HIGHLANDS MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS FROM THE HORNET’S …xbox.district106.net/html/downloads/Notes and...

HIGHLANDS MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS FROM THE HORNET’S NEST

Principal Papierski’s Point of View

Dear Highlands Parents, Summer is fading, fall is arriving and Highlands is hopping! We are off to a wonderful start for another fantastic year. Thank you for your cooperation at registration. Parents were in and out in record time, thanks to all our volunteers. Open House was also a great success, thank you for being involved with your childs’ education. It is one of the many reasons Highlands’ students are so successful. I enjoyed meeting all of you and thank you for your support. Hornet’s Nest This is our first Hornet’s Nest of the year. I hope you find it filled with valuable information about what is happening within the middle school. We inform you monthly of what is taking place at each grade level, core subjects and elective classes, what extracurricular activities are taking place, a calendar of events, helpful ideas and articles to improve your child’s middle school years (Firm, Fair and Consistent and Helping Students Learn). We also include flyers, permission slips, PTC information and other important notices, so please make sure to read the entire packet. Bright Red Apple / A+ Award Our district has been recognized once again for our academic excellence! We recently have been awarded the Bright Red Apple Award. The award is based on five indicators: academic performance, pupil/teacher ratio, operating expenditure per pupil, educational level of teachers and average teacher salary. Out of 879 Illinois School Districts, only 84 were honored with this award. We were also awarded the Bright A+ Award. This award recognizes the district for the high percentages of students who met or exceeded state standards on the ISAT test. We were one of 62 school districts in Illinois to receive this award. Parent / Student / Teacher Conferences Can you believe conferences are right around the corner? We are looking forward to meeting and discussing your child's progress with you. I feel strongly that your child should be present in order to participate in the conversation regarding their performance. We will contact you to schedule a conference date. If you have not heard from us regarding your child's conference by November 1, and would like to visit with a teacher or grade level team, please contact the middle school office at 579-6890. Don't hesitate to stop in and schedule a conference in person. You are welcome to visit us any time!!!! Red Ribbon Week Red Ribbon Week is the week of October 22-26. It is a time to pledge to live a safe and drug-free life, a time to remember those we have lost in the fight against drugs and a time to show gratitude for all the lives that remain drug free. We will celebrate the week by wearing ribbons, reading a drug related fact during morning announcements, and giving students the opportunity to participate in a variety of ways to “Say no to drugs.”

October 2007

News from the Hornet’s Nest Page - 2-

Highlands visits Springfield The seventh grade students, teachers and I had a wonderful time in historical Springfield, Illinois! We boarded the buses at 6:45am and returned at 9:45pm. We visited Oak Bluff Cemetery (Lincoln’s Tomb, Illinois Viet Nam, WWII and Korean War Memorials), the Abraham Lincoln Museum, the New State Capitol and Lincoln’s home and neighborhood. Due to the outstanding behavior, cooperation and maturity of the students, this was one of the best field trips I have taken. I feel recognizing and developing pride in our state’s government is a very important part of social studies. Bullying - Friendly Reminder Teach assertiveness. Confidence is the best weapon against a bully, and fighting back is the worst. Help children devise clever comebacks, and get involved in anti-bullying efforts at school. Always intervene! Finally, please give me call and keep me apprised. Remember, I can’t help if I am not aware of what is happening. Irons Oaks We are looking forward to another great trip to Irons Oaks. This outdoor adventure affords our students the opportunity to work as teams, build trust and increase one’s self-esteem. Please note, that the 7th grade students will be going on October 29 and 30 (PTC calendar is incorrect). The eighth grade students will be going October 22, 23, 29 and 30. Please turn in both permission slip and waiver form. Check with your child for the date they are scheduled. See enclosed Irons Oaks packet. District Web site Please remember to use our web site for many different reasons. It will help you with calendar dates, homework assignments and the current district news. Together we will not only prepare our children for the future, we will prepare them to lead the future! Sincerely, Mr. Michael Papierski


HIGHLANDS CLASSROOM HIGHLIGHTS

Spotlight on Sixth Grade

Grade 6 is going "GREEN"! This year the 6th grade team is studying ecology and learning ways that we can minimize our impact on the earth. Here is a "green" tip that you can use at home: Change a lightbulb, and you can change the world! Incandescent lightbulbs are 80-90% heat. Running inefficient products burns a lot more fuel and adds more carbon to the environment. A compact flourescent lightbulb is 70-75% more efficient. They cost more up front, but they will save you money in the very first month! If every family in America changed just one lightbulb in their home, it would save the equivalent of the carbon emissions from 800,000 cars!

Language Arts – Ms. O’Brien and Ms. VanVoltenburg The 6th grade students started the year off with the humorous novel Regarding the Fountain and an innovative redesign project. Students used their imaginations to redesign everything from lockers to beds, and then they wrote about their designs in a friendly letter. We are currently reading selections from “A Gallery of Characters,” in the literature anthology and discovering how an author develops and reveals a character for the reader. This past week, the 6th graders have just finished up their personal narrative essays. The students were able to choose an event of personal significance and describe why that experience was important to them. Next we will begin a grammar unit of study focusing on “The Sentence and Its Parts.” This unit will cover subjects and predicates, as well as fragments and run-on sentences. The students have enjoyed using the district’s new laptop computers for a variety of purposes, including word processing, learning new vocabulary words, and creating character webs using a program called Inspiration. Math – Mrs. Novotny The 6th graders are off to a great start in math! We just finished our first test on decimals and have been practicing our basic facts every week. We practice our basic facts with timed tests called "Dust Busters". The first test was 60 addition facts in 1 minute. All students have been working hard to improve their individual scores. Students will begin to practice 64 multiplication facts in 1 minute. In the upcoming month, students will learn a new group of numbers, INTEGERS! They will learn to represent, graph, and order integers, as well as find absolute values. They will also use order of operations to compute all four mathematical operations with integers. Remember, you can always use the online textbook for homework or additional support at pearsonsuccessnet.com. We will continue to use our estimating skills with a Halloween spider activity. This activity also incorporates skills needed to find measures of central tendencies like mean, median, and mode. Look for our spider in the 6th grade hallway!


HIGHLANDS CLASSROOM HIGHLIGHTS 6th grade (cont.)

Science – Mr. Swick The 6th grade scientists recently completed their CSI lab of a fictitious crime scene that developed background knowledge in the scientific method. Students honed their observation skills creating chromatography tests on pen ink to determine the brand of pen used to write the crime scene note. They compared handwriting samples and fingerprints to help eliminate suspects. Tests were done on broken glass and a mysterious white powder found at the crime scene. In the process, lab writing skills were enhanced and refined as kids worked on hypothesis writing, data collection, and developing detailed conclusions to scientific questions. The rest of the first quarter will be devoted to plate tectonics. 6th graders will use Bunsen burners and chemistry equipment to develop a working hypothesis of what caused plate movement. They will finish the unit by building a model of the types of plate boundaries found on earth using graham crackers and frosting. Social Studies – Mrs. Sandusky We have traveled all the way back to pre-historic times to begin our study of world history. The students have had a chance to think like archaeologists by examining a group of artifacts and making predictions about the type of person that would have been associated with those objects. They also got into their “caves” to produce a cave drawing in the style of pre-historic artists. The emphasis on archaeology has continued as we moved into a study of Mesopotamia. The students experienced life as a Mesopotamian through activities such as writing cuneiform messages, participating in a trial using the laws of Hammurabi and bartering for common Mesopotamian products. The highlight of our Mesopotamian unit was a visit to the Oriental Institute. The students saw a variety of ancient artifacts including a 16 foot Assyrian lamassus – a human headed winged bull that protected the king of Assyria! We also got a preview of our next unit, ancient Egypt and Nubia!


HIGHLANDS CLASSROOM HIGHLIGHTS 7th Grade News

Language Arts - Mrs. Cleys and Mrs. Racolta We are off to a great start this year! Students have recently completed an informal narrative letter, a descriptive response to literature, and an ISAT extended response. We have just wrapped up our short story unit in which students analyzed short fiction pieces and applied their knowledge of fiction elements.

This month we will begin reading Avi’s Nothing But the Truth. During this unit, students will be studying persuasion and persuasive writing. Students will explore different persuasive techniques in both the media and literature. Among other activities, the class will be divided into ad teams and will create an original ad project. After finishing the novel, students will begin working on a culminating writing project. They will be working on a persuasive response to the literature, and we will incorporate the Six Traits of Writing. In addition, we will take a closer look at MLA Works Cited format and parenthetical documentation and will incorporate this into our writing. Seventh grade PAL students got “Inspired” this last week as they completed their culminating short story project using Inspiration software and technology. The project involved students analyzing short stories and identifying key internal/external conflicts as well as creating symbols for each conflict. Along with this, more in depth writing was done to demonstrate how these conflicts affected the plot and how a resolution was found. The projects were a great success. During the course of the short story unit, students completed various responses to literature including a point-of-view twist with the story “Eleven,” and a choice of writing activities with the suspenseful story “The Interlopers”. Students studied the elements of fiction and have a strong foundation of fiction terminology that will come in handy as we continue our various literature units throughout the year. Our next literature unit will be looking at a unique novel in the fiction genre: a documentary novel. Like the other language arts sections, students will be reading Avi’s Nothing But the Truth. This will be our only overlapping literature piece of the year, and students in PAL will be moving at an accelerated pace and will be studying complex literary techniques such as satire. This text will be used to kickoff a grammar unit pertaining to persuasion and persuasive writing. Students will be exploring different persuasive techniques in both the media and literature. Students will also have the chance to flex their persuasive skills by working in ad teams to demonstrate their knowledge of persuasive techniques. All students in seventh grade will compose a persuasive writing piece that incorporates the Six Traits of Writing. Students will learn to use the MLA format for their papers and works cited. We will also be teaching students how to use parenthetical documentation to give credit to their literature references. This is one of my favorite units of the year, and I look forward to helping your son/daughter develop their persuasive writing skills! Social Studies - Mr. Kissel The 7th grade Geography classes have been studying map and globe skills and our state of Illinois. The trip to Springfield included visits to the state Capitol, Lincoln's home and tomb, and the new Lincoln Memorial Library. In the next few weeks, we will be studying weather and climate with an emphasis on the relationship between different climate zones and vegetation found in specific regions of the world.


HIGHLANDS CLASSROOM HIGHLIGHTS 7h grade (cont.)

Math - Mrs. Curran In Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1, the students have been learning about basic concepts in Geometry. They have learned about geometric properties on polygons, angles and angle relationships, and congruency. They also worked with creating circle graphs and discovered the difference between the three types of transformations. Their first test was on October 2 and October 3. In the next unit, students will learn about area, volume, and surface area of some basic geometric figures. It is very important that they include the three parts to the problem: the formula, the substitutions and the answer. Family Math Extra Credit Opportunity for all classes: What is the radius of a circle that has a circumference of 576 feet? Complete it in your extra credit booklet and show your work. The textbooks are available online! Your child should have shown you the parent letter that lists the website, their username and their password. If you have not seen it, please email me and I will send another letter home. Since the books are so heavy, we are trying to encourage the students to use the online text and leave the bulky books in class. Please give it a try. If you and your child become more confident with the online textbook, have them return the book to me and I will keep the books in the classroom for them. Note about online texts: Please make sure that the 2007 books are being selected. Science - Mr. Anagnostopoulos Our young scientists have been working hard testing and experimenting with Newton’s three laws of motion. Some of the labs that they have worked on were to create a ramp that minimizes friction, calculating speed, velocity, and acceleration. In addition, they designed roller coasters on the computers and tested out their designs based on speed, acceleration and G-forces.

We are slowly approaching our water rocket and racecar labs, sometime in mid-October. Check the school website for the times and dates.


HIGHLANDS CLASSROOM HIGHLIGHTS

THE 8th GRADE TEAM “MAKING A DIFFERENCE” IN OCTOBER As the leaves change color on the trees, students are reviewing, gaining new skills, and discovering new interests. The 8th Grade Team’s mission is to assist students in becoming insightful, creative, analytical, and responsible communicators in all academic subjects. We are looking forward to a great year and working together, across all content areas, on the 8th Grade Research Project, as well as many other interdisciplinary experiences planned throughout the year. If we are striving, if we are working, if we are trying, to the best of our ability, to improve day by day, then we are in the line of our duty. -Heber J. Grant Language Arts – Mrs. Babcock and Mrs. Schweizer The focus this month is on short stories, novel units, writing in a variety of formats, and oral presentations. Mark your calendars for our annual 8th Grade Shakespeare Field Trip taking place on March 18, 2008. The students will be seeing Romeo and Juliet. Mrs. Schweizer’s language arts students spent time on a variety of writing topics in September. In October, they will be writing descriptive essays. They will also be reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. The PAL class will study the famous classic, The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas. All classes are working on vocabulary development this year. The students have been busy learning a multitude of new words. Mrs. Babcock’s classes have been using short stories and novel units to review and reinforce a variety of literary terms and the elements of literature. In October students will be using dramatic readings, writing essays, and creating oral presentations to demonstrate their understanding of how an author uses these literary terms and the elements of literature to entertain the reader and advance the story line. These techniques will then be used to improve student writing, along with the writing skills of the Six Traits of Writing program. Also, throughout the month, spelling, vocabulary, and English grammar are intertwined within the various language arts activities. As always, a monthly book report is required of each student.

Math – Mrs. Funk Mrs. Funk’s regular 8th grade class will be studying operations with integers, matrices, the distributive property, real number properties, and probability of single and compound events. The first quarter project of creating a “How To” page for the class book has started. Instructions, deadlines, and a copy of the grading rubric can be found on the homework web site. I am looking forward to seeing the final pages. In keeping with the district’s mathematics initiative of moving toward the use of more online technology and less reliance on the textbook, students who feel comfortable not having a textbook may return the book to me. I will have the books available in the classroom for use during the school day. During the month of October, the PAL 8th grade class will be finishing their study of real numbers, matrices, the distributive property, and probability. Students will begin studying algebraic equations with single step equations and quickly advance to multiple step equations and equations with variables on both sides of the equal sign. The study of functions will continue to be developed, as well as a review of rates, ratios, and percents. The graphing calculator will be used in creating scatter plots and graphing linear functions.


HIGHLANDS CLASSROOM HIGHLIGHTS 8th Grade (cont.)

Science – Mr. Zeman Mr. Zeman’s students are excited about studying the digestive system of the human body and then viewing the digestive system of the frog! Every student has shown that they are focused scientists who will be ready to explore the sharks at the end of the year. The next system they are going to study is the circulatory system, where they will get to see who has the most heart when it comes to science effort.

Social Studies – Mr. Steele Mr. Steele’s 8th graders just finished discussing the events that led our country to a civil war. They will now spend the month of October focusing on the war itself. The students will begin exploring this time period by becoming people who lived through the war. They will share their experiences with the class during in-class presentations. So, if your son or daughter comes home looking for help in finding blue and gray clothes, now you’ll know why! As they continue the study of the Civil War, they will also look at the food and fashion from this time period. Your sons and daughters will be either making a typical dish to share with the class or making an outfit that either men or women would have worn during this period. Who knows, maybe we’ll find the next Rachel Ray or Emeril in one of the classes! We will finish the unit by watching Glory, a movie that truly gives students a firsthand look into the efforts that African Americans made to the Northern war effort. This will also open their eyes to the hardships faced by these former slaves as they continued to fight for equal rights. After the movie, students will decide as a class whether or not African Americans gained anything by fighting alongside other Northern soldiers during the war. HISTORY FACT OF THE MONTH At the beginning of the Civil War, many soldiers did not have matching uniforms. This created a situation in which it was difficult to tell who was on your side. We learned that at the Battle of Bull Run, some soldiers killed their own men because of this problem. The following are some specific historical examples that illustrate this point. Whatever a man’s taste in dress might be, his individuality was often reflected in what he wore: Union General Ulysses S. Grant reported to duty wearing a uniform his wife, Julia, made for him. Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson first appeared on the battlefield wearing a dingy uniform of a professor at the Virginia Military Academy. The worst dressed award could go to Confederate General William Jones-- he wore blue jeans, a hickory shirt, and a homespun coat. While the best dressed award might have gone to General George Armstrong Custer--his uniform was made of blue velvet trimmed heavily in gold.


Dans les classes de français….. In the 6th grade French classes we are introducing ourselves and conversing about the weather and our feelings. We are learning the vocabulary for numbers, the calendar and weather. We will be playing “Loto” with a number of our vocabulary categories. We are also singing – a lot! Ask your child to greet you in French! In 7th grade we have just finished learning about French speaking countries through our geography projects. We are talking about telling-time and will be talking about activities we like (and do not like) to do. The 8th graders are learning how to get around a typical “quartier” (neighborhood) in France, and how to ask directions for where they want to go. We are learning the names of different shops and establishments. We will also be starting our Paris projects this month.

Spanish

6th grade – Ms. VanVoltenburg The first block for 6th grade Spanish is in full swing. The students have finished two units. The first unit was on classroom objects and the second on shapes, colors, and animals. The students will also have the opportunity to learn more about “Día de los Muertos” or “Day of the Dead.” This traditional Hispanic holiday takes place October 30 through November 2nd. In Spanish the students are now finishing unit three which focuses on days of the week and places. The students are able to write complete sentences with the vocabulary they have learned thus far. 7th grade – Mrs. Rus and Ms. VanVoltenburg The 7th grade Spanish students are off to a great start. They have learned many new songs and even created a few of their own using the Spanish vowels. The students just finished up the preliminary chapter and are starting unit one. The preliminary chapter was a review of many of the things that they learned in 6th grade. In unit one the students are starting to learn about the many Spanish speaking communities in the United States. They are also beginning to learn vocabulary related to professions as well as new verbs and pronouns. The students are looking forward to learning about the many Spanish traditions as the first one, “Day of the Dead,” is fast approaching. 8th grade – Mrs. Rus The 8th grade students have been reviewing all of the material they learned in 7th Grade last year. They have done a great job! Now we are on to Unit 3, Chapter 2. It covers Spanish vocabulary pertaining to sports. Students will be discussing playing sports, what sports equipment is needed, and the locations where the sports are played. They will also be learning how to express their opinions in Spanish by learning how to make comparisons and how to say what they know how to do.

Foreign Language


Reading Workshop – Mrs. Sheers In reading workshop, students meet with the middle school reading specialist for their language arts/reading class. Students are taught in small groups of five to seven members. Classroom materials and supplemental materials are utilized. The goal of the program is to support students to become more independent and effective readers and writers in a motivating, small group format. There is a reading workshop for each grade level. Social Work – Mrs. Luetkehans It has been an exciting start of the new year for many new parents in the district. It has been full of new changes and challenges for the students, as well as the parents. On September 17th, there was an evening for new families to come and share their thoughts and feelings about Highlands. It was a relaxed night where ideas were shared between school and home. We look forward to continuing this event at the beginning of every school year for new families to the district. As the school year is now in full swing, students will be bringing home consent forms for parents to sign giving permission for me to see your students. Students who will be brining these home will be students who have requested to see me either for group or individual sessions. Please return these consents to the middle school office. I am looking forward to working with all your students.

Highlands Show Choir Sopranos Altos Tenors Caitlin Campion Erin Blaber Tyler Allen Lauren Carlson Stefi Culafic Peter Bornhoff Mary Gronke Caroline Dost Arthur Catrambone Margaret Holt Leslie Hernandez Joe Drummond Sarah Holt Taryn MacLean Joey Halpin Elyse Jost Maggie McDermott Connor Hughes Alaina Kafkes Joy Mitchell Ritchie Podkowski Naomi O’Reilly Maggie O’Brien Peter Rundle Linnea Ridlen Flora Petrini Blake Shockley Taylor Rodemoyer Jaclyn Puccini Hunter Soyak Christine Schied Katherine Raleigh Tim Taylor Elaine Smith Mary Smyers Josh Will Becky Valek Taylor Sopron Jake Wittenburg


HIGHLANDS PEFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS

The Performance Team

Fall 2007-2008

Welcome back to Highlands Middle School! We wish you an exciting, engaging, interesting, and productive year. The Performance Team is happy that we will be able to work with each and every 6th, 7th, and 8th grader at sometime throughout the year. The students’ choices were made last spring for the areas of technology, music, art, and health. The student will move through his/her schedule according to those choices. It is a successful model for students to participate in activities that they enjoy the most. We are all looking forward to a terrific year!

Music 6th grade: Our sixth grade students have been working on several of the basic elements of music including note-reading, rhythm, and composing. We have discussed and performed the whole note and rest, the half note and rest, the quarter note and rest, the 8th note, and the 16th note. We have placed these notes on the staff to create pitch and composed melodies in the keys of C, G, and F. Currently, the students have begun working in the keyboard lab, playing the C major scale and the A minor scale. We are building our note reading skills in order to work up to playing chords on the guitar, which is our culminating unit.

7th & 8th grade: The first block class has the seventh graders and eighth graders playing guitars. The students have been playing several chords including: Em, E, E7, D, A, Am, A7, G, C, and B7. We have worked through 3 packets of various songs from simple folk songs to pop and rock classics. The students completed the unit on the blues. With the help of Wynton Marsalis, we studied the 12-bar blues form. The students had a choice of playing the blues in four different keys. The students partnered up and wrote their own blues tune. Finally, we are working on a new project using our newly purchased technology. From a provided list, the students could choose from famous classical, jazz, or rock guitarists and the guitars they played. I look forward to hearing and seeing their presentations including powerpoints, posters, and imovies.


HIGHLANDS PEFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS (cont.)

ART with Ms. Johnson 6th grade We have just finished our drawing unit, which turned out very well! Students have learned about line, pattern and shading during this unit, and they are very proud of their work. Our next unit will involve paint and silhouettes. Students will be able to choose which work to put in the Art Fair in May. 7th grade Come in and check out our ceremonial masks! Students have finished their ceramic masks, which turned out great! They are currently working on their plaster shoe projects. Students really enjoy this project, and I look forward to the final products 8th grade Students have completed their grid portrait unit. They took pictures of themselves, and learned the grid technique to help with accuracy. They have also worked with shading and line. The projects have come out great! Currently, students are completing a pastel rendering of subjects related to nature.

Technology - Mrs. Lanciloti 6th Grade Students are off to a great start learning about computer literacy and practicing their keyboarding skills. Students spent a lot of time researching technology terms and presenting them to the class. Ask your child what word he/she researched and how it relates to our technological world. Currently, students are mastering their skills of spreadsheet, formulas and graphing in Microsoft Excel. Next, 6th graders will learn how to draw, paint and design a workplace of their future job. 7th Grade Students are learning how to use GarageBand and iMovie software. Ask your child what song he/she created in GarageBand. Every student created a 2-3 minute song and creatively named it. Students are able to burn their song to a CD for you to enjoy. Now students are researching a famous landmark or famous person for an iMovie project. Students are finding important and interesting facts, pictures, music and video for their final project. 8th Grade Students in Keyboarding are practicing their typing skills to improve speed and accuracy. They just completed an alphabet test and will soon complete a keyboard test. Have your child show off their keyboarding skills for you. Can your child type faster than you without looking at their hands? You can cover their hands with a kitchen towel and find out. The 8th graders should be typing around 30 wpm with no more than 2-3 errors per paragraph.



6th grade - Health – Mrs. Lanciloti and Mr. Swick Sixth grade health students started the school year learning about the four parts of health (physical, emotional, social, and mental). We just finished a unit on self-esteem and self-concept. Each child created a newspaper about him/her self and shared it with the class. They watched a movie to learn about their personality traits. Some of the vocabulary we have studied include integrity, assertiveness, and respect. Students also worked together to turn negative statements into positive ones. Help your child build healthy self-esteem and confidence through positive choices. 7th grade - Health – Ms. Johnson Students have recently finished their unit on stress, stress management and how to plan and use time wisely. The next unit involves mental health and relationships. These various topics help encourage students to foster healthy relationships, gives them tips of managing and decreasing stress and how to make good healthy decisions in school and life. 7th grade - Health – Mrs. Rus The topics covered in Healthy Choices 2 are: Tobacco, Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Nutrition. The students have learned about the effects of these drugs and refusal skills so they can make educated and healthy decisions. We also discussed positive nutritional choices. Student will be informed so that they will make healthy decisions for themselves in the future. 8th grade - Health – Ms. Johnson Students have completed their unit on sex education, and will start a unit on nutrition. The previous unit encourages good reproductive health, and making healthy decisions with their health and relationships. The nutrition unit focuses on the food pyramid, eating properly and how to recognize various eating disorders. 8th grade - Health – Mrs. Sandusky Health 2 -- Drugs Awareness and Careers In this block of health, students look at all forms of drugs: medical, legal and illegal. We look at the effects of drugs such as alcohol, tobacco, stimulants, depressants, prescription medications and more! Besides looking at the physical and psychological effects of using these drugs, we also analyze how the media influences our beliefs about these drugs. In one activity, the students will analyze a movie script for references to alcohol and tobacco. A major portion of the curriculum focuses on how addiction to these substances can occur and how drug abusers get help for their addiction. Finally, we look at legal issues surrounding the use of various drugs. Block 2 of health wraps up with a brief look at future career interests. The students will take a survey that will gauge their interests to expose them to careers that match with their preferences or talents. They will also have the chance to make their own resume using a guided format on the computer.



The 6th, 7th, and 8th grade girls’ physical education students are finishing their flag football unit. They will have a written test at the end of the unit and will be ready to start their soccer unit soon. The boys are finishing up their soccer unit. They will also have a written test at the end of the unit and will start flag football. The students are also participating in fitness days every Tuesday and Thursday. Some activities that they have completed are: shuttle run, cross country colors, four corner capture the flag, barnyard tag, fitness stations, partner mile, and speed ball. A new rental system has been put in place this year. If students forget their P.E. uniform, they are given a rental uniform to wear for the day. On these days, they still lose their participation points. In order to gain their points back, the student can do one of two things within two days of the incident. Students can come in at 8:00 in the morning (or another scheduled time) to ride a stationary bike or they can write a one page article review on any article relating to physical education or health.

Highlands Orchestra

The Orchestra is off to a great start. We are working on several difficult pieces for upcoming performances. The Sixth grade string players are preparing a few Halloween songs to play for their classmates' lunchtime on October 31st. The Eighth grade string players are preparing a Suite of Renaissance Dances to perform with Lyons Township High School Orchestra on November 1st. Additionally, all orchestra members interested in playing in small groups--watch out for our Chamber Music Signup on Thursday, October 11th. Contact Mr. Koning for more details.

Physical Education – Mrs. Eskra, Mrs. Kolar, and Mr. Muys



Welcome back Highlands’ band members and parents. We had a fabulous start to the band year. Practicing is up and attendance is great. Let’s keep working hard on achieving punctuality for rehearsals and lessons. We have three great pieces in the works for our December 13th concert. Jazz Band auditions went wonderfully this year. The competition was tough. Thank you to all who tried out and congratulations to the 2007-2008 Jazz Band. We will be inviting vocalists to try out for the jazz band again this year. Look for audition information to be posted soon! Basketball Pep Band is off to a great start. We have a large and enthusiastic group this year. We will be supporting both the boys’ and the girls’ basketball teams for four games each season. Pep Band is also very excited about the prospect of designing and ordering shirts to be worn during the basketball games. We voted on the shirt type and after a very close vote, t-shirts will be the official pep band shirts. I look forward to a great Pep Band season! Also, I want to extend congratulations to the five Highlands band students that participated in the VanderCook Honor Band on September 29th. You made Highlands proud with your musical talents and wonderful behavior! I’m looking forward to continuing the wonderful musical year we have already begun! Mrs. Hardesty


CLUBS

Computer Club-Mrs. Lanciloti & Mr. Swick A new computer club has begun for the middle school students. At our first meeting we had 20 students attend. Some of the topics they are interested in exploring further include programming, website design, flash animation, iMovie, Photoshop, Google Sketchup, and taking apart a computer and putting it back together. Look on the school website for upcoming meetings. Our club will meet twice a month on Tuesdays. The next meeting will be Oct. 16.

Art Club We have started up, and off and rolling! Students are encouraged to explore their creative side! We will eventually be teaming up with the Service Club for a major project later this fall. We will be working on ceramic bowls to be sold and benefit those in need. Also…. our elephant has come home! He is sitting outside the middle school office, come by and say hello! Join us at the March Dinner Dance where “Elepatches” will be auctioned off!

Service Club News SERVICE CLUB NEWS The Highlands Middle School Service Club has an ambitious year planned, and all middle school students are invited to join in and help out! (Parent helpers are welcome to assist with our projects, too!) This year we'll be "teaming up" with other Highlands groups, giving our projects a more far-reaching effect. For starters, we've joined forces with the girls' basketball teams to raise money through bake sales held at home games for the "Nothing But Nets" organization. "Nothing But Nets" provides insecticide-treated bed nets to families in Africa to prevent the spread of malaria. Some of the other projects we have planned include: • Ronald McDonald House meal preparation and pop tab collection drive • Project Linus Blanket Day to provide fleece blankets to children who have suffered from an illness or trauma • "Empty Bowls" fundraising dinner to combat hunger in the Chicagoland area • "Adopt-a-Child" gift drive to share our blessings with less fortunate children during the holiday season • Nike "Reuse-a-Shoe" athletic shoe collection drive to recycle those worn out or outgrown gym shoes and keep them out of landfills In the words of Helen Keller, "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." Let's join together this year to really make a difference in the lives of others! Our next meeting date will be Friday, October 12th, 2007. In addition to this meeting, students are welcome to contribute baked goods and come help with our bake sales on home basketball game days. Students who are interested in joining Service Club should see Ms. O'Brien in room 152 for more information and a calendar of upcoming events.


Summer Reading Program

Congratulations to the students who participated in the first Middle School Summer Reading Program. Nearly 11 million words were read by the 39 middle school participants who entered their summer reading on the school website! Thanks VERY MUCH to the following local businesses that donated prizes: Baker’s Square Restaurant

Barone’s Pizza

Border’s Bookstore

Domino’s Pizza

Highland Queen Restaurant

Little Joe’s Restaurant

Ledo’s Pizza

Palmer Place Restaurant

Rolling Lanes Bowling Alley

Roly Poly Sandwiches Message from the Nurse’s Office: Please note that current Illinois State Law prohibits schools from administering any medication, be it prescription or over-the-counter medications, to students without a completed District 106 approved Medication Administration Form, that includes a doctor’s written orders and a signed consent from the student’s parent. In addition, no student should be carrying medications at school. The only exception is students with asthma who have permission from both their doctor and parent to carry an inhaler. Further details regarding the Middle School policy regarding medication administration can be found in the Parent Handbook. Please feel free to call me with any questions you might have regarding this medication administration policy at (708) 485-3418/ (708) 218-7812. Thank you for your cooperation. Mrs. Arvans RN, BSN Certified School Nurse


Highlands 5K Fun Run & Walk

On behalf of the District 106 Educational Foundation, I would like to thank everyone who helped make the 4th Annual Highlands 5K Fun Run and Walk a huge success.

The list includes Dr. Armanetti, Dr. Powers-Richard, Mr. Papierski, Kent Hoefling, members of the school staff, the police departments of Cook County, Western Springs and Indian Head Park, the Pleasantview Fire Department, the Township of Lyons, local businesses, Highlands’ families, and of course all of the volunteers and those who came out to run, walk and cheer that morning. Your contributions were greatly appreciated.

I also want to give thanks to one of our third graders. His design was selected by the District 106 Educational Foundation to be featured on the front of our race t-shirts. For his winning effort, he chose a one-year Family Membership to Shedd Aquarium. A fourth-grader and fifth grader also received gift certificates to Blockbuster Video for their runner-up entries.

For those who love statistics, here are some highlights from the big day:

There were 114 runners who ran the 5K course, while 65 others opted for the one mile loop.

Our largest gender-age groups of 5K runners were Male 40-49 and Female 30-39 (15 each). As for the one-mile, the largest groups were Male 8 and under (14) and Female 8 and under (12).

No records were broken in the 5K this year, though there may have been had our top three runners not veered off course. Allen Brecher of LaGrange was the overall 5K run winner with a time of 19:56. The top finishing female was Jessica Mossuto of Park Forest, who posted a time of 21:13.

Two new records set in the one mile run this year—33 year-old Marcus Dabney of Peoria was the overall winner with a lightning fast time of 4:55. Meanwhile, our top finishing female, seventh-grader Randie Speir, established the new mark by posting a time of 6:41.

The median finishing time for the 5K was 29:24, 57 seconds faster than last year. At this rate, we may have someone ready for the 2016 Olympics.

Results for all participants of the 2007 Highlands 5K and one-mile runs can be found on the District 106 website at www.district106.net.

One final note--if you finished in the top three of your gender’s age category and did not receive a ribbon on race day, please call Lou Kafkes at 708.246.7336.

HIGHLANDS MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS FROM THE HORNET’S …xbox.district106.net/html/downloads/Notes and...

Documents

Transcript of HIGHLANDS MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS FROM THE HORNET’S …xbox.district106.net/html/downloads/Notes and...