Rocking OES Dynamite and Crazy Hair Day
September 2015
Informational Meeting-People to People MS Exchange Program
There will be an informational meeting for parents/students interested in the PTP middle school exchange program to Esslingen, Germany on Thursday, November 5th at 6:30 p.m. at the Mead Public Library (Rocca Room). See the “Forms & Flyers” folder for more information.
Boys’ Basketball – NWBBL Winter League
Information sheet can be found in “forms & flyers” folder on the website. Return form by October 9th if interested.
7th/8th Grade Girls Basketball
Information and permission forms can be found in “Forms & Flyers” Folder. Sign up in office and pay the sport fee before the first practice on Monday, October 5th at 6:15.
American Cancer Society Road America Walk/Run
Information available in the “Flyers” folder for the run/walk on October 24th which will include a Kids’ Fun Run.
Preparing students for the job market opportunities of the future.
Good morning, Parents.
I would like to deliver some very important good news for parents this morning (news you may already be well aware of), but in the process also try to make you aware of the educational preparation realities that comes along with it. We have been hearing for some time now from businesses, LTC, workforce development committees, and experts sharing workforce projections, that with the rapidly retiring baby-boom generation of workers, there is going to be great need for workers in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, and around the country. Our students are going to be graduating into an economy that increasingly needs workers desperately. These projections are very reassuring for me as a parent, and I am guessing most parents react in a similar manner. We all want our kids to have plenty of opportunities and a very real chance to be successful in life, and these projections suggest our children will likely have greater opportunities than some of the generations before them.
The critical truth behind this positive news, however, also has to be discussed and prepared for if our students are truly going to be prepared for these career opportunities. While the job market will be dramatically opening as our students become young adults, that job market is also dramatically changing. The percentage of professional jobs will remain relatively consistent (about 20 percent of the jobs in today’s job market are professional jobs and the projections suggest that will remain the same), the projections also strongly indicate that a huge percentage of unskilled jobs will shift and require skilled and trained workers. Many Sheboygan area companies already have significant needs for skilled workers and this trend only appears to be on the increase. The truth is that unskilled jobs are dwindling down to 10-15% of the workforce as many of these jobs are changing in nature to require skilled workers.
So what exactly does that mean for our students as they prepare for these opportunities in the future? Most skilled jobs require some post high school training. Depending on the nature of the skilled job, that training may range from a few months or a semester, to a couple or a few years of training. Many companies seem willing to invest in this training if they can get quality workers and retain them.
Backing up the preparation process one more step to focus on high school preparation we should ask, what do students need when they leave high school to be accepted into most technical training programs that will prepare them for a wide range of these skilled job opportunities? Well, they clearly need solid academic skills in math, reading and writing. Many technical training programs require an ACT math composite score of 18 or the equivalent on the Accuplacer. Reading comprehension is the second primary focus of admission into technical training programs.
Our goals at OHS support the belief that we need to produce students who have the academic and job skills necessary to either pursue a professional career after succeeding in college, or a skilled profession after successfully completing a technical training program. We want our students to leave OHS with the preparation necessary to be fully positioned to take advantage of the opportunities the job market will provide their generation and we all must recognize that a considerable portion of those opportunities (60-70%) will fall in the skilled jobs area. It is exciting to see that many of those skilled jobs are going to provide excellent careers for our students.
We would really encourage parents to discuss these exciting projections about the huge need for skilled workers with your children. Help them explore they types of jobs and professions that may interest them personally. And as part of that discussion, please help them to see how the classes they are taking now are critical as they prepare for these quality opportunities in the future.
In upcoming messages/blogs, I will share some of the specific things we are doing at OHS to better prepare students for the opportunities of the future job market.
Have a great Homecoming week,
Scott
OMS Hands on History
Mr Kloepping’s class participates in Hands on History with a Native American artifact matching exercise.
Homecoming Week Spirit Days
Homecoming dress up days next week:
Monday – Pajama Day;
Tuesday – Crazy Mismatched Day;
Wednesday – Neon Day;
Thursday – Twin Day;
Friday – Spirit Day (Red & White)
High Interest Courses get a Facelift at OMS
The schedule at OMS was revamped after a year of brainstorming and problem-solving the best way to meet the needs of the students at OMS while maximizing learning and efficiency. One of the biggest changes this year has to do with our High Interest classes. Traditionally, these classes were held in unison with intervention time. This created some obstacles as students that were needed for intervention where not able to participate in high interest programming and made running a classroom difficult for the high interest teachers as students were in and out of their class depending on their intervention needs.
Our solution was to create two separate periods for high interest and intervention time. In order to make this happen, we shortened both the high interest and intervention periods and made intervention required for all students. Students that need specific intervention with a teacher receive this, and those students that don’t need specific intervention Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) for those 20 minutes.
As a school, we created some new high interest courses this school year. We have made it a goal to make these courses focused on problem-solving, critical thinking, and creative thinking skills. We would like this time, whenever possible, to be focused on student directed learning where students are able to explore and collaborate to find solutions to problems presented to them. Therefore, along with Art (6-8), Spanish (7-8), and Tech Ed (7), students are participating in Chess/Critical Thinking, Journalism Club, and Scratch (computer coding) in grade 6, Engineering Science Toys and Photography in grade 7, and Genius Hour and Coding in grade 8.
We are excited about these changes as it brings us closer to our mission of getting all students to learn at high levels. It gives more students the opportunity to participate in courses that are more open-ended and exploratory. I’ve been impressed with the new courses thus far and the level of ownership students are taking in their own learning!
Sherri Stengel
District Goals
Greetings!
In addition to cooler temps and beautiful colors, Fall also brings our School District Annual Meeting. The Annual Meeting provides District residents with the opportunity to exercise certain powers entrusted to them through state statute. Specifically, electors at an Annual Meeting may consider and vote on the following subjects:
- Set board members’ annual salaries or a payment based on each meeting attended.
- Authorize payment of actual and necessary expenses of board members who travel in the performance of their duties.
- Designate sites for school buildings.
- Authorize the board to acquire real estate through purchase or condemnation.
- Vote a tax for the operation of the schools, to create a capital expansion fund and for other purposes enumerated in s. 120.10.
- Authorize the sale of school property.
- Direct and provide for prosecution or defense of any legal action or proceedings in which the school district is interested.
- Direct the board to furnish school lunches to district students and appropriate funds for that purpose.
- Authorize the board to furnish textbooks to students under conditions prescribed by the meeting or school board.
- Vote a tax to purchase vehicles or finance contracts for the use and services of transportation vehicles.
- Adjourn the annual meeting from time to time or establish a different date and time for a subsequent annual meeting.