April 2023

This newsletter is to provide an insight to what is happening in our High School classes each month. To introduce staff and to provide their background as well in hopes to become more familiar with everyone in our Panther Family!

*Any/All Athletic Information can be found at https://www.mndcty.k12.mo.us/documents/athletics/257158

or on our APP under Athletic Newsletter

1. What are your favorite hobbies or things you like to do during free time?

I seem to always find myself doing projects at home from mechanic things to woodworking stuff. I always enjoy working on the farm and spending time outside. My free time will soon be changing as we are having a baby boy within the next 6 weeks.

2. What are some activites you did over the summer?

Last summer I spent time working for John Zeliff on his farm. I also spent time over on my dad’s farm.

3. How many years total have you been in education and years at Mound City?

I have been teaching for 7 years and this is my 5th year at Mound City.

4. What High School did you attend?

HTRS - Humboldt, Ne

5. What college degrees have you earned and from what university?

Midland University - I have a bachelors in math along with a bachelors in education and an endorsement in coaching.

6. What are some fun and interesting things happening in your classroom right now?

Towards the end of the month most of my classes will begin to work on projects that have to deal with their life outside of school and how math relates to them. We will do projects that deal with mortgages, car loans, investing, and a couple classes go over a few tax things.

April

Algebra 1 - We will work on different functions along with what the graph of different functions looks like. We will also begin studying for the EOC.

Algebra 2 - We are still working on trigonometric functions and using identities to solve equations.

Pre/Calc Trig - We will be diving deeper into derivatives and start learning properties of derivatives. We will then briefly cover integrals.

Business Skills: The students have been learning about soft skills. They each created a soft skill poster using canva.com. The students are learning how to fill out job applications. They will be completing a unit on Dressing For Success. This month they will also participate in mock interviews.

Dual Credit Computers and Information Systems: Students are working on several different powerpoint assignments. PowerPoint is a presentation software used to create visually based material for an audience to easily read and understand. They are learning different formatting features and learning design tips for a professional looking PowerPoint Presentation.

Personal Finance: The class is learning about The Role of Insurance. This unit breaks down the purpose of insurance, explains how insurance works, shows how insurance protects your assets, and highlights the eight basic types of insurance everyone needs to have in place.

FBLA: State contest will be held in Springfield, Mo the week of April 16th. Five members will be competing at the state contest.

Biology: Students will be learning about human genetic disorders (dominant and recessive disorders) and how to interpret data from pedigrees with these traits. Students will be learning how to trace traits from generation to generation, making family pedigrees.

Integrated Science: Students are beginning to learn about the periodic table, trends and will be making their own unique periodic table.

Chemistry: Students will continue to use chemical equations and apply their knowledge of properly naming compounds and balancing reactions. We will begin learning about the mole and limiting reactants, and how to determine how much of each reactant is used in a reaction.

Anatomy: Students have completed their sheep brain dissection. Over the next few weeks, students will do their beef eye and sheep heart dissections. We will then begin our cat dissections.

In High School Forensics Class is currently finishing up our unit on drugs. We have learned the different types, the class they fit in to (Illicit, Over the Counter, Etc.), and the effects they have on the human body. To finish up the school year we will be learned about infamous serial killers.

Freshmen are starting their meats and poultry unit that will involve a project on different cuts of meat. Child development will be doing multiple observations on the lower elementary this month along with implementing their activities. 7th grade will be having their first cooking competition! Housing is working on their house renovation project.

Modern America history is focusing on the Cold War and Vietnam War!

Why do we have a positive school culture? All of my classes are researching this topic for their quarter four project. They have been busy conducting interviews, transcribing, and gathering additional information through online research. They will synthesize the information and write their research papers. They will also complete a one pager illustrating what they've learned in a more creative way.

We are also looking at character development and symbolism in different texts. My sophomores are working hard reviewing and preparing for their EOC exam the first week of May.

As it is for everyone, the end of the year is hectic for the Social Studies Department. World History is nearing the end of its discussion of World War II as we talk about the Island Hopping Campaign and dropping of the Atomic Bombs in the Pacific Theater. The econ students are learning about economic forces that shaped the country during the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Gilded Age eras while intermittently taking time to learn about economics in the world of business through the Capitalism Lab simulator. Government is moving at a rapid pace as we approach the end of the school year. Currently we are learning about how the three branches of government interact with one another and how that dynamic plays out in the function of our government.

Elementary art

Kindergarten is learning about drawing people, specifically themselves! They are finishing up self-portraits this week and will move on to a project that involves using colors to create a chameleon. First grade is learning about Claude Monet and the paintings of his water lilies. They will be making 3-D lilies that sit on colorful lily pads. 2nd graders are also creating self-portraits with a twist. They will be based off of the book Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. 4th graders are learning about vikings and longships. They will be using watercolors to create the water but we are trying out 3 different techniques to apply the watercolor paint.

Junior high art

5th graders are creating their own business logos! They have gone through different stages of what it would be like for a business to create a logo. They are presenting their logos to classmates this week to get feedback and suggestions. After everyone has presented they will start on their final logo design. 6th graders are starting a collage and will be using mixed-media to create nature prints out of styrofoam and other materials. 8th graders just finished up printmaking with linoleum and are moving into creating complex patterns with repetition.

High school art

High school classes just finished a 4 stage unit on drawing eyes which went from drawing simple eyes with little detail to drawing a complex human eye and eventually an animal eye with texture. They are now moving into polymer clay pieces. For this, they are creating an armature (structure) that they will place clay over. The armature will hold everything together and they are learning that it is just as important as the detail that they put into the clay that will coat it.

Good Morning,

We are almost there! The month of April is a very busy one for our HS students and staff. We have multiple organizations competing at the state level: FBLA April 16th & 17th, FFA April 19th-21st, and State Trap Shooting on April 29th We have FFA Barnwarming coming up on April 12th. Mrs. Ungles will be taking her Anatomy class on a Field trip as well on April 19th. We will be celebrating our students who scored Proficient or Advanced on last years EOC on April 26th by going to the movies and Ax throwing in the afternoon. We will also be kicking off our EOC testing week (May 1st-5th) on April 28th by grilling hamburgers/hotdogs along with staff providing side dishes for our students during lunch. If you are interested in helping out with any of this please contact my office. Very exciting times for our building. We are getting into the middle of 4th quarter, I encourage all parents to check in on your student's grades. Now is the time for intervention if needed. If you have questions please reach out to our teachers. We are all in this together! Please do not hesitate to call my office, email me, or to schedule an appointment if you have problems or questions. Go Panthers!

Opening Minds, Educating Lifelong Learners!

Email: jake.shipman@mndcty.org
Website: https://www.mndcty.k12.mo.us/
Location: 708 Nebraska Street, Mound City, MO, USA
Phone: (660)442-5429
Facebook: facebook.com/MoundCityR-2
Twitter: @MC_Panthers