It's been a week since the Berkeley County Schools network went down and believe it or not, LEARNING IS STILL HAPPENING! Students & teachers quickly maneuvered back to paper and pencil, enjoying a break from the usual use of technology. We still have very limited Internet access in the building and Schoology is not functioning for staff or students at this time, unless you have Schoology on your phone app (that apprears to be working). To contact a teacher, please try to use their email listed on our website under OUR SCHOOL - MEET OUR STAFF - STAFF DIRECTORY, rather than Schoology, but be aware that they may not see that email until later in the day or evening since Internet access is limited.

Our Technology Integration Specialist, Ms. Deavers, is still conducting regular Chromebook checks this month so students do not lose their devices. The 6th grade Chromebook check was this past week; 7th grade will have a Chromebook check on Feb 16th; and 8th grade will have a Chromebook check on Feb 23rd. Ms. Deavers suggests that students lock their devices & chargers in their lockers at school or keep them in a safe place at home until they can be used again on the school network. We also have several locked charging stations at school for Chromebook storage.

North Middle is so fortunate to have three new staff members joining us. Mr. Travis Callis and Ms. Kailani Keppler are new permanent substitute teachers. Ms. Keppler will be working with Mr. Kesner's 6th grade Science students, while Ms. Callis will be traveling around the building, filling in for teachers when they are absent.

We are also excited to have Mr. Andrew Lam as our new Assistant Principal. Mr. Lam comes to us from Musselman High School where he was a Physical Education teacher. His new office is next to the library, so students, on your way to Unified Arts classes, stop by and see him!

My name is Mr. Callis, I received my BS from Frostburg State University, majoring in juvenile criminal justice and a minor in history. I spent a few years in the US Navy following college. After I left the Navy, I entered a career of juvenile justice. I’ve spent the last 10+ years working with young people. I am married & have four sons, Connor-8, Ethan-7, Ben-6, and Everett-1.5. I've been in the Martinsburg area for three years now and fully intend on staying here. I enjoy college sports such as basketball, baseball, football, lacrosse and soccer. Go Terps! I also enjoy professional basketball (LeBron)! Football (go Commanders), baseball, (go Orioles)! And lastly, the blues of Chelsea in the EPL! I also enjoy history, specifically American history, as well as reading. I spent the vast majority of my time being a dad and trying to make at least one person smile each day!

I am so excited to begin my administrative career here at Martinsburg North Middle! I look forward to getting to know everyone, but first I would like to share a little about myself. I am a native of Winchester, VA, graduating from James Wood High School. My wife and I have two children, Tyson and Taylor. I am a graduate of Shenandoah University with a Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology: Physical Education. I began my teaching and coaching career in Morgan County. After three years, my wife and I made the move to Berkeley County with our children where we have worked together at Musselman Middle School for several years.

Most recently, I completed my Masters Degree in Educational Leadership. In addition to teaching, I have coached youth, middle, and high school wrestling for over a decade. This year will be an exciting adventure for all of us. I look forward to watching our school succeed academically and athletically, working as a team with you and your students this year!

If you are the parent of a student who is being dropped off in the morning, PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN OUR SCHOOL PARKING LOT. Teachers have not been able to get into the building for work because all of the parking is being taken by parents. If you do not want to wait in the drop off line running down the access road between the school and the Rec center, we ask that you park at the Rec center and have your student walk across the field to the school. We need our staff to be able to park their cars and get inside to work. Thank you for your help with this matter.

The 8th grade Saturday school session scheduled for TODAY, February 11th has been cancelled due to the Berkeley County Schools Internet outage.

NMS is sending several students to the county Social Studies fair this weekend at Musselman Middle School. If you are attending, please see the schedule below. Good luck to our NMS Social Studies participants! We are so proud of you!

If you are interested visiting the fair, it will be open for public viewing today between 1:00-2:30pm with the award presentation at 2:30 in the auditorium.

The JV Boys basketball team defeated South Middle on Thursday night in the championship game to become the inaugural Berkeley County Tournament Champions! The boys finished their season with a record of 15 wins and 1 loss. We are so proud of your hard work this season!

Both our varsity girls & boys teams will play AT HOME in their own playoff games on February 13th starting with the girls game at 5:30pm and the boys game following (approximately 7:00pm). Our girls team will face off against Charlestown and the boys will play against Harper's Ferry! We hope to see many spectators out to support our Blue Devil athletes!

There will be a Parent-Athlete meeting for the Freshman and Varsity Track and Field Teams on Tuesday, February 14th at 7:30 pm in the Hedgesville High School cafeteria. If there are any questions, 8th grade students and parents can contact Julie Ludwick at julialudwick@comcast.net.

This past week was National School Counseling Week! The purpose of this week is to advocate for the role of school counselors within the school. We decided to share some insight on our day-to-day responsibilities.

As always, we love helping our North students & families! Please contact us and check out some great student opportunities below: Headstrong, WV Governor's STEM Institute, HSTA, & Parent's Corner.

-Ms. Jackson (7th & 8th grade)

-Ms. Poe (6th & 7th grade)

Headstrong is a new school club whose purpose is to promote independence & healthy self-esteem. This club will meet after school every Tuesday and Thursday from February 7th to March 28th and will be led by Ms. Kocik, our school social worker. Students who participate will be provided an afternoon snack while interacting with several guest speakers. They will also be invited to eat breakfast together from 7:10-7:35am. Students must have rides available at 3:50pm after school if they want to participate in this club. For more information, contact Ms. Kocik at 304-267-3540 or fill out the form in the link below.

Governor's STEM Institute students will engage in various projects and activities related to the math and science of amusement park rides. The goal is to open students' eyes to what lies behind the creation, construction and marketing of these rides in relation to math and science. Get on board - there are many connections with the thrill of the ride! Students will experience an exciting time of discovery!

Session #1: July 2-10

Session #2: July 12-20

For deadlines & advice, see Ms. Jackson or Ms. Poe, our guidance counselors or click the link below!

HSTA, the Health, Sciences, & Technology Academy, is headquartered in the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center of West Virginia University with regional offices across the state to provide academic enrichment and orientation to careers in the health sciences for students in grades 9-12. Eighth grade students have the opportunity of attending a free, 1-3 week Summer Institute at a state college or university to take courses and attend field trips. All activities are free to all HSTA students but their is an application process with a few income-based & academic requirements. Please visit the link below or talk to our guidance counselor, Ms. Jackson, for more information. Applications are NOW OPEN and the deadline is March 10th.

It can be difficult as a parent to both give your child the freedom they desire while also monitoring them for danger. Many intermediate, middle, & high school students are beginning to use cell phones to interact with the world, but it can be a challenge to teach them healthy communication and technology habits. In recent years, various parental control apps have been made available to parents to help you with this task. These apps can:

*detect cyberbullying and notify parents.

*detect adult content on your child's phone.

*allow you to use the phone's microphone to listen to what is happening around your child.

*locate your child on a map.

*turn of the phone during school or other important times, except for emergency calls.

Studies show that teens use social media an average of 7 hours a day. Roughly 80% of school fights involved some social media conflict. If we can partner with parents on the issue of student cell phone and social media use it can not only benefit your child, but the safety of all of our students.

Please visit the link below for more information about parent control apps.

From 5-8pm on June 8, 2023, FREE SPORTS PHYSICALS will be available at the Dorothy McCormick Center. Save this date on your calendar! More details will be available as the date grows closer!

While our technology has been down across the county, teachers have stepped up to change their lesson plans. Great things are happening all over our building! Here are just a few examples:

Ms. Heck's class is dissecting real frogs, but knowing she had some students who were uncomforable with the real thing, she spent hours putting together paper frogs for those students. Thank you for your dedication, Ms. Heck!

Mr. Jones' math class is currently using simple interest to determine the cost of a new car in monthly installments and using those results to make a decision on whether or not students can afford that car!

Ms. Vaughn's classes played "Music Bingo" with Smarties in the Library. They are reviewing notes on the treble and bass clef staff.

Over the past two weeks, Mrs. Ramey has been doing an interesting project! Students had to prepare foods such as ramen noodles, jello ravioli, spaghetti, and pudding and then figure out what the volume of their food in order to calculate how much it would take to fill the White House, Grand Canyon, a teacher's desk, The International Space Station, Titanic or the Pyramid of Giza!

In honor of Black History Month, Ms. Gantt's students chose one African-American scientist or engineer to research and then completed one of six different project options to honor the subject of their research.

Approximately 15 teachers started an after school book club based on the book Teach Like a Pirate this week. For the next month, teachers will be reading this book and discussing/ implementing strategies to increase student engagement. Kudos to those teachers who are putting in the extra time to learn new things after school!