Canon-McMillan Middle School

On May 22, 2024, Canon-McMillan Middle School was honored for being re-designated as a Pennsylvania and National Schools to Watch Middle School. CMMS students, faculty, and administration were acknowledged by state and local representatives, school board members, Mr. Bruce Vosburgh (PA STW State Team Director), and Mr. Bill Kuban (Horace Mann CO, STW Partner). The assembly was opened by CMMS choir representatives singing the National Anthem, followed by the CMMS jazz band performing "Dawn of the Chili Pepper."

Canonsburg Middle School was initially designated as a School to Watch in 2011. Re-designations occurred in 2014, 2017, and 2020. This re-designation lasts from 2024-2027. Congratulations to the students and staff of CMMS!

We are proud to announce the winners of the 2023-2024 CHAMPS award! Each year, CMMS teachers are asked to nominate a male and female student in 8th grade who showed the following characteristics day in and day out: Character, Helping hand, Application of self, Meritorious achievement, Positive attitude, and Sensitivity toward others. Once a ballot is compiled, the teaching staff votes for a male and female student among the nominees who showed commendable leadership abilities in all six categories of the CHAMPS characteristics.

The winners this year are Frankie Botta and Summer Jordan!

We are very proud of you as well as all of the students who were nominated!

Summer Jordan, Nathan Hirsch, and Campbell Garner were given the prestigious Hurricane of the Year award. These students are recognized for their work inside and outside of the classroom. All three of them have demonstrated exceptional qualities of good citizenship.

• Summer is known for her kind acts and hard work. She excels in volleyball and actively participates in the Library Crew and the Peer Buddies program.
• Nathan is always ready to step up and help others and is never afraid to be a leader. He is a multi-sport athlete, participating in basketball, cross country, and track and field. He also is involved in the Wyldlife program at Canon Mac.
• Lastly, Campbell consistently looks out for her peers, treating everyone with care and respect. She is a student government vice president for the middle school and a dedicated chorus member.

We are incredibly proud of these three students, along with all of the Team Hurricane students, for their dedication and hard work!

The Supernovas team teachers held an award ceremony to recognize some of the 2023-2024 Supernovas with various awards for the great job they’ve done this school year.

The Spartan team would like to congratulate the Spartans of the Month for the 23-24 school year.

A special congratulations goes out to the Academic Excellence Awards winners, Brayden, Brooklyn, Addie, Bethany, Claire, and Sophia, and the Spartans of the Year, Grace and Knox.

As the school year ends, our Symphonic Band and chorus just nailed their big performances! Did you catch the awesome art show? It featured our jazz band and the 8th-grade steel band. This issue of The CMMS Press is packed with information you don't want to miss: tips for 7th graders moving up, awesome summer book recommendations, and the epic finales of our comics "Mystery Seaside Disappearance" and "Stringy Noodle Boy."

A big shoutout to our dedicated student reporters: Elyssa, Adelyn, Will, Jayden, Keira, Mya, and Luca. Their hard work shines through in every page of this issue!

Click here or on the gif below to dive in, and let's celebrate the end of another year together!

The seventh grade Knights and Titans teams “give a hoot” at Canon-McMillan Middle School! As part of a cross-curricular endangered species unit, students read Hoot in language arts, studied ecology in science, and researched and created a Google Slides presentation on an endangered species in English class, culminating in a week-long Adopt-an-Animal campaign for the Pittsburgh Zoo. The students donated a grand total of $360 and will symbolically adopt 12 animals from the Pittsburgh Zoo. Look for CMMS on The Zoo’s Adopt an Animal board next fall! By donating to support the care of all of the Zoo's animals, operations, and conservation efforts, such as the Sea Turtle Second Chance Program, these students have made a positive impact and left a legacy. Way to go, Knights and Titans!

In addition, on May 20, 2024, students had the opportunity to encounter live animals through the Zoomobile’s One Degree of Change presentation and learn about the causes and effects of climate change, including how it impacts animals throughout the world, from a University of Pittsburgh professor of ecology.

The CMMS Symphonic Band traveled to Sandusky, Ohio on May 4th to participate in "Music in the Parks." Their performance at the adjudication was given a Superior rating and they also received the award for Best Overall Middle School Band. After their hard work they enjoyed a fun day at Cedar Point!

Students in Mrs. Tookey’s ESL classes worked on their communication skills as they enjoyed lunch at Chicco Baccello. After practicing how to order and learning restaurant etiquette through role-playing, these students used their English skills perfectly. In addition, the middle school students acted as leaders for the 5th and 6th grade ESL students who joined them from Cecil and North Strabane Intermediate Schools. While students waited for their lunches to be delivered, they played several conversation games and enjoyed using their social language skills getting to know each other.

The CMMS Chorus ended their year on a high note! They gave wonderful performances for their Spring concert on May 9th and for the Art Show on May 13th. In addition, the chorus performed at Duquesne University on May 17th for the High Note Festival. They earned the highest rating of Superior from the judges, and then enjoyed a fun day at Kennywood!

In Mr. Colbert’s science class, the Hurricanes competed in the annual Egg Drop Competition. The objective is to design a package which will be dropped free fall onto a plywood target, while protecting an egg inside from breaking . The goal is to design a container to protect the egg from breaking while keeping the container close to the target.

Congratulations to the following students who won first place in their classes. Delaney O’Connor, Sammy Pratt, George Miller, Bailey Schatz, and Tyler Carter. Tyler was the overall champion with a drop of 14 centimeters.

Students have been working hard in room 101 at CMMS! In Reading and Math they have been practicing fractions and followed a recipe to make fruit pizza, muffins, and cupcakes! In Science, they have been learning the parts and lifecycle of a flower, as well as spending lots of time outside drawing, collecting, and studying different types of flowers and plants. Students even brought some into our class to dry, press, and make bookmarks. We welcomed a new teacher, Mrs. Koch, in April and had a strong finish to the 2023-24 school year!

Mr. Amos’ 8th grade English class took the stage after reading the play "The Diary of Anne Frank" in order to experience the feel of an actor. Students sat on the stage and in the seats of the auditorium as they took their final assessment on the play.

Students from Canon-McMillan Middle school took on schools from Allegheny county during the virtual Calcu-Solve Competition this year. Congratulations to Coleson McCormick for achieving a shared 3rd place at the competition. Coleson outperformed more than 75 students to secure his spot among the top 3.

At this year's Envirothon hosted at South Park, students engaged in a comprehensive exploration of environmental topics. With over 160 questions spanning aquatics, forestry, current events, and wildlife, participants demonstrated their commitment to environmental education.

The eighth grade students are wrapping up the school year in Digital Systems & Electronics class by applying their newly acquired knowledge about the inner workings of the PC by building and testing desktop computers. Students began with taking detailed notes about each of the components in the computer system , for example items like the CPU, RAM, Hard Disk Drive, Static disk drive, BIOS, ChipSet and more. Upon completion of the necessary technical information, students are able to participate in a hands-on activity to assemble a PC and make all of the necessary I/O connections in order to boot test into Ubuntu Linux. This allows them to troubleshoot any issues from the build process and experience an alternative operating system.

Seventh grade students in the Design & Analysis class are just finishing their bridge models for destructive testing and analysis of those testing results. Up to this point, students have simulated their designs in an interactive bridge simulation program working to minimize the compression and tension forces in their structure, completed calculations for material usage and created the drawing template for construction using SolidWorks. The data collected from the destructive testing will determine which bridge design was the most efficient among each of the classes.

Mrs. Lewis and Mrs Silverblatt took learning outdoors with their science class in May! Students had a blast drawing the planets in our galaxy with sidewalk chalk. Working in pairs, students transformed staff parking spots into vibrant representations of the solar system.

Students concluded their astronomy unit with a lab focusing on moon phases. They utilized models to illustrate the various lunar phases, deepening their understanding of celestial phenomena.

They also had a great time with a STEM Friday activity. Students used Q-tips to create unique constellations, giving them names and stories of their own. It was fantastic to see their creativity and teamwork in action.

In English class with Ms. Harvey, students were tasked with writing a letter to their future selves that they will receive in 2028! Students wrote about their current life as an eighth grader, as well as theorizing what their life will be like as seniors in high school. Students wrote about their current interests, hobbies, and future goals in the format of a formal letter.

This fun activity allowed students to reflect on their year, including positives and obstacles, while also making hypotheses about what their future may look like if they work hard and keep focused.

Email: CMMS@cmsd.k12.pa.us
Website: https://cmms.cmsd.k12.pa.us/
Location: 100 Big Mac Boulevard, Canonsburg, PA 15317
Phone: (724) 745-9030
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CanonsburgMiddleSchool/
Twitter: @CanonMacMS