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Inside Billings
December 12, 2024
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🎒 What's Happening at Billings? 📚 | |
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Thank you to Christine and the students for displaying their newest artwork in the halls – we’d love to invite families in at drop off or pick up to see the artwork as you come up the main stairwell!
Please ensure your student checks the lost and found before they go off for break, in case they misplaced their warmest sweaters! Winter Club forms will be released before break and due back when students return.
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Mike on the Mic 🎤
Last night, we held our third Open House of the year with an energetic band of student ambassadors in their orange Billings t-shirts, along with current parents, alumni parents, student alumni, and current Board Members.
One of the most beautiful elements of Open House was hearing the impact of the Billings experience from four of our alumni. I thought you’d appreciate hearing their answers to Rob’s question, “Now that you’re in high school and you have some perspective, what’s an aspect of the Billings program that you appreciate?”
Katherine, 2023: The most valuable thing I got out of my Billings experience was that the teachers and other students highly encouraged me to open up and take risks. That really helped me become more confident and who I am today. I couldn’t imagine myself in drama class as a 5th grader. But I took 6th grade drama here and then decided to take it as an elective in 7th grade. Then I decided to be in the musical in 8th grade and that was a really big step for me. I don’t think I could have taken that step unless I was surrounded by really supportive teachers and students.
West, 2024: I’m going to say social skills. When I first got to Billings, I had just escaped from the 2022 lockdown in China. I was dealing with culture shock of moving to the United States and transitioning to a Seattle independent school instead of an international school with people from all of the world. Initially, I may have had some disagreements with several folks about several things, but as the year progressed, a really helpful skill I learned was that sometimes you need to look past someone’s opinions and appreciate them as a person. And I think Billings has managed to foster civil discourse, which is something we don’t see enough in this country. Getting the chance to talk freely and not be judged based on your opinions and your background, I think that was really helpful.
Camille, 2024: For me, it’s two things. One is the connections with teachers in a way that you don’t typically get to do. Being able to take that into high school and using that with new teachers is really helpful to connect and know and learn from them. Two is the sense of community – walking through the halls of Billings, not only do you know everybody’s name, but you know who everybody is, especially in your grade. You know them for their hobbies and what they’re into. In a big public school now, I walk through the halls with so many people I don’t think I’ll ever know, so having that sense of community was really valuable.
Isaac, 2024: I will also say community. My experience was about knowing how to be in a big community and a small community. In a big community, you just flow amongst everyone, but in a small community, you get a sense of who you are and also other people.
Thank you for your support,
Mike
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During next Wednesday's All School Meeting, the 8th grade class will be hosting a breakfast celebration for the whole school! The 8th graders will be providing a full slate of delicious breakfast items for the 7th and 6th graders to say thank you for a great first semester. Students do not need to bring anything but an appetite! | |
🔥 Parent Hot Topic with Rob & the BFA 🔥 | |
This week’s hot topic is all about executive functioning in adolescence. Check out Rob’s video below on what we’re doing here at Billings to support EF, and what adults can do at home! We also suggest that you check out the following links, provided by the BFA:
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🌱 Philanthropy at Billings🪴
Did you know that you can turn your volunteer hours into a monetary donation to Billings? Most major employers, including Microsoft, T-Mobile, Google, Nintendo and others, will do a matching donation to any nonprofit that you volunteer with. All you have to do is submit your volunteer hours to your employer’s system and they will send a check to Billings Middle School. For more information on how to submit your hours, or to find out if your employer does a volunteer match, talk to your HR representative.
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Upcoming Events: 📅
- [NO SCHOOL] Winter Break ❄️ Friday, 12/20 - Monday, 1/6
- POCIS Community Skate: 1/11, 7:15pm-8:45pm at Kraken Ice Complex
- UW Bowling Night: Saturday, 1/25 - 5:00pm-7:00pm
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6th grade students began reading Amal Unbound last Friday in ELA. After learning about direct and indirect characterization using examples from the novel, they designed their own character to pair with their own creative writing.
7th grade students are reading My Name Is Not Easy, and they are beginning to practice their literary analysis as we examine the plot, conflict, themes, quotes, and characters of the exposition and rising action. Students worked in small groups to create a collaborative poster demonstrating their learning.
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8th grade ELA and SS students are wrapping up their reading and discussion of The House on Mango Street by preparing for an essay next week. April introduced the 8th Grade Project to them this week, which they’ll be working on throughout Winter Term. They are looking forward to two field trips– Blessed Sacrament and MOHAI, before they head off to break. April and Amy hope these experiences will solidify connections to what they’ve been learning this fall and provide inspiration for what they’ll study next term.
In Spanish, all grades are working on learning about the verbs ser and estar and when they are used in sentences. They will be tested on this knowledge during their last Spanish quiz of Fall Semester.
7th grade Health students are working on their first mini project in health around body image and gender norms in advertisements. Students are creating collages representing healthy/realistic, neutral, and unhealthy/unrealistic examples of images and text from magazine advertisements. Students will be analyzing the finished collages to collect data and critique what representation of bodies and gender norms looks/doesn’t look like in pop culture media.
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To round out the Astronomy unit, 6th grade Science students are working on an engineering project to design greenhouses that can grow plants on Mars. Students are conducting research into types and cost of materials. With partner groups, 6th graders will present their final designs in front of the class at the end of this week.
In Design Lab, 7th grade students worked on their first tinkering design challenge that asked them to transport a toy car via a ramp made from recycled materials. Ramps needed to include a hill, a valley, a loop-de-loop, and a jump. All groups showed excellent collaboration and resilience through their trial-and-error process! This upcoming Friday will be the final design lab of the fall where tinkering groups will be completing their final tinkering design challenge. Stay tuned for those results!
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In 8th grade Social Studies students visited the Protestant church next door (pictured below) to deepen their understanding of Christianity as we study Puritanism and Colonial America. Students also visited Blessed Sacrament this morning! | |
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From the BFA:
Admissions Help with School Reviews
With admissions season in full swing, you can help prospective families understand what is special about Billings by submitting a review of the school. Sharing a brief paragraph about why you chose the school or how your child has grown makes a huge difference to applicant families. Please take a few minutes to submit a review to Niche, Great Schools, and Private School Review. You can submit the same review to all three!
Kick-off Meeting for Mid-Winter Faculty Appreciation
The event team planning Mid-Winter Faculty Appreciation activities will hold a kick-off meeting tomorrow – Friday 12/13 from 8:30-9:30am at the school. If you can’t make the meeting but would like to help out with this event, just let us know.
Registration Open for UW Bowling Night on 1/25
Billings’ annual take-over of UW’s bowling alley is happening Saturday, January 25th from 5-7pm. Bring the whole family, including non-Billings siblings, for bowling and pizza. Suggested donation per person is $15. Please RSVP here.
Planning an All-Families Summer Camping Trip
Some Billings parents/caregivers are working on organizing a camping trip for families over the summer. If you are interested in helping put this together, please contact us.
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Break Camps at Billings - Steve & Kate's Camp
With Winter Break quickly approaching, we wanted you to know that Billings will be hosting Steve & Kate’s Camp on our campus for Winter, Mid-Winter, and Spring Breaks this year.
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Steve & Kate’s Camp is very flexible - families can buy any number of days to use whenever and drop off and pick up any time between 8 am and 6 pm. Many large companies like Microsoft provide Bright Horizons Enhanced Family Supports benefits that can be applied directly to Steve & Kate’s Camp.
For more information or to help spread the word, please visit their website and check out their Winter Break Flyer.
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SQUIRRELLY WORKSHOP
After-School Art & Holiday Gift Making
Squirrelly Workshop is an art studio in Sand Point Village (5414 Sand Point Way NE), hosting a wide array of art classes for kids and adults. Monday through Friday, we offer After-School Art Classes for kids, and would love to have yours join us! Their upcoming four-week series is their favorite:❤️ Surprise Holiday Gift Making!
Adults can also join in the fun! Learn collage, glass painting or wreath making in a weekend family class, or join for an adult night out creating pottery, mosaics, watercolors, or beaded jewelry.
More at www.squirrellyworkshop.com
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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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Billings is proud to sponsor the 2025 Diversity Career Fairs hosted by POCIS Northwest on February 9 and March 8. Please help us spread the word! | |
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Hello 8th grade families,
If your student will be considering private high school applications, click this link (English & Español) to learn about the test prep sessions Billings will be offering from September 9th through December 19th.
Executive Function Workout!
💡 FEEL THE BURN! 💡
Join me (Greg: Director of The Learning Center at Billings) for a regular Tuesday morning EF workout from 8:30am to 9:30am starting Tuesday, September 10th. Developing EF, or Executive Function, requires the exercise of the brain in specific ways. Drop in on any Monday morning, to share stories and explore strategies for strengthening our EF muscles and by extension, that of our students.
Think of 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 Tuesday mornings. Regular attendance is not a prerequisite. I don't need advanced notice. Drop in any Tuesday morning.
We will be meeting in person in Mercury, during advisory and the beginning of first period. Check-in at the front desk before heading down to Nadia. 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 Tuesday 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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