Joseph Niemantsverdriet, Principal October 2014 Harding Herald

Principal’s Message: We are off to a great start this year! This great start is the result of the hard work of our staff and students and also the con-tinued support of Harding parents and guardians.

Our goal is to make sure that every student receives an outstanding education and shows more than a year of expected growth on the PARCC and Ohio Online Assessments. These first months of school are important as teachers look at data that shows students’ strengths and weaknesses and look at providing a challenging curriculum for every student.

In addition to the work that is going on academically, the Harding staff is working hard to develop the whole child by en-gaging them in athletic and extra-curricular activities. Our fall sports teams are deep into their seasons. Please make sure to look on the Lakewood Athletic Department website for all of the upcoming sporting events and come out and support our athletes.

On September 15th, Harding held its annual Club Fair. Students went to the cafeteria after school to receive hand-outs and information about the clubs and activities that our staff provides. Please encourage your child to join an activity or club. Participation in these programs will help them extend their learning and make new relationships. A listing of the current clubs is included in the October issue of the Harding Herald.

The link for parents to sign up for Parent-Teacher conferences is open:

http://www.ptcfast.com/schools/Harding_Middle_School

The link takes parents to a site where they enter their basic information. Once they submit, they’ll receive an email with the subject header “Select Date/Time for Teacher Conference Now”. Just copy the provided code, press the link in the email, paste (or enter) the code and they will be able to pick time slots for their conferences.

Thanks for your continued support! Please do not hesitate to call with questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Joe Niemantsverdriet Principal

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SUPERINTENDENT’S MESSAGE The school year has gotten off to a great start, and I want to thank everyone – students, parents, staff and administrators – for your efforts and preparation to ensure a smooth first month. I especially want to thank parents and staff at our transition schools for your great cooperation in making sure our students felt right at home in their new buildings. Speaking of new buildings, our construction project is moving forward, although much of the work is not visible to you as a lot of the work includes bidding and contract negotiations to prepare our buildings for demolition. A second round of architect meetings were held with the Grant, Lincoln and Roosevelt com-munities. Those in attendance were able to see the proposed footprints and interior layouts of the new buildings as well as some preliminary design drawings. For those waiting on another high school meeting, that should be scheduled within the month. I know many of you are interested in when the old buildings will be coming down. That depends on how long the abatement process takes at each school, and it will vary at each building. Our best guess is that demolition will not happen until December at the earliest. As always, we appreciate the support and cooperation of our community as we look to provide the best learning environment possible for our students once our project is complete. Jeffrey W. Patterson Superintendent Board of Education Linda Beebe, President Emma Petrie Barcelona, Vice President Tom Einhouse Edward Favre Betsy Bergen Shaughnessy

Oct. 28: Harding PTSA Pay it Forward Tuesday at Jammy Buggars Do you want to see lots of fun and varied activities for your students to do this school year both in and outside the classroom? Now is your chance to help support that effort by going to a Pay it Forward Tuesday fundraiser at Jammy Buggars, 15625 Detroit Ave, on Tuesday, Oct. 28. Jammy Buggars will donate 20% of its proceeds toward Harding PTSA’s stu-dent activities fund. Dine in or carry out during lunch or dinner and make sure to mention Harding when you order. That’s all you have to do! Hours are

11:30 am – midnight. See you there!

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Sixth Grade News

Sixth grade students made a smooth transition to Harding Middle School. We enjoy getting to know your children. Please make sure you check your child’s planbook nightly. If you did not log onto progress book, please make sure you set up an account with a user name and a password. This information was sent home in the envelopes at sixth grade orientation. This program allows you to monitor your child’s progress throughout the year. If you need to get a hold of one of your teachers for any concern, please feel free to email or call them.

Harding Herald

Eighth Grade News

Our eighth graders are off to a good start to the school year! In language arts, stu-dents will be reading a variety of literature and informational texts this year. Many stu-dents are reflecting on their reading of Teen’s Game Plan for Life and organizing, de-veloping and writing their own strategies to help build success in various aspects of their lives.

Eighth grade science students are taking a trip back in time! Students will be studying the geologic record along with changes in life over time evident in the fossil record. By mid-October, daily charting of Wisconsin Fast Plants will be starting to gear up for our study of inherited traits. Daily attendance is necessary as most classes will be hands-on, lectures, and labs. Please check Progressbook for grades and make sure your scholar has the necessary supplies of journal, pen, pencil and planner needed in class.

Social studies students are analyzing documents and text as they explore our Ameri-can history. The first topic our students are tackling as historians is the colonization of the United States. While students are studying the reasons for the development of sec-tionalism in the colonies, they are also gaining an understanding of self-government and the colonists’ independent spirit!

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Seventh Grade News

September has been a very busy month! Social Studies - Students are deep into their study of ancient Greece. They are learning how the Greek city-states united to defeat the mighty Persian Empire but then quickly turned on each other in the Peloponnesian War leaving an opening for Alexander the Great. By the end of Oc-tober, students will have moved on to the Roman Empire.

Language Arts –In Ms. Pollner’s class, students are deep into historical fiction with the novel The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter. Students are analyzing story elements and citing textual evidence to support their ideas. They will then look at another time period in American history that focuses on per-son vs. society conflicts with a brief study of the Civil Rights Movement. Students completed sequence essays and also practiced discussion skills. Material covered and homework is posted daily on Progress Book. The next reading log is due October 14. Mrs. Franks’ class - We have just finished our unit on Greek Mythology. The students began the unit researching myths that fit the four pillars: Courage, Curiosity, Perseverance, and Integri-ty. The students then wrote a summary of the myth and explained how the character showed the above qualities. We continued reading myths learning how the Greeks explained things in nature such as

spiders and the seasons and how evil came into the world. Beginning next week, we will be entering the world of historical fiction. The students will start with a WebQuest so they can develop background knowledge on Reconstruction and life in the South during that time. We will then read and work on activities and projects revolving around Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. As always, I appreciate any support you can give the students at home by reading with them or asking them questions about what they are reading. In Mrs. Sheils’ and Mrs. Pangrace’s classes, students are finishing up Greek mythology pro-

jects. Students are creating a poem, song, painting, etc. and using allusions to Greek Mythology to en-hance their work.

Math – Students have been working hard trying to get their sum-mer “mushy” brain back into tip-top shape. In math class we have explored the land of Integers using all four operations, real life ex-periences, absolute value and more! In Mrs. Kilgore’s class, stu-dents just finished a week long Stock Market Activity, a simulation of the joy and sorrow that the stock market can bring to investors. The kids’ reactions were hilarious each day; I think we have a lot of budding actors and actresses. Our next unit will be Ratios and Proportions. In Mrs. Gray’s Algebra class students have begun to solve multi-step equa-tions and are moving on to functions and linear equations. Please be sure your child has an appropriate calculator to use. If you are interested in pur-chasing a graphing calculator for your son or daughter, please email Mrs. Gray, and she will be happy to give you details.

Remember to schedule a conference with your child’s teachers. Scheduling conferences is being done on-line. You can find the link on the Harding website home page. Also, please continue to check pro-gress book each week and feel free to contact us with any concerns. Thank you for your continued sup-port.

The Seventh Grade Team

Max Budzar in Mrs. Gray’s class Photo taken by Jake Wright

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PTA Reflections 2014-2015 It’s back to school and time to think about The Annual PTA Reflections Competition. Starting off strong with a new logo, designed by our Early Childhood Reflections’ Chair, Karina Robin-son, that speaks to the fun and creativity which abounds within our Lakewood youth; and com-mittee representation throughout the district eager to assist throughout the process to make our program bigger and better than ever. Please meet this year’s Reflection Committee: Mona At-field and Tonya Nanni(Lakewood HS), Danielle Patera(Garfield); Megan Nagel (Harding); Kelley King(Grant); Kristopher Payne (Harr ison); Beth Kiraly-Bratko (Horace Mann) Sylvia Masek and Errin Wischhusen(Lincoln); Kelly Carroll(Roosevelt); Karina Robin-son(Ear ly Childhood PTA), and Ruth Koenigsmark, Council Chairperson. Reflections is an opportunity to celebrate the artistic talents of Lakewood’s young people, ages Pre-School to High School. The PTA Reflections program welcomes all grades and abilities to explore and be involved in the arts. Annually, hundreds of our students will reflect on a com-

mon theme and create original works of art in the categories of dance choreography, film production, literature, music composi-tion, photography , visual arts and Special Artist. The Special Artist is a new category to the competition that we are all excited about. This is a non-graded category and limited to students with physical, cognitive or mental health challenges.

This year’s theme is “The world would be a better Place

if……

Each student is encouraged to begin working on their submission. The Due

date for all submissions is Friday, November 21, 2014. Please see rules on

our Lakewood PTA Reflections page on Facebook or go to http://

www.ohiopta.org/PROGRAMS.aspx

The Committee has been working diligently to organize upcoming Reflections

events. Here is a glimpse of our calendar for the school year so far:

September 15-19-Start the Arts Week and Reflections Kick Off

October, Workshops for Students Citywide-TBA

November 21 - Entries must be received –Collection sites TBA

December 15 , 2014, Judging is completed for all entries

January 14, 2015-All winning entries will reach Ohio PTA for judging on state

level

January 28, 2015- Tentative Date for Reflections Recognition Ceremony

February & March-Winners on the State Level will be announced

May-Awards Ceremony for Local Winners-TBA Participation in the Reflections program is free to all students attending PTA/PTSA schools. This year we are also inviting all Lakewood schools public or private and Homeschoolers, even if a PTA/PTSA is not in place, to participate in the competition. There would be a nominal entrance fee for non PTA/PTSA schools. In closing, many thanks to the Lakewood Observer for stepping up to be our very first sponsor of this year’s Lakewood PTA Reflections Program. We hope our list will grow extensively to include a wide range of supporters from parents, to local artists to Lakewood Businesses all in support of promoting and encouraging our youth’s artistic abilities.

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Attention teachers, students and parents! It's time to start thinking about the PTA Reflections program for the school year. This year’s theme is, “The world would be a better place if…” There are six categories: Visual Arts: drawing, painting, collage, photographic collage, fiber work and com-puter-generated artwork. Photography: color, black and white, photomontage, multiple exposure, photo-grams and negative sandwiches. Dance Choreography Musical Composition: voice, original composition, instrumental, or a combo of voice and instrumental. Literature: fiction, non-fiction, prose, poetry, drama, song and lyrics. Film/ Video Production: animation, narrative, documentary, experimental and me-dia presentations.

Harding Herald

COMMUNITY MEETING ON CONSTRUCTION OCT. 23

The district will be holding a community meeting on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 6:30 pm in the Roo-

sevelt Gym at the former Franklin Elementary School, 13465 Franklin Blvd. The meeting will address what the neighborhoods of the three elementary schools that will be torn down can expect during the abatement, demolition and construction periods. This will also be a chance for residents to ask questions of the construction team and district officials.

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Parent(s): Parent / Teacher Conferences will be held November 12th through November 14th. Please take a moment to schedule your conferences now via our Conference Scheduler at http://www.ptcfast.com/schools/Harding_Middle_School or by using the Parent / Teacher Conference link available on the Harding Middle School page of the Lakewood City Schools website at http://lakewoodcityschools.org.schools.bz/school_home.aspx?schoolid=4. Once you’ve registered, you will receive an email with a link to the Conference schedule where you will be able to select your specific dates and times. If you do not have a valid email address and wish to schedule Conferences, please call 216-227-5785 for assistance.

Harding Herald

Spanish 1 at Harding – October 2014

¿Qué tal? What’s up? In Sp1 we have learned how to greet and say good bye in a variety of ways. We have learned how to ask for a telephone number, a person’s name, and how one is doing- ¿ cómo estás tú? Ask your student to “show what s/he knows” at home: greetings, good byes, AR verbs, dates, numbers, etc. What is more, students have formed groups to create their own dialog, tweak it with my revisions, and then practice it to a point when they present before the class in Spanish without notes! This presentation is authentic language and is a large portion of their sum-mative assessment for this unit. Other aspects of how your kids acquire language in SP 1 class is by repeated direct oral questions that students need to answer in Spanish. They cannot ‘opt out’. We use each other as helpers to model and teach the skill at hand. Despite the fear factor of sounding wrong or not saying it per-fectly, I encourage mistakes and push for responses no matter how frightening it may seem. Short quizzes- some announced and some not- are regular snap shots of student performance. Homework is a regular part of the week’s progress and I appreciate your regular support and reminders at home. Please look at Progressbook to see posted and attached assignments, vocabulary sheets and review items in the event that your child missed class or perhaps misplaced the assignment. I also suggest a few websites where students can practice lesson topics: quia.com; classzone.com; con-juguemos.com and studyspanihs.com. There are many more available and I encourage all Spanish student to take some time at home to learn of high quality Spanish practice websites. By Thanksgiving, we will have learned some food and clothing vocabulary and the basics of the past tense and will be able to read, speak and write at a beginning level in present and past tenses. A Spanish journal of 50 words per day writing in the past tense will be assigned over a long weekend during November.

¡Gracias! Señor Corrigan david.corrigan@lakewoodcityschools.org

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Art by Cesar Vargas,

Lakewood Elementary School Art

Teacher 2014.15

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Harding PTSA Membership News

Congratulations to our Early Bird Membership Winners:

Mr Niemantsverdriet (Staff), Anne Schleicher (Parent).

Enjoy your gift cards!

Joined Harding PTSA yet?

Your membership not only supports Harding’s staff and student projects, extra- curricular

groups, and school gifts (front sign) but it also supports local, state , and national PTA.

Your $5 Dues support PTA State and National’s advocacy and other endeavors.

Our student members also enjoy free admission to the quarterly dances (except the final,

8th

grade dance); raffle entry for some Ranger swag and Xchange gift card, and a lunch

party (for the homeroom with the most student members). This year our eighth grade

members may earn money toward their Washington DC trip by volunteering at the con-

cession stand and Market Day.

Questions? Contact Lisa Majeski, l.majeski@sbcglobal.net, 216-227-0442.

Market Day Thanks to everyone who ordered, your support is appreciated! October is "Cookie Dough Month," and an oppor-tunity for an additional profit of 15% - 30% to be made with each purchase of cookie dough. It's a good time to think ahead to holiday baking made easy with one or more of the twelve varieties of cookie dough. October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and for every purchase of Baby Baked Potatoes (Item #8175), Market Day will donate $0.50 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation this month. Your support of this cause is also appreciat-ed. Don't forget to place your order by Thursday Oc-tober 16th. Market Day pick-up will be on October 21st from 3:30-4:30. Any questions or assistance can be directed to Marie Banak at 216-409-1992/free2bmarie@cox.net

MARKET DAY

Market Day Pick-up Tuesday, October 21, 2014

4:00 pm Café

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Lakewood City Schools

1470 Warren Road

2014

1 4:30 Volleyball vs. Vermilion

2 7th/8th Choir Field Trip to Maltz Museum

3 Spirit Parade

4 10:00 CC @ LCCC LHS Homecoming Dance @ Gym

5 6 4:30 Volleyball @ Bay

7 6:00 8th FBall vs. Bay

8 4:30 Volleyball @ Midview

9 7:30 POPS Concert @ LHS Civic

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11 12:30 CC @ Bay

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13 4:30 Volleyball vs. N. Ridgeville

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17 NEOEA Day

No School

18 Volleyball Tourny 7th @ Midview 8th @ Avon

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20 Boys BBall Practice Begins

21 4:00 Market Day @ Café 7:00 PTSA Mtg. @ PD Center

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24 Buddy Day 8th Grade @ LHS 6:30-8:30 pm PTSA Dance @ Gym

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26 27 28 8th Grade Field Trip Performance of Les Mis

29 On-line Anti-Bullying Program @ Café For all grades 1º 6th, 2º 7th, 8º 8th

30 End of Q1

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