Sweeter's Tiger Tracks

Happy Holidays

I just wanted to take a moment and wish everyone a great holiday season.  It has been a fantastic year so far, which can be attributed to the efforts of all of our stakeholders including students, parents, staff, school board, and community. 

Thank you for all of your work, and have a safe and merry holiday season.  See you January 3^rd.

Sincerely,

Todd Sweeter

JH/HS Principal

Groton Area Schools

Reinventing the System

Today I watched a video that truly gets you thinking about where education is going, and what we as educators need to do in order to make our kids better prepared for the "Real World."

http://www.21stcenturyfluency.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=1526

Cool Friday Blogs

A cool look into the past 200 years.

Amazing!!!

http://www.21stcenturyfluency.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=1604 

Things they are a changing.  Are our students ready?

http://www.21stcenturyfluency.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=1618

Things they need to be a changing.  And things like this make me proud to be an American.

http://www.21stcenturyfluency.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=1614

I have to tell you as an educator I see this everyday.  I have no proof of this but our students are more tired today than they ever were.

http://www.21stcenturyfluency.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=1606

I am not sure the negatives of this technology, but it might just be the coolest thing since sliced bread.

 

10 Minutes with Todd

Today I interviewed Christina Brunnert.  She is a foreign exchange student from Germany.  Before I go any further I have several confessions to make. 

1) What started out as a good idea kind of got put on the back burner for a while.  I promise as we move forward I will do a better job of updating the segment more regurally.  We have many great students, so I will do a better job of showcasing them.

2) I am still getting comfortable behind a camera, so while the interview is not flawless, I hope you find it interesting.  In today's interview we were both nervous, so I tried to cut it off early.  To my surprise Christina wanted to keep going, so there is a little hiccup in the middle. 

3) I am by no means a camera guru.  The video is a little dark because of the light coming into the window.  In the future I will rectify this problem.

Nonetheless I hope you enjoy today's segment.

Debate Dominance

Congratulations to Spenser Kavanaugh for winning the Lincoln Douglas debate division at the Upper Dakota Forensic League conference meet on Friday.  Congratulations to Michaela Oleson for placing 3rd.  Both Spenser and Michaela were undefeated and placings were based on speaker points. 

Memorable Moments in History

The last couple of days are quite memorable historically speaking.  Below are some links that might take you back in time.  I found the second link, while only an excerpt, to be especially uplifitng because of the message it contains

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gcdz1IRVoM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiFYd6w8k7E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt13c3olXkU

Student Success

FFA:

    1.  Congratulations to Joellen Gonsoir for placing 6th in the State FFA Creed speaking CDE!

Football:

1. NEC All-Conference Football Team:  Kalen Kjellsen, Josh Heupel, Tony Waage, Jamie Jorgensen, & Matt Thorson
2. Honorable Mention:  Ryland Strom 
3. 11B All-State Football Team:  Gavin Voss Kicker 
4. Aberdeen American News All Area Team:  Kalen Kjellsen

Volleyball:    

    1. Congratulations to Erin Wanner and Stephanie Fey for making the NEC All-Conference team.                               

Victory with Honor

Whenever John Wooden talks I listen.  He is a great speaker, that truly lived all aspects of life with character and honor.  I am attaching a video that I found especially interesting and timely.  I say that because the first BB game of the year begins tonight, and perhaps in no other sport does Victory with Honor get challenged more.  Basketball while I love it can be ruthless.  For some reason once people enter a gym and the referee throws the first ball in the air people lose their minds.  Normally peaceful people verbally attack referees, other people's children, and coaches.  This video provides a little insight and perhaps a reality check for all of us to keep in mind.

 

Food for thought

I read this article today and it really got me thinking.  Why is there such a huge increase in the amount of kids being identified as ADHD?  Is it poorer parenting?  Too much technology?  Chemicals?  Over diagnosis?

On a similar note I have also read that the amount of autism is increasing rapidly.  Why?  What in society is affecting our youth so drastically?  If we don't figure it out soon is it going to continue to grow, and at what cost? 

I guess that is enough doom and gloom for a Friday afternoon, but something to think about. 

http://www.21stcenturyfluency.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=1567

Math Domination

Congratulations to the following eighth graders for placing first in the eighth grade team division at yesterday's Roncalli MathCounts Countdown Competition:  Gabe Dohman, Jacob Milbrandt, Luke Smith, and Lucas Sternhagen and to Jacob and Luke for taking first place honors in their individual brackets.

Congratulations to the following seventh graders for placing first in the seventh grade team division:  Andrew Helm, Marlee Jones, Jaden Oliver, and James Thompson and to Marlee and Jaden for taking first place honors in their individual brackets.  Good work, mathletes!