January 2017 – School Board Appreciation Month

Marion High School thanks our Board of Trustees

for their leadership and support of our students staff.

January 2017 - STUDENTS OF THE MONTH

9th Grade 10th Grade 11th Grade 12th Grade

Catherine Koehler Tucker Walters Desmond Tschoepe Taylor Trafford

Making Connections: School – Students – Parents – Community

The second semester has begun and testing season is upon us. The English-Language Arts

teachers will kick off the testing season with TELPAS during February and March. The

English 1 and 2 STAAR EOC exams will take place on March 28 and 30. The EOC

teachers are working hard to prepare our students for each of these exams. The English-

Language Arts teachers are analyzing their benchmark data to outline their instructional

plans. The other STAAR EOC exams will take place during the first week of May (Biology,

Algebra 1, and U.S. History). Algebra 1 and Biology will conduct benchmarks in March.

The data from these benchmarks helps the teacher and students tend to instructional gaps in

preparation for the test. Each year our students continue to produce strong results on these

STAAR EOC exams; we expect this success to continue this year.

Agriculture

The month of January has been busy for FFA members that have animals or build ag-

mechanic projects. Teachers and students attended several showmanship clinics, open shop

days and meetings to help prepare for the upcoming shows. The Guadalupe County Youth

Show will be held Wednesday, January 18 through Friday, January 20 with the annual

auction being held on Saturday, January 21, 2017. All events will be held at the Seguin-

Guadalupe County Fairgrounds. Marion HS has approximately 120 students participating

in this year’s event with over 250 entries. Many of the projects will move on to the San

Antonio, Houston and other major shows during the months of February and March.

Art

The AP Art students wrapped up their breadth and are beginning their concentration

portion of their portfolio for the spring semester.

The AP Art students have been invited again to judge the Hays County Photography

Contest on January 25, 2017. The students are excited about this great opportunity.

Athletics

The Boys’ Basketball team is 15-7 and 3-2 in district. The team hopes to get back on a

winning track, beginning with the game against Randolph on Tuesday January 17, 2017.

The Girls’ Basketball Team finished the first round of district in first place with a 7-0 record,

19-6 overall. The girls are working hard to prepare for the playoffs.

The Powerlifting Team is off to a great start. The team participated at two meets earning

multiple medalists. This past week the boys placed 2nd overall at the Brooks Invitational.

The lifters are continuing to get stronger and are looking forward to the upcoming meets.

Band

The High School Band had seven students compete on January 7th at Orange Grove HS for

Area Band Auditions. Thirty-one band students are signed up to compete at the UIL Solo

& Ensemble Contest on February 4th at LaVernia HS. Band students are also preparing for

the UIL Concert/Sight-Reading Contest on April 3rd at Canyon Lake HS.

Bowling

The High School Bowling team is halfway through their 2016 - 2017 season. With five

matches to go, the bowlers are working hard to bring up their bowling averages and ranking.

The Varsity Boys’ team is currently in third place, the Varsity Girls’ are in fourth place and

the Junior Varsity team is placed fourth in their division. Practices are held at Fiesta Lanes

in New Braunfels on Mondays at 4:30 pm and matches take place on Thursdays at 4:30 pm.

Cheer

Cheerleaders have been attending the home basketball games and helping cheer the varsity

boys and girls on to victory.

Counselor’s Office

January is always busy in the Counselor’s Office. With the second semester beginning,

class ranking is always a source of excitement for the students. The Counselor’s Office in

conjunction with CIS and the MHS Athletic Department hosted a College Information

Night for all parents and students. Approximately fifty-five families attended. The college

admission process, college recruiting and financial aid were the big topics of the evening.

There were pamphlets, checklists and brochures for distribution.

Registration for the 2017-18 school year will begin soon, so the Counselor’s Office will

begin meeting with students regarding their classes for next year. Alamo Academies

presented to the sophomores for next year, so students are busy preparing their applications

for those programs. Prospective Dual Credit students are also preparing their applications as

well. The scholarship page is filling up nicely. The Remind system updates seniors on the

scholarship page as well as upcoming activities and events.

Creative Writing

The Creative Writing Club has increased the frequency of its meetings from bi-monthly to

weekly. This allows students to have more time writing and sharing their work. It also helps

create an energetic and supportive community among the group.

English

English I classes are continuing to work towards the STAAR/EOC test and working on

expository essay writing. Teachers are working closely on writing strong thesis statements.

English II classes are working on independent clauses, dependent clauses and sentence

structure. English II classes are reading short stories and English IV are at the start of the

Frankenstein novel.

History

Teachers continue to make History come alive in the classrooms so that students can gain a

foundation of factual knowledge, understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual

framework, and organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.

Dr. Roman from Palo Alto Colleges recently visited with the Dual Credit Classes. Students

had an opportunity to ask questions about the course, on-line services, college credit and the

final examination for the course.

The US History classes will block the two weeks prior to the STAAR/EOC exams for

review. Teachers are working on various activities to engage students during the STAAR/

EOC review. The US History STAAR/EOC is scheduled for May 1st.

Math

In Algebra, Mr. Jaso’s students have been working on systems of equations. The three

different strategies they use to solve them include: Elimination, Substitution, and Graphing.

The students have also applied the systems of equations in real world problems, specifically

in how businesses determine their revenue and break-even point.

In Geometry, Mrs. Walsingham’s students are working on proving triangles congruent

using different theorems. Ms. Paschal’s Algebra 2 students are factoring quadratics using the

quadratic equation for real and imaginary solutions.

The AP Calculus class is preparing for the TLU Calculus Showdown scheduled for

Tuesday, January 31st. Students will be working in teams of 3 and 4 students on a 90-

minute AP exam-like test. The first round will take place on campus in Miss Lehmann's

classroom. The top 10 teams then advance to the finals on the TLU campus in March.

Pre-calculus classes are continuing the work on trig concepts and will be covering matrices

and systems, conic sections and vectors.

Photography

On December 21, 2016 the Marion Photography Club held a Night Photography Workshop

in Seguin. Seventeen students joined for dinner and a night of learning.

Ten students submitted entries to the Guadalupe Youth Show Photo contest. Results will

be posted on Friday, January 20th.

Twenty-four students submit entries to the San Antonio Rodeo Photography Contest.

Results will be announced in February.

Science

Science teachers continue to engage students in learning beyond the classroom walls using

reading, writing, hands-on and social media activities.

Biology students are preparing for their benchmark testing schedule in March. The

STAAR/EOC will take place on May 2nd.

The Science Club is schedule to attend the San Antonio iFly Indoor Skydiving Park to learn

about wind tunnels.

Spanish Club

The Spanish Club is underway planning their annual field trip. This spring the group will

travel to Mi Tierra, an authentic Mexican restaurant in San Antonio and the Historic Market

Square.

Student Council

The Student Council sponsored two children from the Angel Tree in the library during the

Christmas holidays. They also assisted in packaging of the Senior Citizen Holiday

Luncheon for those seniors who are homebound. During the last week before the winter

break, gifts of candy canes or cards were delivered to staff and students to show their

holiday spirit.

On Saturday, January 14tth a group of students conducted a trash pickup through all the

campuses and adjoining city areas to keep our City of Marion looking its best.

Theatre

The Marion High School Theatre Department has entered its busiest and most exciting time

of the year! For the last two weeks, the department has been hard at work on “Antigone" by

Sophocles. UIL District competition will take place at La Vernia High School on March 9th

with several workshops and clinics along the way.

UIL – Academics

On January 7th the UIL Academic Team traveled to Medina Valley HS. A handful of

students gained valuable experience in their events. Top finishers were Sierra Knight in

Number Sense, Chase Gibson in Number Sense and Science, and Morgan Kunde in Social

Studies.

The UIL Academic Team also competed at Poth HS. Winners at Poth include: Myles

Riggs 3rd in Current Events and 3rd in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Austin Sekula finished 6th

in Number Sense. The team of Austin Sekula and Jarrod Grothues finished 1st in CX

Debate. The next practice meet will be in February.

Video Gaming

The Video Gaming Club recently had its first meeting. Thirty-five students attended,

discussed ideas for the spring semester and played various video games on different

consoles. The hot topic amongst the video gaming group was the strategy behind

multiplayers in a game called Rocket League. The game is similar to soccer but with race

cars. Students will vote next week on which games we will explore next.

Yearbook

The yearbook staff is in the process of completing Fall pages and importing student

portraits.

On Monday, January 16, 2017, Marion High School recognized and honored the life of Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King was born in Atlanta in 1929. He began his pastoral career in Montgomery,

Alabama, in 1954, a year before Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her seat.

Montgomery's community leaders chose King to organize the resulting bus boycott. From

then on, his was the most powerful and lyrical voice in the effort to end segregation in the

United States. King's message of nonviolence and love -- delivered in magnificent speeches

and masterful writing -- shaped the American civil rights movement and inspired activists

worldwide. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. may seem like the sort of leader who comes along only once

every century or so, but King himself would disagree with that notion. He taught that we

are all capable of lighting the way to "the bright daybreak of freedom and justice," and that

we can unite to show that "love is the most durable power in the world."

Photography Club

Powerlifting Team

Bowling Team

Senior Class of 2017

Junior Class Ring Ceremony