T I M B E RW O L F T I M E S

A M e ssa g e F ro m M s . M c G r aw :

S h i r l e y C . H e i m M i d d l e S c h o o l

3 2 0 T e l e g r a p h R d .

S t a f f o r d , V A 2 2 5 5 4

5 4 0 - 6 5 8 - 5 9 1 0 f a x : 5 4 0 - 6 5 8 - 0 3 2 9

M a r c h , 2 0 1 1

Vo lu me 3 , I s su e 6

Our eighth graders will be taking their Writing SOL on March 8th and 9th. The multiple choice portion of the test will

be given on March 8. The direct writing prompt will be given on March 9th. Student writing has been a focus of our

school improvement plan throughout the year. All students have been given the opportunity to practice their writing

skills in each of their classes. Please encourage your child to put forth his/her best effort on the writing SOL this year.

It is very important that the students get a good night’s sleep, eat breakfast, and arrive to school on time on the days of

the test.

We held our annual school Science Fair on Wednesday, February 2. There were many wonderful projects and we

appreciate all of the students who worked so hard and participated in this event. Congratulations to the following

students for their award winning projects: Sixth grade – 1st Place – Jonah Beranek; 2nd Place – Brenna Rodgers; 3rd Place

– Alex Heap. Honorable Mentions went to Raymond Ayres and Cameron Compton. Seventh grade winners were – 1st

Place – Joe Nelson; 2nd Place – Megan Black and Natasha Early; 3rd Place – Aaron Tice. An Honorable Mention went

to Caroline Clay. Eighth grade winners were – 1st Place – Kat Kameda-Ramsey; 2nd Place – Ryan Rodgers; 3rd Place –

Caroline Wanner. Honorable Mentions went to Katrina Stalik, Samantha Hablas, and Teague Meiers. All of these

students are invited to participate in the Regional Science Fair held in Charlottesville on March 15.

I am very excited to let you know that we are getting ready to implement a new parent notification system throughout

the county called Blackboard Connect. This new system will allow us to contact you via phone or email with recorded

messages informing you of upcoming events or changes to our school schedule. This new system is directly linked to

our student information system. As a result, it is extremely important that we have up-to -date contact numbers

and email for you. The Blackboard Connect system will first attempt to call the student’s home phone number. If you

would prefer a different number to be used, please let our front office staff know as soon as possible. The system will

then attempt to contact the primary and secondary guardians work number, cell phone number, and email. If any of this

information has changed, please contact our front office staff.

We have had several students out of school recently for viruses and the flu. Please remember to check your child’s

teachers’ websites for information regarding school work. If your child is going to be out of school for two days or

more, please make arrangements to pick up his/her missing assignments.

Please check the calendar enclosed in this newsletter. Our girls’ basketball season has begun. You will also see some

changes to the school calendar as a result of recent snow days. We have 8 weeks before Spring Break!! Stay healthy

and keep warm!!

Mary Grace McGraw

Chorus Notes

Congratulations to the following students who participated in the 2011 All-District Chorus:

Sopranos: Isabel Lozano and Kayla Mandell

Altos: Hannah Butler, Aimee Flenner, and Teagan Hughes

Bass: Anderson Barreal

The 2011 All-District concert was held on Saturday, February 12. Rehearsals were held throughout the day on Friday, Feb. 11 at

Riverbend High School in Spotsylvania. The final concert was held on Saturday, February 12. The middle school combined concert

gave one of their strongest performances in recent years, receiving a standing ovation from the audience. Congratulations again to

these hard-working students.

The next concert will be held Monday, March 14, 2011 at SHMS. Please plan to arrive by 6:45 for attendance and warm-ups. This

concert will be treated as though we are at our competition; each choir will present only three pieces and we will be having guests in

the audience acting as judges. We look forward to seeing you there.

The District Assessment for chorus is fast approaching. On Thursday and Friday, March 17-18 students will be traveling to Freedom

Middle School in Spotsylvania. We will be performing for judges and receiving a rating on our performance. The 8 th grade choir

will perform on Thursday and the 6th and 7th grade choirs will be performing (separately) on Friday. Upon our return, all choirs will

be having a pizza party at SHMS. Additional details will be sent home with students and will be posted on the SchoolFusion

website. The anticipated cost of this event is $5.00 per student.

The 6th grade chorus will be traveling to Riverside Dinner Theater on Wednesday, March 2nd to see a live performance of the musical

Hairspray. Please contact Mrs. Irby if you have any questions.

The permission slips, insurance forms, and payments for the 7th and 8th grade trip to King’s Dominion will be due on Wednesday,

March 23rd. All students should have received a reminder with their missing items from Mrs. Irby the last week of February. Please

contact Mrs. Irby if you need this information again.

Upcoming Events:

Mar. 1 – Fundraiser delivery

Mar. 2 – 6th grade trip to Riverside Dinner Theater

Mar. 14 – Pre-District Concert @ SHMS – arrive at 6:45; perform at 7:00

Mar. 17-18 – District Festival @ Freedom Middle School (Spotsylvania)

-8th Grade on 3/17

-6th and 7th grades on 3/18

Mar. 23 – 7th and 8th grade trip money and paperwork due

Mar. 28 – Karaoke Monday

Alyssa Irby

Shirley Heim Middle School Choirs

irbyak@staffordschools.net

Page 2 Timberwolf Times

Timberwolf Times Page 3

M A R C H 2 0 1 1

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

Music Fundraiser Delivered

Basketball Game vs. SMS Away 4 p.m.

2 Pre-Festival Band

Concert 6th & 7th

grades 7 p.m. cafeteria

Read Across

America Day

3 Pre-Festival Band

Concert 8th grade BPHS 6 p.m.

Basketball Game vs. AGWright Away

4 p.m.

4

Author Visit :

Neil Shusterman

5

6

7

8

Basketball Game vs.

HHPoole Home 4 p.m.

Writing SOL.

9

Band Festival @

BBHS

Writing SOL

10

Basketball Game vs.

Drew MS A 4 p.m.

Band Festival @ BBHS

11

Regular School

Day due to Snow

12

Focus DI

Tournament @

Glen Allen HS

13

Daylight Savings

Time Begins

14 PTO Meeting 6 p.m.

cafeteria

Chorus Pre-Festival Concert

7 p.m. cafeteria

15

Regional Science Fair

UVA

Basketball Game vs.

Dixon-Smith A 4 p.m.

16

17

St. Patrick’s Day

Battle of the Books

District Chorus

Freedom Middle School

Basketball vs. RTMS

Home 4 p.m.

18

District Chorus

Freedom Middle School

.

19

20

Spring Begins

21

22

23

24

25 26

27

28

29

30 31

Word of the Month:

Perseverance

Disability Awareness Month

Music in Our Schools Month

Youth Art Month

National Foreign Language Week

Timberwolf Times Page 4

BAND It is hard to believe how quickly the school year is going by! Here in the band program students are quickly preparing for Music Performance Assessment which will take place on March 9

th and 10

th at Brooke Point High School.

All of the students have been working to prepare three pieces which they will play for adjudication. Additionally the 7th

and 8th grade students are working on their sight-reading skills which they will also be adjudicated on at Assessment.

This is a very important time of year for our students involving lots of rehearsals and practice time! I appreciate all of your help and support as we prepare for this exciting event.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Spring Cookie Dough Fundraiser. The fundraiser was very successful and I am thankful for your support. All orders will be arriving on Tuesday March 1

st. Students need to be

prepared to take their orders home!

All 7th and 8

th grade students have received their paperwork for the Spring Trip to Kings Dominion. Please be

aware that all payments are due NO LATER than March 23rd

. If you have any questions or concerns about the trip please do not hesitate to contact me by email.

I am excited for the remainder of the school year! I frequently send out parent emails with reminders and upcoming events. If you are not currently receiving the band parent emails and would like to, please send me an email at gorskiam@staffordschools.net.

BAND UPCOMING EVENTS March 1st – 8th Band Rehearsal 3:00-4:30p.m.

March 2nd – Pre-Festival concert for ALL 6th and 7th grade band students. The concert will begin at 7p.m. and students must arrive NO LATER than 6:15p.m. The concert will take place at SHMS.

March 3rd – 8th Grade Pre-Festival concert at Brooke Point High School. The concert begins at 6p.m. and students should arrive NO LATER than 5:30p.m.

March 7th – 7th Grade Band rehearsal 3:00-4:30p.m.

March 8th – 8th Grade Band rehearsal 3:00-4:30p.m.

March 9th – Music Performance Assessment!

6th Grade Performance Time: 1:45p.m.

7th Grade Performance Time: 4:40p.m.

March 10th – Music Performance Assessment!

8th Grade Performance Time: 10:00a.m.

March 23rd – 7th and 8th Grade spring trip payments due!

April 2nd – Fine Arts Festival at Brooke Point High School

thank you for your continued support of the band program !!!

Allison gorski Band director

Page 5 Timberwolf Times

FOCUS

Model UN- A group of 30 students will attend the William and Mary Model UN conference the last week of February.

Students will become delegates from various nations and debate topics affecting the world today. This allows them a

chance to develop both research and diplomatic skills.

DI- The Destination Imagination is working to design a creative solution for the upcoming tournament at Glen Allen

High School on March 12th. The club fosters creative problem solving and teamwork through various challenges.

CGS/IB/STAT- Good luck to all students applying to our accelerated programs! Please be on the lookout for test

dates, interviews and other information.

NJHS

Our National Junior Honor Society students have been very active in the community fulfilling their service hours in a

variety of activities. The 3rd quarter will bring us another group service project, to be determined.

For 7th graders interested in joining the National Junior Honor Society, letters will be going home shortly to those

students who have a cumulative GPA of 3.8 or higher to make them eligible academically. Enclosed with those letters

will be an information form that students will need to complete prior to March 18th in order to be considered for

induction into NJHS. If you have any questions, please see Mrs. Drees in room 105 or email at

dreeskd@staffordschools.net.

The Physical Education department would like to remind parents that their children still need to have a PE uniform for

class. Please remind your children to bring their uniform to school on the days that they have PE. We do provide

loaners for students who forget their uniforms, however, some students have been using the loaners to replace items that

have been lost or misplaced. Students need to replace lost or misplaced items. The cost of each item is $10. The

students can purchase the shirt and shorts from their Physical Education teacher. With the weather getting nicer, a

number of students wear sandals and flip flops to school. When they do this, they need to make sure that they have

tennis shoes for PE class, sandals/flip flops are unacceptable for safety reasons.

From the Physical Education Department

SHMS PTO Meeting

Monday, March 14 @ 6 p.m. in the school cafeteria

Go Timberwolves !

Girl’s Basketball Schedule

B Qtr begins @ 3:45 p.m.

Game begins @ 4:00 p.m.

02/24 H vs. Gayle MS

03/01 A vs. Stafford MS

03/03 A vs. AG Wright

03/08 H vs. HH Poole

03/10 A vs. Drew MS

03/15 A vs. Dixon-Smith

03/17 H vs. Rodney–Thompson

Page 6 Timberwolf Times

The 2011 Girls’ Basketball Team includes

the following students:

Alyssa Andreno, Karoline Baker, Ruby

Cubias, Bailey Taylor, Lacey Chambers,

Danielle Dias, Mary Green, Tiffany Harvey,

Teagan Hughes, Nina Poppe, Alexa Loreda,

Ryan Rodgers, Sierra Smizer, Kianna

Swinton, and Megan Thompson.

The following students were selected to participate in the All-District Band on February 11 at Stafford High School:

Summer Mensah, Rebekeah Cammuse, Daniel Knaus, Erin Foster, Teagan Roussseau, Joshua Martell, Dimitri

Plotnikov, Bobby Ratway, Theo Learnard, Nicolas Williams, Caroline Clay, Leandro Alberto-Dominguez, Katsuko

Kameda-Ramsey, and Xavier Carter.

The following students participated in the 2011 All-District Chorus at Riverbend High School:

Anderson Barreal, Hannah Butler, Aimee Flenner, Teagan Hughes, Isabel Lozano, and Kayla Mandell.

The following students were finalists in the Shirley Heim Middle School Science Fair. These students are invited to

compete at the Regional Science Fair in March.

Sixth Grade: 1st Place Jonah Beranek, 2nd Place Brenna Rodgers, 3rd Place Alex Heap, Honorable Mention Raymond

Ayres and Cameron Compton

Seventh Grade: 1st Place Joe Nelson, 2nd Place Megan Black and Natasha Early, 3rd Place Aaron Tice Honorable

Mention Caroline Clay

Eighth Grade: 1st Place Kat Kameda-Ramsey, 2nd Place Ryan Rodgers, 3rd Place Caroline Wanner, Honorable

Mention Katrina Stalik, Samantha Hablas, and Teague Meiers

STUDENTS IN THE NEWS………………….

Team Thunder/Lightning

Language Arts

We are finishing up our biography projects and will now be

working on poetry. Students will be looking at different types of

figurative language as well as different types of poems. Students

will be reading poems and writing their own. We will also be

continuing to work on grammar rules through Caught-Ya,

vocabulary using the Building Vocabulary program, and reading.

Please continue to encourage your child to read as much as he/

she can at home. Students are required to read three books

throughout this semester.

Math

In February, students have worked hard studying

measurement. They have learned about both the Metric and U.S.

Customary Systems of measurement. March will bring us studies

about geometry. Students will be studying finding area and

perimeter of a quadrilateral and a triangle, as well as area and

circumference of a circle. In addition, students will be learning

about classifying angles, triangles and other shapes. As always,

Mrs. Hudson and Mrs. Drees welcome any questions or

comments via email that you might have about what your student

might be learning in mathematics.

Science

We have completed our first science unit for the semester,

reviewing measurements and the scientific method. We are

currently studying our matter unit. Students will understand that

all matter is made of atoms and that atoms of the same element

have the same number of protons, neutrons and electrons. The

students will know that chemical equations can represent

chemical reactions where elements can combine to make

compounds. Students will be using the periodic table to find

information about atoms of different elements.

Social Studies

This month in history we will be learning about our country

going through Industrialization and Immigration. The students

will be completing a podcast project where they will be research

major inventions of the 20th century that helped our country

grow and made life easier for Americans. We will also be

discussing Immigration and be able to look up our last name

through Ellis Island. By the end of this month we will be

discussing the Spanish American War and World War I. We will

have our Fun Friday that will be about the 1920s Charleston

dance contest.

Math 6 and Math 6 Extended

Currently in Twister math we are learning all about measurement

in the U.S. Customary System and the Metric System! We are

learning SOL 6.9 and 6.10. In these standards, students are

comparing and converting units of measure for length, mass and

weight, and liquid volume. Students are learning how to measure

with standard units such as inches or yards and nonstandard units

such as the length of their foot. In March, we will begin

geometry! We will learn about polygons and angle measures.

Language Arts-Twisters

Since February is Black History Month, Miss Kraus’ class has

been reading a variety of texts (interviews, magazine articles, non

-fiction texts, and historical and realistic fiction stories) about

some of the most influential African Americans in our history.

Mrs. Wolf’s class continues their study with fairytales, even

writing their own! Students in both classes are doing a great job

while incorporating multiple reading skills and strategies with

each story.

As always, we encourage the students to read outside of class

whenever possible. The only way to become a better reader

is….to READ! We don’t care if it’s the newspaper, a magazine,

or a book, as long as you’re reading

something! We’ve been using the

website freerice.com to practice some

vocabulary skills while donating rice

to starving countries, which can also

be used at home. Also,

studyisland.com is an excellent tool

for students to use to practice their

reading skills at home.

Page 7 Timberwolf Times

Team Twister

Science

Team Expedition students will be taking their science mid-term

exams on or about April 6. Please watch the school fusion page

for an exact date. Students who participated in the Shirley Heim

Science Fair will be exempt from taking their mid-term exam.

Language Arts

We finished our poetry unit and we are now beginning to read the

book, "The Schwa Was Here" by Neil Shusterman. The author

will be making a visit to our school in March. In class we will be

listening to one of his books and making projects to display

around the school. We also will begin studying persuasive

techniques and identifying analogies.

Math

As the we begin the season of Spring, we will finish our study on

Geometry (shapes, formulas, and area/volume). We will then

prepare for our benchmark which will take place later in March.

After the benchmark, we will begin the study of Probability,

Statistics, and Graphs. It will be the last few sections before we

begin reviewing and studying for the upcoming Standards of

Learning (SOL) in May. I look forward to a successful 3rd

Quarter and if there is anything I can do to assist you, please do

not hesitate to ask.....Mr. Kane

Civics

Team Infinity students are finishing the 1st Quarter marking

period. We have studied Citizenship and the foundations of our

constitutional government. The current unit, the U.S.

Constitution, will be completed after 2nd Quarter has begun.

After March 2, be sure to select 2nd Quarter Spreadsheet from

the drop-down menu in OASIS when checking your student's

grades. A report card reflecting only a current Civics grade will

be sent home the second week of March. Please keep an eye out

for that. Also, remember to check Mrs. Leadem's schoolfusion webpage

for current homework assignments, copies of files from the class,

and announcements.

Language Arts

February flew by and we have now completed our unit on Poetry.

At this point, we are a class full of modern day Shakespeareans!

This month, we will begin a unit on grammar and analogies. The

students will be reviewing the different parts of speech and

practicing proper punctuation through a variety of activities. The

students will also be completing analogies and identifying

relationships between analogies.

This year is flying by and Spring is right around the corner. I

want to encourage all of my students to stay focused and work

hard as the weather begins to break. I also want to congratulate

all students who improved their RAI scores for our second

reading comprehension assessment. This is truly an

accomplishment to be proud of! Remember, hard work pays off

in so many ways!

Math

We are having fun with our Geometry unit on Team Infinity! We

are soon going into geometric transformations with Math 7, and

finding volume and surface area with Math 7 Extended. Some

helpful supplies to have would be graph paper, colored pencils,

index cards, and expo markers.

As always, updates, announcements, and our schedule of tests

and quizzes can be found on Mrs. Cavanaugh's School Fusion

Page! Keep a lookout for our next Benchmark test, which is

scheduled to be given around March 17.

I encourage all students to continue their hard work as the

weather gets warmer!

Mr. Finch

It’s been a busy month in Life Science. Last week, we studied

plant and animal cell biology. In addition to the organelles of

plant and animal cells we studied mitosis and meiosis. This week

we started a unit on the five basic life functions: respiration,

waste removal, reproduction, growth, and irritability. Life

functions are the things all organisms must do to maintain life.

We will examine the life processes of plants and animals as well

as unicellular organisms.

Mrs. Alton

In Math, we are working on measurement and geometry. The

students are calculating perimeter and area, along with volume

and surface area of prisms, cylinders, and in extended - cones and

pyramids. We will be having our benchmark test coming up

March 17th which will cover measurement and geometry!

Students should be practicing their math skills online using study

island, our classroom webpage, and a little number sense fun with

First in Math!

Page 8 Timberwolf Times

Team Expedition

TEAM INFINITY

TEAM ODYSSEY

EIGHTH GRADE

NEWS

Language Arts

The month of March is a big one for L/A8. We have 2 of our 3

SOL tests coming up on the 8th and 9th of March. This is the

Writing SOL for 8th Grade Language Arts. After we are done

preparing and taking the SOL's we will be starting a novel unit.

This will be a nice break from the writing over-drive we have

been in for the last few months. So, eighth-graders...get prepared

to READ!!!!!

Science

Mrs. Reiley and Mr. Covington's science classes are now several

weeks into the new semester. The students started the semester

with a lab safety and scientific method unit. They are currently

studying the Periodic Table. Upon completion of this unit the

students will be able to construct an atom of any element using

the information given on the Periodic table alone. Experiments

the students will be doing soon include a flame lab, endothermic

and exothermic lab. Also planned for eighth grade science are

several SOL practice tests.

Math

With only eight weeks to go until spring break, the 8th grade math

team is plugging along with finishing up the SOL’s.

The math 8 classes are studying the unit on Measurement and

Geometry. We have completed our study on angles and

Pythagorean’s Theorem. Once we finish our study of

transformations, we will explore orthogonal views (3-

dimensional objects) and then finish up the unit with explorations

of polyhedrons. The last of the SOL’s will be related to

probability and statistics.

The Advanced Algebra classes have been studying equations and

inequalities for quite some time now. In the next two weeks we

will be completing our study by graphing them and studying real

world applications. Once completed, we will turn to more

advanced concepts by exploring functions – a concept that will

follow students through calculus. Finally, we will explore

probability and statistics.

The Geometry classes are completing the world of triangles.

After next week, we will have learned just about everything we

need to know about triangles for the next three years. We’ll use

that information the rest of this year as we explore quadrilaterals

and their special characteristics. We will then leave the polygon

world and study the circle … chords, tangents, secants, etc. We

will then buckle down and shoot for those perfect scores on the

SOL tests.

The 8th grade math classes will complete all SOL’s before spring

break. Once we return from spring break, we will spend a few

weeks reviewing before the SOL test which begin in mid May. If

you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact

your student’s teacher.

World Geography

World Geography students covered a lot of ground in February.

They were introduced to the 5 Themes of Geography: Place,

Location, Region, Movement and Human-Environment

Interaction. They worked on basic map reading skills including

cardinal and intermediate directions, legend, scale, and latitude

and longitude. A variety of map projections were learned about

as well as the concepts of relative and absolute location. A

variety of map types have already been used: political, physical,

population density, and climate. They studied time zones and

used information about the nine teens highlighted from around

the world in their textbook.

We are now studying the theory of plate tectonics, earthquakes

(using the unfortunate tragedy in New Zealand as a prime

example), volcanoes, land forms, and climate. The daily

broadcast of CNN Student News has added information to our

current topics and those we will soon be studying.

Page 9 Timberwolf Times

Page 10 Timberwolf Times

BIT Department

Mrs. Natalie Walden

Computer and Keyboarding

Welcome Keyboarding Students! Keyboarding students are working hard to learn the keyboard using one of the Super

Six Reading Strategies, Visualizing. These students are able to create a mental picture to help them key without looking

at their hands or the keyboard. Way to go! Students are working on creating a “Learning Today-Earning Tomorrow”

CTE Poster in honor of National Career and Technical Education Month (February). Posters are due by February 16.

Welcome Computer Application Students! We are learning the features of Microsoft Word 2007. Students are using

their knowledge of formatting tools to enhance a word document and to create a computer applications project. They are

also learning how to download and format a digital picture. Ask your child to transfer his/her knowledge to a home

project.

Computer Solutions Students. The 2nd quarter sixth graders have learned home row keys and the computer lab rules,

and the 12 Rules to Internet Safety, and parts of a computer. They have also learned about information technology, four

basic computer functions, and troubleshooting and maintenance using the Webtrac Curriculum Viewer Program. We will

be working on PowerPoint presentations. I can’t wait to see their creative side!

Page 11 Timberwolf Times

Heim Root of the Week

The Root of the Week program will continue to grow through May. However, the SOLs, snow, and ice have affected our

Roots from growing abundantly in each grade. Therefore, we did not have student entries from all grade levels.

The Root of the Week program is designed to give students tools to help figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words by

teaching them Greek and Latin Roots. Ninety percent of all the words with two or more syllables in the English

Language come from Greek and Latin Roots! Sixty percent of all words in the English dictionary come from Greek and

Latin Roots!

Each week the winners are posted for the following week on Mrs. Blecha’s Fusion Page. Congratulations to our most

recent student winners:

Week of Jan. 31st

6th Grade – Eric Olson

7th Grade – Alondra Ayala

8th Grade – Clayton Splain

Week of Feb. 7th

6th Grade – Michelle Diaz

7th Grade – Jaden Aponte

Week of Feb. 14th

6th Grade – Joseph Brookshire

Congratulations to Miss Kraus’ Language Arts classes who have had the most participation in Root of the Week!

Upcoming Roots of the Week:

February 28th trac- = pull, draw examples: extract, protractor

March 7th super- = over, above examples: supersize, supernatural

March 14th bio- = life, living examples: biology, autobiography

March 21st audi- = hear, listen examples: audience, audiovisual

March 28th phon- = voice, sound examples: microphone, symphony

Visit Mrs. Blecha’s Fushion Page for more information on the program and for updates on student and staff winners!

Page 12 Timberwolf Times

The following students have made All A Honor Roll for the second marking period:

Sixth grade:

Eden Allegretti, Caroline Antonio, Raymond Ayers IV, Christian Balmer, Jonah Beranek, Javar Berryman, Shanina

Best, Beth Bridges, Derek Butler, Jonathan Calderon-Ramirez, Amber Coffman, Cameron Compton, Juilienne Cook,

Brandon Davis, Guadalupe Diaz, Gina DiMola, Damone Drew, Faith Falco, Hannah Francis, Emily Gannon, Jessica

Good, Cydney Goodin, Caroline Graziano, Jacob Hable, Samantha Hambrick, Jack Harman, Dominique Harris,

Alexander Heap, Jamie Hiller, Taylor Holmquist, Tiffany Iheme, Justus Jones, Amanda King, Quinton Koernig,

Gabrielle Lee, Brodie Lippert, Steven Mai, Blaine Mainz, Malika Malik, Christina Means, Riley Mensah, Erykah

Michael,Alex Nanephosy, Cassie Nestor Victoria Pellot, Bradley Pendleton, Sam Perkins, Javion Peterson, Bryce Pratt

-Smalls, Quinton Reihman, Jaden Richardson, Arvin Sarbah, Hannah Savel, Spencer Sines, Angelica Slaughter,

MacKenzie Stemen, Mark Stephens, Ashlyne Taylor, Jamarius Weston, Emma White, Lane Williams, Sade Williams,

Bailey Wilson, and Morgan Wolf.

Seventh grade:

Eric Arrington, Michael Blodgett, Tyler Bosko, Caroline Clay, Shelby Core, Lida Hnatczuk, Gabriella Johnson,

Sindney King, Daniel Knaus, Joseph Nelson, Mary Passley, Savannah Reinick, Megan Rumble, Ben Sawyer,

Emaanuella Serwaa, and Viktoriaya Tkhoryk.

Eighth grade:

Leandro Alberto-Dominguez, Joyce Armoo, Karoline Baker, Alec Brodeur, Doris Brown, Hannah Butler, Lizzie

Cameron, Rebekah Cammuse, Summer Dahlen, Lauren Dixon, Shamille Dodoo, Alexis Edwards, Robert Etheridge,

Brian Garlington, Matt Garlington, Noah Golmant, Samantha Hablas, Valerie Kagehiro, Guilherme Konchinski, Kayla

Mandell, Teague Meiers, Summer Mensah, Nina Poppe, Lily Ramsey, Teagan Rousseau, Ariel Russell, Jazmin

Sanjuan-Bautist, Rebecca Schmeiley, Diana Simpson, Katrina Stalik, Madison Sundberg, and Caroline Wanner.

CONGRATULATIONS !!!

Page 13 Timberwolf Times

PARENT NOTIFICATION SYSTEM COMING SOON TO

STAFFORD SCHOOLS

Dear Stafford County Parents:

Beginning in March, Stafford Schools will implement a new alert and notification service

throughout Stafford County. This new service is called Blackboard Connect and will enable us

to personally communicate with parents about emergency situations, school events, attendance,

and important issues impacting your child. It will allow us to send personalized voice mes-

sages to your family’s home, work or cell phones and email communications. We will be able

to reach everyone in the district within minutes.

We plan to send our first district-wide message on February 28 at 5:30 p.m. In preparation

for this message, please note these important call delivery notes:

When a call comes from the school or district, your caller ID will display the school tele-

phone number.

When listening to a message, please be aware that background noise will cause the system

to stop and start. It is carefully calibrated to determine whether a person or an answer-

ing machine/voicemail has been reached, and background noise may affect the delivery.

If possible, move to a quiet area, or press the “mute” button on your phone.

If you missed any part of a message, please stay on the line and press the “*”star key on

your phone to hear the entire message again.

Additionally, it is important that your school has all of your current telephone numbers and

email addresses so that you will not miss out on any important communications. Please help

us ensure we have your current information in your student’s file. The Blackboard Connect

service cannot dial an extension, so be sure the numbers you include are direct lines. Also, we

recommend that high school and middle school attendance messages be routed to a number

other than the home telephone number.

For more information, go to www.staffordschools.net and click on “Blackboard Connect” un-

der “For Parents/Students” tab.

Page 14 Timberwolf Times

One of the current increases in criminal activities across the nation, to include Stafford County, is the rash of larcenies

from vehicles. Deputies from the Sheriff’s Office respond daily to calls from citizens who have had items stolen from

their car. There are some simple things that can be done to help eliminate this type of theft. The first one is

simple…..lock your vehicle anytime your are not driving it. Secondly…be sure to take anything of value out of your

vehicle at the end of the day. That would include GPS systems, cash/coins, iPods, video games, purses or wallets,

computers or cell phones.

Often time’s individuals committing this type of crime will “shop” the neighborhood walking through the neighborhood

late at night or early morning checking for unlocked vehicles, taking items as they go along. On occasion, if something

of value has been left in the vehicle, and the vehicle is locked, the criminal will then break into the car.

Take the opportunity and temptation away from your car or truck. Take items of value out and lock the car. If you have

a garage, put the car in the garage and close the garage. If not, and if possible, park your vehicle in a well lit area. While

these simple procedures may not stop all larcenies for cars or trucks, they will go a long way in reducing them

dramatically.

One final thought. Have the locking of the vehicle and the taking out of valuables every night become a family

responsibility. Have your child remind you to take these precautions. Better yet, have your child be one of the people

responsible for carrying out these precautions!

Sheriff Charles Jett

From Sheriff Jett:

Technology Corner Check out the Parent and Student technology page on SchoolFusion for all things in SHMS technology.

Heim’s 2nd Annual Technology Night

Parents, we are excited to bring back our 2nd technology night on Thursday, April 14 from 6-7 p.m. in the forum With technology

taking on bigger roles in the workforce and outside of school, it’s important for students to use this technology in the classroom.

This night is a great way to see how your student is using technology to learn every day! Completed projects from all grade levels

and curriculum areas will be on display and students will be demonstrating how they created their final products. Along with this,

there will teacher demonstrations on SMART Boards, SMART Airliners, and Qwizdom and SMART student response systems.

There will also be sessions on Schoolfusion, Study Island, and Gizmos, three pieces of software students use on a regular basis. We

hope to see you there!

2011 Doodle4Google Competition Ending Soon!

Parents, please remind your students about this exciting opportunity to feature their creativity! Until March 7th, students can create

their own doodles similar to the one shown on the Google homepage. The winning entry will be featured on Google’s website and

win a $15,000 college scholarship. This year’s theme is “What I'd like to do someday”. Students can pick up applications from Miss

Priester in room 119. Completed doodles and applications including parent consent forms and a statement about their doodle are due

by Monday, March 7, 2011. Please return these packets to Miss Priester. The winning doodles from our school competition will go

on to compete in the next round of the national competition.

Timberwolf Times Page 15

Heim Library News

Jenny Ashby, Librarian Lisa Sosik, Library Assistant

Library events

Neal Shusterman visit – Award-winning author Neal Shusterman will be at our school on Friday, March 4. If you would like to purchase an autographed book, the order form is available on all the library webpages.

The countywide Battle of the Books competition will take place at Heim on Thursday, March 17. Our team has been practicing since January and will be competing against teams from all the other schools in the county. Good luck Timberwolves!

HOWL deadline – the last day to chat about HOWL books with Mrs. Ashby is Friday, April 1. Be sure to finish reading those books and get the chats done by the deadline in order to be invited to the voting party in April.

Café Book students visited Porter library on February 16 for our end of the program field trip. Students competed in a Jeop-ardy game based on the books from this year and got a behind the scenes tour of the library.

Classes

During March library classes will be working on the following lessons:

6th grade – Sixth graders will be stranded on an island with only a set of encyclopedias to help them.

7th grade – Seventh graders will be playing bingo while hearing about lots of books available for check out in our library

and will finish the month with an encyclopedia puzzle.

8th grade – Eighth graders will be finishing up book trailers – like movie previews – about Neal Shusterman books. Then

they will begin a two week stay on library Survivor.

Book recommendation of the month

King of Ithaka by Tracy Barrett

Telemachos is the prince of the island of Ithaka. His father, Odysseus, has been missing for years since he left to fight in the Trojan War. Although his country is at peace, some of the neighbors are unhappy and are pressuring Telemachos' mother to marry one of them. After receiving a confusing prophecy from a local creature, Telemacho feels that the only way to keep his mother safe is to find his father and bring him home. Even though he has always been frightened of sailing, he decides to em-bark on a quest to find Odysseus. With his best friend – who is a centaur – and a stowaway, Telemachos sails off to another country where he finds a whole new world and tons of adventure all while trying to answer the question “what qualities does a king have?” Based on the myth of Odysseus.

Page 16 Timberwolf Times

Clinic News

Seasonal Allergies and Asthma

Spring months bring along nice weather and seasonal allergies. Up to 75% of people with asthma also have seasonal allergies. Hear

are some tips and facts about asthma and seasonal allergies:

Seasonal allergies, commonly referred to as hay fever, are caused by environmental allergens such as pollen from grasses, trees, and

other plants. Symptoms of allergies may include:

Sneezing

Itchy and runny nose

Red and watery eyes

Congestion

Asthma is a condition that affects the airways that carry air in and out of the lungs. Symptoms of asthma include:

Wheezing

Coughing

Chest tightness

Difficulty breathing

Managing seasonal allergies and asthma can be a difficult task for students who suffer from both. With seasonal allergies, treatment

may need to begin several weeks before the “peak season” of your particular allergy trigger. Parents should refer to their children’s

health care provider for which allergy treatments (antihistamines, decongestants) may be suitable for their asthma.

***People with asthma that suffer from seasonal allergies are twice as likely to go to the hospital as a result of a serious asthma

attack.

SKIN INFECTIONS

Athletes have an increased risk of contracting communicable diseases, particularly skin infections such as Staphylococcus

Aureaus. Ways to reduce the potential for contracting communicable diseases include:

Showering after athletic practices and competitions

Avoid sharing towels, soap bars, combs, sports equipment, personal equipment etc.

Avoid sharing water bottles. Clean water bottles daily

Sports equipment that comes in direct contact with skin should be routinely cleaned.

All uniforms, towels worn or used during athletic practices and games should be laundered after each use. PE

clothes should be washed routinely.

For more information on this subject the Virginia Department of Health has a fact sheet that can be access through the school fusion

website under health services.

Mrs. Granderson, RN BSN

School Nurse

Page 17 Timberwolf Times

Counseling Corner News

8th

Grade High School Registration

Thank you to all parents who attended our Parent Night for High School Registration on the 25th. If

you were unable to attend please check Heim’s Counseling Corner website for the power point pres-entation that was shown.

Counselors met with all 8th grade students through language arts classes in regard to high school

registration. Students received the course catalog and a draft registration form for next year. On February 23

rd students received an official registration form. They were to get teacher signatures for

any honors level courses they wanted to take. Students took that form home for a parent signature, as well as a ½ sheet where parents could indicate that they were okay with the course choices or that they had questions. Those sheets were due back to homeroom teachers by no later than March 1

st.

We have begun to meet with students individually about high school registration and to complete their 4 year plans. We will send home a copy of the 4 year plan for a parent signature after meeting with the student. Please remember that 4 year plans are tentative, that they will change during high school, and that our main focus is on 9

th grade and sequential courses that students will want to take

in the future. The 4 year plan will not be 100% complete.

Rising 6th Grade Orientation

Rising 6th grade orientation will be held for current 5

th graders on April 7

th from 9:30am to 11:00am.

Students will receive information about 6th grade on that day and will be able to tour the building.

Our parent night for rising 6th graders will be March 31

st at 6:30pm. This is a “parents only” informa-

tion session.

8th

Grade Writing SOLs

8th Graders will take their writing SOLs on March 8

th and 9

th. Students should be sure to get a good

night’s sleep and have a good breakfast. Remember that no electronics are allowed in the testing room (that includes cell phones).

Page 18 Timberwolf Times

Did you know? Read the following articles for interesting information. The entire newsletter

can be found on the counseling corner page on school fusion.

Parent involvement needs to shift in middle school

When your middle schooler was younger, you may have volunteered in her class, hovered as she did her

homework each night and forged close ties with her school. But now that she's growing and changing, your

approach to parent involvement may need to change, too.

Research shows that middle schoolers still benefit from their parents being involved in their schooling. But, to

have the biggest impact, the ways in which parents are involved may need to shift.

In fact, the things parents do at home are twice as effective at supporting their middle schooler's schooling as,

say, chaperoning a class trip. Research suggests that parents should:

Communicate expectations. Simply telling your middle schooler that you expect her to work hard and suc-

ceed can mean a lot.

Expand on what's being taught. Encouraging your child to take what she's learning in school (such as math)

and apply it to her everyday life (such as sticking to a budget at the mall) can help her see why education mat-

ters.

Talk about the future. Does your child want to be a veterinarian? Whatever she dreams of doing, a solid educa-

tion is her ticket to achieving that goal.

Reprinted with permission from the March 2011 issue of Parents Still make the difference!® (Middle School

Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2011 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. Source: D. Viadero,

"Scholars: Parent-School Ties Should Shift in Teen Years," Education Week, www.edweek.org/ew/

articles/2009/11/18/12parent_ep.h29.html.

Page 19 Timberwolf Times

Be aware of the different ways in which boys and girls may learn

It's obvious that there is a difference in the way many boys and girls act. Did you know that studies show

there's also a difference in the way they learn?

Every child is unique; however, most girls typically:

Enjoy projects and teaming up with others.

Love assignments with a lot of language.

Can do seatwork for longer periods of time, compared to boys.

Become immersed in the social side of school.

Perform well in math and science, but feel pushed aside in these subjects by middle school.

Benefit from parents and teachers encouraging them to take more math and science and assuring them that

they are fully qualified for success.

Not all boys are the same; however, most boys typically:

Love assignments that allow them to analyze, observe and move.

May have a greater need to move around. In middle school, the schedule actually begins to work to their

advantage. They change classes often and get a quick sprint through the halls.

Want to compete, rather than cooperate, with others.

Are strong readers and writers, but have a harder time finding reading material they enjoy.

Benefit from parents and teachers encouraging them to read. A key is to help boys select material that in-

terests them, even if it is not your first choice.

Reprinted with permission from the March 2011 issue of Parents Still make the difference!® (Middle School Edition)

newsletter. Copyright © 2011 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. Source: P. Ghezzi, "How Boys Learn," and

"How Girls Learn," SchoolFamily.com, www.schoolfamily.com/school-family-articles/article/854-how-boys-learn;

www.schoolfamily.com/school-family-articles/article/855-how-girls-learn.

Timberwolf Times Page 20

320 Telegraph Road

Stafford, VA 22554

S h i r l e y C . H e i m M i d d l e