A Note from the Assistant Principal December2016

Study Smart 1

Guidance & Counseling News

2

Tips from the Nurse

3

Spotlight 4

Dates to Re-member

5

STEM News 6

Music News 7

Clubs 8

Inside this issue:

Trailblazer News

Study Smart

Good study skills let your teen accomplish more each time she studies –

and they prepare her for high school and college. Suggest that she try

these different ways to study and stick with the ones that work best.

Rewrite material

After your child reviews notes or completes assigned reading, have her try

writing the information in a different format. This will help her learn and re-

member it. She might be creative and make up a song about the parts of

the nervous system or create an acronym using vocabulary terms. Or she

could teach the information to a peer by writing key information on a small

whiteboard or chalkboard.

Picture it

Suggest that your teen thinks of a way to turn information into something

visual. That can help her make sense of it. She may draw a picture with

arrows to show steps in the water cycle, a bar graph to display statistics on

a math project, or a chart to compare two novels by the same author.

Make your own tests

Testing herself on what she learns will show your students what she knows

and what needs to be reviewed. Encourage your student to create a test

using old worksheets or quizzes and her textbook. She can

check her answers and grade herself. Or she could think of

and answer essay questions.

Student success begins with you!

Renee Lancaster

Assistant Principal

MWJH

Marcus GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING NEWS

FIRST SEMESTER: It is the LAST lap to final grades. In October there was a DF

update in Skyward by teachers. Parent Conferences were held and well attended in No-vember, and midterm grades were updated between November 9-15. The last Academic Target Date (http://www.skitsap.wednet.edu/Page/9069) will be December 14th, so Winter Break is the perfect time to work a little (if there are major missing works), read a lot, or-ganize binders and planners, then return to school in January refreshed and ready to hit the last lap to Final Grades on January 31st! Freshmen: these are your first grades on your permanent Washington State High School transcript!

PSATs were taken by 119 students in October. They joined some 3 million+ teens in the

US that day. Test feedback and results are expected to arrive in December. At that time, counselors will meet with students as it is important students receive these results in a healthy frame of mind – the test is given to juniors in high school with the anticipation of applying to colleges. There is also a parent meeting planned to further discuss these re-sults and preparation toward college beyond high school graduation.

WOIS is for Washington Occupations Information System and it is a valuable resource

purchased for our freshmen by the District each year. 7th and 8th graders have some lim-ited, but very valuable access also! Only freshmen, however, may create an online portfo-lio and able to save everything from work and volunteer experiences, academic plans, goals, recommendations, and career research. Your students know our site ID. There was also a parent presentation during conferences in November.

COLLEGE BOUND SCHOLARSHIPS DEADLINE FOR 8TH GRADERS is

June 30, 2017. Almost 200 students in 7th and 8th grades may qualify to make a promise with the State of Washington while in middle school, promising to: 1) keep their grades up, 2) graduate from high school, 3) stay out of legal trouble, and 4) complete the FAFSA parent form upon applying to colleges and training programs --- THEN in turn the State will pay scholarships, work positions, and loans to meet each student’s financial need to go to post-high school education/training for very little financial debt.

Letters with pre-populated applications were sent to homes in October with infor-mation. If parents/guardians feel their student may qualify for this scholarship and didn’t

receive the application in the mail, please contact the Guidance Office at 874-6171.

Mr. Fogel (A-K) 874-6164 Mrs. Little (L-Z) 874-6166

Mrs. Kasten, Intern 874-6165

Ms. Sison, Registrar and Guidance Secretary, 874-6171

Page 2 Trailblazer News

Page 3

The month of December has both National Hand-

washing Awareness Week and National Influenza

Vaccination Week. Those two subjects go hand-in-

hand (pun intended!)

Flu season generally runs from late fall to early

spring. The influenza virus causes a serious respira-

tory infection. The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention recommends some simple steps to reduce

your family’s likeliness of getting the flu virus this

season:

Get the flu vaccine, when available.

Avoid close contact with those who are sick. If you or your child is sick, stay

home to reduce the spread of germs

Remind your child to cover his or her mouth and nose when coughing or

sneezing, and to use a tissue or an elbow crook

Wash hands frequently. December 4th-10th is National Handwashing Aware-

ness Week-celebrate with clean hands! *See tips below*

See a doctor right away if you suspect you or your child may be sick with the

flu. There may be medications that you or your child could take to make the

illness less severe

*Handwashing tips

Handwashing is an essential part of health maintenance. Clean hands reduce

the spread of infection-causing germs.

Teaching good technique is important, because properly washed hands take a

little skill. Some tricks you can use to improve your child’s handwashing prac-

tices are:

Explain why handwashing matters. They are more likely to wash if they un-

derstand why they are doing it.

Encourage your child to wash their hands for at least 30 seconds. Teach

them to sing the ABCs or the Happy Birthday Song in their head while they

wash as a way to time themselves.

Use soap and warm water. Antibacterial soap is not necessary.

Hand sanitizers can be a good way to get hands clean when you’re not near a

sink, but it should not be a substitute for good handwashing.

December2016

News from the Nurse

Every month we will focus on a department in our

building. This month we are focusing on our:

Our Language Arts Staff Crossword Puzzle

Across: Down:

2. Pollyanna 1. Hop on Pop

3. Loud and Quiet 4. Matilda

5. A Dog’s Life 6. A Farewell to Arms

7. Field of Dreams

8. The Colour of Magic

Trailblazer News Page 4

Our Language Arts de-

partment strives to

expand our students

knowledge through

reading and writ-

ing. Sometimes, stu-

dents have to use con-

text clues to figure

out the meaning behind

words or even the

theme of a novel. In

the spirit of learning

through context clues,

we present a crossword

puzzle about our de-

partment. Each teach-

er has provided the

title of a book or

movie that exemplifies

who they are or how

they view the

world. Good luck!

Solve the puzzle

using their last

names:

Bradley

Bush

Chang

Croston

Fisher

Pollock

Staudenraus

VanDoornik

Dates to Remember... Dec. 1st Boys Basketball at JS- 3:30

Dec. 2nd Spirit Day - Onesies or One Color

Day

Dec. 5th Girls Soccer at McMurray - 3:45

Dec. 6th Boys Basketball at CH - 3:30

Dec. 7th Girls Soccer against Hawkins at

SKHS - 3:30

Dec. 8th Winter Sports Pep Assembly

Boys Basketball home game -

3:30

Dec. 9th Spirit Day - Deck the Halls Day

Dec. 14th Girls Soccer against Mt View TBD

Dec. 15th 3rd quarter end date

Boys Basketball playoffs TBD

Dec. 16th Spirit Day - White Out Day

Dec. 21st Spirit Day - Ugly Sweater Day

Pep Assembly

Early Release - 11:25

Jan. 5th Back to school

December2016 Page 5

2016 PE MAKEUP SCHEDULE

1ST SEMESTER

Friday December 2nd- Boys Intervention during advisory (Callaghan)

Thursday December 8th- After school makeups at 3:00 p.m. (Gadberry)

Friday December 16th- Girls Intervention during advisory (Olsen)

Friday January 6th- Boys Intervention during ad-visory (Callaghan)

Friday January 13th- Girls Intervention during advisory (Olsen)

Friday January 20th- Morning makeups at 7:30 a.m. (Kenyon)

Thursday January 26th- After school makeups at 3:00 p.m. (Gadberry)

Students may attend any makeup regardless the teacher. Morning makeups enter the school at the front office. After school makeups students are free to leave after they are finished and will need their own transportation home. Students need to sign up in advance for inter-ventions during advisory. Students can only make up one day per ses-sion.

We have a new club at MW!

MW’s Running/Walking Club will meet from 3:00-3:45 on Tuesdays, unless otherwise stated. Meet in the commons to do some warm-up exercises before going outside to run/walk. The Rules of the Road and permission slip must be completed/signed and turned in. Bring appropriate attire to be outside and for being active. If you have any questions contact the club Advisor: Teresa Fay at 360-874-6160 ext. 6186 or email fay@skitsap.wednet.edu. Bring a friend to keep you

motivated! See you on Tuesday afternoons!

Page 6 Trailblazer News

Attached are some pictures of our ROV testing trip to the SKHS Pool. We had a successful trip on Tuesday November 8th, running the re-mote controlled vehicles around obstacles and performing maneuvers while divers from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard looked on. Our follow up trip was on Tuesday November 15th. We went to the Bremerton Marina to test our ROV’s in 30 to 40 foot deep saltwater where the ve-hicles will be out of eyesight and need to be maneuvered by using on-

ly a camera and monitors.

Page 7 December2016

December 12th at 6:30PM is the MWJH band and orchestra concert at Marcus Whitman, and December 14th at 6:30PM is the MWJH choir concert in the South Kitsap High School Auditorium. The Marcus Whitman choirs will also be performing at our community’s Chimes and Lights Festival Saturday, Dec. 5th, outside Port Orchard City Hall

sometime between 4 and 5:30PM.

Marcus Whitman Clubs

Landscape Club meet every

other Thursday from 2:50 to

4:00

Mad Libs Club meet the first

and third Fridays of the

month from 2:50 to 3:30

Pep/Sports Club meet on

Tuesdays and Thursdays from

2:50 to 3:30

Yearbook meets every Monday

and Wednesday from 2:50 to

3:30 in room 108

STEM Club meet on Wednes-

day from 2:50 to 3:30 in room

103 beginning

Weight Club meet on Tues-

days and Thursdays from 2:50

to 3:30 in the weight room

Running/Walking Club meet

on Tuesdays from2:50 to 3:30

in the commons dressed ready

to go on your run

Page 8

The South Kitsap School District #402 complies with all state and federal rules and regulations and does not discrimi-nate in any employment, programs, or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veter-an or military status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of trained dog guides or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination:

Title IX Coordinator Section 504 Coordinator Compliance Coordinator/ADA Shelby MacMeekin Robin Christman Misty Dieffenbach 2689 Hoover Ave SE 2689 Hoover Ave SE 2689 Hoover Ave SE Port Orchard, WA Port Orchard, WA Port Orchard, WA (360) 443-3625 (360) 443-3633 (360)874-7080 macmeeki@skitsap.wednet.edu christmr@skitsap.wednet.edu dieffenb@skitsap.wednet.edu South Kitsap School District will also take steps to assure that national origin persons who lack English language skills can participate in all education programs, services and activities. For information regarding translation services or transi-tional bilingual education programs, contact the Executive Director of Categorical Programs, Assessments & Innova-tion at (360) 874-7060.

Alliance Club meet from 3:45 to

3:30 in the library on the 6th

and 13th this month

Builders of Unity meet on Mon-

days from 2:50 to 3:30 in the

library

Chanime Club meet on Thurs-

days in P6 from 2:50 to 3:30

Freshman Mural Club meet eve-

ry other Thursday in room 111

from 2:50 to 4:00

Glee Club meet on Monday and

Thursday in room 102 from

2:50 to 3:30

Honor Society meets in room

208 occasionally

Pathfinder Club meet on

Wednesday in room 203 from

2:50 to 3:30

Trailblazer News