Panther Press

Fall Edition 2013

Dear Parents and Guardians,

It has been a wonderful start to the new school year! The students have really enjoyed the newly added recess time and Tech Caf rewards. These activities have invigorated their spirit and added enthusiasm to their day. It is great to see them all enjoying their break time together. We hope they have conveyed the same sentiment at home when they share their accounts of the days events. The children have handled the transition into the new school year smoothly. They have been a motivation to us all with this great new beginning!

The Rachels Challenge Program was a success again this year! This has been Charles Town Middle Schools fifth year in running the program. Each year the students have the opportunity to take part in five challenges to enable them to change the culture at their school. 1. Dream Big and Believe in Yourself 2. Be Kind to Others 3. Practice Positive Gossip 4. Show Appreciation to Those You Love 5. Be the Answer. Our Guidance department has worked diligently in making these challenges come to life. They have established a Chain Link Club for each grade level, and are actively engaging the students therein to partake in Random Acts of Kindness club activities.

The first nine weeks have gone by quickly. The grading period ends Friday, October 25th. Report Cards will be issued Friday, November 1st. The week of October 28th marks the beginning of the second nine weeks and is also Red Ribbon Week. This years Red Ribbon Week Theme: A Healthy Me Is Drug Free! Our guidance department has planned events for Red Ribbon Week; the details are enclosed in this months newsletter. Our next parent - teacher conference is scheduled for November 5th from 6 8 PM. You may contact your childs teacher through LiveGrades to schedule a conference on that on date with. We hope your children enjoy their time spent here with us as much as we enjoy the time we spend with them. Most sincerely,

Mr. Timothy Sites Principal

Mrs. Ann Workman Assistant Principal

Mrs. D. Nichol Johnson Assistant Principal

The fall 2013 WV School Climate Survey for parents or caregivers is now available

Instructions for the Parent/Caregiver Survey

The online parent survey is available now through November 15, 2013. You may complete the survey from any computer with an internet connection. You are asked to complete an online survey about school climate the learning and teaching/working conditionsto help guide school improvement efforts. We value your feedback. The results of this survey will be used to make changes in your child's school to ensure a positive climate for teaching and learning.
When you log onto the survey you will see explanatory information about the survey and the important information below as to your rights as a survey participant: Your participation is voluntary. You may choose not to participate; not to answer any questions you do not want to answer; and you may stop participating at any time during the survey without penalty. Your responses will be anonymous and confidential.

You can fill out the parent survey online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/pascswv13f. To access the survey you will need to enter this login code: P037401.
Parent participation in the survey is very important. If you have questions about the survey or have problems completing the survey, please contact your child's school.

3047257821

First Nine weeks - 1st drawing10/4/13

Sixth grade - Deiondrre Muse, Preslee Kriss 7th grade - Samuel Dyke, Josh Cooper 8th grade - Andrew Brode, Kirsten Lyons,

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https://wwwsecure.target.com/redcard/tcoe /home

CTMS will be highlighting Red Ribbon Week during the week of October 28th November 1st. The theme for this years Red Ribbon Week is A Healthy Me is Drug Free. Your child will have an opportunity to participate in a door decorating contest with his or her classmates, in which they will collaboratively develop an anti-drug message. In addition to this contest, your child will be able to participate in the following daily activities:

Monday, October 28: Sock It To Drugs- Staff and students wear crazy socks Tuesday, October 29: Use Your Head! Dont Do Drugs- Staff and students wear hats Wednesday, October 30: Team Together Against Drugs- Staff and students wear their favorite team sports apparel Thursday, October 31: Give Drugs the Boots- Staff and students wear boots Friday, November 1: Are You REDy to be Drug-Free!- Staff and students wear red

1. Daylight savings time ends at 2:00 AM on Sunday, November 3rd.

2013-2014 Schedule of Events

**All rehearsals and performances are mandatory** October 21 Cookie Dough Fundraiser Begins
st

November 1st Cookie Dough Fundraiser Money is due 5, 19 After-School Jazz Band 3-4:30pm 6, 13, 20: 7th & 8th Grade Marching Band Practice 3-4pm 5 Music Booster meeting 7pm December 3, 10, 17 After-School Jazz Band 3-4:30pm 4, 6, 7th & 8th Grade Marching Band Practice 3-4pm Dec 6 - Cookie Dough Fundraiser Delivery 3-5pm 7th & 8th Grade Charles Town Christmas Parade & Music Booster Bake Sale in front of Collins Barber Shop downtown Charles Town **No Music Booster Meeting This Month** TBA Winter Concert 7pm location TBD

October 15, 2013 It has been a great start to the year and it is hard to believe the first quarter is almost done! In science so far we have discussed climate, the ocean, stars, and maps. We are currently working on our last unit which is rocks and minerals. Students have made posters and PowerPoint presentations about world climate, created a topographic map of a playdough mountain, and have written a childrens book about the life cycle of the star. Honors students are busy working on their science fair projects. The science fair is on December 5 and the preview night is on December 4 from 7-8 pm. Please come out on December 4 to see all of the great projects as students show off their hard work! As we move into the second quarter we will be focusing on physics and specifically light, sound, gravity, and waves. Im looking forward to it!

We are almost through the first nine week's grading period! My 7th grade students are working on their "Create-a-Monster" project this month. Make sure you ask them to share the monster they created with you. Some of them are very gross and disgusting! (The monsters, that is!) Thank you for sharing your extremely creative kids with me this year; I am having so much fun working with them on this project! The final portion is due October 21st. Mrs. Morton's 8th Grade READ 180 Wow!!! The kids are quickly finding their niche in the READ 180 program. Mrs. Corley and I are working very closely with the kids to assist them in improving their reading levels and Lexile scores. We are currently working on an Edgar Allen Poe unit, and the kids seem to really enjoy the "dark side" of literature this month. They continue to work in their stations and are on task for meeting their goals. Thank you for supporting your child's success in this program!

Parents, Please continue checking your child's LiveGrades regularly to ensure their academic success. As always, if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child's progress in my class, feel free to call or email me at any time. Dana Morton 7th Grade English 8th Grade READ 180 8th Grade Yearbook / Advisor English Dept. Curriculum Chair

As a highlight to CTMSs fundraising project for Flight 93, twenty-eight students and six adults attended the 9/11 Commemorative Ceremony at the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, PA. The 7th, 8th and 9th grade students represented CTMS and WHS as young ladies and gentlemen. The ceremony was solemn, but peaceful as each of the 40 Heroes names were read and bells rang in the open field under a blue sky. Within the past year, the students sold T-shirts for $10 and accepted 93-cent donations to sign a banner that they brought to the site. The Visitor Center and Learning Center will display the banner once it opens in 2015. At the ceremony, the media was attracted to our group of young people. In fact, so many reporters interviewed us that we lost track of the names of the various newspapers! Please take a moment and read the news articles below. Our group was also on national TV, such as CNN and Fox News as the camera spanned over us. The trip was a memorable experience for all. Ms. Muia http://www.newstribune.info/article/20130912/NEWS/130919981?template=printart http://articles.philly.com/2013-09-13/news/42012422_1_passengers-crew-member-flight-93-family-members

We have been learning about the individual sounds of English words and how to incorporate grammar usage and syntax. Most of the students are on task and are doing very well. We have also begun writing sentences and paragraphs. The best way to help improve a students writing is by helping them with their own. It does take time to grade them all but I feel it is well worth the time spent! We will begin the writing process in October and a Narrative writing while we learn the writing process. I look forward to a great year! Ms. Hollcroft

Ms. Diamonds sixth grade science class is once again a Monarch Watch classroom this year. We have collected 26 Monarch butterfly caterpillars. Some were collected from milkweed plants around Ms. Diamonds house, and 17 were found by Hunter Sams, who searched the milkweed on his grandfathers farm. Monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed, which is the host plant. Then the caterpillars hatch out, munch on the milkweed, and make a chrysalis. In about 10 days, they will eclose as a butterfly. Then these fragile butterflies make the long migration to Mexico, where they spend the winter. Students are tagging the butterflies before release. All the data is recorded and sent to Monarch Watch; the date of eclosure, whether the butterfly was a male or female, and the date and location of release. A small round tag with a number on it is placed on the underside of the lower wing before the butterfly is released. This makes it possible for scientists who find a dead butterfly to know where it came from. All of our data about the tagged butterflies is helping scientists at Monarch Watch to better understand the migration of Monarch butterflies to Mexico, and to try to find out why their numbers are decreasing. Please check out our pictures on the Monarch Watch website!

In Algebra I we completed our first unit. We have much more to cover as the year goes on. In 8th grade math we finished Unit 1 Rational Numbers and have moved on to Unit 2. Students in all classes are doing more hands on and collaborative work. I so enjoy going outside each day in 5th period for our activity time. It is a great opportunity to get a breath of fresh air, move around, and see the students in a different light. I am impressed with my student's behavior across the board this year. I Thank you parents, for sharing your children with us at CTMS. It is a great year to be a Panther.

This year is off to a good start in Mrs. Ervine's classes. Reading classes have been working with the theme of Respect, Diversity and Tolerance. We have read "The Story of X", "Flowers for Algernon", and "Driving Miss Daisy" in class. Students have also read about this issue independently in their novel projects. Connecting writing with written text, they have written a critique, a comparison and contrast essay and a mini-research paper. AR has started and students have their individual goals. Any night with no homework could be an AR night. Students in the English/language arts classes have reviewed sentences, practiced using the 5-step writing process, analyzed informational text by reading about Malala's experiences in Pakistan, written a paper discussing "Tom Sawyer" (play version) as a coming of age story and completed an entry for the VFW's Patriot's Pen competition. October brings the writing of an original mystery story and November will focus on the personal narrative with the writing of an auobiography. Watch for grammar review homework assignments, and keep studying those spelling words.

Welcome back! I can't believe the first term is almost completed. All my classes have been busy. My Reading classes finished the story "3-Skeleton Key" and are now reading "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street". Afterwards, they will view a more modern version of the story, and then compose a compare and contrast paragraph of the two versions. Finally they completed their Tech-Step called "Reading in the Past". My Honors English classes have been working on Patriot Pen Essays and finishing power point presentations for the Tech-Step called "Fact and Fiction". The Tech-Step involved having the students take an event in history and create a fictional story. Finally they have completed their first West Virginia Writes Activity. This year I am collaborating with Mrs. Corley to teach an English and Read 180 class. These students have been busy as well. They completed their Reading Tech-Step and will do the "Fact and Fiction" Tech-Step in early November. In class we finished reading Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher". Students created Movie Posters as a Summative Project. Currently, we are starting an unit on "Real Alien Invaders". Top AR Readers for Term #1 are: Caden Currence with 16 AR Pts., Matthew Hite with 17.4 AR Pts., Chayton Labrie with 30 AR Pts., Noah Collins with 50.9 AR Pts., and Lee Fraley with 59 AR Pts. "Let your hungry mind feast on a book!" Diane S. Bogert

WANTED
Science Fair Judges!!!
What: Charles Town Middle School Science Fair When: December 5 from 8:00 AM-11:00 AM Where: Charles Town Middle School Gym Who: Anyone that knows something about science! How: E-mail Amanda Virts at [email protected] by November 8 with your top 3
choices of categories to judge listed below Categories
Animal Sciences Behavioral and Social Sciences Biochemistry Cellular and Molecular Biology Chemistry Computer Science Earth and Planetary Science Engineering: Electrical and Mechanical Engineering: Materials and Bioengineering Energy and Transportation Environmental Management Environmental Sciences Mathematical Sciences Medicine and Health Sciences Microbiology Physics and Astronomy Plant Sciences

10/18/13 : UPDATE FROM NURSE ATTENTION ALL parents or guardians of sixth grade students
In order to comply with state laws, your 6th grade student will need to have medical documentation showing that he/she has received the WV state law-required booster shots in order to graduate to the 7th grade at the end of the school year. The state requires (1) one Tdap booster vaccine, and (2) one Meningococcal (Meningitis) booster vaccine. These shots are usually given at 11 or 12 year old full health physicals (not just sports physicals) and have to be received in order for students to graduate to the 7th grade. Please make arrangements sometime during this school year for your 6th grader to receive these vaccines and ask the vaccine provider to give you documentation for school. This documentation can often be faxed at a parents request to CTMS NURSE at (304) 728-2501. You can also send me the medical documentation as a scanned document attached to an email; my email address is: [email protected]. It is important that you also keep a copy of the documentation at home. It is best to take your child to his/her usual medical home for these shots if that is at all possible. In the event that you do not have a medical home or medical insurance, your child may be able to get the shots at the Berkeley County Health Department between 1 and 2 PM on non-holiday Mondays. You will need to bring a copy of shot records to get updated shots; please notify the school nurse if you need a copy sent home with your child. You may call the school at (304) 725-7821 and use extention 3210 to reach me.
Berkeley County Health Department contact information: phone (304) 263-5131, address: 800 South Queen Street, Martinsburg WV (across from Martinsburg High School).

Thank you from Ms. Ingrid Daily, the school nurse here at CTMS PLEASE ACCEPT MY THANKS TO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE ALREADY HAD YOUR STUDENTS IMMUNIZED & HAVE SENT ME SHOT RECORDS.

Jefferson County School Health Services

May Fax to:

MEDICATION ORDER FORM

I.

For Completion by Parent/Guardian

Name of Student______________________________Date of Birth_________

Last First M.I.

Name of Parent/Guardian_________________________Ph.#_____________

School:
To Parent/Guardian:

School Year:_________
Before a school, its agents, employees, or representatives can administer any medications to your child, you are

required to sign this authorization form which signifies your request to have the medication administered, as well as your agreement to relieve the school, its agents, employees, or representatives of any responsibility resulting from the administering of said prescribed medication as set forth herein. I hereby request that the authorized staff of Jefferson County Public School System administer prescribed medications as directed by the physician (item II below). I have read the Jefferson County Board of Education guidelines regarding student medication (SPO 12.1) and assume responsibilities as outlined.

______________________________________________________

______________________

Parent/Guardian Signature

Date

II. For Completion by Authorized Prescriber

Medications Dosage (in mgs)

(For medication given during school hours)

Time to be Given

This medication is to be administered only until ______________________________________ Route of administration? ________________________________________________________

(If administered by Epi-Pen, Inhaler, Nebulizer, etc., complete box below)

Possible Side Effects?__________________________________________________________ Diagnosis____________________________________________________________________

Medication Given by Epi-Pen, Inhaler, Nebulizer, Etc. Type of Device______________________________________ Specific Directions___________________________________

Drug Allergies?

Yes

No

If yes, allergic to?

___________

May Student Carry Inhaler?

Yes

No (Circle One)

III. PHYSICIAN OR OTHER AUTHORIZED PRESCRIBER

(Signature Required)

___________________________________________________________________________________________ Physician/ Other Authorized Signature Date

___________________________________________________________________________________________ Physician/Other Authorized Printed Name

___________________________________________________________________________________________ Practice Address and Phone Numbers

The School Nurse May Contact Your Physician As Needed!