March 10: MS PT - North Shore School District

March, 2014
“Everyone Matters, Everyone Cares, Everyone Learns!”
When I think back on my own middle school experience,
there are a few key moments that stand out in my mind.
I remember becoming Wall Ball Champion in 7th grade,
defeating several 8th grade boys to win the coveted annual
title. I remember being in a school play and messing up
my two lines (I did them in reverse!). My teacher patted
me on the back and said with a genuine smile, “You did
great… I am sure only a few people didn’t notice!”
Mostly, I remember the teachers that reached out to me
and got me excited about learning. They took an interest
in me, found out what I was interested in, and developed
opportunities for me to explore those areas of interest
within the curriculum we were learning.
In many ways, they taught me much more than the
content. They taught me how to care about others and
how to care about learning new things. They taught me
how to laugh at my own mistakes and how to solve
various problems. They even taught me how to speak up
for things that I wanted or stand up for things I believed
in. I often attribute my interest in becoming a social
studies teacher and later a principal to those middle school
and high school teachers that made that kind of a
difference in my life.
Don’t get me wrong. A strong academic program is a
MUST for successful middle schools, something we focus
on a lot as teachers and educators. Learning is always
more engaging and interesting when it is rigorous and
challenging!
At the same time, there MUST be a place in our schools
for laughter, joy (even silliness), and confidence building.
Often immeasurable, it is that mystical part of our school
experience that fails to show up on state exams but is seen
everywhere when people grow up and participate in their
communities and in the workplace. For me, it is the act on
the part of our teachers and students of focusing on…
well… being human.
Sincerely,
Dr. Marc Ferris
Principal
“Getting Silly at Team Challenge!!”
February 28: Long Island Math Fair
March 6:
BOE Meeting, 8pm
March 7:
Grade 7 & 8 Concert at
Carnegie Hall!!
March 10:
MS PTO Meeting
March 28:
LI Math Fair, Round 2
March 31:
MS Spring Sports Begin
April 1:
NYS ELA Exams begin
& April Fools Day!
April 4:
MS Talent Show,
6:30pm, Sea Cliff Theater
Quarter III Ends!
April 7:
MS PTO Meeting,
7pm, MS Library
Issue #: [Date]
March, 2014
Dolor Sit Amet
“Everyone Matters, Everyone Cares, Everyone Learns!”
Team Challenge: Academic Bowl
Sixth Graders Read and Give Writing Tips to
Elementary Students
To the delight of fifth graders at Sea Cliff and
Glenwood Landing Elementary Schools, many of our
sixth grade students arrived for a visit this month to
share select chapters from their informational nonfiction publications. The purpose of this visit was twofold:
First, we wanted to create a more authentic and real life
audience for our 6th grade students. Knowing that they
were going to use their work to teach 5th grade students
raised the bar for our students in terms of developing
final products that were of high quality. It is one thing
to write for your teacher, quite another to write for a real
audience! This performance based assessment allowed
our teachers to develop a high quality authentic way to
measure student writing while engaging students in
learning.
During Team Challenge, 7th and 8th grade
students competed in an Academic Bowl that
included questions from Social Studies, Math,
Science, English, Art, World Language, and
Music classes.
The competition was fierce and the
excitement grew with each point that was
won or lost. In 7th grade, the winner was
determined during the last few questions. In
8th grade, the winning team came through on
the very last question! Needless to say, you
could hear a pin drop followed by raucous
cheers!
Second, our fifth grade students were also learning
about non-fiction writing and this gave them an
opportunity to learn and reinforce some important
teaching points that they were learning about from
peers. The 5th graders were a terrific audience for our
6th grade students as they asked a lot of questions and
took notes on writing strategies. In the end, both 5th and
6th graders benefitted tremendously from this writing
and reading experience.
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Issue #: [Date]
MARCH, 2014
Dolor Sit Amet
“Everyone Matters, Everyone Cares, Everyone Learns!”
Guidance Corner
Our 7th grade students perform “Barbie Girl” during
our Team Challenge Lip Sync competition!
Did our 8th grade students take those “clocks” from
classroom walls?? Well… yes… but to their credit,
they did put them back after they were done with their
1981 version of “Baby, You Got What I Need!”
TEAM CHALLENGE!!
Building character, teamwork, sportsmanship,
laughter, and school spirit since 2003!
Middle school can be a challenging and exciting time for
our young adolescent students. Research suggests that
when students feel safe, cared for and supported in school
they are more likely to be academically successful and
avoid anti-social behaviors such as bullying, fighting, or
drug and alcohol use.
To that end, we will be introducing two newly created
programs for our middle school students during the next
few months. The first was developed by our health,
Physical Education, and Guidance Staff, focusing on bully
prevention and good decision-making. Students in each
grade level will watch a 10-minute film with a bullying
theme in their PE classes. After watching the film,
students will break into small discussion groups led by
high school peer educators and our teachers. The focus of
this lesson will be on standing up for what is right,
supporting your friends, and not being a bystander when
bullying occurs.
Our second program is being developed specifically for 8th
grade students. National Research shows that alcohol and
drug use increases significantly for students during the
transition from 8th to 9th grade. To combat this issue, our
health and guidance staff will deliver specific lessons
focused on the issue of teenage drug and alcohol use.
Our guidance and support team is committed to providing
your children with up to date, relevant, and meaningful
learning experiences that provide your children with the
tools they need to make wise decisions, establish healthy
friendships and be emotionally strong during their journey
towards high school. More information about these
programs will be forthcoming. If you have any questions,
please do not hesitate to contact your child’s guidance
counselor.
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Issue #: [Date]
Dolor Sit Amet
MARCH, 2014
“Everyone Matters, Everyone Cares, Everyone Learns!”
Outdoor Education!?!?
While some may cower in the face of cold and
snow, our middle school embraces the
opportunity for students to work
collaboratively to build the greatest snow
sculptures during fierce team challenge
competition!
For More Pictures of Middle
School Students in Action
,
Click on or go to:
http://www.northshoreschools.org/Middle-School/index.html
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