Week in Review: May 2 - May 6, 2016

Fri, 05/06/2016 - 2:34pm

Congratulations to Reservoir High School’s DECA Chapter! 

Members from Reservoir DECA traveled to Nashville, Tennessee recently to participate in DECA’s International Career Development Conference (ICDC).  They were accompanied by 18,000 other participants ranging from all over the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.

Sachi Rai represented Maryland DECA at the Empower State Officer Leadership Workshop while James Edelen represented Reservoir DECA at the Elevate Chapter Officer Leadership Workshop.  Ms. Dear and Ms. Pchelka presented a seminar on “The Culture of Connection” at the New Advisor Academy.  Hayoung Park represented Maryland in the Personal Financial Literacy Event.  Meghna Sreenivas made it to the main stage, receiving a medal for being one of the Top 10 International Performers in Financial Consulting!

Reservoir was also recognized by National DECA for having the largest chapter membership in the state and Meghna was recognized by National DECA with Maryland’s sole Emerging Leader Honor Award!

Congratulations to all of our RHS DECA student members, advisors, and professional members on another outstanding year!  Thanks to the many community members and organizations who support DECA ... very much appreciated!

Congratulations to the Music Programs! 

The annual Spring Music Concert Series began last night with outstanding performances by the Concert Choir, Percussion Ensemble, Concert Band, and Orchestra.  The second concert will be held on Friday, May 13 at 7 PM.  Please join us for a lovely evening!

In addition, many of our music students traveled to Williamsburg/Va Beach this past weekend for a regional competition with schools from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia.  Our students and directors earned the awards listed below.

Choral

Madrigal Singers: Superior Rating, 1st Place
Concert Choir: Excellent Rating, 1st Place
Women's Choir: Excellent Rating, 2nd Place
Men's Choir: Excellent Rating, 1st Place

Instrumental

Symphonic Band: Superior Rating, 1st Place
Orchestra: Superior Rating, 2nd Place
Jazz Band: Excellent Rating, 1st Place

Outstanding Achievement Awards

Outstanding Choral Soloist: Matt Armstrong

In addition, Reservoir received The William D. Revelli Concert Band Award which goes to the highest scoring High School Concert Band.

 

Reservoir was also awarded the Esprit de Corps Award  which recognizes participating schools that display an exemplary attitude of positive support and outstanding personal behavior. This prize spotlights the performance of the students throughout the festival weekend as they demonstrate the highest level of responsible behavior.  Personal integrity, quality character values, a desire for excellence and a spirit of cooperation serve as the cornerstone qualities of this award.  Truly a wonderful honor for our school community!

Congratulations again to our music students!  Thanks to Mr. David Bacon, Mr. Colin O'Bryan, and Dr. Greg Knauf for their leadership of our music groups!  Special thanks to all of our family members who support our music programs in so many ways!

This week has been designated as Staff Appreciation Week at Reservoir High. 

We applaud the nearly 200 staff members who wake up excited to come here every day … bus drivers, secretaries, paraeducators, cafeteria workers, registrars, clerks, counselors, custodians, psychologist, pupil personnel worker, security assistant, health professionals, liaisons, speech pathologist, social worker, resource officer, counselors, and teachers … they are all vital in helping our students “Learn, Achieve, Succeed.”

We want to thank our PTSA, Boosters Club, SGA, Senior Class, and community partners, especially McDonald’s of Maple Lawn and Johns Hopkins Chick-Fil-A, for the wonderful meals and treats that are being provided this week.  Thank you, thank you!

As part of this week’s celebration, we would like to recognize several staff members who are receiving school system awards this year for their years of service:  Mr. Mike Jones (15 years), Ms. Michele Rosenbaum (15 years), Ms. Sharon Stanley (20 years), Ms. Barb Mueller (25 years), and Ms. Sylvia Bennett (30 years).  Wow … what a wonderful accomplishment!  Keep up the good work!

We would also like to recognize the Reservoir staff members who are retiring this year.  A great deal of gratitude goes to Ms. Gisela Cooke, Ms. Terry Poston, and Mr. John Wyseman!  These staff members have devoted more than 60 years of combined service to our school system.  We salute these three wonderful people for all that they have done for countless students and families!

Each year this week makes me think about the great people that have taught me so much along the way.   First, I think of the two people who have been and continue to be my lifelong teachers, mentors, and role models … my parents, Joyce and Joe Saunderson.  (Happy Mother’s Day to all of our moms out there!)

Then I start thinking about all of the other people who have blessed my life in some special way.  There are too many names to mention here, but I thought that I would tell you about a couple of those special people …

When I started doing this two years ago, I talked about Mr. Earl Lauer (my teacher, coach, and friend who is still going strong at River Hill … he has almost 50 years in coaching!) and Mr. Carol Haddaway (Mr. Haddaway, my Social Studies teacher in 8th grade, unfortunately passed away from cancer a few years ago after 40+ years in education).  Last year I gave a “shout out” to Mr. Wendell Thomas and Mr. Graydon Webster, teachers and coaches of mine who have become lifelong friends.  

This year I would like to thank Ms. Kathy Ferris and Ms. Judy Snyder.  Ms. Ferris taught English 11 and 12 along with serving as the sponsor of the yearbook.  I thought I knew everything about writing when I got to her class in 11th Grade.  When my first paper was returned with a D+ at the top, I knew that I was in for an interesting experience.  Over the next two years, Ferris taught us how to write, read, think at a much deeper level.  Ms. Snyder was one of my middle school PE teachers … she would try to be a tough cookie, but there was a teddy bear inside.  She took a personal interest in her students and would ask about your family, interests, hobbies … I know that she would remember things about my family and me still today if we ran into each other.  That personal touch is so meaningful!

I believe that we can all think of educators like Coach Lauer, Mr. Haddaway,  Mr. Thomas, Mr. Webster, Ms. Ferris, and Mr. Snyder  who have had significant impact on our lives … I know that I am in this profession today because of these people.  As we celebrate Staff Appreciation Week, please take this opportunity to reflect on the educators who have influenced you … take a few minutes to jot them a note if you can … it is truly the greatest gift that an educator can receive.

We would love to hear from you about the great people who work at Reservoir … send a card or email directly to the staff member(s) or send your notes to me at patrick_saunderson@ hcpss.org and we will make sure to share them with the staff member(s) and post them on our Staff Appreciation Board.

Thanks again to everyone for making this a wonderful week … Proud to be a Gator!
Pat Saunderson

Have a wonderful weekend!  Go Gators!

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