Solon High School

Good morning SHS families,

Welcome to spring...sort of! The next 8 weeks will no doubt, FLY by! Every season brings a unique component to the educational landscape, but this has always been one of my favorites. The warming temps, anticipation of summer break, and everything else in between makes for a fast quarter. Enjoy this month, and as always, please reach out with questions.

For ALL things Solon High School please remember to visit this page.

The statewide required testing started yesterday......so far, so good! Please be sure your 9th, 10th or 11th grader reports each day for these tests. The schedule is below if you need it again.

Congratulations to our newly accepted members of Solon High School's chapter of the National Honor Society! This spring, we are inducting 17 seniors and 30 juniors whose names are listed below. The formal Induction Ceremony will be Wednesday, April, 20th at 6:30 PM in the high school auditorium. The ceremony should last no more than an hour. Families and guests of honorees are most welcome! Refreshments will be provided by the Solon Optimist Club following the ceremony. Families of current members are also welcome as their senior leadership-service projects will be showcased in the lobby before and after the ceremony. For any questions, please contact Robert Taylor, NHS Advisor, at rtaylor@solon.k12.ia.us.

This marks six consecutive state titles for our jazz choir program and 11 state titles in the last 15 years. They’ve worked exceptionally hard to grow as musicians and represent Solon with class everywhere they go!

Reminder to Seniors that if they want to complete their silver cord requirements, all paperwork needs to be turned in to Mrs. Sutton in the Media Center by May 1st. All students interested in silver cord can check out more information here. Questions? Students can contact Mrs. Sutton by email or schedule an appointment.

Zoology students will facilitate a discussion over the book "Fuzz" by Mary Roach on Thursday, May 12th from 10:45-12:00 in the Center for the Arts lobby. For this event, we rely on members of our community to participate! Please come to listen and engage in a discussion of themes and issues from the book. Special thanks to the Solon Education Foundation for funding the purchase of multiple copies.

Books are currently available for check out at the Solon Public Library or by contacting Mrs. Posekany at the high school. Even if you don't get a chance to read the book, anyone is welcome. Feel free to reach out with any questions by email as well. dposekany@solon.k12.ia.us

Please help us create the best yearbook possible! Any of you can upload photos at any time all year long. Right now we are specifically looking for Boys Wrestling, student/staff candids and spring sports/activities photos.

Here is the 21-22 Yearbook link: https://plicbooks.com/go/6FVFG5

You all are welcome to start uploading pictures into your book at any time. We encourage adding a tag to the photo uploads before uploading, so that pictures get categorized correctly in your yearbook.

Senior Parents,

It's that time to start planning for all things graduation for your senior. There are a few things we need to start collecting from you. Please send us the following items by March 10th, 2022. If you have any questions, please let us know.

• Your student's full legal name for their diploma, including middle name
• Senior picture to be used for the yearbook and the Solon Economist Ad
• Baby ad for the yearbook if desired. Checks can be made to Solon High School. Pricing is as follows:
• 
  

⅛ page = $25.00

¼ page = $50.00

½ page = $75.00

Please send pictures to Arran Dall: adall@solon.k12.ia.us

SAVE THE DATE!

Awards Night- May 18th @ 6:30PM in the Auditorium

Seniors Last Day- May 19th.

Graduation Practice- May 20th @10:30 at Spartan Stadium

Graduation- May 22nd outside at the stadium. IF we have to move it inside, it will be in the Auditorium with 6 tickets per student/family.

It's that time of year again; we need pictures for the senior slideshow (to be shown on senior awards night). Please turn in one baby photo and any fun pictures from your elementary, middle school and high school years. Group pictures (two or more) are best. We try to present a slideshow that is a good representation of the entire class.

Digital files would be appreciated, but we can scan in pictures and will return them to you promptly. All pictures can be turned into Mrs. Leimkuehler (jleimkuehler@solon.k12.ia.us) or you can drop them off in the office. Deadline: TODAY.

We all know how calendars can get filled, so please add the following dates to your to school calendar!

April 7th, 14th, 15th (Good Friday), 21st and 28th: 1:40 Dismissal

April 9th: Empty Bowls

April 20th: NHS Induction in the auditorium @ 6:30

April 23rd and 24th: High School Play

April 26th: ICAP day 3-Details will be sent out later.

April 28th: Final conference date for SHS

April 30th: Prom

From Mike Thompson, Solon HS Counselor

Contact Information:

• Phone: (319) 624-3401 extension 1117

• Email: mithompson@solon.k12.ia.us

• Website: Solon HS Counseling

• To Schedule an appointment: calendly.com/shscounselor/meeting-with-mr-thompson

From Kathleen McKean, College and Career Transition Coordinator

Contact Information:

• Phone: (319) 624-3401 extension 1116

• Email: kmckean@solon.k12.ia.us

• To Schedule an appointment: Calendly.com/kathleenmckean

EVENTS:

ICR Future Career and College Fair: Sunday, April 3rd 12:30-3:00

Attend the largest career planning event in Eastern Iowa at the Kirkwood Hotel in Cedar Rapids. Colleges and Universities from across Iowa, and the nation, as well as apprenticeship, military and business leaders will be ready to share information. Students of all ages are encouraged to attend! More information: www.ICANsucceed.org/icrfuture

Life After High School: Planning and Paying for College and Career

April 21, 2022

06:00 PM

Register in advance for this webinar:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dHuR8VOIT6qT0zf5SxScvA

Presentation Information:

Are you thinking about going to college or taking part in an apprenticeship? Do you know how to choose the best college or training program for you? Do you have questions about how to compare your options or how to cover the education costs? Find out during a free online presentation on planning for life after high school for high school sophomores, juniors and their parents, offered by the ICAN.

There are many post-high school options available to students through education and training programs. This program engages students and parents in a discussion of the planning process for selecting career pathways and education and training programs, as well as a review of the steps to the financial aid process.

This program covers:

Career Exploration & Assessment

Academic Preparation & Requirements

Admission Process & Requirements

College/Training Program Selection

Financial Aid Process

Understanding Costs - Cost of Attendance

Scholarships Process

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL LEARNING:

What is Social/Emotional Learning?

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions. (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning)

In education, teaching SEL to students of all ages helps them to better understand their emotions, to embrace those emotions fully, and demonstrate empathy for others. These learned behaviors can then be used to help students make positive, responsible decisions; create frameworks and resources to achieve their goals, and build positive relationships with others.

In the upcoming months I will share some information about the various components of Social/Emotional Learning.

POST SECONDARY INFORMATION

Planning for your Future: ICAN Resources

Below you will find links to grade level post-secondary recommendations. You can sign-up to receive weekly/monthly alerts from ICAN.

• Freshmen

• Sophomores

• Juniors

• Seniors

• Parents

In addition to these great tips, visit the ICAN YouTube Channel and check out our video Tip of the Week. Each week ICAN releases a video tip for students preparing for life after high school. To receive the video tip each week, subscribe to the ICAN E-Alerts

Financial Aid: FAFSA

If you haven’t completed the FAFSA now is the time to do so! If you have any questions contact our Iowa College Access Network (ICAN) Representative, Lupe Hernandez. She has an office at the Kirkwood Regional Center in Coralville. To schedule a one-on-one appointment with ICAN visit www.icansucceed.org/apt

Lupe Hernandez, Student Success Advisor

Iowa College Access Network (ICAN)

Eastern Iowa Student Success Center

Direct: (319) 423-7702

ghernandez@icansucceed.org

Financial Aid: Scholarships

Mr. Thompson’s website has scholarships listed, check frequently for updates and deadlines

Last Dollar Scholarship: Click link to see NEW PROGRAMS ADDED! This scholarship pays for 100% of students’ tuition at Kirkwood in many high demand careers in Industrial Technology, Healthcare,Information Technology and now Social Sciences. This scholarship is also offered at other community colleges in Iowa.

No separate application required, no family income or grade requirement, just complete the FAFSA!

COLLEGE CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES IN HIGH SCHOOL

2022 - 2023 Kirkwood College Credit Opportunities

Kirkwood Career Academy Registration:

The initial deadline for academy registration has passed, however, there are still spaces available in several academies. If you are interested in an academy, contact me immediately kmckean@solon.k12.ia.us

Kirkwood Individual Courses (non Academy classes):

Fall Registration

Kirkwood Registration for Individual Courses is now open! If you are selected in Powerschool that you are taking Comp I or any other college class next year, you now need to register for the class in the Kirkwood Dual Enroll system. You will register for Fall semester now, the registration for Spring (Comp II and others) will be open in November.

Priority deadline for Fall is April 8th, to make sure you get a spot in the section you want, register early! Registration must be completed by the end of the school year, May 26. You may register on your own, an appointment with me is not required, just use this link:

Dual Enroll Instructions After logging in select 2022FA - Alternative Credit and then search for your class and register.

I'm happy to help with registration, you can schedule an appointment https://calendly.com/kathleenmckean or send me an email with questions.

Summer Registration

There are a limited number of summer classes available, registration is now open! You can register on your own, an appointment with me is not required.

Summer Flier

Dual Enroll Instructions After logging in select 2022 Summer - Alternative credit to search for the available courses

Please note the absolute deadline for summer registration is Friday, April 8th at 10:00 am

These classes, especially Nurse Aide, fill quickly so register ASAP! If you need help registering please stop in or schedule an appointment https://calendly.com/kathleenmckean

SOLON HS COUNSELING WEBSITE

Mr. Thompson is continuing to update his website. You can access the High School Website here.

Summer will be here before we know it! Make sure you have the following dates down if you plan on taking a vacation when nothing is going on at SHS. Dead week this summer is July 23rd-July 31st, 2022. All district facilities will be closed and no practices/open gyms/anything will be allowed that week. Also, as a reminder the district calendars can be found HERE. The 2023/2024 school calendar is already published there as well.

For all things activity related, please use this link to find schedules, locations, dates and times. Any questions can be directed to Casey Hack, district Activities Director. chack@solon.k12.ia.us

Thanks!

Email: zwigle@solon.k12.ia.us
Location: 600 West 5th Street, Solon, IA, USA
Phone: 319-624-3401
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SolonHighSchool/
Twitter: @wiglezac