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10/21/2022 The Week in Reflection: 10/21Opening Message I spend a lot of time talking with students. There is so much joy when a student leaves the office feeling better than when they came in. This week, we saw many students coming into the office to talk about classes, situations, and relationships. After reflecting about the themes that the students were sharing with us, my inner voice kept saying, kindness can be contagious, spread it! The timing couldn't be more perfect for my response with students and the message that Mr. David Petrovic shared with our students and staff in three separate presentations. His story, trials and triumph provided real tangible ways that we can continue to see each other inside of this shared story we live. When you think about it, kindness can be contagious. Every person that we encounter is living within their own story. They walk the halls consumed with thoughts about themselves, school, home, and general life ups and downs. What if we just stopped and for a moment told someone how we liked their hair, their style, or anything simple. Kindness is so simple and it's free. This world has caused so many of us to guard ourselves and others. We have become at times physically distant. This distancing does not force us to be socially distant or selectively distant to those around us. Relationships are precious, and we should be mindful of how others feel--especially with the current state of our world. Including others, saying hello, calling, facetime, a simple snapchat message may make someone's day. Being present is even more important. When we are actively present we seek to understand a friend's needs and we listen. Being physically present is the start---being emotionally present can change your relationships. The time that we have shared this quarter together is a gift, and an opportunity to give of ourselves. It is so important to spend your time wisely not only in the classroom but when you are able to connect with your feelings. When you look in the mirror do you hear your voice or others? The mirror reflects beauty. The mirror reflects character. The mirror reflects you. When we take the time to add beauty to someone's day we are actually mirroring that beauty in us. The more that we do it, the more that it becomes a habit. Kindness becomes the transferable agent that we want to be passed on within the building. It reflects our true self and our core values. As I reflect upon my own words, I am drawn to connections that I have made with my own daughters regarding being kind. For years, I drove them to school and the last thing I would say to them each day was the mantra: Be Kind, Listen, and Learn---followed with I love you. On that drive to school, I never knew how actively engaged they were during the twenty minute drive. Often, they would fall asleep and I would be listening to my music style which was quite broad. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney. Little did I realize how much they were a sponge to the music. At the earliest ages they would be singing these songs...just like how I would be a sponge to my parents' music. Well, now as an older adult, my wife and I have found ourselves in a role reversal of actively engaging in most of their music (yes, some are hard to follow or appreciate at our age). One song that resonates the message to this opening to the Week in Reflection is Harry Styles- Treat People with Kindness. The words encapsulate the message of this week. Spread kindness everywhere and let it become the change that you want to see in your world and others. It is free, simple, and changes more than you can know!  Mr. David Petrovic speaking to our 8th grade students on Tuesday Chardon Community Cares : October Edition 2022
Chardon High School Resources Understanding Teen Grief: 7 Ways to Help a Grieving Teenager Principal, Mr. Douglas Murray douglas.murray@chardonschools.org Assistant Principal, Ms. Mary Pat Pavicic marypat.pavicic@chardonschools.org Assistant Principal, Mr. Douglas Higham douglas.higham@chardonschools.org Social Worker, Mrs. Joan Blackburn joan.blackburn@chardonschools.org Resource Office, Officer Elam chs.sro@chardonschools.org Nurse, Mrs. Chelsie Jackson chelsie.jackson@chardonschools.org School Counselors: 8th Grade, Mrs. Tupaz dawn.tupaz@chardonschools.org A-G, Mr. Hurlbut timothy.hurlbut@chardonschools.org H-O, Mrs. Hetrick nicolle.hetrick@chardonschools.org P-Z, Mrs. Patterson heather.patterson@chardonschools.org For immediate assistance/crisis services please contact: Geauga County’s 24 Hour Hotline at (440) 285-5665 (in Chardon area) or (888) 285-5665 (out of Chardon calling area) Crisis Text Line by texting the keyword 4hope to 741-741 United Way at 2-1-1 for 24 hour needs and concerns. Trevor Lifeline 1-866-488-7386 Safe Schools Hotline 1-866-listen2me Community Agencies: Catholic Charities Diocese of Cleveland Family Pride Ravenwood Health Ubuntu Wellness NAMI Geauga The Schedule for Next Week (Regular Schedule)   Family Fun Night I spend each week writing from the heart. Each day, we all move at such a rapid pace that we often barely have time to cross paths with those that we love. We are running our kids to events, our children are driving to work and activities or technology consumes our every movement, and we too are always working. It is important to clear our schedule and pause. Chardon High School values the importance of family. Our highest value amplifies our focus on community. On October 31, we are closing the doors at 4:30 PM. There is no homework, and no activities after 4:30 PM, and we are encouraging our families to schedule a night for each other. It is a perfect night for those who trick or treat or those that want to have a family dinner together at home or at a restaurant. It is a night for active engagement for families. We appreciate our students, staff, and families and encourage all of you to take the time to celebrate these little moments that we can have without interruptions. BUCKEYE CHOCOLATE is offering a buy one beverage and get the 2nd one 1/2 price on this evening. Mention Chardon Family First Night on Oct. 31 to receive your discount! Discount is valid after 3 pm. Spirit Week: Next Week Halloween Attire: Friday, October 28  Monday, October 31 is Halloween. However, with all of the excitement leading into the week- the Chardon Crazies and the CHS Administration are assigning the costume day to Friday, October 28 to align with the theme for the night. Our students have traditionally dressed in appropriate costumes at school for the day. Students will be permitted to dress this year, as long as the outfit properly follows the guidelines below. Staff and administration will be extremely diligent to ensure that all costumes are school-appropriate and not a distraction to other students in their classes. Some things to consider when creating your costume:
On Monday, students may only wear Halloween shirts, and accessories-- not costumes Topper Bistro Lunch Menu Art Piece of the Week  Skylar Spotz Grade 12 Advanced Placement Art and Design Images of the Week Students in French Club went to see Les Mis last weekend at Playhouse Square. Photo courtesy of Charlotte Jons.  The "Heintz Hot dogs" aka Topper Dogs came back for last week's football game. Special thanks to the Boosters, Jacob and Zachary Heintz (parents too), Grace George, Anna Landies, Kyle Palovich, and Sydney Murray for helping out. Photo courtesy of Laurie Heintz Hilltopper Plow Debuts on Local Roads 
The goal of the ODOT Paint the Plow program is to allow local schools and non-profit organizations to paint an ODOT snowplow blade with messages of snow and ice safety or state, school or community pride. In Geauga County, Paint the Plow is an outreach program presented by the Geauga County Engineer. The District is grateful to ODOT and the Geauga County Engineer's Office for this extraordinary opportunity for Hilltopper students. Chardon High School Fall ConcertOn Tuesday, October 18th, 110 CHS choir students presented their fall concert. The robust audience was very receptive to the meaningful and beautiful performance. The program included our 8th-grade choir, Treble Choir, Chorale, and SA/TB ensembles. The choirs combined efforts at the conclusion of the concert to share two special pieces "Danny Boy" and "Omnia Sol". Thank you to our musical team for their continuous effort and commitment to each other and for sharing your gifts with our community. Take a moment to enjoy a video clip from the program.  Mr. Murray's Highlight Video/Friday Night Photos Click for more photos CHS Principal Podcast: S4: E7- Girls Volleyball (Seniors)After several busy weeks, we are back! Video courtesy of Greg Jahnke Resources for Families  AP UPDATE: AP Exam fees have been added to student's Infinite Campus accounts. These fees must be paid by November 9th to order an exam for your child. Late registration for AP Exams will incur a $40 late fee from College Board
Closing Message and Article  46 consecutive days. 1,104 hours 66, 240 minutes 3,974,400 seconds 1/4 of a school year From your perspective, how did your son(s) or daughter(s) succeed and make strides in their performance this quarter? What worked? What struggles did you notice? How was their time used? Chances are if you are reading this...you truly care about the performance of your children. We all do. So as you reflect on the closure of one quarter, let's reflect on a few essential questions. Describe your goals for the quarter, how you made them visible, and how they were communicated to others? Articulate the steps that you managed your time for school, sports, work, family and family time. Reflect on how you communicated to your teachers when you were stuck, confused, or needed help. How did you celebrate success? Goals are critical. They keep you focused on what’s important, and allow you to make the best use of your 24 hours each day. When tackled correctly, they force you out of your comfort zone and help you grow more than you would without them. Just by setting a goal, you are taking an active role in driving new and better results in your life. What could be more important than that? Teaching our teenagers to set goals effectively can be life-changing. However, as we teach goal-setting to our children, we need to make sure we’re showing them how to use goals to have the greatest possible positive impact on their lives. Here are six strategies adapted and annotated from an article- 7 Mindsets: Goal Setting for Teens for smart goal setting for teens that can help them maximize the potential of their lives: 1. It must be on their terms The most important thing to remember is that these are their goals, not yours. One of the biggest mistakes we can make as parents is wanting our children to live in their images and in alignment with their definitions of success. In doing so, parents can unconsciously push their children down disingenuous paths that can result in reduced success and meaning from their goals. 2. Connect their goals to the ultimate currency… happiness! What we want for our children is happiness on their terms. Happiness can be defined as finding joy, gratitude, love, or pleasure in the simplest of things...to the most luxurious things. Simplifying happiness comes down to the most sacred thing that we all experience: Time. Finding time is based upon organizing our day in simple things: breaking down barriers to learn, finding success, and celebrating life. 3. Help them frame their lives Every year, we ask students to share their dreams and goals. We can hear it now..."what do you want to be when you grow up". To fully encapsulate we have to refine the lens to our goals, purpose, talents, and passions. Due to the world that we all live in, it’s easy to get very narrow with our vision for life and lose sight of some crucial components to our happiness. One of the first things you want to do is help your children frame and shape life in simple ways. As the first teacher, we should help define their priorities, which might include things like family, friends, faith, health, education, profession, wealth and social impact. We should ask them to consider all these areas as they think about and plan for the future, so they can set goals that will provide the greatest benefit to them. 4. Teach them to dream big but play small Teaching our children that goals are steps that we take on the path to our dreams is very important. The things we measure most often improve in our lives, so we must help our children set goals that are specific and measurable. For example, setting a goal to get straight A’s is much less powerful than a goal to use Cornell note-taking to prepare for each course... Remember that success is never one huge leap. It is almost always a succession of hundreds or thousands of tiny steps forward… and most likely with a few steps backward along the way. The greatest replicator of success is success. It’s both easy and common to give up on goals – and, therefore, dreams – if they’re too lofty or far away. It is really important to set goals that are attainable. The sense of gratification that students get from accomplishing small yet meaningful goals will help sustain the energy and belief as they move towards greater accomplishments. 5. They need to take stock along the way Setting goals can be a double-edged sword. It can drive purposeful action in our lives and allow us to achieve more over a shorter period of time. However, we need to be careful with ourselves and with our children, because goals can also be a source of anxiety. All of us have the tendency to create a hyper-focus on future circumstances. This can produce an “I’ll be happy when…” mentality, when what we want is to find inner happiness in this moment. With this awareness in mind, try to intertwine the process of goal-setting with an ongoing habit of recognizing existing successes and accomplishments. The present should never be sacrificed for the future, and goals should simply be tools to get the most out of the time we have. 6. Make goal-setting as engaging as possible We all know that, when working with teens, we’re competing with a constant barrage of distractions – video games, social media, and high school relationships. This process is predicated on patience and self-discipline, but we need to change it up a bit sometimes to help get the process started. We all want what’s best for our kids. Teaching them to think in terms of setting and accomplishing goals will help them become their own best sources for fulfillment, and provide the recognition that they control the outcomes in their lives. Through smart goal setting for teens, we can give our children the most important gift any parent can give: the ability to thrive in life without us. 7 Mindsets. "Goal Setting For Teens." 7 Mindsets. 7 Jun. 2016. Web. 17 Oct. 2019. <https://7mindsets.com/smart-goal-setting-for-teens/> Grades for the quarter will be posted on Tuesday, October 25Please keep in mind that our grade calculations have been communicated to students and parents this year in class, presentations, and directly in the family reference guide. Have a great weekend with family and friends! Douglas Murray, Principal Comments are closed.
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