The Glen Hills Way- Respect

The Glen Hills Way values showing respect for ourselves and others through our words and work. This focus on respect supports a learning environment that allows its members to feel safe and supported to take appropriate academic and social risks. This is incredibly important as our middle school students stretch their minds, their friendships, and their ability to collaborate with others. Part of our ongoing work as a school is to gauge how our collective actions shape how students feel about their school experience. One of the ways this is measured is through student surveys. A survey was given in the spring 2023, and was just recently given again in December of 2023. The results show a 10% increase in students who agree or strongly agree with the following statement "Students at Glen Hills show respect for one another."

This measure is an accomplishment that we attribute to our efforts and our partnerships with caregivers. It is exciting to see our school community come together to support our amazing students in making good choices each day. It makes a huge difference in how it feels to teach, learn, and be at Glen Hills.

Anna M. Young, Principal and Willie Williams, Associate Principal

Directions For Parent Portal Set Up For Infinite Campus

Link Here For The School Calendar

Social Emotional Learning

Written by: Marian Guillen (School Counselor

SEL LEARNING

4th and 5th Grade students started a new Unit this month; “ Emotion Management”. In this unit your student is learning to anticipate recurring situations that cause them to feel strong emotions. Then they will learn to identify a change they can make to handle the situation better in the future. This is an important skill to learn so they can develop strong coping skills, be better problem solvers, make better decisions and build stronger relationships.

6th-8th grade started the “Recognizing Bullying and Harassment Unit”. Research shows that bullying is peaks in middle school, and being proactive reduces the occurrences of it in school. Second Step is designed to help students develop the knowledge and skills needed to recognize and help stop bullying, as well as how to seek help.

TRANSITIONING TO HIGH SCHOOL

The 8th grade transition to high school comes with lots of questions, concerns and logistics. Need help selecting classes, navigating complicated online platforms, requesting classes or have questions about high school options? 8th grade scholars and caregivers should consider attending our High School Readiness Night on February 12th. See the flyer for more details. As a special bonus, Nicolet’s 9th Grade Counselor, Bobbie Johnson will be on hand to answer questions and assist with Nicolet course requests.

Reminders:

Nicolet’s next Parent 101 is right around the corner on January 24th at 6pm. More details can be found here.

SAVE THE DATE

Talent Development

Written by: Violet J.. 7th Grade Student and Donovan B., 8th Grade Student

Hello, I am Violet, a 7th grader at Glen Hills. I had the opportunity to go to the Empower Leadership Program organized by the Green Bay Packers Foundation. At the program, there were probably more than 1,000 kids, all chosen for their leadership qualities. One of the things I enjoyed the most was when we packed lunches with Rise Against Hunger. We packed about 48,000 lunches or 10,000 pounds of food and it's going to people in need. Another thing we experienced was a two-hour speech with Orlando Bowen and it was a motivational speech about how even at a young age we can make a change. And on top of that, we got to tour Lambeau Field! We did not go on the actual field, just around it, however, we did get to go out the same way the Packers come out for games which was so cool. Overall, I loved this trip and I'm glad I took the opportunity. I would do this again as it was fun and educational.

My name is Donovin and I am an eighth grader. The Green Bay Packers Empower Camp was one of the best experiences I have had so far as a Glen Hills Student. I enjoyed everything on that trip from making food for the homeless, to hearing the retired football players' speech and more. Walking through the tunnel inspired me because Packers walk through that tunnel. One day I want to walk through the tunnel along with my team as a player! Another thing that inspired me was when we made food for the homeless because one thing I wanted to do as kid was giving back to my community. I am glad I got picked up to be a part of this Empower Camp because I had a great experience. Thanks to Mrs. Murali for providing this opportunity

8th Grade

8th Grade Written by: Owen W. (8th Grade Student)

MLK DAY

Martin Luther King had a significant impact on the world. He impacted us through the civil rights movement and ending segregation in all states.

I interviewed Daniel, an 8th-grade student at Glen Hills, just like me, and he gave his thoughts on what Martin Luther King meant to him. Daniel said, "Martin Luther King did a lot for this country, and MLK Day (1/15/24) was an excellent opportunity to honor and celebrate him…” In Dr. King's I Have a Dream speech, he reminds us of the importance of equal rights and making an impact on others by doing community service on MLK Day.

A few other 8th-grade students, like Elijah, Lily, and Riley, took action by providing services to the community or family members on MLK Day. For example, Elijah volunteered at a homeless shelter while Lily kept it close to home and shoveled her grandmother's driveway. Riley volunteered at her mother's child care center but noted that she does community service year-round, volunteering at Heal the Hood events or canvasing the neighborhoods in Milwaukee to see what families and children need.

Martin Luther King was a remarkable leader who dedicated most of his life to trying to give everyone equality and equal rights. He delivered excellent speeches when he did peaceful protests and boycotts, and he continues to inspire people today with them. MLK Day is a day to honor and remember the legacy Martin Luther King built to make a fair and inclusive world, so if you are taking action to make an impact, thank you!

Reminders for 8th Grade Families:

All 8th grade parents/guardians needed to complete new student online enrollment for Nicolet High School by Sunday, December 17th.. Should you have any questions or require assistance with the new student online enrollment process, please contact the following Nicolet High School personnel:

Alexis Terry, alexis.terry@nicolet.us, 414 351-7522 for general questions or Amy Lee, amy.lee@nicolet.us, 414 351-7520 for residency questions

New Student Online Enrollment website

We have a guest speaker from Educators Credit Union coming in on January 29. Additionally, we will start financial literacy lessons in February with a capstone field trip at a date TBD to Finance Park at the end of the year.

2/6 - GH’s Future Knight Day (8:30AM to 12 PM)

2/14 - Manfred Olson Planetarium at UWM

5/22 - 5/24 - Washington, DC Field Trip. Full payment is due by 3/8/24.

Congratulations to the 8th Grade Future City Team for winning the Regional Future City Competition! We wish you luck at the Future City Finals in Washington, DC, on February 16-19, 2024!

7th Grade

Written by: Nyasia Timolien (6th/ 7th Grade Science Teacher), Katie Beck (6th/7th Special Education Teacher), & Sandra Neumyer (6th/7th Special Education Teacher)

In ELA, scholars are just beginning an argumentative writing unit. They will spend time learning how to craft a thesis statement, how to determine if evidence is credible or not, and how to formulate an organized five-paragraph essay. Scholars will do this by examining exemplars and writing several drafts, some as a group, and the summative will be done independently. In Math, students are learning how to add/ subtract integers and find the missing values of variables in equations. We will be starting a new unit next week and will start on our work for the Black History Program. Social studies students are finishing their DBQ essays on the Ivory Coast. Next week students will travel to a new continent for the next Social Studies unit. In Science students, have begun their unit on metabolic reactions. We are also working on Science fair projects.

Reminder for Families:

Social Studies- Ivory Coast essays are due Friday, January 26th at 11:59 pm.

Science- Unit 2 missing work due Friday, January 26th by 3:46pm. Please check IC for missing assignments.

6th Grade

Written by: Isiah N., 6th Grade Student

Hello everybody. This is Isaiah from the Glen Hill Gazette. Thank you so much for joining us today. I will be talking about the current unit of the ELA 6th grade class. So in this unit we all picked from a list of books about social issues and read them in small groups. I believe the lesson in this unit is to teach us about all the things that happen in the world, and so we have empathy and get into books. I’m a person who loves books, but most of them are like Manga or graphic novels, but I'm reading A Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman, and it is one of the first books I've gotten into that doesn't have pictures and panels. I just want to say this unit really got me into books. I think even if you’re not really not a big fan of books, there's a book out there for everyone.

In 6th Grade math we are starting a new unit about decimals operations and building our understanding of equations. In social studies the students are studying ancient Egypt. They have been learning about the lives of everyday Egyptians, and will be completing a project soon. Finally, in science, they began their weather, water cycling, and climate unit. Please remind scholars to bring charged Chromebooks to science class.

5th Grade

Written by: Students from Julie Brown's Classroom

Reading: In reading we are currently in our ‘Reading like a fan’ unit. We have chosen 1-2 books that we will write about during our reading. They have to be from our author that we have chosen. We have practiced examples of a 5th grade paragraph with our Reading like a fan books during mini lessons.

Writing: In writing class we have just finished writing our Panyee Football Club Literary Essays based on the Panyee Football Club Video. We are working on finding Character traits and using evidence to prove them. We practiced this on our graphic organizers.

Math: In math class we are starting our 4th unit. We took a screener. A screener is when you take an assignment to show our teacher what we already know about the new unit. Our new unit is on using efficient strategies for multiplying and dividing whole numbers as well as decimals.

Science: In Ms.Rias class we are working on force. We are doing this because Ms. Murali is coming to teach our science class for a day. We have been working on gravity, balanced force, unbalanced forces, motion, and friction. In Mr. McClendon’s class we hit the ground running learning more and more about Earth science! We talked about the 4 Earth’s Systems: Geosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere, and Biosphere! We are on a mission to learn more about how they all interact.

Social Studies: We just finished creating books on a Native American Tribe and our working on our Black History month one-pager about 2 Black musicians. This is the start to our school wide Black History Month Project.

4th Grade

Written by: Brynn O. & Lucy G. 4th grade students

Do you want to build a snowman? Our 4th graders do! Winter recess is an exciting time of year for our students. Brynn and Lucy wrote a personal narrative to share this experience with you all! Just a reminder, when there is snow on the ground, students must wear snow pants and boots along with other appropriate winter gear.

Everybody is lining up to go to recess. It’s crowded at the front of the line and so loud too! Finally, everyone starts rushing down the stairs. We want to cover our ears; but If we do, we could fall.

Once we get outside we sprint with joy to the snowbanks; that the snowplows made. We climb up with all of our might. Once we get to the top, we jump down with amusement! We do that over, over, and over again. Then we lay in the snow to catch our breath.

The ice on the snow makes the snow feel crunchy. Underneath the icy snow its’ powdery. We toss the powdery snow in the air and it looks like its’ snowing. Our boots and socks are wet and cold.

The whistle blows. We sprint as fast as we can to the line. We are not first, but we are not last. Then we head to math.

Winter is un-brrrrr-lieveable! Stay warm!

World Language Updates

Written by: Mark Wagner, German Teacher

Alumni Spotlight: Andrew Kline

German national poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe believed we are called to be Weltbürger. Being a citizen of the world requires the individual to see the world via a wider lense. 2016 alum Andy Kline did this while he was a Glen Hills student, making significant contributions to our instrumental music program, German and as a member of the FLL robotics program. Andy graduated UW-Madison in 2023 with a major in linguistics and a minor in Middle Eastern Studies. At Madison he spent a semester learning Arabic in Amman, Jordan, and is now spending the next two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching English at a school in Timor-Leste. Andy is a member of the 12th cohort to serve in Timor-Leste and his service plays an important role in deepening the bonds of our global community, both abroad and at home.

Andy agreed to answer some questions about his experiences after Nicolet:

What motivated you to join the Peace Corps?

AK: I’m a believer in the importance of volunteerism, and the Peace Corps’ approach to development (participatory, sustainable, etc.) made sense to me. I also wanted more experience living abroad and learning more languages.

What do you like about the experience thus far?

AK: There are a couple things that I really love about the experience. I love learning languages (which all started with German class in 7th grade) and not only have I gotten to learn Tetun to an advanced level, but I’m also able to learn the local languages spoken in my community here. It makes people very happy to hear foreigners speaking their language here, especially the local languages which are less spoken. It’s also nice to go on this Peace Corps journey with a cohort of other like minded people who I’ve gotten really close to throughout the past 3 months. Although we’re now spread across the country at our permanent sites, I’m sure that the bond we’ve formed will last many many years.

What are the challenges you face?

AK: The biggest challenge has been the cultural differences that I encounter everyday here. For example, Timorese sense of time and timeliness is completely different from ours. A meeting could be set at 1pm and people could come at 2pm or 3pm or not come at all. Also, Timorese families are huge (we’re talking ~6-10 kids) and everyone knows everyone in the town I live in; something I am not used to. I also stick out like a sore thumb as the only foreigner around, which means I have eyes on me all the time when I’m walking about.

How does this experience fit into your larger life-plan?

AK: I’m considering applying a PhD program in linguistics after I get back to the US, and I think it’s good to give myself time between undergraduate and graduate school to consider my options in that regard.

What can you tell us about Timore-Leste?

Timor-Leste became an independent nation in 2002, following over four hundred years of Portuguese colonization, twenty-four years of Indonesian occupation, and three years of United Nations transitional administration. The country faces the challenge of building a strong democracy and vibrant economy against a background of still-fragile institutions and limited human capital.

Reminders: Students wanting to participate in the 2024 WI-AATG Regional Pronunciation contest must register by the end of February

Updates From the Music Department

Written by: Liz Day, Orchestra Teacher

Last week, students in Grades 5 through 8 performed on the Band, Orchestra and Choir concerts at Glen Hills. Scholars showcased what they have learned this year and the audience got to see the growth that has happened since last year’s concert in May. I always like to remind my students that even though we strive for excellence in the actual performance, it is how we handle what happens in the moment that matters too. Everyone did an amazing job!

Other awesome things are happening in Grade 4 music as well! Scholars from Mr. Nebel’s class are shown in the pictures learning how to play piano in General Music, and scholars from Ms. Betka’s class are shown on their last day of band before they made the switch to orchestra.

Reminders:

January 30th (Jazz Ensemble) Prairie Jazz Fest at The Prairie School
February 29th (7th and 8th Grade Band and Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Lab Grades 5-8 Choir) Performance at the Black History Program at Glen Hills.
March 16th (Grades 6-8) WSMA Solo and Ensemble at Homestead High School

Physical Education

Please remind your students to bring PE clothes and shoes for class. If their class is swimming they will need swim clothes and items such as a swimsuit, towel, googles, and flip flops.

Our current units are:

Mr. Kaufmann : Swimming : stroke skills based unit

Mr. Higgins : Volleyball

Ms. Sanders Upper gym

Athletics & Activities

Written by: Brian Domnski (Wrestling Coach)

The Glen Hills/Nicolet Area middle school wrestling season is underway and the team is currently 1-0 with a 54-33 dual meet victory over West Milwaukee on January 17th. We have a roster of 26 wrestlers in 6th-8th grade so far, and practice Monday-Thursday from 4-5:30 in the upper gym. Our practices are a step up from the youth rec. program in terms of time, frequency, and competition expectations. We learn technique, drill, live wrestle, and run conditioning at a typical practice. Our team has a mix of youth and experience this season, however many of the 6th graders joining the team have been with the Junior Knights program for many years already. We would love to pack the house for our home meets on January 24, February 6, February 13, and February 15! We do our best when the Glen Hills cafetorium is rocking! Thanks for your support!

Reminders for Families Winter Sports Schedules:

6th-8th 2024 Wrestling

8th Grade Boys Basketball

7th Grade Boys Basketball

This year’s Summer Academy will take place between June 24-July 25, 2024.This (5) week program will take place four days a week, Monday-Thursday from 8:30AM-12:00PM. Please note, students will not be in attendance on July 4th. If you are interested in this year’s SA program, it is free for in-district students and the registration process will occur between May 1-15, 2024.

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