volume 3 issue 1 aug-oct 2013-14 academic news · 2013. 11. 4. · aug-oct 2013-14 academic news....
TRANSCRIPT
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A Message from the High School Principal
Greetings from the Santa Fe Indian School High School Academic Program! I hope you are all
well and enjoying the beautiful fall weather.
We have had an exciting first quarter of our academic year with our 438 high school students and
59 staff members, 43 of whom are teachers. All high school core subject teachers meet the highly
-qualified teacher requirement of the State of New Mexico.
With the help from the high school faculty and staff members, it is my intent to continue to pro-
mote a positive learning environment for our students and to encourage communication between
the high school program and our communities, while promoting a meaningful and challenging
curriculum.
The content of this first newsletter focuses on the major events that have transpired during the
first quarter. In the next newsletter, I will share first quarter data related to our academic pro-
gram goals outlined on page 9 in this newsletter.
The time we have remaining in our first semester is quite brief because of All Souls and Thanks-
giving breaks leading quickly to semester’s end before Christmas. When students return from
All Souls break, they will have four and half weeks of instructional time before they begin their
first semester exams. Because instructional days are so few, I ask that parents emphasize to their
children the importance of concentrating on their academic goals and attendance.
I am very proud to share that the high school attendance rate for this first quarter is 95.83%.
Congratulations to our students and their parents for this excellent rating. Let’s continue to
maintain this high rate of attendance by keeping our children in school as much as possible.
Thank you for your help in this endeavor and for your overall support of the program.
Sincerely,
Felisa Gulibert
S
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Volume 3
Issue 1
Aug-Oct
2013-14
Academic News
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The 2013-2014 school year has
gotten off to a busy start for the
class of 2015. In the first quarter,
students had a class orientation
day, started a new curriculum for
the College and Career Readiness
(CCR) class, went on a field trip,
elected class officers, and set class
goals. The class is organizing a va-
riety of activities and events to
continue the convocation topics
related to the Native core values
and to raise funds for the prom.
Orientation Day
The eleventh grade team held ori-
entation day on campus. In the
morning, students rotated to vari-
ous stations focused on strategies
for academic success, including
discussion of the SFIS core values.
In the afternoon, students partici-
pated in an assortment of team-
building activities. These activities
created class camaraderie and built
positive peer relationships. Overall,
students had fun throughout the
day focusing on academic success
within a supportive community.
CCR Modules
In response to student feedback
about last year’s CCR, the eleventh
grade team developed a new curric-
ulum this year. The curriculum
now consists of two to three week
modules scheduled throughout the
year. At the CCR curriculum sign-
up fair, each student enrolled for
five modules of his or her choice
for the fall semester. The eleventh
grade team offered fourteen mod-
ules this fall that address a variety
of career and college readiness top-
ics, including interview etiquette,
budgeting, and leadership.
Students are responding positively
to this curriculum. They like the
range of options that align to their
career and college interests and
needs.
Class Field Trip
On September 24, 2013, the elev-
enth grade team went on a class
field trip to the Santa Fe National
Forest. This is the first of three
planned field trips focused on the
theme “Continuing the Convoca-
tion.” Each field trip will focus on
a few of the ten elements. This first
trip concentrated on two of the ten
elements: environment and health.
Students participated in hands-on
activities that made connections
between their course content and
environment and health.
Class Officers Lead Activities
The 2015 class officers and the stu-
dent in the leadership module are
busy planning and implementing
multiple activities for the year.
They worked hard with the home-
coming class competitions, are
planning for the big winter ball
fundraiser in January, and are
looking at sites for the 2014 prom.
Students will be working with par-
ents to support their fundraising
efforts.
The Class of 2014 hit the ground
running this school year. They
arrived on August 19th ready to
build and beautify the SFIS out-
door classroom space for academic
activities. Working on the outdoor
classroom will be an ongoing pro-
ject for the senior class, as they
hope to leave this outdoor space as
a gift to the SFIS students for fu-
ture generations to utilize.
The senior team has adopted a new
CCR schedule this year focused on
weekly seminars that are relevant
to senior transition into college
and careers, and training for every-
day life skills. Time is also sched-
uled for sustained silent reading
and class meetings. On Thursdays
seniors can get academic help
from their teachers .
On October 16th , half of the sen-
iors traveled to UNM to conduct
SHP research related to their pro-
jects, while the other seniors trav-
eled to SFCC, where they partici-
pated in the ropes challenge course
and toured the campus. Second
semester the seniors will alternate
these activities.
Information About the Class of 2014
Information About the Class of 2015
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The class of 2017 began the
school year with a brief orienta-
tion on Monday, August 19. The
students received their class
schedules and separated into their
College and Career Readiness
(CCR) class groups. In these
groups, they completed team
building activities and a campus
tour. The students then worked
individually on reflective ques-
tions about themselves before
breaking into small groups to use
iPads to create iMovies about
themselves and their goals for the
future. They later shared these
movies in their CCR class.
In late September, the freshman
class participated in a commit-
ment ceremony at the Pueblo Pa-
vilion Wellness Center. Parents,
families, teachers, and staff sup-
ported the students as they com-
mitted to graduate with the class
in 2017. The senior class escorted
the freshmen to the ceremony,
and Superintendent Herrera and
High School Principal Ms. Gu-
libert welcomed the students and
parents. Each student received a
school lanyard and a small diplo-
ma card to remind them of their
commitment to graduate. They
also signed a class banner which
is displayed in the MST lobby.
During homecoming week, the
freshman students created a bulle-
tin board and parade float around
the theme of bullying and hazing
prevention. They also fully sup-
ported the efforts of the Lady
Braves soccer team by attending
the games and making banners.
The class was able to build posi-
tive relationships with each other
by planning and working together
on these activities.
The ninth grade team is working
on implementing an interdiscipli-
nary unit for the freshman stu-
dents on the theme of water. The
students will learn about water
conservation, water rights, and a
variety of other issues connected
to the theme. The unit will contin-
ue throughout the semester and
will culminate with a common
portfolio synthesis presentation in
December.
This is the second year the ninth
grade teachers are implementing
the Career Choices curriculum
from Academic Innovations in
freshman CCR classes. Career
Choices focuses on three central
questions:
Who am I?
What do I want?
How do I get it?
This curriculum helps freshmen
transition into high school and
allows them to reflect on their
own personal strengths and visu-
alize how to accomplish their
goals for the future. By the end
of the school year, each student
will have constructed an online
portfolio, which includes a ten-
year plan to help guide their
choices throughout high school
for academic success.
The class of 2016 is off to a good
start. The students have elected
their class officers: Michael Ban-
croft, president; Emanuel Vigil,
vice-president; Hanna-Marie
Lucero, treasurer; Raelene
Woody, secretary; and Craig Pa-
jarito, historian. Three class goals
have also been established. These
goals are:
The class of 2016 will have a
class grade point average
(GPA) of 2.5 or higher.
The class of 2016 will reduce
behavioral referrals by 15% as
compared to 2012-2013 data.
The class of 2016 will have an
average attendance rate of
90% or higher.
For the first class fundraiser, the
students sold breakfast burritos on
Po’Pay Day. A class goal is to
enter their junior year with a sub-
stantial amount of money to de-
fray the costs of the junior/senior
prom in 2015.
The class of 2016 has designed
the CCR curriculum around four
modules. The first module was
derived from the Freshman Ca-
reer Choices and centers on the
continuation of the program
called Get Focused/Stay Fo-
cused. It assists students in the
continuation of their 10 year plan.
The second module called Life-
style Mathematics is centered on
every day mathematics with real-
world situations. Career Choices
is used in conjunction with this
module. The third module is de-
signed to assist students with the
interdisciplinary portfolio by
teaching specific research skills.
The fourth module provides aca-
demic assistance for students to
get tutoring from their teachers.
Information About the Class of 2016
Information About the Class of 2017
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PO’PAY FEAST
On October 14, the
Santa Fe Indian
School community
celebrated Po’Pay
Feast with special
activities through-
out the day. The
atmosphere sur-
rounding the event was filled with sounds of drum-
ming, dance, and song as students, staff and their
families joined in the celebration wearing traditional
clothing and eating traditional food. Students and
staff participated in an early morning prayer and a
run before classes began. The cafeteria staff pre-
pared a Native Pueblo feast enjoyed by everyone.
The feast day culminated with traditional dances at
the end of the day.
The celebration supports students to better under-
stand the history of the Pueblo Revolt and Po’Pay’s
role as a Native American hero. The social studies
department organized the successful event with
Pueblo community members and SFIS students and
staff.
SCHOOL SPIRIT ALIVE AT SFIS
SFIS students showed their competitive school spirit during Homecom-
ing spirit week, held October 7-12. The grade level classes wore their
colors and dressed to the theme identified for each day. The highlights
for the week included the homecoming pep rally, homecoming dance,
talent show, homecoming parade, money war jars, bulletin board com-
petition, and sports activities that included soccer and volleyball games.
The events culminated with the homecoming football game and corona-
tion of the royal court. Our football team won the game against
Mescalero. The athletes played a very impressive game. Below is the
2013 homecoming royal court:
Queen Maggie Whaler Santo Domingo, Jemez, Cherokee
King Evren Martinez Santa Clara, San Ildefonso
Junior Princess Courtenae Magdalena Jemez, Navajo
Jr. Prince Nicholas Pino Acoma
Sophomore Princess Alliyah Coriz Santo Domingo
Sophomore Prince Eddie Humetewa San Felipe, Santo Domingo
Freshman Princess Cierra Bailon Santo Domingo
Freshman Prince Brandon Coriz Santo Domingo
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SFIS STUDENTS EARN COLLEGE
CREDITS
The high school academic program continues to offer
advanced placement (AP) courses in world history,
English III language/composition, U.S. government
and politics, and English IV literature/composition.
Students can earn college credit if they pass the AP
exam in May 2014.
In addition, SFIS students in grades 10-12 may enroll
in dual credit courses for college credit. The dual
credit courses include: Cochiti Keres I & II, Navajo I
& II, senior honors project, 2D fundamentals-color
theory, Engineering I/Drafting I, and digital video
editing/production.
New dual credit courses added this year are: Santo
Domingo Keres and Ohkay Owingeh Tewa.
PARENTS LEARN ABOUT SPECIAL
EDUCATION
The SFIS Special Education Department sponsored
the annual fall special education parents’ night on Oc-
tober 25. Superintendent Herrera, high school princi-
pal Felisa Gulibert, and mid school principal Larkin
Vigil welcomed the parents. The special education
teachers and staff facilitated the activities. The parent
workshop agenda included BIE Parent Survey, self-
advocacy, the 2013 NMSBA results, MAP testing,
and accommodations.
Parents played bingo in relation to the special educa-
tion acronyms, assessment, and advocacy terms.
SFIS administrators, special education teachers, par-
ents, and students also enjoyed a light meal.
The training engaged school staff, parents, and stu-
dents to better understand the support special educa-
tion provides in relation to education at SFIS.
On Friday October 25, the Santa
Fe Indian School Agriscience class
had the opportunity to present
their work at the 8th Annual Tradi-
tional Farming and Sustainability
Conference sponsored by Tesuque
Pueblo and Four Bridges Perma-
culture Institute. Students present-
ed ideas about sustainability, green
energy, seed saving, and cover
cropping to an audience of over
three hundred. World famous ag-
ricultural activist Vandana Shiva
was in attendance and shared ide-
as from India about sustainable
agriculture. She was very im-
pressed with the presentation our
students made.
These experiences support our cur-
riculum in the Community-Based
Education Program and helps to
prepare our students for the real
life situations they will encounter
in the future as Pueblo Indian
farmers. Great job students.
AG STUDENTS IMPRESS
VANDANA SHIVA
The tenth grade biology students braved misty and rainy conditions to hike
the Chamisa Trail on September 11 and 12. The students identified differ-
ent types of wildflowers, including some invasive species. Due to all the
moisture, they were able to hike through lush and truly colorful vegetation.
The students found blue and green lichen, purple fungus, and a riot of yel-
low and purple wildflowers. Everyone got to observe the distinct differ-
ences between the southern and northern slopes. Deciduous trees and ever-
green trees were identified, and their leaves were sketched or the needles
were measured and counted for identification. All the students used a dichotomous key for woodland and
mixed conifer identification just like real botanists! The group also hiked six miles and climbed from 7,000 to
8200 feet. Everyone enjoyed lunch at the top of colorful Steller’s Jay and then hiked down the northern slope
to see all the hanging moss and lichen on the colder side of the mountain. Students learned new things about
the fabulous Santa Fe mountain ecosystem.
Biology Students Take Learning to Chamisa Trail
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The SFIS Chess Club consists of a high school chess team and mid-
school chess team. Participants
from both teams participated in a
United States Chess Federation
Tournament in Taos on Sunday,
September 22. There were over
100 chess players at the tourna-
ment. Cameron Gabaldon took
second place in the tournament in
the Mars bracket. Other partici-
pants were Jared Garcia and Mi-
chael Cammarata.
This year, the Northern Schools
Chess League will have three regu-
lar tournaments. The first tourna-
ment was on October 14 at Es-
panola. The other two will be at
West Las Vegas and Santa Fe.
There will also be a regional tour-
nament at SFIS in March. Previ-
ously, the team had enough stu-
dents to field
two high school teams and one mid
school team. However, student in-
terest has increased, and SFIS will
be fielding four high school teams
and one mid school team. The var-
sity team consists of Jared Garcia,
Cameron Gabaldon, Loma Honie,
Nick Pino, Steven Arviso, and
William Calabaza. Each varsity
chess player will be matched
against the opposing school’s num-
ber one through number six play-
ers. The team that has the most in-
dividual wins will be declared the
winner. The maximum points pos-
sible will be determined by how
many rounds each team member
plays.
FASHION CLUB
The student-led Fashion Club,
which is under the guidance of Ms.
Tina Harte, has been meeting twice
monthly. The purpose of the club
is for students to learn about ca-
reers in the fashion industry as
they plan projects related to fash-
ion design.
Fashion Club members set a goal
to have a spring 2014 fashion
show. In order to accomplish this,
they need to raise money for their
individual projects. They are a
very creative group of students and
have planned some exciting fund-
raisers for the fall semester. First,
they held a Halloween Fashion
Show on Tuesday, October 22 at
the high school dorm rotunda.
Twelve club members coordinated
the decorations, music, conces-
sions, and set-up of the runway,
Students wore the Halloween cos-
tumes and others were dressed cre-
atively by their friends to walk the
runway. Some of the costumes
were evil prom queen, zombie, an-
gel, waitress, Flo the insurance
agent, and a Star Wars Jedi. Stu-
dents cheered on the models as
they walked the runway proudly
displaying their costume creations.
They plan to sell infinity scarves at
the PAC Bazaar on Saturday, No-
vember 16, and to hold a clothing
swap in December.
The students also raised $90 to
purchase fabric to make infinity
scarves and work on Christmas
projects.
Fashion show students were very
excited by the response of the stu-
dents, and they want to plan a trib-
al fashion show for their spring
event.
The Ink It Club is carrying on from
last year. Jaylene Baca, a junior,
and Ashley Atencio, a senior, are
both invaluable returning members
who, together with senior Peshawn
Bread, have assumed leadership
roles for the club this year. Ink It is
a group of creative students who
work together to publish a maga-
zine of SFIS student writing and
art. They will be publishing a new
edition of the magazine, and they
are collecting new submissions for
a second magazine to be published
later this year.
(continued on next page)
EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
At high school academics there are twenty clubs to consider for a variety extra-curricular activities. The clubs
are described in the SFIS Parent/Student Handbook. For each quarterly newsletter, highlights of different clubs
will be featured.
Chess Club
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NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY
The SFIS National Honor Society
(NHS) officers inducted eight new
members at the fall induction on
Friday, September 27. Honored
with elected membership are senior
Tamarah Padilla Martinez of Santa
Clara Pueblo and outstanding jun-
iors Iris Arquero of Cochiti Pueblo;
Jaylene Baca of Santa Clara Pueb-
lo; Charelle Brown of Santo Do-
mingo Pueblo; Jared Garcia of San-
to Domingo Pueblo; Xavier Lovato
of Cochiti and Santo Domingo
Pueblos; Alicea Olascoaga of Tlin-
git, Haida, and Mescalero Apache
Nations; and Shanya Whitehorse of
the Navajo Nation. Both Superin-
tendent Herrera and high school
principal Felisa Gulibert offered
congratulations to the inductees at
the ceremony with Ms. Gulibert
challenging the current NHS offic-
ers to mentor the new members to
leadership in our school.
Next month, five members, led by
Chapter President Patricia Ban-
croft, will attend a National Honor
Society Leadership Conference in
Denver. NHS will host a Hallow-
een celebration for the campus at
the end of October, and plans are
underway for the fourth annual
Holiday Bonfire right before the
holiday vacation in December.
AISES The American Indian Science and
Engineering Society (AISES) Club
will be attending the national con-
ference in Denver, Colorado, from
Wednesday, October 30 to Sunday,
November 3. They will be taking
six students to benefit from the
training at the conference. They are
in the process of fundraising and
looking for parental support to raise
the money. For more information,
contact the club sponsor, Ms. Cindy
Salvatierra.
POETRY CLUB This September, three small groups
of juniors and seniors visited the
Santa Fe Botanical Garden (SFBG)
on Museum Hill for an art and writ-
ing workshop aptly named “Poetry
and Art in the Park.” Ms. Alicia
Fritz, an SFIS eleventh grade Eng-
lish teacher, Ms. Melissa Merritt,
an artist and art teacher from the
Rio Grande School, and Ms. Mollie
Parsons, SFBG education director,
worked together with the SFIS stu-
dents to facilitate a two hour activi-
ty that included a walking tour of
the garden, a poetry discussion, a
writing prompt, and a drawing ses-
sion inspired by the variety of
plants and sense of place at the gar-
dens. Students had the opportunity
to sketch flowers, hummingbirds,
pinon trees, and the stone that per-
vades the landscape. Each group
shared their drawings and poems.
Additional workshops with students
to the botanical gardens are planned
for later this fall and in the spring.
ROBOTICS CLUB
The Robotics Club has begun the
school year with many new mem-
bers. The former members want to
work hard to improve last year’s
showing at the RoboRAVE in Al-
buquerque. The club is currently
having meetings to plan activities
for the rest of the year. There are
several events scheduled ranging
from regional training to weekend
workshops where they “work” with
robotics the entire day.
The Robotics Club was established
over fourteen years ago by Mr.
Smokey Trujillo and the students
have participated in every Ro-
boRAVE since then. They have had
a fun and exciting history and look
forward to a bright and wonderful
future learning about the many fac-
ets of robotics.
PARENTS MEET WITH TEACHERS TO PROMOTE STUDENT SUCCESS
Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences were held on September 27 and October 4th from 1:00 –5:00 pm. Some
parents arrived early to take advantage of the NASIS Portal training and to eat lunch with their students. Parents
signed in and picked up student schedules from the grade level counselors and visited teachers to discuss aca-
demic progress and behavior.
For both days of conferences, a total number of 160 sets of parents met with teachers. For the February 2014
parent student/teacher conferences, we are looking forward to seeing a larger number of parents on campus.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
October 2013
Honors Assembly-October 29
AISES National Conference-October 30-Nov.1
November 2013
NHS Leadership Conference-November 7-10
Progress Reports-November 25
Senior Parent Meeting-November 27
December 2013
Senior Honors Project– December 3
Parent FAFSA Workshop-December 13
ACT Test-December 14
If you have a NASIS (Native American Student In-
formation System) Portal account, you will be able to
check your child’s assignments, grades, and attend-
ance on a daily basis. You can also communicate
with his/her teachers using email and update contact
information for your child. NASIS Portal trainings
are given on student/parent/teacher conference days,
or you can contact Jennifer Williams, the NASIS sys-
tem administrator. She can be contacted at 505-989-
6308 or [email protected].
Do You Know How Your Child is Doing in School?
COLLEGE and CAREER
DAY
On the afternoon of October 23,
the high school counselors and
residential program sponsored a
career fair for the students in
grades 9-12. Grade level teams
escorted students by CCR classes
to four different locations to speak
with representatives from universi-
ties, colleges, vocational schools,
scholarship programs, the mili-
tary, and summer programs. Top-
ics for career and college readiness
included financial aid, college
prep, admissions, leadership pro-
grams, career trends, health and
wellness careers, internships, col-
lege dorm life, college athletics,
college fly-in visits, and massage
therapy.
Students expressed an interest in
summer programs, college
academic/athletic preparation, and
scholarship opportunities. Aca-
demic counselors will focus on
further addressing these areas of
student interest as part of the CCR
classes and on a one to one basis.
The residential program sponsored
the health fair segment of career
day to support the wellness com-
ponent of the evening program.
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mailto:[email protected]
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2013-2014 High School Class Officers
Class officers were elected by the students in their class at the beginning of the year. The role of the class offic-
ers is to meet with their respective grade level team to plan activities and fundraisers, and to encourage students
to meet the class goals. They are also required to lead the class meetings and model appropriate behaviors. As
representatives of their class, they make decisions with the grade level team on the students’ behalf.
10th Grade-Class of 2016
President: Michael Bancroft
Vice-President: Emanuel Vigil
Treasurer: Hanna Lucero
Secretary: Raelene Woody
Historian: Craig Pajarito
9th Grade-Class of 2017
President: Shante Toledo
Vice-President: Deatra Sinyela
Secretary: Mikayla Jackson
Treasurer: Kallen Blacksmith
Historian: Taylor Moya
11th Grade-Class of 2015
President: Alicea Olascoaga
Vice Presidents: Jared Garcia
Kaitlin Sandoval
Secretary: Jasmine Cata
Treasurer: Nicholas Pino
Historian/Photographer: Melissa Serafin
Class Artist: Jaylene Baca
12th Grade-Class of 2014
President: Kein Ami
Co- President: Aliyah Chavez
Vice President: Brandon Chavarria
Co- Vice President: Johnny Sanchez
Secretary: Crucita oriz
Co- Secretary: Reyes Crespin
Treasurer: Ashley Salter
Co-Treasurer: Anthony Humetewa
Historian: Tamara Padilla
Co- Historian: Ashley Atencio
2013-14 High School Academic Goals
Below are the high school academic goals for this school year. It is our intent to accomplish these goals to im-
prove instruction for our students:
Overall Goal (SMART Goal): By spr ing 2015, 65% of SFIS High School student will be proficient prob-
lem solvers in their grade level or above.
Goal I: By Apr il of 2014, each high school grade level team will have designed and implemented a com-
mon portfolio assessment to gage student’s progress toward Ideal Graduate Rubric (IGR) skills and academic
progress.
Goal II: By the end of 2013-14 SY, the student satisfaction rate in the high school academic program will be
at a minimum of 75% as determined by students’ survey results.
Goal III: Continue to enhance communication between the academic program through quar ter ly news-
letters, personal letters, post cards, and participation in community visits.
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