PMMS Happenings - 2nd 6 Weeks

PMMS Happenings

FFA Soils Team - On Wednesday, November 12, 2008, the Peter Muhlenberg Middle School FFA Soils Team competed in a district contest. The team consists of Lizzie, Johnathan, Adam, and Nathan. They were the only middle school team to compete among the many participating high schools. PMMS placed 1st followed by the high school teams.
The PMMS FFA Soils Team competed at the SOILS State Competition in Richmond on Thursday, November 20, 2008. The team of eighth graders, Adam, Johnathan, Lizzie and Nathan, placed second in the junior division, besting 14 high school teams. Within the junior division, Marston placed second highest in the state and will be featured in the National FFA magazine. Barb placed 9th highest in the state and Foltz 10th highest in the junior division.
The team then competed in the senior division against the other top ranking teams, the majority of which were high school teams. In the senior division, Peter Muhlenberg Middle School Soils team placed 6th in the state, the highest ranking middle school team.

Cross Country Championship Race - Amber placed 3rd in the Footlocker South Region Cross Country Championships held in Charlotte, North Carolina this past Saturday. Amber covered the 3K course, finishing with a time of 10:47, which was only three seconds behind the first place finisher. Amber's third place finish gave her All South honors for her age group. Great job, Amber!

Drama Students - Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade drama students took a field trip, November 22 to Front Royal, to attend Totally Red, a comedic take off on the fairy tale, "Little Red Riding Hood".

Stand Up to Bully Week - Stand up against bullying week involved numerous events the week of November 17-21. The PMMS counseling office and Bullying Prevention task force worked together to make this week a great success and learning opportunity.Monday 17th- Pink Letters were posted on lockers saying "Stand up against bullying" all around the schoolTuesday 18th- Students used pink utensils in the lunch roomWednesday 19th- Students received a "surprise" in core 1 that satisfied their sweet tooth and their curiosity about how to get help or report bullyingThursday 20th- Students attended a "Stand up" assembly put on and designed by bullying task force members, the counselors and Mrs. Fletcher.Friday 21st- Students and teachers who purchased the pink "stood up" t-shirt wore their shirts with their signed pledges to make a difference and others wore pink in support of the week.

Music Concerts - Our county music teachers performed in a recital in October. Then our school's chorus, orchestra and band held concerts for our community. Some of our students participated in the all county band and orchestra concert which was held at Signal Knob Middle School.

Red Ribbon Week - Monday our students were given pretzels and the slogan was "don't let drugs twist your mind". Tuesday students wore camouflage and the slogan was "join the fight against drugs". Wednesday students wore sunglasses and the slogan was "shade out drugs". Thursday students wore team affiliated clothes and the slogan was "team up against drugs". Friday the students wore orange and black and the slogan was "say boo to drugs".

Multiculturism Class - Our 7th grade students in multiculturism class unbranded themselves. Students answered questionnaires, designed their own brand based on their personalities and transferred the design onto T-shirts. On a designated day the entire school was encouraged to wear black and white while the multiculturism class wore their "designed" T-shirts. The objective was to let students know they should be who they are. It doesn't matter what you wear. It is what is on the inside that counts.

Election Assembly - Our students attended an election assembly where the presidential candidates were represented by GATE students. The GATE students gave speeches on the candidates background and platforms in order to inform students in making good choices when they voted in our mock election on November 3.

FCCLA Rally - Our PMMS FCCLA attended a rally at Strasburg High School on November 5. The theme was "Get Carried Away with FCCLA" and students met with other FCCLA members around the county. FCCLA members learned more about the FCCLA, practice leadership skills, and developed project ideas.

American Legion Flag Presentation - On November 11, Veteran's Day, the American Legion Woodstock Post 199 presented PMMS with a United States flag.

Field Trips - Our 6th graders journeyed to Shenandoah Caverns. Our 7th graders visited Triplett Tech and investigated the various classes and opportunities that are offered. Our 8th graders traveled to Harrisonburg to watch the much anticipated movie "Twilight".

New School Year

PMMS Starts the Year Right

New School Year - We welcomed new teachers and students to our school and are proud to say we are fully accredited by the Commonwealth of VA for the 7th consecutive year. Our students took 1705 SOL test last spirng and 42% of our students scored in the Advanced Proficient range on the tests. We had 156 perfect SOL scores. PMMS was one of only 2 schools in our division which had a 90% or highere pass rate in each subject!

DEAR - Everyone is reading! PMMS is dropping everything and reading. Each morning every student, teacher, and staff member observes DEAR (drop everything and read).

New Computer Labs - Ms. Cross our 6th grade social studies teacher has her own computer lab. The students have access to computers and the internet each and every day. Mrs. Parker had laptops in her room but they were old and s-l-o-w and now she has all new laptops for her students. Check out their blogs

WalMart Teacher of the Year - Jennifer Jones was honored as "Teacher of the Year" in the WalMart Foundation's Teacher of the Year Program. Mrs. Jones teachers 8th grade social studies.

Region IV Educational Technology Award - Ms. Coffman was honored with the notification that she had been selected as the recipient of the Superintendent's Region IV Educational Technology Leadership Award.

Music Concerts - Our county music teachers performed in a recital in October. Then our school's chorus, orchestra and band held concerts for our community. Some of our students will be participating in the all county band and orchestra concert that will be held at Signal Knob Middle School.

Girls' Basketball - Our 7th Grade Girls' team went undefeated all season!

Walk-A-Thon - A Walk-A-Thon was held to benefit the Empty Stocking Fund and our students collected $1,590!

Blogs - Many of our teachers has classroom blogs and our students are contributing and sharinig their thoughts and opinions on many varied topics every day. Check out our teacher websites.

School Pictures - This year when our students had their pictures taken they also received "Child Safe Cards" and library cards.

Red Ribbon Week - Monday our students were given pretzels and the slogan was "don't let drugs twist your mind". Tuesday students wore camouflage and the slogan was "join the fight against drugs". Wednesday students wore sunglasses and the slogan was "shade out drugs". Thursday students wore team affiliated clothes and the slogan was "team up against drugs". Friday the students wore orange and black and the slogan was "say boo to drugs".

Pinwheels for Peace - Mrs. Girouard, our Art teacher, and Mrs. Fletcher, our multi-culturism teachers teamed up to make "Pinwheels for Peace". The pinwheels weredisplayed on the school grounds on September 22nd as part of the International Day of Peace. The spinning of the pinwheels in the wind spread thoughts and feelings about peace throughout the community.

Election Assembly - Our students attended an election assembly where the presidential candidates were represented by GATE students. The GATE students gave speeches on the candidates background and platforms in order to inform students in making good choices when they voted in our mock election on November 3.

Honor Rolls - Frist six weeks all "A" and "A-B" honor rolls contained 53 all "A" students and 141 "A-B" students!

Mega Party - The top sellers in the school fundraiser attened the Mega Party where fun was had by all.

PMMS Press - The first edition of the PMMS Press, our school newspaper was published in October with school and community news. It is all student created and produced.

6th Graders Mine for Gold - During their study of Westward Expansion our 6th graders panned for gold. Only "fools gold" was found but other great finds included some semi-precious stones.

Field Trips - Our 6th graders are journeying to Shenandoah Caverans. Our 7th graders are visiting Triplett Tech and investigating the various classes and opportunities that are offered. Our 8th graders are going to Harrisonburg to watch the much anticipated movie "Twilight".

Election Result

PMMS Election Results

461 of our students voted

48% of the vote with 224 votes - Democratic Party - Barack Obama and Joe Biden
45% of the vote with 210 votes - Republican Party - John McCain and Sarah Palin
.6% of the vote with 3 votes - Independent Green Party - Chuck Baldwin and Darrell Castle
1% of the vote with 6 votes - Libertarian Party - Bob Barr and Wayne Root
3% of the vote with 15 votes - Green Party - Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente
.6% of the vote with 3 votes - Independent - Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez

Elections

Students are using technology to gather information for the 2008 Presidential elections in a variety of ways. An election assembly in which the candidates will be represented by GATE students will be attended by the student body. Students are finding out about the candidates and issues by visiting various sites. Some great sites are:
30 Second Candidate
CNN Politics
Barack Obama Official Site
John McCain Official Site
Scholastic News Eleciton 08
Time for Kids Election Info
Weekly Reader Election
Interactive Map
Nick News - Pick the President

PMMS will hold a mock election Novermber 3. Precincts will be established throughout the school and students will be voting on computers. Students are also participating in Kids Voting USA and will be going to the polls with their parents on election day.

Technology Enhances Learning

Here at PMMS we use technology in a variety of ways. Just today students in Drama class are recording their voice into microphones, saving the recording on the computer and then listening to the recordings for tone, inflection and more. The 8th grade science students are studying the scientific method and are video taping the process for analyzing the steps. A sixth grade math teacher used the scanner to copy a typed sheet of numbers and then he is using his school pad and passing it around the room for students to circle certain prime numbers that are referenced during the class. A 7th grade teacher is using the personal response system with her students today to review and test for understanding.