S'More Community News - NPHS

We want to thank the school community for their support in our new high school administration. As we are moving forward into the school year, one of the points of emphasis we have implemented to help improve school culture and the learning environment is a cell phone policy.

Prior to school beginning, Mr. Spotanski sent out communications giving students and parents notification of the policy. The goal of the policy is to help establish positive relationships and provide a safe and collaborative learning environment for all. We are pleased to say that we are noticing positive trends as we continue to move forward and would like to thank everyone for their efforts.

Thanks!

JB

Seniors are in the midst of senior sessions with the counselors. All things about senior year are being discussed: Scholarships, college applications, FASFA, and career options.

Early graduation applications were emailed to students, and printed copies are available in the counselor's office. Completed applications are due Oct.1.

Parent Teacher Conferences are on Sept 15th. Information will be presented on FAFSA planning, Dual Credit, Kearney Bound, and NPHS Internship Program.

Click here to see more resources from the library!

9th Grade Algebra is busy right now learning our class routines, conquering equations and inequalities, and learning that math can be fun! Kids can access the daily agenda and assigned work through their google classroom account. Students will spend a good amount of time learning to work together with their classmates, learning how to keep themselves organized with getting work turned in, and learning that "effort is everything."

My name is Joy DeVoe, one of two art teachers at NPHS. I am married to my husband, Robert, and we have a little girl named Evelyn. I grew up in North Platte and attended NPHS, and I love teaching in the classroom where I had so many formative experiences.

This is my 10th year teaching art, and I believe I have the best job ever. This term I have two Art 1 classes and a Painting class, but I also teach Art 2, Drawing 1 & 2, and Art History 1 & 2. I love teaching and getting to see students be creative and get a hands-on, “mess” break during their school day. My favorite thing about my job is observing diverse groups of students learn from each other, be creative together (regardless of their differences), and even form friendships. I learn a lot from my students as well.

The Art Department at NPHS always has a lot happening! Mrs. Mason and myself will be hosting a fun art display soon, which is open to all NPHS students. Our art students get to display their work each term in the hallways, but we like to see the creativity the rest of the school has to offer as well. Be on the lookout for an announcement! We also host a big competitive art show in March, which is open to area schools as well as NPHS students. We’re on the west end of the 1st floor…come check us out! Also follow us on Instagram @nphsartdept.

My name is Ashley Werkmeister, aka Mrs. Werk, and I have the privilege of being the Advanced Composition and Intro to Literature teacher. I am a proud NPHS graduate as well as a proud UNK graduate where I have received multiple post grad degrees in English, History, and Literature. School has kept me very busy along with raising four wonderful children-- two of which are currently students in the NPPSD.

Advanced Composition is offered as a dual credit course through MPCC. Students who take it for dual credit receive 6 credit hours for English upon completion. Advanced Lit & Comp/ Intro to Lit, is also a dual credit course that provides another opportunity of earning 3 college credits for English. I highly recommend students check them out no matter what path they choose after high school.

Advanced Comp provides students the opportunity to learn a variety of ways to write collegiately with a chance to learn various organizational writing methods and styles. This course shows how to adapt an organizational method to give paper topics the chance to reach full potential. Right now, students are preparing to learn how to create an annotated bibliography, abstracts, assess their audience, create and conduct interviews, conduct primary and secondary research, and so much more. Understanding writing styles, organization, formats, etc., also set students up for success in writing papers for any college course. The second term of Advanced Comp allows students to use everything they learned in the first term and apply it to literary theory and analysis. Students will read and analyze a wide variety of texts by using multiple literary lenses and critical thinking. Intro to Lit has an emphasis on world literature, so students are able to read novels from various countries and cultures around the world and use literary theory and analysis to focus on the impact that historical events have on literature.

Video Production

Currently I am taking part in the Art/Act: Educate Fellowship at UNL sponsored by The David Brower Center. Through this program we have been developing a project based learning unit for our video production classes at NPHS. The culmination of this unit will be a 20 minute student documentary that will air at the Brower Center in Berkley, California this Spring! Our administration would also like to hold a public screening at the high school to highlight this student work.

One issue our students will be looking at is the increase in competition between agriculture and urban areas for water. The subject of this documentary will be the 1923 South Platte River Compact and Nebraska’s plan to utilize Article VI to build the Perkins County Canal. This is the canal project that caused quite a stir when governor Ricketts announced that Nebraska would execute the 99 year old compact to build a canal in Colorado using land purchase and/or eminent domain to take water to Nebraska as outlined in the old water treaty.

This project is a community engagement project that will allow our students to interview and work with various people in our community like farmers, water experts, and even politicians. Our video students will be receiving support from industry professionals as they find their voice and craft their own documentary on the subject. Video Production I students will begin gathering b-roll of the South Platte River this week.

More information on the Art/Act: Educate Fellowship can be found at

artacteducate.org.

Digital Media

This term in digital media students are learning the basics of different types of digital media. Students spent the first weeks obtaining a good fundamental knowledge of Adobe Photoshop through various photo manipulation projects. Students have completed various projects so far, and I always enjoy the different points of view and range of creativity found in the projects. Students are just finishing up and preparing for a unit of video editing.

In World History news:

Students just finished the Medieval Period unit and are now moving on to the Renaissance, Reformation, & Exploration unit. One of the biggest class projects will take place in this unit, in what I call, The Renaissance Bulletin Board Project.

•Objective: The class will create a bulletin board made up of Renaissance Art, Reformation, and Exploration material that is connected to a theme.

•The class will be split up into two groups. Each group will be responsible for the following:

•Electing a group coordinator who is in charge of the project

•As a group, decide on a theme (can be ANYTHING)

•EBay, Back to the Future, Olympics, The Bachelorette, etc.

•The most important aspect of this project is that you connect your theme with what you learned in class.

•Example: EBay theme, Leonardo is trying to sell his Mona Lisa on Ebay for $75,000,000.

Greetings from Mrs. Malmkar's room. Students in Astronomy are creating constellation models in the classroom. Using mathematical skills, scientific context and perspective, they create a visual representation of a single constellation. The provided picture is of Leo Minor. (Little Lion), containing stars of different sizes, colors, and magnitudes. Anyone can enjoy the experience of star gazing. Download the free app "Star Walk 2", which is fun for all ages!

The dual credit college biology classes are in full swing and will soon be completing labs simulating cell membrane permeability and enzymes in action.

The department wants to encourage students to look at all of the science offerings at NPHS. Please make sure you are aware of the prerequisites for these courses. Beyond the required physical science and high school biology, we offer Earth and Space Science, Forensic Science, Meteorology, Environmental Science, Astronomy, Marine Science, Chemistry, College Biology, and College Anatomy I. Additionally, students can take College Chemistry and Physics at Mid-Plains working around your NPHS schedule. If you have any questions please reach out to kmalmkar@nppsd.org

I just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I'm Jacqueline Mraz, one of the high school special education teachers. I just started my fifthteenth year teaching. I spent nine years in the North Platte school district, before venturing to Paxton Consolidated schools for five years. I am excited to be a part of the NPHS team this school year. My husband, Ryan, is a teacher in Sutherland and our two children attend school there. Rylee is a third grader and Jeremiah is a first grader. I enjoy spending time with my family, whether it be a sporting event or hanging out at home. Go Bulldogs!

Physical Education

We are having a good start to the year. The majority of the kids are dressing out (knock on wood) and participating to the best of their abilities. We are in the hypertrophy phase in the weight room and in the middle of our pre-testing phase for Foundations, as well as, weights & conditioning I & II. Things are good on the Southeast side of NPHS.

The resource department at NPHS is so excited to be working with students this year! A lot of work has gone in to planning to make sure all transitions are successful ones. Like most years, we have some changes in our “who does what” around the building. One big change is the addition of Jacquelyn Mraz to our team. Jacquelyn comes back to us from Paxton schools, having previously worked in North Platte in both our middle and high schools. We are so happy to have her back, and she will be working primarily with 10th grade this year. We’re all looking forward to a great year!

The volleyball season is in full swing! Our seniors Brooklyn Ayres, Kylee Tilford, Mickey Madison, Hallie Hamilton, Carly Purdy and Kalee Brosius have shown their Commitment, Unity and Energy as great leaders. They truly make our team better every day. We finished 4th at the First Annual Rocket Blast Off Invitational at Lincoln Northeast. The girls showed a lot of resilience and energy in our wins against Yutan and Omaha Buena Vista. With some home games coming up, we look forward to playing in front of the Boneyard and our awesome Bulldog Fans.

Senior Carly Purdy was just recognized on the AVCA All American Watchlist! She will move on to the next round in October. Carly continues to build her career here at North Platte High and we are excited to watch her in the future as a Loper at UNK next year.

NPHS Volleyball is also excited to be hosting Bulldog Kids Fun Night in the Dawghouse on September 24. It promises to be a great time for ALL PreK-5th Grade Boys and Girls. We will have games, face painting, snow cones and a pizza party. Pre Registration is appreciated so that we have plenty of pizza for everyone. You can sign up here https://forms.gle/E3FntEbmTTuMhT4g7