Anderson PTSA

Trojan Spirit Fest

RobertF — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 22:30:46 +0000

Come to the Second Annual

Anderson High School

Trojan Spirit Fest

Celebrating the Spirit & Success of the Anderson Vertical Team

Anderson · Murchison · Davis · Doss · Hill · Summitt · Pillow

Saturday, August 28, 2010

5-8:30 pm

South side lawn of AHS near tennis courts

Activities For Kids & Adults	Food	Performances
Moonwalk	Pizza	Student Garage Bands
Robot Races	Sausage Wraps	AHS Belles Dance Team
Speed Strike Soccer Kick	Hot Dogs	AHS Cheerleaders
Bungee Run	Bar-B-Q	AHS Band
Karaoke	Jim Jim’s Water Ice	Belles Summer Dancers
Face Painting	Dippin’ Dots	AHS Hip Hop Club
Pringle Toss	Hamburgers	and More…
Chopsticks Contest	$1 Drinks
Pitching Radar Gun	and More…
Cake Walk
and More….

Anderson High School Spirit Items for Sale!!

All activities, food, and spirit items can be purchased with cash.

Pep Rally in AHS gymnasium from 7:45-8:30 pm concludes the event!

**AHS parents: a limited number of required English novels will be available for sale**

Back-to-School Bash and Safety Fair

RobertF — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:42:13 +0000

The Austin School District is kicking off the 2010-2011 school year with its annual Back-to-School Bash and Safety Fair. The event will be held on Saturday, August 14th from 10am until 2pm at the Austin Convention Center, 500 East Cesar Chavez Street. There will be Austin ISD information, Immunizations by Seton Family of Hospitals, Bike Rodeo, Bicycle Helmet Fittings and Backpacks provided by A+ Credit Union (while supplies last).

Free shuttles from Austin High School, Burger Center, Reagan High School, One Texas Center and Mendez Middle School. Click here for flier and shuttle schedule.

Trojan Charge 2010

RobertF — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:29:00 +0000

Freshman Class

Thursday, August 12, 2010 from 9am till 3pm and Friday, August 13, 2010 from 9am till 11am

Click here for details on Freshman Trojan Charge.

Sophomore Class

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 from 9am till 3pm

Click here for details on Sophomore Trojan Charge.

Junior Class

Tuesday, August 10, 2010 from 9am till 3pm

Click here for details on Junior Trojan Charge

Senior Class

Monday, August 9, 2010 from 9am till 3pm

Click here for details on Senior Trojan Charge

ADDITIONAL DATES TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR

Friday, July 30^th – Last day for Schedule Changes

Monday, August 23^rd - First Day of Classes

Thursday, August 26^th – TACO SHACK Bowl against McCallum (It is going to be on TV! Make plans to come show your Trojan Spirit!)

Saturday, August 28^th - TROJAN SPIRIT FEST – There will be spirit wear and items for sale by all of the booster clubs, games for all ages, a pep rally featuring our Belles, band, cheerleaders, and fall teams, and all of the food and beverages that you can imagine.

Sophomore Trojan Charge

RobertF — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:49:03 +0000

Wednesday, August 11, 2010
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Check in at South Courtyard
(Enter from Student Parking Lot)

All Sophomores Need to Attend

Receive a list of your classes

            Pick up Your TEXTBOOKS
                (To take home)

            Have your PHOTO ID’s made
(Come looking pretty, this is your school picture)

Get your PARKING PERMIT
    *Must have current insurance card
        (with student’s name on it)
    *$30.00 Cash or Check made out to
Anderson High School
                *Signed Consent form
                *Valid Driver’s License or Permit

            Lockers – With student Request and Availability

Please bring a box of tissues and ream of paper to donate

    (You only need to stay as long as it takes you to complete these items)
*Make up day will be Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Junior Trojan Charge

RobertF — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:46:08 +0000

Tuesday, August 10, 2010
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Check in at South Courtyard
(Enter from Student Parking Lot)All Juniors Need to AttendReceive a list of your classes

Pick up Your TEXTBOOKS
(To take home)

Have your PHOTO ID’s made
(Come looking pretty, this is your school picture)

Get your PARKING PERMIT
*Must have current insurance card
(with student’s name on it)
*$30.00 Cash or Check made out to
Anderson High School
*Signed Consent form
*Valid Driver’s License or Permit

Please bring a box of tissues and ream of paper to donate

(You only need to stay as long as it takes you to complete these items)
*Make up day will be Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Senior Trojan Charge

RobertF — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:43:52 +0000

Monday, August 9, 2010
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Check in at South Courtyard
(Enter from Student Parking Lot)All Seniors Need to AttendReceive a list of your classes

Pick up Your TEXTBOOKS
(To take home)

Have your PHOTO ID’s made

Get your PARKING PERMIT
*Must have current insurance card
(with student’s name on it)
*$30.00 Cash or Check made out to
Anderson High School
*Signed Consent form
*Valid Driver’s License or Permit

Please bring a box of tissues and ream of paper to donate

(You only need to stay as long as it takes you to complete these items)
*Make up day will be Tuesday, August 17, 2010

ATTENTION ALL INCOMING FRESHMEN

RobertF — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:32:18 +0000

***Class of 2014***

Come to Trojan Charge

Thursday, August 12, 2010 AND Friday, August 13, 2010.

Thursday, August 12, 2010 – 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Incoming Freshmen students will receive their books, lockers, and ID/yearbook photos. Yes, come looking like you want to be remembered! This is different from previous years and we hope this new plan will ensure that class time is not wasted with trips to the bookroom and library for ID photos.

Friday, August 13, 2010 – 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Come to the Trojan Charge Pep Rally, campus tour, and introduction of your counselors. AISD School Buses will be running – so grab a friend and take the bus!

DON’T MISS OUT ON GETTING YOUR “CLASS OF 2014” TROJAN T-SHIRT!

Parents are also invited to come to the 9^th Grade Parent’s coffee and stay for a question and answer session after the Pep Rally.

Each freshman is asked to bring a box of tissue and a ream of copy paper.

Parents — your participation and donations are critical to the success of Trojan Charge. Please contact Jill Spencer at jills11@yahoo.com if you can volunteer to help with check in (8:30 to 10). Also, we are looking for donations to cover the cost of the t-shirts. Please send your tax deductible donation with your student to turn in at check in or mail it to: Anderson High School, 8403 Mesa Drive, Austin, TX 78759, ATTN: PTSA Trojan Charge. (Checks payable to Anderson High School PTSA)

Sign up for Trojan Times

Trojan Times is the main communication tool the PTSA has with students and parents. Students and Parents should both subscribe. To sign up for Trojan Times >>>>>>

1. Using the email account from which you wish to receive the newsletter, create a new email and in the Send to box type: subscribe@andersonptsa.com.
(to unsubscribe, type: unsubscribe@andersonptsa.com)
2. Hit send.
3. You will receive a confirmation email

ADDITIONAL DATES TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR

Friday, July 30^th – Last day for Schedule Changes

Monday, August 23^rd - First Day of Classes

Thursday, August 26^th – TACO SHACK Bowl against McCallum (It is going to be on TV! Make plans to come show your Trojan Spirit!)

Saturday, August 28^th - TROJAN SPIRIT FEST – There will be spirit wear and items for sale by all of the booster clubs, games for all ages, a pep rally featuring our Belles, band, cheerleaders, and fall teams, and all of the food and beverages that you can imagine.

Volunteers Needed for Trojan Charge Days

RobertF — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:24:59 +0000

August 9^th thru August 13^th

Please Volunteer

Trojan Charge Days are being organized differently this year and we will need many parents and students to help make it run smoothly. Parents will be checking students in, checking out textbooks, assigning parking permits, and helping with the Photo ID’s. Students will be getting textbooks and helping with other areas. Please go to this link on Volunteer Spot and sign up for a shift.

http://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/47-61861037833

This is a great way for students to get their volunteer hours for the year! If you have questions, please call or email Ronda Roach at roachfamily@austin.rr.com or 970-4509.

Thank you so much for helping!

Senior AP/IB English Summer Assignment 2010

RobertF — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 00:48:01 +0000

Senior AP/IB English Summer Assignment 2010

Dear AP and IB English IV students,

Your senior year will begin with an exploration of dystopian novels. We are thrilled to join you as you take all the marvelous skills you’ve learned as a literary critic and apply them to a senior curriculum rich with long-standing canonical pieces as well as modern works widely recognized for their brilliance.

We’ll start the year with Big Brother. Not the ubiquitous reality show, but the dictator of Oceania crafted by George Orwell in 1984. Orwell wrote this novel of literary merit in 1948 as a visionary dystopian future. Annotate as you read, paying particular attention to the political, social and economic warnings presented. Your summer assignment consists of four steps:

1. Actively read and annotate 1984.
2. In addition to labeling devices and noting character development, read for relevancy; in other words evaluate Orwell’s vision and compare it to the reality of our world from 1984 until today.
3. Create a four-column chart comparing Oceania/Eurasia/East Eurasia to analogous geographic areas today. In column one list a characteristic/detail from the novel, in column two record the page number, in column three list the comparable characteristic/detail from some part of the world in recent years, and in column four provide commentary that discusses and evaluates. You should have at least ten rows of details with commentary to complete your chart.
4. Finally, as you read, watch, listen to various forms of media this summer, keep a journal where you note the following allusions: “Big Brother,” “Orwellian,” “thought police,” “thought crime,” “doublethink,” and “newspeak,” etc. Note both the context of the term and the source (ie: “Orwellian” used on “The Daily Show,” 5/23/09 to describe current US policy as regards Guantanamo Bay). You may do this electronically or the old-fashioned way (in a detective-style pocket notebook, say), but have it in a format that you can hand in with your chart.

This assignment is due the first day of class, August 23, 2010. Be prepared to turn in your typed four-column chart typed or hand-written allusion log, show your annotated copy of 1984, and discuss the novel. If you have any questions about this assignment, stop by and see us before summer break begins or email us anytime.
Stacy Rodgers Heather Schulman

stacy.rodgers@gmail.com heather.schulman@gmail.com

Room 344 Room 337

SAMPLE CHART:

Detail PG Application Commentary

“People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word. “

Political dissidents have been disappearing in the Philippines (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1813070,00.html), China (http://www.livemint.com/2009/02/10221634/A-dissident-8216disappears.htmlChina), and Egypt (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/22/AR2009052203087.html) just to name a few. And there is no shortage of accounts of prisoners held at Guantanomo Bay without any explanation for their imprisonment (http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/03/19/guantanamo-detainee-innocent.html).

The understated tone Orwell uses in this passage effectively conveys the uncanny ubiquity of Big Brother in this Oceania and the fear BB exercised over his citizens. While the matter-of-fact tone (“simply,” “usual”) reveals Winston’s acceptance of this control, the degree to which he reflects on his possible annihilation (“abolished, annihilated, vaporized”) conveys the fear and resentment he carries. This sort of fear is realized by minority groups in even the most democratic of states today, as evidenced by the difficulties minority Middle Eastern travelers faced in airports in the years following 9-11.

English II Pre-AP Summer Assignment 2010

RobertF — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 00:45:33 +0000

Dear Students,

The English II Pre-AP curriculum is a challenging journey through world literature. The course examines major literary works from the Hebrews, Greeks, Middle Ages, Renaissance, 17^th and 18^th centuries, and 19^th-21^st centuries (Romanticism, Realism, etc.). You will discuss and connect the historical, social, and economic trends behind the literature, and will grasp the connection between history and literature.

Writing will also constitute a major part of your sophomore English lives. To improve your analytical skills, we will continue to demand detailed analysis and insightful commentary. To broaden your stylistic command of language, we will look at more sophisticated methods of sentence building. To insure coherent, well-written essays, we will insist on attention to revision and proofreading. Good writing and analysis demand that you write, write, write!

We hope to accomplish these literary and composition objectives AND have some fun. Be prepared to participate in group presentations, to act/dress up in skits, to sing, to draw, to cut and paste, to enjoy music and art, and to discuss. The only basic requirements are that you come to class prepared, with a desire to learn and a commitment to do your best.

To encourage you to continue your reading and writing over the summer, we are requesting that you choose one of the novels listed below and complete the assignment that follows. We will begin discussion of your reading and writing during the first and second weeks of school. We will check that you have read and annotated your book the first day of class. If you have not done this, you will be severely behind, lose points, and possibly make a less than favorable first impression. The assignment itself is due the beginning of the third week after school starts.

We wish you a wonderful vacation and look forward to meeting you in August. If you have questions, please feel free to see us at school before May 28, 2010. You can also contact us during the summer.

Ms. Pilant Room 330 monica.pilant@austinisd.org

Mr. Uhler Room 347 juhler@austinisd.org

Mrs. Hamlin Room 348 chamlin@austinisd.org

2010 Sophomore Summer Self-Selected Text Assignment

Choose one of the following:

Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger The Once and Future King by T.H. White The Great Gatsby by F.S. Fitzgerald

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Life of Pi by Yann Martel The Essential Odyssey, trans. by Stanley Lombardo

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel The Once and Future King by T.H. White

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin The Essential Odyssey translated by Stanley Lombardo

Once your reading is complete, follow the directions below:

1. Mark your book for devices, diction, and theme. You do not need to mark the entire book. You may identify and label the following: imagery, symbol, contrast, allusion, characterization, metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, and syntax. You need to make comments about the significance of these items (what the usage of these items suggests about author’s purpose) in the margins. You should have at least one example of identification and significant marking for every fourth page. Ultimately, your teacher’s discretion will decide whether or not you have adequately marked your book.

2. Choose 3 passages – evenly allocated throughout the text (1-1 ½ pages long). Make sure the passages you choose are stylistically relevant, incorporate a character, and that they have personally affected you. They should speak to you in some way, so that you are able to provide a thoughtful and complete response. Here are the requirements for the 3 passages: Mark these passages heavily, identifying and labeling literary devices, diction, syntax, tone, and theme. For these passages, nearly every sentence must be marked.

3. After you have marked your passages heavily, please create three charts in which you identify literary techniques (3 techniques per chart), provide at quotations that contain examples illustrating the literary techniques, and provide themes and explanations of how the literary techniques illustrate themes in the text.

See the sample chart (below). Remember, you must have three examples per chart, three charts total.

Literary Technique

Quotation(s)

Identification and Explanation of Theme

Contrast – description of Simon

Imagery – alternating light and dark

Tone – mysterious/ tone suggests isolation

“bright” and “black”

“delightfully” and “wicked”

“darkish” and “glistened”

“just perceptible path”

“high jungle closed in”

“unexpected pale flowers”

“dark canopy” “air here was dark”

“more sunshine fell” “open space”

“strange” “utterly alone”

“furtive” “creepers”

“creepers” “screened off”

“holding his breath” “shivered”

“delicately” “stirred”

Appearance versus Reality – The contrast used in describing Simon parallels his role on the island, that of helper and enigma. Although he appears to be a strange and, possibly, mischievous boy, in reality he is kind and caring.

Heaven/Paradise/Utopia/Sanctuary – The environment that he finds that is filled with light suggests stability, whereas the dark environment that surrounds him suggests instability. The scene created, with alternating light and dark imagery, suggests that this space that Simon has found is a sanctuary, an escape, away from the darkness and conflict that is beginning to take hold throughout the island.

Alienation – The mysterious tone suggests that, at this point in the passage, the character is unsettled and isolated. Simon’s tension and anxiety parallels the tension on the island.

4. Write ONE seven-sentence chunk paragraph (using the chuck, or Schaffer, format) based on the best of your three charts wherein you assert the author’s thematic purpose. Questions to consider: Why has the author included these devices, this tone, this character, and what do they suggest about man, society, or human nature in general? Avoid using “the author shows that” or “this quote shows that.” Instead, try using elicits, emphasizes, presents, exhibits, expresses, represents, symbolizes, portrays, depicts, conveys, considers, proposes, serves, suggests, implies, offers, indicates, hints, intimates, reveals, exposes, connotes, establishes, or illustrates.

See the sample paragraph (below). Remember, you only have to write ONE seven-sentence paragraph, total.

In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding contrasts the description of Simon, alternates images of light and darkness in the forest, and creates a mysterious tone, suggesting the inconstant role that spirituality can play in a person’s life. Throughout the book, Simon, a “bare” foot, helpful boy whom Ralph had originally thought “gay and wicked,” leaves the group and travels around the island by himself, so that when Jack and Ralph are looking for him, he is “not in the bathing pool as they had expected,” but is actually walking “into the forest with an air of purpose” (Golding 55). The description of Simon suggests that he is Christ-like, as the other boys on the island are often unable to find Simon, though he is incredibly present, near, and willing to help, and often misunderstand him, considering him to be an enigma. Similarly, many men and women experience a mystery with regard to spirituality, as at times in their lives they feel an overwhelming sense of spirit that helps to guide them, while at other periods they find themselves lost, perplexed with regard to its purpose, or are unable to locate it entirely. The contrast of Simon’s “black hair…darkish color” and “bright” eyes with skin that “glistened with sweat” parallels the description of the forest, a place where one could find a “dark canopy…air [that] was dark too” and “an open space…where more sunshine fell,” along with “darkness [that] poured out” and “candle-buds [that] opened their wide white flowers glimmering under the light that pricked down from the first stars” (55, 56, 57). Simon’s appearance is filled with contrast, and he inhabits both the dark and the light parts of the island, which lends to the roles that he plays – both helper and enigma. Simon’s appearance, coupled with the diction used to describe the forest, create a mysterious tone that connects to the spiritual journey in which many men and women are confronted with contrasting messages, illustrating the mystery associated with spirituality.