Volume 2 – Issue 1
Back in July, we wrapped up the 2014-15 school year
encouraging everyone to Leap Before You Look.
In the last line of that blog post, I made the observation that with
everything that is taking place in our school and community that it truly is a
Great Day to Be a Hornet. With the new
school year 2015-16 well under way, I would like to elaborate why it truly is a
“Great Day to Be a Hornet.”
First of all, I must confess
that I have stolen the phrase from two other sources; “Badger” Bob Johnson and
Alex Cairns.
Bob Johnson is best known as a hockey coaching
legend, but it is also fitting to mention that he had a degree in secondary
education. After a stint as a medic in
the Korean War, Johnson began his life’s work as a high school history teacher
and hockey coach in several Minnesota high schools.
"Badger" Bob Johnson |
Johnson eventually moved on
to the college level and the role that would earn him his nickname, serving as
the hockey coach at University of Wisconsin from 1966-1981. The moniker “Badger” was quickly added to
reflect the school’s mascot, and he became forever known as “Badger” Bob. Johnson found great success while at
Wisconsin, leading his team to seven NCAA tournaments and winning three
national championships.
His tremendous success at the
college level led to additional coaching opportunities, and he added US Olympic
Coach, US National Team Coach, US Canada Cup Coach, and coach of the NHL’s
Calgary Flames, as well as president of USA Hockey to his growing resume.
All of these life experiences
led him to an opportunity to coach the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990. Before his arrival, Pittsburgh was a
franchise loaded with superstar talent, but unable to put all of the pieces together,
missing the playoffs seven times in the eight years before he arrived.
Upon taking over as head
coach, “Badger” Bob instilled an instant positive atmosphere, energy, and
enthusiasm to the team and city that he represented. He was known to be intolerant of doom and
gloom and did not engage those who refused to get caught up in his upbeat
attitude. Johnson always encouraged his
players, prodding them to reach for greater success. Johnson had many catch phrases symbolizing
his positivity, and the one he is best known for is “It’s a Great Day for
Hockey.”
Johnson quickly endeared
himself to players and fans alike and the 1990-91 season proved to be quite a
magical one, concluding with the team raising the Stanley Cup as league
champions. This marked the franchises
first championship and everyone in the city was riding high.
However, this euphoria was short lived as Johnson was diagnosed with brain cancer just a couple of months later. He stepped away from his coaching duties in order to seek treatment, but his condition steadily worsened. “Badger” Bob Johnson died on November 26th, 1991. The next night, November 27th 1991, the team had a moving pre-game ceremony honoring “Badger” Bob, and “It’s a Great Day for Hockey” became the team’s slogan.
However, this euphoria was short lived as Johnson was diagnosed with brain cancer just a couple of months later. He stepped away from his coaching duties in order to seek treatment, but his condition steadily worsened. “Badger” Bob Johnson died on November 26th, 1991. The next night, November 27th 1991, the team had a moving pre-game ceremony honoring “Badger” Bob, and “It’s a Great Day for Hockey” became the team’s slogan.
While I was very young (actually, November 27th 1991 was
my 6th birthday) I remember this all very vividly. Of course at age five or six, I had a vastly
different perspective than I do now, but the one thing that was true in 1991
and remains true in 2015 is that “Badger” Bob’s intense positive outlook was
able to permanetly alter an entire hockey franchise in a very short amount of
time. He knew the potential that existed
in Pittsburgh and was able to establish a foundation that has made the Penguins
one of the model franchises of the past twenty-five years.
This leads me to Alex Cairns,
a college Track and Cross Country teammate at Waynesburg College (now University). Alex may not have the lengthy coaching resume
or national recognition of “Badger” Bob, but he certainly has shown that he
matches the positive energy.
Alex Cairns |
When we were in school, our
Cross Country and Track programs were not exactly top notch, and in fact we
only established a varsity Track and Field program during this time. None of this mattered to Alex, he just wanted
the opportunity to compete and represent his school, and that is exactly what
he did.
On an almost daily basis at
practice, Alex would exclaim “It’s a great day to be a Yellow Jacket” as we
completed our workout. No matter the
circumstance or conditions, this was his statement. It did not matter that during our conference
meet in the Spring of 2005 our entire team scored less points than one athlete
from another school, it was a great day to be a Yellow Jacket.
Since 2005, Waynesburg’s
Track and Cross Country programs have had an ever increasing level of success
and annually rank at or near the top of the conference standings. While Alex graduated several years before
this became a reality, his positive outlook was part of the transformation that
allowed a brand new track and field program to transform into the current
reality.
All of this leads us to the current
version of Hundred High School, which has many parallels to the Penguins of
1990 and the Yellow Jackets of 2005.
When I arrived at Hundred a
little over two years ago, I immediately noticed that we had a tremendous
potential for success. Our school staff,
our student body, and our community had tremendous talents.
Much like the Penguins, we
had the superstar talent in place from the outset. Much like “Badger” Bob could not have won a
Stanley Cup without Mario Lemieux, I cannot pretend to be an effective school
leader without the superstars that walk into our building on a daily
basis.
Additionally, a positive
philosophy is one that we have worked very hard to createwith our school
community. “Badger” Bob was once quoted
as saying:
“There are a lot of ways to coach, you can coach from fear, when it’s ‘you do it this way or you’re gone tomorrow’, or you can develop pride in performance.”
This pride in performance is what we are striving to establish.
“There are a lot of ways to coach, you can coach from fear, when it’s ‘you do it this way or you’re gone tomorrow’, or you can develop pride in performance.”
This pride in performance is what we are striving to establish.
Much like the 2005 Yellow
Jackets, it is our positive vision for where we are heading that will allow us
to reach greater heights with each passing year. The Yellow Jackets of 2005 had many obstacles
in front of them – we did not have our own track facility, we belonged to the
same confernce as several traditional powerhouses, we were a brand new program,
etc. – but each of these obstacles were attacked with an energy and
determination that would not be deterred.
Like these Yellow Jackets, our Hornets have faced many challenges over
the past two years and will undoubtedly face more, but also like the Yellow
Jackets, our Hornets attack every day with a vision, with a determination, with
a resolution to be successful.
Because of all of this, I have developed the absolute belief
that TODAY is a Great Day to Be a Hornet, and TODAY there is great pride in
where we are and where we are headed. At
our Local School Improvement Council (LSIC) presentation to our school board, I
shared several pieces of evidence showing exactly why we believe this to be
true. I would like to share some of this
information for those who did not have an opportunity to attend the meeting.
1.) We have been fortunate to receive a tremendous amount of facilities upgrades, faculty additions, and increased resources.
Sample Student Schedules |
2.) We have completely revamped our instructional bell schedule, moving from an eight period to a nine period day and adding several course options. This has allowed our students to participate in more meaningful courses and to participate in enrichment courses called “Flex Block.”
3.) We have increased our
Advanced Placement (AP) Course offerings and student enrollment in these
advanced courses, with 34% of our school taking at least one AP course and many
students taking multiple advanced courses.
Advanced Placement (AP) Trends from 2013 - 2016 |
4.) Our Health Education
Assessment Project (HEAP) Scores exceeded the state average and were the
highest in our region.
5.) Our Science Bowl Team competed
in the state science bowl. We were the
smallest qualifing school, and the average enrollment of the eighteen schools
we competed with was 1,009 students.
2015 State Science Bowl |
ACT Trend Data 2011-2015 |
7.) Our student attendance
from 2013-14 and 2014-15 both exceeded the state target of 93% and were our two
strongest attendance years in over a decade.
8.) A comprehensive ranking
of all high schools in West Virginia ranked Hundred High School as the 28th
best high school in West Virginia and the top ranked in Wetzel County.
Parliamentary Procedures State Champions |
10.) Our 2015 “Red Hat”
Mining students once again produced a 100% pass rate on their 40 hour surface
and 80 hour underground mining exams.
11.) Our 2015 graduates
earned $250,000 in scholarships, including five students who earned the West
Virginia Promise scholarship.
9.) Our ACT plan scores from
2014-15, which project student future performance on the ACT, were .1 point
below the state average and exceeded the scores of many nearby schools,
including Magnolia, Valley, North Marion, and John Marshall.
10.) Our 2015 General
Summative Assessment (GSA) results show that our average student scaled scores
in Reading Language Arts for grades 9-11 were above the county average , with 9th and 10th grades exceeding the state average and 11th grade scoring within 5
points of the state average, while our math scale scores were above county
average for grades 10 and 11, with our 11th graders exceeding the
state average scale score.
All of this leads me to
believe that there is no doubt that today is a GREAT DAY TO BE A HORNET!
Staff News
I must say that in order for it to be a Great
Day to be a Hornet we need to have a committed staff that has the expertise and
passion to realize the visions we have as a school. We are very blessed right now to have outstanding
teachers and a dedicated non-teaching staff that are taking our school to
greater heights with each week. We will use
the staff news section to tell the stories and celebrate the achievements of
our school staff.
Mr. Kelch at the HHS Block Party |
Ms. Hannah Evans has
also become a fixture on our staff this fall, as she is serving as the
long-term substitute for Mrs. Jessica
Greathouse, who is enjoying a maternity leave of absence to spend time with
her family.
Mr. Jonathan Snider marks
for our third new addition, and we are very excited to have him in our building
serving as a teacher’s aide.
We have been fortunate to have two long-term substitute custodians
who have done a great job for us this fall.
Mr. David King was with us
throughout the summer and through most of September before taking a full time
position at Magnolia High School. Since
late September, we have been fortunate to have another outstanding substitute
in Mr. Steven Zajdowicz
Mrs. Lee Ann Snedden has
been a member of our staff since last fall, but we are welcoming her into a new
role, as she has become our media specialist.
Mrs. Snedden works with our virtual school students and also manages our
school library.
Hornets Take Flight Presentation at CFWV Summit |
Mrs. Sharon Snider and
Mrs. Stephanie Long, teachers at Long Drain School, also had the
opportunity to present at the CFWV conference about the novel units they have
been utilizing in their classrooms. It
was great to see our attendance area well represented at a statewide
conference.
Mr. Rex Rush Showing off his design |
Mrs. Wells, Mr. Snedden, Mr. Huston, and Mrs. Longwell at MDC |
Mr. Sean Snedden also made a huge contribution to our Block Party by organizing the first annual Hive Hustle 5-K Race as part of our Block Party. In his role as a math teacher, Mr. Snedden has been actively involved in the Wetzel County contingent of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Math Design Collaborative (MDC) and has been planning many exciting mathematics lessons and activities.
Mrs. Crystal Allen has
been busy serving as our assistant cheerleading coach and also organizing many
of our fall school activities such as our homecoming. She has also served alongside Mr. Snedden as
part of our MDC and is working to develop in her students a lifelong interest
in and passion for mathematics.
Mr. Scott Ash continues
to build our agriculture program and has students competing in many different
events. He will be taking his
parlementary procedures team to the national competition and has been awarded
$15,000 dollars in grant money to enhance the learning opportunities for his
students.
Mr. Rik Spicher at LDC |
A number of our teachers have recently jumped into a Literacy
Design Collaborative (LDC) partnership with the SREB. It has been VERY encouraging to see Ms. Stephanie Goodnight, Mrs. Bonnie
McGlumphy, Mr. Kasey Sapp, Mr. Pariksit Spicher, and Mrs. Rebecca Spicher participate in this process. They all have outstanding ideas about how to
improve literacy in our school.
Mrs. Rebecca Spicher, Ms. Stephanie Goodnight, Mr. Kasey Sapp, and Mrs. Bonnie McGlumphy at LDC |
Ms. Watson leads the band |
Student Spotlight
First Game Against River |
Andrew King led the Hornet charge all season and finished the year with over 1,000 yards rushing.
Taylor Fetty also deserves special recognition as part of the Hornet Football program. She served the important and sometimes under-appreciated role of team manager and did an outstanding job.
Debuting the Red Uniforms |
Celebrating a Season Ending 41-0 Victory Over Lincoln |
Andrew and Greg Enjoying the Victory |
Our Awesome Football Manager Taylor Fetty |
Our Seniors |
The 2015-16 Hundred Hornets |
Leading Our First Pep Rally of the Year |
Our Cheerleaders |
Our cheerleaders have very much appreciated the return of our football program, as it has given them a LOT to cheer about this fall. Our cheerleaders are led by four seniors Kathy Cork, Ashley Miller, Meliah Umstead, and Mady Wheeler
The Girls of Fall |
Small School, Big Sound |
The Hundred Hornet Marching Band has been making their presence known with an impressive sound as they have traveled to a number of marching festivals and also performing at our football games. The band has earned several awards this fall. At the Sistersville Festival, they earned silver recognition in parade and a bronze in field for their percussion, auxiliary, and field commander. The also took 2nd place at the annual Buckwheat festival. At the Ripley Vikingfest, which included bands from 22 different schools, our Marching Hornets represented as the only 6th – 12th grade band against high school only bands, taking 5th place in their division.
The Best Halftime Show Around |
The Award Winning Hundred-Long Drain Marching Hornets |
The Fight Song has become a Post Game Tradition |
Talking Strategy |
Celebrating the Point |
Hundred High School Senior Holden Moore attended the West Virginia State Police Junior Academy and got to spend a week learning what it would take to be a State Trooper
Holden Moore at the Junior State Police Academy |
Our FFA President Holden Moore |
2015-16 FFA Officers |
Our FFA students have started off the year on the right foot, getting a
lot of positive recognition and participating in events such as the Regional FFA meeting and the Career Developments Events Program. Our FFA is led by their incredible chapter officers: Holden Moore - President; Meliah Umstead - Vice President; Emily Rine – Secretary; Madysen Wheeler – Treasurer; Hailey Eastham – Reporter; Annie Fox – Sentinel; Ashley Miller – Parliamentarian; Kaitlyn Kuhn – Historian; and Valerie Soles – Chaplain. Several of our FFA officers addressed the school board at our LSIC meeting.
Our FFA Sentinel Annie Fox |
Our FFA Secretary Emily Rine |
Our FFA Parliamentarian Ashley Miller |
Mr. Ash with his FFA Students |
We are also very proud that our Freshmen FFA Quiz Bowl Team took 2nd place at the regional meeting, and Victoria Hawkins took 2nd place and Brandon Rine took 3rd place in the individual competition
In the biggest of the FFA news, our FFA Parliamentary Procedures
state champion team will compete at the national level later this month
Congratulations to Emily
Rine for being accepted to Fairmont State University and to Madysen Wheeler for being accepted into
the music program at West Liberty University
On September 18th, we held our homecoming football game. It was wonderful to see football return, and we were very appreciative of Cameron traveling over here during their bye week to allow us to host a proper Friday night homecoming.
The Sophomore Banner and Sophomore Representative Makayla Postlethwaite |
The Senior Banner |
Queen Candidate Ashley Miller |
Queen Candidate Josie Phillips |
Queen Candidate Samantha Opyoke |
Queen Candidate Madysen Wheeler |
King Dustin Adams and Queen Samantha Opyoke |
Andrew and Meliah address the student body |
Andrew Address the School Board |
Andrew King and Meliah Umstead had the opportunity to show off their leadership skills and share their vision with the student body as they were our two candidates for student body president. As elected president, Andrew King also had the opportunity to speak before the school board at our LSIC board meeting and to travel to Long Drain school dressed as “safety pup.”
Safety Pup |
Class of 2014 Hundred High School alumni Peyton Jones and Rocky
Tennant received an extremely high honor, as both will bestowed with the
FFA American Degree at the 2015 national convention.
Looking Good in Red thanks to a generous alumnus |
Class of 1965 Senior Portraits |
Class of 1965 Memories |
Some Alumni enjoy the evening |
A great night for all our past HHS graduates |
Many great memories were shared |
So much to celebrate |
Mr. Gottron was happy to be part of the evening |
Allie and Victoria, two of our newest alumni |
Dr. Sine addresses the alumni body |
Mr. McGlumphy, 25+ years as alumni association president |
Community
Involvement
Shaun Kuhn paced the field |
The Race is On |
Sophomore Alexis Bragg served up refreshments at open house |
Mr. Gottron Addresses the Board |
The refreshments courtesy of Mrs. Huggins's food class |
We are very grateful for those in our community that make our fall sports and activities possible. We are especially thankful for our fall coaches. Ms. Diana Wheeler, Head Cheer-leading Coach, Mr. Greg Hostutler, Head Football Coach, Jim McGlumphy and Shayne Minor, Assistant Football Coaches, Candy Watson, Athletic Trainer, Terry Ritter, Head Volleyball Coach, and Roger Tustin, Assistant Volleyball Coach.
Our Football Coaches |
Our Volleyball Coaches |
Classroom Strategy of the Week
Meeting of the Minds |
Airadeea Williams as Thomas Jefferson |
Libbie Baker as King George III |
Miranda Gray as Benjamin Franklin |
Rachel Watson as Martha Washington |
Article
of the Week
High school teacher Andrew Simmons discusses Seven Things HeWishes People Understood About Being a Teacher
Video
of the Week
Not education related, but very much related to this week’s post,
and just very awesome period. The Civic
Arena tribute to “Badger” Bob Johnson from November 27th, 1991.
Quote
of the Week
“There are a lot of ways to coach, you
can coach from fear, when it’s ‘you do it this way or you’re gone tomorrow’, or
you can develop pride in performance" – “Badger” Bob Johnson.
Upcoming
Events
October 24 - Volleyball @ Weir High Tournament –
TBD
October 24 - Ohio Valley Athletic Competition
(OVAC) Band Competition – TBD
October 26-31 – “Red Ribbon” Week for Drug Abuse
Awareness and Education
October 27 – Volleyball @ Beallsville – 5:30PM
October 29 – Wetzel County Sheriff’s Department Drug
Court Presentation – 9:00AM
October 30 – Hundred High School Fall Blood
Drive – 8:00AM – 4:00PM
November 2-7 – Volleyball Sectional Tournament –
TBD
November 2 – Board Meeting @ New Martinsville
School – 6:30 PM
November 4 – Holocaust Assembly with Guest
Speaker Marion Blumenthal Lazan – 1:00 PM
November 6 – Veterans Day Assembly – TBD
November 10 – Wheeling Nailers Education Day –
10:30 AM
November 14 – Junior Class Bingo Fundraiser –
10:00 AM
November 16 – 20 – Bullying Awareness Week
November 16 – Board Meeting @ Board Office – 6:30
PM
November 18 – Local School Improvement Council
Meeting @ HHS – 3:30 PM
November 20 – Three Hour Early Dismissal –
Dismiss at 12:15 PM
November 20 – Second Nine Weeks Midterm
November 23-27 – Thanksgiving Break
Link for: Boys Basketball Schedule
Link for: Girls Basketball Schedule
Remember to follow our
school on Twitter @HundredHornets
and Instagram:
HundredHornets
Thank you for all you do as a part of our school and
community. True flight would not be possible without the contributions of
all of us. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or information
you would like included in an upcoming edition of the Flight of the Hornet:
304-775-5221 or dgottron@k12.wv.us
Dan Gottron,
Principal, Hundred High
School
Citations/Sources
"It's a Great Day for Hockey: Remembering "Badger"
Bob Johnson." Bleacher Report. 22 July 2008. Web. 23 Oct.
2015.
"Pittsburgh Penguins." Pinterest. Web. 23
Oct. 2015.
Simmons, Andrew. "7 Things I Wish People Understood about
Being a Teacher." Vox. 29 July 2015. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
"Twitter." Https://twitter.com/bonniesue0401.
Twitter. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
"Waynesburg Athletics." Waynesburg Athletics.
Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
Yannis, Alex. "Bob Johnson, Top Hockey Coach In Pros and
College, Is Dead at 60."The New York Times. The New York Times, 26
Nov. 1991. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
Zellers, Ted, Justin Cherok, and Eric Fleming. "History of
the Penguins." NHL Awards and Trophies. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.