T I M B E R WO L F T I M E S S 3 S 6
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A Message From Ms. McGraw:
Volume 4, Issue 7 April, 2012
Spring is here! Flowers are blooming, trees are budding, and kids and teachers are counting down the days until the end of the year! Spring Break, this year, is April 9-13. Tuesday, April 3rd, is a Teacher Workday so students are out of school. Friday, April 6th, is an early dismissal day before Spring Break. Students will be dismissed at 12:50 p.m. Congratulations to Charlie Dileo, Emily D’Souza, and Rebecca Wanner for their 1st Place award at the Regional Science Fair held in Charlottesville on March 12. They won Best Project in Microbiology for their project entitled ―Scrubbing Bubbles: Do They Really Work So We Don’t Have to?‖ Delaney Galbraith and Nicholas Paul received Honorable Mentions for their projects at the Regional Fair. We will be purchasing a plaque, which will be on display in our display case, to recognize these students for their outstanding achievements. As the weather gets warmer, I need your help in reviewing the Stafford County Dress Code with your child. The new spring and summer fashions are here in all of the stores and while many of these clothes are appropriate for leisure, they may be considered inappropriate for school. Please help us out by monitoring what your child wears to school during these warmer months. For our young ladies, this time of year can be challenging when trying to make sure you are following dress code guidelines. All shorts, skirts, and dresses must be fingertip length. All shirts and tops must not be low cut. Shirts and tops must cover the stomach and back. Very tight pants, leggings, and jeggings must be covered with a fingertip length top. A copy of the county dress code is located in the front of your student’s agenda. When we return from Spring Break it will be about four weeks until we begin Spring SOL testing. During those weeks, our teachers will be working diligently reviewing and preparing the students for these tests. Please check the OASIS grade book and the teachers’ School Fusion webpages to keep in close contact with your child’s teachers and to take advantage of after-school tutoring opportunities to help your child be successful in their day to day work as well as in preparation for the end of the year testing. Our SOL test window this year will be from May 16 through June 8. Sixth graders will have an SOL test in Reading, Math, and History. Seventh graders will take tests in Reading, Math, and Civics and Eighth graders will take a Reading, Math, and Science test. All students will be taking their SOL tests online. Seventh and Eighth graders, who pass their SOL tests, will be exempt from their final exam in that SOL tested area at the end of the school year. I hope everyone has a wonderful Spring Break! Mary Grace McGraw
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Timberwolf Times
APRIL 2012 Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Palm Sunday
PTO Meeting 7 p.m.
NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS TEACHER WORKDAY
Early Dismissal 12:50 p.m.
Passover
8
9
10
13
14
19
20
21
Rising 6th Grade Orientation 6:30 p.m.
Report Cards
26
27
8th Grade Field Trip to Newseum
11
12
National Library Week ~ Read a Good Book!
SPRING BREAK
Easter
15
16
17
18 Solo & Ensemble Concert 7 p.m.
22
23
24
25
Track @ Gayle MS Softball @ Gayle
Earth Day
29
30
Arbor Day
National Autism Month
Word of the Month: Cooperation
28
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ORCHESTRA NOTES……. Congratulations to all orchestra members on their performance at District Assessment. Both the 6th grade orchestra and the 7th and 8th grade orchestra scored straight Superior ratings! Great job to all students on their hard work and performance! As we come to the conclusion on the third grading period, there are many things happening in the orchestra room. Please see the following dates to be sure you don’t miss anything. Please Note: The spring concert has been changed to Thursday, May 10th at 7pm. All students are expected to attend. 4/2: Solo and Ensemble permission form and registration fee due 4/18: King’s Dominion permission slip and money due (6th grade) 4/18: Solo and Ensemble concert at SHMS 4/24: Hershey Park permission slip and money due (7th and 8th grade) 4/24 and 4/26: Solo and Ensemble Festival at Massaponax High School 5/10: 7:00pm Spring Concert at SHMS (all grades) 6/2: King’s Dominion Trip (6th grade) 6/5: Awards Night at SHMS 6/8: Hershey Park Trip (7th and 8th grade) Motivators: Motivators for the third marking period are due on Thursday, March 29th. Motivators are worth 100 points. Practice Logs: A minimum of 105 minutes per week are due every Tuesday. Please make sure your child is practicing at home. In order to be successful, students must practice and review the material from class individually. Thank you for your continued support of the SHMS Music Department. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have! Ms. Jemma Faust Director of Orchestras Shirley C. Heim Middle School
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From the Chorus Room: Congratulations to each of the choirs for a successful trip to District Assessment on March 16th and 17th. The concert choir (8th grade and 7th grade men) received an overall rating of II (excellent) and the 7th grade women’s choir received a rating of III (good). Each choir represented SHMS to the best of their ability and worked very hard for their accomplishments. The 6th grade chorus traveled to Riverside Dinner Theater on Wednesday, February 29th to see a live performance of the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Everyone who attended enjoyed the performance. The permission slips, insurance forms, and payments for the 7th and 8th grade trip to Hershey Park are due on Wednesday, April 25th. Please do not miss this deadline!! The 7th and 8th grade choirs will be traveling to Hershey Park on Friday, June 8th. More information will be sent home with those who have turned in their payment and paperwork. Our final concert of the year will be Monday, May 14th at 7:00 at the SHMS cafeteria. This will be our pops concert and I am very excited about the music we are preparing for this concert. Please come out and hear a variety of songs from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s, as well as selections from Disney and musical theater. All of the choirs completed a technology-based research project on March 23rd. Students explored different genres of vocal music (ranging from opera to rap), researched their specific genre, and created a poster highlighting the information they learned.
Upcoming Events: Apr. 5 – End of 3rd quarter Apr. 17 – Final Technology project Apr. 19 – Rising 6th grade orientation (8th graders wear concert uniform to school!!) Apr. 24 – Hershey Park paperwork due!! Apr. 27 – Karaoke Friday May 14 – Pops Concert; 7:00 PM; Students report at 6:45; SHMS Cafetieria June 8 – 7th and 8th grade trip to Hershey Park Alyssa Irby Shirley Heim Middle School Choirs irbyak@staffordschools.net
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BAND Congratulations to all band students for their performances at the Music Performance Assessment in March. All SHMS students did an outstanding job! Each group received a rating of Excellent or Superior which are the two highest ratings that can be awarded to students! It is hard to believe that we are now planning for the end of the year! We have a number of upcoming events for the remainder of the year. Please make sure to check the school fusion website for updates. If you are not currently receiving band parent emails and would like to please make sure to let me know! Solo and Ensemble Festival All students have the opportunity to participate in Solo and Ensemble Festival at Massaponax High School on April 24th. This is an opportunity for students to prepare a solo or ensemble (small group) to perform for a judge. This is a great event for student growth and SHMS typically has the highest participation of any middle school in the district. Please encourage your students to participate! This event is not required, but is an additional performance opportunity for students. Permission forms for this event need to be returned by Friday April 6th. 6th Grade Spring Trip All 6th grade students have received information (in January) about their Spring trip to Kings Dominion. Students have the option (not required) to participate in the Kings Dominion Festival. We will be taking this trip on Saturday, June 2nd. Payment for the trip is $60 for students and $30 for chaperones. If a student has a season pass the fee is $30 and if a Chaperone has a season pass the fee is $8. All payments and permission forms are due no later than April 18th. I need as many chaperones as possible! Please consider joining us for this event! 7th and 8th Grade Spring Trip All 7th and 8th grade students received information (in January) about their spring trip to Hershey Park. Students have the option (not required) to participate in this exciting event. We will be taking our trip on Friday, June 8th. Payment for the trip is $110 for students and $70 for chaperones. I need as many chaperones as possible! We have 110 students in 7th and 8th grade band and I am hoping for AT LEAST 22 Chaperones. Please consider attending!!!! All permission forms and payments are due no later than April 24th. Upcoming Dates
April 17th -- Symphonic Band Rehearsal (select students) 3:00-4:30 April 18th -- Solo and Ensemble Concert, 7pm; 6th Grade Spring Trip forms due April 23rd -- Jazz Band Assessment @ CFHS April 24th -- Solo and Ensemble Festival @ Massaponax HS; 7th/8th Spring Trip forms due April 30th -- Symphonic Band Rehearsal (select students) 3:00-4:30 May 7th -- Symphonic Band Rehearsal (select students) 3:00-4:30 May 14th -- Hershey Park Rehearsal 3:00-4:00; Symphonic Band 4:15-5:30 May 23rd -- Symphonic Band Rehearsal 7:15a.m.-8:15a.m. May 30th -- Symphonic Band Rehearsal 7:15a.m.-8:15a.m. May 31st -- Hershey Park Rehearsal 7:15a.m.-8:15a.m. Thank you as always for your continued support of our band program! Allison Gorski
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6th Grade News: Thunder and Lightning: Math:
Timberwolf Times Math 6 Extended learned how to find the volume and surface area of a cylinder. Now we are learning about SOL 6.9 which includes converting between the U.S. customary and Metric systems of measurement. In the upcoming month, we will be finishing up the 3rd strand of the SOL, Measurement and Geometry, and benchmark testing on that material in early April. Students, study hard and do your very best on these benchmark tests! We will then begin the last strand, Probability and Statistics.
April finds the math classes finishing up their curriculum by studying about probability and statistics. Some of the topics that we will be covering will be constructing and reading circle graphs, using mean as a balance point, and exploring probability with dependent and independent Twister: events. We will be finishing up these topics towards the beginning of May and then focusing on an SOL review. During this time, we will also be beginning to start our review through several of activities in our classroom. Thank you for your support of your students and as always, please let Mrs. Hudson or Mrs. Drees know if you have any questions. Language Arts:
Language Arts
We have started to read the novel Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli in class. It is one of my favorite books and the students are really enjoying it as well. We are already more than halfway through the book! As always, we continue with our daily warm-ups, Caught Ya, and are actually ahead of schedule and will be finished with time to spare! The students have really gained a lot of important grammar skills this year through these activities. We are also continuing the vocabulary activities every week. As we are approaching the last few months of school, attendance is very important since we are preparing for the SOL test. Please, if you have computer access, use Study Island at home for extra practice with the language arts skills that will be tested on the SOL test.
During April, language arts classes will be working on poetry. We will cover limericks, haiku, ballads, and rhyming poems. We will also be working with figurative language such as similes, metaphors, and personification. Also during the month of April, we will be working on analogies and roots. As always we will continue work on grammar and vocabulary as well. We will be heading into our SOL review at the end of the month. Students will be using studyisland.com, released SOL tests, and COACH books in order to get ready for the SOL. Please continue to History encourage your student to be reading novels, newspapers, Wow! We are quickly moving through the history units, magazines, etc. and the students are learning a lot of new information. I am so very proud of these students this semester; their scores on in-class tests have been outstanding for the most part! Science: Keep up the good work everyone!! For those students who The second semester science classes have completed the are struggling on the tests; parents are reminded that we fill water and watershed unit. In April there will be a short unit out study guides from the tests together the day before for on the atmosphere which will cover the layers and air them to bring home and study. We have finished up pressure. Then our classes will move into our energy unit through the Spanish American War, and the which will cover the main types of energy, how energy can Progressives. We are currently working on WWI and next transform, and environmental issues connected with energy will be the Roaring 20s, and the Great Depression use, and alternative energy sources. through April. Again, students can use the internet at home as a useful study tool for the SOL test, with websites such as Study Island and SOL Pass. Any extra practice will help! Team Twister Math 6 and Math 6 Extended: Remember to check the school Currently in Twister math we are learning all about geometry and measurement! We have completed SOL 6.10 fusion site for any new updates and announcements! and have learned all area and perimeter formulas of rectangles, triangles, and parallelograms. In SOL 6.10 we also learned about finding the area and circumference of a circle, and volume and surface area of rectangular prisms.
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7th Grade News: Team Infinity:
8th Grade News:
Math:
Eighth grade Language Arts students have all wrapped up their units on Anne Frank. We are excited to head to the Newseum on our field trip April 5th to see what it was like for journalists to cover catastrophes like the Holocaust. After students return from spring break, they will be taking their third R.A.I. Also, now that the writing SOL is over, we will be working on covering all the different elements of language in class over the months of April and May. This will lead us up to our reading SOL, which will take place in May. Students will be reading various short novels in class this spring.
Our Geometry unit turned out to be a great success! Let's keep working hard throughout our last unit before we start our SOL test review. "Probability and Statistics" is sure likely to be a lot of fun! The material in this unit provides the students hands-on activities and opportunities to move around the classroom. Continue to check my school fusion page for updates, homework, policies, extra practice, and important dates. Please keep up with all warmup drills, classwork, and homework. Language Arts: As fourth quarter approaches, and the year winds down, it is easy to become sluggish. I would like to emphasize that it is imperative for you to buckle down as we begin to diligently review for the SOL test in May. I want Team Infinity to dominate the seventh grade scores! We will immerse ourselves in Language Arts as we review key concepts and strategies for reading both fiction and nonfiction. We will also review a variety of test-taking skills that will prevent you from being high-strung during testing. Please try to be in attendance and attentive daily so that you are not befuddled about any material on the SOL. After the SOL, we will focus on grammar and parts of speech. This is a great way to end the year and prepare you for eighth grade because I have noticed that there is a colossal gap in this area of concentration. Being able to use proper grammar and distinguish between parts of speech is crucial to your ability to write, and eighth grade has an even greater emphasis on writing than we had this year! P.S. Don’t you feel awfully smart because you can comprehend this paragraph with your extensive vocabulary knowledge? Civics: April and May will surely fly by in Civics class. Team Infinity students will be hard at work in units of study about the Executive Branch, Judicial Branch, Elections & Voting, as well as Economics. Please continue to check my schoolfusion webpage for information, document files, study guides and important dates.
The World Geography students in Mrs. Burks’ and Mrs. Reeves’ classes will soon finish their survey of the various aspects of our own country and Canada. Our next area of interest will be our Latin American neighbors to the south. Students will have the opportunity to appreciate the great variety of physical contrasts found in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean Islands, and South America. Classes will also learn about the climate, economies, governments, and the peoples of that area of the world. Following the unit on Latin America, our studies will take us to Europe. We would like to congratulate Logan Robertson on his qualification to represent Shirley Heim Middle School and to participate at the state level of the National Geographic Bee. The competition will take place on Friday, March 30, 2012 at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia. Best wishes for success, Logan! The eighth grade science classes of Mrs. Reiley and Mr. Covington are wrapping up the introduction to chemistry. This introduction usually takes about 1/2 of the semester.The mid term will be April 2. The remaining units to be studied in the second half of the year include; motion, energy, heat, electricity, magnetism and light. The eighth grade Science SOL is tentatively scheduled for May 31 and June 1. The science classes will review over sixth and seventh grade material as well as review over units covered this year prior to the SOL test.
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Timberwolf Times
From the Front Office… Attendance:
CGS- Thank you to all of the students that applied this year! We doubled our number of applicants for the program. Acceptance letters will be mailed at the end of April.
Regular attendance is essential to a student’s success in school. Most subjects are taught in sequence, requiring the understanding of each concept in the order of its presentation. Persistent absenteeism creates a genuine hardship for a student and is regarded as a very serious problem and will be referred to the division attendance officer.
Yearbook- Order now for $30.00 each before the price increases! Students can order online at www.yearbookordercenter.com by entering the school code 13556. Major credit cards are accepted. To pay by cash, check or If your child is absent from school, please call the office by money order please send orders to Mr. Bouffard in room 10:00 a.m. to inform us of their absence. You can call us at 222. All checks must be made payable to SHMS and 658-5910. A written absence note is also required. include a valid phone number as well as student name on the check.
Bus Passes: If your child is planning to ride the bus home with another student, both students must have permission notes from a parent or guardian to receive a bus pass. Bus notes are to be brought to the main office before homeroom. Students are not allowed to use the phone to arrange bus notes during the school day.
Tardies: It is very important that students arrive to school on time and ready to learn. Any student arriving to class after 8:20 a.m. is considered tardy and must report to the main office for a tardy slip. A written note or parent signature in the main office must be provided for each tardy in order for it to be excused. Repeated unexcused tardies may result in disciplinary action.
FOCUS AND YEARBOOK NEWS………. Summer Opportunities- Packets were sent home in March to all Focus students. Also, please refer to the Focus Fusion page for more information regarding various camps, groups and other summer activities for students currently receiving gifted services.
*The Pre-sale discount price of $30.00 and online/credit card sales end on April 6th. All orders received after April 6th will be processed on a first come, first served basis for $35.00 each. Hurry, supplies are limited. Please send all questions to Mr. Bouffard at bouffardkj@staffordschools.net or call 658-5910.
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Timberwolf Times
Go Timberwolves ! TRACK SCHEDULE Meets begin at 4:00 p.m. April 26
Away @ Gayle Middle
May 1
Home vs. Stafford Middle
May 3
Home vs. A.G. Wright
May 8
Away @ H.H. Poole
May 10
Home vs. Drew Middle
May 15
Home vs. Dixon-Smith
May 17
Away @. Rodney Thompson
County Meet: Field Events 5/22 Running Events 5/23
SOFTBALL SCHEDULE B Game begins at 3:45 p.m. Games begin at 4:00 p.m. April 26
Away @ Gayle Middle
May 1
Home vs. Stafford Middle
May 3
Home vs. A.G. Wright
May 8
Away @ H.H. Poole
May 10
Home vs. Drew Middle
May 15
Home vs. Dixon-Smith
May 17
Away @. Rodney Thompson
Tournament Dates: 5/21, 5/22, 5/24
The members of the National Junior Honor Society finished up the 3rd 9-weeks with a group service project of delivering orange carnations to the teachers and staff of Shirley C. Heim Middle School. This was their way of showing appreciation to all of the people that support their learning in their school community. Our last and final project of the year will be our ceremony to Induct the rising 8th graders into NJHS at the beginning of May. We have received interest from many of the rising 8th graders about joining the National Junior Honor Society. Students will be notified if they have been accepted shortly after Spring Break with an invitation to attend the Induction ceremony on May 2nd. As always, we thank you for all of the support you give to your students and please contact Mrs. Drees or Ms. Scholl if you have any questions.
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Timberwolf Times
STAFFORD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS DRESS CODE The following is prohibited in Stafford County Schools: Clothing and accessories that promote alcohol, tobacco, or drug usage or which display weapons or violence and which cause or are likely to cause disruption within the school environment. 1) Decisions regarding the appropriateness of clothing, footwear and accessories will be made by the Principal or a designee. Items deemed inappropriate will be brought to the parent's attention for corrective action. Continued violations of the dress code will subject the student to suspension from school. 2) Clothing and accessories that contain vulgar, derogatory, or suggestive diagrams, pictures, slogans or words that may be interpreted as racially, religiously, ethically, or sexually offensive and which cause or are likely to cause a disruption within the school environment. 3) Clothing symbolic of gangs or disruptive groups associated with threatening behavior, harassment or discrimination and which cause or are likely to cause a disruption within the school environment. 4) Clothing, accessories and/or any words, pictures, diagrams, etc., thereon which are lewd, vulgar, indecent, plainly offensive, or which cause or are likely to cause a material disruption. 5) Tank tops, tube tops, mesh tops, sheer tops, sleeveless tops, halters, or bare midriff tops. 6) Shirts cannot have necklines that are lower than the straight line from top of underarm across to opposite underarm. 7) Shirts must cover shoulders, must have sleeves, and must extend pass the top of the pants. Display of cleavage is not permitted. Tops may not expose the midriff, and clothing must cover undergarments at all times. Note that at the Elementary level, sleeveless tops and dresses are permitted providing they do not violate any other part of the dress code. 8) Fringed garments in CTE areas or in Drama and Art areas, which contain machinery. 9) Leggings or tight fitting spandex type pants, pants with side slits or holes above the knees, see-through pants, tights, or leotards worn as outer garments. 10) Sagging pants, pants worn low on the hip so as to reveal underwear or skin. Pants must be worn with both legs down (not one leg rolled up), and pants legs may not extend past the sole of the shoe. Clothing must cover undergarments at all times. 11) Dresses, skirts, shorts, culottes, and skorts that are shorter than the extended tip of the longest finger with arms hanging naturally at the sides. 12) Pajamas, loungewear, and dorm pants. 13) Items of clothing that would impair the health and safety of the student during normal school activities. 14) Bedroom slippers, roller sneakers, or heels higher than 3 inches. Shoes must be worn at all times. Athletic shoes or closed shoes with a rubber sole should be worn for Physical Education and recess. At the Elementary level, high heels, loose fitting sandals and flip-flops are discouraged for safety reasons. 15) Sunglasses or permanently tinted dark glasses. 16) Dog collars, chains, wallet chains, safety pins, spike jewelry or fishhooks worn as jewelry, accessories or ornamentation. Bandanas may not be worn anywhere on one’s person. 17) Head coverings of any kind in the building (except for religious or medical reasons). 18) Curlers, picks, combs, or hair rakes in the hair.
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Timberwolf Times
Counseling News SOL testing is approaching fast. May 14th – June 8th is SOL testing time. Please schedule your appointments around these dates. Make sure your child gets plenty of rest and is at school on time each day during testing. Is your child still having difficulty in school? Is after school tutoring out of the question for various reasons? Try the Kohan Academy it was highlighted on CBS’s 60 Minutes. Founder Salman Khan states the mission of the academy is to provide world class education to everyone. Go to www.khanacademy for the tutoring link to over 3000 videos. They teach on everything from basic math, algebra, geometry, calculus just to name a few. The website has Science, Humanities, Economics, SAT prep. and more. It is a fantastic resource when your student doesn’t understand a concept. All of the tutors are top professionals in their field of interest. Parents of rising sixth graders please mark your calendar for upcoming parent orientation. Please see the attached flyer for all the details. Spring is here and the school year is winding down. Students may need a refresher course in school rules and building respect. April’s Middle School Parents magazine has a great article on the subject.
Middle school students often need a refresher course in respect A child with a sense of fairness, kindness and responsibility is a child who respects others. However, these quali-ties don’t always come naturally. And even when they do, a child may have to recommit to them in middle school, where negative peer pressure sometimes makes it hard to do the right thing. To reinforce respect in your home: • Emphasize empathy. Middle school students are going through many changes. As a result, they are pretty wrapped up in themselves. So remind your child that his actions can affect others, too. Example: ―You walked right past Grandma and Grandpa without even saying hello. How do you think that made them feel?‖ • Work on solving problems. Not everyone is going to agree with your child. Teach that the first response should be: ―Okay, how can we cooperate?‖ This is a tough one. Middle school students like to have their way. But keep at it. • Make clear you don’t approve of media and games that seem to glamorize disrespectful speech or behavior. You can’t police your child every moment. But you can label such media offensive and not allow them in your home. • Don’t tolerate disrespect. Your child should have consequences for disrespectful talk and behav-ior. Letting it go sends the wrong message—your child will inter-pret it as not being a big deal. But remember that discipline must be done respectfully too. Do not insult or ever use physical punish-ment. That can undo in an instant all the good lessons you have been trying to teach for months.
Source: “Mariposa County Project Respect: Parents,” Mariposa County Project Respect (MCPR), www.mariposarespect.net/ parents.html.
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Timberwolf Times
To all parents and guardians of rising 6th graders who will be attending Shirley C. Heim Middle School for the 2012-2013 school year:
Rising 6th Grade Parent Orientation For Parents Only Shirley C. Heim Middle School 320 Telegraph Road Thursday April 19, 2012 6:30 PM Shirley C. Heim Forum
We hope to see you at orientation! You’ll have a chance to hear from the Principal, Assistant Principals, PTO, and the counselors. We’ll discuss a typical day in sixth grade, elective choices, and you will also see a demonstration of the Middle School Fusion Page to see the differences between middle and elementary levels. There will also be a time to address any questions or concerns.
Go Timberwolves!!!!
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Timberwolf Times
From the Art Room: The Winning Illustrations for the 2012 Rappahannock Reading Council's Writing Contest: "If I Were President..." are: Front Cover: Cydney Goodin Section Divider for the essays of grades 4-5: Reggie Collins These students are winners from hundreds of entries and their achievement will be celebrated on April 4, 2012 at Conway Elementary from 6:30-7:30. Congratulations to our talented artists!
Fine Arts Festival 2012! The 36th annual Stafford County Fine Arts Festival was held at Brooke Point High School. There was over 5,000 pieces of artwork from elementary to high school as well as more than 1,000 students performing in a variety of music ensembles. From elementary choir to high school jazz band to drum ensembles and choirs, there was something for everyone! In addition, drama students were storytellers and visitors could be a part of a community art project! Ahmad, Sayyar Claros, Luis Krebs, Elizabeth Perkins, Sam Alford, Grace Connaughton, Theresa Langlois, Renee Puerto, Stephanie Arizaga, Karina Coppenrath, Ian Llamas, Talina Rychick, Drake Ayub, Sabah Cornwell, Danielle Lopez, David Santana, Itzabella Baldo, Carmella Early, Natasha Love, Jimmy Sechler, Kyle Beharry, Adrianna Evans, Roger Mai, Jaylen Shokai, Phoebe Black, Isis Fredericksen, Ashley Marshall, Guy
Sierra, Chynna Blackwell, Erionna Gates, Xavier Martinell, Rachel Thibodeau, Matthew Bravo, Yesmely Gomez, Ethan Mason, Maddie Thornten, Luke Burress, Nick Hooker, Chyann Massey, David Tice, Aaron Calderon, Jonathan Johnson, Calvin Mensah, Riley Torres, Brenden Camp, Alexis Johnson, Ciara Olsson, Lauren Waugerman, Kelsey Chambers, Francesca Johnson, Gabriella Passley, Sara Williams, Samantha
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Timberwolf Times
ATTENTION TO PARENTS OF RISING SIXTH GRADE STUDENTS
A booster dose of Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis (TDAP) is required for all students before entering the first day of school (September 4, 2012) as a SIXTH GRADER. This is not a new requirement and physicians are already aware of the need for the booster. They may not, however, carry the vaccine that your child will need. Boostrix is the booster given for those 10 years and older. Adacel is the booster for those 11 years and older. Boostrix and Adacel are both available at the health department. If your physician does not carry the vaccine preparation that is appropriate for your child, please contact the health department (659-3101) to make arrangements to receive the appropriate booster before the start of the next school year.
No student will be able to start without an immunization record showing proof of the booster
Please contact your school nurse with any questions.
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Clinic News Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac I have seen several students in the clinic complaining of itchy skin after being in the woods. The skin rash (contact dermatitis) is possibly caused by an oil, urushiol found in poison ivy, oak, or sumac plants. Urushiol is an allergen, so the rash is actually an allergic reaction to the oil in the plants. The rash is usually red and blistered, can be shaped like streaks or patches. The rash can appear 1 to 2 days after exposure. Students may think the rash is spreading, but either it is still developing from earlier contact or they have touched something that still has urushiol on it. The fluid from the blisters or sores themselves is not contagious. However, anything that has poison ivy oil or sap on it is contagious. This includes the shoes and clothes the student wore into the woods as well as any pets that may have oil on their fur. Students will be instructed to cleanse (soap and water) the exposed area, and hopefully they have washed their clothing. Calamine lotion can be applied to the area and this will relieve them of the itching. Moderate or severe cases of the rash may require treatment by a doctor, who may prescribe an oral steroid, creams, ointments, or injections (shots).
Athletes and Heat Illness Prevention Tips As the weather gets warmer and humid, students participating in outdoor sports need to keep hydrated. Here are a few tips to prevent heat related illnesses: Please monitor your student athlete’s drinking habits at home. Water, Powerade, and Gatorade are drinks of choice. Caffeinated beverages are bad choices that can cause rapid fluid loss and in turn leading to dehydration. Energy Drinks are particularly bad due to high amounts of caffeine and sugar. Student athletes should be drinking 20-60 ounces of fluid each night to replenish fluid loss throughout the day. Students should eat well balanced meals, see website: http://www.pyramid.gov. Excess greasy and fatty foods can slow down athletes and contribute to heat-related illnesses and other injuries. Student athletes should get proper rest following workouts. Rest and relaxation allows the body to recharge.
Reminders: If your child has an injury sustained outside of school, or change in medical status please notify the school nurse. That way they can be better assisted if they have questions or concerns during school. If your home or cell phones numbers have changed, please notify the school so that we can contact you especially in an emergency. Mrs. Granderson, BSN RN School Nurse
Stafford County Public Schools Shirley C. Heim Middle School 320 Telegraph Road Stafford, VA 22554