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Inside Billings
May 15, 2025
| | 🎒 What's Happening at Billings? 📚 | | |
7th graders had nothing but blue skies on their backpacking expedition to Baker Lake last week, and we hope the 6th and 8th graders are afforded the same treatment for their trips next week! Check out the gallery of
Special thanks to Emma and the Billings yearbook staff for their hard work on designing what is sure to be an awesome yearbook! This year’s annual, Piecing it Together, is sure to be a page-turner! Order your copy now for delivery the first week of June before school ends so that your student can collect signatures. Please email Becca at frontdesk@billingsmiddleschool.org to reserve a copy, and send cash or check for $35 for your book.
This 25-26 yearbook staff features some future award winning journalists and graphic designers!
Sabrina Cash Lee Henry Hazel P. Chloe Ivan-Luc Platon
Lucy Gus Clara Quinn Niamh Leo
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Mike on the Mic 🎤
Thank you so much to the Billings Family Association and all of the volunteers who have created an unbelievable Faculty Appreciation Week! I heard many comments about how amazing the spreads were, the magic of the coffee cart, and how much our families have done for everyone.
We are always trying to improve and your feedback is truly valuable! Please fill out this Family Spring Survey (Enlace de la Encuesta en Español) by Friday, May 16th.
We are excited for the 8th graders as they go on their fabled Olympic Coast trip next week. As they have prepared this week, I’ve loved hearing about this authentic leadership experience, especially as students are having to plan their routes according to the tides. We are also excited for 6th grade students to make their study of volcanoes, geologic morphology, and the rock cycle come alive on their trip to Mt. St. Helens next week.
Finally, please mark your calendars for some important upcoming events:
Wednesday, May 28: 8th Grade Project Presentations – all families are invited after dropoff to participate and engage with our 8th graders with their culminating project
Monday, June 1: Art Walk/Tiny Table Concert at 2:30 pm at Billings in Nadia/Gertrude – all families are invited to attend our Arts spring showcase
Thank you for your support,
Mike
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Staff Updates
We are excited to announce that Jeana Hrepich has accepted the position of 6th and 7th Grade Language Arts Teacher for the 25-26 school year. Jeana has a PhD in English Education from Teachers College at Columbia University, a Masters in English and American Literature from Mills College and holds a Washington State teaching certificate. She has many years of experience teaching students in 6th – 12th grades in public and independent schools in Seattle, San Francisco, and New York City.
Jeana is deeply committed to experiential learning and brings a wealth of experience in curriculum design and multimodal literacies. She was attracted to Billings as a standalone middle school and our emphasis on anti-bias work. She was excited to read our iNews story about our connection with the Holocaust Center for Humanity as she has previously partnered with them on a language arts unit. Jeana also brings a volunteer service background with the Girl Scouts and is highly committed to LGBTQIAA+ advocacy.
Please join us in welcoming Jeana to our community next year.
| | 🎓 Calling 8th Grade Families! 🎓 | |
Don’t forget to RSVP for the 8th Grade Family Dinner!
The 8th Grade Family Dinner is on Wednesday, May 28th, at 6:00pm. This is the first step of the graduation process and your chance to sit back, relax, and let us treat you to a tasty dinner from Paseo while you celebrate everything your student has accomplished here at Billings.
Please RSVP here to let us know whether or not you are able to attend so that we can give a correct headcount to Paseo, our caterers. This event is adults-only. See you there!
We're also asking for baby pictures of your student for a slideshow to be played at Graduation. Please send a picture of your student as an infant and as an elementary schooler to the Front Desk email by Friday, May 23rd or bring in a physical photo for us to scan.
More 8th grade celebrations…
- May 28: 8th Grade Project Community Display: 9:20-10:20 am
- Families are invited to visit the creative and informative project displays from the 8th grade capstone experience in ELA.
- May 28: 8- ELA field trip to Wing Luke Museum: 12:00-1:30pm
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8th grade will participate in a 90-minute walking tour of the Chinatown-International District with focus on places from Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Tour
- May 28: 8th Grade Parent Dinner: 6-8:00pm
- June 5: 8th Grade Celebration and Fun - all day
- June 10: Graduation (8th graders arrive at 4:45 pm, ceremony starting at 6 pm)
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Upcoming Events: 📅
- 8th Grade Backpacking: Monday, May 19 - Friday, May 23
- 6th Grade Overnight: Wednesday, May 21 - Friday, May 23
- [NO SCHOOL] Memorial Day: Monday, May 26
- 8th Grade Parent/Guardian Dinner: Wednesday, May 28, 6:00pm-8:00pm
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From the BFA:
Call for 6th-Grade Parent Ambassadors!
We’re looking for two current 6th-grade parents to serve as ambassadors for incoming families to our school community. Ambassadors will:
- Co-host 1 or 2 in-person gatherings over the summer
- Check in with new families via email a couple times during the school year
If you enjoy building community and want to help new families start strong and connected, we’d love to have you on board. Interested or have questions? Let us know!
Family Camping Trip in October 2025!
Is the family camping trip on your calendar yet? We’ll be at nearby Dash Point State Park from October 3–5, 2025. There are only a couple cabins left to reserve, but there are still individual sites available and space in the group site. Plan to join for the whole weekend or stop by for daytime activities or an evening potluck. Check out this link for details, including how to reserve your campsite or cabin.
Parenting Resources
Raising Sons: Addressing Tough Topics Head-On, with Dr. Lisa Damour
May 15, 2025, 5-6pm
Register here for this webinar from the Bush School’s Parent University
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Deans on the Scene
8th Grade Families
We have been dreading writing this for some time now, but we have ultimately come to terms with the fact that your children will be graduating in just a few short weeks. While we’re so sad to see your students leave Billings, we could not be more excited to celebrate each of them one last time during our graduation ceremony! Check the mail for your formal graduation invitation, but here are a few key details:
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Graduation will be held on Tuesday, June 10 in the Billings gym. 8th grade students must arrive at 4:45pm for a final run through; the ceremony will begin at 6pm. Each student will present their "graduation showcase." This is an opportunity for each graduate to reflect on their time at Billings, and you will get to see speeches, instrumental performances, songs, and skits throughout the night! Students and families are invited to stay after for a reception, take photos, and say goodbyes.
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On June 10, 8th grade students will be dismissed at 2pm so that they can head home, take a break, and get ready for the ceremony. Students return to school at 4:45pm for the final run through - we’ll have pizza so they don’t miss dinner.
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This week, 6th graders continued to work on their end-of-year conference portfolios and they have started preparing their accompanying presentations.
During the field trip to Gasworks, 6th graders wrote odes to the city and park, practiced counting in Spanish, and took an urban hike to the Fremont troll. Students thought through their goals for our upcoming overnight trip to Mt. St. Helens, and some even pledged their goals to the troll itself!
This week, 8th graders have been working on portfolios in addition to preparing for the big trip to the Olympic Coast next week. This week-long trip will be a challenging and memorable culminating outdoor experience. We’re excited for this last great adventure!
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In 7th grade Language Arts, students completed their last iReady diagnostic of the year, and have started focusing on identifying features of a strong public speaker. Students played different role playing games to demonstrate the difference between weak and strong public speaking before writing and practicing their own speeches.
This week, 7th grade math students wrapped up their Board Game Strategy Analysis Project. Students were tasked with identifying key events in a board game of their choosing and determining the theoretical probability of each event. After completing the calculations, they played the games to compare the theoretical data with experimental data and to reflect on how their in-game strategies are influenced by probabilities.
In 7th grade advisory, Baker Lake backpacking trip was a success! The students are currently working on building their portfolios for the upcoming spring conferences. They are excited to share all of the hard work they've done course of the year.
In Social Studies, 6th Graders are wrapping up their exploration of Chinese Philosophy with an informal debate about which philosophy they consider to be the “best”! We will begin a mini-unit, until the end of the year, studying the Ancient Mesoamerican Mayan culture. 7th Graders are continuing their research about an important person or artifact from Washington State History. 8th Graders took their final test about the three branches of government and will be finishing the year analyzing and evaluating the Bill of Rights, with important connections to current events.
Athletics Updates
Come support our Ultimate and Tennis teams for their last competitions of the season!
- Billings Soup, our fearless ultimate frisbee team is in the midst of our playoff season! Our final playoff game is this Saturday vs Lakeside! The game will be at 1PM at Lower Woodland Playfield.
- The final week of Tennis is wrapping up again with a final match against Explorer West at 3:30PM tomorrow, 5/16, at Walt Hundley Tennis Courts.
Exped Updates
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We are right in the middle of spring trip season! Last week, the seventh graders returned from braving their first Billings backpacking trip at Baker Lake, where they hiked around 14 miles with packs over a stretch of three days! When we backpack at Billings, students have a chance to work as a team in smaller groups within the overall grade. This gives students more options to take leadership roles and get to know classmates in new ways.
| Next week, we will embark on our final two trips of the school year with the 8th graders heading to the iconic Olympic Coast and the 6th graders heading to explore Mount Saint Helens. | | |
In celebration of the places we love to live, eat, shop, and play in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, The Seattle Times is presenting its annual Best in the PNW contest.
Please nominate us for this eventunder the Education + Middle School category.
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View the Official Rules for all the details! Browse through the 2024 winners at BestinthePNW.com.
KEY DATES:
Nominations Close: Friday, May 23
Voting Opens: Monday, June 9
Voting Closes: Friday, June 27
Results Publish: Sunday, September 21
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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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