Paola Middle School Newsletter

November 2nd- Wrestling Tournament- @ 9:00 @ Santa Fe Trail High School

November 4th- Wrestling @ Home (PHS GYM) 4:00

Girls Basketball 7th @ Home; 8th @ Tongie

November 5th- 7/8 Band Concert at PHS - 7:00 p.m.

November 6th- Dental Clinic @ PMS

November 7th- Wrestling @ Louisburg

November 11th- Girls Basketball- 7th @ Home; 8th @ Spring Hill

November 12th- Wrestling @ Bonner Springs - 4:00

November 14th- Girls Basketball 7th @ Home; 8th @ Ottawa

November 16th- League Wrestling at Spring Hill- 9:00

November 18th- Girls Basketball 7th @ Louisburg; 8th @ Home

November 19th- Girls Basketball- 7th @ Home; 8th @ Bonner Springs

November 21st- Girls Basketball- 7th @ Home; 8th @ Forest Spring

November 27th- 29th- NO SCHOOL- Thanksgiving Break

Please help Paola Middle School in welcoming Ms. Leona Benton as our new Nurse Health Aide. Her email is leona_benton@usd368.org. We are happy to have her!

Immunization Compliance Deadline

IMPORTANT REMINDER.....Thursday, November 14th is the deadline for immunization compliance at PMS. If your student is in need of immunizations, you should have received information by mail, email and by phone. Please note students who are not compliant by this date will be excluded from school until immunization status is compliant, per school policy. If you have any questions, please contact the school health office by phone or email glenda_kinaman@usd368.org.

Thank you to everyone who purchased coffee as part of our 2nd annual Pride of Paola Panther Band coffee fundraiser sale! Our Middle School and High School raised a combined $3700 profit to help support our 6-12th grade Panther Band program! We hope everyone is enjoying the delicious coffee!

The 7th and 8th grade choir students had the opportunity to travel to Ottawa to participate in League Choir. Paola middle school was very well represented as they had the opportunity to work with a clinician and perform with other students from Ottawa and Louisburg. Great job Choir!

This is an award that Dr. Allison gives out once a month. The students are recognized on a board in my room and get a treat. The award is given to the student that is singing out and showing great leadership qualities in rehearsal.

Star Panthers for the month:

6th Grade - Fallon Bain, Christina Caster, and Cohen Emperley

7th Grade - Chaseton Brown Paisley Fuller, and Charlee Johnson

8th Grade - Melody Bain, Aryah Baldridge, and Boyd Shafer

Our students have been doing an excellent job of continuing to put phones away at the start of the day. Please encourage your student to unplug from their screens during the day. This creates not only a better environment for learning, but also allows students to be free from the pressures of social media. We ask for your help in relieving this pressure to look at their cell phone by delivering messages to the office or email. Thank you for helping us protect the learning environment.

The KAY Club had a candy guessing contest. The winners were Shelby Howell, Lili Meji, and Tate Trachsel.

Please encourage your student to dress in appropriate clothing for the weather outside. Layers are a great idea! The building is temperature controlled, but parts of the building are cooler/warmer than others.

The sixth and seventh grade Spanish classes learned a little bit about the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead. Now they are starting a lesson about school items, places and people. The eighth grade Spanish classes are busy conjugating verbs and talking about things and places at school...¡en español!

Students in our 6th grade Communications classes completed their first full paper of the year! This assignment helped students develop their skills in organizing complete paragraphs, ensuring that each section of their writing was clear, focused, and meaningful. Throughout the process, they practiced structuring their ideas, supporting their points, and creating well-rounded pieces of writing that conveyed stories or ideas effectively.

In addition to paragraph organization, we studied essential literary elements and figurative language, such as similes, metaphors, and hyperboles. These tools not only enhanced their papers but also allowed students to explore creative ways to express themselves. By understanding how literary elements work, students learned to recognize them in reading and applied them in their own writing, adding depth and flair to their work.

This unit blended structure with creativity, allowing students to build a strong writing foundation while exploring the art of language. We were thrilled to see their progress and look forward to more fantastic work from our talented young writers!

A big round of applause goes out to the top two teams for their incredible work in the Ziggurat Marble Run Challenge! Their creativity, teamwork, and engineering skills set the bar high and brought Mesopotamia to life in a fun way. You've set a high bar for future challenges—well done!

Our journey through ancient history continues as we leave the rich lands of the Fertile Crescent and enter the captivating world of Egypt. This next chapter in our historical journey introduces students to a civilization renowned for its monumental architecture, powerful pharaohs, and complex mythology. Our studies will begin by exploring the Nile River’s vital role in Egyptian life, understanding how its seasonal flooding provided the fertile soil that made Egypt the “breadbasket” of the ancient world. We’ll also dive into the incredible engineering feats behind the Great Pyramids, learning how the Egyptians built these massive structures without the help of modern technology.

In addition, students will uncover the beliefs that shaped everyday life and the afterlife, from Ra, the sun god, to Anubis, the god of the afterlife. This deep dive into religion and mythology offers a glimpse into how spirituality guided the lives of ancient Egyptians. They’ll even have a chance to experience writing like an ancient scribe by deciphering and creating their own hieroglyphic messages!

This unit promises to be both educational and engaging. It will allow students to connect with the remarkable legacies of Ancient Egypt through hands-on activities, discussions, and creative projects. With this foundation, they’ll be ready to continue their journey through history, expanding on the knowledge they gained from the Fertile Crescent. Stay tuned for more updates on our Egyptian adventures!

The 8th graders have been excited to receive letters back from the companies they wrote to last month. Some of the companies we have heard back from include Raising Cane’s, Boeing, Sephora, Pepsi Co, Kimberly Clark, KU Football Coach Lance Leipold and we are excited to hear back from many more. The take-aways students learned from this assignment is to always double and triple check their work for misspelled words and to be careful transposing numbers on the address which causes these letters to be sent back.

The 7th graders who have been working in groups learning about Identity Theft. All student groups were then given the task to give a 90 second PSA (public service announcement) to other students in various classrooms. A big shout out to the teachers who allowed the students to come into your classrooms. One thing students learned is that you must prepare for presentations. It’s not that easy and practice is a must.

League Champions!!! Congratulations to our 8th Varsity VB team on the Frontier League Championship! League tournament standings: 8th JV- 3rd, 7th V- 9th, 7th JV - 7th

Great season!

Football Results:

7th Grade finished 2nd in Frontier League! Finishing 5-2

8th Grade finished 3rd, with a nail-biter win over Tonganoxie! Finishing 6-1!

Great Season Athletes and Coaches!

Cross Country finished their season with the Frontier League Meet.

The 7th grade Girls Team finished in 2nd place overall, contributing to the scoring for the Panthers were: Shelby Howell (4th), Zoey Secrest (6th), Rylan Elmore (11th), Abby Crawford (17th), Olivia Martin 18th), June Kemplay (23rd), and Gracie Hewes (37th). The 8th grade girls team saw a top 15 finish from Ellie Hart as she finished 12th overall.

Finishing in the top 10 for the 7th grade boys was Aiden Scheffer who placed 9th overall. The 8th grade boys had a top 20 finish with Massimo DiMartino coming in 20th overall!

Great job to all of our Panther Runners!