Comet CourierOakwood High School November 14, 2014

Volume II, Issue 8

It’s great to be young and a Comet!

CometCalendar

November 14Progress Reports

November 15Saturday School

November 17-21International Week

November 19School Board Mtg.

November 261:40 Dismissal

November 27No School --Thanksgiving

November 28No School

December 311:30 Dismissal

December 3Senior Citizen Dinner 11:00

Davis repeats as State cross country champ

Early Dismissal on November 26

Jon Davis crosses the finish line at the State cross country meet, claiming his second straight title.

Comet junior Jon Da-vis set the Class A record with a time of 14:20 and won the IHSA State cross country meet on Sat., Nov. 8.

Davis is a repeat cham-pion and ran away from the field at Detweiler Park in Peoria, winning by 42 seconds.

Davis was the Vermil-ion Valley Conference champion, the Vermilion County champion, the Regional champ, and the

Sectional champ before wrapping up the state title.

In all three classes at the State meet, only one runner was faster than Da-vis, that was a 3A senior, meaning that Jon will be the fastest returning run-ner in the State next year.

Jon is the first runner to repeat as State cross coun-try champion since 2001-02.

Davis will enter track season as the defending State champion in the 1600m and 3200m also.

2 Comet Courier 11-14-14

Check out the new athletics web page at ohsathletics.weebly.com

Edwards named Comet of the Month Alyea is Most Charismatic

Senior Sadie Edwards was chosen as Comet of the Month by the OHS Student Recognition Committee. Edwards is active in many sports and activities and was recently selected as DAR for the class of 2015.

Sophomore Kyle Alyea was selected as the Most Charismatic Student. Alyea plays soccer and wrestles and usually has a smile on his face.

Illinois will be using a new assessment to indicate student skill levels and college and career readiness based on the New Illinois Learning Standards (previ-ously Common Core). The testing areas will be in se-lected Math and English classes this year.

The new standards are much more rigor-ous and demanding on teachers and students. The New Illinois Learning Standards impact both the math and English curricu-lums in regard to what skills should be mas-tered at certain grade levels as well as the way in which teachers are expected to teach the material and students are ex-pected to learn the material.

The PARCC assessment is a computer-based test with two components; a Performance Based Assess-ment (PBA) taken in the middle of the year then an End of the Year Assessment (EOY) taken in May to determine student growth.

This assessment is different from previous assess-ments and much more challenging; students will be ex-

pected to explain their thought process, rationalize their answers and in the English assessment, be able to find supporting concepts for their answers in the text.

Our teachers have taken on this challenge in their teaching styles to help students begin thinking in terms

of why or how some-thing happens and come to their own conclusions. This is challenging for the students because it is a new way of instruc-tion.

Oakwood High School was able to pilot this assessment last year to help de-termine question va-

lidity, but it also gave our students and staff the ability to see the types of questions as well as the computer layout.

There are sample assessments online and we en-courage you, as parents, and encourage students to go through the practice assessments to see the format and change in student learning expectations.

http://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests/

PARCC is the new State assessement

Comet Courier 11-14-143

Engage Educate Empower

Nov. 17 GBB Arcola 6:00Nov. 18 GBB LeRoy 5:30Nov. 21-28 GBB Comet ClassicNov. 24-28 BBB Tri-County TourneyDec. 1 GBB @ Arthur 6:00Dec. 2 FrBB @ Covington 5:30Dec. 4 GBB Chrisman 6:00Dec. 6 WR @ Pirate Duals TBADec. 8 GBB @ Westville 6:00Dec. 8 FrBB Armstrong-Potomac 6:00Dec. 9 BBB @ St. Thomas More 6:00Dec. 9 WR SJO 6:00Dec. 11 GBB GRF 6:00Dec. 11 WR @ Hoopeston 6:00Dec. 11 FrBB @ GRF 6:00Dec. 12 BBB Chrisman 6:00Dec. 13 WR Vandalia 9:00Dec. 15 GB @ BH 6:00

Upcoming Athletic EventsThe boys basketball team

will be hosting Comet Mad-ness at 6 p.m. on November 14 in the OHS gym.

The evening will introduce and preview the winter athletic teams. The wrestlers, cheer-leaders, Comettes, and girls basketball teams will be intro-duced.

Both of the basketball teams will hold a scrimmage that night.

Admission price will be $2 per student and $3 per adult. No passes will be accepted.

The schedule for the evening is:6:00 -- Wrestling Introductions6:10 -- Comette Performance6:20 -- Girls Basketball Scrimmage7:00 -- Cheerleading Introductions7:10 -- Boys Basketball Scrimmage

Comet Madness

Comet schedules posted for Turkey tourneysCOMET CLASSIC

Girls Basketball

Fri., Nov. 21 vs Uni High 6:30 p.m.Sat. Nov. 22 vs. Judah Christian 6 p.m.Tue., Nov. 25 vs. GRF 6:30 p.m.Wed. Nov. 26 vs. Shiloh 6:30 p.m.Fri., Nov. 28 Finals TBD

TRI-COUNTY TURKEY TOURNEYBoys Basketball

Mon., Nov. 24 vs Villa Grove-Heritage 8 p.m.Tue. Nov. 25 vs. Tri-County 8 p.m.Wed., Nov. 26 vs. Martinsville 6:30 p.m.Fri. Nov. 28 vs. Uni High 11 a.m.Fri., Nov. 28 vs. GRF 5 p.m.

OHS will be celebrating Interna-tional week for the third year during the week of November 17-21.

This week is celebrated world-wide in honor of celebrating dif-ferent cultures and communities in education.

This year, OHS will be hosting a

OHS will celebrate International Weekguest speaker, Jackie Johnson, who owns a fair trade business, Motif, which sells items made by margin-alized men and women from Ban-gladesh.

OHS and International club will also participate in International Week by holding a pot luck for

members, and hosting a Skype con-ference call with Ms. Katie Wolf, a former English teacher who is cur-rently teaching abroad in China.

Additionally, students will be given the opportunity to watch a few foreign language films in Homerooms that week.

The Oakwood FFA Chapter will begin selling popcorn and poinsettias on Mon., Nov. 3.

The popcorn is coming from Not Just Popcorn in Edin-b u r g h , Ind. Fla-vors are: Chicago C h e d -dar, Car-a m e l , Chicago M i x (Chicago Cheddar & Caramel), Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting, Dill Pickle, Hot Wings, and Bacon & Cheddar.

Two sizes are offered: large (approximately 1 pound), $10; and small (approximately 1/2

pound), $5. Poinsettias come in a 6 1/2”

pot with a foil cover. Colors are: Premium Red, Premium White,

Premi-um Ice Crystal, Cor tez B u r -gundy, Orange S p i c e , and So-n o r a W h i t e Gl i t ter

(red with white spots). They are $10 each.

Contact an FFA member or Mrs. Nekolny if you are interest-ed in supporting the FFA Chapter through this fundraiser.

FFA will be selling popcorn

The student organizations are working together to hold a Holiday Food Drive at OHS during the week of December 8.

The food drive is a Homeroom competition. The winners will be the one with the most pounds of food collected per student.

There are themed days to ensure holiday themed foods are collected: Mashed Up Monday (potatoes), Too Stuffed Tuesday (stuffing), Where's the Fruit Wednesday (fruit/Jello), Turnip the Veggies Thursday (veg-etables), and Free For All Friday (everything).

In addition to collecting food during homerooms, there will also be students at the girls basketball game on December 11 (two non-perishable items equals one free ad-mission to the game) and the boys basketball game on December 12 (two non-perishable items equals one bag of popcorn at the conces-sion stand).

There will be boxes around the Oakwood School District commu-nity. Collected food will be donated to the food pantry on Oakwood.

For more information, please contact a member of the OHS Holi-day Food Drive Committee: Kira Conklin, Rebekah Cyphers, Jarret Divan, Abby Foster, Kheagyn Grit-ten, Jasmine Hutson, Paul Kirkpat-rick, Kathy McFarland, Ally Reed, Jazmin Smith, Josalynn Smith, Kathleen Townsley, Ryce Tuggle, Lane, Warren, Joellyn Weaver, Liam White, and Evan Young.

Organizations collect donations for food pantry

Please consider participating in the 5K Turkey Trot at 8 a.m. on Thanks-giving at Kickapoo State Park.

This is a fundraiser for the Oakwood Area Food Pantry that currently serves anywhere between 40-50 needy (or ill) children and families in our

community regularly. This will be a fun family event! You are en-

couraged to dress up festively and there will be trophies!

Registration is $25 for adults and $10 for children under 15.

If you are not interested in walking or run-ning please help us circulate the registration form attached by printing them out and leaving them at your workplace or forwarding via email.

T-shirts are guaranteed if you register by Nov. 14th! Event sponsors are still needed ($100 includes your name/logo on the shirt as well any litera-ture).

To pay and register online, go to www.feedoakwood.myevent.com. Make checks payable to Oakwood Food Pantry.

Food pantry to hold Turkey Trot

Comet Courier 11-14-144

ACT Prep Class Get a jump start on your preparation for the ACT

or work at improving your score.

Second ACT Testing of 2015 is April 18!

A strong performance on the ACT can make a difference in gaining admittance to, or receiving financial aid from, your top college choices. Research indicates that students can increase their speed and accuracy on the ACT by reviewing math, verbal concepts, English, and science, by learning test-taking strategies, and by taking simulated tests.

Through the nationally recognized Cambridge ACT Preparation program students will be taught by certified, experienced instructors. Each student will receive the following materials: ACT Victory Textbook Big Book of Skills Textbook 2 official retired ACT tests Personalized student data report.

The class is broken down into the following modules, with testing during the first and last sessions: 2.5 hour pre-test 12 hours of instruction 2.5 hour post-test

The 6-week class meets Saturdays, February 14 through March 21, 2015, from 9:00 am to noon at the DACC offices in the Village Mall. Cost is $150 per student payable at time of registration.

Registration may be completed in person at the DACC Village Mall location, or by mail to the Community Education Department, Village Mall, 2917 N. Vermilion, Danville, IL 61832.

For more information, call 217-554-1667 or 217-554-1668, or email commed@dacc.edu