January 15 - SEPAC Mtg (7:00 p.m.)
Royal Pizza Night for Blake
January 17 - Ski/Snowboard Club
January 17-18 - Grade 8 Mathematics Mid-Term
January 18 - 'Wear Green and White' at Blake (see below)
CSA Meeting (9:30 a.m.)
January 21 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - No School
January 24 - Ski/Snowboard Club
January 25 - Lip Sync Performance
January 29 - Subway Night for Blake
January 31 - Ski/Snowboard Club
February 1 - Teacher Professional Day; No School for Students
February 4 - Blake Site Council Mtg (3:15 p.m. in Blake LMC)
February 5 - 'Surviving Adolescents' Parent Presentation (see details below)
February 6 - Superintendent's Advisory Council (8:45 a.m. at HS)
February 7 - Ski/Snowboard Club
February 8 - 7th/8th Grade Dance (7-9 p.m.)
February 12 - CSA Meeting (7:30 p.m.)
Royal Pizza Night for Blake
February 13 - Grade 8 Band/High School Step-Up Concert
February 14 - Happy Valentine's Day!
Ski/Snowboard Club
February 18-22 - Winter Vacation
February 26 - Subway Night for Blake
'Topic/Question for the Dinner Table'
As a connection to the work that is taking place in Advisory and the importance of valuing service and embracing challenge, the Topic for the Dinner Table this week is: Horace Mann (first Massachusetts Secretary of Education I believe, amongst other things) said, "Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it." Good habits become easier to repeat and stronger the more you repeat them; bad habits become more difficult to break. It comes more naturally for people to step outside their comfort zone, as MLK encourages us to do, if you make a habit of doing that. What habits are you working on establishing that are out of your comfort zone, and how can we support you?
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man whose goal was to make our country a better place for everyone. While his life was cut short due to assassination, MLK's goal to make our country a better place is still very much alive. On November 2, 1983 President Reagan made January 15th (MLK, Jr'.s birthday) a federal holiday, a day off for all. But a day off to support a man who gave his life to the betterment of our country did not really seem like a fitting honor so on August 23, 1994 President Bill Clinton signed a bill that moved the date of the holiday from MLK, Jr's birthday to the Monday after that day. The bill also stated that it was meant to be a day of service. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a not a day off, but a day on. To honor this day of service Blake Middle School will open its doors from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. to give students an opportunity to serve their community. Some of the activity students will be doing during this day of service will be: beautifying the school, making Valentine's day cards, book marks and paper flowers, for soldiers and those living in the nursing home. Students will also be making bracelets, which we will give to Children's Hospital for ill children. We are always open to new ideas for how we can serve the community and support making Monday, January 21st a day on! If you have any questions or suggestions, please e-mail Cynthia McClelland at [email protected].
Project 351
I am thrilled to announce that Kathleen Lanzilla, one of our eighth grade students, has been selected as Medfield's ambassador for Project 351. Project 351 is a statewide community service project that brings an eighth grader from all 351 cities and towns in the commonwealth together on one single day to perform a service project. Ambassadors should embody the ethic of service and associated values -- humility, integrity, compassion, commitment, and generosity of spirit. In essence, Project 351 celebrates and encourages students' leadership and commitment to others. We are proud and honored that Kathleen will be representing Blake and the community of Medfield.
Message from Student Council
In keeping with our January Theme of Kindness, Student Council invites Blake Staff and Students to join us in wearing Green & White (the colors of Sandy Hook Elementary School) as one of our 26 Acts of Kindness this month.
26 Acts of Kindness
Please encourage your students to start or continue their 26 Acts of Kindness. The ideas list and tracking sheets are posted on the Forms and Documents tab of this blog. For a little more information, please check out this edcanvas by Ms. Allen by pasting this link in your web browser: http://edcvs.co/RGaUsT.
Geography Bee
This past Thursday, Nathan Parry, Gideon Lung, and Billy Regan participated in our school-wide championship for the National Geography Bee. Congratulations to our all-school winner, Nathan Parry!
Message from SIPS
Thank you to everyone who donated coats for our annual SIPS Coat Drive. All together, we collected and donated 43 coats. Also, thank you to Anton's Cleaners for making the drive possible. Our next SIPS fundraiser will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Our annual penny drive will take place the second week in February.
Winter Intramurals
Winter intramural sign-ups began on Monday, January 7 and will run through Friday, January 11. The intramural offerings are scheduled to begin the week of January 14. The offerings and sign-up sheets can be found on the Blake home page under intramural information starting on Monday. Hard copies of the offerings and sign-up sheets will also be available in the main office. If you have any questions, please contact Brian Gavaghan at [email protected].
Nashoba Ski Club
Please label all your children's clothing and equipment. If the clothing and equipment is accidentally left at the mountain, it is much easier to retrieve when there is a name on it. Please remind students that they are responsible for their own belongings.
Cradles to Crayons - Pajama Drive
Seventh grade students are having a pajama drive in February for Cradles to Crayons. Please start collecting gently used pajamas or feel free to send in new ones.
'Surviving Adolescents: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast! And the ABC's of Parenting Adolescents'
The Medfield SEPAC is hosting a parent presentation by Nadine Briggs, founder of Social Smart Kids (see flyer on the Forms and Documents tab of this blog) on Tuesday, February 5 at 7 p.m. in the Blake Middle School auditorium: 'In these workshops on adolescents, we will explore adolescent development and how this exciting, yet sometimes excruciating, process of growing up can impact family life. Surviving Adolescents will explore why teens become “allergic” to their parents and how boys and girls journey through adolescence in similar and different ways. We will talk about how to gain respect from your teen, strategies for parenting a teen as opposed to a younger child and how to avoid the traps our teens set for us and the ones we set for ourselves to establish a healthy relationship with our adolescents. The ABC's workshop focuses in depth on Collaborative Problem Solving with teens and easy, quick “catch phrases” that parents can use to communicate with their teen as well as hints from teens themselves on how to parent them.' For additional information on this workshop and more, visit www.socialsmartkids.com. RSVP not required but suggested to Una Smith at [email protected].
Blake Drama Production
The preliminary information about this year's play/musical production is up (thanks to Tracy Allen), and I encourage you to check it out: http://wallwisher.com/wall/611ejx2h8v.
Lip Sync Contest
All performers must attend the mandatory dress rehearsal on Wednesday, January 16th at 2:15. The dress rehearsal should run until approximately 530. All performers and tech/crew must attend. The Lip Sync will be held on January 25th and it will begin at 7pm. Tickets will go on sale for performers on January 14th during lunches. Tickets are $5 each and performers can purchase TWO tickets during the week of January 14th. If your child would like to purchase tickets they MUST come to school with cash or a check made out to Medfield Schools for either $5 or $10 on January 14th. Tickets will go on sale for to all other students starting on January 22nd. If you have questions please contact Jen Dondero at [email protected].
Blake Drama Production
A reminder for any students who are interested in auditioning next week for our Spring Production or participating on the crew: Interest forms, found on the theater website (under activities), are due to Ms. Allen by Friday. If there are any questions or concerns, please see her. All play information, including dates, can be found on the website: http://wallwisher.com/wall/611ejx2h8v.
MCPE News
Progress toward the goal of $100,000 continues as the MCPE 25th Anniversary Appeal greets the New Year. MCPE is pleased with the response of the community and thanks the 324 donors who have contributed $65,000 towards future enrichment programs for Medfield’s schools. We closed 2012 with total grant investments so far this school year of $66,406." The campaign will continue through the school year and contributions are still beinggratefully accepted either online at www.medfieldcoalition.org or by mail to MCPE, P.O. Box 452, Medfield, MA 02052.
MCPE has a full agenda for the coming months. Save the date for the Annual Spelling Bee on March 20th.
CSA News
The next CSA meeting is going to be on Friday, January 18th at 9:30am. We hope you can join us! We are still in need of a cookie dough coordinator for the 7th grade. If you are interested, please email Colleen at [email protected] for more information.
We just received a check from Boxtops for $309.60. Thanks to everyone who supported this program and KEEP ON CLIPPING!