Mustang - South Western School District

MustangMessengerSouth Western High School200 Bowman Road, Hanover, PA 17331Principal’s MessageDear South Western High School Parents and Guardians,It is hard to believe that fall is upon us and we are now into the Second Marking Period. At the beginning of this school year, each of your children wrote goal statements about what they wish to accomplish this year. Your learner reflected on these goals in early November. While most of our learners arestill writing goals that focus on specific course grades, we are encouraging them to focus on the learningand the necessary actions to reach their goals.Goals are only obtained through continuous hard work and dedication. We encourage you to haveconversations with your child about their goals. For example ask, are you completing all of the required homework and assignments, are you studying each night, are you meeting with your facilitatorfor tutoring as needed, are you coming to school each day ready to work at your highest potential andgive your best effort? We will continue to work with our learners to help them build the necessary skillsto become self-directed learners. Additionally, we will continue to develop their ability to set goalswith action steps as this plays an important role in developing learning agency. When you are talkingwith your child, ask them which specific action steps they are actively using to reach their goals. Thisis an exciting process and together we will instill the importance of lifelong learning.Warmest Regards,Judy Berrymanpink out dayOur 6th annual Pink Out Day, held on Friday, October 30th, was anothersuccess. Through the purchase of t-shirts and generous donations, theSouth Western School District raised 1650.00 to be donated to The PinkOut Women’s Cancer Fund. The Pink Out Women's Cancer Fund wasestablished in 2007 to provide financial assistance to breast cancer patients in the greater Hanover, PA area. More information on The Pink OutWomen’s Cancer Fund can be found at www.pinkoutinc.org/ . Thank youto everyone for your support of this year’s event.I n Thi s I ssue . .Interested in reserved tickets for the 2017 Fall FootballSeason? Just stop by the High School Athletic Office toreserve your seat. Your name will be added to the listand you will be notified when the season tickets arrivesometime in August. The tickets are for the 5 homegames. Cost is 25.00. Come out and support our hometeam the Mighty Mustangs!!.A Tradition of Excellence!Principal’s Message . .Pink Out Day . . . . .From the Athletic OfficeFrom the School NurseAlumni Association . . .Student Council . . . .Growth Mindset . . . .Mustang Vision News .Speech and Debate . .Key Club. . . . . . . .Going the Extra Mile. .Link Crew . . . . . . .Fall Play . . . . . . . .On the Calendar. . . .1.1.1.2.2.3.4.5.6.6.7.7.8.8

MustangMessengerFrom theSchool NurseEach 11th grade student must have aphysical examination completed asrequired by the Pennsylvania SchoolHealth Law. Please return physicalforms to the Health Room.The new Physical Examinationform can be downloaded 19Or pick-up a copy in the high school office.South Western SchoolDistrict is in need ofqualified Substitute Nurses!Interested applicants must belicensed in Pennsylvania and haveRN or LPN certification.Please contact Dr.Please complete and/or update your child’s EmergencyInformation as soon as possible. These forms keep yourchild safe in the event of an emergency and the districtmust have accurate and up-to-date information. The information on your Student Data Sheet is also required for thedistrict’s “School Messenger,” an automated system thatwill contact parents via telephone with important updates.Health Room Notes —All medications must be delivered to the school nurseby a parent/guardian, in the original bottle/package withthe necessary prescription written by the physician.Learners are NOT permitted to transport medication atany time. We hope that you will continue to support us infollowing the School board policy that helps to insure thehealth and safety of all the learners. This policy is alsoexplained in the High School Handbook.If your learner has a change in or a new medical diagnosis during the school year, please update the school nurseby calling 717-633-4807, ext #21810 or #21811.The Health Room has criteria that we follow whensending a learner home: they either need to have a temperature of 100 degrees or higher Fahrenheit, vomitingin school or having severe diarrhea. There are extenuating circumstances that do arise and we look at them on acase-by-case basis. Also if your learner has a fever of 100degrees Fahrenheit or higher or is experiencing vomitingthey should not return to school for at least 24 hours.Cynthia Renehanat 717-632-2500, Ext. 20002.South Western Alumni Association Clothing is Here!Show your South Western pride! After receiving requests and listening to suggestions from alumni, we are happyto offer four new clothing items. Short sleeve t-shirt, long sleeve t-shirt, crew neck sweatshirt, or hoodie! Allitems feature the SWAA imprint on the left chest and a full three color print on the back as shown on the samplebelow.A Tradition of Excellence!

MustangMessengerStudent CouncilOn Saturday, October 22, Student Council hosted “Haunted Hallways”, an event created tothank the district faculty. The faculty brought their kids to the school for a day of fun. Wehad 75 kids attend. They engaged in trick or treating, watching a play, playing games, andmaking crafts. This year, each group in the trick or treat committee dressed as a recognizable TV or movie character and created a game for the children to play. Once the childrencompleted the game, they were given a piece of candy. The kids got to go home with abucket full of candy and a fun memory shared with their favorite TV and movie characters.On Saturday, October 8th Student Council hosted South Western’s 2016 Homecoming. Thetheme this year was “Across the Globe.” Each committee choose a different country. Countries featured in the event included Paris, Great Britain, Mexico and India. The innovation and quality of the dancewas self-evident as the student council members experimented withnew ideas and refined old creations. During the Homecoming Football game, the Friday before the homecoming dance, we announcedthe homecoming Queen and recognized the Homecoming court representatives. These representatives completed applications to solidifytheir dedication to the school community. Freshman representativeIsabella Bulson, sophomore representative-Maya Fornaro, juniorrepresentative-Grace McCamant, and senior representatives-LizaBuschinski (Queen), Emily Cougle, Gina Dodd, Gabby Norris, andJessica Sillyman. The student body widely considered the Homecoming dance a success. With over 800 learners in attendance, this wasone of the largest homecomings yet.South Western Student Council is exhilarated to announce that they are planning their 8th-annual mini-THON,which will be held March 3-4, 2017. Mini-THON is an eight-hour dance marathon for South Western high schoolstudents that raises awareness and money for Four Diamonds. Four Diamonds is an organization that provides thenecessary funds to pay for treatment and other supportive services for pediatric cancer patient families as well asresearch to help conquer childhood cancer. The students at South Western spend the year fundraising and gatheringdonations to reach a schoolwide goal. After raising 50,555 last year, this year’s goal is 55,000 and we are looking for all the help we can get to reach or exceed this goal. If you feel inclined to donate to this event, please go tohttps://goo.gl/AxNk3u for online donations or contact Kyle Simon or Nikki Lehr at South Western High School ifyou have other items you are willing to donate to the event.Contact: minithon@southwesternsd.org or 717-632-2548 s17/.A Tradition of Excellence!

MustangMessengerGrowth Mindset, From Our Assistant Principal Ms ColemanAs fall creeps upon us we notice the temperature is changing and the leaves are changing colors. Weas learners have also been been growing and changing this season. We are midway through the first fallsemester and I would like to take the time to revisit Growth Mindset.The concept of a growth mindset was developed by psychologist Carol Dweck and popularized in herbook, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Many schools and educators, including South WesternSchool District, have started using Dweck’s theories to inform how they teach learners. According toDweck, a mindset is a self-perception or “self-theory” that people hold about themselves. Believing thatyou are either “athletic” or “unathletic” is a simple example of a fixed mindset. People can be aware orunaware of their mindsets, but mindsets can have profound effect on learning achievement, skill acquisition, personal relationships, professional success, and many other dimensions of our lives.Throughout this school year we will continue working with learners and facilitators to help nurture agrowth mindset. Thus far, your learner has participated and engaged in multiple discussions related togrowth mindset. This concept of growth mindset is important to foster because it can actually change whata person strives for and what they see as success. By changing the definition, significance, and impact offailure, we change the deepest meaning of effort. I would like to provide you with some things that we aretrying and maybe you can try at home to continue to encourage your learner to develop a growth mindset.1. Acknowledge and embrace imperfections. Hiding from your weaknesses means you’ll never overcome them.2. View challenges as opportunities. Having a growth mindset means relishing opportunities for selfimprovement. Learn more about how to fail well.3. Try different learning tactics. There’s no one-size-fits-all model for learning. What works for oneperson may not work for you. Learn about learning strategies.4. Follow the research on brain plasticity. The brain isn’t fixed; the mind shouldn’t be either.5. Replace the word “failing” with the word “learning.” When you make a mistake or fall short of a goal,you haven’t failed; you’ve learned.6. Stop seeking approval. When you prioritise approval over learning, you sacrifice your own potentialfor growth.7. Value the process over the end result. Intelligent people enjoy the learning process, and don’t mindwhen it continues beyond an expected time frame.8. Cultivate a sense of purpose. Dweck’s research also showed that students with a growth mindset hada greater sense of purpose. Keep the big picture in mind.9. Celebrate growth with others. If you truly appreciate growth, you’ll want to share your progress withothers.10. Emphasise growth over speed. Learning fast isn’t the same as learning well, and learning well sometimes requires allowing time for mistakes.11. Reward actions, not traits. Tell students when they’re doing something smart, not just being smart.12. Redefine “genius.” The myths’ been busted: genius requires hard work, not talent alone.13. Portray criticism as positive. You don’t have to use that hackneyed term, “constructive criticism,”but you do have to believe in the concept.14. Disassociate improvement from failure. Stop assuming that “room for improvement” translates intofailure.15. Provide regular opportunities for reflection. Let students reflect on their learning at least once a day.16. Place effort before talent. Hard work should always be rewarded before inherent skill.Continued on next page.A Tradition of Excellence!