2002

November 2002

The Marauder

Williamson Middle School

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST:

Classroom News

Student Association News

Message From the Health Office

Student of the Month

Middle School Calendar for November

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Classroom News

Student Association News

Message From the Health Office

Mark Your Calendars (Picture Retakes)

PTSA Corner

From the Assistant Principal...

Middle School November Calendar

From Mr. Kissinger……..

Dear Parents,

November already! For many of us in the education world this is the “monitor and

adjust” month. Teachers have had time to assess study habits and organizational

skills of individual students as well as learning skills. The first tenweek grades

have been tallied and will be sent home soon. Teams of teachers have met with all

students who are failing two or more classes to create plans for success. Students

who continue to struggle are referred to the PPS committee where recommendations

are made to help the student become successful. We now have two teachers in each

homeroom at the end of the day to check SAB’s to ensure that assignments are

written down correctly and that the proper books are going home for work to be

completed.

Through the months of September and October we administered an intense one on

one reading assessment to every student who had an overall average of less than 75

in the core subjects last year. If reading deficiencies were discovered, specific plans

were put into place to address them. Our reading specialists are meeting with teams

of teachers monthly to help imp rove the awareness level of the importance of

reading skills in all subjects. They are providing teachers with skills and tools that

they can use to address reading barriers within their classes.

These are just a few of the many indicators that show that this teaching staff is

embracing the concept that no child will be left behind. I am proud to be a part of

such a talented and dedicated group of educators.

Sincerely yours,

Russell Kissinger

Middle School Principal

MIDDLE SCHOOL MARAUDER

Page 2

Miss Brownell’s

Classroom

Our reading class has been very busy.

The class has been reading from the

McGraw Hill basal Unit One, titled

“Time of My Life”, which focuses on

how we may find memorable experiences in unex

pected places. Student activities have focused

around setting, characters, inference, context clues

and problem and solution.

Math class has been one investigation after another.

Students have been involved in activities that pro

mote depth in mathematical thinking. The program

offers students meaningful mathematical problems.

Scientific method! Students have begun to learn

about the scientific method through labs. We en

joyed growing different species of fungi on bread,

lemons, and bananas.

I would like to recognize star performers in our

class:

Matt Arthurs—Good Behavior

April Bailey—Enthusiasm

Cody Christensen—Helpful

Kayla Flanders—Helpful

Eric Hepler—Responsibility

Meredith Shultes—Good Listening

Michael Nichols—Enthusiasm

Math Lab News

By Mr. Brown

Students in Math Lab have started the year working

on probability, ratios and proportions, and prob

lem—solving. Applications of these skills have

been applied in a variety of ways.

Fifth and seventh graders have been working in

Reading and Writing for Math

studying probability.

An experiment using M & M candy was used to

predict which colors appeared the most and least.

This project was similar to “The Jelly Bean Experi

ment” which the classes read. Seventh graders

made tree diagrams to determine the number of

combinations that could be made from soft drinks

and snacks. This project was similar to the story

“Lunchtime Decisions” that they had previously

read.

Eighth graders took a pretest on the toughest word

problems that appeared on standardized tests.

Since then, they have been working on problem

solving skills such as setting up ratios and propor

tions. Activities have included using scales on road

maps, determining sizes of flags, and estimating

crowd sizes. The students have been working in

Scholastic Math

Chocolate

By Ms. Prill

We can thank the great Aztec emperor

from Mexico, Montezuma, for sharing

his chocolate with the Spanish. The Spanish

brought the cacao seeds back to Europe. England,

which is a part of Europe, brought chocolate to the

United States.

The Aztec word for chocolate: XOCOLATL (chaw

caw LAH tl)

Did

ou Know…

By Ms. Prill

One of our students, eighth grader Susana Hidalgo,

was named queen of the Mexican Festival which

was held in early Sodus. Congratulations Susanna!

MIDDLE SCHOOL MARAUDER

Page 3

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

By Ms. Prill

Cory Baker, Shelby Maroselli, Katie Johnson,

Wayne Grevell, and Travis Burdick skimmed thei

canoes along Irondequoit Bay and Creek on a

sunny, late September Saturday. Great blue herons,

ducks, and turtles kept us company on our paddling

trip. This was the student’s long awaited acknowl

edgement gift for reading goals met last year

through the Middle School’s Reading Counts Club.

Ms. Prill, Mrs. Ryan, and three other experienced

canoeists accompanied. The only down part of the

trip was that it ended too soon! Reading Counts

Club will begin in mid November. Listen for an

nouncements or talk to Ms. Prill. Look for pictures

of the trip as you enter the cafeteria.

Finding Out About…

By Ms. Prill

Mexico. Ms. Prill’s and Mrs. Greco’s

class teamed up for a day during His

panic Heritage month. Sergio, Darely,

Faviola, Melissa, Beatriz, Paula, Angelica, and Su

sana chose topics that they know about to present to

Mrs. Greco’s 1st and 4th period classes. Topics in

cluded: Location, Clothing, Food, Halloween,

Flag, Money, and Website about Hispanic Heritage

Month. Students brought in realia from home—

special clothes, photos, and food. Susana’s mom

and Mrs. Greco supplied us with enchiladas and

rice and beans. There were no leftovers! Mrs.

Greco’s boys and girls prepared by researching

Mexico and writing and asking questions of the

English Language Learner students. Getting to

know each other was as valuable as finding out

more about Mexico.

Websites:

www.scholastic.com

www.factnonster.com

Student Association

By Miss Finkelstein and Mrs. Hoody

Red Ribbon Week was October 21 through

October 25. We kicked off the week with

having our 5/6th graders lead an assembly

letting the student body know the activities

planned for the week. Every day during

Red Ribbon Week was a different theme day.

Monday was Red Day, Tuesday was Team Up

Against Drugs Day, Wednesday was Sock it to

Drugs Day, Thursday was Turn Your Back Against

Drugs Day, and Friday was Put a Lid on Drugs

Day. In addition to the theme days, there was a

poster and poetry contest. This year’s theme was

United We Stand For a Drug Free Land. During

lunch periods, our members supervised as students

signed a pledge to be drug free. By signing this

pledge, the students could receive either a free

piece of pizza from Cam’s New York Pizzeria or a

free soda at the Candy Kitchen. After signing

pledges, the students had the opportunity to add to

a list of better things to do than drugs. Raffle tick

ets were also sold during lunch periods for a prize.

Students were also given the opportunity in math

classes to try a drugs, alcohol, and tobacco puzzle.

They were either given extra credit or a prize for

the correct completion of the puzzle. During gym

classes the last two days of Red Ribbon Week, the

students participated in Knock Out Basketball,

where they learned about staying healthy from Wil

liamson Police officers. Winners received prizes.

Red Ribbon Week ended with all students receiving

a Drugs Are Pointless Penc il for participating in the

week’s activities. It was a very successful week

and we hope we were able to spread the message to

never become involved become involved in drugs.

Our school store will be open by November and we

are in need of parent volunteers to help our students

sell school items. The store will be in operation

during lunch periods Tuesdays and Thursdays,

10:30 am to 12:30 pm. If anyone is interested,

please contact Lori Finkelstein at the Middle

School

MIDDLE SCHOOL MARAUDER

Page 4

Do you need……

A listening ear?

Additional support?

To find out what is available?

The Network

Is here to help you

locate places for support

The Network is local connection to

professional assessment and referral

services for mental health and

substance abuse issues.

Days:

Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays

Via Health of Wayne, Myers Campus

Room #293 on the west wing

Appointments at (315) 4833200

Subsidized by Wayne County Rural Health Network

From the Health Office

Flu season will be upon us shortly. Here are some tips

to consider:

•

Get proper rest

•

Eat nutritious foods: example fruits, vegetables and

drink plenty of fluids.

•

Exercise + get plenty of fresh air

•

Dress accordingly, keep warm; but don’t overdress.

Wear a hat outdoors; we lose body heat from the top

of our heads

•

Always cover your mouth when coughing + cover

your nose when sneezing

•

Washing your hands frequently

Keep Healthy!!

Mrs. Phillips, RN

School Nurse

Any questions: call 5899665 ext. 106

Mark Your Calendar

Monday, November 25th, M.S.

Picture Retakes & Club Photos

PTSA Corner

I would like to first introduce myself. I am Tracy Cole

and I am your new PTSA representative at the Middle

School. I would like to thank Aileen Hurlimann (for her

guidance and instruction) and the rest of the PTSA for

such a warm welcome and I look forward to meeting

you all.

The PTSA would like to thank all the parents who baked

for our Middle School Open house. The variety was

wonderful. The 5th and 6th Grade Roller Skating Party

was a huge success. We had 76 skaters that partic i

pated. A special thank you to Lori Van Acker, Laurie

Van Nostrand, Sherry Cahill, Mary Jo Ciaschi, Lyn M

ralles, Amy Youngs, and Mary Kostakis for volunteer

ing there time to help the kids with this fun filled event.

Also, we would like to thank Bob Allen, Lyn Miralles,

Patty Buckler, Leslie Wing, May Jo Ciaschi and all the

other parents that gave their time the first day of school

to assist the children entering into 6th grade with there

lockers.

The PTSA is still in need of volunteers with the 7th and

8th grade activity nights. If you would like to spend a

fun evening with your child and their classmates, please

feel free to contact me anytime to volunteer. We are al

ways looking for parents to help out with a variety of

activities. We had our first 7th and 8th grade activity

night. The kids had a great time playing volleyball, bas

ketball, pingpong and other activities. Thanks to the

parents that helped. A special thank you to Della

Ludwig who opened up the computer lab for activity

night.

The Student Association is in need of parent volunteers

to assist in our new School Store. If you are available

Tuesdays and/or Thursdays between 10:30 am and

12:30 pm., please contact Lori Finkelstein at Lfinkel

stein@williamsoncentral.org

. Or call the Middle School

office.

Again, thank you to all the parents that have volun

teered. If you would like to make a difference, please

feel free to contact me at 315 5894442 or

tcole2@rochester.rr.com.

MIDDLE SCHOOL MARAUDER

Page 5

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL…

Norlyn V. Legler

The Discipline In Learning

Learning and how students learn best has been the main focus through

out September and October for administration and teachers. It is excit

ing to see the opportunities that exist for each student to learn at the

middle school. The teachers have a real strong commitment to each of

their students. The care for success is held and acted on by everyone

within the building.

The middle school years are extremely important developmental times.

Many choices will be made that will influence the direction in each stu

dent’s life. Discipline is a real part of the commitment in working with

each student to achieve the maximum success this school year. We are

supporting and guiding students through each discipline action.

Parents, you are still and will be for many years to come, the most im

portant support in your child’s life. Thank you for working with us in

becoming an active supporting team.

MIDDLE SCHOOL MARAUDER

Page 6

Student of the Month for September

Greg Akins

G. Marshall

Exceptional Effort

Aaron Busse

J. Luke

Excellent Effort

Jessie Evarts

J. Luke

For Being Positive and Enthusiastic in all that She Does

Brenden Gordon

H. Brownell

Relationships with Others

Corey Hill

G. Marshall

Exceptional Effort

John Johnson

J. Luke

Excellent Effort

Meredith Shultes

H. Brownell

Class Participation

Danielle Vitalone

G. Marshall

Exceptional Effort

Roxanne Bowman

6th Grade Team