Thursday, February 26, 2009

Two-Hour Delay

Because of the dense fog, Plymouth Schools will operate under a two-hour delay on Thursday, February 26.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Blog Bits

Congratulations to 32 band members that qualified for and performed at the ISSMA Solo and Ensemble State Finals this past Saturday!

The students that earned a Gold Medal (top honor) at this event were:

Katie Shaffer - flute solo
Cassie Eberly - flute trio
Mae Christiansen - flute trio
Krista Krpan - flute trio
Doug Booth - trumpet trio
Zack Heet - trumpet trio and brass quintet
Tim Gordon - trumpet trio and brass quintet
Sam Shafer - brass quintet
Jacob Shafer - brass quintet
Andrew Kurtz - brass quintet
Caitlin Jung - marimba ensemble
Sam Kemp - marimba ensemble
Leah Cook - marimba ensemble and vibe solo
Lindsey Holloway - marimba ensemble

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Girls Basketball

Our girls won the morning game. Good luck tonight!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Go Swimmers!

The Pilgrim swimmers claimed 4 sectional titles at Warsaw and are sending a strong group of girls to the State Swim Meet. Qualifying for state are Kenzie Miller, Mae Christiansen, Allyson Gergely, and Calley Cook. Good luck girls!

Washington Elementary's Winter Picnic

Come join the fun at Washington for our 2nd annual Winter Picnic on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. There will be games, crafts, and other fun, along with pizza, cookies and a drink for a small fee if you choose to eat at school.

If you would like to help, please call Julie Youngs (936-4072). We are also asking for “White Elephant” items for Bingo prizes. Please have the White Elephant items in by Friday, February 13, 2009.

Blog Bits

Debate
The Plymouth Debate team wrapped up its season the last two weekends with the NFL District and IHSFA State tournaments. At the NFL district tournament, a youthful team competed against many of the top teams in the state. Bryt Hiatt led the way with an 8th place finish in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. At the state finals held last weekend in Kokomo, a similar youthful team narrowly missed the top ten. Jon Tyree earned a state championship in the Congress presiding officer competition and chaired the State Super Senate. Two Plymouth students placed in the Super Senate as well. Rebecca Moberly finished 5th, and Bryt Hiatt finished 13th in the state competition. The Public Forum teams of Zach Wendt and Andy Langdon as well as Austin Craft and Sam Compton notched two victories in regional competition. Novices Patrick Felke and Sean Hatfield also picked up one win against the varsity opposition. Congratulations, once again, to Jon Tyree for bringing another individual speech and debate state championship to PHS.

Wrestling
The following wrestlers advanced through a tough regional to qualify for the Semi-State Tournament this Saturday at Merrillville:
Chuck Holmquest
Chase Lewendowski
James Letsinger
Brock Vermillion
Damon Howe

The competition in Merrillville will be intense, but each of them now stands two matches away from a chance at the State Competition at Conseco.

Winter Guard
The PHS Winter Guard performed in exhibition and would have placed in the top 5 schools in our class (4th out of 12).

The event ran very smoothly and the visiting schools commented frequently on the cleanliness of our school grounds and facilities! The Broadcasting department received NUMEROUS compliments on the "Live Feed" of all performances showing on the televisions throughout the building.

2 Hour Delay

Because of dense fog in certain sections of our school district, we will operate under a two-hour delay on Wednesday, February 11.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Voicing Concerns

Recently I received a question about the proper procedures for voicing concerns about a high school coach. Any concerns about a high school coach should be given to Mr. Jim Condon, the principal, or Mr. Roy Benge, the Athletic Director.

REMINDER - Make-up Day

The following will be used as a make-up day:

February 16, 2009 – President’s Day



Plymouth Schools will be in session all day on February 16, 2009.

Principal for a Day

Plymouth Schools hosted its Eighth Annual Principal-for-a-Day on Thursday, February 5, 2009. Each principal and assistant principal hosted a visitor from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon at the individual schools and then met at the corporation office for a light lunch and discussion. Each visitor experienced various aspects of a principal’s daily life. Pictured are the visitors who participated in Principal-for-a-Day.
From left to right, front row: Mary Holm, Nelson Chipman, Jr., Carol Anders, Beth Styers, and Linda Rippy. Back row: Bill Walters, Andy Metsker, Art Jacobs, Kathy Bottorff, Dr. Ron May, and Rev. Ollie Dongell.

Monday, February 09, 2009

PHS Choir Solo and Ensemble Results

The PHS Choir Department took 39 entries at last Saturday's District Solo and Ensemble Contest. They captured 29 Gold, 9 Silver and 1 Bronze awards. Of those Gold's they will take 10 soloists and 5 ensembles to the state competition on Feb. 28th.

The following students will be taking solos to the state competition: Nicole Beguin, Kayla Clemons, Angelina Jung, Tayler May, Nicole McLain, Shelly Ortiz, Samantha Overmyer, John Patrick, Scott Read, and Matthew Slaydon.

The following students will be taking ensembles to the state competition: Nicole Beguin, Serena Constable, Kendall Cooper, Casey Faricelli, Courtney Harris, Angelina Jung, Tayler May, Shelly Ortiz, Samantha Overmyer, John Patrick, Heather Rohr, and Diane Sarna

Monday, February 02, 2009

Charles Ratliff Publishes Children’s Book

Charles Ratliff, ENL and Language Arts teacher at Lincoln Junior High, published his first book entitled The Hideout at the Abandoned Fish Hatchery. The children’s book is somewhat based on a location at Bass Lake where Charles and his family spends much of their summer vacation. The co-author, Leslie J. May, is a colleague from Arizona where Charles taught previously.

PHS Band and Orchestra Qualifies 30 for ISSMA State

From the orchestra, sophomores Cameron Pifer and Addie Palmer will advance to state with string solos. Cameron earned a Gold Award on her cello solo and Addie earned a Gold Award on her violin solo.

From the band, the following students will advance to state finals with a solo performance: Cassie Eberly and Katie Shaffer (flute solos), Jacob Pritchard (oboe solo), Doug Booth (trumpet solo), Leah Cook (mallet solo).

The following students will advance to state finals with an ensemble performance: Cassie Eberly, Elizabeth Oviedo, Mae Christiansen (2 ensembles), Krista Krpan (2 ensembles), Katie Shaffer, Bailey Capper, Brittany Halsey, Amy McLiver, Chris Eberly, Calvin Cook, Faith Fish, Tom Wilson, Sam Kemp (2 ensembles), Kayla Wentz, Ben Kraszyk, Lindsey Holloway, Caitlin Jung, Doug Booth, Tim Gordon (2 ensembles), Zack Heet (2 ensembles), Jacob Shafer, Sam Shafer, and Andrew Kurtz.

Plymouth Grapplers win Sectional

Individual Sectional Champions for Plymouth were Chuck Holmquest, Chase Lewendowski, James Letsinger, and Damon Howe. Nolan Ludwig and Brock Vermillion finished 2nd, Caleb Kelly finished 3rd, and Trent Keyser and Chris Erickson finished 4th. These wrestlers will advance to the Regional Competition this Saturday in Rochester.

Also scoring points for Plymouth were Austyn Lee, Blake Gaines, Scott Barry, and Sam Tomasik.

Plymouth Students Excel at the Scholastic Art Show

Plymouth High School was well represented by their artists and can be proud of their accomplishments.

The following students received GOLD KEY AWARDS:
Fletcher Craft - Computer Art
Federico Cuatlacuatl - Computer Art
Federico Cuatlacuatl - Drawing

The following students received SILVER KEY AWARDS:
Megan Good - Drawing
Christina Green - Drawing
Jordan Harner - Drawing

The following students received HONORABLE MENTION AWARDS:
Nikki Chalk - Drawing
Megan Good - Drawing
Kelsey Houin - Drawing
Daryl Huff - Computer Art
Deidre Johnson - Drawing
Krista Krpan - Sculpture
Kirsten Thomason - Printmaking

Also, two students received awards for their PORTFOLIO submissions, which contained 10 pieces of their finest artwork. Federico Cuatlacuatl received a GOLD KEY PORTFOLIO AWARD and Nikki Chalk received an HONORABLE MENTION PORTFOLIO AWARD.

The Gold Key Awards will advance to the National Scholastic Awards in New York. The Exhibition can be seen at the Century Center January 31st thru February 14th. The Awards Ceremony and Reception is on February 8, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. in the Bendix Theater at the Century Center.

In-Service 1/2 Day

Friday, February 13, 2009, is scheduled as a corporation in-service day.

All Elementary, Riverside, and LJH students will be dismissed at 12:20 p.m.

PHS students will be dismissed at 12:30 p.m.