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This year Boaz High School became the home for three students who took a great leap of faith. Swana Rosbach, Eleonora Ivan, Benyapa (Kim) Thampibal-udom each decided to leave their homeland and come to Boaz to spend a year learning about the American and Alabama culture. Kim came from the farthest away as her home country is Thailand. Swana came from Germany and Eleonora from Italy. Each had similar reasons for their journeys-experience life in America. Kim said that she had never heard of Alabama much less Boaz before being placed with her home family. Swana had a very short notice about her placement and she and Eleonora began researching their yearlong destination. Eleonora’s host family had previously hosted other BHS students. Swana had relatives who had also been exchange students. Kim researched to see if other Asian students had attended BHS previously. They all agreed that it was an adjustment in the beginning but soon settled into the host’s home and BHS routine. Since English is a second

language that they all have studied, they felt that when first arriving that the spoken language and southern dialect was a bit difficult to pick up on. When asked what food they have tried and liked, Swana likes hash rounds, Eleonora likes cream corn and Kim likes spaghetti. They stated that although they have fast food in their home countries, the fast food here was much better-especially hamburgers and French fries. They have also sought to immerse themselves in the high school experience by doing extracurricular activities. Swana plays saxophone in the BHS concert band and Kim plays on the BHS girl’s golf team. Eleonora has had family visit her and Swana is expecting her parents and sisters for a visit in April. Kim said that her life in Thailand mostly consisted of going to school from 7:00 am until 5:00 and then having to go home to study for several hours. She appreciated the time she has been allowed to just hang out and do typical teenager things. They have each found their experiences so far to be genuinely positive and will miss the friends they have made and the experience of their year. All three hope to return to Boaz in the future for a visit and will take away a year filled

with many wonderful memories.

Reflecting On a Year at BHS

Connecting YOU to the happenings of Boaz High School

The Anchor Volume: 2 Issue: 8 April 2016

Inside this issue…

1 BHS Students Reflect

1 April Calendar 1 Boaz Has Talent

Results 1 Geometry Students

Garden 1 HOSA Club Events 1 BHS Blood Drive

April Calendar of Events April 1 1 April Fool’s Day

April 2 1 BHS Baseball at Randolph, 11:00 am & 1:00 pm

April 4 1 BHS Baseball at Sylvania, 4:30 pm & 6:30 pm

April 5 1 BHS Baseball at Douglas, 4:30 pm & 6:30 pm

April 6 1 Aspire Testing 1 HOSA Day

April 7 1 Aspire Testing 1 BHS Baseball vs. Douglas, Pirate Park, 4:30 pm & 6:30 pm April 9 1 BHS Baseball at East Limestone, 11:00 am & 1:00 pm April 12 1 BHS Baseball at Etowah, 4:30 pm & 6:30 pm April 14 1 BHS Baseball vs. Etowah, Pirate Park, 4:30 pm

& 6:30 pm 1 BHS Blood Drive sponsored by HOSA April 15 1 Tax Day 1 BCSS, Spring Break, No school 1 BHS Baseball at Scottsboro, 4:30 pm & 6:30 pm April 16 1 Boaz High School, Junior-Senior Prom April 19 1 BHS Baseball vs. John Paul Catholic, Pirate Park,

4:30 pm & 6:30 pm April 20 1 ACT Test for all BHS juniors April 22 1 Earth Day April 23 1 BHS Culinary Team Competition, Episcopal Place Gumbo Gala, Regions Field

April is a Busy Month for HOSA Club April is a busy month for the HOSA (Future Health Professionals) club at Boaz High School. They have several events planned during the month. Plans are currently being made to celebrate HOSA Day. Plans are being finalized for this event. The Anchor will provide a complete follow up to HOSA Day including pictures in the May edition. Another April event will be a LifeSouth® Blood Drive. Due to the tremendous turn out and success of the last blood drive, LifeSouth® will be returning for another drive. It will take place on Thursday April 14, from 8:00 am until 3:30 pm. HOSA is partnering with LifeSouth® and the blood drive will take place in the BHS Health Science classroom and in the LifeSouth® provided facilities at the back of the school. From donation to transfusion, many hands take part in the lives saved by blood donors and thereby touch the very heart of our community. To give blood you must be in good health, 17 years or older, weigh at least 110

pounds and show a valid photo I.D. 16 year olds may donate blood provided they have a signed parent consent form in addition to the above requirements. Potential donors need to eat well and drink plenty of liquids before giving. They

also need to have their photo id ready to present at the time they give. Those students who participate and give a pint of blood will receive a recognition item and will have their choice of either a free t-shirt, a beanie, or a phone charger. HOSA and LifeSouth® invite everyone who is eligible to give to participate in this life saving cause. They would like to exceed the goal set by the last drive and the current drive. For more information see Mrs. Cole. The Health Science Interns will also participate in a Health Fair at Boaz Elementary School on April 13. The interns will be doing blood pressure checks and providing health information for members of the Boaz Community. The Health Fair will take place between 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm.

BHS Theater Program Continues to Grow Boaz High School Theater program has grown in leaps and bounds this year; they have worked very hard to get to where they are. The theater program was named Encore this year and they have a brand new logo to reflect the name. The students learned many new techniques by studying with Dustin Hoffman. The actors put those newly learned techniques to the test when they put on Boaz Night Live, an annual event put on by the theater program. This year’s BNL was one of the biggest and best BNL that’s been

put on, with Mr. Minnick’s neighborhood being one of the favorite skits. After the big success that was BNL, Boaz Has Talent was put together. Boaz Has Talent is a show where students from all of the Boaz City schools come to showcase their talents. Our judges this year were Sandra Lafferty, an actress known for The Hunger Games and I Walk the Line. Dr. Mark Isley, BCSS Superintendent, and Nate Fortner, local country Christian recording artist, and 2014 Male Vocalist of the Year Nominee. These are the winners and recipients of awards that night: 1 Judges Award and Audience Favorite Award: Androw Argote and Haden Stewart 1 Superintendent's Award – Luisa Argote, Karla Argote, Keily Argote, Yvonne Esquivel,

Lizeth Esquivel, Yunen Mendoza, and Karen Martinez 1 Mayor's Choice Awards- Kristen Aragon, Princessa, Nicole and Jackie. (They Will be

performing for a public event chosen by the mayor during the upcoming year) 1 All Listed above will perform at the Poultry Expo 1 High School Winner - Kelsey Todd, Melanie Knight & Cassie Whitt 1 Middle School Winners – Dylan and Dallas Blevins 1 Intermediate School Winner - Adam Holbrook 1 Corley - Abby Shrader 1 Elementary – Emily Argote Pictures and videos of all of the BHS Theater Department’s events, contestants, and winners can be found on their Facebook page. With all the new techniques they have learned and all the show experience that the students have gained, they are going to perform one last play before the school year is over. The play was named A Rockin’ Midnight Summers Dream. A Rockin' Midsummer Night's Dream is an original play written by the theater director/teacher Jeff Davis. An original play means that it has never been performed by any other theater group. It is based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. They play is set in the 80s and will have 80s music, fashion trends, and references. Anyone from children to adults will love this. There will be puppetry, dancing, singing, faeries, rock music, singing, and come. The play will be performed the days May 12- 15th. For more information about the BHS Theater events, sponsorship and information visit their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Boaz-High-School-Theatre-Encore-198774256888014 or contact Jeff Davis at jdavis@boazk12.org

Ge o me try C l as s e s G ro win g a G ar de n Mrs. Bryan’s advanced geometry classes have recently began a project on the BHS campus. They have been working on a lesson entitles Square Foot Gardening, Based upon the bestselling book, All New Square Foot Gardening by M. Bartholomew. Square foot garden can be described as the practice of dividing a growing area into small square sections. The aim is to assist the planning and creating of small but intensively planted vegetable gardens. It results in a simple and orderly gardening system, from which it draws much of its appeal. The garden is essentially laid out in a grid in a raised bed filled with planning mix. The students were first divided into teams. The next step was to research the process of planting a garden. This involved the teams designing on graph paper a square foot garden that used board feet for the perimeter and the maximum area possible. Next a student financial committee was formed to oversee the financial projections for the project. The student groups then had to determine how much and what kinds of materials will be needed for the grids. They used lumber, string, planting mix and the plants themselves. As the students completed the preliminary parts of the assignment, they were then set to actually get outside and prepare the beds for planting. The students had to decide whether to obtain seeds or get seedlings that were already for transplanting. The students chose seedlings. The plants were purchased from Lowes®. On Friday, March 18, the day before spring break, the students went outside to create the beds and plant the various plants. The plants they chose were strawberries lettuce, radishes, tomatoes, and peppers. They also planted a variety of herbs. The students plan on giving the herbs to the BHS culinary classes to use in their cooking. Several of the plants will be ready before the end of school. The student planters will monitor the growth of their garden between now and the end of school. The BHS Square Foot Gardens can be seen growing outside Mrs. Chumley’s classroom adjacent to the courtyard. The students accomplished the objective of the lesson and had fun in the process.

Thursday, April 14, 2016 From 8:00 to 3:30

In April, all donors will receive a

recognition item.