Florence Middle School Newsletter

Volume 3, Issue 10 March 16-20 , 2015

Message From The Assistant Principal…

This week we continue our third 9 weeks benchmark testing. Despite the challenging winter weather, our 7th and 8th grade falcons have been working extremely hard this quarter.

There are a few reminders I would like to give you to help ensure that your student scores the best possible grade on their benchmark test.

Get a healthy start! Make sure that you get a good night’s sleep and eat a healthy breakfast .

Be prepared! Study hard and then make sure that you have everything you need for the test before you come to school. Make sure your iPad is charged and ready to go!

Relax! You’ve been studying and learning about each topic for 9 weeks. Believe in yourself and know that we are all cheering for you!

In This Issue: Calendar of Events, pg 9

Career Prep Field Trip, pg 6

Club Information, pg 4

Contact Information, pg 9

Counselor Corner, pg 1

Engagement, pg 2

FCCLA STAR Results, pg 5

eBook Spotlight, pg 7

Parent Information, pg 1

Principal’s Message, pg 1

School Lunch Menu, pg 8

Science Olympiad, pg 3

Sport Report, pg 4

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PARENTS: PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING CHANGES IN THE 14-15 SCHOOL CALENDAR:

MARCH 20--Full day attendance for students and teachers

APRIL 27--Full day attendance for students and teachers

MAY 25--Full day attendance for students and teachers

March 20 and April 27 were previously scheduled as Data/PD Days for teachers only, and May 25 was scheduled as a school holiday for Memorial Day. These three days will serve as makeups for a portion of the time we missed for weather related cancellations.

Explore, Create, Challenge, Innovate and Lead

ATTENTION

March 20th will be an important day at

FMS. We will have parents bring snacks

to math class as we celebrate our annual

Pi Day! We have fun activities planned for

this math celebration! Spring and club

pictures are also scheduled for this day.

Don’t miss having your picture made with

your club or activity.

-Mrs. Rainey

2

engage: [en-geyj] verb meaning— to occupy the attention or efforts of (a person or

persons):

ENGAGE

Florence Middle School students competed in the Regional MathCounts Tournament at the University of North Alabama on Saturday, February 28. The team placed 2nd in the region, and was awarded "Most Improved" team. They will advance to the state MathCounts tournament to be held in Huntsville on March 14...the ULTIMATE PI DAY :).

A BIG congratulations goes to Maggie Huang for winning 1st Place Individual for the second year in a row!! Way to go!!!

Team members are: Maggie Huang (captain), Addi Watson, Rebecca Branham, Adith Bondugula, Erin Cody and Cameron McCance.

MathCounts

Tournament

Please join us in congratulating Ahbee Orton for placing sixth in the state for the state spelling bee this past Saturday. Great job, Ahbee!

State Spelling Bee

3

Florence Middle School competed in the Regional Science Olympiad competition on Saturday, February 28, at the University of Alabama Huntsville. Out of 19 teams, FMS placed 6th.

Medal winners were: Chloe Sneed and Tucker Persell (both 8th graders) - 2nd place in Green Generation; Andrew Cook and Bre Martin (both 7th graders) - 3rd place in Entomology; Abby Coats, Margo Jenkins, and Maggie McDuffa (all 8th graders) - 3rd place in Experimental Design; Tyrus Williams (8th) and Connor Paine (7th) - 4th place in Bridge Building; and Jacob Letson and Mason Snyder (both 7th graders) - 4th place in Picture This.

Honorable Mention goes to: Seth Robinson and Tyrus Williams (both 8th graders) - 5th place in Simple Machines; Seth Robinson and Vinny Cho (both 8th graders) - 5th place in Solar System; Maggie McDuffa (8th) and Connor Paine(7th) - 5th place in Write it/Do it; and Liam Jamison and Andrew Cook (both 7th graders) - 5th place in Robo Cross. Other team members who contributed to our 6th place finish were: CeCe Erbe, Mackenzie Hurd, Aubrey McCravy, Taylor Persell, and Davis VanDyke (all 7th graders).

Please congratulate these students as you see them.

Science Olympiad

Sport Report

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Softball

The softball game that was scheduled against Curry on March 2nd has been rescheduled for April 2nd at Curry.

-Coach Shollenberger

Science Olympiad will no longer have practice this school year, but will have and end

of the year party in May. Please watch for announcements in the edmodo group. FBLA has teamed up with March of Dimes to help save babies. Starting this Thursday

March 12, and going through Friday, March 20, Florence Middle School will conduct an advisory penny drive. There will be a 7th grade advisory winner and an 8th grade advisory winner and the prize is a class pizza party. Please bring in your loose change to support the March of Dimes. Please turn your money in to your purple bucket during advisory each day

Congratulations to the 25 FCCLA members from grades 7-12 who received medals at the State FCCLA STAR event competitions on March 5th and 6th in Montgomery. Middle School FCCLA competitors included:

Amiya Carter and Hailey Inman-Gold-" Focus on Children"-Research, Display and National Service Project presentation concerning Homeless Shelters and Children's Birthdays.

Alana Thompson-Silver-"Environmental Ambassador" The effects of plastic bags on the environment and possible solutions Portfolio.

Ciera Thompson- Silver-"Recycle and Redesign" Presentation, Design and Marketing of a new fashion item from used and /or discarded clothing.

Will Hayes-Bronze "Leadership Service in Action"- Research, Display, and Local Service Project Presentation concerning Child Protective Services

Club Information

Golf

The golf teams played in a tri-match with Muscle Shoals and Russelllvile today at Cypress Lakes We finished in second place behind the Trojans in both matches.... The low round of the day went to Sam Salter, 37, and Catherine Twesme, 46.

-Coach Bayles

5

Florence Middle School FCCLA members competed in (Students Taking Action with Recognition) STAR events this past Thursday and Friday in Montgomery. Please congratulate these students as they put a lot of research, display and presentation skills and hours into their projects. Junior Level competitors are measured with the same criteria as Senior Level. It was motivating to see our 7th -12th graders initiating work sessions and practice with one another during free time.

Junior Level Medals:

Julia Riedel and Megan Nance- Focus on Children -Gold w an invitation to nationals (Washington DC in July)

Amiyah Carter and Hailey Inman-Focus on Children-Gold Medal-8th grade Kaleigh Adams- Career Investigations- Silver Medal Ryleigh Hunt and Britt McCreless-Food Innovation- Silver Medal Jaionna Terry and Beverly Baugh- Illustrated Talk- Silver Medal Deztiney King, Nigeria Williams, and Khaliyah Roach- Chapter Service Project Display- Bronze Medal Christina Etienne- Advocacy- Bronze Medal

Alana Thompson-Environmental Ambassador-Silver Medal-8th grade

Ciera Thompson-Recycle and Redesign-Silver Medal-8th grade

Will Hayes-Leadership Service in Action-Bronze Medal-7th grade

Senior Level Medals:

Fashion construction - Gold Medal & Overall winner - Kaitlyn Fennell - qualified for Nationals

Life Event Planning - gold medal - Erica Smith & Destiny Thompson

Focus on Children - gold medal - Rebecca Nevins & Kelsi Williford

Hospitality, Tourism & Recreation - Silver Medal - Andrew Alexander & Bryce Davis

Job Interview - Bronze medal - Noah Coussons

Career Investigation - Bronze medal - Canaan Starks

FCCLA STAR Events

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Recently, our Career Prep students were able to take an amazing field trip to Redstone Arsenal. Below

is a blogpost written by the welcoming hosts at the Engineering Research and Consulting, Inc. at

Redstone Test Center - Aviation Flight Test Directorate.

“Our second opportunity to inspire came from our newest operation at the Redstone Test Center (RTC)

Aviation Flight Test Directorate (AFTD), where kids from Florence Middle School had the opportunity to

tour some of the AFTD facilities. Below is a write up of what these kids had the chance to experience:

Middle School may seem a little early to start thinking about what you want to do for the rest of your

life, but Florence Middle School’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) are planning for their

futures now. Wednesday, March 4th about 110 students toured Redstone Arsenal to learn about the

technical careers available to them, focusing on the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)

opportunities.

The students were split into three buses and each toured a different portion

of the Arsenal. Bus One’s first stop was Redstone Test Center’s (RTC)

Aviation Flight Test Directorate. There ERC, Inc. personnel hosted the kids

at RTC’s Rotary Wing Center. Ryan Noe, Eric Trafton, Pete Santorelli, Katie

Starck, Joshua Nichols, and Christine Gray led the kids on a tour of the

hangar floor giving them an overview of what RTC does. To get a better

idea of what careers were available at RTC and how to get them, the

students were divided into three small groups for some one-on-one time with

ERC personnel and three of the aircraft RTC flies.

Ryan Noe, a Flight Test Engineer (FTE) with ERC, showed his group an up

-close view of the UH-60 Blackhawk. Noe shared his path to become a

FTE and what exactly that job entails. Eric Trafton, an ERC Project Pilot,

showed off the CH-47 Chinook, which he claims

is the “best aircraft”.

The kids were able to climb inside as Eric

explained what the Chinook can do and how he

became a Pilot. The kids were also able to get

inside the cockpit of an AH-64 Apache.

Pete Santorelli, Operations Manager with ERC, told the students about the

capabilities of the Apache. But as usual, many of the kids just wanted to know about all of its weapons.

When the tour was complete, the students went to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The other

buses made stops at the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and

Engineering Center’s (AMRDEC) Software Engineering Directorate, the

Prototype Integration Facility (PIF), and the ATF-National Center for

Explosives Training and Research. Then all three buses ended the tour with a

pizza lunch at the Bowling Alley.”

See what others are saying about our Career Prep program at:

http://ercblog.com/2015/03/12/erc-employees-inspire-our-youth/.

Career Prep Field Trip

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“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.” -Anonymous

8

“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you have

decided to look beyond the imperfections.”

Attention Parents:

Team/Club/Organization and Spring

Pictures are scheduled for MARCH 20th.

ALSO, Mr. Graham's honors English

students need to be securing a copy of M.E.

Kerr's novel Gentlehands. The novel may

be digital or physical.

Contact

Information

Aimee Rainey

Principal

arainey@florencek12.org

Russ Tate

Assistant Principal

rtate@florencek12.org

Lorel Nix

7th Grade Counselor

lnix@florencek12.org

Terica Lewis-Hicks

8th Grade Counselor

tlewis@florencek12.org

Susan McGee

Attendance Office

smcgee@florencek12.org

Kim Tittle

School Secretary

ktittle@florencek12.org

Lauren Wallace

Bookkeeping

lmwallace@florencek12.org

Check us out on the web:

http://www.florencek12.org

AND

www.facebookcom/

florencemiddleschoolfalcons

Save the Date!!

Important School Calendar Dates

March 19 End of 3rd 9 Weeks

March 23-27 Spring Break

May 25 Memorial Day

May 28 End of 2nd Semester,

Early Dismissal for Students

May 29 Closing Institute,

Graduation

Extra Curricular Activity Dates

FMS SOFTBALL SCHEDULE Mar. 13&14 FMS @ Russellville Tourn. Mar. 17 FMS @ NWSCC 4:30/6 FMS SOCCER SCHEDULE Mar. 14 7th Boys @ West Morgan 11:30am Mar. 14 8th Boys vs. Oak Park 10am Girls (B) vs. Oak Park 11:30am Mar. 16 Middle School Tournament (TBD) Apr. 4 7th Boys vs. Waynesboro TBA Apr. 4 7th Boys vs. Meridianville TBA Apr. 4 8th Boys FMS Tournament TBA

9

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300