Talon Talk

Hello HMS Families!

We have had a great start to the semester! Students are rolling through their schedules and we have finally passed our 3rd quarter midterm. There should be some grades put into infinite campus at this point in time so make sure you are seeing the updates! On midterms, the teachers have put behavior grades for students. I feel like more consistent reporting with behavior grades will be helpful for our students and parents. This gives you the opportunity to see how the student is behaving in the classroom and have more clear conversations with teachers to help students improve in places they may be struggling with.

Some reminders for the semester:

• Students being picked up by parents should not walk to the elementary parent pickup. Parents should pick up at the middle school then the elementary.
• Parent pickup should happen as quickly as possible at the middle school in order to ensure students are supervised while being picked up.
• We have a Valentines Dance on Thursday Feb.13th! This is only on a Thursday because it is the last day of school for that week. The dance is from 6pm to 8pm.
• We do not allow energy drinks at the middle school. Please, do not allow your students to bring energy drinks to school they are typically confiscated.

Book bags, Purses, backpacks, duffle bags, and other types of totes are not allowed in the classrooms.

Students should store these items in their lockers until the end of the day and should not carry them to class.

Ms. Hanneken (6th grade counselor and district testing coordinator) and Mrs. Hernandez (7th grade and 8th grade counselor)

School Counselor Appreciation Week was last week so join us in thanking our wonderful counselors! Ms. Hanneken has had an amazing 40 year career in education and will be retiring after this year, while Mrs. Hernandez has had 6 years in education and this is her first year at Holden. They truly make our school a better place for students AND staff!

Grace (giving children what they NEED)

• Providing a relationship (I love you no matter what...nothing could ever change that)

• Things parents can do to give grace: love them, encourage them, speaking positively to them and about them to others

• Establishing strong trust through boundaries (if we fail to follow through with boundaries, it becomes harder for children to trust us)

Accountability (holding them responsible for their actions)

• Think about what happens when our kids don’t follow expectations
• It's okay not to have an instant answer/consequence (waiting can actually be very effective!)
• Having boundaries with our kids makes them stronger people

Emma T., Mia M., Colton C., Timmy R., Zay F., and Alyia D.

(not pictured: Finnley S. and Jaxon T.)

Kylee B., Anna S., Easton T., Dillion H., Corbin S., Owen F., Bryna S., and Celeste H.

Nevaeh D., Azure B., Lily F., Kendyl U., Tristan A., Spencer A., Eclipse B.

The weather once again this January has disrupted our school schedule a bit, and we are playing catch up in Advisory classes. Our character trait in January has been optimism. That’s a great word for all of us to improve upon as we attempt to get caught up on days/lessons/assignments we have missed due to snow days and late start. The students have learned that with awareness and work, we all can turn negative attitudes into one of optimism. It helps improve our health, relationships, and success rate by turning bad situations into ones of hope and looking forward.

In February, we will learn about Compassion and stepping into someone else’s shoes to see what others deal with in their daily lives. We will celebrate Random Acts of Kindness this month and have activities that give students a chance to practice this. It is also Black History Month. We study what civil rights and civil liberties are and also learn about key figures and the many valuable contributions black Americans have made to the United States throughout history.

Tuesdays and Thursdays continue to be academic days for students to get caught up, study, read, etc. We always are working on mindfulness of our emotions and bodies and becoming aware of when our body is sending us a message that we’re struggling and need help regulating; then finding and practicing techniques that work for us. Teamwork, conversation, and self-reflection are integrated in all lessons to help our students mature and grow into responsible, capable, self-aware, kind individuals.

We are thrilled to welcome Mrs. Bourland as our new 7th grade ELA teacher! With a passion for literature and a commitment to helping students grow as readers and writers, Mrs. Bourland brings both enthusiasm and experience to our school. This is Mrs. Bourland's seventh year in education and has also worked in the youth mental health field. She lives in Clinton and has three children.

Please join us in giving Mrs. Bourland a warm welcome to our school community!

To increase communication about after school activities, we have started a Google Calendar for parents and families to access. If there are activities that you do not see on this calendar, please send an email to Mrs. Fennewald at afennewald@holdenschools.org so that we can add these items.