When we returned to campus on Monday, one could recognize that most of our students and staff had clearly established a new routine over the Thanksgiving Break. Whether it was sleeping in, napping, staying up late, changing one's diet or exercise routine, we have been a little fatigued this week. One can tell how sleepy a campus can be from what is not said, by the level of noise in the halls, and the yawns. Teenagers are always tired so the change in body language and lack of noise are the keys. Everyone loved the week off, but it's hard to get back into the routine when it's a little cold in the morning and even the car seats are cold. On Tuesday morning, we took the Senior Panoramic Picture. As I have mentioned over the years, this is truly a magical day for our Seniors. Every day students walk in the hallway by the Counseling Center and the Commons and see the Senior Composites. Students know that one day they will be forever a part of CHAP history by being on the wall. It's a moment of clarity for our seniors: this is our last year. This is real. We are on way to the next phase of our life. Kids sometimes ask great questions. "Mr Ramsey, why do we take the senior picture after spring break so it only hangs on the wall for a few months with the actual seniors on campus?" And sometimes adults do not have quality answers. So we decided to take the picture in the first semester as a way to have their picture visible for a longer period of time. This movement did not change the nostalgic conversations down the parking lot hill between our kids. It actually may have been great timing as our students may have begun reflecting on their experience a little sooner and the level of senioritis is not as severe as in March. This is a tremendous group of seniors, and their conversations were just a little more optimistic and genuine without the eventual cynicism that can impact seniors all over the US in their last few weeks of high school. This month in our TEACHER FEATURE we are visiting with one of our new teachers on campus, Lisa Taylor. The Teacher... Lisa is an engineering and AP Physics teacher that came to us from Huntington Beach, California, where she previously taught AP Physics. Ms. Taylor has been teaching for 8 years, and says she does it because she loves the kids. She hopes to inspire students to pursue careers in science and engineering in college, and says she measures her success based on how many kids she can inspire to pursue careers in those fields. Based on conversations with students in her class, it appears Ms. Taylor is meeting her goal.
The Lesson... As part of their civil engineering unit students were working in groups to design and build towers that can resist earthquakes. In previous lessons they individually built models and prototypes of towers, and as a class tested each design to determine what design features were best for allowing the building to resist vibrations and shift the resonance frequency of the tower out of earthquake range. Students then selected the most effective design features when creating their final tower. Throughout the process of building their tower, they test their designs intermittently and make changes as necessary. The ultimate goal is to design a tower that is most effective at resisting the vibrations caused by earthquakes. One group said that they were designing dampers on their tower to improve structural stability, and ensure that their tower vibrates out of the 1-2 Hertz range. Group members were Deuce Smoot. Grant Yeakey & Emre Latiffes. They said they conducted several tests of their tower on a shaker table, and were choosing damper designs that maximize structural stability in earthquake scenarios. The Coach... In addition to teaching advanced academics Ms. Taylor also serves as one of our Cheerleading coaches. She was a cheerleader herself in high school and college. She has always enjoyed the excitement around football and cheer. As a cheer coach, Ms. Taylor can connect with students, and it allows her to be part of building and participating in school spirit. In her own words Ms. Taylor says “I want to be a part of their high school experience, and see them have fun and enjoy themselves.” We want to thank Ms. Taylor for bringing some fun and joy to our campus. When we return on Monday, we will be working towards a quick finish to the first semester. Our students and staff will be working and deciding on semester exam exemptions. We will only have 11 school days until the beginning of semester exams. Here we go............
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Steve Ramsey: WHS Principal BlogPrincipal's Weekly Reflections Archives
May 2019
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