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In the fall the Cougars have traditionally ventured into the great outdoors for a team building day. Here we are on the Stone Valley Ropes Course!

COUGARS2012-2013

COUGARS AT A GLANCE The Cougar team consists of three sections of 8th grade and two sections of 7th grade. Being on the Cougar team gives students a chance to experience a smaller team feel, while still having many opportunities to interact with all their peers—even those on other teams—throughout the school year.

Hello and welcome to

the Cougar team! We hope

you enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing summer. The

Cougars had a terrific year

last year with trips to Stone

Valley, Harrisburg,

Pittsburgh, and Washington D.C. We also held several

team days including an ice

cream social, Teacher

Pictionary, and an

“Amazing Race”

competition. It’s obvious

that we have fun while learning on this team! We

are in the process of

planning an exciting year—

including field trips,

learning enrichment opportunities, and team

days just for you. We look

forward to meeting you in a

few weeks. See you soon!

Welcome to the Cougar Team!

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Meet your teachers...So, who are the Cougar teachers? Mrs. Sjoberg is the Math

teacher on our team. She is the coach of the reigning back-to-

back State Champion PFMS Math Counts team, and she is an

Edith May Sliffe national award recipient for Distinguished

Junior High Mathematics Teaching. This will be Ms.

Homa’s eleventh year as the Cougar team’s Social

Studies teacher. Originally from Pittsburgh, she

taught high school there for four years prior to

coming to State College. In a previous career, Ms.

Homa worked for several years in health care. She loves

the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates, and Pens. Mr. Brightbill is

our Science teacher. This is his fourth year in the district; he

previously taught in Philadelphia. He is an AMS Ocean and

Atmosphere Resource Teacher and has a passion for the Earth

sciences. He is also a big Philly sports fan. Mr. Harper is our

English teacher. He taught middle school English for 14

years in another district and is excited about returning

for his second year at PFMS. He’s the proud dad of

three children and loves Penn State football and

coaching softball. Ms. Kleinert is returning as the

Cougar team Music teacher. She sings in and directs

several local choirs and enjoys performing in theater as

well. We are all excited to get to know you and help you learn

this year! Find out more by checking out our individual websites.

High Tech CougarsEvery teacher on the Cougar team maintains a web page accessible from the Cougar team home page. This year, each student on the Cougar team will be issued a school laptop and be able to work on technology projects both at school and home!

RECOMMENDED COURSE SUPPLIES MATH ENGLISH MUSIC/ART S.S./SCIENCE

Scientific calculator, colored pens, 50 4x6 colored index cards, roll of clear tape, metric ruler, eraser, pencil, binder

8th grade: spiral graph notebook (no index cards)

Durable two-pocket folder, pencils or pens, small notebook for vocabulary words, notebook paper, colored pencils, and binder with at least 3 tabbed dividers

Music(Fall)binder, pencils, and pencil top erasers. Art (Spring) two-pocket folder,9x12 sketchbook with spiral binding, No. 2 pencils, and erasers.

Social StudiesBinder, pens, pencils, notebook paper, and pencil-top erasers.

ScienceCalculator, pencils, paper, and binder

Please bring 2 boxes of tissues for homeroom!

COUGAR EXTENDED TEAM TEACHERS