Creekside Chronicle
November 2019 Newsletter
Camfels Assembly and Unity Day
On Monday, October 21, the Creekside school day kicked off with an assembly presented by Camfels. The presentation was entitled “Go Viral”. The multimedia presentation was planned to motivate students to act responsibly within the social media world. Students were challenged to post more real and encouraging comments online with the goal of gaining an appreciation for the diversity of race, language, and culture that make up our community.
If you would like to know more, go to the Camfel’s website resources. Discussion Guide/Video
Our day continued with several other themed activities like creating pledges to unite our building against bullying and discussions surrounding hot topics like whether or not social media is necessary for teenagers. Students also watched a video about “How to Stop a Bully” and created real-life scenarios and appropriate responses. These activities helped to create a common understanding of what will not be tolerated at Creekside and ways that we can come together to support one another to accomplish our goals.
Our day ended with our annual staff vs. student volleyball game. The purpose of this game is to highlight student participation in clubs and sports.
Veteran’s Day 2019
In the United States, we are fortunate to have so many rights and freedoms that some might even take for granted. American men and women have put their lives on the line again and again to fight for our country, and many may never make it home safe. They do this all to protect our country and keep our core values of freedom and democracy alive and well.
Veteran’s Day is a chance for us to say thank you and honor them for the sacrifices they have made, and continue to make, for us.
Here at Creekside, we would like to honor your family members who have served, or continue to serve, in the military. Via their homeroom announcements in Canvas, students may fill out the Google Form to have a family member honored.
Student of the Month
Student of the Month
Congratulations to our October Students of the Month. These students have been recognized by our staff for demonstrating responsibility.
Honors Recognition
Congratulations to all of our students achieving Honor Roll and High Honor Roll. Honor Roll distinctions were awarded to students who achieved a 3.0 - 3.49 GPA with no grade lower than a C-. High Honor Roll was awarded to those students who achieved a GPA of 3.5 or above with no grade lower than a B-. As a school, we enjoy inviting families in so we can celebrate the achievements of students all together. We know that students are successful when a partnership is formed between home and school. We hope that this recognition is a chance for us to also highlight important information about the school, recognize our honor roll students, but also to incentivize achievement in school. Congratulations, Falcons!
See our Honor Roll students HERE.
College Pennants Needed
As mentioned above, the A.V.I.D. program is a means to shift the culture of the building to promote college and career readiness. One of the small ways that we can do this is by promoting different colleges and universities within our hallways and within our Innovation Studio. We need your help to do this. If you would like to provide Creekside with a college pennant, we would be happy to display it within our building to assist in promoting and helping students envision that college is accessible to them.
Flyby parent request
Parents, we want to hear from you.
Select our next topic for our Creekside Flyby (Parent Informational Video Series)
Fill out this form to request an information video on a specific topic. https://tinyurl.com/yxtxvheq
6th Grade
Science has been working on the essential question of “What is your place in the Universe?” They have been learning about the hierarchy of the universe and what is Earth’s place in comparison to the entire universe.
Literacy has been finishing up our first collection that deals with “Facing Fear” and will be moving on to our next unit, “Dealing with Disaster.” In this collection, students will be working with texts that show how people deal with adversity that surrounds disasters both natural and man made.
In math, students are working through operations involving fractions and decimals. Keep an eye out for notification of a unit test coming up soon. There might even be some morning review sessions that your child can attend.
7th Grade
8th Grade
MATH EDITION
Classes just finished up Quarter 1 with Unit 3:Geometry Transformations in our Discovery Math Techbook. Students were asked, “How can you use transformations to animate a flip book?” They were given a digital template and the rest was up to them to apply their mathematical understanding of transformations combined with creativity. This was a great learning experience for students to apply the concepts learned throughout this unit.
Classes are recently being introduced to Functions in Unit 7. Students will be exposed to the different types of information that can be represented by graphs, tables, and charts. If you are wondering how to help your student, here is how:
→ Together, log in to Math Techbook
Ask your student to explain how the characteristics of proportional relationships are represented in different ways, using the information shown in the Summary for Concept 7.1 (summarize tab). Challenge him or her to describe and compare different representational forms, including equations, graphs, tables, and verbal descriptions.
Choose an item from Play in the Practice section of Concept 7.1. Ask your student to explain how knowledge of the properties and behaviors of a linear function can help to solve the problem.
Discuss key unit terms, such as independent variable and dependent variable, with your student. Ask him or her to define each term and explain how the terms are related.
→ Together, brainstorm a list of life situations in which an understanding of function relationships is important. You might consider situations such as interpreting the graphics that accompany a news article, doubling a favorite recipe, calculating a paycheck, or figuring out how much gas is needed for a car trip. Challenge your student to identify how a particular unit objective, such as determining the meaning of slope in context, would be useful in one of the situations you list.
Exploratories
Washington D.C
Creekside Middle School’s Literary Magazine, Tributaries
We’re thrilled to introduce Creekside Middle School’s Literary Magazine, Tributaries. Students are able to submit stories, poems, extended responses, and art to be showcased in our publication. We are encouraging students to submit work from science, social students and even math. Spanish authors are also encouraged to participate.
Have a shy author? Students are able to request that their name not be published in the magazine.
Students can submit their entries electronically; the link can be found on the announcements. For more information, students can contact Mrs. McCoy, Mrs. Heeren, Mrs. Pigott or Mrs. Thornton.
Performing Music
Band students had such a blast preparing for their first concert of the year on October 30! Thank you for all of your support, parents!
Solo and Ensemble forms will be going out soon. Please mark it on your calendar and consider having your child perform a solo or ensemble. Everyone will be preparing something during class time this quarter and it’s such a great learning experience! Solo and Ensemble contest is at Northwood Middle School on Saturday, January 25, 2020.
Key dates that are coming up are:
Friday, November 15 8th grade only! WHS/8th grade Band Olympics Night at WHS 5:30 - 8:30 pm * events include: Cook-off, Volleyball, Scavenger Hunt & Mario Cart!
Wednesday, December 4 - Jazz Night at Woodstock High School - Jazz band’s first concert of the year!
Friday, December 13 - CMS Band and Orchestra combined Winter concert
Art Club
PTO
PTO Fundraiser
Fannie May Chocolate Fundraiser was a success and raised over $8,000 for the Creekside PTO. These funds are used throughout the year to provide students with different opportunities, such as field trips, clubs, activities, or instructional materials.
Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 5 at 6:00 p.m. in the Creekside Office Conference Room. We hope to see you there.
Box Tops
Box Tops are going digital! No more clipping, all you need is your phone. Download the ALL-NEW Box Tops app, shop as you normally would, then simply scan your store receipts to find participating products. The app will automatically credit Creekside’s Box Tops earnings online. Printed Box Tops are being phased out and will only be accepted through this fall. If you have any clipped Box Tops, Creekside will accept them only through October 15. Here is a video link that shows how to set up your phone to easily send Creekside money from your grocery receipts. https://www.boxtops4education.com/About\
Outdoor Classroom Kiosk Display
As many of you may be aware of, in a collaboration between Garden Club and Art Club, an outdoor classroom was designed and built in the spring of 2019. Garden Club planted a variety of native species of plants in this outdoor classroom. At completion of this project, Adam Thomas, a former Creeksdie student, designed and built an outdoor kiosk to assist students in identifying the specific plant species. Adam successfully designed, built, and installed this kiosk for his Eagle Scout project. Thank you Adam for your lasting impact on Creekside.
Dual Language Parent Night (THIS THURSDAY)
On Thursday, November 7, come to celebrate our 6th Annual Dual Language Family Night at Creekside Middle School at 5:00 p.m.
New this year: Come learn a dance, sing a song, make a craft, or participate in another cultural activity alongside your child.
We will have an interactive concert by 123 Andres, winner of the Latin GRAMMY in 2016 for Best Children’s Music Album, food for sale (cash only) and a Spanish book fair.
Key Dates
NOVEMBER KEY DATES
01 - Fall Dance 3:30 - 5:30 pm
02 - BBB 8th grade practice 8 - 9:30 am
04 - Dance Team - 3:30 - 5:30 pm Cafeteria
04 - BB 7th & 8th grade 3:45 - 5:15 pm CMS Gym
04 - Cheer practice 3:45 - 5:15 pm PWE Gym
04 - Color Guard 6 - 8 pm PWE Gym
05 - BB vs McHenry 4 - 6:30 pm CMS Gym
05 - PTO Meeting
06 - BB vs Johnsburg at CMS
07 - Game Club 3:30 - 5:30 pm
07 - Dual Language Parent Education Night 4 - 8 pm at CMS
08 - BB practice 3:45 - 5:15 pm
09 - BB practice 8 - 9:30 am CMS Gym
11 - VETERANS DAY - NO SCHOOL
12 - Dance Team 3:30 - 5 pm PWE Gym
12 - Girls Engineering 3:30 - 5 pm Innovation Studio
12 - CMS BBB vs Northwood 4 - 6:30 at WNHS
12 - Intramural Basketball 3:45 - 5 pm CMS Gym
12 - Color Guard 6 - 8 pm CMS Gym
13 - Dance Team 3:30 - 5 pm at BOG
13 - Intramural Basketball 3:45 - 5:15 pm PWE Gym
13 - BB 7 & 8 grades 5:30 - 6:30 pm CMS Gym
14 - CMS BB vs Parkland 4:15 - 6:15 pm CMS Gyms
14 - Gifted Parent Meeting 5:45 - 8:30 pm BOG
15 - CMS BBB vs Johnsburg Tournament (TBA) at Johnsburg Junior High School
15 - CMS/WHS Band Olympics Night (TBA) at Woodstock High School
16 - CMS BBB vs Johnsburg 7 & 8 grade Tournament (TBA) at Johnsburg Junior High School
18 - Dance Team 5:30 - 6:30 pm PWE Gym
18 - Intramural Basketball 3:45 - 5 pm PWE Gym
18 - Cheer practice 3:45 - 5:15 pm Cafeteria
18 - BBB practice 3:45 - 5:15 pm CMS Gym
19 - Intramural Basketball 3:45 - 5 pm CMS Gyms
19 - Dance Team 5:30 - 6:30 pm PWE Gym
19 - CMS BBB 7 grade meets 4 - 6:30 pm at Spring Grove Elementary
19 - CMS BBB 8 grade vs Nippersink 4 - 6:30 pm at Nippersink Middle High School
20 - Intramural Basketball 3:45 - 5 pm
20 - CMS BBB vs Johnsburg 4 - 6:30 pm at Johnsburg Junior High School
21 - Game Club 3:30 - 5:30 pm at Innovation Studio
21 - BBB practice 3:45 pm - 5:15 pm CMS Gyms
21 - Cheer practice 3:45 pm 5:15 pm PWE Gym
21 - Color Guard 6 - 8 pm CMS Gym
22 - BBB practice 3:45 - 5:15 pm CMS Gym
22 - Intramural Basketball 3:45 pm - 5 pm PWE Gym
23 - BBB practice 8 - 9:30 am CMS Gym
25 - Dance Team 3:30 - 5:15 pm PWE Gym
25 - Intramural Basketball 3:45 - 5 pm PWE Gym
26 - Dance Team 3:30 - 5:15 pm PWE Gym
26 - Intramural Basketball 3:30 - 5 pm CMS Gym
26 - Girls Engineering 3:30 - 5 pm Innovation Studio
27 - 29 THANKSGIVING BREAK
Creekside Middle School
Francesca Favero, Asst. Principal
David Riesen, Dean of Students
Email: mwheatley@wcusd200.org
Website: woodstockschools.org/creekside
Location: 3201 Hercules Road, Woodstock, IL, USA
Phone: (815)3375200
Facebook: facebook.com/creeksidewoodstock/
Twitter: @CMSFalcons200