WHS Currents for May 26, 2010
Posted Wednesday, May 26, 2010 by
pgrant
Watershed Happenings
May 31 Memorial Day, NO SCHOOL
Jun 1 PSEO deadline
Jun 4-5 Spring Play, 7:00 p.m.
Jun 5 FRNNG Parade & Festival
Jun 8 Open House, 7:00 p.m.
Jun 10 Open Mic, 7:00 p.m.
Jun 11 Last day of school
Jun 12 Graduation, 11:00 a.m.
Jun 15 Summer School begins
Jun 19 Open House, 10:00 a.m.
Jun 21 Board Meeting, 3:45 p.m.
A Special Word From the Finance Committee
–Ann Moore, Finance Chair
As summer draws near, we can celebrate the graduation of our seniors and a host of summer opportunities for our returning students, including Watershed’s first summer session. It’s also a time to express our gratitude to the faculty and staff who demonstrated dedication and flexibility in facing tough financial challenges. Our move to our new space has laid the foundation to grow and to develop Watershed’s vision of creativity, community and service.
The future holds tremendous promise, but financial hurdles remain. We’re working hard to increase enrollment to a level that allows us to continue to provide small class sizes and individual attention while generating sufficient state funding to sustain quality programs. The budget agreement reached by the governor and legislature includes even higher “holdbacks” or delays in state funding, and we’re budgeting carefully to deal with that.
An end of the school year donation to Watershed would be a wonderful way to celebrate the many achievements of this year, thank faculty and staff, and set the stage for a successful 2010-2011 school year. Thank you for your support.
ADMIN NOTES
–Phil Grant, Administrator
It’s hard to believe we’re coming up fast on the end of the school year—but so it is. It’s been a good year in so many ways—new building, new students, new staff, many activities and lots of learning. I expect everyone to do their best to finish strong and earn as many credits as possible. See below for info about our summer school, a new way to progress at Watershed.
Don’t forget that Monday is a holiday and school is closed.
Enrollment
We continue to accept students for the fall, though 11th and 12th grade have very limited space. Our next Open Houses are Tuesday, June 8, at 7:00 p.m., and Saturday, June 19, at 10:00 a.m. For more information, call Rachel, our enrollment coordinator, at 612-871-4363 x219, or email her at rkoniar (at) watershedhs.org.
PSEO June 1 Deadline Reminder
MCTC and many other schools’ deadline is June 1 for PSEO registration. This year’s sophomores and juniors, if interested, need to apply by then. Call Betty (612-871-4363 x112) for more information, or visit the MDE PSEO website: http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/Academic_Excellence/College_Career_Readi/PSEO/index.html
Graduation
Watershed honors its class of 2010 on June 12 at 11:00 a.m. at the Walker Community United Methodist Church, on the corner of 31st Street and 16th Avenue. Reception follows at the same location.
Board Notes
The board recently approved a new mission statement: The Watershed High School community cultivates creativity in every class and every student, balanced with promoting compassion through service. While new in phrasing, the emphasis on community, creativity and service is unchanged—and that carries through in all our programs and planning. For more information, or for any questions about the board, contact chair, Leanne Mfaligundi (at) mfali001@umn.edu. The next board meeting is Monday, June 21, at 3:45 p.m.
WATERSHED RECRUITMENT
–Nell Ubbelohde
JUNE 5th, Neighborhood Festival
Looking for students, parents, and staff to help out on Saturday, June 5 at the Field Regina Northrop Neighborhood (FRNNG) Festival. Starting at 10 am there will be a short parade that ends in McRae Park. We will have some of the actors from our Spring Play in the parade, and would love to have as many others as possible join us. At the park, we will have an information table, handing out our brochures and doing some free face painting. There will be food for sale, vendors, a petting zoo and pony rides. Free balloons and ice cream will also be available. Please call the school at 612-871-4363 (ext.120) or email me if you can assist. Nellmorningstar (at) yahoo.com
FACULTY NOTES
–Kristen Aitchison
Spring Play
Watershed’s spring play is “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde. This hilarious tale of mistaken identity and fun Victorian romance features the seniors. The play is June 4 and 5 at Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church, 1620 East 46th Street at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $5.00 adults and $3.00 students and will be sold at the door.
Items we are looking to borrow for the play:
• small garden table and 2 chairs
• potted patio plants/flowers
• fake trees and greenery
• Victorian style couch and chairs
• watering can - not plastic
• coat tree
If you have something we might borrow, please call Kristin at 612-718-9298. We will take very good care of these items and will return them after the show. Thank You!
Summer School 2010
See below or click whs-summer-school-info.pdf for information on summer school at Watershed this June, July and August. To register, students fill out a registration form available at whs-summer-registration.pdf or at school. We ask parents & guardians to sign as well, to acknowledge summer schedules. (Turn forms into Betty.) Note that summer school at Watershed also enters students into our new Learning Year Program (LYP), designed to accelerate students’ progress through high school.
Many summer classes have minimum and maximum sizes, generally five to 18 students. They’re starting to fill; enroll now to confirm your place!
Watershed is proud to offer its first ever summer school as part of our new learning year program.
• Open to all students who want to accelerate their learning—up to and including early graduation!
• Participation is optional. Those students who participate will develop a continual learning plan (CLP) in conjunction with parents and teachers.
• Take special classes not offered during the regular school year.
• Earn up to nine Watershed credits over and above what you earn during the regular school year.
• Free tuition!
• Ninth graders entering Watershed in the fall may take courses this summer.
• Students from other schools may transfer to Watershed at the start of the summer session.
• Classes normally meet in the morning, Monday-Thursday. Monday, July 5, is a holiday. There is no school that day.
• A great opportunity to learn with friends and pick up a few extra credits over the summer!
• Special ed services are available as needed.
• The first step in Watershed’s plan to offer year-round ways to accelerate learning for those who want to.
• Note: no lunch program this summer. Eat breakfast and bring a snack for the morning break.
The Natural Foods Summit and Nature Writing, Emily Hanrahan. A language arts course centered on the Natural Foods Summit in Northern Minnesota. Students will participate in the weekend summit, eventually producing and workshopping creative nature writing. The class will also include instruction on methods of journalism to report on the summit. Three Watershed credits. REGISTRATION CLOSED.
June 15-19, Consecutive day course with overnights. Requires a $50 fee to cover camping and food. See Emily for complete details.
Film Studies, Steve Andrews. An art and social studies class. The course will analyze both film production and composition, as well as discuss social and cultural themes. 2.5 credits.
June 21-July 1, 9:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Material Science, David Kimori. A blend of chemistry and physics. The course will include several lab experiments deconstructing various plastics, with emphasize on recycling and the composition of consumer materials. 2.5 credits.
- July 6-15, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Bookbinding, Rachel Koniar. Multiple techniques in binding, exploring various papers, making journals and art books. Students will create two art books and one hard cover journal to take home. (These are useful for Main Lesson Books—one of the central tools of assessment during Watershed’s morning curriculum throughout the year.) 2.5 credits. Supply cost of $30. REGISTRATION CLOSES JUNE 6.
- July 6-15, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Mathematics, Linda Gavanda. Three short, focused classes with math topics ranging from Algebra to Pre-Calculus. These small classes allow students to accelerate their math development. Each week is a separate course.
- July 6-8, 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., 1 credit
- July 12-15 and/or August 9–12 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., 1.5 credits each week.
Printmaking, Rachel Koniar. Topics include printmaking techniques, reduction prints, blended rollers, multi color prints. Students will create three original projects, with multiple prints from each to bring home. 1.5 credits. Supply cost of $30. REGISTRATION CLOSES JULY 9.
- August 9-12, 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
If you are interested in registering for summer school classes, please call the school at 612-871-4363. Courses may be cancelled due to insufficient registration.
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