Cascade Bulletin
April 12th 2024
Early Release at 1:53
Wednesday April 24th
Choosing classes for next year!
Students will soon be choosing classes for next year with their counselors. Here are the binders with course offerings. Please review and discuss these with your students.
Current 7th grade, next year's 8th graders
Nothing Bundt Cake Fundraiser
t’s Nothing Bundt Cake Time!! Our last Bundt Cake fundraiser was a huge success and this one is just in time for Mother’s Day delivery!
Sales will start Wednesday, 4/17 and run through Wednesday, 5/1. Your Bundt Cakes will be ready for pick up on Friday, May 10th. Order forms will be available in the budget office beginning Monday, April 15th. Thank you for your help to raise much needed funds all while surprising your favorite mom or anyone else with a sweet treat this spring! Proceeds will go to support athletics and activities at Cascade Middle School. For more details or questions please e-mail Antoinetta.Bagnall@evergreenps.org .
8th Grade Farewell Celebration
It is time for our 8th Grade Farewell Celebration! On Friday, June 14th, we will be celebrating our three years with our 8th grade students from 1:30 PM to 4:08 PM at Cascade Middle School. The cost of this event is $20.00. Each $20.00 ticket includes a trip to the Kona Ice Truck or other option if available, a special dessert, unlimited activities and games with prizes, and a photo booth with free pictures. Students will also have a BBQ lunch option, and we will have a special motivational guest speaker. Cascade student behavior expectations apply at this event. Please be on the lookout for a permission slip after Spring Break. If you are interested in volunteering at this event, and you have completed the district volunteering requirements, please contact the CMS Main Office.
Picture Day is coming!
Football, Cross Country and Cheer Pictures will be after school on 5/9/24
Staff Members of The Week
Julie Knoedler
I live by myself with my standard poodle Remy and two cats. I remodeled my house, practically from the studs up, and have done that with other houses before this one. I like to find houses with undeveloped space like basements or attacks and turn it into usable space, but I also like things to look beautiful so I do a lot of the work myself and if I don’t do it myself, I manage it closely. Not that I’m a control, freak, or anything lol.
I also love to travel. Thankfully I have friends all over the country I can visit whenever I have time. My biggest hobby, besides working on houses, is being on the water. I used to be obsessed about canoeing, and even took a group of high school students on a three day river paddle, but the last few years I have been very enthusiastic about boats with motors. I live where I can see the water, so I would say water is very important to have in my life.
I just became a grandmother for the first time January 31. I have one son, Alex, who is 32 years old. I adopted him from Korea when he was four months old. We’re very close, so I see him quite a bit. He lives about 3 miles from me.
My favorite food is definitely sushi, but I also love chicken strips. I’m not much of a movie buff but generally I like to watch silly comedies or kids movies. I plan to go see Ghostbusters pretty soon. My favorite TV show is Abbott Elementary and Will Trent.
I didn’t go to college until I was 29 years old, so I really encourage kids to go to college or trade school as soon as they can, and enjoy the experience of learning for as long as possible. I know from firsthand experience how life-changing education can be. I am the only one on both sides of my family that completed a college degree, or three. 😎 After I retire, I will probably go back to school and learn something new like how to be an electrician. Lol. Not really. Electricity scares me, but I do wish I knew how to do it.
Rachelle Matheson
Hi, my name is Rachelle Matheson and I teach 6th grade math. I have taught 7th grade math and 6th grade English here at Cascade, also. This is my 6th year at Cascade, but I have been in the Evergreen School District for 18 years. Previously, I taught elementary students at York and Sunset.
I am married and my husband and I have four adult children. We are in the middle of remodeling our house and we are doing all the work ourselves. I discovered how much I like doing demolition work and the fine finish work like taping, mudding and sanding the sheetrock joints. I can frame a wall, hang sheetrock, do tile work and some plumbing jobs, but electricity scares me, so I leave that to my husband!
We currently have no pets, which is good, because we are traveling as often as we can. Recently, we have been to Italy, Germany, Iceland, Victoria and the San Juan Islands and Moab, Utah, where I saw the Milky Way with my naked eye for the very first time in my life! We love going to the beach at any time of year and this summer we are traveling to France to visit my in-laws on the Normandy coast.
When we’re not traveling, I LOVE to be in the kitchen cooking or in the garden growing our food. I really enjoy cooking Italian dishes from all the regions of Italy, but my all-time favorite comfort food is French Onion Soup. I also enjoy baking, specializing in all kinds of breads. I like to read, watch the sunset, swim, hike and explore new places. But most of all, I love spending time with my family.
Amy Popescu
I was born and raised in Romania, in a beautiful city in the Carpathian Mountains. I graduated from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest in 1997, with a major in Economics and a minor in Teaching. During the university, after four years of friendship, I married my husband, David. At the beginning of 2000, we applied for the US Lotery Visa, and in a few months, we were approved. In April of 2001 we moved to Vancouver, WA, and we've been living here since then. We have three boys, (Alex - 20, Andy - 18, and Tony - 13 years old), and a Cream Tabby cat. All boys are into math, which is a trait I believe they inherited from David, who is a civil engineer (besides being a fisherman ...).
I was a Parent Natural Leader for ESD for the 2016-2017 school year, an ELL para from 2017 to 2023, and got hired as an ELD teacher at Cascade in December 2023. I got my K-8 teaching certificate in 2021 through WSU Vancouver and added the ELL endorsement in 2022. I am also a certified medical interpreter in the State of Washington for the Romanian language.
In Romania I played basketball for 11 years in a professional team, so my favorite hobby is basketball, but I also like gardening, knitting, painting, and dancing. As a family, we love to travel to the beach and the mountains around us, but also love to travel to different states in the US. We went back to Europe three time to visit Romania, and once to visit Bulgaria. We love the beach at the Black Sea! We also spent a few vacations in Cancun, Mexico.
I love food in general 🙂, but if I would be to choose something, I would say pizza and Romanian crepes. My favorite book is Peace and War by Lev Tolstoy, my favorite movie is Gone With The Wind, my favorite opera is Carmen by Bizet, my favorite composers, Strauss and Vivaldi, and my favorite color is purple. 🌸
Summer School Courses for 2024
First Tuesdays
“First Tuesdays” Parent Partnerships Nights happens the first Tuesday of each month at Cascade! This is a night for parents and guardians to come find out how you can best support your student academically, as well as socially and emotionally, make common connections with our school community, gather tips to help your student thrive, and become informed about the EPS District guaranteed and viable curriculum.
This night is free, at Cascade Middle School, and from 5-7 pm. Childcare from Kindergarten-5th grade is provided as well as snacks.
May 7th, 2024, will be our next “First Tuesday” Parent Night. We will be watching the movie “Screenagers” to:
Develop awareness about the frequency of substance imagery exposure in the media they consume
Identify and correct popular myths about substances including cannabis, alcohol and nicotine
Become aware of how alcohol, cannabis dispensaries and nicotine brands use social media to market their products to young audiences
Understand a safety-first approach when it comes to drugs and alcohol
Learn strategies to help keep themselves and their friends safe around drugs and alcohol
Please fill out the REGISTRATION FORM to let us know if you are able to attend. We hope you can come!
**On June 4, 2024, we will dive deeper into other preventative resources.**
Food Pantry
The Cascade Food Pantry is now open to support our families.
Parents can request a monthly food box which they pick up on the
third Wednesday of the month at Cascade between 1:00 and 5:00 PM.
Spirit Gear
Get some Cascade Cougar spirit gear! Click this link to place your order. Orders will be processed every 2 weeks and will be delivered to students at school.
Cascade Middle School PTO
Moving? Already moved?
Did you know that Box Tops have gone digital?
Just download the Box Tops app on your phone and set Cascade Middle School as your school. Then scan receipts from places like Walmart, Winco, Safeway, and Costco inside the app. The app will automatically tally up eligible purchases.