Semester I is off and running. Many students had schedule changes this past week. A reminder that any student wishing to change a half year course should see their guidance counselor within the first 10 days of the semester. The last day for Add/Drop is Friday, February 3.
Report card grades are available today in iStudent/iParent. If you have any questions or notice any inaccuracies don't hesitate to reach out to the teacher or guidance counselor.
Right now I am excitedly waiting for our Chinese exchange students to arrive. For the next three weeks we will have 7 students and 1 teacher from Beijing #4 School studying with us at
AHS. We are thrilled for the opportunity to share our culture and education system.
This past week the Decisions at Every Turn "Stand" campaign joined us at all three lunches to explore student perspective on the new marijuana laws. Students were asked to write their thoughts, concerns and questions on sticky notes and we posted them on a whiteboard. Every student who contributed was entered into a raffle for a Hanto gift certificate and we had a winner at each lunch. Thank you to Decisions and Hanto for caring about the health and well being of our students. It's great to work together to make sure our students are getting accurate information.
This Wednesday we will kick of Black History Month with a variety of activities. I am exceptionally proud of the group of students who are working to provide daily quotes and songs by notable black artists.
Financial Literacy course:
We are very excited to bring a new opportunity to students at Ashland High School. Members of the Ashland community in conjunction with the Boston Bar Association are looking for interested upperclassman to participate in a Financial Literacy Program Entitled “Money 101”
This free course will meet for 4 sessions and include the real world topics of budgeting basics, credit and credit cards, buying a car, and possible consequences that are associated with poor money management.
If you are an interested 11th or 12th grader with study hall and/or after school availability please contact Mr. Massalski in the main office or e-mail pmassalski@ashland.k12.ma.us).
The AHS Class of 2018, 2019 and 2020 are participating in a fundraising competition now through Tuesday, February 7th. Students in 9th, 10th and 11th grade are competing to sell the most Classic Cookie products (including cookie dough, pretzel dough, candles and more!). The class that sells the most products will receive an increased percentage of profit to help pay for prom and senior week events! Additionally, there are $$ cash prizes for the top 5 sellers school wide and every student that sells at least 2 items will be entered into a class raffle for $50 cash! Please encourage students to participate in the fundraiser and support students by purchasing an item from any member of your favorite class!
Thanks!!
Our apologies to anyone trying to reach us online - our web host was hit with a DDoS attack earlier this week which caused a ton of corrupt code in our database. We appreciate your patience and we hope to be back up and running next week. In the meantime, you can visit our web store at https://squareup.com/
Thank you for your continued support!
Ashland PTO
ADL conference:
The Anti-Defamation League’s A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute announces that the 23rd Annual Youth Congress will be taking place on Thursday, March 30 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. This year’s program, entitled “There Is No ‘Them,’ Only Us,” will feature a keynote address by Khizr Khan, civil rights advocate and Gold Star parent. Following his keynote presentation, participants will attend breakout sessions that are co-facilitated by experienced student peer leaders who participate in ADL’s Peer Training Program. Any student interested in attending should email Ms. St. Coeur.
Please be sure to check out the Parent Flyers this week!
Ashland Raises Happy & Healthy Kids:
7 ways to create a safe environment for the truth
Lying can be a frustrating challenge for parents, but fortunately it’s one we can fix with a few adjustments to our parenting style. Let’s first take a look at why kids lie. One of the most obvious reasons for lying is to avoid punishment or an unpleasant outcome. Another reason is to avoid disappointing their their parents. And finally, kids always want a reaction, so they’ll tell outlandish stories to impress you or others.
Instead of doling out punishment for every fib, we want to make sure to create a safe environment for the truth. Below are seven ways to do that.
1. Be aware of how you respond to misbehavior in general. If your kids are worried about being punished or yelled at when they mess up, they won’t feel safe telling you the truth.
2. Allow your child to save face. Don’t give your child the opportunity to fib by asking questions to which you already know the answer. For example, instead of asking, "Did you finish your homework?" try, "What are your plans for finishing your homework?" If your child hasn’t completed his homework, he/she can save face by focusing on a plan of action rather than inventing a story.
3. Focus on the feeling. When your child is being dishonest, try to understand what made him feel that he couldn’t be honest with you. Instead of calling him out about the lie, try, "That sounds like a bit of a story to me. You must have felt afraid to tell me the truth. Let’s talk about that."
4. Acknowledge and appreciate honesty. Express encouragement when your kids tell the truth. "That must have been difficult for you to tell me what really happened. I admire your courage for telling the truth."
5. Celebrate mistakes. Think of mistakes as a way to learn to make better choices in the future. If kids know that you won’t be angry or disappointed when they mess up, they’ll be more likely to share honestly.
6. Reinforce unconditional love. Make sure your kids know that while you sometimes don’t like their behavior, there isn’t anything they could possibly do that would change your love for them.
7. Watch your white lies. Remember that young ears and eyes are always tuned in. Your words and actions set the example for acceptable behavior.
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