Last week we kicked off our all school fundraiser. We would like to thank all of you for participating in this all school fundraiser. All profits raised will go directly back to the students in the form of the RAPS parties, school store items, rewards/prizes/games, materials, and field trips.

LAST CHANCE TO PARTICIPATE: https://ps.pop4kids.org/stevensonms/

Congratulations to our Mini Fridge Full of Cash winners for this week (pictured below).

Today we were also able to celebrate our students who submitted their Golden Ticket for the fundraiser with FREE Kona Ice! They really enjoyed this tasty treat today.

Congratulations to 8th grader, Jalen Fuller, for winning the $250 Amazon gift card for his participation in the full school fundraiser.

Parent Teacher Conferences are next week! We have conferences running virtually on Tuesday, October 10th from 5pm-8pm and Wednesday, October 11th from 3:10pm-6:10pm.

Information on how to sign up for the time slots was shared in a separate email earlier today. I am also including the pdf to sign up and the directions below this post.

Parents, if you are interested in donating food items or your time to help to provide a meal to the teachers during the first day of conferences, that would be amazing. The link to sign up is below.

Thank you!

Tuesday, October 10th is our Picture Retake Day. Pictures will be taken from 8:30 am-10:30 am in room 124. New students or students who were absent during the original picture day should report there when called on Retake Day. Students who would like a retake must bring their original portrait packet to the camera and return it to the photographer.

Attention all 7th grade families. It is a State of Michigan requirement to have your child up to date on their vaccinations. I've included for you the required paperwork below. Please print, complete, and turn in to their first-hour teacher by October 9, 2023. Please have your child ask their first-hour teacher if you need a paper copy.

Unfortunately, students will be excluded from school if they are not immunization-compliant by October 14th.

At this month's Family Meeting, we got each grade level together to discuss an area of focus for them based on our school's monthly data, as well as an area to celebrate. Each grade level was celebrated for reducing tardies since we started our new tardy policy. Great work! We celebrated each student at lunches this week with candy if they had zero tardies. We had SO many students qualify! We are so proud.

6th and 7th grade's area of focus for October is to (1) respect personal boundaries, and (2) peacefully resolve conflicts. 8th grade's area of focus for October is to be where you are supposed to be.

If our students make progress in our areas of focus for next month, they will be celebrated at our next family meeting.

At our Family Meetings we also were able to recognize students with a Grammy Award for their RAPS skills at Stevenson. 1-2 lucky students from each grade level were awarded with a trophy with their name engraved on it.

Check out our social media for more pictures and videos of this amazing event.

Our behavior expectations that we teach here at Stevenson are referred to as our "RAPS", which is an acronym for Respect, Accountability & Pride, and Safety. Each month there is a focus that is one of those three, and each week within that month focuses on a certain area of the school where students are challenged to meet the expectations that we have at our school. Please take a look at the tasks we will be charging our students with for the month of October. If students are following these expectations, they will be rewarded with RAPS points in their account that they can use to purchase items of their choice in our school store.

This is awesome, isn't it!?! Parents, you can help to support our focus areas in our building by reinforcing these at home. Talk to them at dinner and ask them if they earned any RAPS points today and for what tasks. These are great conversation pieces and teachable moments that can be used at home in support of our school focus areas. Thanks team!

This week during our Second Step time, we covered the first lesson in our Recognizing Bullying & Harassment Unit.

6th Grade

Summary: In this week's lesson, your child will discuss different types of bullying, and increase their awareness that bullying can look and feel different in each situation.

Question: Ask your child if they have experienced bullying or negative jokes recently. Encourage them to tell you how it made them feel and let them know you’re there to support them.

7th Grade

Summary: In this week’s lesson, your child will learn how to recognize harassment and tell how it’s different from bullying.

Question: Talk to your child about an example of harassment you heard about, or—if you’re comfortable—something you experienced. Ask your child how this is different from bullying.

8th Grade

Summary: This week’s lesson will help your child examine common beliefs about bullying and harassment. They will begin to gain a perspective on how their opinions compare to those of others.

Question: Ask your child what they think enables bullying and harassment. Encourage a conversation about why bullying and harassment still happens.

This month, we look at ways we can prevent bullying from occurring in our school. It can often be difficult to tell the difference between conflict, someone being mean, and actual bullying. See the attachment below to help determine the difference.

Please remind your students to talk to a trusted adult or submit a Student Statement form if they are experiencing any of these things at school.

Today we had our first of our weekly lunch group sessions with select Stevenson students from Mr. Abate's class. Each week we rotate through 4th hour classrooms to have lunch with a small group of students to ask them about how they are liking school, what questions they have, ideas to make things even better, and to discuss who their favorite teacher is.

We enjoyed getting to know our students better and to hear about all of the things they love about being a student at Stevenson.

Get involved at Stevenson as a part of our Watch DOGS program (Dads of Great Students). We are having a kickoff meeting scheduled for Tuesday, October 24th. Please RSVP with the # in your family that will be in attendance as we plan to have pizza and pop for everyone that comes. Thanks!

Our SMS Lighthouse team is looking for donations, chaperones, and set up/clean up help for its upcoming Halloween events: the Halloween dance on October 25th and the haunted library on October 31st. These events are very popular and we appreciate all help and donations! Please note, if you would like to chaperone or help with set up/clean up, School Board policy requires all volunteers to complete a State of Michigan ICHAT background check. It is a name check only through the State of Michigan ICHAT system. You can get the form in the main office, or it can be emailed to you for completion. It takes about two weeks for processing.

Ms. Fournier and Ms. Mandrelle’s Intro to Innovation class went to Henry Ford museum today . The kids were amazing and learned a lot!!

This week in Ms. Morgan's Science and Engineering Elective students created systems to simulate guitars and earthquakes. They programmed buzzers, sliders, and motors to simulate real world systems.

If your child already knows that they are interested in joining a winter sport, please join (parent and student) the Google Classrooms below to not miss out on any of the upcoming announcements for those sports. Thank you!

Google Classroom Link for Boys' Basketball: xao2b3g

Google Classroom Link for Wrestling: zdlubuj

Click the link below to submit your interest and availability for getting involved at your child's school for this year. We have many options for involvement that will work with your work and responsibility schedule. The research shows that parents/guardians that are involved in their child's school helps to promote student engagement, belonging, and academic attainment for their student(s).

If you have questions about the roles or other ideas with getting involved at the school, please contact our Parent Coordinator, Paula Adamczak at adamczakp@wwcsd.net.

Thank you!

Our eighth grade students will be going on our annual tour of the William D. Ford Career Technical Center this year on Tuesday October 24th. Students will visit the center for approximately two hours through their History class.

The Career Technical Center offers over twenty programs, ranging from building trades to computer coding and game design! Our students will be taking a tour of this outstanding facility as part of our initiative to offer career awareness opportunities for all of our students. The students are always excited to visit Career Tech. and see first-hand how these trade and technical programs operate by trying out some hands-on activities.

If you do not want your child to attend this field trip, please contact your students counselor at (734) 419-2355. Otherwise, all of our eighth graders will be looking forward to this wonderful field trip.

If you have questions, please contact your child's counselor.

Our Ambassador students will be taking a field trip to Oakwoods Nature Center in Flat Rock on Thursday October 12th. The students will be going on a guided nature hike and exploring the natural fauna and animal habitat of the area including vernal ponds and critters of the forest. Students will also explore the Nature Center with all of its cool artifacts and displays. The guided hike will be approximately a three mile trek through the woods. We will be having lunch along the river. Our guides are always entertaining and the kids love asking them questions as they explore the area. If you would like more information on this trip or club at Stevenson, please contact Ms. Reinink at reininkk@wwcsd.net.

Prepare to soar high in WAIAM's second Michigan Girls Future Flight Challenge!

WAIAM's second annual Michigan Girls Future Flight Challenge is a virtual, state-wide aerospace competition for girls in 4th-8th grade with the mission to create a unique, sustainable way of flight to solve a problem of the team's choosing. See the link below!

Wayne-Westland Community Schools has a Family Resource Center (FRC), which provides services to any student/family enrolled in our District, free of cost. Some of the services they provide are: basic need assistance, access to over 700 local resources, Laundry Assistance Program and material items for those unable to afford them (emergency toiletries, socks/underwear, hats/gloves/scarves, etc.) They are also able to supply school supplies and backpacks year round for any WWCS student. Please contact our Family Resource Center at: 734-419-2709 or FRC@wwcsd.net. Our FRC also has a Digital Request for Services Form, which can be used to request assistance by filling out a simple form. Please contact the Family Resource Center directly with any additional questions regarding their services.

Care Solace is a complimentary and confidential service provided by Wayne-Westland Community Schools. This is a free service to students, families and staff. Care Solace helps connect individuals to mental health or substance abuse providers. They will call providers, verify insurance and help to make appointments. Contact Care Solace by calling 888-515-0595 or visiting caresolace.com/wwcsd and click “Book Appointment.” Support is available 24 hours a day 365 day a year in any language.

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Follow us on Instagram: @StevensonSaints

If you ever have any questions or concerns, please reach out to one of us directly at domank@wwcsd.net (Student Last Names: A-Lei) or phillipsae@wwcsd.net (Student Last Names: Lel-Z).

Sincerely,

Mrs. Doman and Ms. Phillips

Website: https://www.wwcsd.net/schools/middle-schools/stevenson-middle-school/
Phone: 7344192350
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stevensonsaints/