March 14 Newsletter

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Hello, families,

Cascade Middle School is thrilled to introduce the two new head coaches who will be leading the Mountaineer Track and Field teams this season.

Peter Kain will lead the boys team. Kain, a substitute teacher in district, co-owns Bend-based Kain Performance Multi-Sport Racing and is Activities Supervisor at Juniper Preserve. A former professional triathlete, Kain is a certified triathlon and swim coach who was named 2002’s Triathlete of the Year by USA Triathlon. He has finished the Ironman World Championship three times and is a four-time World Age Group ITU Triathlon Champion.

Heading the girls team is Rebecca Wright. Wright works in IT Client Services for the Bend-La Pine School District, serving Three Rivers, Westside Village, Highland and Bend Tech Academy. She previously worked as project manager at Nike HQ from 2004-09 and owned a sports photography business. Last year, she was the assistant track coach at Three Rivers, and this year was the was freshman volleyball coach at Caldera. In previous years, she coached volleyball at Three Rivers and for a club volleyball team.

Track and field is open to students in all grades at Cascade Middle School. The season will run March 31 through May 16. Practices will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with at least five meets over the course of the season.

Students will need to pay the $40 pay-to-play fee (scholarships may be available) and have completed sports physical form on record before practices begin. Registration is open now and will continue through April 4. To register or to see the full schedule, please visit www.bend.k12.or.us/cascade/student-life/athletics, or email CMS Athletics Secretary Ruth Uribe at ruth.uribe@bend.k12.or.us.

Thank you,

Gabe Pagano,

Principal

Our Cascade Middle School Battle of the Books (OBOB) team, The Tabithas, competed in the Regional Tournament on Saturday, March 8. They won first place and are now the Regional Champions! They will compete in the state tournament in Salem on April 12.

Congratulations to Ruby Kimple, Wren Killebrew, Hanley Whitaker, Haley Bright, and Sofia Eidukas!

Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) is a statewide competition where students read 16 selected titles and then “battle” other teams with trivia about those books. Cascade had 12 teams participate in our school-wide battles this school year, with The Tabithas emerging as the winners. The Tabithas will now represent the Central and Eastern Oregon region at the State Tournament. Cascade's OBOB coordinator is Johanna Myers.

This year’s OBOB books for Middle Schools are:

• “Candidly Cline” by Kathryn Ormsbee
• “Counting by 7s” by Holly Goldberg Sloan
• “Daughter of the Deep” by Rick Riordan
• “Every Falling Star” by Sungju Lee & Susan McClelland
• “Freewater” by Amina Luqman-Dawson
• “The Inquisitor’s Tale” by Adam Gidwitz
• “The Last Cuentista” by Donna Barba Higuera
• “Lo & Behold” by Wendy Mass and Gabi Måendez
• “The Losers at the Center of the Galaxy” by Mary Winn Heider
• “The Magical Imperfect” by Chris Baron
• “The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James” by Ashley Herring Blake
• “Scary Stories for Young Foxes” by Christian McKay Heidicker
• “The Serpent’s Secret” by Sayantani DasGupta
• “Starfish” by Lisa Fipps
• “The Story That Cannot be Told” by J. Kasper Kramer
• “Tales of a Seventh-Grade Lizard Boy” by Jonathan Hill

Cascade’s Intermediate and Advanced Band students, under the director of David Rushton, traveled to Caldera High School on Tuesday to compete in the 2025 Middle School Band Festival, sponsored by the Central Oregon Music Education Association.

The Intermediate Band placed first in their division and second overall out of 15 bands. This is the highest an Intermediate Band has placed in the 34 years Rushton has been CMS’s band teacher!

Advanced Band (pictured) placed second in their division and fourth overall out of 15 bands.

Each band also received the high score of the day for ALL bands from at least one of three judges.

Great job, band students, and keep making that wonderful music!

Cascade choir students, under the direction of Sterling Roberts, performed in a "vertical" concert at Summit High School on Thursday night. Vertical concerts bring together middle and high school musicians for performances designed to show middle schoolers what is possible if they continue music studies in high school. Cascade was represented by the 6th grade choir (below) and the Concert Choir (above), which is made up of 7th and 8th graders. Missed the show on Thursday? The concert was live streamed and a recording is available here.

March 17-21- Spirit Week!

• Monday - St. Patrick's Day
• Tuesday - Sports Day
• Wednesday - Pink Out
• Thursday - Summer Day (no swimwear)
• Friday - Red, White and Black: 6th graders wear RED, 7th graders wear WHITE, 8th graders wear BLACK

March 21 – All school assembly! We will be on an assembly schedule that day. Find it here.

March 24 – March 28 – Spring Break!

March 31 – Track and field practice begins; the teams will practice from 4-5:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday on the CMS field.

April 4 – Track and Field registration closes. To register, click here.

April 8-12 – PTSO/Roundabout Books Book Fair, CMS Library. Students will shop during lunch and language arts classes. Families are welcome at Cascade to shop the fair from 2-4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9.

April 15 – Track meet at Pacific Crest MS, 3:15 p.m.

April 16-18 – Spring Conferences; no school.

April 23 – Track meet at Pilot Butte MS, 3:15 p.m.

April 25 – 7th/8th Grade Dance.

April 30 – Track meet at Cascade, 3:15 p.m.

May 5 – Track meet at High Desert MS, 3:15 p.m.

May 13 – Bend Large Schools District Track Meet, hosted by Cascade at Summit High School, 3:30 p.m.

May 26 – Memorial Day; no school.

May 28 – Spring Choral Concert, 6 p.m., Cafeteria.

May 29 – Beginning Band Concert, 6 p.m., Gym.

June 2 – Orchestra Concert, 7 p.m., Gym.

June 3 – Intermediate/Advanced Band Concert, 6 p.m., Gym.

*June 11 – 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony, 6 p.m., Gym.

*June 12 – Last Day of School; 8th Grade Celebration at Bend Athletic Club.

*Note on the last two days of school: There will not be early release on Wednesday, June 11. Students will be excused at 3:45 p.m. All students will be released at 2:15 p.m. on the last day of school, Thursday, June 12.

With the spring weather on its way, it’s time for us to once again clear out the lost and found at Cascade.

Please ask your student to look through the lost and found for any missing coats, sweatshirts, sweaters, hats, gloves and shoes, as well as lunch boxes and water bottles. Any items still in the lost and found at the end of the day Friday, March 21 – the Friday before spring break – will be donated.

Parents are welcome to look for missing items either before or after school. Please be sure to bring your picture ID.

Idaly Molina Castillo

Will Fain

Dillon Ostendorf

Cailyn Findlater

Atlas Owens

Amelia Heim

Clint Robinson

Lilah McQueen

Ulysses Vazquez

Luke Fetzer

Maya Field

Dawt Tial

Cascade PTSO is partnering with Roundabout Books to put on a book fair in the Cascade Middle School library. Haven't heard this yet? We will need volunteers to make this run smoothly. Please review the available volunteer slots on the linked Sign-up Genius and sign up to help. You will need to have an up-to-date background check on file to participate. Reach out if you need help with this.

Click on this link here to sign up and volunteer.

Thanks for buying a space on the CMS SPIRT ROCK! Click on the Sign up Genius link to reserve the rock. You provide the spray paint or house paint needed to paint the spirit rock. You can come at 4 p.m. the day before to paint the rock for your scheduled slot.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0948A9A92DA7FA7-cascade#/

Cost: $10 to paint the Spirit Rock.

PLEASE PAY CMS DIRECTLY TO THE FRONT OFFICE WITH CASH, CREDIT CARD, or CHECK made out to Cascade Middle School. Office Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Please email Shannon.Carroll@bend.k12.or.us if you have any questions. Thanks so much!