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Middle-High School News
February 2021
Welcome
Please click here if you'd like to see my monthly Board Report. This report is given to our Board of Education and is also publicly available.
Feel free to contact me with any questions, especially during this very challenging time. If I can't help you, I'll get you to someone who can. Our phone number is 869-9636, and my direct extension is 3101. You can also contact either the Middle School or High School office. I really appreciate your support, especially during this challenging time.
Mr. Tim Houseknecht, Principal
Middle School Notes
Fairy Tale Alternate endings - from Ms. Dhara, our 7th and 8th grade English teacher
Spotlight on our 7th graders #72 group.
During this marking period students were asked to create their own ideas around traditional fairy tales, whereby they wrote something different into the story. These students completed their fairy tale alternate beginning, middle, or endings prior to 1/22/21. Click here for the whole story.
Honor Roll & High Honor Roll
Band Students Participate In NYSBDA Honor Concert Bands
The South Seneca Central School District and the South Seneca Music Department is proud to recognize student instrumental musicians who continue to excel and achieve high honors in their art and craft throughout this school year. To see Mr. Turken's press release, click here.
Want To Watch a Sporting Event Online?
HEALTHY COPING SKILLS
From: Brooke Habberfield MS, LMSW
As humans, we consciously or subconsciously cope with life (stress, perfectionism, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem/worth, etc.), whether that's in healthy or unhealthy ways.
Here are a list of *healthy* coping strategies you can utilize in school, at work, while driving or even at home.
Stretch, take deep breaths, count to 10 or 50, listen to relaxing music, doodle, adult coloring pages (my fav!), journal, go for a walk/run,push your palms together, ask for help, ask for a hug, list 3 things you are grateful for, visualize a happy place, look at happy pictures,make a schedule/list, chew gum, read positive quotes, talk to a friend, etc.
A personalized coping technique guide that can be used is the South Seneca Virtual Calming Room at https://sscsdcalmingroom.weebly.com/ made specially by Ms. Habberfield!
Ms. Habberfield also runs a confidential Proud Club. The Proud Club is dedicated to meeting the needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender student community, those questioning their sexual orientation and gender identity, and a space for Allys to support. The group runs on Wednesdays at 1:30 via Google Meet. If interested and to obtain the confidential google meet link, please contact Ms. Habberfield at bhabberfield@southseneca.org or the Remind app at @bhabberf.
New Podcast for Parents
There is a new podcast for parents! The Mental Health Mamas invite you to a podcast about parenting. The podcasts linked below come from our friends at the Racker Center.
When you have a child who doesn’t fit neatly into a box, it can be even more challenging. With the Mental Health Mamas, there’s No Need to Explain. We get it. Join us as we share a bit of what we’ve learned along the way, talk openly about mental health, work to help you feel less alone and gently remind you to do your best to take care of yourself while taking care of your people. Listen on Apple podcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts. Also visit our website at www.noneedtoexplainpodcast.com
Get a High School Yearbook!
Wondering if the yearbook is happening this year? YES!
ALL THE THINGS. ALL IN THIS BOOK.
Masks. Virtual classes. This school year will be talked about forever. The yearbook is truly the most important keepsake from this remarkable time. Our yearbook program is working hard to put together a historic book that will be looked back upon to remember one of the most unpredictable school years of all time. Order today so we make sure there are enough copies for everyone at www.jostensyearbooks.com.
Last Chance to personalize your yearbook: January 29th
Last Chance to guarantee your yearbook: February 21st
We are not ordering extras so please reserve your copy today!
Article: The Coronavirus Screen-Time Supernova
Struggling to help student’s balance screen time with other activities has always been a real concern. Many adults struggle with how to unplug and be more active and our children are no different.
The Corona Virus has both amplified and complicated managing time spent on devices by cutting off a student’s ability to socialize, enjoy organized sports and other non-device related activities.
The rise in technology use creates even more reason to implement a plan that works for your child. Reversing habits can be a challenge for anyone. Having a plan can make all the difference. Looking at reducing screen time can surely help that! This article offers five simple suggestions for how to begin to help your child develop good habits now. Please click here for the article.
Middle-High Library - Ms. Gale: Afterschool Programming
20-21 has brought our South Seneca Falcon Family a diverse set of challenges in school and out… Having a number of students in need/want of some fun & challenging activities (for afterschool) that pique their curiosity, we decided to try a Virtual MakerSpace.
Our usual weekly activities (in person) usually include daily challenges, coding, puzzles of all sorts, designing, diamond painting, bloxel creations (game designs) & 3D Printing.
However, this year the program had to be more flexible and more varied due to the student schedules, computer access, diverse digital abilities, time management, among other concerns....but the students who are truly dedicated to learning more about the engineering design challenge have definitely rose to the challenge . Collaboration weekly has helped with troubleshooting and given students a chance to ask questions, offer solutions and have discussions unrelated to the regular class day.
For our first virtual project we decided to focus on AI (Artificial Intelligence) and VR (Virtual Reality). This is the Prosthetic Hand challenge that we are in currently. The build is almost complete as we work virtually- weekly. The coding begins next week and then we will showcase these hands in our library for other students to demo.
These are the different sections of the curriculum that we follow as we navigate through the process…
Our next project is a mini robot...starting in March!