HOMER MIDDLE SCHOOL H u s k y H i g h l i g h t s MARCH 2013 http://homermiddleschool.blogs.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/wpmu/ (907)235-5700 / Fax 235-2513 2/28 Dr. Atwater 6:30 HMS Library to discuss new principal hiring process 3/2 XC Ski BOROS @ Kenai Time TBD Volleyball BORO Finals @ Soldotna 10 am 3/5 Music in The Schools Concert @ HHS Band Students only 3/8 End of Quarter 3/11 NO SCHOOL - 3/15 SPRING BREAK 3/18 Back to School A Reminder From Ms. Christianson, Our Band Teacher Tuesday, April 30 KPBSD Mass Band@ SOHI More information will be coming home with your band students regarding this event. The process for hiring a new Homer Middle School Administrator has begun. Dr. Atwater will meet with parents, staff, and community members to introduce the hiring process that will be used and to gather input on qualities that we are looking for in the next Homer Middle School Principal. The meeting will be held on Thursday, February 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the school Library. A "Selection of Site Administrator Audience Input" form will be available at the meeting or you may pick one up at the school office. These forms need to back to Dr. Atwater no later than Monday, March 4, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. 8 th Grade students register for High School classes! High School Registration on Power School will occur on MARCH 1, 2013 throughout the school day please anticipate conversations with your eighth grade student during this time! Feel free to call me if you have questions @ 235-5734 or lrourke@kpbsd.k12.ak.us If your student is home sick, please call the school to let us know, so that we can mark their absence excused. Your child can check their homework and assignments on Power School while they are home, if they feel well enough. Linda Rourke, Counselor School yearbooks are on Sale! Yearbook order forms are available at school now. Yearbooks are $25 make sure to get your order in! 1
Testing... Testing... Testing... APRIL 2 nd, 3 rd, 4 th & 9th By Linda Rourke, Counselor April 2, 3, 4 for all 7 th and 8 th Grade Students SBA Testing!!!! April 9 for all 8 th Grade Students Science SBA Testing!!!! It is extremely important that your student be in school during these test dates. During this time the teachers, students and classrooms are all in test mode - so, although make up tests are allowed, it is better to be here during testing time. Students who miss testing dates may need to miss classes to make up tests! There are some things you can do as parents to ensure the best performance possible from your student: 1) Make sure your student is getting enough sleep. Students in their early teens need 9 to 10 hours of sleep each night. 2) Prepare a healthy breakfast for your student. If your student isn't an early eater, send a snack breakfast to school and your student can eat it once they arrive here. 3) Make sure your student has a HEALTHY snack and WATER for testing NO candy or soda pop! 4) Discuss the tests and the importance of doing his or her best work on them with your student. If your child knows you support these tests it will help his or her attitude about them. Art Ann Margaret Wimmerstedt visited the art class of Ms. McKinstry to work with students designing and making Trading Cards. Thank you for your help in making our testing days a valuable use of school time! 2
MATH COUNTS! Homer Middle Math Counts Team Heading to Juneau By Kenny Cortez, 8 th Grade Student, Math Counts Team Member Last weekend Zane Boyer, Logan Harris, Douglas Dean, Denver Waclawski, Ben Kettle, and I went up to Anchorage for the annual Math Counts competition. Zane, Logan, Douglas and I were on the official team while Denver and Ben were official individuals. At first they announced first, second and third place overall. None of us placed in this round but we were more excited about seeing if we placed in the Team Round. First they announced 4 th place; it wasn t us. Then they were about to announce 3 rd place. We couldn t wait to see if it was us; if it was then we would get to go to Juneau! When they said Homer Middle we were ecstatic! We went up and got our trophies and had our photo taken. We sat through the rest of the placing so excited. That day we drove back to Homer very eager to go to the state competition. When we first got to the meet, we went into a large room with a bunch of other kids from 11 other schools. After we registered, the competition soon began. We each sat at different tables with kids from the other schools. The parents and coaches then had to leave the auditorium. The first round we did was the Sprint Round; it was 40 minutes long and consisted of 30 questions. After the round all the kids excitedly awaited the answers. After a short break, the Target Round, which is eight questions in groups of two, started. We were allowed to use calculators and had six minutes to complete each set of two. When the round was over, it was time for the Team Round. The official team all sat together and we got right to work. The round was designed so that no one person could finish all the questions, so we had to divide up the problems between the team. After 30 minutes of hard work, the round was over. We took a break for lunch which was pizza and nervously anticipated the results. After lunch it was time for the Countdown Round, which is where they take the 12 highest scoring people and have them compete two at a time until only one person is left. Homer s very own Douglas Dean competed in this round. Finally it was time to see the results; we sat at our table nervously. Math Counts Team, from back row: Douglas Dean, Zane Boyer, Kenny Cortez, Logan Harris Front Row: Denver Waclawski, Ben Kettle Zane Boyer, Kenny Cortez and Logan Harris with 7 th grade HMS Math teacher, Shoshannah Brasher Not pictured: Coach Sara Reinert 3
Homer Middle Hosts 2013 Boroughs Wrestling Tournament By 8 th Grade Student Ravi Cavasos Homer Middle school wrestlers and coaches hosted the 2013 boroughs wrestling tournament. Wrestlers from Soldotna, Kenai, Nikiski, Seward, and Chapman came to Homer to battle for the medals on Saturday February 23 rd. After eight weeks of training, the Homer wrestlers were ready to jump on the mat for boroughs. Homer had dominated most of the meets by crushing their opponents not with numbers, but by skill. When the boroughs tournament was over, a selection of wrestlers will be making their way to Fairbanks for the Annual Tanana State Wrestling Tournament. Wrestlers Ravi Cavasos, Jared Brant, Jaime Rios, Tristan Cook, and Teddy Croft will be representing Homer in Fairbanks. The results from boroughs were outstanding for Homer, with this year s wrestlers having the best Homer Middle School wrestling season ever. All 10 team members went home with a medal and well-earned victories. The results from boroughs were: Martin Welty 3 rd place, Jared Brant 1 st place, Teddy Croft 1 st place, Jaime Rios 1 st place, Ravi Cavasos 2 nd place, Owen Fell 4 th place, Timmy Woo 3 rd place, Tristan Cook 1 st place, Wyatt Lewis 3 rd place, and Andrew Doughty 1 st place. Coaches for the season were Daniel Rios and Larry Croft. Husky Wrestlers, back row from left: Timmy Woo, Ravi Cavasos, Andrew Doughty, Wyatt Lewis, Tristan Cook Front Row: Owen Fell, Teddy Croft, Jared Brant, Jaime Rios, Martin Welty 4
By Margi Blanding, Science and Health Teacher A special thanks to 2 recent guest educators in the 7 th grade Health classes. Bette Seaman, dietician from South Peninsula Hospital came in to share information about good nutrition. She focused on getting all the necessary phytonutrients by eating your colors and eating foods that your great grandmother would recognize. Students had fun deciphering some of the ingredients listed in some interesting food labels. Carrie Thurman, chef owner of Two Sisters Bakery came in to help the students bake nutritious bread, stir fry and spring rolls. Big thanks for all the great learning, great activities and delicious (and nutritious) foods! Guest Chef, Carrie Thurman Students get hands-on experience cooking, baking and tasting healthy food choices 5
In addition to learning about nutrition, students in Health classes also got basic CPR instruction from Samantha Cunningham, nationally certified Paramedic, and State of Alaska First Aid and CPR Instructor. 6
By 8 th Grade Student Uliana Reutov Volleyball season for the Huskies has been going great! The C, B and A team had matches on Tuesday February 19 th. This was the first and last match for the C team. The C team won the first game 25-10 and the second game 25-11. This was a great way to start and finish their season! The B team also won their match, 25-21 and 25-21. It was an exciting match! That also was the B team s last match. The A team unfortunately lost. The score for the first game was 11-25 and the score for the second game was 22-25. They all played great and hard. The A team played two matches on Friday February 22 against Seward and Soldotna Maroon. The Huskies won both matches and both matches were close. The girls had a match that following Saturday against Soldotna White. They lost but it was a very close match and they played very well. The Husky girls have a match on Tuesday, February 26 for the first round of Boroughs against Soldotna Maroon in the Husky gym. Coach Lisa Fellows said, We have the makings of a great team. If Homer wins the game against Soldotna Maroon, they will travel to Soldotna on Saturday and place in boroughs! 7
Nordic Skiing By 8 th Grade Student Desiree Cleary The Homer Middle School Huskies had a good start for their Nordic skiing season. Most of our skiers placed out of ten for all categories for the classic ski in Soldotna February 21. The skiing categories included 7 th grade boys, 7 th grade girls, 8 th grade boys, and 8 th grade girls. There were 15 second intervals between each participant, and the places were based on the time of each skier s race. A skier s place is not necessarily where they are compared to the other skiers. Boroughs for skiing are Saturday March 2, and will take place in Kenai. For this meet, skiers will be skiing both skate and classic races. There will be time between the two races to give the participants a break. The Huskies are training hard to beat the competing schools by learning new techniques and skiing fast. Ravelle Russell is the coach of the Husky Nordic Ski Team. 8
Information from: Alliance For A Healthier Generation http://healthiergeneration.org Unfortunately, less than 60 percent of adults are physically active on a regular basis. And 25 percent aren t active at all. Inactive people have a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. So, to build a family based on healthy habits, it s up to you to set the tone at home. How? Do something. Do anything. Do less nothing. There are countless ways that families can have fun and get physically active. And your kids 60 minutes of physical activity each day don t need to be completed all at once. Just help them get moderate and vigorous activity for 10 or 15 minutes several times throughout the day. De-Activate Your Screens TV Time-Out: Time spent watching TV, playing video games or surfing the Internet is time your kids could be using to stay physically active. Unglue Yourself: Your kids won t like cutting back on Screen Time if they see you as the family couch potato. The best way to influence their behavior is to set a good example. No Re-runs: Change things up to keep activity interesting. Try physical activities that offer variety such as shooting hoops, walking the dog, playing catch or riding bikes. Pre-Screening: Have your kids pick their favorite shows each week. Turn on the TV just for those shows, and then turn it off afterwards. That way, they won t end up watching whatever comes on next. Fit as a Family Walk the Walk: Eat dinner as a family, and then go for a walk together. Game of the Week: Spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon skating or playing touch football. Form a Team: Sign up for a family fun run, fun walk or car wash. Sign Up: Buy a family membership at the neighborhood recreation center, YMCA or health club. Lesson Up: Check your neighborhood park for free tennis or golf lessons, and sign up as a family. Tackle Chores: Do housework or yard work together. 9