OMS students and staff participated in their 3rd Quarter PBIS assembly which included relays and competitions. The OMS cheer team kicked off the festivities. Students used their PBIS tickets to choose three staff members to kiss a pig! Our lucky winners were Mr. Ruppert, Mrs. Mehl, and Mrs Stine. Today’s assembly was about celebrating the positive behaviors displayed by our students this past quarter! Our students and staff are awesome at OMS!
Wikipedia.org is where millions of people stop first for information. Tools like it are what make the internet so valuable. But they also teach an important lesson, one you can start teaching your kids now: don’t believe everything you read. Family Tip Sheet: bit.ly/OlyNMFR2
Check out this list of trustworthy resources to help you learn what's true (and what is not!) on the web. You can even use one of them to look back in time and what was on a website in the past!
Tip #5: Choose a Variety of Sources
Show your children how you get news and information from different places, and explain how you make your choices. Use words like "credible," "trustworthy," "respected," and "fair." Ask them where they get their information, and if they think about those same words when choosing. As kids get older, introduce the ideas of bias, satire, and clickbait.
If a picture's worth a thousand words, do the words always tell a true story? One way to find out is through a reverse image search. Search with an image instead of a keyword and see what you discover!
In observance of Presidents' Day, Olympia will not have school on Monday, February 20, 2023.
Tip #4: Play "Should You Share?"
Talk through the kind of content you and your tween or teen pass along to friends online. What types of things do you like to share? Do you always check to make sure something is true before you share it? How do emotions factor into your decisions to share things? Have you ever shared something and later found out it wasn't true?
In Mrs. Langley’s Career Skill’s Class, student’s learn a wide variety of information about multiple career paths. One such path is Trades. Olympia Senior, Andrew Carroll, is headed down that path as an Electrician upon graduation. He will be entering into an apprenticeship. He stopped into Mrs. Langley’s class to discuss this fantastic career opportunity where he will finish with a successful job and zero student loan debt. The students were interested in learning about trade jobs and this trade path.
There is expected to be a significant shortage of trade jobs over the next 10 years. Let’s help our students go down the right path to success.
Thank you Andrew for sharing your future path to success!!!
Tip #3: Explore Different Sides of a Story!
Use real-life examples to help kids understand how people can view the same situation with totally different perspectives. One child might experience a game on the playground as fun, while another might feel like the rules are unfair. Sibling conflict can be a great example of how two people can have wildly different opinions about the same event. With older children, talk through controversial subjects and take turns arguing for different sides to help kids understand various viewpoints.
LAST CALL for bids for STATE BANNERS - Deadline - 7:00 PM tonight, Feb. 10, 2023. Winning bid notified on Monday, February 13th. Email michelle.olson@olympia.org with your bid. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DE9IDn1pYv3FIaM-kr15wlyyBf2bo3cECmxZW-9nWQs/edit?usp=sharing
Fake News has been around for a long time. Track its history from 63 B.C. through present day in this infographic. Where do you see Fake News today? How does it impact your life? Does it impact the type of media you consume, or where you consume it?
Middle School Yearbooks are now on sale. The cost is $17. Books can be bought online at inter-state.com/order. Use school code 72710E. You can also drop off an order at the Middle School office with cash or check payment. Orders are due February 24th.
Do you want to save money while also helping the Olympia Business Club raise money to go to a leadership conference?
https://youtu.be/mh1dLvGe06Y - BBC
When we get news from our social media feeds, it often only tells us part of the story. Our friends -- and the website's algorithms -- tend to feed us perspectives we already agree with. Check out these ways to escape the filter bubble and make sure your ideas about the world are being challenged.
Happy National Counselor Week!
Tip #2: Play Spot The Ad
When you see advertising on TV or on a billboard, ask your children to figure out what the ad is selling. Sometimes it's obvious, and sometimes it's not. Help them explore why certain pictures, sounds, or words are used to sell certain products.
Well-crafted headlines benefit everyone. They help readers digest information and publishers sell news stories. But what if the headline is misleading? What if it's crafted just to get clicks and not to inform? "Clickbait" headlines may benefit advertisers and publishers (think $$$), but they don't benefit readers. And when they go viral, they can badly misinform the public. This week, look for clickbait headlines in the media that you consume and discuss them with your family. How many can you find before Sunday rolls around!?
bit.ly/OlyNMV2
All media comes with an author and an agenda. Help kids think critically about any media they view with critical questions that dig below the surface. And to really empower kids, have them create their own media with these same questions in mind.
Illinois State Board recognizes Spartan Staff!
The OHMS café offered a new menu item today.
The Spartan Slammers were a hit!
A shout out to all our food service staff for their hard work!
