Whittier Wire

May 18, 2024

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Upcoming Events:

May 24: Wellness Day
June 3: Grade 8 Step-Up Day
June 5: Band & Chorus Concert
June 12: Grade 8 Field Trip
June 12: Grade 7 Community Day
June 13: Grade 8 Promotion Ceremony 6:00pm
June 14: Last Day

RSU 16 Calendar

Welcome to Whittier!

Middle school is a time of transition. You have likely seen a lot of change in your children in the year or two years they have been in middle school.

Middle school is also very brief. One year they are entering their new school. The next year they are preparing to exit and thinking about what comes next.

On Thursday, we had the opportunity to welcome parents of incoming 6th graders. Kelly Adams, Julie Martin, and I visited elementary schools on Friday to introduce ourselves to our new students. This followed a busy March in which 8th graders signed up for their high school courses and met with their school counselors. Next up this week, 8th graders will learn about student government in the high school and have the chance to run for office.

On June 3rd, students in grades 6 and 8 will experience Step-up Day and spend time seeing their new schools and meeting staff. It is certainly an exciting time of year, but it can also be stressful and lead to some new behaviors for students who may be feeling overwhelmed by the unknown. If you see this in your child and would like some help at school, please do not hesitate to reach out to staff in the building who know your child well.

We wish to partner with you to help make the transition forward as smooth an experience as possible.

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Speaking of transition, kids' bodies are changing a lot during this time as well. If your child hasn't started wearing deodorant yet, it is probably time. We are expecting some very warm classrooms next week, and Axe body spray isn't going to cover it (we are aerosol-free). Thanks for encouraging your child to shower and wear deodorant daily.

Pie in the Face Fundraiser

The MidKnight FireSlayers are pleased to report that they made $163.00 on the hat day on Friday, 5/17! We are grateful for all of the contributions and additional donations that staff and students made. We have made great progress but still need to raise $574.00 to get the AED device for our middle school. We are also hoping to raise additional money to send our NHD winners to Nationals! Looking to help? Participate in the Pie in the Face event next week! See the flyer for more information! Please contact Mrs. Shanning for any information or additional donations!

Nurse's Office: Head Lice

We would like to remind everyone that head lice are always ever present in our world. The CDC estimates that there are 6 to 12 million cases of head lice each year in the United States involving children ages 3 to 11 years old (Maine CDC Head Lice Fact Sheet). Despite all of the advertising by various companies, there are no products available that have been proven to deter head lice and none that will kill them. Mechanically removing/combing every day for 2 weeks with a metal long-tined lice comb and hair conditioner will usually clear the infestation. All parents/guardians should routinely inspect their children for head lice on a regular basis so that if an infestation occurs, it can be dealt with promptly to reduce the chances of spreading it.

Head lice can only be transferred by direct hair to hair contact with a person who has them. Children with long hair should be encouraged to wear their hair contained in a braid or ponytail/bun when in a setting that will have them in shoulder to shoulder contact with their peers (school, day care, summer camps). Current research has shown that the legs of head lice are genetically perfected for gripping only the shafts of human hair. Thus it is unlikely that sharing fomite items such as clothing, hats, scarves, combs, brushes, batting/bike helmets and other belongings will allow transmission; however because a few suspected cases of transmission from fomite items are still happening, it always makes good sense to not share. Lice DO NOT jump, hop or fly. They transfer by crawling or falling off the hair shaft of their current host and onto the hair shaft of their new host. Lice do not carry disease. Lice do not live on pets. The adult louse and the nit (louse egg) can be seen by the naked eye but a magnifying glass may be helpful. They are seen more easily in natural light. Symptoms may include itching, redness or sores anywhere on the scalp or actually seeing the lice crawling among the hair shafts.

Head lice appear as a tiny grain of rice with six legs, but they are sometimes difficult to detect because they move quickly and they may take on the natural color of the host. It is often easier to see the eggs/nits that have been laid in the hair. They have an oval or sac-like appearance and hang off the side of the hair shaft. They can appear as translucent, pearly white, brown or black. They stick to the hair shaft using a cement-like substance secreted by the adult louse. They are difficult to remove. Unlike dandruff or hair product deposits, they do not flick away or wash off. When rolled between the fingers, they feel like a grain of salt or sand. Nits can be anywhere in the hair but are often found behind the ears, around the nape of the neck or in the crown area. The closer the nits are found on the shafts to the scalp may help date their viability (nits found ¼” from the scalp are more recently laid than nits found 1,2, or 3” out from the scalp).

Please reach out to the nurses' office if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you.

Lisa Storer RN, BSN

BMWMS/PRHS School Nurse

Mr. Brandon: Tech Ed

Tech Ed students recently designed and built weighing scales. Students applied the law of the lever to find the mass of random objects using their weighing scales. They then compared their results with the mass recorded with the triple beam balance.

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Ms Adler: Writing Class

After a morning filled with MEA Science testing, Ms. Adler's 8th grade writing classes took a break from technology and brought their poetry work outside! Students worked on their narrative poems, which are poems that have all the elements of a narrative story (setting, characters, conflict, and resolution). Be sure to ask them to share their Narrative Poem; they have produced profound and amazing, and sometimes humorous narrative poems!

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Mrs. Gilbert: Civil Rights Team

Our Whittier Civil Rights Team led a project that had all students fill out an "I Am" sunflower that connects with one of the six pillars of civil rights: Race and Skin Color, National Origin and Ancestry, Religion, Disability, Gender (Including Gender Identity and Expression), and Sexual Orientation.

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Mr. King: Whittier Athletics

Monday

7th Baseball and Softball Hm vs. Brunswick 3:30

8th Baseball and Softball @ Lake Region MS 3:30, depart 2:00

Outdoor Track Practice

Tuesday

Regular practice times

Wednesday

MS boys Lacrosse home (GNG) vs NYA 3:30

Regular BB/SB practice times

Thursday

MS Outdoor Track and Field at GNG 3:30, depart 2:30

8th Baseball and Softball Home vs Mt Ararat 3:45

7th Baseball and Softball @ Mt. Ararat 3:45, depart 2:00

Friday

Regular practice times

7th Baseball and Softball Home vs Lake Region 3:30

ALERT! - Celebrating recent school record breakers in Track & Field!

Alyssa Mason: Discus 105-6.5
Alyssa Mason: Shot put 37-1
Boys 4x400: 4:34.72
Jackson Garcia: 400 1:02.55

Now is a great time to inventory your child's laundry pile. Any Whittier uniforms that have not been returned from previous seasons are welcomed home! If you have a uniform that needs to be returned, please send them in with your name on it.

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Join Team Whittier at the Triple Crown 5K Series

Looking for a great way to get active this summer? Join the Whittier Middle School team at the Greater L-A Triple Crown 5K Series. The first event is June 2nd at Festival Plaza in Auburn. Students 14 and under receive FREE registration! All are welcome on Team Whittier.

Visit the Triple Crown 5K website for more information about the series.

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Bruce M. Whittier Middle School

Email: svincent@rsu16.org
Website: https://www.rsu16.org/bwms
Location: 1457 Maine Street, Poland, ME, USA
Phone: (207) 998-3462
Facebook: facebook.com/WhittierMidknights