Students at Lakota East High School Cross Social Boundaries During 'Be the Difference' Activity

On Thursday, January 26, 2012, through the generous support of the West Chester/Liberty Community Foundation, a cross section of over two hundred students at Lakota East High School took part in a “Be the Difference” Program. “Be the Difference” is a one-day program centered on creative learning experiences that will create a positive, safe, respectful, compassionate and healthy relational environment at Lakota East High School. Over forty adults, representing many facets of the West Chester/Liberty Township Communities, will have the opportunity to facilitate groups of students through the hands-on training which prepares students to Be the Difference in their school and community. Ultimately, the students involved will inevitably affect change amongst our more than 2100 students with the skills they learn throughout the day.

Utilizing talks, large group games, activities and small group discussions, topics such as Attitude, Respect, Anger Management, Stereotypes, Authenticity and Affirmation are touched on throughout the daylong event to breakdown stereotypical barriers between individuals. Students leave with a new mental construct regarding how to embrace various diversities. The program's emotional concluding activity, Cross the Line, leads to a final group session and open mic time during which students and adult facilitators willingly choose to give encouragement, charges and apologies to resolve previous conflict.

Ultimately, the “Be the Difference” Program teaches skills that will help students move past ignorance to knowing others and allowing themselves to be known.

Congratulations to the 2012 recipients of the J. Kyle Braid Leadership Award:
Kelsey Forren
Brooke Mauro
Andrew Reichert
Colin Sasthav

“Rehearsal for Murder” Opens February 3rd - Leading actress, Monica Wells, is dead, and her fiancé is determined to unravel the mystery. The players are called back to the theater, exactly a year after her death, to examine their motives and challenge their loyalties. Plot twists and red-herrings will keep you on the edge of your seat as the mystery unfolds.
Performances are scheduled for February 3rd and 4th at 7:30 pm and February 5th at 2:00 pm.
Tickets are $10 and are available for purchase online at: www.SeatYourself.biz/LakotaEastHigh.com .

LAKOTA ENCOURAGES RESIDENTS TO TAKE SURVEY Lakota Local School District wants to know what the community thinks about its tax levies and the way the District is run. The District is conducting an online survey to gather feedback. The survey, which specifically addresses the November 2011 levy, can be accessed by clicking on the “Take Our Survey” button at www.lakotaonline.com . It takes about three minutes to answer the questions. The deadline to take the survey is Feb. 6. “Whether you voted for or against the latest tax levy, we encourage you to take our survey to let us know why you voted the way you did,” said Board President Ben Dibble. This is another step in Lakota's effort to listen to the community, so the district can improve its understanding of what the community wants in its school district. The District is planning other opportunities to gather feedback from the community.

Lakota East Student Wins Ohio Civil Rights Commission's Art Contest ...ARTICLE

Congratulations Lakota East 2012 Scholastic Regional Art Award Winners!

94 works of art created by Lakota East Visual Art and Photography students were judged as winners in the Southern Ohio/Northern Kentucky region. This includes 21 Gold key awards for works which will go on to compete at the National Scholastics competition in New York City.  All works will be on display from Feb 3 - 17 at: RiverCenter Office Building ,100 RiverCenter Blvd.,Covington, KY  41011

List of all winners (Thank you to Web Design Students Jason Shake and Christina Clyde for developing web pages)

Student Fees Now Past Due. Student fees are charged by the course and cover items that your student consumes over the course of the term. This includes items like workbooks, lab materials, etc. – things once used by your student, they cannot be reused by another. We will be mailing outstanding invoices soon or you can pay your balance on EZPAY. Please take care of this obligation as quickly as possible so we can purchase items necessary to finish the school year. Thanks!

Second Semester Class Changes - Due to reductions in staff and courses, we have very limited ability to make course changes for students. In fact, the only changes we are able to accommodate are those that directly impact a student's graduation requirements. The deadline for second semester schedule changes is Friday, January 27th . Students may drop a course to a study hall (and without a “F”) up to February 3rd .

2012 Yearbooks can now be ordered! To order your 2012 yearbook, go to website: www.jostens.com/yearbooks

Senior Yearbook Picture Information now posted. Please review the information on submitting pictures for the Senior Portrait section of the 2011-12 Yearbook. PICTURES DUE JANUARY 19th, 2012!! This information is also located under the Class of 2012 Button. Senior Portrait Information.

Naturalization Ceremony a Huge Success! About 500 students and guests witnessed 51 individuals from across the world be sworn in as U.S. citizens this past Friday. The ceremony included performances by the Symphonic Winds, Eastside Voices, American Sign Language students, ESL students and Eagle Scouts from Lakota East. Work and Family Life students created and served an All-American reception for our honored guests. The moving ceremony was presided over by Federal Judge Magistrate Karen Litkovitz who was very impressed by our students and school. Congratulations to our new citizens and our students who were terrific ambassadors for our community.