NORTH NEWS

January 7, 2023

NORTH MIDDLE PROVIDES OVER 1,000 GIFTS FOR FAMILIES IN OUR COMMUNITY

Led by Mr. Sarina, the Angel Tree Program at North Middle gave away over 1,000 gifts and dozens of meals this holiday season! Thank you to the teachers and businesses who donated tangible or monetary gifts and the volunteers who wrapped presents! Twenty-seven families who were not going to be able to have holiday celebrations were helped by your generosity. A big "thank you" to Mr. Sarina for coordinating this event, and even showing up on a "snow day" to pass out gifts to families.

READ THE JOURNAL ARTICLE ABOUT THE ANGEL TREE PROGRAM

REPORT CARDS & PARENT/ TEACHER CONFERENCES ARE COMING NEXT WEEK!

Next week on January 10th, report cards will be issued to students for the 2nd nine weeks! This is the midpoint of the year, so it is extremely important to check your student's progress to see if they are on track!

On January 12th, we will be hosting another Parent/ Teacher Conference Night! If you are interested in visiting one or more of your child's teachers, please SIGN UP ONLINE NO LATER THAN 5:00pm on January 11th! Conference sign-ups will close 24 hours before the event begins. You may sign-up for a virtual OR in-person conference with any teacher.

Please call the main office if you have any questions about conferences and click the link below to select your conference times.

SIGN-UP HERE FOR PARENT/ TEACHER CONFERENCES

NMS STUDENTS SELECTED FOR HONOR BAND!

We had several NMS students who were chosen for the Region IX Honor Band! These students will perform with students from all around Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan Counties. They are:

Aaliyah Jackson, flute
Antonio Marjanovic, baritone sax
James Riley, trumpet
Nate Riley, trombone

Lily Salisbury, trombone

Luke Smith, percussion

Noah Milburn, percussion

Matthew Wolford, baritone

Ms. Cline and the entire NMS community are SO PROUD of you! Keep up the good work!

STUDENT COUNCIL MEETING

The next after school meeting of the Student Council will be on January 9th until 4:00pm. Please have your rides ready to pick you up PROMPTLY at 4:00!

6th GRADERS ARE GETTING "SNOWED OUT"

Wednesday, January 11th, 6th grade students will get their "snowed out" first semester reward. Sixth graders who have earned the reward will get a free popcorn snack and will be able to attend a special movie presentation at the end of the school day. Students may also bring their own snacks and water if they desire. Relay for Life will have a cart of yummy treats available for sale if students choose to purchase them. Let's celebrate a job well-done for the first semester!

JANUARY CHROMEBOOK CHECKS COMING SOON!

zoom_out_map

6th Grade Chromebook Check

Sixth grade students should bring their CHARGED CHROMEBOOKS and chargers to school on Thursday, January 12th for Chromebook check during homeroom and 2nd period. Students with intentional damage, stickers, or writing on their Chromebooks will be required to attend a Chromebook care reteach lesson during lunch recess. Make sure you are taking care of that device!

**6th grade has had the MOST lost or damaged Chromebooks this year. Please encourage your student to guard and protect their device. It is extremely important to their learning. Click the link below for more information about Chromebook care!

zoom_out_map

7th Grade Chromebook Check

Seventh grade students should bring their CHARGED CHROMEBOOKS and chargers to school on Thursday, January 19th for Chromebook check during homeroom and 1st period. Students with intentional damage, stickers, or writing on their Chromebooks will be required to attend a Chromebook care reteach lesson during lunch recess. Make sure you are taking care of that device!

**7th grade (so far) has the best record in the building for keeping their Chromebooks safe! Click the link below for more information about Chromebook care!

zoom_out_map

8th Grade Chromebook Check

Eighth grade students should bring their CHARGED CHROMEBOOKS and chargers to school on Thursday, January 26th for Chromebook check during homeroom and 1st period. Students with intentional damage, stickers, or writing on their Chromebooks will be required to attend a Chromebook care reteach lesson during lunch recess. Make sure you are taking care of that device!

**8th grade has the highest number of students who have unpaid device invoices. Remember, device invoices will follow your child to high school. Please pay that invoice as soon as possible. Click the link below for more information about Chromebook care!

WATCH THE CHROMEBOOK CARE VIDEO LESSON

This is the lesson students may be required to watch during lunch recess if they are not protecting their devices.

2nd NINE WEEKS AWARDS

Save the date for the the 2nd nine weeks awards - JANUARY 19th!!! Parents will be notified if their child is receiving an award so you can attend if desired!

NMS BASKETBALL IS ON A ROLL!

Led by Miles Liverpool and Jaedon Carter-Butts, the boys JV team had wins this week against Hedgesville and Charles Town to remain undefeated. AJ Stephenson and Khari Hafley led the Varsity team to do the same! The Boys basketball team is stunning crowds with a 6-0 record right now! Both the boys and girls teams are working hard playing excellent basketball!

This week, both the boys and girls teams will play on Monday night against Hedgesville Middle (boys are at home) and Wednesday night against Musselman Middle (girls are home).

**PLEASE NOTE, the usual Thursday games were moved to Wednesday due to Parent/ Teacher Conferences.

zoom_out_map

SUPPORT BLUE DEVIL ATHLETICS

Don't forget to purchase your North Middle School "Blue Devil" gear to support our athletic teams! A portion of the proceeds directly impacts our athletic programs! Purchase your gear today!

PURCHASE BLUE DEVIL GEAR HERE

GOVERNOR'S SCHOOL FOR ARTS, CULTURE, & HISTORY

The West Virginia Culture Center State Museum and the University of Charleston are holding the Governor's School for Arts, Culture, and History from June 25-30, 2023. The GSACH offers opportunities to read, think, create, listen, speak and experience how literacy impacts your lives. There will be one session with a max occupancy of 110 current 7th & 8th grade students. If your student is interested in applying for Governor's School, please click the link below for an application.

APPLY FOR GOVERNOR'S SCHOOL

A COOL THING HAPPENED IN CLASS...

Ms. Gantt's Science classes studied whether blinking was a voluntary or involuntary bodily response by throwing cottonballs at each others faces and recording their observations. Ms. Gantt reported that students were very excited to throw cottonballs at their classmates! Students who finished early this week were also allowed to "make snow" using baking soda and hair conditioner!

In Social Studies PLS this week, Ms. Moreland had students complete the Index Card Similarity Tower. Students had to write things they had in common with their team on the index card and then use those cards to build the tallest tower.

On Friday, Ms. Simmons & Ms. Zahradnik's first period classes teamed up to practice argumentative/ persuasive dialogue using a game called "Trust No One." Using a computer program called "GimKit", students had to work together to run investigations on class "crewmates" to determine if they were imposters trying to sabotage their spaceship. Students had to use their knowledge of argumentative writing to persuade their classmates to vote off members of the crew who could have been the hidden imposters! A great time was had by all!