Paola Middle School Newsletter

March 1st- Drivers Education Meeting @ PHS Commons- 5:30 p.m.

March 2nd- Scholars Bowl @ Spring Hill

March 3rd- KidWind in Burlington

March 6th- 8th Grade ONLY Track practice

March 7th- 7th Grade ONLY Track practice

March 7th- Scholars Bowl @ Prairie View

March 7th- PMS & PHS Choir Concert @ 7:00

March 8th- ALL TRACK PRACTICE begins

March 8th - Scholars Bowl @ Paola

March 9th- Parent/Teacher Conferences- 4:00- 8:00

March 10th 17th- NO SCHOOL- SPRING BREAK

March 29th- Panther Book Club

March 30th- Track Pictures

The next Panther Book Club meeting is March 29 in the library from 3:00-4:00 p.m. The book is called Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix. It is a thrilling dystopian fiction book with short chapters. See Mrs. Yerkes for a permission form.

7th and 8th Grade students that wish to go out for track need to have a physical and insurance on file in the office by the start of track practice!

8th Grade ONLY Monday March 6th from 3:00- 4:00

7th Grade ONLY Tuesday March 7th from 3:00- 4:00

Wednesday March 8th- ALL TRACK ATHLETES- 3:00-4:30

NO PRACTICE THURSDAY OR FRIDAY.

Congratulations to Paola Middle School staff member Wilma Schwermer for being awarded the Outstanding Paraprofessional for 3rd Quarter. Well deserved, and thank you for all of your work with our students!

Crochet Club is now Crochet and Crafting Club! We have added other crafting projects so students and adults can come try new things! So far we have done some hand-sewing to create stuffies with felt, wood burning, and diamond art. Other crafting ideas are coming. We welcome suggestions and requests as well.

Paola Middle School students and families stepped up to the challenge and scored a touchdown in the Souper Bowl Food Drive held last month. Students brought in 850 items throughout the week. Sixth grade brought in the most food and won free seminar time with bringing in 493 items. The MVPs of our Souper Bowl was Mrs. Weatherbie’s class, Ms. Troutman’s class, and Mr. Ohlmeier’s class for bringing in the most items in each grade level. We had such a great turn out that we were able to donate food to the Paola High School food pantry, Paola USD 368 Alternative School food pantry, My Father’s House, and PACA food pantry. The students in Mrs. Ingle’s study skills and Mrs. Hines’ math lab class organized the food drive by collecting, sorting, and calculating the items throughout the week. It was a valuable experience for everyone involved and we are so proud to be part of a great community that helps to support one another.

Congratulations to the 7th Grade Boys Basketball team for their win over the undefeated Eudora Cardinals to end the season! Great seasons were had by both the 7th and 8th grade teams! Awesome job!

After Mr. Doolittle's presentation about a country he and his family lived in for three years, Papua New Guinea, the land of the unexpected, many students have echoed what they said to each other after arriving there in 2000 often, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto!" As the seventh grade transitions into World Geography during Social Studies, students will have the opportunity to learn about strange and different cultures throughout our world, and how our world has been made smaller by modern technology, but remains gigantic and mysterious for so many of us.

Pictured: Emery Morgan, modeling what a Papua New Guinean man might be wearing, complete with the lap lap, bilum bag and highlands hat. Acelynn Crisler and Mackayla Buck don the national female attire; meri dress outfits, complete with skirt and blouse, sporting the bilum bag, but supported around the forehead. They are standing in front of a table of PNG artifacts collected at various street markets.

Students in Mrs. Ingle's math class were tasked with designing a maze that a marble could go through, by using only one paper plate, three bendable straws, and tape. The students had to have at least three bends or obstacles in their maze. Students have been working on constructing their mazes for several Fridays as part of STEM Fridays in math class. They are using trial and error to work as a team to complete their mazes and stump their classmates. One team is making a two tier maze.

Congratulations to the 7th & 8th Grade Panther Band for earning a Division 1 “Outstanding” rating at the 2023 Frontier League Band Festival! The band students traveled to Louisburg Middle School along with other League bands on February 27 and performed while being evaluated by 2 adjudicators. The Division 1 rating is the highest rating a band can earn at the festival. Well done Panther Band!

Email: amy_wright@usd368.org
Website: www.usd368.org
Location: 405 North Hospital Drive, Paola, KS, USA
Phone: 9132948030