"Poetry Out Loud" at LSHS

Poetry Out Loud is a spoken word competition where students recite famous poems in front of an audience. The competition goes all the way to the National level, with state finalists getting an all-expense paid trip to Washington, DC! What a great way to hone memory and public speaking skills! The spoken word tradition goes back at least 3,000 years when ancient epics were recited around a campfire, becoming the core stories of our culture. These days, our poetry comes to us through earbuds, alive and well as ever.

At LSHS we will give our entire student body the chance to compete, in their classes or by auditioning with one of the following teachers:

  - 9th Grade: Ms. Shirk (except for Mr. Plaster's students)
  - 10th Grade: Ms. Lyons
  - 11th Grade: Ms. Goodson
  - 12th Grade: Ms. Poole
  - JROTC: Col. Padial and Sgt. Dumas

Within the next few weeks, students should prepare for the competition. Finalists from each of the above categories will progress to the Our school-wide competition on December 13. At the school-level contest, students need to be ready to recite TWO poems.

An interest meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 1 after school in Ms. Shirk's room (for 9th and 10th graders), and Ms. Poole's room (for 11th and 12th graders). Other practice sessions will be held as we proceed.

Students pick poems from this approved list -- >> http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poems-and-performance/find-poems. More information about the competition can also be found at this site.

Please see Mr. Plaster for more information.

Here is a study guide to assist with the project: CLICK HERE

Story About Racism

This is a true story it actually happened I was there. On British Airways flight FR112 from Johannesburg, a rich, middle-aged white woman from South Africa was on the plane. She was running up and down the aisles she was that rich, and if people said stop she would give them money and say "now do I have to stop?" and then she'd keep on doing it. When the plane was about to take off she sat down in her seat and was immediately disgusted because she was sitting next to a black man.

"Stewardess, bleeeuurrrgghh," she wailed to the stewardess. "Stewardess there's a black man, bleeeuuurgh I'm going to be sick, this is repulsive euuurrrggghhh." She kept making vomiting noises and pointing at the black man though she wasn't vomiting. The black man was getting a bit embarrassed. The stewardess came over to the woman and asked what was wrong.

"You put me next to a black man, bleeeuuuurrghhh, that is so euuurrrghhhhh. I can't believe this," she complained and complained.

"Oh, I'll see what I can do!" enthused the stewardess as she scurried up the plane and behind a curtain. After a moment she came back and said, "I'm soooooo sorry, but there are no more seats in economy, but there's a seat in first class." The rich woman's eyes lit up. First class was her kind of thing. The stewardess continued talking, "it's really rare that we allow this sort of thing, but we think it's completely unfair that you have to sit next to such an obnoxious human being."

"So that is why," the stewardess went on, "WE ARE GIVING THE SEAT TO THE BLACK MANbecause you (the woman) are the obnoxious human being I was talking about."

The black man stood up and bowed to the rest of the plane, who were now giving a standing ovation to the black man. "Three cheers!" they shouted. "Hip hip! Hooray! Hip hip! Hooray! Hip hip! Hooray!" And with that the black man went to first class, and on his seat there was a gift. He opened it. It was a letter. It said "SORRY ABOUT RACISM."

The End.

Intro. to English - Newsletter One

Hello Parents!

I am one of your child's teachers for "Introduction to English." This year, we are trying an innovative new approach for many of our freshmen. Our goal is to give them a dramatic, significant boost in their reading skills to make them more successful in high school and in their lives beyond.

For first and second periods, Ms. Poole and I have our students for half the period each day, and then we switch. During third period, Ms. Shirk and I do the same thing with our classes. As a result, I get to teach all 110 of the students who have yearlong English at our high school. That is an overwhelming responsibility, and I do not take it lightly.

I can hardly contain my excitement when I tell you that things are going extremely well so far! My "mantra" that is guiding my instruction is that every day, students in my class will Read, Write, Speak, and THINK!

Ms. Poole, Ms. Shirk and I are coordinating our efforts so that our lessons go hand-in-hand to give your child the best possible education in the area of language arts. This first 90-day semester is centered around foundational skills in reading and writing fluency, grammar instruction, vocabulary development, research and analysis, and study skills. Ms. Poole has lined up an array of guest speakers this unit to broaden our students' awareness of career opportunities. Our aim is that they set some goals to guide their education here at LSHS.

We want to keep communication lines open, so we are available if you should ever have any questions. You can email us at splaster@lexcs.org, dapoole@lexcs.org, or ashirk@lexcs.org, or call the school at 336-242-1574. If you're receiving this newsletter on paper and would like to get it directly in your "inbox," you can go to my website at http://mrplastersclass.com and sign up. Just find the box that says "Get Email Updates."

Again, let's all stand behind our children as they enter this new chapter in their lives. High school is a time for them to get and stay on the right track academically. We have a strong team of teachers and staff at our high school who are working together to help make that reality happen for our children.

Sincerely,

Scott Plaster
Reading Specialist
Lexington Senior High School

Tuesday's Lesson: All About You

Here are some resources that might be useful for our class on Tuesday:

1. 35 Things that make you Unique
2. Interesting: You are One in a Ten Billion!! READ

Our Vocabulary List One:

1) civ-ic A- Having to do with the city, like a public place;

(adjective) OR – having to do with our duties as citizens

B-We went to the civic center to watch the play.

C- It is a part of our __________ responsibility to vote.

2) mu-nic-i-pal A- similar to “civic”

(adjective) B- We played at the public, municipal golf course.

C- The ______________ building downtown is closed on holidays.

3) gov-ern-ment A- A group of people who make laws and control a place (country or city)

(adjective or noun) B- My brother has a government job for the city.

C- ____________________________________________________

4) e-lec-ted of-fi-cial A- a person we vote for, like the mayor, governor, or school board

B- It is the duty of our elected officials to serve the public.

C-

5-7) <---du-ty------------ob-lig-a-tion------------------re-spon-sib-il-i-ty--------->

A- A “duty” is something that you have naturally, like your duty as a citizen. An “obligation” is something “acquired,” like if you owe something because of a choice you made. You need to do a “duty” and it is usually something positive. An “obligation” is sometimes something someone TELLS you to do.

B- A responsibility is something that you may or may not do. A duty is something that you feel that you ALWAYS have to do. A person may have many responsibilities, and you usually do your best to fulfill them.

List some examples of “duties”: _________________________________________________

List some examples of “responsibilities”: _____________________________________________

8) en-tre-pre-neur (noun) A- someone who invests money in a business to make more money

entrepreneurial (adjective) B-One of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time is Donald Trump.

C- _______________________________________________________

9) bus-in-ess Uses: He is a successful business man.

The new store is now open for business.

That information is none of your business.

What do you think “business” means? ____________________________________________

10-23) hope, dream, goal, as-pir-a-tion, to “aspire to”,

What is the difference between a “dream” and a “goal” ?

___________________________________________________________

Synonym set A (nouns): aim, am-bit-ion, vo-ca-tion, en-deav-or, in-clin-a-tion, ob-jec-tive

Synonym set B (nouns): hope, dream, urge, yearn-ing, long-ing, pas-sion

Try some:

One ___________________ of mine is to become a ____________________.

What is the difference between Set A and Set B above?

___________________________________________________________

24-25) <<<---job----------car-eer-------------------vo-ca-tion------>>

What is the difference between these three?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Welcome, Students and Parents!

Welcome and Hello!

We're starting a brand new school year and I'm excited to be here for another year at Lexington Senior High School. So many things have changed for my school year: I just officially moved to the town of Lexington, I changed classrooms from the blue hall to the annex, I am now serving as the English department Chair, and Ms. Poole and I are starting a new program with Freshman English -- so many changes and all of them exciting!

Please check out the links above to learn about my Introduction to English classes, the Chess Club, and Scholastic competition at LSHS.

Let's have a great year this year at LSHS as we MAKE HISTORY!

---Mr. Plaster

Parent Letter for English I

Parents:

Your son or daughter is in my "English I" class this semester. I am excited about the new semester and I know that you are, too. I am proud to be teaching at Lexington Senior High School and have high expectations and goals for the class and for your child.

Most students in my classes were also selected to be in an Introduction to English class last semester based on their performance on the EOG and other tests and how they did in their past English classes. Students in Introduction to English had that first semester to prepare them for English I this Spring, and they should now be as ready as the rest of their classmates.

Please review the Course Syllabus with your child, which I have discussed with the class. I would like you to review it, particularly to note 1) class rules, 2) the types of assignments students will be given, and 3) the materials needed for class.

I have a class website that will be a very useful tool to help us communicate about class, post assignments and reminders, and use to link to learning resources.

I also wanted you to know that I believe in communicating regularly with the parents of my students. An easy way for me to do that is through e-mail, so if you are reading this online, please go to my home page and submit your email address on the right hand side under "Get Email Updates." That way, you will get automatic email updates when I add something to the website.

This is my eighth year as a public school teacher and my fourth at LSHS. You can read more about me and my background on my About page at http://mrplastersclass.blogspot.com/p/about-mr-plaster.html.

If there is anything I can do to be of assistance, please let me know. Don’t hesitate to contact me at school (336.242.1574) or e-mail at splaster@lexcs.org. Please sign and return this letter with your child by Monday, January 28. Alternately, you can email me to let me know that you have received this information.


Sincerely,

S. Plaster

Parent Email Address:

Parent Signature:

Student Name:

Varsity Club Peer Mentor Program Celebrates Year of Success

Near the beginning of the school year at Lexington Senior High School, it all started with an idea by Evan McIntosh and his father, football great Joe McIntosh. Wouldn't it be nice to have a program where athletes could help athletes do better in the classroom, tutoring them in their coursework but also serving as role models and mentors? Teacher, baseball coach, and literacy coach Scott Plaster agreed, and he and Evan quickly put the plan into action. The group aptly named the Varsity Club recently celebrated its first year of success by attending a semi-professional baseball game in Kannapolis Saturday night.

The Varsity Club met weekly during the last part of 2nd period during the school year. Plaster paired struggling students with high-achieving mentors in different subject areas. Sometimes the group met to focus on topics such as study schools, time management, and the qualities of a top student athlete. Plaster contends, "The same qualities that apply to top athletes on the field and court are the same characteristics that make students excel in the classroom. Hard work, determination, preparation, and mental focus are aspects we want to nurture in all students. If we can successfully tie those traits together in and out of the classroom, we should be able to make a marked impact on our school climate."

Plaster says that part of the battle is remedying negative stereotypes that some people may have of athletes as not being as capable in the classroom. "That's simply not true. I've always said that athletes make the best students, and when they have these qualities, it definitely is true. The best athletes, the stars, are usually the first ones to the ballpark and the last ones to leave. We want our athletes to be stars in the classroom, too." Plaster has coached baseball at the school for the past three years and he says he tries to bring the same focus on fundamentals to his coaching on the field as he does as an English and reading instructor.

Head football coach Kwayu Graham supported the program throughout the year by choosing his players to be mentees and mentors and by assisting Plaster during the meetings. "This program has definitely had an impact on our players this year," he said. The Varsity Club had members from a variety of sports, including baseball, football, basketball, golf, softball, cheerleading, and track. The group boasted as many as 25-30 attendees during some meetings and had to spread out across two classrooms and the media center to accommodate it.

"The aspect that, I think, marks our true success is to see how some of these student athletes worked as hard in their courses as during the last tied-up inning of a game or the last set of tough match," Plaster says. He noted that he could point out at least a handful of students who were struggling in a class or two, but brought their grades up in the final weeks of the semester through extra tutoring, studying, make-up, and doing well on their final exams.

If students met certain grade criteria, they were rewarded by being able to attend the minor league Intimidators game Saturday, June 2nd, for some of whom was the first time they have attended a sporting event of that magnitude. In addition to watching the game, Ariana and Naja found time to dance the YMCA dance with a group of pee wee baseball players, Tommy and Austin tried their arms with the radar guns against Coach Plaster, and the group had a special meeting field-side with the players as they were warming up. During the game the group let out a cheer when the announcer greeted and congratulated the Varsity Club from Lexington Senior High School.

Some of the attendees included Logan Wicks, Jalain Charles, Austin Hunt, Tommy McGhee, Caleb Worley, Antonio Evans, Evan McIntosh, Demetrious Alston, Selene Esparza, Ariana Moore, and Jamarries Hardin. Some other attendees were chosen by their athletic coaches to attend as a special treat.

Selene Esparza, a multi-sport athlete at LSH, ended up her last semester passing all of her courses and will graduate this week. She said when talking to Coach Plaster, "I knew I could do it. You helped me believe that I could!"

Mr. Taylor Wins NCASA Principal of the Year!

The North Carolina Association for Scholastic Activities Board of Directors has chosen Mr. Travis Taylor as their 2012 NCASA Principal of the Year! This award is presented annually to the principal that does more than any other to support their students' and school's participation and excellence in scholastic activities. His work establishing and funding a comprehensive scholastic program at Lexington Senior High School was nothing short of phenomenal. No other school in North Carolina made greater strides in advancing scholastic activities this year than LSHS, and this was born out by the school's fifth place finish in the final Scholastic Cup standings. More than one hundred students at Lexington Senior High School were enriched by this program.

 This award will be presented to Mr. Taylor during the NCASA Annual Meeting hosted by the NC School of Science and Mathematics in Durham. The meeting will run from 11:00 to 12:30 on Tuesday, June 26. During the annual meeting we will also present other individual awards, the Middle School of the Year and the NCASA Scholastic Cup, elect officers and directors, and present the state of the association.

 Congratulations to Mr. Taylor!

LSHS Places Fifth in NCASA Scholastic Cup

Lexington Senior High School finished the points race for NCASA's Schlastic Cup in fifth place. "The competitiveness of our students on this statewide academic stage validates what we already know.  Our students are as smart, capable, and creative as any in the state of North Carolina.  We should use this wonderful accomplishment to bolster our outlook and fuel our belief that Lexington Senior High can become a beacon of academic excellence," said LCS Superintendent Rick Kriesky.

Read the full story in the Dispatch: http://www.the-dispatch.com/article/20120521/News/305219998

LSHS Chess Team Finishes 7th in State Championship

I am so pleased to tell everyone that the LSHS Chess Team finished Seventh in the state in the NC State Chess Championship held this weekend in Charlotte!

Converging upon the Blake Hotel for this 38th annual tournament, over 500 of the best student chess players from dozens of schools competed, including one grandmaster-level student from the NC School of Science and Math. 

Our team is comprised of Nico Reyes (11th grade), Daniel Owens (12th grade), Karan Deocharran (10th grade), Charles Milam (10th grade), and Juan Arcia (9th grade). The team has met at least twice a week for the entire year and played in other tournaments to prepare for this event. Our players competed in the upper, open, championship division against very stiff competition, but fought some extremely close matches all the way down to the end. While playing against some of the largest schools in the state, and some exclusive private schools, our players showed class and determination all the way; we even had one player who began walking from home at 4:30 am Saturday morning to meet the bus at school for the departure. 

With points for this event, Lexington Senior High School still holds onto its first-place lead in the NCASA Scholastic Cup standings, the award for the "Top High School in the State."

Please congratulate these students! They will be proudly wearing their light blue T-shirts bought for them at the event as mementos. Coach Plaster also awarded Nico Reyes a portable tournament chess set as an award for winning the school-wide chess tournament last week.  

We left Charlotte Sunday night with the motivation to continue learning and growing our team to become better and better. 

Lexington Misses State Championship By Narrow Margin; Now Ranks First in State in Scholastic Cup Standings

"It's awesome -- Jacket pride, amplified," says Lexington City Schools Board of Education Chair Sherraine McLean. Lexington Senior High hosted the state championship NCASA The Quill writing competition Saturday, March 3 and came away with a close second-place finish, missing the top spot by decimals. The Lexington team of four high school students finished second to Atkins High School by less than a full point, with a total team score of 89.67 vs. Atkins' 90.50.

Lexington won two of the four categories, with Atkins winning one and Myers Park High School winning the other. With points awarded for this competition, LSH now ranks second in NCASA's Scholastic Cup annual standings. The North Carolina Association of Scholastic Activities (NCASA) hosts a number of academic competitions open to its member schools, and partners with various other competitions to award its Scholastic Cup to the "Top High School in NC." For more information about the NCASA, see its website at http://ncscholastic.org.

For The Quill, each school brings four writers to address four separate prompts and students have 90 minutes to complete their compositions. While the students break for lunch, the papers are judged anonymously by a panel of carefully chosen teacher judges, then awards are announced and trophies presented at an afternoon presentation. Lexington student Sethea Seang was the top writer in Literary Analysis, and Daniel Owens was the top winner in Creative Writing. Rachel Woodridge finished second in the Argumentative Writing category, and David Powell also finished second in his category of Problem Solution. Students winning their categories were awarded individual trophies. "It made me so happy to see the proud look on all four of our students' faces. Their sense of accomplishment was so apparent. We are very pleased with all of them," said Coach and LSHS Scholastic Director Scott Plaster.

Leon Pfieffer, Executive Director of NCASA said, "Congratulations to the Lexington Senior High School The Quill team for their second place finish in the State Finals. This is a dramatic improvement from last year's seventh place finish. Long hours of studying and practice paid off for these students, especially Daniel Owens who took first place in the Creative Writing event, and Sethea Seang who won the Literary Analysis topic." Lexington's other competitors included Myer's Park High School from Charlotte with an enrollment of over 2,800. Myer's Park is regularly ranked in the top 50 schools in the country and competes nationally in several academic competitions. Another school at the competition was Page HS, with around 1,800 students. Winners in the Argumentative Writing and Problem Solution categories were Meredith Hemphill from Atkins High School and George Robertson from Myers Park High School.

"Our students' excelling in each of the four areas of competition speaks to the instruction they are receiving across all disciplines at LSHS. A student's ability to respond to a problem-solving prompt can be attributed to excellence in his science and math classes; addressing an argumentative prompt attributed to the social sciences and CTE courses; and creative writing skills are heightened in all liberal arts classes," said teacher Dawn Poole, who taught three of the Lexington Quill team's four students this year in her AP English classes. Plaster added, "It does truly take an entire faculty to prepare students for a competition like The Quill."

Lexington history teacher Steve Raker has been teaching at the school for ten years and graduated from the high school in 1967. He said, "I remember the day that our school had academic teams and was competitive with every school around. It's good to see us returning to those traditions." "It was a goal of the Scholastic Program from the start that our academic teams represent the true diversity of our school, and that has been no problem to accomplish," said Plaster, who said the school's academic teams have included an equal mix of both genders, grades 9-12, and a broad range of ethnic groups, including Caucasian, African-American, Cambodian, Hispanic, and several students from Guyana.

Pfieffer commented on Lexington's current top ranking in the Scholastic Cup, "In my meetings with superintendents and principals I repeatedly said that any school can win the Scholastic Cup. It is not just for the elite or magnet schools to pursue. This statement is greeted with raised eyebrows and strange looks. However, the current standings bear out this claim. Lexington Senior High School has 65% free and reduced lunch and more extreme poverty students than any high school in North Carolina." Over 500 of Lexington Senior High's 782 students qualify for free or reduced lunch. A January Dispatch article reported that one in five of the school system's children live in extreme poverty.

Lexington City Schools Superintendent Richard Kriesky said, "The Lexington City School System is very proud of the recent second place finish in the Quill writing competition. The writing excellence that our Lexington Senior High students displayed in the statewide academic contest speaks volumes for the quality of students and instruction
at our high school. Congratulations to the outstanding student competitors from LSHS and a special thanks to Mr. Plaster, the team's coach. At this point LSHS is in first place overall in the comprehensive state competition. Good luck, Jackets. Continue to make us proud." LSH Principal Travis Taylor said, "Out of sight, wonderful work for our first year. Great for our image, reputation, community and students!"

Scholastic Director Scott Plaster assembled a full team of academic coaches at the beginning of the year with the idea, he says, "You can't win if you don't compete." The coaching staff includes Kristen Wall for Science, Dawn Poole for a general competition called the Twelve, math coach Tiffany George, choir director Lee Mabe, Quiz Bowl coach Dr. Keith Curry, and Economics coach Robert Hairston. Plaster also coaches the school's chess team, which will be attending the state chess championship later this month. Other upcoming competitions this year include the NC Economics Challenge, the State Mathematics Contest, and the NC Glee Club Competition.

The school's Quiz Bowl team will compete in the District competition on Saturday, March 10 at Guilford College. Curry said, "It has been great to be involved in the school's scholastic program and to get to work with such bright kids. We've been working hard in our weekly meets to prepare for the district competition and hope to do well enough to advance to the state championship." The Quiz Bowl is NCASA's most popular competition, with over 30 schools competing for a chance at the title. The six-week quiz bowl conference play marks the first time in North Carolina history that academic teams have competed in regular "conference" play.

For more information about Lexington Senior High School's academic competition program, contact Scholastic Director Scott Plaster at 336-473-7369 or http://mrplastersclass.com.


A chart with the Cup standings:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scholastic Cup Standings after three events:

1 - Lexington Senior HS - 105 pts
2 - Ardrey Kell HS - 95 pts
3 - Atkins A&T HS - 90 pts
4 - Myers Park HS - 85 pts
5 - NC School of Science and Mathematics - 55 pts
6t - Chapel Hill HS - 50 pts
6t - Raleigh Charter HS - 50 pts
6t - Thomas Jefferson Classical - 50 pts
9t - Jordan-Matthews HS - 40 pts
9t - Newton Conover HS - 40 pts
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Updates from our Scholastic Program....

Lexington Finishes 8th in State

Lexington Finishes 8th in State in "Twelve"

"The Quill" State Championship 

hosted at Lexington HS March 3

Lexington Show Choir to Compete

in NC Glee Club Competition May 5

Lexington Students to Compete in Regional Qualifying March 22

Two Jacket Teams to Compete in NC Economics Challenge 

the week of March 12-16. Beware the Ides of March!

Lexington Jacket Chess Team to Compete in State Championship March 16-18

Lexington Starts Quiz Bowl Season 2-1

Lexington High School's Quiz Bowl Season is off to a tremendous start, as its A team came away from the first meet with a 2-1 record in the Triad Conference of NCASA's unprecedented weekly conference play.

Coached by Dr. Keith Curry, the A team is made up of LSH seniors Sethea Seang (captain), Marcus Johnson, Daniel Owens, Crystal Nem, and Jennifer Rivera. "It was SO fun! I wish we could do this every Friday night of the year," said one of the players. LSH also fielded a second team made of sophomores Alex Leng (captain), Arefa Bacchus, Karan Deocharan, and Ariadna Martinez.

For the first time in North Carolina history, quiz bowl teams are competing in "conference play" on a weekly basis; the North Carolina Association of Scholastic Activities (NCASA) is sponsoring this six-week long period of contests that will lead up to the District Competition on Saturday, March 10. At the district competition, Lexington will field a single team and will battle to go to the State Championship on March 24th.

With two, top-ten finishes in state championship academic competitions (one at the Science Bowl and the other at Twelve), Lexington Senior High is ranked 2nd out of 79 member schools in NCASA's Scholastic Cup standings. The annual cup's winner is billed as the "top high school in the state."

The standings for the weekly quiz bowl conference can be followed here: http://ncscholastic.org/index.php/quizbowl/101-conference-quiz-bowl-standings

LSH Scholastic Director Scott Plaster also attended the meet, saying, "I was very impressed with all of our students' performances tonight. This helps show that our students can compete with the smartest students anywhere in the state. It takes an entire faculty and the entire school to prepare students for this type of competition."

Lexington High School will play host to other schools on Fridays Feb. 24 and March 2, both at 4:30. Spectators are welcome to attend.

LSH Science Finishes 8th in NC Science Bowl

Four Lexington Senior High Students in the NC Region of the Science Bowl on Saturday, January 28 and brought home another top-ten state finish to put the school second in the NCASA Scholastic Cup standings. The LSHS team competed admirably against even the repeating champions from the NC School of Science and Math, winning three straight toss-ups before the half. They were also able to beat a team from Raleigh Charter School, a school that made it to the semi-finals. Team members were MiKayla Cross, Evan McIntosh, Sethea Seang, and Alexander Leng. The team was coached by science teacher extraordinaire Kristen Wall.

The Science Bowl is sponsored by the US Department of Energy and the NC contest was held in Durham on the NC Central campus. A general opening and introduction was planned for all teams on Friday, and the competition started early Saturday morning and lasted into the afternoon.

It takes an entire faculty to prepare our students for such academic challenges. Congratulations to all teachers at the school who have taught these students, in any subject. Lexington High School has some of the best teachers and students anywhere. We can and will become recognized for our academics if we all continue to work together in our goal of excellence.