Semester 1 Exams:

January 20 and 21, 2022



These are full days of school for all students, please review the exam schedule. Students in 9th grade are not allowed to leave the building during study halls, however students in grades 10-12 can be pre-excused for study hall periods. Parents will be emailed a link in January to pre-excuse students for study halls on exam days. 

The month of November was focused on mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of being in the present moment and not worrying about what was or what could be.

• There are three ways to practice mindfulness
• Observe your thoughts, feelings, sensations, surroundings.
• Describe your thoughts, feelings, sensations, surroundings. 
• Participate as fully as possible in whatever activity you’re engaged in and not worrying about what others may think of you, what you might be missing out by doing this activity and not that activity, etc.

• In mindfulness it is important to remember to be nonjudgmental. We may not like certain things but that doesn’t make them good or bad, valuable or not valuable. Labels like that are subjective.    
• It is also important to be “one-mindfully.” The best example of this is when we are in a disagreement with someone. If, when they are talking, we are fully present and listening to what they are saying, we are being mindful and present in that conversation. If, however, when they are talking, we are thinking about what we want to say or how they are wrong, or whatever, then we are not being mindful.
• Being effective is also about being mindful. This is about focusing on personal goals (what we can control) versus what “should” be or what is the “right” way. An example of this is if a referee makes a questionable call. The athlete could choose to be angry about that call and get mad at the referee, but to be effective, the athlete needs to focus on doing what they can to win the game regardless of the referee. That is being effective.

Students were also introduced to the topic of distress tolerance which are strategies to help them cope with distress and pain. These skills are important because pain is a part of life and if students cannot cope with their pain, they may act impulsively and make life difficult for themselves. There are two types of distress tolerance skills, Crisis Survival Skills and Reality Acceptance Skills, as shown in the graphic. 

Students were taught the acronym ACCEPTS to help them identify coping strategies; Activities: these are activities (e.g., running, biking, talking to a friend, etc.); Contributing: doing something nice for someone (e.g., saying hi, helping with homework, etc.); Comparisons: reminding self that they have been through worse or, in comparison that there are worse things they could be dealing with; Emotions: creating different emotions by laughing, crying, etc; Pushing away: putting the painful thoughts out of the way for a bit (e.g., being fully present in a class by participating, answering questions, etc.); Thoughts: replacing thoughts with other things (e.g., solving riddles, number puzzles, etc.); Sensations: intensifying other sensations (e.g., taking a shower, squeezing a stress ball, exercising, etc.).

Another coping strategies are the TIP skills for Managing Extreme Emotions: (T) Temperature: apply an ice pack to the back of the neck or face, put your face in a bowl of cold water. (I) Intense Exercise: run, bike, swim, dance - the goal here is to increase heart rate to decrease the intensity of emotions being experienced. (P) Paced Breathing: slow the pace of breathing down - breath in for four seconds but break out for 6 seconds and do this for one to two minutes.

Outstanding Knights - Quarter 1

Oak Creek High School students are recognized quarterly for their success in academics, attendance and behavior. Students who earn Outstanding Knights awards in ALL quarters of their high school career will receive the blue and white graduation cord. OC Virtual and OCHS students are included in this list.

Quarter 1 Outstanding Knights