Counselors Corner this week:

Second quarter is winding down and before you know it, spring will be here. And with spring, comes graduation. Students at the Area Learning Center are welcome to attend graduation ceremonies at their homeschool. Tech and Apollo have already started planning graduation ceremonies. Jostens has delivered Graduation Packets, which contain order forms for caps, gowns, announcements, and etc. Please try to have your order forms into Jostens by January 5th, 2009. If you have any questions, please contact Sam Nordby.

ALC-Wilson/Northside-Hester Park Neighborhood Talent Show

Students from the Area Learning Center – Wilson Building, along with featured guests “Beats on the Block” entertained the neighbors of the Northside-Hester Park neighborhood area. In return, the Hester Park neighbors treated students, staff and families to cookies and juice for their efforts. The event was a real community building evening, with people of all ages interacting, and getting a feel for a wide range of art forms – some VERY traditional, some cutting edge new.

On Tuesday, December 16th, 2008, these six ALC students shared their talents: Jenee Haas, Kira Gustafson-Davis, Ashlee Scott, Kevin Walker, Cherelle VanHanegin, and Nick Becker. Students sang, played instruments, did “foot work”, and shared original poetry. From the South Side Boys and Girls Club were “Beats on the Block”, led by Buddy King, which played Traditional African Drums. The performers absolutely dazzled the audience with the talents they so confidently displayed. The Hester Park Neighborhood got the word out to people in the area, so we could come together and meet under pleasant circumstances; get to know each other as individuals. It is the goal of both the neighborhood and the ALC to coexist harmoniously in the Hester Park community.

In the end, the students were the real stars. Hats off to a bunch of talented young people we have in our community! And kudos to a neighborhood that embraces all the pieces that make up the whole of our community.

Special thanks to Ann Marie Schlichting for all the hard work that went into the planning of this awesome event! Check out some pictures from the event..........

Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4 Pic 5 Pic 6

"Going's on" in Employment Skills

For the next two weeks we plan to focus on our interviewing skills. We will practice answering the most common questions asked in an interview, practice writing a thank you follow up letter and then we will do some mock interviews. Being prepared for an interview is very important. Practicing answering questions is the best way to be prepared and it boosts the self confidence. Ask your child what some of the questions are and practice at home. The number one question is, “Tell me about yourself or why should we hire you instead of the other applicants?” Please encourage your child to dress for success the day we do the mock interviews.

On Jan. 7th we will be going to St. Cloud Technical College for a career fair. This is a required field trip for our Senior High Work Experience.

Science this week in the SHAP program:

Biology classes this week are continuing to finish up work on populations. Discussion centered around the different types of growth models that we look at when talking about populations: Logistic and Exponential. Ask your student what this means?

Environmental Science classes this week start our Water unit. It should be interesting and will culminate the unit with the video "A Civil Action", starring John Travolta.