Shawnee High School Student Council, in partnership with the Oklahoma Blood Institute, is hosting a blood drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wed., Feb. 20, in the SHS Library Media Center.
Donors should use the east entrance of the high school.
To be eligible to donate blood, individuals must be healthy and
With the 2019-2020 school year in sight, the Shawnee Early Childhood Center is excited to announce the upcoming pre-kindergarten pre-enrollment registration. Students who enroll this year will benefit from a $40,000 Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust grant as well as an on-site health clinic.
Informational meetings regarding pre-K enrollment registration will be held at Shawnee Early Childhood Center, located at 1831 N Airport Dr., on Tues., Feb. 26 and Thurs., Feb. 28 at 5 p.m.
Additionally, Shawnee Public Schools is pleased to offer the opportunity for online enrollment with available computers in the enrollment center for those who do not have computer access in their homes. After filling out the online enrollment forms at registration.shawnee.k12.ok.us
The required documents for enrollment include the following: photo ID of parent or legal guardian, state-issued birth certificate, immunization record, proof of residence and all applicable legal documents.
The SPS Enrollment Center is open Monday and Wednesday from 8 a.m. to noon, Tuesday and Thursday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and closed on Friday. For more information and any questions regarding the pre-K pre-enrollment process of Shawnee Early Childhood Center, contact Shawnee Public Schools at (405) 214-7146.
Shawnee Public Schools will hold parent-teacher conferences Tues., Feb. 19, and Thurs., Feb. 21, at each school site. There will be no school on Fri., Feb. 22.
The times for conferences are as follows:
Shawnee Middle School will be using student-led conferences. With these conferences, the students share with their parents and teachers what they have learned and what goals they have set for their future. A brief video that demonstrates the student-led conference process is available here.
For more information about parent-teacher conferences, please contact the appropriate school site.
If you looked out across Janet Hopper’s third grade class at Horace Mann Elementary, you would see a lot of special and unique faces. There is one in particular that might catch your eye: a plush, smiling one. “Beary,” a 40-inch teddy bear, is the newest third grader at Horace Mann. He participates in everything that the class does. From lessons in the classroom to recess on the playground, Beary is involved and taken care of by the other third-grade students.
While in class, Beary sits in Maribel’s seat. Maribel is a third grader who recently had open-heart surgery and is receiving treatment from the Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City. In order to fully recover from her surgery, Maribel is attending Horace Mann on a part-time basis. That is where Beary comes in. Beary is a part of the Bear in the Chair program provided by the Children’s Hospital Foundation and Love’s Travel Stops.
Bear in the Chair is a program designed for patients aged 4-14 whose treatment requires them to be out of school, helping them to feel connected to their classmates and their classmates to them. Teachers are encouraged to take videos and pictures of the class interacting with the bear so that the patient is able to recognize the support system they have back at school. The hope is that by staying in contact with their teachers and friends, patients have a quicker recovery process and less trouble integrating back into the classroom.
Kalsey Rojo, a Kids Care Assistant at the Children’s Hospital Foundation, recently visited Ms. Hopper’s class to deliver Beary and answer any questions the students might have. In addition to the class’s reception of Beary, Maribel also received her own smaller version of Beary to go with her when Beary is at school.
Ms. Hopper’s third-grade class is patiently waiting for her recovery but until Maribel is able to return to school full-time, Beary will be there to provide the connection to her friends and teachers that is so vital to a healthy school experience.
To learn more about the Bear in the Chair program, visit www.chfkids.com/bear-in-the-chair.
Shawnee High School will hold a pre-AP/AP/Advanced Course parent meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Performing Arts Athletic Center Auditorium. This meeting is mandatory for parents of students who plan to enroll in any advanced coursework for the 2019-2020 school year. Parents will be given information on several changes to AP courses.
Contact the SHS counseling office for more information.
Use the link below for photos from the Teacher of the Year ceremony.
Shawnee Teacher of the Year 2019
Katie Thompson, kindergarten teacher from Shawnee Early Childhood Center, was announced as the Shawnee Public Schools 2019 Teacher of the Year during a banquet and ceremony Monday evening.
"I want to thank every adult in my life who has inspired me to teach and every child in my life who has motivated me to keep teaching," Thompson said during her acceptance speech.
"At this moment pictures of my current and former students’ faces are flashing in my mind. Not the paperwork and data I keep up with. Not the engaging lessons I plan or the aisles of Dollar Tree where I find myself on a weekly basis. But my students, my kids, are why I teach, and they are who I’m thinking about right now and usually every hour of the day," Thompson said.
Dr. April Grace, Shawnee superintendent, gave praise to all the Teacher of the Year nominees at the excellence they exhibit, noting that she was thankful she did not have to make the difficult decision of who would become Teacher of the Year for the district.
When speaking of Thompson, Grace said, "Katie is an outstanding educator and embodies every desirable quality we want in a teacher. She is someone who understands each child's unique circumstances, inspires hope and strives to give every child opportunities to succeed."
The announcement of Thompson's win capped an evening filled with student performances, speeches from school administrators and videos highlighting all the Teacher of the Year nominees. Jefferson Elementary music teacher Thresa Swadley led two of her cello students - SECC kindergartner Lily Timmons and Jefferson first grader Molly Newsom - in a brief performance. Shawnee High School's Show Choir, under direction from Justin Lee, performed two songs from "The Greatest Showman." Jayme Hutchcraft, the 2018 Shawnee Teacher of the Year who was unable to attend the ceremony, spoke to the audience through a pre-recorded video.
Grace noted the generosity from Shawnee businesses who contributed gifts and door prizes for the event and how thankful she is for the support the community gives Shawnee Public Schools.
Other Teacher of the Year nominees honored during the banquet and ceremony are
As the Shawnee Public Schools Teacher of the Year, Thompson is now eligible to compete for the 2020-2021 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year. Finalists for the statewide award will be announced in the summer of 2019.
Ron Arthur, assistant athletic director for Shawnee Public Schools, has earned the distinction of Certified Athletic Administrator from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
Both Arthur and Todd Boyer, SPS athletic director, completed the requirements for the designation this year.
To earn this distinction, Arthur has demonstrated the highest level of knowledge and expertise in the field of interscholastic athletic administration. The voluntary certification process included a thorough evaluation of the candidate's educational background, experience and professional contributions, as well as a rigorous, comprehensive written examination.
Arthur and Boyer join an elite group of interscholastic athletic administrators nationwide to attain this level of professionalism.
The NIAAA is a national professional organization consisting of all 50 state athletic administrator associations and more than 10,000 individual members. It is dedicated to promoting the professional growth of high school athletic administrators and preserving the educational nature of interscholastic athletics and the place of these programs in the secondary school curriculum.
Several Shawnee High School FFA students placed at the Central Area Livestock Show held recently.
Junior Keegan Carrera finished the weekend with the Grand Champion Limosine Heifer. He also placed second for Hampshire Lamb and third for Natural Lamb.
Kensington Kerbs, also a junior, finished with the Reserve Grand Champion Heifer.
Fellow junior Dassie May finished second and third place for Poland Barrow.
Another eleventh grader, Emmie Varselona, finished fourth place in Cross Lamb and sixth place in Natural Lamb.
Sophomore Langston Yort placed fifth in Duroc Barrow.
