Dear HKMS Families,

Our annual Veterans Day Celebration was a tribute to all who have served in the military and the active soldiers, sailors, and air men/women of our armed services.  This year we were honored to have fifteen veteran guests, many from Trumbull's VFW Post 10059,  join our two veterans on the Keller staff to educate our students on the challenges, trials, and benefits of military service.  The day started with a ceremony recognizing these heroes, while one of our students received a recognition of his own!  Sixth-grader William was recognized for his Patriot Pen VFW essay entitled "My Voice in American Democracy" in which he said, "I am empowered to use my knowledge about human rights and citizenship, to do my part to improve society, and I am motivated to help others share their voices, so that we are all happy with at least some aspect of it and willing to compromise."  The veterans spent the morning in classes talking about their call to duty, training, places they served, people they helped, and the lessons they learned.  Staff Sergeant John Correa gave sage advice when he said, "Take care of the small things; eat well, exercise, sleep, be kind, and the big things will work out fine." In addition to this program honoring our Veterans, the students in the HKMS Peer Leaders group organized, wrapped, filled, and packed over 30 care packages that will be sent to active military overseas this December Holiday! Assistant Mrs. Mohr said, "I am so proud of our students in how respectful and engaged they were with the vets. We are so lucky to have these heroes share their experiences with our students. The care packages are showing our students the value of giving to others and how this kindness brings joy to themselves as well. This has all been inspirational and uplifting to our community."

Trimester one (T1) is winding down and will end on November 11th. That means there are only eight (n=8) school days from the end of T1.  This year the transition from T1 to T2 falls nicely over Thanksgiving break.  When we come back from the holiday the new trimester begins and student swill start their T2 FPA (Art, Health, or PLTW). Report cards will be ready for your review on Monday, December 9th. This is the perfect time of the trimester to sit with your child to review their grades.  With eight school days left, great improvements can still occur.  Middle school is a great time to convey to your child the importance of self-advocacy.  When your child communicates with their teachers about their needs or hopes for better grades, not only will your child learn the essential skill of self-advocacy, the relationship between the student and teacher is strengthened, and student performance improves. 

Below this message is a powerful video, "How much is life consumed by your phone?" This is video is produced by a bicycle company encouraging students to get out and play (hopefully riding one of their bikes, of course).   The video is powerful representation of a child's mental health decline after receiving a smart phone.  While obviously functionalized, it represents what we know happens when young adolescents are exposed to smart phones and social media and how we can counteract those toxic effects.  As the weather drives us more indoors this time of year the group Techno Sapiens wrote a great article, "67 Screen Free Activities for Kids" reminding us of the wonderful screen-free activities we all did as kids. These activities are still just as much fun and really do counteract the impact screens have on all of us. 

From Veterans Day to our first social, you will find a wonderful week of middle school teaching, learning, and joy in this edition of our newsletter.  

Wishing you all a great weekend! 

Sincerely,

Steve Clapp, Ed.D.

It was presentation day in Mr. Bernardi's social studies class this week.  Students were presenting on the ancient Mesoamerican civilizations, focusing on how the G.R.A.P.E.S. of each civilization led to a successful society.  

GRAPES is an acronym to help study ancient civilizations that stands for:

Geography

Religion

Achievements

Politics

Economics

Social Structure

Mr. Crawford is using his document camera to teach students about extrapolation.

8th grade students experiencing the "Fatal Vision Goggles which simulate the visual experience of impairment on gross motor functions.  Valuable lessons in the dangers of impairment as our student prepare for the temptations of adolescents.