Klipper News
Klinger Middle School Spring 2016 Newsletter
Spring Events
April 1 - School Dance 6:30 - 9 PM
April 4 - PTO Meeting 7:15 PM
April 4 – April 19: PTO Spring Plant Sale
April 7: Reading Olympics - Unami Middle School
April 8: Early Dismissal EDK – 12, No PM Kindergarten
April 11 – April 29: PSSA Testing
April 26: All Schools Closed – In-service Day
May 2: PTO Meeting 7:15
May 6 : PTO Spring Plants Delivered
MAY 19: Spring Concert
May 24: Klinger vs Log Girls Soccer at WTHS 7PM
May 25: 5th Grade Parent Orientation 7PM
May 26: Klinger vs Log Baseball / Softball at WTHS
May 30: Memorial Day, No School
Klinger Spring News & Notes 2016
Klinger Middle School
1415 Second Street Pike
Southampton, PA 18966
Tel.215.364.5950
Office Ext. 13012
Fax 215.364.5955
Mr. Travis Bloom
Principal
Mr. James Ford
Assistant Principal
Did You Miss Something?
Principal's Press
Parents and Guardians,
Unlike the previous year, we were fortunate to experience a very mild winter. The weather is already warming up, as it feels like late Spring. When we think about Spring, many things come to mind as it pertains to middle school education and middle school students. The 2015-2016 school year is quickly flying by. We are looking forward to warm weather, Spring Sports, and finishing up a great school year!
With the transition to Spring also comes the first thoughts of transitioning to a new grade-level. For our 8th grade students, they have already taken the important first steps to becoming a William Tennent High School student. They have chosen courses for next school year and will be visiting the high school in the near future. Our current 6th and 7th-grade students have also selected the courses that they would like to take for the upcoming school year. We are extremely excited to add honors level classes to our 7th-grade curriculums..
The next area that comes to mind when we think of Spring are the PSSA Exams. Students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade will take the ELA (English, Language Arts) PSSA from 4/11/16-4/16/16. Students in all three grades will then take the Math PSSA from 4/19/16-4/21/16. The 8th-grade students will also take the Science PSSA’s from 4/27/15-4/28/16. These exams provide our students an opportunity to shine based off of all the learning that they have experienced throughout the year. Students are highly encouraged to get a good night's rest, eat a healthy breakfast, and do their best when it comes to taking the exams.
We have a few exciting fundraising opportunities coming up to help support your students here at Klinger. The Klinger PTO will be sponsoring a spring flower sale. Please look for the upcoming information on our website. We have recently started using an online ordering system for our Klinger Spirit-Wear. We concluded our first online sale on March 22nd but please look for future sales as we will continue to update the clothing we offer. We also will continue to sell clothing through the traditional paper order form. These can be found in the lower office. Klinger PTO will also be sponsoring a school dance on Friday, April 1st, from 6:30-9:00.
One last area that I would like to stress as we proceed into the warmer months of spring is the student dress code. Please click on Student Handbook and you will be directed to our online Student Handbook. I ask that you specifically review pages 7-8 that address our school dress code. We strive to maintain a safe and positive learning environment for all students and staff and appropriate attire is a major part of this.
Finally, as we near the end of the third marking period and progress into the final marking period, I would encourage you to continue to have conversations with your students about their grades and academic progress. By accessing Skyward, having daily conversations about grades, and talking about classroom assignments keeps everyone on the same page as it pertains to student progress. If you have questions about grades I encourage you to reach out to your student’s teachers and guidance counselors for clarification. I look forward to a great end of the year and thank you for all that you do as parents to help your students succeed at Klinger Middle School.
Mr. Bloom
@Klinger_MS
Klinger Middle School Information
Email: runido@centennialsd.org
Website: http://www.centennialsd.org/Domain/243
Location: 1415 2nd Street Pike, Southampton, PA, United States
Phone: 215-364-5950 13012
Facebook: facebook.com/csdinfo
Twitter: @Klinger_MS
Hershey Technology Field Trip
Klinger Middle School once again had a number of students invited to participate in the 2016 Pennsylvania Educational Technology Exposition and Conference (PETE & C) in Hershey on Tuesday February 23rd. PETE & C is a statewide conference that takes place annually.
Mrs. Rubin's And Mrs. London's classes presented their multi-tiered Africa project.
Mr. Marchetti’s students began exploring the world of coding and were introduced to Scratch. They spent hours creating authentic animations and video games. The students learned the drag and drop concept of coding and have used logic and higher order thinking skills to develop amazing products. The students from Mr. Marchetti's class were also represented.
Finally the KTV news crew presented information about our TV studio. They explained to conference attendees from across the state how KTV is used for morning announcements, alternative assessments, spelling and geography bees and so much more. The students from KTV were Avamarie Backich, Dante Sharp, Krystal Cirillo, Nick Sturgis, Alan Schwartz, Ryan Hall, Olivia Cremonese, Jaymi Torjman, Taylor Weidman, Juilana Cave, Jake Cremonese, Evan Scally and Nina Lombardi.
Our students were outstanding and impressed the people that stopped at their booth.
Klinger Spelling Bee
Congratulations to Laura Orland who won the 2016 Annual Klinger Spelling Bee. Laura will go on to represent Klinger Middle School at the Bucks County Finals on March 12th.
The spelling bee was broadcast on KTV to allow students to stay in their classroom and participate. Also a Big Thank You to Staci Kincus, Melissa Sikora and Laura Brannen who were our host and judges for the event.
Good Luck Laura as you represent Klinger!
Counselors' Corner
KEEPING INFORMED WITH SOCIAL MEDIA
Here is some advice to get you started on educating yourself and your children on how to use social media safely:
1. Teach your child about respect. Respecting themselves and respecting others. If you stop them from being on Twitter or Facebook they’ll just move to WhatsApp or Instagram or SnapChat or Google+ or … you get the point. Give them the skills to make good decisions first and foremost.
2. Don’t use social media to humiliate your child. It may be a temporary fix to get your child to stop making poor decisions but the potential long term ramifications definitely outweigh the short term.
3. Teach your child that whatever they put online is permanent (this includes texting!) Private is not always private. The photo they post online is not owned by them anymore. It’s owned by Facebook, Instagram, and Google, etc… and they can do what they want with it (so can that bully who happens to be a friend of a friend on Facebook which gives them access to certain photos your child posts).
4. Some day your kids may apply to a high school or college or submit a resume for their dream job and I can assure you they will most likely be researched online. Ask yourself, what will their impression of my child be when their done? Therefore, teach them to also share their accomplishments like academic awards, sports awards, volunteering, community events, school club activities etc. online when they are involved in them.
5. Lead by example. Practice what you preach if you want them to navigate their digital life safely.
6. Explain to your child that communicating verbally is completely different than communicating online. If you happen to say something verbally that you later regret you can fix this over time. If you happen to post something online that you later regret that content may never disappear and you may never be able to fix it.
7. Tell your child to never take seductive photos and text them to his/her “boyfriend” or “girlfriend”. It’s incredibly risky and foolish because at some point his/her boyfriend/girlfriend probably won’t be the only person to see those photos. ‘Sexting’ should be a subject discussed before any smartphone is purchased. All this applies to pictures of under-age drinking, doing drugs, or any other illegal activity!
Take a look at these examples:
A student at West Rowan High School in Mt. Ulla was arrested and suspended from school earlier this week for posting a fully nude photo of a local 15-year-old high school…The victim’s photo had originally been sent to her boyfriend in confidence, but leaked to this boy, which then made it available on Instagram… CBS News
Authorities say this trio opened several accounts on Instagram, and before those accounts were shut down, they had posted more than 50 photos of nude and partially clothed girls on social media for all the world to see…concerned about the photos they had come across. Police say the victims in the case willfully took the pictures, but did not know they were being used for this purpose. My Fox DC
8. Be present and aware of what your children are doing online. Don’t give your tween a laptop/iPad/iPod and let them go to their room for the night if you don’t plan on keeping an eye on them. Know what apps they have. Know their password to these devices. You have to find a balance between trusting your child and parenting. If you don’t give them some space they’ll never learn to make good decisions (even if that means making a mistake here and there) and if you’re completely oblivious to their online activities you’re making it far too easy for them to potentially make an unrepairable mistake.
9. Teach your child not to interact/follow people they don’t know in person (exceptions: sports stars, celebrities, etc. who are positive role models). Take a close look at this video below as to why they shouldn’t meet people online.
10. Review the privacy settings of each app with your child. You’ll probably want to make sure that they’re not sharing their current location. Watch this video to see why.
11. Start this journey into social media by making your teenager responsible for their hardware as well. Paying for their own smartphone and monthly bill will quickly teach a teen responsibility and accountability. No work, no money, no phone. It’s how the real world works. [As a parent, I have a $10 pay-as-you-go phone as a back-up in case a teenager hasn’t pay a bill.] Too young to work? Then it’s the parents’ device and all time-limits, usage rules, passwords are completely dictated by the parent (contributed by Dorein Morin-van Dam)
12. Make sure your child knows to come to you with a problem right when it occurs, so you can help fix it. Things can get out of hand quickly online, as pictures, texts and posts can go viral within hours! Whether something is happening on their accounts, or on a friends’ account they need to know to report it to you. Let them know coming to you is their only option and that you will always listen.
13. Trust goes as far as they trust their friends! ‘Private’ or “Protected’ accounts give teens a false sense of security, since those ‘trusted friends’ might post pictures of you, tag you, or leave accounts open and accessible to parents or worse, peers. This is where ‘Don’t say ANYTHING you wouldn’t say out loud’ applies most!
For more information, please see: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/16-apps-and-websites-kids-are-heading-to-after-facebook#WhatsApp
6B Read Across America
MINI THON 2016
MINI THON 2016
MINI THON 2016
Mini THON 2016
On March 4, 160 students laced up their dancing shoes to dance and play games to fight pediatric cancer. The event was organized by Klinger Service Club, run by Mrs. Tsarfati, and the Student Council, run by Mrs. Wiegand, planned and ran the games. The fifth annual Klinger mini-THON raised $4391.00– all of which will be donated to the Four Diamonds Charity!! Many thanks to all who participated and all of our sponsors:
· The Klinger faculty and staff –set up, supervision and clean up
· Go Cheer Gear and Flip n Shakes - donated t-shirts to all participants
· Kiwanis Club – donated snacks and water for all participants
· Klinger PTO – donated prizes
The students who raised the most money for the mini-THON were Ryan Hall, Inna Zhurbich Liz DiPrinzio and Juliana Cave. Congratulations to all who danced and supported the fight against pediatric cancer!
We Recommend SEEDFOLKS.
Mrs. Brannen’s Academic Literacy class recently read a thought-provoking novel called Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman. One of the themes present in this story is a popular one: even a small, seemingly insignificant person can make a big difference. It begins with a young, grieving girl named Kim, who plants a row of lima beans in a rundown vacant lot. Her goal was to get the attention of her deceased father, a farmer, who died before she was born. Certain that these humble seeds would cause him to take notice of her from the afterlife, she is determined to make them grow.
Despite the odds, the little plants survive, and the young daughter’s efforts inspire others to plant and care for a variety of vegetables and flowers. Soon it is evident that new life has been infused into the tired neighborhood, as both plants and multicultural friendships grow. When this hopeful young girl left her apartment carrying a trowel and a plastic bag of beans, she had no idea that she’d be growing so much more than a row of limas.
6A News
It’s unbelievable how fast the 3rd marking is moving along. In the 3rd marking period we have spent time looking at measures of central tendency in math. These include mean, median, and mode. We have also investigate outliers and the effect they have on those measures, such as a low or high test score. This marking period we have also looked at different ways to display data. Some of the displays we have looked at were, frequency tables, line plots, stem and leaf plots, histograms and lastly box and whisker plots. Many of the students have been consistent in completing their homework and it’s important to continue to do this as we enter the 4th marking period.
The sixth grade science classes have started studying space science and just wrapped up the first unit! We are starting to study the solar system in more depth and classes will be completing a STEM lab where they create a model of the sun! We will end the year exploring the relationship between the Earth, moon and sun and explore space technology. As a culminating project, classes will complete a lab where they design a lander to protect a rover (raw egg) during landing! More details to come at the end of May!
In Language Arts, we just finished up a unit on verbs. The students are practicing responding to writing prompts with including textual evidence and textual analysis. Next, we will identify and analyze persuasive techniques and end the unit with a poster project. Finally, we will end the marking period by starting to read a novel Surviving the Applewhite’s.
In Ms. Laverty’s reading class, students have been reading the book Rain Reign and searching for the signposts mentioned in the book Notice and Note by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst. We have also been completing critical thinking and close reading questions about a story and a poem about the Joplin Tornado. Students continue to mark texts and to practice citing specific text evidence to support their responses.
In social studies students are investigating the Greece Culture. This was the first democracy and students are learning how much they have influenced our lives today. After the Spring Break we will be starting Roman Culture.
Principal's 200 Club
We Got Caught...
School-Wide Positive Behavior
Respectful
Responsible
Reliable
Safe
Look Who Got Caught!
Since the start of this school year 576 students have been able to answer yes with a smile to that question.
Klinger Middle School students want to say yes (as long as it is inside the walls of Klinger J).
We have turned being caught into a positive thing.
The School-Wide Positive Behavior Intervention & Support Program (SWPBIS) is putting smiles on the faces of students and faculty at Klinger. Students are working hard every day and being respectful, responsible, reliable and safe and the Klinger staff enjoy recognizing it.
From those 576 tickets we have had 40 students
receive a mystery motivator prize and the school year isn’t over yet.
We are happy to see that students continue to demonstrate positive behaviors and are being recognized for such in more ways than one.
Congratulations to all of the Klinger students that are demonstrating Klinger pride. Keep being respectful, responsible, reliable and safe and you could be the next one to get “caught”.
Science News
The sixth grade science classes have started studying space science and just wrapped up the first unit! We are starting to study the solar system in more depth and classes will be completing a STEM lab where they create a model of the sun! We will end the year exploring the relationship between the Earth, moon and sun and explore space technology. As a culminating project, classes will complete a lab where they design a lander to protect a rover (raw egg) during landing! More details to come at the end of May!
From 7th grade…
Bubbles! Fizzes! Smoke and fire!
Safety first is our desire
Chemistry! Equations! Smelly reactions!
Follow closely our science-y actions
We dazzle ourselves when we mix the potions
And fill our heads with brilliant notions.
As 7th Grade gets ready to learn about Newton’s Laws of Motion we are preparing for several cool experiments and activities. Some of the class favorites to look forward to this Spring include the Tug of War, H2O Rockets, Speed Traps and Catapults.
In eighth grade, students are diving into ecology- looking at how matter and energy flows through ecosystems, touring the world’s biomes and wetlands, and wrapping up with what we can do to make our ecosystems better! We will finish up the year with heredity, so get ready to talk about all those fun, unique things about yourself…hitchhiker thumb, widow’s peak, tongue rolling, and your earlobes to name a few…that you have passed on to your students!
National Geography Bee
On January 20, 2016, twelve finalists met in the library for the annual school-wide National Geography Bee. They were: Ben Childs, Jon Foster, Pat Corley, Eric Adamson, Tom Hellenbrand, Jagger Azvolinsky, Nick Cosenza, Halina Averell, Dominic Chillot, Alan Schwartz, Joseph Poiron, Cailen Cavanaugh and Johanna Peres. In order to reach the finals, these students had to compete in the preliminary competition of the geography bee in their Social Studies classrooms. The rigorous competition measures student knowledge of political divisions, major cities and capitals, climate regions, major landmarks, bodies of water, and other content related to the vast field of geography. The twelve finalists then had to answer another series of geography questions to determine the school winner. Eighth grader, Joe Poiron is our 2016 National Geography Bee Champion. Joe took the qualifying test for the State competition which we sent to Washington, D.C. We are very proud of all the participants and congratulations to Joe.
STEM News
Throughout the recent months, Klinger’s STEM classes have been learning about construction technology. Our students spent time learning about the various forces that act on and stress parts of a structure. Their knowledge of forces was applied to beam testing experiments. Many carefully planned designs resulted in formidable beams. Spanning a gap about 10” long, many beams supported over 2000 grams. When we tried to make beams out of concrete, our beams failed to hold 100 grams. We will be working with additives and reinforcements to increase the strength of our concrete beams. To culminate their exploration of construction technology, groups of students will form design teams to thoroughly design, calculate, construct, and test small scale tower models. Their towers will be tested by an earthquake simulation machine. The towers will have to fight off a compressive force of the weight placed on the top of their towers to simulate the load of a building.
It has been enjoyable to see our students apply what they learn in class to their projects. They will be studying research and design techniques to further their problem solving skills in the upcoming months. They have recently started working with 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design) software in preparation for their upcoming projects.
6B News
In 6B math we just finished up working with fractions and how to interpret graphs with given data. Moving forward we will be spending time on Geometric Concepts. We have been working hard on Open Ended questions in preparation for the PSSA in April. The students in the advanced math class just completed a unit on Measures of Central Tendencies. They explored box and whisker plots and line plots along with frequency tables. We also be exploring Geometric Concepts in the advanced class, with an emphasis on Surface Area and Volume. The 6B social studies classes have been studying the development and culture of ancient Greece. During this unit we will learn about mythology and the students will develop their own modern god/goddess. Recently the 6B students showed off their creative side by writing songs and making music videos about the ancient Egyptians. The students are noticing patterns among civilizations which is helping them to analyze, compare, and make connections between ancient and modern societies. The sixth grade science classes have started studying space science and just wrapped up the first unit! We are starting to study the solar system in more depth and classes will be completing a STEM lab where they create a model of the sun! We will end the year exploring the relationship between the Earth, moon and sun and explore space technology. As a culminating project, classes will complete a lab where they design a lander to protect a rover (raw egg) during landing! More details to come at the end of May! In Language Arts, we just finished our verbs grammar unit. We are currently practicing writing responses using text evidence and text analysis. Next, we will identify and analyze persuasive techniques and end the unit with a poster project. Finally, we will end the marking period by beginning Surviving the Applewhite's, a novel by Stephanie J. Tolan.
Family Consumer Science News (FCS)
There are many exciting things happen this year in FCS. Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS ) is an exploratory class that includes problem solving, hands on activities, technology, and cooperative learning techniques. This marking period we focused on personal development. 7th grade learned about friendship and bullying. 8th learned about personality and careers. 8th grade researched a variety of careers and put on a career fair for many of their peers. We are currently in our food and nutrition unit. 7th grade completed their first 2 labs which included French toast and brownies. We are currently working on My Plate and are beginning to discuss how to make healthy choices. 8th grade is currently working on the recipe conversions and the importance of breakfast. We are planning our first breakfast buffet. There are many more exciting thing to come this semester.
Calling all seamstresses and chefs: The following is a list of items we can use at Klinger throughout the year:
· Plastic cups
· Plastic wrap
· Aluminum
· Foil
· Wax paper
· Zip lock bags
· Tissues
· Hand soap
· Dish towels/towel
· Containers
· Irons
· Kitchen Utensils
· Small kitchen appliances
· Cookbooks
· Fashion and Cooking Magazine
· Old Sweaters
· T-shirts
· Old clothing
· Fabric scraps
· Buttons
· String
· Yarn
· Knitting Needles
· Thread
· Sequins
· Lace
· Sewing/Sewing Machine Needles
· Felt
Thank you
Family and Consumer Science
Future Business Leaders of America News
Klinger Middle School’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Club is participating in a nationwide stock market investment challenge. Students will compete against other FBLA members from across the United States to see who can earn the highest return on their investment portfolio by trading US Stocks, ETFs, and Mutual Funds. Students are given $500,000 in virtual money and the competition lasts from March 7th through April 29th. Top National winners will receive Amazon gift cards provided by the sponsor of the program, http://www.howthemarketworks.com. Who knows, maybe one of our KMS FBLA members will be managing your investment portfolio in the future?
A Capella Comes To Klinger Middle School!
As you may know, A Capella groups have become very popular in the last few years thanks to groups such as “Pentatonix”, and movies such as “Pitch Perfect.” A Capella is a style of music where musicians sing using no instrumental accompaniments, only their voices and their body. Some of these groups have such innovative ways of creating sound, you have to see them to believe they are instrument free!
Often at the end of class, students will go up to the piano and begin singing and creating beautiful harmonies completely on their own. Together we thought it would be really fun to somehow bring A Capella into Klinger. So, several of the chorus classes at Klinger Middle School have decided to create A Capella versions of their favorite songs. So far, students have chosen songs, and begun working on different ways to create sounds and harmonies. I am amazed at what they have come up with, and can’t wait to hear their finished products.