Middle School Campus Newsletter
October 2022
Principal's Corner
Fall is upon us on the Middle School Campus. We have had a tremendous start to our school year and look forward to the events and accomplishments of our students in the weeks ahead. On 9/19 and 9/22 we hosted many parents for Parkway and Middle School Open House. The week of September 30th was our childhood cancer awareness week sponsored by MS Campus Student Council. National Suicide Prevention Month events were held 10/5 and 10/6. 10/3-10/6 was Blue and White Week with our campus pep rally held on 10/6. 10/11 and 10/13 was our Campbell's Closet event. On 10/21 we held the Fall Fest Dances at the Parkway and Middle School buildings. On October 22nd a group of MS Campus volunteers participated in the Intergenerational Clean-up.
Upcoming Dates:
- October 27th is the Tom Varano, the "upside down painter," assemblies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPua2lX1sBA
- October 27th 7pm is the National Junior Honor Society Induction in the MS auditorium
- October 28th is the 6th grade remote field trip to the South Tyrol Museum of Archeology (https://www.iceman.it/en/) in Northern Italy
- October 28th is "hat day" for $1 to support breast cancer awareness
- October 31st--please no hats, face paint, costumes during the school day
- November 7th is the PTO Save Around book orders pick up--3:45-6:30PM Parkway
- November 10th--Diabetes awareness ribbons sold for 1$ during lunch
- Veterans Day is November 11th--No School
- Report Cards go home November 18th
- Support the tech club by purchasing a holiday ornament now through 12/2!
Lastly, please review this important article about healthy digital literacy/social media practices with your children.
As always, please reach out to us with any questions.
Sincerely,
Mr. Egresits, Campus Principal jegresits@wboro.org
Mr. Spost, Assistant Principal mspost@wboro.org
Ms. Hajdasz, Assistant Principal chajdasz@wboro.org
MS Campus Daily Announcements
The most up to date dates and event information are announced to our students twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Both the Middle School and the Parkway have announcement Google Classrooms on your child's Google account. Information, fliers and important links are posted every day. Ask them to show you!
In addition, check out the announcements on the Middle School Campus website!
Encourage your child to join a campus club!
MS Campus Goes "Gold" to support Childhood Cancer
On September 30, Whitesboro Middle School Campus held a dress-down day and wore gold to show their support. During the week, gold ribbons were sold during lunch periods for a grand total of a $665 dollar donation for Amazing Gracie's Gift Foundation.
Amazing Gracie’s Gift Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization created in memory of Gracie M. Lawton, a 21-month-old who fought cancer courageously before losing her battle in January of 2012. In an effort to keep her memory alive, Amazing Gracie’s Gift Foundation was formed to help children and their families who find themselves in the same terrible situation.
Thanks to all students and staff who participated!
Blue and White Week
Fall Fest Dances
Intergenerational Fall Clean-Up
On October 22nd, the Whitesboro Middle School Campus participated in the 2022 Oneida County Intergenerational Fall Clean-Up. This special event provides a venue where younger persons in the community can become engaged to assist their older neighbors with general yard clean-up. For three hours on Saturday morning, the Whitesboro Middle School Campus team consisting of 13 staff members and 21 students in grades 6-8 raked leaves, picked up sticks, swept driveways, and more at several houses in Whitesboro. This was a rewarding experience for all involved, and one that we plan on continuing in the future. Thank you to the following volunteers:
- Staff: Ms. Arrigo, Mr. Burns, Mrs. Butka, Ms. Dell'Anno, Mrs. Dote, Mr. Egresits, Mr. Faro, Mr. McQueen, Mr. Rothdiener, Mr. Spost, Mrs. Wagner, Mrs. Wander, and Miss Williams
- Students: Braeden Beauharnois, Anderson Belfield, Kaylee Boylan, Shane Boylan, Valerie Cieslak, Elise Conover, Gianna Cook, Sawyer Dote, Gabriella Dudek, Juliette Guzman, Sophia Montana, Nicholas Muha, Kylie Murray, Hayden Palmer, Andrew Sfeir, Amira Sheehan, Reagan Synakowski, Peyton Wells, Salima Yagan, Nathan Zalatan, and Emma Zyskowski
National Suicide Prevention Month
September is National Suicide Prevention Month. The students of Whitesboro Middle School honored this month through completion of the Walk a Mile in Our Shoes project. Students designed shoes that reflect their individuality and unique experiences while acknowledging that everyone has their own path and journey that they are on. Students wrote their own "I am" statement highlighting a positive characteristic within themselves as well as their own "I will" statement highlighting the way in which they will demonstrate preventative support to others. With respect to suicide awareness and prevention, it is important to be aware that we all experience hardships and challenges and that we should be communicating with those close to us for support. Each completed shoe is a reflection of a Whitesboro student and their willingness to empower the people they love!
Holiday Ornament Sale by the Technology Club
The Whitesboro Middle School Technology Club will begin making holiday ornaments soon and will be offering them for sale as their fundraiser. Ornaments range in price from $3 to $5, will come with a ribbon for hanging and some even offer the option of customization with names. You can view all of the different options by clicking on the Ornament Order Form below.
If you would like to purchase, please complete and submit this form. After you have submitted this form, please total the amount due and send cash (in a sealed envelope with your name ) or a check made out to Whitesboro Middle School Technology Club to school with your child. Have them give it to their homeroom teacher or Mr. French in the Technology Room, #183, first thing in the morning.
Orders will be processed once the money is received. When your order is completed it will be sent home with your child.
Orders may be submitted now through Friday, December 2, 2022.
If you have any questions please reach out to Mr. French at rfrench@wboro.org.
Thank you for your support. All proceeds from the fundraiser will directly support the technology club to help purchase supplies and equipment for student use.
Please join us at 6:30 in the Parkway Library for the PTO meeting!
MS Campus Curriculum Highlights
STAR testing and Freckle Math and Reading Programs
Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s),
The Whitesboro Middle School Campus has implemented Star Math and Star ELA Testing for the 2022-2023 school year. Star tests are computer adaptive, which means they adjust in difficulty to each answer students provide. This helps teachers obtain the best data to assist students in the shortest amount of testing time. In September, all Middle School Campus students in grades 6-8 took two Star Assessments, one for Math and one for ELA, which provided baseline data regarding their current levels of achievement in both areas. These were the first of four Star Assessments to be administered in each respective discipline this school year. The second test will be administered in December, the third test will be administered in March, and the fourth test will be administered in May or June. Data from these assessments will be used as one resource to help inform our instruction, which will continue to provide individualized support in alignment with the New York State Next Generation Learning Standards.
In accordance with the data collected from the Star Assessments, we will be using the learning platform “Freckle” to provide enrichment for students, especially in areas identified as focus skills. This is designed to provide both an engaging and individualized experience for students of all abilities. We will continue to implement these learning opportunities throughout the school year, continuously assessing and analyzing student performance to best provide appropriate areas of focus for individual students. Freckle can also be used outside of the school day; please see the pictures/Class Link below for details about how it can be accessed in order to support individualized progress at home. Thank you for your continued support!
6th Grade Cave Art
Students in the 6th grade Social Studies classes created Cave Art after learning about the first people during prehistory. Before creating this art, the class discussed different types of pictures that would have been drawn during the Stone Ages and what objects they used to create the colors on their drawings.
7th grade Science Tootsie Pop Lab
Have you ever wondered how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? Well Mrs. Butka and Mrs. Dote’s class used the scientific method to test their hypothesis. Each class recorded data and came up with a class average.
6th Grade Science learns about DART
Hollywood has made billions of dollars at the box office with action movies about asteroids crashing into Earth. Armageddon, Deep Impact, and Ice Age: Collision course are just a few of the Hollywood productions depicting asteroids on a collision course with Earth.
Parkway students recently discovered that there are some science facts inside all of that science fiction. NASA is currently tracking over 20,000 near earth asteroids. Not to worry, none of these currently pose a threat to Earth, but NASA is preparing just in case that changes.
Through a variety of multimedia tools, Parkway students were able to investigate The DART program. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test is a NASA space mission aimed at testing a method of planetary defense against near-Earth objects. It was designed to assess how much a spacecraft impact deflects an asteroid through a transfer of momentum by hitting the asteroid head on and attempting to slow it.
Students were able to hear NASA scientists describe the purpose of the mission, observe the design of the craft, and witness the actual results of the mission in near real time. DART crashed into the asteroid Dimorphos at nearly 15,000mph and was able to change the path of the asteroid significantly.
NASA referred to this as a watershed moment in planetary defense and Parkway Science students would certainly agree!
-Written by Mr. Scott
Mrs. Hamilton and Mr. Scott teaching about DART!
Creek Week in 7th grade Science!
Mrs. Butka's, Ms. Dewan's & Mrs. Dote's classes entered the Sauquoit Creek on Tuesday 10/25 for the 7th grade Creek Week project. The classes collected data on the stream's velocity, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, depth, & temperature in order to determine the creek's health. More to come soon on the wboro website!