step that will lead to deeper learning while making teaching simpler and more rewarding. I’ve also created a brief video summary.

AN 8-STEP PROCESS FOR GIVING EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK

1. Know the target: Particularly for major assignments, teachers and students must be clear about the goals. Students need to know what success will look like through examples and well-defined parameters, and one of the best ways to do this is to generate shared goals. For middle and high school students, this might be a cocreated rubric or a cogenerated range of optional assignments that meet clear criteria for success.

2. Develop the first final draft: This is not a rough draft. It’s the best version that students can put together on their first attempt. Teachers or peers can’t give meaningful feedback if students don’t provide the best version of what they can do on their own. Garbage effort = garbage feedback. I remind students that they’re wasting each other’s time if they’re sharing poor quality work when asking for peer feedback in Step 3.

3. Check the target: Using clear parameters, the student or the student and peers should review the first final draft. This is the step where many things can go wrong. Students need to focus on shared goals and good examples. If we don’t provide clear parameters, peer feedback becomes pooled ignorance. For example, when giving feedback on others’ writing, students need to look for no more than one to two points with each reading. They can check for vivid language, student voice, certain grammar rules, or particular content elements—but not all of these at the same time, particularly if they lack expertise.

One simple and slightly cheesy way I addressed peer ability was to develop peer editors among my fifth graders who had demonstrated competence in writing through a series of writing and grammar exercises. When they achieved a certain level of proficiency, they received “golden dictionaries” (cheap pocket dictionaries that were spray-painted gold) that they put on their desks during the revision step to let other students know they were available for peer review.

4. Improve: This step allows students to use feedback to make meaningful progress. They’re no longer ignoring assessments and just looking for a grade—they’re improving their work. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 as many times as necessary to improve the work.

5. Teacher checks the target: This is when I give feedback, and it’s my favorite part of the process. By this time, the work is so much better than it would have been earlier. My life is already so much easier, and more important, students’ work is so much better, because learning has improved, based on feedback.

When I started teaching, I worked myself into the ground trying to give feedback on initial drafts. Eventually, I saw the benefit of giving that work to my students. At this step, it’s still critical to focus feedback on the rubric or criteria for success. I’m not trying to fix everything. I’m giving students feedback so they’ll improve. This should be in the form of genuine feedback, not advice. Grant Wiggins makes the claim that much of what teachers give as feedback is advice that’s unclear and not actionable. Instead of advice, ask questions like “Why did you choose to do this?” “What more can you tell me about this?” or “How does this idea fit with your earlier ideas?” The student is responsible for making the improvement, not mindlessly accepting our revisions.

6. Improve again: Students use my feedback to take their work to a higher level. For those of us who’ve seen our feedback in the recycling bin, this is a rewarding step.

7. Grade: This isn’t about grade inflation. The purpose is to evaluate what students have accomplished after getting meaningful feedback. Students should meet our shared targets, and if not, there’s plenty of evidence of the meaningful support they’ve received along the way.

8. Reflect: Teachers and students should return to the assignment target through the rubric or other criteria for success to celebrate the growth they’ve seen and make a plan for where they’re going next. For example, at the end of a project, we might ask our students, “How are you thinking differently than you were at the beginning of this project?” “Given what you now know, if you were king/queen of the classroom, what would we do next?”

The more we make learning the reward for learning, the more likely we are to create conditions where intrinsic motivation flourishes. This type of work with feedback will result in deeper learning, less shallow coverage of content, and more meaningful growth for teachers and students.

Announcements/Week Ahead

Advisory Wednesday - Please look for a video from Rose Matthiae to be played for your Advisory students this week.  

Advisory Schedule on Friday, 9/24 - We will run an Advisory Day Schedule to accommodate for the virtual kickoff homecoming assembly on Friday.  Please reiterate this with your students throughout the week so that everyone is aware. 

Visitors to the building - We will not be allowing visitors to the building for the time being. This is a fluid situation - if that guidance changes we will let you know. See Mike Raether if you have any questions.

Faculty Meeting this week - We will be meeting in the Auditorium on Wednesday at 2:50 for our faculty meeting. If you cannot make it - we will have a makeup faculty meeting on Thursday morning at 6:50. Please plan to attend one of the meetings. We will be focusing our time on training related to Advisory as well as accessing and utilizing Grade Guardian within your classrooms.

Important Dates

September:

21        Juniors and Seniors vote for Homecoming top 5

22        Faculty Meeting at 2:50 p.m. in Auditorium

23        Make up Faculty Meeting at 6:50 a.m. in the IMC (Teachers must attend one)

23-24   Fust Farm Food for America

24        ADVISORY SCHEDULE, Virtual Homecoming Kickoff Assembly

26-2     Homecoming Activities and Dress Up Days

October:

1        Altered Schedule for Homecoming Assembly, will be emailed soon

1        Homecoming parade at 5 p.m. and football game at 7 p.m.

4        Academic Letter Awards Banquet, SH Auditorium, 7 p.m.

5        Senior Class Picture during ELT - Do not request Seniors for ELT

5        Flu Shot Clinic at Greenheck, 2:30-6 p.m.

5        Benefits Meeting, Auditorium, 2:50 p.m.

13      BLT Meeting, Conf Rm 369, 2:50 p.m.

13      Community Open House, 5:30-7:30 p.m. (not required for staff - but welcome)

20      Faculty meeting, IMC, 2:50 p.m.

27      BLT Meeting, Conf Rm 369, 2:50 p.m.

28      No School, Teacher PD/Work Day

29      No School

November:

1      Vertical Teaming Night 3:15-6 pm

5      Quarter 1 Ends

8      No School, PD for Grading

9      Quarter 2 Begins

10    BLT Meeting, Conf Rm 369, 2:50 p.m.

11    Parent Teacher Conferences 3-6 pm

15    Parent Teacher Conferences 3-6 pm
17    Faculty Meeting @ 2:50

February

17    Parent Teacher Conferences 3-6:30 pm

17    Week of the 17th - 3 parent contact hours

May

25    Graduation 6-9 pm

Upcoming Field Trips 

Field Trips - Field trips are still permitted at this point.  Please consider academic and curricular importance when scheduling.  If the guidance changes we will let you know. See Mike Raether if you have any questions.

*NO additional field trips on -

• 3rd Friday Count (9/17/21)
• 2nd Friday Count (1/14/22)
• JH Adventure Day??

Field Trip Form from District (click on '2340(A): Field Trip Request' then '2340 (A) Field Trip Request Fillable 5-289-19.pdf.

Teacher	Dates	Destination	Form & Class list
John Glynn	9/23-24/21	Fust Farm	9-23&24-21 JG
Joe Finnegan	9/24/21	Marching Band Tour to Elementaries	9/24/21 JF
Rose Matthiae	10/13/21	CW Convention/Expo Center	TBD

 

September 13 - September 17

  D.C. Everest Senior High School Staff Update

Weekly Happenings

Good to see our Evergreen Farms planting again!

Prom Court from this past weekend - A huge thank you to Jen Gipp for all of her work in pulling off a fantastic evening for our Senior Students.  Additional thank you to Brooke Davis, Audrey Kemp, Officer Frank, Corey Gipp, and Abby Allcox for their help in supervising the event.

Interesting Information

Please find the following information sent from our Student Services Department below.

Handle with Care Notification:

What is Handle with Care? 

Handle with Care is a notification from counselors to make teachers aware of a traumatic event that occurred with one of their students outside of the school day. A traumatic event under the Handle with Care notification is defined as any situation in which the student had some sort of police interaction the prior evening or early morning. This may include a domestic violence call, late night traffic stop, car accident, a house fire, an eviction, a drug bust or juvenile justice problems for them or their siblings.   

How does Handle with Care work?  

Local law enforcement will email Officer Frank with the name of the high school student(s) involved in a law enforcement situation as described above.  Officer Frank will then notify the student's counselor and social worker that the student was involved in a Handle with Care situation.  The school counselor will then notify all the student's teachers with an email providing the student's name and "Handle with Care." There will be no additional information other than the "handle with care."   Then the school counselor will meet with the student to see what kind of supports would be helpful given the situation. The school counselor will provide additional information if the student agrees it would be helpful, but teachers may not receive any other information based on what the student feels comfortable sharing.  

How should teachers respond to a Handle with Care notification? 

Teachers should be observant and flexible with work and classroom expectations when they receive a Handle with Care notification. This is helpful as the student's behavior and thinking skills may be impaired because of the traumatic experience. Teachers should not directly address the student regarding the Handle with Care notification. It is not that goal for the teacher to inquire or engage the student in discussion about what occurred with the police.   

Classroom Example of Handle with Care in practice 

A student might put his/her head down during the period, they might keep their hood up or hat on, they might ask to talk with their counselor, they might ask to use the restroom..............we would ask that you use your professional judgement in deciding what behaviors can be tolerated given the Handle with Care designation on that day, understanding that the manifested behavior may be stemming from the incident. If you observe these kinds of behaviors, you could say to the student, "Can I help with anything right now?" But then let the student take the lead in responding to the question and engaging in discussion or ending discussion.  

Other Handle with Care Communications:

In addition to the notification from a counselor, individual teachers may also use the blurb below directly to parents if desired. Counselors do NOT send this out. It is for teacher use with families.

"If your family is experiencing difficulty at home, I would like to provide additional supports at school. I understand that you may not always want to share specific details and that's okay. If your child is coming to school after a difficult night, morning, or weekend, please email me, "Handle with Care." Nothing else will be said or asked. This will let me know that your child may need extra time, patience or help during the day. 

Announcements/Week Ahead

Soft Release - A reminder that we should teach until the end of the period before lunch bells.  Our cafeteria staff need the full time between lunches to restock and prepare tables with proper cleaning procedures. Do not release your students early during lunch periods.

Covid Protocols - Please know that our protocols are constantly changing. Our latest district protocols are linked here.

Covid Dashboard and REM/close contacts - This past week we have seen an increase in the amount of students who have tested positive for Covid-19 as well as an uptick in the amount of students who have been quarantined.  Please discuss with your students now what the expectations for them will be if/when they are quarantined.  

It is an expectation that students who are quarantined will have continued access to their learning.  Access could mean that the teacher has a live webex lesson going during the scheduled hour, that they have posted a video to their Canvas page, or that they have made learning available on their Canvas page.  There is no directive in terms of what access must look like as it likely will look different depending on the department, class, and specific lesson; however, it is an expectation that there is access to the lesson so that students designated as REM have an ability to stay up to date with their learning.  Please ask if you need additional clarification.

 D..C. Everest District Covid-19 Dashboard 

Marathon County Covid-19 Dashboard

Schedule Changes: Schedules and rosters are nearly set. Thank you for your patience while we get students in the best classes to meet their college/career goals. We do not anticipate many, if any, changes going forward for the semester at this point. If a schedule change is made at this point, the counselor will email any teacher involved in the change. This includes the teacher of the dropped and added class.

Visitors to the building - We will not be allowing visitors to the building for the time being. This is a fluid situation - if that guidance changes we will let you know. See Mike Raether if you have any questions.

Field Trips - Field trips are still permitted at this point.  Please consider academic and curricular importance when scheduling.  If the guidance changes we will let you know. See Mike Raether if you have any questions.

3rd Friday Count 9/17 during period 2 - The 3rd Friday attendance count will take place on Friday, September 17th during period 2.  Attendance forms will be put in teacher mailboxes prior to this date.  Complete the attendance forms in period 2 and return them to the attendance office immediately after taking attendance.  You will need to verify on the attendance form with your signature the students who are enrolled and attending school.  Please verify the total amount of students in your period 2 by writing the number and circling it toward the bottom of the page.

Class Adviser - We are looking for 1-2 Senior Class advisers for the upcoming year. Due to staff changes we have lost some advisers. If you're willing to jump on board for one year it would be greatly appreciated! Reach out to Dawn or Mike if interested.

Class Adviser meeting - There will be a class adviser meeting at 2:50 in room 369 on Wednesday, the 15th.  Please plan for a 15-20 minute meeting.

Important Dates:  Along with both the Open House nights before school began, there are a few other evening meetings that are mandatory for all teachers and administrators. 

• Vertical Teaming:  Monday, November 1st, 3:15-6 p.m.
• Parent-Teacher Conferences:  Thursday & Monday, November 11th & 15th, 3-6 p.m.
• 3 Parent Contact Hours:  Week before or after February conference night
• Parent-Teacher Conferences:  Thursday, February 17th, 3-6:30 p.m.
• Graduation:  Wednesday, May 25th, 6:00-9:00 p.m.

A reminder that we removed two scheduling nights two years ago, moved the parents night to before school as an open house and added one additional open house night.  Please continue to look in the weekly Sunday blog for updates.

Important Dates

September:

15    Faculty Meeting has been Moved to the 22nd

15    Class Adviser Meeting @ 2:50 - 3rd Floor Conference Room

15    School Board Meeting

17    3rd Friday Count during period 2

22    Faculty Meeting @ 2:50 in Auditorium

23    Make up Faculty Meeting at 6:50 in the IMC (Teachers must attend one)

November:

1      Vertical Teaming Night 3:15-6 pm

11    Parent Teacher Conferences 3-6 pm

15    Parent Teacher Conferences 3-6 pm

February

17    Parent Teacher Conferences 3-6:30 pm

17    Week of the 17th - 3 parent contact hours

May

25    Graduation 6-9 pm

Upcoming Field Trips 

*NO additional field trips on -

• 3rd Friday Count (9/17/21)
• 2nd Friday Count (1/14/22)
• JH Adventure Day??

Field Trip Form from District (click on '2340(A): Field Trip Request' then '2340 (A) Field Trip Request Fillable 5-289-19.pdf.

 

September 7 - September 10

  D.C. Everest Senior High School Staff Update

Weekly Happenings

Thank you for a great week!  The first weeks of inservice, two open houses, sophomore transition, and welcoming students back takes a lot of effort by everyone - Thank you for making it happen!  A special thank you to Jo Bailey for coordinating the Amazing Race!

A few pictures from the week below courtesy of Anne and Audrey:

Interesting Information

The following reflection was shared with me by one of our colleagues over the last week.  It was submitted to ASCD's Educational Leadership as a response to the prompt "In less than 200 words, how do you reengage the unmotivated or apathetic learner?"  As we move into a new year - we all can work on continued reflection and personal growth.

    Engaging all learners, especially the unmotivated or apathetic, is at the heart of teaching. Whether learning is in-person, virtual, hybrid, or something else, engagement is built upon the 3 R’s: relationships, relevance, and reflection. Relationships are at the center of learning because learning requires trust. Students who do not trust will not engage. To learn, students need to trust me and one another. Therefore, relationship-building must be ongoing, not merely a first day activity, and embedded in all aspects of the class experience. Relevance is next. Learning occurs when experiences matter to students. Think about sixteen-year-old drivers; when learning matters, learners intrinsically engage because they want to know, do, and understand. Providing relevant learning opportunities may mean rethinking all aspects of instruction, and while painful, it is necessary. Finally, reflection is important. Reflection deepens understanding, informs future endeavors, reveals growth, and provides closure, allowing a natural progression to the next step. Additionally, when a student is disengaged, reflection can provide a doorway back into learning. So, ask students to reflect often. When I sense that engagement is missing, I return to the 3 R’s to reframe and reset, so students can reengage.

Announcements/Week Ahead

Advisory - This week's advisory video will be shared with you on Wednesday morning.  During advisory on Wednesday, play the video, participate in the activity and engage students in any questions they may have.  

Soft Release - We have decided to allow teachers to still use soft release at the end of the period. Please do not release sooner than five minutes from the scheduled bell.  This is especially important during lunch hours.  The soft release is intended to limit traffic flow in the hallways, however if we release too early we have students creating noise outside their next class and distracting from that learning.

ELT clarification - We are currently expecting students to check in before being released for the day to begin ELT. If you have a student who is a Youth Apprentice, an Intern or has 10th hour study hall release, feel free to make a deal with them that they do not have to check in for ELT if they stay up on their work and responsibilities.

Yearbook Pictures Last Chance - Faculty are asked to get their picture taken on Wednesday, 9/8 if you haven't done so already for the yearbook.  Payne Photography will be here from 7-10 a.m. only.

Clubs/Activities Day - On September 14/16 we are hosting our Sophomore club/activity day where Sophomores will be scheduled to walk around the Gym and talk with students in varying clubs.  Club/activity advisers please fill out this form if your club is going to be represented.

All Staff Fall 2021 Pay & Benefit Meeting - There will be a 2021 Fall Pay and Benefits Meeting here at the high school auditorium on Tuesday, October 5th at 2:50 p.m.  All staff are invited to the building.  If this is before or after your normal working hours, please submit it on your timesheet so you get paid.  If you are unable to attend this meeting at the senior high, there will be a make-up meeting at the new Administration Building on October 26 at 3:15 p.m.  You will learn about DCE's current and future states of pay and benefits.  There will be a short presentation and time for questions regarding benefit changes starting January 1, 2022.

Pepsi Machine in the Teacher's Lounge has now been filled with new product.  Where can you go to buy a can of soda for 60 cents.  Thank you to Kathy Lee and a few of their students for taking care of this.

Important Dates

September:

6      Labor Day Holiday

8      Picture Day last chance, 7-10am

8      BLT Meeting, 3rd Floor Conference Rm 369, 2:50pm

11    Junior Prom (Current Seniors)

14    Clubs/Activities Day for Sophomores during ELT 

15    School Board Meeting

16    Clubs/Activities Day for Sophomores during ELT 

17    3rd Friday Count during period 2

Upcoming Field Trips 

*NO additional field trips on -

• 3rd Friday Count (9/17/21)
• 2nd Friday Count (1/14/22)
• JH Adventure Day??