
November Newsletter
Olive Branch High School
Teacher of the Month
Congratulations to our October Teacher of the Month, Christina Magnifico Berkowitz. This is her 8th year teaching American Literature at OBHS. She is an OBHS alumni and shares that she is so blessed to have spent much of her teaching career here. Her passion has always been teaching and she is grateful for the young adults she gets to spend daily time with. Berkowitz is also thankful for a supportive husband and three wonderful children. "Life is great when you are surrounded with the love and kindness that is found here at OBHS," stated Berkowitz.
School Picture Day
Senior Meeting--Cap/Gown Orders
FAFSA DAY
Dual Enrollment Day
Please email Lindsey Chunn at lindsey.chunn@dcsms.org if you have any questions.
ASVAB
ASVAB = Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery
*A Multiple choice test used by recruiters to determine qualification/job placement in the military.
OBHS will be administering the ASVAB on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 in the multipurpose room. Any interested 10th-12th grade student may sign up in the guidance office.
State Testing Updates
Our final Case 21 tests for this semester are coming up! These tests occur during regular class time and are taken on student laptops.
English 9 and English 10 (year-long) will test on November 16 & 17
Algebra (year-long) will test on November 19.
The MAAP test window for the End of Course tests in Algebra, Biology, English 10 and US History opens on November 29, 2021. In planning the test dates for OBHS, we have tried to give teachers the maximum amount of time teaching the subject material while still giving us time to test and give a few makeups before the end of the semester. The state has given us a little extra time this year in case a student is quarantined, but we have made a schedule that we think will accommodate those extra days. Also, be aware that there is NO COVID WAIVER this year. All students must meet graduation requirements which include these End of Course tests.
Biology (Usery & Matthews): December 3
English 10 (Clark, Savage & Talley): December 7 and December 9
US History (Craddock & Lambert): December 8
Algebra (Burse & Lipsey): December 10All of the tests are timed this year, 180 minutes. English has a second part for writing that is 75 minutes. All tests will be conducted on student laptops. We will need your help making sure that those come to school charged on test day!
If you have any questions, please email me amanda.rhymer@dcsms.org
OBHS CONNECT
OBHS Connect is a social group that helps to provide a place for ALL students to connect and form healthy relationships with each other. OBHS Connect provides weekly opportunities for students as well as any staff to hang out and get to know each other outside of the classroom environment. The group is funded by donations and fundraisers so that our students do not have to pay a fee to participate. Every student should have a place to feel safe and connect with others at school. There are no academic or skill requirements to join. The one and only requirement is that you are kind and respectful to everyone in the group.
We meet once a month to review the upcoming months events. Some examples of events that OBHS Connect hosts would be movie nights, trivia or game night, volunteer or help with ARC programs, ice cream socials, karaoke dance parties, etc.
The other thing OBHS Connect strives to do is to help educate our peers and adults in our school, home, and community, so that we all can be more aware of different abled people The more we know, the more we understand, and the more we can accept others and ourselves. Our mission is love first and form strong relationships. Together we can change the world.
See Mrs. Jones or Mrs. Harris in Room B8 to join. Membership is ALWAYS open. Sign-ups for events are found on the table outside Room B8.
Career Exploration
Career exploration is the process of researching, evaluating, and learning about work opportunities and how students can pursue the careers of their choice. Career exploration work has started at OBHS with students exploring their Academic Career Plan through a program called Major Clarity(MC). Major Clarity is an academic planning platform that allows students the opportunity to 'test drive' career paths through short videos and activities. Students can complete personality/learning style assessments and are provided careers based on compatibility. Counselors have already visited Seniors and Juniors in English this semester to guide them through the exploring careers process, planning future classes, exploring colleges/scholarships, and building their career plans. Students were provided a copy of their transcript during this lesson. Sophomore and Freshmen visits are upcoming in a few weeks.
Students are welcome to review their Academic Career Plans to explore careers, colleges, and scholarship opportunities at anytime. Log into www.clever.com/in/desoto, both User/Password is the student's lunch number.
Email Angela Burkes at angela.burkes@dcsms.org if you have any questions about your child's Academic Career Plan.
Olive Branch High School
Email: angela.burkes@dcsms.org
Website: https://obh.desotocountyschools.org/
Location: 9366 East Sandidge Road, Olive Branch, MS, USA
Phone: 662.893.3344
Facebook: facebook.com/OBPride
Twitter: @OBHSQuistors