December Newsletter

WE DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY!

Math Corner

In Enhanced Algebra, students have learned how to solve quadratic equations 4 ways and have shown amazing improvement since the start of the school year! In Geometry, students created art around a Pythagorean Spiral and then used trigonometric identities to find the angles of the triangles in the spirals.

English Corner

We have finished performing Romeo and Juliet! As we said goodbye to the "star-cross'd lovers" for the year, students had an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of the themes, characters, and plot of the play with a Romeo and Juliet Tic-Tac-Toe Project. We finished up the semester on the last day with an opportunity to use students' informational writing skills to give step by step instructions on how to create a variety of Christmas ornaments. Enjoy some of the results in the pictures!

Ga. Studies Corner

This month we have focused on studying The Civil War and Reconstruction through Georgia. Students have participated in a mock trial and done several hands on projects to demonstrate their knowledge of this time period in history. We were able to use the foundations established at the Atlanta History Center Field Trip and build on this within our standards to understand the impact of the Civil War physically, economically, and socially.

HS Physical Science Corner

December has been all about Unit 5: WAVES! And not just ocean waves because it's winter and I wish it were summer and we were at the beach... we learned about all kind of electromagnetic and mechanical waves! We did some waves exploration stations where we learned about the parts of a wave, sound waves, light waves, reflection, refraction, etc. See the pictures below. We also went outside with a 200 foot rope and saw how much energy it would take to create amplitude and frequency of a GIANT wave!

We also had a very interesting and relevant Socratic Discussion about "The Waves Around Us" were we read an article about a woman with a sensitivity to low frequency EM waves (radio waves and microwaves) and then researched to see if this was a real issue that could potentially affect the physical and mental health of people. This is definitely a conversation that I hope continues!

We ended the Unit with projects and portfolios. Some students were VERY creating in creating 3D models, Doppler machines, frequency of notes of their instruments, etc. It was really cool to see all of the interesting applications students were able to find with waves!

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Extra Curricular

Students competed in the Spelling Bee on Dec 19. Our very own Denver Rose came away as the 8th grade winner - congrats Denver! He will be competing in Hall Co. Spelling Bee in January.

We are so excited to share our South Hall Middle School Spelling Bee Winners!!

6th Grade- Maricarmen Quintero-Jaimez

7th Grade AND Overall Spelling Bee Winner-Izabella Williams

8th Grade- Denver Rose

Also, our Tech Fair students competed last week in the SHMS Tech Fair and here are the ones that qualified for the next level and will be competing at the Hall Co. Tech Fair in January and the category they are competing in.

7th & 8th Grade

Iker Hernandez - Digital Photo Production
Daniel Varner - Audio Production
Breanna Wilburn & Nataly Sandoval - 3D modeling
AJ Terry & Riley - Digital Game Design
Kellan Nguyen - Video Production
Ana Sofia Wilson Cardenas - Graphic Design

6th Grade

Lily Webb & Kaley Ledezma- Animation
Campbell Nottingham - Video Production or Graphic Design
Michael McCullough & Madison Powell - Digital Game Design
Carl Orahood & William Demmler- 3D modeling

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Enrichment

In engineering enrichment, we worked on a roller coaster project and are now currently working on a zip line project! The roller coaster project explored the ideas of potential and kinetic energy and how to maximize for VELOCITY! And now the zip line project is all about creativity and problem solving. Students have to figure out how to get a marble to release at an exact moment to hit a target (inspired by the Mars landing we watched a video on)!

Field Trips

We were having so much fun, we forgot to take pictures! But on Wednesday Dec 4, we got the opportunity to visit both Johnson HS and the STEAM program at Flowery Branch HS on concurrent field trips. Our students got to choose between those 2 field trips or stay at school.

Mrs. Fox and Coach Greene joined 35 students at STEAM at FBHS where they got to visit the engineering lab, tour different elective classrooms, hear about early college, internships and work-based study. It was a great time of learning and visiting the school!

Mrs. Gibbs went with the students wanting to attend JHS and they also learned a lot about potential class options and got a tour of the school.

Program of Choice applications were turned in last week, teachers are currently working on filling out their recommendations, and then the schools will have a chance to review everything in January. Students will hear from the POC if they were accepted on Friday February 7.

Updates:

The next Savannah payment is due January 7th! It will be $160 due at this date. The trip is March 10-12 and totals $647 (before fundraising). Chick-fil-a biscuits are underway to help decrease the costs. You can volunteer here. If you have any questions about the trip or payments, please contact Mr. Wildeboer: matthew.wildeboer@hallco.org.

Click on this link for a copy of the calendar that was made last year and used by individuals fundraising for the Savannah Trip. It is especially great for social media posts or out of town friends/family that want to help.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Enjoy this time of rest and reflection and we will see students back on Tuesday January 7.

BONUS! Here are some pictures from our assembly before Winter Break!

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