Wednesday, November 21, 2012

TJHS is Thankful!

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, I found it appropriate to post about some of the many reasons that we at TJHS are thankful.

One of our very own, Mr. Clark Shigley, has been selected to receive the Troy Area Chamber of Commerce's prestigious Outstanding Educator Award.  Mr. Shigley is employed through the Upper Valley Career Center as the coordinator for the CBIP (Career-Based Intervention Program) for Troy Junior High School.  The CBIP works with students who have had difficulty with academics or attendance by providing them an opportunity to gain employment during the school day, along with receiving career counseling and their regular academics.  Mr. Shigley makes home visits when selecting students for enrollment in the program, as well as continuing the visits during the course of the program.  He works with students to help develop good work habits and responsibilities.  He assists the students in making improvements in their classroom grades, life long career goals, and good decision making.  Mr. Shigley meets regularly with the students and their employers to ensure that his students are successful at work. He has been an educator for twenty two years, the last twelve at TJHS in his current capacity.  We are thankful for the many great teachers at TJHS, including Mr. Shigley.

We recently held our 1st Quarter Academic Awards Assembly.  As a school, we recognized approximately 340 students for Honor Roll (GPA of 3.5 to 3.74) and Principal's List (GPA of 3.75-4.0) combined, as well as approximately 280 students for Perfect Attendance.  With many students receiving both an academic and an attendance award, we recognized approximately 445 of our 700 students!  Many parents and family members attended the assembly recognizing the achievements of these students.  We are thankful for so many supportive families and high achieving students at TJHS.

For our fundraiser this year, we partnered with Trophy Nut Company in Tipp City.  Our students went NUTS, so to speak, selling a great deal of Trophy Nut product.  As a result, we will be able to increase the student access to technology and assist the overall academic programming.  As a step in this direction, we recently were able to purchase two sets of SMART responders and 40 netbooks.  These will be used in classrooms to benefit instruction and learning in the 21st century.  Our business partner, Erwin Chrysler Dodge Jeep, paid for lunch for the top 20 sellers, as well as provided their time and vehicles to transport students to lunch at Al's Pizza...he even brought over his Dodge Viper!  We are thankful for the support of our community during our fundraiser and for great business partners, including Erwin.

Yesterday, our student council did what they do every year, they packed and arranged delivery of Thanksgiving baskets to 30 families right here in Troy.  With just a few days remaining we found ourselves short in filling the Thanksgiving baskets, so a One Call Now was made to the TJHS community.  The response was overwhelming.  Not only were we able to fill all 30 Thanksgiving baskets, but we had extra canned good items that were donated to a local shelter.  We are thankful for an active student council, who gives back to the community, and for the overwhelming response of our school community when called upon.

As you can see, TJHS has many great reasons to be thankful.  I hope you take time to reflect on the things that you have to be thankful for and have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Sincerely,

Dave Dilbone
Principal