To start the new semester, we picked right back up with looking at quadratics and their characteristics as well as how to translate (slide) on a grid. We focused a lot on the three types of quadratic equations and the key character the equation gives us on the graph. Vertex form gives us the vertex of the graph while Intercept form gives us the x-intercepts and then Standard form give us where the y-intercept is on a graph. We also looked at how to convert from one equation to the next in order to graph those three items and form 1 complete graph. 

After converting, we looked at when we change certain variables in the Vertex form equation, what happens to the graph and how is it translated across the grid. 

We have our Unit 4B CBA coming up soon. Our next Unit to start off February, we will dive into exponential properties again while looking at exponential growth/decay equations. 

As the new semester has begun, our focus has shifted to argumentation and rhetoric.  Students have been getting their first experience with rhetorical analysis, a skill that will become second nature when they are taking AP Lang in high school.  We have analyzed together speeches by Booker T Washington and W. E. B. DuBois, contrasting their differing ideas regarding the pursuit of civil rights in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries.  This us to an analysis of Dr. King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail.  On the opposite side of our study of argumentation, we have looked at what bad reasoning looks like with lessons on logical fallacies.

Students have also started reading Harper Lee's beloved classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird.  While we are still fairly early in the novel, students have already gotten to know characters like Scout, Jem, Dill, and Atticus, as Part One of the novel focuses on childhood in the Depression Era Alabama.

Looking forward, we will be beginning our research for students' Argumentative Essay, the most involved paper students will be writing all year.

This month we have been learning all about the "New South" era in Georgia! Our focus has been in many different places, from activities analyzing Jim Crow Laws, to debates over the progression of rights for African Americans in the South! We've been working collaboratively with Mr. Wildeboer's English class as well; just ask your students if they preferred DuBois' arguments or Washington's! 

We also discussed lots of Georgia-specific figures during this time period. We learned about the history behind the naming of Grady Hospital, Grady College of Journalism, and the founding of Georgia Tech by studying the impacts of Henry W. Grady and how he brought Atlanta to the forefront of Southern industrialization. The students were intrigued by the introduction of the Bourbon Triumvirate, three very influential GA governors who tried to emulate Grady's impact (rather unsuccessfully). The students compared and contrasted the ideas they introduced, the changes that they made, and the impacts of monumental Atlanta figures like Alonzo Herndon, who went from slavery and sharecropping to being the first black millionaire and a famous Atlanta barbershop owner!

Entering February, we'll be introducing the impacts of World War I and the Depression in Georgia, and eventually analyzing how the New Deal affected the South's economy. In honor of Black History Month, I plan on showcasing numerous important figures that shaped Georgia into being the great state it is today throughout various lessons and activities this month as well!

Between Geography Bee, Spelling Bee, Tech Fair, Basketball, Cheerleading, Frozen Jr. Play - our Knights were busy in the month of January outside of school! 

We have 2 field trips coming up (besides Savannah):

1) Shakespeare Tavern on Wednesday Feb 18 (day after Winter Break). PLEASE make sure students are at school on time because we have to leave immediately following morning announcements (8:20) and board the bus in order to get to the theatre on time and the play starts at 10 am sharp. All 4 DVA teachers and all 67 DVA students are attending! We then return to the school at 1:45 pm.  This is an AMAZING opportunity for students to see a professional production of Romeo and Juliet live for a discounted price!

2) Brenau career fair on Thursday March 12. The counseling office is organizing this field trip and it's FREE. The purpose of the Career Fair is to expose students to different types of jobs and career pathways. Students will get to choose the areas they are most interested in exploring. Students will be transported by bus at 8:30 and return to school around 1:45. There were only 100 slots for all of South Hall and DVA and the permission forms were due last Friday.  With the short in-person week, they only got about 70 of them back so they are accepting a few more when we get back to school.  If you are interested in this field trip, please fill out/sign the form your student brought home and have them return it to their homeroom teacher.  Once the list of who is going is finalized, the counseling office will likely be reaching out for help with parent chaperones. 

Thank you to everyone who has already signed up and submitted payment to participate in our first Valentine’s Day Luncheon. We truly appreciate your support and enthusiasm for this special event.

The original payment deadline was today, January 30, 2026. However, due to school being closed for three days this week, we are extending the payment deadline to Wednesday, February 4, 2026.

If you have already signed up but have not yet submitted payment, please ensure that cash payment is sent in with your student or dropped off at the front office on or before February 4.

If you have not yet signed up, we are happy to share that a few spots are still available! We would love for you to join us in celebrating Valentine’s Day with a special lunch shared with your special someone … Your student ❤️

Please see the links below to register:

8th Grade: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C054FABAF2EA0FAC25-61797526-valentines