TMS May Newsletter
2021
Letter from the Principal
To Our Teeland Families:
It is hard to believe that this is the last Newsletter for the school year! We cannot thank our families enough for the support, understanding, patience, and good humor during this stressful school year. Many families have had to quarantine their student multiple times, students had to master remote learning, and teachers made continuous adjustments to their lesson plans while trying to deliver a quality education. Our experiences this year are unprecedented. There was not a script, instruction manual, or any resources of which to refer throughout the pandemic experience. However, we have pulled together and were able to keep our school open for most of the year.
Teeland Middle School, and the Mat-Su School District, continue to have positive COVID cases. TMS has had 3 cases in the last 10 days that were positive while the individual was infectious and in school. Our Mitigation Plan is the same as it was at the beginning of the year and will not change in the next four weeks of school. We are asking for your continued support in monitoring your student’s health and holding them accountable for following our expectations as we finish strong!
With the increasing warm weather, children are heading outside to gather with friends and engage in activities. In an effort to keep your students safe, we are asking parents/guardians to please know where their children are going, what their plan is for activities, and with whom they are spending time. Some parks around the Wasilla city limits are becoming gathering places for inappropriate and illegal activity during and after school hours and on the weekends. Please feel free to reach out to our administration if you have questions or need to bring a situation to our attention.
We are having grade level picnics on the last day of school for each group: May 19th for 8th grade, and May 20th for 6th & 7th. Students can bring in their own lunches or get a brown bag lunch from the cafeteria. After the picnic lunches, students will be engaged in field day activities. We would appreciate any donations of individually wrapped chips or treats for the students to snack on in the afternoon. Donations can be dropped off at the front office.
Thank you and take care,
Mrs. Hinds, TMS Principal
Important Dates
- May 4 - Incoming 6th Grade Parent Walk Through
- May 6 - Library Book Return Deadline
- May 7 - Professional Development, No School for Students
- May 10 - 12 River Rangers, 7th Grade
- May 17 - 19 River Rangers, 7th Grade
- May 19 - 8th grade Assembly and Picnic
- May 20 - Last Day of in Person School
- May 20 - 6th and 7th Grade Picnic
Geography Bee
Paul Hastings - 1st
Owen Dietz - 2nd
Nikolas Penn - 3rd
Native Youth Olympics
Congratulations to Claire Wallstrum, Callan Knutsen, Daisy Vanblarcom, Braeden Thomas, Kassandra Hall & Cassidy Knutsen on a job well done!
National Junior Honor Society
Teeland’s National Junior Honor Society officers have been nominated for the Spirit of Youth award for the positive contributions they are making to their school community. NJHS officers have organized and led activities that have created enrichment and a positive culture at Teeland Middle School. The Spirit of Youth organization is dedicated to creating, promoting, and recognizing youth involvement in communities across Alaska. Congratulations to our National Junior Honor Society officers!
Stella Rose, President
Grayson McDowell, Vice President
Ella Johnson, Secretary
Amanda Jimenez, Record Keeper
Lily Shea, Historian
Kinley Bruno, Kenai Butler, Mia Christiansen, Tyler Eli, LeeAnn Elliott, Logan Fitch, Alexandra Havermann, Alisha Hensley, Raegan Klayum, Madison Mead, Paige Midgett, Evan Simpson,
Tristin Steele, Jonathan Tague, Braden Thomas, Calvin Tucker, Ryan Wood, Natalee Zahrt
Art Adventures
Wood Burning
There is a $10 material fee for each class. Sign up in the office. Classes are limited to 15 students. Click HERE to pay online.
Calling ALL Musicians!!
We know that there were many students that did not get a chance to participate in band or choir this past year. We want you to know that we MISSED YOU!
This coming year we have a place for you! If you’ve ever thought about wanting to learn an instrument or learn to sing, we’d love to have you! If you’ve had little or a lot of experience, we’d love to have you! If you always loved music and want to love it more, we’d love to have you!
Please see your counselor to make the change and add Band, Percussion or Choir to your schedule!
TMS Summer Book Club
This summer Mrs. Porcello and Mr. Engebretsen are hosting a summer book club. We will read five books from different genres and host sweet treat meet-ups to discuss each book. Students who read all five books will receive a prize when returning to school this fall.
Book Club Schedule is as follows:
May 21st - June 11th: Summer of the Monkeys By Wilson Rawls (Historical Fiction)
June 11th -June 25th: Out of My Mind By Sharon Draper (Realistic Fiction)
June 18th - July 9th: The Finest Hours--Young Readers Edition By Michael Tougias & Casey Sherman (Non-Fiction)
July 9th - July 30th: The Land of Stories--The Wishing Spell By Chris Colfer
July 30th - Aug. 20th: *Choice Book for Show, Share, and Swap day
Please let your Language Arts teacher know if you are interested in the summer reading program.
Picnic Donations
Time to Return Chromebooks
Students will have their devices until the last week of school. The dates below are scheduled for Chromebook returns.
8th Grade - May 19th
6th & 7th Grade - May 20th
Students are required to return their Chromebooks before participating in grade-level picnics.
Fred Meyer Community Rewards
Library Book Return
ATTENTION COMMUNITY DOG LOVERS
You are welcome to walk your dogs on TMS grounds as long as their waste is removed. Please share with your neighbors.
Lost & Found
Safety and Security Corner
Some drivers using the parking lot to the left of TMS are not parking their vehicles when dropping off or picking up students. These actions are creating an unsafe and chaotic situation for students. A few drivers have been observed parking in designated fire lanes. As a reminder, if you want to do a rolling drop-off or pickup, please use the drive-through area to the right. Our priority at TMS is to keep all students safe. If drivers continue to not park their vehicles in the left parking lot while dropping off or picking up students, we will need to revert back to prior years and close the gate entrance to the parking lot.
Please refrain from using your cell phone while driving through a school zone. We all need to do our part in protecting our precious students from distracted drivers.
- Mr. Butler
Checking Chromebook Browsing History
- Click on the Chrome application icon on the Chromebook.
- Enter the address: chrome://history OR press the ctrl and h keys simultaneously.
- You will then see a chronological history of browsing on that Chromebook.
Calling all 8th Grade Students and Parents!
Mrs. Chyko is looking for pictures of 8th-grade students from their time here at TMS. Please have your student turn them into the google classroom page or email them to Mrs. Chyko (dannielle.chyko@matsuk12.us). We would LOVE pictures from activities and events over ALL 3 years of your time here at TMS. Please try to limit photos to those with TMS students only. Please include names of the students in any photo’s that you share, our goal is to represent ALL of our 8th grade TMS students.
Incoming 6th Grade Parent Walk Through Night
Incoming 6th-grade students are invited to independently walk through TMS with a parent or guardian. While maintaining social distancing, you will be able to explore our school and become familiar with the layout of your new middle school.
5:30 - Last names A - E
5:45 - Last names F - J
6:00 - Last Names K - O
6:15 - Last Names P - T
6:30 - Last Names U - Z
Tuesday, May 4, 2021, 05:30 PM
2788 North Seward Meridian Parkway, Wasilla, AK, USA
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
About Us
Email: tms@matsuk12.us
Website: www.matsuk12.us/tms
Location: 2788 North Seward Meridian Parkway, Wasilla, AK, USA
Phone: 9073527500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Teeland-Middle-School-1579130432415578/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel&eid=ARDW0h1EtkxAP4da90ScKXcvK-1sUCJnDL-8NQD_zCE2uYyy7jwABQrxch_7IMz_n2d_7OxXhwsi6o3n