Hickory Creek Middle School
February Newsletter 2024
A Notes from the Administration Team
- Happy New Year HCMS! We are looking forward to a great second semester.
- Each Friday, families will continue to receive Team Newsletters with curricular updates. We hope that this information provides families the opportunity to be connected with your child's work at HCMS.
- 8th Grade Graduation date has been set- we will celebrate the Class of 2024 on Wednesday, June 5th at 7:00 P.M. The graduation ceremony will be held in the Lincoln-Way West gymnasium.
- The 8th Grade Class trip to Great America is scheduled for Monday, June 3, 2024.
- The 7th Grade Springfield Class trip is scheduled for Monday, June 10th.
- The 6th Grade Class trip will be scheduled and shared in March. The date of the 6th Grade Class trip will be in June as well.
- Our doors at Hickory Creek are always open. Please reach out throughout the year with celebrations, questions and concerns. We appreciate our family partnerships!
Building Goals for the 2023-2024 School Year
Academic Goal:
- We will continue to provide rigor and opportunity for academic growth to all students in grades 6th- 8th.
Social/Emotional Goal:
- We will support staff and student social and emotional needs and enhance the opportunity for growth in relationships with one another.
Communication Goal:
- We will increase opportunities for family engagement both during the school day and through extra-curricular activities.
Safety Goal:
- We will provide a safe learning environment for staff and students in our learning community.
February Calendar
- February 1 - Student Council Hot Lunch
- February 5- 8th Grade Lincoln Way Step Up Day at Hickory Creek during school
- February 5th - 9th - NJHS heart sucker sales during lunch
- February 7th - Band Booster Hot Lunch
- February 9th - FSP Smoothie Day
- February 14th - FSP Hot Lunch
- February 16th -Early Dismissal (10:45), School Improvement Day. Quarter 2 Celebration Assembly to be held in the morning of the 16th.
- February 19th - No School - Presidents Day
- February 21st - Chorus Booster Hot Lunch
- February 23rd - FSP Crumble Cookie Fundraiser during lunches
- February 26th = Rebecca Caudill Voting Party during lunches for students who have read 3 or more titles
- February 27th-28th - Erin's Law Presentations for Quarter 3 Health Students
A Note from Our Librarian, Ms. Testerman
It is that time of year again where we celebrate our students who have read three or more Rebecca Caudill books in the last year! We will be having a party for these students on Monday, February 26th where we will vote on our favorite books and give away some prizes.
We will also be resuming our LitWits meetings in February. Our first one this new year will be on Friday, February 23rd at 7:15. We will be reading and discussing any book in the library that has a Romance genre sticker on it in honor of Valentine’s Day.
A Note from Nurse Bush
We started vision screening for 8th grade students back in November and hope to finish this month. If your child fails the screening, we will send notifications home.
If your child will be going out for a spring sport, they will need a current physical on file.
Please remind your student to dress in layers while at school.
Social and Emotional Learning Updates
Screened devices are a common part of everyday activities. This is especially true for children spending considerable time learning on computers and tablets. It's important to use break times to get in some physical activity. When the school day wraps up, have a plan to put away devices somewhere out of sight and engage kids in other ways. While the average time spent on screen seven to 10 hours.
Tips for reducing screen time
These six tips can help you trim your children's screen time when not in school:
1. Be accountable.
Set expectations with your kids, and create goals to be intentional about reducing screen time.
2. Be realistic.
If your kids spend a lot of leisure time on screens, including watching TV, start by setting smaller, more attainable goals. Instead of jumping right to the recommended one to two hours or less per day, start by cutting their current screen time in half.
3. Be engaged.
After school or work, spend time each day talking face to face with kids and give them your full attention.
4. Put hand-held devices away.
During screen-free hours, put devices away or at a charging station in a common area so they're not attracting your kids' attention.
5. Create phone-free zones in the home.
Making family meal areas a phone-free zone is an easy way to start.
6. Go outside.
Putting down the phone and taking a walk or playing outdoors increases your endorphins and provides that feeling of happiness in your brain, boosting your mood and improving your physical health.
Hickory Creek Monthly Highlights
NJHS Student Peer Tutoring available on Wednesdays
Starting November 8th, students who wish to have an NJHS student tutor them after school, can come to the Library after school on Wednesdays for this support. All students should check in with Ms. Testerman, the Librarian, and she will help get them connected with a peer tutor.
All students staying after school must have rides promptly at 3:15 P.M. on Wednesdays.
Extra-Curricular Updates
Athletic Updates
Cheerleading
- Our girls are just days away from our state competition in Peoria! They are working hard every day at practice to perfect the routine and bring home a title for HCMS.
Intramural Dance Club
- The girls are hard at work learning and perfecting their routine to perform for parents and friends at the end of February. Each dancer is working hard to learn new moves and show their creativity! We are so excited to showcase their talent!
6th Boys Basketball
- The 6th grade boys' basketball teams had an exceptional season, displaying remarkable skills and teamwork. The A team concluded the season with an outstanding record of 14-3, while the B team achieved an impressive record of 11-3. The A team secured a well-deserved 2nd place in the DPVC tournament to finish off the season. The teams exhibited much improvement and hard work throughout the season. Coach Ziemba is so proud of this team for their successes and looks forward to watching them progress in 7th grade. Thank you to all the parents for enduring all the early morning practices and for being great fans!
7th Boys Basketball
- 7th grade boys basketball ended their season with a 16-6 record. They played extremely well throughout the season with a few bumps in the road. The boys ended up losing early in regional games, but they look forward to progressing their skills in the off season.
8th Boys Basketball
- The 8th grade boys basketball team ended their season with a record of 19-3. The team was so solid throughout the entire year and had each other's backs every step of the way. They played phenomenally as a team will look forward to their regional games.
Wrestling
- The team continued its dual meet season beating Manteno 80-27. A first for the record books, not only did Dani Schedin become Hickory Creek’s first girl wrestler with a Varsity win but also the first girl PIN in a Varsity match! How awesome! Then we had a Quad Meet at Bradley Central. We beat Mattoon 57-46 and Bradley Central 62-39. We lost to Drauden Point 63-39. The team is 5-2 in dual meets so far this season.
- We have a couple of very tough duals coming up as well as an individual tournament. This should prep us for the Regionals, Sectionals and State coming up.
- Our parents and families have been great supporters this season!
JV Girls Volleyball
- 7th grade girls are off to a great start this season with an 8-0 record. They have been working hard on meshing their offense with a strong and dependable defense behind them. They have quickly become a consistent serving team, and this has proven to be a momentum builder each week. This team has big goals this season and we hope to continue to have our Tiger Stands filled with our supportive family and fans each night!
Varsity Girls Volleyball
- As of January 26th, our Varsity Girls' Volleyball team has an impressive record of 7-1 for the season! Each player has brought something unique to the team, making it truly one of a kind. Coach Vallejo is incredibly proud of the girls’ hard work and dedication and is thrilled with the progress they have made so far.
- Moving into February, we will be wrapping up our regular season game play. We have some exciting matchups lined up against Troy, Homer, Liberty, Manteno, Beecher, and Coal City throughout the month. Please come out to support our team and cheer them on!
- Also, during the week of February 12th, we will participate in the annual Des Plaines Valley Conference Tournament hosted by Summit Hill. This tournament will provide an excellent opportunity for our team to showcase their skills and compete against other talented teams. We are focused on growth and discipline, preparing ourselves for post-season play.
Music Department Updates
Band/Orchestra
February will see the Band and Orchestra members participating in Solo and Ensemble Contest (February 10 at Liberty Middle School in New Lenox) and String Extravaganza (February 12 at LWE).
Please also stay tuned for info regarding Band & Orchestra socials coming up in March!
The high school directors will also be visiting us at HCMS to help the eighth graders sign up for the high school programs!
Club Updates
Chess Intramurals
- Our team has grown in numbers and skill. Nearly 40 students participated in intramural chess this year at HCMS, where we worked on openings, strategy, and sportsmanship. We enjoyed our afternoons together learning from each other and pitting our wits against one another. 15 members will head to the state competition in late February to compete in a grand arena. They will represent us well!
Student Council
- HCMS kicked off the new year by focusing on our annual school dance. This year’s dance theme will be “Disco,” and the students are very excited to continue planning this fun event. In addition to the dance, the student council members will also begin planning our “Theme Thursdays.” These are fun opportunities for students and staff to dress up and show their school spirit. Finally, in February, the members will work in conjunction with the Frankfort Lions Club on a service project.
NJHS
- In this past months January meeting, we had a very successful and insightful gathering. As an NJHS group we focused on the pillar of Leadership. Everyone participated in a Leadership activity where one person from their team had to lead their group and help their team-mates decide the unknown drawing by talking. It was challenging, but a great activity to represent the meaning of leadership. During our meeting we also had an induction of 4 new eighth-graders! We hope they enjoy their time in NJHS. Not only did we discuss these fun and important activities, but we have lots of upcoming service hour events. At our meeting, five service hours were due. So, some events that could help our members get their ten service hours include: tutoring, concessions, and preparing for lollipop sales. Speaking of lollipops, our yearly Cystic Fibrosis fundraiser sales will be held during lunch the week of February 5th! The cost of each lollipop is $1. The money goes to the CF Foundation, which means any little donation counts! Don't forget the next meeting is February 9th!!
POZ Squad
- During the month of January, Poz Squad members focused on the idea of making everyone feel welcome and included. We explored our feelings about feeling “left out”. We also talked about recognizing when someone else is feeling excluded and shared ideas of including them in our circles. Poz Squad will help Hickory Creek celebrate National Random Acts of Kindness day on February 17th. We are sponsoring a door decorating event to take place on the SIP day February 16th. We cannot wait to see the hallways dressed in kindness! February meetings will be held on February 21st and 28th.
Best Buddies
- Best Buddies continues to grow with new members. At our January meeting, we had a chance to get to know some of our new members while also playing some good old-fashioned games. Best Buddies will have their next meeting on Monday, February 12th from 2:30-3:30, hope to see you all there!!!
Tiger TV
- The Tiger TV club teaches students how to properly produce a news broadcast and record and edit videos. Skills taught include how to read a teleprompter, operate cameras, operate sound and lighting equipment, edit video and audio in WeVideo, and record live streams for HCMS events. We also meet once a month (on the third Thursday) for a video editing challenge, where students learn how to create video edits on WeVideo.
- You can check out our weekly broadcast and live streams on our YouTube channel: (5) Tiger TV - YouTube
Spanish Club
- What an exciting time we had at our recent outing to Amigos Mexican restaurant! We gathered to indulge in delicious dishes like tacos, enchiladas, and guacamole while catching up and sharing stories. It was a fantastic opportunity to strengthen our bonds as a group and immerse ourselves in Mexican culture. We are looking forward to our next meeting on Thursday, February 8th where we will delve into the culture of Guatemala and play Loteria.
Dungeons and Dragon Club
- Dungeons and Dragons continue to meet every Tuesday from 2:30-3:30 until the end of February.
Mathletes
- In January, Mathletes participated in our second round of the ICTM mail-in competition. It was great to see students meeting outside of the typical practice days and times to make up for lost time during holidays and snow days! Mathletes have also been busy preparing for the upcoming Momence competition on February 7th. Students will compete in four different events, each highlighting a different mathematical skill. We are so excited to cheer the teams on!
Scholastic Bowl
- Scholastic Bowl try-outs were on January 30th for the 23-24 season. Our new team will begin their practices on Thursday, February 1st and continue every Tuesday and Thursday until our first meet on Thursday, February 22nd. From that point on, practices will be on Tuesdays and meets will be on Thursday. Mrs. Grady and Mrs. Gaertig are very excited for this season to begin!
Tech Club
- We are excited to welcome a new set of tech enthusiasts to explore their innovative side! We will meet every Wednesday, in the months of February and March, from 2:30-3:30. There is still time to sign up at the link below:
- https://forms.office.com/r/bQGkb2bK1J
Intramurals Coming Soon!!!
Bowling Intramurals
Bowling intramurals sign up has begun! Sign your child up today, we will only be able to accept the first 40 interested. Bowling will take place at Laraway Lanes on Thursdays.
Bowling Dates (2:20-4:15)
- Thursday, February 22
- Thursday, February 29
- Thursday, March 7
- Thursday, March 14
- Thursday, March 21
- Thursday, April 4
Please use link below to sign your child up.
Students of the Month
- 6A-Sophia Kennedy and Alvin Jefferson
- 6B-Antonio Stipek and Aleksandra Jozwik
- 7A-Adrian Beri & Romanna Daoran
- 7B-Madelyn O’Connor & AJ Cunningham
- 8A-Alexandra Dobbs & Jacob Wagner
- 8B-Allison Pearson & Ella Cosgrove
- ENCORE-Areen Alhazamah &
- PE-Maelyn Hunter & Aiden Edwards