The Cardinal Letter

I hope this letter finds everyone doing well and preparing for the holiday season ahead. I know many families will appreciate some much-needed downtime over vacation. We are halfway through the school year, and it’s time to reflect on the past year and push the reset button for round two.

The month of December is full of holiday spirit at Chippewa Falls Senior High School. We started off the month with the Orchestra and Madrigals entertaining the community at the annual Torte Theater at the Heyde Center. To kick off the holiday season here at Chi-Hi, our Jazz Band, Concert Band, Orchestra, and Choirs will perform their annual Holiday Concert on the evening of Monday, December 20 for parents and families. Students and staff will attend the all-school holiday concert on Wednesday, December 22 during the school day. The musicians are practicing very hard to prepare for this season’s event.

In our Principal Advisory Council this semester, we focused on three areas that we want to improve: Building a Culture of Belonging; Building Equitable and Inclusive Learning Environments; and Improving Student Mental Health. This group of students has given a voice to the student body at Chi-Hi. We partner together to make this school a great place to belong and to create a positive high school experience for all of our students.

We want to thank you for your support and understanding, as this year has been a challenging one navigating the implementation of the COVID mitigation measures, addressing the Tik Tok Challenges, and dealing with the mental health challenges that our students have been experiencing due to the pandemic. Know that we are doing the best we can at Chi-Hi to make our school a safe place to learn and grow. We look forward to working with all of you in 2022!

Respectfully yours,

Donna Goodman

Chippewa Falls Senior High School Principal

Progress Conferences for 2nd quarter will be held virtually on Thursday, December 16; Friday, December 17; Monday, December 20 and Tuesday, December 21 as determined by each teacher or school counselor.

Here is the link to the document listing conference times for our staff. You can then schedule a time that works for you based on their availability.

Course scheduling for the 2022-2023 school begins on Monday, December 13. Students will watch a short video during their homeroom and course selection materials will be made available.

This information can also be accessed on the Student Services website under Course Scheduling. Students will need to input their course selections into the Academic Planner in Infinite Campus by Friday, January 7.

As part of the Remote Pilot Training course, students had the opportunity to receive their FAA-107 commercial pilot’s license. The following students completed their coursework and successfully passed the computerized exam in Marshfield this fall! A $175 scholarship was given to each student from https://www.dronepilotgroundschool.com/ to cover the exam fees and license.

As part of an independent project, seniors Karson Balsiger, Iverson Beckwith, Monte Brown, and Evelyn Kelly applied for a mini-KEEP grant. These are awarded to students in the state of Wisconsin who have projects that help reduce energy consumption. Below is their application overview.

Our group's proposed project is to use thermal imaging technology via drones and cameras to scan our school for significant heat loss or other heating/electrical issues. For many years, Chi-Hi has had heating and cooling issues. Meaning that every classroom feels to have a different temperature; some classrooms are freezing, others are boiling hot. Using the information/data obtained from this project, the school can apply resources towards these problem areas where heat is being lost or "leaking" from the school. By doing so, the school can save money from the heating and electrical expenses and use it in other areas. Not only that but with the fixation of these problems the school will decrease its energy usage and become more energy efficient in the sense that we won't use nearly as much energy just trying to keep our building warm during the winter. If this project is successful, then multiple schools within our district can use this project to better their heating and electrical systems. This project would be incorporated into our senior drone class curriculum and become a project for students. It will also give them an opportunity to become more involved with the school as well as gain environmental awareness.

Their project was selected, and they’ve begun learning how to collect and analyze data. If the project is successful they may be able to apply for a much larger state of Wisconsin Energy Innovation Grant!

HOSA has been such a massive success so far this year! As soon as we were able to, we had member promotions everywhere. We propelled ourselves into this amazing year with a super cool ice cream social. Blossoming from this was our incredible turnout of 73 members, one of the largest club counts this year.

Right away we were ready to help our community and have a good time. One of our first member events was the Future Leadership Conference. We learned all about diagnostician work and what it takes to treat a patient. As the weeks continued to pass by we joined up with FBLA to hang lights in Irvine. This event was a great bonding experience and with the help of community volunteers, we were able to finish almost all of the decorating. Thank you to all of those that helped! Irvine wasn’t our only community contribution. HOSA is proud to say that we continued the tradition of pumpkin painting for the Veterans Home. They were quite impressive from what I saw. We’ve got some real raw talent this year. Finally, our last exciting development has been the beginning of competition. Many people are competing this year and I know we’ve got some hard workers, so make sure to show them your support.

I’d like to close out this celebration statement with a few notices for the future. Coming up, we have some exciting volunteer opportunities, so HOSA members are reminded to keep checking their email. Then we’re going to have another club collaboration involving a coat and toy drive. I would like to invite all students at the school to keep their eyes and ears open for further details. We will take all the support you can give with great gratitude.

HOSA has been having so much fun, from dishing out ice cream to hilarious t-shirt disputes. This year has been fantastic and I’m so pumped to see what else it will bring!

Regards,

Ireland McQuillan

From November 30 through December 4, the Chippewa Falls Senior High School FBLA Chapter collected donations for children in foster care. Students in the chapter felt the need to help out in the community, so a project was organized to do just that! A list of physical items needed by the county was produced and the collection week kicked off with the goal of obtaining as many donations as possible to try to fill an endless need. Donation booths were set up each morning at Chi-Hi as well as at all five of the home sporting events throughout the week. We were able to collect nearly 300 physical items ranging from sanitary products to shoes, to games. On top of that, $600 was collected as well as $170 in gift cards. All of the donations that were collected were delivered directly to Chippewa County Foster Care where they will be used to benefit foster children and foster families in our area, especially during the holiday season.

YouTube Video Links:

IC Student Portal App

IC Parent Portal App

IC Student Portal Computer

IC Parent Portal Computer

Google Drive Video Links:

IC Parent Portal App

IC Parent Portal Computer

IC Student Portal App

IC Student Portal Computer

• Dorais Field Livestream
  
• Chi-Hi Main Gym Livestream
  
• Save money with the All Season Sports Pass
  
• Chi-Hi Athletics & Activities Website
• Photos of Events happening at Chi-Hi taken by Dan Loomis

The high school attendance line is accessible 24 hours per day at 715-726-2406.

Press 2 for Attendance (listen for the prompt)

To request a Pass to Leave or an Excused Tardy Pass: Press 1

To report or excuse an absence: Press 2

Regular student attendance is required by law (State Statute 118.16) and is essential if students are to make satisfactory progress in school. Students are required to attend all class periods. It is the responsibility of the student and the parent to see that the student attends school each day school is in session. Excused absences include illness or injury; medical, legal, DMV or military appointments, college visits, funerals, school-related activities including sporting or competitive events and field trips, family vacations (please notify the school in advance), and family emergencies.

MEDICAL EXCUSE REQUIREMENT: Excessive student absences may result in the student being placed “On Medical”. Parents will receive a letter notifying them that their student has been placed “On Medical” and all future illness-related absences may require a medical excuse from a physician.

UNEXCUSED ABSENCES: Any absence that is not cleared by a parent or guardian within 5 school days of the absence (the day of the absence and 4 additional school days) may be listed permanently as unexcused, which will generate a major behavior referral.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions!

Patrina Gunderson

Attendance Office

715-726-2406 #1142

Mentor Chippewa is currently recruiting mentors & mentee students to join our school site-based mentoring program! Adult mentors meet with their mentee students one-day per week, for 30-minutes, during the regular school day, and EMPOWER them to become their very best self!

Mentor Chippewa program applications are currently being accepted at all of our school partner locations including Chippewa Falls Senior High School!

Visit our website www.mentorchippewa.org to learn more and apply to be a part of the Mentor Chippewa program today!

Love and Logic classes will be held on the following Sundays from 4:00PM-6:00PM:

• January 9, 16, 23, 30
• February 6, 13

The participants will learn:

• How to avoid un-winnable power struggles and arguments
• How to stay calm and empathetic when their kids do incredibly upsetting things
• How to set enforceable limits
• How to avoid enabling and begin empowering
• How to help their kids learn from mistakes rather than repeating them
• How to raise kids who are family team members rather than demanding dictators
• And much more!

Please fill out this form to Register. Please register by January 1, 2022 to guarantee your seat and workbook.