Winter break is almost here! We are a few weeks away from our two week hiatus and it is time to end 2011 on a strong note. That means it is time to make some New Year’s resolutions.

Maybe you to want to go to the gym more often. Maybe you want to spend more time with family and friends. Maybe you want to learn a new skill (cooking, playing a musical instrument, speak a new language, etc.). Well, you should also consider recommitting yourself to your academic goals as well. Finishing strong at the end of semester will feel good and will lead right into second semester. There aren’t many things that are more satisfying than accomplishing goals that you set for yourself, no matter how big or small.

Most importantly, spend as much time with family and friends as possible, enjoy the days off from school and maybe go to some Terrace basketball games. Also, out to the newly formed Rowdy Rooters for pumping up the athletes and getting in the heads of opposing players. They’re always looking for new faces to join them.

Speaking of basketball, the boy’s team is off to a great start and the girl’s team continues to be competitive. Don’t forget about the other winter sports teams though. Both the wrestling and boy’s swim team have some individuals this year who could reach the postseason.

After the break, there are a lot of different events going on. Cultural week is happening the drama department is putting on its musical, All Shook Up. Please check the calendar on the school website for exact dates and times.

I have got to admit, November was a crazy month and you know what? It was worth it. The PPP trophy is back in the hands of the rightful owners. We stepped up this year by bringing in canned food, showing other people that we can skillfully use plungers and pounding them out on the basketball court. Thank you Interhigh members for organizing and coordinating events all month. Also, thank you to everyone who contributed to the food drive because it is nice to see so many students helping other people in our community.

This year, we implemented a new way of running the food drive with a single elimination tournament called Munch Madness. Apparently, that did not stop Mrs. Nelson from winning the food drive again. Congratulations Mrs. Nelson and your third period class on your impressive total number of cans collected. Thank to all of the teachers who motivated your students to bring in cans and donations. Don’t worry, there is always next year.

One last announcement. Big ASB officer petitions (not class ASB) will be available in January. Start thinking about that because it might be an opportunity you may want to consider.

Okay, I need to go write down my own New Year’s resolutions.

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I can’t believe that we’re already at Winter Break. We have just a couple more weeks of school then it’s time to take a break and enjoy the holidays. There is always so much going on here a Terrace that it’s hard to keep track sometimes but here are some of the highlights:

Schedule Change Coming – yes, it’s true. There is a slight modification to our schedule coming and it will start during the last week before Winter Break. We’ll start running a new schedule on Wednesdays and Thursdays each week that will have built in some time for students to see teachers so they can get help in classes they are having trouble with and to make up tests they might have missed. Also, we’ll be providing some assistance for students who need to prepare for the Math End of Course Make Up exams in February. The reason for this change is really simple—when we lost Tutorial this year, there was no longer an opportunity for students to see teachers outside of class time. This was especially true for students who ride the bus to and from school.

This change will allow for a couple of days per week where students can have access to teachers during the school day.

You may have noticed that in the display case at the front doors, there is a giving tree. We are seeking to help students and families in our community who need assistance.

This is a great opportunity for each of us to help in a small way and make the holidays a little easier for those families who are struggling because of the tough economic conditions.

We’re in full swing with our Winter Sports season. Student-Athletes are competing in Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball, Wrestling and Boys’ Swimming. Please join me in wishing our student-athletes the best of luck.

During the next two weeks, there will be some great chances to see our music programs and students as they perform in holiday concerts. I would encourage you to go check out a concert and see just how talented our students are.

Finally, I just want to wish everyone a very happy holiday season. Like we used to say in grade school, “see you next year!”

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I hope everyone had a memorable Homecoming experience because I know I had a great one. I don’t know about you, but I am still replaying those special moments in my head. Thank you to students and staff for your positive spirit, participation, and encouragement over the past few weeks. That’s what Homecoming is about and hopefully we can carry that energy throughout the year.

I would be amiss if Stew, Nadine and the ASB kids and advisors did not get the recognition that they deserve. Stew and Nadine have put in countless hours helping put on the Homecoming festivities. When you get the chance, thank them for the work they have done. To all of the ASB kids out there, I know how difficult it is to balance all of the things in your hectic life, especially with Homecoming in the mix. You did a fantastic job this year and you should be proud of yourselves.

Parents, thank you for helping chaperone at the dance. Your support is always greatly appreciated.

Although the past couple of weeks were amazing and spectacular, there are still things that we can improve on as a school. There is no reason why candy should be flying from the bleachers onto the gymnasium floor during the middle of an assembly. It is plain disrespectful when one of your fellow peers is interrupted during the middle of a performance that they spent hours preparing for. Also, the booing of the freshmen at the assembly? That is not necessary.

Do what is right, when it is right, because it is right. No excuses.

Even though Homecoming is over, there are still lots of events in November. There is the Veterans’ Day Tribute Assembly, Macho Volleyball, Jam Session, the canned food drive PPP, and more. Yes, it’s going to be another eventful month.

As we head into the chilly winter months, please remember that it is also a time of need for many people. Times are tough and have impacted numerous families in the community. We need to keep that in mind and continue to be caring and respectful towards those around us.

The canned food drive is coming up shortly and it is a chance for our school to give back to the community. A chance to show that we care about those around us. A chance to care for others.

I saw the excitement during Homecoming. If we had that same enthusiasm and excitement for events such as the canned food drive, it would be one heck of a school year.

Lastly, if you have any comments, questions or concerns, feel free to talk to anyone of us in ASB. Or leave us a note on Facebook or on our Big 6 office door.

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One month down and nine more to go. I do have to admit that it has been a pretty smooth start to the school year.

First, I hoped you all enjoyed listening to Stu Cabe speak as much as I did. I think he helped bring attention to the importance of doing the right thing and how it affects the school climate. Each one of us has the responsibility to contribute to the school in a positive way. Don’t look at your neighbor and expect them to take action; take it upon yourself to make a change in the school atmosphere.

Second, ASB has had a lot going on. Shortly after the year began, we welcomed the newly elected freshman class officers. A couple of weeks ago, we had our retreat, and I can honestly tell you that this year’s ASB members are amazing people who deeply care about the school. But we have some events coming up that you should circle on your calendars. The fall activities assembly is this Friday, Oct. 7 and remember to wear your class colors.

Alright, here is the announcement you’ve been waiting to hear (if you have not already heard): this year’s homecoming theme is Road Trip. Seniors are Las Vegas, Juniors are New Orleans, Sophomores are California, and Freshmen are Texas. If you don’t know how to dress up for those themes, don’t worry. We’ll have a fashion show later on this month highlighting the various themes. As of now, spirit days have not yet been decided, and we are still taking suggestions. There are many other events happening that week such as coronation, the assembly, the football game, and the dance, but we’ll let you know more about those things as homecoming week approaches.

These types of events are a lot of work and require a lot of involvement from a lot of people. During homecoming week, be spirited and energetic, and also be supportive of each other and caring for each other. It’s going to be a lot of fun for everybody.

I also encourage you to get involved in activities and clubs if you have not already done so. Some clubs have just started up, and it’s the perfect opportunity to try something new.

That’s all I have for now until HBN is up and running. There will be video announcements from Big 6, and we will let you know what we are up to. If you have any questions or comments, never hesitate to do share them with us.

In the meantime, be the big elephant. Be nice.

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Ready or not, the new school year is already here. I hope you all had a wonderful summer and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine.

Like many of you, I’m very excited for the upcoming school year because of all the things we can accomplish together to make it fun.

First, I’d like to welcome the class of 2015 to MTHS. Make sure to stay on top of your schoolwork and get involved in extracurricular activities. One way you can get involved is to run for freshman class ASB. Those petitions are now available. I’m sure it’ll be worth your time.

Next, I’d like to invite everyone to attend a fall sporting event. There is something going on nearly every day on the football field, soccer pitch, tennis court, etc.

Check out page 12 of The Hawkeye for those dates, times and locations, and go support your fellow student-athletes.

And plus, the weather is going to be splendid for the rest of this week. Why spend your time inside during 80 degree weather?

As I said before, this school year is going to be a great one. There will be two assemblies in September and Big 6 is also working on planning a special event. Hopefully, things will work out.

Needless to say, September will be a busy month (honestly, every month will be full of events). Picture day is coming up on Sept. 9. The parking auction for juniors and seniors is on Sept. 15. For parents, curriculum night is on Sept. 29.

Our ASB is ready for the upcoming school year. We’re motivated to make Terrace the best place that it can be so that everyone can get along with each other, have an enjoyable learning experience, and have some fun along the way.

My personal mantra is “work hard, play hard” and I hope that is something that we can all try to do this year.

You might be wondering: how are we going to do that?

Well, it is going to start with the little things. Something like meeting someone new and making them feel welcome can go a long way.

Strive to make every day a great day and as a result, it’ll be a great year for all of us. It’s a new chance to accomplish your goals and put the past in the past.

Lastly, we have a Facebook page up and running.

Check out “Mountlake Terrace ASB” and send us a friend request. See you later!

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On one hand, I do sympathize with this perspective as I realize that there are topics that can be tough for young women to talk about with a male authority figure. With that in mind, I wanted to remind everyone, both males and females in our school, that a great resource for you when having problems that you need help with is your counselor.

We have five great counselors here in Ms. Petterson, Ms. Egger, Ms. Ummel, Ms. Mosholder, and Ms. Salvatore. They are skilled, caring and very good at what they do. Please don’t hesitate to seek out your counselor for assistance.

Bullying and harassment.

Contrary to the opinion of Hawkeye, our school is not free from this sort of behavior. We are paying a lot of attention to it as a school because it is an incredibly important issue and one that requires us all to take a stand and be a part of the solution.

I wish I could say that we don’t have to deal with this kind of behavior. We do. MTHS is not free from students who choose to engage in behaviors that are hurtful to others. This is why we are placing so much emphasis on it. Activities like our guest speaker who reminded us about the great power in simply being nice to each other, Mix It Up activities at lunch, and school-wide viewing of the video “Bullied” give this issue the importance and emphasis that it deserves.

Creating a school culture where this kind of behavior is not tolerated takes work and it is work that is worth doing.

Finally, thanks to everyone for a great Homecoming Week. From the dress up days to the great assembly on Thursday to the dance Friday night, it was fun and exciting week.

I want to thank Stew and ASB for coordinating the week, and I want to thank all of us for such amazing school spirit and positive energy.

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That’s what made this last assembly such an amazing experience. First, Stu Cabe was a great speaker. He was funny, engaging and connected to us all in a pretty cool way. Not unlike other speakers we have had, but what set him apart was the simplicity of his message. Be nice. That was it. True, there were stories about big elephants and little elephants, but in the end his message was simple and to the point—be nice.

How hard can that be? Not very when you think about it for a minute. And for me, that is one of the things that I think sets our school apart from others. We are nice to each other. When people learn what I do for my job, the next question I get asked is often the same—how are the kids at your school? And my answer is the same—our students are some of the nicest students I have every worked with. I’ve been in several schools in my 23 years as a teacher and administrator, and by far, our school shines when it comes to how nice we are to each other.

We do have our fair share of students who need to be reminded of the message we heard the in the assembly—and we had to deal with someone who felt it was funny to shine a laser into the eyes of a guest in our school. But even in that moment, when Stu called out the person who had done this, I was proud of our response as a school.

It was pretty clear to the person who did it that it was not cool and we showed in that moment who we really are as a school community.

There is more work to do.

We deal with students daily who need to be reminded of the simple message.

Be nice.

Imagine what our school would be like if everyone in our school did this one thing. It’s worth trying and the worst thing that can happen is that we have school community where everyone treats each other with kindness.

I can live with that.

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First, welcome to our new staff members. Mr. Schurke, our new Assistant Principal comes to us from Ingraham High School in Seattle where he was a Science and Aerospace Engineering Teacher. Ms. Marty, our new Learning Support Teacher, last worked at Martha Lake Elementary School. Ms. Becker, our new Attendance Secretary, joins us after working as a substitute secretary throughout our district as well as working as a nurse at Children’s Hospital. We’ll also be adding a new English Teacher very soon. We are so excited to have these new staff members join our school.

Second, I wanted to share with you some of the new things that happened here at MTHS over the summer. First, our whole building now has new carpet. After 20 years, it was time and we are really fortunate that the district was able to find the resources to replace our badly worn and stained carpet. One of the things we all need to do is help maintain our new carpet by not eating or drinking in classrooms. Bottled water is fine, but other drinks and all foods need to stay in the Hub. Our building also got a fresh coat of paint over the summer. All the walls were washed and repainted. Finally, there has been extensive work done to help improve our heating and ventilation system. Hopefully this will help reduce the number of rooms that are really hot or really cold depending on the time of the year.

With all the work that has been done to help make our school one that looks good, we need to do all we can to keep it that way. This is our home for 7 hours or more every day of the school year. I want us all to treat our building well and help maintain it so we can continue to have a facility to be proud of.

Finally, I share this message every year but it bears repeating. The start of each school year is a chance to do it over again. A chance to have a fresh start. Last year is in the books and the new year that lays ahead of you remains wide open to make it whatever you want it to be. If school was hard for you last year or you did not pass some or all of your classes, make it different this year. Attend your classes. Turn in your homework. Ask for help if you don’t understand something. Resolve to do better in school. Get involved. Go out for a sport. Join a club. Find something to do that gives you a reason to be here and to be connected to your school in a positive way. Find out what you need to do to get into college. Apply for scholarships. Make this school year a great one.

Welcome back and I hope each of you has a great start to the new school year!

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This whole dance issue is nothing new.  Flashback about 28 years.  When I was in high school our dancing could best be described in one of two ways– fast dancing, which resembled shaking and writhing on the dance floor as if we had walked through a room filled with spider webs.  And, slow dancing, which was nothing more than hugging and moving feet slowly to the rhythm of the song.  It was our slow dancing that got us in trouble.  We had a rule that there needed to be at least a couple of inches of space between bodies during slow dances.  Our Assistant Principal, Mr. Beasley, was the self-appointed dance czar.  He came to all of our dances and actually carried a ruler with him to make sure there were enough inches of space between couples as they danced.  We survived this and somehow managed to have a good time at our dances, in spite of our belief that the adults in the school were bent on ruining our dances.

“But you just don’t understand.  This is how we dance.”  I get that this is the style of dancing today but keep in mind that we are not a dance club in Seattle.  We are a public high school and we do have a standard that we need to set and maintain that is different from the standards at clubs.  I got an email last week from Hawkeye wanting to confirm that dances for the remainder of the year had been cancelled.  That’s quite a rumor.  I told Hawkeye and I will write it here as well—we are considering all options with regard to dances and honestly, one of the options is to simply not have them.  That’s a pretty extreme option and one that I’m not too fond of.  But we need to do something to address the behavior at dances.  I’d prefer that ASB and our student body work together to set acceptable standards of behavior for dances.  I’d much rather have dances than not have them.  Hopefully, we can work together to address this issue and continue to have dances.

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One: To those anonymous students who consistently put their red lunch trays in the garbage cans, please stop.  We have carts where they go when you are done eating lunch.

Two: Do your homework and turn it in when it is due.  I realize this sounds like a no-brainer, but among the reasons that students don’t do well in school, not doing daily work and/or not turning it in are major reasons.

Three: Attend your classes each day.  Another simple request, I know.  But, just like not doing homework will affect your grade negatively, so will not going to class at all.  Your teachers will know you care if you come to class each day.

Four: Treat each other with kindness and respect.  There has been much attention paid this year to the topic of bullying and harassment.  The fact is this: we all need each other from time to time.  We all need someone to smile at us or say “hello” when we’re having a bad day.  It doesn’t cost anything, it won’t hurt anyone and you never know the impact that these simple gestures of kindness will have on others.

Five: Find a way to be involved in our school.  Join a club, go out for a sport, try out for the play, and write a letter to the Hawkeye.  Students who are involved and connected to their school, get better grades and report having a much better school experience.

Six: Be safe this Holiday Season and beyond.  Every one of us is an important person to many people.  Parents, grandparents, friends, teachers.  We all have an incredibly large sphere of influence—those people whose lives we impact simply by the relationships we have with them.  Please keep that in mind when you are making choices about activities to participate in with your friends.  Do not do anything that puts you or your friends in a situation that could turn out badly.

I want to wish each and every one of you a safe and happy holiday season.  Like we used to say to each other in grade school, see you next year!

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