THE CHMS POST
November 1, 2022
Challenger Middle School Mission
To provide an exemplary education that develops critical thinking and problem solving skills which inspire our students to challenge their minds and charge their spirits.
Principal's Corner
With Thanksgiving coming up, it's very important to reflect on what's important to us and what we are truly thankful for. We are so thankful here at Challenger for everyone's safety after Hurricane Ian. Our community may have been hit hard, but we will return as strong as ever. Our Challenger family is extra thankful that we have been able to come back to school safely so that we can not only continue to learn, but love on each other as well!
The return to school had a great kick off with a celebration of Unity Day on Wednesday, October 19th, then Rock Your School on Friday, October 21st! We had such a blast welcoming so many smiling faces back into the building, and had even more fun celebrating with them. We thank all teachers, staff, students, and family members that have eased this transition of coming back to school, even in the midst of all the chaos.
Getting back into the swing of things, Quarter 1 has officially finished, and report cards should be available to view Tuesday, November 1st. We are slowly approaching the halfway point of Quarter 2, and interim reports will be posted on Wednesday, November 16th. If you see that your student is underperforming please feel free to call the school to schedule an appointment with his/her teachers before grades are due.
Please check our website frequently and follow us on Facebook. We encourage you to get involved through volunteering, SAC, or PTO. After the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, we are aware of our community needs, both physical and emotional. Challenger is here to meet whatever needs we can, please feel free to reach out, even if you just need a chat.
Kindly,
Stacia Winfree
Principal โ Challenger Middle
Connect with Lee
Free tutoring offered by the district with live educational experts.
Connect with Lee will be offered Monday - Thursday from 3:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Both Teachers and Students can access this resource via the Connect with Lee app on their Launchpad!
Every Day Counts!
Missing a day of school here and there may not seem like much, but absences add up!
When a student misses 2 days a month... they end up missing 20 days a year, and will have missed over 1 year of learning by the time they graduate.
For more information on our attendance policy, click here: https://chm.leeschools.net/our_school/attendance_policy
Interim Reports
Interim Reports will be posted on student FOCUS portal accounts Wednesday, November 16th. Please take time to review your students grades with them and reach out to their teachers if you have any questions.
Picture Retakes ๐ธ
Yearbook picture retakes will be Wednesday, November 2nd.
You can purchase easily online by going to mylifetouch.com and entering our school code: EVTTNPQZ8
Yearbook
To purchase a yearbook please visit: ybpay.lifetouch.com and enter our school code: 14294623
Upcoming Events...
๐ฃ Pep Rally ๐
CHMS Fall Movie Night
Please join us for our very first movie night of the year on Thursday, November 17th!
Our very first movie night of the year will feature The Goonies!
Tickets are $5 and include a bag of popcorn.
Tickets can be purchased in front of Mrs. Wilke's room (1-121) November 7th-14th.
Students must have BOTH permission slips signed and turned in with money to purchase a ticket.
For questions or to get the permission slips, please see Mrs. Wilke in Room 1-121.
IN ORDER FOR ANY STUDENT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLUB OR AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITY, THEY WILL NEED THIS FORM FILLED OUT AND SIGNED BY A PARENT/GUARDIAN.
Jr. Thespian Club
Drama Lock-In will be held on Friday Nov 4th from 4-9pm.
Please see Mrs. Leonard for more information! Please see pictures below from last yearโs drama lock-in!
Jr Thespian Individual Event competition will be held at the Village School of Naples on Nov 12th! Good luck to all our Jr Thespian theatre students competing!
Book Battle
We will continue to meet every other Thursday until the competition in May.
Students read all Sunshine State books and create questions based on the texts.
All middle schools in the county will participate in a quiz style competition comprised of the questions created by the students.
First, Second, and Third places all win visa gift cards.
Chess Club
Join us starting October 21st, every Friday from 8:00 am - 9:15 am.
Location: Room 242
No chess experience required, come join to learn the game or expand your skills!
All students will need a permission slip to attend.
Email Mr. Herrera with any questions: orlandodh@leeschools.net
Designs and Dreams
Please welcome us in congratulating the following students on having their art work approved and exhibited at the โDesigns and Dreamsโ Art Show which recently opened on September 20 and will run through July 2023!
The show is located at the Lee County Public Education Building on Colonial Avenue in Ft. Myers.
Lexy Rowley- Pencil Drawing Self-Portrait
Sheila Munguia- Pencil Drawing Self-Portrait
Zophia Rivera- Pencil Drawing Self-Portrait
Lidia Agostinelli- Pencil Drawing Self-Portrait
Luciana Prats- Pencil Drawing Self-Portrait
Amara Plancher- Pencil Drawing Self-Portrait
Ezmeralda Lopez- Watercolor Farm Scenes
This is the largest student Art Show in the United States.
There are over 600 pieces from Lee County Students from Kindergarten to 12th grade!!!
Now Introducing...
The CHMS Pep Band
Our home basketball games this year have been taken to another level with the help of our school's new pep band! The energy and positivity can be felt throughout both the girls and boys games. Our pep band, led by Mr. Devlin, has added an amazing amount of school spirit to our games. We are so excited about utilizing this new class and afterschool activity at all future home games for every sport, and possibly other school activities!!
Huge shoutout to both the students playing in our pep band, and both Mr. Devlin & Mr. Devitt for doing such a wonderful job of teaching them.
The CHMS Dance Team
Huge shoutout to all the students involved in our dance team, and Ms. Leonard for dedicating her time to making it happen. We hope to see you soon at a home game so you can cheer along with these girls!
Cross Country ๐
We are going to have REGIONAL races Thursday, November 3rd, and a County Championship Race on Friday, November 18th.
The REGIONAL meets will act as qualifiers for our CHAMPIONSHIP meet.
The CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT will have individual awards for the TOP 20 and awards to the Champion and Runner-Up teams in the Girls and Boys events.
Volleyball ๐
Due to Hurricane Ian, some of our sports are still being rescheduled. As of right now, volleyball is still being rescheduled and we haven't received any updates yet. Once we get news from the district, it will be communicated right away.
Basketball ๐
Basketball will be continuing with their playoff season, starting Thursday, November 3rd. Challenger will be playing either Fort Myers or Oasis Charter 11/3 at Challenger Middle School starting at 5:45 pm.
Both Coach Herrera and Coach Wilke wanted to say a huge thank you and congratulations to the boy's and girl's basketball team! We are so proud of all the hard work and effort that they all put in. Both the Challenger Girls and Boys basketball team continued to work hard and make improvements during their 2022 season.
Coach Herrera and I are very proud of their growth and are looking forward to a strong finish!
-Coach Wilke
BOTH OF THE FORMS LINKED BELOW NEED TO BE COMPLETED IN ORDER FOR STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY SPORT.
Ms. Spero's class working hard and having fun creating their own open ended research questions.
Students in Ms. Yelvington's class doing some team building activities while trying to build a tower with index cards.
Ms. Sierocinski's class working in pairs to complete a text features scavenger hunt hidden all over the classroom!!
Some quality bonding time with the class bearded dragon - Albert Einstein - taking place in Ms. Rodeghero's class! He's very helpful with classwork.
Mrs. Wilke's class working in groups using nonfiction books to answer questions about text features placed around the classroom!
On Fridays in Ms. Sierocinski's class, students take turns to present on anything they feel passionate about. In this picture, a student is defending her stance on which My Little Pony is pictured on the slide.
History Fair is coming!!!
Unity Day ๐งก
On Wednesday, October 19th, Challenger celebrated Unity Day, which is an Anti-Bullying Campaign that is held NATIONWIDE on the third Wednesday in October each year. As a school we decorate, make posters, and wear ORANGE for the occasion. It also happened to be our first day back at school, so we were able to celebrate unity all together.
๐๏ธ Rock Your School! ๐ธ
Mrs. Wilke's glow themed room for Rock Your School! Students had a day filled with music and engaging games.
Ms. Firrincieli's class making "Rockin" Road ice cream in class to celebrate Rock Your School day!
Mr. Mac teaching History through the use of music by walking students through "We didn't start the fire" by Billy Joel.
The creation of the Rocky Road ice cream in our 6th grade Science classes!
Our lovely paraprofessionals, Ms. Wirth and Ms. Simon rocking out in Ms. Soto's classroom!
Both Ms. S and Mrs. Wilke's class coming together to have a fun karaoke party to celebrate!
Our 8th-grade team celebrating Rock Your School with their grade-level t-shirts themed after Bon Jovi!
Red Ribbon Week โค๏ธ
On Friday, October 28th and Monday, October 31st we supported Red Ribbon Week. On Friday we dressed as Country vs. Country Club. Then on Monday we dressed up for Decade Day!
Class Pet of the Month
Pickles the Rabbit
Pickles is a very sweet, calming, and fluffy presence in Ms. Hinton's classroom. She helps everyday by calming students down and comforting them while they do their classwork and activities. The students love to have her around and she makes everyone happy.
October Bus Driver of the Month!
Our October Bus Driver of the Month was Pedro Rodriguez from bus 1565! He continues to be a part of the charger family, and helps students getting on and off the bus with their heavy instruments every single day.
New Teacher Shout Out, Mrs. Yelvington!
Mrs. Yelvington is new to Challenger, but not new to teaching. She has been teaching for 30 years, nine years in LaBelle and the other 21 in Lee County. For fun, Mrs. Yelvington enjoys riding horses and spending time with her family. She's a mother to 3 children, and has several animals on her farm! For instance, she has 4 horses, 2 sheep, 4 dogs, and 5 cats!!!
We are so excited and blessed to have such an amazing and experienced teacher like Mrs. Yelvington at Challenger.
November Bus Driver of the Month!
Our November Bus Driver of the Month is Donna Foster from bus 2842! We are very grateful that she is part of the Challenger family!
PTO/SAC
PTO will start at 5:30pm and run until 6:00pm.
SAC will then begin at 6:00pm and go until 6:30pm.
All PTO/SAC Meetings will be held in person at Challenger Middle School in the Media Center.
Who am I?
Below you will find a riddle that hints at a staff member at Challenger Middle School. Reading the clues, take your best guess as to who the riddle is about, and submit your answer using the Google Form below!
Whoever guesses correctly will receive kudos from Mrs. Wilke!
The winners will be chosen and announced on November 28th, 2022!
Important Dates
Below are a list of dates for when both interims and report cards will be available to both students and parents. ๐
1st Quarter
Interim โ Sept. 12th
Report Card โ Nov. 1st
2nd Quarter
Interim โ Nov. 16th
Report Card โ Jan. 13th
3rd Quarter
Interim โ Feb. 9th
Report Card โ March 22nd
4th Quarter
Interim โ April 27th
Report Card โ June 12th
Out of Field Teachers
Mariel Orengo
Todd Maurer
Challenger Middle School
Email: staciaaw@leeschools.net
Website: https://chm.leeschools.net/
Location: 624 Trafalgar Pkwy, Cape Coral, FL, USA
Phone: (239) 242-4341
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChallengerMS
Twitter: @ChallengerLCSD
Lee County School Board
Debbie Jordan, District 4 (Chair)
Mary Fischer, District 1 (Vice Chair)
Melisa W. Giovannelli, District 2
Chris N. Patricca, District 3
Gwynetta S. Gittens, District 5
Betsy Vaughn, District 6
Cathleen O'Daniel Morgan, District 7
Kathy Dupuy-Bruno, Esq., Board Attorney
Dr. Christopher Bernier
Superintendent