Happy New Year!

This long winter break hopefully has given everyone the opportunity to rest, relax, and be rejuvenated for the New Year. It is also a natural time to reflect and to make positive changes for an even better 2012. While we are confronted with many challenges we also have many opportunities. Let’s decide to use each day in the most positive way possible.

MHS E-mail Accounts

In today’s work world, most employees have email accounts. Yes...I know you have an email account with Yahoo or Hotmail but those are personal accounts that you use with friends and family. As a student you need a business email and that is where the MHS email account comes into play. Efforts are underway for all MHS students to have an email account. The school will be using email to make announcements and to keep in touch with you on a variety of topics. I have begun using MHS email to students for individual announcements so make sure you check your account from time to time.

CWI

We have finished our unit on South Asia and will begin a new unit on East Asia on Tuesday. This area of the world includes China, Japan and the Koreas. If you have been watching the news, all of these countries have been featured recently as lead stories. We will start with our map and a current event will be due the following week.

Year in Review

Many papers and magazines print special end of the year editions with photos that tell the key stories of the year. To get us back in the swing of thinking big, we will start off the new year with what you think have been the top 10 stories of 2011. Many news organizations run these end of year lists and even our own Newport Daily News has a list of the top 10 local and state stories…so get on your thinking caps and be ready to name what you think are the top ten national and international stories for 2011…which ones will make the history books?

A New Year…A Time for Resolutions

The beginning of a new year is a great time to pause and think about your goals and aspirations not only for the year 2012 but also for the long term. The work habits, skills and knowledge that you are gathering in high school will be the foundation for your future success. If you learn to set goals, establish work plans and practice good study and living habits now, you can be assured of meeting future challenges with success. I have never encountered a person who wished they had studied less, read fewer books, gotten lower grades, or ignored their friends and community. So take the time at the start of this fresh and exciting year to write down two or three goals for the year. Keep them handy, consult them often and strive to complete your tasks. You will never regret taking the time to contemplate your future and plan accordingly.