GARFIELD GAZETTE December, 2014-January, 2015

Mark Walter Principal

Tony Chiaravalle, Assistant Principal

Mary Kay Marcuse, Counselor

Garfield Middle School

13114 Detroit Avenue

Lakewood, OH 44107

Phone (216) 529-4241

Fax (216) 529-4146

Attendance (216) 529-4310

Website www.lakewoodcityschools.org

Board of Education

Linda G. Beebe, President

Emma Petrie Barcelona,

Vice President

Tom Einhouse

Edward Favre

Betsy Bergen Shaughnessy

A Message from the Principal’s Desk

This month’s principal’s message focuses on the process of

learning. Learning starts with the belief that we can all do better

and learn more by working hard and seeing our mistakes as an

opportunity to grow. Too often I hear people say they weren’t

good in math or science or whatever subject they didn’t do well in

school. Unfortunately children hear these fixed statements and see

a subject as something you understand or you don’t.

This month I challenge all parents, staff, and students to

start with the belief all can be good at any subject if they work hard

enough. Students will be hearing the message of perseverance and

that mistakes are what we learn from to get better. Great

musicians, inventors, athletes, scholars did not achieve greatness

on the first try. It was repeated failures and the lesser quality work

they used to help find better solutions and eventually triumph.

What would our world be like if people like Thomas

Edison, Mozart, Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs, and so many

accomplished people stopped trying and proclaimed they just

weren’t good at it? Fortunately these people never quit trying and

used the great people around them to achieve success.

To the whole Garfield community my vision is that we

keep working together, learn from our mistakes, and continue to

reach high academic achievement for all children and find the joy

in learning.

Mr. Walter Don’t forget to follow us in Twitter for information

and keeping abreast of all the great things going on

at Garfield Follow us at:

Garfield MS@lkwdGarfield on Twitter.

Calendar _____ ___________

December

1 School Reopens

3 7:00 p.m. – PTSA Meeting - LRC

4 7:30 p.m. – 6th Grade Winter Concert –

Choir, Band and Orchestra –LHS Civic

8 7:30 p.m. – 7th Grade Winter Concert-

Choir, Band and Orchestra-LHS Civic

9 7:30 p.m. – 8th Grade Winter Concert-

Choir, Band and Orchestra-LHS Civic

10 7:00-8:30 p.m. – Family Math & Pizza

Night – Café’

22 Winter break begins

January 5 School reopens

19 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – no

school

21 Yearbook/Candid Picture Day

21 7:00 p.m. – PTSA Meeting - LRC

22 End of Second Grading Period

23 Professional Day – No School

27-29 2:45-4:30 p.m. – Talent Show Tryouts

– Cafetorium

30 6:30-8:30 p.m. – School

Dance/Activity Night – Café/Gym

MESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT:

As we move into the new year, much is taking place that is reshaping our district. Hazardous material and asbestos

abatement is under way at Grant, Lincoln and Roosevelt and will soon be started at the high school. Once the buildings

have been abated, demolition will soon follow.

But before we talk about spring, we have to cope with winter. I want to take a moment to remind you of our school

closing procedure when it comes to extreme weather. If schools are closed, parents and guardians will be notified by

phone call, email and text via our Blackboard Connect notification system (this system replaces AlertNow). Other

ways to find out about the schools’ status are listening to the local TV and radio stations, checking the district web site

at www.lakewoodcityschools.org, Facebook page at www.facebook/lakewoodcityschools.com and/or Twitter account

at www.twitter.com/lkwdschools. You may also call the district’s School Closing Hotline at 227-5708.

I know that parents sometimes disagree with the district’s decision to keep schools open during bad weather. If this is

the case, parents have the option to keep their child home. That day will be regarded as an excused absence for the

student and students will be allowed to make up any work missed. Please call your child’s school absence line to let

the school know your child will not be attending due to the bad weather.

On another note, please be mindful that Lakewood is a walking district and it is imperative that our students have safe

routes to school. Please encourage neighbors to clear sidewalks as soon as possible after a big snowfall. When

sidewalks are not shoveled, students often resort to walking in the streets, which is obviously a dangerous situation.

Let’s help keep our kids safe!

Wishing every family a happy and healthy holiday season!

Jeffrey W. Patterson

Superintendent

Attention! Garfield Student Athletes:

Any Student Athlete that needs extra help with your school work or just some quiet time to complete homework before

practice can join Garfield’s Athletics’ Study Center, which takes place, every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, &

Thursday after-school 2:45 to 4:30. You can come any day that you need & stay as long as you want. 5 minutes or 1

hour and 45 minutes. It’s all up to you!

Every Monday’s location will be with Mrs. Patterson in her Computer Lab 104 & EVERY Tuesday, Wednesday, &

Thursday will be with Mr. White in Room 204.

*If you are a “Student Athlete”! Notice “Student” comes before “Athlete” so if you want to become a successful

Athlete you FIRST need to be a successful STUDENT! Therefore, if you need help with your schoolwork

join Garfield’s Athletics’ Study Center today!

If you have questions please contact Mr. White or Mrs. Patterson!

Just a reminder: Stoller’s Pastries pick-up date is December 16th.

The dough is frozen, so pick up on this day is essential.

Trip Contact:

Barb Lynch 216-529-4241 Barb.Lynch@lakewoodcityschools.org

8th Grade Reading Edge News – Miss Street and Mrs. Witri

The students are practicing identifying the main idea of a passage as well as the

5 w’s and 1 h (who, what, where, when, why, and how) in a selection. Please continue to have your student read for at

least 20 minutes a night to increase their fluency and comprehension skills. Reading Edge students have homework

each night so be on the lookout for a Reading Log or Homework Packet that goes along with the book we are currently

reading in class. Thank you for helping your child succeed in reading!

8th Grade Language Arts News – Mr. Biermann, Ms. Newman, Mrs. Sandoval, and Miss Street

The students just recently finished writing a personal narrative about a vivid memory in their life. Please ask your son

or daughter to read a copy of their story. They worked really hard on this and you will not be disappointed!

The classes are going to finish up studying rural literature this month and are continuing to practice citing textual

evidence to prove answers to questions about the different stories.

Please encourage your student to continue to read for at least 20 minutes each night.

8th grade trip

November 12 – December 2 ~ Fundraisers (Pastry & Coupon Books)

December 16 ~ Pastry Pick-up day

January 16– February 20 ~ 2015 Malley’s Candy Bar Sale

January 30, 2015 ~ Second Payment due

March 27, 2015 ~ Last payment due

April 22, 2015 ~ Parent/Student meeting 7 p.m.

May 20,21,22, 2015 ~ Washington D.C.

Yearbook Sales

Plan ahead!

Students will be able to order yearbooks starting Monday January 5th through February 20th. Order forms will be sent

home with students by January 5th.

Cost: $16.00 (checks payable to Lifetouch)

Due: by Friday, February 20th

Season's Greeting to Garfield Families,

As we approach the end of the year, we have much to be proud of. PTSA volunteers have been active supporting our students with concessions, Market Day and Scholastic Book Fair.

A special thanks goes to the following people that helped with Scholastic Book Fair.

Tara Funk Quinn Funk

Cindy Bischof-Steinbrick Rachel Vuyancih

Olivia Vuyancih Mark Walter Inas Jassani

Tracey Logan Kathleen Jouriles

Sue Gregg Zearatus Perry Michelle Coleman

Mike Coleman David Westlake

Christina Westlake We were able to buy over $250.00 books for the Garfield Students for the LRC.

Thank you to everyone who supported this event.

Please continue to check updates made to the Garfield Middle School PTSA Facebook page for current updates and news. I hope you can join us for our next meeting, January 21, 2015 at 7:00 pm in the LRC.

Sincerely,

Regina S. Westlake PTSA President

This will be the LAST chance to

purchase a yearbook. There will

be NO sale at the end of the year!!

Garfield Middle School Girls Basketball Open Gyms Open to any 7th or 8th grade girls interested in playing basketball at Garfield – All Open Gyms held at

Garfield Middle School.

Tuesday, December 2nd – 3:00-4:30p.m.

Thursday, December 4th – 2:45-4:00p.m.

Wear athletic clothes and bring a change of shoes for the court.

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Garfield Middle School 2014-2015 Girls Basketball Try-Outs

Monday, December 8th, 2014 @ Garfield Middle School

o 7th Grade: 3:30-5:00p.m. 8th Grade: 4:00-5:30p.m.

Tuesday, December 9th, 2014 @ Harrison Elementary School

o 7th Grade: 3:45-5:15p.m. 8th Grade: 4:15-5:45p.m.

Wednesday, December 10th @ Garfield Middle School

o 7th Grade: 5:30-7:00p.m. 8th Grade: 5:30-7:00p.m.

Wear athletic clothes and bring a change of shoes for the court. Must have a physical and EMA form to try-out.

All forms can be found on the athletics tab of the Lakewood City Schools home page.

Congratulations to the following 1st Quarter Physical Education students that achieved and “A” or higher on all five Presidential Fitness Tests. I had 142 total students during the first quarter and the following 13 students were the only students to achieve this high standard. This is quite an accomplishment. If you see any of the following students, be sure to congratulate them on their hard work and dedication. 6th Grade

Ebony Bradford

Lily Germaine

Katherine Spilsbury

August Starr

7th Grade

Sophia Bumm

8th Grade

Serena Bellino

Shannon Cotto

Gabby Dever

Clare Harvey

Violet Jouriles

Christine Larson

Kira Marjanovic

Aurora Piotrowski

For one reason or another, the majority of parents were unable to make it to Open House and/or Parent-Teacher

Conferences. I wanted to give you an update on the Physical Education program that occurred two years ago. This

change by the state of Ohio has a major impact on 8th grade Physical Education students at Garfield Middle School.

Students will have state standards that must be met in their Physical Education classes. These standards will be

included on the district’s report card. Standards must be met in academic subject areas, but they were not previously

required for Physical Education. The state of Ohio adopted the standards in 2009. The state standards were developed

and adopted under the premise that the students would have Physical Education for a whole school year. Lakewood

City Schools has implemented Physical Education for only one quarter per year for each student at the Middle School

level; therefore, we will be covering all of the state standards over the span of the quarter that your child is assigned

Physical Education. Students are classified by grade bands with each grade band having six standards. At Garfield

Middle School, we will be focusing on the sixth to eighth grade band with the testing and assessing done at the eighth

grade level. Each standard has two benchmarks. Teachers must implement these assessments using provided spread

sheets and they must then report the data to the Ohio Department of Education.

Teachers will give students a rating of 3 (advanced), 2 (proficient), or 1 (limited) using the state mandated rubrics.

Lakewood is shooting for a minimum of a level 2 from each student. These assessments include such items as written

tests, motor skill tests, sport skill tests, fitness assessments, projects that summarize biomechanical principles and/or

fitness concepts, and portfolios. The Ohio Department of Education will then take an average of the reported data and

that will be included on the state report card. Individual results will not be shown on the report card. Academic

assessments must be done during the week by the state of Ohio such as with Ohio Achievement Assessments and Ohio

Graduation Tests. However, Physical Education teachers will determine when to do the Physical Education

assessments.

Ohio’s Physical Education academic content standards provide clear, rigorous expectations for all students in

Kindergarten through 12th grade. Physical Education is a critical component of a complete education. Beyond the

physical benefits, quality Physical Education has been linked to cognitive, affective, and quality of life benefits for

students at elementary, middle, and high school levels.

Please visit the following ODE website link with an explanation of each Standard and the Benchmarks that are

assigned to each Standard. (http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Ohio-s-New-Learning-Standards/Physical-

Education/Physical-Education-Evaluation-updated)

Go Rangers,

Mr. Manos

Physical Education Teacher

IMPORTANT PHYSICAL

EDUCATION NEWS

Español 1

I was quite happy to meet so many parents at conferences. I hope our meeting was productive and valuable for you as

much as I found it. I truly believe that by getting to know each other a bit we can together be better drivers of our

children to become more than they think they can. Thank you for attending.

November saw an introduction to the past tense. Spanish students are able to speak and write basic past tense verb

forms and a few irregular verbs as well. They have learned a primary list of family vocabulary so expect to hear a few

references to mom, dad, grandma et at home. They are writing 10-14 word sentences in Spanish mostly about things

that happened in the past. Look for HW that includes using food vocabulary, family and adverbs in the assignments.

Ask your child how to say “I cooked a turkey” or “Grandma baked a chocolate cake.”

Soon we will learn weather and related terms and phrases and kids will present the weather by designing a power point

in Spanish. Each student will present t a 3 day forecast including 3 different seasons of weather. It is a fun way to

create and assess language in action and kids usually are quite creative in their powerpoints. Look for sentences

writing during extended time away from school such as 3-4 day breaks.

December is a month rich in Hispanic culture and we will be learning about Las Guadalupanas, La Navidad, and El

Día de Los Reyes Magos.

Stay warm and healthy.

Señor Corrigan

The Garfield Talent show is February 26, 2015.

Dance, Sing, Play an instrument, tell jokes, gymnastics ….endless possibilities.

Do it with a group, a friend or alone.

You must have the entry form in on time to participate.

(lots of info is on the form)

See Mrs. Witri for more details.

2015 GARFIELD’S GOT TALENT SHOW - February 26, 2015 Entry Form

(MUST be completed for EACH participant)

Name ___________________________________________________________________________

Names of other performers in your act: _________________________________________________

Contact person for your group:

___________________________ Grade ____ Homebase: Room _____Teacher ______________

Title of Act: ____________________________________________________________________________

Type of Performance: ______________________________________________________________

(song, dance, band, gymnastics routine, instrumental, etc.)

Title/Artist of Song (if one): __________________________________________________________

Type of Equipment Needed: __________________________________________________________

(microphone, CD player, floor mats, piano, etc.)

Entry form will not be accepted without the following Agreements being signed:

** This form is DUE to box in Main Office BY Monday, January 12th ** If you have questions, see Mrs. Witri (Rm.

307)

Talent Show Rules

Students must audition after school on either Jan. 27, 28 and 29. You will receive notice of your

audition day/time.

Song lyrics must be appropriate for school. Only songs approved by the Committee may be used.

Songs must be sung – NO lip-synching. You may use a CD with music only.

Dress must be appropriate for school activity.

Completed entry form required for each participant. If you are part of a group, staple entry forms

together.

Student Agreement

In order to participate in the 2015 Garfield Talent

Show, I agree to

Follow all school rules.

Attend auditions, rehearsals, and Talent

Show as scheduled.

Be responsible for my actions and

behavior and understand that

inappropriate conduct/dress may result in

removal from the Talent Show as well as

possible disciplinary action.

___________________________________

(student signature)

Parent Agreement

I grant permission for my child __________

_____________________ to participate in the

2015 Garfield Talent Show. I further agree to

make arrangements for transportation to attend

after-school auditions at Garfield (Jan 27, 28 or

29), call backs (Feb. 10 or 11), Dress Rehearsal

(Feb. 24 and 25), Talent Show on Feb 26 (7 PM)

in Garfield’s Cafetorium.

__________________________________

(parent signature)

Hair Because We Care Club

Commit yourself (and your hair!) to donate at least eight inches to children in need.

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Donate on Monday, June 8th, 2015 at 3:00p.m.

Note: We will be traveling to Revelations Hair Salon for the donation!!!

15620 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood

Donors…turn in your permission forms NOW!

See Mrs. Sandoval (316) or Miss Street (309) for more information!

***************************************cut here********************************************

“Hair Because We Care”

Hair Donation Club

Garfield Middle School

Potential Donor Information

Name: Grade: Home Base Teacher/Room:

Check one below:

_____ Sign me up today!

_____ Interested in donating my hair but would like more information

_____ Not sure right now but I might think about it later in the year

Please return the bottom half of this form to Miss Street (309) or Mrs. Sandoval (316)

Sounds of the Season A Joint Musical Celebration

Making New Traditions

December 17th & 18th, 2014 7:30pm

Lakewood Civic Auditorium

Bringing together Lakewood’s elite performing groups

Featuring

LHS Chamber Orchestra

LHS Wind Ensemble

LHS Chamber Choir

LHS Symphony Strings

LHS Full Symphony

LHS Mixed Symphonic Choir

Lakewood Elementary Honors Chorus

And Much More…..

Tickets: $4 advance, $5 @ the door; students/seniors: $3 advance, $4 @ the door

Tickets can be purchased by calling 216 529-4047 or through

the LHS George P. Read Music Department

Lakewood Teacher Association sponsoring basket raffles in the lobby to benefit:

Lakewood Family Room, North Coast Health

and the Lakewood Community Service Center

For more information or to donate an item for the raffle please contact

Beth Hankins at 216-227-5990 or lhsmusiccares@gmail.com