Weekend Update Logo

Good afternoon Knight Families:

It has been a great week at ALAH and we are thankful for that.  I would like to begin this week’s notes with a shout out and highlight for our senior class. The Class of 2021 has raised the bar for ALAH HS.  First, they committed at the last minute to add a SAT prep class to their schedule.  They lost their study hall and added hard work.  Then after 10 weeks of this class, just 3 ½ weeks shy of taking the scheduled SAT, we had to shut down.  The state didn’t announce until late August that taking the SAT would still be a graduation requirement for the Class of 2021.  Our English and Math Departments put together three weeks of a review class for students to join after school. Then seven months after the original test date, the Class of 2021 took the SAT.  Late last week we received the scores making school history, with the class earning an average of 1013. This class took an official college board practice test in the fall of their junior year, scoring an average of 903.  They raised their score 110 points and beat the Class of 2020 by 56 points. We will celebrate the entire senior class next week and announce the coveted prizes of parking places and December exam waivers!  Congratulations to our seniors and all of our faculty and staff to their commitment and hard work.  We can’t wait to see where we go from here.

The ILMEA Audition results were recently released.  Congratulations to McKayla Custer, Miah Malin, Maleah Roberts, Sarah Rogers, and Zack Woodard were all accepted into the Senior Choir. Colton Middleton was accepted for the Senior Band and Kaiden Morfey was accepted for the Senior Orchestra. Seven of our eight students that auditioned were accepted!  

The DAR and SAR Award recipients were announced on Veteran’s Day. DAR was awarded to Ben Matheny and SAR went to Erin Schrock.  Each year two outstanding seniors are given the honor of being named the DAR/SAR Good Citizens Award winners.  This award represents good citizenship and is chosen by the faculty at ALAH who vote for the students they believe exemplify the qualities of dependability, leadership, patriotism and service to the community.  In non global pandemic years, the two winners are invited to a banquet to receive their award and medal from the Stephen A. Douglas Chapter.  The DAR winner is also eligible for a scholarship. 

Our traditional Veterans’ Day luncheon and assembly was altered because of the pandemic.  However, we have discovered new traditions that we will be incorporating in future years. We changed the format of our day to be focused around a day of service.  In working with the VA Hospital in Danville we repaired their bikes, made games (bags, frisbee golf, ladder golf,), made tie blankets, wreaths, made Christmas cards, painted artwork,  recorded music, wrote letters and hosted our very first drive through parade. Our FFA and Service Club posted and retired the colors and Senior Ben Matheny ended our day with the playing of Taps.  

A huge shout out to our building committee that refused to take the easy way out and planned for weeks to make this happen. These educators, Doug Davis, Nathan Seal, Michelle Ferguson,  Megan Beckmeir, Ginger Voegel, Brad McGill, Ryan Wood, and Stephen McClarey are leaders that help make our school stronger everyday. They incorporated student’s skills and talents from the artistic to the welding skills they are learning to their musical gifts. Sharing these with our Veterans and community members gave us a very important audience.  

Congratulations on our boys cross country championship at the Shazam XC Championships.  This was the unofficial state meet this year.  Our boys finished second with Layton Hall placing fifth! If we would have had a regular state meet, this would have qualified all state!  This is the first time our Cross Country Knights have won the sectional meet and placed at state.  A historic week for ALAH HS!  We are exceptionally proud of all of the hard work from our cross country team!

KNIGHT GEAR KNIGHT GEAR 

Order your Knight Gear by November 18th and your items will be here in time for Christmas.  Order Knight Gear here!  This order has great choices for cold weather including fleece pullovers, sweat pants and even stadium chairs for whenever we get to return to cheering on our Knights! Don’t forget we also have Knight sling bags, Knight pennants, Knight patches and Knight stocking caps for sale in the HS office!

And a final note … one that it seems just keeps hanging around, the state and specifically our county numbers continue to climb.  We need everyone to be prepared to go to a full remote for a while.  Here are a few things to keep in mind, just in case.

  • Every school day counts.  We will take attendance each period of the day. 

  • Students will begin their first hour at 8 A.M.

  • The school day will run through 1:17 P.M.

  • Students will maintain their full schedule, including a 30 minute lunch break.

  • ALL students must have their cameras on their Chromebooks on. (They may choose a background, if they prefer not to have their home background.)

  • Faculty will have office hours from 1:30- 3:00, if students need help.

  • Faculty may ask your student to join them during office hours in order to provide extra support. 

  • Your student should plan to be in school from 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM, either in class or working on their assignments.  

  • Our expectations for completing work on time is the same as it is now.  Assignments are due as assigned.  It is NOT like last spring. 

  • Tests, quizzes, homework assignments, projects, essays, etc. all count for grades that will be a part of your student’s GPA.  


Upcoming:  

November 18 - Board of Education meeting

November 25 - 29 Thanksgiving Break


Mrs. Seegmiller
#GoKnights