Thursday, May 30, 2013

Counselors Present Tuesday Topics


TUESDAY TOPIC: College Application 101
The student services department counselors would like to invite all parents of current juniors (Class of 2014) to join us on Tuesday morning, June 4th from 7:15 to 8:00 in the North Campus Library Classroom. This is a discussion of the college application process and will include information regarding: 
  • General timeline
  • College visits
  • Parental involvement and completing the application

This session will answer most of the common questions that come up in the college application process, so please come join us!
Our student-run coffee shop, Wally Grounds, will serve coffee, both regular and decaf, compliments of the Counseling Office staff!!!

Monday, May 20, 2013

Boys Golf Team wins 4th Consecutive Conference Title


ARROWHEAD HIGH SCHOOL
BOYS GOLF TEAM
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS

The Arrowhead Boys Golf Team WON THE CONFERENCE MEET AND THE OVERALL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP!  

Kyle Tanriverdi  (75)
1st team all -conference
Connor Thiel (76)
1st team all-conference
Spencer Jepson (78)
3rd team all-conference


Tyler Peterson (75) 

Joe Jorgensen (82) 












Joe Jorgensen's score of 82 was the score used to win the tie-breaker for the AHS golf team over Mukwonago's 86 for their 5th man.

Head boys golf coach, Greg Budzien, stated after winning the conference championship that it was, “One of the more amazing come-from-behind, claw-your-way-to-the-top, beat-the-odds victories in AHS golf history!  Shocking, to say the least, but the golfers never quit.  A 4th consecutive conference championship  for the varsity golfers...”

Congratulations to the Coach Budzien and the golf team!!  Good luck Wednesday.

AHS Students Sponsor Event to Support Veterans


ARROWHEAD HIGH SCHOOL
WARHAWK INTERACT & INTERNATIONAL CLUB STUDENTS RAISE FUNDS FOR VETERANS

During a recent fundraising event the Warhawk Interact and International Student Club raised $2162.78 in support of the Guitars for Vets and $2162.78 for Dryhootch.  The Arrowhead students will be presenting a large fake check to Dryhootch at the grand opening of their new Waukesha location at the end of June.

Skage Schei, Arrowhead AFS student from Norway, won the Mr. AHS contest.  He has decided to donate his acoustic guitar to Guitars for Vets when he leaves the USA in June. 

Also, Pete Kishline, Arrowhead support staff member, and his students will be delivering 250 DVDs to the Spinal Cord Injury Unit at the VA Hospital.

Thank you all for your support, as well as a special thank you to the Warhawk Interact students and their advisor Liz Munkwitz, and to Pat Downing, advisor, and her International Student Club students.

Pictures from the event:










AHS Physics Team Takes 1st


ARROWHEAD HIGH SCHOOL
PHYSICS TEAM TAKES 1ST PLACE

AHS AP Physics team, takes 1st in the four state region (Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin) in the national Physics Bowl Contest. 

The team took 7th place in the nation.  Senior Stephen Osowski was the top individual scorer in the four state region.  Other students on the team were Alex Strange, Zach Bednarke, Charles Boyer, Kaitlyn Hogen, Kevin Jin, Matt Kerchinski, Jake Miller, Nathan Schneider and Max Strange.  As a result of this outstanding performance the school will receive a $100 gift certificate to both Pasco Scientific and Frey Scientific and a $50 gift certificate from Vernier Software & Technology.  The top five scoring students on the team (Stephen, Max, Nathan, Kevin and Zach) will receive T-shirts stating "Physics Bowl Champions"

Arrowhead High School Physics Team
1st place in Physics Bowl Contest
Congratulations to the Physics team and their advisor Mrs. Cheri Kaiser.

Student Writer Selected as Honorable Mention


ARROWHEAD STUDENT WRITER RECEIVES HONORABLE MENTION RECOGNITION

Stossel in the Classroom announced the winners of its third annual student essay contest. Bri Meyer, an Arrowhead senior and journalism student in Ms. Liz Jorgensen’s class, has been awarded an Honorable Mention in the contest. For her essay, she received $50 and a certificate.

Students age 13 to 18 were asked to conduct research through books, videos and the internet and then write an essay about whether government or private individuals were better at solving problems.

There were 4,000 submissions from students across the country, with 225 essays chosen as prize winners. Bri, as an Honorable Mention, was among the top 6% of all the essays submitted. 

Congratulations to Bri!


The following is Bri's essay:


Bri Meyer
Honorable Mention Winer
                In his book No They Can’t, John Stossel claims that the American government is ineffective, unequipped, and unable to solve the modern problems of the world. He claims individuals can do these things. I believe that he is not only correct in his claim, but that the evidence against government piles higher and higher each year. Based on the drastic differences between the funding and innovations of the private scientific sector versus the government based agencies, Stossel affirms that in modern times, government simply “can’t.”

                Scientific funding is a relatively recent issue in politics. The industrial revolution caused a boom in financial need to support the new methods of research, and for awhile, these methods worked. Since the 1940s, the National Science Foundation has funded approximately 11,000 new projects each year. Unfortunately, this governmentally supported system no longer accommodates the financial requirement of scientific research labs.

The best example of this comes from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA. Last year, President Obama terminated the shuttle program as part of his plan to end wasteful programs. Since as early as 2005, NASA as a whole has been in danger of extinction. Although NASA lives on, it continues to experience financial instability and has lost its biggest component—improvement of space travel. Shuttles were not worth the time and money they were costing the government.

During that time, however, Sir Richard Branson and the private sector of science have been working to create civilian shuttles and more. Brason’s Virgin Galactic, the space division of his company, started researching shuttle designs as early as 2004 through the X-Prize foundation. Since 1995, this non-profit organization gives scientists a chance to invent new technologies in competition for a high money prize. Stossel substantiates his theory that individuals can succeed more than government through the idea of the X-Prize: because a prize is offered, a wider variety of scientists will be enticed to create products quickly and efficiently.

Currently, Branson has a fleet of four space crafts—two of which are space buses with more than 550 ticket holders. As NASA slowly lost government funding and support, Branson built his fleet by combining his own money with intelligence from top scientists throughout the world. Individuals and private companies have the power and wealth to support these scientists in their efforts, which leads to more cutting edge products in a shorter amount of time, no matter the financial condition of the country.  

The financial shortcomings of governmental science only account for half of the problem. Within the past 30 years, the government has slacked on not only the funding of science, but the innovation. In order to succeed in the economy today, science labs need to create new technology in short amounts of time—an expensive prospect. This is the reason why so many labs have requested government aid. This leaves the government floundering for money and drowning in rules, regulations, and paperwork with no time for its own research. The complexity of its system is what prevents new technologies to emerge.  

A great example of lack of innovation came with the BP oil spill in 2010. The government immediately stepped in to save the day, but used the same system to clean the oil as the one used 21 years ago to clean the Exxon Valdez spill. This left the government looking like saviors even though the technology gap thwarted the speed and efficiency of the clean-up effort. The government requires mass market cars to be 35 miles per gallon to help the planet, yet it is reluctant to change even the most serious of its global pollution solutions.

In the private sector, improvement has not been stalled. The X-Prize and other private companies have held contests not just for space travel, but for high miles per gallon cars and for oil spill cleanup. In the 2010 Progressive Insurance Automotive contest, X-Prize offered money to the team that could create a car with 100 mpg, low CO2 emissions, and potential to be manufactured by the mass market. The winning team not only achieved this, but created a car that runs 102.5 mpg on high efficiency, ethanol blend fuel.  Similar to this, Wendy Schmidt sponsored a $1 million X-Prize to create a newer, more proficient way to clean up world oil spills from tankers and ocean platforms after seeing the devastating effects of outdated government methods in the 2010 oil spill,. The winners were able to update the government’s technology and triple the speed and effectiveness of oil cleanup. These contests, sponsored by private companies looking to improve the science of modern times, have together created more new technology for the world than anything the government has done in a long time.

Yes, the government may provide financial support to various labs around the country, but that will never be enough to get America into a new wave of scientific discovery. Government money is too little and spread too thin to accomplish anything significant. But in the private sector, individuals and companies with money and means can take their initiative and create useful, cutting edge equipment in half the time. They not only have more money to spend, but have the world’s brightest scientists under their employ. Because the scientific funding and innovation of individuals has readily surpassed the government, I believe Stossel is correct when saying that in modern technological times, the government can no longer handle the responsibility of scientific discovery.  

Congratulations Bri!!!


ARROWHEAD STUDENT WINS
“WHAT MAKES A GREAT TEACHER”
ENERGIZE STUDENTS ESSAY CONTEST


THE IDEAL TEACHER
-    BRI STEMPER

Arrowhead High junior, Bri Stemper won FIRST PLACE (and $800) in the Energize Students Teacher Essay contest, “What Makes A Great Teacher.”  The following is Bri’s winning essay:

Bri Stemper
1st Place Winner
Every day, we interact with hundreds of people from the people we pass in the hallway, to our friends, teammates, coaches, parents and family. But there is really no comparison to the interaction and relationship students experience with their teachers. A teacher teaches, but in reality there’s a lot more to it than just that. A teacher is also a mentor and a friend, and for that reason a good teacher embodies characteristics such as being approachable, being a good communicator, and being relatable. 


We’ve all had that one student-teacher relationship that we will never forget. A positive experience where over the course of 180 days and those 7,200 precious minutes, you have the opportunity to learn what the other is about. However, let’s be honest: such a positive experience with a teacher is a rarity. But some of the best teachers are the ones you develop a connection with. But what qualifies as a good teacher? 



One of the most important qualities that a good teacher embodies is approachability. In order to be approachable, the teacher must be personable. Students can’t be intimidated by a teacher, otherwise they will hesitate to ask questions and request extra help. If students are intimidated and refuse to ask questions, the majority of students won’t be successful in the class. In order to be seen as approachable, teachers can smile, be friendly, open, and flexible. By doing so, students will become comfortable letting their guard down and asking for help. However, although approachability is important, there is a line between being a teacher and a pal, and the line must not be crossed. 



In addition to being approachable, a teacher has to be a good communicator. This goes both ways. The teacher needs to be able to communicate well and listen to meet the needs of their students. In the positive relationship, a student should feel comfortable talking to the teacher and they should be able to communicate effectively, to not only the students, but also the parents and families. 



Finally, a good teacher is relatable. A good teacher is one who goes out of his or her way to find a way to relate to each student, and this is where students really develop that positive student-teacher relationship. It’s hard to find common interests with every single student, but the teachers that have the ability to find a way to connect with each student are those who are the best. Being relatable establishes that common ground and sets up all the other qualities that make a great teacher.


Congratulations Bri!!  The following is a link to the winners of the essay contest: http://energizestudents.upickem.net/engine/Winners.aspx?PageType=WINNER&contestid=84991


AHS Instrumental Music Spring Concert


ARROWHEAD HIGH SCHOOL
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
SPRING CONCERT

You are cordially invited to our Instrumental Music Spring Concert on Thursday, May 23rd, at 7:00pm (North Theater). We will be celebrating our seniors' last performance and announcing winners of our music awards. In addition, our groups will be featuring some very important pieces! 

The Wind Ensemble is giving the premiere performance of the commissioned piece "So Many Tomorrows" by Clint Needham. This is a piece specifically written for the Arrowhead Wind Ensemble and it will be its first performance for an audience under the baton of Jacob Polancich. 

The Symphonic Band is performing a unique piece in the music world entitled "Paper Cut." This piece is written for band, electronic sounds, and PAPER. Students had the privilege of skyping with the composer of this piece and she demonstrated the techniques of "playing" paper for this piece.
Combining the sounds with black-lights on stage will make for a very memorable performance. To get a sense of the piece, you can watch a clip from another school's performance

And lastly, Chamber Strings will be playing a variety of wonderful pieces, including a special Brazilian Drum break during their song "Tico Tico." 
We hope you can share this special night of music with our families and students as we bid our seniors a fond farewell. 

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Automotive Students Excel


ARROWHEAD HIGH SCHOOL
AUTOMOTIVE STUDENTS 
ROBBIE BERES AND RICH COAKLEY 
TAKE 3RD PLACE IN TROUBLE SHOOTING COMPETITION

AHS Senior
Robbie Beres
Arrowhead High School’s Technology & Engineering Department’s students excel in recent automotive trouble shooting competition held on Wednesday, May 8th.

AHS Senior
Richard Coakley
This year the AHS team consisted of Robbie Beres and Richard Coakley.  They finished in a very commendable position of 3rd place.  The Ford/AAA competition is very tough every year.  The young men won approximately $120.00 in tools each, plus approximately $11,000.00 in scholarship money to various post secondary automotive programs.  They also each received a trophy.  Mr. Eric Varrelmann, automotive teacher, also brought home a very large trophy for the auto shop, acknowledging the Arrowhead programs accomplishments.  In receiving the award, Mr. Varrelmann commented, “Thank you for your support and once again my students have made me look good!”

Congratulations to Robbie and Richard, as well as their teacher Mr. Eric Varrelman.

Robbie & Richard
After taking 3rd Place
Mr. Varrelman, Robbie & Richard
receiving their awards

AHS Alumni Return Tradition Continues



ARROWHEAD ALUMNI RETURN
TO SPEAK TO AHS STUDENTS
ABOUT THE “POSSIBILITIES”

Mrs. Cheri Kaiser, science department chair, has established an annual tradition of inviting former Arrowhead students back to speak to our current students about the “possibilities.”   The Arrowhead grads represent the outstanding AHS alumni and provide a glimpse into what is possible and the opportunities that are available to our students after having graduated from Arrowhead High School. 

For several years, former Arrowhead students have come back to AHS to share their experiences at Arrowhead and how that has contributed to their successes in life.  AHS students have the wonderful opportunity to see and hear from some outstanding individuals who are excelling in their fields and who were once students here at Arrowhead.

All presentations will be 60 minutes, during periods 1/2, 2/3, 3/4 and 7/8, and will be conducted in room N105 at north campus.  Thank you to Mrs. Kaiser for organizing this annual event and to all of the AHS alumni for their willingness to give back to our school and students.  The following is a list of the guest speakers, the dates they will be at AHS and a brief bio on the AHS alumni:

May 21
AHS Graduate & Guest Speaker: Luke Zarling
Research at University of Wisconsin Madison--human intelectin protein and binding infinity
Triple major—biochemistry, chemistry and philosophy

May 23
AHS Graduate & Guest Speaker: Erin Loofboro
Mechanical Engineering graduated Marquette University
Works at Rockwell Automation
Entropy Lab due must have typed conclusion—one will be picked per team


May 24
AHS Graduate & Guest Speaker: Chelsea Bledsoe
Biomedical Engineering—U.W. Madison--semester intern G.E. medical

May 31
AHS Graduate & Guest Speaker:Phil Spindler
Electrical Engineering—LED’s
Graduate of Purdue and MIT

June 3
AHS Graduate & Guest Speaker: Tony Schroeder
Talk on Photocatalysis of Hydrogen sulfide gas

June 4
AHS Graduate & Guest Speaker:Megan Spindle
Architecture
Graduate of the University of Minnesota

June 5
AHS Graduate & Guest Speaker: Courtney Gaberino
Mechanical Engineering
Notre Dame—summer intern at Rockwell corporation



June 6
AHS Graduate & Guest Speaker: Amanda Pratt
Electrical Engineering—Olin University— Studies Integrated Circuits at University of California, Berkeley 


Friday, May 10, 2013

Exemplary State Soloist Awards


EXEMPLARY STATE SOLOIST
AWARDED TO 3 AHS STUDENTS

Arrowhead High School has some great news to share regarding students from our music program. We are pleased to recognize three AHS music students for receiving Exemplary State Soloist Awards at Solo Ensemble May 4th, held at Cardinal Stritch University. Only about 450 students out of the 9,000 that participate in State Solo Ensemble are given this honor in the State of Wisconsin. A select number of these soloists are asked to perform at the State Music Conference in Madison. Please congratulate the following musicians for this wonderful accomplishment!

Annie Lindenberg
AHS Sophomore
Soprano Solo
Ethan Wen
AHS Freshman
Piano Solo
























Cassie Anderson
AHS Junior
Violin Solo