HS/MS Principal’s Message - October/November 2009

            The staff and students at Antwerp Jr. / Sr. High School have been so busy with various activities that the first grading period has already come and gone.  Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before we know it bringing cooler temperatures and the possibility of difficult driving conditions.
On the topic of driving, student-driving to and from school continues to be an area of concern for school officials all around the country.  As we celebrated National Safe Teen Driving Week during October 19-23, school officials shared various statistics with the student body.  Among those statistics was data which stated that many student-related accidents are a result of excessive speed or a result of inappropriate cell-phone-use while operating a motor vehicle.  Most of these accidents could be avoided if students would just slow down and put the cell phone away.  Parental cooperation on these matters is desperately needed.  School officials can only do so much.  Parents: If your teenager is driving recklessly, take a stand and suspend his/her driving privileges for a period of time.  The inconvenience that this may cause you could be well worth the hassle on down the line.  Student-driving is everyone’s concern.  Be a part of making an improved difference.
            Concerning academics, the OGT fall testing season has just recently finished.  This involved a handful of junior and senior students.  We can expect the results for these tests back sometime in late December for seniors and in the middle of January for juniors.  All parents who have a student involved in the fall testing will receive correspondence from the school with your child’s results.  This year’s sophomores will have their first crack at the OGT in March of 2010.
            Turning to athletics, we have had another great fall sporting season with five of our six varsity teams finishing in third place or higher in the league standings.  Specifically, our volleyball team won another conference championship, going unbeaten in league play, while our boys’ cross country team finished as conference runners-up with Josh Hilton winning the boys’ race.  Our girls’ cross country team and both our boys’ and girls’ golf teams finished third in the conference.  In tournament play, our golf team was the sectional runners-up, which qualified them as a team to the district tournament for the first time since 1977.  Our volleyball team won the district tournament for the first time since 1993 and will compete for a regional championship at the Elida Fieldhouse.  Individually, juniors Josh Hilton and Dylan Crawford along with sophomore Elise Wetli participated in the regional C-C race with Josh narrowly missing the state tournament with a nineteenth place finish.  As you can tell, it’s been another highly-competitive fall sports season concerning Archer varsity athletics.
            Attention Junior Parents: Are you interested in helping with this year’s after-prom planning?  If so, contact Mrs. Judi Short or attend the next organizational meeting, which is scheduled for 6:30 on November 11 in the school’s home ec. room.  The prom is scheduled for May 1, and in order to have a successful after-prom it will be necessary for parents to step up and lead the way.  Please consider being an active parent and helping with the planning of the 2010 after-prom festivities.
We have several co-curricular events and meetings planned for our students and parents over the next few weeks.  Following, is a list of scheduled activities:

            If you have any questions concerning your child(ren) at Antwerp Jr. / Sr. High School, contact Mr. Arnold at the school (extension 2100).  You may also contact any of your children’s teachers directly through e-mail or by calling the school.  You will get the teachers’ voicemail messages, but our teachers will return your call.