The Middle Update 4/27/18

Article of the Week
I think we all know the value and importance of the role that parents play in their child's education.  The article this week gives practical advice for how to frame conversations with parents that will result in them partnering with teachers to help their child. 

"Framing Difficult Feedback for Parents" by Joe Hirsch

School Safety
Our safety drill during the month of May will be a fire drill.  As always, be sure to review our fire drill procedures regularly with your students.

Community Facility Advisory Committee Update
The Community Facility Advisory Committee met for the last time and reviewed the recommendation that they will be making to the School Board at the May meeting (5/21).  The committee gave feedback to a sub-committee, who will meet a couple final times to fine tune the recommendation.  As always, anyone is welcome to view the details of the committee's work our our website.  If you have any questions, please let me know. 

Art Fair Monday!!
This past week, more and more of student art work has been on display.  Mrs. Crawford and Mrs. Schmudlach have been preparing for this exciting event!  The Art Fair is set to kickoff on Monday (4/30) from 5:30 - 7:30.  The event is sure to be one to remember for everyone involved.  Mark your calendars!

Music Concert in May
Mark your calendars for the Spring Music Concert.  The hard work of our music department and students will be on full display on Thursday, May 17th at 7:00 in the 1-8 Gym.  Hope to see you there!

Middle School Play Details
Our students have been hard at work preparing the annual Middle School Play.  There will be a showing for the student body on Tuesday, May 22nd at 1:45 in the 1-8 Gym.  The performance for the community will take place later that same evening at 6:00 pm.

Superhero Run/Wellness Day 5/18/2018

In cooperation with the Parents' Club, we will be having a Wellness Day and Superhero Run on Friday, May 18th.  The Superhero Run will take place during the school day.  A couple of teachers have stepped up and have worked on some planning for this event, and at this time we have a tentative plan in place for the day.  There is still room for some suggestions and tweaks, but at this time the draft schedule and plan can be viewed on this DOCUMENT.  Thanks to all those that have contributed efforts and ideas into making this a successful day for our students.

Modified Schedule Days Coming Up

In looking ahead, we will be having a couple days in the month of May with a modified schedule.  Those days are:

May 18 - Wellness Day/Superhero run

May 22 - Middle School Play - starts at 1:45

May 24 - 6th Grade Track Meet - runs during the afternoon

May 30 - Assembly (Carelli Cup Finals, Book Competition Update)

Last Day of School

Like Mr. Shappell mentioned in an email earlier, we will be having a normal school day on the last day of school (June 1).  With such an early last day of school, it is important to keep in mind our guiding principles of utilizing each minute that we have with students.  We will be working hard with our students right up until the dismissal time on Friday, June 1.  Staff check-out will begin after students have left school grounds on that day.

Printing Reminder
As a reminder, when printing, please print 1 copy and utilize the copy room to make copies.  This helps us save on printing toner...it is much cheaper to make copies than print multiple copies.  Thanks for your attention to this detail!

Senior Walk
Our annual Senior Walk will take place on May 23rd at 9:15 am.

Great Summer PD Opportunity

Join us on June 5th for a full 8 hours of learning! Earn professional development points and gain knowledge on how to help students struggling with mental health issues. Rick Raatz from CESA 5 will be in our district to provide training on the following topics. More details about the event to come, but save space on your calendars for this valuable learning experience. If you're interested in attending, add your name to the session on this document.

Youth Mental Health First Aid is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. Youth Mental Health First Aid is primarily designed for adults who regularly interact with young people. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders. 

Duty Next Week
Morning - Johnson
Bus - Pittner

Images from the Week

The Middle Update 4/20/18

Article of the Week
The short article this week is about how one teacher effectively utilizes class time to give targeted feedback to individual students about their writing.  No matter what subject you teach, the strategies presented provide insight into how class time can be leveraged to not only give students high quality feedback, but also strengthen your classroom culture by giving each student time to grow the teacher/student connection.

"5-Minute Writing Conferences" by Jori Krulder

School Safety
Our safety drill during the month of May will be a fire drill.  As always, be sure to review our fire drill procedures regularly with your students.

Forward Exam
We are nearly wrapped up for this state testing season.  As I type this, our students are completing their make-up sessions.  Thank you to all for your efforts and flexibility during the testing season.

Next Student of the Month Breakfast
Our final Student of the Month Breakfast will take place this Thursday, April 26th.  Congratulations to the following recipients:

London Chapman     Hunter Wells     Bryn Ullsvik     Trent Sickenberger
Sam Kowald     Carter Merwin     Montana Milton     Hope Ninmann

Community Facility Advisory Committee Update
Mr. Shappell will be sharing details about the community survey results on Wednesday, April 25th at 4:00 in the HS IMC.  All are welcome to attend to learn the details about the input from the community.  At this time, A sub-committee is working to draft a recommendation that they will present to the school board.  Survey results and more resources are available on the website.  If you have any questions, please let me know. 

Music Concert in May
Mark your calendars for the Spring Music Concert.  The hard work of our music department and students will be on full display on Thursday, May 17th at 7:00 in the 1-8 Gym.  Hope to see you there!

Middle School Play Details
Our students have been hard at work preparing the annual Middle School Play.  There will be a showing for the student body on Tuesday, May 22nd at 1:45 in the 1-8 Gym.  The performance for the community will take place later that same evening at 6:00 pm.

Great Summer PD Opportunity

Join us on June 5th for a full 8 hours of learning! Earn professional development points and gain knowledge on how to help students struggling with mental health issues. Rick Raatz from CESA 5 will be in our district to provide training on the following topics. More details about the event to come, but save space on your calendars for this valuable learning experience. If you're interested in attending, add your name to the session on this document.

Youth Mental Health First Aid is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. Youth Mental Health First Aid is primarily designed for adults who regularly interact with young people. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders. 

Superhero Run

In conjunction with the Parents' Club, we will be having a Wellness Day and Superhero Run on Friday, May 18th.  The Superhero Run will take place during the school day.  We are still working out some technical logistics, but there will be a modified schedule on this day, with some wellness themed events happening in the afternoon. If you would like to help plan out some of the afternoon activities, please talk to me or Mr. Kallungi. This should be a great opportunity for our school and students. More details will be shared as they are planned and become available.

Duty Next Week
Morning - Johnson
Bus - Adler

Images from the Week

The Middle Update 4/13/18

Article of the Week
Next year, we plan to upgrade our Social/Emotional Learning materials to utilize during Homeroom.  The Second Step program has an impressive upgrade that we will utilize.  It's web-based, modern, and very teacher friendly.  We will be spending some more time with this during our Opening In-service in August.  Instead of an article, there is a short video at the website below...check it out.

New Second Step Program

School Safety
Tornado Drill Recap - Thank you to all for facilitating a successful tornado drill on Thursday afternoon.  Our plan seems pretty straightforward to me, however, if you have any feedback on that process, please let me know.

Forward Exam
We are almost near the end of our Forward Testing season.  8th graders worked on the Science portion today, and they will finish with Social Studies on Monday.  We will be conducting Make-up sessions throughout the week next week, so there may be some students that will be pulled to complete this mandated testing season.  Kudos to everyone for their diligence, focus, and execution of the testing sessions.  Overall, it appeared our students worked hard to do a great job.  We'll debrief about the testing schedule once it is complete as we plan for next year.

Next Student of the Month Breakfast
Our final Student of the Month Breakfast will take place on Thursday, April 26th.  Congratulations to the following recipients:

London Chapman     Hunter Wells     Bryn Ullsvik     Trent Sickenberger
Sam Kowald     Carter Merwin     Montana Milton     Hope Ninmann

Community Facility Advisory Committee Update
The School Board and Community Facility Advisory Committee met this past Wednesday night to review survey data.  At meeting, we learned that the community survey conducted by School Perceptions can be very predictive about possible referendum success. Thank you to all of the staff who filled out the survey because the staff was very well represented.  Also, thank you to the staff who attended the meeting.  At the board and committee meetings, the group discussed the results that showed that the majority of the community does want the school board to go to referendum, that they are satisfied with the district and that they are willing to put resources towards potential new construction, remodeling, and maintenance of our schools.  It was a very positive and uplifting meeting.  We can all feel great that we are on the right track and the community is noticing as well. At this time, a sub-committee is drafting a recommendation that they will present to the school board.  Survey results and more resources are available on the website.  If you have any questions, please let me know. 

Great Summer PD Opportunity

Join us on June 5th for a full 8 hours of learning! Earn professional development points and gain knowledge on how to help students struggling with mental health issues. Rick Raatz from CESA 5 will be in our district to provide training on the following topics. More details about the event to come, but save space on your calendars for this valuable learning experience. If you're interested in attending, add your name to the session on this document.

Youth Mental Health First Aid is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. Youth Mental Health First Aid is primarily designed for adults who regularly interact with young people. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders. 

Superhero Run

In conjunction with the Parents' Club, we will be having a Wellness Day and Superhero Run on Friday, May 18th.  There will be a set schedule and a lot more information shared in the coming days.  I think it has the chance to be a great opportunity for our school and students. Stay tuned form more information.

Duty Next Week
Morning - Johnson
Bus - O'Connor

The Middle Update 4/6/18

Article of the Week
The article this week focuses on mental health.  We have had a number of students engage in cutting.  The article this week provides insight into why students cut, and what we can do as educators to be prepared in situations like this.

"Hurting from the Inside Out: Understanding Self-Injury" by Janis Whitlock and Penelope Hasking

School Safety Reminder
I wanted to include regular reminders about the logistics of our safety situations in school.

Administrative Hold: No one is allowed to enter or exit the building, but in the building activity remains unchanged.
Hold: Hallways should be clear, and no one should enter or exit the classroom.
Lockdown: Doors shut and locked, lights off, and all people inside the classroom should be quiet and out of sight if looking into the classroom.

We'll have a tornado drill later in the month of April.  Details to follow.

Student Success!!

We had some pretty special performances from our students at Wisconsin Mathematics Council State Math Competition in the Class C division.  Our middle school team placed 2nd in the state in the   So against schools our own size, we tied for 2nd place out of 9 teams.  We also had 4 students receive individual recognition of being named to the 2018 All State 2nd Team.

If you see the following students, be sure to congratulate them on a job well done!  Also kudos to our math teachers and Mrs. Kennedy for their hard work in preparation!

Abby Klink

Clayton Nehls

Dylan Elsing

Cash Stewart

Grace Hutchinson

Lizzy Endres

Anneliese Graeme

Mika Bush

Additional students who participated individually:

Felicia Ritzke

Hazel Ruckle

Kyla Thays

2018 All State 2nd Team Individuals:

Cash Stewart

Abby Klink

Grace Hutchinson

Lizzy Endres

Forward Exam
It's getting closer...The Middle School will be testing from Monday, April 9th through Monday, April 16th.  Students will be taking the exam in their normal classes (ELA during ELA class time, Math during Math class time).  You can view the testing schedule HERE.

Next Student of the Month Breakfast
Our final Student of the Month Breakfast will take place on Thursday, April 26th. 

Shout-out borrowed from Mr. Hausser's Blog
Shout Out to Mrs. Wentz (contributed by Coleman's mother)(This occurred before the break)
Coleman Thurston was asked to have a teacher present his induction to the National Honor Society last night.  He chose Mrs. Wentz for this task. I am sharing his speech with you.  Coleman wrote this himself but I think he touched on some of the most important things that I as a parent also remember about her classroom…

                Positivity

                Discipline

                Encouragement

                Connection with the students 

Good evening!  When I was asked to have a teacher present on my behalf tonight, Mrs. Wentz was the first person who came to mind due to her strong integrity and compassion.  Mrs. Wentz was my 5th grade teacher 5 years ago. I fondly remember the great Fridays of the class store and my big history night project. After the first day of fifth grade, I knew it was going to be a great year knowing that we could chew gum because it stimulated brain flow and that she was in the military- in fact, my brother wanted to skip 3rd and 4th grade and join her class early.  She inspired discipline through positive coaching and instilled accountability. Mrs. Wentz had high standards for each and every one of her students, and was sure to keep us on task with her stern teacher look when we stepped out of line. This to me was actually one of her strongest lessons, for this look meant business and everyone in the class knew that it was not negative, but rather a quiet reminder of what our priorities should be.  It even kept my Dad in line one day when he was visiting our class and was talking during author's chair. A memorable teacher balances academic accountability and makes positive connections with their students. Mrs. Wentz is here tonight for both of those reasons and I hope to be as great of a teacher as she is in my future teaching career. Thank you.

Great Summer PD Opportunity

Join us on June 5th for a full 8 hours of learning! Earn professional development points and gain knowledge on how to help students struggling with mental health issues. Rick Raatz from CESA 5 will be in our district to provide training on the following topics. More details about the event to come, but save space on your calendars for this valuable learning experience. If you're interested in attending, add your name to the session on this document.

Youth Mental Health First Aid is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. Youth Mental Health First Aid is primarily designed for adults who regularly interact with young people. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders. 

MS Track Meets...1 more slot to fill!!
This Spring we will be hosting two middle school track meets on Monday, April 16th and Tuesday, May 8th.  Thank you to all who have signed up to help out!  LOOKS LIKE ONLY 1 SPOT LEFT TO FILL for the meet on Tuesday, May 8th.  To sign-up, please review this SPREADSHEET, and fill in your name on a slot to work.  Training will be provided if needed.  I'm sure the weather will be outstanding on these two nights.

Community Facility Advisory Committee Update
The combined Board/Community Facility Advisory Committee Meeting is next Wednesday (4/11) evening starting at 6:30.  All are welcome to attend and hear results from the community survey.

Duty Next Week
Morning - Johnson
Bus - Lendobeja

Data

Images from the Week