TAGOS November Newsletter

Businesses that employ our students:

Bob Clapper Automotive

101 E Milwaukee St Suite 600, Janesville, WI 53545

One of Shine Technologies' core beliefs focuses on diversity and inclusion. Its owners want everyone to feel included. One way they address this is to give back to the community. With help from Cheryl Peterson, their community and employee engagement manager, and other staff, Shine Technologies provided 129 books to our middle schools in the Janesville School District. The books not only promote literacy, but the selected titles also espouse diversity. Thank you, Shine Technologies, for your gift to our students!

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I am thankful for the freedom and the education we receive here at TAGOS. We have so much more luxuries and opportunities&nbsp;than I ever got in any other schools, and for me personally, it inspires me to be at my best as much as I can. I feel like the teachers are constantly working hard to discipline each and every one of us to be much better, more mature individuals. The environment and styles of learning we have at this school have made me a much better, more educated person than I ever was before (Michael). I'm thankful for all of my friends in this new school (Anonymous).

MEET TIM RIDING Tim Riding is our new school counselor. Tim graduated from Carthage College in 2014 with a Bachelor's of Arts in Psychology. He went on to earn a Master's of Education in School Counseling from DePaul University in 2018. Though he hasn’t been doing it long, he has loved being a school counselor from his very first days as an intern in 2017. He has a passion for helping students grow and meet their potential. He enjoys getting to know all of the students as individuals and being a resource for them through the turbulent time that is adolescence. His favorite part of being a school counselor is the opportunity to have a positive impact on the students that he works with and the school he works within. He is looking forward to being a part of TAGOS and getting to know all of the students in order to meet their academic, social-emotional, and college/career needs.

Happy Thanksgiving!! I am so thankful and grateful for the TAGOS family. We have a dynamic team that is dedicated to serving you and your children. We have a governance board that cares and is committed to helping us grow, not only in number, but also in our academic success. Finally, we have incredible students who dive deep into their projects, give back to our community with their time and talents, make good choices, and strive to be good human beings.&nbsp; Patricia Hernandez, Principal of TAGOS Leadership Academy

N: Do you feel connected with students on a personal level?&nbsp; M: I do. That is an important job as a teacher. And I think most people forget that, but if we don’t establish strong relationships with our students, why would they want to learn anything from us? So definitely I feel like I’m doing that--I have a long way to go with all of them. Sometimes we don’t establish a strong personal relationship with every student. There's always those few that you do, but that's not to say those other relationships are the more academic ones. That's okay, too. But for sure that's the most important part of my job is having those connections with students. I feel more equipped to establish those relationships here , working with around 40 students when I’m used to establishing relationships with around 150 plus students, which is hard to do.&nbsp; N: Do you think being here will teach you life lessons from the students here?&nbsp; M: I do. I’m at the end of my career and that makes me sad, but I’m also happy because I’m at this school. I enjoy being here and being a part of this community.&nbsp;

Student Employment: We conducted a survey to see how many of our students maintain employment and where they work. We sent the survey to 32 9th-12th graders with 31 responding. As the graph indicates, 35.5 percent of our students work outside of school. Survey conducted by Aeris Gonzalaz.

N: Do you think that you will keep hold of everything you’ve learned from TAGOS? And also keep all the memories cherished by taking the opportunity to teach here? M: Absolutely, not only have I grown as a teacher but also as an individual. This is the place that will help me to continue to grow more as a person and educator even as I grow closer to retirement.&nbsp; N: What are some things you want the community to know about you? M: I have four kids who have helped me become who I am today. I love animals, reading and writing. This is my 28th year of teaching, and if I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t be doing this job!

Dylan Brokaw is doing a project on shipwrecks, specifically shipwrecks in the Great Lakes because they’ve had over 6,000 wrecks. He is also focusing on the Edmund Fitzgerald and the Titanic.&nbsp; Live resource: Bruce Lynn Location: Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum 18335 N Whitefish Point Rd, Paradise, MI 49768 Site :<a href="https://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/">https://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/</a>

Wednesday, November 25: Optional teacher work day--no school for students Thursday, November 26-Friday, November 27: Thanksgiving break--no school Monday, November 30: School resumes

Wednesday, December 23: Winter break begins

Monday, January 4, 2021: School resumes Thursday, January 14: End of Semester (middle and high schools) Friday, January 15: Teacher Professional Development Day No school (middle and high schools) Monday, January 18: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day--Break day/No school

Interview with Michelle Lange by Andrew Walquist

Newsletter: What do you love about TAGOS so far? Michelle: I love how it is set up. I love the relationships that I see between and among the students and staff. I feel like it is a close-knit community. I love knowing the students that go to TAGOS, which makes me feel like I can help the students out more. Because of the size of TAGOS, there is so much more one-on-one learning, and I feel like it is a good way to teach the students here.&nbsp; N: Do you feel connected with the students and to the school as a whole? M: I do! I was worried being the new person coming in and being an outsider. I do feel connected, and I feel like those connections grow every day. The more I know students and the more students know me, I feel like it gets stronger. I feel very connected. I don’t feel anxious around the other staff and feel like I can talk to them about anything, and there's no competition between us. We help each other, and I love that.&nbsp;

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Newsletter November 2020 Volume 3 Issue 11

Michael Miller is a 10th Grade 16-year old student at TAGOS whose project was on Cultural Censorship of Anime. Michael is a huge anime fan who will binge for hours just enjoying his favorite series, but what he has noticed over the years, even as a kid watching channels like 4Kids Media, is that in some countries, there were some weird things that substituted dialogue, weapons or even a character smoking. This is called cultural censorship. Michael defined it as “censorship based on a countries own beliefs.” Through his research, Michael explains how when he was growing up, he only saw what the show wanted him to see due to cultural moral standards of America. So when he was comparing and contrasting the real art work to the censored ones, he hated the censorship of it because it loses its taste and emotion/tension in scenes. To represent this in his research, Michael drew two different types of drawings that were scenes from anime. The first drawing was a man that was supposed to be holding a cigar, but instead was turned into a lollipop because it was viewed more appropriately for children in America. Michael changed it to a canteen. The last drawing was holding up a finger gun instead of a knife, but Michael turned it into a knife because it goes with him talking about how the scene loses the intensity of the moment when you replace it with things that just don’t belong or go along with the story. Like, how is someone supposed to be scared of a finger?! Fun Fact: Michael did his artwork by free hand! He didn’t trace any of them as a sign of respect towards the original artist.

I am thankful for my parents and the teachers here guiding me to success (Anonymous). I am thankful for having&nbsp;an apartment&nbsp;and that my sisters are away in college (Jonah). I'm thankful&nbsp;for getting to play volleyball (Anonymous). I’m thankful for all my friends and family...without my friends and family by my side, I don’t know where I would be, so thank you for everything you’ve all done for me&nbsp;(Destinee). The thing I'm thankful for is family because I have access to water, food, warmth, and mental well being (Lane).

Contact Information 1350 N. Parker Dr. Janesville, WI 608-290-0468

Patty Hernandez, Principal (608) 743-5059 phernandez@janesville.k12.wi.us Valerie Maxon Administrative Assistant (608)290-0468 vmaxon@janesville.k12.wi.us Kim Helgestad Dean of Students, Social Studies Teacher, and Advisor khelgestad@janesville.k12.wi.us Eric Skrzypchak Math Teacher and Advisor eskrzypchak@janesville.k12.wi.us Marianne McGuire Dean of Students and Special Education Advisor mmcguire@janesville.k12.wi.us Michelle Lange English Teacher and Advisor michlange@janesville.k12.wi.us Melissa Aegerter Educational Support maegerter@janesville.k12.wi.us Tim Riding School Counselor timothy.riding@janesville.k12.wi.us

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