TCA Times
Wayne Central Middle School Newsletter
March 5, 2017
I hope everyone has been well. We have been busy here progressing through the school year and simultaneously working through the transition calendar and all of the tasks associated. We have had some tremendous accomplishments these past few weeks.
- This year's musical "Seussical Jr." was a great representation of the caliber of students and staff we have here at the musical. These folks worked incredibly hard from early on in the school year to put together such an impressive show. Congrats to all the cast and crew for that. Along those lines, March is music in our schools month and we have already hosted one of our district chorus concerts. We have another this week and band towards the end of the month (30th).
- Our Science Olympiad team did a tremendous job last weekend (more on that below).
- This week is Foreign Language week. We will be doing a number of things throughout the school days to recognize this and also will be hosting our annual Foreign Language Dessert Night this Thursday evening from 7-8 pm in our cafe.
- This week we will also be celebrating our students who have maintained Honor/High Honor Roll for both quarters and/or were nominated for outstanding character and citizenship at our annual Commended Breakfasts Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings at 7 am.
Recently I received a letter from Mr. Joseph Fili, Awards Coordinator of NYSTEEA (New York State Technology and Engineering Educators Association) informing me that our Technology Education program here at the middle school has been chosen as the 2017 NYSTEEA Program of Excellence! This is the highest level award given by the State Association! Mr. Gauthier, Mr. Powers and our program will move on to represent New York State as candidates for the International Technology Educators & Engineering Associations's Program of Excellence.
This wonderful news comes as no surprise as we have long known that our program is second to none. It is great to be formally recognized as such. Huge thanks to Mr. Gauthier and Mr. Powers for their efforts to continuously provide such an extraordinary experience to all of our students and for representing our school in such a fashion. Please join me in congratulating these gentlemen on a job well done!
We have a busy week this week and will look forward to seeing many of you at one or more of the many events this week! Please enjoy the team news and content below and have a great week!
Sincerely,
Derek
Science Olympiad
This past weekend our Science Olympiad team competed in the regional competition held at St. John Fisher College. Our team and its coaches have worked incredibly hard since the beginning of the school year in preparation including many late nights until 8:00 pm and later. In a competition featuring several large schools with multiple teams, we placed SECOND and earned a trip to the state competition in April! This was a total team effort which featured students earning medals in 15 different events. In addition, head coach Stefanie Cornnell received the Outstanding Service Award which is Science Olympiad's Coach of the Year Award. Her leadership and dedication has catapulted this team to the position that its in. Thank you to all of our coaches- Mrs. VanOrman, Mrs. Becker, Mr. Brown and Mr. Currier for the countless hours you have volunteered to make this such a successful experience for our students. Thank you for all the parents involved as well for all of the support to make this possible. Good luck in preparation for the state competition!
Congratulations to the following band students
Twenty-five TCA band students performed for the adjudicators at the Wayne County Solo and Ensemble Festival on Saturday February 4th. After scores were tallied and ranked, the following students have been selected to represent Wayne at the 2017 Jr. High All-county Band Festival in March:
Alaska Dunstan, piccolo
Emma Culver and Sara Smith, flute
Emma Grasso, Chalee Barone, Julia Ross McGuire, Alyssa Branner and Lily Ocque, clarinet
Rachel Dennie, bass clarinet
Savannah Taylor, oboe
Carina Phillips, alto sax
Logan Dempsey, tenor sax
Grace Kachmaryk, Makena Whitbourne, and David Merrell, trumpet
Anthony Blood, french horn
Daniel Noone, Ryan Wilson and Thomas Caine, trombone
Cody Jackson and Bennett Dunstan, tuba
and
Lena Treasure, timpani
Congratulations to these outstanding student musicians.
Upcoming Events
8th Grade News
Biology (Mrs. Wolanski and Miss Cornnell):
In Biology we are wrapping up our second New York State lab which is on part D of the Regents exam in June. We will then begin our unit of study on reproduction and development. Students will dissect flowers and learn how they reproduce and compare the anatomy of a flower to a human. Students will also compare and contrast asexual and sexual reproduction.This leads us into our unit of discussion on cell division: mitosis and meiosis.
Physical Science (Miss Cornnell and Mrs. Becker)
Students in Physical Science are now applying their knowledge of Elements and the Periodic Table to explore how and why Chemical Reactions occur --- the true heart of Chemistry! We are learning how oxygen combines with flammable materials to produce fire, and we will be performing Flame Tests to identify elements by their signature flame colors. Also in this unit is work understanding acids, bases, and pH. Towards the end of March, students will be starting Unit 4 --- all about Energy.
ELA
This month students have enjoyed finishing their novel: To Kill a Mockingbird! The adventures have ended for Scout and Jem in the mysterious small southern town of Maycomb, Alabama. Currently, students are finishing their creative projects for the novel and demonstrating their knowledge through various ways.
Next month, we will be reading novels associated with the Holocaust. We will be looking at various account of the time period and how survivors recalled the events that happened in Europe.
Spanish
This month students continued to work with vocabulary related to clothing, jewelry and accessories. We are looking forward to the upcoming World Languages week in March. Dessert Night will be a fun way to celebrate culture behind the language we are learning.
Math 8
In math 8 students are completing their 4th unit of study, System of Equations. Please use our classroom website for updated information.
Algebra
In algebra students are working on their 4th unit of study, Quadratics and Polynomials. Please use our classroom website for updated information.
Health & FS
Students have been revisiting Fitness & Nutrition basics and are beginning work on group Diet & Exercise: Getting Personal Research & Exploration Projects. Groups will research one of seven projects : FAD Diets; Body Image & Eating Disorders; Healthy Weight Loss to a better BMI; Athlete’s Diet; Bigger, Stronger, and Faster without PEDs; Dangers of PEDs; and the Athletic Trainer’s Guide to a Sports Safety. Groups will create an engaging Google Slide presentation and instruct the class.7th Grade News
Social Studies- We are moving west! This unit will examine the lands that the U.S. acquired and will take a look at how westward expansion provided opportunities for some groups while harming others.
Spanish 7 -February is a busy month! We completed the town unit and, now that we’re back from the break, we‘ll be starting the school unit. Not only does that unit include vocabulary relevant to classes, grades, and classroom objects, but it also includes days of the week, months of the year, and telling time. Every year, we have 7th graders who do not know the months of the year in order in English, nor do they know how to tell time on an analog clock. If it’s not digital, they’re confused. Please support your child at home by testing their knowledge of those two things and practicing with them in English if necessary. It’s much easier for them to learn the Spanish when they already know the English.
In addition to the class work, we’re also gearing up for our annual international dessert night which will be held in the middle school cafeteria on Thursday March 9th. You should have received a letter on salmon colored paper from your child regarding that event. We’ve been doing this dessert evening for over 20 years, and it’s a great way to celebrate different cultures with our students and their families. If you haven’t seen the letter yet, please ask your child about it. For those of you who plan to attend, RSVP slips are due on Wednesday, March 1st. We look forward to seeing many of you there!
Life Science (VanOrman/Wolanski)- In Science we are studying reproduction and development. Students are learning about pollination and the comparison between flower anatomy and the human reproductive system. We will continue our unit of study by looking at how organisms reproduce asexually and comparing the advantages and disadvantages of sexual and asexual reproduction.
Accelerated Science (Becker/ VanOrman) - Students in Accelerated Science are now applying their knowledge of Elements and the Periodic Table to explore how and why Chemical Reactions occur --- the true heart of Chemistry! We are learning how oxygen combines with flammable materials to produce fire, and we will be performing Flame Tests to identify elements by their signature flame colors. Also in this unit is work with acids, bases, and pH.
Math 7 (Ferry/LaBarge) - Students are currently learning how to read, write, and evaluate mathematical expressions. Soon, we will apply similar concepts to multi-step linear equations. For Pi Day (3.14), we will celebrate this special math day by investigating all the exciting things we can do with a circle’s area and circumference.
Math 7 Accelerated (Ferry/LaBarge) - Students are currently reviewing more complex mathematical expressions and equations using rational numbers. We also plan to celebrate a mathematician’s favorite holiday, Pi Day (3.14), by deepening our knowledge of circles and its relationship with the irrational number, pi.
** All students are encouraged to participate in the school’s Pi Day competition of reciting as many digits of pi as possible, from memory. A signup sheet will be posted outside of Mrs. Ferry’s room for students interested in competing on Tuesday, March 14th. **
Art 7 (Kleehammer/Pilato)- Second semester art is off to a great start! Mr. Pilato’s students’ are working on 2-point perspective and technical pencil drawing skills. Ms. Kleehammer’s classes are working on identity collages; Logos, words and pictures that represent each artist are drawn inside their silhouette in a collage format. A lot of great work is happening, stay tuned to see the final products at the Middle School Art Show in May!
6th Grade News
“In like a lion…” March is here and although it may be hard to tell with all the lake effect snow, spring is just around the corner. At this time of the year lockers may be looking a little worse for wear as winter ends. Now is a good time for students to take home those extra sweatshirts, coats, papers and assorted “stuff” that has accumulated over the past few months. It is also a perfect time to clean out the “Homework Folder” and put papers in the proper subject folders or leave completed work at home. In addition, it might also be good to check out that “Homework Folder” and replace it (if needed) with a new one for the rest of the year. Love that “almost spring” cleaning!
- Math students are writing and evaluating expressions with multiplication and division. Then they begin work with one set equations involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. As always, engageny.org is a great resource if your child or you are looking for additional support. In addition, the program IXL is a great support to practice and reinforce skills.
- Social Studies It is hard to believe but we cannot get though even the morning of a single day without using contributions from Mesopotamia and China. Their contributions then continue to surround us all day long wherever we go. Will our civilization have as much of an impact on future societies? Which contributions from Mesopotamia and China rank as the top ones? Good dinner conversations for a winter evening. What is your child’s opinion? Be sure to share your opinion too!
- Science classes have just started an exciting unit on weather and climate. Topics we will cover in the next few weeks include layers of the atmosphere, air masses; high and low pressure systems, fronts, weather instruments, weather maps, severe storms, and climate types. Toward the end of the unit, classes will be discussing Earth’s changing climate. We will begin to learn about the greenhouse effect and global warming. In late March, science classes will be doing a short two-week unit on plants. Topics of this unit include plant parts and functions, photosynthesis, respiration, and different plant tropisms.
- ELA students are busy completing Module 2. Students continue to practice their reading and writing skills in preparation for the ELA NY State Tests. On March 28th, 29th and 30th, students will show their outstanding progress in English/ Language Arts. Teachers are confident that our students will shine! Parents can help by making sure students come to school well rested. A good breakfast and a positive "You can do it!" will also help!