Banks Trail Middle School
Teamwork, Responsibility, Ambition, Integrity, Leadership
December 16, 2016
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Wednesday, December 21st - 1/2 DAY FOR STUDENTS. DISMISSAL AT 11:35 AM
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From the Principal
Timberwolf Families,
Hello, and I hope that all is well with you and your families. As I walk the halls and visit classrooms, I am reminded about how lucky I am to be serving as principal at Banks Trail Middle School. Our students are doing an outstanding job, both in and out of the classroom. On a regular basis, we have students representing Banks Trail at a very high level. Our band, chorus and drama have provided us with some awesome performances in November and December. Our winter sports teams are enjoying the success that is earned through hard work. We have set all time service learning records this fall as well. In October, $450 was raised for UNICEF in our hats for Halloween. Then in November our students collected over 1600 pounds of food for the 2nd Harvest Food Bank. and finally in December, our Penny War brought in over $1200 to fund the BTMS Angel Tree.
Academically, we saw 74 students become Junior Beta Club members and as I went through report cards last week, I saw how students' effort translated into higher grades. and we watched students compete the the annual BTMS Spelling Bee in preparation for the District Spelling Bee in January. This short snapshot of the last two months reminds me that we have amazing our students and teachers. Thank you for teaching, supporting, and helping to instill these traits in your children.
As we prepare for the holiday season, I hope that each family is able to enjoy time with each other. If you celebrate Christmas, have a Merry Christmas. If you are Jewish, Happy Hanukkah, if you celebrate Kwanzaa I hope it is joyous, or if you prefer, Happy Holidays. Most importantly I hope that each of you has the opportunity to spend quality time with your family. Hug your kids and let them know they are loved and important to you. I look forward to seeing everyone in 2017.
All the Best,
Michael Pratt
Leaders Of The Pack/Terrific Timberwolves
Each month students are chosen to be “Leaders of the Pack” for reasons such as displaying outstanding leadership, citizenship, school service, good behavior, and performance in their classrooms and throughout the school. “Terrific Timberwolves” are then selected among those chosen as Leaders of the Pack because they exemplify the characteristics found in the T.R.A.I.L. - Teamwork, Responsibility, Ambition, Integrity, Leadership
For the month of December we would like to congratulate the following Leaders of the Pack:
- Team 6-2: Chelsea S.
- Team 6-3: Scott S.
Team 7-2: Sebastian Y.
Team 7-3: Kayden M.
8th Grade: Lila Z.
8th Grade: Kelly F.
Related Arts 6th Grade: Chelsea P.
Related Arts 7th Grade: Aiyana U.
The December Terrific Timberwolves Students of the Month are:
6th Grade - Liam B.
7th Grade - Ethan A.
8th Grade - Casey D.
Related Arts - Kira P.
Teamwork, Responsibility, Ambition, Integrity, Leadership: "The Trail" As Leaders of the Pack and Terrific Timberwolves, these students live "The Trail" everyday!
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December, 2016
R2S Endorsement Course Update
In November, teachers embraced the Notice and Note stances, signposts, and strategies for reading nonfiction. Since nonfiction text is often more complex than fiction and can also contain author’s biases, these strategies will help students with comprehension and extend their thinking after reading. Our language arts and content-area teachers are collaborating to include more opportunities for reading and discussing nonfiction texts across subject areas. It is an exciting time for literacy at BTMS!
Parent and Family Involvement with Literacy
Last month, we highlighted family journals as a fun and memorable way to make reading and writing a very special part of family activities. Holiday memories are a great topic for family journals, as are family events, vacations, and family stories across generations. The journals could become family heirlooms to treasure. Consider including family photos with each entry and designing the journal as a type of scrapbook. If you need more ideas for family journal writing topics, see the link below.
http://journalbuddies.com/journal_prompts__journal_topics/journal-prompts-for-shared-journaling/
CLASSROOM HIGHLIGHTS
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Physical Education Department Raises Money for the American Heart Association
The physical education department is happy to report that we raised over $1,500 for the American Heart Association in our first annual Hoops for Heart basketball tournament in November. Thank you to all the students that played or watched the tournament and congratulations to our 3 on 3 teams that won!
Honor's Chorus Students Attend Choral Clinic at Winthrop University
On November 15th, 50 of our chorus students attended an Choral Clinic for girls sponsored by the S.C. Music Educators Association. They spent the morning rehearsing in a combined group of more than 200 singers from local middle schools. The event was held in the beautiful McBride Hall at Winthrop University. At the conclusion of the clinic, the group walked over to Winthrop’s student center to eat lunch amongst the college students and to explore Winthrop’s Scholar’s Walk area. Below are links to our final sing-through of two songs that we prepared for the clinic.
Song #1 https://youtu.be/UGZnSky2GDc
Song #2 https://youtu.be/Upiz-7LsEQI
2 Art Students Take 1st and 2nd Place in the Fort Mill Lions Club Peace Poster Contest
Congratulations to two BTMS 7th graders who won both FIRST and SECOND place in the Fort Mill Lions Club Peace Poster Competition held between all Fort Mill Middle Schools! Ryan M. won second place receiving a $10 Wal-Mart and $10 Z Bakery gifts cards. Madison M. won First place, receiving a $10 Wal-Mart & $10 Z Bakery gift cards as well as $100! Madison’s poster now moves on to the Upperstate Regional Competition where there are more prizes to be won. BTMS also had 3 7th grade runners-up! Maddie M., Jessica R., and Greeshmanth V. all won $5 gift cards to both Bruster’s Ice Cream AND Treetz! Congratulations to all of these talented students!!
Theatre Arts Students Perform at Doby's Bridge and Orchard Park Elementary Schools
Family and Consumer Class Create Storybooks
Seventh Grade students created, illustrated, and designed children’s storybooks during the Child Development unit in Family and Consumer Sciences class. The students used their literacy and reading skills to produce books to fulfill several developmental areas and stages for children from ages birth- 7 years old. Mrs. Bauer will showcase these books at the Spring Literacy Fair while the students read them to children.
VETERAN'S DAY ASSEMBLY
The BTMS Veterans Day Committee would like to thank all of the people who helped make our celebration a success. The choir sang beautifully, especially with the help of the ukulele club during the national anthem. The sign language club helped with the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Our home arts department prepared and served a wonderful breakfast for our visiting veterans and the student council served as greeters and escorts for our guests. Many students brought pictures of veteran family members. These were displayed in our “trail to freedom,” and expertly incorporated into a media presentation by our computer technology department.
These personal displays from our students made the event more meaningful to the service members who attended the event. As one guest stated “It is truly great to see our youth honoring America and it's veterans. Listening to the students recite the Pledge of Allegiance made me very proud that our next generation hopefully will continue to honor our Nation.”
Lastly, we would like to thank all of the veterans for showing the students of BTMS that, with in our community, there are many who served and sacrificed. Among them was, our guest speaker Senator Wes Hayes, who has served our country as a veteran and served our veterans in the South Carolina State Senate. Thank you again for your time, your service, and the example you set for our children.
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December Teachers of the Month
Mrs. Webster is one of our December Teachers of the the Month. She has been such a great sixth grade leader and always keeps the grade level up-to-date with everything that is going on! She goes above and beyond in her classroom to help the students and to help other teachers on the hallway! The students love her class because she finds fun and engaging ways to keep them interested in math. Ms. Webster is always in a positive mood and is a role model teacher.
Mrs. Nivens is one of the most selfless people you will meet. She always puts the needs of her students and co-workers ahead of her own. She is constantly working with her students one on one in the mornings and during lunch to ensure they have mastered the content. Ms. Nivens did an outstanding job planning the Holiday Market and this year had more vendors than ever before! The Holiday Market is a great way for BTMS to have stakeholders visit our school and it gives our students an opportunity to shop for their family members. Not only is the Holiday Market great; it also serves as a fundraiser for the Washington DC Trip. Ms. Nivens is an amazing leader and is always bringing new ideas to the Trail we are so lucky to have her! She is a gold star medalist because she is BEAUTIFUL AND BRILLIANT!
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Fort Mill School District Information
Board of Trustees Approves Middle School Attendance Areas with Additional Tweaks – Option A-2
After receiving community feedback for the past two weeks, the Board of Trustees approved new middle school attendance areas that included several changes from what was originally recommended by the administration under Option A-1.
Based on community feedback, the board approved an adjusted option, now called A-2, which reflects the following two changes, with other areas remaining unchanged from Option A-1:
- The Holbrook Road corridor of neighborhoods is shifted from Fort Mill Middle School to Banks Trail Middle School; and
- The Sutton Place neighborhood is shifted from Banks Trail Middle School to Pleasant Knoll Middle School.
Starting with the 2017/18 school year, all rising 6th through 8th graders will attend middle school based on their permanent address under the new board-approved attendance areas. By not grandfathering, this allows for comparable programming, staffing, and extracurricular activities for all five middle schools across the school district. Further information regarding the transition process will be communicated in the months to come.
Click here to view the November 15, 2016 presentation.
Click here to view the approved middle school attendance areas A- 2 map (please note this is a large 36”x36” PDF map).
Click here to view the population details and growth projections under A-2.
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PTO News
Do you shop at Harris Teeter, Publix, or on Amazon? Here are some super easy ways to raise $ for our school!
- Re-link your Harris Teeter card to BTMS PTO either in-store or online at Together in Education. Our school code is 8686.
- Pick up a Publix card at the front desk of the school, or notify us that you need one by emailing BTMSPTO@gmail.com with your child's name and homeroom teacher.
- Go to Amazon Smile and shop! For each purchase you make, 0.5% will be donated to Banks Trail Middle School PTO at no additional cost to you. To make it even easier, link to Banks Trail Middle School PTO in your Amazon account.
PARENTS: PLEASE LABEL YOUR STUDENT'S BELONGINGS
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TARDY/STUDENTS RETURNING FROM AN APPOINTMENT
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EARLY DISMISSALS
Students leaving school early must be picked up no later than 2:50 PM. There will be no dismissals from 2:50 PM until 3:20 PM.
Upcoming Dates
12/13 Band Concert
12/21 1/2 Day for Students & Faculty - Beginning of Winter Break
12/21-1/03 Winter Break - Students return on Wednesday, January 4th
1/07 All Region Band Auditions (Blythewood HS)
1/16 Martin Luther King Holiday - No School for Students
1/21 All State Band Auditions - (Lexington HS)
1/24 & 1/25 York County Band Clinic (Winthrop University)
1/27 Krispy Kreme Donuts Sale
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Banks Trail Middle School
Email: munns@fortmillschools.org
Website: http://btms.fortmillschools.org/pd/FMSD_BTMS/index.html
Location: 1640 Banks Road, Fort Mill, SC, United States
Phone: 803-578-2990
Twitter: @BTMStimberwolf