Morse High School Navigator

Volume 10, Issue 2 November 2005 GUIDANCE NEWS FINANCIAL AID INFORMATION NIGHT The question of availability of scholarships and financial aid comes up daily.  To understand and navigate the maze of college and government regulations and forms we have scheduled a Financial Aid Night on Thursday, December 1 at 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria at Morse High.  Steve Joyce, a financial aid administrator at Bowdoin College, will give an overview of the financial aid process.  He will explain how the system works and how to access money to pay those overwhelming bills.  Lynn Sternfels will discuss local aid programs. If you have not filled out a financial aid form before, we strongly suggest that you attend this meeting.  It will really make a difference.  Although many of the topics will be geared for seniors and their parents, parents of underclassmen will find the meeting useful.  All are welcome to attend. General Post Secondary Information The guidance department puts out a weekly bulletin for students.  This is posted in all classrooms and is available in the guidance office.  The information includes: Dates of college and military representatives’ visits.  Each year many representatives from different colleges throughout the northeast visit Morse and are available to meet with students. Dates of open houses for colleges. Information and deadlines for all scholarships. All testing information. General college application deadlines and information. The information in this bulletin is essential.  Please make sure your son or daughter reads it and/or picks up a copy in guidance.

During the senior year the word “deadline” becomes very important.  Please make sure you make yourself aware of all application, scholarship, or testing deadlines.  If you have any questions, please call the guidance office. Seniors who plan to play a sport at a Division I or Division II college must check the eligibility rules and register with the NCAA Clearinghouse.  The registration materials are available on line at www://ncaa.com. INFORMATION ON GUIDANCE COUNSELORS Leslie Trundy is the counselor for students whose last names begin as follows:           A – F   Grades 9 and 11           A – G  Grades 10 and 12 (Mrs. Trundy is out on medical leave so Marilyn Weinberg who retired last year is filling in for her.) Scott Bradley is the counselor for students whose last names begin as follows:          G – M  Grades 9 and 11          H – M  Grades 10 and 12 Lynn Sternfels is the counselor for students whose last names begin with N – Z. v v v v v MHS ALL SPORTS BOOSTER CLUB The Morse High School All Sports Boosters would like to congratulate all of the fall sports teams for their successful seasons.  The teams continued to represent our school with pride and good sportsmanship.  We also would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped in the concession stand this fall.  Your time and effort is greatly appreciated. By the time you receive this newsletter, we will have concluded our annual auction.  Again we had great support from the parents and athletes of Morse High and the community.  The only way we have been successful is from the continued support of our volunteers.  We will have an update in the next Navigator as to how successful the auction was.  Winter sports are starting up soon and we will need assistance in the concession stand.  Please contact Ann Carlton at 442-8343 if you can volunteer.  Thank you! PROJECT GRADUATION 2006 There will be Project Graduation 2006 meeting on Monday, November 21^st at 7:00 in Room 104 at the high school.  Any parents of seniors or seniors interested in helping with Project Graduation should attend.  We are looking for a Chairperson or Co-Chairs, Publicity Chair, Event Chairs, etc.  Here is a list of different fundraisers that have been held in the past:  bottle drives, BIW gate collection, May baskets, canisters in businesses, letters to businesses, breakfasts at the Phippsburg Sportsman’s Club and Starlight Café and Easter candy sales.  If you have new ideas or suggestions, please plan on attending or call 443-8250 and leave your name and phone number and someone will get in touch with you. MORSE/BATH HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEWS The Alumni Association supports and takes part in the annual DARE fair, Sunday December 4^th, and encourages all alumni to donate food items for the Alumni Association table.  Memorabilia is available and make great gifts. The Association is also selling raffle tickets for a MHS rocking chair.  The winning ticket is drawn at the annual Alumni Banquet in June.  Tickets are available by contacting Vicki Trafton at 443-4275 or via e-mail at trafton@suscom-maine.net.  All profits support the annual banquet where reunion classes make significant contributions to Morse High programs such as the theatre and the band and to the MHS Scholarship Fund (2005 graduates were awarded scholarship totaling nearly $150,000).  Profits also help the association in awarding two $500 scholarships to the MHS senior boy and senior girl with the highest four-year average in English. All alumni and MHS student class officers are invited to attend the next meeting of the Alumni Association to be held on Tuesday, January 10, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. in the Alumni Room.  MHS student volunteers play a vital part in the success of the annual Alumni Banquet and it’s a fun way to prep for the senior class induction. Your support is greatly appreciated; may your pride for “The Blue and the White” continue!  If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact President Vicki Trafton at the aforementioned number or address.  There can be a lure to teens about something that is not talked about and not well known, whether it be suicide or the increasingly popular and potentially fatal choking game played by young people.  The choking game which is also known as the fainting game, knockout, flatliner, spacemonkey, passout, etc. is the result of thrill seeking or risk taking that involves the blocking of oxygen to the brain by various means. We hope you will join us in discussing these important topics and take with you ways in which you can help our youth of today. Upcoming Events For the 9^th year, the MHS PTSA will be selling pre-ordered videos or DVD’s of the 2005 MOHIBA show, “Around MOHIBA in 80 Minutes”.  To order your MOHIBA video or DVD, fill out the order form and return it with amount due, by Wednesday, November 23^rd to Mrs. Blum in the main office at Morse.  Please make your check payable to Morse High School PTSA.  All proceeds from the sale will benefit the Morse High School community and the PTSA.  The Annual Fine Arts Auction will be held in the main hall at Morse High School, Thursday, December 8^th, with bidding conducted from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  This event is an annual fundraiser by the Fine Arts Department to help finance performing groups and visiting artists to Morse.  Volunteers are needed throughout the auction day to monitor bidding.  Can you spare a couple of hours or a half-day to help?  If so, please call Ann London (442-7636) or Sally Davis (443-6439) or e-mail mhsptsa@bathpublicschools.com to sign up. There will not be a December meeting for the PTSA.  Our first meeting of the new year is scheduled for January 11^th at 6:30 p.m. in the Morse High School cafeteria. Have a safe and fun-filled holiday season! v v v v v IMMUNIZATION REMINDER State Immunization Law requires that each grade 9 and grade 10 student show proof of chicken pox vaccination or having had the disease and submit such proof to Sharon Morrill, Morse High School Nurse, before December 1^st. PARENT ALERT The Choking Game, also known as Space Monkey, Passout, Ghost, Fainting Game, Flatliner or Knockout, is the game children play by compressing their chest or squeezing their neck to cut off oxygen.  The effect of the game causes whoever plays it to become light-headed, choke and lose their breath. Most of the kids are driven by curiosity to play it; some just think it is a safe, harmless, drug free way to get a rush.  However, only a few of them are aware of the fact that it can be extremely dangerous and even deadly. Many children across the United States have died recently as a result of engaging in this self-asphyxiation behavior.  Dozens of newspapers and TV stations have broadcast reports about child deaths in their communities attributed to the choking game. Warning Signs include but are not limited to: 1. Unexplained marks on the neck 2. Short ropes, padded ropes, neckties tied in odd knots 3. Blood shot eyes 4. Petechiae (tiny red dots) on face and/or cheek area 5. Complaints of headaches 6. Locks on bedroom doors 7. Multiple rope abrasions on closet rods You are encouraged to investigate this serious issue and to discuss it with your student.  More information is available online through Federal Way Public Schools at their website www.fwps.org, click What’s New and scroll down or through www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?index=1878&cat=13. Thank you for your attention to the potential for dire consequences from this deadly game.

Greetings, my fellow Shipbuilders! Kevin O’Leary reporting from room 116, adjacent to that most venerable of spaces – the Montgomery Theatre.  Well, it’s MOHIBA time again (where does the time go?).  I hope that many of you were able to view “Around MOHIBA in 80 Minutes”, a spoof on the Jules Verne classic Around the World in 80 Days.  We videotaped at City hall – gosh, that Paul Revere bell is awesome!  In addition we had the privilege – the rare privilege, I might add – of taping inside the gates of BIW with a surprise guest!  And, as serendipity would have it, we got some rather energized footage from a bunch of hulking boys in shoulder pads and cleats. Senior Henry Mann is working hard at putting the finishing touches on his poignant play of commitment entitled “Hello”, Morse High’s entry into the 2006 MPA One-Act Festival.  We’re still riding high from Becca Lizanecz’s success at last year’s states.  Please join us in the Montgomery Theatre – yes, we’re hosting once again – in March for the festivities. This spring the bard of Avon returns, this time to the front lawn (with barbecue)!  It’s Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” under a huge white wedding tent with BBQ provided by Junior Chelsea Kidd’s parent’s company.  The cost of admission will be a bit steeper, but well worth it.  Wait ‘til you taste those mouth-watering ribs – don’t even get me started on that scrumptious chicken – WOW! On a personal note, John Upham and I invite you to share in our dream of starting our own theatre company separate from our work here at Morse – The Lanyard Theatre Company – with our first production in our inaugural season of my own play, “Has Anyone Seen Richard Mangione?”.  Production dates are Wednesday night, December 28^th through and including New Year’s Eve.  We invite you to our opening night gala (with food and beverages provided by Sue Craney’s Starlight Café) at 6:30.  Make those reservations early as there are only forty seats in the Curtis Room Annex.  The Chocolate Church’s hotline will start taking reservations beginning the first week of December.  Due to the play’s mature subject matter, no one under the age of fifteen will be admitted.  Parental discretion is strongly advised. Yes, as always, the pot is a’ boil at 826 High Street.  Please join us for another great year of theatre. Think.  Care.  Act. WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THE MORSE HIGH PTSA At the October 12^th meeting Principal Finucane was our guest speaker.  The purpose of the meeting was to help guide us through a process of defining the positive aspects of Morse as well as areas of improvement.  Many treasured ideas were given – a few examples were:  The Arts, Band, Montgomery Theatre, Spirit, Alumni, Staff, Parent-Teacher Conferences, Relationship with Union 47, AP Courses, Sports/Activities, E-mail, Freshman Orientation, Sophomore Awareness, and Community Service Day to name a few.  Ideas for areas of improvement included:  Technology, Scheduling, Lunch, Team Approach vs Department Approach, Image, Mentoring, Facility, Communication, 7 Point vs 10 Point Scale, Parent Involvement, and more AP/Life Long Learning Classes.  From here each member had the opportunity to choose three – what they would like to keep and what they would like to see addressed.  The list was then tallied and the results were that there was strong support for the arts, band and parent-teacher conferences and areas of improvement identified were communication/consistency and scheduling.  Principal Finucane invites parents or students interested in further dialogue to join her in a group setting to talk about and come up with solutions to address those concerns. Any parent interested in High School Reform, led by Principal Finucane; Data Analysis (Drop Out Rate/Test Scores/Accreditation Process) led by Curriculum  Coordinator, Nancy Harriman; Mentoring Homeroom/Advisory, led by Assistant Principal Jay Lemont; or, Ninth Grade Model led by Assistant Principal/AD Brian Hatch is encouraged to contact Principal Finucane at 443-8250.  The PTSA and Principal Finucane are working together to engage parents to become more involved in the school environment through such committee work.  Meetings will be held the first and third Wednesdays of each month from 7:20-8:20 a.m.  Parents willing to assist with Freshman Community Service Day and the Sophomore Awareness Program are also needed. Our next meeting will be on November 16^th at 6:30 p.m. in the BRVC café.  Our guest speakers will be Sharon Morrill, MHS Nurse, and Scott Bradley, MHS Guidance Counselor.  MHS is a pilot school for the Maine Youth Suicide Prevention Program.  The evening program will be Suicide Prevention:  It’s Up to All of Us.  Join us for a talk about suicidal behavior and learn how to recognize and respond to possibly suicidal youth.  Learn about the risk and protective factors.  Maine loses a young person every other week to suicide.    MORSE PARENTS ARE ALL INVITED TO GET A “PASS” PASS stands for Parental Access Support System, and it’s the new computerized way to access information about your child here at Morse High School.  Parents can go online to view progress reports, quarterly grades, and attendance data about their student.  All you need is an internet connection, your child’s student ID number, and a personal identification number (PIN) which you submit to the school.  With PASS you can check on student information when it’s convenient to you without waiting for a paper to come home or a phone message to be returned.  For more information, go to the school’s website:  http://www.morsehighschool.com/PASS. v v v v v SAT PREP CLASSES OFFERED The current plan, as outlined by State Education Commissioner Gendron, is for all Morse juniors to take the SAT on April 1, 2006.  Morse teacher David Ingmundson will be offering an 8-hour SAT prep class on Mondays and Wednesdays after school, from 3:00 to 5:00, during February and March.  Instruction will be specifically geared to the April administration, and will aim to help the student understand the SAT game, how the test is built and scored, how to pace yourself, and how to maximize your chance to score points.  The class is offered through the Bailey Evening School and a small tuition fee will be charged.  For more information, contact the school guidance office or Bath Adult Education (443-8255). v v v v v 33^rd ANNUAL “SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS” FAIR Sunday, December 4^th 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Bath Middle School FREE ADMISSION All proceeds are to benefit Bath’s D.A.R.E. program for local school children. PARENT ALERT The Choking Game, also known as Space Monkey, Passout, Ghost, Fainting Game, Flatliner or Knockout, is the game children play by compressing their chest or squeezing their neck to cut off oxygen.  The effect of the game causes whoever plays it to become light-headed, choke and lose their breath. Most of the kids are driven by curiosity to play it; some just think it is a safe, harmless, drug free way to get a rush.  However, only a few of them are aware of the fact that it can be extremely dangerous and even deadly. Many children across the United States have died recently as a result of engaging in this self-asphyxiation behavior.  Dozens of newspapers and TV stations have broadcast reports about child deaths in their communities attributed to the choking game. Warning Signs include but are not limited to: 1. Short ropes, padded ropes, neckties tied in odd knots 2. Blood shot eyes 3. Petechiae (tiny Unexplained marks on the neck 4. red dots) on face and/or cheek area 5. Complaints of headaches 6. Locks on bedroom doors 7. Multiple rope abrasions on closet rods You are encouraged to investigate this serious issue and to discuss it with your student.  More information is available online through Federal Way Public Schools at their website www.fwps.org, click What’s New and scroll down or through www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?index=1878&cat=13. Thank you for your attention to the potential for dire consequences from this deadly game.