"Navy-Out" Basketball Game on February 3rd.

The HHS Athletic Booster Club would like to invite Hawk Fans to come out for "Navy-Out" Day.

Come cheer on the HHS Boys Varsity Basketball team to victory against the Cedar Ridge Raiders this Friday, February 3, 2012 @ 7:00pm in the HHS Gym.

This Navy-Out game is sponsored by the Athletic Booster Club. Don't miss out on your chance to win one of several door prizes including a free 3 hour weight training session at World's Gym!
Get your Navy-Out T-Shirts by contacting Crystal Reininger, cdrarp@yahoo.com or in the Athletic Field House.

We have long and short sleeve Navy-Out T-shirts. Other HHS will be on sale during this game. We have plenty of hoodies, blankets, string bags, stadium seats and other discounted merchandise. Go Hawks!!

Student Highlights to Close out January

HHS student Lindsey Butler earned the degree of Premier Distinction from the National Forensic League (a Speech and Debate Honor Society). She is one of 171 students earning this distinction nationwide, placing her in the top 1% of this honor society's membership. Congratulations to Lindsey, Speech/Debate sponsors Kirsten Nash and Haley Honey, and her supportive teammates for this outstanding accomplishment.

Journalism competed at the Round Rock UIL tournament this weekend. HHS took home a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th place medal in 5 different events. Hendrickson Freshman Nyssa Kruse accounted for three of those placements! At that same meet, Dung Nguyen won 1st in "Calculator Applications." This is significant because it means he was the best out of all those schools that showed up in Round Rock and it is the first math related medal in HHS history.

A small group of Hendrickson students, mostly novices, took Cedar Ridge by storm this past weekend. The team walked away with 1st Place Sweepstakes Honors.

HHS Student Highlights

As mentioned before, HHS students performed well at the Travis County Youth Show. In total, HHS students raked in $25,000 in awards. Impressive stuff.

Additionally, HHS students Maggie Solice and Andrew Barron placed 2nd at the Baylor Round Robin Debate tournament. There were a lot of students in a highly competitive field so this is a strong accomplishment for those two.

Lastly, HHS girls soccer won the Hays Invitational this weekend.

Congrats to all!

Hairspray @ HHS = 36 lbs of Glitter

Directors Michael Fisher and Nicole Malone recently shared with me that 36 pounds of glitter have currently gone into the production of sets for Hendrickson's production of Hairspray. That staggering statistic is just one glimpse into a huge endeavor involving over 80 performers and dozens more making the production work "behind the scenes." All of this comes together February 2nd-5th in the HHS Performing Arts Center. 7PM all nights except for the Sunday performance at 2:00.
Checking out their work led to the realization that our students involved in "Tech Theater" are involved in a pretty novel class. They collaborate, plan, and problem solve to help make a full scale production work out on a tight timeline. Above is a picture of Ms. Malone working with a student as they plot out some set designs.

Completely constructed by Tech Theater students. Glitter, glitter, and more glitter.

Putting the finishing touches on a piece for Hairspray.

Mr. Gipson's Retirement

Mr. Willie Gipson, a longtime Pflugerville administrator, has served as Assistant Principal at Hendrickson since 2004. While he took a short trip to Frisco ISD for a small portion of those years, he has been a strong part of the culture at Hendrickson High School. This month, Mr. Gipson has chosen to retire after a career dedicated to helping students.

Without doubt, his influence spans generations of Pflugerville residents. We plan to celebrate and honor Mr. Gipson's career on February 24th in the HHS library from 4:30-6:00. Please RSVP to sarah.coleman@pflugervilleisd.net if you'd like to join us as part of our community.

Joining us to fill Mr. Gipson's role as the 12th grade Assistant Principal is Ms. Clarissa Alvarado. An experienced administrator and graduate of the University of Texas, she has joined us this week and is busy learning how to help our students and our school succeed. Please join me in welcoming her. You may contact Ms. Alvarado at clarissa.alvarado@pflugervilleisd.net

Early College Start & FAFSA

ACC Early College Start
Parent Information Session
Tuesday January 24th, 2012
6:00pm to 8:00pm
HHS PAC


FAFSA Workshops for Seniors and Their Parents
Thursday February 16th, 2012 6:00pm-9:00pm at PHS
Saturday March 31st, 2012 8:30am-12:30pm at HHS
HHS Room B-109
You may attend ANY FAFSA Workshop!
Click here for ALL dates and locations!

http://www.austinchamber.com/education-talent/files/FAS%20Event-Training%20Schedule.pdf

For a list of what items you will need to bring to complete the FAFSA, click here!

http://www.austinchamber.com/education-talent/college-ready-now/financial-aid-saturdays.php

Springtime and Teenage Drama

Conflict is a normal part of life. Handling conflict in an inappropriate manner is not normal. We've had a strong year from the perspective of student culture, but managing individual conflicts is somethings teenagers sometimes grapple with in the community and then at school. As we enter the hectic pace of the springtime, allow me to share some general tips and reminders from a Principal's perspective:

- Consequences: Letting emotions get the best of you never leads to a good outcome. Escalating to verbal arguments results in class time lost, school consequences, suspensions. Arguments involving any kind of physical actions go beyond that, which means students incur more school time missed and tickets. We never take it lightly. Luckily, we've had a strong student culture this year and our student body makes great choices. To date, about 1% of our student body have found themselves making those unwise choices, but even the best of us are prone to letting interpersonal conflict get the best of us. I've seen students that NEVER get in trouble just all of a sudden lose their cool.

- Access to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media causes a fair share of issues. It's a place to connect with "friends," but also a permanent online forum for conflicts. Some folks make bold, hurtful comments online that wouldn't likely say the same things during real interactions. To help, many parents check out their student's profile (often) and modify/restrict access if they don't approve of messages they see, out of their teen's best interest. Not surprisingly, nearly all interpersonal conflicts students encounter at school have roots on some type of social media nowadays.

- Parents play a strong role. While some students may be tight lipped about their day at school, asking and talking consistently will sometimes reveal a problem on the mind of a student. Helping coach your student how to handle adversity, conflicts, or just plain mean behavior provides a helpful mental rehearsal for the actual interaction. Exhibit trust your student to handle it, but intervene and contact the school as necessary to provide support.

- Use the school's resources. We have staff members (social worker, administrators, counselors, teachers) that are pretty finessed at finding the right way to help a student end a conflict. As an example, students wrestling with tough issues often write me emails or drop me a note in the office when they want to process a problem/conflict/issue.

There are some incredible young people in our schools today. However, the world is far more complex than it was even 10-20 years ago and it is clear these young people deal with more distractions and pressure to manage than ever. Schools and parents staying involved help students navigate these variables successfully, which eventually makes them stronger and more poised adults. Contact your administrator/counselor if you have more questions/needs.

HHS Extra Curricular Events for 1.17.12

There were all kinds of occasions for Hawk Pride this past week. HHS took on Elgin on Friday and for the girls, it was parent night. Particularly for our seniors it was a memorable game that ended in victory.


Check out this article on our award winning choir. They are seeking to visit Washington DC to perform at the Kennedy center. Our choir has grown immensely in the past few years and the performers led by Director Kay Payton do outstanding work.

HHS FFA competed at the Travis County Youth Show this weekend as well. Hendrickson was well represented. Four Hawks took 1st place. Two were blue ribbon winners in their events. On top of those six, Weston Brydon won Breed Champion and Allison Hodde was named Grand Champion for the weekend event. For those of us that might not necessarily show animals, that is a very big deal.

Health Occupations Students of America students competed this weekend against 20 different schools in the area in Health Science events. All participants worked hard and showcased the best of Hendrickson. Mariah Lewchuk and Nadia Hodges will be competing at State competition in San Antonio in March!

HHS students competed at Region Band this weekend. We have a school record 7 students advancing to the state level. Congrats to those students and our band directors for their work!

The UIL Academic team traveled to Burnet, Texas this past Saturday to compete in a tournament. Thirteen different Hawks placed at the event, taking 17 different awards.

Grades and Student Success

School is a lot tougher today than it was even 10 years ago.  The testing system is more rigorous, the graduation requirements are higher, and the world has even more distractions from student learning.  More so than ever, educators are compelled to find ways to make sure students are prepared for life after college by meeting or exceeding the state expectations for learning.

One way we're going to help promote student success is by requiring "re-testing/corrections" on certain failed assessments in the core areas (math, science, English, social studies).  Why?  If a portion of students fail a teacher's test, some students will make up the learning and some will not.  We are working off the assumption that if students are required to re-learn failed concepts on our most important "comprehensive" assessments (not every single one) they will move on with the required knowledge to be successful on future concepts. 

The support of our parents is the #1 reason students are successful at HHS.  Please see the previous post on ways you can support student learning at HHS for suggested activities to help students.

January Senior Celebration Events

Tuesday, January 24^th
Yaghi’s Pizza Fundraising Night
4-9 pm Yaghi’s Pizza (1552 FM 685 – Wal Mart Shopping Center)

Thursday, January 26^th
Chick Fil-A Fundraising Night 5-8 pm Chick Fil-A Pflugerville

Grades

Our goal at HHS is to improve the learning of each student, based on the information we get from their performance in the classroom and on assessments.  We want to know where students are when the school year begins and measure their progress by the end of the year.  The best feedback tool we use to measure this progress is the actual student grade.

When students received report cards on Thursday, they may have been pumped up or slightly discouraged.  Regardless, here are a few tips to keep in mind for your student's success.

Check TxConnect:  This is a valuable resource to stay up to date on grade progress.  If you have questions, please email your child's teacher.  Don't have TxConnect?  Ask your student to stop by student services and pick up their password/instructions.

Attend Teacher Tutorials:  Every teacher makes themselves available before or after school.  Ask your student to approach the teacher and ask to attend tutorials.  The student gets more focused attention and the teacher better understands what may seem confusing to the student.

Attend "Late Night Library":  Late Night Library is every Thursday from 4:20 to 6:20.  Teachers are available to provide extra help, computers are available, and the setting is perfect for getting stuff done.

Ask for Re-Tests:  Failed major grades may be redone, for a maximum of 70.  If a student fails a test, they should ask to attend tutorials and retake the test for credit.  Not only does it help the grade, it helps the student understand material that will surely show up later down the road.

Team Up:  If an assignment is hard for your student, it is surely hard for someone else.  Our most successful students learn to communicate and study with their peers that are in the same class.  Many difficult problems or assignments are solved at the lunch table, in the bleachers, or even when a friend comes over.

Extra-Curricular Updates for January 9th

Although only the first week of the second semester, it was surprising to see the level of activity on and outside of campus this week.  Students and teachers were all very busy with academic and extra-curricular activities.  The boys soccer team had a scrimmage Saturday while the girls won 7-0 over Leander.  Boys and girls basketball each had two games this past week as well.  Check the calendar of events on the HHS website or the sidebar of this blog for upcoming contests.





Band had an excellent weekend as well.  SEVEN students made all-state band and three were named "1st alternate."  This is the most in school history, with a typical year having three Hawks move on to state.  Congrats to the HHS Band Directors and our students.  Also within the world of Fine Arts, the HHS Debate team took 2nd place at their weekend tourney.

PSAT Info Night for 10th and 11th Grade Parents

The PSAT Parent Night for current 10th and 11th graders will be Thursday, January 19th at 6:30 p.m. in the library.  Come and learn how to interpret your students' results and how they can best use the PSAT to prepare for the SAT.