CHEC bulletin for Week of November 23, 2020
ONE YEAR AGO THIS WEEK - CHEC PINNING CEREMONY
MARIA TUKEVA’S (MT) MESSAGE:
MEETINGS THIS WEEK:
All Departments and SLC’s send individual notifications of their meetings
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Monday, November 22, 2020
10:00 am – CHEC Parent Workshop – in English
Tuesday, November 23, 2020
LSAT Meeting – 4:00 pm
Wednesday, November 24, 2020
Thursday, November 25, 2020
Thanksgiving Break
Friday, November 26, 2020
Thanksgiving Break
UPCOMING EVENTS
As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, I would like to take this moment to thank all members of the CHEC Community for your resilience, unity, and sense of purpose. We have persevered through eight months of extraordinary struggle, strife and uncertainty, and yet have much to be thankful for. I am most grateful for the compassion and patience of faculty, staff, parents and students. I am also inspired by the strength and perseverance that has been evident in all. This will be a Thanksgiving different from many others, and our priority is to stay safe and keep our loved ones safe. While we may not be able to be physically with family, I know each of us will be with our families in spirit. I hope during this time, each of you will be lifted up by gratitude and hope, and heartened by the knowledge of your own personal strength and resolve. Thank you for all you do for our school, and for our community. Happy Thanksgiving CHEC Griffins and Knights!!!
REOPENING UPDATES
After multiple meetings and discussions, the number of CHEC staff to be detailed was reduced from 17 to two. Most secondary schools will be detailing between two and 5 staff members to the elementary schools. Our CHEC team members will be detailed to Ross Elementary School, to assist in the CARES classroom. There were vertical meetings between feeder schools, which resulted in a collaborative approach to the dilemma.
As we look forward to term 3, all Secondary Schools will convene a School Reopen Community Corps, in order to design our approach to reopening for some in person instruction in Term 3 (February 2021). We know that while some of our students are thriving with virtual instruction, there are many students who do not find this model the best for their learning styles and needs. We need to be able to think creatively about how to safely provide some in person support to those students who want and need it. With this in mind, there are four models for in-person instruction which have been designed by DCPS, however schools will also be able to design their own model, to be submitted for consideration. The goal of the Reopen Community Corps is to determine the needs of our students and staff, and to design in person opportunities that will support academics, SEL, College and Career, or enrichment activities. Our LSAT will serve as the core group leading this initiative, however it will be open to all interested staff. The LSAT will receive details in its Tuesday meeting, and the week of November 30, all will be invited to participate as part of our monthly Faculty Meeting. The written guidelines for the Reopen Community Corps will be available on Monday, November 23rd.
ADVISORY 1 GRADING FOLLOW UP
Our Advisory 1 grades resulted in a number of failures which will have an impact on students promotion, graduation, and overall success in school. We know that now more than ever, we must design instruction for student success, and that maintaining student engagement and interest will be more challenging. In order to further refine our grading policies and gradebooks so that they provide real time information to students and parents on how they can improve their grades, we will work on a consistent gradebook design and parameters for timely entering of grades, with multiple opportunities for revision and improvement. A committee of all interested teachers will be formed, and the first meeting will be as a break out group of our ALT Team meeting of December 1, 2020. If you are interested in providing feedback and ideas please attend!
SHOUT OUTS
- Shout out to Mr. Molina and Mr. Best for coordinating our Thanksgiving Basket Giveaway! Kudos to Ms. Carino, Mr. Talarico, Dr. Vaglenov and Mr. Lahaye for assisting in the process! We were able to give away 88 Thanksgiving Baskets!
- Please welcome our new Health and PE Teacher, Mr. Khari Owens! He will be teaching Middle School PE and health!
- Shout out to Mr. Yeboah, Ms. Castro and Mr. Diaz for their specialized sessions on Wednesdays for students in need of assistance with college applications!
- Kudos to Ms. Henry and Ms. Rosa for their weekly College Visits and assistance with College applications and FAFSA applications!
- Shout out to Mr. Lewis for holding a Middle School Parent Advisory Meeting last week!
- Kudos to Mr. Galvan for attending a high school recruitment event to recruit new students for next year!
- Shout out to Mr. Molina and Ms. Nunez for holding SGA meetings and gathering student feedback!
- Kudos to Dr. Iraheta and Ms. Hill for providing a professional development to the 10th grade on the Guide To Graduation!
WE HAVE A RECOGNITION! HONORED TEACHERS PARTNERSHIP CONTINUES THIS YEAR!
Columbia Heights Education Campus’s great teachers deserve to be recognized! We’re proud to partner with Honored Schools again this year to do just that! Go to HonoredSchools.org to tell Columbia Heights Education Campus teachers how they’ve made a difference. Please share this with parents and students! Once recognized, teachers get an email with your recognition story and we’ll celebrate them! Last year our very own Ms. Ramirez won the Life-Changing Teacher Award and a $5000 cash award!
INSTRUCTION:
ONE YEAR AGO THIS WEEK - MUSIC INSTRUCTION WITH MR. NAVAS AND MR. RELFORD
WEEK 3 OF ADVISORY 2
We are beginning the third week of the second advisory. By this week the first GRASPS of the advisory should be well underway with students, and in the independent work period of the class, students should be completing different components of the project, and giving and getting feedback. In reflecting upon the First Advisory portfolio presentations, we saw that in order for students to speak authentically on the essential questions of the unit, it is important to weave those questions throughout the instructional process. Other reflections and suggestions to consider as we launch the second advisory:
- Provide multiple opportunities and requirements for students to connect their daily work to the standard, by showing their work during the lesson and discussing how it meets or is working toward the standard
- Provide incentives and fun ways for students to come on camera daily, so that when it comes time to present their portfolios, they are ready to come on camera and speak in front of others. For example, let students know a week in advance, when their turn will be to come on camera and show their work or present something. Then, provide badges or other incentives.
INSTRUCTIONAL CALENDAR
The Instructional Calendar is a living document that houses all the major curricular requirements, assessments, and schoolwide events. The Instructional Calendar is complete for the moment, however changes may be made and will be noted. If you have any requests for additions to the Instructional Calendar, please contact Mr. Magee, peter.magee@k12.dc.gov, or your SLC Administrator.
Please view the Instructional Calendar for 2020-21 here.
IMPACT UPDATES
Informal observations for teachers have begun, and will continue until every teacher has had at least one informal observation. Once you have had an informal observation and feedback, the formal observation will take place.
As a follow up to our IMPACT orientation two weeks ago, we are creating a library of practices and videos to support development on particular EP’s. As we discussed, we are all in a learning curve with virtual instruction, and will be learning from each other throughout the year. If you would like to share a best practice and be videotaped for the video library, please let your SLC Administrator know.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Professional Development and learning is a priority for all of us, and we are all on a new learning curve.
Here is the link for topics being covered in office hours this week:
Join the Summit Master Course Training each Tuesday during the first 30 minutes of your planning period to learn new Summit Projects and PLT Best Practices!
Ms. Ramirez- Building engaging content assessments and checks for understanding
Ms. Zuccarello- Focus Area Workshops and Mentoring during PLT
Contact Veronica Zuccarello or Gabriela Ramirez with any questions.
OPPORTUNITIES:
AARON SPEARS
UPDATES FROM: ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP TEAM I LOCAL SCHOOL ADVISORY TEAM (LSAT) I CHEC MUSIC I DONORS CHOOSE I HURRICANE ETA I LIBRARY UPDATE
ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP TEAM
The ALT team is a team of educators
charged with the design and implementation of our mission aligned Comprehensive
School Plan. The Team is composed of all LEAP leaders, Department Chairs,
Administrative Team Members, and any interested educator or staff member. We
seek to involve all perspectives and voices. All staff members are
invited to attend any or all meetings. Our work is in the four domains of
the CSP – Shared Leadership, Engagement, Culture of Achievement, and Academics.
The notes can be found in the Notebook section of the CHEC Team site.
Meetings will be held every two weeks, rotating between Friday mornings
at 7:30 am, and Tuesday afternoon’s at 4:00 pm. The next meeting will be
Tuesday, December 1 at 4:00 pm. At this
meeting, Domain’s will report on their progress on Action Steps, and we will
have a special Breakout Group and Ad Hoc Committee to work on Grading Policy
and Gradebook set up.
LOCAL SCHOOL ADVISORY TEAM (LSAT)
The LSAT is a team comprised of
teachers, elected by their peers, support staff, parents, students and
community members. The LSAT advises the principal on the CSP and the budget, as
well as other schoolwide initiatives and priorities. Currently the LSAT is working on the Reopening
initiative, and in December and January, the LSAT will be charged with work on
the budget for SY 21-22. The next LSAT
meeting is November 24 at 4:00 pm.
FROM THE CHEC MUSIC DEPARTMENT
Mr. Duvall has organized a wonderful opportunity for the
Music Department to meet and talk to percussionist, Aaron Spears. Please
invite all percussionists and music students who you think will be
interested.
You can read more about him here:
The event will be held next Monday, November 23, at 4
pm.
Topic: Aaron Spears Clinic
Time: Nov 23, 2020 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 909 465 3569
Passcode: KzT4Yx
Home | Aaron Spears Drummer
Considered by many to be one of the most passionate yet humble musicians of today. Aaron’s long list of touring and recording credits include: Israel Houghton, Mary Mary, The Backstreet Boys, Miley Cyrus, Tiziano Ferro, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and most recently Ariana Grande.
www.aaronspears.com
DONORS CHOOSE - MS. ALVARADO HAS A PROJECT FUNDED
Ms. Alvarado’s classroom project "iPad to Enrich Math Instruction During Distance
Learning" was recently funded by Donors Choose.
My Students
My students are some of the most resilient people I have ever
met. Many of them have fled their home country because of violence, political
corruption, and poverty. All my students are English language learners and some
have experienced interrupted education. However, they do not let their current
or past struggles get in the way of pursuing a better future for themselves and
their families. My students invest time in their education. They stay after
school, on Saturdays, and even come in the summer just so they can catch up to
the rest of their peers.
The adversity my students face is not that of a typical
teenager, especially in the current political climate; however, their passion
and perseverance is truly inspiring.
My Project
Part of teaching math is being able to model problem solving
to students. However, this has been incredibly difficult during distance
learning. Without the proper resources for teachers to engage our students, we
cannot expect distance learning to be the most effective.
My students already enter my classroom at a disadvantage
from other 9th graders because of their interrupted education.
Because of the huge gaps they have in their mathematical
learning, my students require a lot of scaffolding and modeling.
In order to bridge this gap in learning, I will use the iPad
and Apple Pencil to create unique lessons where I am able to do real time
problem solving with students and be able to provide more individualized
one-on-ones.
The resources for this project include:
·
Apple - 12.9-Inch iPad Pro with Wi-Fi - 256GB -
Silver x 1
·
Apple Pencil (2nd Generation) x 1
The DonorsChoose team
P.S. Check out your school page at DonorsChoose to see all the
teachers posting projects from your school. You can trade tips and tricks with
colleagues to get your projects funded.
HURRICANE ETA RELIEF FUND
Dear colleagues,
I hope everyone is doing well. I would like to ask for your help to support people in my country, Honduras. Things got tough for a lot of families due to Hurricane Eta. Many of my students and even my own friends and family members lost everything because of the flooding. If you would like to help, please share this post and/or donate, any amount helps! Thank you in advance for your support!
Please click here to donate.
In a year where tragedy has struck all over the world, my country was not spared. … Gabriela Ramirez needs your support for Honduras Hurricane Eta Food Relief. To read more about the damages and lives lost due to this hurricane, please click here: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-54789907
Gabriela Ramirez
Spanish Language Arts MS Teacher - Grade 7
LIBRARY UPDATE
Lincoln Library
Digital Book Club Opportunities
If any non-ELA classes are interested in a digital book club, email me angela.falkenberg@k12.dc.gov. The Library Programs Department at Central Office has some funding available for digital book clubs. This would be a worthwhile opportunity if you're looking to bring in more reading opportunities to the subjects students don't normally associate with reading. A culture of reading can exist in all contents!
More resources, including local organizations and highlights, can be found on the CHEC Canvas Resource Hub.
Three Stars Book Award 2021 Nominees
Since 2017, the DC Library Association: School Library Section (formerly DC Association of School Librarians) has promoted its annual "state" book award, Three Stars Book Award. The mission of the award is to recognize books that incorporate diversity, multiculturalism, and other curricular connections to connect reading to learning while building a culture of reading across DC schools and the city. We have added categories over the years and this year we will recognize titles in the categories of Young Readers, Upper Elementary, Middle School, and High School.
STUDENT WORKS
In this section of our Bulletin, we will highlight student work from all disciplines. If you would like to share some excellent student work, please send to M. Tukeva, and we will highlight it in this section.
This week we would like to highlight the work of Alex Flores, Ana Reynoso, Anura Sharma, Anura Sharma, Anna Aguilera and Alberdy Ramirez Lopez.
These students submitted works that are featured on the Smithsonian website as part of the Living Through History project. The Living through History Cornerstone is a K-12 academic and SEL curriculum for DCPS students. Through the lens of global competencies, students, staff, and families applied academics across content areas to understand and process their experiences during the quarantine and connect with others’ experiences across the globe.
Please check out their incredible work below.
THE DEAN TEAM:
Hello CHEC Family!
We hope you all are well. The Dean Team would like to share a few shout outs and friendly reminders.
Trauma Responsive Practices SEL Survey:
We have created a survey to gain teacher/staff perspective on Trauma Responsive Practices at CHEC. We truly value your perspectives and need to hear their insight to better serve our community. This survey takes about 4 -8 minutes to complete. We thank you all in advance for your response.
PBIS STUDENT WINNERS: WEEK 11 | ||
Student Name | Points | Grades |
Abner Arias Osorio | 20 | 6 |
Alex Dubon Guardado | 20 | 7 |
Josslyn Derricott | 19 | 8 |
Jose Hernandez | 30 | 9 |
Jaylien Petway | 19 | 10 |
Amber Carter | 19 | 11 |
Tania Hernandez Martinez | 24 | 12 |
Please celebrate these students for their high earnings of PRIDE points!
PBIS Teacher Shout-out:
Hugh Shout-out to Ms. Jovanda Warren and Ms. Desepe DeVargas for having given the most PBIS Badges last week (Week 10)!
Student Support Forms:
Also, we have created a padlet which has the student support form and the behavior referral form. Please bookmark this padlet for future reference: CHEC Student Support Guide. Feel free to connect with the Dean Team if you have any questions.
Peace & Love,
The Dean Team
WEEKLY SPORTS UPDATE
COACH MOLINA
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we would like to take a step back and thank everyone who has played an instrumental part in the development of the CHEC Athletic department, especially our coaches. In particular, we would like to acknowledge our most accomplished senior member of our coaching staff, Coach Victor Molina. Coach Molina, has been coached soccer at CHEC (Bell) as a head coach or assistant for 32 years, sent multiple student-athletes to college and won nine DCIAA championships. There is no denying that, there would be no CHEC Athletic department, without Coach Molina. So, Coach Molina, we salute and appreciate everything you have done and will continue to do. Please feel free to share your gratitude for Coach Molina y sending him and email at victor.molina@k12.dc.gov.
2nd advisory is in full swing, and we are now only 3 weeks away from DCIAA's official start date for winter sports practice, December 14th. Winter sports include basketball, bowling, cheerleading, indoor track, swimming, and wrestling. Eligibility for play will be dependent as always upon attendance, grades, and making sure student-athletes have completed their participation paperwork. Student-athletes cannot have more than 6 unexcused absences to remain eligible to play sports. So, please make sure you are keeping track of your attendance. Additionally, if you haven't done so already, complete your participation forms online and upload your current physical for this school year.
Participations forms are available via https://www.thedciaa.com/participation-forms. Currently, there are no DCIAA physical days scheduled, so it is imperative that potential student-athletes schedule a physical with their own doctor. Physicals must be signed by a nurse practitioner (NP) or medical doctor (MD. )Parents should click on the link corresponding to the appropriate level, whether middle or high school. Online forms are also available in Spanish.
Finally, our list of head coaches is below. Reach out to the coaches directly if you are a student-athlete, teacher, or parent for team meet up login information or if you have any other questions. If you haven’t done so yet, follow us on Instagram @checsports.
Lincoln
Archery – HC TBD (reach out to coach A desmond.alexander@k12.dc.gov
Baseball – Carlos Mesa carlos.mesa@k12.dc.gov
Boys Basketball – Lionel Edmonds lionel.edmonds@k12.dc.gov
Girls Basketball – Constance Hanlon constance.hanlon@k12.dc.gov
Cheerleading – Aaliyah Wright aaliyahwright88@gmail.com
Cross Country/Outdoor Track – Lionel Edmonds lionel.edmonds@k12.dc.gov
Golf – Marie Erickson marie.erickson@k12.dc.gov
Boys Soccer – Rhina Merino rnmerino123@gmail.com
Girls Soccer – Andrea Lewis andrea.lewis2@k12.dc.gov
Softball – Yanerca Marte yanerca.marte@k12.dc.gov
Swimming – Samuel Burmester samuel.burmester@k12.dc.gov
Wrestling – Eduardo Reyes eduardo.reyes@k12.dc.gov
Bell
Baseball – Reiss Allen reiss.allen@k12.dc.gov
Bowling – Mya Ferguson mya.ferguson@k12.dc.gov
Boys Cross Country/Indoor Track/Outdoor Track – Mark Robinson markblaytonrobinson@gmail.com
Girls Cross Country/Indoor Track/Outdoor Track – Donzella Hartwill donzella.hartwill@k12.dc.gov
Varsity Boys Basketball – Rodney Cook rodney.cook@k12.dc.gov
JV Boys Basketball – Mathieu Seichon mathieu.seichon@gmail.com
Varsity Girls Basketball – Rodricus Ficklin rodricus.ficklin2@k12.dc.gov
Cheerleading/Stunt – Dionne Wright dionnewright02@gmail.com
Flag Football – Ryan Duvall ryan.duvall@k12.dc.gov
Football – Daniel Tyson dnltysn@gmail.com
Golf – Ryan Duvall ryan.duvall@k12.dc.gov
Boys Rugby – Brian Mihelic brian.mihelic@gmail.com
Girls Rugby – Katherine Hanson katherinehanson17@gmail.com
Boys and Girls Soccer – Victor Molina victor.molina@k12.dc.gov
Softball – Thomas Spoth thomas.spoth@k12.dc.gov
Swimming – Reiss Allen reiss.allen@k12.dc.gov
Tennis – Lindsey Benjamin lindsey.benjamin@k12.dc.gov
Volleyball – Mafope Alao mafope.alao@k12.dc.gov
Wrestling – Kenrry Alvarado kenrry.alavardo@k12.dc.gov
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Desmond Alexander, CAA
Athletic Director
Columbia Heights Educational Campus
Bell/Lincoln Multicultural Schools