Dear Cienega Families,
November is a great time of year to pause from our busy lives, take a moment to reflect, and be thankful.
Thank you for entrusting us with your children. It truly is wonderful showing up to work everyday to help shape the lives of over 2000 teenagers.
We are thankful for our Bobcat Family here at Cienega High School. Our teachers and staff are some of the most hardworking, dedicated, school-spirit filled people around. Working beside people we respect and trust is priceless!
Each month we highlight information from our student handbook. School safety is a priority for Cienega. We practice a variety of safety drills. As a reminder, below are the different drills we conduct throughout the school year.
This is where we have NO movement throughout our campus but teaching and learning continue. Shelter In Place should not alarm students, staff or parents. Shelter In Place is simply a process where CHS Administration and authorities are
investigating a potential situation and we need to limit movement across the campus.
Students and staff are instructed to lockdown, barricade doors, and remain quiet. There is NO movement, no noise and no classroom instruction.
Students and staff simply evacuate all buildings and exit to the perimeter of our school campus.
As always, thank you for your support in helping to get all of our students college and career ready.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Sincerely,
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FINE ART DEPARTMENT
HAPPENINGS
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On Thursday December 13th, the Cienega High School Fine Arts Department will be hosting a Winter Holiday Showcase! Events will include a visual arts display featuring artwork created by Cienega art students from beginning through AP, a winter themed drama performance and holiday music and sing along provided by the Cienega bands, choirs and orchestras!
Festivities will kick off at 4:30pm with food trucks in the Cienega parking lot (subject to change) with the band, choir and drama performances beginning at 6:00pm in the Student Union followed by the Art Gallery opening in the 200 hallway at 6:30pm.
Please join us to support Cienega's entire fine arts program; you will be amazed by the talent that our students have!
Hope to see you there!!
Cienega Fine Arts Teachers
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Cienega has several new teachers this school year!
We thought this would be a fun way for you to get to know them a little better.
Keith Scott- Sports Medicine Teacher
 Where were you born? New Jersey
Where did you go to college? East Stroudsburg University and The University of Arizona
What is your favorite movie: The God Father
What is your favorite TV show:
The Sorpranos
What is your favorite sports team: Philadelphia Eagles
What was/is your favorite vacation:
Southern Jersey Shore
What is your favorite quote:
"if it is really important to you, you will find a way to do it... if not, it really wasn't that important to begin with!"
What is your favorite thing about Cienega: The Culture
Sonny Chiu- Math Teacher
Where were you born? Mandaue City, Cebu Philippines
Where did you go to college?
Cebu Normal University
What is your favorite movie:
Lord of the Rings
What is your favorite TV show:
Modern Marvels
What is your favorite sports team: Golden State Warriors
What was/is your favorite vacation:
Up in the Mountains or down in the Beaches ( anywhere as long as I am with nature and my family.
What is your favorite quote:
What you are now is the product of your choice
What is your favorite thing about Cienega: Everything about CIENEGA! I'm proud to be in BOBCAT Nation!
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Cap and Gown Information:
- About 250 seniors have not ordered their cap and gown.Go to Jostens.com to order ASAP or you will miss the first spring delivery.
- Jostens will be on campus one last time Thursday, November 8th during lunch and from 4-7pm in the Student union.
Graduation Information:
- It's official! The graduation ceremony will be on Saturday, May 18th at the Tucson Convention Center at 7:00 PM.
- SchoolWay App: If you have not yet downloaded the SchoolWay, I highly encourage you to do so. The senior counselor sends push alerts to your Smart phone, or texts or emails if you don't have a SmartPhone. Go to www.myschoolway.com to download the App. Join the Vail School District, then Cienega High School and then the GROUP: Class of 2019, or just enter the WayCode: 42peba
Testing Information:
- SAT registration deadline for the March 9th test is February 8th.Go to collegeboard.org to register.
- ACT registration deadline for the February 9th test is January 11th. Go to www.actstudent.org to register
Financial Aid:
- Students and Parents should have submitted the FAFSA form by now. Do not leave any potential free money on the table. Every College bound student needs to apply even if you don't think you qualify. Go to FAFSA.gov to do this now. Click here for a worksheet
Colleges:
- In order to have the best chances of receiving scholarships or financial aid at any of the state universities, seniors should have already applied to these schools. Do not delay any longer if you have not yet applied. For out of state or private colleges, deadlines vary. Go to the specific college website for deadlines and information.
- Bring in your acceptance letters or enlistment paper and receive a free College Bound or Military Bound shirt to wear proudly on C2G Wednesdays and be entered into a drawing for a free iPad given away at Honors night in May.
Scholarships:
- Scholarship opportunities are listed and updated on the Cienega Website on the "Counselor Page." View the site often for regular updates.
Attendance Issues:
- Any student who exceeds eight absences (9 is 9) will not receive credit for that class. If it is a zero hour issue and other classes are not in line with the zero hour absences, a student may be required to drop zero hour and add a class after lunch. Schedule an attendance appeal with your counselor (located in the Counseling Hub in the Education Center) after December 1st to appeal the absence.
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The Cats CARE Team
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Renaissance TopCat Program Underway!
As we've reported in previous articles, we are all about reinforcing good behavior. One of the tools we use to communicate with students and parents about how a student is doing in class is their citizenship grade. Each teacher should give every student on their roster a citizenship grade each quarter. That grade is assessed based on the CAT Statement regarding classroom expectations. 
A student who is a shining example of these expectations will be given the highest citizenship grade; 4 out of 4. Students who are pretty consistent would get a 3 out of 4. Students who struggle with these expectations may be assigned a 2 of 4, and those who are found to be "irresponsible" will be given a 1 of 4.
To recognize the student who are great citizens on campus (having a citizenship grade average above 3.0) we want to reward them!
We are significantly expanding a program that the Freshman House has used for the last year or so. We're calling it the Renaissance TopCat program! If a student has good citizenship grades and no F's or 1's at the end of the quarter, they are halfway there! The other requirement is their academic GPA. Students who have a unweighted GPA at the end of the quarter of 2.0 to 2.99 will be Navy Level TopCats, a 3.0 to 3.99 is a Copper Level TopCat, and a 4.0 will earn the student a Platinum Level TopCat card. Each level has different benefits that were put together by a diverse team of students telling us what we can do to recognize their achievement. This includes credit at the bookstore, homework passes, free time, and more!
The program was kicked off on November 5th and TopCat status will be evaluated every quarter through the end of the year. For more information, ask a TopCat,
watch this video
produced by Mr. Kraemer's video class with the PBIS student representatives
, or
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Cienega's Be Kind club is once again collecting donations for the homeless students we have on campus (Youth On Their Own). For the last 6 years we have collected donations (stocking stuffers, gift cards, monetary donations (for gift cards) to provide the Youth On Their Own kids on campus a Christmas stocking full of "fun" stuff... things they normally wouldn't get from the YOTO program.
This year we have a record 15 students in the program.
I know a lot of us are donating to many different causes this year, these students are our own and it would be great to be able to give them a little Christmas cheer. Any donations would be appreciated, even if its just a $5 gift card or a fun dollar spot item. We are looking to collect around $100 for each student.
Please feel free to email with any questions. You can give any donations to Ms. McKinney or Mrs. Smith at CHS. We can also provide you with a receipt for tax purposes if you'd like. Clubs on campus can donate as well, we just need to let Kathy in the bookstore know. Checks should be made out to CHS Be Kind (memo: YOTO)
Thanks in advance for your generosity!
CHS Be Kind Club
Sponsors:
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As the first semester winds down, here's the new schedule for Prep courses for 2nd semester. Be sure to sign up for them leading into your testing date.
Juniors, don't forget: on April 2nd, Cienega will be offering the ACT at no cost. There is no need to sign up for this specific test.
If you are wanting to sign up for a different testing date, you'll need to register online at
ACT.org. Be sure to give yourself at least 40 minutes for the process. Cienega's testing code for ACT is: 030541
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VAIL JINGLE TRAIL 5K
& SANTA'S LITTLE HELPER 1K
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The 13th Annual Vail
Jingle
Trail
5k and Santa's Little Helper 1k
will be on Saturday, December 15th. This event benefits the Cienega Key Club and the Shyann Kindness Project Toy Drive. Last year we raised over 500 toys thanks in part to Meghan McKinney who collects toys from her students! Jeremy Vega and his choir have come out the last couple of years and they will be there again this year.
Thanks to TSW, Be Kind Club, and Art Club. for the cool finisher awards for the first 400 participants. Come on out, we have awesome long sleeve t-shirts for ALL our participants.
It's a great "feel good" event.
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COLLEGE & CAREER CHRONICLE
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Tips For Choosing a Career Path
One of the major decisions in a young person's life is deciding which career path to choose.
Career planning is an ongoing process involving knowing oneself, exploring options, making decisions and taking action. An excellent time to begin career planning is during high school. Students who identify a career path during high school can avoid wasting time pursuing a career path that does not fit their aptitudes or interests. They can also avoid costly major changes in college or heading down the wrong career preparation path.
One of the first steps in developing a career plan is to know oneself. High school is an excellent time for students to think about their interests, preferences, skills and values. A person may be artistic, athletic, analytical, an indoor person or an outdoor person. Students should critically examine their strengths and weaknesses. A good place to begin is to ask oneself the following questions:
Where am I at now?
Where do I want to be?
What type of lifestyle do I aspire to have?
What do I like to do?
What is important to me? What do I want out of a job or career?
A good second step is to explore options. Students should take elective classes and participate in extracurricular activities that are interesting to them. In this way, they can refine their interests and explore potential career paths. This may mean participating in informational interviews, job shadowing, internships, work or volunteer opportunities related to their chosen field.
Vail district seniors have the opportunity to participate in a year-long internship to further solidify their career exploration and hone their work force skills. Additionally, all Vail seniors are required to participate in job shadowing as part of their Senior Exit Project. The Senior Exit Project helps many students to affirm their career choice or it can also help them decide they may want to choose an alternate career path.
Finally, students should seek opportunities to learn and experience more about their interests. They need to investigate the occupational outlook for their chosen career path, learn about the typical work conditions, salary and opportunities for career advancement.
There are numerous tools available to evaluate student for interests. All of our students have established an account with the Arizona Career Information System (AZCIS). AZCIS provides many online opportunities to explore careers through interest inventories and other investigative activities.
Another excellent tool is the ASVAB. On Thursday, November 15th, 8:40 AM - noon, Cienega High School students will have an opportunity to participate in the ASVAB Career Exploration Program. The ASVAB is a multiple aptitude test that measures developed abilities and helps predict future academic and occupational success.
Research has shown that students who participate in the ASVAB Career Exploration Program experience less career indecision, enjoy greater confidence in making career decisions, consider more thoughtfully heir options than students who do not participates in the ASVAB CEP. More about this free test is available by checking out the following website: https://www.asvabprogram.com. Sophomores through seniors may take the test and there are still a few spots available. Interested students must sign up by Friday, November 9th with me in my office in the Counselor Hub, located in the CHS Education Center.
Dainah L. Graham, M.S., M.Ed.
College and Career Counselor
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NJROTC HAPPENINGS
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On Saturday, 3 Nov 2018 our NJROTC Cadets participated in the Rio Rico HS JROTC 8th Annual Physical Fitness Raider Challenge. 16 teams from across Arizona competed in the all services JROTC field meet. Team Captain Cadet Analisa Levario led the team to a 1st place finish in the long distance run obstacle course, 2nd place in the physical fitness challenge (push ups. sit-ups and pull ups), 2nd place in the 8 x 400 meter relay run and 3rd place in the 1 rope rescue stretcher carry. Our Vail team placed 2nd overall.
Concurrently our NJROTC Marksmanship Team competed at the Rio Rico HS JROTC 3 x 20 (standing) shoulder to shoulder rifle match. Our marksmanship placed 2nd among the 10 teams that competed.
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VOLUNTEER BUZZ
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***Next Volunteer Opportunity***
Wednesday, December 19th
~ CHS Holiday Staff Appreciation Soup Luncheon
~ Volunteers needed ~
9:15am-2:15pm, set-up, serve and clean-up
~ Volunteers needed to bring in soups and chili's in crock pots, salads, desserts and drinks
Please contact Kiki Ngo by email at
[email protected] for more information and to sign up to donate food or to volunteer. Thank you for your assistance and generosity!
If you, your business or company would like to become a Cienega or Vail Pride Day sponsor, please contact me directly at 879-2811 or
[email protected], for more detailed information.
Thank you for your consideration and support!
Happy Thanksgiving Blessings to our Bobcat Families!
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CatFRAT
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We would like to thank our AMAZING popcorn volunteers for giving of your valuable time throughout the football season, you're the BEST!!! We had so many new (9+) volunteers this year, wow, thank you! Thank you to our veteran popcorn volunteers for showing us the ropes!
We have (2) Entertainment Books left, $25 each, includes a FREE Mobile APP. Please contact Amy Burton at 879-2811 or
[email protected]
to purchase a book.
Please join us at our next CatFRAT meeting on
Tuesday, November 20, 2018 at 6:30pm in the CHS Library and Educational Center.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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PHAT CAT DRAWING WINNERS
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Congratulations to the following Bobcats for being our Phat Cat Drawing winners.
Edward VanHorn- $50 Dicks Sporting Goods Gift Card
and a 32oz Hydro Flask.
Sanya Saurabh- Alex & Ani School Themed Bracelets.
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| BEST DRESSED BOBCAT WINNER |
Congratulations to Stephanie Patrick for winning a $25 Gift Card to TJ Maxx.
Keep Dressing Classy Bobcats
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Thank you parents for your support. We truly appreciate your involvement!
Cienega High School
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CHS Online Store
Spirit Wear & More!
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