Mrs. Tamara Barnhouse’s Spanish room is getting a new look thanks to her past and present students.

The walls of the classroom have been completely cleared to make way for a hand painted tropical rainforest, which signifies Spanish speaking countries like Argentina and Chile, and their colorful landscape.

The makeover has been an exciting experience for the students and Mrs. Barnhouse, since the Annex hasn’t seen any major changes in years.

“The students want to make the culture come alive and get a chance to take ownership, and invest some of their lives in it. «Read Entire Post»

The floor tiles in the main building were removed over the summer and replaced with, well, nothing.

Instead, the concrete underneath was ground and polished, leaving a shiny finish for the first day of school on August 24.

The process took most of the summer to complete, and it came down to the wire.  Once the floor crew was done and out of the way, the HHS custodial staff worked overtime to clean up after, and finish their regular duties as the first day of school approached.

The new “concrete” look may take some getting used to, based on early responses from students. «Read Entire Post»

Tiles have been removed and now workers are beginning the task of grinding, staining and polishing the floors throughout Hillcrest.

Workers from “Diama-Shield,” a company from Detroit, is doing the work. Superviser Brian Thiry said, “It’s a seven-step process. It will take about a half day in each classroom to complete it.”

The crew began work in the basement. They are skimming off the top layer of the concrete using a diamond grinder. There is plenty of dust to go around as workers smooth out the floor surface.

Staining the concrete is becoming more and more common in schools «Read Entire Post»

The Hillcrest Hornets football team has moved east.

To be more specific, football is now the only sport headquartered in the East Gym boys locker room. The move began in June and is still a work in progress. The coaching staff has cleaned up and taken over the locker room offices, a fresh coat of paint has brightened up the dressing area, and most of the individual lockers have been put in place.

Other coaches who previously had office space in the East Gym locker area, including Ryan Schaffitzel and Lee Dishman (baseball) and Jim Vaughan (track and cross country) have «Read Entire Post»

When students return to Hillcrest in late August, they will walk in on one of the biggest changes to the school in years.

Over 100,000 square feet of floor tiles will be removed from the original building. Work will begin on June 7 and finish in July.

“All of the tile being removed is asbestos-based, and there are safety and governmental regulations that come into play for removal and disposal of the tile,” said HHS principal Jay Rush.

The crews working to remove the tile will take extra precautions as mandated by any job that deals with asbestos.

“The floor underneath will be burnished with a stain that should brighten the building and give the floor a more professional look,” Rush said. “If the accomplish this in a month, (as projected), that will really be moving «Read Entire Post»

The Trading Game was the story in Jacob Wadsworth’s fifth block world geography class on Friday.

“The idea is to show the advantages ‘primate’ cities have in economic activity. Primate cities are usually located in geographically advantageous areas, and people have to come to them, or through them to trade,” said Wadsworth.

A table of students in the center of the room represented the primate cities, where others congregated to make their transactions.

“We’ll discuss this afterward to see what happened, how they traded, how they strategized,” Wadsworth said. «Read Entire Post»

World history students got the chance to hear veterans Howard Hufford and Denzel Batson speak about their recollections from World War II Tuesday morning at HHS.

“This was important for students to have an actual experience, rather than reading something from a book,” said Jennifer Barnes, a world history teacher.

The veterans spoke about the importance of taking in the history that we learn as students.

“If we absorb the history we are taught, chances are it won’t be repeated again,” said Hufford.

The two veterans also spoke about the importance of remembering war. Batson is doing what he can to keep provide anyone with facts «Read Entire Post»

Four new members of the Hillcrest Hall of Fame were inducted during the annual Memories Assembly on Thursday morning.

Mitch Jenkins, Kelsey Kleier, Chelsea Peebles and Noah Sheets received the highest honor Hillcrest can bestow on graduating seniors.
Their photos will be placed into a display case near the Student Center for the next three years.

Principal Jay Rush followed tradition, describing the honorees’ achievements, saving their names for last as each was introduced individually. «Read Entire Post»

The “End of Course Assessment” (EOC) at Hillcrest takes place from May 6-14.

The testing is the state of Missouri’s response to the mandate set forth in the federal No Child Left Behind act. The EOC test replaced the MAP test last year in Missouri high schools, but the MAP continues at the middle school and elementary levels.

Crystal Champion, HHS English teacher and Site Testing Coordinator, has one, huge challenge.

“We have to find all the students that need to be tested,” said Champion. That task is crucial, because the school is penalized if there are too many students who remain untested. They fall «Read Entire Post»

It’s an unofficial holiday, but it means plenty.

“Secretary’s Day” was April 21, and teachers and administrators took notice at Hillcrest.

Donuts, snacks, and e-mails of “thanks” were just some of the ways the faculty showed its appreciation for the hard working secretarial staff at HHS.

Principal Jay Rush said, “The secretaries at Hillcrest High School are vital to every part of the daily operation of the school. I cannot imagine how difficult my job would be without the help of our secretaries. They are the best.”

Terri Johnson is the secretary with the longest tenure at Hillcrest, arriving in the fall of 1988. «Read Entire Post»