Leopard Lines

• Dates to Remember

• Activities Sign-Ups

• Parents Needed for Title I Planning

• Parent Teacher Conferences - October 23 and 24

• Begich Book Fair

• Current Sports & Activities Update

• Student Art in the Community

• UAA Stem Day - November 4th

• Migrant Education morning tutoring and homework help with Mr. Glasionov.

• Move Everyday!

• Alaska Safe Children's Act

• Help Keep Begich Safe: See Something, Say Something

• Safe Gun Storage Resources

October 11th: PBIS Tardy Rewards Dance

October 14th: Indigenous People's Day -- No School

October 17th: Quarter 1 PBIS Pep Assembly

October 17th: End of Quarter 1

October 18th: Inservice -- No School

October 23th & 24th: Parent-Teacher Conferences, 1/2 Day for Students

October 25th: Inservice -- No School

Girls volleyball is available as a second quarter sport. Practice begins on October 15th at 4:15 pm. To sign-up, students will need to turn in: middle school activities registration form and $110 fee which can be paid at Begich or on Parent Connect. Fee waivers are available.

Students must have a current (within the last 18 months) physical on file. Please contact Ms. Heiken at 742-0507 if you are unsure about the status of your physical or paperwork. Make an appointment to get a physical as soon as possible. If you do not have a doctor's office in the community, the school clinic may be able to help. Parent permission is required, but can be given during ASD online registration. The clinic bills insurance, if you have it, and can adjust your bill based on family size and income. More information is available here. Appointment requests at the school clinic can be made by clicking here.

Volleyball registration closes on October 11th. No exceptions! Please get your paperwork submitted as soon as possible.

Battle of the Books starts soon. This club will be sponsored by Ms. Hanks.

This year we need parent volunteers for Title I planning activities:

• Development of the School wide and Family Engagement Plans (January 2024)

Please contact Matthew Witthoeft at witthoeft_matthew@asdk12.org or call the front office at 742-0501 if you are interested in supporting us in either of these parent activities.

Begich Middle School will have our annual parent teacher conferences on October 23rd and 24th. Students will have a half day of school on both of these days with dismissal at 1:00 pm. All students will be provided breakfast and lunch on these days. Friday, October 25th is an inservice and is not a school day. The schedule for conferences is as follows:

Wednesday October 23rd:

• Afternoon Session: 1:30-4:00pm
• Teacher Break
• Evening Session: 5:00-8:00pm

Thursday October 24th:

• Afternoon Session: 1:30-4:00pm

We hope to see you there!

Dear Families,

Get ready—the Scholastic Book Fair is coming to our school! This is a great opportunity to connect with your child over the thrill of bringing home new books to dive into again and again. Studies show that kids read more when they choose books for themselves. And fostering a love of independent reading leads to a wide variety of benefits—including academic success and improved mental health.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Book Fair:

Dates: October 21-24

Location: Begich Library

Family Night: October 23rd, 5-8pm

There’s even more info on our school’s Book Fair homepage:

https://www.scholastic.com/bf/nicholasjbegichms1

Cross country running persevered in some very wet and muddy conditions this season. The team finishes up the season with the city championships at Kincaid on October 7th. Our Boy's Basketball Varsity and JV teams competed in the all city Jamboree at Mears. Our baseball team wrapped up their season with a game under the lights at Mulcahy stadium. Thank you to the parents who supported the teams. I saw so many of our coaches, parents, student-athletes and fans being safe, kind and responsible this fall sports season. Go Snow Leopards!

UAA STEM Day will be held on Saturday, November 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building (3101 Science Cir). This is a FREE family event that is open to the public.

UAA students, staff, faculty, and several community organizations will be hosting dozens of booths and tour stops, each with their own STEM-themed activity or demonstration. This is a great opportunity to explore UAA's campus, meet STEM students and professionals, and inspire your students to consider pursuing a career in STEM.

There will be plenty of learning opportunities related to engineering, health sciences, chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, and so much more!

Migrant Education Morning Tutoring/Homework Help with Mr. Glasionov

When: Wednesday & Friday mornings 8:00-9:00 AM

Who: Registered Migrant Education students

The front door of Begich will be open from 8-8:10 AM. Mr. Glasionov will have specific names of students that are registered. ONLY Mig Ed students confirmed on the list will be able to attend tutoring. This tutoring session will be held from Oct.2nd-Dec18th. This session will be capped at 10 students. Prior registration is needed to secure placement.

Please contact Ms. Annette/Student Success Coach if you would like to register your student (907)742-0542 donaldson_annette@asdk12.net

Did you know that something as simple as walking can improve your physical and mental health? Make a point to enjoy the fall weather while it lasts to clear your mind and boost your brain power by walking!

Begich Middle School will be teaching the Alaska Safe Children’s Act/ Personal Safety lessons on the following days: 10/21/24, 11/4/24, 11/18/24, 12/2/24, and 1/13/25 during Advisory period. Teachers will present an age-appropriate lesson about personal body safety in a non-threatening way, along with the skills needed for self-protection. The focus of the lessons will be to empower students with the information and skills to protect themselves and seek help from the physical, psychological and emotional harm that can occur from abusive situations and is part of the Anchorage School District’s plan to enact the Alaska Safe Children’s Act and will be handled in a sensitive, respectful manner.

ASD Prevention Tools

• Climate – Creating a safe and respectful learning environment, which is well managed, supportive, and engaging with active participation.

• Direct instruction – Using a variety of evidence based curricula and programs to deliberately teach about risk factors and healthy relationship skills.

• Infusion – Integrating social and emotional learning skills throughout the day and in all curriculum areas through modeling of instructional practices that promote SEL skill practice and maximize learning.

• At home and community supports – Developing awareness about available supports and resources outside of the school day.

The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) developed curriculum is comprised of three separate age and developmentally appropriate bands for grades 7/8, 9/10 and 11/12. Each grade band contains 5 modules and is designed to help prevent childhood sexual abuse and teen dating abuse.

The five modules for each grade are organized around the following topics:

• Module 1: Defining Healthy Relationships

• Module 2: Building Healthy Relationships

• Module 3: Defining Unhealthy Relationships

• Module 4: Warning Signs

• Module 5: Help and Support

Module information and scripts can be viewed HERE.

If you have any questions about the content of the program or if you wish to inquire about opting out, please contact the Begich Middle School office at 742-0501.

Thank you for partnering with us as we continue to provide learning opportunities to improve the safety and well being of our students.

Students and families, please help keep Begich safe by telling an adult if you see or hear about something dangerous occurring or potentially occurring at school. Your teachers, security, counselors, and administrators are here to support you if you have knowledge about a potential fight, drugs or weapons on campus, or other unsafe situation. You are a key component to keeping our building a safe and welcoming place for all. Thank you for your help!

Providing our students and staff in the Anchorage School District with a safe educational environment remains one of our top priorities. We are all aware of incidents of gun violence in our surrounding communities, and across the nation. A national survey found that 51 percent of teens are worried that there will be a shooting in their school or a school near them.

Studies of all types of school based gun violence across decades all point to the same significant point of intervention—addressing students unauthorized access to guns in the home. For example, a Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center study of targeted school violence incidents found that 76 percent of the firearms were obtained from the home of a parent or close relative.

Unsecured guns in the home pose a risk to students beyond gun violence in schools. Every year, 350 children under the age of 18 unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else. That’s roughly one unintentional shooting per day. Gun suicide among children has reached the highest rate in more than 20 years. In the overwhelming majority of these incidents, the gun used was one that belonged to someone in their home.

One study found that 70 percent of parents believe their teen cannot access the gun(s) in their home. Yet, the study also found that half of teens said they could gain access to a loaded gun in their home in under an hour, including one-third who said they could do so in under five minutes. Research shows that secure firearm storage practices are associated with up to an 85 percent reduction in the risk of self-inflicted and unintentional firearm injuries among children and teens. Storing firearms securely protects any child in the home as well as students throughout the school district and community.

You can learn more and download helpful resources; including a secure storage fact sheet, talking to your children about guns, and facts and resources on child firearm suicide, at BeSMARTforKids.org/resources.