was absolutely amaz-ing. I have certainly been blessed by quick returns on my commu-nication using this method. Then came Facebook with the abil-ity to send photos and communicate quickly. How amazing to re-ceive videos of my granddaughter danc-ing, or pictures of a family reunion or up-dates from old high school friends. Unfor-tunately, in my position at the middle school, I see the negative ef-fects of social media daily. The latest has been the “ooVoo” application which allows instant messaging, voice and video chat. There can be calls with up to twelve locations at once. In theory, this is incredible. I could chat with all my siblings (the four remaining) about my parents’ health or just catch up with one

another. What an amazing social con-nection to help plan for an activity. Unfortu-nately, I have also seen it used in a nega-tive way - to perpetuate “online bullying” or “cyberbullying,” in which the technology is used to send or post texts or photographs and images intended to hurt or embarrass an-other person. Mr. Jan-ke and I have seen concerning postings on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and now, ooVoo. So, what can be done to prevent this kind of bullying and prevent a child from being a vic-tim? In the book The Survival Guide to Bully-ing:Written by a Teen, Aija Mayrock considers going dark and delet-ing accounts. She also discusses going al-most dark, where on-ly one to two sites are used and privacy set-

From our Principal tings on each site are in place for protection. As parents, what can be done? Ideas from various sources have been gathered: Limit the amount of

time on the inter-net. Some parents will have electronic- free days or time periods. Set time limits on internet and cell phone.

Let them know that their use of technol-ogy is something you want and need to know about.

Learn about the technologies. Have a profile yourself, so you can “friend” your kids.

Keep computers in a public part of your home.

Start a discussion such as: “Let’s look at your text log today together. I’d like to see who’s been texting you.”

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SHMS Newsletter January 2016

Main Office 503-366-7300

Carol Dowsett Principal

Mark Janke Dean of Students

Leanne Haresnape Pat Logan Secretaries

Jill Griffin Counselor

Facebook, Instagram, ooVoo, Twitter,

Snapchat and More

I can remember when e-mail first came out. Living overseas had its challenges: phone calls were extraordinar-ily expensive and let-ters would take a week and sometimes two weeks to arrive at a destination. The presentation of a com-munication format that could reach immediate-ly around the world

The season of testing is soon to be upon us. At St. Helens Middle School, the SBAC as-sessment is given in Lan-guage Arts and Math at both 7th and 8th grade levels. The OAKS test for Science will also be given in the 8th grade. The state of Oregon has made welcome adjustments to the way the SBAC tests are administered. One such adjustment is that the Perfor-mance Task based on an in-class lesson given by teach-ers has been eliminated; this should make a difference on the amount of time it takes to test. Another adjustment made by the legislature is the opportunity to “opt out” of

testing, if requested. This has to be done on a specific form by no later than Febru-ary 1, 2016. This would have to be reviewed annually. The opt-out forms are located on the St. Helens School District Website along with other per-tinent testing information. These can be found under the Curriculum and Instruc-tion heading. One letter opts out of SBAC for ELA and Math. The second letter can provide an opt out for Sci-ence. The second letter re-quires a reason for exemption---religious or disability. These letters need to be turned in to the student’s school. The rationale for the assess-

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Should a late start fall on an Early Release Wednesday, the early release time will be cancelled and school will end at the normal time.

ments is to test our system. Is the school providing ade-quate teaching in math, lan-guage arts and science? It is like an annual physical. Re-sults point out what is going well and where there needs to be focus or change. Schools are also evaluated on student participation in the assess-ment. We should have the schedule for testing shortly. It will be important for your child to be present during those days, have adequate rest and good nutrition.

Summative Assessments at SHMS

Bad Weather As we’ve already experi-enced, occasionally during the winter months we get into weather situations that may cause the school district to delay opening, shorten bus routes, dismiss early or close altogether. Should any of these changes be necessary, Portland TV and radio stations will broad-cast announcements. Emer-gency closure information will also be available on the dis-trict website, e-mailed via FlashAlert, and sent out over School Connects, our auto-mated phone system

Now would be an ideal time to restock school supplies. Check with your student and make sure they have enough paper, pencils, notebooks, etc., needed for class. If you need assistance, we do have some basic supplies availa-ble. Please check with the office.

Supplies

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Students interested in serv-ing can sign up in the li-brary. Details and permis-sion forms will be coming home soon. Mark your calendars and plan to make Jan. 18th not a day off but a Day of Ser-vice!

MLK, Jr. Day of Service

This will be SHMS’s fourth year participating in the Day of Service. Past service pro-jects have included helping clean at the Food Bank, making cards for Veterans and picking up litter at the school and surrounding neighborhood, just to name a few.

On Monday, January 18th, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the SHMS’ Jr. Hon-or Society and Builder’s Club, along with help from our local Kiwanis, will be sponsoring a Day of Service. Students will meet at the school from 9:00-12:00. Parents are wel-come to come and partici-pate, too!

MS Sports Wrestling and Girls’ Basket-ball practices started this week. Even though games start soon, it is not too late to join! Wrestling practices immedi-ately after school in the MS cafeteria. 8th grade basket-ball practices every day but Wednesdays after school in the gym and 7th grade bas-ketball every day except Wednesdays at Lewis and Clark Elementary. Athletic

paperwork and schedules are available on the school’s website. Cost to participate is $100, but can be offset by our coffee fundraiser. Contact our Athletic Direc-tor, Mark Janke, if you have any questions. We look forward to a great winter sports season. Go Trojans!

The SHMS Million Word Readers Challenge is a literacy campaign to pro-mote reading outside of class time. Congratula-tions to our newest mil-lionaires: Tristin Buchanan Hailey Claughton Mark Simpson The infographic on the right highlighting the study by Nagy, Herman, and Anderson (1987) best illustrates what might happen when stu-dents make it a habit to read. It may be old, but the point is still relevant today.

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Next month our counselors will be meeting with 8th grade classes to talk with students about registering for High School - it will be here before we know it! Be watching for information in February’s newsletter, as well as a letter that will be coming home with specific infor-mation on the registering (or “forecasting”) process. There will be a “Curriculum Night” Feb. 24th at the HS for stu-dents and parents to get more information on HS course of-ferings, and parents will need to sign off on their student’s HS class choices.

Million Word Readers

Technology Corner With Scratch, you can pro-gram your own interactive stories, games and anima-tions - and share your crea-tions with others in the online community. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systemati-cally and work collaboratively - essential skills for life in the 21st century. Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kinder-garten Group at the MIT Me-dia lab. It is provided free of charge. https://scratch.mit.edu/

The internet is full of many educational and fun websites. Since we want our students to be using their technology in-telligently, we will periodically provide ideas of websites which you may want to visit with your students. Studio Code is a website developed to teach computer coding skills in an interactive, fun way. You can register at the site or play without sign-ing in. Even if you hate the thought of computer coding, check out this site. You might change your mind! https://studio.code.org/

Ready for HS

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Tickets are on sale now for the Winter Beats and Eats concert, a benefit concert and dinner for the Tom Brumbaugh Memorial Schol-arship Program at SHHS.

January 23rd

6:00pm SHHS Commons

The concert features Bras-sanova, a new band from Portland playing a great mix of jazz and funk, as well as

Beats and Eats Jazz Concert

enforcement. Make sure you take a screen shot or save the offending text, picture, chat, conversation, etcetera. Most of all, communicate with your child. Emphasize being positive and respectful in the use of social media. The use of social media and the inter-net can be amazingly produc-tive and useful in the correct context. (http:www.ncpc.org/topics/internet safety; https://www.healthy children.org; McAfee)

From our Principal, cont.

the SHHS Jazz Band. Tickets can be purchased in advance at: Semlings Pharmacy Dockside Restaurant Ace Hardware Admission –including dinner: $20 - adults $15 - seniors and students Or $25/$20 at the door

Nothing in cyberspace is private.

Have privacy settings in place.

Consider formal moni-toring systems to track your child’s email and chat. There are paren-tal controls on your computer, available from your internet ser-vice provider and other commercial programs.

Should inappropriate or se-rious bullying occur on your child’s account, contact law

(Continued from page 1)

Avoid Exclusion!

Schedule of Events

Jan. 18th - MLK, Jr. Day, NO SCHOOL

Jan. 18th - Day of Service, 9:00 a.m.

Jan. 26th - Progress Reports sent home with students

Jan. 27th - School Board Meeting, 6:30 @ District Office

Feb. 4th - End of Quarter 2. Report cards mailed home Feb. 9th.

Feb. 5th - Teacher Work Day, NO

SCHOOL

Feb. 15th - President’s Day, NO SCHOOL

Feb. 24th - 8th grade tour of HS

Feb. 24th– HS Curriculum Night for 8th graders

Feb. 25th - HS Forecasting begins

St. Helens Middle School 354 N. 15th Street

St. Helens, OR 97051

Phone: 503-366-7300 Fax: 503-366-7306

Home of the Trojans

ST . HELENS MIDDLE

SCHOOL

www.sthelens.k12.or.us

We are Safe,

Respectful &

Responsible

Letters were mailed home last month and the district nurse is making phone calls home if your child’s immunization rec-ords are not up-to-date. It is urgent your child receive all needed vaccinations to avoid exclusion from school Feb. 17th. State reporting begins this month. Please contact your child’s doctor, Columbia County Health Department (503-397-4651), or Sacagawea School Based Health Center (503-366-7645) to make an appoint-ment .

Please give all updated im-munization information to the MS office. If you have any questions, please call our district nurse, Robin Loper, at 503-366-7695. Thank you!