SAESAE Visits: Most SAE visits have been set up for the summer. You should have received an invite in Google Calendar. If you can't find this, use the search bar in Google Calendar (desktop version) and search "SAE." If you have not set up an SAE visit with me yet, please email me. Please have the following ready for your SAE visit :
This Week's Visits: I hope to include photos from SAE visits over the summer here so you can get an idea of what each other are doing. Kyle is fostering kittens and observing their behavior. He could prepare a speech (for the prepared public speaking career development event offered through FFA) or start an agriscience fair project with all of the information he has learned. Super cute kittens too! SAE Assignments:
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Class
Ag Lockers: Clean out your Ag locker. Anything left behind will be donated or thrown away.
Exam Schedule
Welcome, Puff Daddy! "Puff" or "P. Diddy" was donated to our class this week. His name was too funny to change. He is a 2 year old bearded dragon. He loves kale, salad and other veggies in addition to some animal based foods. If you have any excess salad feel free to bring it to school to feed Puff. FFA
National FFA Officer visit: We had a last minute visit from a National FFA Officer this past week! He came around and spoke to our senior class with two CT state officers and a NJ state officer. Super cool opportunity!
Awards: Congrats and thank you to all of the award recipients! You are what makes our Ag program and FFA chapter the best in the state (and in my opinion, country)!
Seniors: Thank you for everything you have done for the past 4 years. We have gone through a lot of changes and students but I am so happy all of you stuck it out. Congratulations on graduation! I know you all will do incredible things in the future. Please come back and visit!
SAE
GIS Independent Study: Zach Blum (Junior) created a StoryMap using ArcGIS technology. The StoryMap illustrates the labs we use in Wildlife Biology.
Birds Vacation: The birds still need a vacation home. If you are interested, email me. Thanks! They are super cute and chirpy- not at all loud!
Extra .5 credit: If you have an excellent SAE and have earned double the amount of SAE hours required for your year, you may be eligible for an extra .5 credit. Please see me for the form. Ideas
ClassExams: See the schedule that was posted in an earlier update for the exam schedule. You only need to come to class for the exam period that is listed. Study outlines will be emailed to each class individually. Wildlife Garden: Most of the classes worked on the wildlife garden in some way this week. They did a great job selecting plants, placing them in the correct areas depending on their growth requirements and planting them. Students work weeding was vital to the success of our native species. They pulled out binder weed, wisteria, mugwart, garlic mustard, bittersweet, multiflora rose and orchard grass. Some of the natives that were planted include butterfly weed, coneflower, cardinal flower, butterfly bush, sweet pepperbush, salvia, iris, and milkweed. We took a video using the school's drone to show the garden at this point in time. We will be conducting more drone flights over the summer to document its growth over time. This was our first drone flight so the video is not the best, but it still gives a neat perspective of the garden. The garden in the fence is actually our Food and Plant Science garden. FFAAwards: Congrats to all of the students who received awards at awards night. We will be holding in class awards next week (Tues or Weds) for other committees, class awards and such. SAESAE 2016-17
ClassAg Fair FFAAg Art Show: If you have an Ag Communications SAE, Ag Art Show is the perfect time to exhibit your work for the year. Jeremy Blain is the chair this year and he can field any questions you have. Please sign up on our classroom door and bring your art as soon as possible. Viewing will be on Wednesday May 31st at 5:30-5:50 pm before Ag Awards Night. Enter your photos to be selected for the Ag Calendar for next year! Awards Night: Awards are split into two different events, in class awards for things like committees, trips and lab assistance and Ag Awards Night for bigger activities such as CDE's, scholarships and proficiency awards. If your name was in the email that was sent home, you should be attending awards night. See Mrs. Roselli for tickets (free). Awards night is on Wednesday May 31st at 6:00 pm in the Ag Community Room. Winners of scholarships and the essay competitions will also be announced this night. ENR: We took two seasoned team members this year and two new competitors to the Environmental/Natural Resources Career Development Event. The team placed 6th in the state at UConn. When we get our scores back we will assess what we need to study up on for next year. Envirothon: This was our first year competing in the Envirothon competition. We learned that we can take 10 students next year and that the entire competition is a team event. If you are interested in participating in the event, make it a point to attend the workshops hosted by Envirothon throughout the year as all of the content at the contest is based on the workshops. The team presentation topic for next year is rangeland management. For more information check out the CT Envirothon website. The scores are also posted on their website. SAEQuarter 4 SAE Grades: SAE for the year ends on 5/31. Be sure to have all of your hours done by then and be prepared to complete your SAE photos, hours and journal entries on the next rainy day.
SAE Visits and Trips: I will be doing SAE visits and trips on the dates listed below. Please speak with your parents and determine which days you are available for an SAE visit. We will be booking these in class soon. I still need to do more planning for the SAE trips. More info to come.
SAE Paperwork: All SAE paperwork should have been turned in by now. Most of the Juniors still need to turn in their paperwork. Animal's Vacation Homes: If you are interested in taking any of the animals home over summer break, please let me know via email. ClassTicks: As always, you should be doing tick checks when we get out of the woods. Please also continue these tick checks at home. Here's a video that illustrates the proper way to remove ticks. Final Exams Final exams for seniors will begin on Thursday, June 8 and continue through Tuesday, June 13. The schedule is as follows: Session I Session II Exam Date 7:30—9:30 9:35—11:40 Thurs., 6/8 1B 2B Fri., 6/9 1A 2A Session I Session II Exam Date 7:30—9:30 9:50—11:55 Mon., 6/12 3B (Ag Seniors) 4B (Ag Juniors) Tues., 6/13 3A 4A Final exams for students in grades 9, 10 and 11 will begin on Monday, June 12 and continue through Thursday, June 15. The schedule is as follows: Session I Session II Exam Date 7:30—9:30 9:50—11:55 Mon., 6/12 3B 4B Tues., 6/13 3A 4A Wed., 6/14 1B 2B Thurs., 6/15 1A (Ag Freshmen) 2A (Ag Sophomore) Freshmen:
Sophomores:
FFAFFA Meeting: The next FFA meeting is on Tuesday May 16th. ENR/Envirothon- Permission slips are posted on the board in the classroom. Please let me know when you plan on meeting next week. Right now, I plan on seeing everyone, every day after school. If you cannot attend, please let me know. Poster for ENR must be done by the end of the meeting on Tuesday! #WhatTheJacketHasDoneForMe Campaign: Recently there has been some "blue bashing" where people are either speaking poorly of FFA or don't fully understand what FFA can do for them. I have decided to start a "What The Jacket Has Done For Me" campaign. Nick will be editing the video clips together. If you would like to participate in this social media campaign, please send me either a video clip (vlog style) or a brief write up letting others know what FFA has done for you. FFA has provided me with endless opportunities in life and I would not be teaching Ag if I didn't wear the blue jacket. Don't miss out on the incredible opportunities it has for you. SAEOpportunities and Ideas:
ClassFreshmen: This week we established SAE project plans. Students will be bringing home paperwork for parents and community partners/employers to sign next week. These projects are looking great. Students should be talking to their parents about their SAE plans so far. We will be birding on Monday. All students and parents should check their email for an important message for this trip. Sophomores: We started the week off practicing terminology and identifying plants using a dichotomous key. We We also joined up with the students in Aquaculture class this week to learn about some different equipment. We will be teaching them about equipment used in natural resources next week. They also joined us on our hike today for some outdoor adventure leadership! Juniors: We played hide and go seek this week. Just kidding... sort of. We used telemetry equipment to locate a transmitter. We will continue to practice triangulation next week. Seniors
FFAEssay Contest Do you want to the National FFA Convention in the fall? If the answer is yes, then participate in the essay contest (see attached). This contest is only available to freshmen and sophomore students in our FFA chapter. Completed essays are due May 22nd by 2 pm. SAEUpperclassmen: SAE needs to be completed by 5/31! See attachment for grade requirements. ************************ Freshmen: We will finish editing SAE plans on Wednesday. All SAE forms are due, signed by parents and employers by May 15th. Ideas and Opportunities: ClassFreshmen: We went on a birding walk on Monday with Melissa from the Quinnipiac River Valley Audubon Society. We will be going out again with her soon so the students can show off their improvements in bird identification (hint hint). We also developed initial plans for SAE, and will formalize those plans in the very near future. Students received their Greenhand FFA Degree this week as well! Sophomores: Nick lead a plant walk at Ferguson Woods. We learned how good spice bush smells and how pretty it looks with it's yellow flowers on. Later in the week we explored plant reproduction and flower anatomy and physiology. Juniors: We are working on putting a list of plants together for our pollinator garden. If you are looking to part with any plants that have multiplied in your garden, please think of us! We are looking for native plants that are beneficial to pollinators for food, habitat and escape shelter. Seniors: We joined up with the Aquaculture class and started the CT Safe Boating class in order to earn the CT boating certificate. FFAENR/Envirothon: Practice is on Wednesday after school. I am here until 5 that day. Talk with your teammates about your plans for the day- and let me know! You can also come during office hours on Wednesday too. Nom Com: Gary Lin and Nick Moran will represent Wildlife Biology on the Lyman Hall FFA Chapter Nominating Committee this year. Award Recipients: Congrats to Greenhand and Chapter degree recipients! FFA SCHOLARSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE. Check Naviance. SAEIdeas and Opportunities
ClassFreshmen:
Sophomores:
Juniors:
Seniors
FFANomination Committee: "Nom Com" interviews all potential chapter FFA officers and compiles a slate (list of officers in positions) for the chapter to vote on. If you are interested in representing Wildlife Biology on the FFA Officer Nomination Committee this year, please email me a short paragraph describing why you are the best choice to represent our class on Nom Com. I will email this out to all WB students and they will vote. The two students with the most votes will be our representatives. These two positions are open to 9th-11th graders only. Greenhand and Chapter Degree Ceremonies: If you qualified for either of the degrees, you will be receiving your certificate and pins in class. If you did not qualify this year, you can try again next year. We will fill out the applications after break to determine who qualifies. ENR/Envirothon:
SAEIdeas and Opportunities
ClassTicks: As our weather continues to warm, ticks are going to be making more and more appearances in the field. I have been hiking all winter, and on warm days I come home with ticks on me. Professionals in the Natural Resources field need to deal with many issues regarding safety in the field, ticks are no different. Just as we wear warm clothes to prevent frostbite in the winter, we need to take preventative measures against Lyme Disease. There is an interesting article on the increase of infected blacklegged ticks (with the bacterium that causes Lyme Disease). Please visit the CDC site for tick prevention tips. You may store bug spray in your ag locker. No aerosol cans. Classes: It seems like March flew by quicker than any month yet this school year. We have been in the field birding, planting, managing invasives, researching, presenting, attending conferences and workshops, and hiking. Check out the short video below. FFAENR/Envirothon: We will be determining who goes to ENR versus Envirothon this week, Tuesday April 4th. Be ready to demonstrate your skills for each of the contests. Here's a link to the ENR Google Classroom for resources (you must use your Wallingford google account to access the site) and the CT Envirothon website. Food Drive: Bring in non perishable food items to fill the canoe in the Ag Lobby. SAECONGRATS! A huge high five goes out to Kailee P., Matteo O., and Nick M. for their awesome work on their community projects and posters for the NRCA program. The three students attended a week long field experience this past summer and completed a 10 month long project with a community partner. This past March they presented their posters at the Connecticut Conference on Natural Resources. Kailee won first place for her project and has been awarded an $8,000 scholarship if she is accepted and decides to enroll in UConn's College of Agriculture Department of Natural Resources and the Environment! Applications for the NRCA programs (there are two this year) are available on their website. Let me know if you are applying. Future Employment Outlook: Ever wonder what your chances of actually being able to work in the agriculture and natural resources industry look like? USDA has good news for students who graduate with a bachelors degree in agriculture, food and natural resources in the near future. Check out their Employment Outlook linked above.
Animal's want to go on vacation! If you are interested in taking some of the animals home over vacation, please send me an email. Your parents will need to sign a permission slip. Animals will need to be picked up next week (Tuesday April 4 - Thursday April 6). We can make arrangements for during or after school. Animals cannot go home on the bus. Ideas and Events:
ClassFreshmen: We observed the behavior of some really awesome birds today at McKenzie Reservoir in Wallingford, including, Canada geese, red-winged blackbirds, grackles, starlings, a kingfisher, common merganser, mallards, mourning doves, and a couple red-tailed hawks. Sophomores: This week we have had three guest speakers in during our Natural Resource Careers unit including a zoologist from Disney's Animal Kingdom, a GIS specialist and a Government and Public Relations specialist from the Regional Water Authority. Seniors: Class took us out to Wharton Brook State Park to talk about how humans contribute to greenhouse gasses, where carbon is stored and what we can do to mediate our impact. FFAProficiency Award Applications: 21 Students submitted Proficiency Awards which will compete at the chapter level. Winners will move on to the state competition. ENR CDE: Check the google calendar for a practice dates and times. Envirothon: This is the last call: If you are interested in attending the next Envirothon workshop on March 18th please email me by Tuesday. SAESAE Ideas:
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Attention:These updates are intended for current parents and students in the Wildlife Biology class at LHHS. Archives
November 2017
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