October 2001
The Marauder
Williamson Middle School
SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST:
Message from the Principal
Classroom News
Club News
October Calendar
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Classroom News
23
Club News
4
October Calendar
5
A Message from the
Principal…..
Where did September go! The school year is in full swing, leaves are
turning and the sweaters are coming back out. It seems like just
yesterday that we were welcoming students back and already it is
time for our first interim reports of the year.
Hopefully your family has by now fallen into the “school year
rhythm” of a good night’s sleep and a wellbalanced breakfast before
the start of each hectic day. Another essential part of the day is
homework time. Your child should have a consistent place and time
away from distractions to complete assigned tasks. This place should
be well light and comfortable. If your child has no homework for the
evening encourage recreational reading such as a magazine, book or
newspaper. Take the time to look through your child’s Student
Assignment Book and discuss their day with them. Celebrate
accomplishments and discuss concerns. Even though many children
during the middle school years have difficulty expressing their
feelings they truly appreciate and need your support and advice.
Thank you for sharing your children with us. It is a privilege and a
pleasure.
Respectfully,
Russell Kissinger
Principal
MIDDLE SCHOOL MARAUDER
Page 2
Mrs. Bierer’s
Classroom
Heavily into map skills, we are embarking upon a
Rose Compass Contest to see who can create the
most accurate, most beautiful, most humorous or
the one with the best use of color. These designs
are often quite ornate on maps and bear observing
for their uniqueness as well as helpfulness.
Weather instruments are the project of the time.
Each student has
a packet of possibilities
(anemometers, barometers, weather vanes,
nephoscope, and the like), and will make a
selection to turn into a working model. We’ll test
them! These could become Learning Faire projects
in March!
In addition to the regular Reading program, we
have read The Cay. It includes both the Science
topic of weather, climate and hurricane, plus the
Social Studies area of location—longitude and
latitude.
Mrs. McMahon has worked with some students in
the Great Books Program each day for one week.
Kayla Anselmo, Stephanie Bowles, Roxanne
Bowman, Ryan Buskey, Nina Calebresi, Alexandra
Cappon, Damiene Denner, Colby Furman, Tommy
Godsey, Carleigh Hotchkiss, Katie Johnson, Terry
Skerrett, Billy Wenzel have taken advantage of the
opportunity to learn discussion skills.
Miss Brownell’s
Classroom
Our first month of school has been very productive
and fun. I have really enjoyed getting to know all
of my students.
Our class has begun our “new” reading series. Unit
One is titled “Time of My Life”. In addition to
reading comprehension strategies, our class has
been developing skills at making inferences,
problem and solution, and synonyms and
antonyms.
Math has been very active and hands on! We have
begun to pilot the math series by Scott Foresman.
The year began with several math investigations
from the unit titled “Mathematical Thinking at
Grade 5”. Investigations in Number, Data, and
Space. The unit has four major goals:
*to offer students meaningful mathematical
problems
*to emphasize depth in mathematical
thinking
*to communicate mathematics content and
pedagogy to teachers
*to substantially expand the pool of
mathematical literate students
We have begun to study scientific method.
Students have been involved in mini labs and
handson activities.
Reading Counts!
By Ms. Prill
Reading Counts!
Club is coming to the Middle
School. Open to all grade levels and reading
abilities. Listen to announcements for the day that
we are meeting. New members can join at any
meeting throughout the year.
MIDDLE SCHOOL MARAUDER
Page 3
From Physical
Education
By Mrs. Freischlag and Mr.
Mitchell
Welcome Back! Just a reminder that jewelry
is not
allowed in physical education class. We are
following sports, high school and state rules
regarding jewelry. We want our students to be
safe—therefore all jewelry has to be removed
before class.
Intramurals will begin for 5th and 6th graders
starting in October. Information/Permission sheets
will be sent home with 5th graders. Dates and
activities will be announced and posted on the
bulletin board.
Word Wise?
By Ms. Prill
Are you “Word Wise”?
Directions: Place a “T” in front of the name of a
musical instrument. The word you get should be
part of a rose bush.
Write or talk to me about your “Word Wise” idea
and I’ll include it in next months newsl
etter.
Thank You for
Making the
Clothing Drive a
Huge Success!!
The France 2001 Group would like to thank
everyone for making their Clothing Drive a
success!
Enrichment
News
by Carol McMahon
Welcome to a new school year! Enrichment is just
getting underway at the Middle School with
assemblies and programs being previewed and
evaluated. All our old favorites will be back such
as
Grade 6 Medieval Day
,
Grade 7
Civil War
Days
and
Grade 5 Science Day
. Of course new
programs always being developed…this year be
sure to look for an interdi
sciplinary
WW II project
that is being undertaken by the
Grade 8 team
.
Things that are already on the
books include the
8
th
Gra de field
trip to Rock Ventures
indoor
rockclimbing facility for a team
building experience. Look for
information to come home soon.
We’ll also be looking for a good
number of chaperones so you
might want to set aside the date
October 30
th
to join us!
The Middle School Newspaper,
The Prowler
, is looking
forward to publishing its first
edition of the 20012002 school
year. This year’s student editor
is 8
th
grader, Geoff Haywood.
As always, the Enrichment program at the Middle
School welcomes creativity
, talent and know how
from all sources whether it comes from artists,
teachers, students or community members! If you
have a special talent, ability, or experience that you
think might be worth sharing with our student
population please feel free to contact me at the
Middle School.
MIDDLE SCHOOL MARAUDER
Page 4
5th and 6th Grade
Association
By Miss Finkelstein and Mrs. Hoody
The 5/6 Student Association is currently gaining
membership. Members are being selected by their
peers based on characteristics of responsibility and
dedication. A complete list of members will be
posted on the Student Association bulletin board
outside Room 9. By the time you receive this we
hopefully had our first meeting of the year where
we elected officers, discussing our plans for the
year, and begin to organize Red Ribbon Week,
which will take place October 29th through
November 2nd.
7th and 8th Grade
Student Association
By Mrs. Osborn
7th and 8th Grade Student Association will be busy
this year. Our first m
eeting was September 18th.
Our meetings will normally be held the first
Tuesday of each month with special meetings
called for committee work and planning special
events. Our first event was when several of the
members served as student guides for Open H
ouse
on September 20th. Our next event will be the
kickoff for the second annual jewelry sale on
October 23rd. Plan ahead to purchase some very
nice gift items. October 24th is scheduled for the
first dance of this school year. The 5th and 6th
graders will attend from 6:308:00 pm and the 7th
and 8th graders from 8:3010:00 pm . Tickets will
be available for presale only in t
he cafeteria the
week before the dance.
We are also pleased to announce the arrival of the
5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade Student Associations’
gift. It is an eight foot round carpet mat featuring
our Marauder logo in the center. This carpet is
located in the main foyer of the middle school.
The Association is investigating some service
projects.
International
Club
By Mrs. Osborn and Mrs. Perez
International Club will meet
for their organizational
meeting on Thursday, October 4th at 2:15pm in
Room 13. We will be discussing the year’s
activities.
Snowboard
and Ski
Club
By Mrs. Osborn
The organizational meeting for the Snowboard and
Ski Club will be Wednesday, October 17th
at 7:00
pm in Room 13 of the Middle School. At this time
registration materials will be distributed and
questions answered about our annual Snowboard
and Ski Club trips to Brantling December 7, 14, 21,
January 4, 11, 18 (makeup). Costs vary according
to program selected. If you can not attend this
meeting the registration materials will be available
beginning October 18th in the Middle School and
High School.
Travel Club
By Mrs. Osborn
The first meeting was held September 13th to
explain the application process for the trip to
Montreal planned for November 30th, December 1,
2. Applications were due September 18th.
Accepted applicants would be informed September
25 and payments will be due October 1st.
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
Travel
Club—
Payment Due
for Montreal
A
2
7/8 Student
Association
Mtg, 10th
Period, Room
13
B
3
5/6
Rollerskating
(2:304:00)
C
4
ES Open House
6:30pm
International
Club10th Per
Rm. 13
D
5
End of 5 wks.
E
6
7
8
No School
(Columbus Day
Holiday)
9
F
10
Board of
Education Mtg.
7:30pm
A
11
B
12
C
13
14
15
D
16
E
17
Snowboard
and Ski Club
Meeting—
7:00 pm,
Room 13
F
18
7/8 Activity
Night
6:308:00pm
A
19
5/6 Activity
Night
6:308:00pm
B
20
21
22
C
23
Student
Assoc.
Jewelry Sale
D
24
School Dance
5/6 6:308:00pm
7/8 8:3010:00
Board of
Education Mtg.
7:30pm
E
25
No School
(Superintendent’s
Conference Day)
26
No School
(Superintendent’s
Conference Day)
27
28
29
School Picture
Retakes
F
30
A
31
Happy
Halloween!
B
October 2001
Middle School 5899665 Elementary School 5899668 High School 5899621 Bus Garage 5896901
Red Ribbon Week Celebration
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