National Honors Society  The Four Pillars of National Honor Society Scholarship is characterized by a commitment to learning. A student is willing to spend the necessary time to cultivate his/ her mind in the quest for knowledge. This pillar can only be achieved through diligence and effort. Scholarship means always doing the best work possible, regardless of impending reward. Service: The pillar of service can be reached in a variety of ways. The willingness to work for the benefit of those in need without compensation or recognition of any kind is a quality that is essential in NHS members. As a service club, the National Honor Society is highly concerned with giving its all to the school and community at large. Leadership: Leaders take the initiative to aid others in a wholesome manner throughout their daily activities. Leaders sacrifice their personal interests in order to yield to the needs of others. Leaders need wisdom and self-confidence to affect change in all aspects of their lives. Some examples of leadership can include, but are not limited to, leading group activities in the classroom and in the community, being an officer in a club, being a primary member of the band or choir, or being the captain of a sports team. Character: Character is what distinguishes one individual from another. It is the product of constant striving to make the right choices day after day. Students with good character demonstrate respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, fairness, caring, and citizenship in all of their actions.
Language Arts LIVE On February 9, Lynn Monaco and Dawn Weaver hosted a panel of parents and professionals to speak with our seniors. The panel included James Laudato, CPA at Laudato & Company; Amie Peters, IT at Lubrizol; Jeff Cornute, Human Resources at Morton Salt; and Sheldon Firem, psychologist and CLSD board member. The goal for the panel was to share how we use our language arts skills, including the 21st century skills such as the 4Cs (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity - they added character), in our careers. A take-away for our seniors is to value the learning opportunities they have in light of the skills they will need.  Finalists!
Congratulations, Drew Cressman, Andrew Williams, and Asher Vokoun. These fine gentlemen have been named Finalists in the 2018 National Merit® Scholarship Program. As one of approximately 15,000 high school seniors who are Semifinalists, he has an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships to be offered in March. What an outstanding accomplishment! We are so proud of you! Program Recognition Of the 1.6 million entrants, some 50,000 with the highest PSAT/NMSQT® Selection Index scores (calculated by doubling the sum of the Reading, Writing and Language, and Math Test scores) qualify for recognition in the National Merit® Scholarship Program. In September, these high scorers are notified through their schools that they have qualified as either a Commended Student or Semifinalist. Finalists In February, some 15,000 Semifinalists are notified by mail at their home addresses that they have advanced to Finalist standing. High school principals are notified and provided with a certificate to present to each Finalist. Winner Selection All winners of Merit Scholarship® awards (Merit Scholar® designees) are chosen from the Finalist group based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments—without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference. A variety of information is available for NMSC selectors to evaluate: the Finalist's academic record, information about the school's curricula and grading system, two sets of test scores, the high school official's written recommendation, information about the student's activities and leadership, and the Finalist's own essay. Course Lists This week, the School Counselors and Administration collaborated in presenting our course offerings to each grade level during Topper Time. I am enclosing the course selection sheets that were provided to your child(ren). These documents will create great talking points as the scheduling process begins. I am so grateful to our School Counselors- Nikki Hetrick, Lacey Jacobs, and Tim Hurlbut for their efforts in refining the presentations.
Ignite Your Career! Today’s students are facing very difficult choices as they graduate from high school. Most people believe that without a college education, students will not be able to get the jobs they want and need in order to support themselves. Yet, the amount of debt that these students face is staggering – and sometimes students are still not able to find good jobs that are satisfying and supporting of a reasonable life style. AND - there are many good jobs available that need a different kind of training. These jobs can appeal to students who are not interested in college - at least right now - they can offer good pay and benefits and good opportunities for growth. Geauga Growth Partnership and the Geauga County business community is working on this issue and there are some exciting possibilities right here in our county. We believe this can be a help to you in meeting State-mandated career education opportunities. We’re offering food, some great speakers, and an opportunity to meet individually with local business leaders to discuss options that will benefit your students. We’re hoping you will continue to help us get the word out to as many people as possible so that they can take advantage of this opportunity. Ignite Your Career! is more than a symposium, more than a job fair, and it can give students and their parents some crucial information as they consider options in this increasingly complicated world of work. University of AkronThe University of Akron’s Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Section is planning a high school shadow day on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 from 8 am to 2pm. Shadow Day is great way for female students interested in engineering to tour a college campus and attend actual engineering courses. The day would start at 8 am and would include a welcome breakfast where the high schoolers will meet the engineering student that they will be shadowing, at least one college/engineering class, campus-dorm-classroom tour, and end the day with lunch –mingling with more female engineering students and faculty. Members of SWE will be hosting the event and the students during the day. SWE was founded in 1960 to help promote diversity in engineering. This is a national organization that advocates women to achieve their full potential in careers as engineers and as leaders. Our section at The University of Akron provides a variety of events including social, outreach, community service and professional development. We provide a community that supports women engineers 110%. If you have any future women engineers who are interested in coming to the University of Akron to shadow a college student for a day, please have them fill out the survey using the link below: High School Shadow Day Survey High school students will need to provide their own transportation to and from The University of Akron. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you may have. My email is hyg1@zips.uakron.edu. NHS: Soup Kitchen Final Forms We are very excited to announce that the Chardon High School Athletic Department has partnered with FinalForms, an online forms and data management service, beginning with the Spring 2018 sports season. FinalForms allows you to complete and sign athletic participation forms for your student-athlete(s). The most exciting news is that FinalForms saves data from season-to-season and year-to-year, meaning that you will never need to enter the same information twice! FinalForms also pre-populates information wherever possible, for each of your students, saving you time and eliminating the need to enter information twice. You will need to review your information once per school year to verify information is current and sign the forms. Click on the Parent Playbook (ATTACHED) to get started in FinalForms. If you require any support during the process, scroll to the page bottom and click “Use Support”. We are asking that ALL parents of athletes use FinalForms. Please register at https://chardon-oh.finalforms.com now and electronically complete ALL forms! If your son/daughter has a current physical on file, it is still valid for one calendar year, as always. Please do complete all medical information on Finalforms, and it will repopulate to future seasons and school years. Thank you in advance for your assistance in streamlining our paperwork processes for CHS Athletics. Community News  Shining Star CLE
Great news! Due to the overwhelming popularity of the competition, we have added three new Northeast Ohio counties, in addition to Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Medina & Summit, students from Ashtabula, Lorain & Portage may now participate as well. Free to Enter and All Genres of Music are Welcome! It's easy! All your students have to do to start their Shining Star CLE journey is upload their video auditions to shiningstarcle.org between April 1 and July 1, 2018. For any questions, or to learn about Shining Star CLE 2018, please visit our websiteshiningstarcle.org or call 216-910-2652. Please help spread the word and forward this email to staff/students/parents from your school! YOU AND THE FLU—Your Best Defense Is To Be Proactive It is especially important this school season to be proactive against the flu. Taking preventative measures is your best defense against the ‘seasonal’ flu. As we opened this school week, I had to stay home after flu-like symptons ran through our house. Taking care of yourself is really important when recovering--likewise, defending yourself is just as important. Read these helpful reminders to protect you and your family. The seasonal flu outbreak usually occurs between mid-fall thru early spring. Each year a vaccine is developed to target the type of virus that is anticipated. The seasonal flu spreads mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing by people with influenza. You can also become infected by touching something with the flu virus on it such as a doorknob, computer keypad, gym weights, classroom desk, and then touching your nose, eyes, or mouth. Everyday Steps to Protect Your Health Common sense to avoiding germs is the best approach, such as not sharing sports bottles or drinking from friend’s glass or pop can. The Center for Disease Control [CDC] recommends the following: Avoid close contact with people who are sick. Stay away from an ill and contagious person until 24 hours after their fever has broken. Their fever should be completely gone for 24 hours without the use of a fever-reducing medicine [i.e. Advil, Tylenol, Excedrin, etc.] Wash your hands OFTEN! Use lots of soap and scrub your hands by counting to 15 slowly before rinsing with water. If you do not have access to water, alcohol-based hand cleaners and disposable wipes [antibacterial] are effective—rub hands vigorously until hands are dry. Do not touch your eyes, nose, or mouth—this is how the germs are spread. Practice good health habits to keep your immune system strong—get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat healthy nutritious foods. Parent Teacher ConferencesAs you prepare your schedule, please click on the link below to sign up a timeslot for parent-teacher conferences for Session 4: February 22, 2018. https://www.ptcfast.com/schools/Chardon_High_School Stress Relievers: Tips to tame stress Is stress making you frustrated and irritable? Stress relievers can help restore calm and serenity to your chaotic life. You don't have to invest a lot of time or thought into stress relievers. If your stress is getting out of control and you need quick relief, try one of these tips. Get active Virtually any form of physical activity can act as a stress reliever. Even if you're not an athlete or you're out of shape, exercise can still be a good stress reliever. Physical activity can pump up your feel-good endorphins and other natural neural chemicals that enhance your sense of well-being. Exercise can also refocus your mind on your body's movements, which can improve your mood and help the day's irritations fade away. Consider walking, jogging, gardening, housecleaning, biking, swimming, weightlifting or anything else that gets you active. Eat a healthy diet Eating a healthy diet is an important part of taking care of yourself. Aim to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. Avoid unhealthy habits Some people may deal with stress by drinking too much caffeine or alcohol, smoking, eating too much, or using illicit substances. These can affect your health in unhealthy ways. Meditate or Pray During this mindfulness , you focus your attention and quiet the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. Meditation can instill a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit both your emotional well-being and your overall health. Laugh more A good sense of humor can't cure all ailments, but it can help you feel better, even if you have to force a fake laugh through your grumpiness. When you laugh, it not only lightens your mental load but also causes positive physical changes in your body. Laughter fires up and then cools down your stress response. So read some jokes, tell some jokes, watch a comedy or hang out with your funny friends. Connect with others When you're stressed and irritable, your instinct may be to wrap yourself in a cocoon. Instead, reach out to family and friends and make social connections. Social contact is a good stress reliever because it can offer distraction, provide support and help you tolerate life's up and downs. So take a coffee break with a friend, email a relative or visit your place of worship. Got more time? Considering volunteering for a charitable group and help yourself while helping others. Assert yourself You might want to do it all, but you can't, at least not without paying a price. Learning to say no or being willing to delegate can help you manage your to-do list and your stress. Saying yes may seem like an easy way to keep the peace, prevent conflicts and get the job done right. But it may actually cause you internal conflict because your needs and those of your family come second, which can lead to stress, anger, resentment and even the desire to exact revenge. And that's not a very calm and peaceful reaction. Try yoga With its series of postures and controlled-breathing exercises, yoga is a popular stress reliever. Yoga brings together physical and mental disciplines which may help you achieve peacefulness of body and mind. Yoga can help you relax and manage stress and anxiety. Try yoga on your own or find a class — you can find classes in most communities. Get enough sleep Stress can cause you to have trouble falling asleep. When you have too much to do — and too much to think about — your sleep can suffer. But sleep is the time when your brain and body recharge. The quality and amount of sleep you get can affect your mood, energy level, concentration and overall functioning. If you have sleep troubles, make sure that you have a quiet, relaxing bedtime routine, listen to soothing music, put clocks away, and stick to a consistent schedule. Keep a journal Writing down your thoughts and feelings can be a good release for otherwise pent-up emotions. Don't think about what to write — just let it happen. Write whatever comes to mind. No one else needs to read it, so don't strive for perfection in grammar or spelling. Just let your thoughts flow on paper — or computer screen. Music Listening to or playing music is a good stress reliever because it can provide a mental distraction, reduce muscle tension and decrease stress hormones. Crank up the volume and let your mind be absorbed by the music. If music isn't one of your interests, turn your attention to another hobby you enjoy, such as gardening, sewing, sketching — anything that requires you to focus on what you're doing rather than what you think you should be doing. Seek counseling If new stressors are challenging your ability to cope or if self-care measures just aren't relieving your stress, you may need to look for reinforcements in the form of therapy or counseling. Therapy also may be a good idea if you feel overwhelmed or trapped, if you worry excessively, or if you have trouble carrying out daily routines or meeting responsibilities at work, home or school. Professional counselors or therapists can help you identify sources of your stress and learn new coping tools. Responding with Compassion After the absolute tragedy that struck Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida---many emotions surface that impact our staff and students in different ways. It is important for me to remind you that we are cognizant of the needs of our students and staff members. Senseless tragedies can steal our personal and communal growth. It is not fair to simply say that we are from Chardon--that we are strong--that we have faced many trials over the years. Yet, what is very important for us to remember is that our family: at school and home have defined our outcomes. Our established community has unveiled our purpose through the compass of our core values. Keep our staff in your thoughts.
It seems that moments like this are way too frequent. You may ask-- what can I do? My response is to love your children and celebrate their lives. Our children need us to be present. Our children need us to listen. Likewise, our children need to share. We are stronger as a community when we respond with compassion, and understanding. Thank you for reaching out and sharing your thoughts with us over the last few days. We appreciate your kindness. Douglas Murray, Principal Comments are closed.
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