Panther Pride News

And there are many other ways to celebrate or observe the day.

In Robotics our Student Interns launched into Project Lead the Way builds and also continued to learn about coding for VEX. Some students in our Tech Team were also working on some more advanced builds and connecting controllers to the brains and motors.

The conference scheduler will open up on Monday, October 14, 2024. You will be able to schedule a 20 minute time slot with your student's academic core teaching team (ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies). Appointments with members of our electives team, including PE and Health, and other specialists are also available before and after your scheduled 20 minute time slot.

No School and Mears will be closed

No School for Students.

Support our school wide fundraiser at the Dine to Donate event with our School Business Partners at the Lucky Wishbone.

1:00p Student Dismissal

1:30p-4:00p Conferences

4:00p Teacher Break

5:00p-8:00p Conferences

1:00p Student Dismissal

1:30-4:00p Conferences

No school for students.

The Mears PTSA is organizing a pot-luck meal to support the teachers during Parent Teacher Conferences on Wednesday, October 23, 2024 and pot-luck breakfast items on Thursday, October 24, 2024. A link to the sign-up genius will be available soon, so stay tuned! Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

As I mentioned last week, safety and security enhancements continue to layer in as we continue to refine our systems to maintain student safety within a closed campus. Starting next week, students with classes in the relos and PE will need to not only a pass, but also a key to unlock our facility to access the interior of the building during instructional periods. The key only unlocks the one exterior door designated for student access at the south east doors. The keyed access will be phased out over the next few months, because the buzzer system for students needing access to the building during instructional periods will be brought online. Students will need to have their student identifications visible on their lanyards to expedite entry. Any student without an identification, should notify to front office and a duplicate badge can be printed.

As I stated last week. we are continuing through year two of our construction project at Mears, the visitor access systems is the next visible change you can anticipate. When you come to our campus, please be reminded that all visitors need to have their identification ready and push the button to notify the front office you would like to enter the building. The camera will activate and the office professionals will be able to communicate with you, please respond by:

• Stating your name
• Purpose for visit

The next enhancement you will see will be the our visitor management kiosk, running our school safety software. This will give us:

• School-wide view of visitors and contractors who enter and exit our building
• The ability to track student tardiness and keep the most up-to-date information in Q
• Screen visitors against various national databases
• Another measure of security for our school community

All Mears students should now be able to see the “Mears Library” course within their Canvas app. Take a look for Announcements and resources. You can also use the Canvas Inbox messages to communicate with Ms. Hubbard.

Remember that library books are checked out for 3 weeks and can be renewed twice for three additional weeks each time. To renew, you just need to let the librarian know, the book doesn’t have to be brought in.

As we come towards the end of Quarter 1, if you have overdue books, you will start to get messages about them. Please be proactive and turn in your books or renew them ASAP!

NJHS is hosting a canned food drive for the Alaska Food bank. Remember, for every two cans you donate, you get a ticket to vote on which staff member you want to see pied in the face! IT’S PROJECT PIE-FACE! Donations are being collected in the morning and during lunch from October 7th to October 25th. The grade with the most donations gets to pie TWO extra staff members! 8th grade has an early lead! Can 6th or 7th grade beat them?

First quarter is quickly coming to a close. If your student has not turned in their Stitch Sampler, please encourage them to do so. It is worth a large part of their grade for 1st quarter.

We enjoyed making French Toast last week and we are currently studying financial literacy and career options with Jr. Achievement Curriculum. 6th and 7th grade students are using the JA Finance Park entry level curriculum to learn personal financial planning and career exploration.

8th grade students are using the JA It’s My Future curriculum to learn practical information to help prepare them for the working world. This unit of study includes career exploration and developing job-hunting skills.

Thank you for supporting your child’s success at school!

Your Partner in Education,

Mrs. Cindy Trawicki, M.A.T.

FCS Instructor

WOW! Can you believe we are almost done with the first quarter of middle school! Students are working to finish the quarter strong. We understand this transition to middle school has had its ups and downs and we are proud of students for taking time to advocate for themselves and rise to the expectations. In advisory, students have been shown how to access student connect, and how to organize their binders to be successful. They are using these tools to get organized and ready for the next quarter.

In English language arts, students are learning about different perspectives through the story Flipped.

Students in Mr. Buchanan’s class are starting an Alaska Studies Unit.

In math, students have finished their lesson on exponents. Real life connections were discussed like sports brackets and how quickly social media can spread. We are moving on to greatest common factors and least common multiples. These concepts will help students in future lessons about fractions and ratios.

Mr. Cernek’s science classes finished a partner project that taught students the value in cooperation while exploring scientific method.

Team announcements: Please notify us of upcoming absences and have your student regularly check CANVAS for their work.

Wishlist: Tissue, hand sanitizer, cleaning wipes

Mr. Fox (Social Studies), Ms.. Pascual (Math), Mr.. Peterson (Science), and Ms. Speranza (ELA) are still accepting late assignments, retakes, and make-up work until October 15th, Tuesday.

Team Nexus presents Jason Vang as our Student of the Week. Jason is a delight in class. His ability to maintain rigor and great work ethic is commendable. We appreciate you, Jason. Keep up the great work.

Jake Dos Santos Thompson is finding the volume of an aluminum cylinder through water displacement during a density lab in Mr. Peterson’s Science class.

In Science students are setting up their ecosystem models! We have pillbugs, duckweed, and seeds. Most importantly, students are learning how to work in a Science lab.

Team Synergy nominates Michelle Justiniano for the character trait of kindness. Michelle always has a positive attitude and a smile on her face that is contagious. She has great manners and is a good role model for others.

In Science News: Our Advanced Science class spent the whole week learning about energy and renewable/nonrenewable resources with Alaska Resource Education! You can learn more about them at https://www.akresource.org/ The last two days our teams spent building solar powered vehicles then pitching their designs to the group and finally racing them! The race had some variables that directly related to using solar power in Alaska in particular. What a great week! Extra thanks to the visit from Senator Claman for stopping by to spend time with our learners! Both he and the folks from ARE were beyond impressed with our students and their science knowledge! Go Mears, and Go Team Solidarity! Bravo!

The 2nd Session has started!

Meeting times are:

Monday 4:15 - 5:15

Tuesday through Friday 8:25 - 9:25

Entry is through the front door of the school and we meet in the wrestling room on the track.

Oct. 22nd - Jan. 24th Tuesday - Friday Evenings 4:15 - 5:15pm. in the Library.

Season begins October 15

Word of The Week: Cuqlliq –Alutiiq word for Elder Listen here

• The Elders & Youth Conference is October 13th-October 16th and a few students from Mears will be attending next week with Ms. Benita Holt! This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to learn and engage with the community. Wishing our students a wonderful experience at the conference!

• In celebration of Indigenous Peoples' Day, students worked together to create a special video for the morning announcements, which aired on Friday, October 11. This project emphasized the importance of recognizing and honoring the rich histories and vibrant cultures of Indigenous peoples. We are incredibly proud of the students’ dedication and teamwork in bringing this project to life. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please visit this link to stay up to date on all that is going on in our program Indigenous Education News.

Free to public event!!! UAA STEM Day is set for Saturday, November 2nd, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building. This free public event will showcase STEM activities and demonstrations hosted by UAA students, staff, faculty, and community organizations. Attendees can participate in various STEM-related activities, from engineering to health sciences, biology, chemistry, and more. Plus, there’s a fun challenge for students to collect stamps in an activity passport. UAA STEM Day offers a unique chance to engage students in hands-on learning, expose them to real-world STEM careers, and spark their interest in pursuing STEM fields. The event fosters collaboration between students and professionals while promoting the university’s STEM programs.

Yearbook will be looking for possible photos to use in this year’s yearbook! If you happen to take any photos at sporting events or after school activities, please e-mail them (highest resolution) to barclay_holly@asdk12.org.

Our front office is busy with calls in the mornings and afternoons and if you do not leave a message on our attendance line, the office can not process early dismissals and issue blue passes in a timely manner. If you know you are in need of a blue pass you can always email the attendance line the morning of or day before. We do not accept blue pass requests after 3:15 pm and blue pass requests need to be in 1 hour prior to the pick up time.

Remember, all fees and fines are paid through Q Parent Connect this year. If you do not have the ability to make an electronic payment, or you have difficulty with Q, please email Ms. Robin in the office. spartz-hays_robin@asdk12.org

Is your child going to absent from school? Save time and send a quick email to our attendance email box, mearsattendance@asdk12.org or you can call the school at 907-742-6400 and select the Attendance Line option to leave us a voice mail, either option is a great way to notify us!

Our office staff is available daily, please don't hesitate to reach out if we can help you in any way, our hours are 8:45-4:15. Thanks so much, we are here to help serve you!

We do not accept, Door Dash/Uber Eats/ETC, food deliveries for students before, during, nor after school. We will NOT accept deliveries of any kind. We have a school meal program offering balanced meal choices daily. In addition, the Black Cat Cafe offers smart snacks daily for purchase

Lunch Detentions are held daily during each lunch wave in Room ST6.. Students are expected to check-in with the supervisor at the beginning of lunch. Students who need to purchase food from the cafeteria will be issued a fast pass to procure their food and return to Room ST6 to serve the assigned lunch detention.

Eighth Grade: Mrs. Nogg

Seventh Grade: Mr. Edwards

Sixth Grade: Ms. Trawicki

Detentions are 8:45 am-9:15 am, in Room 212, with Mr. Bennice Tuesday-Friday. Please drop-off your student at the NORTH entrance to access the building. Mr. Bennice will greet your student, they will sign-in on the attendance sheet and be escorted to Room 212. Please contact AP Svendsen or AP Matthews with any questions.

Everyone

Accepted

Respected

Safe

Email: marquand_carla@asdk12.org
Website: https://www.asdk12.org/mears

YouTube: @JaneMearsMiddleSchool

Facebook: Mears Middle School
Location: 2700 West 100th Avenue, Anchorage, AK, USA
Phone: 907-742-6400