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andrew lewis middle school 2010-2011 newsletter june https sites.google.com/a/salem.k12.va.us/alms 1

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dear parents as we conclude another year i want to thank the parents and pta for your support this year by the time you read this newsletter we will have completed the standards of learning tests in all subjects to reflect on this school year i wish to congratulate our students who have had a successful year academically athletically and in volunteering and helping the community students and staff have raised over $20,000 for a variety of causes including united way hoops for heart and relay for life our staff continues to be an amazing group with their daily help and encouragement to the students with whom they work i continue to be grateful to the staff students and parents i have had the opportunity to work with on a daily basis thanks to you all and have a safe and happy summer break sincerely jerome campbell principal dates for next year sept 1 8:30-10:30 orientation for sixth grade students sept 6 first student day 2

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a note from our pta president happy summer to all of our alms staff and families i can t believe the end of the school year is here already i know all of our staff and students have worked hard preparing/taking the sol s and have earned a well deserved break i have enjoyed my time as your pta president it has been a wonderful and fast two years i would like to invite everyone to join me in welcoming our new pta president for the 2011 2012 school year amy young i know she will do a fantastic job amy has served on our pta board for two years as well at the elementary and district levels i am so grateful for the support given by everyone throughout this school year a great big thank you to everyone involved in organizing and helping with our events and fundraising i would particularly like to thank the pta officers who keep it and me all together and the faculty and staff who offer enthusiastic support and so much assistance behind the scenes have a safe and fun summer suzanne thomas sthomas@salem.k12.va.us 3

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library news june 2011 library staff please welcome mrs sherri mcguire as andrew lewis middle school s librarian for 2011-12 alms library website will be under construction in its new location in googledocs stay tuned accelerated reader by may 12 well over half of all alms students had earned at least 50 points for the school year one-fourth of all alms students had earned at least 100 points earning these students coupons for free ice cream from the salem ice cream parlor compliments of the alms pta twenty-five students had at least 250 points by april 30th kevin chen jack beedle and alesia devlin each had earned over 500 ar points their names will be engraved on a special plaque that is on permanent display in the library over 24,000 books had been checked out for the school year 2010-11 be ready to start the 2011-12 accelerated reader season by visiting the salem public library this summer information about books for which andrew lewis has accelerated reader quizzes and about the ar program in general can be found online at http www.salem.k12.va.us/alms at any computer anywhere that has internet capability spring pictures students using the proofs they were given during 7th period on april 20 placed picture orders at school on april 21 may 2 3 and 4 those orders are scheduled to be distributed on friday june 3rd call sharon franklin at 3872513 or email her sfranklin@salem.k12.va.us if you have questions you 4

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may still order pictures by contacting lifetouch national school studios directly call 540581-0820 virginia readers choice 2011 this year cliff mcnish s breathe a ghost story was the top choice among state voters and one of the top choices among alms voters navigate to www.vsra.org to get started on next year s crop of good reads tips for summer reading get involved in salem public library s summer programs for young people begin the new batch of virginia readers choice candidates find vrc information at www vsra.org get ahead or catch up on junior library guild books for middle schools at http www.juniorlibraryguild.com/books/home.dt middle school upper elementary upper elementary high interest middle advanced readers advanced readers fantasy middle/high graphic novels mystery middle/high nonfiction middle/high sports middle/high proceeds from the library s fundraisers support this program thanks for supporting the library online reference databases use these bona fide reference resources found on the school s website at home this summer before googling passwords are published in the student agenda you can also pick up a password bookmark in the main office library visitation the library staff looks forward to a new group of sixth graders and a new school year we ll also be happy to see our readers from last year 5

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counselor/guidance news the guidance department would like to remind parents to review all information mailed with student report cards information regarding credit removal and summer school will be included in the packets and will contain deadline information we would also like for parents to be aware of a camp opportunity for students virginia western community college will be offering career exploration camps in the following areas this summer junior police academy horticulture culinary arts geospatial technologies robotics and mechatronics this is a wonderful opportunity for students to visit the vwcc campus and explore career options along with having some fun registration information can be found at http virginiawestern.edu/summercamps have a safe and restful summer 6

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x math department x x please remind all students that the math labs are available for extra help please remind your son/daughter that just because sols are over many of us we still need to prepare for final exams there are math lab schedules on the school website and in the halls of the building have a great summer 6th grade news sharpies team announcements and assignments for the sharpies team can be accessed at http sites.google.com/a/salem.k12.va.us/sharpies if for any reason parents or students need to contact teachers with questions/concerns mrs blankenship can be reached at tblankenship@salem.k12.va.us mrs bull can be reached at dbull@salem.k12.va.us mrs petersen can be reached at lpetersen@salem.k12.va.us and mrs trull can be reached at ttrull@salem.k12.va.us additionally teachers may be reached via telephone at 387-2513 during school hours our students were asked to reflect on their sixth grade year below are some of their responses my favorite parts of sixth grade were having teachers that liked me and that mrs trull s birthday is the same day as mine john slattery sixth grade was an awesome year i had great teachers made new friends and had a wonderful time ryan walters 7

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this year was so fun i made new friends and i got an award for having all a s and b s ~morgan hurley i enjoyed the freedom that the sharpies team gave students and the opportunities to have a great time haellie gordon i liked the science activity when mrs blankenship lit the magnesium on fire blake perrin my favorite thing about sixth grade was going to pizza den where i stuffed myself and had fun with my friends ben galbreath one of the things that i liked about sixth grade was barney in mrs bull s class hannah ferris i liked having lockers for the first time sitting anywhere at lunch and having nice teachers that are fun and very awesome alesia devlin my favorite thing about sixth grade was when we had our first pep rally it was my favorite because i got to see all my friends i was happy to be in middle school and i got to cheer for all of my friends who played sports for alms latajah momoh the twisters team mrs brown ­ language arts mr manning science mr secor ­ social studies mrs shields math mrs wallace ­ collaborative teacher 8

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we have been so busy this year that it has gone by quickly we had fun at an ice cream social and at two auctions when students spent their hard earned twister bucks we had a blast on our field trip to roaring run when we said good-by to the trout we started with 400 eggs and finished up with 286 strapping brook trout fingerlings the trout unlimited volunteers helped with the release and we enjoyed a nice hike and picnic lunch what a great way to close before a late spring break we survived math reading and social studies sol tests as well as a writing predictor in march our team was well represented at the awards assembly congratulations to you all we had eleven students with more than 100 accelerated reader points who each received a certificate for ice cream at the salem ice cream parlor courtesy of our alms library our top point earner was kevin chen with 894.4 points wow impressive point earners in second and third place were tory altis with 452.9 points and ben shenal with 409.7 points the rest of the top ten point earners were kyle fauber with 270.7 evan sowder with 169.7 kim cox with 156.9 zach brugh with 146.6 sofia porras nielsen with 121.7 taylor holliday with 115.6 and jacob aldridge with 110.2 this was as of may 12th and i m sure they will have even more points by the end of the year keep reading we are proud of you all we have had a terrific year with all of the students on our team and wish them the best of luck next year in seventh grade have a great summer the regal eagle team mrs sally budd mrs jeanny gilpin mrs deborah turner mr marty yuhas language arts congratulations to the top ten ar readers josh adkins maelynn valentine alison spence katherine irby jade tillery-ellington kelly johnson ryan underwood abbie bryant quinn curtis hemali patel continue to read over the summer and find that genre that you love 9

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social studies the highlight of the six weeks is the field trip to the d day memorial in bedford va where our students participate in a two hour program titled valor fidelity and sacrifice this program includes a tour of the grounds an interactive presentation that includes artifacts discussion music and special demonstrations of equipment and uniforms used on d ­day as well as some contributions from the home front special thanks to our organizer mrs jennifer fox and the parents whose help make our lunch ready upon our return to school we really appreciate your support science good job throughout the year on labs and activities parents look for opportunities this summer to continue their science education while planning your vacation visiting museums zoos etc to demonstrate the fun side of science go explore your world mrs turner would like to remind the regal eagles that you have learned a lot about the history that continues to shape events currently happening today stay informed about what is happening in the world around you and be good citizens on a final note the teachers would like to wish our regal eagles a safe and happy vacation you have been a pleasure to teach and you will be fondly remembered by each of us have a terrific summer mr yuhas mrs gilpin mrs budd mrs turner 10

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7th grade news mighty wolverines team mrs megan nester language arts and civics mrs wendy smythers life science and math we are so proud of the students hard work on the sol tests it is hard to believe that sols are over and the year is coming to a close students have come so far and learned so much this year have a great summer be safe and remember to read in your free time atkins simmons shupe and penn team our team is completing another great school year where students have had many learning experiences academically all teachers were proud of the stretch effort given by our students the mathematics classes push for the sol test was wonderful as were the mla insect reports science environmental projects budgeting and advertising projects in civics most all students learned something about themselves and the community while completing the s.a.c.k project many students participated in the heart walk the marine mud run the solve-a-thon and fall waterway cleanup and donated to countless charities reflecting the salem youth s positive attitude in fact mr penn s civics classes raised a great deal of money and volunteered countless hours to charities and worthy causes we couldn t be more pleased with their commitment to their community and others around them thanks to them for their noble efforts and may they continue in their good works these students 11

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have the ability to do great things in their future continue to push pull and prod them towards positive goals we would also like to congratulate the students for all their hard work in preparing for the algebra i math seven math eight english and civics standards of learning tests we are positive they will uphold the tradition of excellence that we have enjoyed since the test s inception we were fortunate to have so many wonderful young people that were caring honest and fun to be around which makes our efforts so much easier our students have earned many honors and awards this year the majority of our students have earned over eighty accelerated reader points and many others are well over one hundred points the awards both academically and athletically are too numerous to list our students involved in athletics worked hard in the classroom and on the field and we are proud of their efforts other students became involved in the community through music drama church activities yearbook cheerleading and sca we want to thank all those in the administration the community the parents and the students for making this a successful school year we hope you all have a safe and relaxing summer and look forward to wishing you well next year gallion benson simpson and romano team students in mr benson s language arts classes continue to have a very successful year during the fifth six weeks every student earned at least 15 ar points this is quite an achievement and mr benson is tremendously proud of all the students keep up the good work and let s reach that goal again during the sixth six weeks students will complete a short story unit this six weeks along with intensive sol review students have been quite successful on all predictor tests this year and undoubtedly they will be equally successful on the actual sol tests 12

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mr benson encourages the students to continue doing the great job that they are currently doing in order to ensure another great performance this six weeks romano it has been a very good year the students began the year identifying the characteristics of life plant and animal cells studying heredity classification fungi animals ecology and concluded with plants thanks to dr arnold the students were given the wonderful experience of observing a pig heart dissection and had their questions answered this was a wonderful day and made their frog dissection more special thank you for another successful year and enjoy your summer my best to all in eighth grade nuts and bolts team mr blankenship mrs cook mr hairston mrs kubik kubik in ms kubik s language arts 7 class the students spent the year reading and analyzing many pieces of literature they began the year concentrating on short stories written by a variety of authors like kipling o henry and serling they moved into poetry soon after that and studied the works of ten poets including frost hughes poe and silverstein next came the creation of a book of poems and they also learned about all kinds of poetic devices like alliteration consonance and end rhyme many students even memorized the road not taken and stopping by woods on a snowy evening by robert frost and maggie millie molly and may by e e cummings several 13 eblankenship@salem.k12.va.us mcook@salem.k12.va.us chairston@salem.k12.va.us jkubik@salem.k12.va.us

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novels were read this year too wednesday wars the outsiders and the giver all had fans by the end of the year not only did they read a great deal but the kids also spent a lot of time improving their writing they learned to plan each paper and include specific details into their writing learning to organize the contents and introduce and close each paper appropriately was a big task for these seventh graders but they all improved with their organization and unity a research project was also a part of the class they chose a famous actor athlete or politician gathered information from written and internet sources created a power point and gave an oral presentation about him or her to their peers their creativity was amazing next they took that same information and wrote their very first research paper in mla format to finish the year the students focused on the grammar aspect of language arts the students identified the parts of speech of words in sentences determined their function and diagrammed simple and compound sentences several of our students have blossomed with their outside reading the top ten readers in the accelerated reader program as of mid may are george barker 439 thomas butler 286 evan carter 247 alex cunningham 205 ben kennedy 179 maia foley 169 sarah young 161 austin wingate 158 kelsey habeeb 150 and emily wright 149 kudos to all cook wow it is hard to believe another year has come and gone in math we have all learned a great deal of mathematics in pre-algebra algebra 1 part 1 and algebra 1 this year equations inequalities expressions relations functions statistics probability real numbers algebraic properties exponents proportions two and three-dimensional figures polynomials the list goes on and on remember that algebra is the foundation for everything you do next in math so practice a little over the summer if you have the chance and return with a positive attitude for 8th grade good luck next year i look forward to seeing all the old and new faces in 2011-2012 14

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blankenship this has been a good year and the students met their challenges well they have been involved in various activities and many have shared so much with the classes from fossils to bones to insects cells to ecology they have mastered the objectives i wish all a restful summer and a great year in the eighth grade 8th grade news mcpeake as the year comes to an end i just want to say that the students have done well overall they have worked hard to reach goals we set forth please remind them just because sols are over that we still have some material that needs to be covered the following topics are required for the completion of the algebra i part 1 class simplifying cube roots calculating absolute mean standard deviation and z-scores in addition the students will have a final exam to take during the last few days of school thanks again for a challenging yet fun school year have a great summer hodges wirt and riddle team team steelcurtain@salem.k12.va.us world geography we are coming to the end of the school year after the sols we will prepare for the final exam continue to study the chapters and notes we will study more of australia students will watch a video called the rabbit proof fence this movie is based on a true story about three aboriginal girls who travel 2000 miles in australia s outback http salem.k12.va.us/staff/lhodges 15

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