Early Childhood Center:

 

  In Room 12, we had our Valentine's Day party. We had stations set up with different Valentine's Day activities.   Students made heart headbands, sorted candy hearts, frosted cookies, decorated their valentine's bag, and passed out valentines. This day wouldn't have been such a success if it wasn't for all the supplies parents sent in and also the parent volunteers who helped at the party.

We also concluded our Valentine unit by students completing two fun art projects: we made love bugs to hang up in the hallway and also used watercolors to paint hearts.

 

 

Due to the recent cold temperatures, the Early Childhood Center brought the outdoors inside, by bringing a bouncy castle and inflatable obstacle course to their gymnasium on Thursday, February 28th. Physical activities are essential in the preschool classroom. Children this age have tons of energy, and unless they're allowed to move they'll be too fidgety to concentrate on any academic lessons. It's also important to teach young children that exercise and movement can be fun so they'll grow up to be healthy adults. Daily activities develop large motor skills such as running, jumping, skipping, throwing and kicking. Activities like this help prepare our preschoolers for continued success as they begin kindergarten.

 

Beverly Gardens:

 

 

Do you recognize this version of John F. Kennedy, or Martin Van Buren?? These are third graders at Beverly Gardens Elementary! Mrs. Farkas' class spent the month of February researching presidents. Each student researched a president and went through the writing process to write an informational report. Next, they created these interactive posters to use during a presentation they gave to our class. They all did a great job and learned a lot about presidents and the writing process!

 

 

Brantwood:

 

Brantwood Bash:

The Brantwood Bash is quickly approaching. It is scheduled for March 9 from 12 - 2:30 p.m. The PTO would appreciate each team making a raffle basket again this year. They thank you for your help with this.

 

Epilepsy Foundation - Penny Wars and Purple Day:

We will again be participating in a penny war for the Epilepsy Foundation. This was a great success last year because of your support, and we hope to have similar results this year. Following is the schedule for the Penny Wars/Epilepsy events:

• Monday, March 11th - Kick-off to penny wars. Epilepsy education in classrooms (grade-levels TBA)
• Penny Wars from Monday, March 11th - Friday, March 22nd (containers provided for you).
• Purple Day and Penny war winners announced - Tuesday, March 26th

 

 

Stevenson:

 

The fourth graders at Stevenson have been working very hard this month! In social studies, they have been studying Ohio history and writing Ohio research reports. Each student in Ms. Jessmer's class created "The Great Seal of 'Me' ". Just like the scene depicted in Ohio's State Seal, each item in the scene has symbolism unique to the student who created it. After drawing their seals, students then wrote a short report connecting themselves to their seals and explaining each item's symbolism. One very common symbol throughout is a book. The book symbolizes the fact that we are learning new things everyday!

 

The students in Mrs. Ferguson and Mrs. Long's classes have been comparing and contrasting. In honor of President's Day, they compared President George Washington to President Abraham Lincoln. They completed a web quest to research each president and then wrote a comparative report. They also created an intricate woven "bust" of the presidents. Our country's presidents live on in the third and fourth grade hall of Stevenson.

 

 

The students in Miss Allison, Miss Bledsoe, and Mrs. Bush's class just finished learning all about Community Helpers and Fire Safety. They learned a lot about what a community is and who helps us in our community, and what to do in case of a fire. Everyone's favorite part was trying on this REAL firefighter helmet. Doesn't second grader Gabby Smelko look great?!   

  

Stevenson third graders have been busy learning all about fractions.  Students have studied fractions of a set of objects, mixed numbers, and equivalent fractions.  Students demonstrated their knowledge of fractions by finding fractions of different colors of Conversation Hearts.  Students played several games comparing fractions to solidify their skills.

 

 

Spinning Hills:

 

 

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to Spinning Hills.   A CREW of 12 students is planning event  s to build excitement and encourage reading. One event involves asking students to pledge to read at home 20 minutes each night. When students sign the pledge, they will be given a thumb ring to help them remember their promise. Other forms of advertisement are in the works.

The book fair will open for business on March 8th and run until the evening of March 21st. The event will stay open on March 21st from 4:00 pm until 8:00 pm for our PTO sponsored Mother/Son March Madness party. Books for all reading levels will be available at the fair and online.

Visit Spinning Hills Middle School during our fair, March 8th - 21st and see why our book fairs are legendary.

Online fair: http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/spinninghills  

 

Students from the Green Lantern team have been attending STARBASE learning about Newton's Laws, Bernoulli's Principle, chemical and physical changes, as well as a host of other STEM activities. They've had a great time, and testing shows they have accomplished a lot.

 

Mrs. Sawyer's social studies classes have been studying North American Native American cultures through a research project.  Maps, globes, computers, and non-fiction books were among the sources explored by the children. Their research will be presented through a brochure, an artifact, and a two-three minute oral presentation.

 

In math, the green lanterns are finishing up their unit on data.  Students did a fun activity involving candy necklaces.  Students were investigating the differences in colors and numbers of candy on each necklace from the same package.  They found that most necklaces had the same number of candies but there was great variance in which color occurred most often on each necklace.  Students finished the activity by graphing their results in colorful bar graphs to display their data.

 

On team Iron Man the students have been working to investigate Nubia and Kush.  Students have been recreating peace talks between Nubia and Egypt, and also attempting to write peace treaties between Roman and Kushite leaders.  In math students have been working to become better problem solvers.  Students have been doing a great job showing their work, and identifying the question that needs to be answered. 

In science, we are studying plant and animal cells and their organelles. We are creating a cell city that shows how a cell functions and works to survive. In language arts we are studying fairy tales and folk tales.  Students are reading different types of fairy tales and studying different literary elements.  Students will end the unit by writing and publishing their own fairy tale.

 

 

Mad River Middle:

 

 
 

   

MRMS Science Fair

Mad River Middle School hosted its First Annual Science Fair on Tuesday, February 19th.

Thirty-nine of Miss St. Pierre's seventh grade science students presented their scientific investigations to 21 judges from our local area. The students who earned a Superior rating qualified to advance to the Montgomery County Science Day held on March 2nd at the College Park Center by the University of Dayton.

 

Superior Ratings: Darian Adkins

3rd Place Superior = Mikayla Kelley

3rd Place Superior = Kyrsten Drake

3rd Place Superior = Tyler Boggs & Darin Woods

2nd Place Superior = Kaitlyn Clampitt

2nd Place Superior = Elizabeth Clark

2nd Place Superior = Tatum Cullom

1st Place Superior = Chayse Throckmorton

 

Congratulations to these students who will be moving on and congratulations to all of our students who participated, we are very proud of their amazing science fair projects!

 

MRMS Winter Sports Update

Mad River Middle School recognized their Winter Athletes on Thursday, February 21st.  The winter athletes had many things to celebrate.  Our cheerleaders came in first place at the CBC Cheer Competition in the Non-Tumbling Division.  Our wrestlers had a good showing at the CBC tournament as well.  The following young men placed at the CBC meet this year:

 

Eric Tipton 1st  Place 205lbs

Russell Ramsey 2nd Place 86lbs

Brady Wilson 4th Place 92lbs

Noah Evans 5th Place 98lbs

Joseph Simpkins 5th Place 104lbs

Cory Dennis 5th Place 110lbs

David Hickey 2nd Place 128lbs

Jacob Bauman 5th Place 132lbs

Austin Blanton 4th Place 150lbs

Austin Edens 4th Place 160lbs.

 

Congratulations to these young men and their accomplishments as a team. 

We also recognized 38 scholar athletes (56%) receiving a 3.00GPA or higher.  Three of these scholar athletes maintained a 4.00GPA through the course of the season, Chelsea Mitchell, Beatrice Marks, and Elijah Hall.  Congratulations to these students who are true examples of what it means to be a STUDENT athlete. 

 

Stebbins:

 

 

Congratulations to Josh McMillian who recently signed his letter of intent to attend Gannon University to play football. Josh lettered in football all four years at Stebbins. He also earned his letter in track his freshmen and junior year. During his junior year of high school, Josh was named "Big Play" of the week on WHIO. His other accomplishments include making it to regional's in track in the 4x4 and earning his Varsity letter in track his freshmen year. Josh has a 3.0 GPA.

 

The Stebbins PTO will be holding its final prom dress sale fundraiser on Thursday, March 7th after school in the Stebbins Choir room until 5pm. If you have any previously worn formal dresses that you would like to donate to the sale, please drop them off next week to Mrs. Kennedy in rm. 121 at Stebbins High School.  

Also, the Stebbins PTO will be having an After-Prom Fundraiser on Thursday, March 7th  at the Waffle House on Colonel Glenn Hwy from 2:00-9:00 pm.

 

Stebbins Weekly Highlights

 

Art - By Melissa Sharron, Marketing Student

Ms. Wingard's design classes are working on Impressionist landscapes and also studying Van Gogh. Her craftsclass will be working on yarn paintings after they finish their dream catchers.

 

Marketing Management - By Stacie Flippen, Marketing Student

Marketing students enrolled in Ms. Michelsen's classes are preparing marketing plans for the Stebbins Pro Shop so that it will be more accessible to the student body and draw more appeal.

Seniors, juniors and several sophomores are getting ready to go to DECA State competition. The students attending are: Katie Damron, Stacie Flippen, Melissa Sharon, Ciara Sherrill, Bailey Shupert, Samantha Small, Kyle Talley, Jamie Varnadoe, and Megan Webb.

Many of these students choose to stay after class so that they can work further on their competition pieces. Preparation includes practice tests, note cards, role plays, promotional plans, and business operations plans. The goal for our competitors is to go to Nationals, which is held in Anaheim, California this year. If they receive the opportunity to go, students have a chance to go to Disney Land while there.

 

Math - By Kyle Talley, Marketing Student

The Stebbins math department is currently confirming that what they are teaching aligns with the Ohio Curriculum Standards. In turn, this will ensure that the students will receive the highest-quality math education possible.

The department is also looking forward to celebrating Pi Day on March 14th. Different types of celebrations will occur in each classroom, ranging from enjoying delicious pie to forming the number, 3.14 out on the football field with students. Happy Pi Day!

 

Senate - By Stacie Flippen, Marketing Student

Besides their usual recycling job, Senate students work diligently on other projects such as school dances, talent shows and pep rallies.

The most recent Senate pep rally was this year's last. We honored senior students participating in sports and Mr. Flohre, since it was the last pep rally of his career. Senior students also won the spirit staff in a hard battle against the sophomores.

Senate earned a $50 profit during the Valentine's Dance. Truth be told, the dances are really set in place so the chairman can practice organizing an event, ordering decorations, and promoting events for students. This helps to prepare the chairman for planning Homecoming-related events.

Work for the upcoming talent show, March 8th, is extensive. Senate members have run the auditions, practiced sessions, promote activities, ordering, decorating, and preparing the overall presentation of the show.