Final Regular Week for Seniors

This week will be the final regular week for our seniors. They will take semester tests next Monday and Tuesday.  I would like to out line a few big events for everyone as we near the end of the year.

Tonight - WH Co-Ed track meet - H - 5:00 pm

Wednesday May 2nd  - Awards night - 7:00 pm

         This will predominately focus on the seniors, but younger students will also be honored.  Please encourage your students to attend.  It is good for our underclassmen to see all of the awards and scholarships that are available.

Saturday - May 5th. Our band and vocal will have their large group performances.  On Saturday night our Show Choir will have their concert at 7:00 pm.

Monday - May 7th NIC conference golf and track.

Wednesday - May 9th - Baccalaureate - 7:00 pm

Thursday - May 10th - District Track - Lake Mills

Sunday - Commencement - 2:00 pm

Please mark your calendars and make plans to attend these events. 


Once again our Prom went very well.  Thank you to all of our students, parents, and staff for making this a great night for our young people!

PROM 2012 "Autumn In New York"

Prom was a big success this year.  Our juniors did a great job.  Thanks to Mrs. DeHart and the junior sponsors for all of their hard work!  Thank you also to parents and students who put time and effort into making this a very special night!

Congratulations to our King and Queen Gerardo Ibarra and Carlee Christianson!

Some candid shots of the prom!



The Seniors

The Juniors

Financial Literacy

Our seniors all took a financial literacy test a few weeks ago.  This was a test given to seniors accross the nation to see how much they knew about personal finance and money management. Our students did very well. 

These students scored in the top 20% in the entire nation.

Brookelyn Savoy, Bandon Luppen, Marcy Mayland, Jamie Hartwig, Ben Kreitlow, Jason Verbrugge, Brian McGinnis, Vincent Wade, Michael Thill, Ryan Fedders, and Courtney Zadow
.


These students were the highest performers at West Hancock! Great job guys!

Brandon, Michael, Jamie

Disaster Drill

Today we had a disaster drill.  We worked with the local Emergency Services to show our staff and students what a car accident looks like and how that is handled.  Our students got to view the scene, the extraction, the arrest, and the aftermath at the hospital and police station.  Afterwards several people spoke about the consequences of drinking and driving or texting and driving or doing anything else that could distract a driver.  It was a very powerful assembly.  Please speak with your son or daughter about what they thought about it.  It never hurts to share your feelings about safe behavior with your children.  It also doesn't hurt to tell your loved ones how you feel. 

We decided to haver this as we head into prom weekend, but the lessons learned will hopefully be remembered for many years by all who were here today. 

Thanks to all of the organizations who were involved, our student actors, and Mrs. Schoenwetter for coordinating the event.  Thank you also to our speakers: Andy Bufffington, Pat Trulson,  and Sonny Bruns.  A big thank you to Darcy Eisenman and Joe Schmit who did a great job portraying the parents in our presentation.

Student actors: Emmorie, Colby, Kamille, Sam, Melissa, and Cory

Dan DeKreif - Bouncing off Guardrails

On Friday April 20th Dan DeKrief addressed our student body.  Dan was a 1992 graduate of West Hancock High School. He spoke about his life since leaving West Hancock.  He experienced a lot of highs and lows and wanted to share some of his experiences with our students.  He compiled his memoirs in a book entitled "Bouncing off Guardrails."  His speech took some high lights from his book.

He did a great job and had a lot of things to share with our students.  Ask your students about his speech.

Thank you to Dan for making the effort to come and address our students!

Report Cards - Iowa Assessments

Parents,

We will be sending two things home this week; report cards and Iowa Assessment data.  We will hand these out to students at lunch later this week.  Please ask your son or daughter to see these.  This year we have been going with electronic report cards, but with the Iowa Assessment data going home, we thought we would send report cards as well. 

The most recent grade is the Hex 5 grade.  As a reminder, the hex grades are cumulative from January on.  This grade is just an update on the progress they have made so far.  They can still bring this up by working hard and studying for their assessments (including semester tests).  I would encourage you to contact individual teachers if you have questions about your child's grades.

Iowa Assessment is the new test that replaced the ITEDS.  There are very simmilar but do have a different name.  Included with the Iowa Assessment data there will be some explanation of what everything means.  If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Clark in the guidance office.  One common misunderstanding is the percentile rank.  The percentile rank is not a percentage correct, it is where the student falls when compared with other students in the country or in Iowa.  If they are at the 50th percentile they are right in the middle.  The 40th percentile and below is used as a cut off for proficiency.  If they are above the 40th they are proficient, below the 40th would indicate they have some work to do.  Please take a look at these and discuss them with your child.

There is a teacher in-service this week and we will dismiss at 1:12 on Wednesday. 

This Friday we will have two big events.  In the morning former West Hancock student Dan DeKrief will address the students.  He has had a lot of varied experiences following graduation and would like to share some advice with our students.  His address will be from 8:33-9:33 on Friday.

Friday afternoon we will be heading out into the community for an advisor program dedicated to community service.  We will be doing community service for a variety of groups in Britt and Kanawha.  This is our way to say thank you to the communities for their support and show our students that volunteerism is a great habit to get started.   Those students that do not turn in their permission slips or refuse to participate will be placed in a silent study hall with no access to electronics. We hope to have 100% participation.

We will host our spring concert on Thursday April 19th.  It will be at 7:30 because there is a home junior high track meet that night.  Please make plans to attend and see our band and chorus students in action. 

Our high school golf and track teams remain very busy.  Good luck to all of them as they continue in their meets. 

Have a great week!

Weekly Schedule

Monday -  Senior Trip
                  Board Meeting - Britt - 7:00

Tuesday - Golf @ Lake Mills
                 Girls Track @ Garner Hayfield - 4:30
                 Boys Track @ Belmond Klemme - 5:00

Wednesday - 1:12 dismissal

Thursday - Spring Concert 7:30

Friday - Girls Track @ BK

Pickle Ball Championships

At West Hancock, Pickle Ball is one of our most popular events in PE class.  Mr. Peterson has the students compete in class tounaments at the end of the unit and then with other classes before school.  This Friday we played the school championships in front of the entire staff and student body.  We had three divisions.  In the girls final, Derica Jakoubek defeated Abby Pacca.  In the boys final Jon Burgardt defeated Josiah Eckels.  In the doubles division Jonny Eekhoff and Ryan Fedders defeated Gerardo Ibarra and Chris Schlueger.  Great job to all of our Pickle Ballers!

Individual champions Derica and Jon

Doubles Champions - Ryan and Jonny

Doubles runner ups Gerardo and Chris

Students of the Month - February and March

Melissa Miller and Paige Thompson were named our students of the month for February and March.  Congratulations to Melissa and Paige!

Brooke and Gerardo sign with Ellsworth

Brooke Heusinkveld and Gerardo Ibarra have signed with Ellsworth Community College to play basketball.  Brooke and Gerardo will begin classes this fall and be part of the women's and men's teams next winter.

Gerardo with his mother and borther.



Brooke with her mom and dad.

Good Luck Brroke and Gerardo!

April is here!

Parents,

April is here and so is the end of Hex five.  Its hard to believe but we are preparing to enter the final hex of the school year.  Grades will be turned in by teachers on Monday and report cards will be available soon after that.  I will let you know when Peg has them posted.  Please speak with your son or daughter this week and make sure they have everything turned in for their classes. 

There will be no school on Friday and an early out on Thursday. Have a great Easter weekend!

Mr. Recker

Weekly Schedule

 Monday – Co Ed Track – CWL at WH – 4:30

                       Drivers Ed

Tuesday – Boys Track @ Eagle Grove – 5:00

                      Drivers Ed

Wednesday –  Booster Club - 5:30

Thursday –    Boys Track @ Clarion – 5:00
                        1 hour dismissal
                        End of Hex 5

 Friday – No school

Battle of the Advisories!

On Friday we had the Battle of the Advisory groups!  This is our annual fun / team building activity for our advisory groups.  This year students played "minute to win it" games to earn points.  It was a fun day and we were able to focus on some unique skills such as team work and problem solving.  I willl be posting pictures when I get them.  Make sure to ask you student about how the day went.