Maize Middle School

A Message From Mr. Cramer

Hey MMS Eagle Families!

Everyone loves a snow day but we are also very thankful to get back into a routine with full school weeks and getting important time with our students as we work towards our learning goals for the year.

Attendance: Regular school attendance is one of the most important factors leading to a successful academic and social experience. As a reminder, any time your student is absent for an appointment please establish the routine of submitting a note to school so attendance can be coded correctly. Per district policy any absence over seven will require documentation in addition to parent communication.
Parent Teacher Conferences: Parent/teacher conferences will be held February 12 from 4 PM to 8PM and February 13th from 8AM to 3:40 PM. Attendance at spring conferences is vital as we can discuss progress and make plans for the upcoming year. Teachers will be in their classrooms for conferences. Should you need more than about 15 minutes of time please contact the specific teacher to schedule a time.
Spring Assessments:. Mark your calendars for our spring state assessment celebration. We plan on giving ELA, Math, and Science state assessments during the week of April 14-18. We are trying something new this year and have some fun activities planned to get the most out of our students and allow them to showcase their hard work throughout the year. Please make sure you do everything possible to have your student in attendance during this week. Students will also take the spring fastbridge benchmark later this spring.
Music Festival: Maize Middle School hosts the WSL Vocal Festival on March 5th. This will be a no school day for MMS students ONLY. All other buildings will be in session this date.

Boys basketball is in full swing and having a great season. STUCO is sponsoring a semi-formal tonight. We hope to have a lot of students join us at 6 PM in the commons. Please be mindful of traffic flow.

As always I am honored to be part of the Maize Middle School story with all of you and invite you to be part of it. If you have questions, concerns, suggestions, or affirmations please share with us.

Sincerely,

Chad Cramer

Visit our website at www.usd266.com/mms.

Connect with Mr. Cramer at ccramer@usd266.com or call 316-729-2464.

Maize Middle School is located at 4600 N. Maize Rd. Mazie KS

Calendar Reminders

Jan 31st 6:00-8:00pm Winter Formal Dance

Feb 3rd-7th National School Counselor Week

Feb 6th 3-10pm - PTO Spirit Night at CFA

Feb 10th - Moxi Cinnamon Roll day in the Cafeteria

Feb 10th - Kay Club Conference

Feb 12th 4-8 - Parent Teacher Conferences

Feb 13th 8-3:40 - Parent Teacher Conferences

Feb 13th - No School

Feb 14th - No School

Feb 15th - SRO Appreciation Day

Feb 27th - Spring Picture Day

Feb 27th 6:30pm - Spring Sports meeting

Feb 28th - No School

Access the 2024-2025 Maize USD 266 Calendar by clicking here.

Wichita Suburban League Calendar

A picture of bingo cards. Exciting news! We are hosting our first Family BINGO Night here at Maize Middle School on Friday, Feburary 21st. Join us for a night of hanging out as a family and seeing if you can get lucky as we play BINGO together! From 6-8pm. Family fun, pizza, and door prizes.

Hello Maize Middle School Families!

Exciting news! We are hosting our first Family BINGO Night here at Maize Middle School on Friday, Feburary 21st. This event is FREE to attend! Join us for a night of hanging out as a family and seeing if you can get lucky as we play BINGO together!

Doors will open at 6:00pm and games will begin at 6:30pm. You are welcome to bring your own meal or pick up your 1 or 2 pre-ordered Pizza Hut pizzas when you arrive.

Pizza is $10 per pizza if you send cash in an envelope to the office. Please include your student's name and "Bingo Pizza" on the envelope.
If you prefer to order online, it's $11.

ALL PIZZA MUST BE PRE-ORDERED BY WEDNESDAY, Feb 19th.

We will be selling drinks for $1 each at the event as well.

*Important note: Students must be accompanied by an adult at this event.

Purchase pizza for MMS BINGO Night | SuccessFund

Purchase Pizza for MMS BINGO Night online! Hosted by Maize Middle School, this event is a fun way to enjoy a night of BINGO with family and friends. Families attending BINGO Night at MMS will have the option of pre-ordering large Pizza Hut pizzas for $11 to enjoy during the event.

sfnd.io

Athletics

Hello Maize Middle Families,

Our 2nd Winter Activities season is well underway with Boys Basketball, Girls Wrestling, Scholars Bowl and Science Olympiad all completing. If you are able, please come out and support our students, they would love to see you in the stands and at our competitions!

Upcoming Dates:

February 27th at 6:30 PM - Spring Sports Parent Meeting.

This will take place at Maize Middle School Commons. If your student is interested in Track & Field or Boys Tennis, please plan on attending.

March 10th - Spring Sports Begin

Results from our recent competitions are below:

Science Olympiad

January 25 Wilbur Invitational

Placed 9th as a Team

Scholars Bowl

January 14 @ Maize South

7th: 2nd (2-2)
8th: 1st (4-0)

January 27 @ Haysville

7th: DNP (0-3)
8th: 2nd (2-1)

January 28 @ Hutch

7th: 1st (3-1)
8th: 1st (4-0)

Boys Basketball

January 21 vs Maize South

7A: 24-43 (L)
7B: 27-28 (L)
8A: 39-21 (W)
8B: 35-29 (W)

January 23 vs Goddard

7A: 24-44 (L)
7B: 21-17 (W)
8A: 32-20 (W)
8B: 32-27 (W)

January 27 vs Derby North

7A: 27-42 (L)
7B: 29-37 (L)
8A: 65-33 (W)
8B: 42-37 (W)

January 30 vs Derby

7A: 43-33 (W)
7B: 44-18 (W)
8A: 39-27 (W)
8B: 31-30 (W)

Girls Wrestling

January 24th Hutch Tournament Results

Ella Sacket: 4th Place at 115 lb
Tailyn Moreno: 2nd Place at 134 lb
Audriana Johnson: 4th Place at 148 lb
Kahlan Kitson: 4th Place at 180 lb

ID's are required. It's essential for students to bring their ID to school every day. Wearing a school issued ID'Lanyard is a district-wide policy. ID Uses: Identification, scanning in/out of school when leaving durring the day, borrowing library books, textbooks & chromebooks. Scanning at teh cafeteria, accessing printer codes. Pictured : graphic of a school lanyard..

Eagles Landing

Each quarter, we have several different challenges that each Eagles' Landing class competes in. Some examples are things like lanyard checks, spirit days, participating in the SEL lessons, having Chromebooks ready and charged for the day, and having no tardies. The classes with the most points earn a breakfast and the ability to choose their Passion Project before other students.

Congratulations to the Eagles' Landing classes from Mrs. Swart, Mrs. Knutson, Mrs. Ronk, and Mrs. Black for being our Quarter 2 Pennant Challenge winners! Shout out to Lamar's donuts for sponsoring the breakfast!

Maize Middle School PTO

Spirit Night community fundraizer. Thursday Feb 6th. 3-10pm at chick-fil-A 21st & Maize. Chick-Fil-a will donate 20% of all sales from supporters back to Maize Middle School. Tell your order taker that you are there for the spirit night. For mobile orders please use the organization code "community" for the community cares event. Organization Code: community (case sensitive)

PTO has been busy filling teacher grants with the funds raised during our fall fundraiser. Thank you to everyone who donated. Our teachers are extremely grateful for your generosity.

On February 12th the PTO will be taking 45 MMS students to Carousel Skate Center for a skating party. These students each raised over $100 in donations and we look forward to celebrateing them!

Spirit Nights

Tuesday, April 8th - CFA

From the Health Office

Hello Maize Families!

Did you know that February is National Heart Health Awareness Month? In a month traditionally associated with romantic love- we can also show our own heart some physical love! With our busy lives, we sometimes tend to forget to take care of ourselves. We do not think there is an issue, until something goes wrong. A reminder of the top risk factors for Heart Disease:

1) High blood pressure- it is easy to check this at Dillons, a local fire station, at home if you have a monitor, your Dr office- usually at no charge to you!!

2) Elevated Cholesterol- be diligent- see your Dr to know when YOU should get it checked!

3) Smoking- just don't!

4) Diabetes- just a reminder that if you have Diabetes, be in touch with your Dr for a plan to monitor your heart health.

5) Inactivity- get up and move! This may be different for each of us- Do something, no matter how small! Did you know that the American Heart Association recommends at least 60 min of moderate to vigorous activity for kids 6-17 years old?

6) Diet- be sure to get your fruits and veggies! Although we all love fast food- it is not a great Heart Healthy choice!

7) Family History- check into yours! It makes a difference in what steps you need to take!

Obviously, your doctor should be the one to advise you on what you need to do to keep your heart healthy! These are just a few thoughts to get you thinking, and maybe to motivate you to contact your doctor if you have not done that recently! Our kids need you to be healthy, so you can help our kids be healthy!! Happy Valentine's Day!!

As always- if I can be of assistance to your student- please feel free to contact me! I want to help them be as successful as possible, and will do whatever I can to help!

--

Shelley Funk BSN,RN

School Nurse

Maize Middle School

Phone: 316-350-2308

Fax: 729-2479

Email: sfunk@usd266.com

ELA

In honor of International Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27th, some 8th grade ELA students researched Children of the Holocaust. They looked at a list of Children from the Museum of Tolerance Los Angeles website. Students were asked to find a child with the same first initial of name or last name. On a Star of David, students wrote the child's name, 5 facts about the child, where the child was from, and what happened to the child during the war and after the war if the child survived. Next, students highlighted the star in yellow if the child died during the war, or highlighted just the name if the child survived. Students were also asked to write a sentence, paragraph, or poem describing their feelings for those that suffered during the Holocaust.

OneMaize Rubik Cube Competition

Maize Middle School will host the third annual OneMaize Rubik's Cube Competition on Thursday, March 6. Any student who likes to solve the Rubik's cube is welcome to join a team and participate in the competition. Encourage your student to contact Mr. Williams (jkwilliams@usd266.com) or Mrs. Johnson (lajohnson@usd266.com) for more information or to be included on a team. Additional competitions will be held in April and May in Goddard and Derby.

The Rubik's Cube Passion Project is also interested in your gently used Rubik's cubes if your student is no longer using them. In addition to the team competition, we also like to make mosaic designs with cubes, so having many of them helps us make interesting images. Here's a small example of what we can design from the Term 2 Passion Project.

8th Grade Science

Sometimes, the best learning comes from unexpected discoveries! Ms. Matthew's 8th-grade science class is exploring Contact Forces with the OpenSciEd unit. While investigating collisions with materials like sugar glass and rice sticks, students have also encountered some unplanned experiments, leading to even more insights into the physics of impact. They're using slow-motion video to capture the moment of contact and analyze the resulting changes in motion and shape, turning these 'accidental' discoveries into valuable learning opportunities.

Capturing Kid's Hearts

Our character trait focus in January was Respect.

Students who successfully demonstrate respect may exhibit the following behaviors:

• Makes others feel safe, supported, and engaged
• Can see situations from other peoples’ perspectives
• Is intentionally mindful of classmates, teachers, and other leaders
• Follows directions the first time
• Is helpful without being asked (picks up trash; holds doors open for others, etc.)

The following students were nominated at least 4 times by staff members and their peers for consistently showing these traits. They earn a Chick Fil A lunch, too! Congratulations to:

Anderson Meyers, Bostyn Schuette, Bristyl Roulhac, Daniella Santos-Clarke, Hayden Watkins, Jace Kennedy, Kollins Hon, Leilani Payne, Lency Hernandez-Olivas, Michael Wimbley, Mikayla Britt, Rhys Isham, and Ray Wullschleger

Choir Corner

Festival Concert/Donation Bake Sale - March 3rd at MMS 7:30 PM

*Please email Mrs. Brandt at mbrandt@usd266.com if you are interested in helping out with the bake sale!

Festival - March 5th at MMS all day

Worlds of Fun - May 3rd all day - information to come

Musical "Finding Nemo Jr." - May 15th and 16th 7:30 PM at MHS

*Please email Mrs. Brandt at mbrandt@usd266.com if you are interested in helping with the costumes or set construction!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lIexALxRpz7PqXKPJhMWLvOj4Qeh-cSV/view?usp=sharing

Hello Maize Families!

Check out our February Counseling Connection for resources and information from our counselors.

Please don't hesitate to reach out to the school counseling office if you have questions or concerns.

Maize Middle School Counselors:

Monica Heide | Last names A-F | mheide@usd266.com

Bridget Paasch | Last names G-N | bpaasch@usd266.com

Melissa Fleeker | Last names O-Z | mfleeker@usd266.com

pdf

insert_drive_file

February Counseling Connection.pdf

Download

622.6 KB

MMS String News

The string students are busy preparing for the WSL instrumental music festival (often referred to as Contest), which happens all day on Wednesday, February 26, at Maize South Middle. Students will perform prepared music for points given for various aspects of their musical presentation, which ends with an overall rating. Solos and small ensembles will perform in the morning, and the large group (whole class) performances are in the afternoon. Family is welcome to come watch, and a few chaperones would be terrific. Seventh graders should be able to catch the regular 1:55 bus home from MMS, but 8th graders will likely need a ride home later in the afternoon. More information will come to parents by email when performance times are confirmed.

Orchestra students will present their competition pieces to family & friends at MMS in a 7pm concert on Tuesday, February 25 on the MMS stage.

Future orchestra calendar events:

April 12: Kansas All-State middle school orchestra (selected students) in Hutchinson. Who will get to represent MMS?

April 29: MMS Orchestra Concert with guest artist Chris Howes at MPAAC. This will be a required full day special event for students, including a late afternoon dress rehearsal. Chaperones welcome. More information coming soon regarding a catered meal before the concert.

May 9: Orchestra field trip to KC Strings and Worlds of Fun. 6am-11pm via a Village Charter bus. Info to come as soon as WOF sets their spring prices. Chaperones welcome on the bus as space allows, or they can drive separately.