Olympia High School

Help tweens and teens take breaks from tech by limiting screen time in bedrooms, during study time, or at the dinner table. Consider carving out regular family time when screens are either put away or enjoyed together.

The Olympia Transition Program went to Walmart today to get supplies for our Classgiving. We looked up Thanksgiving recipes, voted on our favorite sides, and made grocery lists with all the items & ingredients. We celebrated with ice cream from Culver's.

Winter Spartan Night is Friday Nov. 15th at 5:30pm in the high school gym. Come out and meet our winter activity participants. Girls and Boys Basketball, Wrestling, Cheerleading, Dance, Pep Band, and Speech. There will be basketball scrimmages and wrestling exhibitions.

Today, a group of our sophomore students participated in a Teen Mental Health First Aid Training. OHS is one of the first schools in the area offering this training to students on how to offer help to their peers who are experiencing a mental health concern. Teens often prefer their peers when it comes to sharing about their personal challenges and this program is designed to help teens know what to do when their friends are in need of mental health assistance. We are hopeful to continue to offer this training to our sophomores on a yearly basis!

Help keep media/tech use in check by following a few simple practices: 1. Create screen-free times 2. Explore built-in digital well-being tools 3. Model the behavior you want to see 4. Help kids identify healthy behaviors 5. Understand how tech companies make $ bit.ly/OlyMBTipsS

https://bit.ly/OlyMBCB Chatbots are becoming more helpful & clever, while at the same time, making it harder to tell if we're talking to a person or an AI. This video explores how and why AI chatbots are designed to sound so human-like, and how that might impact our well-being.

Olympia's EMPOWER Club encouraged civic action last week for Election Day. Students and staff were encouraged to take pictures as they engaged in the democratic process of voting. Those who participated had their names entered into a prize drawing. It was wonderful to see so many people at Olympia High School doing their civic duty.

Screen time; the reality is that there really is no magic number that's "just right." What's more important is the quality of kids' media, how it fits into your family's lifestyle, and how you engage your kids with it. Read more @ http://bit.ly/OlyScreenTime

Congratulations to the Girls Swim Team for placing 7th out of 16 teams at the Sectional Meet at Normal West on Saturday! The meet started with an outstanding race in the 200 Medley Relay! The relay team made up of Sophia Thomas, Nora Collins, Lola Finfrock and Abbie Hoeft not only took 3rd place, but set a new SCHOOL RECORD with a time of 2:00.53! The meet continued with fast swims and personal records throughout the day! 200 Free Relay 1:48.79 (Best Time) 6th place-Nora, Sophia, Lola, Abbie 400 Free Relay 4:59.18 (Best Time) 8th place-Jayce, Abby, Kahliyah, Chloe Nora Collins -4th in 100 Breaststroke 1:11.97 (PR) -5th in 100 Free 57.59 (PR) Sophia Thomas -3rd in 100 Back 1:05.69 (PR) -10th in 100 Free 1:00.57 (PR) Abbie Hoeft -8th in 50 Free 26.91 -10th in 100 Fly 1:17.01 Chloe Nystrom -16th in 200 Free 2:33.63 (PR) -200 IM 3:13.01 Lola Finfrock -7th in 100 Breaststroke 1:16.34 (PR) -9th in 500 Free 5:58.49 (PR) Kahliyah Cooper -50 Free 32. 36(PR) Jayce Moser -100 Back 1:32. Abby Bridgewater -200 Free 2:52.12

Schools from across the state gathered at Detweiller Park to compete against each other in one final race of the cross country season. The park was filled with teams and fans all supporting the 255 girls who ran in the Class 1A State race. Olympia's Emma Swartzendruber and Amelia Kistner had a remarkable finish for their last race of their senior year. Emma placed 40th overall with a time of 18:28. Amelia placed 88th with a time of 19:10. A special thank you to Officer Zehr and Chief Parkinson for the early morning police escort as the team bus traveled to the competition and to Darrel Dubree for the amazing photos.

Good luck to the Girls Swim Team today as they compete in the Sectional Meet at Normal West! Swimmers representing Olympia today are: Nora Collins Sophia Thomas Abbie Hoeft Chloe Nystrom Lola Finfrock Kahliyah Cooper Jayce Moser Abby Bridgewater Emily Love Swim Fast Spartans!

bit.ly/OlyMBMT Gut check time; do you digitally multitask in front of your kids? Explore that and other solutions to help your child reduce multitasking during homework time in this video.

Thank you to River City Construction for choosing us for their grant! The funds will provide lumber and tools in our STEM & Ag classes.

We will have the portable Market set up this Friday outside the cafeteria at 3:15-3:35. Stop by and grab what you need.

It's easy to get distracted from homework (and life) when the phone never stops pinging and the next episode plays automatically. Let's set some common sense guidelines by signing this Family Media Agreement within your family: bit.ly/OlyAgreement

OHS Senior Families, There is still time to submit a custom photo of your senior for their portrait spot in the 2025 yearbook. If you choose to use a custom photo instead of the photo taken during school picture day, please remember the following: The picture should be from the shoulders-up. Your student should be sitting or standing. Your student’s face should be looking straight on. The picture should be in color. School dress code rules still apply, and hats and sunglasses are not permitted. No animals – sorry! Senior pictures can be submitted via email as a JPEG file, or sent in as a paper copy that can be scanned in and returned to you by your student. These photos must be submitted by November 26th this year. In addition, senior recognition ads, aka “Pride Ads,” are now available to order for the 2025 yearbook. Pride Ads are a way for families and friends to recognize a graduating senior in their life with a photo and proud message in the pages of their yearbook. Our size options range from 1/8th of a page to full page spaces. To set up a Pride Ad for your graduate, visit jostensadservice.com/student and click “Create A Student Ad.” Send your senior photos and any questions to Natalie Stevens at natalie.stevens@olympia.org. Thank you!

Election season stressing you out? This article from The Chicago School syncs up nicely with many of the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) skills that we teach at Olympia; practice mindfulness for self-awareness, take mental health breaks, set boundaries, etc... These skills will help kids and parents alike navigate the media landscape during stressful (or even day to day) events.

It's a Great Day to be a Spartan! The girls cross country team and CJ Moore traveled to Elmwood to compete in the Class 1A Sectional. Cross country is a unique sport where you can compete as a team and also as an individual. Emma Swartzendruber and Amelia Kistner qualified as individuals and will be advancing to the State meet at Detweiller Park on November 9. Overall, the girls team placed 9th thus ending their season. All athletes ran an outstanding race and achieved several PRs and Season Best times. Team results are as follows: 10. Emma Swartzendruber - 18:26 - Top 10 Medalist and state qualifier 22. Amelia Kistner - 19:04 - Season Best time and state qualifier 44. Mira Kistner - 19:41 84. Kaylie Dare - 21:2 Season Best time 89. Kamryn Rader - 21:26 Season Best time 92. Charlee Durham - 21:50 PR 96. Franzi Niessing - 21:54 - PR In the boys race, CJ Moore placed 106th with a time of 18:03. Photos are from yesterday when the team traveled to Elmwood to become familiar with the course in preparation for race day. Good Job Spartans!!

Check out the November Library Media Center Newsletter. https://secure.smore.com/n/0t1xj

Olympia Transition Program spent this week discussing self love and identifying qualities they love about themselves! We also carved a class pumpkin & wrote thank you cards to Mr. Cox & Mr. Frederick to celebrate Principal Appreciation (a week late)!