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Welcome to another edition of our Hornet Highlights. Here’s a look
at what has been happening in classes, in competition, and in the lives of our
students and staff over this last weeks. We hope you feel connected to and
informed about the work that we’re doing at Herndon High School. Thanks for
reading
Sincerely,
Liz Noto
There
are times when the aromas from our cooking room carry you down the hallway and
into the class. Yesterday was no different. Mrs. Spector’s Fitness and Foods
classes competed in a “Restaurant Week” event, complete with staff judges.
Groups were required to create a dish from scratch, plate it beautifully, and
answer questions about the dish when asked. Here are Fiza and Amina, who made a
wonderful chicken dish with a delicious cucumber sauce on the side. The
competition was fierce!
The
student section at the recent South Lakes basketball game was full of energy
and represented Herndon High School well. While we had mixed success that
night, we have another opportunity to play this Friday at Herndon. School is
out on Friday and Monday for staff training and work days, but we still hope to
see a huge crowd to rally for our Girls and Boys Varsity teams. Let’s go,
Herndon!
The
Herndon Writing Center (HWC) welcomed our Region 1 Assistant Superintendent
Douglas Tyson last week for a visit. Mr. Tyson, seen here at the sign-in table,
interacted with the teachers and students who were working in the room. The
Herndon Writing Center offers writing support for all HHS students during each
of the lunches. It’s a great opportunity for peer support! And kudos to this
group of amazing students for their show-stopping representation at the CAPTA
conference last month!
Ever
wonder who is responsible for the ever-changing bulletin boards around Herndon
High School? Here is the Leadership student committee that has been coming up
with these great ideas. You can see them hard at work each month as they create
meaningful messages for their peers. It can be tricky to make it all work! This
video game-like bulletin board encouraged students to “Catch all of your
goals!”
We were snowed out early in the month, but our annual
Curriculum Night finally took place on January 10th. Rising freshman
parents kicked off the evening in the auditorium to hear about course and
graduation requirements from HHS counselor Kie Anderson and Advanced Academics
Coordinator Janice Jewell. Teachers were at the ready in the cafeteria as well
to help answer individual questions about course sequences. It was a widely
attended event! Thank you to our Student Services Department for planning such
a busy night.
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Snowcoming Spirit Week is on the horizon! Flyers have been
posted around the school with instructions for students who want to
participate. PJ Day already looks to be a favorite. Snowcoming Spirit Week
kicks off on February 5th and wraps up with the dance on Saturday,
February 10th, from 8-11:00pm in the HHS cafeteria. The colors for Friday’s
Class Color Day are as follows: 9th grade wears gray, 10th
grade wears white, 11th grade wears red, and 12th grade
wears black. Come on out and dress for a very fun week!
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Renovation
was only week’s underway when the first accidental fire alarm sounded. Behind
our new walls, dust had accumulated, setting off the alarm. Students and staff
evacuated as we awaited a very brief visit from the fire department. A big
thank you to our first responders, who were able to get us back into school
quickly. The renovation team has worked very hard not to disrupt school, so we anticipate
that this was just a fluke. At any rate, it seems we’re officially under
renovation!
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The
Blue Lot was officially closed beginning December 18th as our
construction crew claimed the back parking lot. Thanks to the support of the
FCPS Facilities Department, some space on school grounds has already been
repurposed as a parking area. Because of this help, 35 students with temporary
parking spaces were awarded permanent spaces recently. Here are some of the
students who lined up excitedly to receive their new pass. The remaining gravel
lot is in progress and is expected to be completed in the next 3-4 weeks,
weather permitted.
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Our
first ever renovation progress meeting went off without a hitch. After 4 short
weeks, we are happy to report that the project is running on time. Let’s hope
this sticks for the next few years! The team is pictured here standing before
one of the many new temporary walls. Behind the wall is an almost
unrecognizable space, thanks to the work of the construction staff. We look
forward to seeing these plain walls covered with some beautiful student work in
the coming months. Stay tuned!
What
happens when you have a really dynamic teacher like Mrs. Corsino for your
Literacy Lab class? You get to complete a writing assignment in the library with
the help of a green screen. Students were to practice using literary elements
(such as simile, metaphor, or imagery) by creating a short story through a
presentation with illustrations. Students could use the green screen to add
their faces to images or scenes throughout the story. This activity was such a
blast (and really funny too)!
Congratulations
to Ms. Felton for her newest little addition, Leo! Ms. Felton recently appeared
on the news during an exercise class she was teaching independently only a week
before giving birth. Isn’t she amazing?! She is pictured here with her daughter
and new baby boy. Ms. Rosenbaum (a familiar face for many of our students) is
filling in during Ms. Felton’s absence. Congratulations and welcome to the
Hornet family, Baby Leo!
The
Herndon FIRST Robotics Team kicked off their 6-week build recently by hosting
their big reveal in the Herndon cafeteria. During the event, students and
sponsors finally saw the requirements for the robot for the current season.
Next, they begin the lengthy process to create a robot from scratch. Another
HHS team, Epsilon Delta Too, has already had their season underway. Here they
are after an earlier competition at Battlefield High School after winning the
highly coveted “Inspire Award”. Congratulations, Teams! Keep up the amazing
work!
It’s
been a tough decision, but Mrs. Jacquie Dresser, a long-time Herndon Gourmet
Foods teacher, has decided to retire at the end of this month. We will miss
Mrs. Dresser dearly! To help us through this school year, we are proud to
announce that Ms. Heather Palm has been selected as the new teacher. We know it
can be hard for students to have a new teacher, which is why Ms. Palm is
dedicated to helping us make a smooth transition. Welcome, Ms. Palm!
Congratulations to Herndon teacher and soccer coach Mr. Tolaba
on the birth of his little boy yesterday! Meet Gino Lorenzo, who Mr. Tolaba
tells us weighed in at 3,565 grams (science teachers...). While we search for
an app to convert that into pounds, please give Mr. Tolaba a high five. Baby,
Mom, and Dad are all doing well. Isn’t this little guy adorable? (P.S. he’s 7.8
pounds)
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