Liberty Middle School 1612 NE Garfield Camas, WA

March 2014 Volume 8, Issue 4 Liberty Middle School 1612 NE Garfield Camas, WA 98607 http://schools.camas.wednet.edu/liberty Tel: 833-5850 Attendance: 833-5852 Athletics: 833-5853 From our Principal... We recently completed "Challenge Week" during which we ask students to notice and act should they see students being unkind to each other. We're continuing with "28 Days of Kindness," challenging students to greet people they don't know, helping each other in class, picking up discarded items, etc. We know from our work with adolescents that tightly controlling students' behavior doesn't allow them to learn how to be good people. Instead, we share our high expectations for their behavior, let them know we know they are capable of meeting those expectations, and celebrate with them when they do. A large part of that process is changing students' reactions to bullying through modeling, listening and winning trust. Just telling our scholars to 'stand up' to bullying isn't good enough. That is akin to telling students to be good readers or safe drivers without providing instruction, guidance, coaching, and support, particularly for bystanders. While it is true that bullying behavior peaks in middle school, it's important to keep in mind that the vast majority of students don't bully and don't approve of bullying. People, young and old, want to do good and be helpful, and we all make mistakes that give us the opportunity to think for ourselves and problem-solve. Believe it or not, we're already planning for a seamless transition of our 8th graders to high school, which is what prompted this reflection about honoring them as they become the people they are meant to be. It's hard to let our scholars go, but we choose to believe that our faith in and love for them will serve them well on their path. Thank you for sharing them with us! Marilyn Boerke, Principal Marilyn Boerke Principal, Ext. 78175 Gary Moller Associate Principal, Ext. 78433 David White-Espin Dean of Students, Ext. 75741 Bob Foster Athletic Director, Ext. 78187 Annie Sumpter Administrative Asst, Ext 78123 Kris Cobleigh Fiscal Secretary, Ext. 78168 Gail Soohoo Registrar, Ext. 78047 Penny Harlan, Athletics & Activities Secretary, Ext 79919 Molly Ndoloum, RN, MSN Health Services, Ext. 75746 Jen Heredia Health Services, Ext. 78158 Emily Finch A-L Counselor, Ext. 78176 Billie Jo McEathron M-Z Counselor, Ext. 78128 Glenn Hartman Intervention Specialist, Ext. 78407 Kim Rich School Psychologist, Ext. 78167 ATTENDANCE Melissa McGuffin - 833-5852

Page 2 Liberty Middle School 1612 NE Garfield (360) 833-5850 Tuesday, 3/11 Lunches: PTO Friendship Flowers for Sale Spirit Shack Tuesday, 3/11 2:00 2:45 p.m.: 8 th Graders Complete CHS Forecasting Computer Labs Tuesday, 3/11 5:00 8:00 p.m.: March Madness Staff vs. Students Basketball Main Gym, Back Gym Wednesday, 3/12 Lunches: PTO Friendship Flowers for Sale Spirit Shack Thursday, 3/13 Lunches: PTO Friendship Flowers for Sale Spirit Shack Thursday, 3/13 7:00 p.m.: Poland Trip Cultural Night (White-Espin) - Library Friday, 3/14 Lunches: PTO Friendship Flowers for Sale Spirit Shack Friday, 3/14 End of Term 4, 2 nd Semester! Monday, 3/17 Term 5, 2 nd Semester Begins! Monday, 3/17 2:00 p.m.: PTO Friendship Flowers Delivered Advisory Classes Monday, 3/17 7:00 p.m.: Choir Concert Main Gym Tuesday, 3/18 8 a.m. 3 p.m.: Middle School Band Festival (8th Grade Band Only) Discovery Middle School Wednesday, 3/19 Staff Lunch (Irish Potato Bar) sponsored by PTO Staff Lounge Thursday, 3/20 8th Grade "History Alive!" Performance by Sheila Arnold (Time to be confirmed) Main Gym Thursday, 3/20 1:30 2:45 p.m.: PTO Board Meeting Conference Room #409 Friday, 3/21 8:00 a.m.: Hosoe, Japan Visitors Here Friday, 3/21 9:00 9:30 a.m.: Perk with Boerke Conference Room #409 Friday, 3/21 2:00 2:40 p.m.: Assembly for Japan Delegations Main Gym Monday, 3/24 8:00 a.m.: Hosoe, Japan Visitors Field Trip Tuesday, 3/25 8:30 a.m. 1:45 p.m..: 8th Grade Choir at Middle School Choral Festival CHS Tuesday, 3/25 10:00 a.m.: Hosoe, Japan Visitors Depart for PDX from Liberty Tuesday, 3/25 7:00 8:00 p.m.: Freshman Success Academy Parent Information Meeting CHS North Commons Wednesday, 3/26 2:00 2:45 p.m.: 8th Grade Academic Awards Assembly - Commons Thursday, 3/27 2:00 2:45 p.m.: 7th Grade Academic Awards Assembly Commons Thursday, 3/27 7:00 p.m.: Sister City Meeting (Boerke) Conference Room #409 Friday, 3/28 2:00 2:45 p.m.: 6th Grade Academic Awards Assembly - Commons SPRING BREAK! APRIL 7-11 Starting Monday, March 10th, friendship flowers (carnations) will be pre-sold during lunches outside inside the Spirit Shack. The sale will continue all week! For just $0.50 each, students can write a message of friendship to someone at Liberty and purchase a flower. The flowers will be delivered Monday, March 17th during the students' advisory hour. Parents are welcome to purchase flowers for students and staff as well! Liberty PTO sponsors this event as a way for the students to continue to build community, pride and respect at Liberty. If you are unable to stop by during the sale, feel free to contact our PTO representatives, Brenda Snell at mbsnell92@comcast.net or Tara Barnart at taralbarnhart@aol.com. This is a really positive event that the students look forward to! 2/$1 I'm so LUCKY you're my friend!

Liberty Middle School 1612 NE Garfield (360) 833-5850 Page 3 Liberty fielded 8 boys and girls basketball teams this season with about 103 kids competing. They played 80 games and recieved much need experience as well as had a lot of fun. Jamie Moore s 8 th grade girls team lost to Skyridge during the regular season on a last second shot and finished second with a record of 9-1. They played with purpose and intensity against Skyridge in District Tournament and won their 2 nd Championship in a row also on a last second score. Track starts on March 31. No activities or practices are planned for Spring Break so don t let the early start deter your student athlete from participating. We hope to have about 200 student athletes out. The District Track Meet will be held again this year at Doc Harris Stadium on May 29. Please make sure all of the necessary paperwork is in before the first practice. You can contact Mrs. Harlan in the athletic office at Liberty for more information and forms. Bob Foster Athletic Coordinator Liberty & Skyridge Middle Schools 360-833-5800 or 360-833-5850 Have you seen any ducks around school lately? This year we re getting a little quacky with our Hoops for Heart fundraiser for the American Heart Association. The American Heart Association is a non-profit organization in the United States that fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. We all know someone close in our lives who has been affected by stroke, heart disease, or a heart attack, and this fundraiser aims at finding a solution for those tragic issues. So please, get out there and collect donations to support the cause. Every person who raises $5 will get their first duck! Fundraiser ends March 11 th. Please see Mrs. Moore or Mr. Baranowski for details and get ready for March Madness! Tuesday, March 11 5:00 8:00 p.m. March Madness Staff vs. Students Basketball Main Gym, Back Gym

Liberty Middle School 1612 NE Garfield (360) 833-5850 Page 4 The Dean s List The Dean s List is about outstanding scholarship, so I want to recognize a group of seventh graders who are very responsible scholars, have excellent attendance and are terrific citizens here at Liberty Middle School. They are: Andrew Boyle, Avery Fairbrother, Cole Geenty, Aaron Greene, Bruce Miles, Haley Peterson, Robin Samson, Zachary Shafer, Megan Shellman, and Julia Watson. Look for another Dean s List next month. I will be on the lookout for outstanding students who are doing meaningful work, volunteering and making our school the best. Dean Espin, Dean of Students, Liberty Middle School Washington State World Educator David.WhiteEspin@camas.wednet.edu T: 360-833-5850 ext. 75741 First place, and winner of the "Popcorn Party" is Mrs. Cassady's Class with a total of 546 Box Tops! Fantastic! Together we Lions collected 5896 Box Tops! Way to go, Liberty Lions! Mr. Dangerfield's class turned in 475 Box Tops for 2nd place, and Mr. Brossia's class came in 3rd with a turn-in of 469.Honorable mentions go to Mrs. Macaya's, Mr. Hunter's, Ms. Hofer's, and Ms. Bryson's Classes which all turned in over 400 Box Tops! We also have 40 students who have earned "Box Tops Bucks for Book Fair"! Nice Job! This program is on-going, so keep sending in the bags of 50 Box Tops with your name and teacher's name on them.

Saturday Liberty's Science Olympiad team competed in their Regional Tournament in Longview, and barely edged out Skyridge for 3 rd place finish! Competition was tough, but their hard work paid off - way to go, team! 1st place winners: Branigan Kerls, Nathaniel Maszak (Solar System); Mark Kovalenko, Josh Randolph (Wheeled Vehicle); Alexis Howard, Hailei Polka (Write It, Do It) 2nd place: Alexis Howard, Hailei Polka (Can't Judge a Powder); Branigan Kerls, Zack Shafer, Shile Wen (Experimental Design); Zack Shafer, Nathaniel Maszak (Meteorology); Geovanni Reyes; Shile Wen (Metric Mastery); Josh Randolph, Nathaniel Maszak (Robo Cross) 3rd place: Alexis Howard, Grace Janku (Boomilever); Alexis Howard, Hailei Polka (Entomology); Branigan Kerls, Zack Shafer (Road Scholar); Mark Kovalenko, Tyler Toedtli (Rocks & Minerals); Alexis Howard, Hailei Polka (Rotor Egg Drop); Branigan Kerls, Josh Randolph (Sounds of Music) 4th place: Nathaniel Maszak, Josh Randolph (Crime Busters); Grace Janku, Charlotte Siroshton (Heredity); Tyler Toedtli (Water Quality) March 6, 2013 the Liberty Knowledge Bowl team took its 11th straight 1st place victory beating Pacific and Covington by over 62 points! Great job team! We love our KB Lions team!!!!!

Liberty Middle School 1612 NE Garfield (360) 833-5850 Page 6 FREE Winning teacher gets a LIBERTY LIONS t-shirt! * Ballot Box in Spirit Shack in Commons The Liberty School Decorator Volunteers are looking for old wooden picture frames to refinish for a rotating art display. If you have any old wooden 18 x 24 picture frames that you would like to donate, please bring them to the main office.

Page 7 Liberty Middle School 1612 NE Garfield (360) 833-5850 Here are some guidelines for keeping ILL students at home: Fever greater than 100.0 degrees Fahrenheit. Your student should be fever free for 24 hours (without medication such as Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen) before returning to school. Vomiting/Diarrhea students and staff should not return to school until 24 hours from the last episode of vomiting/diarrhea. Cough/Runny Nose/Sore Throat If there is no fever and the student feels well enough they can attend school. Cold viruses can last up to a few weeks. Students should only be kept home if their cold symptoms are making them unable to participate in class. Encourage a healthy diet, plenty of fluids, rest, and hand hygiene. Remember! It is not too late to get your annual flu vaccine. Flu vaccines can be obtained from your health care provider or local pharmacy. Questions for Molly Ndoloum, RN, MSN, Health Services, 833-5850 Ext. 75746

Page 8 Liberty Middle School 1612 NE Garfield (360) 833-5850 Track signups have started! Track practice begins on Monday, March 31 st @ 3 p.m. Girls will learn arm motions, jumps, cheers, chants, and beginning stunting. High school girls will also learn sideline dances and the CHS Fight Song. This class will be a fun introduction to cheer for middle school students. High school students will learn everything you need to know to try-out for CHS Cheerleading. Bring water, wear shorts and gym shoes. No prior cheer experience required. Grades 6 th - 11 th Monday - Thursday April 28 - May 1 Camas High School Gym 7:00-8:30 PM Fee: $75 (checks made payable to CCE) Coach: Brandy Reed For more information call Camas Community Ed at 360-833-5544 or go to camascommunityed.org. All paperwork is due by Wednesday, March 26 th Track is open to all 6 th, 7 th and 8 th grade students. Forms are available in the Athletic Office and also on our Liberty website. Requirements are: 1. Athletic and Medical Emergency Authorization Form 2. Current Physical (within the last 18 months) 3. Concussion Form 4. ASB card - $25.00 5. Participation Fee - $30.00 Information is on-line at the Liberty website. March 21st @ 9:00am The third Friday of every month at 9:00 a.m. Join us for coffee and conversation with Principal Marilyn Boerke. You ll get to hear about what s going on at Liberty plus you ll get the chance to ask questions, clear up any rumors, make suggestions, and more.

Page 9 Liberty Middle School 1612 NE Garfield (360) 833-5850 CHECKOUT: 2013-14 Liberty PTO Board Sloane Copa Melinda Sych Debbi Reaves Cheri Boteilho Kathi Hansen Cheri Boteilho Rachel Nissing Sarah George Tamra Sheline Nicole du Bois Brenda Snell Cheri Boteilho Nicole du Bois Karen Welinski Heidi McCallum Brenda Snell Marilyn Boerke Gary Moller Stephen Baranowski President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Co-Book Fair Co-Book Fair Fundraising Staff Appreciation Co Staff Appreciation Newsletter Web Manager Friendship Flowers Spirit Wear Volunteer Coord Box Tops March Madness Paw Party Principal Assc Principal ASB Leader GENERAL To help VOLUNTEERS please contact NEEDED! the Liberty Front Office or go to www.libertylionspto.com Liberty administrators will visit our incoming 6 th graders at their current elementary school to welcome them to Liberty on May 19, 2014. We ll be sharing information about our schedule, locker, and lunch, then responding to questions from the students. Helen Baller Elementary, 9:30-10:30 a.m. Woodburn Elementary, 1-1:50 p.m. Current 5 th graders will visit Liberty from 1:45-2:45 on the dates listed below. They will receive information and have the chance to ask questions of current Liberty students and be taken on a Welcome to Liberty tour. Helen Baller will visit May 27, and Woodburn will visit May 22. Informational meetings for incoming 6 th grade parents will be held on May 27 at 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. in Liberty s Commons. Topics will include our schedule, Skyward, and responses to questions. Parents & students are welcome to attend!

Page 10 Liberty Middle School 1612 NE Garfield (360) 833-5850 ORDER ONLINE at redwingapparel.net SHIP FREE TO SCHOOL! Spirit Wear is sold onsite in the "Spirit Shack" Located in the Commons OPEN 11:30-1:00 FRIDAYS GENTLY USED WHITE BATH TOWELS NEEDED! Liberty s Emergency Response Plan requires each classroom to have a bath-sized towel in their room in the event of a Hazardous Emission drill or situation to place tightly against the bottom of the hallway door. We would like to be consistent with using white towels in each classroom and are seeking donations prior to spending money on new towels to be used on the floor. If you have any gently used white bath towels to donate, please send them to the main office.

Page 11 Liberty Middle School 1612 NE Garfield (360) 833-5850 Dear Liberty Families, I am a 7 th grade student at Liberty Middle School and my name is Alison Strickland. I volunteer for an organization called Candlelighters. This organization is a Portland, OR non-profit that helps children with pediatric cancer by providing many different types of services to children with cancer in the Portland, Vancouver and Camas area. One of the important things they do is provide stuffed animals to kids with pediatric cancer through their Bedside Buddy Program. When a child enters the hospital they are given a stuffed animal Bedside Buddy on their bed to provide comfort when they are in treatment. This is to help keep them company through the long hours they spend in the hospital. Candlelighters gives over 100 of these toys to children every month. Candlelighters is a non-profit that depends on donations and gifts in order to supply these toys and sponsor events. For this reason, I asked my school to have a stuffed animal toy drive to benefit Candlelighters. I m asking Liberty Lion families and students to bring in a new stuffed animal, it has to be new because the kids we are giving it to have to be careful about germs and stuff, and donate to help these kids out! My goal is to reach 500-600 stuffed animals so we can supply half of year of toys to help kids with cancer in our area. The toy drive will begin on March 3rd and go through March 14th. At the end, the grade that donates the most will get a prize. The donation boxes will be in the math classrooms and the office and my family will pick up the donations and deliver them to Candlelighters on behalf of our entire school. A Stuffed Animal Donation can make a BIG Difference as a Bedside Buddy! If you have any questions you can email my mom at melinda.sych@gmail.com and she will help you. Thank you for all of your support! Please donate a stuffed animal to help kids with cancer! Thank you, Alison Strickland WISH LIST: Bedside Buddy- Any NEW medium size stuffed animal, beanie babies, Webkinz. TOY DRIVE for CANDLELIGHTERS for CHILDREN with CANCER

Page 12 Liberty Middle School 1612 NE Garfield (360) 833-5850 Dear Parents, Thank you for your generous support of Camas Educational Foundation s 12 th Annual Phone-a-thon. We had over 50 volunteers during three nights call almost 2,000 households in the Camas School District and surrounding areas. Those amazing students raised over $17,500 in pledged dollars to CEF! For those of you that pledged to our campaign, thank you for helping make Camas schools world class. These dollars will go directly into educational grants awarded to our innovative teachers and their students. If you agreed to send in your CEF mailer (received in the mail), please remember to do that soon. If you requested an invoice, we will send you that shortly. Even if you missed our call - or for those of you that we didn t have the honor of calling this year - it isn t too late to donate, please consider giving to our campaign. You have several options to support CEF: Use the CEF mailer sent to your mailbox earlier this week Send a check to CEF, 841 NE 22 nd Ave, Camas with a memo: PAT Donate online now at https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?wid=64455 CEF is so grateful to be part of such a giving, supportive community. Thank you for all that you do! Kind regards, Mandy Huth, CEF President