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D I M O N D A. J. Dimond High School Community Newsletter April 2014 www.dimondhigh.com Letter from the Principal di mensio ns April 1, 2, & 3 HSGQE and SBA Testing April 10 Academic Department Awards at Noon April 11 & 12 Dimond Night Live at 7 PM April 15 & 16 8th Grade Tours of Dimond April 17 Phenomenal Freshmen Ceremony at 10:30 AM Honor Graduates Ceremony at 7 PM April 24 Engineering Academy Achievement Cord Presentation at 6 PM 2014 Awards Ceremony at 7 PM April 25 Prom Assembly April 26 Cirque du Soleil Prom 8 PM – Midnight at the Egan Center April 30 Senior Fun Day Cross Over Assembly 1:20 PM May 1 Choir Concert at 7 PM May 2 Guitar Recital at 7 PM May 6 Orchestra Concert at 7 PM May 7 Band Concert at 7 PM May 8 Japanese Immersion Completion Ceremony at 7 PM May 8 & 9 Seniors Final Exams May 13 DHS Graduation at Sullivan Arena at 7 PM May 21 & 22 Final Exams for Freshmen, Sophomores & Juniors Save The Date Dear Dimond Parents and Guardians, As I write this on a sunny weekend, it’s clear that Spring has arrived, heralding the final nine weeks of this school year. Students are in the homestretch to complete classes, earn credits and make summer plans. We remind students to keep their eye on the prize – graduating with their class. Dimond teachers offer lunch time and after-school tutoring opportunities We all need extra help sometime. The only real mistake is not asking for assistance. Dimond will remain on a six period schedule next year. After much consideration the School Board decided to delay imple- mentation of a seven period day in ASD high schools. Stu- dents have completed filling out their course requests with their counselors so you can ask your children about the courses they plan to take next year. Dimond is piloting Online Registration this month. Parents of students who are currently at Dimond and will be returning to Dimond next year can register for the 2014-15 school year by going to Parent Connection online from April 21 – May 9. Online Registration will free parents from having to come to Dimond in August to register and fill out forms. This newsletter has a flyer with addi- tional information about Online Registration. Please call 742-7000 if you have questions. I want parents to be aware that after thirteen joyously rewarding years at Dimond High School, I will be retiring on June 20, 2014. I will deeply miss the work and people I love and care about, especially the energy, integrity, and dedication that resonate in every as- pect of Dimond’s programs. But it is time. I believe that the accomplishments that I am most proud of as Dimond’s Principal will continue unabated. Dimond’s staff, students, parents and community members are do- ers. They look at what is and think about how to make it even better. In today’s climate of change, they consider options, reflect on priorities and maintain students’ needs as our highest priority. Dimond’s success is sustainable. The search for Dimond’s next principal has begun. You are invited to meet the new prin- cipal at an Open House on April 29 at Dimond High School. Thank you for your generous support throughout my years. I know the next principal will experience the same gracious professionalism. Most Sincerely, Cheryl Guyett

A. J. Dimond High School Community Newsletter April 2014 ... · KCC students . who are not testing will still have KCC classes at regu-lar times. Students who are not testing . will

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Page 1: A. J. Dimond High School Community Newsletter April 2014 ... · KCC students . who are not testing will still have KCC classes at regu-lar times. Students who are not testing . will

D I M O N D

A. J. Dimond High School Community Newsletter April 2014www.dimondhigh.com

Letter from the Principal

dimensionsApril 1, 2, & 3

HSGQE and SBA TestingApril 10

Academic Department Awards at NoonApril 11 & 12

Dimond Night Live at 7 PMApril 15 & 16

8th Grade Tours of DimondApril 17

Phenomenal Freshmen Ceremonyat 10:30 AM

Honor Graduates Ceremony at 7 PMApril 24

Engineering Academy Achievement Cord Presentation at 6 PM

2014 Awards Ceremony at 7 PMApril 25

Prom AssemblyApril 26

Cirque du Soleil Prom 8 PM – Midnight at the Egan Center

April 30Senior Fun Day

Cross Over Assembly 1:20 PMMay 1

Choir Concert at 7 PMMay 2

Guitar Recital at 7 PMMay 6

Orchestra Concert at 7 PMMay 7

Band Concert at 7 PMMay 8

Japanese Immersion CompletionCeremony at 7 PM

May 8 & 9Seniors Final Exams

May 13DHS Graduation at Sullivan Arena

at 7 PMMay 21 & 22

Final Exams for Freshmen, Sophomores & Juniors

Save The Date

Dear Dimond Parents and Guardians,

As I write this on a sunny weekend, it’s clear that Spring has arrived, heralding the final nine weeks of this school year. Students are in the homestretch to complete classes, earn credits and make summer plans. We remind students to keep their eye on the prize –

graduating with their class. Dimond teachers offer lunch time and after-school tutoring opportunities We all need extra help sometime. The only real mistake is not asking for assistance.

Dimond will remain on a six period schedule next year. After much consideration the School Board decided to delay imple-mentation of a seven period day in ASD high schools. Stu-dents have completed filling out their course requests with their counselors so you can ask your children about the courses they plan to take next year.

Dimond is piloting Online Registration this month. Parents of students who are currently at Dimond and will be returning to

Dimond next year can register for the 2014-15 school year by going to Parent Connection online from April 21 – May 9. Online Registration will free parents from having to come to Dimond in August to register and fill out forms. This newsletter has a flyer with addi-tional information about Online Registration. Please call 742-7000 if you have questions. I want parents to be aware that after thirteen joyously rewarding years at Dimond High School, I will be retiring on June 20, 2014. I will deeply miss the work and people I love and care about, especially the energy, integrity, and dedication that resonate in every as-pect of Dimond’s programs. But it is time.

I believe that the accomplishments that I am most proud of as Dimond’s Principal will continue unabated. Dimond’s staff, students, parents and community members are do-ers. They look at what is and think about how to make it even better. In today’s climate of change, they consider options, reflect on priorities and maintain students’ needs as our highest priority. Dimond’s success is sustainable.

The search for Dimond’s next principal has begun. You are invited to meet the new prin-cipal at an Open House on April 29 at Dimond High School.

Thank you for your generous support throughout my years. I know the next principal will experience the same gracious professionalism.

Most Sincerely,

Cheryl Guyett

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James Bell, Curriculum Assistant Principal - 742-7008

CURRICULUM NEWS

COUNSELORS

Freshmen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jaime Boyd-Kragt9-12 Special Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tracie AshmanELL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lee MontoyaSophomores, Juniors and Seniors:A – Di and ELL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dave DonkDo – K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rob HartleyL – P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris HigginsR – Z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pete Mandel

For April 1, 2, and 3 testing days, students who are testing need to report to their testing room by 7:30am. Students will

not be allowed to leave the classroom until 11:20am.

KCC students who are not testing will still have KCC classes at regu-lar times.

Students who are not testing

will should report to school by 12:10pm.

One lunch will be served from 10:45 - 12:10pm.

Afternoon Class schedule during testing.April 1st Period 1: 12:16 pm-1:05 pm Period 2: 1:11 pm-2:00 pmApril 2nd Period 3: 12:16 pm-1:05 pm Period 4: 1:11 pm-2:00 pmApril 3rd Period 5: 12:16 pm-1:05 pm Period 6: 1:11 pm-2:00 pm

Seniors:Please notify us of Scholarship money that has been awarded to you by contact-ing Minna Kansanen in the Curriculum Office ([email protected] 742-7008). Use the form at the end of this article or you can pick up a form up in the curriculum office. We really would like to know this information and the amount of scholarship monies our seniors are award-ed whether you are accepting it or not.

Seniors, Dimond’s graduation will take place at the Sullivan Arena on Tuesday, May 13th at 7:00pm. Spring semester al-ways seems to fly by, and this will be one of the earliest graduation dates that ASD has had. Seniors will take their finals on Thursday, May 8th and Friday, May 9th. These are critically important days for our seniors. This is great news for seniors who are ready to graduate, but can potentially be a pitfall for the chronic procrastinators. Seniors, if you want to guarantee you’re eligible to walk at graduation, please make sure that you’re present and prepared for finals, that you submit all class work on time and that you complete any outstand-ing correspondence or on-line courses at least a week in advance. Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to celebrate thirteen years of education with your friends, fam-ily and our community.

For those students who are returning next year, spring is a great time to look at your credit completion thus far. Students need 22.5 credits to graduate. Each year a stu-dent can earn six of those credits by pass-

ing all of their classes both semesters. Any 9th through 11th grade students who have earned fewer than 5.5 credits in a given school year is considered behind in credits. If your student is in this situation, please talk with his or her counselor about vari-ous methods of credit recovery. Summer school will not be offered this year due to budget cuts. Our goal is to keep students on track to graduate and to quickly catch up any student who falls behind.

Semester Finals for Freshmen,Sophomores, and Juniors:

Please encourage your student to finish the semester by staying on top of assignments right up to the end and by taking finals se-riously. Finals will take place the last two days of the semester: May 21st and 22nd. Please plan your summer travels around these important dates and remember that, per district policy, finals cannot be taken early.

Spring Testing

April 1st SBA Reading for all 9th graders

HSGQE Reading test for all 10th gradersRetakes for 11th and 12th graders

For those who have not passed this part of the exam

April 2nd SBA Writing for all 9th graders

HSGQE Writing test for all 10th gradersRetakes for 11th and 12th graders

For those who have not passed this part of the exam

April 3rd SBA Math

for all 9th gradersHSGQE Math test for all 10th graders

Retakes for 11th and 12th graders For those who have not passed this part of the

exam

Regular schedule classes will start at 12:16pm for all students.

April 1st - Periods 1 & 2April 2nd - Periods 3 & 4 April 3rd - Periods 5 & 6

KCC students will be expected to attend KCC classes

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2013-­‐2014  Senior  Scholarship  Survey      The  Anchorage  School  District  (ASD)  and  Dimond  High  School  is  collecting  information  about  your  post-­‐secondary  plans.    Please  fill  out  this  survey  and  return  it  to  the  Curriculum  Office  at  Dimond  High  School  or  fax  it  to  742-­‐7029,  by  April  11th,  2014.    Student  Name:__________________________________________________      Date:____________________    My  Post-­‐graduation  plans  are:  (select  any  and  all  that  are  applicable)       Work  at:____________________________________________________________       Military  (Branch):_________________________________________________         Vocational/Technical  School/Program:         Name:______________________________________________________         Location:___________________________________________________         Field  of  Study:_____________________________________________       College/University         Name:______________________________________________________         Location:___________________________________________________         Major:_______________________________________________________      List  all  post-­‐secondary  schools  that  have  offered  you  scholarships/monetary  awards.    Please  list  the  amount  per  year  and  the  number  of  years  scholarship  will  be  renewed.    If  you  know  which  school  you  will  be  attending  please  highlight  that  school  on  the  back  of  this  form.  

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2013-­‐2014  Senior  Scholarship  Survey  (Page  2)      

Student  Name:___________________________________________________        

School   Name  of  Award   Amount/Years  

Total  

   

     

   

     

   

     

   

     

   

     

   

     

   

     

   

     

   

     

 

Page 5: A. J. Dimond High School Community Newsletter April 2014 ... · KCC students . who are not testing will still have KCC classes at regu-lar times. Students who are not testing . will

Tim Helvey, Activities Assistant Principal - 742-6996ACTIVITIES NEWS

Spring sports are officially starting and winter sports are completing their state tournaments. Our winter athletes contin-ued their reign of dominance within our

conference and state. Boys’ basketball had a great season on what should have been a re-building year. Coach Lauw-ers was able to coach his team to a 4th place

finish in the CIC tournament. The girls’ basketball team finished third in the con-ference tournament and received the 8th seed to the state tournament keeping a seven-year state appearance alive.Cross-country ski team under first year coach Trond Flagstad had a great season. The ski team is very young and peaked at the state meet with their highest finish of the season for both boys and girls. This team will be very exciting to watch in the future.New wrestling coach Lindsey Yip, did an excellent job reviving our wrestling pro-gram. We had a number of regular season tournament champs and a runner-up at the state tournament.Comp-Cheer will be raising another ban-ner in the gym. Our girls were grand champions at the ASAA State Champion-ships. This is the second year in a row to receive this honor. This team also repre-sented Dimond at the National Champion-ships in Dallas, Texas and placed with high marks within their division. Basketball cheer captured 1st place in their division both at regions and state. Congratulations to Coach Carrie, Sara, and Farahn.

National Honor SocietyThe Kokogiak Chapter of the National Honor Society is pleased to announce the list of new members, which were inducted on March 20, 2014. Membership in NHS is based on exemplifying the characteristics of scholarship, leadership, character, and service and requires 3 consecutive semesters of a 3.50 GPA in addition to active membership in a Dimond service club (which include Key Club, Z Club, Partners Club, RARE-T, Green Effects, AJROTC Flag Detail, and AJROTC Color Guard). The ceremony included a musical prelude by one of Dimond’s finest string quartets, and speeches from NHS President Anna Knight and School Business Partner Rich Owens (Owner of Tastee Freez). New inductees include:

Joshua An Tian Ah You

Justine AndersonJudy-Ann Banez

Cora BerbigRachel Brady Morgan ByrneEmily Carey

Tanya CharoonsophonsakMakayla Clark

Bryce DavisChallis Debenham

Julie DuClosVladislav FinkoAlexander Gill

Jae HamSujin In

Darby JuddLucas Katz

Shameah Keisala-JonesRoslyn McCormack

Serena NgiyenAthit Nitisaporn

Austin PangelinanChristine PetersonZachary PiscitelliElizabeth RandallCaroline Requa

Adam RipleyKendra RobbinsArianna Rohde

Ripple SatoHannah SeamanJeffrey SprakerTami Suenram

Margaret WalkerRebecca Wiesinger Kendal Williams

PROM 2014April 26th

Egan Convention Center8:00 pm - Midnight

Theme: Cirque du Soleil

Ticket Price$50 Single$80 Couple

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STUDENT SERVICES/ATTENDANCE NEWSHolly Morris, Student Services/Attendance Assistant Principal - 742-7056

Congratulations! 64 Dimond High Ju-niors and Seniors remain eligible for the

perfect atten-dance draw-ings! 815 Dimond High students have a 95% atten-dance rate and remain eli-gible for those awards!

The atten-dance incen-tive program, sponsored by

various com-panies in the Anchorage community, has certainly brought attendance to the fore-front of discussion this school year. Atten-dance remains an important part of your student’s education; may the incentive of greater achievement stand on its own.

Great attendance and reduced tardies con-tinue to add minutes to the instructional day. Time gained in the classroom pro-vides potential for greater comprehension of curricular material.

Graduation is only weeks away! Let us all encourage our students to continue to achieve to the best of their abilities – both in timely arrival as well as in academics!

Anchorage School DistrictBoard Members

Tam Agosti-Gisler, PresidentNatasha von Imhoff, Vice President

Kameron Perez-Verdia, ClerkBettye Davis, Treasurer

Eric Croft, MemberPat Higgins, Member

Kathleen Plunkett, Member

Congratulations to the 12 Dimond students who competed at the Northern Lights Brit-ish Parliamentary Debate Tournamennt on Saturday. Hosted by UAA Speech and De-bate, the contest is conducted in the same debate format as featured at the Yale vs. UAA exhibition debate last week. In ad-dition to regular DDF team members, six non-DDF freshmen learned debate basics over several weeks of after-school prac-tice sessions in preparation for the contest, debating issues ranging from marijuana legalization in Alaska to the banning of

ethnic- and religious-based political par-ties in emerging democracies. This contest was the last debate their DDF career for seniors Kyle Cordell and Karl Rodvik, and both Karl and junior Connor Van Alstine won "speaker awards" for distinguished el-oquence. Participants were: Kyle Cordell, Brendan LaPorte, Karl Rodvik, Connor Van Alstine, Joseph Walker, and freshmen Andrew Hampton, Jasmine Langmann, Adam Liland, Rachel Lowrance, MaKen-zie Moore, Julia Nelson, and Douglas Roth.

Northern Lights British Parliamentary Debate Tournament

Please join me in congratulating Mr. Les Matz

for being rec-ognized as the Alaska Second-ary Art Teacher

of the Year.

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FRESHMAN HOUSE NEWSImtiaz Azzam, Freshman House Assistant Principal - 742-7069

Visit the Dimond High School Website for up-to-date information on our school and events at http://www.dimondhigh.com.

As we enter the final quarter of the school year, I would like to remind our parents

how impor-tant it is to continue to monitor our f r e s h m e n s t u d e n t s ’ a c a d e m i c progress. It is important to remind our students to stay fo-cused and to make sure that they are

turning in all their work. Your students can certainly fin-ish the school year strong with your sup-port. Please make sure to stay in touch with the teachers, counselor, or you can call me directly so we can formulate a plan to keep students on track for their success. I believe the more we communicate with one anoth-er, the more our students prosper.

Testing: All Freshmen will take the SBA Reading, Writing, and Math exams on April 1,2, and 3rd. Please make sure your students are well rested and well fed for the exams.

Our fourth Phenomenal Freshman Awards Ceremony for this year was held in Febru-ary. Being selected for this recognition is an honor and receiving this award is our way of acknowledging students for a dem-onstrating exceptional qualities.

We recently held our annual Future Fresh-man Fair with an estimated 380 students and parents in attendance. During the fair, prospective students were able to visit the many informational booths staffed by Dimond’s student leaders, athletes and teachers. The booths focused on Dimond’s many clubs and sport opportunities. The fair provided students and parents a chance to meet with counselors and department chairs for a brief overview of academic programs, graduation credits, and atten-dance policies. We are looking forward to getting to know the next year’s freshmen as we continue our transitional activities for the reminder of the year.

Again congratulations to the last month’s Phenomenal Freshman recipients of this award: Louis Milner, Dakota Laporte, Spencer Gillaspie-Lastufka, Samantha Nelson,

Jack Divelbiss, Makayla Maisey, Kylee Campoamor, Chastity Maples, Sale (Tyrell) Fe-reti, Chad Macato, Hugo Fuerte, Jean Scanlan, Raimey Drew, Connor Merrill, Kelton

Whetstone, andDouglas Dickinson

Amazing Denali flight-seeing tour the Seibert family donated to the Life Skills stu-dents at Dimond High for a beautiful trip on March 20th, 2014. The students all got a chance to step into the cock pit as we circled McKinley. We also passed over glaciers and Whittier. As you can tell even our nonverbal kids enjoyed the view and once and a life time experience. Thanks to Emily Long, Amy Hughes and Nick Winkler, Life Skills teachers, for helping organize this Alaskan geography and flight experience.

Dimond Community Generosity!

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CAREER RESOURCE CENTER NEWS

SAT and ACT Important InformationLast Chance! When signing up for the SAT and ACT test, students will be asked to provide a photo for the online registration. This photo will be printed on their admis-sion ticket. Each student will be asked to bring this admission ticket and state I.D. on the day of the test. These are the last dates for this school year to take the ACT and SAT dates with their websites below.

ACTRegister online: www.actstudent.org

Fees: $36.50 (with writing; $52.50)

Test DatesJune 14

Registration DeadlineMay 9

Late Registration (Late Fee)May 10 – 23

SATRegister online: www.collegeboards.or

Fees: $51.00Subject Tests: $24.50

Late Fee: $78.50

Test DatesMay 3June 7

Registration DeadlineApril 4May 9

Late Registration (Late Fee)April 18May 23

FAFSA ApplicationsSeniors who are attending college should fill out their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This is an impor-tant step to qualify for financial aid as well as eligibility for grants, loans, work study programs and other financial assistance such as the Alaska Performance Scholar-ship. Information on FAFSA can be found at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Its best to complete the form as soon as possible. You can complete the form online which is easier and faster or on paper. Try to have your taxes completed as soon as possible. You should submit your FAFSA by the earli-est financial aid deadline of the schools to which you are applying, usually by early February.

Seniors• Make sure you have taken or signed up to take the SAT or ACT test. SAT- www.collegeboard.org or ACT- www.actstudent.org. Sign up on those websites. • Collect 3-4 letters of recommendation.• Check your admission requirements and deadlines at the colleges of your choice. • Apply to the colleges of your choice.• Send your transcripts and ACT or SAT test scores to the colleges you apply to. • Continue to take challenging courses the second semester.

• If you plan on going into the military, tech-nical school, or directly into the work force, please start collecting the information you will need. Come to the CRC

office or see your counselor, if you need some help.

ScholarshipsPlease continue to look at CRC announce-ments online or across from the CRC of-fice for any new scholarships. You can also look at the AKCIS website at

www.akcis.org and go to the Financial Aid sort tab and see many scholarship opportunities there. The University of Alaska scholarship applica-tion must be turned in no later than Feb. 15th.

Key websites found on ASD webpage:http://careerready.alaska.gov/

www.akcis.orgwww.careerready101.com

http://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/asvab/

http://jobs.alaska.govThe District Counseling website is com-prehensive tool with access to helpful information about how to find, apply for, and receive scholarships. Located on the Counseling & Guidance’s Financial Aid page are specific details about national and local scholarship opportunities: http://www.asdk12.org/counseling/financialaid/.There’s even a page directly linked to a list of scholarships shared with Anchorage schools: http://www.asdk12.org/counsel-ing/scholarships/

CRC Hours

The CRC is open on Mondays, Wednes-days and Fridays at upperclassmen lunch and after school from 2:00pm-2:30pm. If at any time your child needs assistance, please have them see their counselor.

There is a great counseling and career web site on the district’s web page for all stu-dents and parents to view. A wealth of in-formation is located at: www.asdk12.org/counseling/

Our mission is to facilitate optimal learning for all students to empower them to lead fulfilling and productive lives in a rapidly changing and increasingly complex society.

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Online RegistrationParents of returning students can register online through ParentConnection for the 2014-15 school year.

Our school is a pilot schoolPilot school registration is April 21 – May 9parentconnect.asdk12.org

Parents with children in one of seven pilot schools will be able to register their child early. Pilot schools are:• Chugach Optional Elementary School• Muldoon Elementary School• Sand Lake Elementary School• Mirror Lake Middle School

• Central Middle School• Goldenview Middle School• Dimond High School

Online registration for all returning

students July 7 – Aug. 19

Online registration will eliminate the need for parents of returning students to go to each child’s school to register in person. Online registration is

only available for returning students. New-to-district or transferring students will still need to register in-person at

the school or at the central enrollment event over the summer.

Questions?Questions about online registration should be

directed to your child’s school.www.asdk12.org

Dimond Parents,

You can register online for next school year !

Is your child returning to Dimond next year? If so, you can take advantage of an early online registration period. The district will implement an online registration system through Zangle ParentConnection for all returning students starting with the 2014-15 school year. Our school is a pilot school which means parents of returning students can register online from April 21 – May 9.

Pilot schools include:• Muldoon Elementary School• Chugach Optional Elementary School• Sand Lake Elementary School• Mirror Lake Middle School• Central Middle School• Goldenview Middle School• Dimond High School

Parents can only register children attending these schools during the early registration window. If you have another child that attends a school not on this list, South High School for example, you will need to wait until the districtwide registration window to register that child. The districtwide online registration window for the 2014-15 school year is July 7 – Aug. 8.

Online registration will only be available for students returning to Dimond. New-to-district students will still need to enroll in-person at the school or at the central enrollment event over the summer. Transferring students will also need to register in-person.

Please call 742-7000 if you have questions about how to register online or if you need help with Parent Connection.

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J.R.O.T.C. NEWSMSG Shelley - 742-7010

Eagle River Drill MeetThe first JROTC drill meet of the season was held at Eagle River High School on January 21st. The cadets arrived and all met up in the classroom that was assigned to Dimond. A commanders meeting was held to inform all of the drill team command-ers on how the drill teams would enter the floor. All teams that performed placed in the top three; Varsity Color Guard placed 1st, as well as the LET 1 Color Guard.

Unarmed Regu-lation went on to place 2nd. The LET 1 Regulation team, commanded by Ali-son Dupre, placed 3rd. The Armed Regulation team placed 1st.

Both of Dimond’s Exhibition teams per-formed phenomenally. The Unarmed Exhibi-tion team kept up their winning streak and placed 1st. The Armed Exhibition team also placed 1st, adding to their collection of tro-phies. At the end of the day, Dimond added five 1st place trophies to their list of accomplishments.

3rd Awards CeremonyThe 3rd Awards Ceremony was held on January 28th in the Auditorium. To start the awards, all cadets received the LET service ribbon which is awarded for completing a semester in JROTC. For the months of De-cember and January, Alpha Company won Honor Company. For December Alpha 4 won Platoon of the month, and Alpha 2 won for January. In December, cadet Car-rie McCrorie was named the Cadet of the

Month.

Lastly, for January, cadet Chris Bulfa won the same honor.

For the 2nd quarter NCO board, cadet

Nelly Dela Cruz was victorious. Every cadet left happy because they all re-ceived an award that night.

Colony Drill MeetThe Colony drill meet was held at Colony High School on February 8th. The LET 1 Color Guard was on first for Dimond. The Varsity Color Guard went next and received 1st place.

The Unarmed Regulation team was the first Dimond drill team to perform. The LET 1 Regulation team performed afterwards and placed 2nd. The Armed Regulation team was last to perform for regulation. The Un-armed Exhibition and Armed Exhibition categories were last to go. The Unarmed Exhibition team placed 2nd, the first time in a long time. The Armed Exhibition team placed 1st.

State Drill MeetThe state drill meet was held on February 23rd at Service High School. The cadets arrived early in the morning and started preparing for each of their performances.The LET 1 Color Guard placed 3rd, re-deeming themselves after not placing at Colony.The Unarmed Regulation team placed 3rd, surpris-ing both the cadets and in-structors .The LET 1 regu-lation team became State Champions, received their first 1st place finish of the season.

The Unarmed Exhibition team continued their reign of 1st place State Champion-ships, winning for the fourth year in a row. The Armed Exhibition team placed 2nd. Congratulations to all the cadets that prac-ticed hard and made this success possible!

Military BallThis year’s Military Ball was held on March 8th at the Captain Cook Hotel. The cadets voted to elect the Dimond Royalty Court. They were: Sweetheart, C/LTC Erin Howe and Cavalier, C/CSM Roman Daniel. The Princesses were C/2LT Cellest Bulfa and C/2LT Michaela Hendricks, and the Princes were C/2LT Cole Campoamor and C/CPL Dominic Gerber.

The night is always a great time for all who attend. All of the ladies looked amazing in their fancy ball gowns and the men looked their absolute best in their dress uniform. The cadets had lots of fun dancing to the many songs and talking with their friends.

Page 11: A. J. Dimond High School Community Newsletter April 2014 ... · KCC students . who are not testing will still have KCC classes at regu-lar times. Students who are not testing . will

ENGINEERING ACADEMY NEWSLea Bouton, Marcus Reese, Wade Roach, Zion Russell & Chaz Vaughn

CANstruction Final UpdateThe Principles of Engineering classes and Mrs. Lea Bouton would like to send a hearty thank you to the Dimond com-munity for all of the support during the CANstruction process. We won two awards – Best Meal and People’s Choice! The Best Meal Award is given to the team that provides the best nutrition to the Food Bank of Alaska, which has great meaning for our students this year as their can selec-tion was specifically targeted towards food that hungry teens would choose or could easily prepare. The structure was filled with cans of fruit (peaches and pears) and easy vegetables (peas and green beans) in addition to a variety of Campbell’s soups, chili, and baked beans. Overall, our struc-ture, “There Once Was A Hobbit Hole” do-nated approximately 4300 pounds toward the Food Bank, which raised over 38,000 pounds during the event. Lastly, winning the People’s Choice Award for the third consecutive year is a direct correlation to the strong support from our Dimond com-munity!! We extend our gratitude toward our sponsors, which include Enterprise En-gineering, Inc., the Dimond PTSA, GCI, and several individual donors.

Big Robots take FIRST Flight!The Alaska FRC Robot competed in the FIRST San Diego Regional Robotics Competition over Spring Break. FIRST designs and organizes programs to inspire K-12 students about science and technol-ogy. FIRST Robotics consists of a pro-gram of programs that start with Jr. Lego League, FIRST Lego League, FIRST Tech Challenge, and culminates in the FIRST

Robotics Competition. 12 members of the team from Dimond, Service, and East made the trip to the regional this year. The team is coached by Dimond teacher Mr. Wade Roach and had the mentorship of Mr. Chris Curry (MOA), Mr. Mike Ny-berg (Siemens), Mrs. Bonny Graham (EHS), Mr. Paul Schwartz (DHS, retired), and Mr. Scott Moore (MOA). Engineer-ing faculty from UAA, including Todd Petersen, Matt Cullin, and Timothy Kirk, worked with students during the design phase. As in years past, the team had 6 weeks to build a robot that could compete in a set game in both autonomous and tele-operated modes. This year's game was named Aerial Assist after the style of play that included launching two-foot diameter yoga balls into ten-foot high goals. The team was able to score autonomously and placed 20th overall out of the 60 compet-ing teams. We are thankful for our gener-ous sponsors, which include BP, JEDC, Shannon & Wilson, the Dimond PTSA, Gary Baugh, and IBEW.

Team with the FIRST robot in San Di-ego. Dimond staff and students pictured include: Mr. Wade Roach, Charles Con-ner, Kyle Cordell, Casey Dearing, Lauren Dobbs, Eric Horstman, Ryushin Minimata, Heidi Moore, Andrew Peperone, Josh Phil-lips, Morgan Porter, Gage Raymond, and Brian Zuke.

Little Robots Rule!Spring Break also saw some furious robot action as the FTC robots competed at the State competition in Fairbanks. Dimond’s three teams, all of which are coached by Mr. Zion Russell, placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively. These teams have been work-ing all year on their robots, and the final placements earned two of the three teams a chance to compete at the FTC West Super Regional Championships in Sacramento, CA March 19-23. Team Rockit is a fresh-man team consisting of Elliot Farley, Low-ell Giron, Hunter Scott and Ethan Wood.

They are joined in Sacramento by Team Hue: Jason Amor, Aidan Boeckmann, Kyle Cordell, Alexandra Devon, Kylie Har-vey, and Jordan Owens. Lastly, the Purp Skurps (Gabe Berbig, Kelson Denton, Ju-lie DuClos, and Tory McCarthy) won the control award at the state competition due to their consistency and dominance in the early portions of the competition.

DEA SBP HonoredEngineering Academy School Busi-ness Partner won the Spirit of Tomorrow Award! Enterprise Engineering will be recognized at the annual SBP luncheon on April 23rd for their generous contributions to the Dimond Engineering Academy. EEI has generously donated approximately $5000 in the past two years towards the POE CANstruction endeavors, in addition to providing mentors for the POE class interviews and Smart Girls Rock! We are incredibly grateful for their involvement!

4th Annual Smart Girls Rock! Event a Success

This year’s Smart Girls Rock! engineer-ing event took place on February 28th. The annual event, which is the brainchild of Dimond teachers Lea Bouton and Jen-nifer Childress in addition to 3M Engineer Julie Morman, included an afternoon of speed mentoring and life skills coaching for 60 Dimond girls. 40 freshman and sophomores were invited by teacher rec-ommendation to network with local female engineers to discover the opportunities available in the engineering field. A new development this year was the addition of a workshop for senior girls that focused on college success and entering the work-force. Due to donations, we are able to offer two scholarships for students to study engineering at the college level. We are thankful for our sponsors (3M, Warning Lites of Alaska, R & M Consultants, BP, Moose’s Tooth Pizza, Wells Fargo, Pacific Alaska Freightways, Anchorage Sand and Gravel, and the Society of Women Engi-neers), without whom this event, and the resulting scholarships, would not happen.

Page 12: A. J. Dimond High School Community Newsletter April 2014 ... · KCC students . who are not testing will still have KCC classes at regu-lar times. Students who are not testing . will

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Page 13: A. J. Dimond High School Community Newsletter April 2014 ... · KCC students . who are not testing will still have KCC classes at regu-lar times. Students who are not testing . will

World Language Winners!DHS World Language students did an out-standing job at the 2014 ASAA World Lan-guage Declamation Contest, held Saturday, March 01 at East High School. Our stu-dents recited poetry, performed impromptu solo speeches and paired up to present improvisational dialogues...all in a second language! Students qualified to participate in the statewide competition after placing at the regional competition held February 08. The World Language competitions were held in Spanish, French, German, Latin, and Chinese; and students from as far away as Unalaska joined the many stu-dents from Anchorage, Mat-Su, and Fair-banks for the annual contest. Teachers Vic-toria Gellert, Aline Hopkins, Miyuki Imai, Sophie Littee, & Betsy Paskvan are proud of their students fine work!

To all of this year’s participants, “Yoku Dekimashita!” (Well Done! [Japanese])Congratulations to the following Dimond World Language Declamation Contest Winners!:French 2 Culture: 1st = Grecia Barajas, French 2 Poetry: 1st = Aubrey Manculich French 3 Poetry: 1st = Rachel LowranceFrench 3 Dialogues: 1st = Madison Ma-sceda & Ashton MallorySpanish 2 Dialogues: 1st = Ellie Wells & Abby BigelowJapanese 1 Poetry: 3rd = Eve ZidekJapanese 2 Poetry: 1st = Aubrey Mancu-lichJapanese 3 Poetry: 1st = Samantha Pask-vanJapanese 4 Poetry: 2nd = Oluwakemi WolfeJapanese 5 Poetry: 1st = Jada CandelJapanese Immersion 9-10 Poetry: 1st = Lucas Katz, Japanese Immersion 9-10 Poetry: 2nd = Tory McCarthy Japanese Immersion 9-10 Poetry: 3rd = Makenzie MooreJapanese 4/5 Impromptu: 1st = Jordan Jef-friesJapanese 9-10 Immersion Impromptu: 1st = Cooper Plumhoff Japanese 11-12 Immersion Impromptu: 1st = Gage RaymondJapanese Immersion 9-10 Dialogues: 1st = Claire Dieckgraeff & Caroline RequaJapanese Immersion 11-12 Dialogues: 1st = Jordon Jeffries & Gage RaymondJapanese Immersion 11-12 Dialogues: 2nd = Kahlin Blees & Reed Jenkins

Scholastic Art and WritingSamantha Paskvan has just been named a National Gold Medalist in the 2014 Scho-lastic Art and Writing Competition!!! Previously, Hunter Thompson and Samantha each earned Gold Keys for the Alaska region and were in competition at the national level. Samantha and her family are invited to attend the National Ceremony at Carn-egie Hall June 6th.

"Old School Texting"Cast pewter and folded paper, Sam

Paskvan, 2014

Page 14: A. J. Dimond High School Community Newsletter April 2014 ... · KCC students . who are not testing will still have KCC classes at regu-lar times. Students who are not testing . will

Spring Academic Awardees

 

ACADEMIC LETTERS Michael Anders Holly Andrus Daniel Armendariz Chad Balmes Sierra Bartholomew Alexander Beitter Ariana Benavides Cora Berbig Gabriel Berbig Max Butto James Campbell Fred Chun Henry Downey Jacobo Franco Boston Hoppman Stephen Horwatt Madeline Howard Nicholas Johansen Lillian Lewis Remington Morris Oliver Nannestad Serena Nguyen Skie Rynerson Mica Spencer Katelyn Sweeney Steven Watson Yael Yisrael SILVER STARS Tian Ah You Clarissa Alexie Megan Alward Joshua An Raphael Baluyut Judy-Ann Banez Benjamen Beaver Lilly Bee Cellestiemarie Bulfa Morgan Byrne Emily Carey Haley Carney Makayla Clark

Raymond Clayton Taral Clayton Ethan Cleveland Abigail Corral Jayson Cristobal Roman Daniel Kelson Denton Lauren Dobbs Sierra Dunn Tyler Dunn Madeline Flores Janessa Fosi Jade Fronteras Lydia Garcia Elizabeth Goodrum Tuan Graziano Drew Griffith Nathaniel Hall Walker Hamilton Jacob Hanni Hayden Hanson Cassandra Hartley Christian Hartwell Hannah Hartwell Matthew Harvey Makenzie Heatherly Victor Hernandez Emmylea Herring Devin Higbee Erin Howe Jason Hsi Kaylee Ige Natalia Ivanovic Breanna Jingco Shameah Keisala-Jones So Won Kim Anna Knight Kelsey Kroon Joshua Lindsey Robeline Llaneza Giselle Luteria Kayla Mallory Collin McClellan

Killian McClure Savannah Melendez Mikaela Mendoza Devin Merilatt Madison Mesceda Andrew Mouck Renny Nelson William Orth Chanel Ortiz Janelle Owen Savanah Owen Austin Pangelinan Troy Pangelinan Rebecca Perkins Christine Petersen Caitlin Peterson Cooper Plumhoff Teresa Rath Vyninka Reddish Samantha Robertson-Rozanski Peter Saengsudham Brandon Sakumoto Jamaila Santiago Madison Scarbriel Kayla Schach Gabrielle Schuman Hannah Seaman John Sedor Gabrielle Shanks Sevy Sheppard Chloe Skeete Jeffrey Spraker Breanna Stevens James Stump Tami Suenram Daija Sypakanphay Miranda Tomuro Leavens Rachel Towslee Vanessa Tufaga Connor Van Alstine Martinlouie Victa Margaret Walker Erin Ward

Page 15: A. J. Dimond High School Community Newsletter April 2014 ... · KCC students . who are not testing will still have KCC classes at regu-lar times. Students who are not testing . will

Spring Academic Awardees

                                                                                                                                                 

Roslyn White Kendal Williams Oluwakemi Wolfe Elizabeth Work Isabella Work Kari Wray Claudia Wroblewski GOLD STARS Celine Abello Gabrielle Agtarap Megan Ahn Marina Aldous Justine Anderson Michael Aronwits Samantha Baltierra Samantha Berger Aidan Boeckmann Rachel Brady Sarah Bylsma Cierra Carrigan Matthew Cerveny Tanya Charoonsophonsak Jin Chong Adannah Daniel Bryce Davis Challis Debenham Austin Desatoff Caitlynn Dubie Julie DuClos Philippa Dun Chase Erickson Vladislav Finko Mackenzie French Benjamin Froehlich Alexander Gill Liezel Giron Jae Ham Jason Handy Camille Heninger Trent Hodson Jack Hoen Keely Holt

Yuhwa Hu Michael Hudson Anh Huynh Su Jin In James Janezich Jordan Jeffries Claire Johansen Darion Jones Jie Joo Darby Judd Lucas Katz Erin Kim Jane Kim Monica Kinder Emmalee LaRosa He Xi Lin David Liu Jia Liu Karla Llaneza Aubrie Lucas Aubrey Manculich Lauren Martens Seamus McCarty Roslyn McCormack Kathleen McNealy Marleena Merchant Jackson Mills Jenna Mixson Sarah Monaghan Kyle Morrison Athit Nitisaporn Daria Orlova Austin Osborne Megan Parish Samantha Paskvan Dusan Pekich Olivia Pepe-Phelps Teresa Picarella Zachary Piscitelli Greenwald Brent Quinn Elizabeth Randall Caroline Requa Adam Ripley

Kendra Robbins Karl Rodvik Arianna Rohde Zayn Roohi Chance Runyon Elizabeth Rus Ripple Sato Cory Schneider Robert Schock Mia Sison Alexis Solis Abigail Stahl Kaily Stanton Kyle Stone Michael Summers Tomas Sundet Andrea Swanstrom Brian Sweeney Leah Swiss Kobe Thammavongsa Rutger Thiele Blaise Thompson Tara Thompson Callum Toohey Edson Tung Abbigail Utley Ian Velasco Jovan Villamanca Edgar Villasenor Dakayla Walters Rebecca Wiesinger Ian Wilber Caroline Wrenn Brooke Yunis Alyssa Zapata

Page 16: A. J. Dimond High School Community Newsletter April 2014 ... · KCC students . who are not testing will still have KCC classes at regu-lar times. Students who are not testing . will

Attention Senior Parents

Senior Fun Day is on Wednesday April 30!

This day was created at Dimond High 25 years ago to replace seniors’ unofficial "skip" day, and the tradition has since spread to all the other Anchorage high schools. On that Wednesday, students will be bussed from DHS to the ATT Center to enjoy a fun and stress-free day of prizes, games, food, and music. It has been a great success over the years in terms of student safety, community involvement, and provides a final get together between students, staff, administrators, and parents before graduation. Senior Fun Day needs volunteers, donations of cash, prizes, and food to be a success. SFD is funded almost exclusively through donations; last year over $5500 was spent on the Center rental, food, T-shirts, prizes, and entertainment. We would love to have your help putting together this important event; please contact Missy Nurmi ([email protected]) if you would like to help. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A permission slip is required, so please read the following information and sign and return the slip to the main office or fax to 742-7007. I agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Anchorage School District and its employees, directors and designees for expenses relating to injuries, accidents, disease, property damage and/or loss which may occur as a result of the student’s participation in Dimond’s Senior Fun Day. I understand the Anchorage School District does not provide medical insurance coverage or liability insurance that would cover a student’s injuries or actions. It will be my responsibility to provide for payment of such expenses should they occur. I am aware of the hazards associated with participation in this activity. Knowing the risks of this activity, I give my permission for the above listed student to participate in the activity to include transportation as arranged by the event coordinators. I also authorize any necessary emergency transportation and medical treatment to be administered to the above named student. I understand the Anchorage School District assumes no liability for such emergency transportation and medical treatment and that such costs will be my responsibility. Allergies and/or special medical instructions for the student are listed below: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Page 17: A. J. Dimond High School Community Newsletter April 2014 ... · KCC students . who are not testing will still have KCC classes at regu-lar times. Students who are not testing . will
Page 18: A. J. Dimond High School Community Newsletter April 2014 ... · KCC students . who are not testing will still have KCC classes at regu-lar times. Students who are not testing . will

A. J. DIMOND HIGH SCHOOL COACH’S ASSESSMENT FORM

(Circle One) PLAYER PARENT

Parent/Students: We are seeking your input to review our sport/athletic programs. Your opinion is taken into consideration when evaluating our programs and identifying patterns of support or concern. Please take a few moments of your time to fill out this short survey. Your input is anonymous unless you add your name. However, recognize that the form and your written comments will be shared with the person for whom you are providing input. Please try to focus on comments that will reward a person for good performance or make specific suggestions on how performance might improve. Please return this assessment form via U.S. mail or bring it by the Activities Office. Thank you. SPORT_______________________________ LEVEL (Circle) C JV V COACH’S NAME_______________________________ DATE: ________________

Please rate the coach in each area on a scale from 1-5, with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent. Circle the appropriate number or NA if not applicable, or if you are not able to rate the coach in an area.

Poor Fair Good Very Good Excellent NA 1) Communication w/parents 1 2 3 4 5 NA 2) Communication w/ players 1 2 3 4 5 NA 3) Organizational skills 1 2 3 4 5 NA 4) Motivation of players/team 1 2 3 4 5 NA 5) Discipline of team/players 1 2 3 4 5 NA 6) Knowledge of the sport 1 2 3 4 5 NA 7) Game strategy 1 2 3 4 5 NA 8) Prevention and care of injuries 1 2 3 4 5 NA 9) Attitude/Conduct during game 1 2 3 4 5 NA 10) Attitude/Conduct of players 1 2 3 4 5 NA 11) Ability to teach skills 1 2 3 4 5 NA 12) Overall rating of coach 1 2 3 4 5 NA

Please add any comments below or on a separate sheet of paper. ______________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Name (optional)____________________________

PLEASE RETURN TO: Dimond H.S. Activities Office, 2909 W. 88th Ave, Anchorage AK 99502

Page 19: A. J. Dimond High School Community Newsletter April 2014 ... · KCC students . who are not testing will still have KCC classes at regu-lar times. Students who are not testing . will

Thank You School Business Partners!