St. Joseph High School News - 4/13/20 - 4/17/20
St. Joseph High School News
4/13/20 - 4/17/20
Welcome Back: (Mr. Blomgren)
Hey Everyone! It’s great to be back from an extended Spring Break (March 13th -
April 12th :). With that said, we have been given a bit more guidance from the
State and Governor Whitmer with regards to the expectations for the remainder
of the school year. So, we will be ramping up our educational plan for the next
month and a half to engage with “ALL” of our students to ensure we will be able to
award credits and grades to every SJHS come June! Parents and students, your
participation and engagement with the online learning opportunities will be
critical to this process. We have been working to create a plan that we feel will
provide everyone the opportunity to succeed for the remainder of the school year!
We will be continuing the enrichment activities for this week and will begin new
content learning starting next week. Please be on the lookout for new and
necessary student learning lessons starting Mon. April 20th from your teachers.
More details regarding the plan will be shared out late this week or early next
week for all parents and students to see. Please know, we have thought long and
hard about the challenges of moving to 100% online learning with little or no time
to prepare, yet we are committed to sharing in this experience with all of you!
Mr. Blomgren
Here is a welcome back and fun message the High School staff has created for all
of you:
“We Are All In This Together”
And here is a message to our Seniors from Principal Blomgren:
April Bears of the Month:
April Bears of the Month!
Congratulations to Megan Fairchild & Alex Wingate for being recognized as
our April Bears of the Month at SJHS!
Feeding our BEARS!
We are feeding our Bears because that is who we are!
Starting on Monday April 13th we will be handing out free breakfast & lunches to
any student 18 and under and then again on Thursday April 16th. Breakfast and
lunch will continue to be distributed on Mondays and Thursdays until June 4th.
Meals will be offered from 11:00AM-12:30PM at the St Joseph High School back
entrance off of Lakeview Ave.
Bear Pride 5K Pictures:
AP Testing: Updated Information
For updated AP testing information, please review the attached letter, with your child. It includes test dates and payment instructions. For any student who has been approved by the College Board to receive accommodations, those accommodations will be granted in your students' secure credential/join code, which College Board will be emailing directly to students prior to exam day/time.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at twagner@sjschools.org
Congratulations:
Congratulations to Senior Skylar Stockton! This film was featured on the
National Scholastic site! She is a New York Like Awardee!
Mr. Culver (Art Teacher)
Interact Club:
Interact Club of St. Joseph High School Members and Parents,
We hope you are staying healthy, enjoying quality family time and getting a lot of fresh air. As
the Interact Club year draws to a close, we have much to reflect on. To wrap up the year, we
will be reaching out for virtual announcements from the President and membership meetings.
There is even more work to be done and I encourage everyone to follow ClubView and
WhatsApp for needs both in our community and abroad.
This email gives you a few important updates, starting with the fact that we are adding
Rotarian Cindy Igoe to the SJHS Interact Club Advisory Team (while she continues to lead
Upton Interact). Our plans are for Cindy to become more active in SJHS Leadership in 2020-
2021, taking over as lead in the 2021-2022 school year. When we get closer to that time, we
will assess if my support is still needed in coordinating the DR Trip, helping with mentoring
or assisting Cindy in any way.
Please welcome Cindy :)
Helping Our Community
ALDI Gift Cards for Food
Interact Leadership has placed increased focus on helping our community in this time of
crisis. The first step taken is in helping SJPS families without immediate means or access to
food in light of all the incredible efforts of our community. Thanks to SJHS Faculty Liaison to
Interact Club, Tracy Wagner, who shared the need, Interact has secured SJPS School Board
approval to take funds in the Interact Club of SJHS account and apply them toward ALDI Gift
approval to take funds in the Interact Club of SJHS account and apply them toward ALDI Gift
Cards.
Special thanks to Advisor, Mike Huie, who picked up $300 in $50 cards this past weekend and
delivered them to Tracy Wagner’s home. Additional thanks to Cindy Igoe who is coordinating
the same through Upton Interact as well as sewing face masks with her daughter Regan and
others in the community. Even greater thanks to all the SJPS Guidance Counselors, who are
keeping tabs on the needs of SJPS students. Please let friends know that Blomgren Blogs
have a link to Tracy’s email for families needing the cards.
Letters for Senior Citizens
As many know, the isolation is even more severe for our area Senior Citizens, especially
those in Nursing Homes who can not be with loved ones. Thanks to the Community Service
Director, Norah Judge, for coordinating “Letters to Senior Citizens.” Interact Club Members
are being asked to load PDFs of letters through WhatsApp or directly emailing Norah at
norahkjudge@gmail.com. Norah will be forwarding the letters electronically to Senior Centers
in our area (ideal to include photos and kind words of hope).
DR2020 Trip and Interact 4DR Funds
The DR2020 Leadership Team, comprised of LHS, LMC and SJHS Presidents, International
Directors and Advisors, made some very important decisions this past weekend regarding
both the DR2020 Trip and the $36K Interact 4DR Funds raised:
DR2020 Trip
1) For everyone’s safety, the DR2020 June 20-27 trip has been cancelled
2) We are looking at the feasibility of an August 1-8 or 8-15 trip and need input on
interest and active Passports (we will need to monitor Hurricane Season, June-Nov)
3) Travelers interested in cancelling all together, will get a full refund thanks to Maria
Kibler who is coordinating
Interact 4DR Funds
Since schools have been cancelled in the DR, DR2020 Leadership opted to move school
transportation funds to food for school children of Batay 106. This move was approved by
both the Lakeshore and SJBH Rotary Clubs and is underway (see photos below). English
Teacher, Jhony Tiresias Rafael, has continued to teach English remotely on Sundays (to date,
the Huies have covered this cost).
With the Pandemic, transportation and jobs have stopped and now food is the number one
problem with Batay families unable to get transportation, money or food and simply just
trying to survive day-to-day. Today, DR Leadership voted to move funds for the second house
(or $6K) to food for Batay 106 (and possibly Batay 105). To make the money go further,
Lakeshore Advisor Bill Scaletta is applying for a $3K Rotary District 6360 Matching Grant for
food.
Should the trip be cancelled completely, DR2020 Leadership voted to move funds for House 1
to Fall Semester Education since fundraising will be very difficult in the US with families
coming off the Pandemic. Approval for moving funds from House 1 to Education and House 2
to food will need to be approved by Lakeshore and SJBH Rotary Clubs, Berrien Community
Foundation and DR Mission Teams and we will keep you posted on that.
If you are moved and in a position to help the Haitians of Batay 106, please contact me.
Interact Club T-Shirts
At my house, are two REALLY BIG boxes of SUPER COOL tie-dyed Interact Club Member
t-shirts thanks to the Igoes, Capleas and others who helped. If you paid dues and want to
pick up your t-shirt, text me to arrange for “safe distancing” pickup.
2020-2021 Elections
Applications are all in for the 2020-2021 Interact Club Leadership Team. As a reminder of the
protocol, Officer Candidates will give a 1-2 minute speech about why they are running for the
position, sharing their credentials and plans. Since we are on lockdown, we will ask that
speeches are loaded to Google Drive before Wednesday, April 15, in the Google Folder
“Officer Speeches”: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0AO8XIWEhoNGEUk9PVA. Qualified Members will be given until noon on Wednesday, April 15 to vote for the Officers
(Google Applications will be sent out to Qualifying Members by 8:00 am on Wednesday, April
15 via email).
After Officer Elections, the newly elected Officers, SJHS Rotary Advisors and Interact Past
President will interview the Director Candidates via scheduled time on Google Chat during
the week of April 20. The final decision on Directors will be made by the incoming President.
2020-2021 Leadership Team Ballots
Google Form Ballots will be emailed to 34 qualifying members who achieved 4 points or more
of service and are rising Sophomores or Seniors:
Elijah Adams, Julia Adent, Ava Balanowski, Breckyn Bussey, Claire Caplea, Katelyn Caplea,
Chloe Cluff, Sophie Confer, Josh Conley, Sydnie Crooks, Roberto Cuadra, Mae Fischer,
Lauryn Griffin, Josh Hafley, Taylor Hartley, Rhett Huie, Alison Hunsberger, Regan Igoe,
Madison Jackson, Norah Judge, Jonathan Kwon, Amanda Nguyen, Addison Osgood, Abigail
Peterson, Graham Peterson, Breanne Pratley, Troy Pratley, Jacob Scouler, Morgan Shell, Lilly
Soule, Caroline Tubman, Olivia Veersma, Lincoln White-Day and Kennedy Yeager. (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sf8SG6kk0_iPva-ilzdj3SusyLOxZHTyE6aRNYYg2-w/edit#gid=0).
Interact Club of SJHS 2020-2021 Leadership Candidates
Officer Candidates
• President, Norah Judge (12th)
• Vice President, Madison Jackson (11th)
• Treasurer, Jacob Scouler (11th)
• Secretary, Julia Adent (12th)
Director Candidates
• Community Service Director, Regan Igoe (10th)
• Fundraising Director, Julia Adent (if not elected Officer, 12th), John Hirsh (10th), Breanne Pratley (10th)
• International Director, Taylor Hartley (12th)
• Membership Director, Troy Pratley, Lincoln White (10th)
• Mentoring Director, Abby Peterson (12th)
Student Opportunity:
Social Emotional Learning: Weekly Resource
Academic Challenge Team: (Prior to Covid Outbreak)
The SJHS Academic Challenge Team recently captured the WSJM Academic Challenge League Tournament with a 275-160 victory over rival Berrien Springs. It was the fourth straight year the Bears have brought home the giant traveling trophy. The Bears will now prepare to compete in the Class A State Tournament held on the campus of Michigan State University. Prosper Waldman and Nick Strickler serve as co-captains of the squad. The Bears are coached by Gary Etter.
Athletics News:
Attention all spring sport athletes and families… The athletic department along with the business office will be working to refund pay to play participation fees back to families over the next couple of weeks.
Upcoming Events:
4/13 - 4/17 - Student Enrichment Activities Continue.
4/20 - 4/24 - Start of the Emergency Distance Learning Plan for the rest of the year.
