We are still in school!!!!
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Looking for back issues of the E-News? They are archived here.
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Parent Association Zoom Social Events
LET'S GET TOGETHER!
From Annick - A reminder for those of you signed up for the Handmade Pasta Class with Annick Garcia on February 8th. The class is on Monday evening from 5:30-7:30. If you have time, make your dough in advance. If you aren't able to attend, a recording will be available for the whole community next week after the class meets.
Buon Appetito!
Annick (Eamon 2022)
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Coming up...
Introduction to Family Mindfulness, Learn concepts and skills of mindfulness for the family with Dr. Joshua Ginzler (Reef, 2023) Date TBD.
Happy Hour! February 25, 5:30pm, hosted by Sara Borgida (Jonas, 2023)
Happy Hour! Shake Up a Negroni with Katie (Zoe, 2021) and Renee (Finn, 2021), March 5, 5:30pm
Look for invitations and Zoom links in your email as the events get closer.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS!
Financial Aid for Returning Families Deadline
The deadline for returning families to complete their 2021-2022 financial aid applications on the SSS website is February 8, 2021.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Jennifer Grisham, Director of Student Services: [email protected], 206-971-3103.
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Billings Alum in the news!
Check out this King 5 story featuring Massimo C (2018).
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What are we doing in school? |
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From Lindsey - In 7th grade WASH, we are continuing our practice of descriptive & detailed, accurate & specific writing. Students wrote a "How-to make PB&J" and a peer attempted to follow the directions as specifically as possible. There were a lot of laughs and a lot of discussion on the Art of PB&Js.
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From Becky - In 6th grade science, we are studying the human body (in particular, the digestive system and urinary system). In 7th grade science we are working on genetics, heredity, and DNA.
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From Heidi-Marie - In 8GP, students check-in with a sophisticated word. Thursday's prompt asked students for a word that related to the Holocaust presentation from HM's Humanities class. This Word Cloud represents words that were identified most often. Students also identified the majority of words with a positive connotation and several with neutral.
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From Lindsey - 7th-grade advisors & one administrator had an Immigration Simulation for 7th graders during ExpEd day.
Students experienced what it would be like to arrive at Ellis Island or Angel Island as an immigrant. (Ginger will have a film about this activity soon.)
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From Amy - 8th Graders are studying Propaganda and Fascism to go along with our unit on the Holocaust as well as making connections to current events.
Today, 8th graders wrote down a couple of words that come to mind about Propaganda. Their word-cloud is awesome!
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The 7th graders are working to finish up the Bill of Rights and did some mini-projects about the First Amendment (Speech, Press, Religion, Assembly and Petition) and the 4th Amendment (Search and Seizure and Privacy).
Here is a comic about Freedom of Religion (Belief vs. Action) by Yoni:
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From Abigail - 6th graders are making monochromatic collage covers for their sketchbooks!
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From Becky - We made salsa in cooking class! Here is the recipe.
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RESOURCES
"Join us this mid-winter break for live virtual programs the whole family will enjoy! These fun and unique experiences will bring curiosity right to your home."
Marvelous Mars
February 15, 10 a.m. & 1 p.m. | February 16, 11 a.m.
Free, Suggested donation $25
Mars excitement is building for the scheduled February 18 landing of the Perseverance rover! In this program, beat the rover to the surface and get and up close look at the geology of Mars. Learn how to spot craters, volcanoes, and ancient canyons.
Ingenious Engineering
Free, Suggested donation $25
NASA has put four rovers on the surface of Mars, each requiring a combination of curiosity, creativity, and engineering skills. In this session, become an engineer and create a simple rover capable of surviving your own drop test. As you build, learn about some of the past and future machines that have landed on Mars.
From our friends at Mercer Island Parent Edge
FEBRUARY 17 – APRIL 7, 2021
8 part program (via Zoom)
Watch live on Wednesdays 5PM (PT) or view the recording
Are you burned out, concerned about your child’s well-being and wondering how your family will manage during the winter as we near a year into the pandemic?
The Parenting in Place series comes from a group of parenting experts, therapists, authors, educators, and neuroscientists who’ve joined to share their very best strategies and ideas for how you and your family can thrive in the coming months.
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Executive Function Workout!
FEEL THE BURN!
Join me (Greg: Director of The Learning Center at Billings) for a regular Friday morning EF workout from 8:30am to 9:30am via Zoom starting Friday, September 18th. Developing EF, or Executive Function, requires the exercise of the brain in specific ways.
Drop in to the Zoom call on any Friday 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 Friday mornings. Regular attendance is not a prerequisite. I don't need advanced notice. Drop in any Friday morning. If you are interested, email and I will send you a recurring Zoom link prior to the session.
And if Friday mornings are not a viable option for you, but you want to learn more, don't hesitate to e-mail me, and let's see if we can find some time to connect over Zoom.
Greg Smith
Director of The Learning Center
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Billings Middle School | www.billingsmiddleschool.org |
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