Mr. Beckeman's Blog

December 7, 2011

What’s Your Extra?

Filed under: Archive,Community News,Continuous Improvement,School Board,School Improvement,Staff,Stakeholder Communications,Students,Vision & Purpose — Mr. Beckeman @ 7:47 am

It’s exciting to see the new clubs and groups that are forming on campus this semester!  More students are finding a connection to school outside of their class load.  Research informs us that the more involved a student is with their school, the better they perform on their school work.

Mr. Schlaff, counselor at R-PHS does a very nice job in capturing “What’s Your Extra?” in video format that’s presented to our students.  The videos, part I & II are posted below:

If you’re a student reading this post, and you’re not currently involved in an “Extra”, now’s the time to get involved!

Nuveen Center for the Arts Presents: Ecosystem

Filed under: Archive,Community News,Parents,School Board,School Improvement,Staff,Students,Teaching & Learning — Mr. Beckeman @ 7:34 am

An ecosystem is the relationship between plants, animals and the habitats in which they live.  It’s from this definition that our students were given the artistic challenge to craft organisms from the fish and reptile families as representatives of predators in an ecosystem unique to the environment we live in.  Mrs. Harris and Mr. Hellmann guided our students along this artistic path as their students put their own artistic spin on their project. 

An exhibition of our students work will be available for community view from December 1st through January 14th at the Nuveen Center for the Arts in downtown Montague.  The program listing our students can be accessed from the link below:

Nuveen Presents Ecosystem 2011

Some of the artwork is presented in picture form below so you may see the talents of our art students.

December 5, 2011

Rocket Scholars Foundation Raffle

Filed under: Archive,Community News,Parents,School Board,Staff,Students,Uncategorized,Vision & Purpose — Mr. Beckeman @ 2:01 pm

 Most of the high schools in our county have endowments set up through the Muskegon Community Foundation.  These endowments are set up with the hope of growing and continuing to provide more and more kids financial assistance for post secondary education.  Four years ago, a very passionate group of community members set up the “Rocket Scholars Foundation” through the Community Foundation to support Reeths-Puffer students and graduates.

On January 19th at the Hilt Building, the Rocket Scholars will host a very fun “fund-raiser”.  Light hors d’oeuvres will be served and entertainment will be provided.  They will also be engaging in a “reverse” raffle with the top prize being $10,000.  Only 350 tickets are being sold to keep the odds strong.

Tickets are $100.  Tickets include the evening and the drawing.  

Possible Reasons or Ideas to Purchase:

  • To support RP Graduates with scholarship money
  • Odds of winning are good (1/350)
  • Stocking stuffers or Christmas gift
  • Anniversaries
  • Birthdays
  • You get a night out, contribute to R-P kids, and you get much better odds than in a lottery.
  • Families or co-workers could split the cost of a ticket (1-ticket allows two people into the event)

*In the event that we sell less than 200 tickets the raffle will become a 50/50 drawing. 

**There is also an option as the drawing comes to an end, that remaining present ticket holders could split the money, e.g. if the last five (5) ticket holders are present and agree to split the money, each would receive 1/5 or $2000.00 (all must agree).

***The Rocket Scholars Foundation is conducting various fundraisers throughout the year to begin supporting 2011-12 graduates.  They are currently looking at reimbursement to seniors who take and “pass” AP exams and providing several additional scholarships.

If you would like to purchase a ticket, I can assist you!  Please contact my office at: 719-3107 and I will be glad to sell you a ticket to this grand event!

November 6, 2011

R-P Marching Band Finishes Runner-Up in State Championships

Filed under: Archive,Community News,Parents,School Board,School Improvement,Stakeholder Communications,Uncategorized,Vision & Purpose — Mr. Beckeman @ 9:07 pm

Our Mighty R-PHS Marching Band travelled to Ford Field in Detroit, MI on Saturday to compete in the Flight II state marching band finals.  Their performance was exciting and generated a huge applause from the spectators.  My amateur seven-minute video of their performance can be accessed by clicking on the link below:

State Performance

Our Rocket Marching Band finishes runner-up to Jenison High School, a fellow OK Conference school who made the marching  season a two-horse race in every competition throughout the fall season.  The top twelve marching bands competing in Flight II had the following scores:

1st Place:  Jenison High School (Score: 91.23)

2nd Place: Reeths-Puffer High School (Score: 90.83)

3rd Place: South Lyon High School (Score: 84.51)

4th Place: Farmington Hills Harrison High School (Score: 83.36)

5th Place: Southgate Aquinas High School (Score: 82.66)

6th Place: Flushing High School (Score: 81.94)

7th Place: Carmen Ainsworth High School (Score: 78.65)

8th Place: Woodhaven High School (Score: 76.77)

9th Place: Farmington High School (Score: 75.07)

10th Place: Wyandotte High School (Score: 74.88)

11th Place: Lakeview High School (Score: 73.55)

12th Place: Milford High School (Score: 69.74)

The three caption awards were earned by the following schools:

Caption:  Best General Effect:  Jenison

Caption: Best Marching:  Jenison

Caption: Best Music:  Reeths-Puffer

I took a few photos as the band prepared for their performance:

November 4, 2011

Pasta for Pennies

Filed under: Archive,Community News,Governance & Leadership,Parents,School Board,School Improvement,Staff,Stakeholder Communications,Students,Vision & Purpose — Mr. Beckeman @ 10:35 am

Our National Honor Society is currently running a Pennies for Patients drive to raise money in the fight against Leukemia and Lymphoma.  This is the second year that NHS has engaged in this activity to support those afflicted with one of these challenges diseases.

(Megan Bremer & Alyssa Perel pose with a Penny Box)

The name of the drive makes it sound like only pennies can be donated but money in any denomination will be accepted!  It is a 5th hour class competition but if you (the reader) would like to make a contribution, your check can be made out to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. 

Last year, Mr. Krispin’s class won the pasta lunch provided by Olive Garden of Muskegon.  The pasta lunch was the prize for bringing in the most money in our class competition.   Mr. Krispin’s 5th hour class will be given a challenge by many classes as they’ve heard how delicious the pasta lunch was from Olive Garden.

Last year, NHS rasied over $1,500.00 to support this great cause.  They have great hope that this amount will be far exceeded with this year’s competition.  A big thanks goes out to Mrs. Milder, our NHS advisor for providing wonderful leadership to this dynamic group of students.

November 3, 2011

What’s Your Extra?

Filed under: Archive,Community News,Continuous Improvement,Parents,Resource & Support Systems,School Board,School Improvement,Staff,Stakeholder Communications,Students,Uncategorized,Vision & Purpose — Mr. Beckeman @ 7:11 am

For those of you that have already graduated from High School, think back to your glory days when you were a student and make a mental list of the clubs, sports and other organizations that you were involved with. 

As I took a walk down memory lane, I listed the clubs, organizations and sports that I took part in while attending Whitehall High School. 

A long time has passed since I looked so youthful but my memories of being a part of the groups listed are ingrained in my memory as experiences that helped shape my interpersonal skills, work ethic and my understanding of what it meant to be part of something greater than myself.

One of our goals at R-PHS is to connect every student to a group, ensemble, club, sport or other school-related organization to broaden their connection to R-PHS beyond their coursework.

We’re asking students to get involved.  We’re asking students:  ”What might be an area of interest that we can support you through the formation of a club or support group. ”   What’s great is our students are responding with multiple ideas which are quickly turning into newly founded student groups.  Since the start of the school year, we’ve added a chess club, GSA, two Bible study groups and our IMPACT student leadership team.

Our Positive Behavior Supports Team has been very busy assisting students with the communications relative to connecting an EXTRA  with their current lifestyle.  Our most recent video is linked below to give you a glimpse into what our plan is to expand student opportunities at R-PHS.

What Is Your Extra?

Great things are happening at R-PHS!

November 2, 2011

High School Parent-Teacher Conferences Next Week

Filed under: Archive,Community News,Parents,School Board,Staff,Stakeholder Communications,Students — Mr. Beckeman @ 6:20 am

This goes out to all parents and guardians of our high school students….COME TO CONFERENCES! 

We have two evenings set aside next week for parents and guardians to come to campus and meet with your student’s teachers.  This is the perfect time to listen to our teachers as they identify strengths and growth areas in your student in the courses they’re enrolled in. 

In recent years, our percentages of parents coming to conferences has declined.  Is it parent-internet-viewer?  Is a busy schedule?  Is it a lack of communication?  Is it a lack of incentive?

There are a few things that we can build on from the questions listed above.  We will follow this blog post with a call home to all families regarding parent/teacher conferences as well as place the dates and times in our daily announcements starting today for all students to hear. 

We are also placing an incentive for you to come!  As they say, “If you always do what you’ve always done, expect to get what you’ve always gotten.”    We haven’t had a give-away in a long time, so we’ve put a prize drawing in the conference mix.  We have three prizes that will be drawn at the conclusion of Thursday evening’s conferences and the winning tickets will be posted on this blog!

Tickets you ask?  What tickets?  Well, here’s the answer on the tickets!  Each teacher that you meet with will give you one ticket.   The more teachers you meet with on your student’s schedule the greater your odds become of being a winner.

What do you win?  I have that answer too! 

First ticket drawn:  $50.00 Wesco Gas Card

Second Ticket Drawn:  $50.00 Gift Certificate to Rocket Express (Our Re-designed School Store)

Third Ticket Drawn:  1 Winter Sports Pass to all R-PHS Athletic Events

All you have to do is show up and meet with your student’s teachers!  We want you, we need you as our active partner in your student’s education.  It doesn’t matter the grade, we need you.   It doesn’t matter if they’re a freshmen or a senior, we need you.

When are conferences?  Here’s the information:

Tuesday, November 8th:  5:00 – 8:00 p.m. in Rocket Arena

Thursday, November 10th:  5:00 – 8:00 p.m. in Rocket Arena

Rocket Express will be open for you to look around and possibly make a purchase.  Tammy Whynot, Rocket Express manager has done a marvelous job in providing a delightful inventory to surely meet your school spirit wants and needs.

We hope to see you next week at conferences!

October 25, 2011

R-P Choirs Welcomes Dr. Adams to Campus

Filed under: Archive,Community News,Continuous Improvement,Parents,Resource & Support Systems,School Board,School Improvement,Staff,Students,Teaching & Learning,Uncategorized,Vision & Purpose — Mr. Beckeman @ 1:06 pm

The Reeths-Puffer Choir department welcomes Dr. Kimberly Dunn Adams, Choral Director from Western Michigan University, who will work with our choirs this week Wednesday, October 26th at 7 p.m.

All four R-PHS Choirs: Madrigals, Vocal Fusion, R-P Chorale and Chorus, will have the opportunity to perform two selections each, and then have a clinic work session with Dr. Adams.  “This is such a fantastic opportunity for our high school singers to work with such a highly esteemed Choral Professional.  I can’t wait to see what insights Dr. Adams will bring to our choirs,” says Schlaff, R-PHS Choir Teacher.

The Performance Clinic will start at 7 p.m., and is open to the public free of charge. 

Dr. KIMBERLY DUNN ADAMS is the Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at Western Michigan University, where she conducts the University Chorale, Collegiate Singers, and Grand Chorus.  She holds a doctorate in choral conducting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.M. in choral conducting from Yale University, a B.M. in Voice Performance from Oberlin Conservatory, and a B.A. in Religion from Oberlin College. 

Mrs. Adams has earned numerous accolades throughout her career, having been selected to participate in prestigious master-classes and festivals.  She has also received various academic awards, including the Lorna Wendt Distinguished Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin, and the Hugh Giles and Hugh Porter Prizes from Yale.

From 2006-2011, Dr. Adams was on the faculty at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts and directed the school’s three choral ensembles.  While at the University of Wisconsin, she served as the Director of the Women’s Chorus & Masters Singers as well as Assistant Conductor of the Concert Choir.  At Yale, Dr. Adams was Director of the Yale Divinity School Chapel Choir, Co-Conductor of the Yale Recital Chorus, and Assistant Conductor of the Yale Camerata.   As an undergraduate, she founded the Oberlin Women’s Choir.  She also maintains an active performing life as both soprano and mezzo-soprano soloist with various ensembles. 

Dr. Adams is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association, the National Collegiate Choral Organization, the Conductors Guild, and Michigan School Vocal Music Association. 

 

IMPACT: Student Group Learning Leadership Skills

Filed under: Archive,Community News,Continuous Improvement,Parents,School Board,School Improvement,Staff,Stakeholder Communications,Students,Uncategorized — Mr. Beckeman @ 7:00 am

The goal of the IMPACT team will be to aid in fostering a school culture where both students and staff demonstrate respect and support for one another at R-P.   As members of the team, their  primary function will be to act as a role model in fostering a positive school culture.  IMPACT team members have to attended a series of leadership training sessions centered around small group discussions and activities focused on learning the key principles and skills necessary to become strong leaders in both the school and community settings.   The leadership seminars take place during the school day on the second Tuesday of every month and  include , but not limited to topics such as : Integrity, Self-Confidence, Optimism, Risk-Taking and Listening.

The students recently engaged in Free Hug Fridaywhich they first heard about in one of our seminars (view video from link below) with the goal of freely giving simple, safe and genuine “hugs” to other students wiith the intent of helping them feel cared for.

Recently, the students processed their top five leadership characteristics that they are committing themselves to during the school year. 

After processing through over fifty leadership qualities, the IMPACT students voted on the following five leadership qualities:

Respectful (The Golden Rule)

Selfless/Servant

Trustworthy

Positive

Initiator

The IMPACT team, through their words and actions will work to demonstrate these qualities everyday to maximize their IMPACT on the culture at R-PHS.

October 19, 2011

The COWS Are Out Of The Barn At R-PHS!

Filed under: Archive,Community News,Continuous Improvement,Parents,Resource & Support Systems,School Improvement,Staff,Students — Mr. Beckeman @ 6:10 am

Students in Mrs. Hanson’s chemistry classes have taken full advantage of the Computers on Wheels, or COWS, to enhance their learning.  Honors Chemistry students have been using their laptops to watch and listen to prerecorded instructional video lessons prepared by their teacher, then embedded into their classroom support website, known as Moodle.  This opportunity for turning a classroom into a student-directed learning center is being well received by her students.  Students enjoy having the ability to pause, rewind, or even fast-forward through a lesson giving them the power to practice the content areas over and over again until they’ve reached mastery.  “We should do this every day,” said Junior Trevor Barnes.  “I was not as distracted today and could focus on my lessons better,” added Junior Charles Thomas.”  Mrs. Hanson added, “This instructional strategy allows me to clone myself!  I am instructing one-on-one with each student via Moodle, and can be at their side for that just in time support they may need, without stopping the learning of the other students.”

In addition using their Moodle site for flipping lessons, the Advanced Placement Chemistry students have also been using the COWS in the laboratory.  The laptops allow the students the opportunity to quickly analyze their collected data by generating titration graphs using a program known as LoggerPro.  Students quickly turn their classic pH titration curves into first and second derivatives, thus increasing their accuracy when calculating the equivalence point.  Mrs. Hanson has estimated that the Moodle site, along with the COWS, have saved at least 4 instructional days so far this school year as compared to previous years.  Please visit the Moodle site for Reeths-Puffer High School at moodle.reeths-puffer.org.   Skim down to find the High School Science link.  Mrs. Hanson’s Moodle sites are found for both Honors Chemistry and Advanced Placement Chemistry.  Log in as a guest and take a look around.  You will be amazed!

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