12.19.20

“Children need your presence more than your presents.”

- Jesse Jackson

Dear AHS Families,

My wife, Ellen, does a great job of writing down funny or memorable quotes that our kids say in a little book that we have. She’s done it for years, so we have LOTS of great material to reflect on and each year, we continue adding to the memories. Perhaps you have done something similar; if not, I would HIGHLY suggest beginning this now...it’s never too late! When life gets crazy, sometimes we’ll take a few minutes to sit down and open these books and spend time laughing and remembering how precious time with our family is. 

Recently, we came across an entry from January 27, 2016. It was a Wednesday evening and I had just finished a raucous wrestle-mania session with my son James (then, five years old). She wrote, “After James & Robert were done wrestling, James laid across Robert’s legs with his head on a pillow and looking up at Robert, he said to him with a smile, ‘This is like a dream within a dream.’ Robert replied, ‘What do you mean?’ James said, ‘It’s just so fun!’”

May we never, not ever, forget how much our kids desire our full attention, our time. In so many ways, I believe they desire this above all else. And they desire it at all ages - when they’re little kids, teenagers, college students, even as adults. The reality is that none of us parents have all the time in the world to give. We are busy, right? We have jobs and responsibilities that can detract from the amount of time we can give. And yet, even if the amount of time we have to offer is fixed, the quality of the time we spend with our kids is up to us. Completely. 

Let’s give our kids the quality attention they deserve. Let’s remind them how much we love them by intentionally spending time with them, asking them questions, speaking TRUTH into their lives, and pouring into them this holiday season! 

Anderson Proud,

Rob

P.S. What better way to usher in the Christmas Season than joining our Anderson Orchestras for a YouTube premier event on December 23rd of classic carols and selections from Tchaikovsky’s fantastical Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker. Click on THIS LINK for more information and a live link that will appear!

UPCOMING SCHOOL EVENTS: 

Note: This is not even CLOSE to an exhaustive list, but an attempt to provide parents with major, school-related upcoming events. For a complete schedule of upcoming extracurricular activities, please click HERE and select Anderson High School in the filter. Thanks!

· 12/19-1/4 - Winter Break, No School!

· 1/15 - EXTENDED Deadline for Senior Yearbook Portraits at McIntire Photography (see below for more info)

MOMENTS OF THE WEEK:

This week was a bit festive around the halls...I’m pretty sure these girls and MANY OTHERS wore cozy, holiday flannel pants all week!! Wear ‘em if you got ‘em! Tis the Season!!

Earlier this week our Chemistry students ushered in the HOLIDAYS by creating SILVER BOTTLES in class...I’m sure there’s a cool chemical formula in there somewhere, but I don’t know it! ;)

LOVE seeing Anderson kids giving their time to help others!! Here are a few from our Key Club who stuck around after Wednesday exams to pack lunches for families in need over break!!

THANK YOU to our AHS PTO for providing FUN & FESTIVE coffee drinks for our wonderful staff this week on Thursday after final exams!!

FROM THE DISTRICT:

· Important information about services to our students with disabilities: Read more here for "Special Education Guidance for Second Semester 20-21" from our Parent Resource Coordinator.

SENIOR SECTION:

· Senior Portraits -  EXTENDED DEADLINE - January 15! All seniors interested in having their picture in the yearbook must schedule an appointment with McIntire Photography. All students were mailed a brochure about this last spring near the end of May and announcements have been made in school to remind seniors. Please contact McIntire Photography at 513-528-5888 or at https://www.mcintirephotography.com ASAP to make an appointment.

· Senior Baby Ads (Yearbook): Interested in purchasing an ad for the back of the yearbook this year? Click HERE for more information.

CURRENT SOPHOMORE OPPORTUNITIES: 

· Regional Youth Leadership: 2021 Regional Youth Leadership (RYL) applications are available. This is a great opportunity for one AHS student to Represent the “A” and be a part of a great leadership and learning experience. Please look at the RYL website and application process. 40-50 juniors from the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area participate in monthly activities during the school year. Students pay the $10 application fee. Participation fees are paid by AHS. Transportation to and from the RYL sessions is the responsibility of the student. This program is sponsored by the Northern Kentucky Chamber Foundation. Information and application information is here: Regional Youth Leadership Information

· Hugh O'Brian Youth (HOBY) Leadership Seminar: Anderson High School sponsors one sophomore student to attend the HOBY Youth Leadership Seminar in June. The link below will take you to information that was shared with students in Anderson in the Know on Schoology this week. If your son or daughter is interested in building leadership skills please encourage them to apply. The deadline for application is December 18, 2021. More info here: HOBY Information 2021

 

RETURNING TEXTBOOKS FOR FIRST SEMESTER COURSES:

All textbooks are the property of the Forest Hills Board of Education.  Textbooks are loaned to students for their use during the school year, and become the personal responsibility of each student.  Students will be held accountable for textbooks and are required to return them at the end of the course.  Fees will be assessed for loss or damage to textbooks.  These range from rebind costs to book replacement charges.  Replacement costs typically run between $50 to over $100. Students must return all textbooks to the Learning Commons. The Learning Commons will accept books from: 

7:15am-3:00pm  Tuesday, December 15 through Friday, December 18 

Please do not leave books in the Learning Commons until they have been checked in.   Your book will be scanned, your name will be verified, and Mrs. Feller will then direct you as to where to place the book before you leave the Learning Commons.

Any first semester books not returned to the Learning Commons by Tuesday, January 5 will result in a fee.

 

FROM THE COUNSELORS:

Attention all Sophomore students and parents interested in Great Oaks: The application for next year is open now. Visit www.greatoaks.com and click on "High School" to get the application started. The priority deadline for applications is February 9, 2021. Contact your counselor for more information.  

 

Would you like to attend a Q&A session with Great Oaks?  Check out this link!  Great Oaks Q&A Sessions

 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR JUNIORS - NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY:

Juniors who have a cumulative, weighted, GPA of 3.75 or better and 30 hours of community service logged into Innerview.org by the end of 1st semester will be considered for Induction into NHS.  Because it has been unsafe to perform service since March, we are prorating the hours requirement to 21 for the class of 2022 only.  If you have service that you have not yet logged into Innerview.org, please complete that prior to Winter Break.  Questions: contact tonyaherron@foresthills.edu. 

AHS BRAND & LOGO TRANSITION UPDATE:

The work of the AHS Brand & Logo Steering Committee continues to move forward as we enter into the fall months. Our subcommittee chairpersons approved the following 3-round process that was proposed by our Selection Process subcommittee:

· Round 1 (Nov. 5-Nov. 18) - CLOSED

· Round 2 (Early Winter) - Current students, staff, and alumni will vote to narrow the list to a list of 3-5 finalists. Closes 12/12.

· Round 3 (Late Winter) - Current students, future students (from AHS feeder schools), and alumni will vote on final selection.

We will be excited to announce our new mascot sometime around mid-February. It should be noted that although we plan to have a new mascot selected around this time, we will not fully implement this mascot until the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. 

 

STANDARDIZED TESTING INFORMATION: (Questions? Contact Assistant Principal Kyle Fender)

ACT PREP SCHOOLOGY COURSES:

· Our amazing AHS teachers have created the following Schoology courses/groups with ACT prep materials for our students. Students can join at anytime using the following access codes:

· Math- 4SM8-XC2V-ZQ3SB (this is a course)

· English- M6C9-7K65-H6B64 (this is a course)

· Science- FG48V-CW7JF (this is a group)

· Reading- V3KQ-WXC9-BWCRH (this is a course)

COMING UP:

· 11th Grade - Recently, we partnered with TorchPrep to provide your student with a practice ACT test. They should have received a text message from TorchPrep with instructions for accessing their score. TorchPrep has also created a 15 minute video with information about how to interpret your student's score, and understand what it means for college admissions and scholarship. You can access the video by clicking here.

· TorchPrep will be offering in-person ACT Prep sessions at AHS leading up to the junior state-funded ACT 2/23/21 on Tuesdays and Saturdays (starting 1/26/21. Deadline to register is 1/18/21) CLICK HERE TO REGISTER/LEARN MORE 

· AP Testing Accommodations Deadline: The deadline to apply for accommodations on Advanced Placement (AP) testing is January 15th. Contact Kyle Fender or Lauren Teuschler if you need to apply to CollegeBoard for an accommodations request.

· National ACT and SAT Testing Information: Please view the ACT and CollegeBoard websites for the most up to date information. Contact Kyle Fender or Lauren Teuschler if you need to apply to ACT or CollegeBoard for an accommodations request.

LOOKING AHEAD:

· Make-up PSAT- January 26th

· State-Funded ACT Test for Juniors February 23rd- all juniors are automatically registered. Contact Kyle Fender or Lauren Teuschler if you need to apply to ACT for accommodations requests.

· State End-of-Course Graduation Tests: 

· Dates TBD for March, and April

· State graduation tests are administered for Algebra I, Geometry, Biology, English 10, US History, US Government

· Advanced Placement Testing Dates: May 3rd-May 14

· All students who registered for an AP are automatically registered for the associated test and will be assigned the test fee via EZ-Pay. November 13th is the ordering deadline for first semester and full year AP courses. March 12th is the ordering deadline for second semester courses. Students who wish to opt-out of the AP test for a specific course should meet with their teacher before those deadlines to begin the test opt-out process.

YEARBOOK: Interested in purchasing a 2020-2021 Yearbook? Please click HERE for more information.