Mequon-Thiensville School District

As parents know all too well, school is often students’ home away from home. Many Homestead students spend as much if not more time in our classrooms, auditorium, athletic facilities, and other spaces across campus as they do in their own homes. And, those students who are most deeply involved in happenings here at the school often have the strongest attendance records, report the most positive feelings about learning, and experience the highest levels of academic success.

As a school, we are committed to providing students with diverse experiences and opportunities both in and beyond the classroom. To that end, Homestead High School has added more than a dozen student clubs and activities since the fall of 2010. Because of student interest and faculty members’ willingness to support those young people, students now have the following new outlets for their talents and interests:

• Anime (Japanese animation) Club, advised by Ms. Lindsay Maslowski
• Ultimate Frisbee Club, advised by Mr. Dan Claussen
• Taste of Judaism, advised by Mrs. Robin Schlei
• Sports Economics Club, advised by Mr. Matt Wolf
• Table Tennis Club, advised by Mr. Neil Fortier
• Beyond Impressions, advised by Mr. Tony Engle
• Humanitarian Club, advised by Mr. Tom Fugate
• Homestead’s Stand Against Cancer, advised by Mr. Scott Nettesheim
• SMART Robotics Team, advised by Mr. Ryan Volke
• Spanish Club, advised by Mr. Zak Sutton
• Chess Club, advised by Mrs. Chris Schultz
• Pep Club, advised by Mr. Chris Fox.

Students who are interested in starting a club or activity simply need to find their niche, schedule a meeting with me to discuss logistics, develop a written description of the club, and find a faculty advisor.

Please join me in thanking all of the Homestead faculty members who advise our student clubs and activities. Teachers volunteer for these assignments simply because of their interest in supporting young people; advisor positions for almost all student activities are unpaid.

For a complete and continuously updated list of student clubs and activities, just click on the “Activities and Clubs” link in the orange “Athletics/Activities” box on the Homestead website.

Brett Bowers
Principal
Homestead High School

At the April PTSO meeting, Stephanie Clark tendered her letter of resignation as PTSO Co-President. On April 3, Stephanie was elected to the MTSD Board of Education and consequently must relinquish her role with the PTSO. Carol Rokni will ably continue as PTSO President, assisted by incoming 2012-13 Co-Presidents, Cheri Newton and Jennifer Zoeller. Much of the transition planning for 2012-13 has already occurred and everyone is confident the remaining months this year will go smoothly. Best of luck to Stephanie as she continues serving the greater community on the school board.

Elections for the 2012-13 HHS PTSO Executive Board will take place at the May monthly meeting which will be held on Thursday, May 17, at 9am in the HHS Conference Room. Please join us and let your voices be heard!

The Homestead PTSO is continuing a graduation tradition that is a favorite among graduates and families alike: the Grad Greeting. This is a thoughtful way for relatives, teachers, employers, neighbors, friends, and pets, etc. to express their personal congratulations to our 2012 graduating seniors.

Your Grad Greeting(s) will include a personalized message along with the sender’s name. All greetings will then be assembled into individual booklets for each graduate containing his/her messages. The booklets are then bound with red ribbon and mailed to the graduates in time for Graduation Day. These booklets are keepsakes to be treasured for years to come.

The cost is $2 for each greeting and the firm deadline for orders is May 21st. Please go to www.gradgreetings.com to place your order and be sure to use the code: HM12C

MTSD is pleased to announce an online student enrollment process starting August 1, 2012. This summer, you will be able to access and update your student’s 2012-13 school year enrollment information online. The online process will replace the traditional forms and paperwork, and will significantly streamline the enrollment process for both families and the district. Also new for 2012-13 is the option to pay school fees online via electronic funds transfer or credit card!

Watch your mailbox during the last week in July. This is when your student's access code and detailed instructions on how to use the online system will arrive. The online process will be enabled on August 1 to give you time to finish your ‘paperwork’ by Registration Day.

Please mark your calendar and plan to attend the 2012-2013 school Registration Day on August 15, 2012, from 8:00am-2:00pm and 4:00pm-8:00pm. Student pictures will be taken at all buildings on Registration Day, August 15. As in the past, all school buildings will be open and staff will be available to answer any school related questions. Computer kiosks will be available on registration day for those who need to use them to submit their student’s online enrollment. Representatives from MTSD’s food service, transportation service, and parent/community groups will be on hand to provide important information. In addition, at the high school level, schedules are obtained on this day.

>>>To see the district flyer, about this, please click here.

During the month of April, the Counseling Office was buzzing with our Junior Conferences, scheduling, pre-administration meetings for the AP exams, and Family Connection/Career workshops with the sophomore class. As of April 1st, our college-bound seniors received admission decisions from their colleges. CONGRATULATIONS! Seniors and their families were busy visiting/re-visiting colleges, reviewing programs and financial packages in order to choose the “best-fit” college. By May 1st, seniors needed to notify each of their colleges regarding their attendance decision. Now that most of the college decisions have been made, please remind your seniors to enter their attending college selection into Family Connection. May brings Advanced Placement exams for many of our sophomores, juniors and seniors. 290 students signed up to take 620 exams!

Treasure Island at Homestead!

HHS ORCHESTRA BENEFIT CONCERT MAY 12
Plan now to attend the HHS Benefit Concert at HHS on May 12. At this concert the orchestra will play some of the pieces that they performed in Helsinki, Finland and St. Petersburg, Russia during their spring break tour. Please come to show your support of your orchestra!

FAIRY DOG MOTHERS
HHS Student Council will be hosting a dog wash at the Feed Bag Pet Supply (Mequon) on Saturday, May 19, 2012 (11-3) to raise money for the Fairy Dog Mother Project. This is a program that donates pet food to Ozaukee Family Services for those who would otherwise be forced to give up their cherished pet. We will also have brats, hotdogs and baked goods available for purchase while waiting for your doggy to be washed. Call The Feed Bag Pet Supply for your best choice of time slots @ 262-241-7061. Cost is $20.00 for the dog wash.

PREPARE FOR SUMMER
Do you really know all the temptations tugging at your teen? PPI invites you to attend our last Parent Network Gathering of the school year, May 18th, from noon - 1:30 pm in the Range Line Conference Room.

Dr. Brian Fidlin, PsyD, a local expert on teen behavior, will lead our discussion with some alarming facts on what our kids are exposed to when left unsupervised, and why they might fall prey to "giving in".

Please join us for this brown bag lunch discussion so you can learn the tools necessary to safeguard your teen through the upcoming lazy days of summer!

PARENTS, PARTIES, AND PREVENTING UNDERAGE ALCOHOL USE
Would you let your teenage son drink beer at his best friend’s birthday party? Would you let your daughter attend a graduation party where wine would be available to underage kids? What if a parent were chaperoning these events?

Kids, parties, and alcohol are never a good mix. However, in a poll by the American Medical Association, 1 in 10 parents said that it was okay for teens to attend prom or graduation parties with alcohol if a parent were present.1 It may come as no surprise, then, that 20 percent of 16- to 18-year-olds reported that they have attended a graduation party with underage drinking and parents present.2 And 15 percent of these teens had been to a graduation party where the alcohol was actually supplied by parents.

Laws in many States call for parents to be prosecuted if minors drink alcohol in their homes. But some parents still allow alcohol at their teens’ parties and, in many cases, buy alcohol for the event. This group of parents is the minority. Most parents do not allow their underage children to drink and would not buy alcohol for their kids or allow it at a post-prom party or graduation event.
During the busy prom and graduation season, your teen may be invited to a party where alcohol will be available to minors. Try taking these steps to keep your child alcohol free:

1. Before the party, talk to the parents hosting the party and get all the details. Where is it? What time does it start and end? Who’s invited? What activities are planned? Will there be adult supervision for teenage guests? What is the ratio of adult supervisors to teenage guests? What can I do to help? You’re not being nosy! Think of it as gathering information so that you can make an informed decision.
2. Ask the parents hosting the party if alcohol will be served at the event. If it’s a party with guests over and under age 21 and alcohol will be present, ask about their plans to prevent minors from drinking alcohol. If all of the guests will be under 21, ask about their plans to make sure that no one brings alcohol to the party.
3. Talk to your child about what to do if he finds himself at a party where alcohol is available to minors. Let him know that even if other teens are drinking, you expect him not to. Tell him that he should call you right away and you’ll come pick him up—no matter how late it is. You may want to create a “code word” that your child can use if he wants you to come get him. He may be calling you when he’s surrounded by friends, and he may be unable to tell you what’s going on without a code word.

During the busy prom and graduation season, you might have to make difficult choices about what parties your kids attend. It can be hard to tell your child “no” when she wants to go to the party that “everyone” is going to. You may wonder if your rules are too tough.

It’s okay to be tough when it comes to protecting your kids from underage drinking. Underage drinking is a key factor in the two leading causes of teenage deaths: car accidents and fatal injuries.4 It also is linked to two-thirds of all sexual assaults and date rapes of teens, and it increases the chance of contracting HIV or sexually transmitted diseases.5 So, go ahead, be tough on underage drinking, and be on the lookout for risky situations during end-of-the-school-year parties.
Source: http://www.family.samhsa.gov

Book Discussion Schedule
Students and faculty are invited to the year's final monthly book discussions which will be held in the Homestead IMC Main Room from 2:45-3:30 p.m. on May 23. Contact Instructional Media Specialist Suzy Zellmann or English teacher Kelly Brown for more information. Here are the books that will be discussed:

Wednesday, 5/23: Stolen by Lucy Christopher and Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue

Stolen: During a layover at Bangkok's airport, 16-year-old Gemma steps away from her parents to get some coffee. She meets 20-year-old handsome Ty, who pays for her drink and slips a drug into it. Having stalked her for years, Ty abducts Gemma, takes her to the desolate and isolated Australian outback and imprisons her‚ hoping that she will love him back and gain the same respect he has for his beautiful landscape.

Room: A Novel: In many ways, Jack is a typical 5-year-old. He likes to read books, watch TV, and play games with his Ma. But Jack is different in a big way--he has lived his entire life in a single room, sharing the tiny space with only his mother and an unnerving nighttime visitor known as Old Nick. For Jack, Room is the only world he knows, but for Ma, it is a prison in which she has tried to craft a normal life for her son. When their insular world suddenly expands beyond the confines of their four walls, the consequences are piercing and extraordinary.

IS IT ADHD OR JUST INATTENTION?
The VOICES Parent Chat will be held on May 7, from 9:30-11AM at the Range Line Conference Room. Kathleen Koth, DO, a child and adolescent Psychiatrist at Rogers Memorial Hospital will present: “Is It ADHD or Just Inattention?” Background information about ADD/ADHD, common myths, treatment and intervention options, and concrete suggestions for parents dealing with a hyperactive or inattentive child will be discussed.

ALL PARENTS INVITED TO VOICES BOARD MEETING
If you are the parent of a child who is not thriving in school, you are invited to attend a VOICES Board Meeting on Monday, May 7th, noon.

This is a great opportunity for your voice to be heard. Also, you may learn something about our district that you didn’t know!

Join district administrators, teachers, and parents who work together on behalf of all children who struggle. All parents are welcome. If you have smaller children, they too are welcome.

Feel free to bring along a brown bag lunch. VOICES meetings are held in the district conference room

SAVE THE DATE FOR MTEF WALK-RUN
6th Annual MTEF 5K Run/Walk Sunday May 20, 2012
Registration 7:30
Run/Walk 9:00
Kids Dash 10:00

Please participate in this fun family event. Music, food and awards! All proceeds go to the MTEF which provides financial support for the Mequon Thiensville School District. See www.MTEF.org for race details.

***Looking for parent/student volunteers to help with race day jobs and promotion jobs!***
Please contact Tracy Lappin mlappin@wi.rr.com Susie Auchter susie.auchter@sbcglobal.net

***We are also looking for students to work a promotion table prior to the event.***
Please contact Mary Darling Mdarling1@wi.rr.com

Please note volunteer hours can be prorated to next school year (2012-13) service hours.

PPI SCHOLARSHIP
Positive Parent Involvement (PPI) is again planning to award 2 $500 scholarships to graduating seniors who have qualifications for success in promoting a substance free lifestyle. Interested seniors should pick up an application in the guidance office or download an application from the PPI website: www.ppi-mt.org . Applications must be returned to the HHS OFFICE BY Tuesday, May 15 in order to be considered for these scholarships.

Marianne Wallach Named Kohl Teaching Fellow
Congratulations to Homestead Latin Teacher Mrs. Marianne Wallach for recently being named a Kohl Teaching Fellow for 2012.

The Kohl Teacher Fellowship program recognizes and supports teaching excellence and innovation in Wisconsin. The program's goal is to support teachers in the pursuit of their unrealized goals for their classrooms or professional development. Annually, the Herb Kohl Foundation awards 100 Wisconsin teachers with a $1,000 Kohl Fellowship grant, and each Kohl Fellowship recipient's school receives a matching $1,000 grant. Recipients' professional accomplishments are celebrated at a recognition luncheon in the spring.

Mrs. Wallach's commitment to Latin education and study of Classics both in and beyond the classroom earned her this laudable distinction. Congratulations, Mrs. Wallach!

HHS Orchestra Members Perform With the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Four Homestead Orchestra students had the remarkable opportunity to perform with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra as a result of their advanced placement in the annual MSO's "Stars of Tomorrow" competition. Homestead sophomore Kartik Papatla was one of three high school students selected state-wide to perform as a concerto soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony! He performed the first movement of Dvorak's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra on Friday, March 2 with the MSO providing the orchestral accompaniment. Kartik is the first student ever from Homestead to win this extremely rigorous and selective competition.

Senior Tom Bewell was a finalist in the competition and was seated as Concertmaster (first chair, first violin) of the MSO for the final selection of the concert on March 2. Senior Nikhil Ramnarayan and junior Anna Belle Hoots received honorable mention in the contest, and also performed with the orchestra. Nikhil served as Principal Cello (first chair), and both he and Tom had prominent solos as principal players in their respective sections. A number of regular MSO musicians commented on the strong showing of HHS Orchestra students in this year's “Stars of Tomorrow” performance, continuing our regular and ongoing partnership with the members of this great orchestra.

MTSD Hosts Regional WSMA Solo & Ensemble Competition
Congratulations to the many Homestead music students who participated in the WSMA Solo and Ensemble contest on Saturday, March 17. Nearly 300 music solos and ensembles were performed by Homestead students, with 98 events qualifying for the State festival later this spring. Overall, students from 23 schools participated in 1,259 individual events ranging from solos and duets to quartets, quintets and chamber ensembles at the event which was hosted by MTSD. We also had over 300 volunteers from our school help host this event. Thank you to all volunteers, and congratulations to all HHS music performers! For a list of all participants and their ratings, please click here.

HOMESTEAD HIGH SCHOOL ORCHESTRA TOURS FINLAND AND RUSSIA
Over Spring Break, over 80 members of the HHS orchestra toured Finland and Russia. The US Embassy in Finland gave this review of their performance:

On April 14, Public Affairs Officer Marjut Robinson delivered the Embassy’s greetings to a very special group of musicians; the members of the Homestead High School Orchestra from Mequon, Wisconsin. The concert was organized in Temppeliaukio Church as part of the group’s European tour 2012 that took them to Helsinki and St. Petersburg. The young musicians demonstrated their talents with the program that included selections by Copland, Tschaikovsky, Monti, Bowie, Sibelius and Kivimaki, just to mention a few.

The director of the orchestra, John Emanuelson, had adapted Sibelius’ Finlandia for strings, and the young musicians played it so powerfully that the audiences kept applauding for a long time. And the soloist, emeritus professor Oswald Lehnert, brought smiles to everyone’s faces with his playful rendition of Czardas by Monti. After the final piece, the orchestra received a standing ovation from the delighted audience.

HOMESTEAD WRITERS RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE
Hanna Holman and Meghan Bolens, seniors in Mrs. Gregory's Advanced Placement English class, were named finalists in the Letters about Literature essay contest. Each wrote a letter to an author who had been personally meaningful to them. They were honored to be included as winners among the thousand entries submitted from Wisconsin. National judging will took place in April with national winners announced on May 1, 2012.

Matt Swenson, freshman in Mrs. Cicero's Honors English 9, and Rachel Denk, junior in Mrs. Gregory's Honors Expository Writing/Literature, were named winners in the JCC's Holocaust Essay Contest. Matt and Rachel were honored at the Yom Hashoah (Holocaust) Commemoration on Sunday, April 22. In addition, they won a trip to Washington D.C. to visit the Holocaust Museum.

Congratulations to these writers and the English Department's encouragement of excellence in writing.

JOURNALISM AWARD WINNER GOES TO WASHINGTON!
Congratulations to Mollie Cook for winning the Al Neuharth Free Spirit Journalism Award! She will be the Wisconsin representative in Washington D.C. at the Newseum from July 14-19 and will also receive $1,000 scholarship toward her first year of college. She will rub elbows with the nation's leading media pros during her all-expense paid trip this summer. Way to represent Homestead and Wisconsin, Mollie! Make us proud!

• From the Principal

• PTSO Update

• Grad Greetings

• 2012-13 Registration Information

• Counselor’s Corner

• Homestead Happenings

  • Treasure Island at Homestead
  • HHS Orchestra Benefit Concert May 12
  • Fairy Dog Mothers Unite
  • Annual Band Benefit Concert May 19
  • Prepare for Summer
  • Parents, Parties and Preventing Underage Alcohol Use
  • Book Discussion
  • Is it ADHD or Inattention
  • Voices Board Meeting
  • MTEF Walk-Run
  • PPI Scholarships

   

• Homestead Honors

  • Marianne Wallach Named Teaching Fellow
  • HHS Orchestra Members Perform with MSO
  • WSMA Solo & Ensemble Results
  • HHS Orchestra Tours Finland & Russia
  • Homestead Writers Recognized for Excellence
  • Journalism Award Winner to go to Capitol

• May 4: Spring Play- Treasure Island; 7:30PM

• May 5: Spring Play- Treasure Island; 7:30PM

• May 6: Spring Play- Treasure Island; 2PM

• May 12: Orchestra Benefit Concert; 7PM

• May 14: Incoming Freshman Night; 6PM

• May 17: May PTSO Meeting & Elections; 9AM

• PPI Parent Network Gathering 5/18 from noon -- 1:30; Range Line Conference Room; brown-bag lunch. Speaker: Dr. Brian Fidlin, a pediatric psychologist who specializes in teens & teen behavior.

• May 19: Band Benefit Concert; 7PM

• May 23: Awards Night; 7PM

• May 24: Class of 2012 Senior Dinner; 6PM

HHS SCHOOL LINKS

• Homestead High School

• Daily Announcements

• Bell Schedule

• Staff Directory

• PowerSchool

• NutriKids

SCHOOL CALENDAR LINKS

• Athletic Calendar of Events

• Music Department Calendar of Events

• Theatre Department Calendar of Events

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION LINKS

• Mequon-Thiensville Education Foundation (MTEF)

• HHS PTSO

• Positive Parent Involvement (PPI)

• VOICES

• VOICES April newsletter