
S'More Community News - NPHS

12-2-2022
Administrators' Article
John Byrn
December 2 is National Special Education Day: National Special Education Day recognizes changes in federal legislation that let to the nation’s first federal special education law December 2, 1975. Show your support by thanking the advocates working towards supporting and guiding students and families in need of special education.
NPHS finished our Unified Bowling season at districts this week. We had nearly 70 students and 3 coaches participate in Unified Bowling this season. Please take time to thank everyone involved for their efforts.
There a little more than 2 weeks left in the term. Winter activities are heating up with One Act, wrestling, basketball and swimming/diving. Come and check it out.
Counselors' Corner
Susan Horne
A representative from MPCC will be in the counseling office the week of December 12th to help students apply and register for spring semester classes.
Seniors, keep working on those local scholarship applications! They are due to Ms. Schumacher in the counseling office by December 16th.
Hey Seniors!! Do you want a free Senior t-shirt?? Do you want the chance to win breakfast for your Bulldog Time?? Do you want the chance to win a $50 gift card?? Then you need to Complete the Senior Punch Card! Easy tasks such as completing your FAFSA, ordering your cap & gown, completing a scholarship application; these things need to be done anyway, so why not be rewarded for doing them? Pick up a punch card in the counselors' office and return it to the counseling office by December 16th in order to win! Don't forget those Local Scholarships are due by December 16th also!
Jami Tatman
Classroom Content
Brandon Petersen
What a fast term this has been. I cannot believe we are officially in the holiday season! I teach 4 class this term (Graphic Design, Programming 2, Web Design 1, and Computer Apps 2). I think we have been learning a lot this semester, and having a little fun at the same time.
Graphic Design Students have been learning about the design process, composition, and applying these concepts with the use of Adobe Photoshop. We have created signage for our building with infographic floor plans, individual nametags for teacher doors, printed posters of photographic images taken by NPHS students, and made sure they all follow the official NPPSD branding guidelines. This is in addition to our actual curriculum where we have made logos, business stationery, and even a throwback graphic celebrating the radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds”. We look forward to learning about infographics, layout design, making movie posters, photo manipulations, and advanced techniques like motion graphics and animation as we finish off the term. Programming 2 class has bene learning about software development processes and putting together a variety of games. When reviewing our Python programming we were able to create a text adventure similar to classic games like Colossal Cave Adventure. We then began using the Construct 3 game engine to create 2D games like Pong, Adventure, and a 2D “demake” of Rocket League. As we get to the later part of the year, we are learning how to create with Unreal Engine. This is an industry-recognized game engine that is used in the cinema industry, virtual reality, augmented reality, and 3D gaming
environments. Students will create a 3D world that will simulate a virtual escape room.
Web Design students are learning about html and css. Students have used web page structures to make pages for poetry and recipes. We have even published our recipe pages to be viewed online! Students will be learning how to create hyperlinks, add graphics and multimedia components, and even code their page so the layout adjusts depending on the size of the screen it is being viewed on. Computer Apps 2 has been learning advanced features of word processing using Microsoft Office. We then took a break from computing while learning ethics in data collection from the tech industry. We then learned about content creation, and the variety of resources that can be used to create publications that work on a variety of screens and social media platforms. Still on our agenda, we will be learning about advanced spreadsheet function, database setup and management, and multiapplication interaction that allows data to be shared across many different programs. I appreciate you taking the time to learn more about what Is happening in my classes, and I hope you all have a happy holiday season! Take care!
Henry Eggert
Kurt Altig
Hello Bulldogs Country!
Christmas Break and the end of the semester are fast approaching. While listening to epic Christmas Music, the Physical science students have been working hard learning about Atoms and the Periodic Table. Atomic Structure, Number, and Mass are the names of our games. They are working like Christmas Elves to finish the semester strong. Have a Happy Holidays Everyone!!
Amy McBeain
Hi All, Amy McBeain reporting from the Special Education Department. I teach Special Education Life Skills and Functional Academics. My personal goal is to make sure that I am preparing my students for the real world so they can live, work and participate in the community as independently as possible. We are fast approaching Inclusive Schools week which is held December 5-9. This is an annual event held to celebrate the commitment of students, parents, administrators, paraeducators, parents and guardians and the community in their work towards making schools inclusive for all. The Inclusive schools movement is about making everyone feel welcomed and accepted no matter their differences. Ways that you and your family could participate in inclusive schools week are; eat lunch with someone who is outside of your social circle, help students with special needs in a class, research about autism, down syndrome or another disability, learn about traditions of another culture, ask how you can join a unified sport at school or search North Platte Buddy Ball on Facebook and find out how you can become a teammate. December 2nd we also celebrate National Special Education Day so thank a Special Education Teacher, Speech Pathologist, Paraeducator, Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, School Psychologist or Special Education Administrator for all that they do.
Kimberly Boyer
“Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.”—William Shakespeare (Romeo & Juliet).
Freshmen English students are “wisely and slow(ly)” navigating their way through the love,
hate, humor, and tragedy of Romeo & Juliet. As a final semester project, students will begin exploring other historical settings where Romeo and Juliet could be staged. Although this is my first year as a 9th English teacher at North Platte High School, this is not my first time teaching
Shakespeare. I have taught freshmen English for fifteen years, and Shakespeare is one of my
favorite dramas to teach. It is exciting to see students realize that they can relate to many of
the characters and themes in Shakespeare’s plays. If you were to stop by my room, don’t be
surprised to see me in front of the students reciting lines from the play! My speech and drama background serves me well.
Bryan Hill
"Hello, I'm Bryan Hill, World Language teacher at North Platte High School. I teach three sections of Spanish 1 this semester. This is my first year teaching and my first year with the North Platte Public School District. In my classes we have gone quite far from where we started the course. We are currently working on talking about what we like to do in our free time, as well as, reading a short Spanish novel about the adventures of an 8 and a half year old girl as she travels to Mexico with her mother. Spanish 1 is coming to a close within the next few weeks, as the semester ends here soon, but the holidays will be here before we know it. December is learning a foreign language month and in the spirit of learning a new language, here's how to say 'Merry Christmas' in a few different languages: Feliz Navidad (Spanish), Joyeux Noel (French), Frohe Weihnachten (German), and Buon Natale (Italian)"
Tyson Hammond
Lady Bulldog Basketball
Our season is off and running! We are very excited about the team we have this year!
We have a lot of kids that are excited to play basketball and represent their school/community in a positive way! We will have a very young team that will be working to grow and improve throughout the season. Our goal is always to be the best team we can be by the time we get to District play.
We are excited to see our growth and improvement throughout the season. Make sure to get out to the Dawg House and Pound this season to see our team play!
David Cooper
All about me
I have numerous years of experience in the field of mathematics and completed a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with endorsements in business administration, bachelor’s degree in education, three masters degrees, one in mathematics education and another in educational technology and my last one in 7 – 12 administration. I earned all of those degrees from Chadron State College. I have also completed an ED.S in Educational Leadership from the University of Wyoming
I currently work in the mathematics department at North Platte High School. I have an extensive background in computer science and informational technology. Over the last twenty-five years I have created numerous pieces of software that have been utilized by surrounding schools and organizations to organize and schedule events. In the many years that I have taught with North Platte Public Schools I have taught every mathematics course that has been offered including intro to programming and advanced programing. I also work as an adjunct instructor for Chadron State College and for Mid-Plains Community College.
As for my personal life, my wife and I have been working in education in North Platte for many years. My wife, Emily, is an elementary teacher and enjoys every minute she has with her students. We have two children that attend elementary school with my wife. We love to spend time with friends and family and enjoy our summers working in our flower beds and remodeling our house. Everyone seems to know our house as the holiday house. We spend an extensive amount of time preparing for Halloween and Christmas. Our joy is to spread cheer to everyone throughout the year.
Casey Werkmeister
I have been teaching at NP for 17 years. I have taught U.S. History for all 17 of those. I have also helped coach football for 18 years and been part of track for both the boys and girls programs for the past 15. With my wife also teaching, the NPHS building has a great deal to do with our everyday life.
At this time I am teaching 3 different classes.
1st Period (U.S. History): We have just started our Cold War unit and we are working on some writing prompts over the era. These prompts focus around the ideological war vs a military campaign.
2nd Period (Popular Culture): We are focusing at this point about the America in the 1980’s. We are looking at Social and Economic norms and will be looking at the emergence of MTV and the impact it will have on society as the 80’s gives way to the 90’s.
3rd Period (Advanced U.S. History): This class is just wrapping up WWII. We have covered a great deal of content in this class (1492-WWII). Students will be turning in a paper over the International Humanitarian Law that was established because of WWII next week.
Action from Activities!
Tessa Matuszczak
Unified Bowling started as an NSAA sport in the 2016-2017 school year. We have had a team since it started. Unified Bowling incorporates the ideas of Special Olympics into high school sports. We have a short season that starts at the end of the fall sports season and finishes at the beginning of the winter sports season, mid October-November. Our team has grown each year and now we have almost 50 students participating in this sport. Unified Bowling is one of the only sports that you can participate in 2 different sports at the same time.
In Unified Bowling, we use a baker's format which has 3 team members bowling 1 game. The student who has an identified disability is the athlete and they bowl frames 1, 4, 7, and 10. The first partner bowls frames 2, 5, and 8 and the second partner bowls frames 3, 6, and 9. It is a true team effort to get the most pins down.
Our season just finished this week as we participated in districts at Grand Island on Wednesday. We bowled against Kearney, Grand Island, Columbus and Norfolk. We did not do as well as we had hoped, but are looking forward to our season next year.