Olympia CUSD 16

Adjustments for OMS Sports on Thursday 11/19 7th and 8th grade boys basketball contact day is cancelled. 6th-8th grade volleyball contact day is on in the MS Gym. Chess is having practice.

Quick reminder; anything you post online can be searched, copied, and shared. Think about that~ https://d1pmarobgdhgjx.cloudfront.net/education/Digital_Footprint_Animation_2017.mp4

OMS Cancellations for 11/18 7th Grade Girls Basketball Contact Day is cancelled. MS Dance practice at West is also cancelled for today.

What mark will you leave on the world? What is your “purpose”? How can you foster an online identity for yourself that supports and drives forward this purpose? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRkhkO4fKAg&feature=youtu.be

😲 WOW! Our Virtual Angel Tree is off to an amazing start! In FIVE days, all of our students were sponsored, and we have raised nearly $1,000 dollars towards helping those in our community! Every dollar donated to the Angel Tree will go towards Spartan Council, which helps OUR families and OUR children who need it most. Families who have lost their housing due to a fire, electricity/water bills that have been shut off due to hard times, and food/clothing needed for students who would otherwise go without are all examples of how Spartan Council helps our community. Our students may be sponsored, but your donation still means the world to other Spartans in need. Watch the progress & donate today @ https://www.olympia.org/o/district/page/nhs-angel-trees Thank you! 🎄💙🎄

Video: bit.ly/Oly2DFV3 Lots of students are exploring and developing their own identities, and they often do this online and on social media. Some kids use multiple accounts, each for a different audience, but with this, what’s real and what’s unrealistic can often get blurred. In this video, your kids can hear other teens talk about the ins and outs of presenting themselves to others online, and consider what it means to “be yourself” in digital spaces.

The Middle School Volleyball program will have 3 additional contact days for 6th-8th graders in the OMS gym. Monday, November 16th Thursday, November 19th Monday, November 23rd

Help! My Kid Wants to Use Social Media! Get your child, and yourself, ready for the next step with these conversation starters. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/help-my-kid-wants-to-use-social-media

Olympia West kindergarten students send their thanks to our Veterans

Our Virtual Angel Tree event is off to a great start; we already have a few students who will have a brighter holiday this season! Learn more and #SponsorASpartan today! bit.ly/olyAngelTree20

Happy Veteran's Day from Olympia High School!!! Each high school advisory has created a celebratory slide! https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vTL_x76Fz7RG5Lg8ZLNFXAHcolyonVOyutUvv63H_TtX2Gmztt4mM1YgUyFSo9x_ce5Wg24ystE7sA3/pub?start=true&loop=true&delayms=3000

Instagram, Middle School, and Digital Citizenship! "Forming an identity is a big part of being a middle schooler. Most students are working it out through experimentation, with plenty of awkward missteps and mistakes along the way. It's a normal, natural part of growing up. But in the age of social media, this part of adolescence can be tough -- both for kids to navigate and for adults to understand. New social media platforms come and go, often with features designed to captivate young users right in the midst of figuring out just who they are." Read more about how teachers use classroom lessons to teach about online identity: https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/instagram-middle-school-and-digital-citizenship

Great day for learning how to write number sentences in first grade! The first graders in Mrs. Estes’s class were working hard today.

One more congratulations to Coach Mike Neisler and the Olympia High School cross country teams. Last Friday the teams ran in the final meet of the strange, yet spectacular 2020 season. Since IHSA chose to not host a state meet, ShaZam Racing (a timing company out of Peoria) organized a state meet at Three Sisters Park near Chillicothe. The girls’ team placed 6th and the guys were 5th. In his final year of teaching and coaching at Olympia, Coach Neisler was able to add 2 more to the list of All-State athletes that he has coached. Seniors Savanah Beavers and Charlie Kistner secured those spots, finishing 5th place and 6th place, respectively. Congrats to Mr. Neisler for an awesome teaching/coaching career and thank you for the 30-plus years of dedication to our students and athletes. This coach and this year’s cross country teams will be forever remembered as some very special individuals in Olympia history!

As soon as you share the first photo of your child, you're establishing their digital footprint. As kids get older and start creating their own content or engaging with others online, it's important for them to understand the tracks they're leaving behind and what those tracks might reveal. Parents can help guide kids toward creating the kind of footprint they can be proud of. https://www.commonsense.org/education/family-tips/k-5-digital-footprint-and-identity

Post, Comment, & Upload Responsibly! As teens start sharing content and engaging with others online, it's vital to understand what they're leaving behind and what they might reveal. Help guide kids toward creating the kind of footprint they can be proud of @ bit.ly/Oly2DF

Video: bit.ly/OlyDFV1 Many kids are already posting and sharing information about themselves. But in a world where oversharing might seem like the norm, it’s important for kids to think about their digital footprints. Listen to what these teens have to say about sharing on social media. Are you making the right sharing decisions?

Every day, teens engage with countless images and videos that have been edited or digitally altered. But are your kids aware of, or have they thought deeply about, disinformation online, including the phenomenon of deepfake videos? For more information about this new media manipulation method, check out the following video. It has never been more important for our students to think critically about the media they consume and identities they see online. https://youtu.be/OUSworJiRWg For more information, and some wonderful discussion points to talk over with your kids after watching the video, check out this lesson: https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/are-deepfake-videos-a-threat-to-democracy

#DigCit! In a time of 24/7 connectivity, do the benefits of online sharing outweigh the risks? In Nov. our digital citizenship focus will be on the topic of Digital Footprint & Identity. Look for posts throughout the month to use as discussion points with your family!

Like the clockwork that got turned back last night and as promised in last week’s article, the Olympia High School cross country teams continued to make their Spartan Nation as proud as they can be yesterday at the IHSA Sectional meet. Both teams had a great day, despite the adverse conditions they faced(grueling hills to climb and crazy high winds). In the girl’s race, our ladies rocked the XC world with a 2nd place team finish that surprised many people, including some of the so-called experts that had recently pushed Oly’s state ranking down to #19. Olympia scored 88 points, only 10 points behind #6 ranked U-High Pioneers, and ahead of #3 ranked Eureka, #14 ranked Auburn, and #17 ranked Sacred Heart-Griffin. Leading the way for our gals was Savanah Beavers with a 2nd place finish, clocking in at 18:14. Also earning an individual medal was Abby Litwiller, placing 9th with a personal best 19:14. The remaining Spartan racers were Rachel Andris (20:09), Maddie Litwiller (20:44), Chrystal Cornwell (20:48), Cam Lawson (21:37), and Emily Litwiller (22:38). On the guy’s side, our Spartans also made a statement to the experts that like to make predictions. Most of the predictions had #3 ranked Elmwood picked to win the team battle and Miles Sheppard from Hamilton-Warsaw to take the individual crown. Olympia’s senior star Charlie Kistner saw things differently, and executed a perfect race plan to defeat Miles by nearly 7 seconds with a time of 14:55.99. The rest of the guys joined Charlie in the prevailing underdog theme, piecing together an overwhelming victory! For the second year in a row our guys were Sectional Champs, scoring a mere 36 points, while the 2nd place Elmwood Trojans scored 85. Rounding out the field of Spartan runners were individual medalist Logan Wheeler (6th at 15:58), Owen Dare (11th at 16:16), Carter Phillips (12th in all-time best 16:18), Lucas Lawless (17th at 16:35), Anthony Ragland (17:01), and Alec Pfeffer (17:38). This race marked the conclusion of the unusual 2020 IHSA XC season. It was truly an amazing day for our runners! They couldn’t have purchased a better gift for coach Mike Neisler on his last day as head coach of Olympia XC. Congrats to all runners on your outstanding performances and to Coach Neisler for an outstanding coaching career at Olympia!