The Bulldog Nation Report October, 2014

Greetings from Dr. Renouard who is in Tbilisi, Georgia,

After my first week in Georgia, I am finally settling in. It has been quite a ride for past seven days. Just getting over the jet lag was a challenge. Not sleeping for three days created a little challenge, and on top of that, Lt General Neller, Marine Forces Europe Commander, placed a little more stress on the command. Currently, I am very busy with my turn over with the current Georgian Deployment Program-Resolute Support Mission, Liaison Officer (GDP-RSM LNO), Major Jamie Fleishhacker. I spend half my day working out of the US Embassy and the other half at the Georgian Ministry of Defense in the Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC). So far it has been an incredible experience. I really enjoy working with the Georgian Military, and supporting the Marine training teams in their support for the Afghanistan Georgian support mission. The Georgians are very appreciative of the support of the US military due to the fact that Russia is only 100 km from Tbilisi, and their fear of Russia's incursion into their territory. They don't want what is unfolding in the Ukraine to occur in Georgia (I don't blame them). In 2008, the Georgian fought a five day war with Mother Russia and lost some territory, so their fear is well founded. Living in Tbilisi has been an incredible cultural experience. The people are very friendly and the city is a contrast between Europe and Asia. Since Georgia was a former Soviet Republic, the architecture is

Sierra Linda High School

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unique. The curb appeal of most buildings is to say lacking; however, once you enter the apartments, the living areas are very nice and are up to US standards.

Below is my mailing address. I look forward to hearing from you all. John S. Renouard Unit 7060, Box 200 DPO AE 09742-7060 This is a Diplomatic PO Box address. In addition, I have attached some photos of Tbilisi so you have a better idea of the cultural diversity of the city. These photos were taken during the General's visit.

Happy Thanksgiving Bulldogs!! I spent Thanksgiving with the Marines & Georgians at KTA. It was fun. See attached photos. Give my best to The Bulldog Family! John

Guidance We held our Open House for our new “Future Connect” room. It was a huge success and we had almost 200 students come through during both lunches. The room is full of resources and helps our students begin the process of planning for their future educational endeavors. Congrats to our Guidance staff and Lissa Fresquez for a job well done!!

West-MEC tour Thirteen sophomores went to the West-MEC Northeast campus on November 24 to tour the campus and learn more about the programs offered there.

Read 180 Program Our students wrote thank you letters to any staff member of their choice and delivered them to the teacher or staff member they wanted to thank. On a side note, our Reading I students read the directions and assembled our new classroom Christmas tree on their own and Reading I and II students decorated the tree. Here are a few pictures! :) We had to share, have a great holiday season! -Mrs. Cooper and Mrs. Pacheco

Life Skills The life skills students attended a construction career day. They learned about various jobs in the construction industry. They participated in various exhibits including learning and working with concrete; electrical wiring; carpentry, welding, screw gun contests, heavy equipment operation and more. Colleges as well as trade school programs and instructors were present to expand on the career paths available. Thanks to Ms. Ray for providing them this hands on experience.

FCCLA Our Culinary Club Competition Team had another successful year at it district competition... 1st, 2nd, & 3rd in the individual/cuts category and 1st and 2nd in the team/salad category. Our students and instructors work hard and their efforts have paid off. Seven students competed in the knife cuts category and two teams of two competed in the Salad Category. Sierra Linda represented very well as we took home several medals.

Thanks to Sonia Saenz and Sushyla Perez and our kids for giving their all and caring about teaching/learning and demonstrating mastery of their knowledge and skill level.

Knife Cuts Category 1st- Vanesa Contreras Senior 2nd- Kristian Borja Howard Junior 3rd- Wendy Tleseca Senior Salad Category 1st- Vanesa Contreras and Kenia Hernandez Senior 2nd- Christian Briceno Sophomore and Daniel Barajas Senior

National Honor Society

On World Kindness Day -Nov. 13th – NHS Members adopted at least 3 staff members to acknowledge

and appreciate in different ways. Members gave teachers cards, candy, coffee gift cards, posters and

other items to show their appreciation of their teachers.

National Honor Society

“Stuff a Turkey” Canned Food Drive that started in October till the week of Thanksgiving.

We collected over 600 nonperishables items that we distributed into 25 food boxes for our Feed Tolleson

Families Food Drive.

We delivered the boxes to the Tolleson Senior Center

Also, we had several SLHS NHS members attend the Annual Thanksgiving Dinner Volunteer

opportunity on Thanksgiving Day.

Projects this month:

NHS members plan on writing letters of appreciation to the solders where Dr. Renouard is stationed at

this time.

Microsoft IT Academy Microsoft IT Academy has partner with the Business Operations Support and Assistant Services Class (BOSAS) to provide students with an opportunity to become Microsoft certified. The BOSAS class now offers Microsoft curriculum that prepares students to take and pass the official Microsoft certification exams. Students in Mrs. Shelkin’s BOSAS class display their Microsoft course completion certificates. Official training courses and exams are now available as part of the BOSAS class Students in Mrs. Shelkin’s BOSAS class display their Microsoft course completion certificates.

Athletics Over the weekend two former Lady Bulldog basketball players (Clarissa Sabedra (Salt Lake City) and Janessa Aukward (Mesa C.C.) played against each other. We were not use to seeing them on opposing sides, but It was super exciting and fun to watch!! "Once a Bulldog Always a Bulldog"

On Friday the cross country team competed in the sectional meet to qualify for state. They take the top 25 men & women individually. I'm proud to say that we will be sending Zyanne Baxter for the women (she placed 20th) and Ryan Young for the men (he placed 14th) to represent our Bulldog Nation. If you see either of these athletes this week please congratulate them & wish them good luck as they compete in state this weekend!

NHS

It is that time again for our annual food drive “Feed Tolleson Families.” NHS will be decorating boxes to collect nonperishables starting this week. Our theme this year is “Stuff your Turkey” (the boxes in the classrooms will be decorated as turkeys). We will challenge all 2nd hour classes to bring in the most donations and the winner gets an awesome prize!!

Band

I am very happy to report that the marching band did an amazing job this past Saturday at the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association Division II State Marching Band Festival. The kids competed with the best bands in our division and bracket. When it all was said and done, the band received an overall score of 75.863, they needed a 79.75 to be moved on to championships. There are 72 division II bands in the State of Arizona, 30 go to state and 10 get to move on to the final round. They finished 15th. The Bulldog Nation is very proud. They worked hard and deserve a lot of credit for their accomplishments.

Winter Festival:

The 7th Annual Winter Festival will be held on Friday December 12th, 2014. The event will start at 6pm with

Carnival Games, Food, Music, Pictures with Santa Claus, and much, much, more…..The last hour of the

festival will consist of Music performances by the band, choir, orchestra, and full company meaning band,

choir, and orchestra all performing together at the same time. This is going to be a great evening, and a

great way for all of the clubs to partake in a carnival game and make some dinero in the process. Carnival

games are from 6pm to 8pm. Last year we witnessed about 900-1,000 people on our campus during the

winter festival. We anticipate more this year because of the publicity we are hoping to get and the advertising

we are going to be doing. Even though I cannot force everyone to do it, it would be amazing awesome to see

all clubs participate and show our community that this is a great safe place to be. This is a huge event for our campus and has gained popularity over the years and is a great way to kick of the Holiday Season.

Dance Body song Dance Company competed at the Star Bound Dance Competition on November 8. They won two high gold’s for a

small and large jazz group dance, a high point, and a judge’s award for high energy.

The Dance Class visited La Joya High’s PAC as part of learning their “Lingo” for

a Performing Arts Center. One day soon SLHS will have their own!!!

Speech and Debate The SLHS Speech & Debate team observed the November 15th Dobson Invitation Tournament. On December 6th the team will compete in the Winter Trophy Tournament at Paradise Valley High School. Members will be competing in Impromptu Speaking, and Prose, Poetry, and Dramatic Interpretation.

SLHS Theatre The SLHS Theatre presented Sibling Rivalry-Clash of the Cliques On February 20th and 21st on the cafeteria stage.

Math Department

This article appeared in the Arizona republic this past weekend. Great job Ms. Singh! Click on the link

to view the entire story!!

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/scottsdale/2014/11/22/season-for-sharing-groups-give-teens-

running-start/19430665/

A sense of urgency

1:07 p.m.: Grishma Singh teaches algebra fast.

The Sierra Linda High School students have barely taken their seats for the last class of the day when

Singh calls out, "It's Mad Minute Monday! Get your pencils ready! Take a deep breath and GO!"

The teenagers start scribbling madly, figuring out 30 algebra problems in 60 seconds.

Its algebra time — a series of fast-paced, timed assignments.

The teams of students, each named after a cartoon character, compete to solve problems and complete

their missions.

Singh races from table to table. "Check your graphs!" "No, try it this way."

She teaches this way to instill energy into the lessons. Now in her second year of teaching, Singh was

trained in the Teach for America program, and is one of 250 TFA teachers in the Phoenix area.

2:11 p.m.: Classes are over but Singh's day might be only half done.

As the algebra students file out, more students file in and start to line up at her desk.

Some days, Singh stays until 5 or 6 p.m. Once she stayed until 9 p.m. helping a student.

Singh entered Teach for America her senior year at Arizona State University, where she majored in

philosophy. This is her second year at Sierra Linda, and the TFA training is ongoing.

Teach for America sends its members into low-income schools. At Sierra Linda, in the Tolleson Union

High School District, 75 percent of the students are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch.

Singh moved to America from India when she was 10 years old, and attended McClintock High School.

"There were times in high school when the other students knew things I didn't," she said.

"There are a lot of logistical things you need to know, and I know my students' parents might not be able

to help them with that, so I can."

HOSA

On November 7th some HOSA students attended GCU's health science and nursing day. They had the

opportunity to go to several different seminars including safe medicine administration, taping labs, and

cadaver labs. We learned how to inject medication into oranges and even had the chance to learn about

concussions from our very own assistant athletic trainer, Casey Erickson. The students were all very

professional and had an amazing time.

We also celebrated national HOSA by doing fun activities every day after school including medical

charades, taping labs, ultimate Frisbee, and scrub day! Attached is a picture of some of us on scrub day.

Ms. Ramirez and SLHS students from various clubs (YSOP, StuGo, and Mecha) volunteered at the Dr. Landis Thanksgiving dinner.

It’s A Great Day to Be a BULLDOG!