Sandwich Middle School
March Newsletter
Sandwich School Board appoints Garrett Ryan as next Middle School Assistant Principal
Sandwich School Board appoints Garrett Ryan as next Middle School Assistant Principal
Sandwich Middle School would like to announce the appointment of Garrett A. Ryan as the next Assistant Principal of Sandwich Middle School. Mr. Ryan brings a decade-plus of experience in education into his new role for the 2018-2019 school year. Mr. Ryan has been a Physical and Health Education teacher in the district for the last six years, spending time at Prairie View and Woodbury Elementary Schools, and most recently at Sandwich Middle School. During his time in Sandwich schools he has been actively involved in numerous district level improvement efforts including the district professional development committee, district safety committee, district evaluation committee, district and building level school improvement teams. Mr. Ryan is a certified CPI trainer, AdvancED School Improvement external review team member, and has served as a new teacher mentor.
Mr. Ryan has been Sandwich High School Head Soccer Coach for the last five seasons, Sandwich High School Assistant Boys Track Coach for three years, and Head Boys Track Coach for the last three seasons. During his time in district, he has assisted the Athletic Director at Sandwich High School during the winter sports season.
Prior to joining the Sandwich community, Mr. Ryan taught for five years in Joliet Public School District #86 as a physical education teacher. Mr. Ryan received his undergraduate degree from Western Illinois University with a Major in Kinesiology and Minor in Health Education in 2007. His Master’s degree was earned through Northern Illinois University in Educational leadership in 2017.
Please join the Sandwich CUSD 430 learning community in welcoming Mr. Garrett Ryan.
6th Grade News
Students of the Month for 6th grade are Tyler Lissman and Emma White! Keep up the great work!
Students of the Month for 6th grade are Tyler Lissman and Emma White! Keep up the great work!
7th Grade News
We are closing in on the end of the 3rd quarter and soon Spring Break will be upon us. Social Studies is moving towards the chapters of Manifest Destiny, reform and the Antebellum. We will be identifying reasons for the westward migration and its impact on American culture. We will analyze how the reform age reshaped the way society treated each other and led to more push towards abolition of slavery. We will analyze how each of these adds up to elements that led us to the Civil War.
In science, we are finishing up the Astronomy unit and starting Biology. We will be learning about eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. We will be learning about plant and animal cells and their organelles and their functions. We will be doing many labs with microscopes and hands on activities to help with the concepts.
In the math classes, we just finished up our unit on statistics. During this unit, the students learned how to find the measures of central tendency, how to make predictions based on previous statistics, and how to determine if a sample is biased or unbiased. They also learned about multiple samples of data, how to determine if a graph or statistic is misleading, how to compare populations, and how to choose an appropriate display to show data. We will be starting our first unit on geometry next. During this unit, the students will learn how to classify angles, triangles, quadrilateral, polygons and tessellations. They will also learn how to make a model, scale drawings, 3-D figures, and cross sections of figures. We will then move on to perimeter and area.
In the pre-algebra classes, we just finished up our chapter on probability. During this chapter, the students learned about theoretical and experimental probability, simulations and the Fundamental Counting Principle. They also learned about independent and dependent events, permutations and combinations, and how to find the odds of an event. After we finish up this chapter, we will be moving on to statistics. During this chapter, the students will learn about samples and surveys, how to organize and display data, and measures of central tendency. They will also learn about variability, misleading graphs and statistics, scatter plots and lines of best fit. We will then move on to geometry.
In 7th Grade Regular Language Arts, the student have been working on poetry and an informational text unit using National Geographic Magazines. The students will also be working with some short stories before PARCC testing begins the middle of March.
The AT Language Arts class has been working on reading and writing poetry. They have created a final project that includes poems that they have studied independently and poems they have created. The AT students will also be studying some short works of fiction before heading into PARCC testing.
Students of the month are Claire Allen and Nathan Barbey
8th Grade News
The students have been busy preparing for the PARCC tests which will begin on March 5. The language arts tests will be from March 5 to March 7. The math portion of the test is March 8, 12, and 13. It is imperative that your students have a good healthy breakfast and get plenty of rest during that time period. Also, in language arts we are reading the novel, The Watson’s Go to Birmingham, 1963. The language arts AT class is reading Anne Frank. They will soon begin The Wave by Todd Strasser. In science, students will be busy studying marine habitats and adaptations of animals living there. In general math, we are preparing for PARCC testing. Please encourage your students to come in for help to fine tune their math skills. In math, the students are graphing functions. In social studies, we are studying The Great Depression and WWII.
Please note that on April 10, the students will attend the IVVC orientation where they will experience what IVVC has to offer.
The Students of the Month are Jenna Kail and Evan Reilly. These students go above and beyond the normal expectations and always make us smile. They have winning attitudes and a strong work ethic.
PE News
Classes are really busy right now and it is exciting! Our classes are finishing up our Olympic unit and it has been very rewarding seeing all of the teamwork, collaboration, cooperation, and unity amongst all of our students during this exciting unit. In the future, our students will partake in badminton, speedball, and other various fitness activities. Some students whom deserve recognition due to their hard work are Tyler Lissman, Kaylin Herren, and Dominic McElroy. Keep up the good work we are proud of you.
Speech and Drama News
Mike Saupp has been chosen as the Student of the Month for Speech & Drama. He has been consistently doing an outstanding job as we read plays in class and is always prepared and enthusiastic about what we are learning. He is a pleasure to have in class.
Speech & Drama I spends the second half of the quarter learning about plot diagrams and applying that knowledge to another couple of plays. After that we work on presentations, focusing on vocal variety and communicating a message to an audience. This is done with many different types of presentations: presenting a story as a poem, performing a monologue, a speech, and an “I am” poem. If there is time the quarter will conclude with watching Singin’ in the Rain.
Speech & Drama II will finish the quarter by presenting a “How To” speech utilizing a prop. After that we will turn out attention to presenting a dulogue or trilogue (similar to a monologue) and reading a play, Text This, that relates to both our anti-bullying initiative as well as reviewing plot diagrams from last year’s speech class. We will have an “I am” poem along with other speeches in class.
For the remainder of the semester, Speech & Drama III turns its attention to how to put on a play. We will look at set, costume, lights, sound, and special effects as well as the jobs of a director, house manager, stage manager, and actors. If there is time, we will work to perform short scenes in class.
STEM News
During the last few weeks of 3rd quarter, 6th grade will get hands-on with computer science and programming as they begin to explore the world of coding. 7th grade students will apply what they’ve learned about design, technical drawing and 3D computer modeling as they complete their final project of the quarter, the Puzzle Cube Design. Finally, 8th grade students are learning to program robots using RobotC and will soon be designing, programming and testing robots they build.
Thank you to all 3rd Quarter students for the hard work you’ve done. I look forward to seeing 4th quarter students soon.
STEM Student of the Month
Thank you to Lucia Towne for the excellent work you’ve done in Automation & Robotics during the past month!
6th Grade Students of the Month
7th Grade Students of the Month
8th Grade Students of the Month
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Award
A total of 111 Sandwich Middle School students read 496 Rebecca Caudill nominated books from October thru February. Seventy-one of the students qualified to celebrate the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Award. They qualified to vote for their favorite Caudill book by reading at least three of the titles. After casting their vote, they enjoyed donuts and prizes. Thank you to the Sandwich Education Foundation for helping make this program available at SMS.
SMS Band and Choir Performing for HED Students
Nurse Notes
Attention all 6th grade parents:
May 15th is the deadline for turning in a dental exam for your student. If an exam is not submitted on or before this deadline, the final report card will be held. Please contact Kim Gonzalez, school nurse, at 815-786-2138 or kgonzalez@kidsroe.org should you have any questions or require further information.
8th grade students entering Sandwich High School next year:
A school physical and proof of up-to-date immunizations are required to be on file on or before the first day of school. Any student that does not meet this requirement on the first day of school will be subject to exclusion until it is met. Please contact Kim Gonzalez, school nurse, at 815-786-2157 or kgonzalez@kidsroe.org, if you have any questions or require further information.
Participation in Sports at SHS
In order to participate in any sport at the high school, each athlete must provide proof of a school physical or a sports physical to the office, not the coach. (Please note: a school physical WILL cover a student to participate in a sport/camp, but a sports physical will NOT cover entry into the 9th grade). Once all necessary paperwork has been turned in to the office (physical, concussion form, insurance waiver, IHSA drug form, & fees paid), an athlete may participate.
Sports Physical Clinic Coming to SMS!
We will be offering a sports physical clinic for all current 6th and 7th grade students. The clinic will take place during school hours on Thursday, May 10th. Parents do not need to be present. The cost is $35, cash or check only, for each physical. Payment must be received on or before the student’s appointment time. The exam will cover your student for the entire 2018-2019 school year and all sports he/she may participate in. Without an updated sports physical, students will not be able to participate in sports at Sandwich Middle School.
Our goal is to assist parents and students in conveniently obtaining a sports physical by eliminating the need to make an outside appointment and/or take time off of work. Please contact Kim Gonzalez, school nurse, at (815) 786-2138 or at kgonzalez@sandwich430.org, should you have any questions, need more information, or to sign your child up.