Zillah School District


Zillah High School Newsletter Volume 11 #5 08/31/2010
Providing information to our students, parents, staff, alumni and community since 2000


A look ahead @ ZHS:

8/31 CWU Cornerstone program mtg 9:00 PAC
TSE Parent Mtg 5:00 pm ZHS Library

9/1 ZHS Staff Mtg 7:30
School Pictures 8:00-10:30 am PAC

9/2 OWEGO Mtg @ Lunch
FFA Welcome back to school BBQ 6:00 pm Ag Bldg.

9/3 Activity Schedule: ASB Assembly
FB @ Wapato 7:00

9/4 VB Jamboree @ ZAG 11:00

9/6 No School Labor Day

9/7 JVFB vs Wapato 5:30

9/8 ZHS SIT Mtg 7:30
FFA Mtg 6:30 pm

9/9 VB @ Prosser 5:30

9/10 FB vs Ki-Be (Con: SB) 7:00
XC @ Highland 5:00
ASB Dance follows the game until 11:30-Commons

9/11 ACT Test @ ZHS 7:45-12:15 (Pre-registered only)
FFA @ WSU Future Cougar Day
Zillah Community-Not Just a Farmers Market Event

9/12 Grandparents Day

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School Pictures: ZHS School pictures will be Wednesday September 1, 8:00-11:00 am in the PAC. All ZHS students are required to get school photos taken for identification purposes. There is no cost to get the School ID/ASB photo. Students who have or wish to purchase an ASB must have their pictures taken. Students and parents who wish to purchase school pictures may go to www.zillahschools.org/forms/School%20Picture%20Flyer-2010.pdf to download the flyer.

Traffic Safety Education (Driver Training) News: ZSD will continue to offer before school TSE/Driver Training classes. Students must be at least 15 years old on the first day of class. The cost to take the class is $295 and you must pay a minimum $100 deposit in order to reserve a seat and be placed on the class list. There is a mandatory meeting for parents and their students on Tuesday, August 31^st at 5:00 pm in the ZHS Library. Update. In order to get their license a student must have completed TSE, have had their learners permit for 4 months and can test within 2 months of their birthday. If you have questions about the program, please contact Mr. Christianson.

Senior Conferences Begin: Starting August 31, all ZHS seniors will be scheduled for their annual guidance conference. You are encouraged to be prepared with questions. Write down any concerns so that you don’t forget and drop them in your guidance folder. When it is time for your conference, your questions will be right there waiting for you. The agenda of the conferences will be as follows:
Senior Guidance Meetings Agenda
Senior Guidance on the Web
Graduation status: requirements, transcripts, credits
HSPE Testing
HSBP-Career & School interests
College Testing
Senior Time line & Important dates for seniors-See handout
ZHS Website Internet Resources: College, Scholarships, Careers
PEARLS: Checklist, Grading,
PIN and FAFSA-Financial Aid Forms: December
Daily bulletin/Senior Bulletin/Calendars
Winter-Spring semester schedule adjustments
Diploma name
Email registration
Other questions or concerns

OWEGO News: The Owego staff is happy to announce that we were allowed to borrow, scan and post a 1988 yearbook. We now have all books from 1944 through 2000 posted online. Unfortunately, we are still missing several books. If you own one of the books listed below and would be gracious enough to allow the Owego staff to borrow it and scan it, we would greatly appreciate it. The following books are not in the ZHS inventory: 1921, 1923, 1925-1929, 1931-1936 (It is believed that no books were produced from 1931-1936), 1938, 1940-1943
OWEGO 2010 books are now in and may be picked up from Mr. Charbonneau. There is also a few extra 2010 books that were shipped. If you did not purchase one and would like to buy one of the extra books, bring $45 to the ZHS to purchase any remaining books
Thank you for your support of Zillah High School and of the Owego Yearbook. Please send us your comments! Jeff Charbonneau, Owego Advisor Email: Charbonneau_J@zsd.wednet.edu School: 509-829-5565

WSU Future Cougar Day Information: Washington State University’s Future Cougar Day is on Saturday, September 11, 2010. Registration will be available on September 1st. The cost of attendee is $15—includes lunch and ticket to attend the football game between WSU and Montana State University. Space is limited, so it is important to register your students as soon as classes begin. Questions or concerns please call 888.468.6978 or follow the link http://futurestudents.wsu.edu/visits/future-cougar/pullman/ You can also send an email to visitation@wsu.edu.

WWU Update: Western is expecting our largest ever incoming class - 2,750 freshmen and 825 transfer students - for Fall 2010. We'll include more highlights and an in-depth summary of this class once school begins and our numbers our final. Our plan is to bring the size of the freshman class back down to 2,700 in Fall 2011. But, it's time to look ahead to next year's applicants:
Western's Freshman Application for Admission for Fall Quarter 2011 will be available online in early September at admissions.wwu.edu/apply. Students interested in Winter or Spring Quarter 2011 are able to apply now.
While our application for admission hasn't undergone major changes, we have updated our activities list section and essay questions for the new year. We've compiled those changes for you so that you may review and share them with students planning to apply to Western for Fall Quarter. Also, please note that the application fee is increasing from $50 to $55 this year. The process by which students may request a fee waiver on the final page of the online application will remain the same. Download a printable PDF of our Activities List and Essay portions of the 2011 Application for Admission
WWU Important Dates & Deadlines
October 23 Western Fall Welcome, our largest fall campus visit program for prospective students and families. Come see WWU during this all-day campus visit program and…
Tour our campus
View residence hall rooms
Eat lunch on campus
Learn more about academic programs
Visit the Campus Fair and much more!
In order to best serve all our guests, reservations are required for this event; stay tuned for information about registering online for this event. If you plan to attend Western Fall Welcome, and would like to stay overnight in Bellingham, you can make your hotel reservations any time. A list of places to stay in Bellingham is available online. For more information, please call (360) 650-3861.
November 1 Housing selection priority date, and the first day Western begins to admit new students
January 31 Application priority date for merit scholarships; scholarships awarded Jan. - Mar.
February 15 Financial Aid priority date
March 1 Application deadline for Fall Quarter admission; financial aid award notification begins
May 1 Confirmation deadline

ZHS-ZHS-ZHS-ZHS ZHS-ZHS-ZHS-ZHS

ZHS Questions & Answers: If you have a question about Zillah High School and/ or a guidance related question, please contact me. When the question would be of interest to others I will post them here. Send your questions to griffin_j@zsd.wednet.edu
Q. I am confused is ZAP an alternative school or not?

A. ZAP is not a school. It is a program and is part of Zillah High School, just not housed on our campus at this time due to space. ZAP stands for Zillah Alternative Program. We offer three levels of Washington State diplomas. A basic 19 credit, a college prep 29 credit and an honors diploma of 31 credits which includes special courses that must be completed. Students who enroll in the ZAP are choosing to work on the Washington State Basic Education Diploma which qualifies them for after graduation opportunities in the world of work, apprenticeship programs, the military, technical colleges, specialty schools and/or community colleges. Because students may have different objectives and needs an alternative program, not a separate alternative school was developed many years ago. Larger districts around us actually have separate schools with alternative options. Hopefully this answer will clarify that ZHS students enrolled in the ZAP are not enrolled in a separate school. A website that has further information can be found at http://www.zillahschools.org/ZAP

Q. I sent my email address into you at registration but I am not receiving the newsletter. Why?

A. In your particular case you have chosen to have an email address that is not appropriate for use in school. The words that you chose as part of your email address is not acceptable. I will not even print it here, but I think you and would hope your parents would be smart enough to have already figured that out. You have two choices, 1) would be to submit an acceptable email address and you will be subscribed. 2) read the weekly news online at http://www.zillahschools.org/news/#zhsnews or via Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zillah-WA/Zillah-High-School-Weekly-Newsletter/128741503836565

Q. Are Freshman allowed to go to the Homecoming dance?

A. Yes. All ZHS students are welcome to attend all of the Homecoming events held October 4-9.

Q. Why do you change the Skyward Family Access logins and passwords? I liked mine from last year better.

A. For security reasons the logins and passwords are updated each year. Give it some time, perhaps you will like your new password even better this year.

Q. When I logged into Family Access I saw that my student already had an F for PEARLS Best Works class. How is that with only 2 days of school? What can be done to fix that? Will it impact the ability to participate in clubs and sports?
A. Your student has an F=Failure to meet deadline for not completing the best work assignments that were due May 1, 2010. We made several attempts to work with your student and also to communicate to you that their portfolio file was deficient. As soon as your student makes up the deficient, they will be cleared and the F will be removed. Yes it will impact their eligibility until it is corrected. You can learn more about Best Works at www.zillahschools.org/PEARLS

Q. I have gotten my portfolio nearly completed for PEARLS. When is the earliest that I could schedule a panel?

A. After Mid-term (October 15) through February 1, 2011, students who get their portfolios approved for presentations by their advisors, may schedule a special early panel with the Principal, Mr. Torres. Seniors are encouraged to complete this graduation as soon as they possibly can and not wait until March 2011. Please come in and see your advisor, Mr. Torres or myself if you have any questions about presenting early.

Q. We seem to be getting many special letters from organizations saying that we have been nominated to participate in a special career or college or travel program. Are these legitimate or are they a scam? They sound really good, but cost a lot. What do you think? They say they can help me find sponsors in the community to pay my way.

A. I think you should be very leery of any unsolicited “nominations” or invitations to special career, college or travel opportunities. The exception would be if the nomination can be confirmed by a ZHS/ZSD staff member. A letter that says “You have been nominated” but does not name the person who nominated you is suspicious. Many companies use this as a come on to sell services and travel. They avoid being a “scam” in that they actually do provide an experience or travel, but the fact that you have to be nominated is false. Anyone who plunks down the money would be “invited” to attend. Yes they want to help you find sponsors because every dollar you raise goes to them. They realize that money is tight so they might try to convince you to go to community groups for funding help. My advice is to NEVER send in any money without checking further with school officials. Personally I would shred the documents and put them in a recycle bin.

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