Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Congratulations to our Illinois State Scholars!


Emily Yakel, Sam McGraw, Connor Riddle, TJ Covey, Jon Hagmann, Zach Ross, LeighAnn Wolle

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Attached is a photo of the cross country team after the State cross country race on Saturday.Tyler Johnson placed 10th.

Left to right:  Jordan Verhulst, David Plunkett, Connor Riddle, Tyler Johnson, Seth Owens, Adam Ely, and Liam Bradley.

Congratulations on a great season!


Monday, November 10, 2014

Attached are some pictures from the PLTW class. The students are using a 3D Printer purchased through donated funds.




PLTW Class gets recognition

On Wednesday, November 5, 2014, Mary Jo Wood, the Director of the Regional Office of Career and Technical Education; Cindy Stover from the Illinois Association for Career and Technical Education;  and Sean Lynch, the Legislative and Public Affairs Manager for the Association for Career and Technical Education visited the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) program at Pleasant Plains High School and observed a class in the program.

Erik Koning, one of the PPHS teachers who teaches classes in the PLTW program, explained the classes in the program and how the classes prepared students for their futures.

Project Lead the Way is a High School STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program that prepares students for college engineering/technology classes and the real world. There are 4 PLTW classes at Pleasant Plains High School: Introduction to Engineering Design (IED), Principles of Engineering (POE), Digital Electronics (DE), and Engineering Design and Development (EDD).

All of these classes offer the students a hands on/problem based understanding of Science and Math principles that will give them a step up at the next level.  Students can take these classes from their Freshman year until they are Seniors and are exposed to levels of technology that will allow them to succeed outside of High School.

Students go from creating a product from a design problem to calculating for stresses on truss beams for a bridge.  They also figure out the ins and outs of a digital system and then apply that system to a design project of their choosing.  Finally their design project can be designed, built, and tested all they way to a product that can be patented.  PPHS students use many state of the art tools and programs throughout the PLTW program.  They use a 3D CAD modeling software called Inventor that will allow them to see their design in 3D.  They also have access to RobotC, a programming software, and MultiSIM, a circuit design software.

Last but not least, PPHS classes have access to a 3D printer which allows them the ability to rapidly prototype a product in plastic.  The prototype can then be used to visually and tactilely review a product, and, most importantly, they can test it.  All in all, PLTW gives high school students a great view of what engineering and technology is so that they can make an informed choice about their futures.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Attached are some pictures taken last week from the National FFA Convention in Louisville. We were fortunate enough to send 5 students from PPHS. It is always great to see students getting hands on experience and getting a chance to talk with other schools and see leadership in action.




Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Congratulations to the boy's golf team for winning the Sectional Championship for the 2nd straight year and advancing to State!

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Homecoming Pics

Here are a few pictures from our homecoming festivities. The students enjoyed a great week and it was capped off with a nice football victory!

end of game victory!

Homecoming Court

The band performs

faculty student volleyballl game......faculty wins!!!

tug of war

fan section cheering on team


Band Performance at EIU

Here is a video from Saturday's Eastern Illinois University band contest in which our PPHS band competed.

Kylee Kahbeah Pic

Congratulations to Kylee on enlisting in the Air Force. Way to go!


Pleasant Plains/Farmington Collaborative Project

Below is an example of some collaborative work PPHS Junior English students are doing with Farmington High School. Feel Free to take a look. 

Students will read Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography as a common text.  They will focus on Franklin’s use of virtues and how he tried to apply the virtues to everyday life.
We will use Skype or Google Hangouts to allow students to see the commonality of the two school districts.  We will have the students give some demographics of the school through a student spokesperson.  We will also have students create pre-written questions to present at this time.  The skyping will give the students a way to connect with group mates.
Next, we will place students into groups (six students per group) depending on the total number of participants. Those students will be expected to make contact via e-mail, texting, skype, or social networking. We will also have group building exercises before the project begins.  The below dates are tentative.
  • Students will make an initial e-mail contact introducing themselves.  The students will then select a leader to send an e-mail to the teachers involved along with cc their group mates.  In the e-mail, the body should have the two following pieces of information: 1) one distinction between the two different schools--the obvious will not be allowed e.g. school mascot, school colors, school name, ect.; 2) one commonality the schools have--the obvious will not be allowed e.g. juniors, high school students, Illinoisans, ect. (Friday, September 13; 3:00 pm)
  • Students will create a google doc.  The leader will continue to lead, but each of the other group members must have a job title with a job description (the leader will need to create a job description as well).  Some examples are proofreader, typist, imagist (you will need to work together to create these).  This will be created on the google doc.  Also on this google doc, the group members will begin to create a timeline of meeting times.  This document will be shared with the teachers involved. (Friday, Septemeber 27; 3:00 pm)
    Individual: 
  • Students will edit a page under their Group page - title the page with the role then your first name (for example, Psychological - John).
  • Each student will then summarize/analyze Franklin’s piece - analyze per assigned role [1. psychological, 2. religious, 3. historical view, 4. unheard voice (females, minorities, children), 5. scientific, 6. societal/cultural].
  • Below the analysis, each student will be required to write about their perspective of the reading selection. Each student will then comment on each of their team members' analyses.
  • Students will need to read and begin to discuss which virtue would be the best to try to apply individually. Each will apply the virtue for a 24 hour period, log results on a log sheet, and write a reflection on their efforts.  Students will be required to post at least one comment per team member to the individual virtue reflections presented in their group.

Blog Introduction

This is a new format for me, but my intention is that this can serve as an avenue for me to communicate informally with parents, community,and various stakeholders about good news that is going on at PPHS. We have many students and groups doing good things and it is my hope to communicate that, and also display some of the work and activities that take place at PPHS on regular basis.