J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 5 S E C O N D Q U A R T E R

Middle Matters

It’s a new year at Lugoff Elgin Middle School, and with a new year we have the opportunity to reflect on the past and think about the future. During first semester students demonstrated Understanding Hearts and Positive Attitudes (UHPA) in a variety of ways. They collected canned goods for the needy and donated money to Relay for Life. Students were successful on the athletic fields and in the classroom.

This was evidenced by the conference title earned by the volleyball team and the Excellent Absolute Rating on the 2014 South Carolina Annual School Report Card. As we head into 2015, I want to encourage parents to attend PTO and School Improvement Council (SIC) meetings. Both of these organizations work hard to make LEMS a great school. SIC will sponsor a Parent University on USA Test Prep during the February 24 meeting. This program is used to target student strengths and weaknesses in all content areas and can be accessed from home. Mark your calendar for the dates below and make plans to join us for PTO and SIC meetings. Both organizations meet at 5:30pm in the Academic Team Meeting Room. I look forward to seeing you at these meetings!

PTO meetings: SIC meetings: February 10 January 27

March 10 February 24

April 28 (with SIC) March 24

May 12 April 28 (with PTO)

With Leopard pride, Karen S. Bullard

Upcoming

Events

Feb. 13

Early Dismissal

Feb. 16

Interims

March 30–

April 3

Spring Break

Feb. 20

Monthly SPOT

celebration

6– Extra Recess

7– Mini Dance

8-Electronics

March 27

6– Mini Dance

7-Electronics

8-Extra Recess

March 8th

Daylight Savings

Time

Feb. 23

Awards Day

P A G E 2

We’ve had a busy first semester with a successful fall catalog fundraiser. LEMS t-shirts and hoodies as well as Leopard Cards are still available for sale in the front office and make great gifts. The profits from these fundraisers are used to benefit the learning environment at our school. We welcome your attendance at our meetings, which generally last no more than an hour. The next one is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 5:30 p.m. in the Academic Team Meeting Room. Also, we are collecting Campbell’s Soup Labels for Education, Tyson Project A+ labels, Sunny D labels and Coke product codes (usually found on the Coke product caps.) LEMS earns points for these labels that can be used to purchase items for the school. At the end of the nine weeks, the homeroom class from each grade that turns in the most labels will win a pizza party and extra recess. The student who brings in the most from each homeroom will receive a special treat for themselves and their teacher. Please send these labels in a Ziploc bag clearly marked with your child’s name and homeroom teacher. Students received Publix Partner Cards in their first report card. The card is already registered for our school so every time you use it, LEMS gets a percentage back. In addition, the school can receive 1% of your sale to LEMS if you use your Target Visa credit card when you make a purchase and designate our school at no extra cost to you. Again, thank you for your support! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Mary Anne Byrd, LEMS PTO president maryanne.byrd@kcsdschools.net or 669-4216

Media Center Happenings

There is more

treasure in

books than in

all the pirate’s

loot on

Treasure

Island.” —

Walt Disney

The mission of

Lugoff-Elgin

Library Media

Center is to

assist members

of the learning

community in

becoming

effective users

of information

and to foster

the love of

reading.

Reading Rocks Lounge

Our Reading Rocks Lounge is open! The RRL has a

reading area, board games, XBox Kinnect, and a

white board on which the students can draw.

Here’s how to visit the RRL

during free time

1. Pay 3 SPOT cards.

2. Write 3 book reviews. Forms are

available in the Media Center.

3. Special incentive given

by teachers.

Students in Mrs. Stockman’s English I class and Ms. Gil’s Spanish I class have been invited to Lugoff-Elgin High School to see visiting author Laura Resau in March.

Ditching Dewey

We have ditched the Dewey Decimal system In our Fiction section of the library. Fiction books

are now organized by each book’s primary genre. Our genres are Adventure, Fantasy,

Graphic Novel, Historical Fiction, Humor, Realistic Fiction, Scary, Science Fiction, Sports, and a

special section for the South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee books. Children can now browse for library books like they would look for a book in a book store. Organization by

genre is a current trend across the country, and we have been pleased with student response to

the change. We will keep the Dewey Decimal classification system in our nonfiction section.

We collect Boxtops

for Education labels

to support our PBIS

program. Money will

be used for prize

drawings, SPOT

celebrations and SPOT

Card rewards. Every

Boxtop point is a

penny, and pennies make dollars! The

homeroom with the most Boxtops turned in

will receive a treat for the entire class.

Thank you for your support!

Parents, the new

assessment your 6th -

8th grade student will

take for Writing,

English, Reading, and

Math is the ACT

Aspire.

The biggest change is

that the ACT Aspire assessments will be timed. Students

will have 30 minutes for Writing, 30-35 minutes for

English, 60 minutes for Reading and 55-65 minutes for

Math depending on the grade. Teachers will be working

hard over the next few months to prepare our students

for this expectation. More information will be coming

soon. Go to http://www.discoveractaspire.org/ for

more information.

New Assessment information

ACT Aspire/SC PASS

The dates for the assessment are as below: April 28 ACT Aspire Writing/English April 29 ACT Aspire Reading April 30 ACT Aspire Mathematics May 1 (Tentative) ACT Aspire Science May 7 SC PASS Science May 8 SC PASS Social Studies

Saturday, January 17th , the Mighty Leopard Wrestling Team qualified an impressive 14 wrestlers for this year's state tournament. These young men will represent the team in a quest for a third consecutive State Championship. Qualifiers are listed below:

The Mighty Leopard Wrestling Team

will be holding a "Spirit Night" at the

Camden Chick-Fil-A. Wrestlers will be

handing out fliers in which we are

asking people to simply eat at Chick-

Fil-A during the designated time. A

portion of the total sales will be

donated to our program. Be sure to

present your flier to the cashier and bring the

entire family out for some great chicken!

Spirit Chick-Fil-A

Tuesday, January 27th

5-8 p.m.

MIGHTY LEOPARD WRESTLERS QUALIFY 14 FOR THE STATE TOURNAMENT

Go Leopards!

Jay Wilson 80 lbs Sectional Champion

Jacob Paulson 80 lbs Sectional Runner-Up

Jai’Zaiviah Portee 92 lbs Sectional Runner-Up

Tate Hall 92 lbs Sectional 4th Place

Caleb McDonald 98 lbs Sectional Runner-Up

Jaden Robinson 104 lbs Sectional 4th Place

Hunter Mathis 110 lbs Sectional 3rd Place

Jake Laffin 117 lbs Sectional Runner-Up

Austin Rabon 117 lbs Sectional 3rd Place

Markeith Drakeford 124 lbs Sectional 3rd Place

Brandon Lankford 131lbs Sectional 3rd Place

Chris Collins 146lbs Sectional Champion

McKenzie Barrineau 170 lbs Sectional Runner-Up

Cody Russell HWT Sectional Champion

Upcoming Wrestling Events

Jan 24, 2015 9AM-4PM

Carolina Invitational @ Lexington HS

Jan. 31, 2015 9AM-4PM

Conference Tournament @ LEMS

LEMS wrestler Hunter Mathis pins Luke Spurrier from Heathwood Hall for the win.

T-Shirts may be purchased in the front office