NORTH NEWS

We had MANY students with perfect or exceptional attendance in September! We put their names in a hat and drew two winners! They are:

**Perfect Attendance Winner** Taylor Smith

**Exceptional Attendance Winner** Jose Archinega

**Grade Attendance Award**

What a thrilling showdown between 6th and 8th grades! Congratulations to **6th grade** for clinching victory by just half a day! Way to go!

**Classroom Attendance Award**

In an exhilarating competition, Ms. Crowley’s class and Ms. Woods’ class battled it out for the best attendance in 6th grade! Huge shout-out to Ms. Crowley’s class for taking the win by half a day! Congrats! And it was an edge-of-your-seat race between Ms. Smith’s, Ms. Landerkin’s, and Mr. Mazzan’s 7th grade classes! Congratulations to Ms. Smith’s class for coming out on top, beating Ms. Landerkin and Mr. Mazzan by just half a day! You rock! In 8th grade, Mr. Callis’ 1st-period class has proven to be the champions of attendance with only 24 missed days across the whole school! Let’s give a massive shout-out to his amazing students for their dedication to showing up!

Saving the best for last, we have Mrs. French’s students who did not miss a single day in September! What an incredible achievement! We are proud of each of you!

Keep up the fantastic work, everyone! Let’s keep the momentum going! Remember each month we randomly choose a student with perfect attendance and less than one day to win a reward. Each month you have a chance to win!

Congratulations to the 8th graders that won the Pickleball tournament in periods 3 & 7 this week! Ms. Mangold and Mr. Nuhfer are so proud of your accomplishments!

NMS "RELAY LIKE A BLUE DEVIL" is a BRONZE level team with Relay For LIfe because we made over $2,500 last year for cancer research! Together, we can make EVEN MORE this year! Join us soon for our next fundraiser day, October 31st, in your costume... MORE INFO COMING SOON!

Mark your calendars for October 10th if you missed our fall picture day!

Thanks to everyone who purchased and sold donuts for our Jostens Renaissance Program fundraiser! The donuts will be available for pick-up on Saturday, October 12th from 10am to 1pm. Just drive up to the main entrance and someone will be there to give you your order(s). We are still tallying the profits, but we know every dozen donuts will help us implement this program with our students!

NMS Cheer & the Girls Basketball teams are hosting a craft & vendor fair on October 26th from 9am to 3pm at North Middle School. If you are a small business or vendor that wants to have a booth, please contact Alexandra Russell at 717-414-8754 to book a spot.

We hope everyone stops by to get some of their holiday shopping completed a little early while supporting two great NMS student organizations.

Save the date October 29th on your calendars for our first after school dance of the year! Dress in a costume (no masks, hats, or real/fake weapons) for school and stay for the "Batty and Boujee" Afterschool Dance. $5 tickets will be sold Monday, October 28th during lunch only. Concessions will be sold at the dance so bring a few extra dollars if you want to purchase a treat.

North is rolling out the new Ren Club! This club focuses on student leadership, events, and school initiatives. We need students who exhibit leadership skills and want to make our school a fun place to be. This club will be hosted on Thursdays after school as well as during monthly in school clubs. See Mr. Jackson or Ms. Dusing if you have questions. You will be contacted if you are accepted into the club, but you must use the link below to apply today! You will need to login to your school google account. (yourlogin@bcswv.org)

7th Graders interested in 9/11 are welcome to join the 6th graders to the Flight 93 Memorial on Nov 4th. No students with ISS/OSS will be invited to join. If you are interested, your $40 is due by Oct 18th. Limited spaces will be available and will be filled by those who submit payment first to Ms. Updike. Please email Ms. Updike with any questions at mupdike@k12.wv.us.

It is that time of year again, to start thinking about the SCIENCE FAIR which will take place at North Middle on December 10th. If you are a student who loves to experiment, this is the activity for you. (And, it can earn you a TON of extra credit in those Science classes -- see your Science teacher for details!) Check out the due dates below. There is still time to participate if you are interested. Just see your Science teacher.

The North runners crushed Mussleman but came up short against Mountain Ridge last Wednesday. The times were absolutely blazing!

The top finishers for the boys were:

5th Place- Declan "Rock the" Kradel

4th Place - Kam "Formidable" Forberger

3rd Place - "All Day" Ray Stamat

2nd Place Derrick "Rapid" Redman

1st Place - Dayon "Fly By" Fischer finished first overall in a breath-taking finish with a time of 10:48!

The girl's top finishers were:

5th Place - Vanessa "AMazing" Munoz

4th Place - Aubrey "Oh Wow" Rau

3rd Place - Monica "Brilliant" Ball

2nd Place - Olivia "Mighty" Martirano

1st place on the team and third overall Jazmin "The Flash" Aliguen-Keguini with a blazing time of 13:37!

This Thursday, October 10th, our NMS Cross Country Teams will compete in the county championship! Come on out to Poor House Farm Park at 5:00pm to cheer on our runners!

Along with the girl's basketball team we are hosting a Craft and Vendor Fair on October 26th. Save the date and come out and support some local businesses!

Boys' basketball conditioning will be on hiatus for now, resuming on October 28th. Girls conditioning will continue every Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday from 5:30-7:00pm.

The boys' basketball team tryouts will take place on November 11th, from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. All physical forms must be completed and returned to Coach Callis, Coach Rhoden, at the front office or with Nurse Hutzler. Students who participated in Cross Country do not have to submit another form, the physical will carry over to basketball season.

North Boys & Girls Basketball teams are in the process of raising funds to buy new chairs for the home and away team's bench. We are one of a very few schools who does not have our own padded bench chairs, and we would love to give the players in both programs the same experience as other school's players. Anyone interested in and willing to donate, please reach out to Coach Callis, Rhoden or Mejias.

North Middle School is lucky to have the Shenandoah Community Health van visit our school EVERY THURSDAY! If you still need a physical for basketball season, please pick up a form from the nurse so you can be seen by a healthcare provider with Shenandoah Community Health.

West Virginia has partnered with My Mobile Witness to implement a “see something, send something” reporting system that can be completed on a smartphone or other mobile device. All West Virginians are encouraged to participate in this initiative by downloading the free See, Send application from the App Store or Google Play. All of our students have this app on their school-issued iPads. The user may submit tips for “Crime/Suspicious Activity” or “School Threat or Safety Issues,” and they may also request help for “Suicide or Addiction.”

Our students also have access to our school counselors from their iPads as well. There is an icon on the iPad that takes students directly to the school counselor forms on our website where they can request to see Ms. Poe or Ms. Sigler for assistance.

NEVER SUFFER IN SILENCE! As Mr. Rogers once said, in times of crisis "look for the helpers."

Did you know that your student could receive important health care at school? This can help save time in making doctor's appointments. If you would like your child to see one of Shenandoah Community Health's medical providers, contact our school nurse or the main office for a permission form. The Shenandoah Community Health van visit North Middle EVERY THURSDAY throughout the school year.

Did you know you can manage which schools you receive communications from on a weekly basis? North Middle will be sending all communications through the app this year, trying to reduce the number of text messages we send to parents. We will reserve text message and emails for the weekly newsletter and the most important information. So, to stay "in the loop" be sure to download the app today!

Check out the Middle School Parents newsletter for October 2024! Click on the PDF below to read more!

At NMS, technology is an integral part of our students' learning experience. Programs like iReady and Learning.com are used daily in enrichment classes to reinforce essential reading, math, and technology skills and many classes use technology to help students be creative and interactive. It's crucial for students to arrive at school with their school-issued iPad fully charged and ready for use. While devices may not be needed in every class, being unprepared can cause students to fall behind in assignments and activities.

This week in TEAM classes, we conducted a lesson on iPad expectations and internet safety. Students were encouraged to set strong privacy settings on their personal social media accounts, keep their passwords safe, and refrain from searching or distributing inappropriate images or content. We are dedicated to teaching students how to use technology responsibly in their personal and professional lives, but we need your partnership at home to reinforce these expectations.

To help ensure devices are ready, we encourage students to establish a routine when they get home from school. Placing the backpack near a wall outlet and plugging in the iPad while it's still in the bag can simplify mornings. This routine prevents misplaced devices or chargers and keeps the charger safe at home, reducing the need to purchase additional chargers (which are $38).

We will be conducting iPad checks during TEAM classes this week. Students are required to bring their iPads in good working condition—free of stickers, writing, or damage. They must also be able to locate their chargers, and their devices should be charged so teachers can verify their school Apple ID credentials. Please remind your student that school iPads are for educational purposes only and should never be logged into with a personal Apple ID. Remember, BCS and NMS Administration can monitor all activity on the iPads, and students can face consequences for inappropriate searches, gaming, or misuse. Let's work together to ensure our technology resources are used responsibly and that students are prepared to learn each day!

**Last year, our Technology Committee developed a set of consequences to help remind students to have a charged iPad daily. Please review this with your student so they understand.

At NMS, your iPad is a key part of your learning. Whether it's using iReady, learning.com, or completing other class activities, your iPad helps you stay on track. That’s why it’s so important to come to school with your iPad fully charged and ready to go. Even if you don’t use it in every class, you should be bringing your iPad to EVERY class (yes, even gym)!

Here’s a helpful tip: when you get home, put your backpack near a wall outlet. Plug in your iPad while it's still in your bag so that it’s charging overnight. That way, all you have to do in the morning is unplug and zip up your bag—no more searching for your iPad or charger. Plus, keeping your charger at home means it’s less likely to get lost.

This week, we’ll be doing iPad checks in TEAM class. Here’s what we’ll be looking for:

• You can locate both your iPad and charger
• No stickers or writing on the iPad or case
• No damage to the case (if we cannot give your case to another student at the end of the year, you will owe us $100 for the case)
• Name sticker is still on the case and charger
• You are logged into your school-issued Apple ID (not a personal one)
• Your iPad is updated with the most current software (check this by clicking settings, general, software update)

Make sure your iPad is in good shape and ready for use. Remember, everything you do on your iPad can be monitored by NMS and BCS, so be smart with how you use it. Let's make sure you’re ready for success every day!

Don't miss a thing!

Ms. Burton's students have been creating the periodic table. Each student had to complete a square of the table. Proof that together, we can achieve great things!

Recently, Ms. Michaels class helped in decorating boxes for the pepperoni rolls fundraiser for music class. They decorated the boxes with music notes and musical quotes.

Ms. Stover's students had two class periods to design and construct a launcher that would send their pom poms soaring! The winning design sent the pom pom flying over 173" or OVER 14 FEET!

Ms. Long's Family & Consumer Science classes are practicing their Apple pie recipes for the Mountain State Apple Harvest Festival apple pie contest! The 8th graders also finished their egg unit while preparing french toast! YUM!

WE ARE NORTH!

Our mission is to provide a supportative and inclusive learning environment where every student is valued, held to high expectations, and inspired to reach their full potential. We commit to celebrating our diverse backgrounds while implementing strategies that promote respect, responsibility, and academic excellence.

Email: rachel.deavers@k12.wv.us