The Tohickon Golden Eagle
June 2015
The Tohickon School Year Draws to a Close
Dear Tohickon Families,
The 2014-2015 School Year is rapidly coming to an end. It has been a great year, with so many fantastic highlights. A great number of these highlights took place most recently, in the month of May. International Food Day, the Spring Concerts, Relay for Life, the Spring Recognition Assembly, Staff Appreciation Day, the Principal Awards and the Dorney Park Trip all took place during this busy month.
Among these events, the Relay for Life Program impacted the most people. Since February, students in all five middle schools diligently worked to raise money to support cancer research. The culminating event took place on May 16th at Tohickon Middle School. The event went off beautifully and this is due to the hard work of the Relay Committee and, especially, Mr. Bill Senavaitis, the Program Coordinator. The students were fantastic and came together on this day to raise over $240,000. This was a great day for our students, staff, parents and community! Throughout this school year, the staff at Tohickon has worked diligently to teach the wonderful students we have at Tohickon. Although a main focus is always academics, we also teach responsibility, respect and the value of helping others. Relay for Life is a perfect example of this!
As we move into the final month of the school year, I want to thank several people for making this year a tremendous success. First, our teachers. The staff at Tohickon is completely committed to making sure that our students have the best experience possible. They are here before and after the school day ends in order to ensure that we are as effective and responsive as possible. Secondly, our parents. I have always believed in a highly communicative, strong home and school relationship because it is so powerful and can be so beneficial for our students. I thank you for sending us such wonderful young adults. Lastly, our students. Our students work hard everyday. They are polite, thoughful, hard-working and dedicated to Tohickon. I am very proud of our students as they are what makes Tohickon such a great place to go to school.
In closing, I want to wish all of our families and community members a safe and happy summer! Please remember that Mr. Dudley and I are here all summer, as we make preparations for the 2015-2016 school year. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Tohickon Main Office at 267-893-3300. Thanks again for an outstanding school year!
Sincerely,
Mr. Kevin Marton, Principal
Central Bucks to Celebrate Mr. LaMar!
Spring Recognition Assembly
On May 22nd, the entire student body gathered to recognize spring sports participants, Soaring Eagle Award winners and Boomerang Award nominees. At the assembly, each Tohickon spring sports team was recognized, as well as the freshmen who played a spring sport at CB East or CB West. In addition to the various presentations, student representatives from all three grade levels played against their teachers in Tohickon’s annual student vs. faculty basketball game. It was a close, hard fought game, but in the end, the teachers prevailed!
A Message from the Tohickon Music Department
On Monday, May 11th, the Tohickon Choral Program presented its annual Spring Concert. Over 240 students participated in a total of seven performing ensembles. The concert was a huge success and featured a varied selection of music, ranging from Coldplay to 17th Century Classical music. The evening closed with a large-scale performance of Imagine Dragons’ “On Top of the World,” sung by the combined 8th and 9th grade choirs. We are very proud of the Chorus students’ hard work this year, and know that they will continue to succeed.
The Tohickon Orchestra and Band Departments held their Spring Instrumental Concert on May 14. The concert was a huge success and orchestra director Mrs. Repper and band director Ms. McGahey were extremely proud of the students and the hard work they put into their concert. The concert featured the Tohickon Orchestra, Select String Ensemble, 7th Grade Band, 8th Grade Band, 9th Grade Band, Jazz Band and Wind Ensemble. Highlights included Irish dancers who performed with the orchestra on “Shipping Up to Boston” and the Jazz Band energetically kicking off the beginning of the concert. Congratulations to all orchestra and band members on a successful spring concert!”
Community Service - Relay for Life Update - Thank you!!!
Thank you to all families involved in the great success of the 12th Annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life of Central Bucks Middle Schools. Together our five schools raised over $240,000 in the fight against cancer! Kudos to all of the students and parents that spent long hours planning, organizing, and conducting fundraisers over the past few months. Next year's Relay is scheduled for Saturday, May 21st, 2016.
International Food Day at Tohickon
On Friday, May 8th, Tohickon had its annual International Food Day. All World Language students participated in this highly anticipated event. This is the day when students get to taste a variety of foods from all different cultures from around the world. They prepare for the day by researching foods from the cultures of the languages they are studying or from their own heritage and choosing a particular dish to share with their classmates. The day was a success with students eating, listening to international music, and learning about new cuisines. As always, we have to thank the numerous parent volunteers who donated their time during the day to help our food lines run smoothly and all the parents who helped their children prepare their dishes at home. We were even able to make a contribution of some of the leftover food to a local charity.
Thank you to our parents for a wonderful Staff Appreciation Luncheon!
Dear Parents,
Thank you for making our Staff Appreciation Luncheon a huge success! The Tohickon Staff always looks forward to this day and the fantastic lunch. Your efforts are greatly appreciated!
June has Arrived!!!
June has arrived! For your planning purposes, all events are listed chronologically below which will take us through June 18th.
June 1-4
- Tohickon Book Fair in Library
June 2
- 8th Grade Field Trip to Philadelphia
June 3
- Team Summit (Grade 7) to the Philadelphia Zoo
June 4
- Team Discovery (Grade 7) to the Philadelphia Zoo
June 5
- Boomerang Breakfast 7-7:45 AM in the Tohickon Library
- Freshman Dance 7:30-10 PM in the Tohickon Cafeteria
June 8
- CB West Move Up Day- 9th Grade Westbound Students Travel to CB West
June 10
- Freshman Day - 9th Grade travel to Camp America
June 11
- World Language Final Exams
June 12
- CB East Move Up Day- 9th Grade Eastbound Students Travel to CB East
June 13
- Ron LaMar Concert at CB West 2-4 PM. The Central Bucks community will gather to celebrate and remember the contributions made by Mr. LaMar
June 15
- Math Final Exams
June 18
- Last Day of School
- Closing Ceremonies
- Early Dismissal - 10:45 AM
Book Fair - First Week in June
Tohickon’s Book Fair will be held from Monday, June 1 through Thursday, June 4. Students visit the book fair with their English teachers and there is also time during resource and before school to purchase books. Brand new titles, old favorites, and the district summer reading books will be available for purchase. Tohickon’s teachers create a culture of reading and it isn’t surprising that so many of our students read a tremendous amount of books each year. The top ten readers in Tohickon are given a $10 certificate to be spent at the book fair. Those students are: Colin B., Cameron W., Hailie H., Katelyn L., Megan D., Esha N., Mouben A., Fritz M., Logan G. and Alivia T..
Team Summit and Team Discovery to the Philadelphia Zoo
During the first week of June the seventh grade teams both planned to journey to the Philadelphia Zoo to use this 42 acre science laboratory, so-to-speak, to study taxonomic classification and ecological relationships of animals. Seeing the animals up close affords so many opportunities to observe anatomic differences leading to classification into different classes, orders, and families, as well as inspection of body designs which afford ideal adaptation to varying ecological niches. The trip has become an annual tradition for seventh graders at Tohickon, and there is always fun along the way while enjoying this outing packed with learning opportunities!
Athletics Update
As the school year draws to a close, students are already thinking about fall sports. Tohickon athletics packets were distributed to all 7th graders and incoming 6th graders during the week of 5/25. The packet contains information regarding fall sports, paperwork and a new athletics registration system. A high school sports information sheet was also distributed to all current 8th graders. Copies of the packet and high school information sheet can be found on Tohickon’s athletics website.
High School Fall Sports Concussion Testing
CB West and CB East will be conducting their concussion seminar and baseline testing for fall sports this June. CB West will hold their session on Tuesday, June 9th, while CB East will hold their session on Wednesday, June 10th. Both sessions start immediately after school. All 8th and 9th graders attending will be allowed to ride the activity shuttle to their respective high schools on those days. The seminar and baseline testing are mandatory for participants in all contact sports. More information can be found on the high schools’ websites. Baseline testing for Tohickon’s fall athletes will occur in September.
Social Media Awareness
Wellness Update
Just as we are getting ready to leave for the summer, the garden is getting ready to produce. The teachers and students have done a fabulous job preparing the garden over the past couple months. Several families have volunteered to help harvest over the summer months, but we could use more. If you are interested in helping out, please email Mr. Dudley at kdudley@cbsd.org.
There is currently a contest going on to Name the Garden. We are in search of a creative and appropriate name for the garden that was established through the initiatives of Dr. Wychock and energetic parents, teachers and students. If you have an idea, please let Mr. Dudley, Mrs. Fox or Ms. Crockett know and we will enter you in the contest.
Looking ahead to next year, there are several opportunities for students with Wellness Committee initiatives. We are particularly welcoming incoming 7th graders, but all are welcome. Please see Mr. Dudley or Mrs. Fox know if you are interested in being a Student Ambassador or a member of the Gardening Club.
All profits from the Pretzel Sales benefit the Wellness Committee and are used to promote healthy eating at our monthly Student Wellness Days. For the remainder of the year, we will be going back to REGULAR PRETZELS, which are sold at a reduced cost of $0.50 each. Please continue to purchase pretzels every Wednesday and support our cause!
From the Nurse's Office
Important School Health Information for Students Transitioning to Tohickon
Welcome to the Tohickon School Community. There are many ways in which schools are similar, but I’d like to take this opportunity to share some important information that may help the transition to the 2015-2016 school year.
Elementary school health records are transferred to Middle School, but I encourage parents of students with medical concerns to contact the certified school nurse @267-893-3315 to answer any questions regarding the management of your child’s condition while attending Tohickon. Medical Action Plans will be given to your child by the elementary school nurse in late spring. I encourage you/your physician to complete and return these plans in September.
Pennsylvania law mandates that all 7th grade students need a dental exam. This exam can be dated any time after September 1, 2014 and is due October 15, 2015. The form is available from your elementary school nurse or from the CBSD website. Please feel free to send the complete dental form to Tohickon prior to September.
Pennsylvania law mandates that all students have the following immunizations for 7th grade entry: TDAP and meningitis. If the parent portal does not reflect that your child is in compliance, please contact your physician and send an update to the elementary school nurse or Tohickon school nursing office during the summer.
Because passes are needed for any student leaving the classroom, students who have chronic health conditions (migraine, asthma, severe allergy, IBS etc.) are encouraged to ask the nursing staff for a permanent “gold nurses’ pass”. This pass ensures immediate access to the nursing staff. In most cases the pass is valid for the school year.
In order for our nursing staff to administer medication (over the counter or prescribed), a written physician order and parent signature is needed. For your convenience the Medication Dispensing Form is available on the district website. Please consider contacting your physician over the summer for the necessary orders.
Because our campus is so large and students are involved in after school activities when nursing staff may not be available, I encourage you to consider the following information. State law and our school board policy permit students to carry emergency medications such as inhalers and epinephrine injectors on their person for emergency use. The following criteria must be met to self-carry emergency medication:
· The school nurse has the appropriately signed medication order
· The physician documents: “student should be permitted to self-carry and self-administer for emergency”
· The student passes a competency check.
The transition to an earlier start time can be challenging to adolescents who take a daily medication and occasionally rush out of the house. It can also be challenging for busy parents. As a service to you and your child, with the appropriate medication order in our office, parents can leave a few doses of a daily medication in the nurse office for “forgotten doses”. Nursing staff will call the parent or guardian to verify the medication dose was missed before administering.
Please submit all PIAA sports physicals directly to the athletic department. This physical is not part of your child’s school health record.
In closing, please feel to contact us if our nursing staff can be of help to you and your child. Communication between home and school helps promote a healthy, safe and secure learning environment for your child.
Attention Parents of Students with Chronic Health Conditions
Action plan templates with CB medication dispensing forms were distributed to students in homeroom this morning for completion by parents/ physicians over the summer. Please return the completed action plans and medication orders for students with allergies, asthma, migraines, cardiac conditions, seizures, diabetes at the beginning of the school year.
Becoming Ill During the School Day
If a student becomes ill during the school day, the decision to excuse the student for the day is at the discretion of the school nurse. As a trained medical professional, this is one of the school nurse's responsibilities. Students should not be calling or texting parents/guardians to pick them up. If a student becomes ill, they must see the school nurse prior to being excused for the day. If this procedure is not followed, the student risks the possibility of an unlawful absence.
Colleen Fox, Certified School Nurse, cfox@cbsd.org or 267-893-3315.
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Tohickon Middle School
Email: kmarton@cbsd.org
Website: cbsd.org
Location: 5051 Old Easton Road, Doylestown, PA
Phone: 267-893-3300