I am SO jealous!

Our CHS Civics class had the opportunity to travel to Seattle and see the Broadway production of Hamilton at the Paramount Theatre on March 8th. The class had to go through a rigorous curriculum before they were allowed to see the show. One assignment the class did was to create a performance of a historical event that they were studying. Each class voted on the best presentation and then those were judged from the 39 schools that came to watch Hamilton. The best 15 performed in front of the 2000+ students and teachers and our own Tim Clarke and Jorge Rodriguez got chosen to perform AND were highlighted in the Seattle Times! I and about the whole staff of CHS wished we could of gone to see Hamilton;, but oh well, that's life. If you haven't had a chance to see the article and watch a video of their performance, here is the link:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/before-they-saw-hamilton-students-from-around-washington-performed-their-own-take-on-american-history/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=article_left_1.1

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I hope you are having a great Valentine's Day! 

Mrs. Kert showed me an awesome feature in Office 365 yesterday. Did you know you can isolate verbs, nouns and adjectives in your document?  You also can have it read to you, just think how this might help your English papers!  To do this, open your document in OneDrive in your Office 365 account. Go to "View" and click "Immersive Reader".

Once you are in the Immersive Reader mode, click the little "Grammer Options" button (it looks like little books on the upper right). From there you can select what parts of speech you want highlighted.  Ask Mrs. Kert to show you or come by the library if you need help. Just looking at your verb choice this way could really help your papers. Remember, ACTION VERBS, not passive verbs, creates an interesting paper to read.

 

 

Pick my YA!

Do you ever run out of books to read? Do you run out of authors or ideas of what to read next? Well, Mrs. Kert just introduced me to Pick My YA. On this site you can use the book generator to help you find books you might enjoy. There are also author interviews and the site uses teen editors to help make sure it's authentic. A class came into the library today and they found books to check out. I hope you check this fun site out. 

GoPro CHS!

                       

I applied for a small grant through the Community Foundation and received enough money to buy two GoPro cameras for CHS! Mr. Groce has been helping me figure out how to use them. He downloaded the app on his phone and that was a big help in making the videos. He says it's EASY!

Click here for a sample

Hopefully we can think of a lot of ways to use these cameras in our classes, activities, sports and clubs. If you need to borrow one of our GoPro cameras, please let me know.

Merry Christmas! Have a great break and see you in 2018!

Merry Christmas! Be sure to check out a few books to read over the Christmas break. I'm looking forward to having some down time in front of the fire curling up with a good book reading. I hope you have time with friends and relatives enjoying the true meaning of the season. See you in 2018! 

Here it comes: READY PLAYER ONE - the movie!!

For those of you that have read Ernest Cline's book, Ready Player One, I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that the movie is coming out March 30, 2018! 

Other YA books to movies that will be apprearing soon are:

• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, will be coming March 6, 2018.
• James Dashner's book, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, coming on January 26, 2018.
• Becky Alvertalli's Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, which will now go by the title of Love, Simon, will be out March 16, 2018. 
• To All the Boys I've Loved Before, by Jenny Han, whose release date hasn't been released.
• Angie Thomas's debut novel, The Hate U Give, is also being filmed with no release date yet.

Make sure YOUR college apps are up to speed!

For this post I am shamelessly copying an email I received from Shmoop:

Hi Shmoopers, College application season is in full swing, and the stress of it all can sometimes lead to silly mistakes—including the dreaded missed deadline. We can't set a cal reminder for you to submit those apps, but we can help you get through your personal statements without any hitches. Start with the list below, and then head over to Shmoop's College Essay Lab to start crafting the perfect essay. 6 Mistakes to Avoid on Your College Application Essay 1. Don't be offensive. Listen. We love pushing people's buttons. But be careful not to overstep the bounds of good taste in your essay when ruminating on faith, race, politics, or anything else that can turn a dinner party into a food fight. 2. Don't be negative. Don't talk about your dead dog in your college essay, unless Fido's death spurred you into caring about the plight of homeless animals so much that you felt compelled to start your city's first animal shelter.  3. Beware the overshare. Sob stories can be a win, but there are some things that the admissions office does not need—or want—to know. Remember, there is such a thing as TMI. 4. Don't get too creative. The admissions office at Vanderbilt is looking for a solid, well-written piece of prose—not a Shakespearean sonnet. We can say for sure that those 14 lines would get you noticed, but we can't promise it'd be in a good way. 5. Keep your eye on the prize—er, prompt.  Answer the prompt, for crying out loud. Sound familiar? That's because it goes for all kinds of essays. They asked you the question for a reason, so answer it. 6. Don't spell the name of the college wrong. It's Berkeley, not Berkley. Columbia, not Colombia. Rensselaer, not...however else we tried spelling it before resorting to Google. Good luck if you're applying to any of the state schools in Massach—uh, sorry, we have to go. Good luck with those apps, and don't forget to let us help.