WEEK OF MARCH 27TH, 2016

MEMS Cougar News Next Week’s Important Dates APRIL 1ST

Middle School Awards Ceremony 9am in the MEMS Gym PTO Roller Skating Night in the MEMS GYM 5:30-7:00 7:00-8:30 APRIL 5TH

Spring Picture Day Link to MEMS Full Calendar

PR I NC IPAL’S C ORN ER :

NAC HO R ETU RN S TO MEMS

Welcome to our first school news letter! We are working on continuing to improve our communicate with our community and parents. In addition to Haiku, where you can see all MEMS events and your students assignments and grades, we offer a Facebook page, a Flicker photo album and a Vimeo site for all of our student videos. It is important our students be involved in this process, much you see posted is reported on by our students. This newsletter will help our MEMS families quickly learn about upcoming dates, meetings, sports events, and activities at MEMS.

Nacho had a return visit to MEMS on March 16th with Kathy Nimmer, the Indiana teacher of the year, whom Nacho is partnered as a guide dog.

Nacho is a two-and-a-half year-old lab who spent his puppy days as a guide dog in training with our first grade teacher Eric Schatz's and his first-graders.

- Thomas R. Quinn

SCHOOL BOA RD M EET ING S HAVE NOW MOV ED TO MONDAY NIGH TS. THE NEXT SCHOO L BOAR D MEETING WILL BE ON APRI L 11TH FROM 6:30-8 :30PM.

Week of March 27th, 2016

An informational newsletter for our MEMS Families.

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Nimmer, who is blind due to a rare retinal disease, has been partnered with Nacho since July. Watch the video: goo.gl/xv6tT Read the article: goo.gl/N5aSmL

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TH E R O LE O F T HE P TO If you picture the PTO as just a small group of moms who meet now and then to plan bake sales, you are in for a big surprise. Our PTO, is a very influential group whose focus is on our children: advocating on behalf of students with the school. The main role of our PTO is to build strong working relationships among parents, teachers and our school, in support of students. This often includes recruiting and coordinating volunteers, or through other activities: organizing parent education events, planning teacher appreciation activities and so much more. The PTO is sometimes perceived as a fundraising group, but this is not its primary responsibility. It is a responsibility the parents of our PTO take on. They raise funds for

everything from playground equipment to supporting parent education events like the one this year with Dr. Catherine Steiner Adair.. The PTO has a lot of power to influence which programs are funded. Ideally, the PTO will work with the administration to decide jointly which programs will most benefit our school. Our PTO meetings can serve as venues for discussions about a variety of educational issues. Teachers may talk to the PTO about a new reading program or student discipline issues. Experts from the community may talk about building better relationships with adolescents, or share important information about school reform initiatives. Parents may raise concerns about such things as homework or proposed changes in the school curriculum. The PTO can also provide a powerful mediating

function, providing a neutral forum for resolving conflicts that sometimes occur in schools around controversial issues. The PTO needs your help now. The current board is finishing its tenure and is looking for new members to take over the leadership and move the school and the organization forward. This is an excellent opportunity to work with administration to make our school the best school in Vermont. Please consider joining the PTO and, perhaps, taking on a leadership role. You won’t be disappointed.

MEMS Farm to School Program Needs Your Help T HE ME MS FAR M TO SCH OO L PR OGR A M On Wednesday, March 24th the Farm to School Team presented this years successes and asked for the community’s support. This year has been filled with wonderful events in our school. Students have participated in several taste tests and classroom activities. Our school garden is thriving, with all the compost our student make Like this Photo on Facebook and help the Farm to School Program win $100 for the School Garden. Click Here

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out of school waste each day. 5th graders raised $70 for cancer research and $70 for the Community Garden by growing Pink Pumpkins. 7th graders planted and harvested black beans, turning them into salsa for the school salad bar. 1st graders grew potatoes that were served in our school cafeteria all fall, and 2nd graders harvested popcorn. Our goal is to build a sustainable model for years to come. Our outdoor learning goals center around composting and the school garden. MEMS already has a successful composting program producing 40 pounds of food scraps per day. These scraps are turned into rich composted soil for our existing school garden. All MEMS students will have the opportunity to use the garden to learn about growing and harvesting food.

students what they loved about technology. They commented about liking to have a laptop at school, some felt it was easier to write, there was a gamification of their learning, texting was a preferred activity, they liked being able to download books onto kindles or phones, they felt it was easier to do research, they can let their parents know where they are, and they could text to communicate with their parents. About 50% of the students get text messages from their parents during the school day. They said parents ask them questions such as: What time are you getting home? How’s your day going? What are your plans for after school? They also ask their child about family things.

Please watch a short clip on some of our Farm to School 2016 activities here: https://goo.gl/caedxU

Dr. Catherine Steiner Adair, author of the Big Disconnect, came to MEMS to speak with our middle school students about what it is like trying to be a kid in the digital age. Our students had a lot of great thoughts and ideas, so we thought we would share them with you. Dr. Adair asked our 5th and 6 grade

When they were asked what their parents do that bugs them with technology, they had a few things to share: posting pictures of them, especially when they don’t ask permission first was a biggie. They feel they might not like the picture and often times don’t want others to see it. Additionally, they may not want a picture to be posted because they don’t want other people to see it, as sometimes other friends could get jealous or mad if they weren’t included. According to some, this can start BIG DRAMA. About half the group said they felt left out when pictures were posted of other friends doing something together. Another thing bothering our 5th and 6th graders is when they have to repeat questions several times before they get an answer (something tells me this isn’t a one way street). Some kids felt a more aggravated tone in their parents’ voices when they interrupted them while they were typing or texting. They feel they get angry, irritable, annoyed and use a whiney voice when they are interrupted by others.

If you are interested in becoming involved, or would like more information about FTS, please contact Barb Smith [email protected].

D R. CAT H E R I NE S TE I N E R A DA I R VISTS ME MS

that. They do feel it is easier to say no through a text though.

Texting was something the kids talked about quite a bit. About 20 kids said their parents text them to come to dinner, about 50% of the kids said their parents text them when they are both home. Some kids thought parents were lazy when they texted. Some kids felt there is more of a relationship between them when the parent actually comes into the room, they feel like the parent cares more when they do

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60% of our students heard things they were not supposed to hear due to technology, like what a holiday or birthday gift was going to be, a parent got into a car accident, a parent was having surgery, birthday plans, a relative had a heart attack, a family member had died, they were getting a pet, or they heard swearing. They feel like grown ups lose their filter when using technolgy. Several students shared stories that

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upset them; my parents walked out of the grocery store and forgot me because they were texting, someone crashed into a tree while skiing and texting 70% of students said their parents talk on the phone or text while driving. Dr. Adair shared a statistic with the 5th and 6th graders; there has been a 22% spike in preventable accidents due to texting and driving! When asked if they have ever said anything to their parent about texting or talking on the phone while they are driving, the students reported hearing things like: don’t be a back seat driver, I am the adult I can handle it, put your headphones on and listen to music, I need to get this work thing done, hold on and I know I am just answering 5 things.

MEMS was honored last week with some traditional Irish bagpipe music. A big thank you to Mark Carthy for sharing his heritage with us.

Some thoughts from Dr. Adair: What happens to the human brain when the phone goes off? Parents think something is “wrong” or there is an emergency. The teenage brain thinks there is something going on and they have to do something about it. The more you understand how technology tools can be used in fabulous ways for friendship, the better. 80% of what teens do online is good. 20% is bad. Bring up the bar! You are the boss of what you put on social media, most of the social media stuff happens outside of school. Please keep your screens out of your bedrooms at night. The light can keep us awake. Next week we will explore what our 7th and 8th graders said.


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M ARC H M E N U

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MEMS STU DE NT S, MATT HE W SC OTT, CO MPET ES IN TH E NAT IONAL G EO BE AT CASTERTON STATE CO LL EGE O N AP RI L 1ST. BE SURE TO W I SH H IM GO OD L UC K .

MEMS PTO TO HOST A FREE SKATE NIGHT FOR ALL MEMS STUDENTS FRIDAY, APRIL 1st

Each year thousands of schools in the United States participate in the National Geographic Bee using materials prepared by the National Geographic Society. The contest is designed to inspire students to be curious about the world. Schools with students in grades four through eight are eligible for this entertaining and challenging competition. He can expect question like these: Q. Which state has a climate suitable for growing citrus fruits— California or Maine? A. You know that oranges and grapefruit are citrus fruits and that they grow in warm places. Since California's climate is definitely warmer and sunnier than Maine's, you correctly answer California. Q. To visit the ruins of Persepolis, an ancient ceremonial capital of Persia, you would have to travel to what present-day country? A. From history books or from studying country profiles, you know that Persia is the former name of Iran, so you correctly answer Iran.

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