Decatur County Community High School
605 E Commercial St, Oberlin, KS 67749
August 21, 2021 (Schedule at the bottom, Skip What You Want)
Follow us on Twitter at @DCHSREDDEVILS
Decatur County,
As my 25th year as an educator began this past week, it was a great experience to begin that journey here at DCHS with a supportive community, amazing staff, and a student body that made an unbelievable first impression.
I look forward to getting to know everyone throughout this school year and making the 2022-23 school year one to remember.
Shoutout to a community that has welcomed my family. When I first moved here in June with two moving trucks, I was greeted by board members, teachers, various community members, and about 10 young men from the school that were ready to help out the principal. Thank you Mrs. Breth for helping recruit and for sending your recently retired husband as well. Amazing first impression.
Shoutout to Mr. Gehring and the girls basketball team for showing up early on a summer morning to help unload one last 1,000lb. item out of a moving truck. My mom was there and kept asking us to wait for the boys, but "Lady Devils" were more than up to the task. Amazing first impression
Shoutout to Mrs. Melissa Dreher, my new secretary. Melissa is really the first staff member that I started to spend time with because she was in the office all summer when I would stop in to work. My mother was a secretary throughout my childhood, and I can tell you right now that they are the ones that really know how to run the building. I have always had a great relationship with the secretaries on my staff, and it seems like fate to have a secretary that loves 70's and 80's music and always has a smile on her face. I am lucky. Amazing first impression.
Shoutout Kenny Black and the custodial staff. They truly rallied at the end of the summer to have rooms ready to go, floors waxed and shining, and walls painted to bring the building to life for the beginning of a new year. Mr. Black has showed me around the building. There may be less than 150 students in the building, but the size of the building definitely helps me relate to the old days when there were over 300 in the building. Amazing first impression.
Shoutout to teacher, counselor, former principal, and all around to everything Mrs. Brenda Breth. The first email I received after taking the job was from Mrs. Breth. She has been a supportive, extremely helpful, and an a amazing resource for me from day one.
Shoutout to a welcoming and supportive staff. It has only been a week that I have been the principal of the building, but there is a staff in place that truly loves DCHS, and in a world where it is becoming harder and harder to both teach students and recruit new teachers, DCHS has a staff that is fully committed to giving the best experience possible to our students. Here's a look at what our staff did this week:
1. Teambuildng (See the pictures) Join the new DCHS Twitter to see more. The staff competed in a scavenger hunt I created through Goosechase. They were good sports.
2. Dyslexia training. Every teacher and para that works with students in an educational environment worked to earn certificates in dyslexia training.
3. District Welcome with the entire district.
4. Inquiry/Project Based Learning Training with Amber Miller from SW Plains.
5. Boardworks online Training (an online resource for core teachers to supplement curriculum in classes.)
6. Back to School Bash saw many teachers show up to interact with students, have some fun, and ultimately watch as Brylee Minnick and Elsie Larson looked like a couple of pros in route to the annual Cornhole Tournament championship
All of this and more. On top of that, they had to get their classes ready, get ready to teach, and (like the kids) adjust their schedules to the early hours of the day once again.
These things stand out to me:
-Hundreds of years of teaching in Oberlin on this staff
- Over 50% have students in Oberlin schools or that have graduated from DCHS. The majority of those that don't are too young to have kids or their kids are too young to go to school.
This staff in not only a group of educators, but also parents and community members of this town.
Shoutout to this staff that both talks the talk, walks the walk, and lives life the Big Red Way!
Shoutout to the students. I was amazed at the respect, teamwork, and openness that the students put on display on Friday. It's only a day, but a day is the only chance to get a first impression. I can tell you that what I saw on Friday would make parents proud.
I could go on and on.
Amazing first impressions.
Bookworms
The Weekly Message
There will also be links to the Twitter account, Facebook account, and school calendar as well found down at the bottom.
As time goes on, please feel free to send me any emails of family members that would also like to follow along, and I will make sure to send them an email as well.
Early Release
This Wednesday, August 24th will be the first day, and students will be released form DCHS at 2:00.
I urge you to sign up for our Twitter page. You can look up Decatur County Community Red Devils or follow @DCHSREDDEVILS .Twitter is generally the fastest way to get information. Even my Weekly Messages will typically go out on Twitter before they are sent to you through PowerSchool. I would share this with loved ones as well. Twitter is the easiest way to catch a quick glimpse into the school and also get updates on changes. Our hope would be to grow our Twitter following and continue to share what we are doing at the school.
Decatur County Community Junior/Senior High School
Email: jholloway@usd294.org
Website: https://www.usd294.org/vnews/display.v/SEC/DCHS
Location: 605 East Commercial Street, Oberlin, KS, USA
Phone: 785-475-2231
Twitter: @DCHSREDDEVILS