Lassiter’s Liberator

Week beginning October 1, 2007

What’s up, friends? Did you look at your calendar today? Can you believe that it’s OCTOBER already? It seems like the first day of school was just yesterday, and here we are preparing for MID-TERM EXAMS! It has been a good year thus far, with a general observation being that our students seem to understand and accept some expectations and changes that we have made in our school to help keep us moving in the right direction.

The biggest goal for our school this year is centered on academic excellence and improvement. Sure, our school was recognized for making academic growth goals for the 2006-2007 school year, but we believe that we are capable of so much more. We have set forth the following goals:

A minimum proficiency of 50% proficiency on the North Carolina Writing Test for Grade 10
A minimum proficiency of 70% proficiency on the North Carolina EOC’s
The fulfillment of Adequate Yearly Progress under No Child Left Behind

How do we intend to do this?

First, the writing test.

During our September School Leadership/Improvement Team Meeting, the leadership team agreed that our school needed to dedicate one day per month to an aggressive and ambitious writing program entitled “Drop Everything and Write!” Each month, our English department will help to develop a writing prompt that our students will respond to that will allow them to display their creative, expository, or persuasive writing skills. A suggestion on the table for the prompts is for our students to write about our monthly Character Education traits, which are:

October: Responsibility
November: Integrity
December: Selflessness
January: Honesty
February: Perseverance
March: Commitment
April: Courage
May: Self-discipline

Each time I walk into a classroom, I try to engage the students in some debate/dialogue about something that they’re learning. I am very impressed with their verbalization of their feelings, so I’ve challenged some of them to put their feelings, ideas, and opinions on paper. We may even find a journalist, lawyer, or lobbyist among our student body if we keep this up!

Next, the EOC proficiency.

The core (English, Math, Social Studies, and Science) academic areas worked very diligently and effectively over the summer and thus far this year in developing pacing guides and dynamite lesson plans that are 100% aligned to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. Now, the thinking is this: If teachers are teaching material that test data tell us will be covered on the “Big 11,” which are English 1, NC Writing, Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Biology, Chemistry, Physical Science, Physics, Civics and Economics, and United States History in a manner that encourages higher order thinking and problem solving skills, then our students should perform well. To take it a step further, there is a periodic assessment strategy that we’ll use in the form of common assessments for each subject, the Mid-Term Examinations (October 25 and 26 which count for TWO TEST GRADES), and preliminary final assessments to be given one week prior to the actual final exams.

Finally, AYP.

We have missed our AYP targets in certain subgroups because of proficiency and in others because fewer than the required 95 percent tested requirement was met in some subgroups. To lessen the likelihood of this error from occurring, frequent “test builds,” or rosters of enrolled students at Southern Lee High School will be generated for us to cross-reference to identify students who are on test rosters against students who are actually enrolled in our school. It is possible for a student’s name to appear on a test roster, but who no longer is in our school. Such is the case in a transfer between SLHS and LCHS, or in the case of a long-term suspension.

We have had lots of achievement at Southern Lee during the past few weeks, with the most notable coming from two groups who have earned quite a reputation for themselves. First, the Southern Lee Sound Machine Did Their Thing AGAIN, as we participated as a 1A class band along with North Stanly and Hopewell at the Albemarle Band Competition.

At the awards ceremony,

Drum Majors Doris Clark and Jamal Gardner

Senior Band Members – Jennifer Nance, Mary Stevens, Adam Akers, Tiffany Hudson,

Jordan Carter, Staci Love, Bhumi Patel and Kellan Overton

were there to accept the awards with Band Director Matt Miller.

Southern Lee walked away with 8 trophies:

First place in Flags

First place in Percussion

First place in General Effect

First place in Marching and Maneuvers

First place in Music

Second place in Drum Majors

First place in Class 1A overall

Also a trophy for an excellent rating

There was a great crowd of happy and excited parents to celebrate with The Sound Machine from Southern Lee High School!

It was a super day for all that made the trip.

Cav PRIDE…YOU KNOW!

Then, Our JROTC Raider Team also gets some love! They took 14 to Raider Competition at Western Harnett; we won 2d place overall and 1st in Physical training! For those who do not know who these youngsters are, they are the ones you see running around campus/Southern Lee County after the school day ends. They have a sincere interest in the military as a career, and they’ve done a good job with this Raider program since we’ve been here!

This week in Cavalier Athletics features our soccer team at home MONDAY vs. Union Pines, Tennis at home MONDAY vs. Harnett Central, Volleyball at home THURSDAY vs. Harnett Central, and Varsity Football at home FRIDAY vs. South Johnston. Come out and support YOUR Cavaliers!

The Cavalier Word for the Week is: TERSE. There are occasions when I issue some very terse statements to our student body when they fail to meet the academic, behavioral, and social standards of excellence expected and required of all students in our school!

Well, that’s it for this edition. Thanks for your support thus far this year, and DON’T FORGET that we’re getting back together for another PTSO chat in November! Watch for specific dates and topics of discussion coming SOON in another Lassiter’s Liberator!

HDL

Week beginning September 24, 2007!

Good Monday morning, EVERYONE! Welcome to Spirit Week/Homecoming 2007 at Southern Lee High School! We have lots of fun activities that your students developed to keep energy and spirits high this week as we welcome our varsity football team home after a 3 consecutive road games. We also have a lot going on at Southern Lee this week, so buckle up and enjoy the ride!

We’ve been talking A LOT about character education and the development of character and citizenship in some of our students. As most of you know, we begin each day with the Pledge of Allegiance, which is required under North Carolina law. The law has provisions for students who do not wish to participate, and that’s cool, but some of the ones who do not participate aren’t participating not because of conscientious objection, but because they don’t feel a part of what our priorities are as a nation, state, city, or even school. We have to do a better job of helping our students take ownership and responsibility for their school, its appearance, effectiveness, routine, and environment.

To this end, we will begin our character education initiative on Monday, October 1, 2007, with a “Character Trait of the Month” featured in our school, along with activities designed to encourage our students and staff to display those traits. The character traits we will cover this year are:

October: Responsibility
November: Integrity
December: Selflessness
January: Honesty
February: Perseverance
March: Commitment
April: Courage
May: Self-discipline

We are also hosting Mr. Randy Hogue on Monday morning at 10 a.m. in our main gym. Mr. Hogue will speak to students at several Lee County school sites this week, and he was gracious enough to speak with our students and staff first, recognizing that this is Spirit/Homecoming Week, and our kids’ focus may be elsewhere if he were to wait until mid-week to come. If you would like some information on our speaker, please visit www.randyhogueministries.tripod.com.

If you come to school sometime during the week, do not be alarmed at how our students may look. Our students and staff will be dressed in character, and this week should prove to be a lot of fun, as our week will culminate in a Spirit Assembly on Friday, as we unveil our new dance team, our step teams, receive performances from our Sound Machine and flag girls, and introduce our fall sports teams. We will host the Vikings of Union Pines at 7:30 that evening, crown our homecoming princesses and queens at halftime, and offer a dance to our students and their guests from 10 p.m. until 1:00 a.m.

In line with our dance, the Student Government Association and I request and need your assistance with dance supervision. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO WORK AS A CHAPERONE/SET OF EYES AND EARS/ADULT PRESENCE, please call Mrs. Lashonda Mellette at 718-2400, OR e-mail her at lmellette@mac.com. We need adult volunteers for our dance to ensure a GRAND TIME can be had by ALL!

I also have applications for the Junior Miss Lee County Fair (grades 9-10), the Miss Lee County Fair Pageant (grades 11-12), and the new Mr. Lee Regional Fair Pageant (males, grades 9-12). If you believe your student would be interested, please have them visit the main office to pick up an information packet.

I am also desirous of hosting you to come into our building to walk the halls with us, visit classrooms, serve as volunteer dining hall/corridor monitors, and observe instruction. PLEASE, come check us out. Simply come into the main office, ask for me or an available administrator. We’ll sign you in as a guest, give you a complete tour of the school, and sit and chat with you about how you can assist us with the attainment of our educational, supervisory, safety, and school climate goals. If you wish, call or e-mail me, and I’ll hit you back!

Well, before I go, the last blog discussed our next PTSO/Parental Involvement Initiative. We are looking to host you in November. This will give us enough time to plan the parent workshops and forums designed to inform and engage you and your student in the school process. If you can’t wait for November to roll around and wish to come NOW, please, by all means, participate in our volunteer program and walk those halls with me!

Be cool, and as always, we thank you for your interest and support of the Southern Lee High School program!

Until next time,

HDL

Week beginning September 17, 2007

GREAT Monday morning to EVERYONE out there in CYBER-land! How are you doing this fine day? I hope all is well with you and yours, and I am truly grateful, glad, thankful, and happy that you’ve visited www.southernleecavs.com and checked out another edition of The Liberator! The past 7 days have been absolutely FABULOUS for us on all fronts, and I will report to you on a variety of topics, ranging from our academics, athletics, band, extracurricular activities, and things that are COMING that affect the Southern Lee family!

I had the wonderful opportunity to do some traveling on behalf of our school system during the past week, with my first stop being in Durham, North Carolina for the Graduation Project conference. The Graduation Project, also known in some circles as the Senior Project, was adopted as a statewide initiative for total adoption and implementation for all high schools beginning with the graduating class of 2010. This means that this year’s current sophomores must, along with the current requirement that they score a level 3 or higher on the “Big Five” EOC’s (Algebra 1, Biology, Civics and Economics, English 9, United States History) complete a Graduation Project that consists of:
1. An 8-10 page research paper on an approved topic using MLA style
2. A portfolio of student work that chronicles research/work/performance efforts in the approved topic
3. A tangible product that shows proof of mastery in the approved topic and
4. A presentation using technology such as Power Point before a panel of judges who represent the field of the approved topic.
Each portion of the Graduation Project is scored on a rubric, and the student must earn a minimum score of 3.0 for the offering to be considered proficient. The student must wait until the summer of their upcoming senior year to propose their topic of interest to the Graduation Project committee who will in turn approve it to allow the student to begin their plan of work.
Southern Lee High School is ahead of schedule in terms of implementation of the Graduation Project, as we have coached our sophomores on this requirement, and it is a requirement in English 9 and English 10 classes for students to select a topic of interest for research, write a 5-8 page research paper, and present this research paper to their peers in presentation format during their English classes. The students also keep a chronically-organized notebook that is periodically checked by the teacher.

Switching gears, Southern Lee hosted the third-annual “Sneak Preview” of the Southern Lee High School Sound Machine on Tuesday, September 11! The band, led by Matt Miller and Drum Majors Doris Clark and Jamal Gardner performed a few of their field and show tunes to a delighted audience. The band then did an outstanding job on Saturday evening at the Brick City Classic in tandem with LCHS (more on that later!).

Our first PTSO gathering of the year was held on Wednesday, September 12, and although I was hoping for a larger turnout, we were VERY ELATED to host the parents and visitors who came! We had a grand time, as we discussed the following topics:
1. What does AYP mean?
2. Southern Lee “met growth.” Should we be happy?
3. What is up with the writing scores for 10th graders? What’s going on with the test and why aren’t kids doing well?
4. There are diploma pathways? What are those and which one is my child on?
5. I want to walk the halls and sit in my child’s classrooms to monitor instruction to see if we’re getting a quality education. Can I do this?
6. We heard that there are gangs in schools. Are there? And if so, what are YOU (Southern Lee) doing to stop them?
Our staff answered ALL of these questions and then some! When it was over, representatives from our Student Services Office, various academic departments, administration, and the Athletic Booster Club were on hand to chat with parents and students, and answer any other questions that were raised.

IF YOU MISSED the September 12 meeting, don’t worry. We want to make this a monthly event so we can continue to have clear and positive communications with our school community. IN THE NEXT LIBERATOR, I will announce the date and time of our NEXT PTSO gathering, which will feature presentations from school personnel on a variety of topics!

TODAY-September 17-marks the day that your student will bring home their first set of academic progress reports so that you will be able to know where your student stands academically after the first three weeks of instruction. We provide students with progress reports every three weeks, so that there are no surprises about their academic standing. When your student comes home from school this week, please ask for these progress reports. IF HE/SHE SAYS “I DIDN’T GET ONE,” call your child’s teacher at 718-2400, or send them an electronic communication. Just visit www.southernleecavs.com and check out our faculty e-mail directory and send them a note to clarify what’s up!

We are also doing something exciting today. Our students are reporting to their Homeroom/Advisory section, and our seniors will receive an updated record of where they stand academically, detailing the number of credits they’ve earned toward graduation, how their name will appear on their diploma, and when their appointment date and time is to meet with one of us to discuss their plan of work to complete high school and to take any and all standardized assessments that will enable them to transition from high school to the next cycle of their lives, be it college, work, military, or trade/industrial school. We’re very excited about this initiative, and just as we enjoyed a high rate of success of graduating our seniors in 2007, it is our goal for 100% of our graduating seniors in 2008 to have a clear plan to success after life at Southern Lee!

BIG UPS to our Athletic Teams! Give them a CYBER HUG for the great job they’ve been doing thus far! The following athletic teams are competing and faring well thus far:
• JV and Varsity Men’s Soccer-Varsity team is currently in 2nd place in the Cape Fear Valley Conference!
• Women’s Tennis-Very competitive team led by Kirsten Carlberg and Amanda Dowd!
• Men’s and Women’s Cross Country-led by Addison Johnson and Keely Wood doing VERY well in CFV competition!
• Women’s Golf-Karli Heimbecker and Taylor Frazier are leading the way for the Lady Cavaliers on the Links!
• JV and Varsity Football-The program opens conference play this week vs. the Triton Hawks!
• JV and Varsity Volleyball-Picked up BIG WINS vs. Overhills last week and have some POSITIVE MOMENTUM!
Please continue to support Cavalier Athletics by coming out to the games!

Lastly, I enjoyed seeing you Friday and Saturday at the attempted and successful Brick City Classic Game. The Cavaliers did an absolutely fantastic job in avenging last year’s loss by bringing “The Brick” home to Tramway Road behind a total team effort featuring 450 yards of total offense and a defense that gave up only 241 total yards to LCHS! The Sanford Herald will help to coordinate and orchestrate the awarding of “The Brick” at a ceremony to be held at Southern Lee on Monday, probably during lunchtime OR during football practice. Please visit www.southernleecavs.com to check out pics from this event!

Well, that’s about it for this edition! I’m looking forward to chatting with you/checking you out on a visit to Southern Lee. If you see a car parked in the principal’s parking space during the day, that means I’m here, and if I’m not in the halls or in classrooms, I’d love to host you!

Be cool, and I’ll see YOU on the halls!

HDL

Week beginning September 10!

Good Sunday evening, friends in Education! I am writing live from the lovely city of Greensboro, North Carolina, where I am attending a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Conference! Southern Lee will host a SACS Peer Review Visit during the 2008-09 school year, where the Southern Association will examine our student achievement data, survey data from staff, students, and parents, as well as spending some time with us observing our operations to decide to award re-accreditation. We are very excited that our school, our students, our staff, and our process will be on spotlight, and I will be even more excited when we receive a favorable recommendation from SACS when their visit is over!

It was a good week at Southern Lee, with the highlight being the revelation that our school had met expected academic growth under the ABC’s testing model (ABC stands for Accountability, Basic education skills, and local Control). Under the model, Southern Lee met expected growth and with a 57.4% composite, is a priority school, meaning we will have to redesign some aspects of our academic program. We have already done this by:

Offering certain academic classes to certain students for 36 weeks instead of 18.
Redesigning the master schedule and the assignment of classes to teachers.
Encouraging more students to take challenging honors-level, advanced placement, and online classes.
Hiring some dynamic instructional staff who have a high-level of expertise in their assigned subject matter and effective instructional strategies.

I am also very excited about hosting YOU on Wednesday night, September 12 in our main gym at our PTSO Rally! We will discuss a variety of topics that are designed to improve home/school relations, as well letting our students know that their parents/guardians are a partner in the educational process. Among some of the topics we’ll discuss:

Senior matriculation
The registration process
The Graduation Project
Promotion Standards
North Carolina High School Diploma Pathways
SAT/ACT testing and registration
NCAA Clearinghouse
Athletic Booster Club membership
Volunteerism efforts
www.southernleecavs.com

I also wish to invite you to attend the third annual Southern Lee High School Marching Cavaliers Band Preview. Mr. Miller will unveil the third edition of the “Southern Lee Sound Machine” on Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. For more information, please call Mr. Miller at 718-2400!

We are also proud to have Mr. Randy Hogue with us on Monday, September 24 at 10:00 a.m. in our gymnasium. Mr. Hogue is a nationally-recognized evangelist and motivational speaker, and he will take time with our students on that day to encourage them to do the absolute best that they can do in spite of whatever obstacles stand before them. As always, I invite YOU to come, too!

Until next time,

HDL

Man, what a GREAT WEEK TO BE A CAVALIER! The first instructional week of the 2007-2008 school year is officially “in the books,” and I must report that it was a pretty good one! On our first day of school on August 27, we welcomed 1,111 students into Cavalier Country, and by the end of the week, that number had grown to 1,147! We have 1,209 enrolled, and I fully expect to see a new wave of students to arrive after Labor Day. For some reason, probably related to academic calendars in northern states where the year does not begin until after Labor Day, schools across our region experience a surge in enrollments/first day appearances of a large number of students. I do not expect anything to be different at Southern Lee.

I think the biggest accomplishment that we had on week one is that, for the most part, all of our students knew where they needed to be and that they had, for the most part, a slate of classes that complimented what they had registered for. In some cases, course selections had to be altered because of the following reasons:
Class sizes were in the mid-30 to upper-30’s in some cases!
Some students were enrolled in Career and Technical Education courses who were not in that particular pathway (see a later section for a detailed summary).
Some students found, after consulting with their counselor and parent, that they were registered for courses that they did not need for promotion/graduation, and schedule adjustments were made accordingly.
Schedule changes continued to occur well into the evening on Friday, August 31, and we expect, with the exception of a few rare cases, that students are where they need to be to fulfill their individual course of study.

On another front, a major “blip on the screen” was our traffic pattern that we experimented with to make entry and exit into and out of our school easier and safer for everyone. If your student drives to school or if you have elected to bring them/pick them up to/from Southern Lee, both the Hickory House Road and Tramway Road entryways and exits are open with the following flow:

If you enter off of Hickory House, you continue to the traffic circle and drop your student off and exit using the service road leading to Tramway Road.

If you enter off of Tramway Road, you will turn right in front of the building, drop your student off at the designated drop off point, and continue to exit at the Hickory House exit.

We found this to be very accommodating, and it made for a VERY smooth week of school and safe movement into and out of our building as we operate around the construction of the new SanLee Middle School.

Now for the fun part…You have heard about some relatively ambitious instructional and climate goals for our school, and I am pleased to announce a couple of things:

First: On Wednesday evening, September 12 at 6:00 p.m. in our main gymnasium, we will host another Parent/Teacher/Student Organization Rally for our school. Research is available suggesting that high schools (or any school for that matter) with high levels of school-home communication and effective parental involvement experience high levels of academic/instructional-professional climate achievement. At our PTSO rally, we will have information available regarding:
Graduation/promotion requirements.
Effective home/school relationship building.
Information about the various academic pathways and what students and parents should know when registering for classes.
Information for parents of graduating seniors about “what’s next” for their students.
A tour of our building and if time allows, our grounds and facilities.
Information about how parents can stay “in the loop” about what’s going on at Southern Lee, how they can help, and what to do when they wish to volunteer their time and experiences.
Meet and establish relationships with Southern Lee High School administrators, counselors, teachers, and staff.
Representatives from our Athletic Booster Club will be available to share information about membership and how you can support Cavalier Athletics!

Letters of invitation will go home with students in English and Spanish on Thursday, September 6, so when your student comes home, simply hold out your hand! I hope to see you there!

Speaking of frequent communication (another goal for our school), you can expect the first round of progress reports to come home on Monday, September 17. These progress reports are itemized and will give you and your student an idea of what their grade would be if that date were the last day of the grading period. You and your student will receive progress reports every 3 weeks, inclusive of interim reports, also known as Report Cards.

Again, it was a good first week of instruction at Southern Lee, and with your help, involvement, and pushing your child to excel higher, it will be a great year! It is important to all of us that our students are provided with opportunities that will challenge them, and it is of equal importance that you and they know what courses they need for promotion/graduation/post-secondary opportunities if they are on the College/University Pathway, the College Tech-Prep Pathway, the Career Prep Pathway, or the Occupational Course of Study. Together, we will “get it right” and ensure success for our students!

I will leave you with a new thing that we have at Southern Lee that it designed to enhance critical thinking skills and to help our students with developing an opinion and developing their writing skills entitled “What Does It Mean?” “What Does It Mean” is the last entry on the weekly teacher newsletter our administration publishes, and teachers in certain academic areas put the thought on the board and teachers use it as their “Sponge Activity” or “Bell Ringer Activity.” Students will either share their opinions about what it means verbally, OR they’ll put their thoughts in writing in their daily journal. My challenge to you is to sit with your student and ask them what they think the statement means and listen to your student as they develop a mature philosophy about things.

If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, instead of going over to greener pastures, put some fertilizer and seed on your own.”

Until next time,

HDL