Whitford Newsletter

Dear Whitford Families,

It looks like spring has finally arrived. What a treat to have all of the natural colors of the rainbow showing up in the trees, plants, and flowers in our neighborhoods . This year the Hess home actually has a pair of ducks that have decided to make their nest in our back yard. We will see if we get “little ones.”

This time of year is an exciting one as kids are thinking about the end of the school year and what is “coming next” for them. That extra energy is often palpable and we love it. Our opportunity to harness that energy into learning opportunities that inspire and support our student’s growth. For the most part, we have finished with state testing and other things that can distract us for finishing the strong. We invite each of our students to remember that learning will continue through June. We still have much to accomplish and are looking forward to the next 5-6 weeks of learning. Stay with us. We have a lot to do and learn.

By way of simple reminders, we have had an increase of what some might call toys here at school – laser pointers, squirt guns, and other “play things.” These are not welcome here at school and will be confiscated every time and returned to parents should they want them. Please do your best to ensure that your students are coming to school with the necessary school supplies (if they need supplies, please let us know), charged Chromebooks, etc…. Items that might be considered toys must remain at home to be used at home. Sorry for the “no duh” reminder, but we feel it necessary to remind everyone as some seem to have forgotten.

We look forward to many fun events in the coming weeks to conclude our year. We have a number of awesome events on our horizon: soccer tournaments, plays, concerts, parades, and celebrations to recognize accomplishments. We hope that all will be able to participate fully.

Enjoy your last few weeks of the school year and join us as you can to celebrate Whitford.

Respectfully,

Zan Hess, Principal

We continue to be in the middle of several construction and road projects in our area. Attached please find a flyer for more detailed information about what to expect.

This is for students who will be in 6th, 7th and 8th grade next year (2023-2024). Please use the link below to sign up for summer school.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdu6WgkgIbSX_j7qT7mhrO1OtLEoOo9MEN77vuXQ3Zwys4Hyw/viewform

Ms. Otermat's 7th and 8th Grade Technology classes joined our Library and Instructional Technology Teacher Mr. Livingston in the newly updated Makerspace. Students chose from 8 different stations.

At the Digital Design stations students learned to use graphic arts applications to produce designs for products such as t-shirts, tote bags and stickers. The Virtual Reality station offered students an experience designing original artwork in a 3D world using Google TiltBrush.

Some students took advantage of the Stop-Motion Animation station to create original short films, while others worked on 3D Design and Printing. Our gamers spent time creating video games using Microsoft Make Code. Budding electrical engineers created a digital piano using Makey Makey circuit boards. A great time was had by all!

Students participated in a tournament with other middle schools. Whitford will host a soccer tournament on Thursday May 11th.

In Mrs. Miller's 6th grade math class students played new math board games purchased through an Adopt-a-classroom grant from Burlington Coat Factory. Thank you to our community for the donation.

As part of their bridge engineering unit in May/June, 8th grade students will get the opportunity to take a walking tour of Portland's bridges! During the guided tour, groups will grow familiar with basic bridge vocabulary that includes the three basic structural types and three basic moveable types, all of which may be found in Portland, "The City of Bridges"! They will seek out examples of these bridge types and the components of them, including counterweights, cables and trunnions. They will compare and contrast truss patterns and consider the specifics, that make Portland's bridges unique, or in some cases, one-of-a-kind!

Your students will attend the field trip with their science class. See below for the specific date your student will be attending the trip:

Monday June 12 Ms. Deeb's 3rd and 5th Period Classes, Ms. Hunt's 3rd Period and Mr. Bannister's Upgrade Classes

Tuesday June 13th Ms. Dearborn's 6th and 8th Period Classes, Ms. Hunt's 6th Period classes

Wednesday June 14 Ms. Deeb's 6th and 8th Period Classes and Ms. Hunt's 8th Period Class

Permission slips came home last week and are due by May 26. On the permission slip be sure to indicate whether your student will be bringing a sack lunch from home or will need a sack lunch prepared by the cafeteria.

The cost of the Field Trip will be $10. Your student can bring $10 in Cash or Check to the office, or you can purchase online with a Credit Card. Please navigate to Whitford Middle School, Field Trips, 8th grade Field trip. There is also a way to give a donation to pay for another student who can't afford the trip.

We will need chaperones for this trip. If you would like to chaperone, please make sure you have been approved to volunteer at Beaverton School District and that Whitford is selected as one of your schools. Questions, please refer to the Volunteer Page.

We are excited for the 8th graders to celebrate their move to high school on June 20th. They will kick off the celebration with a BBQ lunch provided by Whitford MS. Afterwards, they will transition outside for a PTO sponsored party with shave ice, obstacle course, giant chess, and more.

We'll need a bunch of volunteers that day to make this a successful event. Please sign up here to help out: 8th grade celebration volunteers

Unable to volunteer, but looking to help with the 8th Grade Celebration? Consider making a donation (everything helps) by bringing cash or a check payable to "Whitford PTO" to the school's office. The party committee will use the funds to add more activities to the party. Any overages will be added to the general PTO budget for future events. Donation deadline is May 15th.

Whitford AVID students spent a day touring OSU.

Students created beautiful, collaged portraits using 100% repurposed materials. Their collage portraits tell fascinating stories with movement and rhythm. They created these beautiful textural pieces using old magazines and newspaper. Subjects include famous faces, actual photographs of friends, and self-portraits.

featured artist included:

Kaylin Hall
Sophia Hettle
Sam Kent
George Tripp
Alejandra Ibanez
Hugo Arenas Garcia
Victor McKinney

Looking for a way to get involved at Whitford? We have many opportunities coming up! Follow the links to the myimpact volunteer database for more information and to sign up. If you don't see any opportunities after logging in, you may need to upload your covid vaccination card.

The PTO needs your help to provide beverages and sweet and savory treats for the staff on Wednesday, May 10th. Treats can be dropped off at the school office either Monday, May 8th or Tuesday, May 9th. Sign up here: signup genius

Show our amazing teachers and staff some appreciation by helping take and deliver orders from the Pacific Perks coffee cart on Thursday, May 11th from 7:45 am to 10 am. Sign up on the Volunteer page.

Whitford Band - is looking for help at the St. John's Parade on Saturday, May 13th. We need chaperones to ride the bus with the students and walk the parade route to support the band. Helpers will pull wagons with water and hand them out along the course. We also need people with covered trucks/vans to help transport instruments to and from the parade route and chaperone during the parade. Meet at Whitford at 8:00 am and return after the parade (around 3:00 pm). St. John's parade chaperones and St John's parade instrument transport and chaperone

8th Grade bridge field trips - 8th grade students will get the opportunity to take a walking tour of Portland's bridges as part of their bridge engineering unit on June 12, 13, and 14! We are looking for chaperones for this walking tour. Helpers will ride the bus with students and accompany them on the tour. Please dress for the weather and bring your own lunch. Meet at Whitford at 9:30 am and return at 2:00 pm. Bridge Tour Field Trip

8th Grade Celebration - We are excited for the 8th graders to celebrate their middle school years on June 20th. They will kick off the celebration with a BBQ lunch provided by Whitford MS. Afterwards, they will transition outside for a PTO sponsored party with shave ice, obstacle course, giant chess, and more. We'll need a bunch of volunteers that day to make this a successful event. 8th grade celebration volunteers

Thank you for helping out where you can,

Karen Wolff

Whitford Middle School Volunteer Coordinator

Whitford students and staff celebrate with our dual language students at Southridge High School.

Students in 6th and 7th will have an opportunity for free dental sealants on June 13th. Virginia Garcia met with students during Health classes last week and passed out Sealant forms. Please have your student return them to Whitford. You can fill out forms online. See below.

https://hipaa.jotform.com/SchoolSealants/Dental

Students were asked to focus on kindness by participating in different kindness challenges and nominating other students for their kind acts. Students were spotted doing the following: "helping someone when they are upset", "helping to put away chairs", "opening the door for others", "bringing candy to class", "cleaning in the classroom", "made me happy and helped when I did not understand", "walking with me to class", "cleaning up for someone else", "helping me with my homework", "sharing class notes with me", "complimenting other students", "being nice to me and taking time to talk with me to make me feel more confident", and "sat with me at lunch time"

Students went to Portland State University to compete at the state / regional science fair (Northwest Regional Science Expo). They have worked incredibly hard on these projects over the course of this school year. Next to their name is/are the title of their project, and the award(s) earned at the fair.

NWSE students:

Zane Lukas Barash - Soil particle size and permeability. (3rd Place, Chemistry and Earth Sciences)

Preston Casteel - How teaching style affects student learning ability. (Honorable Mention, Behavioral and Social Sciences)

Kajal Dubey - How does the symmetry and averageness of a face affect the overall attraction felt toward it? (3rd Place, Behavioral and Social Sciences)

Abraham (Hwaeum) Eom - Most effective and ecological cleaning agents. (1st place, Consumer Products Testing; Tom Owen Statistics Honorable Mention)

Alessandra George - How does the type of food you eat affect athletic performance in adolescents?

Annalina Grotbeck - Using RStudios to code an interactive virtual reality model of an exosome imaged with dSTORM.

Caden Hadden - Lichen as bioiondicators of air pollution in different environments in Western Oregon. (3rd place, Environmental Science; NASA Earth System Science Award

Zev Kaplan - Piezoelectricity.

Julia Masini -The effect of sound frequency on the behavior of guinea pigs. (2nd Place, Animal Sciences)

Luna Sahukhal - Detecting cosmic rays at different altitudes.

Leila Sariosseiri - How carbonic acid affects limestone. (Tom Owen Award for Excellence in Statistics)

Jack Tyler - Power of LASER light lost by reflection.

Ethan Welter - Designing and building a cobalt+titanium oxide PEM fuel cell. (1st place, Engineering)

Madison Williams - Microbes to energy; building a microbial fuel cell. (3rd place, Energy)

Tymen Yoder - Plastic sucks! Using a vacuum to clean the beaches. (Honorable Mention, Engineering)

Regina Zhao - Can I build an efficient and effective Gauss magnetic acceleration launcher?

The following students were also nominated for the virtual Thermo Fisher National Science Fair. Applications are due on June 14 for this fair. If a student makes it to the final 30 competitors nationwide, they will be flown to Washington, DC to compete in person for many cash prizes.

Kajal Dubey

Abraham (Hwaeum) Eom

Annalina Grotbeck

Caden Hadden

Julia Masini

Luna Sahukhal

Ethan Welter

Madison Williams

Thank you to all parents, community members, and staff who supported students in any part of their science fair projects. We greatly appreciate your flexibility in scheduling and deadlines as these students completed their projects here at school and at home. They could not have done these projects without your support!

Congratulations to all students for their hard work and accomplishments at all 3 fairs! You have much to be proud of!

When the sun comes out, so do the students in Mrs. Shah's math class. Students enjoy the sun shine and learning math .

7th grade students traveled to Chemeketa Community College to participate in the festival. This festival allowed choirs to focus on their own personal best and celebrate their growth and
achievement.

In Ms. Napper's social studies class they worked on a Ancient Greece unit, we studied wars and conflicts. We also learned about the city-states setting aside their differences to come together in the spirit of competition, creating the original Greek Olympics!

Just like the ancients, we had events that celebrated both physical strength and the arts. (Unlike the ancients, we kept our clothes on, and included all genders!) Congrats to Athens, Corinth, Delphi, and Thebes on their wins!

May 2023

Mon 5/8 Last day to request inter library loans

5/8-12 Staff Appreciation Week

5/10 PTO Meeting 7pm

5/11 – Whitford Soccer Tournament @Whitford. 5-7pm

Sat 5/13 • St. John's Parade -- For Marching Band

Sat 5/13 Drama Set Building

Thu 5/18 Mesa Family Night 6-7PM

Thu 5/18, 7:00p • Choir Concert

Fri 5/26 • Staff Development/Workday - No Students

Mon 5/29 • Memorial Day - Schools Closed

Wed. 5/31 All inter library books are due.

June 2023

Thu 6/1, 7:00p • Musical -- Legally Blonde

Fri 6/2 Field Day for ISC and SRC classrooms

Fri 6/2, 7:00p • Musical -- Legally Blonde

Sat 6/3, 2:00p • Musical -- Legally Blonde

Sat 6/3, 7:00p • Musical -- Legally Blonde

Mon 6/5 All library and textbooks due

Thu 6/8, 7:00p • Final Band Concert

Mon 6/12 8th grade Bridge FT

Tue 6/13 8th grade Bridge FT

Tue 6/13 Free Dental Selants

Wed 6/14 8th grade Bridge FT

Wed. 6/14 -- 6th grade Chromebook Check in

Thurs 6/15 -- 7th grade Chromebook Check in

Thu 6/15 6th grade end of year social 2:41PM

Fri 6/16 -- 8th grade Chromebook Check in

Fri 6/16 7th grade end of year social 2:41PM

Mon 6/19 • Juneteenth - Schools Closed

Wed 6/21 • Last day of school

Thu 6/22 • Grading Day - No Students