Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Control What You Can Control

We have entered the "home stretch" of the 2011-12 school year. From here on out, it is a sprint to the finish line. April is a time that can suffocate you if you let it. Students, teachers, school staff, parents, and patrons can all get worn out and roughed up if we try to focus on too many things.

Our focus needs to be simply to finish strong. Stay focused on the task at hand and that is to work hard up through the dismissal bell at noon on May 18th. Don't get caught up in looking ahead, worrying about what didn't get done in the winter, or anything else. Control your effort level. Control your patience level. Keep things in perspective. Have fun.

York Public Schools is full of wonderful students and staff members. Let's put our "Duke Pride" into overdrive!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

YMS Assembly on Respect and Bullying

On March 16th, the RESPECT Group visited YMS and gave a wonderful presentation about bullying, self injurious behavior, and other life lessons. Treating yourself and others with respect is an important area we try to focus on throughout the school district.

YMS is able to have "Friday assembly" most weeks where they come together to play games, listen to speakers, have a spirit rally, etc. It is important for our students to feel like their part of the "Duke Family."

Go Dukes!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Job Shadowing at York High School

Job shadowing allows students to see what a work day is like in a particular profession that related to their interests. It is a valuable experience for a student as you get see the real life work conditions of a job... things you wouldn’t necessarily see or experience in the classroom. Work shadowing experiences can help you decide if you really are on the right career path.

For instance, one of our current high school students is currently taking College Biology and towards the end of the semester she had the chance to shadow any job in the medical field. She chose to shadow Dr. Claudia Samland at the Gloystein Vet Clinic here in York. She was able to see a lot of the surgical procedures that go on in a normal day at the clinic. She observed the surgical procedures performed on several cats and dogs being spayed and neutered that day.

She was also able to observe the dental work procedures for a smaller dog, and surprisingly, it’s a lot like any normal persons dental clean-up! Although she loves animals, she is not planning a career in veterinary medicine. However, she is strongly interested in science and perhaps becoming a science teacher. This experience opened her eyes to the many opportunities in the work world for someone with a science background and she will be a better science teacher because of it.

In a personal interview with our principal Mr. Mitch Bartholomew, we discussed the great advantages of job shadowing, as well as sharing stories about our experiences with job shadowing since he also had the opportunity to experience that. “York High School would be crazy not to use the community resources that are out there!“ said Bartholomew. “Also, with the right shadowing experience, you can take what you’ve learned and apply it. When kids take the knowledge the have and apply it to their actions and decisions, they make better decisions.”

The classes at YHS that provide the chance to have a job shadowing experience are Advanced Biology, College Biology, Novel, and the Career Academies through Southeast Community College. “I believe there are two parts to a great education; the first begins in the classroom, and the second part is giving the students the ability to apply what they’ve learned and experience real-life situations,” says Bartholomew.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

FFA State Degrees Earned by YHS Students

Congratulations to Josh Nienhueser, David Norquest, Shelby Prusia, Kate Quiring, Rebekah Spader, Jordan Swan, Courtney Wiemer, and Cody Tobin for meeting the criteria to earn an FFA State Degree this year.

The York FFA Program continues to be a shining star for YPS and our community. Keep up the great work. We appreciate your efforts!

Go Dukes!

Monday, March 5, 2012

YHS Animal Science Class on Rural Route Radio

On February 28th, York High School's Animal Science class had the opportunity to participate on a 48-minute radio show for Rural Route Radio. The show highlighted York High School's pig project and it will be aired online all week and on over 100 radio stations from Texas to Canada.

To listen to the show, you can log on to www.facesofag.com, click on Rural Radio and select Wednesday's show. Rebekah Spader was Trent's co-host during the event. Others that were part of this show were Caleb Tobin, Linden Kaliff, Jesse Hoblyn, Dalton Obermier, Hayden Sandall, Maggie Wolfe, Labraux Williams, Kyle Haarmann, and Savanah Hamling. Everyone did a great job representing YHS and sharing their learning experiences and dedication to Nebraska agriculture.

YHS FFA sponsors are Mr. Cal Williams and Mr. Jason Hirschfeld.