Photo Credit: Maddie Norwood[/caption]The first nine weeks are over and, for some people, that means a new start to help build a strong foundation for the rest of the school year. Many students may want to bring up their grades or make new friends. This new nine weeks is a good time for a new start to a new season.
So what should you do if you are having grade problems? Becky Smith, an OHS science teacher, gave her opinion on how this problem should be solved. “They need to see their teacher for help, and they need to make sure they’re doing all the work themselves,” said Smith.
The new lunch gives anyone slipping the perfect chance to bring their grades up. More people can come for tutoring and make up work during this time. Students who aren't using it for work may want to rethink their decisions.
If you feel hesitant to go back for tutoring, just bring a friend that can support you and maybe even help, but not one that can distract you. This will help you get over your fear and learn to build study groups.
Is your focus slipping? Another tip that Smith shared addressed this. “The best thing to do is make sure you aren’t hanging around with people that can distract you from your work, causing you to slip in school.”
If a student finds himself bored or in need of a community to hang out with, Smith recommends that he become more involved in the school, whether it be with clubs or sports. When asked why students should be more involved, she said, “Do things that make you happy and enjoy your life.”
Photo credit: Maddie Norwood. Nicholas Mauriello goes all out for the language classes at curriculum night.[/caption]February 20, 2014, rising freshmen were able to come to an orientation that taught them about different classes they could take and visit booths to learn more about those classes.
The booths were set up from the lobby to the back of the Panther’s Den. Many booths were set up in the cafeteria for clubs that would accept freshmen. Some groups sat candy, food, or knickknacks on their booths to attract new possible students. All core classes were also represented in the booths.
Some elective classes that were represented were the languages, the CTE classes, the family/life classes, newspaper/creative writing, and band.
Band had one of the most interesting booths of the night. Band teacher Andy Carter stood at his booth in the Panther’s Den while some band students stood at the entrance playing different pieces of music to attract new students.
OHS clubs were also represented by some booths. Fencing Club and Latin Club were examples of interesting club booths. Fencing sat all of their equipment on their booth and spoke about why they loved to fence. Latin Club had many of the projects they worked on on their table. They had an almost life size TARDIS, an object from the popular show Doctor Who, sitting to the left of their booth while they were all dressed in togas.
Before the students got to look around, they and their parents sat in on a conference that gave them information about OHS and how their lives would be different in high school. They got information on the school and classes. They also learned the different schedules they would have to follow and some rule changes from middle school to high school.
Rising ninth grader Max Norwood commented on the different feelings you get as you grow in high school. “While the prospect of high school seems complex, and indeed intimidating, I do believe it will turn out to be a lot of fun, and an opportunity for growth. From the orientation, I learned about the multitude of clubs, many different classes, and the structure of both the year and each day. While I may be nervous about high school, overall, I can't wait for the experience.”
OHS received a silver medal for its test scores. Its national rank is #1836 and its state ranking is #29. These rankings were based on the overall test score rankings and how proficient the school opportunities seem to be. Overall, OHS ranked fairly highly.
The rankings are calculated based on student performance on state exit exams and internationally available exams on college level course work. 83 percent of OHS students were proficient in English, 67 percent of students were proficient in algebra, and for the college ready index there was a score of 20.0 out of 100. All of these numbers are calculated from the percentage of students who score well on their exams along with their weighted G.P.A.
School information is based on government recorded data. The grades that were served in this data were 9-12. OHS is well known for its rising test scores and the way that the school continues to improve.
If interested in seeing the original report, visit US News and World Report's website.
Phyllis Farlow helped to bring this event together, hoping that the AVID middle school students would be able to compare and contrast high school and middle school to see what they will need to function smoothly next year. The students were taken around to 6 different classrooms, for 10 minutes each, to see how the classes are conducted. These classes were provided by Brian Parker, Sarah Hill, Jenna Hunter, Kelly Helner, Mark Greenstreet, and Marc Sprintz.
The eighth also toured the campus and made presentations about what they learned in the media center. Many of the children who got the chance to be in the program stated that high school was fun and the classes looked interesting, but you needed to write your own notes and bring everything you need to class. Many students found out that high school is not easy, and they would have more homework in high school than in middle school. All of this was good feedback for the teachers who ran the event because they could use it to help them prepare for high school.
For many readers who don’t know what AVID is, it is a program to get middle schoolers and high schoolers acclimated and ready for college. AVID is an acronym for Advancement Via Individual Determination. This means that students also learn to have determination for college.
The young men and women who helped out with taking the 8th graders around were Nycol Lyons, Juan Salcedo, Knisha Fearrington, Sonjia Colson, Albert Carr and Breanna Williams. They served as tour guides for the event and answered any questions the middle schoolers asked.
Farlow stated “Our tour guides did a great job and the middle schoolers were very impressed and engaged. I think a lot of the times the middle school students are nervous and it helps them to prepare for high school.”