Grizzly Growl
Friday January 29, 2021
Update From Mr. Ruthford
Happy Monday Fairhaven Friends and Families,
This week’s Grizzly Growl is packed with exciting information that involves a number of different staff and students at Fairhaven. One thing I would like to draw your attention to is the fact that we will be transitioning to a new school schedule starting Thursday, February 4th. This is a change for all students and more information can be found here. Please know that while this schedule can run both remote and in-person, we will be starting Thursday remotely for all students, with the exception of those currently accessing in-person programs. Our amazing Homeroom teachers have been prepping students for the new schedule and a family information night was held last week. The video from that presentation can be found here. Finally, please continue to reach out to our front office and incredible teachers with any question or suggestions. We are always here to help.
My best,
Steve
Virtual Grrs...
Daniel Velazquez Juarez
Campbell Hickey
Luis Martinez
Conan Yamaguchi
New Middle School Schedule
Regardless of whether we are live in school or at home in remote learning, we will be adjusting students’ daily schedules starting Thursday, Feb 4. We have designed this new middle school schedule to work both for remote learning, as well as for in-person classes when we are able to reach that stage in the Reconnect Plan with our middle school students. Thursday, Feb. 4 is the first synchronous learning day of second semester. Our Wednesday schedule will remain the same throughout the school year.
We have attached a Video Webinar that helps explain the new schedule. Please click on the links below if you feel like you need more clarification.
Yearbook Cover Contest
Would you like to make the yearbook cover for this year, and be part of Fairhaven Middle School history? Do you enjoy drawing, photography, or graphic design? If so you should enter in the yearbook cover art contest!
· Must be school appropriate.
· Any grade (6-8) can submit an entry.
· All entries must be turned in to the main office by February 12th. May be submitted electronically (USB drive, or emailed) or physically dropped off at school.
· It must be 8.5 by 11 inches (or proportional).
· Must say Fairhaven Middle School and 2020-21 somewhere on it.
Please complete this contest submission form when you turn in an entry.
Pictures Needed for 2020-2021 yearbook!
As we create our 2020-2021 Fairhaven Middle School yearbook in this Covid world, we would like to collect pictures to use. We certainly need your help to pull this off. Below is a list of pictures we are in need of. If you would like to submit pictures for possible use that would be great. We will try to include as many as we can. Our goal is to include as much of a variety as we can. If you would like to submit a picture for a category, please follow the steps below:
1. First save your picture to your device
2. Title the picture with your Name(first and last) and grade
3. Open up an email, and address it to Michael.owens@bellinghamschools.org or Marnie.hansen@bellinghamschools.org
4. Under subject of email label it for the category you would like this picture to be placed under example: “Covid Picture with Pet”
5. attach the picture to email and send it.
If you feel like you need more help, here is a video that will walk you through the picture submitting process.
Photos needed:
· Pet Pictures: We would love pictures of you with your pets
· Arts and Crafts pictures: During the quarantine many students spent their time doing arts and crafts project. We would love to see what you have done
· Remote learning: Pictures of you doing school at home.
· Hobby pictures: How did you stay busy during this time?
· Silly Zoom Pictures: Lets see your personalities shine through
· Spirit week pictures: We have a had a few spirit weeks this year. We would love to see you showing off your school spirit.
· Best Mask pictures: They have become part of our daily lives. Lets see your best masks!
We are not asking for individual portraits. We will take care of that in a different way. If you have any questions please let me know.
We would love these pictures by Monday February 15th.
Thank you,
Mr. Owens and the yearbook staff
Promise Tomorrow Learning Opportunity Grades 3-12
Here’s a great opportunity for students looking for academic enrichment in a group
setting with peers ~
The Promise Tomorrow Initiative is a great opportunity for motivated students to engage in student-driven inquiry! This is project-based learning at its best. Students will work on quarterly projects that envision creative solutions to transition to a better world. Students will research complex topics, then innovate technologies, designs, or plans to mobilize behavior. Student teams will meet weekly via Zoom, be supported by a volunteer, and be supervised by a Promise Tomorrow Coordinator. Projects will be presented quarterly with a final symposium in June. Those interested, please see detailed information and sign up link on the district website. Questions about the project can be directed to the project administrative team, by level: Margi Smith (Elementary) margi.smith@bellinghamschools.org, Eva Chazo (Mid—level) eva.warnerchazo@bellinghamschools.org, or Erin Burke (High School) erin.burke@bellinghamschools.org.
Thank you!
Cindy Thompson |Administrative Assistant |Dept. Teaching & Learning
Bellingham Public Schools | P: 360-676-6470 x4447 |Cell:360-927-9190
1306 Dupont Street, Bellingham, WA 98225
Oportunidad de aprendizaje de Promise Tomorrow Grados 3-12
Esta es una gran oportunidad para los estudiantes que buscan enriquecimiento académico en un entorno grupal con compañeros ~
¡La iniciativa Promise Tomorrow es una gran oportunidad para que los estudiantes se motiven, y participen en la investigación impulsada por los estudiantes! Este es el aprendizaje basado en proyectos en su máxima expresión. Los estudiantes trabajarán en proyectos trimestrales que visualizan soluciones creativas para la transición a un mundo mejor. Los estudiantes investigarán temas complejos, luego innovarán tecnologías, diseños o planes para movilizar el comportamiento. Los equipos de estudiantes se reunirán semanalmente a través de Zoom, contarán con el apoyo de un voluntario y serán supervisados por un coordinador de Promise Tomorrow. Los proyectos se presentarán trimestralmente, y con una exposición final en junio. Si estas interesado(a), consulte la información detallada y el enlace de registro en el sitio web del distrito. Las preguntas sobre el proyecto se pueden dirigir al equipo administrativo del proyecto, por nivel: Margi Smith (primaria) margi.smith@bellinghamschools.org, Eva Chazo (nivel secundaria) eva.warnerchazo@bellinghamschools.org o Erin Burke (preparatoria) erin.burke@bellinghamschools.org.
Thank you!
Cindy Thompson |Administrative Assistant |Dept. Teaching & Learning
Bellingham Public Schools | P: 360-676-6470 x4447 |Cell:360-927-9190
1306 Dupont Street, Bellingham, WA 98225
Updating Skyward Contact Information
Skyward Contact Information
When students come to the office due to illness or injury, we often need to call for someone to pick them up. We would appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to log into Skyward Family Access and make sure your contact information is up to date, as well as the information on file for emergency contacts. If you need help or have questions, you can contact our registrar, Sofia Byrd. Thank you!
Regards,
Shari Neilan
Attendance/Assistant Principal’s Administrative Assistant
Fairhaven Middle School
360-647-6876
Grizzly Stories: Day in the Life of a Student, Parent & Staff Member
Mason Grubbs 7th Grade-
All my school days pretty much start out the same way. An alarm on my phone wakes me up at 7:30. After a minute or two, I go to the bathroom. Then downstairs where I make myself some breakfast. Then at 8:00, I go upstairs to my dad’s room, where I use my school computer. Then I just watch YouTube videos until 9:05, when I go into the bathroom to brush my teeth.
Then I log onto zoom for my first class of the day, Homeroom, which starts at 9:15 and ends at 9:45. My Homeroom teacher is Ms. Hulford, who is also my Social Studies and Math teacher. In Homeroom, we are doing this thing called the “Character Dare,” which is where we think of the nice thing that we do to people, what nice things people do to us, and, um… you get it, right?
Anyway, after homeroom for some rotations is Language arts, led by Ms. Meloy. In Lang Arts, we write, and read, stuff like that. For other rotations, it would be time for Science, led by Mr. Fegel. In Science, we, well, do thing related to science. Both Science and Lang Arts start at 9:50 and end at 10:30.
After that, I would either go to STEM, led by Ms. Samora, or P.E, led by Ms. Peckler. In STEM, we would do things like design, code, and build. In P.E, we do this thing called “The Big 4 Log,” where we do something every day related to Mental/Emotional, Physical, or Social health.
Finally, for my last class, I either have Math or Social Studies, both are led by Ms. Hulford, who I mentioned earlier. In Math, we do Math related activities. And in S.S, we learn about history and stuff.
After my live classes, I do any work I have afterwards. Once I’m done, I just play video games until 1:58 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:58 on every other Tuesday, and 4:27 on Fridays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I go to a group meeting at 2:00, the group is led by Ms. Chazo. In that group, me and one or two other kids read things and write summaries about what we read. But on every other Tuesday, I go to a meeting with a Speech Therapist named Simone Steynberg, where we work on my speech from 3:00 to 3:30. And on Fridays, at 4:30, I have a virtual meeting with another Speech Therapist named Jennifer Gruenert, where we also work on my speech.
Then I have dinner with my family at 5:00ish, then hang out for a while, then at about 7:20, we watch a documentary. At 8:00, my dad puts my little brother, Sully, to bed. I go upstairs to brush my teeth and just watch YouTube videos till 9:00. Then in the mornings, I do all this all over again.
Don- A day in the life of parents with 2 middle schoolers……..
The first furry alarm clocks (Chihuahuas Gigi and Calven) have awoken me at 1:30 am with the sounds of paw nails loudly clawing at the sliding glass door to be let out. Of course their 3 minutes feels like 3 hours. Then back to bed for all of us. Hey, what do you know its déjà vu all over again. 4:00 am same loud claw scratching, but this time not only do they go to the bathroom, they chase a rabbit (and this does happen quite often ). Ah the rabbit !!! Now my day has begun. I’m late I’m late. Double check for the 3rd time that computers are charging, coffee pot is set for my wife and feed the cat (Marcus) , dogs (who now have of course fallen back to sleep in the spot of the bed I just left. ) and the high pitched guinea pig (thanks Santa ...3 years ago). Now, shower and go to post office on my way to work. Hey, 4:40 my alarm to wake up is going off as I pull into work.
I Get to office and turn on some relaxing Hawaiian music. Work on site until 8:00 and say bye to others who are on their way in. Get home and wife has just left for work herself. 8:55 enjoy making sure my children are greeted with cheerful good mornings. Responses are usually pretty nice. 9:15 for remote learning and back to work for me remotely. Check on children between classes, see if snacks or anything needed. Try to eavesdrop a little here and there to see if I can be of assistance later.
One bonus of remote work is at least I get some laundry and dishes done. 12:30 classes are done. i let my children now have some chat time with friends. 2:00 remind children it would be nice to do some office hours. I call it a day from working remotely (thank you google remote). Back out to the garage for some more work.
4:00 wife returns home from work, slightly chat about our days. 4:30 frantically gather all of the soccer gear and get our older daughter ready for soccer practice. My wonderful wife starts to get ready to relax after a hard day and spend some quality time with Our younger daughter and the furry alarm clocks. 5:15 make it to the soccer fields. SO THANKFUL FOR SOCCER !!!!! Thank goodness Rangers has been able to still hold practice for some normality of our previous lives.
Now time to relax by either going for a jog if its not to bad of weather, if its rainy, do some more work on my laptop or watch some practice. Its 50/50 each day, but hey, in my mind I went for a jog sometime mentally.
Back home at 7:15. Remind kids to make sure homework needs to be done. I hear laughter so I have to shout “wow I didn’t know math had so many jokes.” I like to joke , I am happy they’re socializing. Ask kids, can I sit help with some homework? sometimes I get a yes and will gladly try. If not then go spend quality time talking to wife about the day and what our ideal weekend will be (never quite as planned). Head to the garage for some more work. 9:00 time to get to bed. Go right to Maui news and enjoy reading what a day was like there. A new plant species discovered on mount Haleakala or how the turtles are doing or…… and I immediately fall asleep.
Somehow in all of this we did eat some meals and have lots of laughs.
Jasleen Aulakh:
A typical day in my life begins with one of my tiny and rambunctious dogs pawing at my face to signal it is time to get up. Usually, this happens 2-3 minutes before my alarm clock goes off. They love to torment me. After snoozing my alarm clock a couple of times, I roll out of bed around 7am. I bundle myself up in my big coat and get the dogs (Tribbles and Pari) ready with their harnesses to go on a walk. Our backyard is the Interurban, so we walk out the door and onto the trail for a 15-minute walk. When we return, they each get a treat, which they typically fight over before plopping themselves onto the couch and falling back asleep.
After getting dressed, I quickly prep my breakfast. On luckier days when my partner is home, I get my favorite fried eggs in the morning before work! I log onto my computer around 8am and eat breakfast as I read and respond to emails. My first meeting usually begins at 8:30am and is a 1:1 with a student or a staff member. I continue with the 1:1 meetings until 9:45am, which is when my first class begins. This is one of my favorite times of the day! Each of these classes is small so everyone has gotten to know each other well. We usually start class with a game before moving onto the lesson. All the smiles and giggles as we play the games are like a little ray of sunshine each morning. After this class ends at 10:30am, I continue with 1:1s to help students with specific goals or assignments they are working on.
Around 12:30, I take a break to walk the doggies again. I grab a quick bite and drink more coffee for lunch. My afternoon groups start around 1:00pm so after the walk, I prepare for those groups. The afternoons are a busy time with back-to-back meetings but super fun since all the students are in smaller groups again. My meetings typically end around 4:00pm or 4:30pm. I spend 15 minutes checking emails after the meetings before turning my computer off for an hour. I use this hour to go on a run or work out at home for at least 30 minutes. My partner is usually home by this time, so he walks the dogs again while I clean up after the workout.
We take turns cooking dinner so on the days that he cooks, I get back on my computer to work on my master’s assignments and/or prepare for the next workday. We eat dinner around 7pm with the dogs at our feet begging for bits and pieces. Apparently, dog food is not good enough! I try to get my work done by 7pm but typically work for another 30-45 minutes after dinner. After I finish the work, we spend the evening, cuddled up on the couch watching our favorite shows or movies. Right now, we are on a true crime series binge. On days that we get sick of that, we watch WandaVision or other Disney+ shows/movies. Every now and then, we get to FaceTime with friends and family and those are very special moments! We go to bed around 10:30pm and either read our books or watch some funny YouTube videos together. Lights go out around 11:00pm but not before Tribbles and Pari take over half the bed with their tiny bodies. It is really a doggo world, we just live in it.
Fairhaven Journal
Fairhaven Journal is the site to be used for the School Newspaper and Journalism Club. On here, you will find stories, news, and more. You can find book lists and writings by students. The world is unlimited. And so are we.
I hope that you enjoy reading our stories and acknowledge the world around us and the daily events that make the world function. From the pure essence of an atom to the technological world, each one has a story. And us writers got it covered.
Well, we should carry on with the news and stories instead of just reading this repeatedly. Because there are more things to explore in life that aren’t quite what you thought of. -Mr, Gillman