Go Big Red: DCHS Weekly Message

Week 21: Naismith's Game

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Decatur County Community High School

605 E Commercial St, Oberlin, KS 67749

January 15, 2023 (Schedule at the bottom, Skip What You Want)

Follow us on Twitter at @DCHSREDDEVILS or

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Oberlin294/

Decatur community,

It was a busy week this past week, almost every day filled with an activity, most right here at home. This week is fairly busy with several League titles at stake, but only the League Scholars' Bowl Tournament will be here at DCHS.

It's a bit ironic, perhaps more coincidental, that as our basketball teams get ready to square off against rivals for a League title, it was actually 131 years ago today that the rules for basketball were first published. Pardon my deviation from the script, but I have said before that as a historian by trade, I am always drawn to familiar/related moments from the past. It's true though. On January 15th, 1892, Naismith's rules for basketball were published for the first time in The Triangle Magazine, a publication out of what is today Springfield College.

To our coaches and athletes, see if this description fits:

“...calls for physical judgment and co-ordination of every muscle, and gives all-around development."

James Naismith.

Though basic, the words still ring true. Good luck this week to all of our teams.

Let's go, Red Devils!

SHOUTOUTS

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Shoutout to junior basketball player Jaden Capuzzo. Though it's been a tough season for the boys' basketball team, the team has kept their heads up and improved throughout the season. This past Friday at Hoxie, Jaden hit one of those ESPN highlight-style shots to end the game, making a shot from well beyond the half court line. Check out the shot here.

Shoutout to teachers Libby Fort and Janee Davis. Each of them have been doing the behind the scenes work to plan for a trip to Washington D.C. in the summer of 2024. Ms. Fort is the main contact, and I am including more below, but they are both very passionate about giving the students an opportunity that they may never have again. Read more below to get details.

Shoutout to all of the workers that chipped in this week. There were so many events, probably the busiest week we have seen this year, but it all went smoothly because of the large group of students, staff, and community members that were a part of the process.

Shoutout to all of my substitute teachers. This week, we added Tim Breth to the list. Rhonda Barth, Pat Dorhorst, Betsy Haag, Marianne Larue, Susan Nelson, Kathryn Tremblay, Jeanie Unger, Brad Weese, and Terri Woolsey have been a consistent presence in our building, and they are 100% a part of our staff. DCHS is so lucky to have these dedicated people.

If anyone reading this has an interest in subbing or knows someone that may, please feel free to reach out to me or the district office. You may be surprised just how much you may like working, even if it's just once in awhile.

Shoutout to senior wrestler Josh Jueneman. Josh is currently the number 2 ranked wrestler in the state in the 113 lb. division in his Class. Josh and his family were honored at Senior Night this past Thursday night where he won both matches, and he followed it up with a first place finish at the home Invitational on Saturday. Josh is now 20-1 on the season.

Things You Should Know

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Students to Have an Opportunity to Travel to D.C. : Message from Ms. Fort.

I am very excited to announce that I will be leading a group of students and parents on an educational tour to Washington, D.C., Gettysburg and Mt. Vernon on June 19-22, 2024.

Join us on: Thursday, January 19th - 7:00pm via Livestream for a short informational meeting where each traveler will be eligible for an Early Bird Scholarship of $500!

To RSVP, click here: https://bit.ly/3sHOHjY

To join the meeting, simply click this link: https://schooltrip.us/DecaturKS24

Check out this awesome video and see for yourself why we're so excited about this opportunity for our school, and click here for additional information on the meeting, itinerary, scholarship and more!

For any other questions, feel free to email me at: efort@usd294.org

Don’t miss out,

Libby Fort

Decatur Community Jr/Sr High School

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Wrestlers Do Well at Buzz Matson Invitational

The wrestlers did well this weekend at our annual Buzz Matson Invitational. Here are some of the top placements for our wrestlers followed by their seasonal records.

113: Josh Juenemann - 1st (20-1)

120: Reid Fort - 1st (12-5)

138: Lukas Zodrow - 2nd (18-3)

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NWKL LEAGUE TOURNAMENT THIS WEEK

This week the the girls and boys basketball teams will be in action at Dighton for the NWKL League Tournament on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday.

The boys remain winless on the season and will open the tournament against top seeded Greely Co. on Tuesday at 7:30. Though winless, Coaches Weese and Ostmeyer and the rest of the boys remain focused and confident that this week will see the victory everyone wants so much.

The girls at 7-3 on the season open the tournament as the #4 seed on Tuesday at 6:00 against Wallace Co. Though they are the #4 seed, they are the type of team that has shown that they can play with about anybody. This tournament should be a great test for our girls and will hopefully fill them with confidence as we head down the back half of the season.

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Attendance Check

At the end of this week I will be sending out these "attendance check" emails to anyone that it may apply to. It's very likely that most are aware of the absences that they have had, and some may not have had doctor's notes. As the policy states, you are allowed 6 of these parent-excused absences per semester. If your student is on pace to have more than 6 absences in a semester without a doctor's note, you will get the email below. These emails will come bi-weekly, and they are meant to keep everyone well notified.

Hello,

You are receiving this email due to the fact that your student has missed several days of school and has exceeded or is on pace to exceed their maximum allowable parent-excused absences this semester. If you have doctor’s notes that you can provide for prior absences, please have them sent over to the high school so that we can update your records.

Here is the current policy:

Doctor’s Excused Absences: These absences do not count against your attendance total. The school reserves the right to verify these absences if there become too many. These absences are strictly related to illness and or injury. For the most part, these do not factor into the equation.
Excused Absences: These are absences that a parent can call in. You may not need to see a doctor every time you don’t feel well. These can be used at any time. Students are allowed 6 absences per semester without a doctor’s note. When they hit the 7th call in, it is unexcused without a doctor’s note.
Unexcused absences: Absences that are unaccounted for or are over the 6 excused days and no doctor’s note is provided.

School policy states that unexcused absences result in the following:

1. Loss of SDL free time for the remainder of the semester

2. Potential ISS for repeated offenses

3. Truancy letter turned into the Decatur County Attorney if meeting the criteria below:

State Law says that truancy kicks in when there are one of the following:

3 unexcused absences in a row
5 unexcused absences in a semester
7 unexcused absences in a school year

Your student's current attendance: ______

Excused Absences without a doctor’s note: _______ (6 max per semester)

Unexcused Absences: _____

If you have any questions or further information, please feel free to reach out to us at 785-475-2231.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Holloway

GO BIG RED

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That's going to do it, time to put this to rest. Here's to hoping that students enjoy their three day weekend, teacher's.............. how about get something productive out of their Inservice Day, and that in 7 days we are talking about and celebrating some League Champions!

Until next Week,

Jeremy Holloway

Go Big Red!