CMS Friday Focus
Chesterton Middle School - November 27th Newsletter
Message from Mr. Hamacher
Good evening CMS families. This is Mike Hamacher, principal at Chesterton Middle School, with the Friday Focus. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
As you know, the district is going to a remote instructional model beginning November 30. Below is some important information to review with your children prior to Monday.
- Please be sure to review the student expectations for remote learning. Click here to view. Student Expectations for Remote Learning
- Wednesdays will still be ELearning. Unlike virtual/remote learning, teachers will not be interactive or have office hours on eLearning Days. Wednesday ELearning Guidance
Teachers will be either teaching synchronously (live) or hosting a Google or Zoom live meeting of some sort every class period, other than SRT, every school day with the exception of Wednesdays.
Teachers will update student grades in Skyward every week by 8:00 a.m. on Thursday morning.
Teachers will respond to parent and/or student emails within 24 hours.
Teachers will post due dates for assignments and activities on the Homepage Calendar.
Students must follow their schedule in real-time, the time they would have class in-person, every day. Students will not attend SRT until we return to in-person learning.
Students must do the attendance activity and be present and participate in the entire class or the student will be marked absent.
If there is a question or concern regarding an absence from a class, please email the teacher to resolve the issue.
Technical Support
NEW! After-Hours IT Support
Duneland School Corporation is happy to announce that we will now be offering after-hours technical support to our Duneland School community. Call 219-983-3759 Tuesday-Thursday until 7:00 PM.
Free Meal Pick-Up for ALL STUDENTS
Liberty Intermediate - 50 West 900 North, Chesterton
Enter the parking area at the west entrance (next to Liberty Elementary), follow the horseshoe left around the parking spaces. Pick up is at the Main Entrance of the Intermediate School.
Yost Elementary - 100 W. Beam St., Porter
Enter the parking area from Beam St. Go left down the hill. Stay left of cones and follow the drive around to the back of the building for meal pick up at the Food Service Entrance.
Chesterton High School - 2125 S. 11th Street
Enter the parking area from 11th Street by the Football Stadium and follow signage to the back of the building for pickup.
- Please pick up meals for all children in the household at one location.
- If you will be picking up meals for a child with food allergies, please contact the Child Nutrition Director, Tammy Watkins, at 219-983-3700 for detailed information.
Visit this link to see the Menu for Remote Learning
Upcoming Events
December 1
8th grade boys Basketball @ CMS 4:45 pm
December 1- 3
Drama Club auditions @ 3 pm in the auditorium
December 2
7th Grade Girls Basketball call-out meeting via zoom https://duneland-k12-in-us.zoom.us/j/86175863873
8th Grade Girls Basketball call-out meeting via REMIND
December 3
Trojan Times @ 8 am- Virtual
Wrestling @ CMS 4:45 pm
December 4
CMS Gold Jazz Band Rehearsal 3:15- 4:45 pm in the auditorium
Boys Basketball C team @ CMS 4:30 pm
Athletic Events
Due to the drastic increase in Covid-19 cases in Porter County and the county being placed into the RED classification, the Porter County Health Department has implemented the following measures for K-12 athletic events to help slow the spread:
- There will be no concessions.
- No food or drinks will be allowed for spectators in the gym
- Events will be limited to participants, required personnel, and parents/guardians/siblings only.
- Parents/Guardians will be required to sign in at the event.
- Masks are required at all times.
- Social distancing between groups of spectators is required at all times.
More information will be forthcoming as we continue to receive guidance from local and state authorities. Thank you!
Guidance Department
21st Century Scholar Program - the 21st Century Scholar Program provides Indiana income eligible students an opportunity for a college scholarship that covers tuition and regularly assessed fees for up to 4 years.at an Indiana college or university. The program supports students and families to provide the tools for college, on time graduation and a start toward a successful career path. This scholarship is awarded annually and does not cover the cost of books and supplies. It also does not cover room and board but provides support and resources to help the scholar find ways to pay for these additional costs. Please visit Scholars.IN.gov/enroll for more information.
SEL - CMS has begun integrating social emotional learning into curriculum to meet the new Indiana state competencies. Research has shown that social emotional learning interventions increase academic performance. Social emotional learning is also important in helping students develop the skills employers are seeking in job candidates. SEL activities take place during a student's Health Class and SRT.
Student Services and Information (SSI) - Just a reminder that all students have access to the canvas course with one of the resources being the CMS guidance /counseling office. Parents who have set up Parent Observer accounts are able to receive information from the guidance/counseling office via canvas. Students can schedule appointments or email with his/her counselor through the canvas course.
Assessment
Indiana Department of Education
Thursday, January 14th will be the PSAT Make-up test date for all in-person and remote learners that were absent for testing. A survey will be sent out in a couple of weeks for remote learners to sign up. In-person learners will automatically be on the testing roster if they missed the original test date. More information will be forthcoming.
NWEA
The NWEA testing window will be pushed back to after Christmas Break. More information will be forthcoming.
Health & Wellness
NorthShore Health Services
Duneland School Corporation has partnered with NorthShore Health Services to establish a school-based health clinic that will be located in Chesterton Middle School. Please see the attached document for additional information and access to the consent form. Anyone interested in using the school-based clinic for their child will need to have a signed consent form on file. Please return all consent forms to Mrs. Kirchner, CMS school nurse, in the CMS clinic. NorthShore Health Consent FormDepartment News
English
The seventh grade English department is reading A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. They are also working on etymology units to help students learn the meaning of new words based on their Greek and Latin roots. We have also had students write what they are thankful for during this time. There is a turkey bulletin board located between the pillars downstairs by the old guidance offices.
The eighth-grade classes are finishing the novel, Call of the Wild, by Jack London. To see the connections between Jack London’s The Call of the Wild and real-life, 8th-grade students are going to have a virtual meeting with Ranger Nick Virgil who lives in Alaska and spent a winter tending to sled dogs. Students will learn what is different about sledding and Alaskan life in the present times as well as what has remained the same through necessity and tradition. The eighth grade will also be reading Gift of the Magi before Winter Break.
Mrs. Stark and Mrs. McMurtrey wanted to share that there would not be any Fiber Arts sessions for the month of December. Lastly, we want to share how proud we are of our students and look forward to teaching every hour with each class during the remote learning days. Follow your schedule and see you soon!
Math
8th grade math just finished solving equations too. We solved multi-step equations. We also learned how to solve equations with variables on both sides of the equal sign. We wrote equations to solve real world problems. We are starting our geometry unit. We reviewed how to use formulas to find area and perimeter of 2 dimensional shapes and are learning about 3-dimensional shapes and their attributes.
Science
Mrs. Hall's 7th graders were working on a "Mini Catapult Challenge" for the last few days.
Students built mini catapults to launch projectiles the furthest using Newton's 3 laws.
8th Grade Biology students in Mrs. Siford's class recently learned about how to tell the calorie content of foods by burning them. See picture below.
8th Grade Science students in Mrs. Siford's class have been learning about climate change by creating models of the greenhouse effect in the lab.
Social Studies
The third picture is a zoom meeting with Ms. Marshall (Instructional coach). She is helping to instruct the 7th grade World Geography students on how to create an iMovie and use the green screen feature on their ipad or on their own.
World Geography Class
Zoom meeting with Ms. Marshall
Clubs
Fiber Arts Club
Trojan Times- Student Newspaper
CLICK BELOW FOR THE LATEST EDITION OF TROJAN TIMES
Do you fancy yourself a journalist? The Trojan Times will begin meeting every Thursday 8:00 - 8:25 am virtually, starting December 3rd. You must have a permission slip on file prior to attending.
CMS Student Services and Information (SSI) Canvas course - Be sure to check out the video announcements for CMS students. Here you will find information about clubs, sports, events, birthdays, and more. Information is updated weekly.
Chesterton Middle School
Website: https://www.duneland.k12.in.us/Domain/15
Location: 651 West Morgan Avenue, Chesterton, IN, USA
Phone: 219-983-3776
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chestertonmiddleschool
Twitter: @CMS_Trojans
From Around the District
CHS Seeking Local Businesses for 2021-2022 Student Internship Program
Chesterton High School is interested in establishing partnerships with Duneland businesses who would be willing to host a CHS student in an internship position for the 2021-2022 school year and beyond. If you have a business or know of any businesses that would like to participate in the internship program, please contact Chris Roof at croof@duneland.k12.in.us or 219-983-3770.
The goal of the CHS Internship Program is to provide students with structured opportunities to understand the relevance between classroom learning and the work environment while participating as productive employees/volunteers in a company or organization. These internship opportunities allow students to explore areas of personal and career interests, acquire the skills necessary to be successful employees, and to formulate goals and plans for their futures.
Help prepare CHS students for life after high school while they are still in high school
For more info view the CHS Internship FlyerCelebrate Your Favorite Duneland School Teacher- Teachers of Excellence
Kenneth J. Allen Law Group supports Northwest Indiana teachers who go above and beyond for their students and honors them for their outstanding contributions to education. To learn more about the educators who are Teachers of Excellence or if you know of someone who should be recognized as a Teacher of Excellence, please nominate him or her by following this link.