Week of 9/29 - 10/4
Embedded Files
A Message from Dr. Clapp
Celebrate the Past-Invest in the Future
Classroom Peeks
Happenings
Get Involved
Community Clicks
Upcoming Events
Dear HKMS Families,
"Celebrate the past, invest in the future" is not just the PTO fundraiser's theme, it is our 60th anniversary theme too! I am excited to announce that we had 50 students at the initial meeting of our 8th-grade council this morning (see a picture of their 1st meeting in the scroll above). For those who are unaware, the HKMS 8th grade council is a 50-year tradition for our oldest students. For years the council was mandatory, but it didn't have to be as it was the "place to be on Friday mornings." In the days before digital communication, students strived to be together to work on just about anything. The genius of 8th-grade council it is is 100% student directed. While overseen by Mr. Dolecki and Mrs. Kovlakas, all decisions, work, research, and leadership lies in the students' hands. Sometimes this means projects crash-and-burn, other times our expectations are blown away. I can think of no better leadership training (really life-training) than taking part in 8th-grade council. While 40 is a great start, we are aiming for 80 or more! You can help by encouraging your child to "celebrate the past..." and to come check it out the next meeting on 10/18 at 7:25am.
Speaking of the PTO's fundraiser, we have much to celebrate, but I believe we can get just a bit further to our goals. As of the writing of the message on Friday morning, 34% of our families have contributed about $13,000. Our goal was to get to at least 50% of families contributing. To reach this we need 48-families to contribute any amount to get us over the hump, we can do this!! If you've been sitting this one out so far, please consider making a contribution and be part of the (hopefully) majority of our families who know our PTO enriches our students' school lives with outside seating, games and equipment for lunch and recess, field trip subsidies, and direct classroom grants. Because they did not use a slick marketing 3rd-party to help muster support, 100% of the funds collected goes directly to the PTO an in turn the school. Every contribution counts, no matter the amount. Let's get to 50% participation today. The fundraiser closes at midnight tonight.
In another homage to our history, the 2024-25 Flags of HKMS are now on display in the cafeteria. This year we have 55 country's flags flying representing the diversity of our family and staff population. This is the largest display of flags we have had! While we seem like a homogenous community on the surface, there is a ton of diversity in our community. Check out the images and graphs representing this diversity in the happenings section below.
Finally, I want to thank the students, parents, and doggies who came out for walk-to-school day this past Wednesday. We had our biggest turnout in the 4 years we have done this. Dropping students on Ridgedale Rd. by the top of the snake path can be done ANY time! What a great way to "...invest in our future" by building in a habit of a little morning exercise to start the day!
It was a great week of middle school teaching and learning here at HKMS. Be sure to check it all out in this week's newsletter!
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Steve Clapp, Ed.D.
Lets get to 50%! We need 48 more families to make a contribution of any amount!
Click here to make a contribution! This, one-and-only-PTO-fundraiser, ends at midnight!
Grade 6
These social scientists are in a simulation acting as tribal elders and making split second decisions to ensure the survival of their group.
Our youngest scientists are developing their powers of observation and note taking as they consider temperature changes and track their learning in their science journals.
Grade 7
These 7th-grade scientists are attempting to design lab experiment procedures that anyone can follow, even a 6th grader!
"¡Aprendemos sobre los trabajos!" Students in Spanish are researching careers and jobs in Spanish speaking countries. Time to get our there and earn your keep.
Grade 8
In 8th grade Spanish class, Ms. Solis' students are describing the dynamics of family and culture while researching a country in the target language.
Mr. de St. Croix leads his scientists in developing conclusions based on observations and logic.
FPAs
Students (and staff) joined in PE this week to run the Keller Mile and for some Ultimate Frisbee!
Zachary won our "fastest cougar" award for his sub 6 minute mile!
PLTW Robot move strait for 5 sec.MP4
PLTW engineers were busy this week coding and building their robots to drive straight for 5 seconds. Minor adjustments to the wheels and the code made all the difference!
Monday Morning Meeting
HKMS's Monday Morning Meeting (MMM) is a weekly "check-in" for teachers to connect with students and develop trusted relationships. MMMs watch the weekly DEN video announcements, focus on executive functioning skills, and have some fun playing cooperative games and challenges.
Click on the link below to view THE DEN video
Click on the link below to view THE DEN video
National Walk to School Day at HKMS
National Walk to School Day at HKMS
The halls were filled with orange this past Wednesday as we recognized National Bullying Prevention Awareness Day!
The halls were filled with orange this past Wednesday as we recognized National Bullying Prevention Awareness Day!
NEW CLUB ALERT! COMING IN JANUARY!!!!
Extracurricular Pictures!
The Pokémon Club had their initial meeting this week with a trivia game!
The Flags of HKMS 2024-25
The green countries on this world map represent the heritage of our families!
The 55 Flags flying over our cafeteria represent the diversity of our community, student, families and staff!
This chart represents all the countries we have families from and the count of how many identified from each nation!
October SEPTA Newsletter.pdf
What is way better than going home and playing video games? The ECC!
The Easton Community Center's Teen Center offers amazing afterschool programs designed to engage young adolescents. We have a group of 20-25 students who walk over everyday. Please check out their offerings at: https://eastoncommunitycenter.com/teen-center/
Our local VFW 10059 is sponsoring HKMS to participate in this years "Patriot Pen" Essay Contest on the theme "My Voice in American Democracy." The images here are linked to the online submission forms and additional information. I hope we have lots of students show off their writing skills this year!
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