November at Oxford High School

As IB Learners, we strive to be Communicators.  We express ourselves confidently and creatively in more than one language and in many ways. We collaborate effectively and listen carefully to the perspectives of other individuals and groups. This helps build meaningful relationships and allows us to make a connection within and surrounding our school community.

How we Communicate. Mr. Johnson facilitates a team building activity for the OAA Student Leadership Conference OHS hosted on November 16th. Students from various High Schools in Oakland built their leadership skills through teamwork, collaboration and problem solving.

As IB Leaners, we strive to be Caring. We show empathy, compassion and respect. We have a commitment to service, and we act to make a positive difference in the lives of others and in the world around us. In return, this also helps us connect with others and build a positive school climate.

On November 16th, I’m 3rd Club traveled to the Flint Food Bank Of Eastern Michigan to give time, energy, and efforts in helping sort food for the pantry and pack meal boxes for families to enjoy Thanksgiving. 

Members of I'm Third Club also gave the gift of time on November 20th, mentoring and bringing smiles and joy to the children at the Baldwin House. You make us proud, Wildcats!

NHS and Leadership teamed up this month to collect cans for FISH Oxford/Orion.  Our students collected cans in first hour from November 6th - November 13th.  Our winning class celebrated their victory with a free breakfast! 

Students Noah and McKenzie purchased cans for the FISH canned food drive from money collected in Mrs. Blaszczyk's IB History class.  Students pose below to show off all that they purchased to help those in need.

Mr. Eldridges' IB Physics students also helped out and generated hundreds of cans to donate to those in need. 

Spanish Club members also spent the week before Thanksgiving break gathering food items and putting together a couple of food baskets for a needy Hispanic family.  They also made Thanksgiving cards for the families--written in Spanish, of course!  Soon they will be busy practicing Spanish holiday songs and discussing the season's customs and traditions in different Spanish-speaking countries of the world.                                                              

The OCCRA (Oakland County Competitive Robotics Association) season wrapped up this November for the year.  Mr. Kimmel's mechatronics II students won a judges' award for perseverance.  The team worked through many electrical, pneumatic and programming issues to get onto the field and compete. Our students are just getting warmed up!

How we make connections.  The Oxford Travel Club spent four days in Boston at the end of October.  The students were able to gain insight into the historical aspects of the city while also building comradery as a group.  Many didn’t know each other outside of an occasional pass in the hallway.  This is another value of the program outside of the actual sight-seeing and historical connections learned in class. Some of the highlights of the trip included tracing the steps of Paul Revere along the Freedom Trail and paying their respects at the bombing site of the Boston Marathon finish line. Students also took a stroll through the Boston Commons, enjoyed some relaxation in one of the oldest ballparks in the nation (Fenway Park) and got behind the green space in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city.

Our Travel Club also just unveiled its 2018-19 destinations.  They are headed to Toronto, Ontario and Niagara Falls in October 2018 and to Central Europe over Spring Break 2019.  Please contact Mrs. Blaszczyk or Mr. Trotter for more information.

Dedication and Commitment.  Each year our Oxford Band students go into our community to show off their musical talents and raise money for the band program.  On November 10th and 11th they filtered throughout town playing their instruments and collecting donations to help offset the cost of band camp, competitions, workshops and more that make our program so outstanding!  

Excellence and Tradition.  OHS Band student Hayden has been selected into the MSBOA All-State Band. Band student Tyler has been selected for the MSBOA All-State Band and Jazz Band. Luke was selected in the MSBOA All-State Jazz Band.  Finally, Selena was selected as Honorable Mention for the MSBOA All-State Band.  Congratulations for our students who excel at not only a difficult season of competition, but one that begins in the month of July!

Students in Mrs. Lengemann’s Financial Management class recently completed career presentations.  Preparation included a career match and extensive research on the career and education needed.  They chose to research the career that best matched their interests.  Their included training, education required, job skills, future earnings, employment potential and how a typical day would run.  Students embraced the presentations with a professional approach, even dressing in business attire.  They did outstanding work!  

Our Geometry team met this month to reflect and refine their IB Performance Assessments.  Our staff frequently collaborates on both their teaching practice, as well as designing their assessments and reviewing assessment results.  This allows our staff to to make adjustments to their teaching practices by allowing their data to drive their decision making and identifying best practice.  How do IB performance assessments differ from other class assessments?  How is the IB philosophy different than traditional education?  

On November 16th, our Leadership students hosted the OAA Student Activities Meeting here at OHS.  This was a great opportunity for our students and staff to plan various leadership activities with other Oakland County High School student leaders and teacher mentors. Pictured below, Leadership students pose to show the fleeces they made for suck students in nearby hospitals this winter season.  Our students organized to have the Fleece and Thank you organization come and plan an activity with our visiting schools. Students also filmed a positive message for the children receiving the gift as an opportunity to share words of encouragement and a positive message.

In Mrs. Ziemianski's Advance Drawing class, students are often required to critique each other's completed projects.  Besides providing students peer feedback, it serves as an opportunity for Mrs. Ziemianski to align student work to their understanding of class concepts and standards. 

As we approach this holiday season of giving, our Oxford International Program team took a moment to thank our parents, staff and community for all that you do for our students.  Our International students have traveled across the world to be a part of our family here in Oxford.   Their parents trust them in our care and hope that we can provide an environment that nurtures, inspires, and prepares them for their future.  Please take a few minutes to view the YouTube video our OHS News Broadcasting team created and know that you make difference and are an important part of a remarkable program that allows students to fulfill their dreams! Please take a look at our International Program here

OHS Orchestra students Nadia (junior violist) and Zachariah (senior bassist) have been selected into the MSBOA All-State Orchestra team and will perform at the Michigan Music Conference in February. It is Zachariah's 4^th year being selected into All-State and he will be principal bassist for his final year!  Congratulations!                                                                 

Learning by doing.  Students used EKG sensors and accelerometers in Ms. Bolton's Human Anatomy class to compare the speed of voluntary versus reflex muscle action.  Students used calculations of nerve impulse speed using data generated by the devices to investigate our nervous system and determine - reaction or reflex?

Oxford's Model United Nations team competed against over 1,000 students in their first conference at Bloomfield Hills High School on November 18th. Our students represented the countries of Russia, India, Egypt, China, USA, and Côte d’Ivoire. They discussed international topics including the nuclear situation in North Korea, water safety and scarcity, and the financing of terrorist organizations.  Our team will have a few smaller competitions this winter and then we will be preparing for two big competitions at Oakland University in March and Michigan State University in April.

Left to right: Meyer, Seth, Brady, Matt, Will and Alyssa 

Concept based learning.  Student's in Mr. Johnson's Digital Creations class experiment with various exposure speeds, backdrops and moving objects to identify the best approaches and uses of their cameras to capture different photos and effects.  

Our Fall CTE Advisory Committee Meeting was held in the morning on November 1st in our PAC lobby. CTE stands for Career Technical Education.  This event is held as an opportunity for our community and business partners to see our programs, updates and efforts to prepare our students for potential career tech fields.  After breakfast and an introduction, our various CTE programs and courses broke out into their classrooms to meet with our CTE teachers for a brief presentation and Q & A's. 

Congratulations to our CTE Director, Lisa Butts, on being chosen as one of 12 educators from across the state to become a 2017-18 Saginaw Valley State University Gerstacker Fellowship Program participant. She will spend the year meeting monthly at SVSU receiving concentrated leadership training by their faculty from various disciplines on subjects such as organizational leadership, ethics, finances, communication, human resources, entrepreneurship and education with a global perspective.

A big shout-out to our Music teacher, Mr. John Hill, for presenting at Michigan's Band & Orchestra Association's Director Develop Days this month.  Mr. Hill provided professional development to other Michigan Music directors by sharing ideas and strategies for how they might improve the sound of their rhythm section through upgrades and maintenance.

Our Dance Conservatory placed in the top 3 out of 100 dances on November 18th at the Oakland Dance Festival. This Festival is a college recruitment and adjudicated competition at Farmington Harrison High School. Megan (Junior) was asked to perform in the college showcase at the end of the day. She was one of 3 high students to receive this honor.  OHS had 4 Juniors recruited by several of the top college dance programs and 1 senior, Payton, received scholarships to Marygrove (now Madonna) and Ball State University!  

OHS Athletics is excited to announce that seniors Kaitlyn and Amber  have signed National Letter of Intent to move on and play athletics at the college level. Kaitlyn will persue her academic and softball goals at Central Michigan University while Amber at Siena Heights University.

"We are proud and excited for these two student-athletes," said Mr. Ackerman, Oxford High School Director of Athletics. "In order to be recruited to compete at the college level you have to not only be a phenomenal athlete, but you must also be a top notch student. I commend these two student-athletes on their hard work the past four years and their dedication to being successful on the athletic fields, but more importantly, in the classroom." 

Trinity Munoz was nominated by the teachers as the Oxford High School candidate for recognition for the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Good Citizens Award.  This recognition is based qualities of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism.                                                                                                                           

Assessments FOR learning. During the month of November, our 'Formative Assessment' Team of Lauren Jasinki, Abby Prater and Ann Bolton, helped develop and lead staff Professional Development.  

Relationships matter most.  Our Intramural Club has gained momentum in the month of November, offering additional activities for our students.  These activities serve as opportunities for our students to make connections with both each other and our school.  For more information, contact Mr. Dave Carson for meeting dates and upcoming events.

You can find our weight room packed a few times a week with both boys and girls who have joined Mr. Ryan Ciezkowski's Weight Lifting Club.  The focus of this ever-growing club is to is to develop proper lifting form and an understanding of biomechanics and muscle development.  You will find students of all backgrounds and levels in the weight room, all of which are enjoying the learning process.    

Learning by doing.  Pictured here, students dust for latent fingerprints in Mrs. Bonkowski's Forensic Science Class.  Many of the class activities in this Science class are hands on and require students critical thinking skills. 

Service and Leadership.  Our National Honor Society spends time tutoring other students throughout Oxford Community Schools.  That is a commitment each member of NHS has made as a part of their pledge.  Take a look at this testimonial below!

"I have a story to share! I am not sure of the tutor’s name, but one of my students is seeing an NHS tutor (several are, actually! Thank youuuu!) and he shared with the class that his tutor taught him to “keep it, change it, flip it” when dividing fractions. This is now the language we use in my classroom when dividing fractions, and it’s helping my entire class! J I also had another NHS tutor e-mail me directly to see how she can help another one of my students, which is really cool! So thank you very much for having such wonderful students helping out our district!"

Lisa Brennan

5^th Grade Teacher

Clear Lake Elementary

The girl’s swim and dive team accomplished a perfect season this month! The wildcats went 7 – 0 in dual meets, including a 4 point win over Stoney Creek and a 2 point win over Notre Dame Prep. On Friday, November 3^rd, the girls won nine of the twelve events at the OAA Blue Division League Meet to win by almost 100 points over second-place Berkley. Individual League Champions included Ashlee in the 200 Freestyle and the 100 Backstroke, Jenna in the 200 Individual Medley and the 100 Butterfly, Keira in diving with a new school, pool, and OAA Blue record, and Victoria McClenaghan in the 100 Breaststroke with a new school record. Oxford won all three relay events with a new school record in the 200 Medley Relay. Members of the three relays were Claire, Peyton, Grace, and Rachel Victoria was named Senior of the Meet and Coach Jacquelyn Rank was named Coach of the Meet. Check out more of the highlights @OxfordAD.  

Keira continued on to the Regional Diving Championships where she placed 5^th to continue on to the MHSAA Division 1 State Meet. Four swimmers: Ashlee, Victoria, Rachel and Jenna joined Keira at the State Meet on Friday, November 17^th. 

Congratulations to our Boys Tennis team, who were named Academic All-State on November 3rd!  Our athletes truly define the term 'student-athlete'!

OHS Bully Busters Ally & Rajat communicate with 6th grade gold students.  The lesson today is about snitching vs reporting.  Students talked with their high school mentors about situations they have been in and participated in a “question box” activity where students were able to ask questions regarding anything

Our Winter Athletic teams kicked off their seasons with our Meet the Team Night on November 20th.  This event gives our student athletes and coaches a moment to introduce their respective teams to our parents and community.  It helps set the tone for their seasons and is an exciting way to kick of the start of their competitions.  Director of Athletics, Jordan Ackerman, also takes time to discuss Oxford's expectations on student performance, eligibility, our code of conduct, as well as athlete integrity and character.  During this night, some coaches also meet with their team's parents while all athletes have their pictures taken for the winter catalog and website. 

Our Student Newspaper staff has launched a new website last month: www.Ohsnews.org.  Our dedicated team of 18 writers, five of whom pull double-duty as editors, and one dedicated website manager - are working hard to report the news in an unbiased, fair and balanced way.  Please check them out!

Our OHS News Broadcasting has also made some outstanding updates to their daily news show.  You can subscribe to their YouTube Channel and even set alerts to receive their news each day.

Watch OCTV's "Schooling Around: Episode 63" to learn what happens now that the Bond and Sinking Fund have been passed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gCjAZULJbQ&sns=em

Please enroll in Appryse at your earliest convenience by clicking here.

Communication & Information

Parents who are better informed are more likely to be engaged and supportive of their child and our learning community.  Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the following pages within and in addition to our OHS Homepage.

Mr. Wolf’s Top 6

1. If you don’t already receive our weekly emails from OHS Administration, please click on SchoolMessenger and subscribe to receive helpful weekly info and updates.
2. Our Parents & Students webpage is a great resource for parents to access student grades & attendance (PowerSchool), teacher websites (Haiku) and other school resources.
3. Please visit our OHS School Calendar to view upcoming events.
4. OHS News Broadcasting YouTube Channel is where you can find all daily announcements.  Subscribing and/or viewing on a regular basis will help keep you informed and updated.
5. Our Counseling webpage has a number of resources for you and your student, including our curriculum, career resources, transcripts and services.
6. Make sure you are also visiting our Athletic Website for athletic event dates, games and information.  We are currently working on a redesigned website that we hope you will love using.

• Check out our Twitter page @oxford_hs to see day-to-day highlights of our wonderful learning community!
• Our student Newspaper staff has launched a new website: www.Ohsnews.org with a dedicated team of 18 writers working hard to report the news in an unbiased, fair and balanced way. 
• OCS Facebook is another way to see day-to-day highlights district-wide.
• Wildcat Review Newsletters are created each quarter to highlight all of the outstanding work and accomplishments throughout Oxford Community Schools.

Thanks for your support and help in keeping Oxford an amazing Community!

Steve Wolf 

Principal – Oxford High School
@stevenwolfedu