Kodiak Family Update
10/25/21 - 10/29/21
Our Mission: Partners in Learning, Preparing for the Future
In this Update
- From the Principal
- Social-Emotional Learning at VMS
- Upcoming Events
- Parent/Teacher Phone Conferences
- Be Prepared to Learn Everyday
- No Outside Food Deliveries Accepted
- Monitor for Symptoms
- The Amazing Adolescent Brain
- Mayor's Youth Advisory Council
- Scripps National Spelling Bee
- Tech Girlz
- Fuel up to Play 60
- PTSO
- October Athletes of the Month
- Kodiak Coaches’ Den
- Important Links
From the Principal
Kodiak Family,
Thank you for a wonderful parent/teacher conference over the last day and a half. I know staff appreciated having time to connect with parents! Thank you for the continued partnership in learning!
Per the middle school parent/student handbook, we do not allow costumes on Halloween due to the disruption they tend to cause. Students are welcome to wear school appropriate Halloween themed clothing as long as it does not cause a disruption to the learning environment.
With the cooler weather students should bring a warm coat, as we do go outside everyday during lunches. Additionally, please remind your student to bring a water bottle, student ID, and fully charged laptop.
Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
Go Kodiaks!
Partners in learning,
Will Schumaker, Principal
October Staff Member of the Month!
November Upcoming Dates
01 - Girls BB @LHMS
01 - 6th grade band "Informance", 6:30 pm at VMS
02 - Election Day
02 - PTSO Meeting, library at 6 pm
02 - 6th-8th grade orchestra concert, 7 pm at MVHS
03 - Wrestling vs. HMS
03 - Girls BB at HMS
04 - Girls BB vs. MMS
04 - Wrestling at MMS
08 - Girls BB at SMS
08 - Wrestling vs. SMS
09 - 7th/8th grade Band Concert at MVHS, 7 pm
10 - Girls BB at EMS
10 - Wrestling vs. EMS
15 - Girls BB vs. LSMS
15 - Wrestling at LSMS
17 - Girls BB vs. STMS
17 - Wrestling at STMS
18 - Panda Express Lunch Day
18 - 6th - 8th grade Choir Concert, 7 pm
19- Donut sales during lunches
19 - Late work DEADLINE
20~27 - Thanksgiving Break, NO SCHOOL/NO WORK
Be Prepared to Learn Everyday!
- A warm coat
- Charged Laptop in a protective case
- Water bottle
- Student ID on a school appropriate lanyard
No Outside Food Deliveries Accepted
Per page 10 of the middle school parent/student handbook flowers/plants, balloons, food, or other gift deliveries to students will not be accepted due to student allergies, storage, disruption to the school day, etc.
Please Monitor for Symptoms
Please monitor for the following symptoms:
- Fever of 100.4 or higher
- Loss of smell or taste
- Chills
- New or unusual headache
- Nausea/vomiting/diarrhea
- Cough
- Muscle aches
- Sore throat
- Shortness of breath
- Fatigue
- Congestion/runny nose.
If your child has any of these symptoms, contact your healthcare provider for further guidance, and inform school attendance. Guidelines may change based on Central District Health community transmission category designation. Current category designations can be located here.
The Amazing Adolescent Brain
Some of the most exciting new discoveries in neuroscience focus on adolescent brain development. Researchers have learned that the adolescent brain is far from completed. Many of the most important finishing touches in brain development occur during the second decade of life. Adolescence is a window of opportunity for developing a better, smarter, faster brain. It is the time when the brain becomes more efficient and develops more advanced skills. But it can also be a time of missed opportunities and vulnerabilities if a teen does not challenge her/his brain or exposes the brain to neurotoxins, such as alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. Similar to what happens in early childhood, adolescent brain development is a period of ‘use it or lose it’.
Brain connections that are stimulated and used repeatedly grow stronger while unused connections wither away. How teens spend their time – their activities and experiences – influences both the organization and also the capacity of the brain. This article reviews some of the latest research and describes how we can help teens engage in activities that will lead to healthy, strong, and well-developed brains. For the complete article, click on this link.
Mayor's Youth Advisory Council
MYAC has 3 focus areas for students: Leadership Development, Government Affairs, & Community Service. As well, there are also opportunities to be a part of our Executive Council, please keep an eye out for when elections are held every year.
Scripps National Spelling Bee
Hello Kodiak families! If your child is interested in competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, there will be an informational meeting for students on Monday, October 18th at 3:15 in the library. Our preliminary rounds will be held at school. The Southwest Idaho Regional Spelling Bee will take place in February. Please read the document included in the link for more information.
Tech Girlz
Fuel up to Play 60
Our School is a Fuel Up to Play 60 School! Health and wellness is a part of our culture at VMS where students and families learn the value of eating nutritious foods and getting 60 minutes of physical activity every day. Research shows this helps students to perform better in school and to help them feel great in every aspect of their lives. To learn more about the program you can visit www.FuelUpToPlay60.com.
Be on the lookout for some fun FUTP60 activities available to participate in this school year where you can get more physically fit, eat better and win some awesome prizes! Here are a few events that the FUTP60 student team has already begun planning:
- Before School/Lunch break sporting equipment to check out with your ID card (All school year)
- Mileage Club Kick Off– (Late September) All students that earn 25 miles will get to go on a field trip! All students that earn 50 miles are entered to win $100 gift card for new shoes!
- Advisory Competitions (throughout the school year)
- Minute To Win It Activities at Assemblies (Every School Wide Assembly)
- National Hoop Shoot Contest (December) Winners advance to Regional, State and National Championships
- Super Bowl Challenge (February)
- FUTP60 Nation Wide Challenge (March)
- Fastest Kid in School Competition (May)
- Mileage Club 10 mile Celebration and 25 mile Field Trip (Last year we went to Defy Trampoline Park!)
- And many, many more activities and challenges throughout the year!
Join PTSO!
Parents, Teachers, Students...working together!
Victory Middle School PTSO is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the educational needs of students and faculty at Victory Middle School.
We help plan and fund educational incentive programs, support classroom learning through funding of additional classroom supplies, offer help with staff continuing education, provide forums for information to staff and parents, and much more.
October Athletes of the Month
Bree Cardon
Kristian Westergard
Sadie Wells
Kodiak Coaches Corner
Congratulations goes to the JV Boys and Girls Cross Country teams as both took 1st place in the district meet at Kleiner Park. Coach Moxham and crew has another great season. Thanks for all your hard work Kodiaks, you represented our school well! As a reminder, we need to get all uniforms back from our athletes. Fine cards will be going out here soon, please make sure to get those turned in to one of the coaches.
Football is playing their last game of the year against Eagle. The game is schedule for October 12th and we are in need of some help. If you can VOLUNTEER please use this link to help out our coaches.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4CA5AC2BA5FBC07-victory1
Finally, a reminder that Girls Basketball and Wrestling start this next week. Please check out our website if you have any questions. Girls try-outs will be on Monday, October 11th. Wrestling will begin on Thursday, October 14th. We are excited to see what this new season brings for our Victory athletes.
As always, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns! Go Kodiaks!!
About Victory Middle School
Established: 2016
Email: schumaker.william@westada.org
Website: www.westada.org/vms
Location: 920 West Kodiak Drive, Meridian, ID, USA
Phone: (208) 350-4443
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VictoryMiddle/
Twitter: @VictoryMiddle