St. Johns County School District offers Career Academies and Programs of Interest to rising 9^th and 10^th graders. These are optional opportunities for students to focus on their future early, by studying a career path that interests them.

Students who are interested in joining a Career Academy or Program of Interest are invited to attend the High School Showcase, coming up on December 13^th, from 3:30-7 pm, at the World Golf Village Convention Center. Students can learn about all the programs available at each high school. In our district, a student can apply to any Academy or Program they are interested in at any school. However, if that Program of Interest or Academy is offered at their zoned school (at Nease, this includes IB and JROTC), students must apply to the program offered at their zoned school. If you have a rising 9^th or 10^th grader with questions about Academies or the application process, which opens on January 4^th, email our Academy Coordinator, Mrs. Combs, at [email protected]

Seniors who have Governement or Economics this semester periods 1st through 6th will attend a voter registration assembly this Wednesday in the auditorium..

Pursuant to Florida Statute 98.255 and Florida Administrative Code Chapter 1S-2.033, the St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections provides a once-a-year voter education program for high school students in the schools. The presentation is to familiarize young people with the voting process in Florida including the importance of voting, the difference between primaries and general elections, ways to vote (on election day, early voting and vote-by-mail), and election security. During the presentation, students are encouraged to pre-register or register to vote and complete voter registration forms.

Order now 

https://crowleyprinting.com/shop/ols/categories/nease-high-school-ptso-spiritwear

*************************************in last week's but still important*******************************************

Quarter 1 and quarter 2 grades are averaged to calculate the semester grade to award 1/2 credit in courses, excluding courses with a State EOC - Algebra, Geometry, Biology, & US History. After this first semester, gpa calculations will be run for sports and for final senior class rank determining val and sal. Students below a 2.0 will not be allowed to continue playing their winter sport or try-out for a spring sport. There are no longer any district semester exams; however, teachers will administer their final summative for the quarter the last week and a half of school, so it is extremely important that students are in attendance.

Thu, Dec 14 (Green) & Fri, Dec 15 (Gold)– Science, English & World Language

Mon, Dec 18^th (Green) & Tue, Dec 19^th (Gold) – Math, Social Studies & electives, if giving a paper/pencil summative.

Wed, Dec 20^th w/EXCEL – Students will receive test scores and be provided remediation if needed.

Thu, Dec 21^st – 2:50pm holiday release, so Wed bell schedule w/EXCEL. Retakes need to occur during class time.

Remediation for 7^th will need to occur during EXCEL on Wed, Dec 20^th.

Retakes for 7^th will need to occur during EXCEL on Thu, Dec 21^st.

Virtual Course update

If your child is currently taking a virtual course, they MUST have the course completed by January 4th for the course grade to be calculated into their semester GPA. The cumulative GPA after 1st semester of senior year determines final class rank and is used to issue graduation honor cords.

NEASE LANYARDS FOR SALE!

Support the Boys’ Basketball team and purchase a Nike Nease Lanyard for $15 In Ms Gebauer’s room PH203

Exact Cash or Venmo the team @Nease-Boysbasketball (center of the gym floor for verification picture). If you Venmo just come up to Ms. G’s room and grab your awesome lanyard! If parents purchase for a great stocking stuffer, we can leave it in the front office for you with your name on it. Email [email protected] with any questions. THANK YOU for your support.

****************************************old but still important*****************************************************

Nease High School Theatre will conclude its first semester with a production of A Christmas Carol, based on the Charles Dickens’ holiday classic. Micah Vosburg will play the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge who is haunted by three spirits on Christmas Eve. Joining Vosburg are Luke Porter as Bob Cratchit, Lily Downie as Mrs. Cratchit, Rome Curtiss as Jacob Marley/Old Joe, Ellie Mirgeaux as The Ghost of Christmas Past. Andrew Hajdini as The Ghost of Christmas Present, Parker Black as Nephew Fred, Marisa McNally as Belle, and Maya Kalush as Anna. The cast will also feature Kaylie Burnett, Jacob Santana, Annabelle Frederico, Carrie Hendricks, Jackson Fry, Abigail Moring, Hannah Smith, Robbyn Dykeman, Amanda Ferrand, Mackenzie Cole, Tristan Mirgeaux, Kedren Ellis, Isabella Keller, Faith Leatherman, Juliana Weldon, Mia Kasper, Sarah Roney, Ethan Nash, Ethan Murphy, Michelle DeMeritt, Kylie Nolan, Samantha Morgan, Slava Melnyk, Charlie Evans, Mia Garrett, Kallie Smith, Brooklyn Gorga, Franziska Kasten, Kaylee Ireland, and Decker Curtiss (as Tiny Tim).

Ava Everly will be designing scenic elements for the production, including an eight-foot puppet of The Ghost of Christmas Past. Everly will also operate the puppet with the help of Maggie Yan and Tu Ly Bui.

A Christmas Carol will be directed by Nease Theatre Director, Mr. Mark Robinson, with Olivia Hill serving as stage manager, Mia Kasper as assistant director, and senior Lily Downie as music director and assistant choreographer. The crew for A Christmas Carol will include Sophia Burger, Keira (Robin) Hickey, Caitlynn Hallman, Jackie Weir, Maggie Yan, Renn Dunn, Tu Ly Bui, Ava Everly, Aliza (Alex) Luz, Amelia Thompson, Dorian Huggins, Erika Mayerhofer, Gabrielle Watson, Gharam Amun, Joy Triplett, Kadyn Sakamoto, Kaylee Raisor, Kyra Ellis, Maddi Burnett, Renad Morsi, Ryan Grant, Scott Kuo, Simone Gursky, Tu Chi Bui, and Valentina Guglietta.

TO GET YOUR TICKETS SIMPLY CLICK THE DATE AND TIME BELOW

Where: Nease PAC

Cost: Click Below to Get Tickets!

December 8, 6:30 p.m.

December 9, 2 p.m.

Thank you for your support of Nease Theatre Arts. Enjoy the Show!!

Did you miss the Class of 2024 t-shirt pick up? Shirts will be available again this upcoming Wednesday, December 13^th in Ms. Morrison’s room, B107, during EXCEL. You must have your student ID. *Shirts are only available to students who paid their senior dues by October 13^th. Have a conflict? Reach out to senior sponsors Ms. Kasey Mietzner or Ms. Samantha Morrison via Schoology for alternate pick up.

There are still 40 students who have not paid their senior dues! If you have not paid your senior dues, please look out for a Schoology message from Mrs. Mietzner. As a reminder, all seniors must pay their dues in order to attend Grad Bash, prom, and graduation.

The presentation from our Financial Aid Night can be accessed using the following link: 

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:7c92c3fc-4a80-31b5-8b4d-68289ea57010

Thank you to all who joined us virtually

Friday, May 10^th is the last day for seniors who have met all graduation requirements.

MANDATORY Graduation Rehearsal - Thursday, May 16th from 9am to 11am at UNF Arena.

Graduation - Tuesday, May 21st at 6pm at UNF - students will receive 7 graduation tickets.

Monday, December 11^th – Green Day – 1, 3, 5, 7

• 6pm - PVA Band and Guitar Concert

Tuesday, December 12^th - Gold Day – 2, 4, 6, 7

9:45am – IB Booster Mtg in MC146

• 6:30pm – Winter Jazz Concert
• AWAY: 5:30pm/7pm – JV/V Boys’ Soccer at Bishop Kenny
• AWAY: 5:30pm/7:20pm – JV/V Girls’ Soccer at Sandalwood
• AWAY: 6pm – Boys’ JV Wrestling at Beachside
• AWAY: 6pm/7:30pm – JV/V Basketball at St Augustine
• HOME: 6pm/7:30pm – Girls’ Basketball vs Oakleaf

Wednesday, December 13^th – 1, 2, 3, 4, EXCEL, 5 & 6 – 2:50pm dismissal

• Voter Registration in auditorium through Econ & Gov classes
• 3:30pm – ASL Dinner Social
• 3:30pm-7pm: HS Showcase at World Golf Village
• AWAY: 3:30pm Girls’ Weightlifting at County Championship
• HOME: 6pm – Boys’ Wrestling vs Creekside & Mandarin 

Thursday, December 14^th – Green Day – 1, 3, 5, 7

• 6pm – Winter Concert Ensemble
• HOME: 5pm – Girls’ Weightlifting vs Mandarin
• AWAY: 5:30pm/7:20pm – Girls’ Soccer at Middleburg
• AWAY: 6pm/7:30pm – JV/V Girls’ Basketball at Orange Park

Friday, December 15^th – Gold Day – 2, 4, 6, 7

• AWAY: 6pm/7:30pm – JV/V Boys’ Basketball at PV 
• HOME: 6pm/7:30pm – JV/V Girls Basketball vs Flagler Palm Coast
• AWAY: 7pm – V Boys’ Soccer at Williston

 Saturday, December 16^th

• NJROTC FT – Drill Meet at Mandarin HS
• AWAY: 9am – V Boys’ Wrestling at Creekside (Super 8)
• AWAY: 9am – JV Boys’ Wrestling at Yulee
• AWAY: 9:30am & 3:30pm – JV Basketball at Keystone Heights Tournament

NATIONAL ENGLISH HONOR SOCIETY

The next meeting is Dec. 13th Excel B in B102. We will go over how to submit your winter writing items for review.

Winter Writing deadlines to submit to the advisors = Dec. 22^nd on Schoology.

Two optional writing workshops:

1. Dec. 11 from 4pm-5pm in B101 w/ Mrs. Lopez
2. Dec. 18 from 4pm-5pm in B102 w/ Mrs. Lewis

If you have any questions regarding the winter writing, see the Schoology group resources or email [email protected]

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL NEASE STUDENTS 9^th through 12^th grades!

2024 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest! OPEN TO ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS 9th grade through 12th grade! Deadline for submission is January 12, 2024. Click on the link below for all details. GOOD LUCK!! 

JFK Profiles in Courage Essay Contest

The top 25 students receive the following awards: 

·        1st place - $10,000

·        2nd place - $3,000

·        5 finalists - $1,000 each 

·        10 semi-finalists - $100 each 

·        8 honorable mentions

Dual Enrollment students,

The link is open to request textbooks/resources for Spring Term 2024. Students will need to log in utilizing their Microsoft Office account username and password.

We will start processing requests December 18, 2023. We will notify students by email once they are ready. Students should not call our department, it only slows down our process to complete the requests.

Counselors can email me directly if they have any questions regarding a student’s textbook request.

• Students can utilize the link below:

Order DE Textbooks

FALL Term 2023

• Any textbooks/resources that have not been picked up for Fall Term 2023, will be returned to the shelf. Students will need to resubmit a textbook request if they will may need textbooks/resources for the remaining Fall term.

All textbooks for FALL Term 2023 should be returned to our office by Friday, December 15, 2023 by 4:30PM to avoid late fines.

• Textbooks picked up from SJR or UNF bookstore should be returned to the Media Services office located at 10 Hildreth Drive, St. Augustine, FL 32084.

• Seniors that may have fines for Dual Enrollment textbooks are to be paid before graduation. 

• All late fines are to be paid before picking up textbooks for Spring Term 2024.

• We accept cash payments (exact amount only), money orders and checks. Money orders and checks should be made out to: St Johns County School District.

Erica Jackson

Executive Secretary|Notary

Instructional Resources and Media Services

(904) 547-3947 office

LINK CREW NEWS!! 

Freshmen/Link Crew Holiday Movie Night! 

Our Link Crew Leaders are inviting our freshmen to join us on Friday, Dec. 15^th after school in the media center for a holiday movie night to watch “Home Alone”. We’ll have hot cocoa, cookies, popcorn, and other treats! This is a FREE event and we hope many of our freshmen will join us to celebrate the last Friday before Winter Break. Please have your freshmen scan the QR code below or click on the link to RSVP. If you have any questions – please reach out to Mrs. Milian at [email protected]

https://forms.office.com/r/1Gcpcc1gNw

Link Crew Service PROJECT

We want to try to make the holidays special for our senior citizens in our community who might find themselves alone this holiday season. So we’re asking our amazing students to make Christmas cards for them and awarding service hours for your efforts! Please stop by the media center, sit down and create Christmas cards to send to the senior citizens at Starling at Nocatee Assisted Living. A card-making station complete with cardstock, craft scissors, glue sticks, stickers, markers, glitter pens, etc will be set up behind Mrs. Milian’s desk in the media center. You can make a card here or you can make one at home and bring it in.

Service hours will be awarded for making cards:

•     3 cards = 1 service hour

•     5 cards = 2 service hours MAX

**IMPORTANT!! To receive service hours, drop your finished cards into a GALLON size Ziploc bag, and staple an index card to the bag with your full name, student number, and grade. Any bags with missing information WILL NOT receive service hours.

**ALL CARDS ARE DUE IN THE MEDIA CENTER BY Friday, Dec. 15^th.

See Mrs. Milian if you have any questions.

Tutoring: The National Honor Society hosts afterschool tutoring on Wednesdays from 3pm-4pm in A107. If your student needs help in math, science, social studies, foreign language, or English, please use the link below to sign up for a tutor!

https://forms.office.com/r/njRJDfUVkQ

We had 22 students participate Saturday at our Northeast FCDI Speech & Debate tournament. Congratulations to all students for their efforts! Here were our placements:

Novice Extemporaneous Debate:

1^st place: Caleb Hicks (first FCDI tournament!)

2^nd place: Robin Ali (first FCDI tournament!)

Novice Lincoln Douglas:

1^st place: Samuel Shipe (first FCDI tournament!)

2^nd place: Yash Sagar (first FCDI tournament!)

3^rd place: Ria Gavvala (first FCDI tournament!)

Varsity Lincoln Douglas:

1^st place: Rishi Chandra

2^nd place: Pranav Devanand

3^rd place: Manogna Chandra

Novice Original Oratory:

2^nd place: Mahitasai Velagapudi

Varsity Original Oratory:

1^st place: Mayukha Das

2^nd place: Malana Patel

3^rd place: Ishikta Kumari

Varsity Public Forum:

3^rd place: Avery Mangan and Lauren Adams

Toys for Tots Collection

Thank you so much everyone who had their team/club/program participate in Toys for Tots! We were able to fill 5 donation boxes of toys.

Congratulations to our Top 3 Clubs and Teams!

1. NJROTC (by 2 toys!!)
2. Girls’ Weightlifting
3. Link Crew (ahead of 4^th place by 1 toy!)

A big thank you to all the clubs and teams who participated:

Interact, DECA, Hugs, Junior Ladies, National English Honor Society, Mock Trial, Robotics, Panthers Read, Paws for a Cause, Rho Kappa, SGA, The Vertical, Girls XC, Dance Team, Girls JV Basketball, Girls Lacrosse, and Girls Track and Field

Nease at Tom Coughlin Jay Fund

Nease students – Demarco Blackmon, Careal Carter, Cade Papineau, and Sloan Davis volunteered at the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation Holiday Party at WJCT for pediatric cancer patients. The Jay Fund is a non-profit organization that helps families tackling childhood cancer by providing comprehensive financial, emotional, and practical support from diagnosis to recovery. There were 90+ children with cancer and their families at the event. These Nease students boxed 550 meals to serve at the event. Way to go Panthers!

🌟 Gold Level Plus Business Partner 🌟

Nease Animal Hospital is a full-service Veterinary Hospital that offers integrative medicine. Comprehensive care with Personal Touch Your pet is unique, and we will make sure we treat your dog or cat with the attention to detail that you both truly deserve. We are passionate about empowering you to help your pet live a healthier and happier life.

Thank you, Nease Animal Hospital, for helping our pets and supporting Nease High School!

1 904-209-5740

www.neaseanimalhospital.com

10440 US Highway 1 N Suite 101 Ponte Vedra, FL 32095

🌟 Gold Level Plus Business Partner 🌟

At Rice Orthodontics, we understand you want treatment in a welcoming, safe, and comfortable environment. We serve patients of all ages with modern treatments like braces and clear aligners at our office in Jacksonville and Nocatee, so please feel free to come by for a free consultation.

Thank you, Rice Orthodontics, for being a Gold Level Plus Business Partner. 

http://www.drriceortho.com  

Rising 9^th or 10^th Graders Interested In Joining A Career Academy for 2024-25? Join Us At The High School Showcase

St. Johns County School District offers Career Academies and Programs of Interest to rising 9^th and 10^th graders. These are optional opportunities for students to focus on their future early, by studying a career path that interests them. Students who are interested in joining a Career Academy or Program of Interest are invited to attend the High School Showcase, coming up on December 13^th, from 3:30-7 pm, at the World Golf Village Convention Center. Students can learn about all the programs available at each high school. In our district, a student can apply to any Academy or Program they are interested in at any school. However, if that Program of Interest or Academy is offered at their zoned school (at Nease, this includes IB and JROTC), students must apply to the program offered at their zoned school. If you have a rising 9^th or 10^th grader with questions about Academies or the application process, which opens on January 4^th, email our Academy Coordinator, Mrs. Combs, at [email protected]

Academy Intent to Return Process: Continuing in a program or dropping one for 2024-25

Before winter break, all Communications, Hospitality, and Engineering Academy students will be asked to indicate if they want to remain in their current Academy for the 2024-25 school year by signing an Intent to Return roster. If the student checked “Yes,” than that student will be automatically re-enrolled in the Academy for 2024-25. The student will also receive a recommendation to move on to the next level Academy course, as long as they are meeting Academy requirements. If an Academy student checks “No” on the roster to indicate that they do not want to continue in the Academy next year, a Program of Choice Drop Form will be sent home with those students in January. The drop form must be completed by the student and parent and returned to Mrs. Combs. If you have any questions about the Intent to Return process, please reach out to Jaime Combs at [email protected]

ACE Program Kicks Off With Trip to UNF

Each year, our Stellar Academy of Engineering seniors take part in the ACE (Architecture Construction and Engineering) Mentorship Program, which is a regional competition that challenges engineering students to take on project prompts, work with engineers in many sectors of the industry as they complete the project, and then present their final concepts to a panel of judges in April. On Tuesday, a group of engineering students represented Nease at ACE’s kickoff event at UNF. The trip included a tour of UNF with some information on the engineering behind several buildings on the college campus, and then the students learned about UNF’s engineering majors, and got the chance to enjoy lunch and hear from a local engineer-turned-politician-and-community advocate, Ashantae Green.

Stellar Academy of Engineering Seniors Design a Lifeguard Chair for Deck the Chairs Event in Downtown Jacksonville

James Weldon Park, in downtown Jacksonville, has become a winter wonderland for the holiday season, with a large tree in the plaza and a number of Deck the Chairs “Unite with Lights” student contest entries throughout the park. Middle and High Schools were asked to come up with a creative way to decorate a plain wooden lifeguard chair. The displays are meant to help bring awareness to the need for arts and technology education in our community’s schools. Students in our Engineering Design and Development classes came up with the Star Wars-inspired design, utilizing our equipment and their ingenuity to create the components of the décor.

The chairs will be on display in James Weldon Park until January 1^st.  

Fidelity Scholars Program

The Fidelity Scholars program is open to underrepresented collegiate populations and serves students living in a select number of states, including Florida. To be eligible for the Fidelity Scholars Program, all applicants must live and plan to attend a college or university in their home states of MA, NC, TX, FL, NM , and NJ, and Washington, D.C. Last year, the Fidelity Scholars Program awarded 200 Scholars with more than $2.8 million in scholarships, with 65% of those Scholars as first-generation college goers. Individual awards vary. Application Deadline: 1/11/2024 11:59 PM. Learn more and apply here. 

If you have any questions about the Communications Academy, Stellar Academy of Engineering, or the Academy of Hospitality & Tourism, reach out to Mrs. Combs at [email protected]

IB Seniors

All IB seniors received their college application “gold envelope.” There is at least a 2-week (14 working days) turnaround for the processing of the envelope. Please allow for this prior to submission.

Reminder: The FFAA (Bright Futures) Application is now open. The FAFSA is scheduled to open at some point in December. Click here for more information on changes to the FAFSA and the reason for the delay in release. Please be mindful, that you must complete these applications in order to be evaluated for postsecondary financial aid eligibility.

If a senior is currently taking a virtual course, they MUST have the course completed by January 4th for the course grade to be calculated into their first semester GPA. The cumulative GPA after 1st semester of senior year determines final class rank and is used to issue graduation honor cords.

IB Juniors

Juniors are working on selecting their extended essay topic for the upcoming mentor selection process. Ask them what they plan on writing on and what research they are interested in.

All IB Students & Parents

Lots of information is being posted on the Nease IB Schoology Page. All IB students have been placed in the group and provided the group code to join during the beginning of the year meetings. Please ask your student what has been posted lately.

Carolyn Milian – School Librarian Media Specialist

Lorna Patterson – Media Clerk

Media Center phone number – 904-547-8367

Email – [email protected]

COFFEE STATION DONATIONS!

With chilly temps on the rise, our student coffee station is in need of some supplies. The students absolutely love this little FREE perk we offer in our media center. We could still use some of the following items if you are willing and able to help donate so we can keep this going for our students.

·        10 oz. coffee cups

·        Hot chocolate packets

·        Tea bags (for our tea drinkers 😊 )

·        Creamer (individual packs or powdered. No refrigerated creamers please)

·        Sugar (individual small packets)

Thank you so much for anything you can help out with so we can continue this little “perk” for our students.

HOLIDAY READING BINGO!

If you missed out on “Summer Reading Bingo” and earning some cool gift cards like Starbucks, Amazon, or Gate – now’s your chance to earn them with our  “Holiday Reading Bingo”!! Students will have the opportunity to read a variety of books, articles, listen to podcasts, etc. and earn some of these prizes in this year’s “Holiday Reading Bingo” program. Bingo boards and reading logs will be due on Friday, Jan. 26^th, 2024, so they have 3 FULL months to work on this and have fun doing it. Below is the Bingo board and the prizes students can earn. Students would need to complete the online “editable reading log” to document all their selections on our media center webpage. For more information, please click here to take you to our “Holiday Reading Bingo” page on our media center webpage. You can also contact me directly in the media center for additional questions. Have fun and let’s READ-READ-READ to SUCCEED! 

PANTHERS!! Get your “Panther Café Tile”! This is your chance to IMMORTALIZE yourself in our library!

ALL students have the opportunity to take home one of our café area ceiling tiles, paint and personalize it, then have it placed back into our ceiling for a donation of $20. The money raised from this fundraiser will be used to purchase new computers for our media center and other technology enhancements and at the same time have our students immortalized in our café as these will never be repainted! Please contact me in the media center for more information.

Follow Nease Athletics on Instagram #NeaseAthletics and Twitter @NeaseAthletics

You can support Nease Athletics by becoming a member of our Booster Club! Everyone is welcome to join. There are five membership levels. All funds will directly support Nease High School athletic programs. All athletes and coaches will benefit from the funding. Show your Panther Pride and sign up here https://neaseathletics.com/gpbc-membership/

Link Below for Apparel purchases:

https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/florida/pontevedra/nease-high-school

Athletic Clearance

Prior to participating with a Nease High School athletic team, all students are required to complete the athletic clearance process.

Please keep in mind that the FHSAA requires all student athletes to view free NFHS video courses on concussions, heat illness, and sudden cardiac arrest (see instructions below). Signatures on the EL3 form indicate that your athlete has completed these three video courses. The FHSAA also requires that all student athletes have at least a 2.0 unweighted GPA to be eligible for participation.

For step-by-step athletic clearance instructions please visit: https://neaseathletics.com/athletic_clearance/

Athletic Fee/Pay to Participate

The purpose of the Nease Athletic Fee is to help address the costs associated with operating a high school athletic department. Currently the St. Johns County School Board pays each coach’s coaching supplement, and all remaining costs are the responsibility of the athletic department and teams. The athletic fee helps cover the following expenses:

·        Game officials

·        Indoor and Outdoor Athletic Facility maintenance

·        Sports Medicine

·        Security

·        Athletic Leadership Council activities

·        Student-Athlete Letters and Awards

·        FHSAA membership dues and other fees

The 2023-24 fee will be as follows: $75 Per Sport Played

This fee must be paid prior to the student-athlete participating in his/her first contest. Nease Athletics appreciates your attention and compliance regarding payment of this fee. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Nease Athletic Department.

Looking ahead: