Raiders at the KLRU-TV Studio

Yesterday, Cedar Ridge High School Audio/Video students toured the KLRU-TV studio on the UT campus. Ms. Saliani and Ms. Arellano were the sponsors and chaperoned the field trip. Students were in the audience as the KLRU crew taped segments for The Central Texas Gardner show. One CRHS student, Thomas Hadley, was invited down onto the set to stand-in for the talent while the crew dressed the set and adjusted lighting. The A/V students have recently been added as a PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Lab and will be working closely with KLRU-TV to create news segments.
http://www.klru.org/ctg/
http://www.studentreportinglabs.com/

Ms. Saliani shared that the students were amazing on the field trip. The teachers received multiple compliments on how professional the students behaved. KLRU was so impressed with our students that they invited them back to be a part of another program.

Go Raiders! Thank you for representing us so incredibly well!

 Students are shown waiting to get on the bus and then, getting on the bus.

Students at the KLRU studio.

Collaboration Between Dell and Cedar Ridge!

"Cedar Ridge students who are participating in the Dell Project: The Library of the Future, had the opportunity to visit three local libraries on Wednesday, February 25. The students visited Chandler Oaks Elementary, Round Rock High School, and Round Rock Public Library. Tim Strucely, Director of Construction at RRISD, spoke in detail to the students about designing an elementary library. Students measured, took pictures, sketched, and took tours of all three libraries. A big thank you to the staff at all three libraries for taking the time to speak to our students." 

-Shared by Rachel Sotelo, the Cedar Ridge H.S. Academy Specialist

It's "Electric" Around Cedar Ridge...

Mr. Salomon shared an example of a project for his Digital Electronics class. The students were required to design a logic circuit that would display their date of birth on a seven-segment display.

Ms. Gabler's Physics class experimented with charges of electricity by using the Van der Graaf generator. They were impressed by the results!

"When we do this demonstration, we are studying electrostatics (stationary electrons). The Van der Graaf generates electrons on the dome, which then conduct to the student touching it and the students connected to him. The electrons don't have anywhere else to go, because they are insulated from the floor. This is why a girl's hair may stand up, all the electrons on her are trying to repel each other. However, eventually there are too many electrons on them and their clothes (kind of like critical mass) and the electrons jump to the metal in the chair and down to the ground. When that happens, all the electrons in the entire chain travel through that one point and they all feel the "shock" of the electrons leaving their bodies."

~Andrea Gabler

Law Enforcement Club Challenge!

Exciting things going on with Mr. DeLaRosa's Law Enforcement classes and club!

The following is what he shared with us:

"We are proud to announce that the Annual District Competition of the Law and Safety Students was held on Saturday February 21, 2015 at Round Rock High School. Our outstanding students of CRHS took the challenge and captured the second runner up and third runner up trophies. The challenge and agility course was timed and designed to mirror that of a Police Academy's basic instruction for cadets. ​Congratulations to our CRHS Law & Safety participants on a fantastic effort."

CRHS Law & Safety club members:

Elijah Sanfeliz
Spirit Hayter
Andrew Jezisek
Emily Seiferman
Brendan Dangcil
Breonne Sanders
Jennifer Sweet

The French Culinary Connection- Mardi Gras Style

Great collaboration between French and Culinary classes:

"Last Tuesday, French classes and Culinary joined forces and celebrated Mardi Gras. We all learned about the Tradition and the History of Mardi Gras and sampled delicious Mardi Gras inspired food!
King's Cakes, Bugnes de Lyon (Beignets), and Quiches of all kinds! Ms. O'Quinn also invited a professional saxophone player to jazz it up!"
-shared by Marie Douglass, French Teacher and LOTE Department Chair

Collaboration Between BioTech and Concepts of Engineering Classes

Here is a great example of Raider teachers collaborating across curriculum. Ms. Gabler, teaches Concepts of Engineering and Ms. Pearce, teaches Advanced BioTech.


"Last week, a few of Ms. Pearce's Biotechnology students came to teach my Concepts of Engineering class how to do a DNA extraction. On Wednesday, Wesley Matingou taught the scientific theory behind the lab with the help of one of his classmates, and then on Friday, Wesley led the actual lab with the help of two of his classmates for his entire Concepts class of 25 students to extract the DNA of wheatgerm." written by Ms. Gabler

Information for Juniors on Feb. 25- SAT Testing Day

Juniors will be taking the SAT test during school on February 25. Please encourage your child to get a good night's sleep the night before, eat a good breakfast, and be on time. All other students will follow their normal schedules.

House Bill 5 now requires schools to train (not certify) students on CPR prior to graduation. This requirement does not include this year's seniors, but goes into effect for next year's graduating seniors.  Therefore, we will be providing CPR training for all Juniors after the SAT test on Feb. 25. Students will watch a video about CPR, then they will each get a chance to do hand compression on a CPR dummy. We are going to be singing "Staying Alive" from the 70's movie with John Travolta to keep the rhythm of the compressions. So, if your Junior son or daughter comes home humming that tune, you will know where they got it!

Ms. Lyons, the Cedar Ridge Campus Testing Coordinator , sent the following message to all Juniors through their school email about SAT testing day.

"Students,

The Cedar Ridge SAT School Day is right around the corner. Please see the information below to help you plan for the day.     

Room Assignment

* Check your room assignment on the list in the cafeteria before February 25th

* Report directly to your assigned room the morning of the 25th. Students should arrive on campus no later than 8:50 am!

Photo ID

* Students MUST bring a photo ID!

      * Valid (unexpired)

      * Have your full legal name that matches your Admission Ticket

      * Be in good condition, with a recognizable photograph that matches your appearance

     * Can be a Student ID, Driver’s License, or Passport

Calculators

* You may bring your own calculator or use the standard yellow graphing calculators, which will be in your testing room

       * If you bring your own calculator it has to be on the approved list of calculators

     * Go to sat.collegeboard.org/register/ to see if your calculator is on the approved list

Snacks and Breaks

* You will have three breaks that will each be 5 minutes long

* You cannot eat or drink during testing, only during the breaks

* The SAT is about 5 hours long. You will be eating lunch late, so make sure you eat a good breakfast and bring a few healthy snacks

•Absolutely NO Cell Phones/Electronic Devices

* Cell phones MUST be turned off and turned in to your test proctor

*If a phone makes any noise or you are seen using it during testing, the phone will be confiscated and your scores will be cancelled!

Leave Prohibited Items at Home

* You may not use electronic equipment, highlighters, rulers, headphones, earplugs, dictionaries or other books, mechanical pencils, or scratch paper on the SAT. Leave them at home!!

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at Kristin_lyons@roundrockisd.org or stop by my office, Rm H133. 

--

Highlighting Ms. Searles' Dance Class

Ms. Searles has shared some great information about her dance classes, that I would like to share with you. Not only have the students been working on their dance routines and skills, but also integrating technology into their learning, as well.

"My jazz 4 has been studying both improvisation, choreography, as well as the art of Dance Film, i.e.dances that can not be created or duplicated without the camera as an additional person in the film and the use of video editing. Students had a few weeks to take their improvisation to a higher level of learning and technique and apply this to the choreography of the project. They also added a choreographic tool they have not used before: the camera shots. We watched Dance Films and learned vocabulary for camera movement. After solidifying the choreography and choosing music and costumes, they had to create a storyboard, plan their shots, find locations. Then with the tablets, use the camera in all aspects of the shooting instead of just in a stationary mode, and then connect their shots with their editing to the music. We collaborated with the Library and IT department on a new resource for editing. Clips were imported and edited in a cloud-based video editing app called WeVideo for collaboration outside of the classroom/school and easy connection to our school Google Drives. Although they may have filmed dances before, this lesson took their film creation to a new level. Their final products have more of an artistic vision and portray a mood, instead of simply stationary beginning-to-ending filming/editing of a dance. The results are some very beautiful dance films that they plan on submitting to the CRHS Film Festival."
Karen Searles, dance teacher

National Merit Finalists

Congratulations to our two National Merit Finalists, Neel Raman and Raunak Pillai! They have both worked very hard to accomplish this feat of excellence. Not only are these young men strong academically, but they are both competitive tennis players, as well.

2015 Parent Climate Survey

Please take the time to fill out a 2015 Parent Climate Survey. I want Cedar Ridge to be the best high school in Texas, but in order to that, I need your feedback about what we are doing right and what we need to do better. Your feedback is very valued. I am copying the letter the district created concerning the 2015 Parent Climate Survey below, with the links to the survey, as well. Thank you for helping us make Cedar Ridge go from a good school to a great school!



Dear Parents,

Please take a few moments to participate in the 2015 Parent Climate Survey today. Each day staff, students and volunteers at Cedar Ridge High School work hard to ensure academic programs and the campus environment meet the needs of all children. You are a critical part of our success!

The survey will only be available for a short time, please participate today.
English: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2015parentclimate
Spanish: https://es.surveymonkey.com/s/2015parentclimatespanish


(En Espanol)

Estimados padres de familia,

Por favor tome unos momentos el día de hoy para participar en la Encuesta de Clima de Padres 2015. Cada día el personal, los estudiantes y voluntarios en Cedar Ridge High School trabajan duro para asegurar que los programas académicos y el entorno escolar cumplan con las necesidades de todos los niños. ¡Usted es una parte fundamental de nuestro éxito!

La encuesta sólo estará disponible por un corto tiempo, por favor participe hoy.
Inglés: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2015parentclimate
Español: https://es.surveymonkey.com/s/2015parentclimatespanish

Busy Week- Athletes Signing and Ocean Currents

We had a beautiful end to a very cold and sometimes rainy week.

This week, several Cedar Ridge student athletes officially signed with their chosen university.

From Left to Right: David Racine, Nick Morello, and Brandon Zientek

From Left to Right: Sam Plas, Megan Allen, Amber Polizzi, and Madison Fulp. Missing from the picture is Mina Smith, who signed with Northwestern University (Louisiana)

We know they will represent Cedar Ridge well next year! We are very proud of these students! It was very interesting to talk to the students about what they planned to study in college. We have some future doctors and engineers in the group!

Now, in Mr. Mosley's science class, students were doing a lab to learn about how ocean currents work.

Enjoy the photos:

The students in this last picture were feeding the jelly fish!

I wish you a wonderful weekend!

Teacher of the Year, and more...

Presenting the 2014-15 Teacher of the Year- Britt Coleman! We are so proud to have Mr. Coleman represent Cedar Ridge this year as our chosen Teacher of the Year. Mr. Coleman has taught World History since Cedar Ridge opened. He goes above and beyond to ensure students are successful and he makes a positive impact on our campus throughout the year. Please join us in congratulating Mr. Coleman, the Cedar Ridge Teacher of the Year!

I also want to congratulate Ms. Copeland, Ms. Keiler, Mr. Jones, Ms.Rodriquez, and our amazing musical theater students for putting together an absolutely outstanding musical, Bring It On!". They performed the musical last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. I attended the Saturday performance and was thrilled to see such a large audience, including a great turnout from our own Cedar Ridge staff! We were treated to a truly amazing performance. Every cast member provided an A+ performance. The singing, dancing, and acting were on such a high level that it looked like a professional troupe's performance. Thank you, to all of you involved with putting on this wonderful musical- both behind the scene and on the stage!

This past Friday, I had the pleasure of observing our Advanced Biotech students and their instructor, Ms. Pearce, work on designing labs to test characteristics of living organisms. Students are designing their own experiments using appropriate scientific and safety protocols.