Happy Friday! We hope everyone enjoys the 3-day holiday weekend!

We still have 2 vacancies that need to be filled - 1:1 ESE Para positions. The person would be working directly with a student during class time and between classes. Both students like school and are good natured. Our preference is to hire 2 full-time people; however, we can break each position into 2 part-time with one person working 2 days and the other person working 3 days. If you are interested, please email me at Lisa.Kunze@stjohns.k12.fl.us

UNDERCLASS PICTURE DAYS THIS WEEK! Students in grades 9-11 will take photos this Thursday and Friday, September 7-8 through English classes Students without an English class can stop by the PAC any time after 8:45. Forms for pre-order have been provided to students, or you can order online at https://new.leonards.com/

YEARBOOKS ON SALE NOW! We sold out last year, so make sure to reserve yours while they are at the lowest price of the year. Go to yearbookordercenter.com and enter code 15476

IS YOUR CHILD LISTED AS A JUNIOR BUT PLANNING TO GRADUATE EARLY? If so, and you want your child in the senior section of the yearbook, be sure to have a senior portrait done at Leonard's by Sept 15. Contact yearbook adviser Leisha Cowart for more information. leisha.cowart@stjohns.k12.fl.us.

*************************OLD NEWS BUT DEADLINES ARE APPROACHING!********************************

SAT-NCR (Non-College Reportable) Exam – 12^th Grade ONLY

This test is for 12^th grade students who have not met the FSA Grade 10 ELA and/or the Algebra 1 EOC graduation requirement. Students who participate in this SAT-NCR experience will be granted accommodations (i.e., extended time) in hopes that the extra time will give the student a better chance to acquire the necessary SAT English and Reading (EBRW) score of 480 to meet the FSA Grade 10 ELA graduation requirement and/or SAT Math score of 420 to meet the Algebra 1 EOC graduation requirement. However, because these accommodations are not officially approved by College Board, results earned during a non-college reportable SAT administration cannot be used for admissions or scholarship purposes. 

The SAT-NCR will be offered at Nease on Wednesday, October 11, 2023 to 12^th Graders ONLY. The cost of the SAT-NCR exam is $60.00. Payment can be made via this link in School Pay. Payment is due by Friday, September 8th, 2023.

ACT Non-College Reportable Exam – 12^th Grade ONLY

This test is for 12^th grade students who have not met the FSA Grade 10 ELA and/or the Algebra 1 EOC graduation requirement. Students who participate in this ACT-NCR experience will be granted accommodations (i.e., extended time) in hopes that the extra time will give the student a better chance to acquire the necessary ACT English and Reading score of 17.5 to meet the FSA Grade 10 ELA graduation requirement and/or ACT Math score of 16 to meet the Algebra 1 EOC graduation requirement. However, because these accommodations are not officially approved by College Board, results earned during a non-college reportable ACT administration cannot be used for admissions or scholarship purposes. 

The ACT will be offered at Nease on Tuesday, October 17, 2023 to 12^th Graders ONLY. The cost of the ACT exam is $38.50. Payment can be made via this link in School Pay. Payment is due by Friday, September 8th, 2023.

SENIOR INFORMATION

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

Show your pride and celebrate your soon-to-be graduate with a yearbook parent ad! Various sizes are available, and you can design the ad yourself at yearbookorderenter.com. Space is limited and we do sell out. Deadline is Nov. 1

SENIOR PORTRAITS -- If you have not had your senior portrait done at Leonard's, you are running out of time if you want it in the yearbook. The deadline for senior portraits is Friday, September 15. Only portraits done by Leonard's will be included in the yearbook. Call (800) 215-4852 - Toll Free or  (904) 209-3300 - Direct or visit https://new.leonards.com/ for more information.

DEADLINE TO ORDER CAP & GOWN - December 1, 2023

www.hjjax.com

What is happening at Nease this week?

Monday, September 4th - Labor Day - No School!

Tuesday, September 5th – GOLD Day – 2, 4, 6 & 7

• 7:30am – PTSO meeting in PH conf room 104
• 9:20am – 9^th grade Assembly in auditorium
• AWAY:  4:30pm – Girls’ Golf at Bartram Trail
• HOME:  6/7pm – JV/V Girls’ Volleyball vs Bishop Kenny

Wednesday, September 6^th – Make-up Green Day - 1, 3, 5 & 7 – 2:50pm dismissal

• AWAY: 3:30pm – Boys’ Golf at Fleming Island (GC of Fleming Island)

Thursday, September 7th – GREEN Day – 1, 3, 5 & 7

• Fall portraits in auditorium through English classes.
• 8am – Communications Academy Advisory Board Mtg in PH104
• AWAY:  3pm – Girls’ Golf at Buchholz (Gainesville)
• HOME:  4pm – Boys’ Golf vs Bartram (Palencia)
• AWAY:  6pm/7pm – JV/V Girls’ Volleyball at St Augustine HS
• HOME:  6pm – JV Green FB vs Clay 
• 6pm – Nease College Fair in gym hosted by IB Boosters

Friday, September 8th – GOLD Day – 2, 4, 6 & 7

• Fall portraits in auditorium through English classes
• AWAY:  5:30pm – JV Volleyball at Middleburg Tournament
• AWAY:  7pm – V Football vs Ridge Community HS (Davenport, FL)

Saturday, September 9th

• AWAY: JV Volleyball in Middleburg Tournament
• NJROTC FT: Terry Parker Pentathlon
• 7am – ACT Administered on campus

College Visits

Juniors and Seniors can register for college visits through Naviance. A list of all available visits is available in Naviance. Students are allowed 5 visits per year. All visits will receive a pass in the first/second period. This pass should be shown to the teacher PRIOR to the visit. Students should NOT miss summative assessments to attend a college visit. Visits will take place in the media center, unless otherwise indicated. 

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Louisiana State University: 12:10

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Hofstra University: 12:30

Lynn University: 1:00

Thursday, September 7, 2023

Queens University of Charlotte: 11:00

The University of Tampa: 11:35

Furman University: 12:10

Indiana University-Bloomington: 12:45

Friday, September 8, 2023

Samford University: 11:00

Tufts University: 12:10

Student Life

Football Home Game Themes

9/1 vs Creekside – Party in the USA

9/22 vs Orange Park – Gold Rush

10/6 vs St. Augustine – Pink Out

10/13 vs Flagler Palm Coast – Let’s Glow (Homecoming)

10/27 vs PV – White Out

11/3 vs Tocoi – Aliens vs Cowboys (Senior Night)

Nease High School Athletics is sponsoring a parking spot fundraiser.

Nease Athletics is auctioning three (3) student parking spots to the highest bidder. There will be three auctions in the next three weekends. 

First auction bidding starts at 10am on Friday, Sept 1st and ends at 5pm on Monday, Sept 4th. Second auction bidding starts at 10am on Friday, Sept 8th and ends at 5pm on Sunday, Sept 10th. Third auction bidding starts at 10am on Friday, Sept 15th and ends at 5pm on Sunday, Sept 17th. 

Bidding begins at $150 and increases in $50 increments. This auction is open to all. Winners will receive an email with an invoice and information on how to pick-up their parking pass. Click on the link below to access the Auction site. Thank you for your support of Nease Athletics!

http://www.32auctions.com/neaseathletics1

http://www.32auctions.com/neaseathletics2

http://www.32auctions.com/neaseathletics3

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:

Girls Weightlifting

Sign-ups: Sept 11-15 in M103 (Will need to provide parent email)

Student Interest Meeting: Sept 13 during Excel A in M103

Parent Meeting: Sept 20 in M103 (6:00pm)

First Practice: Oct 9 (7:15am)

Tennis

Nease Tennis will have a Chick-fil-A Spirit night Thursday, October 12th from 5pm to 8pm. 10% of all proceeds will go the Nease Tennis Program.

Girls Soccer

Girls Soccer will have a pre-tryout information meeting on September 12^th at 6:00pm in the courtyard by the school entrance between Panther Hall and CPod.

Girls Basketball

• If anyone is interested in participating in the fall girls basketball workouts please contact Coach Anthony by email: Sherri.anthony@stjohns.k12.fl.us or phone (904)547-8405.
• Workouts are Monday – Thursday. A calendar will be available for anyone interested in joining. This pre-season time of conditioning and playing will help prepare you for team tryouts in the end of October. All participants must have a current physical.

 Hope to hear from you and see you on the court and in the weight room soon!

Coach Anthony

Nease Girls Varsity Basketball Head Coach

(904)547-8405

Fall Sport Schedules:

To view the fall sports schedules visit https://neaseathletics.com/calendar/

Academy Ambassador Applications Available Now

If you’re a Junior or Senior in the Communications Academy, Academy of Hospitality & Tourism, or the Stellar Academy of Engineering, you’re invited to submit an application to become a Nease Academy Ambassador. Ambassadors represent Nease’s Academies at school and district events, help prospective students and parents, and earn service hours. Applications are due by the end of the day on Friday, September 8th. They can be turned in to the front desk (just ask that they be put in Mrs. Combs' mailbox), or emailed to Mrs. Combs at jaime.combs@stjohns.k12.fl.us

You can access the application here or pick one up from your academy teacher.

Northrop Grumman High School Involvement Program (HIP) Internship Opportunities Available

Northrop Grumman, a global aerospace, defense and security company with a location in St. Augustine, is offering their HIP program once again this year. The Northrop Grumman HIP program is a two-year internship available to Juniors in the Stellar Academy of Engineering. The competitive program only accepts four students from our Academy each year. The internship is open to Academy juniors with a minimum 3.0 unweighted GPA, who are currently enrolled in an Engineering Academy program, along with an interest in computer science, physics, chemistry, cybersecurity and/or robotics. Applicants must also be U.S. citizens. The application can be accessed here:

Applications are due to Mr. Beale in PH220, no later than September 12^th.

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 jaime.combs@stjohns.k12.fl.us

Mrs. Kennedy has visited all 11^th and 12^th grade TOK classrooms this week. Please ask your student for the information provided during their session. 

10^th grade visits occurred on August 24^th and 25^th. 9^th grade visits have been rescheduled for September 6^th. 

Seniors were given their gold envelopes to begin their college application process with Nease. Please see the contents of the envelope so you are aware of how to request transcripts, secure letters of recommendations and get secondary school reports completed by Mrs. Kennedy. More information is located in the guidance section of this Panther Press.

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 meetings mentioned above. Please ask your student what has been posted lately.

The internal/external assessment calendar for Juniors and Seniors will be sent next week to students and parents. This is a helpful guide to keep our diploma candidates aware of current and upcoming deadlines. Students will be provided a copy during the an upcoming TOK class.

College visits will begin next week. Juniors and Seniors can sign up to attend through Naviance. There is a limit of 5 per year. See guidance section for those listings.

The College Fair will be held on September 7^th in our gym, hosted by our own IB Booster Club from 6-8pm. This is a VERY large event. All grade levels are welcome!

Thank you to those that have joined our IB Booster Club.  They are a non-profit charitable organization run by a volunteer board of parents. All parents with students in the IB program are encouraged to join and participate in the IB Booster events. Parent participation, whether occasionally or on a routine basis, contributes to the success of our students in the IB program. Please visit the website at www.neaseibboosters.org for more information. We are looking forward to meeting you and hope to see you get involved! The next Booster Club meeting will be held at 9:45 on September 26th in the Nease Media Center. We look forward to seeing everyone there. All visitors are required to sign in, so please make sure you are an approved volunteer with the St. Johns County School District.

For any questions related to testing please email our testing coordinator, Ms. Cynthia Messenger (Cynthia.Messenger@stjohns.k12.fl.us)

547-8281

For all upcoming test dates, please visit the NHS Testing Information  website.

Carolyn Milian – School Librarian Media Specialist

Lorna Patterson – Media Clerk

Media Center phone number – 904-547-8367

Email – carolyn.milian@stjohns.k12.fl.us

LIBRARY ACCESS FORM

Parents, this form is available to ALL families if you would like to restrict access to library materials for your child in our school library media center. If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to Mrs. Milian for additional information.  

COFFEE STATION DONATIONS!

In our media center we have a coffee station set up with a Keurig for our students to help themselves to a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate in the mornings, during lunch, and after school. With the start of the year, we have no supplies as of yet. If you are willing and able to help donate so we can keep this going for our students, these are some of the items we need:

·        K -cups (assorted)

·        10 oz. or smaller coffee cups (lots)

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

·        Individual sugar packets (no large containers)

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

ATTENTION ALL FAMILIES OF HISPANIC HERITAGE!! PLEASE READ!

We will be celebrating our 3^rd Annual “Hispanic Heritage Celebration” in our school media center and we need your help! 

Did you know that Hispanic and Latino Americans are the largest minority group in the US making up over 18% of our population? National Hispanic Heritage Month begins Thursday, Sept. 15^th and runs through Oct. 15^th and recognizes and celebrates members of our communities and their ancestors who hail from Mexico, parts of the Caribbean, Central and South American and Spain. During the month we celebrate and recognize all the achievements and contributions of Hispanic American champions who have inspired others to achieve success. To celebrate our culture, our heritage, and our people, we will be hosting this FUN event in our media center once again on Wednesday, Oct. 4^th during Excel time. We would LOVE parent support and help! We are hoping to have a showcase of hispanic foods, music, dress, flags, decorations, arts & crafts stations AND we will have TREMENDOUS Zumba instructor – Awilda Quezada – doing mini-Zumba sessions with our students! If you are able to help us out in some way, PLEASE email me as soon as possible so that I can count on you!! Thank you so much!! Que Viva Mi Gente!  

STUDENT PLANNERS ON SALE NOW!! 

Would you like to see your student stay organized this year? Have your student purchase a “Nease Student Planner” for $7. Every freshman has received one for FREE through their English teachers, but we have a limited amount for sale for all 10^th through 12^th graders. The planner is filled with lots of great Nease information right at our Panthers’ fingertips. We will be selling them in the media center until we run out. Cash or check made payable to Nease High School will be accepted. Pick up your planner today! This is a fundraiser for our Nease Link Crew program so please help support this wonderful program that benefits many of our students! 

PANTHERS!! Get your “Panther Café Senior 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 seniors immortalized in our café as these will never be repainted! Please contact me in the media center for more information.

Dear FTSDC Members and Friends,

We hope you're doing well! We wanted to send a friendly reminder that applications for the Florida Teen Safe Driving Coalition (FTSDC) Ambassador Board are now open! As valued members and friends of the FTSDC, we would greatly appreciate your support in spreading the word about this incredible opportunity for high school students across Florida.

The FTSDC Ambassador Board is a powerful leadership program that empowers student advocates to promote safe teen driving practices. As representatives of the FTSDC, these young leaders will be at the forefront of our coalition, engaging, educating, and mobilizing the community to develop and enhance teen safe driving programs and activities.

We kindly request your assistance in sharing this opportunity with your contacts, colleagues, and anyone who may know high school students passionate about promoting safe driving habits. 

To learn more about the FTSDC Ambassador Board, its responsibilities, benefits, and to apply, interested students can now visit our newly launched website at: https://flteensafedriver.org/teen-traffic-safety-ambassador-program/. The landing page is live and provides all the necessary information for potential applicants to take the next step.

Applications will be accepted until September 13, so please encourage eligible students to apply before the deadline. This is a fantastic opportunity for young advocates to make a real impact in their communities and become the driving force behind positive change on our roads.

We greatly appreciate your continuous support in promoting safe teen driving, and we look forward to receiving applications from bright, passionate students eager to join the FTSDC Ambassador Board.

If you have any questions or need further information, please don't hesitate to reach out to Shaina at shaina@flteensafedriver.org. 

Thank you for your dedication to our mission, and together, let's drive towards a safer future for all teens in Florida!

Best regards,

Shaina Finkel 

Program Assistant

Florida Teen Safe Driving Coalition 

http://www.flteensafedriver.org/

shaina@flteensafedriver.org

(813) 395-4429

Visit our website for FREE Teen Traffic Safety Printed Materials and Posters!