2001

May 2001

The Marauder

Williamson Middle School

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST:

Message from Mr. Skeet

Meet the New Middle School

Principal

Pictures from “45 Minutes

From Broadway”

Reading Counts Tally

Enrichment News

Student of the Month for April

Testing Schedule

Middle School Calendar

Festival of Arts Information

Learning Fair Awards

Barry Spink Retirement

Reception

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Classroom/Club News

Student of the Month for

End of the Year Testing

Calendar for May

A Message from the Principal:

Dear Parents and Students:

Is Spring finally here? This past winter sure seemed like a very lon

winter but May has arrived!

A big thank you to everyone who helped with the school musical “45

Minutes From Broadway”. It wo

uld be impossible to have a student

activity such as a musical without parent support. In addition to

parent support, two high

school sophomores Katie Wright and Jennie

Orbaker, gave hours of assistance with the choreography for the

musical. Thanks to al

On March 30th, 44 of our eighth grade students participated in the

Wayne Finger Lakes Technical and Career Center’s Middle

School

Skills competition. Our students competed in each of the career areas

with many 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishes. Of th

e seven middle

schools that participated, Williamson took

First Place

! We have a

large trophy that stays with us for one year a

nd a permanent plaque.

On March 28th, the Williamson Board of Education appointed

Russell Kissinger the Middle School Principal

effective July 1, 2001.

Russ is currently a school administrator in the Elmira, NY school

district. Russ has been a teacher o

r an administrator since October of

1985. On May 7th you will have the opportunity to meet with Russ at

6:30 pm in the Middle S

chool Cafeteria.

This year we will have a number of retirements and resignations. As

of this date we know of:

Ann Bayley

— 8th

Grade Math

Warren Gregg

— Physical Education

Richard TenEyck

— 7th Grade English

Kim Martin

— 5th Grade

Karen Webster

— Special Educ

ation Resource Room

We wish our retirees all the happiness in the world and our resigning

teachers good luck in their new posit

ions.

(CONT.)

MIDDLE SCHOOL MARAUDER

Page

Physical

Education

By Mrs. Freischlag and

Mr. Gregg

In physical education

class we are playing a soccer tournament. Students

have drafted teams and are responsible for helping

officiate. We will start retesting for the Presidential

Physical fitness te

st.

Meet the New

Middle School

Principal!

Whom: Russell Kissinger

When: Monday, May 7th

6:30 pm

Where: Middle School

Cafeteria

Please join Williamson Middle School in

welcoming Russell Kissinger, newly appointed

Middle School Principal.

Russ is joining us from

Elmira City School District. Previous school

districts also include Phelps

Clifton Springs,

Geneva Ci

ty School, Rochester City School, and

Oyster Bay School Districts.

Coffee and Cookies will be provided by PTSA.

Mrs. Bierer’s

Classroom

By Mrs. Bierer

Toys of the 1800’s were simple yet appealing, so

we tried out quite a few to take the ed

ge off the

gloom and destruction of the Civil War. Civil War

reports were wonderfully complete this year, so we

enjoyed that ad

ditional information. To correct an

error made last month, it was Mrs. Aileen

Hurlimann who so ably embodied Dr. Mary E.

Walker

for us.

On then through the early 1900’s immigration,

personas were selected and experienced by students

Mr. Skeet (cont.)

I have included another copy of the testing

schedule. Please make sure that your child gets a

good night sle

ep and a breakfast before each of

their examinations. We are now officially into the

testing season.

If anyone has any questio

ns, please feel free to

contact me at 589

9665.

Sincerely,

Douglas G. Skeet

Interim Principal

passing through the rigors of Ellis Island. Mrs.

Jackie Fox and Mrs. Sandy Buerman were

inspectors!

The Charleston of the 1920

’s was in a much

happier groove and reflected the relief of having

WWI in the past, “the war to end all wars”, they

thought. Ec

onomics were in high gear, too.

BookIt! Is over for another year.

It’s pizza and wings time for

those who completed all five

months of required reading:

Hannah Ameele, Lindsey

Brothers, Allison Carnwath, Jake

Coomber, Amanda Fox, Caitlin Garofoli, Kirs

ten

Goranowski, Hayley Hannon, Diana Hunn, Mike

Hurlimann, Brad Hyman, Heather Kingsbury, Zach

Mogray, Matthew Smith, Zach Stohr

, and Rob

Verbridge.

MIDDLE SCHOOL MARAUDER

Page

Reading Counts Total

Tally as of 4

10

By Ms. Prill

The Reading Counts! Computer Club meets weekly

in Ms. Prill’s room. List

en to announcements to

find out the day we’ll meet for the week. Students

may join the club at anytime. Extra credit is given

in English and/or Reading for books read.

Whether you’re an advanced reader, struggle with

reading, or are an average “joe” or

“jane”, there are

books for you in Reading Counts!

NAME

# of BOOKS READ/

# of WORDS READ

Kyle Alward

21/56,121

Nina

Barber

13/153,870

Tricia Batz

6/8,982

Lisa Beck

8/45,850

Staci Bishop

2/9,045

Andrea Blauvelt

8/20,793

Kristine Budd

20/117,595

Melissa Budd

6/79,167

Kyle Bull

25/207,339

Tony Campisi

9/60,157

Gary DeLyser

8/21,862

Joshua DeNeef

3/31

,265

Samantha DiSalvo

3/50,115

Danielle Davey

17/70,147

Tim Dostman

8/113,253

Kane Eaton

3/21,153

Amanda Gage

17/144,5

Colby Giuliano

5/14,258

Caitlin Garofoli

4/11,989

Olivia Gimbel

8/12,586

Mike Hurlimann

1/15,582

Ashley Jenkins

29/151,

236

Kayla Kulijof

3/30,161

Stephanie Kush

6/10,913

Emily Markham

9/14,445

Nicole Maylin

9/77,771

Blake Mellott

4/17,476

Ashley Michaelsen

9/84,073

Cont. on Page 4

6th Grade Country

Reports

Sixth grade students were very busy over the last

month researching and reporting on the countries of

the world. After each student selected a country for

his/her topic, both Mr. Steurrys’ Social Studies

classes and Mrs. Yackel

’s English classes used our

own Middle School library for finding information.

Note taking outlines were used by students to

research their country’s history, people, culture,

economy, and government. A special thanks for

Mrs. Verstraete and Mrs. Pierc

e for their hours of

researching help provided.

Again, using both Social Studies and English

classes, students converted their

research notes to

first, a rough draft, then a typed final copy. Thank

you to Ms. McCain for extending the computer lab

hours f

or students in need of a word processor.

Congratulations to the 6th graders for producing

outstanding pieces of work!!

Chorus from “45 Minutes from Broadway”

MIDDLE SCHOOL MARAUDER

Page

NAME

# of BOOKS READ/

# of WORDS READ

Stephanie Morse

8/21,404

Cynthia Otero

15/41,298

Danielle Ottenschot

10/23,279

Leah Paschke

3/ 4,066

Nicole Raymond

12/114,094

Heather Rogers

7/14,397

Alicia Schaeffer

17/70,147

Brian Shadduck

24/97,44

Samantha Stewart

5/13,549

Lindsey Stewart

20/64,602

Elora Supersad

1/25,034

Steven Talamas

13/42,014

Hediberto Trejo

3/3,

359

Sergio Trejo

3/2,000

T. J. Walker

1/13,380

Bill Wilbur

2/8,830

Visit with an

Author/Illustrator!

DOMINIC CATALANO

At the Williamson Public Library

Saturday, May 5 at 1:00 pm

The author of

several beloved

children’s books visits to present a

drawing and airbrush demonstration

and tell how he develops a book.

He’ll

answer questions and

autograph his books.

(Copies will be available for sale)

Yorkers

By Mrs. Bierer

Mr. Chester Peters was the man of the hour as he

regaled the members with the recollections of the

1940’

s in Williamson. Not much had escaped his

notice, so there was much to tell. There were even

two German spies caught in Pultne

yville! He

didn’t reveal his age, but I mentioned how his

mother must have acted to an activity of his, he

disclosed the inform

ation that he was already

happily married by then and didn’t tell us how his

wife felt about it.

Mrs. Amy Jones had

prepared a

wonderful

talk and posters about

cooking in the 1940’s.

Fat and eggs were

prominent features

the, unlike now, but

she reasoned

that they

were “worked off” at

a better rate years back. She doesn’t think

Nintendo is a real fat burner! A popular feature of

Mrs. Jones’ presentation was a luscious bowl of

cookies to sample.

May 2 will be the gala 1940’s Night to showcase

what we hav

e learned this year at our programs.

We will demonstrate the swing dancing, have a

fashion show, and Mr. Jim Stohr will present

interactive demonstration of that decade’s airplane

capabilities.

Our last meeting will be a feast and games on

Friday, May

Rounding out the year’s activities, for students who

have met all obligations of membership, will be a

visit to Fort Niagar

a on King George’s birthday,

June 9. There will be a guided tour and period

activities for our learning pleasure.

Rachel Reiber,

Sean Richmond,

and Emily

Covington as

Monroe, Mary

and Bugsy

MIDDLE SCHOOL MARAUDER

Page

A Visit

By Ms. Prill

Excitement was high for eight of this year’s Fifth

and Sixth Grade Middle Schoolers when they went

to vi

sit their old haunt

the Primary School.

Olivia Gimbel, Kayla Kulijof, Stephanie Kush,

Emily Markham, Stephanie Morse assisted

Kaitlyn Roberts, Heather Rogers, and Brian

Shadduck were welcomed by Mrs. Joan Miller and

her Third Grade class. There the M

iddle Schoolers

read the books they had written and illustrated to

the third graders.

Rounding off the visit, students visited

with past

teachers. Students look forward to reading to and

visiting again in the future.

Enrichment News

by Carol McMahon

The

Festival of Arts

will hold the opening

reception on

Tuesday May 15

between

6:30

8:30

the evening. This exciting annual event has

much to offer everyone! Please come out and see

the wonderful artwork and written

work of the

Williamson Middle School students! There will

also be a showcase in the auditorium where you

will have the opportu

nity to listen to some

music

ensembles

, watch the

Tall Tale Tournament

grade 6, hear the poetry of

Mr. TenEyck

and

experience

a spectacular

sight and sound

performance

by the

5/6 grade chorus

Refreshments

will be available through the grade

5/6 Student

Association.

On April 4

two High School students,

Mike

Rehor

and

“Kat” Clancy

gave presentations in the

Grade 8 Health

clas

s of

Mr. Habecker

. Trained

by the Red Cross the students were able to speak to

the students, distribute handouts and answer

questions about HIV and AIDS.

May is sure to be a very busy month with more

than just “testing” going on! Local poet

MJ Iuppa

will visit the

Grade

May 8

and share her

love and knowledge of this art form.

Some students from

Grade 6

will be engag

ed in a

“Math in the Park”

project where they will learn

how to measure the volume of tall, irregular

cylindrical objects on our

campus…trees!

Grade 7

students will be receiving a refresher

course on

orienteering

to prepare them for the

work of navigat

ing a series of routes on the campus

simulating troop movement in the

Civil War

. This

activity will be part of a large unit inv

olving

Social

Studies

and

English

on the Civil War. Students

will also enjoy a presentation by

Gordon Shay

the symbolism inh

erent in the variety of flags used

during this War Between the States. The

culminating activity will be a

Civil War Re

enactmen

May 25

with

Reynolds Battery L

On this day students will rotate through a series of

stations where they will learn more about this time

period in our country’s history.

Grade 6

will go on a series of

“Missions t

o Mars”

with the

Challenger Learning Center

of Greater

Rochester

. This yearly flight has become a

favorite among students as th

ey learn about the

skills necessary to successfully launch a space

mission for NASA and then simulate the event at

the Rochester

Challenger facility.

Field Trips:

Grade 7

will attend the

Genesee

Country Village and Museum

May

Grade 8

will experience a team building program

“Rock Ventures”

May 25

More information will go home regarding both

these events.

Upcoming:

Grade 5 Science Day on June 8

MIDDLE SCHOOL MARAUDER

Page

Earn High

School

Credit in

8th Grade

7th Graders can sign

up now to take high school keyboarding as an 8th

grader. Successfull

y completing this half year

course will give you one half credit toward high

school graduation. The class focuses on typing

speed and accuracy as well as formatting letters and

reports. Other mini units include PowerPoint,

Encarta research CD’s and Ex

cel. A sign up sheet

is located in the Guidance Office. Limited

enrollment. May 11th is the deadline.

Prerequisite: Compute

r Skills in either 6th or 7th

grade.

Scrabble

Tournament

By Mr. TenEyck

For fifteen years, the Scrabble tournament has been

enjoyed by Middle School students. Eac

h year the

top players meet for a championship crown among

fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders.

This year sixty

two (!!)

students played Scrabble

games in the tournament. When the final board

was cleared, the Middle School champ was Dylan

Intini fr

om sixth grade. Runners

up in order were

Cody Stevens (7th grade), Jordan Bean (8th grade),

and Calvin Burnap (5th grade). Eac

h finalist will

receive a prize at end

year award ceremonies.

PTSA News:

PTSA would like to take this opportunity to thank

the following volunteers for making this year a

success so far!

5/6 Rollerskating

Annette Whitmore and

Robin Barnes (Chairpersons)

5/6 Activity Nights

— Bob/Sue Verbridge, Robin

Barnes, Mike/

Juli Bixby (Chairpersons), Mark

Hermenent, Bruce Akins, Barry Whitmore, Cathy

Garofoli, Debbie Ast, Lori Smith, Sally Verno,

Aileen Hurlimann

7/8 Activity Nights

— Claire Bouvier

(Chairperson), Al Verbridge, Debbie Ast, George

Dobson, Diane Montondo, Chr

istine Barbato, Dick

Batz, Dean Ganskop

A special “thank you” to Marge (Custodian) for

helping us get organized for the Activit

y Nights;

setting up ping

pong, arranging tables for

refreshments, etc.

Hospitality

— Thanks to the great group of bakers

that ha

ve been called upon for Open House, Band/

Chorus concerts. We will need you again for the

following dates: Monday, May 7th for

Meet the

New Principal, Friday, May 11th for Teacher

Appreciation Day and Tuesday, May 15th for

Festival of the Arts.

Steven Shay and Ashley Michaelsen as Eddie and Betty

MIDDLE SCHOOL MARAUDER

Page

Student

Grade

Teacher

Reason

Sierra Bernard

Mrs. Bisig

Helping Other Students

Christian Cook

Ms. Luke

Improved Attitude and Cooperation

Courtney Dalke

Mr. Marshall

Exceptional Effort

Samantha DiSalvo

Mr. Marshall

Exceptional Effort

Caitlin Garofoli

Mrs. Bierer

Helps Others in Need

Shaydon Ginther

Mrs. Bierer

Cheerfulness

Matthew Guilfoil

Ms. Luke

Improved Effort

Robert Hebing

Mrs. Bianchi

Exceptional Effort, Class Participation, Excellent

Work and Behavior

Sergio Trejo

Mr. Marshall

Constructive Attitude

Sean Clancy

6th Grade Team