Hello students, staff and parents of North High School!

Happy 2010!  Thank you all for a wonderful first half of the school year. I am enjoying my time with the staff and students at North. Some highlights from the year so far include...

In the classroom

• Learning how to make a turkey sandwich with the freshman classes and watching them send their goals flying in a paper airplane workshop.
• Going on a heroic journey with North sophomores in our Survivor workshops. Here students were asked to not only think about the people and things they value most in their lives, but to also prioritize these things. North students put a high value on family and friends and the workshop led to a great discussion on how we make decision and who we listen to in our lives.
• With the juniors Laura and I have just begun a three part workshop exploring what options are out there after High School. It is fun hearing from students about what plans they already have in place for themselves.

• The seniors are having a fabulous year and are definitely leaving their mark at North. A highlight with them was definitely working on job interviews and college essay writing in a “speed date”-style workshop. In this workshop students were asked to talk about themselves and think about college and job placement as making a relationship not just getting an acceptance letter.  It was wonderful to hear about students’ strengths, their proudest moments, and what person in history the most admire.

Outside the classroom

• Taking Life skills students to St Catherine’s University as well as a performance of TU Dance Company at the O’Shaughnessy Theater was a huge highlight. This fieldtrip allowed students to talk with current college students about what college is really like.
• Going to Chicago with several North juniors and seniors over MEA weekend to visit different 2-4 year colleges and Universities. 

Please note that we still have several college tours coming up starting in January as well as a Spring Break college tour in Chicago. Also, Laura and I are available every Thursday in the College and Career Center until 5 p.m. We would love for all of you to stop by and get a question or two answered about your future choices

Thanks for a great start and I am looking forward to the spring.

If you have any questions, or you just want to say hi, feel free to contact me at juliah@projectsuccess.org.

North High is our founding high school partner. In 1993, Project SUCCESS partnered with the Guthrie Theater to conduct a post-play discussion of Death of a Salesman with over 200 North High kids, parents, and teachers. This led to development of in-class workshops that built on the themes and issued raised in the Death of a Salesman discussions. These workshops became the springboard for our program that today reaches over 10,000 students.

Project SUCCESS offers the following programming at North High:

• in-class, goal-setting workshops;
• opportunities for each student and their family to attend between six and twelve free theater performances at 27 area theaters;
• all school field trips;
• weekly after-school workshops; and
• state and national college tours.

North Community High is rich in diversity. Students come from all over the city to participate in a variety of educational opportunities made available by their staff. Their students bring various talents and interests in the areas of academics, business, technology, fine arts, and athletics. Achieving academic growth and excellence through development of individual talents continues to be the primary goal of North High.