Northgate High School
Principal's Message: December 27, 2009
Dear Northgate Community,
I want to wish all of you a safe and healthy holiday season. This is our second holiday together at Northgate and everyday I am reminded how lucky I am to be part of such a dynamic and talented learning community:
- On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I spent a large part of both days observing the uniquely Northgate phenomenon of Mock Congress. This included all Northgate senior students dressed in business attire debating the issues challenging the United States Congress today. They wrote bills, drafted amendments, asked and answered questions, built alliances, forged compromises, and represented their ideological interests or sought to gain material rewards for their districts to enhance their own political standing. Students have spent months researching, reading and writing about American government and the issues facing our society; they then took this knowledge and put it into action. I have attended National and State Mock Congresses, but I know of no other school wide event on this scale. My hat goes off to our entire staff and students who worked together to pull this off. A special shout out to our Social Studies department under the direction of Jeff Spoden, and our United States Government teachers, Jon Burchett, Ben Campopiano, Kevin Davis, and Mike Greaney who made this happen! This is a classic example of "authentic learning" that brings the "real world" to the halls of education.
- Last weekend our exciting and dynamic boys basketball team under the direction of coach Steve Mitchell battled College Park to the wire in the championship game of our annual December basketball tournament. If you have not had the pleasure of watching our defending league champion boys and girls teams play, please do so, you are missing out!
- While at the basketball game I marveled at the omnipresence of our student trainers at sporting events. Talk about "authentic learning." Sports Medicine Director Glenn Barker teaches nearly 200 students daily the art and science of sports medicine. His class alone is a marvel, but Mr. Barker goes far beyond teaching sports medicine, he oversees a massive student trainer program, which provides medical support to all of our sports programs.
- It seems the theme of authentic learning leaps out of the page in every paragraph of special programs at Northgate (perhaps you can detect the bias here). The Northgate Jazz Band under the direction of Lifetime Award Winner Greg Brown recently participated in the San Ramon Valley High School Invitational Jazz Festival on Saturday, December 12, 2009. Three Highly qualified and experienced adjudicators awarded the band ratings of 98, 98, And 98. The following students earned individual citations for outstanding musicianship:
- Tyler McClellan - drum
- Christian Ortiz - soprano sax
- Alex Platt - bass
- Alex Rogala - trombone
- Josh Shpak - trumpet
- Evan Waltmire - tenor sax
- Not to be outdone by their instrumental neighbors, our vocal music program under the direction of Monica Maddern has received rave reviews from across Contra Costa County during their seasonal performances. I received an e-mail from a resident of Pittsburg who caught our Madrigals at a Smith's restaurant, she was effusive in her praise of both the singing and the impeccable manners of our choir.
- We have too many talented students to list even a fraction, but I could not help but share with you the news that a Northgate student's design proposal for a Float in this year's Rose Bowl Parade was a winner. The theme and design concept were submitted by Emily Neilson, a junior at Northgate. Emily has been a decorator for La Canada Flintridge for several years. Please check her winning design out at this web address: http://www.tournamentofroses.com/media/mediaGuideFloat.asp?id=648
This is just a small sample of myriad of teaching and learning experiences that happen at Northgate High. We are moving forward in every department to improve teaching and learning with the goal to provide rich, rewarding experiences for all students at Northgate High. I appreciate all of your support, and look forward to working together to build on this foundation and make Northgate the school our students deserve!
Happy Holidays,
John McMorris
Principal
Northgate High School
mcmorrisj@mdusd.k12.ca.us
Principal's Message 2009 - 2010 Archive
Principal's Message 2008 - 2009 Archive