HEADS Up! - Brownell
Transcription
HEADS Up! - Brownell
Middle School HEADS Up! Ms. Bridget Collins Hallway Happenings Every day I learn something new from your students. It may be an insight into characters in To Kill a Mockingbird or discussion about their role in the world. They have been engaged in their learning and have welcomed students new to BT with the kind of character that we all expect and appreciate. All of the Middle School students have been reintroduced to the iPad for this school year. The students are working to improve their skills in the use of the tool. New to the program this year is a weekly iPad class for the 5th graders to help build their proficiency and to raise their comfort level in using this tool. As I enter my second year as the Head of Middle School, I am encouraged by the self- advocacy I have seen in the students. I have also observed very positive interactions amongst the students and their teachers and a positive learning environment that will build on their knowledge and success. Student Council Faculty Focus Middle School students are venturing into the area of elections. Student Council officers are all members of the 8th grade class. J.R. Gould MS/US Music As you might expect of a music teacher, I try to keep my life in perfect harmony. I balance my roles as a husband to my wife, Steph and as a father to two Brownell-Talbot daughters (Jamie ’19 and Emma ’23) while at the same time striving to be as good as I can be at my job. Each Middle School grade will have two class representatives. This body makes up the Brownell Talbot Middle School Student Council. Eighth grade students interested in running for office will turn in their nomination forms by Monday, September 15th. Those students will prepare and present a speech to the Middle School student body and then elections will take place. Each grade level selects class representatives once officer elections are complete. The Student Council sponsor this year is Ms. Collins. Robotics Middle School Robotics will begin 2nd quarter. The students interested in being part of this program received a Middle School Robotics Interest Form. These will help in determining the teams for the coming year. The forms are due Monday, September 15. If your child is interested in participating, please make sure that his/her form is turned into Ms. Collins on that day. Extra forms are available in Ms. Collins’ office. I can safely say my greatest teaching moment was any of the times I’ve been able to step out of the way and let the kids make good music together. There have been many of these great moments in my 13 years as a music instructor at BT. Some of the most memorable performances have included the 2008 musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie; the Upper School Choir singing eight-part a cappella in Mandarin Chinese without a conductor at the May 2013 concert; and the Upper School Band choosing and directing their own jazz set at Worlds of Fun in June 2013. Reflecting on my years at BT, I believe I’ve made my mark by slowly building the music program into something the school can take great pride in. My advice to students: You don’t have to major in music to keep doing it in college or beyond. 1 Heads of School Bi-Weekly News September 12, 2014 MIDDLE SCHOOL KEY DATES MS Volleyball First Home Game Sat Sept 13 MS/US Gym Service Learning Keep Omaha Beautiful Thu Sept 18 8:45-9:10 am US/MS Forum Swanson Auditorium 6th Grade Outdoor Education Departure Tue Sept 23 6th Grade Outdoor Education Return Thu Sept 25 MS Football Fist Home Game Tue Sep 23 4 pm Skutt Field Parent Teacher Conferences No MS Classes Fri Sep 26 MS/US Gym Middle/Upper School Coffee Fri Sept 26 9-9:45 am MS/US Library Topic: Students’ role in their education. Service Learning Green Apple Day of Service Sat Sept 27 10-11 am Memorial Park & BT Campus Middle School HEADS Up! Ms. Bridget Collins Middle School Mayhem ERB Testing Mon Sept 29Fri Oct 3 MS/LS Chess Club Tue Sept 30 3:45 pm Worthington Dining Hall Mudzilla Run - Alice Siberling, Claire Goetschkes, Anna Kotula Cool cats. ___________ ALL-SCHOOL KEY DATES Founder’s Day Wed Sept 17 Celebrating 151 years of tradition Blue & Gold Day Fri Sep 19 Photo Retakes Tue Sep 23 Headed to Moment of Silence Ceremony - Josh Randolph, Georgia Drew, Janeilya Davis, Gigi Crumbly iPads are in full swing. ERB Standardized Testing Middle School Coffee Brownell students grades 3-8 take the online Educational Records Bureau (ERB) Comprehensive Testing Program (CTP). This test is a low-stakes test used to help inform our teaching practices and to help parents compare their child’s achievement scores to other suburban public and independent schools. Fall dates for grades 3-4 begin the week of September 29 and will be administered in sections approximately an hour and a half each day. Students will practice and get comfortable using the online tools and answering questions in advance. For anyone unfamiliar with this event, I would like to invite you to join me on Friday, September 25 from 9-9:45 am in the MS/US library where I, along with Bill Harrell - Head of upper school, will be discussing the topic of your student’s role in their education. These coffees are hosted quarterly and last 45 minutes with topics that span a number of issues concerning your children and their education. It is an open forum where parents are encouraged to ask questions and participate. Consider bringing another parent with you and joining us. There is nothing extra or special for students to study to prepare for this test. Parents can best support students by ensuring a good night’s rest, a healthy protein breakfast, and instilling confidence by preserving a calm and positive emotional state to avoid unnecessary test anxiety. Middle School Grade Parents For more information about ERB’s CTP please visit our http://www.brownell.edu/page.cfm?p=2454 The 2014-15 list of MS grade parents can be found on the Parents Association Organization Chart in the Parent Portal section of the brownell website. https://www.brownell.edu/userlogin.cfm?do=logoff We are fortunate to have room parents plan and implement grade level activities and special events. They ensure other parents from their class are apprised of these activites and events with the opportunity to volunteer or participate. 2 Lower School Coffee Wed Sept 24 8:15 am Fireside Room No Lower School Classes LS Teacher Development Thu Sep 25 Parent Association Meeting Wed Oct 1 5:30 pm Fireside Room and Thu Oct 2 8:15 am Worthington Dining Hall Homecoming Week Oct 13-18 Other News BT Service Learning Defined To streamline the BT Service Learning efforts, Kassandra Mayo was appointed the Service Learning Coordinator in April, and with the help of a committee comprised of faculty and staff volunteers, and countless hours of research, two non-profits in Omaha were selected for a two year partnership. Our partners are Completely Kids - a local non-profit that ensures families have access to the knowledge and skills necessary to break the cycle of poverty, and YES-Youth Emergency Services - serving homeless, at-risk youth by providing critical-needs resources empowering them to become self-sufficient individuals. There will be more information regarding our activities and how they relate to and have a positive impact on both our students and our two community partners as our year progresses. We will also continue to work with Opportunity Education and our sister school, Ashok Memorial Public School, in India. To make a difference in the world, we must start at “home.” BT is our home-base. We will first learn to serve our BT home community and then the city and world. With that, we kick off our year by partnering with Keep Omaha Beautiful for the Green Apple Day of Service. The Green Apple Day of Service gives parents, teachers, students, companies and local organizations the opportunity to transform all schools into healthy, safe and productive learning environments through local service projects. Our efforts include cleaning up Memorial Park and the Brownell campus on Saturday, September 27, 10-11 am. Please mark your calendar and sign up to participate in this school-wide event with your student at: http://service. mygreenapple.org/page/event/detail/4jtgk Parent Association Book Fair The bookfair is October 13-17 in the LS Gym. Find more information, sign up to volunteer, and download the App by visiting http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/homepage.do?method=homepage&url=brownelltalbotschool Gala Date and Chairs Announced Save the date of May 8, 2015, for the Brownell-Talbot Gala. Gala is a fun-filled and important event at BT each year. More details will be announced in the weeks ahead. This year’s gala chairs are Fatima and Farhan Khan, parents to Emaan (’23) and Zayd (’27) and Fatima Basith and Pirzada Sattar, parents to Lukmaan (’17) and Rayaan (’23). “My daughter has loved coming to school from the moment she started in pre-school at BT,” says Ms. Khan. “I attribute that to the wonderful teachers and staff at BT who have continued to inspire her and push her to do her best. I am thrilled that my son is starting his BT journey this year. Farhan and I are excited to be a part of such a wonderful and supportive community.” Ms. Basith points out that “Brownell Talbot was one of the most important reasons for our family as we moved to Omaha from Boston 15 years ago. Since then, the school and its community have given my children and me so much. We cannot be thankful enough. We are happy and humbled by this opportunity to celebrate and recognize our BT community. We are looking forward to meeting new people, strengthening our existing friendships and broadening our horizons.” Due to a splash meet on campus, families and students participating in the Green Apple Day of Service should park in the Happy Hollow lot. Every year, gala success depends on the generous donations of time and talent by our BT parents. To volunteer please send an email to Fatima Khan at [email protected] or Fatima Basith at [email protected]. See you at gala next spring! Blue & Gold Days BT is a Nut/Peanut Safe School Throughout the year, students and faculty have the opportunity to show School Pride in support of activities. We call these Blue and Gold Days. The apparel guidelines are as follows: • Brownell-Talbot Blue & Gold shirts, t-shirts, sweat shirts or sweaters. (MUST incorporate Blue/Gold school colors) • Regular School uniform is also acceptable • Jeans and tennis shoes are acceptable • Hiking/Cargo shorts are acceptable • Athletic shorts or short-shorts are NOT acceptable Our school has students who are deathly allergic to nuts, peanuts, nut/peanut oils, and nut/peanut products. Their allergy is so severe that it is expected that they would go into immediate life threatening anaphylactic shock if they have any contact with these items. Staff members have been trained specifically on how to provide immediate life saving first aid if this were to happen. One of the steps we have taken to protect these children is to make our campus a Nut/Peanut Safe School. It is not acceptable to bring nut/ peanut products for snack or in a packed lunch. We appreciate your support of this school policy.