Many students and Staffulty participated in the Spirit Week activities, attended the Powder Puff game and bonfire, and participated in the pregame Skull session and Tunnel of Pride! I appreciate the collaborative effort of our PTO and Football Moms for organizing the bonfire, Student Council for planning Spirit Week, and our Staffulty for supporting our students! Click here to learn more about NAHS Spirit Week!

October is Connected Educators Month and it’s a good opportunity for our Staffulty to expand their Professional Learning Network by connecting with other educators within and outside our district. At first glance, it may seem that it’s only about the tools and devices, but it’s actually about establishing professional connections and relationships with other educators and to remain current about relevant educational topics. It’s also about the learning process of sharing, exploring, questioning, and producing content. I have made efforts to model connected educator characteristics by subscribing to professional blogs, connecting with some of the top educational organizations on Twitter or liking them on Facebook, and participating in education chats via Twitter. Currently, about 30 members of the New Albany High School Staffulty use social media to expand their Professional Learning Network and it has positively impacted student learning because of the ideas and research curated from professional organizations!

Staff News
Please keep the Morlan family in your prayers as they mourn the loss of their sister-in-law. She passed away over the weekend after battling with pancreatic cancer.

Congratulations to Educational Aide Shannon Godinez who completed her first 10 K run on Sunday! She trained for nearly a year and not only finished without walking, but beat her goal by finishing in under an hour! We are so proud of her accomplishment!

Students As Learners
Congratulations to the following seniors for being named a Commended Scholar in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program! They earned this recognition for their outstanding performance on the PSAT last school year, which was a Selection Index Score of 201! They are among 34,000 students nationwide who earned this recognition.

Andrew Altschuld
Ruthie Lewis
Harper Loeb
Sam Malik
Shota Nemoto
Rana Odabas
Nathan Oehler
Brennen Rampton
Mehek Sheikh
Isabella Vendetti
Michael Zaper

Congratulations to the newest members of the NAHS Troupe 6596 International Thespian Society! To become a member of the International Thespian Society, students must have 100+ hours of quality work in the theatre arts and related disciplines. Other distinctions are based on students’ grade point averages and additional hours in theatre arts and related disciplines. Following is the list ITS members and their special designation:

Abigail Bartlson- Honor Thespian
Linder Bozeman-Thespian
Jessica Flowers- Thespian
Bryanna Heaton-Honor Thespian (2015 graduate)
Ashley Keaney- Honor Thespian
Melody Menefied- Honor Thespian (2015 graduate)
Jessica Metcalf-Honor Thespian (2015 graduate)
Juhno Moon- National Honor Thespian
Mehek Sheikh- Honor Thespian
Alaina Stout- Honor Thespian
Sophie Tobin- Thespian
Alexis Wafer- Honor Thespian
Maci Bingman- Thespian
Jordan Burckard- Thespian
Alexandra Nowicki-Thespian (2015 graduate)
Miley Simmons-Thespian (2015 graduate)
Colin Sproule-Thespian
Katherine Trybus-Thespian
Ana Vertjanova- Thespian
Isabel Bagley-Thespian (2015 graduate)
Josh Billings- Thespian
Jackson Hill-Thespian
Nikolas Kasper- Thespian (2015 graduate)
Jacob Mangia- Thespian (2015 graduate)
Natalie Meilen- Thespian
Zachary Poje- Thespian
Hannah Price-Thespian
Mikaela Ray- Thespian
David Schaffer- Thespian
Justis Shaw- Thespian
Ethan Fox- Thespian (2015 graduate)
Daniel Luther- Thespian (2015 graduate)
Ava Rigelhaupt- Thespian (2015 graduate)
Parker Schuppenhauer- Thespian (2015 graduate)
Natalie Wotring- Thespian (2015 graduate)

We continue to explore rigor as it relates to the level of thinking that is required to complete specific tasks. At our last Faculty meeting, I asked teachers to jot down a current Quadrant D lesson activity or one they would consider assigning to students in the coming weeks. To review the list of activities click here. Our next steps are to discuss why these are Quadrant D activities and suggest ways to make improvements if necessary. It’s been a challenging, yet rewarding process as we collectively examine instructional practices!

Upcoming Events
Saturday, October 9th- SAT at NAHS
Monday, October 12th- Mariel Hemingway Presentation 1:00 PM at the McCoy
Wednesday, October 14th- ACT Aspire/PSAT
Friday, October 16th- No School

Article Worth Reading
Declining Student Resilience: A Serious Problem for Colleges

Be Great,

Dwight