Peer-to-Peer Youth Conference

I am making an announcement about a Youth Conference coming up soon which is sponsored by Community Partnership. It's called Peer-To-Peer Youth Conference, and it will be at Marshfield High School on Saturday, March 8 from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. The conference provides excellent workshops for students (grades 8-12) and parents throughout the day about life relevant topics such as:

• Stereotyping


• Stress Management


• Bullying


• Job Opportunities


• And many more topics
  

If you are interested, please checkout the website at http://www.commpartnership.org/peer_to_peer.php. I encourage you to check it out because it is a great opportunity to become informed about interesting topics involving students, parents, teachers, and school systems. You can also register and choose the workshops you are interested in on the website. The website should also have directions to Marshfield High School.

If you have anymore questions about the conference, I will be happy to answer you or find out more information. Just leave me a comment or e-mail at Janis535@missouristate.edu.

School is in Session for President's Day

Well, looks like we'll have to make up for snow days! School will be in session Monday, February 18th.

Also, don't forget that the Character Ed word of the month is courtesy. If you are not familiar with the Character Ed program, just check out the website. http://www.characteredspringfield.com/home/. The Character Ed program helps the community become aware and promote words of character each month. Such words include:

• January -- Attitude
• February -- Courtesy
• March -- Self-Discipline
• April -- Trustworthy
• May -- Dependable
• June -- Cooperation
• July --Integrity
• August -- Accountable
• September -- Respect
• October -- Responsible
• November --Caring
• December -- Honesty

Don't forget to show courtesy to someone this week!

Another Snow Day?

Whoa! How about all that snow? So far that makes two days off from this week. I hope everyone is staying safe and warm.

I just want to remind everyone that President's Day (February 18) which is next Monday may be used as a snow make-up day. I'll keep you posted until the school system knows for sure.

In the meantime, enjoy the snow and the day off!

Poetry Books Almost Due

Hello students and parents,
I wanted to remind everyone in my class that poetry book assignments are almost due. I would like to have them completed by Thursday, February 20th of next week. Students, remember that I will be looking for each type of poetry we learned from our unit. This includes:

• Acrostic
• Cinquain
• Diamante
• Haiku
• Limerick
• Concrete
• Five senses poem.

If you need help or have questions, please feel free to see me during class. I'll be happy to assist you. Also remember to refer to the handout I passed out at the beginning of the unit explaining each type of poem. If you need rhyming ideas, don't forget to use a rhyming dictionary or just go online to http://www.rhymezone.com/. This rhyming dictionary website should be able to give you some ideas for your poetry.

Be sure you put some thought and creativity into your poems. So far, everyone is doing a wonderful job. Keep up the good work!

Chess Club Starting Soon!

The after-school chess club will be starting up in two weeks on February 25. Meetings will be held after school from 3:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. every Monday for 5 weeks (February 25-March 31). The Monday of March 17th we won't meet due to Spring Break. Any student who attends Harriet Middle School and wishes to join is welcome to sign up. We will serve snacks at every meeting.

The sponsors of the club will be me and Mr. Winchester. We also welcome any teachers or parents who would like to help out and get involved. If you do not know the first thing about chess, do not worry! We will go through the basic steps together and team up in pairs. Spread the word to your friends. I hope to see you there!

Note to the Parents:

Parents,

This is a great opportunity to get involved in school activities! I would love to have some volunteers help out. Any parents can also help out by signing up to bring a snack for one of the meetings.

I would also like to mention that the chess club is a wonderful program and has helped students in the past with logic and reasoning skills. One of the goals for the chess club is to help students improve upon these logic and reasoning skills and help them relate it to learning in the classroom.

Again, hope to see you there!