WILDCAT PULSE – APRIL 2023
We exist so children can excel.
Full Swing in April at FCHS!
Welcome to an awesome April at FCHS. Students and teachers are in full swing as the spring season is among us and the arrival of the 4th quarter is here. The sound of teaching and learning is heard in all parts of the building as students power through the final stretch of the year. I am very proud of our talented and creative student body who has again found joy in taking part in the arts, athletics, academics, technical crafts, and community volunteering. Parents/Guardians, please stay connected with FCHS through our FCHS website and FCHS Facebook page. As you read this newsletter, please share in the celebration of your children and to all of the Parents/ Guardians: Thank you for the privilege to instruct your children.
-FCHS Staff and Administration
Notes from the FCHS Staff:
WL Department Students of the Month for April, 2023
From Sra. Tincher, Patxi, and Mrs. Yan
The FCHS Department of World Languages is pleased to announce that the following students have been named Student of the Month for April. We are proud of them and their accomplishments!
Spanish 2: Tyson Rosenberger
Spanish 1: Benjamin Bryant
Chinese 2: Brian Chen
From Mrs. Barricklow: Preparing for College and Careers:
Ryleigh Schoettelkotte
Mrs. Barricklow has chosen Ryleigh as her April Student of the Month for Preparing for College and Careers. Ryleigh is always listening and has a deep understanding of the topics being taught in class. She always gets her work done on time and is helpful and encouraging to everyone. She works hard and is always respectful. Way to go, Ryleigh!
Worked-Based Learning Capstone
Lily Knapp
Mrs. Barricklow has chosen Lily as her April Student of the Month for the Internship Class. Lily has really blossomed this semester at BES where she interns with Mrs. Cork in the art class. Lily works well with the students and is a natural with art. I am proud of you, Lily! Keep up the great work!
Advanced Child Development
Karly Bergin
Mrs. Barricklow has chosen Karly as her April Student of the Month for Advanced Child Development. Karly is quiet yet engaged at all times in class. She has a good understanding of children and adds to the conversations with her own experiences. She is a joy to have in class. Congratulations, Karly! Thanks for always being respectful and responsible!
FCHS Visual Arts: Pam Hignite
FCHS Art students participated in the University of Saint Francis High School Student Art Show that took place in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This exhibition featured more than 250 works by students from high schools throughout Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. Congratulations to the following students who were chosen to participate: Cordy Snyder, Marie Majnaric, Felicity Bohman, Hunter Marshall, Kelly Glardon, Caroline Rowlett, and Esther George.
FCHS Art students Hannah George, Esther George, Kelly Glardon, Hunter Marshall, Faith Marshall, Maggie Riffle, and Jesse George also participated in the Whitewater Valley Arts Association High School Art Competition.
Art Students of the month for April are Camryn Barker and Hannah George.
FCHS Chinese teacher Doris Yan attended the Annual National Chinese Language Teachers Association Conference at DC this year, shared some of her teaching strategies and experience with some wonderful fellow Chinese teachers nationwide. It was a great opportunity to represent Franklin County High School and learn new things from other educators. Thank you, Doris! FCHS Staff and Administration
From Mrs. Katie Schneider:
BIOL 101 – Biology II
Biology II classes have been studying the diversity of life and how living things interact. Students built ecocolumns to integrate various plant species with both aquatic and terrestrial environments. Plant propagation techniques have been practiced, and seed germination processes are in progress.
APHY 101/102 – Anatomy & Physiology
Anatomy and Physiology students are studying the immune and lymphatic systems, and looking at how our body responds to pathogens. Students have modeled how the body recognizes pathogens and how cells work to destroy and build immunity to those pathogens.
BIOL 105 – AP Biology
AP Biology students are studying heredity and changes in populations over time that reflect the selective pressures on the population. Students are modeling how random mutations change DNA to possibly provide an advantage for populations depending upon the disease, predatory, or natural pressures.
Early College Classes
Early College students are revisiting the academic goals they set in Q3 to determine their progress toward those goals and the resources they need to reach their goals. Regular grade checks are done to monitor progress during IMPACT homeroom, in addition to the weekly college and career readiness lessons.
From Mr. Hofer: Congratulations to the Students of the Month from the ELA Department:
Aubree Andre
Braxton Wilson
Nate Baker
Madison Eversole
Jack Harpring
From Tanya Wirtz – JAG:
Congratulations to the following students that competed on Friday, March 17, 2023 at the State JAG Career Development Conference in Indianapolis. They competed against the best in the state. Pictured left to right: Kendal Cain, participated in Financial Literacy, Isaiah Lee, 2nd Place Creative Solutions, Piper Twiggs, 3rd Place Career Presentation, Madison Merritt, 1st Place PBL, and Specialist Tanya Wirtz.
Happening in Social Studies
Mr. Ebrens
Economics: Participating in the Stock Market Game and currently studying market structures, such Monopolies, Oligopolies, and Pure Competition markets.
US History: Still fighting WWII……..
Geography: Examining the Middle East and the series of conflicts the region has been through and are still going through
Mr. Van Meter
World History: We are wrapping up the Rise and Spread of Islam. This section covers the history of the Middle East and Middle East culture. We learn about Muhamad, the caliphs, the 5 Pillars of Islam, and how the Islam religion has had a major impact on the history of the Middle East. We also learned that the Middle East is the center of the eastern world so they became the center of the trade routes and became wealthy. Students learned that Muslims invented banking and credit.
World Geography: We are wrapping up the section of the Middle East. We learned about the physical and human geography of the Middle East. Students are now able to identify and map out major physical characteristics of the Middle East like the Sahara Desert, the Nile River, the Arabian Peninsula, and the fertile crescent. We also dove into the rich culture and history of the Middle East. Students were able to learn a lot of what my history students were learning. We covered how Islam started and how it spread. Students had to draw illustrations of the 5 Pillars of Islam. Students learned key vocabulary words like prophet, caliph, mosque, bazaar, and calligraphy.
Students of the Month:
World History: Kaylee Cox
World Geography: Robert Dunham
Mr. Kristoff
AP World History- We are beginning our chapter on major events at the beginning of the Modern Era. Topics include World War I, Great Depression, and World War II.
Government- Students are learning about voter qualifications in America. How the right to vote has expanded throughout US History, what states control about elections, and how voters make decisions.
AP US History- We are beginning our chapter on major events at the beginning of the Modern Era. Topics include World War I, Great Depression, and World War II.
World History- Students are finishing a unit on Chinese history. Students have reviewed ancient Chinese dynasties covered in the first semester, and have learned about modern Chinese dynasties from the Mongols to the Qing Dynasty.
Mr. Stacy
U.S. History – Students in History are finishing up WW 2 after learning about D-Day and the dropping of the Atomic Bombs on Japan. Students were ask to question the ethics in the use of atomic weapons
Psychology – Students in this class will begin a new chapter with a focus on Classical Conditioning. Ask about the famous dog experiment.
Dept. of Technology and Engineering: Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Herbert
Students of the Month
Construction – Rulan Hennekes
Manufacturing – Cody Browning
Communications – Ben Banks
Engineering – Jack Harpring
Computer Science – Carson Mays
Intro to Construction
Construction students have been busy. First they developed a material list and cost estimate for a 12’ x 14’ shed. Now they have started the building process and have completed the site prep and floor framing.
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Intro to Manufacturing
Manufacturing 3rd and 7th period students have been busy making improvements to the chosen products and are beginning marketing and setting up the manufacturing production lines.
Intro to Communication
Communication students are in the process of creating websites. Students will be applying what they learned in creating the “Doug’s Doghouse” website and will now be creating a website “All about them”. Their families, favorites, hobbies, and future plans will be highlighted in their websites.
Computer Science I –
CompSci I students are diving deep into a unit about Data Privacy and Cybersecurity. Students are role playing in this unit as different stakeholders in the “Future School” such as teachers, parents, admin, support staff, and students, working together to come up with a plan to enhance the school’s computing innovations in order to bring it up to speed with modern technological standards. Part of this process is determining what types of data are collected, and how that data collection process harms or benefits the different stakeholders in the community. We will also be investigating cryptography and internet security in future lessons this month.
Computer Science II –
In CompSci II, students are refreshing many of their concepts they learned in first semester by getting more practice on a larger project where they are programming their own animation or graphic in “The Theater” package. Students are creating their own classes with public, private, overridden and overwritten methods, as well as creating super- and sub- classes to tailor the program to their needs.
Intro to Engineering Design –
The IED students are working on designing new chairs for a classroom. This year, they have picked the Band, Choir, and Guitar classrooms to redesign. The IED class crafted a survey for users of that classroom to fill out. This gave the students valuable input as they began the redesign of the music department chairs. Using human-centered design principles, students are able to put themselves in the place of the users to find out what the needs of the users actually are, thereby creating solutions to real world, practical problems.
Principles of Engineering –
The POE students are working on one of the ultimate projects of the class. The project requirements are that the groups need to make a device that sorts 15 wood, plastic, and steel marbles into separate holding bins within 2 minutes. The entire process has to be fully automated using robotics and programming skills, along with any other skills they have gained over the course. Students have to sketch their ideas, build prototypes of the system to verify it works, and present their solution to the class. One of the ideas a group had was to make an electromagnet using wire and a steel bolt. While the idea was good, they spent many days trying to get it to work, only to realize it wasn’t going to work as they had hoped, so they went back to the drawing board and came up with a different solution. Part of the Engineering mindset is to try many different solutions and never give up. Failure is sometimes the best teacher!
Mrs. Volk’s and Ms. Libecap’s Geometry classes recently completed a project on Archimedean Solids. The students used construction skills they recently learned to construct two Archimedean Solids.
The Math Departments Model Mathematicians for Quarter 3 are:
Claire Reister – Mr. Davidson
Jillian Goldsmith – Ms. Libecap
Faith Marshall – Mrs. Sherwood
From Mrs. Hornberger and Mrs. Riffle:
Congratulations are in order!! Congratulations to Stephanie Billman and Ashley Herrmann for receiving Gold for their proficiencies on the state level. Also, congratulations go out to Olivia Rosemeyer – Goat Production Bronze, Sami Volk – Small Animal Production Bronze, and Madi Lake Equine Entrepreneurship Bronze. Proficiencies are part of the SAE program, and a lot of hard work goes into these applications. If you see these members, be sure to congratulate them.
Please take a look at the FCHS Athletics Page and follow our outstanding Spring Sports:
https://franklincountyathletics.com/
Parents/ Guardians: Thank you for supporting and being an important part of the FCHS Family.
Go Cats!
Ms. Michelle South, M. Ed.
FCHS, Principal