Message from the Principal,
On behalf of the entire staff, I would like to welcome you to the 2018-2019 school year. As with any new year, Columbia High School quickly became the center of activity for our community. With students arriving in the morning for classes and staying throughout the evening for various sporting events and clubs, it is truly amazing to see all the activities that take place here. I am proud that Columbia High School plays such an important part in our students’ lives and I hope you are as excited as I am for a great year!
Sincerely,
Brian Reeves
Project Kitchen - Summer 2018
In addition to three Nutrition and Culinary Arts classes and three Foods and Nutrition classes, the Family and Consumer Science Kitchen is the home to the F.H.A. club and the prep site for the three time Platinum Chef champions. While Ms. Vaughn worked wonders in this space, it was lacking functionality and available storage. Due to an enormous amount of preparation, hard work, and long hours over the summer, the room was ready to be revealed with updated work spaces, increased storage and a much needed face-lift.
Welcome to our Kitchen(s)
This is just a glimpse of what happened in just a couple of short months. For more specific details of the transformation, be sure to visit the classroom blog. It includes every detail imagined from paint swatches to the Dollar Tree cake stands for you to create the same look in your own home.
Dedication
A special thanks to Ms. Vaughn, for a detailed dream and the countless hours she spent with us over the summer. It took a lot of talented hands to pull it all together in such a short amount of time. The CHS shop program constructed a wall that turned a couple of shelves into a walk in closet, increased the size of kitchen five and tripled the available storage. Having matching kitchen sizes allows all students to have the same amount of space to work in. Smaller dining sets were brought in which allowed for each station to have designated prep surfaces and the back counter was raised from 4 inches to 18 inches. As you can imagine, the laminate surface on the wall is much easier to clean.
F.H.A. club members and former students rallied together volunteering to help paint walls, build furniture, pack cabinets, unpack cabinets, etc. The enthusiasm was contagious!
Can you believe how lucky I am? I'm so in love with every detail in this space! I'm excited for all the classroom adventures we are going to have in here for years to come. ~ Ms. Vaughn
Academics
With our first mid-quarter in the books, the faculty and staff are working hard to bring out the best in our talented students.
History
Recent class projects include US Constitution Week where we took time to reflect upon who we are as Americans, examine our fundamental ideals and principles, evaluate our nation's progress toward realization of our shared ideals, and propose actions to narrow the gap between these ideals and our daily lives.
America is woven of many strands; I would recognize them and let it so remain. Our fate is to become one and yet many. - Ralph Ellison
English
In Ms. Adams' English class, seniors up-cycled old dictionary pages to communicate their six word memoirs. Larry Smith describes this as "a simple concept that’s become an effective tool to spark conversation, crystallize goals, and boil anything down to its core.“ Can you engage and inspire anyone and everyone to get to the essence of who you are and what matters most in six words?
Transition Program
Our mission is to empower students with the desire, skills, and means to become lifelong learners as they independently live their life to the fullest in school, at home, within the community and in work settings. This program runs a variety of businesses including the CHS Flight Crew Cafe, the Eagle Nest Cafe (located at 11 South), and the Flight Crew Spirit Wear Store.
If you are looking for spirit wear to support the Columbia Eagles, let the campus store meet those needs! The Flight Crew Spirit Wear Store is located in the high school. The CHS Transition Program students run the store. The students in the Transition Program learn core academics as well as life skills. The store allows the students the opportunity to understand how to run a small business, manage money, socialize with people in their community, as well as gain employment skills. A percentage of the profits from every sale go directly to the students in the Transition Program. The money gives the student the opportunity to explore their community and learn how to be an independent adult. We have many new items in our store this year. Please check out our webpage or visit our store. The store is open from 7:30 AM to 2:30 PM on school days.
Leadership
Highly effective and successful individuals have one thing in common – strong leadership skills. This class is designed to teach students leadership skills that will be important to their future regardless of their career goals. The course provides an opportunity to study, practice and develop group and individual leadership and organizational skills that are crucial for future success. These skills include, but are not limited to the following topics of areas: leadership roles, interpersonal relations, project planning, goal setting, civic responsibility, decision making, time management, organization, evaluation, team building, problem solving, meeting skills, service learning and communication.
Students enrolled in this course apply these skills in dealing with peers, school administration and their community. This course takes a hands-on, lab-oriented approach to leadership by involving students in participatory leadership through project planning and implementation.
Art
We provide a variety of art classes at CHS. This semester Mrs. Packard teaches Intro to Art, Sculpture, Drawing and Design and Studio Art. The talented pieces of artwork above were created by the following students:
- Linoleum block print Bear - Sam Helms
- Linoleum block print Connecting Snakes - Eli Brower
- Ceramic cactus - Hannah Walters
- Vase - Cailyn Haubein
- Ceramic Eye- Sydney Packard
- Graphite pencil Polar Bear - Jadyn Ariston
- Ceramic Vase - Eli Brower
- Linoleum block print prairie dog - Alex Goldman
- Linoleum block print Cat - Alycie Caya
Students taking an art class are invited to a weekly open studio during FLEX time. Students may use this time to work on art assignments, prepare for art contests, or work on their own personal artwork.
Clubs
Did you know that Columbia High School has more than a dozen clubs to participate in. Clubs are considered an integral part of the total educational experience at Columbia High School. Students must be enrolled full time at CHS in order to participate. Clubs are assigned meeting dates and times during regular school hours unless otherwise noted. Clubs elect officers and meetings are to be conducted in accordance with Rules of Order. Current clubs include: After Prom, Blue Crew, Chess Club, Drama Productions, Future Farmers of America, Future Homemakers of America, German Club, Key Club, Math Club, National Honor Society, Open Art Studio, Prom Committee, Spanish Club, Science Club, Skills USA and Student Council.
Blue Crew
Blue Crew serves to promote school spirit and involvement in the school community. The goal of Blue Crew is to unify students while supporting and encouraging their peers. A yearly membership fee of $15 gives the member entrance to all regular season, home athletic events as long as they present their membership sticker at the gate. Members also receive a Blue Crew t-shirt at the time of enrollment. This year Blue Crew has a new home in the opposite end zone. You can't miss them and every week they have a new theme.
Future Farmers of America (FFA)
The National FFA Organization is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. FFA helps students develop agricultural leadership skills, increases awareness of the global and technological importance of agriculture and its contribution to our well-being, and strengthens the confidence of agriculture students in themselves and their work.
2018 DuQuoin State Fair Champions Farmyard Follies
FFA Equine Judging Teams
- Varsity: 2nd of 97 Teams (Paige Bierman, Lauren Baur, Anna Baur, and Meredith Payton)
- Junior Varsity: 16th of 31 Teams (Kylie Fallon, Jason Arendell, McKenna Litteken, Maddie Gummersheimer)
- Alternates: 6th of 22 Teams (Kyle Jackson, Jakob Hoffman, Logan Weik, Ellie Hoffman, Jarod Hoffman)
- Individuals: 2nd Place out of 549 students (Paige Bierman)
Math Team
Congratulations to Mrs. Stevens and the CHS Math Team. They had a great opening event last night at SWIC competing with local 2A schools Althoff, Freeburg, Nashville, Red Bud, Sparta, and Wesclin.
- Seniors: Lauren Baur (1st), Tyler Grafton (2nd), Mitchell Augustin (7th)
- Juniors: Caleb Bahr (1st), Eric Kuebler (2nd), Ethan Sturm (4th)
- Sophomores: Anna Baur (3rd), Mason Albers (5th)
- Freshman: Luke Haubein (4th), Liam Ellner (7th)
Also in the team competition Tyler Grafton, Caleb Bahr, Mason Albers, and Liam Ellner took 2nd. Great Job Team!
Student Spotlight
Congratulations for our September Student Spotlight winners who were nominated and chosen as a result of being prepared.
- Freshman Jennifer Proctor
- Sophomore Chad Phelps
- Junior Nick Prindiville
- Seniors Kaelyn Rheinecker
A special thanks to our local Joe's Pizza and Pasta for sponsoring our underclassmen winners, RE/MAX Preferred Barbara Markham for sponsoring our Senior Student Spotlight.
2018-19 Pep Rally
This year's pep rally was a blast. The doors opened at 6 a.m. and the amount of school spirit was overwhelming. Thank you to Mr. Ryterski and the CHS Pep Band, Chris Regnier, and the Fox 2 Pep Zone staff for waking us up as we prepared for our victory over Waterloo in the Route 3 Rivalry.
2018 Homecoming
Congratulation to this year's Homecoming Court!
Freshmen: Ella Riley & Drew Stumpf | Sophomores: Molly Rickey & Jonah James | Juniors: Maddie Rey & Jacob O’Connor, Valerie Queen & Sam Horner | Seniors: Jamie Garmer & Andrew Ford, Fae Harrell & Charlie Harres, Bridget Rickey & Josh Marion, Rylee Iorio & Jeremy Obregon
Coronation will be announced during halftime of the October 12 football game.
Yearbook
One of the best ways to capture all the memorable moments of high school is to buy a yearbook. Order yours today!
Meet the 18-19 Staff for the Columbian
- Baumann, Mattea
- Berviller, Kameron
- Denison, Juliana
- Eastep, Delaney
- Fauss, Madeline
- Holmes, Blake
- Morr, Trey
- Mueller, AJ
- Riley, Noah
- Schoellhorn, Madison
- Stephens, Mallory
- Taake, Logan
- Watson, Hannah
- Wilhelm, Shane
Be sure to order your before 9/21/2018 for the low price of $55!
Thank you for viewing this CHS Newsletter. For a calendar of special events and athletics, please visit the CHS website.