Back to School Night provides opportunity to meet teachers, get information
Ms. Ferree explains class expectations to students and parents. Photo by Megan Weferling.
Returning to school can be exciting, stressful, and everything in between. New students may feel a little scared on the first day of school because everything is new: new teachers, new friends, and maybe even a new school. Luckily, these “new” worries only stick around for a little while.
On Aug. 8, AHS had its 2018-2019 Back to School Night in the gym. Students and parents learned about the school and the upcoming year from principal Mr. Neely, Vice Principals Mr. Allen and Dr. Madding, Activities Director Ms. Brard and Athletic Director Mr. DeRose. The four counselors and Ms. Proulx, the Wellness Center Director, were also present. After hearing about the exciting year AHS administrators want the AHS community to have, students were released to the classrooms so the parents could hear from the teachers about the class and expectations.
English teacher Ms. Farrior opened with a huge "thank you" to the people who came to support their students. She also discussed classroom rules, then asked her students to tell her anything she needed to know to teach them better. Ms. Farrior described her objectives as a teacher, which were to support students in their language skills and in finding success, and to have a safe environment for students to share their ideas and experiences. Additionally, she discussed the textbooks they would be using in class and classroom policies.
Mr. Bradley focused on describing the opportunities students have to learn technical and artistic skills using the technology and described the various projects that students will be working on such as the TV broadcast of the daily bulletin by Video Production students. Students in the Portfolio Development/Field Experience class have the opportunity to work with a mentor, Mr. Bacon, who is a creative director and interact with industry professionals regionally and nationwide.
Ms. Pink talked about how physics will be both a fun and a difficult class. Additionally, she wanted students to leave her class feeling like they see physics everywhere and to have the skills and knowledge to figure out "how stuff works." She said that physics is a class that emphasises not only the content, but also how to think about physics and to think like a scientist and be able to design and execute investigations.
Drama teacher Ms. Volpa said, "Creativity is the new currency for the 21st century. " Theater students learn to exhibit creativity in such areas as acting, design, playwriting and directing, What is exciting is that through this process they become confident, well spoken, and creative outside-of-the-box thinkers. Employers are not always aware that theater experience also helps students learn creative problem-solving techniques that are directly applicable to virtually any job they have. This offers an advantage to those with a performing arts background in a very competitive world.
Spanish teachers Ms. Banks talked about the topics they will be covering this year in Spanish 1 and Spanish 2, including a new online textbook for Spanish 1 and Google Classroom usage. Many other teachers such as Mr. Smith, Ms. Bell, Mr. Taber, and Ms. Medina discussed their teaching policies, standards the class will cover, and their grading scales.
Back to School Night at AHS was a fun way to learn about teachers, administrators and the school itself.