Volume VI FEBRUARY 2015

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1 The Stephen Decatur High School 9913 Seahawk Road Berlin, Maryland Main Office: Guidance: Thomas D. Zimmer, Principal Seahawk Press Volume VI FEBRUARY 2015 A Message From The Principal Thomas D. Zimmer Dear Parents & Guardians, As we begin the new semester, it is imperative that parents and students understand our policies concerning lateness and attendance. Please review these policies with your son or daughter using their agenda, which everyone received at the beginning of the year. Our first Parent Conference Night of the new semester will be held on Thursday, February 5 from 5-7 p.m. This is a great opportunity to meet your child s new teachers and see what their second semester course load will be like. Our annual Taco Night will take place on Wednesday, February 11 from 2:30-7 p.m. This is a wonderful event sponsored by our good friends at Sonrise Church. It is a time for community to come together, chit-chat, and enjoy $1 tacos! All proceeds will go toward improving technology at SDHS! As Valentine s Day approaches, we ask that you refrain from having balloons and flowers delivered to school. We have an overabundance of daily deliveries, which in turn, can cause constant disruptions to classes. In order for us to maintain student involvement in instruction and eliminate needless MARK YOUR CALENDARS February 4 - Band Booster Mtg. 6pm February 5 - Parent Conference Night 5-7pm February 9 - Choral Booster Mtg. 5:30pm February 11 - Taco Night 2:30-7:00 Talent Show 6pm Athletic Booster Mtg. 6pm February 12 - WCPS Tech Fest February 16 - SCHOOL CLOSED President s Day February 19 - NJROTC Booster Meeting 6 pm February 26 - Annual Job Fair in Gymnasium 8th Grade Orientation 5pm interruptions, all deliveries and phone messages will be held until the end of the school day. Thank you for your cooperation. I would like to congratulate Stephen Decatur High School s Teacher of the Year, Mr. Jason Pylypczuk. Mr. Pylypczuk has been at Decatur for the past 9 years and teaches Government. We are extremely proud to have Mr. Pylypczuk as a teacher at SDHS and wish him the very best of luck on the county level. One of our goals at SDHS is to prepare students for the future through career awareness and exploration. We will be holding our Annual Job Fair on Thursday, February 26, to give students the opportunity to practice skills related to obtaining a job and to talk with adults about various career fields. In order to attend with their class, students will have practiced filling out applications, preparing a resume, and will also be asked to dress appropriately for business interviews. We invite area employers to participate as we offer a large seasonal labor pool of available, responsible and dependable workers. In addition to SDHS students, Snow Hill High and Pocomoke High students will also be in attendance. This is a great time to hire your summer staff! For more information, or to sign up as a vendor, please call Kim Hudson at Let us continue to encourage our students to strive to the best of their ability and to remain focused as we enter the second half of the school year. If we work together to help them achieve their goals, they will undoubtedly meet with success in their future endeavors.

2 COUNSELOR S CORNER Scheduling The scheduling process for the school year will begin during the month of February. Students will be completing Course Planners in Naviance and will also come home with scheduling sheets. Please review both of these with your student and do not hesitate to contact guidance with any questions. It is important that you and your child put much thought into this process. Not only does course selection play a major role in college admissions and /or career preparation, but the school s master schedule is developed from this information. Do not randomly select courses with the thought that it may all be changed in the summer. Student Records If in the past you provided the school with a copy of a lease as a proof of residence, it is imperative that you update this information with a current lease. Please contact Mrs. Hudson in guidance if you have questions. Scholarship Info Now is the time when many of the local scholarship applications become available. The vast majority will have deadline dates that fall within a 4 week period from mid-march until mid-april. We strongly encourage students to work on them every night as part of their homework and turn them into guidance as they are completed. Here is a reminder of how the scholarship process works: Log on to Naviance and go to the College link Scroll to the bottom of the page to access the Scholarship List By clicking the individual scholarship, the student will be able to read the criteria, the deadline date, and download the application. To download: Save the application, which is in pdf, to the desktop. From the desktop, right click the icon and select Open With. Then select Word. At this point the student will be able to type on the application. Computers are always available for use in the guidance office which is open from 6:45am until 4:30 pm. Once completed, the application should be printed and turned into guidance by the DEADLINE DATE POSTED AT THE TOP OF THE APPLICATION. Transcripts, SAT scores, guidance recommendations, etc. will automatically be attached. Students do not need to make a special request for them nor do they need to request them through Naviance. It will be extremely helpful to your student if he/she puts together a Scholarship Notebook which contains the following: college acceptance letters, resume, hard copies of teacher recommendation letters, a statement of financial need written by the parent/guardian, a copy of the Student Aid Report from FAFSA, a copy of parent s 2014 tax returns (or 2013 if not yet available). Having these things readily accessible makes the scholarship process must easier. Financial Aid Make sure you meet your child s college deadline for the submission of the FAFSA form. Most are March 1, however some are earlier than that. If you missed the Financial Aid night, we have some information in the guidance office. In addition, regardless of where your child may plan to attend college, the financial aid office at Wor Wic Community College is open every Monday through Thursday until 8:00 pm to assist with the preparation of the FAFSA form. They are very good and extremely helpful. The most important thing to note is that you must make sure you go the federal FAFSA website: Typing in FAFSA.com will take you to a scam website. If in the course of preparing the form you are asked for payment, credit card or bank account numbers, make sure you exit the site immediately. It is completely free to submit this form and they do not ask for account numbers.

3 BAND BOOSTER NEWS The band boosters would like to welcome all second semester symphonic band to the new school year. The symphonic band has some fantastic performances coming up that we hope you ll all be part of. So please don t hesitate to join Mr Foell and the symphonic band anywhere they go. Before we start in with the new semester, the booster club would like to first thank Planet Maze in Ocean City for helping out again with this year s fundraiser. This is an annual event that our students love to attend every year. It s a great way to end one semester and begin another semester. Thank you again Planet Maze! Also, the booster club would like to wish all of those students who went out and auditioned for this year s All Shore Honor Band. Decatur had five representatives travel out to Mardela HS for the Saturday audition. We know you all did well and represented the SDHS instrumental music department well. February is full of events that both orchestra and symphonic band members will become involved. One of those first events is the West Virginia University Honor Band. This is annual event that the SDHS band has been involved with since the 1980 s. The booster club would like to congratulate those students who have been accepted and we hope you have a blast on the campus of West Virginia University. The fun at WVU doesn t stop there. This year Mr Foell will be traveling out to Morgantown a second time. This trip will involve students from the SDHS string orchestra. WVU now also plays host to an honor orchestra. This is very exciting and we d like to congratulate Emily Cook, Shea Conn, Elizabeth Masters, and Cailey Mitchell for being accepted into the new and unique experience. We hope that you have as much fun as those students who apart of the WVU honor band! Speaking about orchestra, even though the class has officially ended, this is a reminder that there is a scheduled after school rehearsal on February 25 th from 3 until 4:15pm. This rehearsal was sent home to all orchestra members back in September and it s important that it is attended. District orchestra festival is right around the corner. Finally, this year s solo & ensemble festival will be held on February 18 & 19, on the campus of Salisbury University. This is a great opportunity for those talented students to show off their talent in front of a panel of judges. Stephen Decatur has two representatives attending the solo portion of the festival. The band boosters would like to wish Will Rothermel and Lucas Quillen all the best of luck at the festival and hope you bring back a score of I. This is just a reminder of the next two band booster meetings. The February meeting will be Wednesday the 4 th. The March meeting will be Wednesday the 4 th. Both meetings are at 6pm in the band room. See you then! ATHLETIC BOOSTER NEWS The Athletic Boosters has been hard at work with indoor concessions this winter and luckily we have only had one evening effected by the weather! Thank you to the many parents who have volunteered in our concession stand. A special thank you goes out to Amy Williams who has stepped in as our Concessions Manager. We appreciate all of your hard work and dedication to our kids and the Athletic Boosters. Your help is greatly appreciated and needed. If you haven t yet signed up to volunteer, our calendar is posted inside the concession on the refrigerator at the entrance. Please take a look at the calendar and sign up for a shift. Volunteering is fun, the time goes quickly and it is always nice to meet someone new while support our children. We have begun working on our 16 th Annual Athletic Boosters Golf Tournament to be held on Tuesday June 23, 2015 at Eagles Landing Golf Course. A thanks once again goes out to Coach Jim Krall and Don Furbay for their hard work that has already begun to make this tournament another amazing event! Silent Auction Baskets should have been discussed with your child s team and teams are presently collecting items related to their theme: Volleyball- Night On The Town ** Girls Soccer- Movie Night ** Golf- Golf ** Football- NFL Cheerleading- Spa/Romance ** Boys Soccer- Garden Theme ** Track/Indoor Track/Cross Country- Mexican Swim Team- Beach Theme Remember, this is an adult event and alcohol donations are permitted. Please do not send alcohol donations with your children, for obvious reasons. Please contact a Boosters Board member or Coach Krall, Don Furbay. We will be happy to receive your donation. Our Golf Tournament is considered a premier event in the community. This even sells out before it is even advertised. It is our largest and most successful fund raiser of the year so we appreciate your support!! The Apparel Store has many new items. We are fully stocked with our very popular rugby shirts, golf umbrellas and zip hoodies. Coming in 2 weeks; new design of short-sleeve shirt in soft colors of blue and grey, and jerseys with the very popular large screenprint across the back shoulder in a variety of colors. Thank you to our very consistent volunteers in the Apparel Store for always having the store open. Our next Athletic Boosters meeting will be held on Wednesday February 11, 2015 at 6:00 in the Teachers lounge across from the Cafeteria. We hope to see you there!

4 Advanced Placement Coursework Shelley Mason, School Test Coordinator As students prepare to make scheduling decisions for next year, AP classes are an option that prepares students for the demands of college work. Our school offers fourteen Advanced Placement courses. Students are able to take AP courses beginning their sophomore year. For students who are college bound, it is recommended that they complete at least one AP course during their high school career. For those interested in obtaining more information regarding AP coursework, we would like to invite you to attend an informational meeting on February 5 th at 7:00 (following parent conferences) in the library at SDHS. At this time, we will discuss the options available, candidacy for the courses and the benefits of completing AP classes. Students who are currently enrolled in an AP class will receive registration information next month for the College Board Advanced Placement Test in May. While taking the College Board test is not mandatory, passing the test with a score of 3 or higher is the only means of acquiring college credit for the course. In order for a test to be available, students must register. Each test costs $91.00; students who qualify for financial assistance will be receiving that information as well. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your child s school counselor or myself at smmason@mail.worcester.k12.md.us An Important Message from the Attendance Office Please review the attendance policy in your child s agenda. When your student is absent from school, they are to bring a note with them THE DAY THEY RETURN TO SCHOOL. Five (5) or more unlawful absences during a marking period (without a note on file) will result in failure of courses for that marking period. Six (6) days of unlawful absences during a semester (without a note on file) will result in failure of all courses with final grades computed as an F. Once again, notes are to be turned in the day your child returns to school or no later than 5 days after returning. NO NOTES WILL BE ACCEPTED AT THE END OF THE MARKING PERIOD TO COVER DAYS YOUR STUDENT WAS ABSENT BEYOND 5 DAYS PRIOR TO THE ABSENCE. Early departures from school are excused by the following notes: medical, court, DMV, or death in the family. Lateness's to school are excused due to medical appointments with a note from a medical doctor. Accumulated lateness will result in losing credit for that class. It is imperative that you adhere to these guidelines to prevent your child from losing credit due to absences or lateness. Thank you for your cooperation! REMEMBER... GET YOUR NOTES IN ON TIME!

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