NOTAM 022811

28 February 2011

Principal’s Message
Welcome back! Mid-winter break marked the last full-week vacation of the school year (sigh…or rejoice!), so I hope you enjoyed doing all your favorite things that aren’t possible on school days.

We are now on the fast track to the end of the school year, so the following information is provided to you and your parents:

• Friday, May 27 will be a full day of instruction, with school dismissing at 3:30 p.m. This change is being made because we need to make up a snow day and also meet the annual requirements for class-time instruction
  Our seniors will leave us on June 17 and graduate the following evening, June 18 from ShoWare Center in Kent.
  The last day for underclassmen is Monday, June 27. This is also a snow make-up day.
  June 28, 29, and 30 are built into the school calendar for make-up days, too, but let’s hope we have no more snow or other emergencies that extend the school year. Please plan vacations, summer job experiences etc. accordingly.

Now…about this week: There’s lots of activity going on:

• Speech & Debate Club heads to Snohomish on Wednesday for a three-day competition. Good luck, S&D’ers!
• On Thursday, Boeing and Alaska Airlines are hosting a Showcase of Learning on our campus from 11:30-1:00 p.m. Senior executives of their companies and other major aerospace companies in the region will be attending the showcase to learn more about you and your reasons for attending AHS, our instructional program, school activities and school culture. AHS & Highline School District board members, Superintendent Welch, and other key stakeholders will also be in attendance. More than 25% of the student body will participate in the showcase, providing our visitors with a glimpse of our entire learning program—Humanities, math and science, engineering/technology-related electives, ACE, and sports of the mind programs such as Robotics, Science Olympiad, and Speech & Debate. Teachers and advisors will share the agenda and specific requests with you. I will also meet with designated leaders of each club today or tomorrow to review expectations and clarify details of the planned program. In advance, I thank ALL of you for your ongoing support and patience as we move closer to our dream home at the Museum of Flight!
• Four Highline School District Students (including AHS Senior Betsy Smith) have been invited to perform Symphony No. 50 'Mount St. Helens' by Alan Hovhaness with the Seattle Symphony. They will perform at 7pm Thursday, March 3rd at the Highline PAC. Don't miss this opportunity to hear the Seattle Symphony - the concert is FREE!
• Our Skunks are continuing to refine some programming and mechanical details related to their robot, which was ‘bagged’ for shipment last week. This amazing team actually built two robots this year to allow them to work on modifications after shipment and between competitive events and to have one to showcase while their competitive one is unavailable. This year’s game looks to be super exciting! Congratulations, Skunkworks, on an outstanding build season. Their first competition will be held in Seattle on March 17-19 at Qwest Field. We will be taking a large contingent of AHS students to the competition on Friday, March 18. Next week’s NOTAM will provide specifics.

We have good news to share! I am most happy to report that Aviation High School is a recipient of the 2010 Washington Achievement Award! This is an extraordinary accomplishment and is a direct reflection of the hard work of our students, the dedication of our teachers, and the support and guidance of our parents.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education created the Washington Achievement Award to celebrate the state’s top-performing schools and to recognize achievement in multiple categories. This highly selective award is based on our school’s performance according to the Washington Achievement Index, a comprehensive measurement of how schools in Washington are performing over time. The Washington Achievement Award is given to elementary, middle, high and comprehensive schools in seven different categories: overall excellence, language arts, math, science, extended graduation rate (high and comprehensive schools only), improvement and closing achievement gaps. Aviation High School is being recognized for: High Overall Excellence and Special Recognition for Science (note: Last year, AHS was the only high school in the State to receive recognition in Science!)
On April 27 we will celebrate this remarkable achievement, along with other selected schools, at an awards ceremony hosted by Lincoln High School in Tacoma. For now, give yourselves a well-deserved pat on the back for earning this incredible award!

Again, welcome back! May your learning this week be audacious, remarkable, stellar, over-the-top, and joyful! Feel free to add your own positive descriptors, too! As always, I’m honored to be your principal. ~Reba

NOTE:
o Continue checking the AHS website or logging on to school computers to get updated information on events and meetings.

Quote of the Week:
Rather than a quote of the week, it’s Did You Know?

The Pentagon awarded the Tanker contract to the Boeing Company. What does this mean for you and your future, your family, and all citizens of Washington State?

And…
Networking and professionalism matter. By way of example: Last week, a letter was forwarded to Ms. Gilman from a prominent leader who sponsored Natalie Carmichael to the Joe Sutter dinner this past fall. He wrote that because of the very favorable impression that Natalie made at the dinner, he would again be sponsoring her (and possibly other AHS students) to the next Joe Sutter Dinner & Lecture as well as other events! Who knows? Maybe there’s an internship experience, a job opportunity, or a letter of recommendation that could come to Natalie and others in the future!

And…
Dr. Edgerton is the proud new owner of a spectacular airplane! Ask him for pictures and details!

NOTAM 020711

07 February 2011

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
Among all the hype that accompanies Super Bowl weekend, our Science Olympians were creating some hype of their own as they hosted an invitational that brought out 15 accomplished teams from the I-5 corridor. Under the very capable leadership of Advisors McComb, Durrant, and Dyer the team excelled in the following categories:

• Forensics: Jenny Gao and Libby Redda
• Optics: Daniel Mohaghegh and David Hartranft
• Technical Problem Solving: Gina O’Kelley and Daniel Mohaghegh
• Sumobots: David Hartranft
• Ornithology: Sarah DeWeese and Michael Phuong
• Astronomy: Matt Petroske and Salina Abraham
• Microbe Mission: Danica Balsiger and Catherine Elliott
• Mousetrap Car: Carlos Herrera and Allen May

As proud as we are of their individual accomplishments, we celebrate that all of them honed in even more on what they need to do to prepare for upcoming Regional competitions. Congratulations to all Olympians! We’re proud of you! We are also tremendously grateful for the teachers and parents who so graciously volunteered their time to help make the Invitational possible. Events like these illustrate the power and potential of shared vision and hard work.

There are more congratulations in order, too:

 Corrigan Miller was selected as Student of the Quarter in the DigiPen Programming class at Puget Sound Skills Center. Outstanding, Corry!

 Nicole Mays is a finalist in the Reflections Contest, sponsored by the Highline Council of the PTSA. On January 24, the Council recognized Nicole with an Award of Excellence in Visual Arts and Outstanding Interpretation in Literature. Nicole’s artistic works will now be submitted for state competition. Kudos, Nicole!

 Salina Abraham, Austin Chick, Jenny Gao, David Hartranft, Drew Hidalgo, Siva Hope, Cameron Jaxheimer, Sydney Miller, Matt Petroske, Libanos Redda, and Scott Sluys are currently participating in Phase One of the Washington Aerospace Scholars (WAS) Program. They are among 287 talented juniors from across the state that were accepted into the fifth year of WAS: a distance learning program with a NASA-designed curriculum covering the history of space exploration, the space shuttle, the International Space Station, the moon, and Mars. From January through May, the scholars will complete ten lessons – submitting quizzes, math solutions, essays, and graphics concerning these topics every other week. Scholars will independently select a topic of interest for a final project combining an essay with a graphic. Based on their scores on the Phase One curriculum, up to 160 of the top performing scholars will be invited to an all expense paid Summer Residency at The Museum of Flight in Seattle. During the Summer Residencies scholars will have the opportunity to work with professional engineers and scientists on the design of a human mission to Mars. In addition to the mission planning, selected scholars will have unique opportunities to tour engineering facilities, receive briefings by experts, and see for themselves what engineers do on a daily basis. Furthermore, they will participate in hands-on engineering challenges, including rocket design, construction and launch; robotic rover design, construction, and obstacle course competition; and lander design, construction and deployment. Way to go, Juniors! Sophomores…start thinking of WAS for your junior year! In addition to being an extraordinary learning experience, colleges and universities are now recognizing it in a very positive light when you apply for admission.


Best to all AHS scholars as we start the second week of second semester! As always, I’m honored to be your principal. ~Reba


NOTE:
o Continue checking the AHS website or logging on to school computers to get updated information on events and meetings.


Quote of the Week:
“Hope is wanting something so eagerly that—in spite of all the evidence that you’re not going to get it—you go right on wanting it. And the remarkable thing about it is that the very act of hoping produces a kind of strength of its own.”
~Norman Vincent Peale