It's almost May and that means that we are getting close to wrapping up another school year. This is one of my favorite times of the year because it is really noticeable how much our students have grown and progressed over the school year. We also have some big events that act as a culmination for the school year. There is more information later about two of these events -- our Fine Arts Fair and 8th Grade Celebration, specifically. These are Site Council sponsored and planning for them takes place for several months. The Fine Arts Fair showcases a really high number of our students and it is always a highlight to bring families in for this event. Teacher Appreciation Week is also held during May --- May 8th - 12th. LMS is fortunate to have a great staff of educators serving students. It is remarkable to see what they do on a daily basis.

I was recently a guest on the "Lion Pride-Cast", which is the school district's bi-weekly podcast, hosted by Sharon Burns, USD 469 Communications and Marketing Director, and Miles Azzeh, USD 469 Director of Teaching and Learning. They do an outstanding job with the podcasts and started this initiative earlier this school year. The podcasts highlight different education topics in the district. The link below will take you to the podcast...

https://www.usd469.net/vnews/display.v/ART/642f6745790a9?in_archive=1

"Lansing USD469 is thrilled to announce that our 2023-2028 Strategic Plan was passed unanimously during the April 10th board meeting. Thank you to our volunteers made of community members, staff, and students who served on this important committee and provided feedback to form this plan. Thank you also to our Lansing USD469 board members who served on the committee and voted to make it a reality. The Strategic Plan aims to achieve action steps that ensure our district can meet the needs of its students, staff, and community for years to come.

Our administrators and district leadership staff are excited to start on action items this plan sets forth. We will provide monthly updates about our progress and look forward to embarking on this journey together to make Lansing the best district in Kansas."

https://www.usd469.net/vnews/display.v/SEC/2023-2028%20Strategic%20Plan

6th Grade Language Arts – Kathy Baughman, Pecos Miller, Tiffany Simmons, Rachel Szmed

It’s 4th Quarter, so bring on the research paper! The 6th grade research project topic is “Careers,” and the students get to choose and research a career of their interest. Multiple resources are used but not before lessons on avoiding plagiarism, citing sources, and paraphrasing take place. The research project culminates with a career fair in which students are able to present their information in a “real world” situation using multi-media presentations. Parents and community members are invited to attend this event.

• W.6.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
• W.6.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources.
• SL.6.4 Present claims and findings, sequencing ideas logically and using pertinent descriptions, facts, and details to accentuate main ideas or themes; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
• SL.6.5 Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in presentations to clarify information.

6th Grade Literature – Kathy Baughman, Cheryl Borgeson, Connie Evans, Alisha Holyfield, Pecos Miller, John Riggs, Tiffany Simmons, Rachel Szmed, Amanda Thomas, DeeDee Wiley

As it is with all grade levels, the 6th grade literature students are gearing up for state assessments. The teachers have used the KITE mini-tests to determine which skills need the most focus and created focused bell work questions. Teachers are also working with students on setting goals to strive for when taking the tests. The 6th grade literature classes have also begun reading the novel Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. Reading a novel allows for exploration and learning of all literature standards and how they work together to create meaningful literature (RL.6.1-13).

6th Grade Math – John Riggs, DeeDee Wiley

The main focus of 6th grade math this month was on writing and solving equations and inequalities that model real-world situations. Students learned how to write equations using variables to represent unknown quantities or relationships, and how to check whether a given number is a solution of an equation by substituting it into the equation and simplifying. Students also learned how to use inequalities to represent constraints or conditions that limit the possible values of a variable, such as budgeting for spending, time, or when working with distances. Students practiced solving inequalities using inverse operations and graphing them on a number line.

As we head into the month of April, students will extend their learning of two-dimensional shapes by learning how to determine the area of polygons and triangles, and solving area equations.

6th grade students will also demonstrate their mastery of curricular standards as they take the state assessments for math during the week of April 17-21.

6th Grade Science – Alisha Holyfield, Amanda Thomas

In the month of February, we learned about different types of waves. In this unit, students measured their pulse under different circumstances to think about frequency. They also created waves using metal springs. They explored the fundamental properties of waves, such as wavelength, frequency, and amplitude, then compared the energy of waves to these different properties. Finally, we learned about the properties of light waves. Students used mirrors to explore reflection and used spectroscopes to learn more about the electromagnetic spectrum. We ended this unit the first week of March.

After spring break, we began our Chemical Interactions unit this year. Students began their study of chemistry by observing a mystery mixture which contained two white, solid substances. Students recorded the physical characteristics of the dry mixture, then added water to the mixture and recorded the results of their observations. Students then observed nine different white substances that could possibly be in the mystery mixture. They had to record their observations of their physical properties and develop a plan for testing pairs of substances to see which two were in the mystery mixture. When students added water to different pairs of substances, they recorded which pairs had similar results as when water was added to the mystery mixture. After this investigation, we started learning about the periodic table of elements and are becoming familiar with the names and symbols of up to 100 elements. This unit will continue into May, but we will start in April by studying the elements in the world, with a focus on what makes up all the substances on Earth.

6th Grade Social Studies – Cheryl Borgeson, Connie Evans

Students began the month by practicing their comparing and contrasting skills with historical facts. We continued to learn about the Greek world and the Persian War. Students identified the causes of the Persian War and analyzed some of the major battles. Next, we moved onto the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. After returning from Spring Break students began learning Alexander The Great. Students summarized what they learned about Alexander The Great by designing a battle shield for him which included 5 key events from his life along with at least 2 pictures. Looking forward to next month we will be learning about Rome and preparing for our fourth and final CFA (Common Formative Assessment) of the year over different forms of government.

7th Grade Language Arts – Mindy Brinker, Brandy Hamilton

During March, seventh grade language arts classes focused on two grammar/writing skills in preparation for the state assessment: subject-verb agreement and misplaced/dangling modifiers. These both fit within Kansas Writing Standard W.7.10 – Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing, and W.7.10.d - Place phrases and clauses within a sentence, recognizing and correcting misplaced and dangling modifiers. With practice, testing, and reteaching, we were able to significantly increase the number of students proficient in these skills.

7th Grade Literature – Tom Cretors, Katie Larson, Becky Lowery, Brandy Hamilton, Rachel Sheeley, Stephanie Smalley

During the month of March, 7th grade students finished working on their activist unit called Justice Served. Some of the students got to explore an activist of their choosing and create a podcast answering questions regarding the activist chosen. After spring break, students read some short stories to focus on foreshadowing, mood and tone, story elements, and suspense. Students have been reading Beneath the Crags of Malpelo Island, Three Skeleton Key, and Bargain. Students spent some time after reading Bargain to write an opening statement to identify a claim and then provide reasons and evidence to support their claim.

7th Grade Math – Denise Dixon, Theresa Jones, Angela Remington

Math 1 covered the Statistics Unit and Probability Unit during March. We finalized the Probability unit at the beginning of April.

We have had to make a decision about teaching geometry before the State Assessment or doing reviews on concepts already covered. This is not an easy decision. We decided to make use of review time instead of covering geometry topics. This is due to the difficulty so many students are having with retention and recall. We have decided that more exposure to previous concepts may give students a better chance of mastering some of the concepts. Continuing with geometry would give exposure to the new concepts but would not likely embed deeply enough to reach mastery. A few students who have embraced the Modern Classroom format and are able to work more independently will have the opportunity to cover the geometry concepts on their own using our online resources.

We will cover the geometry unit after State testing for the majority of Math 1 students.

Math 2 is wrapping up all the 7th Grade math concepts in March. They have covered all of the major and minor clusters in the Kansas Math Standards. We will begin weaving in 8th grade concepts and 7th Grade Kite Test Review. Our first 8th grade concept will be Representing Proportional Relationships. We will begin this work with a review of 7th grade proportional relationship review.

Our next CFA (Common Formative Assessment) will cover Probability. This will be taken after Math 1 has finished the Probability Unit. We expect this to be taken early April.

Test Review: We have created test reviews for each of the major Clusters using the Moby Max resource. This resource allows us to pull review questions based on standards. By creating PDF versions of the questions, we can assign these on google classroom for paperless versions.

7th Grade Science – Stacey Jenkins, Stephanie Smalley

Students in 7th Grade Life Science just completed a unit on Genetics that was wrapped up with students focusing on how humans have caused genetic changes through selective breeding and gene editing. Projects focused on researching, creating displays, and presenting information on the pros and cons of specific examples of genetic engineering.

Biodiversity is the current topic of study, to include genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity and the importance of maintaining high diversity for a stable environment. Students are researching current threats to biodiversity, proposing solutions, and identifying the benefits and constraints of each solution developed. These will then be presented to the class so students learn about a variety of biodiversity topics.

7th Grade Social Studies – Tom Cretors, Edward Fenton

In 7th grade Social Studies, we just finished learning about the Great Depression and The Great American Dust Bowl in Kansas. We will be starting to learn about World War II and the impact Kansas had on the war. In the next month, we will be wrapping up learning about Kansas History and beginning to learn more about American Geography. Students will learn the basics about making and reading all different types of maps and then apply that knowledge to survive a fake Zombie apocalypse scenario.

8th Grade Language Arts – Tracey Carney-Linn, Julie Price, Danielle Perry/Charity Briggs (Long-Term Sub), Stacey Ward

Eighth grade has been working on reviewing concepts for state assessments. We have looked at Poetry this quarter. Students have analyzed the meaning of several poems this quarter such as The Road Not Taken, We Wear the Mask, If, An Obstacle, Dance Mama Dance, What My Father Said, and more. They have practiced how to write a universal theme statement. They have looked at figurative language in the poems and analyzed the meaning that brings to the poems. We have worked on our short answer responses and how to properly cite text evidence.

8th Grade Literature – Dana Blew, Tracey Carney-Linn, Jessica Graves, Julie Price, Danielle Perry/Diane Peintner (Long-Term Sub), Stacey Ward

Eighth grade has been busy with our unit The Civil War that focuses on the Civil War (1861-1865) through fiction, journals, speeches, letters, and poetry. Students will read a variety of texts to explore the impact of the Civil War from a variety of perspectives, as well as research the effects of civil conflicts around the world that continue today. We have analyzed the words of Abraham Lincoln in his House Divided speech to the battlefield Gettysburg Address. Lincoln’s words were meant to evoke the pride of the founding fathers and provide principles for which our country was founded on. Students looked at Paul Revere’s Ride and how the author used imagery to share this journey. This poem was to inspire Americans to fight for the Union and abolish slavery while creating an American hero in the process. Students were also able to compare and contrast the work of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and John Brown with their roles in private and public battles with slavery.

8th Grade Math – Miranda Cote, Penny Wagner

8th grade math has completed Unit 5 Geometry and Unit 6 Statistics at the end of 3rd quarter. We are now beginning the review process to refresh their memories before we begin the State Assessment process in a few weeks. Students are participating in three projects that utilize the skills of Transversal angles to create a map of six city blocks, a Wheel of Pythagoras project that creates a spiral out of right triangles using the Pythagorean Theorem, and a fun Barbie Bungee project where students collect data to create a scatter plot, a line of best fit, and then predict the outcome of a larger Barbie drop over the balcony railing. These projects allow students to see how the skills they have learned are applied in real world applications. Once the projects have concluded, students will review equations, slope and slope-intercept linear equations, functions, and exponents.

Algebra students are currently reviewing grade level skills for the State Assessments and beginning the Polynomial Unit and Polynomial House Project. Once they finish the Polynomial Unit, they will begin working with Quadratics.

8th Grade Physical Science – Josh Yoakam

Students learned about makeup and organization of the periodic table, elements, and their properties. Students learned how to develop Bohr and Lewis dot diagrams. Students learned how to identify oxidation numbers and make predictions about whether an element would be more likely to gain or lose electrons. Students learned how to predict whether ionic or covalent bonding would occur and the proper naming of ionic compounds or molecules. Students learned how to write chemical formulas. Students have been working on writing, balancing chemical equations, and utilizing coefficients. Students utilized the University of Colorado-Boulder’s PhET Balancing Chemical Equations module and guided inquiry to explore these concepts. Students are learning about chemical changes and how to classify chemical reactions. After our wrapping up exploration of chemical reactions we will be taking some time to review for state assessments. Students will revisit terminology and concepts introduced at the middle school level as a refresher.

8th Grade Science – Jessica Graves, Kaylea Roth-Longe/Brock LaPlante (Long-term sub.)

As we navigate through the end of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, 8th grade science is studying weather, convection currents and preparing for state testing. Students have had some great hands-on density experiments and hydrological cycle activities. We have been capturing students' attention by using movement to increase engagement as we approach the end of the year!

8th Grade Social Studies – Ann Andrews, Dana Blew

8th grade social studies have been studying the American Civil War, and how people, places and things affect the outcome of the war. We studied the different strengths and weaknesses at beginning of the war and their possible impact. We learned about the early battles in the East and the West and the struggles and successes of both the Union and the Confederacy. Currently, we are studying the middle of the Civil War 1863, after the Battle of Antietam and Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. We are looking into how the Civil War impacted civilian life and the politics surrounding the division of our nation. Next, we will study how the “Tide Turns” with the victory at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and other significant battles. We will end the Civil War next week, with the Union victory and General Grant accepting General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House, VA. In our next unit, we will be learning about the challenges of rebuilding a broken nation and securing newfound rights and freedoms.

Advanced Studies – Josh Yoakam

In advance of the student-led conferences there were alternate schedules utilized to allow students the opportunity to prepare and practice their presentations. This impacted the period where the advanced studies classes meet. Students that had been working on Future Cities Competition prep transitioned to developing project plans for independent and small group projects. Students in 6th and 7th grade advanced studies engaged in a shared inquiry read of Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, Harrison Bergeron. There were activities centered around interpreting words and phrases in the text. Students practiced note taking after the skills were modeled including questions they had while reading. The shared inquiry culminated in a Socratic seminar where students examined the text, asked questions, discussed meaning to gain insight and relate the text to their lives. Students engaged in a creativity activity focused on vertical and lateral thinking. Students also participated in a stress management for gifted students’ discussion, highlighting stress strategies students could apply. Students will continue independent and small group project work and participate in Creativity exercises in the coming weeks.

Art – Emily Bucher

6th Grade – After going over supplies and procedures on the art syllabus, students created front and back bookmarks that will be laminated so students can use throughout the year. This encourages reading during free time. Students recently finished watching "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" while taking video notes and sketching animals. Then, they created a glue outline adding animals and colour with pastel. Currently, students are learning about the life and work of John James Audubon, where they will create a colored bird drawing as well as a cut paper collage of their same bird.

7th Grade – Recently, students viewed and discussed the idea and origination of playing card designs. Then, students were asked to re-imagine a playing card design inspired by the original, standard 52-card deck. Choice of card and suit, subject matter, and medium were determined by the student. The cards were laminated. Students then created a "stretched out" character design in which they were given a long, narrow piece of poster paper. Currently, students are creating dragon artworks, inspired by non-contemporary and contemporary artworks, histories, and oral traditions. Students will use their final piece to help spark peer collaboration conversations in which students will make decisions about adding details and background scenes.

8th Grade – Students recently read and learned about the life and totem artworks of the Pacific Northwest Native Americans. Videos and readings were presented during class prior to clay distribution and worktime. Students created totem spoons that feature at least 3 totems or "icons" that reflect themselves, their life, interests, and personality. After firing, spoons will be glazed using various colours to enhance their overall design. Currently, students are brainstorming and creating designs for onomatopoeia illustrated words.

9th Hour Art Enrichment – Recently, students used black construction paper and colorful oil pastels to illustrate a bioluminescent creature of their choice from the deep sea. Currently, students are completing a visual recipe poster in which they illustrate the ingredients required to make a certain food dish. A few students have opted to work with clay and create various animal and spring sculptures. It is hopeful that students can start getting outside in the afternoons to chalk and draw, as the weather permits.

Band – Aaron Edwards

The 6th, 7th, 8th, and Lion Jazz Band had a great concert on March 6th. The directors have been very impressed with the growth through 3rd quarter and are excited to see what they accomplish during 4th quarter. On March 6th, we took 28 students to participate in the Lexington Trails Middle School solo/small ensemble festival. We had 19, 1 ratings and 2, 2 ratings from the solos and small groups. Great job! All of the bands are all finishing up their respective method books in preparation for the next year.

Choir – Josiah Ketterman

All Choirs at the middle school are beginning their music for the Fine Arts Fair May 10th! Be sure to join us as we perform more current pop style music for this fun event!

7th and 8th Grade Choir students performed recently at the KVL Choir Festival at Basehor-Linwood Middle School. Well-Known clinician and composer, Ryan Main, judged and clinched their performance. Each choir received the highest rating possible of a 1. We are extremely proud of how our choirs have represented Lansing Middle School.

Lastly, the auditioned choir for 7th and 8th grade students, Sound FX, is gearing up for their performance at the Worlds of Fun Festival of Music on April 29th. At the festival, students will perform two advanced choir pieces for a judge and receive a rating as well.

Computers – Sara Meyers

Quarter 4 and spring are officially in full swing for computers class. 8th grade students have been learning how to compose formal business letters and properly address an envelope. Students have also been working on learning how to create digital promotional materials as they explore various business marketing platforms. Students will start to transition into our digital media and video unit. They will be learning various camera angles, how to record a short video and edit videos into one.

7th grade students have had a busy few months prior to entering quarter 4. Students worked on completing a planning process of their own dream vacation. This included researching a destination, pricing out airline flights and accommodations, and putting together a Google Slide presentation with their findings. Students also became familiar with GIPHY’s and exploring how to create their own GIPHY when provided various prompts. This was a fun exploration of various platforms utilizing technology. Currently, students have begun our Canva unit. 7th graders will learn how to utilize the Canva platform and create various photo collages, calendars, infographics, posters, and more. Canva is a great resource that can be used in various courses to create stellar and eye-catching templates. Students also learned how to create their very own “watermark” by using Canva. This will help keep their created work original to them as they will learn how to place their own watermark onto each item, they will complete in Canva.

With the start of the 4th quarter, I welcomed another new 6th grade class to 6th grade computers. Students were introduced to computers class, reviewing expectations and what they will learn in the next few months. Students also began our Google Slides unit, successfully creating their own All About Me presentation. This presentation was all about them, their likes, background, and various information about their birth year. This assignment allowed students to learn key uses and various formatting skills for Google Slides, while they created presentations showing their creativity. As students continue to build their skills and master Google Slides, 6th graders will then move on to researching credible information about an assigned animal and begin creating an Animals Research Project through Google Slides.

Math Intervention – Emerald Peters

During March, students were learning and practicing missing skills and pre-teaching core math skills that they were learning in class. Spiral review continues to be a tool used to help fill in missing skill gaps. In April, students will focus on remediation of skills in preparation for State Testing. Students will continue to do progress monitoring every other week using Fast Bridge Math CAP. Late April, all students will start their final round of benchmarking their math skills to determine overall growth during the 2022-2023 school year and help with tier placement for the 2023-2024 school year.

PE – Jennifer Bishop, Jason Floetke

The Physical Education Department has completed their baseline push up and sit up testing for both boys and girls and the girls have completed their baseline mile, as well. The boys will hopefully get some nice weather next week to complete their baseline mile.

The current unit the students are working on is the volleyball unit where they are learning to pass, set, and serve. They are working on speedball, as well, which is a game all students can play with limited volleyball skills, but an understanding of the game. Continued skills also include sportsmanship, strategy, rules of the game, and skill acquisition.

One of the things both coaches are working on is incorporating different warmups that the students enjoy and participate in with more energy and enthusiasm. Currently, they are playing Sharks and Minnows – a fun game they remember from elementary school. They have a lot of fun warming up for the workout for the day, but they don't realize they are actually running wind sprints. This is something coaches learned from the Build Your Own PD Day and use it randomly to increase the warmup intensity.

Students will continue to build on their fitness as they have participated in activities such as abdominal workouts, Just Dance, and cardiovascular endurance through running and speed walking. Their favorite is doing relays with their classes that involves skipping, galloping, bear walking, squats, pushups, jumping jacks and even a dance circle at the end!

Reading Intervention – Rachel Sheeley

We have started a new project, Booksnaps. Each student picked a book to read of their interest. Their first task after picking a book was to create a slide showing a picture of the book, their picture and/or name, and the reason why they chose this book. Each student slide was then added to a slideshow for all tier students to view.

As they are reading the books they have chosen now, we continue to create a slideshow every two weeks. The students’ individual slides show something that interested them during their reading. Examples might include characters, setting, a specific quote or line(s) from the actual pages, comments about what they’ve read, etc. Again, their slides are combined into a slideshow shared to all tier students. Several students in various classes are reading the same book. It is interesting to see how each student reacts to the book they are reading. At first, they weren’t very excited about this project because most are reluctant readers. However, now, students are asking if they can take their book with them outside of class.

Progress monitoring continues every two weeks. A couple of students were able to leave the tier groups because of their continued progress. This has built some excitement as we approach the Spring Benchmarking. Some students hope their growth will show up in our last testing cycle this year so they won’t have to be in tier next year.

Spanish – Cristy Quinn

8th Grade

Stem Changing verbs, students will learn new vocabulary about clothing, to describe clothes, to talk about shopping, to indicate specific item or items, to assist customers in a store, to address people and to start a conversation.

7th grade

Students will learn to describe what you like and don’t like to eat and drink, tell when you have meals, tell where you are hungry or thirsty.

6th grade

Continue with greetings and useful phrases for the Spanish class. The alphabet in Spanish, students will listen and spell words in Spanish, numbers 0-50, days if the week, Months of the year and body parts.

Technology – Ron Averill

Sixth grade classes are beginning their quarter classes. The students have just finished their first rotation and are grasping the importance of providing complete answers for their Mission Briefing Summaries.

Seventh and eighth grade classes are proceeding on schedule throughout their expeditions. Students are also working on a Technical Writing assignment that includes the “10 steps of construction” for their “Bird Saver Project.

• Lansing Middle School recognizes students for improvement throughout the year as well as academic and behavioral success through our Student of the Month program. Lansing teachers nominate students by team periodically throughout the year for this honor. Students receive a certificate and pizza at lunch. Our second group of students were recognized on Monday, April 24th. Awardees included the following students – 6th Grade – Kerala Brecheisen, Andrew Clark, Addyson Fisher, Soraya Martin, Bryce McGaan, Hayden Reynolds, Amanda Tchassem, Rodney Thomas, Piper Wagner. 7th Grade – Robert Alexander, Salma Assyifa, Kinley Aufdemberge, Payton Bergman, Jack Dunlap, Cash Knetter, Hope Smith, Kristian Smith, Jesse Thornton. 8th Grade – Marcus Atkins, Randy Brooks, Greyson Crawford, Sarah Finney, Genevieve Gillespie, Sawyer Jorgensen, Isabella St. John, Natalee Walter, Aliyah Yang.

• The Lansing Middle School track teams have done really well so far this spring. They have competed in four meets total and have three left. This past week, the 7th and 8th grade girls teams took first at Perry-Lecompton and Patton Junior High. The 8th grade boys took first at Perry-Lecompton and the 7th grade boys took second. Lansing Middle School hosts Bonner Springs (Clark) and Mill Creek on Tuesday, April 25th. The season concludes on Wednesday, May 3rd, at the Kaw Valley League Track Meet in Tonganoxie.

• From Mr. Edwards, LMS Band Instructor -- "The jazz band traveled to the MNU Jazz Festival on April 6th and performed three pieces. The band played very well and judges gave great feedback to the group. Overall, the group received a 2 rating with one judge giving us a 1! We had several outstanding soloists including Jason Genail, trombone, Emily Hedberg, alto sax, Nathan Platt, trombone, and Katelyn Johannes, alto sax. We are very proud of the dedication this group has put in, rehearsing before school since November. Our next performances are May 7 at the HS Jazz-a-Que and May 10 at the LMS Fine Arts Fair."

• "In March, the Lansing Middle School Band had 28 students travel to the Lexington Trails Middle School (LTMS) Solo/Small Ensemble Festival. LTMS hosts this festival every year, and students prepare a solo or a group prepares a piece of music to play for a judge." https://usd469.socs.net/vnews/display.v/ART/642cde6202324

• "The Lansing Middle School was host to the KVL Middle-Level Band & Orchestra Music Festival on March 1st. We had 13 performances from 10 schools, including three performances from our Lansing Middle School bands." https://usd469.socs.net/vnews/display.v/ART/6426fa9fe106b

• "Ms. Wagner's eighth-grade math class at Lansing Middle School recently completed a project called the Wheel of Pythagoras. In this project, students used the Pythagorean Theorem to determine the lengths of the hypotenuse of a series of right triangles and then created a spiral out of these triangles. The result was a beautiful piece of art showcasing their mathematical knowledge and creativity." https://usd469.socs.net/vnews/display.v/ART/642ebecd8076a

• Mrs. Brandy Hamilton, LMS 7th grade ELA teacher, was the most recent teacher to be chosen for the Academic Spotlight by Mr. Miles Azzeh, USD 469 Director of Teaching and Learning. https://www.usd469.net/vnews/display.v/ART/643ed472b79ef?in_archive=1

• Mrs. Emerald Peters, LMS Math Interventionist, was previously highlighted in the Academic Spotlight. Mrs. Amanda Thomas and Mrs. Alisha Holyfield, 6th Grade Science teachers, were also featured earlier this year.

https://www.usd469.net/vnews/display.v/ART/631a23d85a447

Please use the link below to access the April issue of the student newspaper – “The Lion’s Paw”. Again, this is a great resource to see the viewpoint of LMS students on events at LMS.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bcqNDO-c4oZ9l9hziK-Pub9_yu-OXZRj/view?usp=share_link

We continue to progress with Second Step lessons during Advisory for the remainder of the school year. A reminder that Second Step is our Tier 1 behavior program at LMS, which means that all students are provided with it. "Second Step® Middle School helps early adolescents learn to cope with challenges, create and maintain positive relationships, and develop the mindset necessary for success in school and life." https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mVTSWdApXUTfVH4OVgP2S_OHMKsaRinV/view?usp=share_link

There are four units of study for Second Step. All grade levels are about half-way through the fourth unit, titled, "Managing Relationships and Social Conflict." This until will take the entire fourth quarter. The scope and sequence for Second Step is linked here -- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hsDDKW9sNKkGlV_FuHKJNRrMuG7wVtfk/view?usp=share_link

We are almost finished with state assessments. Overall, teachers have reported seeing great effort from students on the assessments! The 8th grade science assessment is the only remaining assessment; it will be given this Monday, April 24th and Tuesday, April 25th. We will also use this next week to administer makeups for any students that were absent during an assessment. The window for assessments closes on Friday, April 28th.

All students will take their third Fastbridge assessment of the year in reading and math during May. The window for this is May 1-19. This gives us important data and helps us to place students into classes for the following school year.

A reminder about how our parents can help with assessments –

• Talk to your child about the importance of doing his/her BEST on the assessments
• Be positive and supportive regarding the assessments
• Make attendance a priority and please be on time for the start of the school day
• Make sure your child has a good night’s sleep (minimum of 8 hours)
• Provide a healthy breakfast
• Help your child remember to charge his/her iPad

Lansing Middle School will host a Fine Arts Fair on Wednesday, May 10th. This is an annual event that brings together student artwork, instrumental music, and vocal music. It highlights the art pieces of our students and they will be on display in the LMS commons area for viewing.

At 6:00 PM, music performances begin. All LMS choirs and bands will perform during the evening. We hope the weather cooperates and we are able to hold the music performances outside on the west lawn between the auditorium and the gym. If there is inclement weather, the music portion will be held in the auditorium.

Dinner will be available prior to the concerts, beginning at 4:45. Mr. Flynn and Mr. Jenkins will run the grill and dinner will consist of hamburgers, bratwurst, or hot dogs.

The Fine Arts Fair originated as and continues to be a Site Council venture originating in the year 2000. Thank you to Marsha Jaskowiec for chairing this event.

We invite all LMS parents to attend!

8th Grade Celebration will take place on Tuesday, May 23rd. This event is for current LMS 8th grade students only. The event starts with an optional dinner for families; held from 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM. From 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM, families will leave and students will be able to take part in a wide range of activities. Activities will include lawn games, flag football, and inflatable games. This is a great way to end the year for our 8th grade students.

This event is also run through our Site Council. Thank you to Wendy Vodarick, Emily Lawler-White, Ryan Yedlinsky, and Rachel Sheeley for helping to chair this event.

Lansing Middle School will host a dance on Friday, April 28th. This is the first dance that has been held at LMS since 2020 with the time lapse being due to COVID. The LMS Student Council is sponsoring the dance. Student Council representatives have worked with LMS administration to come up with parameters for the dance.

These are the qualifications for eligibility --

• GRADES - The 4th quarter began on Monday, March 20th, after spring break. Students will be ineligible if they have two (2) D's or one (1) F during 4th quarter --- the cutoff will be Friday, April 21st. Students and parents always have access to their grades through Skyward. Students look at their grades and do goal-setting each Thursday during Advisory. Students have been provided with strategies to avoid low grades on multiple occasions throughout the school year.
• BEHAVIOR - Students may not have three (3) or more discipline points during the 4th quarter. These will be calculated from March 20th through the day of the dance on April 28th. A reminder that discipline points are calculated as - Each Day of Out-of-school suspension (OSS) = 3 points; Each Day of In-school-suspension (ISS) = 2 points; Each After-School Detention (ASD) served = 1 point; Each Lunch Detention = ½ point.

  
  

Dances are a great social opportunity for students and we hope that ALL students are eligible.

Some other important information about the dance --

• The dance will start at 6:30 PM and end at 8:30 PM.
• Drop off and pick up for dance will be on the west side of the building (where the gym and auditorium doors are located).
• The cost of admission is $5.
• The school dress code and all other school rules are applicable to dances.
• Students need to be present during the school day in order to attend a dance.
• Only students from Lansing Middle School are allowed to attend the dance.
• Students are not to leave the dance once they have entered the building. Students can only leave during the dance if a parent talks to a chaperone and picks them up. Unless prior arrangements have been made with administration, a parent may only pick up their child during the dance itself. Students may leave with other parents after the dance is over.

Each grade level at LMS will have their reward field trip for the 2022-2023 school year during May. More information will come out in the next few weeks. The 8th grade field trip will be to Worlds of Fun on Monday, May 22nd. The 6th and 7th grade field trips will be to Main Event --- the 6th grade field trip will be Tuesday, May 23rd and the 7th grade field trip will be on Wednesday, May 24th.

A reminder that the following system is used to determine eligibility for the field trips:

BEHAVIOR POINTS

Each Day of Out-of-school suspension (OSS) = 3 points

Each Day of In-school-suspension (ISS) = 2 points

Each After-School Detention (ASD) served = 1 point

Each Lunch Detention = ½ point

Students who accumulate fifteen (15) or more points during the 2022-2023 school year will NOT be allowed to attend the field trip.

GRADES

A student cannot have an “F” for the 4th quarter or 2nd semester and be eligible for the field trip.

Use the link above for information about the summer athletic camps being offered by USD 469. Opportunities vary, depending on the sport.

• Monday, April 24th and Tuesday, April 25th - Science State Assessment - 8th Grade Only
• Tuesday, April 25th - 7th/8th Grade Track Meet @ Lansing Middle School
• Thursday, April 27th - 7th/8th Grade Track Meet @ Lexington Trails Middle School
• Friday, April 28th - MS Dance at Lansing Middle School
• Saturday, April 29th - Worlds of Fun Festival of Music - LMS Choir Performance
• Wednesday, May 3rd - 7th/8th Grade Track Meet @ Tonganoxie Middle School (KVL)
• Friday, May 5th - Professional Development - No School for Students
• Wednesday, May 10th - LMS Fine Arts Fair
• Monday, May 22nd - 8th Grade Field Trip to Worlds of Fun
• Tuesday, May 23rd - 8th Grade Celebration
• Tuesday, May 23rd - 6th Grade Field Trip to Main Event
• Wednesday, May 24th - 7th Grade Field Trip to Main Event
• Thursday, May 25th - Last Day of School

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