Enriching Endeavors at WFMS

February 22, 2008

Spring Conferences Are Coming!

For your child’s future success, it’s very important that you be involved in his/her education. Conferences are another source of information for you. Conference sign-up day is Thursday, February 28^th. The sign-up area is in our front lobby. The times for sign-up are 7:00-10:00 a.m. and from 3:00-7:00 p.m. The conferences are on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 4^th and 5^th. On Tuesday, March 4^th, WFMS students will attend school in the a.m. and be dismissed at 11:30. Lunches will be served. Conferences are in the afternoon. On Wednesday, March 5^th, school will start 4 hours late (12:00 p.m.) and students will attend school in the afternoon and be dismissed at 3:00 p.m. No lunch will be served. Conferences are in the evening.

Knitting Club

Ms Lynch and Mrs Dollar would like to teach interested students (girls and boys) to knit. Needles and yarn will be provided. You will learn basic stitches and can make scarves, blankets, pillows, and many more useful items. We will also be knitting squares to make blankets for needy people. Please tell your homeroom teacher if you are interested. If you don't know what knitting looks like, see Ms Lynch in room 116 or Mrs Dollar or Mrs Schmidt. We will decide on a meeting day when we know who is interested in joining us.

FIRST FREDERICK COUNTY SPELLING BEE

The Gazette Newspaper and the Frederick County Public Library is sponsoring a county spelling bee. Elimination Bees will be on February 21, 22, and 24 with the Championship Bee on March 7^th at the C. Burr Artz Library. This is not an FCPS event, so students must register on their own at www.fcpl.org/spelling

. If your child is interested in participating and would like some practice words or ideas, he/she may see Ginny Hines, our Literacy Specialist during school hours.

SummerServe and SummerServe Express

These programs are Volunteer Frederick’s premier youth programs. SummerServe (SS) is a five week program where youth 11-17 serve at different agencies (Tranquility Equestrian, Frederick Rescue Mission, and over 13 others) throughout the county. Youth who participate in this program usually serve over 75 hours. They participate in service in the mornings and recreation activities in the afternoons (Baker Park pool, movies, Cunningham Falls, etc).

SummerServe Express (SSE) is a shorter version of SS and lasts for 2 weeks. We hold three different sessions of SSE. The first session of SSE will focus on environmental issues where youth will complete a watershed restoration project, plant trees, roadside clean-ups, etc. SSE2 will focus on the care of animals where youth will work with rescued horses, build blue-bird boxes, etc. SSE3 focuses on Human Services where youth will work with adults with developmental disabilities on a farm, etc. In the afternoons youth will participate in recreation activities and field trips related to the theme of their session.

Volunteer Frederick offers financial assistance for both of these programs and hope that you will encourage your youth to consider participating. We have received a large grant this year that will allow us to assist several low-income families’ fees for the programs.

If you would like more information, please contact Melanie.Laffer@fcps.org. If you'd like to register for either of these programs, please contact Ms. Stacey A. White, Youth Service Director of Volunteer Frederick, at 301.663.5214 ext. 2#.

Renzulli Enrichment Opportunities

The Renzulli school-wide enrichment program is sponsoring various guest speakers in honor of, and to celebrate, Black History Month. Students need to listen to the morning announcements and then sign up in the Renzulli room in order to participate.

Think magazine, West Frederick’s literary magazine, is soliciting poems, short stories, essays, songs, drawings and paintings for the publication, with an anticipated publication debuting in April.

The Renzulli teachers are recruiting students to participate in shared inquiry discussions and Socratic seminars. Students participate based on teacher recommendation.

The deadline for students to submit a proposal for Frederick County’s History Day competition is March 1. Students need to pick up an application in the Renzulli room.

STUDENT Corner:

Our own sixth grader, Madelyne Xiao, has won first place, sixth grade division, for her short story in the FCPS Young Authors Contest. West Frederick had nearly 50 entries in the contest this year, and judges Ginny Hines, Elizabeth school, who then advanced to the county-wide competition.

It was a privilege to coach and encourage Madelyne as she wrote this story with the Renzulli Writers! Way to go Madelyne!

Character Counts and our 7^th grader, Yenifer Amaya-Quinteros is living proof. She found a lost cell phone and returned it to the front office even before the student realized she had lost it !!! Thank you Yenifer for being so honest and trustworthy!

Tech Ed Update:

Here's what's happening in Tech Ed. The eighth graders are in the middle of designing and building their own maze. The seventh graders are learning about leverage and fulcrum by building catapults and the sixth graders are making their downhill race cars. Wes Parker

The Technology Club is finishing up the clocks they have been building this Wednesday. They will be starting their next project the following week.

PTSA Fundraiser Update: WFMS has fallen short of their fundraising goal with the fall candy sales and are PTSA memberships are way down. You and other WFMS families can help by designating WFMS as your school choice at Safeway, Giant Eagle and Target. We are waiting to hear back from Giant. It's really easy...go to the attached links with your customer card from those store, pick WFMS and start earning us money every time you shop. Thanks If you could pass this on to other WFMS families that might shop these stores the school might benefit with some extra cash.

http://www.groups.escrip.com/promo/renew_safe_east.pdfhttp://www.gianteagle.com/Article.aspx?cntid=182506 Our school code is 4142 https://sites.target.com/site/en/corporate/page.jsp;jsessionid=U0HESWAC1C42ZLARAAVPYAQ?contentId=PRD03-001919&_requestid=716761

Maribeth Visco mb@klinescottvisco.com

Environmental Science Club

The aim of the Environmental Science Club is to increase student understanding of, appreciation for and involvement in addressing environmental issues. Just a few ideas from students: hiking/nature walks, camping trips, Chesapeake Bay Foundation field trips, recycling projects within school, and projects to help local wildlife. All students are welcome to participate as much as they can! Our meetings will be held on Tuesdays, from 3:05 – 4 pm in Ms. Staley's room 308.

FCPS School Report Is Here!

Each student has received a copy of the recently published 2007 FCPS School Report to take home.

Take a look, and find out how FCPS equips students for success in their 21^st century world. The report includes:

*achievement data

*operating and capital budget info

*enrollment stats

*and much more!

For your convenience, the report is also posted online at www.fcps.org/content/publications/SR08w3.pdf.

PERFORMANCE NOTES!!

Ms. Stefanizzi and Ms. McEndree

Mystery Dessert Theatre production - students auditioned in early January to be in the cast of a Mystery Play to be performed in our Café on Thursday (2/21/08), Friday (2/22) and Thursday (2/28/08) and Friday (2/29) at 7:30 pm. Tickets will be $5.00 which will include a show as well as desserts and beverages. Last year's show was a total sell out...packed house both nights. Be sure to get your tickets ahead of time to secure your seat. This is to celebrate “Bring your Family to School Week”, a PTSA sponsored event. The play is directed by Chris Stefanizzi, who is assisted by Heather McEndree and Laurie Parker. PTSA will be organizing the "Dessert" portion of the performance. Stay tuned!

This is a performance based ensemble who strives to do community work by performing in the Frederick area. A group of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders come together to act, sing and even dance a little too. This group meets on Thursdays after school from 3:10 to 4:00 pm. Any questions should be addressed to Ms. Stefanizzi at 240.236.4027 or better email at Christine.Stefanizzi@fcps.org

Mr. Phil Rhodes (FHS Varsity baseball coach) and Mr. Todd Bono have a Baseball club that meets on Wednesdays from 3-4 p.m.

Soccer club meets every Wednesday on the soccer field of WFMS from 3 – 4 pm weather permitting. Coaches are Bernard Pond and Chuck Smith.

Hoops for Heart

Mr. Bono is seeking parent volunteers to help him coordinate a Hoops- for-Heart drive. Please contact Todd Bono if you would like to be a part or this effort.

Reading Rally

Facilitated by our Reading Specialist, Ms. Ginny Hines, this wonderful enrichment opportunity is for all students on all levels. Students read one book per week, and meet for weekly learning lunches to discuss them. It's a great way to have fun while learning, and possibly even participate in a county-wide competition late winter! We also wish to thank our staff coaches, such as Ms. Dionne Griffith, for giving up their lunch time for this worthy cause!

Sign Language Club

All grades are welcome to participate! All Sign Language Club meetings will be on Tuesdays from 3 – 4 pm in Room 210. Students are encouraged to come and make new friends, learn a new way to communicate and join in the fun and games. Students may ride the activity bus home and will need written parent permission to stay after school. Please contact Denise White for more information 240-236-4077.

Guitar Club

Guitar Club meets weekly after school from 3:15 - 4:00! If you play guitar, want to improve your skills, and have some fun join us in the band every Tuesday. See Mr. Kenny for details and a permission slip.

Student Council Association

Led by Mr. and Mrs. Wishner, the Student Council

is a body of students who are involved in community awareness, fundraisers and school programs such as the "school dance". We meet every Thursday from 3:00 to 4:00. If you are interested in participating, please get a form in Mrs. Wishner's room.

Student Service Learning

This is an ongoing opportunity for every student, facilitated by Mrs. Melanie Laffer. Students may earn hours for meritorious service projects toward a special OPTIONAL certificate upon graduation from high school. In order to accumulate up to 25 possible hours during middle school, students must comply with the following requirements:

GAME, PUZZLE AND FILM CLUB

DO YOU ENJOY WATCHING MOVIES, COMPLETING CROSSWORD PUZZLES AND PLAYING BOARD GAMES?

If so, you should join our club! Meetings will be held every other Wednesday from 3:15 till 4:00 p.m. in Ms. Warner’s room, # 108. Students will need to ride the activity bus or provide an alternate form of transportation. Please feel free to bring in any board games you would like to play. I will provide puzzles and movies. Due to FCPS policy, you will need to have film permission slips signed prior to viewing each film. If your permission slip has not been signed by a parent or guardian prior to a scheduled film day, you must go home at 3 p.m. (No exceptions will be made!)

Donate Blood and Save Three Lives!

Sign up for the Blood Drive on March 5, Conference Day, sponsored by the Student Council Association, by e-mailing Melanie.Laffer@fcps.org, or completing the tear-off portion below, and turning it in to your child's AR teacher.

Name (please print) __________________________

Phone ______________________________________

Student Name ____________________________