The Seahawks Call
Weeks of October 18th and October 25th
Important Dates to Remember:
· October 18th & 19th - Drama Club Auditions in cafe' from 2 - 3:30 pm
· October 20th - UNITY Day (Wear Orange); VEX Robotics until 3:30 pm; All County Choir Auditions @ TSHS from 3-9 pm;
· October 21st - Newspaper until 3:30 pm
· October 26th - Drama Club Practice until 3:30 pm; Archery Tryouts until 3:20 pm
· October 27 – Co-Ed Golf Tourney @ White Plains Golf Course from 9-2 pm; VEX Robotics until 3:30 pm
Tik Tok Challenges
Currently, there are various social media challenges affecting school districts across the country. Last month, a viral trend on the social media platform Tik Tok called “Devious Licks” encouraged students to steal or destroy school property and then post photos or videos online. Some of our students participated in this trend and damaged property in our schools.
This resulted in costs to replace damaged or stolen property, as well as staff time to repair or replace equipment. Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) staff work hard to maintain our facilities and keep all students and staff safe.
There are additional social media challenges online, which are listed below, that span the remainder of the school year. I am reaching out to you to ask for your help. These challenges are not harmless pranks. Most, if not all of the challenges, violate behaviors outlined in the Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) Code of Conduct. The challenges have the potential to result in consequences such as suspension, expulsion and possible charges by police. These challenges also affect the ability of school administrators and staff to focus on instruction.
Please talk with your child about social media challenges, and the consequences for participating in them while at school or at home. The trends being shared on Tik Tok are harmful and destructive. These are not behaviors students should model in school, or in their communities. Please take a few minutes to review the Code of Conduct with your child and talk to them about the seriousness of participating in these trends.
If you or your child have information about a possible school violation connected to the school setting, please report it to a school administrator or use our anonymous See Something, Say Something online reporting tool posted at https://www.ccboe.com/index.php/see-something-say-something-ql.
We appreciate your help in keeping our facilities and, ultimately, our students and staff safe.
Sincerely,
Principal Taylor
UPCOMING TIK TOK CHALLENGES
October - Smack a staff member on the backside
November - Kiss your friend’s girlfriend at school
December - “Deck the halls and show your B****” in school halls. Thinking this means boobs or butt or some other body extremity.
January - Jab a breast
February - Mess up school signs
March - Make a mess in the courtyard or cafeteria
Dress Code Violations still a problem!
We are still experiencing dress code violations especially our young ladies wearing ripped jeans and crop tops. As we indicated in a past issue of the Seahawks Call, students violating the dress code policy will be sent to the office and the parent/guardian is contacted to see if they are able to bring a change of clothes. If the parent is not able, we will then look in our "Student Need Supplies" which has new or gently-worn (CLEAN) clothes like: leggings, long shirts, or shorts. If we can't provide something to the student due to supplies running out or the student refuses to wear the item, they will be placed in In-School Retention (ISR) for the remainder of the day.
Parents/Guardians, please help us keep students in class or causing an inconvenience to you by checking out their outfit before they leave out the house or before you leave to go to work!
Midriffs
Ripped Jeans
Hoodies
National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month
Career Technology Education (CTE) Informational Night for 8th Graders - Save the Date!
.........From the Library
Our students are so happy to have their books back! Since the school year began, they have checked out over 2000 books in the past 4 weeks! Students come to the library every 3 weeks with their Language Arts class. In addition, they may come any time during the school day with a pass to drop off a book or check out a new title.
Log those minutes in Beanstack! Our current challenge for October is Hallow-Read around the World so log those minutes! Students can access Beanstack through their Clever accounts. Logging minutes is super easy and a great way to track their own progress as readers. For every hour of reading in October, they earn a new badge. Students continue to enjoy the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, as well as Stargazing by Jen Wang, and Overturned by Lamar Giles.
Laptop Reminders – Remind your student that laptop bags are NOT book bags. When they carry too much in their laptop bags, they risk putting pressure on the laptop screen and causing it damage.
Mrs. H-J
Color-Coded System to monitor movement throughout the building!
Since we were unable to purchase agenda books this year, we had to come up with a system on how students would move throughout the building. It was important for us to ensure students reported directly to class when the bell rings and are not loitering in the hallways. Therefore, we created a system based on color codes. These colors allow staff at a quick glimpse to know if students are in their appropriate locations if seen in the hallway. Please refer to the Color Code Table below.
The hot pink passes can be given from any staff member to go to any location in the building, besides the bathroom. Most times, the hot pink pass is given to send a student to the nurse, the main office, their locker, etc. The other passes are strictly for students going to the bathrooms. The different colored passes are designed to send students to the closest bathroom from their current classroom.
If a student is found in violation of this new procedure, they can be issued a discipline referral and receive a consequence.
SCHOOL SUPPORTS
Matthew Newcamp - 6th Grade VP - mnewcamp@ccboe.com
Marlon Walker - 7th Grade VP - mwalker@ccboe.com
Cynthia Panizzi - 8th Grade VP - cpanizzi@ccboe.com
Zachary Ortolano - zortolano@ccboe.com
COUNSELING SUPPORTS
Mike Simms - 6th Grade Counselor - msimms@ccboe.com
John Craddock- 7th Grade Counselor - jcraddock@ccboe.com
Nancy Franklin - 8th Grade Counselor - nfranklin@ccboe.com
INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP TEAM
Andrea Johnson - Reading Resource Teacher (Reading) - afjohnson@ccboe.com
Jennifer Branham - Instructional Resource Teacher (Math) - jbranham@ccboe.com
Suzanne Johnson - Learning Resource Teacher (Gifted Education and Testing Coordinator) - srjohnson@ccboe.com
Email: somersms@ccboe.com
Website: https://www.ccboe.com/schools/somers/
Location: 300 Willow Lane, La Plata, MD 20646
Phone: 301-934-4663
Twitter: @miltonsomersms