mountain ridge november newsletter 2014

8/10/2019 Mountain Ridge November Newsletter 2014

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Advertisinginthisnewsletterdoesnotimply

endorsementbyDouglasCountySchoolDistrict.

A note from the principal . . .

November 2014

Main Office

303-387-1800

Fax

303-387-801

Attendance

303-387-1802

Athletics/Activities303-387-1812

Bookkeeper

303-387-1808

Registrar

303-387-1820

Transportation

303-387-0415

Weather Hotline

303-387-7669

Twitter

follow@mountainridgems

Online Payments

dcsdk12.revetrak.net

continued on next page

Happy Chilly November!

What a huge swing in our weather we have had this month.Personally, I enjoyed the 70s and sunshine that spoiled us for so long.

The snow sure makes it beautiful, though, and I know is a welcome

sight to all of you skiers and snowboarders!

The November newsletter is a great time for me

to reflect on what I am thankful for, as I know

many of you do this time of year as well.

A few things I am thankful for:

Family who puts up with me each andevery day (although they dont have much of a choice!)

Friends who know when I need to laugh, cry, or just be myself

Colleagues that push me to be better each day for kids

Colleagues that push themselves to be better each day for kids

A community that supports MRMS even when we want to try

new things, knowing that we want to make this the best place

for students every day

Students who make me smile
http://www.childrenscolorado.org/about/locations/highlands-ranch?utm_source=school&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_content=highlands-ranch&utm_campaign=denver-preference


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P A G E 2

Mountain Ridge Middle School

A note from the principal . . .continued

Students who are eager to learn and grow, but still want to be

kids

Students who are kind and respectful

Colleagues and students who make sure that no two days are

every boring!

A school that allows me to do what I love to do each and every

day

These are just a handful of things that I truly am thankful for. MRMS is

a very special place, and I am so grateful to be a part of it. I hope thatyou and your family take time this holiday season to reflect on what

you are thankful for. It is amazing how this simple act can raise your

spirits and put a smile on your face.

Thank you for being a part of my time at MRMS and truly giving me

something to be thankful for!

Shannon Clarke, Principal
http://www.lessonsonly.com/http://gridironflag.com/league/highlands-ranch/


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General Announcements

P A G E 3

As the flu and cold season descends upon us please

remember:the health room does not keep medications such as Tylenol, Benadryl or

cold preparations to dispense to students. However, students at the

secondary level may carry a single doseof this type of medication in their

backpacks. Please note that these medications must be over the counter

and in original packaging.

Lost and Found

Has your child come home without their jacket, or favorite hoodie? How

about that missing lunchbox or cant find that brand new water bottle?

Well, we have lots (and we mean LOTS) of misplaced items at the MRMS

Lost & Found. It is located in the Commons, and they have time to look

through it before school, during lunch and after school. Please remind

them that all items are donated when we go on Winter Break!
http://hanleetkd.com/http://www.nwphysicians.com/


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Movingbetween

December and January?

New address (no change in schools)?

Moving out of boundary / DCSD?

Moving to another city, state or country?

Please contact our Registrar at [email protected] or phone

her at 303-387-1820.

Withdrawal forms must be completed if your student will be

attending another school. This will also help to make a smooth

transition to the new school.

All new addresses will need a new Proof of Residency (warranty

deed or lease agreement) before changes can be made in

Infinite Campus


General Announcements continued

P A G E 4

MRMS Library News

Have you heard about the Beauty Invasion Force (a.k.a. the BIF)? Its a

group of students who will be traveling with library staff to locations

within our community. Once there, they will be letting people know

about our MASIV Project and then collecting community members

thoughts regarding beauty. (For details regarding The MASIV Project click

here.) Our first destination is the Highlands Ranch public library where

we will be greeting visitors in the main entryway on Friday, December 5,

from 9 to 10:30 AM. The following Friday we will be visiting residents of

Clare Bridge. At both locations students will be explaining what has been

accomplished thus far regarding The MASIV Project, and then helping

community members create a document that we can add to it. OnThursday, December 18, the project will be on display in our school

commons from 7:15 to 8:00 AM. Anyone interested in taking a look at

the project is invited to stop by.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://hardwiredforstories.wikispaces.com/MASIV+Projecthttp://hardwiredforstories.wikispaces.com/MASIV+Projecthttp://www.happyteethcolorado.com/http://hardwiredforstories.wikispaces.com/MASIV+Projectmailto:[email protected]


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P A G E 5
http://thewildlifeexperience.org/classes-activities/


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P A G E 6

http://www.medvedsouth.com/


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P A G E 7


We have been talking about ways to build resiliency and grit in our

students for several months, and our focus this month is doing this

through service to others.

During our Veterans Day assembly, one of our seventh graders, Madison

Owen from Team 74, kicked off our Support Our Troops campaign by

talking about a visit she had had

with a young girl who had lost her

father. This conversation led her

to create the donation campaign

that produced the results above.

7thGrader, Maddie Owen, Team

74,

taking the microphone

to introduce her project.

Participating in service projects is

an amazing way to help our

students learn resilience. Service

projects expose students to other

peoples perspectives, allow them

to see the fortunes andmisfortunes of others and, most

importantly, help students see

how their efforts can make a

difference for others.

In preparing for the Veterans Day fundraiser, a list of items was emailed

to families and shared with students in RAM classes. Just reviewing the

list was eye-opening for some students: realizing that packets of hot

chocolate mix, lip balm, and Christmas lights would cheer up soldiers in

far away countries really made their own blessings seem that muchgreater.

Working to find treats and surprises like a cozy throw, cans of noodle

soup, and big, chunky marshmallows gave them delight, even though they

will never meet the recipients of their generosity. Seeing the donations

pile up in their classrooms and then in the main lobby really helps

students understand they are a part of a larger effort.
https://www.facebook.com/Hellogorgeous126/info


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General Announcementscontinued

P A G E 8

Resiliency is fostered when people realize their efforts matter, they are a

part of a larger community, and that community is there to support

members. The community is there for them, too, when they might need

it. Knowing you can count on others to help you out gives you the

strength to keep on trying.

And then there were the boxes!

Just a small sample of the HUNDREDS of boxed decorated in MRMS RAM

classes!

RAM classes were also given boxes to decorate which will be used to ship

the donations to troops. RAM classes participated with gusto! Heartfelt

messages and pictures circle the boxes. Students tried to outdo each

other in being creative and colorful to create packages that will cheer peo-

ple they will never meet.

Participating in this weeklong effort was amazing. Throughout, we as staff

members were given the opportunity to glimpse into the hearts of our

students and families and to have conversations with students about the

service others were performing. And we were able to keep on helping

students grow their resiliency skills!


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The Counseling Corner

P A G E 9


Announcing.B.I.O.N.I.C.

The Counseling Department is proud to support and announce that we

have established a B.I.O.N.I.C. Team at MRMS. BIONIC stands for Believe

It Or Not I Care. Its a student service group that teaches students how to

care for one another. BIONIC was started at Green Mountain HS, over ten

years ago, when the school identified a need for students to know that

others cared. Now BIONIC teams are in schools across Colorado,

throughout the nation and over seas. Now, there is a BIONIC team at

MRMS.

At Mountain Ridge Middle School, we believe that some of the greatest

people in the world walk through our halls every single day. We want to

cheer each other on in our successes and support those experiencingchallenging times. In short, we care. Some news stories today may make

people think that (pre)teens dont care about anyone but themselves. The

students of Mountain Ridge Middle School would like to say, Believe It Or

Not I Care (B.I.O.N.I.C.).

We have three student outreach teams in the B.I.O.N.I.C:

1. The New Student Team. These students reach out to students. The

BIONIC team gives each new student a survival kit and helps new students

navigate through their first week at MRMS.

2. The Sentiments Groupcares for students/ staff suffering from anillness, injury, or a loss. We make cards for students and help students

who are overwhelmed with missing assignments after being out for 1

week or more.

3. The Make your Daygroup makes cards for those students who might

need a pick me up. They also are involved in bully prevention.

We have a B.I.O.N.I.C. Team Referral Box in the Counseling office where

students can refer another student to receive a card. If you have

questions or want more information about BIONIC, call the counseling

department.continued on next page
http://www.bestyard.com/http://www.learningrx.com/


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The Counseling Corner continued

P A G E 10


GOT STRESS??

Here in the counseling office we encounter plenty of students who reportthey are feeling stressed out. It is such a common feeling among our

students that we wanted to provide some tips for stress relief.

Ten Stress Relief Tips

Homework, family problems, not enough time, trouble with friends,

these are just a few things that cause stress. These ten tips can help.

Are you too busy? Too many commitments? Being too busy

is a big source of stress.

Have fun while exercising. Take the dog for a walk! It's a

great stress buster.

Get plenty of sleep and drink enough water. You'll be able

to handle stress better when it does come up.

Discuss your concerns with a close friend or family

member. Dont bottle up your feelings.

When stress arises, give yourself a break. A few minutes

away from the problem can help.

Listen to your favorite music!

Breathe deeplyslowly in, slowly out. Think of something

pleasant.

Take a bubble bath. Imagine your troubles being washed

down the drain!

Use the fives rule. Look at your hand and on each finger,

ask yourself: Is this problem or stress going to affect me in

5 minutes? 5 hours? 5 day? 5 weeks? 5 years? It helps to

put your problem or stress into perspective.

Ask for help. If you feel like your stress is just too much, tell

a trusted adult! This can be a parent, teacher, or counselor.


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P A G E 11


Athletics And Activities

Athletics

Eighth grade girls basketball and 7th

/8th

grade wrestling are in up andrunning. The girls basketball tournament will be Friday, December 5

that

Douglas County High School. The wrestling tournament will be

Wednesday, December 17th

, 4pm8pm, at Mountain Vista High School.

Please come out and support our student athletes.

We have four more seasons and four more opportunities for students to

try something new, or continue to pursue their athletic passion. Seventh

grade girls basketball starts December 8th

. Eighth grade boys

basketball starts January 26th

. Seventh grade boys basketball starts

March 2. Seventh and 8th

grade track starts April 13th

.

Activities

Our clubs and activities are still going strong. Thespian troop is working

towards their competition on December 4th

. Jazz band, Advanced Choir,

and Womens Choir are still in session and we cant wait for our winter

concerts! We are still trying to generate interest and get enough

students to start a Technology Student Association (TSA) club and

Archery Club.


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P A G E 12


Octobers Students of the Month!

Kaia Dale - Kate Laurent - Chris Sawaged - Davis Helmerich

English/Language ArtsWritten by:

Carson Knox, Lucas Rottman, Alison Child, Sarah Hensler,

nd Jackson Vaughn

It was a dark and-- no scratch

that. It was Christmas morning--

no, not that either. For crying outloud! This narrative is never going

to end! Yes, it will. This semester

in English/Language Arts, were

working on all the aspects of

narrative--dialogue, leads,

elements of fiction, and well,

putting everything we did last

quarter to use. Each of us has been

accessing our creativity and writing our own short story. It can be fiction

or non-fiction, about pirates, royalty, or even a robot apocalypse. After

we got our first draft written, we started perfecting our soon-to-bemasterpieces. For a little inspiration, we were assigned a book project on

either historical or realistic fiction. We had to pick a book, and well get to

choose which project we want to do. The options are a scrapbook page, a

word collage, or a comic strip. Overall, this quarter has been busy, but

fun! Thanks, Mrs. Hepworth!

Team 7-1



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continue on the next page

P A G E 13


Health

Written by:

Anna Van Hoene, Julia Kirsch, Kristiana Honeker, and Tristan Johnson

Running and games and weight-room, oh my! P.E. has it all! We love P.E.

Health here in pod 71. We have lots of fun playing games such as team

handball, poisonball, and even basketball. Our teacher does a great job

getting us to communicate and collaborate very well.

In Health, we are learning about the six nutrients, which are things that

give us energy. They are carbohydrates, water, fats, vitamins, minerals,

and proteins. Each of them has a special task to keep our body

functioning. We are always discovering new things to help us stayhealthy. With the help of Mr. Lemons, we disprove the prediction that

our generation will become overweight and lazy. We will live long lives!

iLab

Written by:

Kayla Finley, Katie Leichner, Libby Frey, and Kira van Ravensberg

What is iLab? Not a lot of people know. A few students think its a class

where they get to sit in the back of the room playing on their phones, but

most of us think differently. iLab is taking what you like and turning it into

something where you could help others. In iLab we have been working onan inquiry design project. In this assignment, we are able to choose

something that we are passionate about, and turn it into an extraordinary

product. This is helping us learn through experience. We asked student

Emma Ryan her opinion on the project. She said, I think it is challenging,

but fun! It gives you the freedom of doing something that interests you.

You are not always sitting in class, drooling because you are so bored.

This project has opened our minds to so many thing that could help other

people.

Team 7-1 continued
http://www.warriorsyouthsports.com/


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P A G E 14


Math

Written by:

Zoe Georgia, Kaitlynn Pfannschmidt, and Casey Ford

When you walk into the math room in pod 71, the first thing you see is

color. Theres Homer Simpson at the entrance to greet you, famous

inspirational quotes, pictures of people who have impacted the world,

and souvenirs from Mrs. Tuccios travels. It really is a great place to learn!

This unit in math, we are focusing on problem solving expressions, solving

inequalities, and comparing integers. Mrs. Tuccio is very positive and

makes math fun!

ScienceWritten by:

Sarah OSullivan, Maddie Mosley, Hally Aman, and Riley Spotts

Are you ready for 71 Science? Well, get your thinking caps on and get

ready to roll! This quarter with Mr. Beck, we took a journey to the inside

of cells. Now we have become experts on cell organelles, cells, and the

organization of life. We even created a metaphoric cell, and did a gallery

walk to see other students.

We are now learning about cancer cells and what makes up atoms. Hecreates padlets for us and lets us do our own research on atoms.

Mr. Beck comes into his classroom with a positive attitude and a day

planned with fun and interesting topics. He always knows what hes

talking about and why hes doing it. He can be serious at times, and other

times he can be fun. He always seems to have a trick up his sleeve.

Although we have learned a lot, there are still many things we need to

learn. We know Mr. Beck can do it!

Team 7-1 continued
http://theschoolnewslettercompany.com/districts/douglas-county-school-district/


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P A G E 15


Social Studies

Written by:

Kendall Kessler, Chloe Yets, Allie OBrien, and Lizzy Pluemer

We are well into the beginning of

the second quarter and Social

Studies is going great; we have

begun to dive deeper into our

classroom empire project. To kick

off this project, we were all given a

government to research and

present to the class. After

everyone presented their projectson each government, it was time to

choose which we would use for our own. We also had to choose which

regions we wanted to settle in. Using our geographical skills, we had a

debate with other students in the class to see which part of the land we

would get. As a pod, every period has started another project to learn

about the Mesopotamian Empire, how it rose and fell, and how that

relates to our own empires. During this process, we will be learning all of

the achievements this empire reached, and what we can do as a period to

keep our own empires from falling.

Team 7-1 continued


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P A G E 16


Ms. Roya

Written by:

Jason Gilliss, Michael Walker, and Carter Cingrani

On team 71, there is an abundance of positive, friendly, and enduring

learning staff. Among these people are one of the best, and most

interesting educational assistants the school has ever had, Ms. Roya.

Ms. Roya moved to the United States from Iran in 1989--25 years ago!She has worked as an educational assistant for team 71 for two years and

plans to keep working for team 71 for many years to come. Ms. Roya

explains, I love working with kids!

Some of Ms. Royas responsibility include entering grades into Infinite

Campus, creating calendar entries, making copies, and correcting papers.

She is a vital part of our team, and we are grateful for all that she does!

Holiday Traditions

Written by:Kaia Dale, Morgan McDonald, Lauren Cowie, and Kay Foley

Everyone loves this time of year because we all have traditions that make

it special. Have you ever wondered what your teachers favorite holiday

traditions are? Well, we found out for you.

Team 7-1 continued



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P A G E 17


Thanksgiving is coming up, and a few teacher on team 71, have some

great turkey day traditions. Mr. Lemons loves eating with his family and

watching football. Mrs. Keller enjoys spending Thanksgiving by

remembering family and eating sweet potatoes with oranges and

marshmallows. Yum!

A few other teachers favor their families Christmas traditions. Each year,

Mr. Beck and his family go up to a national forest, and cut down their own

Christmas tree (with a permit of course). Mrs. Hepworths family has a

tradition of sharing music. After Christmas dinner her family gathers and

each person shares a song of their choice that has some significance to

them. It can be funny, sentimental, or it could just make you want to

dance. Christmas lights are Mrs. Tuccios favorite part of Christmas. Herneighbors all decorate their houses with lights, and it really makes the

whole block light up and twinkle. Finally, Mr. Digiorgio loves Christmas

decorations and helping underprivileged children get presents.

Its important to remember that every family has different holiday

traditions, some families even celebrate different holidays. Ms. Royas

favorite holiday, for example, is the Persian New Year, or Nowruz. During

the beginning of spring, she visits her family and makes sweets.

Holiday traditions bring families together. We hope that each of you hasan excellent holiday season, celebrating those things that are most

important.

Happy Holidays, from Team 71!

Team 7-1 continued


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P A G E 18


Team 7-2 Are You Aware?

iLab:

During the 2nd Quarter, Team 72 students are using their iLab time toexplore passions and career interests through two different types of

activities. First, each student is learning how to write good questions

and then conducting two interviews with individuals of their choice. The

first interview is with someone in the MRMS communitya

teacher, student, staff member, bus driver, coach, etc.in

order to get a better understanding of how each of our roles

combines to creates our unique community. The second

interview is with someone who shares the students passion

or career interest. For this interview, we are reaching far and

wide through social media, email and other means to connectwith experts who are willing to share their stories. Students

have heard back from a variety of people including the CEO of

a game application development company, a professional

football player, a professional La Crosse player, a chemical

engineer, animal control officers, and a well-known author.

We continue to search for potential interviewees. Students

will complete these interviews by the end of the quarter.

Additionally, students are undertaking projects in their

areas of interest in order to practice and improve their

design thinking skills: communication, collaboration,

creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving and resilience.

Each student will complete two (or more) projects by the end

of the quarter. The project must present research on a topic

of the students choice, clearly identify and describe a

problem related to the topic and why we should care about

it, draw conclusions, and propose solutions / actions plans to

address the problem. Students will present these projects in

class and reflect on the experience of challenging themselves

on their skills.

By using their passions and interests, students will be more willing to

challenge themselves to improve the skills where they need to make the

most improvement. In order to take these risks, students must be willing

to also risk failure, reflect to learn from the experience and then try again.

In iLab, the inquiry / design-thinking process gives them that opportunity.

Dr. Cynthia Pierre of British Petroleum discusses

Chemical Engineering with Kyle Walters.

Animal Control officers visit with Megan Lieb

and Megan Ott for an interview regarding

animal abuse.



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P A G E 19


Team 7-2 Are You Aware?

Math:

http://goo.gl/VyB1t1

Algebrais investigating systems of equations. They are modeling real

world situations and using systems to solve.

Math 7is beginning to investigate algebraic expressions and

equations. They are using algebra tiles to model the math.

Accelerated Math 7is applying what they know about solving algebraic

equations to allow them to solve algebraic inequalities.

Language Arts:

http://goo.gl/CQuwXk

Houdini as a sandwich? Students had a

great time learning about Harry Houdini

and choosing a topic to explain their

learning. Some students chose to

compare Houdinis character and life

experiences to a sandwich.


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P A G E 20


Team 7-2 Are You Aware? continued

(Some sandwiches would be a challenge to eat, but the students had a

great time explaining why the ingredients fit Houdini and his life!) Theother choices students had for their product were: Houdini in the 21

st

Century where they were to explain how Houdini would use social

media to advertise his act, Houdini as an MRMS Ramthese students

explained what classes and sports he would take if he were a student at

our school, and Houdinis strengths and weaknesses. I had a great time

conferencing with each student as he or she worked on the rough draft

of this essay. I found that the majority of students were able to take

aspects of Houdinis character and life and apply these to their prompt

giving relevant examples from the video and articles. Students turned in

the final copy of this essay on Friday, November 14th

.

http://goo.gl/8hLzHc

Whats next for our class? Short stories! Students began to read short

stories from multiple genres and will write a summary using the template

provided on my homework page. We will be working on these in class

and should be done by next week.

STEMS! Students received the third STEM worksheet last week. The

STEM test will be Monday, November 24th

or Tuesday, November 24th

depending on the core.

Science:

http://goo.gl/6K6Zbh

We are currently starting our study

of "life" and "cells".



21/35

P A G E 21


Team 7-2 Are You Aware? continued

Coming Soon! Frog dissection!

http://goo.gl/Z8Lev1

Social Studies:

http://goo.gl/aJ6BHc

Our class is studying the affect that physical geography has on ancient

civilizations. They will evaluate factors that sustain and destroy

governmental systems. The enduring understanding is that students

understand where they live determines how they live.

Health:

http://goo.gl/3j5Fc8

Students are working on thesix nutrients in a group of

three. Their task is to present

a project on nutrients that

will help 2nd

graders

understand why nutrients are

very important in keeping

your body healthy.
http://goo.gl/Z8Lev1http://goo.gl/3j5Fc8http://goo.gl/3j5Fc8http://goo.gl/3j5Fc8http://goo.gl/Z8Lev1


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P A G E 22


Team 7-4

Still in contention for being one of the top 6 Teams at MRMS!

Two years running.

to our Change Agents of the month for November.

This month Team 74 would like to recognize two individuals as

Co-Change Agents for the Month of November.

Congratulations to Madi Owen, and Julia Buntin!

Madi Owen (left), approached our

administration before Veterans Day,

and asked to get a school wide

project to help all of the current menand women serving in uniform, as

well as families who have lost a

member in the service. The entire

school collected food and other items

to send in care packages to men and

women serving away from home. The

mailing boxes were decorated by

MRMS RAM classes and will be filled

and sent to all branches of the armed

forces. The boxes are often used tomake products and auctioned off to

raise money for the families of fallen

armed services men and women. Madi actually spoke to the entire

student body at our Veterans Day Assembly, and showed everyone how

one individual can truly make a positive difference in the world at large.



23/35

P A G E 23


Team 7-4 continued

Julia Buntin (right), went to our

Student Council sponsor, Ms. Moore,and asked if the student council would

sponsor a Hat Day to help raise

funds for Diabetes Research. During

our spirit week, one of the days was

set as Hat Day. Students (and

teachers) who brought in one dollar

were allowed to wear hats all day. The

Student Council raised close to $300

in the course of one day. Julia

exemplifies what being a changeagent is all about every day on our

team, and we were so proud that she

was able to get the school involved in

something she is passionate about. Once again, it proves that individuals

can help change their world for the better.

We would also like to recognize Ainsleigh Hill, Rachel Gregoire, and Liam

McChesney for the creative and fun opportunity they have brought to

our team by offering our students the chance to participate in a team

musical production of Frozen! Tryouts and rehearsals are taking place in

our pod during access time. We are looking forward to the presentation

of the final production on December 17th!

Dates to remember:

Friday December 5th- Road Rally

Thursday December 17th- International Food Day

Winter Break December 18th - January 4th -Kids return Monday January 5th


24/35

P A G E 24


Team 8-1

Team- We have a busy second quarter ahead of us. This month we have

scheduled a career fair as well as a mini-Interdisciplinary unit on energy.

We still will manage to share a turkey leg sometime in there as well.

Science - We have been working on our egg-drop projects. This is the

culminating project for the Force and Motion unit we just finished. 8-1

students have been doing a lot of testing but on November 10th and 11th

they will actually drop their devices with an egg enclosed. We are all

really excited to see how our contraptions perform. After their device has

been dropped they will complete a description where they have to state

how Newtons Laws of Motion were demonstrated and how the different

forces affected the motion of their device. We will be moving on to wavesnext.

Math 8 - The collaborative math video responses turned out great!

Students used Educreations to make a short video in response to a world

wide math challenge. Students from around the world could comment on

their videos and our students could also give feedback, too. The challenge

allowed students to solve the problem any way that they chose, but those

who could write an equation found the process much easier! Right now in

class, we are seeing the value of writing equations and using them insteadof guess and check to solve complex problems. In Algebra, we are

extending this same idea with systems of equations.

Language Arts - We have just finished the non-fiction book Black Gold.

It is about the history of oil in our lives. Students will be looking at

products that they use every day, and will be writing letters to businesses

about improving ideas for the use of fossil fuels. We will then be engaging

in an interdisciplinary unit with all subject areas. The idea is that coal no

longer exists. They will be given a renewable energy source. As a group

they have to decide where and how to build it to impact the most people

possible. After they have researched and prepared, they will face the

Shark Tank looking for investors for their idea. We are excited to see

the business plans, the financial reports, and environmental and health

impacts this could have on our nation.



25/35

P A G E 25


Team 8-1

Stem - Level 1 is coming to a close. Students will now be taking it up a

notch in level 2. They have chosen two areas to work in from energy,

programming, and robotics. In energy, they will be learning about circuitsand how energy transfers through wind and solar. In programming, they

will be designing a basic 3D models to create in a 3D printer. In robotics,

students will be learning how to add sensors to their robots to do

advanced programs.

Health/PE - In Health, we have been exploring the influence media has on

the violence in society. Movies, video games and music have a strong

impact on how we think, talk and act. Does it really affect us to do violent

things? These are the conversations we are having. Violence preventiongives us the opportunity to think and reflect on what our personal

responsibility is how we treat other people. In PE, we will be

concentrating on squad collaboration and basketball skills and drills. Get

ready to Lopes Up!

US History - Creating a Constitution is hard work! We have moved on to

our Bill of Rights. Students will be looking at the constitutionality of

events. They will take on the role of a Supreme Court Justice to issue

his/her opinion. Do not be surprised to find your student wearing a blackrobe and singing, Here come the judge.

Have A


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We have been so busy this month in all of our classes. The field trip to the

zoo was very exciting and full of great learning opportunities. Ask yourchild about the gasifier that they built and what they did with it during the

field trip. Field trips seemed to be plentiful this month, with another to

the career fair in Castle Rock. That trip was definitely cold, but the

students enjoyed being able to learn about new opportunities and begin

to consider the future. Believe it or not, high school is approaching

quickly!

Classroom Updates:

Math

Math 8 students have been focused on transformations, which will

be wrapped up right before Thanksgiving. When we return, our

new unit will be triangles and angles.

Algebra students quickly worked with Systems of Equations to

learn all of the different ways we can solve them. This will also be

completed right before Thanksgiving. Our next unit will focus on

slopes of lines and the special qualities of parallel and

perpendicular lines.

Geometry has been working through triangle congruence and how

to set up and create geometric proofs. Once we finish this unit,

we will delve deeper into triangles and their properties.

LA - We just finished studying rhetoric (ethos, pathos, and logos) and

creating our argumentative essays. Next, we are reading the nonfiction

book Black Gold which students are using in both their science and social

studies classes. They will be creating mind maps as their final assessment.

All will be used in the culminating ID unit before winter break.

P A G E 26


Team 8-3



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P A G E 27


Team 8-3continued

Social Studies - Currently, we are studying the Constitution and preparing

for our law school competition. The purpose of this activity is to provide a

real world experience with the Constitution and make it more relevant to

the students.

PE/ Health - The students will be finishing up the violence prevention unit

over the next couple of weeks.

Stem- Change is happening in STEM right now. Monday, November 17 is

the first day of the new rotations.

Fall Festival

This day is such an amazingly fun day for our team. We celebrate all of

the hard work of the past 4 months with dance lessons, a pod talent

show, and a feast. Thanks to the help of our parents and families with this

day. We couldnt do it with all of the volunteers. Tuesday, November 25,

is the big day and we welcome family members to join us. Watching


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P A G E 28


Team 8-4 News

All The News Thats Swagworthy!

Buying Cars? Renting an apartment? Making and keeping a budget?Choosing a career? What do all of these have in common? For an 8th

grader--or 8th grade parent--these answers to these questions may seem

far away or out of place.

The answers are very far away, but in reality, the path is already at our

feet. Each day, students are working on who they want to be and what

they want to do in high school and beyond. On Team 84, students will

begin to walk this path with the 8th Grade Career Expo early in

November, and they will continue to explore these questions and more

with our trip to Junior Achievement Finance Park later this month. Theyhave already begun to explore their Naviance accounts which will follow

them through high school and be useful in college planning,

recommendations, and scheduling. In January, many of these initial steps

along the path to high school and beyond will come together as we start

the process for high school registration.

Here our are students thoughts on the DCSD Career Expo:

Name: Daniel S.

What did you visit?I visited the Denver Center for Performing Arts, the Game Design portion

of ACC, Colorado Film School, Douglas County Library, Colorado Culinary

Academy, and Johnson and Wales College

What did you take away from the Career Expo? How did it affect or

change your thinking? What are you wondering? What advice would you

give to the planners of this Expo for future 8th graders?

I took away the fact that the restaurant business isnt very successful. It

changed my thinking about the colleges I should go to. It also made me

wonder more about acting in general.

Name:Julia V.

What did you visit?

I visited the Colorado Film School, ACC game design, the Rocky Mountain

Regional Forensics Lab, and the Tech part of Douglas county schools.



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P A G E 29


Team 8-4 News continued





What I took away from this is that it is hard to make it in the real world.

But, even the jobs I hadnt seen before seemed to have really good parts

to them that would make them good jobs to have. The only advice I

would give is quality over quantity. Try to get as much info as possible

about the jobs you really think you want to have in the future. Also be

sure to look at some of the schools that you could try to get into.

Name: Macie S.

What did you visit?

I visited the Kaiser Permanente, CU Denver, and Sky Ridge Medical




What I took from the career expo was that life isnt just about just the job

but the preparation. That no matter how young we are, we can always

have opportunity to achieve great things and plan great things forourselves. We have a lot of schooling to do great things, and even though

I dont like math and science very much, they are very,very important.




I think that everything is fine the way it is. It affected me and made me

think of things in a different way. Now Im wondering how I can really

prepare myself for my future job. One thing that would change, was thetime amount. I think we did get a taste of adult life, but I think we

shouldve been there with less people and more time.


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P A G E 30



Name: Andrea C.

What did you visit?

I visited the Douglas County Open Space and Natural Resources booth,

the Douglas County Sheriff booth, and the Johnson and Wales University

booth.




It really got me thinking about what kind of job I will want to have in the

future. Before this, I had no idea whatsoever, but now I am starting to beinterested in a few things. Also, there are lots of classes and activities that

you can do to help prepare for a job you might like. By doing some of

these, it could help you get a start with looking into a certain career. One

more thing that I took away from the Career Expo is that a lot of jobs

have many different jobs within them. For example, at the Douglas

County Sheriff booth, the guy told me that a few of the jobs you could

have could be to investigate or be on patrol. Before I talked to him, I just

kind of thought of a sheriff as someone who drove around in a police car.

Something that I would tell future 8th graders is that they should not just

go to the booths that have to do with their Naviance results, but also the

booths that they are interested in. Yes, I think you should still go to the

ones from your results, but I think that you should also look into the

things that you are interested. Be open to new ideas as well. You dont

have to look at just one the whole time.



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P A G E 31



Name: Riley O.

What did you visit?

I visited the Denver Center of Performing Arts, Film School, and the

Marine Corps




The whole Expo really made me think about how important it is to have a

plan, or at least an idea, for your future. Being at the Expo made me

consider other jobs that I never thought about, but discovered I would

like to do. Being at the whole facility, let me explore all other types of jobopportunities that would be good to start thinking about. It was nice to

be able to see people who actually care about what I want to do. I

wonder about what other possible jobs the Expo could have had, and this

goes along with what advice I can give to the next planners: maybe

include more variety. I know that I really wanted a music booth, and I also

really wanted a writing only booth. I think that by maybe adding more

variety of one certain job. Maybe have more jobs branching off from one

specific field.


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P A G E 32


Electives - Multimedia

MULTIMEDIA AND 21 RIDGE STREET UPDATE

Well, the filming of 21 Ridge Street isnt going as planned, which I

suppose, is common for a movie production. We are having to schedule

around actor schedules (both teacher and student), (and as we found out

the first day of filming) weather changes, location issues, equipment

probl-ms, and my schedule as well. SO, we are way behind where we

wanted to be at this time. As a matter of fact, we have only filmed one of

31 scenes, and we might have to redo that one. J

So, those of you with students involved with the production- thank you so

much for your support in our constant schedule change. I know that it will

take a lot of patience and understanding (because it does for me too) until

we get through the production stage. As of now, we are looking at

filming mostly on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 3-4:30. We may

need to schedule some times later in the day, or on an occassional

Saturday. Students involved, have access to our Location Schedule and

should be checking that, and their emails, consistently for changes.

In the meantime, Multimedia II has been working on learning after

effects, lighting, editing a video for the counseling department, filming

and editing a green screen shot for the Aladdin video, and has been

continuing to work on learning the equipment for production and

broadcasting.

Multimedia I, has just finished their first of two, month-long, five minute

videos. Students have shown great understanding in what it takes to

make a movie, and connect to an audience through emotion. Their next

movie will improve on those techniques.


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P A G E 33


World Languages

Bonjour from French class! We are

moving along in our learning andapproaching December with a great

activity that I wanted to share. Students

in both 1A and 1B will be creating a

digital story using all of the their new

vocabulary. We will be working on these

stories in class the second week of

December and presenting our stories in

class before winter break. Make sure to

take a peek at your students WL

Portfolio to see the latest performance assessments.

Hola! from Spanish class! Students in 1B are busy working on learning

family vocabulary along with adjectives to describe members of their own

family. In 1A class, students are learning how to tell time and talk about

their schedules.

World Cultures class is comparing family and friendship norms in our

country, as well as other countries of the world. Great topics of

conversation for the dinner table whether your student is in French,

Spanish or World Cultures.

We wanted to share an interesting article posted on our VHL online

textbook site that distinguishes between fluency and functionality of a

language. Check it out on the next page:


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The Rise of the Polyglots

Melanie Ho is a writer living in HongKong. She reviews for theAsian Review

of Books.

Like many other kids in Ottawa, Can-

ada, I started learning a second lan-

guage at age 4, when I was enrolled in

French immersion school. I studied

French throughout school and learned

Italian during a semester abroad.

Speaking Italian has been fruitful for me, even in Hong Kong where I live

now. Job opportunities have arisen because I have an understanding ofand an interest in Italy and Italians.

Maybe you don't need to be 'fluent' in multiple languages, but life might

be more interesting if you were proficient in more than one.

While I never learned Chinese growing up which some might argue

would be most useful in my current situation Ive started studying

both Cantonese and Mandarin.

People often talk about the practical upsides to learning a second (a

third, a fourth) language, like employability in this global economy. But

learning a new tongue is important beyond that. A foreign languagehelps with the understanding of ones native language. The process of

learning to communicate in a foreign language often forces us to learn

how to listen. Language provides insight into another way of thinking,

another mind-set.

This is not to say that everyone must be fluent in multiple languages, just

as not everyone is fluent in statistics. There is a difference between

functionality and fluency; it may be enough to be proficient.

And although English is common around the world, it is far from univer-

sal. A little while ago I asked a friend of mine from mainland China anaffluent person who moved to Hong Kong a year ago if she would be

interested in helping me with my Chinese, and in return I would teach

her English. She said she would help me, but replied that she had no in-

terest in learning English. If someone wanted to speak with her, she said,

they could learn Chinese.

P A G E 34


World Languages continued
http://www.asianreviewofbooks.com/http://www.asianreviewofbooks.com/http://www.asianreviewofbooks.com/http://www.asianreviewofbooks.com/


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P A G E 35


Mountain Ridge Salutes Our Veterans

There was no shortage of patriotism at Mountain Ridge on Veterans Day,

Tuesday, November 11th

. One thousand fifty students packed the

commons to pay tribute to all veterans, including some very special

members of the staff. The celebration began with the Star Spangled

Banner sung by the MRMS choir, directed by Lucas Reeves.

Members of the MRMS staff who had

previously served in the armed services,

spoke to the students about, what it

means to be a vet. There wasnt a

student in the audience that wasnt

impacted by their words.

Those honored during the assembly were:

Cory Steiner-Building Engineer

Vance Fleet-School Resource Officer

Pete Mazula-Security

Bo Johnson-Science-Team 81

mountain ridge november newsletter 2014

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