VOLUME 6, ISSUE 3 SPRING 2008

Dates to Remember:

May 2 - No SchoolMay 5 - Progress ReportsMay 12-16 - Senior BoardsMay 26 - No SchoolJune 4 - Last Day of SchoolJune 6 - Graduation

GULF HIGH GAZETTE5355 SCHOOL RD NEW PORT RICHEY, FL 34652

LINKING RESOURCES TO IMPROVE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Third and fourth quarter are busy art show months in the art department.Quality student work has been saved throughout the year for the numerouscommunity shows available to us for student participation.In February, over 30 students participated in the Pasco County Fair Art Exhibit. Photography, drawing, and painting were displayed at thefairgrounds at Pasco High. Honorable mention was given to junior BessieTsouleas for her photo of a reflection in water.In April, students will be participating in "Artistic Discovery 2008"sponsored by the 9th Congressional District in our area. The show will beheld at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in Tarpon Springs. Students residingin the 9th Congressional District in Pasco, Pinellas, and Hillsborough

counties are eligible to participate. Teachers are allowed one entry perchosen student. While Gulf High has won many awards over the years, thegreatest feat is having artwork chosen that will hang in the CapitolBuilding in Washington, D.C. The show opens April 24 through May 10th, 2008."ART BEAT" is another show that is open to all Pasco County high schoolstudents. This show is held at the Pasco County Arts Center, Moog Rd.,Holiday, Florida.Our own end-of-the-year student art show will be held in the media center atGulf High the week of April 28 to May 1. The show will be open periods 1-6.Stop by the front office for a visitor’s pass to see the show.

www.gul#igh.org

IB Visual Arts Show-March 2008 By Daisy Gandhi, “Pobre Cito”

INSTITUTE OF COMMUNICATION AND THE ARTSWritten by Lisa Barrus, Coordinator

By Naomi Paez, “Brazilian Music”

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 3 SPRING 2008

INSTITUTE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

To continue the wellness initiative, IHHS Learning Community sponsored the “Move It!” Campaign for teachers again this semester. Each teacher logged the miles she or he ran, up to twenty-five miles, with the last mile being run at the Chasco Main Street Mile Challenge on March 29, 2008. As many as 30 teachers began this effort in January and about ten teachers completed more than the twenty-six miles.The Health Careers Academy, a division of the IHHS, has completed the first year of operation, with 21 ninth graders completing the initial year. The Academy invited guest speakers from various fields of health professions for each unit of study throughout the year, including Carol Hunter from the Pinellas County Department of Health, Nancy Burden from the Morton Plant

Mease Surgical Center, Tonya Vogt, pharmaceutical tech at CVS, Greg Hlad from PHCC, and several people from the community who have personal experiences in special topics. Also, we extend a special thanks to PHCC and the Central Florida Institute for hosting field trips for the HCA students. The Academy team, which consists of academic, vocational and physical education teachers, are continuously striving to keep the curriculum current, interesting and career-focused. Next year the Academy will accept 25 incoming ninth grade students and will continue this gradual increase until there are students in all four grade levels. This exciting new program focuses on providing students with special career planning to prepare them for the world of work.

Written by Carol Hlad, Coordinator

“Transforming Your Future” and “Leadership in Action” are FBLA and Gulf High opportunities. Make choices and transform today! Think like a leader and plan for your destiny. In August, plan to join FBLA. Open a savings account with Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union at the Gulf Buccaneer Branch TODAY. There is much to learn about saving, credit and spending. The Buccaneer Branch can provide those answers for you TODAY.Eighteen FBLA members “brought home the gold” from District Competition in February. Congratulations to all! They are: Mario Talanga 1st Computer Problem Solving Joseph Kanaan and Kirsten Winship 1st Emerging Business Issues Carlee Brettel 1st Intro to Business Communication Dylan Martin 1st Personal Finance Scott Fuller 2nd Cyber Security Donna Carreiro 2nd FBLA Principles and Procedures Andrew Penick 3rd Business Presentation Brittany Motta and Monique Robert 3rd Entrepreneurship

Joshua Tobias 3rd Intro to Technology Shawn McCullough 3rd Public Speaking 1 Christy Jones 3rd Public Speaking 2 Christina Pilat 4th Business Procedures Ashley Jones 4th Intro to Business Communication Tia Cooke, Stephanie Clark, Elizabeth Mathieson 4th Website Development

Christy Jones, Monique Robert, and Brittany Motta will be competing at State Competition with an American Enterprise Project on the Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union Buccaneer Branch. It is new to Gulf High this year. Way to go! Seven more FBLA members are preparing for State Competition in April in Orlando. Good luck and much success to Joseph Kanaan, Kirsten Winship, Dylan Martin, Brittany Motta, Monique Robert, Joshua Tobias, and Christy Jones. We are proud of these Gulf High ambassadors!FBLA is planning a leadership workshop with 8th grade students at Gulf Middle through Mr. Bruno’s Business Education classes in April.

INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGYWritten by Sharon Oster, Coordinator

EDUCATING NEW PORT RICHEY CHILDREN FOR 85 YEARS

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 3 SPRING 2008

Competitions abound! On April 3-5, French students presented Rostand's play "Cyrano de Bergerac" at the French Congres in Orlando, andSpanish students presented an excerpt from Esquivel's Like Water forChocolate. Also, students recited poetry and spoke extemporaneously inFrench or Spanish as part of the competition. An additional note from Señora Rodriguez reminds everyone that the GHS Spanish Honor Society president, Bailey Logan, has members who regularly teach Spanish at local elementary schools. Hurray for World Languages! One more competition that's noteworthy was the Brain Bowl State Competition, which took place on April 10-12. Art is an equally busy discipline because the IB Visual Arts Standard Level examination took place on March 20, and students presented a minimum of twelve studio pieces of artwork, aresearch workbook, and a candidate record book to an IB examiner who spent thirty minutes or less on each student's overall presentation. Students'works were displayed in the Media Center. By the way, students who are

registered to take IB VA SL in the 2008-2009 school year are encouraged to enroll in a community sponsored hands-on art program during this summer. Meetings, meetings, meetings! Mr. Donaldson met with PIB/IB/APteachers on Monday, March 31st and presented a training session onTurnItIn.com, since GHS now has the subscription. Sophomores had a meeting, too, on Monday, March 24, in the Band Room, where they spent the day learning the particulars of next year's IB programme. Teachers from each discipline addressed them and described the course content and expectations, and Dr. Lepley gave them guidelines and more expectations. Monday, March 24th was an important day, too, for meetings with teachers from Lecanto High School. An IB programme is beginning at their high school, and they wished to know facts about the start-up process. It was an enjoyable experience to meet and greet teachers who share our interest in the International Baccalaureate Programme. English A1 students, along with their teacher Jan Ledman, were involved in

Internal Oral Commentaries during the last couple weeks of March, and Mrs. Ledman reports that it was "grueling, yet surprisingly rewarding . . ." Also, Mrs. Ledman wishes to thank Al Palma, Debi Pitcock, Jeff Serletic, Sharon Oster, Clara Rodriguez, Kathy Trapp, and Dr. Lepley for helping these students prepare for their presentations. On March 19, the current IB juniors enjoyed their Pinning Ceremony whichwelcomed them officially into the programme. The Gulf High website haspictures of many happy juniors who were recognized for their goals anddedication. Concluding news stories include a fundraiser at McDonald's benefitingRelay for Life (see Paul Mertz for details), opportunities for juniors toattend Tomorrow's Leadership Program in Lakeland, Florida, sponsored by theHoliday Rotary, and a display that highlights geometry 3D Fractal Projects for the school to enjoy (thanks, Mrs. Pitcock).Enjoy the wonders and warmth of spring!

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE PROGRAMMEWritten by De Winslow, Co-coordinator

GUIDANCEWritten by Kathy Trapp, Career Specialist

The following events will take place during the fourth quarter:

4/14-4/18 Student Services Awareness Week 4/15 Violence Prevention Workshop grade 10 4/17 Post-secondary Fair for grades 11 and 124/25 PHCC Senior Blitz for interested seniors5/1 State University System Presentation for selected juniors5/5-5/16 Advanced Placement Examinations5/15 Scholarship Night for Class of 20086/6 Graduation

During the months of January through March, the guidance staff has worked with ninth through eleventh graders to register them for classes for the 2008-2009 school year. Through the FACTS.org website, students created an Electronic Personal Education Plan (ePEP). Students were asked to share this plan with teachers and parents. Parents can access this plan on the FACTS.org website by using the student’s last name and first initial for the login ID and the student number for the password. After the plans were completed, students met individually with their guidance counselors to input courses using online registration.

IB Class of 2010 Open House for CAS, EE, and TOK

April 30, 20086:30PM

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 3 SPRING 2008

District School Board of Pasco CountyGulf High School7227 Land O’Lakes Blvd.Land O’Lakes, FL 34638

Nonprofit OrganizationUS Postage Paid

Permit #6651Tampa, FL

Address Label

Administrative and Guidance Staff as follows: Administrative Secretary 727-774-3302 Thomas Imerson, Principal 727-774-3302 Thomas Brochu, Assist. Principal 727-774-3318 Dr. Judy Gallagher, Assist. Principal 727-774-3316 Florie Buono, Assist. Principal 727-774-3317 Dr. Debbie Lepley, Assist. Principal 727-774-3311 Alfred Palma, Assist. Principal 727-774-3319 William Schweiger, Admin. Para 727-774-3314 Melissa Ortiz, Admin. Para 727-774-3312 Vicki Voorhees, Admin. Para 727-774-3341 Teresa Herzog, Admin. Para 727-774-3357 Guidance Secretary 727-774-3330Kelly Davey, Guidance (A-C) 727-774-3329 Angela Cotney, Guidance ( D-J) 727-774-3331 Susan Carr, Guidance (K-N) 727-774-3336 Jeff Scheifla, Guidance (O-Si) 727-774-3332 April Kelley, Guidance (Sk-Z) 727-774-3335 Kathy Trapp, Career Specialist 727-774-3351 Ann Nelson, PBDP 727-774-3473 Other Areas: Paul Girardi, Athletic Director 727-774-3339 Media Center 727-774-3327 School Resource Officer 727-774-3350 Tina Wallace, Newsletter Editor 727-774-3363

Main School Line 727-774-3300 School Fax Line 727-774-3391 Attendance Office 727-774-3308 Student Registrar 727-774-3307 Clinic 727-774-3305 School Nurse 727-774-3356 Bookkeeper 727-774-3304

www.gulfhigh.org

Students/parents are reminded to use the FACTS.org website to access

transcripts, prepare for the SAT using testGear, explore colleges and

careers, & apply to colleges/financial

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 3 SPRING 2008

NJROTC NJROTC ROCKS!!! If the second quarter was any indication of what would transpire in the third quarter, then WOW!!! The cadets have filled the school’s front office trophy case with awards received from several different state sanctioned field meets, and the State Championship! The second sanctioned field meet was hosted at Tampa Bay Tech High School on January 19th where the cadets placed 3rd Overall. Of significance were a 2nd Place finish in Academics, 3rd Place finish in Athletics, and 4th Place finish in Drill. The team improved from an 8th Overall position a year earlier. The third sanctioned field meet was hosted at Boone High School on January 26th where the cadets placed 1st Overall. Of significance were a 2nd Place finish in Academics, 1st Place finish in Drill, and 3rd Place finish in Athletics. Our last regular season sanctioned field meet of the year was hosted by the University of South Florida in Tampa on February 16th. The cadets placed 4th Overall among sixteen teams from around the state. Again, the Academic Team placed a most commendable 2nd Overall, the Athletic Team a 3rd Overall, and the Drill Team a 5th Overall. The significance of this meet was that total team points and placing in the four major regional tournaments qualified GULF NJROTC for a seat in the State Championship. The final major competition of the year was held at Oviedo High School in Orlando on March 3rd. The team placed an admirable 6th (out of a final

18). This is the best showing ever for our school and should position us well in next year’s competition. The cadets placed “3rd Overall” in Unarmed Basic Drill and “5th Overall” in Personnel Inspection. Our Academic Team placed “6th Overall” and missed 5th Place by only 5 points in 1000. In fact, the entire team (academics, athletics, drill and personnel inspection) missed the TOP FIVE Overall Trophy round by 6 points in 6000. Please congratulate those cadets who have spent SEVEN (7) long months preparing for this huge event. The cadets participated in the semi-annual Physical Fitness Test (PFT) and Family Picnic on Saturday, March 15th at Green Key Beach (aka Robert K. Rees Memorial Park). After a pre-dawn start, the kids performed exceptionally well in their sit/reach, sit-up, push-up, and 1.5 mile run events. Everyone finished the run! A first for these kids! Immediately after the PFT, cadets and families gathered in the pavilions and on the beach for a BBQ/Picnic and lots of fun. On Friday, March 28th, the NJROTC will host its first Pasco County Fun Meet in a number of years. This event will entertain approximately twelve different “fun” events, to include an obstacle course, a knotted-rope climb, a sled pull, three-legged relay, Hum-Vee push, 100 and 200 yard relay races, and so much more. The event will last from noon until approximately 5:00 p.m. and will offer a trophy for the winner of each event, as well as the Overall Winner who will take home the “Pasco

County NJROTC Fun Meet” traveling trophy. Should be LOTS of FUN! The GHS NJROTC really has made a HUGE difference in the school and community! There are numerous (before and after school) competitive teams, lots of weekend events, an Annual Ball, and so much more. If a student is enrolled in grades 9 – 12, is a U.S. citizen or national or alien lawfully admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence, is physically qualified to participate in the physical education program, has a 2.0 or higher GPA, is able to maintain acceptable standards of conduct, and can comply with grooming standards as set forth by the Unit Commander, then consider joining! All students planning to join or return must interview with the Unit Commander.

Written by Stephen Nesthus, Commander

Some competition team requirements that may interest (and challenge) you: Academics: Good rote memorization skills, and GPA of 3.0 or higher.Push Ups: At least 40 (female) or 70 (male) at cadence (50 per minute).Sit Ups: At least 140 (female) or 160 (male) at cadence (50 per minute).2.5 Mile Relay: 400 yard relay (males under 1 minute, females under 70 seconds).2000 Yard Relay: 100 yard relay (males under 11 seconds, females under 13 seconds).Armed Drill: Precision drill with rifles; standard routine/sequence.Unarmed Drill: Precision drill without rifles; standard routine/sequence.Armed Exhibition Drill: Precision “exhibition” drill with rifles; modified routine/sequence.Unarmed Exhibition Drill: Precision “exhibition” drill with rifles; modified routine/sequence.Color Guard: The “real thing!” Drill with National Ensign and Rifles. *Team members do not participate in all events; some may only compete in one or two.