10/7 - 6th Grade Parent Coffee (see details below)
MCPE Subway Night
Medfield Music Association Meeting (7 p.m. at MHS)
10/9 - Canoe/RIM Field Trip (Eagles Cluster)
10/10 - Teacher Professional Day (No School for Students)
10/13 - Columbus Day (No School)
10/16 - 7th Grade Parent Coffee (see details below)
Tri-County Visit for 8th Grade
10/24 - Term 1 Interim Reports go home
10/28 - Blake Picture Retake Day
10/30 - 8th grade to Salem
10/31 - Happy Halloween!
11/3 - Navigating Social Media with Your Tweens/Teens (see details below)
Topic/Question for the Dinner Table
To help bring the ideas of reflective learning into the conversations this week, our Topic/Question(s) for the Dinner Table this week is: Here is the answer: "someone who is willing to revise their thinking based on new evidence". What is the question?
Blake Student Council
Student Council has announced a new year and sought students who could meet the following leadership requirements:
- Mandatory Thursday meetings from 2:15 – 3:15
- Leadership role in the grade – behavior, conduct, academics, etc.
- Peer role model in advisory
- Volunteer time for school and community
- Help encourage spirit days
- Keep notes, distribute, and post information to advisory students
Grade 6:
7th/8th Grade Dances
7th and 8th grade dances this year will be held:
- Friday, October 24, 2014
- Friday, December 5, 2014
- and Friday, May 15, 2015
Google for Parents
As part of our continued efforts to engage and support parents in our mobile learning initiative, we are offering a Google Workshop 3-part series. Come work with Diane Horvath (@techmonstah), our Technology Integration Specialist, and learn about the power of Google. We hope to share lessons about Google to help you with your own learning and to better support the learning of your students. All sessions begin at 10 a.m. and the dates are as follows:
10/17 - Google Overview and GMail
10/24 - Google Calendar (iPad vs Computer)
10/31 - Google Drive
Please bring your own device, an established Gmail account, any questions you have, and a willingness to learn! Please RSVP via our Google Form: Google Workshop Series for Parents Fall 2014
iPad Student/Parent Survey Fall 2014
As you know we are continually working on assessing our programs and are looking to gain insight from our students and parents to provide feedback. We have developed a survey that is being distributed electronically to all 8th grade students and parents as part of a data collection assessment for the iPad Initiative. The questions will hopefully serve as a pre-assessment (beginning of year) tool and we will be administering similar surveys mid-year and at the end of the year as well. The questions have to do with organizational skills, executive functioning, and comfort with technology. Questions are being sent to all three grades. The survey is not an evaluative tool of the teachers or the students; rather, it is a tool that we believe will help us gain insight about the initiative, our programming, and technology. The questionnaire is anonymous, and your identity can not and will not be discovered through the completion of this survey. Please take the time to complete a unique survey for each student you have at Blake Middle School. You will see that the survey is for both students and parents, and students will be given time in school to complete it. It is important we only get one response per student. We sincerely appreciate your honest responses and are hoping for 100% participation from the student body and parents. The survey should take no more than 10 minutes of your time. Your sincere responses are essential to our information-gathering vision and mission. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Link to the survey: Student/Parent iPad Survey Fall 2014
Connected Educator Month - Twitter Account (@nat_vaughn)
As noted in the weekly blog update, October is Connected Educator Month and I am encouraging both staff and students to explore the world of Twitter. For the past year I have used this technology as a communication and resource tool for both the Blake community and my own learning network. If you are interested in exploring with me, my account is @nat_vaughn. In addition to the weekly blog to our community, I plan on continuing tweeting up-to-date information, Blake happenings, links to sites, and articles of interest on a daily or more frequent basis. We have established the hashtag (#bmsed) for education-related tweets of interest and Blake events and (#bmstech) for technology tweets of interest at Blake, so be sure to check them out! This is by no means an expectation for anyone, but I thought you may find it of interest - I have found the 'dialogue and network' via Twitter to be relevant, engaging, tangible, and simply put - useful.
Blake Chorus Information
Parents of Blake Chorus members are invited to attend the first MMA meeting of the school year Tuesday, October 7 at 7pm in the Music Room at the High School. We are looking for Chorus parents to get involved in our fundraising efforts this year and also to plan a new Vocal Showcase concert to happen onFriday, Feb 6. Please email Ms. Nothnagel if you are interested in becoming a part of the planning team for this or other events or come to the meeting!
Nature's Classroom
We are thrilled that the students and Blake staff had a wonderful time at Nature's Classroom. If you have not had a chance I encourage you to take a look at the hashtag #blakeatNC to see a 'journal/log' of the trip! Medications from the Nature's Classroom trip will be available for PARENT pick up in the main office starting tomorrow (Friday, October 3rd) through the end of the month. Any medication not picked up by October 31st will be discarded.
Parent Coffees
Are you feeling like you had just mastered your child's last grade's norms and now you have a new set of expectations to adjust to? Maybe your student is in a whole new building with even greater expectations. The Blake guidance counselors would like to help put your mind at ease by talking about what each grade level looks like and answering your questions. Thank you to all of the 8th grade parents who attended our parent coffee. Please join us for the 6th and 7th grade coffees - October 7 from 9:15am-10:15am (6th grade) and October 16 from 10:15am-11:30am (7th grade). To RSVP, please go to this link - Parent Coffee Signup Form.
Blake LMC Update - Nature's Classroom Edition
I spent this past week up on Lake George with our seventh graders at Nature’s Classroom. What a great trip! An educational and fun time was had by all. As educationally great as our iPads are, it was nice to take a digital technology break and concentrate, in a beautiful and natural setting, on being in the here and now. Matt Marenghi and I oversaw about 40 boys in Spengler Hall, a barrack-like structure located away from the Inn where everyone else stayed. During free time, the Spengler boys played knee hockey in the lounge, touch football in the front yard, and caught frogs and crayfish in a nearby stream. On Wednesday’s mountain climb, Spenglerite Mike Tyer found an American flag mounted on a 15’ tree pole which his Nature’s Classroom counselor gave him permission to take back to camp. Just before dinner, Mike, along with Colby Powers, Luke Slavik, Keegan Taylor, and Cam Giunta used the flag to historically reenact the classic photo of the Marine flag raising atop Mount Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. Social Studies teacher Greg Keohan was on-hand to help with the staging and I took a black and white picture of the event. The guys were so psyched that they decided to study the individual Marines they represented in the picture and put together a bulletin board and website dedicated to their memory in time for Blake’s upcoming Veteran’s Day celebration. A special thanks to Judy Silva and Kelly Campbell for all of their work organizing and running the trip and also to Nurse Tricia Williams for extra organization efforts as well. – Jon Haycock
Twitter Workshop Information
Thanks to those who were able to attend our Twitter workshop last Friday at Blake. For your reference I am sharing the published presentation: Twitter Workshop for Parents 2014. If you have other topics you are interested in learning about in regards to technology, please e-mail me ([email protected]) and Diane Horvath ([email protected]).
Music at Blake - Guess the Blake Pandora Jockey
In an effort to continue finding ways to foster a positive school culture and make connections between students and adults, we are continuing our Blake Pandora Jockey contest this year. Each week I will ask a different staff member to be the DJ, or PJ (Pandora Jockey) for Blake Tuesday-Thursday. The teacher will select different music 'stations' to be played and students will be able to cast their votes for who the Blake PJ of the week is. We have established an online voting system, Blake Pandora Jockey Form, and all entries must be registered by Thursday evening at 8 p.m. An 'electronic selector' will highlight a winner each week, and the winning student will be the Blake PJ for the following Monday. Each student may register only one vote. Encourage your students to participate!
Bengbu Exchange
We are thrilled that our visitors arrived safely Friday night from Bengbu, China. Thank you to all of the host families for helping make this opportunity a wonderful experience for all.
Navigating Social Media with Your Tweens/Teens - Save the Date!
Monday, November 3rd at 6:30 p.m. in the Blake auditorium
Please join us for an evening with Dr. Elizabeth Englander from the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridegwater State University. Dr. Englander was part of our two-part series on technology use last fall and received very positive feedback about her practical and engaging strategies for parents children in the age of social media.
Parents of children of all ages are welcome to attend!
Capture Blake!
At Blake we have launched a new blog called CaptureBlake. Please check out our mobile learning blog for more details - Mobile Learning in Medfield.
8th Grade Trip Information
The 8th grade trip (Memorials, Monuments, and Museums) information packets were sent home, and the deposit and permission slip are due by this Friday, October 10. For your reference and for more information, here is a link to the 8th grade trip presentation...
Memorials, Monuments, and Museums
Blake Cross Country
This past Monday, the Blake Cross Country team scored a solid win for both the girls and the boys against Weston. On Thursday we travelled to Holliston and competed against a talented team of runners. This coming week we will face Nipmuc (Mendon/Upton) at their field on Monday 10/6. Practices will be held Tues. and Wed., with a home meet on Thursday.
Angel Run
If you are following our 10 week training plan here is week #2. Six cycles of 2 minutes of running follow by 3 minutes of walking (30 minutes total). The Angel Run welcomes all runners and walkers. Register by November 3rdif you would like to receive the t-shirt at www.medfieldfoundation.org.
'Connecting Kids Who Have With Kids Who Need'
My name is Julia Steeger and I am an 11th grader working on my Girl Scout Gold Award Project “Connecting Kids Who Have With Kids Who Need.” For my Gold Award Project, I would like to raise awareness on the issue of how poverty affects kids and to address issues that affect kids who live in poverty. For instance, kids in poverty usually do not have access to enough food to eat; or the clothes they need to go to school like warm jackets or boots during the winter months; or books that would help them be able to read at home; or toys to play with that would be fun and also increase their ability to learn. My idea is to connect kids in Medfield with organizations who are helping kids in poverty so that hopefully, together, we can make a difference. Please see the two links below for more information...
Cradles to Crayons Collection Project
Cradles to Crayons Collection Unit Flyer
CSA News
Tuesday is Royal Pizza night!! Royal Pizza will donate 20% of all proceeds
to Blake Middle School from 2-9 pm on October 7th. Enjoy a break from
cooking, raise money for our students and support local business. Thank you Royal Pizza!!
Don't forget to send in those Box Tops!
MEADOW FARMS FUNDRAISER UPDATE!
DEADLINE EXTENDED to Tuesday, October 14th!
Our fundraiser is moving along well and we hope this extension will give you the extra time you need to expand your sales!
Remember …
- 8th Graders receive a 25% credit towards their DC trip (based on total sales and profit to the school)
- Receive FREE SHIPPING when you choose the “Home Delivery” option on the Order Form
- Monetary donations are happily accepted! If you want to participate, but don’t want to buy products, you can simply make a monetary donation by sending in cash or check (payable to Blake CSA) in an envelope marked “Blake Fundraiser / Attn: Kim Lipsy.”
- All profits from fundraiser and monetary donations support Blake School and student programs including special activities, presentations, events, speakers, field trips and more.
Once your orders are complete, please fill out the information on the outside of the envelope and return packet to the Blake School Office. There will be a box in the office to collect the packets. As always, we appreciate your support to Blake and if you have questions, please let me know.
Kim Lipsy, Chair
[email protected] or 508.423.9765
The Blake library in the midst of an exciting renovation. Right now, we are taking a lot of books off the shelves and deleting them from the system. And, we have a lot of books to get rid of!
We have a great organization, More than Words, who will be taking the leftover books once we are finished. More Than Words is a nonprofit organization that works with at-risk youth -- those in foster care, or who are court involved, homeless or out of school. They use the books to help the kids take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business -- a used bookstore.
Long story short, we would love help at the library. Volunteers could basically give whatever time they want to helping us get rid of these books. It could even be as little as half an hour every now and then. The responsibilities involve deleting old books from the circulation system (very simple!), stamping books, organizing book shelves, maybe boxing some books. Please email Joellyn Ripp at [email protected] if you can help in this great endeavor for our school and More Than Words. The Blake library in the midst of an exciting renovation. Right now, we are taking a lot of books off the shelves and deleting them from the system. And, we have a lot of books to get rid of!
MCPE News
Subway and MCPE:
MCPE and has partnered with Subway of Medfield -- the first Tuesday of every month will be "MCPE Subway Day" at Subway of Medfield from 2:00-9:00 PM.
Over a nine-month period TWENTY PERCENT of all proceeds will be donated to MCPE. Please make a note that the first "MCPE Subway Day" is TODAY --Tuesday, October 7th.
MCPE Received a Challenge Grant from Needham Bank:
Needham Bank, a long-time supporter and sponsor of MCPE, will donate $100 for every new checking account opened when the patron mentions MCPE. Please stop by the Medfield branch and open an account today. Don't forget to mention MCPE!
Two Fun-Filled Trivia Events:
The November 14th MCPE Community Trivia Night is almost sold out -- there's only a few tables left. Register now!
Every 6-12 grader who participates in our Student Trivia Challenge on November 10th will have his/her name entered for a chance to win a $50 VISA gift card!
Learn more and register your teams today at MedfieldCoalition.org.
Legacy Place Raffle:
For those who can't join us for our trivia events, you can still help bring academic enrichment to Medfield's school children by purchasing raffle tickets for our fabulous Legacy Place gift basket. Tickets are 1 for $5 or 5 for $20. To learn more and to purchase tickets, visit: MedfieldCoalition.org.
E4E Party:
Want to get your children involved with raising money to enrich their education? Have them plan an E4E party with their friends! Simply ask guests to bring a donation to MCPE as their “ticket” to the event. It’s an easy way to raise money for our schools and have fun at the same time! This is a great activity for community service groups, sports teams or other kid organizations looking to help out in their community. Have your child plan an E4E party today! For more party ideas and to register a party, visit our website: MedfieldCoalition.org.