Middle School Matters

Happy Friday!

It has been an exciting day here at Trinity!  We began with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for our new Media Center, and then had a ground-breaking ceremony for the new lower school addition.  The halls were filled with excitement for both of these ceremonies, and it was great to see the new technology in the Media Center being used just minutes after all of the dignitaries and guests left the room.  Look for coverage of these events tonight on WSFA-12 and WAKA-8.

Becky Shepherd, our guidance counselor, has been visiting classes in order to help our students figure their current GPAs.  We are making worksheets available to you so this may be done at any time.  Simply click the link to access and print the worksheet:

Middle School Semester GPA Worksheet
Middle School End-Of-Year GPA Worksheet

Please remember to consult the Trinity Website for homecoming information.  There are many activities going on next week and you'll certainly want to remain in the loop.  The most important announcement, of course, it the fact that Friday of next week is a half-day.  I hope you can make it out to our homecoming festivities and game.  It promises to be a great time!

Mark your calendars: October 12 and 13 are testing days in the middle school and will be half-days.  Students will dismiss at 12:00 noon, and lunch will not be served.

You have heard me mention Common Sense Media on this blog many times, and for good reason.  The folks over there provide a plethora of valuable information for parents, and I will continue to send you helpful tidbits as I find them.  This week, the focus is on to what extent we should "snoop" into the online activities of our children.  You may access the article by clicking here.


Here are our tests for next week:

6th Grade: None

7th Grade: 

Wednesday - English

Thursday - English Vocabulary

8th Grade:

Wednesday - US History (McLemore)

Thursday - English

Please remember to check individual teacher blogs and wikis 

by clicking the tab at the top of this page.

Have a great weekend!

Middle School Matters

Happy Friday!

We have had another good week here at Trinity, complete with a Partner with the Principal luncheon and the election of our Student Council for this year.  Keep reading to find out more.

Partner with the Principal

Many thanks to Thomas and Jodie Champion for opening their home to the parents of our 7th grade students Wednesday.  It was a pleasure to meet with so many of you and I enjoyed our time together.  Thanks for your support of Trinity School!

Student Council Elections

This week, the middle school division held an all-out campaign for our student council positions for this school year.  Our halls have been lined with colorful and creative posters, and the students did an outstanding job with their speeches at lunch each day.  Congratulations to all of the candidates for a job well done!  I am very proud of each of you!

Here are the results of our voting today:

Trinity Middle School

Student Council

2010-2011

President - Carter Vance

Vice President - Jarrett Moseley

Secretary - Betsy Byrne

Treasurer - Anna Lee Curles

8th Grade Representative - Madison Cornett

7th Grade Representative - Wilson Shanahan

6th Grade Representative - Will Windham

Congratulations Stan Milton!

Congratulations to Stan and Misty Milton on the birth this week of their daughter, Mary Mason.  She weighed in at 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 19 1/2" long.  Mother and baby are both doing well.

College Day

Please remember that we will dismiss at 12:00pm next Tuesday, September 21 as our upper school students observe College Day.  Middle school students will not be served lunch next Tuesday.

Social Networking

We live in a digital world where communication is instant.  While this can be good, it also poses problems to parents trying to raise their kids in a far different world from the one in which they grew up. Common Sense Media provides some helpful suggestions for dealing with social networking and your middle-schooler.  You may access the article by clicking here.  While on their site, you might want to check out the tons of other great resources they have to offer.

Tests Next Week

Here are our tests for next week.  Please remember that Tuesday is a half-day.

6th Grade:

Tuesday - Social Studies

7th Grade:

Friday - Civics, Pre-Algebra/Math 7

8th Grade:

Monday - Algebra I

Friday - Pre-Algebra

As always, remember to check out the Teacher Blog and Wiki tab at the top of this page.  If you are receiving this post in an email, you may access the live blog site by clicking here.

Have a great weekend!

College Day

Parents,

Please remember that the middle school will dismiss at noon next Tuesday, September 21, as our upper school observes College Day.  Middle school students do not participate in College Day events.

Have a great week!

Middle School Matters

Good Afternoon!

I hope your Friday has been a good one!

Here are some important announcements for next week:

Come Join Us for the Middle School Blast!

Here is a message from Ann Amster, PTO president for this year:

Monday, September 13, our middle school football team will play MA at home.  So, come cheer on our Wildcats, and enjoy some food and fellowship.  The MS game begins at 5:00, and the JV will play immediately following.  Pizza and cake will be served to the MS students on the practice field from 6:00-7:00, allowing our football and volleyball players to join in on the fun.  The concession stand will be open for everyone throughout both games.

Admission to the game is free for Trinity students and $5.00 for adults who do not have a Trinity Booster Pass.

Thank you for your support of Trinity, and GO WILDCATS!

Thanks to Leah Johnston and her team for planning this event.

Wildcat Watch

Our Wildcat Watch Bible study for 7th grade boys begins September 14 at 7:00 a.m. in Willett Hall.  Breakfast will be served.

Tests for Next Week

6th Grade:

Tuesday - Science

Wednesday - Math, English

Thursday - Social Studies

7th Grade: 

Tuesday - Math 7, Old Testament

Wednesday - Science

Friday - Old Testament

8th Grade:

Monday - US History (Franklin, McLemore), Latin

Wednesday - US History (Weeks), Science

Never Forget

It was a typical morning at Jefferson Davis High School.  I was in my office gathering materials needed to teach my music appreciation class.  As I headed out the door into the band room, the phone rang.  Usually, I wouldn't take a call just before class, but expecting one, I quickly grabbed the receiver.  My percussion instructor was on the line and he told me to turn on the TV - a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City.

I envisioned a small prop plane which had somehow gone terribly off course.  I could not have imagined what I would see when I hit the power button on the television set mounted on the wall at the front of the room.

My students and I watched in horror as the second plane slammed into the tower.  It became quite evident that this was no accident and that we were under attack.

School effectively shut down at JD that day as we were all glued to our sets watching events unfold.  As teachers, we didn't know what to say or how to answer the questions the kids posed to us.  The biggest being, simply, why?

One year later, I prepared a halftime show to honor the memory of those who lost their lives on Septebmer 11, 2001.  The memory was still fresh and emotions still ran high.  Cramton Bowl fell silent as taps was played, and many were moved to tears.

With each passing year, however, we hear less and less about the tragic events of that day.  In fact, a large portion of our students here at Trinity are too young to have any memory of what we so commonly refer to as "9-11."  We call it "Patriot Day," and rightly so.  But we must never let it become just another "day."

In the midst of our football games and fun this weekend, I encourage you to spend some time remembering the events of September 11, 2001.  Let's make sure our children understand that ever since our founding, we have had to fight for our freedom in this country.  Help them to honor and appreciate those who are in harm's way even now to protect my right to compose these words, and your right to send your children to a Christian school.  Let us never forget.

May God bless you richly, and may God bless America!

New Teacher Blog and Wiki Link Page

Good Morning!

If you are reading this blog post in an email, please click here to see the live blog for a very important design change.  You will notice a tab entitled "Teacher Blog and Wiki Links" located directly above the most recent blog post.  Clicking this tab will take you to a page which holds links to blog and wiki sites for each of our middle school teachers.  You may want to bookmark the new page as a handy resource for finding out what is going on in your child's classes.

I hope you find this new addition to "Middle School Notes" to be helpful.

Have a great day!

Middle School Matters

Happy Friday!

I hope you are looking forward to a wonderful three-day weekend.  Remember, NO SCHOOL MONDAY!

We have been focusing on Friendship this week throughout our middle school program.  Students have been challenged to "Make Friendship a Fine Art" by reaching out to people they don't know, refraining from picking on others, and sticking up for victims of bullying.  Please take some time this weekend to discuss these themes with your child as well.  By partnering with us, we can teach our kids how to build and maintain healthy relationships.

Speaking of relationships, sometimes we find that students engage in relational situations that are anything but healthy.  Bullying tends to rear its ugly head during the middle school years, and we want to give you the tools to combat it at home as we work to prevent and deal with such instances here at school.  This CNN article provides some advice to that end that you may find to be helpful.

Absences

Please remember that excused absence requests must be handled through Randy Ragsdale, our middle school dean of students.  Coach Rags has created a new Absence Request Form which will be made available on Edline and in the front office.

Make-up Work

Making up schoolwork after an absence can be challenging.  To make this easier, we have assigned each subject a designated make up day:

Monday - Electives

Tuesday - English

Wednesday - Science

Thursday - Social Studies

Friday - Math

Please contact your child's individual teacher for times and other specifics regarding make-up work.

Moving Day!

We will be moving books into our newly-renovated library next Tuesday.  If you are able to help, put on some work clothes and stop by anytime during the day.  We could use a few more strong backs!

Teacher Blogs and Wikis

In an effort to improve communication with parents I have asked our teachers to create some sort of web presence.  Once these are completed, they will be linked to the middle school page of our school website as well as the home page of this blog.  As of today, the following teachers are hosting blogs and/or wikis.  You may access the site(s) simply by clicking the name of the teacher.

Please note: Some of these sites will be activated next week.  Others not listed will appear next week.

6th Grade

Anita Ellis - Social Studies/Bible
Stan Milton - Math/Bible
Kay Kirtland - Science/Bible
Latrell Fussell - English/Bible

7th Grade

Whittington McLemore - Civics
Elisa Bowden - Bible
Connie Cantey - English
Kelly Long - Math 7, Pre-Algebra

8th Grade

Elisa Bowden - Pre-Algebra
Kristi Weeks - US History
Whittington McLemore - US History
Karen Harris - Algebra I

Electives/Technology/Speech/Etc

Gene Butler - Band/Choir
Jennifer Bricken - Art Blog
Jennifer Bricken - Art Wiki
Rebecca Helms - Forensics/Public Speaking
Kristin Barringer - Introduction to Mac/Bible 8

Here are our tests for next week:

6th Grade: - None

7th Grade:

Friday - Civics, Pre-Algebra

8th Grade:

Thursday - Spanish

Friday - English, Pre-Algebra

Have a Great Labor Day Weekend!