January 2018

Middle SchoolMonthly Newsletter of Wissahickon Middle SchoolMessage

WMS Career Day Speakers Wanted The Wissahickon Middle School Career Day is scheduled for Wednesday, March 21, 2018 from 7:30 am to 11:00 am. Career Day provides all WMS students the opportunity to see many different professions.

We are specifically looking for speakers in the following Career areas:

1. Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance- this category would include occupations such as Supervisors of Housekeeping/Janitorial, landscaping/lawn service, tree service, and pest control. 2. Construction and Extraction- this category would include occupations such as masonry/concrete, carpenters, boilermakers, carpet installers, drywall installers, earth drillers, electricians, etc.3. Farming, Fishing, and Forestry- this category would include occupations such as agricultural equipment operators, animal breeders, farmworkers, fishers, forest and conservation workers etc.4. Food Preparation and Serving Related- chefs, head cooks, food preparation, waiters/waitresses, host/hostess to name a few. 5. Installation, Maintenance, and Repair- this category would include occupations such as aircraft mechanics, automotive mechanics, avionics technicians, office machine repair, HVAC mechanics, etc.6. Office and Administrative Support- this category would include occupations such as Bill and account collectors, billing/cost/Rate clerks, bookkeeping, brokerage clerks, computer operators, court clerks, credit checkers, data entry input, desktop publishers, legal secretaries etc.7. Production- this category would include occupations such as bakers, machine operators, technicians, dental lab technicians, etchers/engravers, furniture finishers, etc.8. Transportation and Material Moving- this category would include occupations such as air traffic controllers, pilots, aviation inspectors, commercial pilots excavating and Loading Machine operators, tractor trailer operators, etc.

If you are interested in presenting or if you know any individuals that may be interested in volunteering, please contact Gus Baldassano with his/her name, profession, job title, employer, and contact information. You can reach Mr. Baldassano at Gbaldassano@wsdweb.org or 215-619-8110, ext. 7034.

It’s a Skype-A-Thon! WMS students and teachers have been breaking down the walls of their classrooms and connecting with other classrooms around the globe with Skype through Mystery Skype, bringing in experts and connecting classrooms between school buildings. On November 28th and 29th, several WMS classrooms participated in the global Skype-a-Thon. Mystery Skype is a global guessing game that gets kids learning about geography, culture and the similarities and differences of how children live all over the world. Neither class of students knows where the other class is and they take turns asking yes and no questions to determine where in the world the other classroom is located. In addition to learning about geography and culture, students are also engaged in practicing important skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration, not to mention speaking and listening!

continued on next page

Students & Athletes of the MonthOur two Students of the Month are Noah Okenquist (Mustangs) and Ariana Tinsley (Patriots). Noah and Ariana were selected based on their positive contributions to WMS, strong interest in learning, involvement in school/community programs and great character and citizenship. Our two Student Athletes of the Month are Owen Quinn (Wrestling) and Julia Verrier-Girls (Basketball). Owen and Julia were selected based on their displays of good sportsmanship, respect, “team before self ” mentality, commitment and demonstration of outstanding character, in addition to their athletic skill levels. Please join us in recognizing

these four students’ positive contributions to the WMS learning community. Photos of these four students are currently on display in the Atrium hallway.

In an effort to continue the focus on improving student achievement and learning, WMS teachers are participating in monthly Professional Learning Communities in which they share best teaching/learning practices they currently employ in the classroom. Each Professional Learning Community (PLC) is comprised of approximately eight teachers across all three grade levels and content areas. This heterogeneous grouping allows teachers to share their experiences through the different lenses of content and grade levels they teach. During the first semester of the school year, WMS teachers have been collaborating and sharing how they use formative assessment in the classroom. Being able to determine each student’s level of understanding and their ability to apply learned concepts is essential to teachers and drives instructional planning. Successful use of formative assessment in the classroom allows this to happen. Each meeting, an assigned teacher will present how they formatively assess students while teachers in the audience use the below questions to reflect and guide their discussion about formative assessments. Teachers are then encouraged to be open

Professional Learning Communities Support WMS Student Learningto trying some of the new formative assessment strategies their colleagues have shared.• How do our use of formative assessments ensure that

all students are learning in our classrooms?• What will you do with the results of the formative

assessment?• What kind of feedback will the students get from the

formative assessment? How will you know if the students understand the feedback? The goal of the PLC is a simple one, collaborate and share practices that successfully support student learning in the classroom. The decision to focus our PLCs on formative assessment for the first semester was an easy one due to how essential it is for teachers to ensure that all students are learning, and what feedback and instruction is required for students to demonstrate mastery of the curricula. The employment of PLCs at WMS have embraced the concept of collaboration while keeping the focus squarely on ensuring all students learn. On deck for the second semester is a PLC focus on Differentiated Instruction.

The WMS Tech Squad had the opportunity to Skype with two Engineers on the OneNote team at Microsoft during the Global Skype-a-Thon. The engineers described their jobs, what they do for the OneNote team, how they decided to become engineers and then there was a Q & A to find out more about their jobs, Microsoft and other similar topics. They even asked what features our students would like to see in future updates of the software. Skype in the Classroom allows for our students to collaborate with and learn from students and adults from around the world. What a great experience for our students!

Skype-A-Thon continued...

Birthday? February 28thYears at WMS? Since August 2009; Blue Bell Elementary August 2005 - June 2009; Stony Creek Elementary September 2001 – June 2005Favorite food? Soft PretzelsFavorite book? Pride and Prejudice

Family? Married to Chuck for 24 years. We have two children, a son and a daughter who are both Wissahickon Alumni who attended WSD schools grades K-12. Favorite team? Philadelphia EAGLESFavorite season? FallFavorite color? PurpleFavorite holiday? Thanksgiving. I enjoy the time with family and friends and enjoy great food.First job? Cashier at F.W. WoolworthHave you ever traveled outside of the U.S.? Yes. Bermuda, Canada and London Have you ever played an instrument? I played the violin in elementary schoolHobbies? Baking, reading, and bike riding

Staff Spotlight: Jen VirtuAttendance Secretary

WMS Band Program ShinesThe fall and early winter of 2017 have been an amazing showcase of talents for the WMS Band program. The Wind Ensemble honored our local Veterans in three performances that featured nine patriotic songs and medleys. These students worked hard to honor our local Veterans with their talents and musicianship. The band continued their community outreach with another exciting performance in the Ambler Holiday parade. Students in the WMS Marching Band played the holiday classic “Sleigh Ride” for the lively streets of Ambler. The WMS Band program wrapped up the 2017 calendar year with an inspiring performance at the annual winter concert. The 6th Grade Concert Band started the program with a new composition that included melodies and motifs of many favorite holiday classics. The performance continued with the 7th and 8th Grade Concert Band performing a Sousa-inspired march written by the talented modern composer Robert W. Smith. The Wind Ensemble performed a challenging piece that used multiple changing time signatures and sudden tempo changes. Both the Blues Dog and Black Dog jazz bands performed several pieces that featured improvised solos by many students. Their talents were on full display for this performance! While the spring concert may be several months away, the WMS music program has several performances in the coming months. The 35th annual WMS Jazz Festival will be held on January 19th, 2018 in the high school auditorium. This showcase of talent will feature four local middle schools, the two WMS jazz bands, and the WHS 1 o’clock Jazz Band. Wish the Black Dog Band luck as they continue on to six more competitions throughout the spring season.

Girls Basketball The 2017/2018 Winter Sports Seasons officially started the first week in November with the girls 7th and 8th grade basketball teams. Both teams had great regular seasons. Jennifer Kleiman coaches the 8th grade team. The 8th grade girls’ basketball team had a fantastic regular season, finishing with a record of 7-1. The team worked hard in practice every day and gave 110% effort during games. They have improved immensely since last year, as evi-denced by the fact that they beat several teams they lost to last season. Those nail-biters were our best games. Our starting five were solid both offensively and defensively all season long and we had great reinforcements coming off the bench each game. One of the teams’ slogans for games was “calm, cool, collected, and together” and they certain-ly proved themselves capable of playing just like that. Ericka Leslie coaches the 7th grade team. The 7th grade girls’ basketball team, made up of 13 athletes, has had one of the best seasons in recent history! Working together since the beginning of November, they have compiled a record of 6 wins and 2 losses. Sandwiched between the 2 losses, were 6 straight wins! A total team effort has been behind the success of the team. Many combinations of “Bigs” and “Littles” have scored a total of 207 points compared to their opposing teams’ 118 points. The girls have demonstrated great team unity during practices and preparation for their games. While 8th grade players have provided worthy role models, the 7th grade players have increased their skill levels by working hard and gaining game experience. Supportive parents, families and fans have been part of the success the 7th grade team has ex-perienced. Each time they are ready for game day battles following their locker room pep talks and support from the stands no matter where they play. Way to go girls! Both teams are looking forward to the playoffs, which will begin the week of December 18, 2017. The WMS 8th Grade Girls Basketball team earned the #1 seed in the MCCA end of the season playoff tourna-ment. Their first, playoff game was on December 20th at WMS versus Keith Valley. The 8th grade team lost a tough battle to Keith Valley 26-22. Over the past two years, this group of girls have shown great developments and have a bright future. We are looking forward to watching this group of girls throughout their high school basketball careers.

Winter Sports Season Update

The WMS 7th Grade Girls Basketball team earned the #3 seed in the MCCA end of the season play-off tournament. Their first, playoff game was on Wednesday, December 20 versus Colonial at Colo-nial Middle School. The 7th Grade Team came up short versus a very tough Colonial team and lost 30-23. They will be one of the top teams during the 2018 Season.

Wrestling

The 2017-2018 wrestling season has started with a great group of wrestlers. They all have been practicing hard and showing great respect for the sport. Geoff Panettieri and Roy Gutshall are the coaches this season. On December 13th, the wres-tling squad had a joint practice with a powerful wrestling team at Pennridge. Our team had a great practice and showed great skill and determination.

On Saturday, De-cember 16th, the wrestlers traveled to Perk Valley High School for a dual meet tournament. They wrestled extremely well. The team’s captains DJ Adriaanse, Charlie Jones, and Owen Quinn lead the team to a record of 3 wins and 2 loses putting the wrestling squad tied for fourth place

overall. The coaches were excited about the team’s dy-namics and ability. They had five wrestlers go undefeated at the tournament. Tylor Stubbs and Jack Pester both new to the sport went undefeated. DJ Adriaanse, Charlie Jones, and Colin Stewart also went undefeated!

This team will be fun to watch! The coaches are excited for their upcoming league matches. The wrestlers will begin league matches on Thursday, January 4, 2018 versus Colonial Middle School at Colonial. The match starts at 3:15pm. Boys Basketball

The boys’ basketball teams will be coached by Steve Ebert and Donn Johnston. They are both excited to start the season. Tryouts began on Monday, December 18, Tuesday, December 19, and ended on Wednesday, December 21. The 7th and 8th grade teams will return from the Win-ter Break ready to begin practices and to prepare for the

upcoming season. They will have a scrimmage on Friday, January 19, 2018 at 3:15pm versus Upper Mo-reland at WMS. They will open the regular season on Wednesday, January 24, 2018 at 3:15pn versus Lower Moreland at Lower Moreland.

If you would like to see the Wrestling and Boys Bas-ketball schedules, please CLICK HERE.

WMS Sports Spectators

We encourage ALL students to attend our sporting events to support our student athletes during home competitions. If your child is interested, please have your child visit Mr. Cairnes’ office or see Mr. Baldas-sano in guidance for the necessary parent permission form to attend these events. You may access these form by CLICKING HERE. WMS 2018 Spring Sports

Spring sports include Boys and Girls Track, Boys and Girls Lacrosse, Boys Tennis, Baseball and Softball. All interested students must fill out PIAA paperwork and the Wissahickon Eligibility Form in order to participate. Students who are participating in a fall or winter sport or participated in tryouts for a fall or winter sport do not need to complete these forms again. Students can sign up for a sport and pick up any of these forms in Mr. Cairnes' office at any time. Spring Sports Practices and Tryouts are tentatively scheduled to start on March 15, 2018.

Watch Principal Beth Bauer’s Video Blog!

Mrs. Bauer shares information about academic goal setting for WMS and our students as well as

exciting news about the school musicals - there’s two different performances this spring!

VIEW BLOG