TIMBERWOLF TIMES A Message From Ms. McGraw: Shirley C. Heim Middle School 320 Telegraph Rd. Stafford, VA 22554 540-658-5910 fax: 540-658-0329 March, 2011 Volume 3, Issue 6 Our eighth graders will be taking their Writing SOL on March 8 th and 9th. The multiple choice portion of the test will be given on March 8. The direct writing prompt will be given on March 9 th . Student writing has been a focus of our school improvement plan throughout the year. All students have been given the opportunity to practice their writing skills in each of their classes. Please encourage your child to put forth his/her best effort on the writing SOL this year. It is very important that the students get a good night’s sleep, eat breakfast, and arrive to school on time on the days of the test. We held our annual school Science Fair on Wednesday, February 2. There were many wonderful projects and we appreciate all of the students who worked so hard and participated in this event. Congratulations to the following students for their award winning projects: Sixth grade – 1 st Place – Jonah Beranek; 2 nd Place – Brenna Rodgers; 3 rd Place – Alex Heap. Honorable Mentions went to Raymond Ayres and Cameron Compton. Seventh grade winners were – 1 st Place – Joe Nelson; 2 nd Place – Megan Black and Natasha Early; 3 rd Place – Aaron Tice. An Honorable Mention went to Caroline Clay. Eighth grade winners were – 1 st Place – Kat Kameda-Ramsey; 2 nd Place – Ryan Rodgers; 3 rd Place – Caroline Wanner. Honorable Mentions went to Katrina Stalik, Samantha Hablas, and Teague Meiers. All of these students are invited to participate in the Regional Science Fair held in Charlottesville on March 15. I am very excited to let you know that we are getting ready to implement a new parent notification system throughout the county called Blackboard Connect. This new system will allow us to contact you via phone or email with recorded messages informing you of upcoming events or changes to our school schedule. This new system is directly linked to our student information system. As a result, it is extremely important that we have up-to -date contact numbers and email for you. The Blackboard Connect system will first attempt to call the student’s home phone number. If you would prefer a different number to be used, please let our front office staff know as soon as possible. The system will then attempt to contact the primary and secondary guardians work number, cell phone number, and email. If any of this information has changed, please contact our front office staff. We have had several students out of school recently for viruses and the flu. Please remember to check your child’s teachers’ websites for information regarding school work. If your child is going to be out of school for two days or more, please make arrangements to pick up his/her missing assignments. Please check the calendar enclosed in this newsletter. Our girls’ basketball season has begun. You will also see some changes to the school calendar as a result of recent snow days. We have 8 weeks before Spring Break!! Stay healthy and keep warm!! Mary Grace McGraw
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Transcript
T I M B E RW O L F T I M E S
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Our eighth graders will be taking their Writing SOL on March 8th and 9th. The multiple choice portion of the test will
be given on March 8. The direct writing prompt will be given on March 9th. Student writing has been a focus of our
school improvement plan throughout the year. All students have been given the opportunity to practice their writing
skills in each of their classes. Please encourage your child to put forth his/her best effort on the writing SOL this year.
It is very important that the students get a good night’s sleep, eat breakfast, and arrive to school on time on the days of
the test.
We held our annual school Science Fair on Wednesday, February 2. There were many wonderful projects and we
appreciate all of the students who worked so hard and participated in this event. Congratulations to the following
students for their award winning projects: Sixth grade – 1st Place – Jonah Beranek; 2nd Place – Brenna Rodgers; 3rd Place
– Alex Heap. Honorable Mentions went to Raymond Ayres and Cameron Compton. Seventh grade winners were – 1st
Place – Joe Nelson; 2nd Place – Megan Black and Natasha Early; 3rd Place – Aaron Tice. An Honorable Mention went
to Caroline Clay. Eighth grade winners were – 1st Place – Kat Kameda-Ramsey; 2nd Place – Ryan Rodgers; 3rd Place –
Caroline Wanner. Honorable Mentions went to Katrina Stalik, Samantha Hablas, and Teague Meiers. All of these
students are invited to participate in the Regional Science Fair held in Charlottesville on March 15.
I am very excited to let you know that we are getting ready to implement a new parent notification system throughout
the county called Blackboard Connect. This new system will allow us to contact you via phone or email with recorded
messages informing you of upcoming events or changes to our school schedule. This new system is directly linked to
our student information system. As a result, it is extremely important that we have up-to -date contact numbers
and email for you. The Blackboard Connect system will first attempt to call the student’s home phone number. If you
would prefer a different number to be used, please let our front office staff know as soon as possible. The system will
then attempt to contact the primary and secondary guardians work number, cell phone number, and email. If any of this
information has changed, please contact our front office staff.
We have had several students out of school recently for viruses and the flu. Please remember to check your child’s
teachers’ websites for information regarding school work. If your child is going to be out of school for two days or
more, please make arrangements to pick up his/her missing assignments.
Please check the calendar enclosed in this newsletter. Our girls’ basketball season has begun. You will also see some
changes to the school calendar as a result of recent snow days. We have 8 weeks before Spring Break!! Stay healthy
and keep warm!!
Mary Grace McGraw
Chorus Notes
Congratulations to the following students who participated in the 2011 All-District Chorus:
Sopranos: Isabel Lozano and Kayla Mandell
Altos: Hannah Butler, Aimee Flenner, and Teagan Hughes
Bass: Anderson Barreal
The 2011 All-District concert was held on Saturday, February 12. Rehearsals were held throughout the day on Friday, Feb. 11 at
Riverbend High School in Spotsylvania. The final concert was held on Saturday, February 12. The middle school combined concert
gave one of their strongest performances in recent years, receiving a standing ovation from the audience. Congratulations again to
these hard-working students.
The next concert will be held Monday, March 14, 2011 at SHMS. Please plan to arrive by 6:45 for attendance and warm-ups. This
concert will be treated as though we are at our competition; each choir will present only three pieces and we will be having guests in
the audience acting as judges. We look forward to seeing you there.
The District Assessment for chorus is fast approaching. On Thursday and Friday, March 17-18 students will be traveling to Freedom
Middle School in Spotsylvania. We will be performing for judges and receiving a rating on our performance. The 8 th grade choir
will perform on Thursday and the 6th and 7th grade choirs will be performing (separately) on Friday. Upon our return, all choirs will
be having a pizza party at SHMS. Additional details will be sent home with students and will be posted on the SchoolFusion
website. The anticipated cost of this event is $5.00 per student.
The 6th grade chorus will be traveling to Riverside Dinner Theater on Wednesday, March 2nd to see a live performance of the musical
Hairspray. Please contact Mrs. Irby if you have any questions.
The permission slips, insurance forms, and payments for the 7th and 8th grade trip to King’s Dominion will be due on Wednesday,
March 23rd. All students should have received a reminder with their missing items from Mrs. Irby the last week of February. Please
contact Mrs. Irby if you need this information again.
Upcoming Events:
Mar. 1 – Fundraiser delivery
Mar. 2 – 6th grade trip to Riverside Dinner Theater
Mar. 14 – Pre-District Concert @ SHMS – arrive at 6:45; perform at 7:00
Mar. 17-18 – District Festival @ Freedom Middle School (Spotsylvania)
-8th Grade on 3/17
-6th and 7th grades on 3/18
Mar. 23 – 7th and 8th grade trip money and paperwork due
BAND It is hard to believe how quickly the school year is going by! Here in the band program students are quickly preparing for Music Performance Assessment which will take place on March 9
th and 10
th at Brooke Point High School.
All of the students have been working to prepare three pieces which they will play for adjudication. Additionally the 7th
and 8th grade students are working on their sight-reading skills which they will also be adjudicated on at Assessment.
This is a very important time of year for our students involving lots of rehearsals and practice time! I appreciate all of your help and support as we prepare for this exciting event.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Spring Cookie Dough Fundraiser. The fundraiser was very successful and I am thankful for your support. All orders will be arriving on Tuesday March 1
st. Students need to be
prepared to take their orders home!
All 7th and 8
th grade students have received their paperwork for the Spring Trip to Kings Dominion. Please be
aware that all payments are due NO LATER than March 23rd
. If you have any questions or concerns about the trip please do not hesitate to contact me by email.
I am excited for the remainder of the school year! I frequently send out parent emails with reminders and upcoming events. If you are not currently receiving the band parent emails and would like to, please send me an email at [email protected].
BAND UPCOMING EVENTS March 1st – 8th Band Rehearsal 3:00-4:30p.m.
March 2nd – Pre-Festival concert for ALL 6th and 7th grade band students. The concert will begin at 7p.m. and students must arrive NO LATER than 6:15p.m. The concert will take place at SHMS.
March 3rd – 8th Grade Pre-Festival concert at Brooke Point High School. The concert begins at 6p.m. and students should arrive NO LATER than 5:30p.m.
March 7th – 7th Grade Band rehearsal 3:00-4:30p.m.
March 8th – 8th Grade Band rehearsal 3:00-4:30p.m.
March 9th – Music Performance Assessment!
6th Grade Performance Time: 1:45p.m.
7th Grade Performance Time: 4:40p.m.
March 10th – Music Performance Assessment!
8th Grade Performance Time: 10:00a.m.
March 23rd – 7th and 8th Grade spring trip payments due!
April 2nd – Fine Arts Festival at Brooke Point High School
thank you for your continued support of the band program !!!
One of the current increases in criminal activities across the nation, to include Stafford County, is the rash of larcenies
from vehicles. Deputies from the Sheriff’s Office respond daily to calls from citizens who have had items stolen from
their car. There are some simple things that can be done to help eliminate this type of theft. The first one is
simple…..lock your vehicle anytime your are not driving it. Secondly…be sure to take anything of value out of your
vehicle at the end of the day. That would include GPS systems, cash/coins, iPods, video games, purses or wallets,
computers or cell phones.
Often time’s individuals committing this type of crime will “shop” the neighborhood walking through the neighborhood
late at night or early morning checking for unlocked vehicles, taking items as they go along. On occasion, if something
of value has been left in the vehicle, and the vehicle is locked, the criminal will then break into the car.
Take the opportunity and temptation away from your car or truck. Take items of value out and lock the car. If you have
a garage, put the car in the garage and close the garage. If not, and if possible, park your vehicle in a well lit area. While
these simple procedures may not stop all larcenies for cars or trucks, they will go a long way in reducing them
dramatically.
One final thought. Have the locking of the vehicle and the taking out of valuables every night become a family
responsibility. Have your child remind you to take these precautions. Better yet, have your child be one of the people
responsible for carrying out these precautions!
Sheriff Charles Jett
From Sheriff Jett:
Technology Corner Check out the Parent and Student technology page on SchoolFusion for all things in SHMS technology.
Heim’s 2nd Annual Technology Night
Parents, we are excited to bring back our 2nd technology night on Thursday, April 14 from 6-7 p.m. in the forum With technology
taking on bigger roles in the workforce and outside of school, it’s important for students to use this technology in the classroom.
This night is a great way to see how your student is using technology to learn every day! Completed projects from all grade levels
and curriculum areas will be on display and students will be demonstrating how they created their final products. Along with this,
there will teacher demonstrations on SMART Boards, SMART Airliners, and Qwizdom and SMART student response systems.
There will also be sessions on Schoolfusion, Study Island, and Gizmos, three pieces of software students use on a regular basis. We
hope to see you there!
2011 Doodle4Google Competition Ending Soon!
Parents, please remind your students about this exciting opportunity to feature their creativity! Until March 7th, students can create
their own doodles similar to the one shown on the Google homepage. The winning entry will be featured on Google’s website and
win a $15,000 college scholarship. This year’s theme is “What I'd like to do someday”. Students can pick up applications from Miss
Priester in room 119. Completed doodles and applications including parent consent forms and a statement about their doodle are due
by Monday, March 7, 2011. Please return these packets to Miss Priester. The winning doodles from our school competition will go
on to compete in the next round of the national competition.
Timberwolf Times Page 15
Heim Library News
Jenny Ashby, Librarian Lisa Sosik, Library Assistant
Library events
Neal Shusterman visit – Award-winning author Neal Shusterman will be at our school on Friday, March 4. If you would like to purchase an autographed book, the order form is available on all the library webpages.
The countywide Battle of the Books competition will take place at Heim on Thursday, March 17. Our team has been practicing since January and will be competing against teams from all the other schools in the county. Good luck Timberwolves!
HOWL deadline – the last day to chat about HOWL books with Mrs. Ashby is Friday, April 1. Be sure to finish reading those books and get the chats done by the deadline in order to be invited to the voting party in April.
Café Book students visited Porter library on February 16 for our end of the program field trip. Students competed in a Jeop-ardy game based on the books from this year and got a behind the scenes tour of the library.
Classes
During March library classes will be working on the following lessons:
6th grade – Sixth graders will be stranded on an island with only a set of encyclopedias to help them.
7th grade – Seventh graders will be playing bingo while hearing about lots of books available for check out in our library
and will finish the month with an encyclopedia puzzle.
8th grade – Eighth graders will be finishing up book trailers – like movie previews – about Neal Shusterman books. Then
they will begin a two week stay on library Survivor.
Book recommendation of the month
King of Ithaka by Tracy Barrett
Telemachos is the prince of the island of Ithaka. His father, Odysseus, has been missing for years since he left to fight in the Trojan War. Although his country is at peace, some of the neighbors are unhappy and are pressuring Telemachos' mother to marry one of them. After receiving a confusing prophecy from a local creature, Telemacho feels that the only way to keep his mother safe is to find his father and bring him home. Even though he has always been frightened of sailing, he decides to em-bark on a quest to find Odysseus. With his best friend – who is a centaur – and a stowaway, Telemachos sails off to another country where he finds a whole new world and tons of adventure all while trying to answer the question “what qualities does a king have?” Based on the myth of Odysseus.
Page 16 Timberwolf Times
Clinic News
Seasonal Allergies and Asthma
Spring months bring along nice weather and seasonal allergies. Up to 75% of people with asthma also have seasonal allergies. Hear
are some tips and facts about asthma and seasonal allergies:
Seasonal allergies, commonly referred to as hay fever, are caused by environmental allergens such as pollen from grasses, trees, and
other plants. Symptoms of allergies may include:
Sneezing
Itchy and runny nose
Red and watery eyes
Congestion
Asthma is a condition that affects the airways that carry air in and out of the lungs. Symptoms of asthma include:
Wheezing
Coughing
Chest tightness
Difficulty breathing
Managing seasonal allergies and asthma can be a difficult task for students who suffer from both. With seasonal allergies, treatment
may need to begin several weeks before the “peak season” of your particular allergy trigger. Parents should refer to their children’s
health care provider for which allergy treatments (antihistamines, decongestants) may be suitable for their asthma.
***People with asthma that suffer from seasonal allergies are twice as likely to go to the hospital as a result of a serious asthma
attack.
SKIN INFECTIONS
Athletes have an increased risk of contracting communicable diseases, particularly skin infections such as Staphylococcus
Aureaus. Ways to reduce the potential for contracting communicable diseases include:
Showering after athletic practices and competitions
Avoid sharing towels, soap bars, combs, sports equipment, personal equipment etc.
Avoid sharing water bottles. Clean water bottles daily
Sports equipment that comes in direct contact with skin should be routinely cleaned.
All uniforms, towels worn or used during athletic practices and games should be laundered after each use. PE
clothes should be washed routinely.
For more information on this subject the Virginia Department of Health has a fact sheet that can be access through the school fusion
website under health services.
Mrs. Granderson, RN BSN
School Nurse
Page 17 Timberwolf Times
Counseling Corner News
8th
Grade High School Registration
Thank you to all parents who attended our Parent Night for High School Registration on the 25th. If
you were unable to attend please check Heim’s Counseling Corner website for the power point pres-entation that was shown.
Counselors met with all 8th grade students through language arts classes in regard to high school
registration. Students received the course catalog and a draft registration form for next year. On February 23
rd students received an official registration form. They were to get teacher signatures for
any honors level courses they wanted to take. Students took that form home for a parent signature, as well as a ½ sheet where parents could indicate that they were okay with the course choices or that they had questions. Those sheets were due back to homeroom teachers by no later than March 1
st.
We have begun to meet with students individually about high school registration and to complete their 4 year plans. We will send home a copy of the 4 year plan for a parent signature after meeting with the student. Please remember that 4 year plans are tentative, that they will change during high school, and that our main focus is on 9
th grade and sequential courses that students will want to take
in the future. The 4 year plan will not be 100% complete.
Rising 6th Grade Orientation
Rising 6th grade orientation will be held for current 5
th graders on April 7
th from 9:30am to 11:00am.
Students will receive information about 6th grade on that day and will be able to tour the building.
Our parent night for rising 6th graders will be March 31
st at 6:30pm. This is a “parents only” informa-
tion session.
8th
Grade Writing SOLs
8th Graders will take their writing SOLs on March 8
th and 9
th. Students should be sure to get a good
night’s sleep and have a good breakfast. Remember that no electronics are allowed in the testing room (that includes cell phones).
Page 18 Timberwolf Times
Did you know? Read the following articles for interesting information. The entire newsletter
can be found on the counseling corner page on school fusion.
Parent involvement needs to shift in middle school
When your middle schooler was younger, you may have volunteered in her class, hovered as she did her
homework each night and forged close ties with her school. But now that she's growing and changing, your
approach to parent involvement may need to change, too.
Research shows that middle schoolers still benefit from their parents being involved in their schooling. But, to
have the biggest impact, the ways in which parents are involved may need to shift.
In fact, the things parents do at home are twice as effective at supporting their middle schooler's schooling as,
say, chaperoning a class trip. Research suggests that parents should:
Communicate expectations. Simply telling your middle schooler that you expect her to work hard and suc-
ceed can mean a lot.
Expand on what's being taught. Encouraging your child to take what she's learning in school (such as math)
and apply it to her everyday life (such as sticking to a budget at the mall) can help her see why education mat-
ters.
Talk about the future. Does your child want to be a veterinarian? Whatever she dreams of doing, a solid educa-
tion is her ticket to achieving that goal.
Reprinted with permission from the March 2011 issue of Parents Still make the difference!® (Middle School