Celtic Courier: Week of May 4- May 8, 2015

"Vision to See, Faith to Believe, Courage to Do"

Dear Staff,

Finally-- a beautiful spring weekend of weather!  And May is here-- so much to do, so little time! But a wonderful time to be a high school staff member where excitement is high every day, culminating in graduation on May 30 at 4 PM.  We hope you will all try to attend.  Remember that all staff members who work graduation can leave .5 day early on June 2.  Please let Kay know if you can help.

What a great weekend!  It started with a fantastic International Day Friday thanks to Multicultural Club and Magen Beatty's leadership.

It is always a special day to celebrate the diversity of our Jerome family!

It was a beautiful Saturday for our Prom and we were blessed with a safe Prom weekend!  Much thanks to Diane Murphy and Michael Cook for all of their hard work and dedication in providing this opportunity for our students.

The OSU Student Union is a beautiful venue with an attached outdoor patio for the exclusive use of our sstudents.

Kanaad Parvate and Ahana Walia were crowned King and Queen!

The students always love to see staff members come like Profe . . .

and Michelle Adair and her husband Brian!

Working every Prom it seems are Roger and Diane Murphy, Michael Cook and Ann Beaufore who checked in students all night long!  Diane and Roger have been working Proms since 1997!  Wow!  

A new twist to the Prom this year was our students witnessing an unexpected peaceful protest coming through the Ohio Union.  Although police provided security the peaceful protest was an educational view of democracy in action for our students as the protesters gathered in the middle of the Union chanting and carrying signs Black Lives Matter.  We and the students found it very interesting to view and people of all ages gathered in a contrast of prom dresses, tuxes and T-shirts carrying protest slogans.

A protest and a Prom-- study of American culture contrasts Saturday night.

This Week:

Happy Staff Appreciation Week!  PTO and we have some special small gifts for you throughout the week.  We so much appreciate everything all of you do every day to make Jerome a special place for staff, students and parents.

Much thanks to all of you involved in our interview process.  We are getting close to choosing final candidates and we appreciate all of your input and feedback.  It will be great to welcome new members to the Jerome family.  Dusty is meeting with the final 2-3 candidates after the teaching interview to select the final candidate.

AP and IB Testing starts.  Much thanks to the entire staff for success on AP and IB is truly a 9-12 effort!

We also finish PARCC and End-of-Course assessments this week for this year.  Much thanks to all of you who have worked so hard to prepare our students for these new graduation requirements and proctored tests.  A special thanks to Andy Wilkinson for facilitating testing for this year in PARCC and to guidance, Forrest, Karen Kendall-Sperry and all who will spend most of the month of May ensuring that we follow long pages of testing protocols.

Monday: AP/IB testing. No adjusted bell schedule but we do have PARCC US Gov at 1 PM in the Aux Gym.

Tuesday: AP/IB testing.  End of PARCC with Physical Science in the AM and US History in the PM.

Also Baccalaureate 7:30 PM. St. Patrick's Episcopal Church.  Planned by Senior Cabinet for Seniors.  Feel free to come as we start a month of senior events celebrating this wonderful Senior Class.

Wednesday:  AP/IB Testing. Master Schedule Building starts.  Because of AP/IB testing we will have to use the Teacher's Lounge for master scheduling most likely.  Anyone is welcome to observe and you can certainly come in and out of the lounge.  It will not be available for lunch on Wednesday or Thursday most likely.

Also School Nurses's Day!  Thanks Alicia Plymale, our school nurse, and Barb Bailey, Clinic Aide, for providing such good care to our students with medical needs or concerns.

Also Working Wednesday again!  Finally! We know how much appreciate this collaborative time to work on PLC work together.  Please make sure your entire team is on time and ready to go to maximize this important work time.

Courtesy of @jongordon11 via Twitter

Wednesday is also College Signing Day.  Please come to the Commons at 3 PM and support our student-athletes on their special day.

Thursday: AP/IB Testing. Master Scheduling continues.  Also  Department Chair end-of-year celebration at my home.

Friday: AP/IB Testing. Finish Master Scheduling if necessary.  PTO-sponsored Staff Breakfast.

May 4: US Gov EOC; Start of AP and IB Testing

May 5: Physical Science and US History EOC's;  Baccalaureate

May 6: Master Schedule building. Working Wed. College Signing Day.

May 7: Master Schedule building; Final Dept Chair Meeting at Cathy's.

May 8: Finish Master Schedule if necessary.

May 12: Senior Awards Night.

May 13: Orchestra Concert.

May 14: Band Concert.

May 15: Senior Dinner. Also Spring Fling picnic during all three lunches and music by Jazz Band!

May 20: Seniors Last Day at Jerome.  It is likely they will NOT be in class. Senior Activity.  Most likely Beach Day.

May 21: Seniors trip to Cedar Point.

May 22: Start of Senior Exams.

May 25: Memorial Day, No School.

May 26-28: Rest of Senior Exams.

May 27: Mandatory Graduation Practice 1 PM.

May 28: Start of underclass exams. Underclass Exams May 28-June 2.

May 30: Graduation 4 PM.  Please be sure to try to attend. We need as many staff members as possible to help supervise students, do security, etc. Please let Kay know.

June 2: Last Day for students and staff.

Thanks to CD Butcher for bringing a smile to our faces with passing along his students' work on a graphic design called Celtic Land!  Thanks, CD!

Have a terrific week! "We can never grow weary of doing good for we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

Cathy