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Page 1 Rocky River Middle School
March 22rd– 6th Grade Band/Choir Concert
7:00 p.m.
March 23rd– Girls Basketball Sports Awards
6:00 p.m.
March 25th– Spring Break Begins
April 1st– Final 8th Grade Washington DC
Payment Due
April 4th– School Resumes
April 6th– Spring Sports Pictures
April 7th– Mindful Parenting Book Club 9:30
a.m. (RRHS)
Dates to Remember Volume 3, Issue 14
Rocky River Middle School Pirate Passages
Megan Rose, Principal
Jeffrey Schultz, Assis-tant Principal
Testing Dates 2
Tumbler Sale 2
Athletics 2
PTA Notes 3
Student News 4
Counselor Corner 5
Sunrise/Sunset 6
Safe School Helpline 6
Builders Club 6
Inside this issue:
March 11, 2016
"In accordance with State and Federal law, the District will provide reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities who wish to attend and/or participate in school events. Such individuals should notify the building principal if they require a reasonable accom-modation."
March 14th– Town Hall Meeting– Social Media:
Keeping Your Children Safe 7:00 p.m. (RRMS)
March 15th– Incoming 6th Grade Students
Scheduling Meeting 6:30 p.m.
March 16th– 6th & 7th Grade Course Registra-
tion Forms Distributed to Students
March 18th– Basketball Challenge Cup (RRHS)
March 21st– Jazz Festival 7:00 p.m.
March 21st– 6th & 7th Grade Completed &
Signed Course Registration Forms Due to RRMS
March 22rd– 6th Grade Band/Choir Concert
7:00 p.m.
Basketball Challenge Cup
Please mark your calendars for the Annual Basketball Challenge Cup. The details are as follows:
3/18/16 at RRHS Main Gym
Doors open at 5:00 PM
RRHS vs. RR City - 6:00 PM
Gym Rats vs. RRMS Maniacs - 7:30 PM All Tickets - $4 (Children under 4 are free) Purchase tickets online @ www.rrcs.org/ChallengeCup.aspx (Tickets will be held at the door.) Whole Foods will be selling Gym Rats cupcakes on the day of the game at Whole Foods Bakery and donating back a portion of the proceeds.
Page 1 Rocky River Middle School
Athletics
Track practices begin on Thursday, March 17th after school.
There will be a brief meeting on Monday, March 14th at 3:30 p.m. for students interested in playing softball.
Softball tryouts will be held on March 16-17th from 3:30-5:30 p.m. and again on March 18th from 3:30-5:00 p.m.
Cheerleading tryouts for the 2016-17 school year will take place on May 16,17, and 18th.
All athletes must have a current physical on file in order to participate.
Page 2 Rocky River Middle School
Testing Dates
Please note the following important state testing dates:
6th, 7th & 8th Grade Math & English: 6th Grade Social Studies 8th Grade Science
4/20 4/28 4/28
4/21 4/29 4/29
4/26
4/27
Insulated Tumbler Sale
RRMS will be selling insulated tumblers with the Rocky River Pirate logo as well as other exciting designs. The all stu-dent fundraiser will run from April 4-15th. All proceeds will benefit programs for Rocky River Middle School. Order forms will be sent home with students after Spring Break!
Page 1 Rocky River Middle School Page 3 Rocky River Middle School
What is the 6th grade social dance? Rocky River Middle School PTA is excited to once again sponsor the 6th grade social dance classes with Mr. Dick Blake! This has been a tradition at Rocky River for many years and has been a huge hit with students over the years. Mr. Dick Blake's dance and manners course is specifically designed for middle school students. At an age when awkwardness and poor self-image are common, learning the basics of social dancing will allow students to interact and develop self confidence. The first class will teach students how to converse socially, how to ask for a dance, and how to escort one's partner to the dance floor. In addition, we will have a special appearance from Heidi Glynias from The Dance Centre. She will teach more current dances and hip hop moves the first week following Dick Blake's introduction. The second class will continue with students learning and practicing Dick Blake's meth-ods. One parent is invited to attend the last class to participate in social dance with their child at 6pm. We encourage fathers to escort daughters and mothers to escort sons, but if this is not possible, any special person is welcome. What do I need to know? Dates are as follows: Friday, April 8th 7-9:00 p.m. Friday, April 22nd 7-7:45 p.m. Friday, April 29th 5:30-7p.m. (Parents invited at 6:00 p.m.) Place: Rocky River Middle School Commons Cost: $60 (If financial assistance is needed, please contact Principal Megan Rose.) Attire: Boys and girls should wear dress shoes (no sneakers). Girls should wear a dress or skirt. Boys should wear dress shirts with ties and, if possible, wear a sport coat or sweater (no jeans). Volunteers: Volunteers are needed to chaperone all classes. Fathers are especially encouraged to volunteer and may be needed as part-ners. We will also need food and beverage donations. What do I need to do? Please register your child and volunteer to help by Friday, April 1st. Click on the link below to register and to volunteer. Thanks in ad-vance!!! https://rockyriver.wufoo.com/forms/r1mdvajp0ycse5u/ Any questions, please contact Sarah Russell at [email protected] or Sarah Lang at [email protected].
PTA Notes
“If your child has special considerations such as, but not limited to, medical needs, allergies, social emotional needs, cultural needs, accessibility needs, language needs, etc.
please contact the building principal who will ensure these needs are accommodated for during PTA sponsored and school related events.”
Maroon and White
Night was a
huge success!
Thank you PTA
volunteers!
Page 1 Rocky River Middle School
Student News
Page 4 Rocky River Middle School
The eighth grade band and choir concert and the RRMS musical Dig It!
Seventh grade students Ian O. and Leila were February Voyager Team award winners. Sean and Ian W. represent-ed the Explorers Team as Students of the Month. Congratulations!
Please visit our website to see more photos from our recent events.
Students attending the Diversity Center Leadership Conference and National History Day award winners.
Page 1 Rocky River Middle School
“It was one of
those March days
when the sun
shines hot and the
wind blows cold:
when it is summer
in the light, and
winter in the
shade.”
Charles Dickens
Page 5 Rocky River Middle School
Counselor Corner RRMS School Counselors Julie Morriss Moira Baylog A – K L – Z [email protected] [email protected] (440)356-6875 (440)356-6875 Your Teen Magazine Please click here to subscribe to Your Teen Magazine. Attention 8th Grade Students and Parents: If you plan to apply to a private/parochial school and are in need of transcripts or teacher recommenda-tions, please route all requests to Mrs. Debbie Wodzisz in the Counseling Office. Please submit requests no longer than five school days prior to submission deadline. Mindfulness Movement at RRMS:
Mindful Parenting Book Club session #3 was held at RRMS this week. Mindful Mornings continue Tues-day and Thursday mornings from 7:45 to 8:00 a.m. in the media center for any students interested in start-ing their day with mindful exercises Upcoming Events: *Note the Mindful Parenting Book Club replaces previously scheduled RRMS HELP Sessions. Mindful Parenting Book Club – Discussion of Chapters 9 – 11 Thursday, April 7, 9:30am at RRHS
Page 1 Rocky River Middle School
Do you need help with homework?
Do you need a quiet place before or after school to get your work done?
Come to
SUNRISE or SUNSET!
SUNRISE is in D101
7:35 a.m. to 8:05 a.m. Tuesday – Friday.
Mrs. Rowe is the supervisor.
SUNSET is in the Media Center
3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Monday – Thursday.
Mrs. Landers is the supervisor.
Page 6 Rocky River Middle School
Safe School Helpline Break the Silence – Prevent the Event 1-800-418-6423 ext. 359 www.safeschoolhelpline.com
This Helpline has been developed for you, and other students, parents and staff members to help maintain your safety and the most positive school environment possible. The purpose of the Safe School Helpline is to pro-mote school safety and report wrongdoings or illegal activity. Please call the Safe School Helpline if you know anything that threatens our school’s safety. It’s free and confi-dential 24 hours/7 days a week. Please report any facts, remarks or actions that could jeopardize the safety of our children, school or staff. Examples of harmful or threatening behavior might include: bullying, violence, theft, drug or alcohol abuse, talk of suicide, sexual harassment, weapons. The service also provides 24-hour access to a trained mental health counselor to provide support for suicide intervention, family crisis support or other mental health issues. Help Keep Our Schools Safe!
If your child would like to support our school, help out in the community then Builders Club is for them! The club will meet every Wednesday at 7:45 a.m. in the Media Center and is an excellent opportunity for students to meet new friends and give back to their community. Builders Club is an international student-led organization providing members with opportunities to perform service, build char-acter and develop leadership. Core values of the group include:
Character building: The ability to do the right thing, even when it might be the unpopular choice. Leadership: The ability to listen, communicate, serve and guide others. Inclusiveness: Accepting and welcoming differences in other people. Caring: The act of being concerned about or interested in other people or situations.
Please feel free to contact Builders Club Advisor, Mrs. Moira Baylog with any questions.
© 2016 Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated
March 2016
Fifty years ago, no one could have predicted the jobs of today. And it’s likely to be the same for the jobs of tomorrow. Help your mid-dle grader prepare for a world of change with these suggestions.
Know how to learn Equip your child to
pick up new skills as he goes. When he needs to figure something out, have him brain-storm ways to get information or instructions that will help. This will teach him not to give up if his first idea doesn’t work. If he’s stuck on a science project, for example, he might consult library books, talk to an aunt in the field, or look online.
Be information-smartOn the job, your middle schooler may
need to analyze and understand large amounts of information. He can practice now when he reads material for classes. For instance, he should read with spe-cific questions in mind—looking for the answers will keep him focused. Also,
School (still) comes fi rst Spring is just around the
corner! As the days warm up, your middle grader may be tempted to enjoy the weather instead of studying or going to school. Let her know you expect her to keep up her schoolwork and attendance. Discuss ways she could feel refreshed, like reorganizing her study space or doing homework outdoors.
Late bloomer?If your child isn’t developing as fast as his peers, he may feel self-conscious. Reassure him that his body will catch up. Share your experience—if he’s a late bloomer, it’s likely one of his par-ents was, too. Then, suggest he focus on what he can control, such as staying healthy by eating well and exercising.
A humble attitude Being humble makes it easier for your tween to accept feedback from teach-ers and coaches and to ask others for assistance. Putting others’ needs first is one way to practice humility. For example, she might help a younger sibling with homework even if she’d rather watch YouTube videos.
Worth quoting“The way to get started is to quit talk-ing and begin doing.” Walt Disney
Just for fun
Q: What gets bigger the more you take from it?
A: A hole.
Ready for future careers
making an outline of the important points could help him concentrate on the information that matters most.
Work with diverse groups Your child will likely collaborate with
people very different from him at work. When he does group projects, point out that including people from other back-grounds can make his team stronger since they’ll bring different viewpoints to the table. Also, encourage him to look for what he has in common with others. Classmates may be from different cul-tures but have the same favorite school subject or enjoy similar hobbies.
ShortStops
Standardized test success Your child will probably take standardized
tests around this time of year. Here are help-ful tips:
■ Have your tween post the test schedule on your refrigerator so she’ll know the dates she’ll be tested on each subject.
■ Encourage your middle grader to pay close attention to directions. Many tests require students to go beyond filling in a bubble—she may be asked to show her work on a math problem or select two answers on a multiple-choice question.
■ Even if a test is not timed, she should work steadily and avoid spending too much time on a single item so she doesn’t get frustrated. When she is finished, she can go back to skipped questions and also double-check her work.
Rocky River Middle School
© 2016 Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated
To provide busy parents with practical ideas that promote school success, parent involvement,
and more effective parenting.
Resources for Educators,a division of CCH Incorporated
128 N. Royal Avenue • Front Royal, VA 22630540-636-4280 • [email protected]
www.rfeonline.com
ISSN 1540-5540
O U R P U R P O S E
Middle Years March 2016 • Page 2
she shouldn’t). Also, suggest she put herself in the other person’s shoes. If she were being bad-mouthed, would she want to know?
Tip: Help your tween understand that there’s not always a perfect answer—just a better one for her.
Plan ahead. Wanting to fit in may make it hard for your child
to do what’s best in the moment. She might know something is wrong, but not know how to get out of it. Role-play sce-narios, and brainstorm ways to respond. Say friends want her to distract a store clerk while they steal makeup. She could describe the consequences (“We could be arrested,” “I could be kicked off the track team”) or go to the restroom and call you, giving her time to avoid the situation.
Middle graders need more sleep ■Q My son gets decent grades, but his teachers say he’s always
sleepy and has trouble concentrating. Any suggestions?
■A If he’s eating well and shows no signs of illness or drug abuse, he may just be tired. The average 13-year-old needs as much as 10 hours of sleep every night.
During adolescence, your son’s body signals him to go to sleep and wake up later than normal. So, he may have to train himself to fall asleep earlier. Choose a bedtime when it’s easy for him to doze off. Then, move bedtime 15 minutes earlier for a few nights in a row. To make his new sleep-ing schedule simple to follow, your son should get up at the same time every day.
If your child still has trouble concen-trating even with more sleep, contact his pediatrician.
Dealing with dilemmas
Middle graders may sometimes be unsure about the right thing to do, from handling friendship issues to facing peer pressure. Encourage your child to make good decisions with these strategies.
Think through choices. When no answer seems right, talking things through can help. Perhaps your tween doesn’t know whether to tell her friend that a classmate said some-thing behind her back. Ask what would happen if she told (the friend may be hurt and the classmate would probably get mad) or didn’t tell (her friend might keep trusting someone
My middle schooler comes across some tough
vocabulary terms in her classes. When Melanie got frustrated, I suggested she ask her teachers for ideas on how to approach learning the words.
One teacher encouraged her to think about a word’s root. For instance, audi is the root of audible, audi-ology, and auditorium. Piecing together the definitions of the root word (audi = hearing, listening, sound) and any prefix or suffix
Music to my ears Music offers a fun way to connect with your
tween. Try these ideas.
Make a family playlistHave everyone pick songs they like and put
them together on one list. Let your child show
you how—he’s probably the expert! Then, turn on your playlist when everyone
can sing or dance along (say, while doing chores together).
Hold a lip sync contest Ask each person to choose a family-friendly song and practice mouthing the
lyrics along with it. Pick a date to perform your songs for each other, and vote for
a winner.
Name that tuneListen to the radio or a playlist, and award a point to the person who names each
song the fastest. Give an extra point to the first one to name the band or artist.
Learn challenging words (ology = a subject of study) will help her grasp the meaning.
Another teacher said she should try to use these words as much as possible to get familiar with them. For example, she could quiz herself with open-ended questions. (“How is an exothermic reac-tion different from an endothermic one?”) She might also use them when talking
to others about homework or giving answers in class.
Melanie has been using her words around the house, too—and now we’re all learning new vocabulary!
Parent to
Parent
Q&A
Talking regularly with youth about the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs reduces their risk of using in the first place.
Know! encourages you to share this Parent Tip with friends and family.
Learn more at: DrugFreeActionAlliance.org
Drug Free Action Alliance6155 Huntley Road, Suite HColumbus, Ohio 43229PH: (614) 540-9985FX: (614) 540-9990
What do nail polish, deodorant spray, permanent markers and correction fluid all have in common? They are all items we would expect to find in our children’s bedroom or study area, right? They certainly are not products that would signal a red flag or cause us to question their use - nor should they necessarily. However, each of these items are also common “inhalants” with the potential to harm. According to the 2015 Monitoring The Future Study, nearly one in ten American children give inhalants a try by the time they reach eighth grade. Some refer to inhalants as “kids’ drugs,” because they are the only class of substance abused more by children and younger adolescents than by older teens, with the majority of users being 11 to 14 years old. But don’t let this fool you into believing inhalants are innocent kid’s play - they are not.
What exactly are inhalants and why are they so popular among younger children?
Inhalants are chemical vapors (gases or fumes) that are breathed in for the purpose of getting high. The slang terms are huffing (inhaling chemicals through the mouth), sniffing (snorting fumes through the nose), and bagging (spraying chemicals into a bag and then breathing it in). These chemicals are found in everyday products like cooking spray, nail polish remover and hair spray, which is one of the reasons inhalants are popular among younger children. These products are readily accessible at home and school; they are legal products that can be purchased by children without drawing attention; they are inexpensive; they are easy to conceal; they don’t require paraphernalia; and youth do not generally realize the dangers inhalants pose.
The truth is inhalants ARE dangerous. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), inhalants negatively impact the brain and can cause children to experience difficulties with learning, remembering, problem-solving and paying attention – negatively impacting their school performance as well. In addition, inhalants effect the circulatory and respiratory systems, sometimes triggering severe headaches, irregular heart rhythm, decreased rate of breathing and loss of consciousness.
Know! To Prevent Huffing, Sniffing & Bagging
Know! is a program of:
Drug Free Action AllianceLIFETIME PREVENTION | LIFETIME WELLNESS
Click here to print a PDF of this article so you can start a conversation with your child
Link to the article on the Drug Free Action Alliance Facebook page
Link to the Spanish archives
Talking regularly with youth about the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs reduces their risk of using in the first place.
Know! encourages you to share this Parent Tip with friends and family.
Learn more at: DrugFreeActionAlliance.org
Drug Free Action Alliance6155 Huntley Road, Suite HColumbus, Ohio 43229PH: (614) 540-9985FX: (614) 540-9990
Furthermore, inhalants can be deadly. Far too often, fatalities occur from sudden sniffing death, suffocation and choking, which can happen even on first use. And, as with any drug abuse, accidents can occur due to inhalant intoxication, resulting in serious injury or death.
How can you protect your children from inhalant use?
Storing cleaning products and such out of reach of young children is good prevention practice. However, there are more than 1,400 household and commercial products that contain chemicals used as inhalants, therefore it is unrealistic to think you can prevent this type of abuse among older children by hiding or keeping track of every chemical product in your home. What you are encouraged to do instead, is include this important topic in your regular and ongoing conversations with your children. Statistics show that a child is 50% less likely to try an inhalant if an adult has spoken to them about the dangers of inhalant abuse – so Start Talking today!
For more information and additional resources on inhalants, please visit https://teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-facts/inhalants.
Sources: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): Inhalants. NIDA for Teens. Drug Facts: Inhalants. National Inhalant Prevention Coalition. Virginia Dept. of Education: Inhalant Prevention Resource Guide. Alliance for Consumer Education: National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week (NIPAW) 2016.Know! is a program of:
Drug Free Action AllianceLIFETIME PREVENTION | LIFETIME WELLNESS
Click here to print a PDF of this article so you can start a conversation with your child
Visit starttalking.ohio.gov to get the conversation going !!!
