PIRATES’ SPYGLASS

www.phillipsprep.comFebruary 2014

NEWSLETTER CONTENTS: Important DatesInformation from PTSAInformation from Teachers, Administration, & Staff In the NEWSFebruary Menu

IMPORTANT DATES January 29 – Bus Drivers’ Appreciation Day – show your bus driver that you care!February 4 - Progress Reports (rescheduled date – most likely between 2/4 & 2/6)February 12 - NAEP Testing for 8th gradersFebruary 13 – Student-Teacher Basketball Game (tickets & concessions will be sold)February 18 – PTSA BRING YOUR FAMILY to SCHOOL NIGHT from 6-8 PMFebruary 20 - Progress ReportsFebruary 21 – Mobile County Science FairFebruary 21 – Mardi Gras Dance from 3-5 PM in the gym (tickets to be sold)March 3-5 – Mardi Gras holidays and Presidents’ Day holiday

Information f rom PTSA

Thank You First Aid Volunteers! A big “Thank You” to all of our parent and grandparent First Aid Volunteers for your help during the first half of the school year. The PTSA appreciates all you do! The calendar with available shifts for First Aid is in the First Aid room. Please continue to stop in and sign up for any shifts that you are able to cover. We continue to need additional volunteers. If you are interested in getting involved and helping our students, administration, and staff, please contact Angela Stauter, PTSA parent volunteer, at 251-605-5272 for information.

A Treat for Teachers and StaffTuesday, February 4th, the PTSA will host a Soup & Salad Luncheon for our teachers and staff. Parents, please remember to send in items on Tuesday morning if you signed up with Tracy Landry. If you missed the sign-up and are interested in sending in

food, helping to serve, or helping with set-up or clean-up, please contact Tracy Landry, PTSA parent volunteer, at tracy.mike197@yahoo.com.

Spring Fling T-Shirt Design Contest Watch for announcements this month about the Spring Fling T-Shirt design contest. ALL students can participate and have a chance for your design to be printed on the Spring Fling T-Shirts in April. The PTSA will award prizes to the students who submit the top 3 winning designs.

Bring Your Family to School Night- Tuesday, February 18th

The week of February 17-21, National PTA sponsors “Take Your Family to School Week”. For our participation in this program, PPS PTSA will

celebrate a Bring Your Family to School Night. On Tuesday, February 18th, we are inviting families to come take part in an evening of education and fun. We plan to offer a variety of sessions for parents and students to choose from including: Fitness & Nutrition, Getting Your Home Life Organized, Transition to High School & College Prep Timelines and How to Connect and Have Fun with your Teen. Plan to join us on Tuesday, February 18th at 6:00 p.m. to hear these wonderful speakers.

Information f rom TEACHERS, ADMINISTRATION, & STAFF

CAR POOL GUIDELINES REFRESHER COURSE Before you arrive at school each day, parents and students

should decide together whether afternoon pick- up will be at the west side parking area (gym) or along the front drive.

At dismissal, students should go where they will be picked up. Parents and students should watch and listen for teachers’ directions.

o Parents, please move forward as directed. o Students, please pay attention, face forward, watch for your car, and

listen for your name to be called.

As soon as parents pull up, students should load immediately and as quickly as possible. Please don’t take time to load book bags in trunks or hatchback area before getting in your vehicle.

Parents and students should refrain from talking on cell phones. We need your attention to move traffic as quickly as possible.

STUDENT ID BADGES REQUIRED - ALL GRADES ALL PPS students are required to wear ID badges as part of their school uniform. Any student that does not wear his/her ID badge will be in violation of the PPS School Uniform Policy and will be assigned detention after repeated violations.

TEXTBOOK SEARCH ALERT Do students and parents know where all assigned textbooks are? Can each student locate all of the textbooks and library

books checked out to him or her? LOST & FOUND locations in the hallways, classrooms, and locker rooms are good places to look if you can’t find your things at home or in your locker. Students don’t want to wait until the end of the school year to find that they have lost a book or more. Replacement fees can be very

expensive.

SCIENCE – 6th GRADEIMPORTANT DATES:Test 1- January 28Test 2- February 18Test 3- March 7Please see syllabus for topics covered on each test.Mobile County Science Fair for selected students - February 21Regional Science Fair for selected students- March 7

SOCIAL STUDIES – ALL GRADESThis year Phillips Preparatory School will be participating in the MCPSS History Day to be held on Friday, March 21st. Students are encouraged to participate in order to gain a more in-depth knowledge of historical topics. Information about History Day has already been sent home with students in their social studies classes. Any student who is interested in completing a voluntary History Day project should speak to his or her social studies teacher for more information. Each

student will then work on this project with the help of both teachers and parents. PPS will hold its History Day on Friday, February 28th when individual projects will be judged and the winners will be chosen. Individual winners from each grade level will then be allowed to participate in the MCPSS History Day on March 21st. Please contact either Cheryl Burch (cburch@mcpss.com) or Danielle Taylor (ltaylor2@mcpss.com) if you have any further questions or need additional information. Information about National History Day can be found on the following website: http://www.nhd.org/

SOCIAL STUDIES – 6TH GRADE Sixth grade social studies classes are studying the Great Depression,

World War II, and the Cold War during 3rd quarter. Students will be completing an in-class project on a topic from World War II which will be due in February.

LANGUAGE ARTS – 6th GRADEShadow Spinner is the novel the sixth graders are reading for

their third quarter novel study. Each student should be annotating his or her own copy of the novel. Annotating while reading is a skill that enables the students to interact with a novel as they read.

Guided reading questions will be completed in class and will serve as a study guide for the weekly novel tests. The guided reading questions will be sent home with the students several days before each test. Students should review the annotation in their novel and study the guided reading questions to prepare for the tests.

Students were given a test calendar to keep in the novel section of their binder. They have already taken a test on chapters 1 – 3 on January 22nd and a test on chapters 4 – 8 on January 28th. Please check your child’s iNOW account to monitor these grades. The test dates for the rest of the novel study are as follows:

February 4 - Chapters 9-13 February 11 - Chapters 14-18 February 18 - Chapters 19-23

An EQT essay will be written on Shadow Spinner at the conclusion of the novel study. This analytical essay will consist of five paragraphs and be completely written in class. The EQT essay will be worth one fourth of the quarter exam grade.

The dates for writing the essay will be as follows: February 18 - look at options; thesis statement rough draft February 19 - outline essay and begin rough draft February 20 and 21 – write rough draft

February 24 – write final draft LANGUAGE ARTS – 8th GRADE

The eighth graders began third quarter by completing a research project on the Holocaust. Each group completed research on a Holocaust related topic and presented the information to the class in a PowerPoint presentation as a pre-reading activity for the third quarter novel, Anne Frank Remembered.

Anne Frank Remembered is a non-fiction selection written by Miep Gies. Gies is a young woman who showed considerable courage when she hid Anne Frank’s family and others for over two years during the Nazi takeover risking her own life to bring food, news, and other forms of daily support.

All eighth graders received a reading and test schedule for the novel in class on January 16th that required a parent signature. The schedule should be kept in the "Novel" section of their binder. Students will not receive study questions for this novel, but instead, will be annotating their novels as they read by marking important information about the plot, characters, and setting. Mastering this reading strategy will be a very useful skill to them as they move on to required reading in their high school literature classes.

The third quarter EQT essay will be written about this novel and will be worth one-fourth of the third quarter exam grade. Eighth graders need to follow the reading schedule, study for the upcoming final on the novel, and prepare to write the EQT essay.

Anne Frank Remembered Part 1 test was taken January 22nd and Part 2 test was taken on January 30th. Each of those tests was worth 100 points. Please check your child’s iNOW account to see all grades. The test dates for the remainder of the book are as follows:

February 5 - Anne Frank Remembered Final on Parts 1, 2, and 3 (all short answer, 200 points)

February 5 - View EQT essay options February 6 and 7 – Complete outline for EQT essay in class and write rough

draft IN CLASS February 12 and 13 – Ms. Goodson’s classes type EQT essays February 14 and 17 – Mrs. Herren’s classes type EQT essays

Please give students encouragement to keep up with daily reading assignments and monitor your child’s reading progress and annotation of chapters.

Important CHEERLEADING Information for PPS CHEER 2014-2015

February 24, 25, 26, 27 is the Cheerleading Clinic.February 28 is the day for actual Cheerleading Tryouts.

A sign-up sheet for interested 6th & 7th grade girls will be made available soon by Mrs. L. Eiland. Students must have a passing grade in each of their subjects for the year and must sign up on the list to indicate they wish to participate. Additional minimum requirements for cheerleading try-outs will be checked after interested girls sign-up. A PARENT of any 6th or 7th grade girl who would like to try out for cheerleader MUST ATTEND a mandatory meeting on MONDAY, February 17, 2014, AT 6 PM. This meeting will be brief but will allow parents and prospective cheerleaders to ask questions and obtain the necessary forms required to TRY OUT for cheerleader at PPS. For more information, please email Leisa Eiland at leiland@mcpss.com. Please do not call the office with questions; please contact Mrs. Eiland.

WE NEED YOUR ALUMINUM CANS!The Phillips Preparatory Recycle Club would like your help with recycling aluminum cans. Keep Mobile Beautiful will match our money collected, up to $250.00. Our receipt total to date is around $140.00, so we still need your aluminum cans. There are bins located in the front of the school and on the side by the band room. Car pool is a great time to drop off donations!

YEARBOOK BALANCES DUE NOW! NOW! NOW! – ALL GRADESIf you made a down payment of $19.00 at the beginning of the school year for the 2014 Phillips Preparatory School yearbook, the Phoenix, please pay the remaining $19.00 balance ASAP! The deadline has passed. Please see Mrs. Fosnight in room 4 for details.

MIDDLE YEARS COUNSELING NEWSLETTER – PARENTS of ALL GRADE LEVELSThe February issue of Middle Years, from PPS counselors, Madonna Burden (6th grade) and Stacey Eiland (7th & 8th grades), is attached separately to this email and is posted on the PPS website. The purpose of each newsletter is to promote ways for home and school to work together for school success.

   Accelerated Reading for ALL GRADES

The PPS Library Media Center believes reading is essential to success in school and life. That’s why PPS is emphasizing reading through our Pirates READ Program and AR Reading Celebration. The goal is to get students excited about reading, to read a variety of books, and to read often. We hope you will

encourage your child to participate. See the poster at the Library Media Center desk for more information.

How can students be a part of Pirates READ? Read books

Take AR Reading Practice Quizzes Earn 120 points by May 2, 2014

AR Spring Semester Reading Celebration Date to be announced!

These students met the 1st semester AR Reading Goal and attended the fall reading celebration in the library. CONGRATULATIONS to each of you! AR Goal Setters: Alexandra Atchison, Emily Brock, Allandan Dees, Chloe Duren, Samantha Fosnight, Christopher Harris, Tene Kaminer, Cole Kenney, Julia Larriviere, Aspen Lutin, Griffin Noble, Ollia Orr, Alexis Reeves, Savannah Swafford, and Caroline Whatley

ART CLUB – ALL GRADESThe art club gives students an opportunity to explore different styles of art. Students who have joined will explore painting, pottery, paper crafts, as well as other arts and

crafts. The student membership limit has been reached for this year so, unfortunately, no new members can be taken at this time. ART CLUB Meeting Dates and Activities (2:30-3:30, Room 29):02/12/13-Picture Frames; 02/26/13- Star Books; 03/26/13- Paper Beads; 04/23/13- Painting; 05/14/13- Painting continued; *05/21/13-

Wrap Up (* Special Wednesday meeting)

In THE NEWS

PPS SYMPHONIC BANDThe Phillips Symphonic Band performed at the Alabama Music Educators’ Association (AMEA) Conference in Montgomery, AL on Thursday, January 23 @ 3:00pm. Only two middle school bands from around the state were selected to perform at this event. This is a

tremendous opportunity to show the rest of the state just how excellent our program is. They performed for choir teachers, orchestra conductors, elementary music educators, and band directors from all over the state of Alabama. It is very difficult to be selected to perform at this event. In order to be chosen, letters of recommendation were submitted, as well as recordings of some past performances. A very select panel of music educators analyzed the recordings and selected PPS to perform despite the large number of other applicants. This is a tremendous honor! For this concert, our band performed 50 minutes worth of music on stage for virtually all of the music educators in the state. Music teachers come to this conference to hear the “best of the best.” We could not be more proud of our band.

The band had after-school sectionals for all Symphonic Band members since the second week of school this year. They also had three “practice concerts” to prepare them for the final performance. They worked very hard for this great day and looked forward to showcasing our band to the rest of the state’s music educators. PPS band members and Ms. Moore were confident and stepped on the stage with their heads held high, resting confidently in the knowledge that they had done a fabulous job of preparing. Through the work and dedication of the parents, students, and Ms. Moore, we KNOW our PPS Band shone brightly at the AMEA Conference in January. What an honor and an incredible experience it was to be on stage and perform for the state!

ALL STATE BAND MEMBERSCongratulations to the following Phillips Preparatory School

Band members for making the All-State Band! They auditioned Saturday, January 18 @ Davidson HS and Troy Elementary School, depending on their instrument. They

had to perform 2 prepared pieces, 12 major scales from memory, 2 minor scales from memory, and a chromatic scale from memory. Lastly, they had to perform a piece of

sight-reading. They were given 1 minute to study a piece of music which they had never seen before, then perform it to the best of their ability for a judge. We are proud of all students who auditioned! The following students made ALL STATE BAND:

Asia Hope came in 1st in the district on bass clarinet.Nandita Dey came 1st in the district on clarinet.

Jossellyn Vierya came in 1st in the district on flute.Sophie Davis came in 1st in the district on tuba.

Stephen Wood came in 1st in the district on trombone.Now, these students will travel to Huntsville to participate in the Alabama All-State Band Festival on April 9-11! Way to go band! We are so proud of you!

MOBILE - CRICHTON OPTIMIST CLUB’s Pirate of the Month The Crichton Optimist Club is one of our PPS Partners in Education. They honor a PPS student each month, nominated and selected by the teachers, who demonstrates trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.

Sophie Davis – 8th grader – DECEMBER 2013 Pirate of the MonthSophie helped organized the WKRG Toy Drive for PPS and serves as President of the National Junior Honor Society. She always participates and is actively engaged in class and scores the highest on most tests. She also is a kind-hearted person treating her classmates and teachers with respect. She recently was very helpful in class to another student experiencing a difficult time showing compassion and understanding.

Cordelia Martin - 7th grader - JANUARY 2014 Pirate of the MonthCordelia was chosen because of her excellent grades and behavior. Also, she has never missed a homework assignment in Math and has attempted every Math problem since the first day of school!

PPS STUDENTS OF THE WEEK for December 2013 and January 2014Each week, teachers at PPS try to recognize students who go “above and beyond” in their

demonstration of the qualities of trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and/or citizenship. Their names are announced over the intercom and their pictures are posted in the front lobby hall in honor of this recognition. Congratulations to this week's Students of the Week.

ANNA ATCHISON – GRADE 7Anna is polite, works very hard in class, and always listens to her teachers. As a matter of fact, she was the only student to make a perfect score on Mrs. Sassaman's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" final test. ALEX ATCHISON – GRADE 8 Alex spent much of her time helping another student get caught up in her work after being absent for two weeks. She let her borrow her notes and answered all of her questions, according to Mrs. Catlett. Alex always strives to do her best.

NOTE: You read it right, both girls have the same last name. They are cousins. Apparently, the Atchison family has a strong work ethic!

ASPEN LUTIN – GRADE 6Aspen demonstrates respect towards his teachers. For the last few weeks, he has opened the door for Mrs. Inman several times. Mrs. Inman states that Aspen is very polite.

HANNAH KING – GRADE 8Hannah is thoughtful and puts forth tremendous effort in Mrs. Vicker’s class. She is an example of how a leader should act.

VASHARA THORNTON - GRADE 6

Vashara is a student that demonstrates qualities of a great student. Ms. Barnes says, "Vashara is the epitome of a model student. She is always on task, on time for class, and has a great attitude. Vashara is also an honor roll

student who strives to do her very best and is a great example to other students.”

NICK REED - GRADE 6Nick was nominated for his outstanding character. He, without hesitation, returned a lost book bag to a fellow classmate. Mrs. Eiland believes that Nick sets an example for us all to follow. He is nice to others, studies, and behaves in a mature manner.

PPS STUDENTS HELPED MCPSS & CHANNEL 5 “STUFF THE BUS”The students of Phillips Preparatory School really showed they have a heart for kids. The school’s National Jr. Honor Society led the area’s “Stuff the Bus” holiday Toy Drive which was sponsored by News Center Five. The school collected over 200 toys which they contributed to the overall total for the toy drive. The students also helped separate the toys and load them for delivery. Students pictured are Jayden Ramson, Nandita Dey, Ajia Harper, Sophie Davis, Parker Inman, Kimberly Chieh, Anna Lee Bosarge, Zavier Love, Gabby Blakey, and Kylie Jones.

STELLAR SPELLERS!Over 130 students gathered in the school library on January 14 to compete in the school-wide Phillips Preparatory Spelling Bee, a preliminary to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. This year, students from 6th to 8th grade, signed up voluntarily instead of participating through

their language arts classes. This change in format seemed to boost the students’ enthusiasm and enhance the spirit of competition. After three full challenging rounds, Aaron Zheng, an 8th grader, was victorious as the winner of the 2014 Phillips Prep Spelling Bee. At the end of several tense one on one rounds, Aaron beat first runner up, 7th grader, Alex Wichmann by spelling the words “mewling” and “symptomatic” correctly. Aaron will compete in the Mobile County Spelling Bee on February 7 at Bishop State University. Alex will compete should Aaron be unable to attend. We wish the best of luck to these “stellar spellers.”

DIVISION 2 CHAMPIONSHIPSWe are very proud of our basketball teams!

Congratulations to the PPS BOYS’ BASKETBALL TEAM. On January 22, the boys defeated the Eagles from Pillans, 46-43, to capture the Division 2 Championship. These Phillips Pirates finished the season with a 10-2 record.

The Lady Pirates traveled to Chastang MS on Tuesday, January 21, to play the Lady Falcons for the championship. The Lady Pirates put up a good fight, but lost to the Lady Falcons.

Phillips’ girls finished the season in second place with a record of 8-3.