Thursday, March 29, 2018

March 29, 2018

Good afternoon & happy Thursday!

It was been a busy, short week and the highlight was the Will to Live presentation on Monday.  Students are still talking about John Trautwein's message today and sharing "Love Ya Man's" with each other.  We are grateful to all of the community groups that came together to sponsor a great day of learning for our students, faculty, coaches and parents.  John's message was just a part of the education around mental health we do with students over the course of the year.  Students in the Class of 2020 will receive the SOS (Signs of Suicide) curriculum that John mentioned during the first week of May.  Join us in encouraging your students and any young adults you talk to to See Something, Say Something and ACT (Acknowledge, Care, Tell) if they are concerned about a friend/peer.

Last night, Wednesday, the students who attended the South Africa trip over February vacation shared their amazing experience with School Committee.  It was inspiring to hear how much they learned about themselves while they completed service projects thousands of miles away.  What was even more impressive was hearing about how they will continue to give back to the local community as an extension of their learning.  I am a great believer in service learning and the true impact it has on students.  Check out this video which shares some of their experiences!

Sophomores finished their first round of MCAS today, completing the English/Language Arts exam.  They will do the MCAS Field Test from April 24-May 1 followed by the Math and Science MCAS tests later in May and June.  All 9th grade students enrolled in Biology Honors will also take the Science MCAS test this year.

I look forward to seeing many of you Monday night at Courageous Conversations: Can it Happen Here? This interactive community event will give us all a chance to talk about school safety.  The event is planned and coordinated by students and I am so impressed with their voices.

As a reminder, Term 3 will now end on Thursday, April 12.  Report cards will be released on Thursday, April 26.

Thursday, April 12 is also the rescheduled date for our Student Voice: Cross Community Collaboration.  Encourage your son or daughter to join the conversation and talk about how their voice is heard at Ashland High School with peers from Holliston, Mendon-Upton, and Millbury!

Friday, April 13 we have an Early Release Day.  The schedule will be modified with shortened periods and we will also build in a 20 minute homeroom.  Students will be asked to complete the Positive Community Norms Survey at that time.  Please see the attached letter for more
information about the survey.  This will be our 3rd administration of the survey and provides us with
valuable information about students perceptions of alcohol and drug use.  We use this data, along with data from the MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey to determine areas of focus for health education.

Enjoy the weekend, Happy Easter and Passover if you celebrate and be sure to check out the Parent Flyers .

Yearbook Ad Sales - Final Chance
Anyone can place an ad in the yearbook to commemorate one or multiple seniors. Just visit our page and you can quickly upload photos, add text, and post your ad in this year's yearbook. All ads must be placed by Sunday, April 1st to be in the book. Questions? Contact cmcgowan@ashland.k12.ma.us or ssmith@ashland.k12.ma.us. Visit yearbookordercenter.com to place your order today!

Student Council News:
The Ashland High School Student Council would like to invite the entire Ashland community to our 10th annual Bingo night, held on Wednesday, April 11th at 6:30pm in the high school cafeteria.  This family-friendly event is open to participants of all ages -- young children, senior citizens, and everyone in-between.  All prizes have been donated by local businesses and restaurants (and are listed online at: http://sites.google.com/site/stucoashland/bingo).  $10 for a pack of 6 cards good for the entire night (or $20 for 12 cards, $30 for 18 cards, etc.)  Bring your own Bingo marker or bring $1 to buy one.  There will free coffee/water and baked goods and the Class of 2019 will be selling pizza.  The evening will be MCd by high school teachers DJ Jost and Randa Istfan.  

Check out our commercial online at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K-7ojOCnRc


The freshman class is selling AHS sweatpants as a fundraiser. They will be talking preorders for $20 until next Wednesday, April 4.  Later they will be available for purchase in the cafeteria for $25. 


Thinking spring? 🌻🌸🌷 
The Class of 2019 is having a plant bulb fundraiser! 
Purchase plant bulbs through this link:  https://groups.dutchmillbulbs.com/shop/?affiliates=ahs2019 !

The bulbs will be mailed to you and the Class of 2019 will receive a % of the proceeds! 


Ashland Raises Healthy & Happy Kids: Questions to Ask Your Kids After School Instead of, “How was your day?”
In his presentation to parents on Monday night, John Trautwein suggested that instead of asking your teens “How was your day?” after school (which usually elicits a grunt or, at best, a “fine” in response) ask them, ”What pissed you off today?”. I love that suggestion since it allows kids to get their anger or sadness or frustration out and it shows that we, as parents, know that school is not always “fine”. Below are some other good after school questions:


  1. What made you laugh today?
  2. Can you tell me an example of kindness you saw/showed?
  3. Was there an example of unkindness? How did you respond?
  4. What did you do that was creative?
  5. What was the best thing that happened today?
  6. Did you help anyone today?
  7. Did you tell anyone “thank you?”
  8. Who did you sit with at lunch?
  9. Did you learn something you didn’t understand?
  10. What was your least favorite part of the day?
  11. Tell me something you know today that you didn’t know yesterday.
  12. How did someone fill your bucket today? Whose bucket did you fill?
  13. Rate your day on a scale from 1-10.
  14. Tell us your top two things from the day.
  15. What are you looking forward to tomorrow?
  16. What was the hardest rule to follow today?
  17. If you could change one thing about your day, what would it be?
  18. What made your teacher smile? What made him/her frown?
  19. What made you feel happy?
  20. What made you feel proud?
  21. What made you feel loved?
  22. Did you learn any new words today?
  23. If you could switch seats with anyone in class, who would it be? And why?
  24. What is your least favorite part of the school building? And favorite?
  25. If you switched places with your teacher tomorrow, what would you teach the class?

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