CENTRAL DAUPHIN MIDDLE SCHOOL
The Principal’s Page /March 2017 Edition
Mr. Jeffrey S. Matzner - Principal
PTA
PTA Board: The PTA Board is now taking nominations for next year’s PTA Board positions as well as many chair positions. Please contact Jean King at if you are interested in becoming involved in PTA!
Gertrude Hawk Fundraiser: Thank you for your candy orders. The Gertrude Hawk fundraiser was a great success! Don't forget the new candy pick-up dates: Thursday and Friday, March 16th and March 17th.
Hersheypark Ticket Sales: HERSHEYPARK 2017 TICKET ORDERS COMING HOME – Make sure to check with your students about the order form from the PTA to purchase discounted Hersheypark tickets. These one-day tickets are good for the entire 2017 season and are offered at a discount to schools by Hersheypark for a limited time. Deadline for ticket orders is March 31, 2017.
Box Top Fundraiser: Don't forget to send in your trimmed Box Tops! Box Tops are each worth 10¢ for schools and are found on hundreds of products. When students, families, schools and communities work together to collect Box Tops the money adds up fast. Our goal this year is to raise $500...we are almost halfway there! We can earn even more cash this school year with your help!
8th Grade End of Year Party: Planning has begun for the 8th grade end of year party, to be held on Friday, June 2 (rain date Monday, June 5). If you are not currently on this PTA committee but would like to help plan the event, or just help the day of the event, please contact Beth Murphy at . Reminder that you need your CDSD issued volunteer badge to work the day of the event.
Reflections: Congratulations to our Reflections Regional Winners, 2016-2017, “This is your Story,” and best wishes in the state Reflections competition! Visual Arts: 1) Gabrielle G. – “I Am”2) Mubeen J. – “The Tree of Stories”3) Aiden C. – “A Dream”HM) Olivia A. – “Race into the Future.” Special Artist Visual Arts: 1) Trevor S. – “This Is Trevor’s Story.” Photography: 1)Brandon B. – “One Sided”2)Leah Nicole V. – “Individuality” 3) Matthew B. – “Breakfast on the Chesapeake” HM) Maddi D. – “Seas Shore and Dreams Soar.” Literature: 1)Aztlani M. – “This Is My Story.” Dance: 1) Yashica C. – “Dance Is Life.”
Rams Make A Difference: From Wednesday, 3/8 through Monday, 3/13, Song Wars will be taking place at lunchtime and at the Shrek Jr. Musical performances. Songs will be “competing against each other” to see which song raises the most money for the National MS Society in honor of Mrs. Megan Matzner. Winning songs will be played at the end of the school day. Don’t forget to bring your donations to school and to the musical!
NURSE’S CORNER
Immunization reminder-If your child is on provisional enrollment due to immunizations, please turn in proof of immunizations as soon as possible. The deadline for this is Friday, April 28th. Students that have not turned in proof of immunization(s) by this date will not be permitted to attend school and these absences will be unexcused.
Attention to 6th grade parents- to meet the immunization requirements for 7th grade, your child will need to have proof of two additional immunizations. In 7th grade, all students will need to have a tdap (tetanus) and MCV (meningitis) vaccine or proof that they have had these vaccines. Notices will be sent home closer to the end of the school year as a reminder.
CDMS NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY
This year’s Read Across America activity was a huge success! 44 honor society students traveled to Middle Paxton, Paxtonia, and West Hanover Elementary schools to read Dr. Seuss books and provide activities for the students. Students were assigned to classrooms, selected a book to read and created activities to accompany their lessons. Kudos to our students as the activities planned were very creative, entertaining and age appropriate. In addition, NJHS students have completed several fundraisers this school year, and will wrap up those efforts by selling snacks and drinks at the Middle School Musical performance of Shrek Junior. Students have been asked to donate the snacks and drinks and to help sell them on Thursday March 9that the 7:00 show and on Saturday, March 11that the 3:00 show.
CDMS STUDENT COUNCIL
Student Council's Clash of Cash is back and will run fromMarch 20th - March31st. Last year CDMS student raised just short of $3000. Your participation is greatly appreciated! Officer Elections for the 2017/2018 school year will take place in May. If you would like to run for one of these positions listen for announcements in April for more information. Student Council will end the year again with our 6th Annual Talent Show. Audition sign-ups will be posted in April.
MARCH CALENDAR OF EVENTS
3 No School – Teacher In-Service Day
9 CDMS/LMS Musical - Shrek Jr. @ 7PM
10 CDMS/LMS Musical - Shrek Jr. @ 7PM
11 CDMS/LMS Musical - Shrek Jr. @ 3PM & 7PM
13 PTA Meeting @ 7PM in the Library
31 Spring Portrait Day
TEAM HIGHLIGHTS
Gray Wolves – Aiden B. and Brinley V. were our students of the month. They are both exceptional students that always try their best!
Language Arts –We are starting figurative language in Language Arts class. The students love learning about all of the ways authors enhance the meaning and enjoyment of a reading. Students have been doing wonderful job learning and creating plot diagrams and characterization paper bags. Literature circles have helped students analyze a chosen chapter book and the characters. We have also started to learn about poetry. We have learned about the different types of poems and poetry elements. The students have been working hard on writing their own poems as well.
Science - The student continue to work through the Matter unit. They were surprised to discover that carbon dioxide was created when yeast reacts with sugar and warm water. They will also create ice cream while studying the properties of solids, liquids, and gases during a lesson this week.
Social Studies -Students have been learning about the five regions of the United States of America. All of the students created a Glogster based on the geographical features of one specific region. We are now learning about the natural resources, climates, and culture of each region. The test will be on March 16th.
Math – In math we finished chapter 9 on Area and have started chapter 10 on Volume and Surface Area. The students were given a formula sheet to use to help them through the steps. They are required to show their work (at least three steps). As always, math help is available every day.
Red Phoenix – SOTM- Congratulations to our Students of the Month, Katelyn W. and Timothy R. These two students have been great examples of the people we have on the Red Phoenix.
LA/RD: Is a word simply just a word? Or is there more meaning attached to it? Unit 3 will involve sensory, mood/tone, and figurative language. We will be exploring more than the surface of words and try to determine whether the author is trying to tell us more than what she/he is writing. We are hoping that the students will also be able to interpret and understand that the emoji’s they send are more than just symbols.
Science: What is Matter? Students have begun their study of Matter and learning that almost everything is matter. They are learning about the physical and chemical properties and changes of matter. Students will learn about how substances change from solids, liquids, and gases and what happens to their particles when they change their state. They will be completing an Adopt an Element project at the end of the month after they completed their Unit test on Matter.
Social Studies: Students have been learning about the five regions of the United States of America. All of the students created a Glogster based on the geographical features of one specific region. We are now learning about the natural resources, climates, and culture of each region. The test will be on March 16th.
Math: We are circling ourselves trying to find the area and perimeter of certain polygons and will begin our journey with volume and surface area. These concepts have proven to be a bit more difficult with the students even though they have had experience with volume in science. They should continue to study nightly.
Blue Dolphins – Congratulations to the Blue Dolphins Students of the Month: Alex C. and Lilly S.
In Science the students are in the middle of our Matter Unit. We have learned what matter is and are currently investigating the various states of matter.
In Mrs. Klick’s Language Arts we have begun Reading Unit 3, Figurative Language. We are looking at the use of various types of Figurative Language in different forms of writing. We are reviewing verb tenses and pronouns and will be moving onto our third large writing piece, which will be an Informative.
In math the students will be learning to calculate area for parallelograms, triangles, trapezoids, and various irregular shaped polygons. They will also be learning to calculate area when there are changes in dimensions of the polygons.
In Mr. Neagley’s Language Arts class will be studying and writing poetry. We will also begin unit 3, using figurative language in various types of writings. The grammar we will be reviewing nouns and pronouns.
In Mr. Gordon's Social Studies class, we are just finishing up Unit 4 - The Three Branches of Government and about to begin Unit 5 - Regions.
In Language Arts we are about to work on persuasive writing. Sentence punctuation and theme are next on our agenda.
Red Raptors – The Red Raptors would like to congratulate Jessica P. and Carson J. for being selected as the students of the month for February! In World History, would like to welcome Mr. Nolan McArdle, who will be doing his observation hours in our classroom until May. Nolan is a junior at Messiah College and is studying to become a Social Studies teacher. We are still studying Rome. In science, students are finishing up the genetics unit with a “Shark Tank” project on biotechnology. The month of March will see us studying evolution. In Pre-Algebra, we will be solving problems on topics related to 2-D geometry. All students should have their own calculator to use for class and assignments. If a student cannot purchase one of their own, they may sign out a calculator from the guidance office. In English class, we are finishing up our unit on argumentative writing. We will be moving on to skill lessons focusing on figurative language, writing, and mechanics for the upcoming PSSA's. Academic Literacy - Students are reading the novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963. We will follow this family through a year of their life and an important trip to Birmingham. Students will be practicing many reading and writing skills as we journey through this book. 7th grade students in Academic Literacy class have just completed the novel, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt. They have put together newspaper pages, using what they learned about Text Features and Text Structure, for each chapter of the novel. In addition students participated in a class debate about a major issue that was essential to the novel. We are currently working on necessary skills in preparation for test taking in April.
Gold Stars – Congratulations to the Gold Stars Students of the Month – Maddy R. and Braden M.!
The 7th grade students have been continuing their work on the Film Festival. Students should have finalized their scripts and should be in the process of planning to film. The Gold Stars teachers are excited to see what the students have created. In World History, the students are learning about the Romans. They are using Chrome Books to research and develop Etruscan performance tasks. In addition, the Gold Stars students have been learning about study skills and character to better prepare them for 8th grade. The Gold Star English students have been working hard writing and reading poetry during the month of February. They will showcase their work at the beginning of March during a class poetry reading. Next, the students will move from creative writing to academic writing when they study argumentative writing this month. In Pre-Algebra, the students are just completing a chapter on percentages, including discounts, sales tax, and simple interest. During March, the Gold Stars will begin a short venture into some geometry concepts. Finally, in Science, the students will explore the history of the Earth. 7th grade students in Academic Literacy class have just completed the novel, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt. They have put together newspaper pages, using what they learned about Text Features and Text Structure, for each chapter of the novel. In addition students participated in a class debate about a major issue that was essential to the novel. We are currently working on necessary skills in preparation for test taking in April.
Silver Lions – Students of the Month are; Emma M., and Max L.
In Science the Silver Team just started the study of Geology. Students will be learning about Plate Tectonics, Land forms, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Rocks, and Minerals. This will take us into the fourth marking period where we will end the year studying How Humans Impact the Earth (Good and Bad).