Thanks for a wonderful school year, make the most of summer!

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June 2011
Bristol Public Schools on the web: http://www.bristol.k12.ct.us
Thanks for a wonderful school year,
make the most of summer!
Catherine Carbone, CHMS Principal
As the 2010-2011 school year comes to a close
I wish all the Chippens Hill families and students
my sincerest thank-you for a wonderful school
year. We at CHMS hope your child has experienced many successes and participated in new
and varied learning experiences during their
year on “the hill.”
During the next few weeks of summer break,
please encourage your child to stay current with
their summer reading assignments and engage
in outdoor activities. Keeping both the body and
mind engaged in healthy and novel experiences
will support your child’s success next school
year.
As Dr. Brissom notes in her summer reminder to
parents regarding the summer reading assignment, “Summer vacation is nine weeks; nine
weeks is one full marking period at the high
school level and over half of a marking period at
the middle school level. What does this mean
for our students? As with any other skills from
shooting hoops to hitting a fast ball, if our students do not use it, they will surely lose it.
As you know, literacy is a critical skill for success in the 21st century. In a world where jobs
require more and more sophistication of skills
and literacy, we owe our students every possi-
ble edge. Encourage your child to get involved
in a good read this summer and complete our
summer reading assignment.” You will find all
information pertaining to these assignments on
our school webpage.
Finally, a fond farewell to our class of 2011, to
the students and families leaving our Chippens
Hill family, we wish you continued success. The
area high schools are privileged to receive such
a well-rounded and well-prepared group of
freshmen. I wish you and your children a safe,
healthy, and happy summer.
A special note of appreciation
Much appreciation from the administration and
staff is extended to our Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) . Many of the cultural events,
grade eight activities, Spirit Day Rewards, fundraisers and book fairs would not be possible
without the help and support of our PAC parents.
And a special thanks to the following parents:
Sybilla Petrillo and Holly Goodwin President,
Paula O’Rourke- Secretary, Lisa GoralskiTreasurer, Alyssa Paradise- Apparel, Mrs. Williams- Book Fair Coordinator, and Joanne Lukaszewski-Box-top Coordinator.
CHMS CONNECTIONS
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Orange Team
The Orange Team teachers would like to thank students for their superior behavior on our field trip to
see The Man Who Planted Trees at the Bushnell.
We had such a great day traveling and experiencing
the theater. A very big thank you to our extended
team of chaperones as well!
The Orange Team enjoyed a number of year-end
activities. Students earn the privilege to participate,
based on academics.
Teachers used ineligibility criteria in reference to
behavior as stated in the Orange Team Alert,
sent home on Thursday, May 19th
Tuesday, June 21st – Awards, assembly,
BINGO, clean lockers
Wednesday, June 22nd – Letter activity, slide
show, and picnic lunch, sign yearbooks
Thursday, June 23rd –Ice cream, sign yearbooks, classes
Friday, June 24th – Regular class schedule
Health Room Message: Many 6th graders have
not turned in their state-mandated physicals.
Physicals need to be handed in or the transition to
7th grade may become complicated. It is the law
that the physical must be filed in the office before
returning for the new school year. The blue form is
available in the nurse's office.
Gold Team
Science
We have been investigating weather. It may be hard to
believe but almost all of the energy around you comes
from the Sun. Food energy, fires, and even the warmth of
your own body can be traced to energy from the Sun.
Weather is caused by the uneven heating of the atmosphere when sunlight is either reflected or absorbed on
Earth. This creates wind currents and carries weather all
over the world. Weather forecasting is not an easy job!
Language Arts
Wow! Can you believe that this school year is coming to a
close? By now, we are sure that your child is talking about
beginning a new year in seventh grade. However, before
they go, there is yet one more unit that we must cover in
Language Arts and that is Figurative Language. Throughout this unit, your child will be able to tap into a more
creative style of writing. Students will learn all about similes, metaphors, hyperbole, personification, imagery, etc.
The students will also be given opportunities to practice
using the various types of figurative language within their
writing and even be able to create their own original poems.
Summer Reading Packet Information
Your child will also be given a summer reading packet
before the close of the school year. He/she will be required to read ONE book from the summer reading list.
The summer reading list includes the Nutmeg nominees
from the past several years. The school and the Bristol
Public Library have copies on hand. After students have
read their book, they will complete three reading responses which are also included within the packet. Lastly,
students are encouraged to use the strategies they have
been taught throughout the year such as, T.E.E.N. to
complete their assignment. The responses will be due to
their seventh grade LA teacher when the new school year
begins. Please encourage your child to put their best effort forth to begin the year in a positive way. HAPPY
READING & ENJOY YOUR SUMMER!
Avery Casasanta Wins First
Place in Essay Contest
The Gold Team would also like to congratulate Avery
Casasanta for winning the 1st place prize in the Connecticut Kids’ Court Essay Competition 2011.
Avery, along with a number of middle school and high
school students from around the state, participated in an
essay contest at the State Capitol where each student
was able to write an essay on various topics relating to
human rights. Avery’s essay focused on “Hate Crimes in
America’s Schools: How Can We Stop the Hate?”
This accomplishment was not only great for Chippens Hill
Middle School but it also serves as testament of how students at any age can achieve success as well as set an
example for others to follow. (See the school’s website for
more pictures from this event.)
CHMS CONNECTIONS
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Red Team
Silver Team
Red Team students and teachers are racing towards
the end of the year and that means working hard on
final units of study and enjoying well deserved rewards. It is the best time of the year to be in 8TH
grade!
The Silver Team would like to thank its students for
a productive and engaging school year! As the year
drew to a close, we rewarded our students with
many activities.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Students completed the Figurative Language Unit,
reading, writing, and interpreting poems. They are
learning that poetry carries a big message in a relatively short amount of writing. Lots of soul searching
and deep thinking has gone on with remarkable results! Students are also responsible for a Read
Aloud presentation. In this presentation, students
are asked to find a reading they would like to share
with the class. After the oral reading, the student
presenting leads a discussion. A great variety of
readings have made this assignment very interesting!
SOCIAL STUDIES
Students have completed their study of American
Government with the Amendments to the Constitution. In the brief span to the city-wide assessment, students will cover the 1803 -1859 period of
American Expansion and begin the study of the Civil
War with background causes, key events, and early
battles.
MATH
We say goodbye to Miss Jennifer Baker. Miss
Baker was a student teacher from CCSU and we
wish her well as she pursues her teaching career. As our students prepare to finish the middle
school chapter of their lives, we will be working on
statistics and linear function.
SCIENCE
During April, groups of 4 worked together to build a
roller coaster out of all the cardboard tubes collected. Thanks to everyone who helped pitch in with
the cardboard tube collection. We used a panel of
judges comprised of some of our staff members to
vote on the roller coasters in a tournament style format. As we approached the final 2 coaster, we
asked the Yellow Team students to help us determine a winner. Congratulations to the following
teams:
1ST Place: David Poniatowski, Kordian Stanecki, Bobby Roberge, Robert Scappaticci.
Continued on page 4
We would also like to congratulate Mr. Kelly on his
retirement!! We wish you all the best and will miss
you!
Please encourage your children to do their summer
reading and assignments. Enjoy the summer vacation!
LANGUAGE ARTS
The students finished up an interesting unit studying
the Holocaust and theme. They completed engaging
activities and projects and made many interesting
connections to the themes of the texts we read.
We are ending our year by reviewing figurative language. The students had an opportunity to read and
write their own poetry.
SOCIAL STUDIES
On the Silver Team in Social Studies we studied Africa and geared up for the end of the year Common
Assessment.
MATH
This past month we have been learning about ratios.
We learned about the Golden Ratio and measured
both human faces and statues to see if they had the
golden ratio.
SCIENCE
The Silver Team science classes are well into our
unit on physical science. We have done experiments involving potential energy, friction, gravity
and the potential energy of water to do work.
The classes enjoyed the lab on Z-Cars that combines a number of the properties we have been
studying, and the end of the year will be concluded
with the study of food preservation and contamination problems.
CHMS CONNECTIONS
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Green Team
Bronx Zoo
Thanks to all the parents who made the journey to
the Bronx with us; it would not have been possible
to make the trip without you.
The Snot Otter remained elusive, but the Polar
Bear was in fine form. MIA was safely in her display and we think it’s safe to say that the team had
a great time viewing this celebrity secure in her
home.
PBS HR Challenge
The first of the homeroom PBS challenge rewards
will be distributed this coming week and it’s looking
like it may be Griffin’s group taking the first prize.
Dibb’s homeroom is running a close second, so
there is still a chance that the Griffins will explode.
Continue the great behavior next year.
Common Assessments
Remember that these exams are 5% of your third
trimester total. There was a sufficient review for
each subject prior to the exam date.
Summer Assignments
Be sure to complete your summer assignments;
it’s the best start to your new school year.
Continued from page 3
Red Team
2ND Place: Alex Whyte-Baranowski, Eli
Mainuli, Griffin Camden, Austin Curtis
3RD Place: Robert Desmarais, Tony Barresi,
Jacob Hall, Cameron Gamble
Everyone had a blast building and eventually testing
their own roller coaster!
In May, we brushed up on our Genetics skills by
studying the structure and function of genetic pedigrees. Students are using the skills learned to analyze the mode of inheritance (dominant, recessive,
etc.) for different traits in each pedigree.
Red Team Teachers would like to take this opportunity to say that it has been a pleasure working with
all the students on the team this year. We wish all
students the best of luck as they move on to the high
school!
Blue Team
Language Arts in 211
We recently reviewed the elements of literature by
taking a favorite book and creating a script proposal emphasizing the setting, plot, conflict, characterization, and theme of the novel.
In addition, the students created movie posters and
trailers to promote this book-to-movie. Students
were also required to interview each other.
Special thanks to Mrs. Freitag for her help with the
MacBooks for our research, Mr. Miller for his technical assistance, and the numerous parents who got
involved in the trailers.
A shout- out to Abby Lowe's mom for allowing broken pottery and writing on the walls! The scripts
were insightful, the interviews professional, and the
trailers funny/scary/hilarious.
Two of the classes finished reading Freak the
Mighty. The students demonstrated their ability to
make inferences as well as identify foreshadowing.
The students also focused on figurative language.
We continued on our quest to read one million words
before the end of the year. We already have several
students now working on two million words.
A huge hats-off goes to Sam Laviero who is now
aiming for three million words. Amazing!
Thanks to the parents who tirelessly support their
child's reading.
Memorial Day
Veterans and families of veterans turned out for the
annual C.H.M.S. Memorial Day Assembly, held in
our auditorium on May 25. Students worked on this
successful assembly since last October.
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CHMS CONNECTIONS
Yellow Team shines on trip to Boston
Despite the weather,
the eighth grade field
trip to Boston was
fantastic!
and writing poetry that
will be published in
their own class collection.
We enjoyed a tour of
parts of the Freedom
Trail and visited the
Science Museum
where we saw an
Omni movie,
“Mysteries of the
Great Lakes.”
They are working so
hard and are learning
a lot about poetry
along the way.
Students were
amazed at the size of
the screen! We also
took a Duck Tour
around Boston and
into the Charles
River.
The students learned
a lot about the history
of Boston and the beginning of our democracy.
The students were
very well behaved
and made great ambassadors for CHMS
and Bristol!
We even received a
compliment from
some fellow moviegoers! Thank you to
everyone who supported the trip!
Language Arts –
Mrs. Lipscomb
Students will finish
the year analyzing
figurative language
Each class will create
its own cover for the
books. Be on the
lookout for these
creative writing collections in June!
Language Arts –Mr.
Bonetta
Classes are just completing a research
project on careers.
The students have
created an informational poster that describes what they
have to do to achieve
their career goals.
Some topics included
law, culinary arts,
electrical, mechanics,
animal science, medicine, nursing, and
cosmetology, just to
name a few.
Science – Mrs. Rupe
Students have just
finished exploring
forces and motion
through building their
own roller coasters
out of paper-towel
tubes and tape.
Thank you to all the
families who helped
collect cardboard
tubes!
Next up we will revisit
genes and heredity as
students create their
own characters in a
genetic short story
and do a research
project on a genetic
disorder of their
choice.
Math – Ms. Ouellette
Math class kicked off
our statistics unit with
a peanut butter taste
test.
Students constructed
different graphs, read
them critically, and
made predictions.
The algebra class
worked hard factoring
trinomials, and they
used this knowledge
to explore quadratic
equations.
Social Studies – Mr.
Madden
Students have been
discussing and investigating the Westward
migration of our forefathers.
They have learned
about the concept of
Manifest Destiny and
how that idea spread
across America and
inspired many to take
huge risks and develop this great land
of ours.
Vacation means
no school work,
doesn’t it?
As parents we look
forward to a break
from the arguments
over completing assignments. Yet, is
that really what’s
best for our kids?
From as early as
1978, research has
consistently shown
students who do not
read over the summer fall behind in
their ability to read.
Encourage your
child to get involved
in a good read this
summer and complete our summer
reading assignment.
Summer
assignments are
available on our
school website.
CHMS CONNECTIONS
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Purple Team
The Purple Team had a
busy end of the school
year.
th
th
On May 17 the 8
grade traveled to Boston to see sights on the
Freedom Trail and visited the Museum of Science. Students also visited Yale’s Campus during that week.
On June 21st the team
headed to High
Meadow for a day of fun
and food, and students
really enjoyed the 8th
grade dance on June
17th.
As we say good bye to
students at the promotion ceremony on June
24th, we also wish them
the best as they begin
their high school careers.
Language Arts – Mr.
Lattimer
Students in Mr. Lattimer's classes have
been busy with their last
writing assignment of
the year.
They wrote micro fiction
while preparing for the
common assessment.
Students gave college
research presentations
to the team.
Language Arts – Ms.
Johnson
Students worked on a
unit for Figurative Language, to end out the
year.
They read different
pieces of work and novels that are written in
verse to analyze and
become familiar with
figurative language in
text.
The students also finished a unit on nonfiction work and completed a project in which
they will share with their
classmates.
Students are also prepared for the final Language Arts Common
Assessment.
It has been a great year
on the Purple Team. I
wish everyone a safe
and enjoyable summer.
Math – Mr. Walker
All classes completed
the unit on Geometry
and Measurement. The
primary focus was on
the calculation of surface area and volume of
three dimensional figures such as prisms,
cylinders, cones and
pyramids.
We also finished up the
unit on statistics, and
the last unit of the year
was patterns and functions. In this unit students explored Linear
Functions with graphs
and tables.
Parents please encourage your child to visit
the website,
phschool.com. This is
an excellent resource
that students may utilize
to aid in their learning of
"difficult to grasp" concepts.
It includes extra practice problems, online
quizzes and tests, as
well as, homework
video tutorials. Thank
you for your help.
Science – Mr. Nagle
In science, students
have been “looping
back” in order to further
explore the topics that
were studied this year.
Students have had the
opportunity to experiment with forces and
motion by building a
roller coaster out of
cardboard tubes, extract DNA from strawberries, and learn how
Lewis and Clark used
science.
As the year closed, we
finished taking a look at
how polymers are used
in our world. Polymers
are a topic that students
will see again in the 9th
grade curriculum.
Social Studies – Mr.
Kilby
Purple Team social
studies completed their
Expansion Unit, learning about Lewis &
Clark, the War of 1812,
and the movement
westward.
After completing that
unit, students started a
unit on the Civil War.
Students studied
issues like slavery,
states’ rights, and abolitionism.
They also learned about
the advantages and disadvantages held by
each side, and why the
North won the war.
Bristol-Burlington
Health District
and BOE require
Physical and
Immunization
A student may not
enter 7th grade
unless:
We also began making
and experimenting with
a polymer in class,
while preparing for our
final common assessment.
The health assessment (physical examination) and immunization are completed by your student’s physician.
We had a strong finish
to the year so that students are ready to have
a strong start to the
next school year!
This health assessment must be done
after the completion
of the 5th grade but
before the beginning
of the 7th grade.
CHMS CONNECTIONS
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CHIPPENS HILL MIDDLE SCHOOL
Students of the Month
June
ORANGE TEAM
Christianna
Peabody
Natalia Jesionka
GOLD TEAM
Ayanna Correa
Patrick Johnson
SILVER TEAM
Kayleigh Titor
Megan Mazrek
BLUE TEAM
Paige Piper
Richie Perkins
GREEN TEAM
Rachel Blauvelt
Trevor O’Neil
RED TEAM
Haley Knox
Anthony Barresi
YELLOW TEAM
Yasmina
Abdelsami
Nathan Butler
PURPLE TEAM
Shelby Sandstrom
Desiree Saindon
May
ORANGE TEAM
Katarzyna Cenda
Emily Stadnicki
GOLD TEAM
Alivia Castle
Jack Kachidurian
SILVER TEAM
Austin Guasp
Brianna Carothers
BLUE TEAM
Jenifer Tabacco
Morgan Murphy
GREEN TEAM
Alessandra Wong
Ethan Tillbrook
RED TEAM
Shannon
Michelson
Marquis Anderson
YELLOW TEAM
Bettina Bueno
Thomas Pelletier
PURPLE TEAM
Arabella Goralski
Kayla Nasinnyk
April
ORANGE TEAM
Riley Burrell
Logan Greger
GOLD TEAM
Devante Pearson
Emily Worthen
SILVER TEAM
Alexela Hoyt
Ryan France
BLUE TEAM
Tom Cloutier
Mackenzie Gold
GREEN TEAM
Jenna Roy
Spencer Leszko
RED TEAM
Taylor Strutz
Jacob Dubrosky
YELLOW TEAM
Rejo Elezovski
Jennifer Aldana
PURPLE TEAM
Erin Stephens
Patrick O’Rourke
Choral Notes
Kudos to the Concert Choir, Eighth Grade Chorus, and Harmonizers for a fabulous Choral
Concert on Wednesday, May 18th. Your hard
work, enthusiasm and emotion really helped to
make the music come alive!
The Choral Director's Award was presented to
Jacob Dubrosky!
The Choral Achievement Awards were given to
Sakinah Abdulsalam, Emily Alderman,
Michaela Bossi, Angela Garcia-Clark, Mason
Hill, Katie Kelly, Kaitlyn Labbie, Ben Marcil,
and Shelby Sandstrom. Kudos to all of our fine
musicians!!!
The Harmonizers recently performed at the
"Fantastic Fesitvals" Adjudication Festival in Enfield, CT and brought back a GOLD Award and
for a second year in a row the "Esprit de Corps"
Award for good citizenship, conduct, and respect! Way to go Harmonizers!
The annual Choral Field Trip to the Good
Speed Opera House was an educational success! With a tour of the opera house, and a
chance to meet some of the actors, the choral students saw Gershwin's "My One and
Only".
The final performance for the Harmonizers is
the Promotion Ceremony on the last day of
school, June 24th.
Please be sure that your son/daughter has returned their Harmonizer attire so that it can be
sent out to be dry cleaned. Thanks for your cooperation.
As always, thank you for all of your unending
support throughout the year!!!
Angela T. Lomaglio
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CHMS CONNECTIONS
Library Media Center
Do you like adventure, fantasy, humor, mystery, or science fiction? The new Nutmeg nominees have something for everyone. Check them out. The 2012 Nutmeg Teen Nominees are on display in the library. The table
overlooking the cafeteria has the books and a poster that includes a summary of each book. Join students
from across the state of Connecticut. Read a Nutmeg nominee and vote for your favorite in January 2012.
2012 Nutmeg Book Teen Nominees
2012 Nutmeg Book Intermediate Nominees
CHMS CONNECTIONS
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Kids In The Middle receive award
Mrs. Kalat is proud to announce that KIM students Kyle
Martin and Kayla Mordo recently received 2011 Youth
Recognition Awards from the Bristol Youth Commission
and Mayor Ward.
This presentation was made prior to the monthly May
City Council meeting. In addition, Jaymie Bianca, a
member of the KIM program, also received a Youth
Recognition Award.
Also at this meeting, the KIM program received a youth
group award for the outstanding service they provide
the schools and the community.
KIM students are currently collecting “Pennies For Ponies” to help purchase a new carousel for the Bristol
Carousel Museum.
KIM students have been keeping busy volunteering at
several events;
Pequabuck River Clean-up
Public Library and Park Department Safety Fair
Kiwanis Easter Benefit Breakfast
Stafford School PTO meetings
Park Department and Library Easter Gala
For more information about KIM, please contact:
Patti Kalat, KIM Coordinator at 860-584-4844 or [email protected]