Comet Comments—
Coloma High School Newsletter
November 2015
Principal, Mr. David Ehlers
MISSION STATEMENT:
We are dedicated to fostering pride in the school, the community and nourishing a positive
self-image for every student. Our belief is that all students can and will learn best when excellence is expected; educational achievement will be obtained only when students are encouraged and challenged to attain this excellence.
VISION:
TOGETHER…..
STRIVING AND
WORKING FOR
FROM THE DESK
OF
MR. DAVID EHLERS
I would like to thank all of the parents who
attended Parent Teacher Conferences this past
month! Coloma High School teachers conferenced with a school record, 46% of their student’s parents. It was awesome to see so many
parents in our school and to receive so many
positive comments on the new format for conferences.
If you visit our website (http://
www.ccs.coloma.org/colhs/index.htm) and go
to our “Staff” page, you will see that all our
teachers have links to their lesson plans below
their names. This was done to help keep you
and your student posted on what goes on in our
classes and also allows you to follow up with
your student to make sure him or her is keeping
up with the class work. I want to caution you
that that lesson plans can be a living document
in that teachers make adjustments to instruction
based on student needs but I am confident that
what you see will be fairly accurate. At most, a
teacher may be off by a day or two after adjusting to better serve the students.
With the holiday season approaching, I
would like to take this opportunity to wish you
and your family a happy, safe, and relaxing
holiday season as well as a happy new year!
COUNSELOR’S CORNER
by Mrs. Fran Megyese
EXCELLENCE IN
Several seniors have not applied to a college of their choice
at this time.
Colleges/
Universities have scholarships
available to incoming freshman.
Students can apply for them at the
same time they are completing
their admission applications.
The College Bulletin (CB) for
seniors is always on our high
school website. Scholarships are
listed by deadline dates, and you
will also find free scholarship
search sites to aid you in your
quest for funds.
January is the month to start
filling out your financial aid form
(FAFSA). Coloma will be hosting a Financial Aid Presentation
given by Southwestern Michigan
College on January 12th at 6:30
in the high school auditorium.
Please plan to attend.
EDUCATION
UPCOMING
DATES
December 9—
Winter Band
Concert, 7 pm
HS Auditorium
December 11—
1/2 day for
students
December 11—
Choir Concert,
7 pm
HS Auditorium
Comet Comments—November 2015
Chemistry Students Get Slimed!
by Mrs. Brande VanNiel
Slime, a favorite among kids, was first introduced in
1976 by the Mattel Toy Corporation. Since then, it has
been seen and used in a variety of places including toys,
movies and even on awards shows. Slime is a nonNewtonian fluid. Simply put, a non-Newtonian fluid is a
substance that expands under stress. Some common
examples of non-Newtonian fluids are quick sand, starch
solutions and Silly Putty. Non-Newtonian fluids exhibit
unique properties such as stretching under low stress yet
breaking under high stress. Students in chemistry and
chemistry essentials made their own slime using a
solution of sodium borate and polyvinyl alcohol.
Polyvinyl
alcohol
is
used as a thickener, stabilizer, and a binder in
cosmetics, paper cloth, films, cements and
mortars. Sodium borate is commonly known
as Borax. When students mixed the two
solutions together, the result was a clear,
colorless, jello-like substance that becomes
increasingly solid as the water evaporates from
the solution.
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Comet Comments—November 2015
French Students Create Get Well Cards
for Paris Hospitals
by Mr. Daniel Daniel
Students in Mr. Daniel’s French classes wrote and decorated cards for the injured
patients at three Parisian hospitals this week. Students expressed words of encouragement and solidarity for those recovering in the hospital.
Students also wore blue, white, and red for a class photo which was printed and
mailed with each card. One French hospital, Hospital Georges Pompidou, wrote a
short thank you message to Mr. Daniel upon hearing that the cards were headed to
France.
PROGRESS REPORTS
Progress Reports will be e-mailed to parents on December 4.
You will not receive a progress report unless your student has
a D or an F.
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Comet Comments—November 2015
Math Department News - Applying the Distance Formula
by Mr. Brian Klee
As a math teacher, I eagerly await students to challenge me with the question of, “When will I use
this?” Such challenges are truly appreciated and help me improve as a teacher. If I don’t have a real-life
application for a given concept, I immediately search for a problem that can be solved using that concept.
One such example is applying the Distance Formula , to
determine how minimal amount of pipe needed to connect oil
wells to an oil refinery. The past 2 years, Geometry students
have been challenged to search for the solution to the following
problem to earn an automatic A+ on their 1st Quiz:
“An oil company has drilled two oil wells that are 8 miles
and 13 miles out from the shore. The distance that they are
apart is 20 miles horizontally along the shoreline. What is the
best location on the shoreline, to the nearest tenth of a mile, to
build an oil refinery that will require the LEAST amount of pipe
to be laid to both wells?”
This year, Joshua Young completed the problem. The distance formula is really just a more detailed variation of Pythagorean Theorem a2 + b2 = c2 , but applied to graphing on the coordinate grid.
Joshua used a “guess and check method” in which he knew that the distance of the pipe could be calculated using
because the pipeline would be the diagonal hypotenuse shown in the
diagram. He then proceeded with the following guess keeping the sum of the bolded numbers 20 because of the distance along the shoreline:
Joshua Young
CHS Student
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Comet Comments—November 2015
Applying the Distance Formula—(continued from pg.4)
by Mr. Brian Klee
At this point Joshua realized that the least amount of pipe would occur between 7 and 8 miles horizontally from Oil Well A so he then checked each tenth in between until he found the smallest possible value
using
to concluded that the Refinery should be located 7.6 miles horizontally from Oil Well A and 12.4 miles horizontally from Oil Well A. Meanwhile, the distance of pipe to Oil Well A would need to be
need to be
and to Oil Well B would
.
While not everyone will use the Distance Formula or Pythagorean Theorem to like Joshua to decide
where to place an Oil Refinery, there are endless problems in architecture, construction, engineering and
many other applications that can be solved using this concept. In fact, anytime a right angle exists, the
Pythagorean Theorem can likely be applied to find missing distances. Makes the nerdy math teacher inside of me excited for Chapter 6 and Chapter 9 in our Geometry books!
ART CLUB NEWS
by Mrs. Kristen Maniscalco-Ott
Art Club students had the unique opportunity to
participate in a workshop by Kalamazoo artist Eric
Hennig of Vague International. Hennig has become
well-known for his tin-type photographs. Tin-type is
a style that was popular during the civil war. Multiple demonstrations were given and Eric gave a
great lecture on the history and aesthetics of the
medium. The process is very scientific- dealing with
chemistry and physics.
Students were able to
physically see how the two are connected. Art club
members enjoyed the process and the visit. A few
lucky students were able to have their portraits taken. Hennig is not only a tin-type artist, but also
works digitally, and photographs for the fashion industry. Visit his site to see his amazing work:
https://vagueinternational.wordpress.com/
Students pictured from left to right:
Samantha Schreiber, Jacob Norris,
Lizzy Martin,, and Rachel Jenkins.
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Comet Comments—November 2015
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT SAYS
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEWLYWEDS
by Mr. Kevin VanPeteghem
While I am a certified public speaking instructor in the State of Michigan, I definitely do not have the ability to certify any legal marriages in
the state. Nonetheless, there were some mock “marriages” that took
place recently in my public speaking class.
Public speaking is an elective course offered at the high school that
all students should consider taking. The majority of all human communication is done through listening and speaking, yet these are the two
LEAST taught communication skills in school. It is important for students to learn about the various verbal and nonverbal messages that are
sent while humans engage in their most common form of communication. So, the majority of the course is focused on informative, persuasive, argumentative, and impromptu speaking to prepare students for those types of speaking situations. The other objective
of the course, however, is to prepare students for some of those “special occasion” speeches that
they may likely be asked to present at some point in their lives. Hence, the presentation of best
man/maid of honor speeches.
Recently, the class was instructed on the elements of an effective best man/maid of honor
speech and asked to prepare one for an actual relative or friend that they know well. We then presented them in front of class during mock wedding ceremonies at “Mr. V’s Banquet Hall.” It was
a rousing success and the students presented very fun and honorable speeches for their “bride and
groom.”
I really hope all students at Coloma High School consider taking the public speaking course as
an elective because they are gaining life skills that they can use in many facets of life.
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Comet Comments—November 2015
COLOMA HIGH
SCHOOL
NOVEMBER
STUDENTS OF THE
MONTH !!
Congratulations to:
(l-r) Senior—Alex Castillo, Junior—Regan Mary Cullitan,
Sophomore—Cody Dahlquist, Freshman—Kloie Milnickel
ProtectMIChild.com
Are your children safe while online? Michigan families, especially minors, are becoming inundated with
advertisements from alcohol, tobacco, pornography and gambling marketers through different internet and
cell phone inboxes. Texting their advertisements is the newest marketing effort that many of these companies are using. Thankfully, the State of Michigan offers a free program to stop adult advertisements from
reaching e-mails, mobile phones (text messaging ads) and instant messenger IDs. The Michigan Child Protection Registry, like the federal Do Not Call List, is a free do-not-contact service for Michigan’s families
and schools and can be located at www.ProtectMIChild.com.
As a strong supporter of this registry, I would like to encourage you to sign your entire family up for the
registry and inform your friends and colleagues about how they can protect children and families from unwanted adult advertising. To sign up only takes seconds. Just go to www.ProtectMIChild.com and keep your
family safe.
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Comet Comments—November 2015
HIGH SCHOOL BAND—
GREAT NEWS !!
by Mrs. Cheryl Thomas
Congratulations to these band members who auditioned and were selected for the 2015 MSBOA District 6 All-Star Band: Naomi Cottrell (flute),
Jenna Miller (bass clarinet), Brad Kelley (trumpet, Matthew Davis (tuba),
and Alexis Kroschel (bassoon).
Sabrina Ball (trumpet participated in the Meyer Music All-Star Band.
Olivet College All-Star Band participants: Naomi Cottrell (flute), Chloe
Poirier (tenor sax), Hannah Mort (French horn), and Eric Gorzynski
(euphonium).
BAND CONCERT DATES
December 9
December 15
HS (Jazz and Concert Band), 7 p.m.
5th grade-6 p.m., 6th grade-6:30 p.m., 7/8th grades-7 p.m.
All band concerts are in the HS auditorium
Winter Break begins at the end of
the day on December 18.
Students return on January 4.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS !!
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