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Congratulations to our Academic Decathlon Team, which studied 10 subjects pertaining to the 1960’s for almost a full year. Itzel Rosas won the HIIP (High Intellectual Preparedness Program) Inspirational Leadership Award. Christian Mendoza won a $500 DWP Scholarship. The Team High Scorer was Maria Gomez. The Super Quiz High Scorer was Carina Rodriguez. Kennedy’s team won a total of 12 medals. Maria Gomez earned a gold medal for her essay on “The Great Society”. The following students won medals for Interviews: Maria Gomez-Honors Bronze; Christian Mendoza-Varsity Bronze; Jordan Mijares-Varsity Silver; Susana Torres-Scholastic Silver; Madelline Villagrana-Scholastic Silver; Gerardo Espinoza Espinoza-Varsity Gold; and Itzel Rosas Scholastic Gold. The following students won medals for Speech: Maria Gomez-Honors Bronze for “Forgiveness”; Itzel Rosas-Scholastic Silver for “Having Enough”; Jordan Mijares-Varsity Gold for “Nostalgia”; and Christian Mendoza-Varsity Gold for “Vulnerability”. Our team also won the Division 1 Most Improved Team (by more than 4000 points!). Go Cougars!

The Fall 2018 Awards Assembly will be held on Thursday, February 28 in the Big Gym. The ceremonies will be as follows: Seniors 8am; Juniors 9:15am; Sophomores: 10:15am; Freshman: 11:15am. Awards will include: Perfect Attendance (present every day for ALL 6 periods and Homeroom), Principal’s Honor Roll (4.0 GPA), High Honor Roll (3.5-3.9 GPA), and Honor Roll (3.0-3.49 GPA). Family and friends of honorees are encouraged to attend. Parents and students will receive a formal invitation next week.

Kennedy is offering an exciting enrichment opportunity for the Spring 2019. Students will have the opportunity to take part in our Dissection Enrichment Program. The program will run for 4 months, with 1 dissection/month after school. The program will take place after school from 3-4:30pm. The dates are as follows: Feb 25 or 28; March 11 or 14; April 8 or 11. The last dissection will take place at our Open House on May 16 from 3-5pm or 5-7pm. This will program provide students with the opportunity to increase their knowledge about animal physiology and anatomy as well as the ecology and evolution of specimens studied during the dissection. Dissections include: grasshopper, salamander, pigeon, and pregnant sheep uterus. The program is open to ALL Kennedy students that have completed or are currently enrolled in Biology or Physiology. Students who have not already completed dissection skills are required to attend a dissection skills workshop that will begin February 21. See Ms. Richard in C201 or Ms. Wilson C203 for an application.

Plan ahead: Summer School this year will be from Wednesday, June 19 to Wednesday, July 24. There is no school on Thursday, July 4 and Friday, July 5 in honor of Independence Day. This is a 5 week commitment with 24 days of instruction. Specific classes being offered are based on student need. Please see your counselor for more details. Attached you will also find some paid Summer Internship possibilities that are beginning to take applications now. See Mr. Abarr for more information.

Vision To Learn partners with LAUSD making it easy for students to access eye care from their mobile eye exam center. Free Vision Screenings, Free Eye Exams and Free Glasses to students. Kennedy students were screened in the Fall semester and vision exams have been on-going since December. Thus far over 2,200 students had free vision screening, over 300 students received free vision exams and over 160 free eyeglasses have been delivered to our students, with more to follow.

On Saturday, January 12, Kennedy Varsity and Junior Varsity took first place at the JAMZ Cheer Competition at Cerritos College in Cerritos, CA. Kennedy continues to expand its Cheer program. This marks the beginning of the cheer competitive season. The Cheer Competitive Team looks forward to the national championship in Las Vegas in March.

Ms. Dean and Ms. Calixto’s Alternate Curriculum students played basketball at the Unified Basketball Tournament that started Friday, February 1. We won against Verdugo High School and North Hollywood High School. Congratulations to our players: Charlie, Reese, Andre, Casey, Andrea, Charlie, Jazmin, and Natalie. Thanks to Congratulations to Coach Halliday for his support of our players. Let's keep our title as champions as we face two more teams again here at Kennedy on February 22.

Brad Tanenbaum, a Kennedy alum from the Class of 1993 and television director (CSI, MacGyver, Hawaii 5-0), spoke with our magnet filmmakers. Mr. Tanenbaum began his career as a production assistant and is currently a freelance television director with almost 50 credits to his name. He spoke to our filmmakers about the film/tv industry and how to break into to the job market. His biggest advice “Be a storyteller, whatever crew position you find yourself in, be a storyteller.”

The California Scholarship Federation (CSF) is now accepting applications for the spring 2019 semester. This is an honor society which recognizes student achievement. If you have no D’s or F’s and only one C in your fall 20 week report card, you could be eligible for membership. Please stop by Ms. Serrano’s room at B200 to pick up an application. They are due no later than this Friday, February 8.

Seven Kennedy students were selected to be part of the 47th edition of the LAUSD/Beyond the Bell All-City High School Honor Band. During the winter break, while everyone had 3 weeks off, the 7 Kennedy Band students were practicing and getting ready to perform at events such as Disneyland, Bandfest and the Tournament of Roses Parade. This year marked Mr. Ibarra's 12th year as Assistant Band Director for the LAUSD/Beyond the Bell All-City High School Honor Band. All 7 Kennedy band students along with Mr. Ibarra worked really hard to represent our Kennedy and the District on New Year's Day.