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Inside Billings
April 3, 2025
| | 🎒 What's Happening at Billings? 📚 | | |
Spring is rolling in, and with it comes April showers - please ensure your student is coming to school ready for a little bit of rain! We will continue to hold lunch outside and take off-campus trips whenever possible, so make sure your student has a raincoat ready to go. Additionally, please ensure your student is coming to school with an appropriate amount of lunch and snacks to get them through the day, especially if they are staying behind for a club or sport! As our students grow, they will begin to need more and more nutrients to feel full and focused.
We will be cleaning out the Lost & Found over Spring Break. All lost items are housed behind the Front Desk and students are able to swing by and look for any lost items that may have been turned in. If your student is missing a jacket, water bottle, Tupperware, or pair of gloves (or even one singular glove), send them to the Front Desk to take a look. During Spring Break we will be donating unclaimed items to local thrift stores.
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Mike on the Mic 🎤
We are just one day away from our Billings Base Camp Annual Celebration and Fundraiser and I’m excited to see how the campus will be transformed in the next 24 hours! I look forward to welcoming all of you and celebrating this wonderful community while making a huge difference for our students. Doors open for registration at 5:00 and our silent auction opens promptly at 5:30. Get ready for good conversation, a lovely dinner, a live auction, and an inspiring program!
Thank you to those of you who have purchased tickets, donated, volunteered, and put countless time and energy into this event. I look forward to celebrating with each of you!
See you tomorrow night,
Mike
| | 🌱 Philanthropy at Billings 🌿 | |
The countdown is on and we are so excited to see many of you tomorrow night at the Billings Base Camp!
Checking in:
- Tomorrow you will receive an email inviting you to do a pre-check in. It will have a personalized link where you can review your contact details to make sure they are correct and (if you have not done so already) enter the credit card you want to use to pay for items you buy during the event.
- When you arrive Friday, you will be directed to find your auction packet, which includes your name tag and bidder number. You will then head over to the registration team to complete the check-in process using your bidder number (listed on your packet) and get your table number.
Enjoying the event:
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The Billings Base Camp Celebration and Fundraising Dinner will be held at the school this year
- Registration opens at 5:00 pm, and the silent auction starts at 5:30 pm sharp, so make sure you get here early to place your bids!
- During the cocktail hour, you’ll have the chance to enjoy passed appetizers and drinks, get in on the silent auction and buy-ins, purchase raffle tickets, and chat with Billings friends, old and new.
- Dinner and the live auction portion of the evening will begin at 6:45 pm. Dinner is a BBQ buffet with options for all dietary needs. We will finish the evening with a raise the paddle and dessert dash! All proceeds go to support the programs that make Billings such a strong and vibrant school.
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Wondering what to wear? Looking for links to the fabulous auction catalog? Everything you need to know is in this event overview.
Can’t wait to see you Friday at Billings Base Camp!
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✒️ Deans on the Scene 🎓
Rob will be hosting an event for families on 4/8 from 6-7:30pm! For this conversation, we’ll be centering our attention around screens, social media, and middle school connection. The format for the evening will involve a brief talk from me followed by breakout sessions with targeted questions so that parents and caregivers can share experiences, ideas, and wisdom. We're really grateful to partner with Laurie Alexander and the BFA to make this event possible!
Thanks to everyone who has RSVP'd so far. If you are planning to attend this optional event, please fill out the survey at this link.
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Our Olympic Backpacking trip is now full, but space is available for our other two trips as well as our on-campus workshops. Please check out the website for all the information and register below while there's still time.
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Upcoming Events: 📅
- BFA All-Family Meeting: April 4, 8:30am - 9:30am
- Billings Base Camp: Annual Celebration and Fundraising Dinner - Friday, April 4th from 5:30pm - 9:00pm
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Screen-Time Family Event with Rob: April 8, 6:00pm - 7:30pm [LINK]
- 7th Grade Trip: Wednesday, April 9 - Friday, April 11
- [NO SCHOOL] Spring Break: Monday, April 14 - Friday, April 18
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Family Movie Night: April 25, 5:00pm-7:30pm
| | It’s hard to believe 6th grade’s first Billings Spring Break is right around the corner! Students spent last week adjusting to their new sections and schedules, with discussions centered around flexibility and collaboration. Students then played a collaborative drama game, “Bus Stop,” where students created ideas for characters to play and improv’ed a sketch intertwining all their roles. Audience members paid close attention in order to guess each role following the sketch. | |
Last week was Amira’s final week as the long-term sub for 7th grade Science, Design Lab, and Health. After facilitating a rousing game of “Where’s My Tony” with her advisory, she distributed treats to the whole 7th grade, and the 7th graders presented her with incredibly creative, kind, and thoughtful cards and gifts that they had made for her. It was a very sweet goodbye!
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This week the 8th graders have been preparing for and discussing their upcoming Olympic Coast Trip. Students have been working with advisors to discuss the trip routes and plans, as well as the importance of stewardship in our parks this year. Although the trip is a month away, students are eagerly discussing it and making plans. We rounded out our class meeting with a stealthy and fun game of “Heads Up 3 Up” facilitated by the students.
7th grade students walked to Jackson Park to collect water samples for science and journaled along the way. Students spent time finding a tree to sit beneath before writing a persuasive journal entry about why their selected tree was the best tree. This activity connects with their ongoing rhetoric, persuasive, and argumentative writing unit.
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Last week was Maya’s first week back from maternity leave. For their first science class, students participated in a goofy “relay race” that involved crawling and determining if Tavi (Maya’s baby) had reached certain baby milestones yet. The winning teams were rewarded with an article of clothing that Tavi outgrew.
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In 6th grade science, students are working together to learn all about Earthquakes! Students have been hard at work researching, exploring, writing, and illustrating all that has to do with earthquakes. Please continue to check google classroom for missing work and assignment grades.
8th grade students completed a Sound Lab to investigate the properties of sound waves. Students had to make a hydro-xylophone, a straw pan flute, an old time telephone, and use an oscilloscope as a part of this investigation lab.
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6th grade Visual Arts has started learning how to implement 1-point perspective into designing their own fantasy room! 7th grade Design has been starting their work on fabric arts. They are designing paper strips to weave together before they dive into the wonderful world of looms! 8th grade Art History has just completed their unit on gothic architecture and are starting their choice project of 3D modeling, designing a rose window, creating a gargoyle, or drawing out their own gothic inspired building.
Arts Elective is deep in their work of self discovery as they make their “Meet The Artist” and begin to plan out their passion project timelines. As always the art room is bustling with activity and Christine can’t wait for you all at home to see the beautiful things that have been made so far this year!
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From the BFA:
All Your Event Questions Answered
Still got questions about tomorrow’s Base Camp Celebration? Look no further than this document. Looking forward to celebrating our school and community together!
April BFA Meeting Tomorrow
Tomorrow’s BFA meeting falls on the day of the spring fundraiser, so we will use that time to help set up for the event. Please join us and lend a hand if you’re able!
Screen Time: A Parenting Topics Evening Event
Next Tuesday April 8th from 6-7:30pm, Dean Rob and the BFA will host a conversation around screens, social media, and middle school connection for Billings parents and caregivers. Snacks and drinks will be provided. Please let us know if you are planning to attend by RSVPing here.
RSVP Now for 4/25 Family Movie Night
Bring the whole family for a showing of Back to the Future on the big screen in the school gym on Friday, April 25th from 5-7:30pm. Pizza, popcorn, and drinks will be provided. Suggested donation per person is $15. Learn more and rsvp here to save your space!
Parenting Resources
From Chaos to Calm: Compassionate Discipline for Spirited Kids, with Joe Newman, author of “Raising Lions”
April 1, 2025, 12-1pm
Register here for this webinar from ParentMap
Beyond All or Nothing: A Pragmatic Approach to Social Technologies, with Dr. Lisa Damour
April 3, 2025, 12-1pm
Register here for this webinar from PNW Parent Education
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Costume Shop Sale
Date: Saturday, April 5, 2025
Time: 11am-5pm
Where: 305 Harrison Street
The Center Theatre and Center Theatre Lobby, Seattle Armory Building
Seattle Shakespeare is having a costume sale from accessories to shoes to dresses and more! Bring bags of any size and whatever you can fit will cost you only $5 per bag! There is no limit to the number of bags.
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How to Build Equitable Schools
Join Elena Aguilar, author of the highly acclaimed book Arise: The Art of Transformational Coaching, to discuss the importance of emotional resilience in equity work. Walk away with a number of strategies to cultivate the emotional resilience needed to build equitable schools.
- April 23, 2025
- 5:00-6:15 pm
- Via Zoom
- Free and Open to the Public
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Check out these ParentMap articles:
For more support and resources surrounding the youth mental health crisis, screen time and social media, and the importance of play, visit ParentMap’s Antidote for the Anxious Generation page.
Speaker links
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Executive Function Workout!
Join me (Greg: Director of The Learning Center at Billings) for a regular morning EF workout from 8:30am to 9:30am on Wednesdays. Developing EF, or Executive Function, requires the exercise of the brain in specific ways. Drop in on any Wednesday morning to share stories and explore strategies for strengthening our EF muscles and by extension, that of our students.
Think of EF (Executive Function) as the CEO of the brain, helping us improve our self-regulation and aid our ability to make both short and long-term plans that enhance our performance in many aspects of our life. At a middle school pragmatic level this includes things like: doing your nightly HW, working on long term projects, or doing chores around the house. This is not a class. This is an opportunity to share collective wisdom. While 30 plus years as a middle school educator has certainly allowed me to garner some wisdom, I am really a facilitator on Wednesday mornings. Regular attendance is not a prerequisite. I don't need advanced notice. Drop in as you are able.
We will be meeting in person in Mercury during advisory and the beginning of first period. If you do not want to attend in person and prefer Zoom, let me know and I will send you a recurring Zoom link. Masks are not required but can be provided upon request.
And if Wednesday mornings are not a viable option for you but you want to learn more, don't hesitate to e-mail me, and let's find time to chat 1-1.
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