Parent  Newsletter  June  3,  2016    Dear  Families,       I  can’t  believe  that  our  8th  Grade  Class  Trip  to  Washington  DC  is  only  days  away.  Students  will  meet  their  chaperones  during  the  class  meeting  on  Monday  afternoon  at  1:30  pm.  At  that  time,  there  will  also  be  a  final  presentation  regarding  expectations  and  logistical  information.    Students  should  arrive  at  the  school  at  5  am  on  Tuesday  morning,  June  7th.    Remember  that  you  can  follow  me  on  Twitter  @DrWhalen3  for  live  updates  and  photos  throughout  the  trip.         This  evening  will  be  a  memorable  evening  for  the  graduating  seniors  at  Seekonk  High  School.  The  commencement  ceremony  will  begin  at  6:30  pm,  and  will  be  held  outside  on  the  football  field.  I  am  looking  forward  to  being  in  attendance  to  watch  the  students  cross  the  stage  and  begin  a  new  chapter  of  their  lives.       The  Seekonk  Public  School  Department  is  in  need  of  registered  nurses  to  serve  as  substitutes  in  schools,  and  on  field  trips.  Interested  nurses  should  apply  at  our  administration  building  on  Water  Lane,  and  fill  out  a  CORI  form.  At  this  time,  HMS  is  still  looking  for  nurses  to  cover  some  of  our  end  of  the  year  field  trips.       This  week,  I  had  the  opportunity  to  meet  the  fifth  grade  students  at  Martin  Elementary  School.  On  Wednesday,  I  went  to  Martin  Elementary  to  give  a  presentation  about  life  as  a  sixth  grader  at  HMS.  Students  on  the  HMS  Student  Leadership  Team  also  joined  me  for  the  presentation.  Today,  the  Martin  ES  students  visited  HMS,  and  had  the  chance  to  ask  more  questions,  as  well  as  go  on  a  tour  of  the  school  along  with  our  student  leaders.  On  Monday,  I  will  be  presenting  to  fifth  graders  at  Aitken  ES.  The  Aitken  students  will  tour  HMS  on  Monday,  June  13th.  The  Parent  Orientation  for  incoming  6th  graders  will  take  place  on  Tuesday,  June  14th  at  6  pm  in  the  HMS  Cafeteria.         We  will  hold  awards  ceremonies  for  our  sixth  and  seventh  graders  during  the  week  of  June  13th.  These  assemblies  take  place  during  the  day  for  students  only.  The  8th  Grade  Promotional  Ceremony  is  scheduled  for  Thursday,  June  16th,  at  6  pm  on  the  front  lawn  of  our  campus.  All  families  and  friends  of  the  class  are  encouraged  to  attend,  and  should  bring  their  own  lawn  chair.  In  the  case  of  inclement  weather,  the  event  will  be  held  in  our  gymnasium,  and  students  will  be  given  two  tickets  each  in  order  to  admit  their  parents/guardians.  Let’s  hope  for  some  beautiful  weather  on  that  day!  Once  again,  the  guest  speaker  for  this  year’s  ceremony  is  Seekonk  High  School  graduate  and  valedictorian,  Nick  Lancelotti,  Class  of  2014.       Congratulations  to  all  of  the  HMS  Band  students  that  performed  last  evening.  The  feedback  from  parents  and  teachers  in  attendance  has  been  tremendous.  Great  work!!       Have  a  wonderful  weekend!    Sincerely,    Dr.  William  V.  Whalen  III  Principal          

A TTEN TIO N 8 T H G R A D E P A R EN TS!!! P lease m ake sure to fo l low @ K H M S G uidance on Tw i t ter for lo t s o f p i c ture updates as w e explore N ew Y ork C i ty , W ashington D C , and H ershey P ark!

 

     @DrWhalen3  @HurleyMiddle  @KHMSGuidance        From the library... Summer Reading Book Orders Thank you to the families who ordered books for summer reading through Books Rock Cafe! The master order has been placed, and books should arrive by the end of the school year! Library Books All library materials are due back to the library by June 3 (today!). If your child has a library book at home, please send it in with them so that they can return it. Students with outstanding charges will be called to the library to discuss their library account, and bills will be distributed for materials that are not returned. Students who lose or damage library materials may pay for them by cash or check, or may donate a similar book to the library that is approved by me or Mrs. Cabral. Jennifer St. Michel, MLIS      

GRADE 6 REMINDERS  Bowling  Field  Trip  –  BRING  or  WEAR  SOCKS!!!!!  o Yellow  Team  –  Monday,  June  13  o Red  Team  –  Tuesday,  June  14  

 Kona  Ice  Truck  for  6th  Grade  o Friday,  June  17  o $2  (give  to  HR  teacher)    

Yellow  Team  English  

                           With  the  school  year  coming  to  a  close  soon,  the  interest  and  energy  toward  ventures  outside  our  school’s  walls  has  become  palpable.    Warm  (hot?)  weather  and  summer  prospects  have  weighed  heavy  on  students  and  teachers  both,  but  we  have  mustered  our  mettle  to  do  what  we  must  to  gain  what  we  can  with  the  time  we  have  had.    The  mainstay  of  our  ELA  diet  these  past  weeks  has  been  an  engaging  novel  by  Margaret  Peterson  Haddix,  Among  the  Hidden.    Like  The  Giver,  this  dystopian  novel  immerses   us   in   a   world   similar   to   ours,   though   structured   differently   socially.    Namely  that  each  family  may  not  have  more  than  two  children  to  prevent  the  much-­‐feared   possibility   of   overpopulation,   and   the   famine   that  would   causally   ensue   in  suit.    Many  a  discussion  has  been  had   thus   far,   and,   as   the  plot’s  pace  quickens   in  these  closing  chapters,  those  discussions  will  inevitably  quicken  as  well.                          This  year  has  been  brilliant.     I  will  miss  each  class,   and  each  student  within  each   collective   voice,   greatly.    Have   a   super   summer   and  don’t   forget   to   visit   next  year!    

Social  Studies    We  have  been  very  busy  in  the  last  month  learning  about  our  last  continent,  Europe.  We  went   outside   of   the   book   to   learn   about   the   population   problems   in   Europe.  Students  have   learned  how  to   read  population  pyramids  and  how  to  predict  what  the   population  will   be   in   the   future   for   those   countries.   They   have   looked   at   the  problems  caused  by  the  population  trends  and  have  proposed  possible  solutions  to  these   future  problems.  They   then   learned  about   transboundary  pollution  and  how  countries  are  affected  by  the  pollution  that  crosses  their  borders.  They  looked  at  the  radiation  disaster  of  Chernobyl,  the  Black  Triangle’s  acid  rain,  and  the  Tizsa-­‐Danube  

cyanide   spill.   Then   using   what   they   had   learned,   came   up   with   solutions   to   the  problems  caused  by  smog  in  the  United  States  and  its  effect  on  eastern  Canada.    They  are  presently  working  on  group  projects  researching  their  particular  countries  in  Europe  using  the  Five  Themes  of  Geography.  They  will  provide  a  bibliography  of  the  data  base  resources  and  images  used  for  their  group  Google  presentation.  They  will  then  be  presenting  their  presentations  to  their  classmates.    

Yellow  Team  Math    We   have   wrapped   up   our   Statistics   Unit.   Our   students   are   now   experts   at  constructing  and   interpreting  histograms  and  box-­‐and-­‐  whisker  plots.  We  can  also  calculate  the  Mean  Absolute  Deviation  (M.A.D.)  of  any  data  set  (and  yes,  doing  this  sometimes  did  get  us  a  little  mad).    We   are   currently   working   in   Chapter   12.   We   will   be   going   over   some   of   the  mathematical  properties  and  singing  to  ourselves  a  song,  which  states,  “I’m  all  about  my   properties”.   It   has   a   very   catchy   tune.   We   will   find   that   we   can   use   the  mathematical  properties  to  do  many  things   like  simplify  expressions,  combine   like  terms,  and  factor  expressions.    In   Supercore   we   are   designing   our   own   homes.   The   students   are   learning   about  symbols  that  are  used  in  architecture  and  constructing  from  scratch  the  floor  plans  of   their   dream   house.   Wait   until   you   see   all   of   the   comforts   and   luxuries   these  homes  have!    

Congratulations  to  the  following  students  who  correctly  answered  Challenge    

Jeffrey  Michaud,  Jazlyn  Monteiro,  Camryn  Morris,  Gary  Taraian,    

Question  #24:    

Aaron  Chen,  Tommy  Wang,    

Cam  Culpan    

   

Yellow  Team  Science    Wow!   What   a   spectacular   year   it   has   been!   Looking   back   to   September   and  remembering  the  first  few  days  of  science  class  really  shows  me  how  much  you  have  grown  and  matured  over  the  past  school  year.      As  we  look  toward  the  end  of  the  year,  we  still  have  quite  a  bit  to  accomplish!  We  are   currently   looking   at   interactions   between  organisms.  We  have  been   exploring  

predator/prey   relationships,   competition,   and   carrying   capacities   and   limiting  factors.   Next   week   we   will   looking   deeper   into   symbiotic   relationships   including  mutualism,  commensalism,  and  the  ever-­‐disgusting  parasitism.      We  will   then  begin   looking  at  Yellowstone  National  Park  as  a   theme  for  ecological  succession.  The  forest  fire  of  1988/89  was  a  devastating  event  but  ecologists  were  able   to   learn   quite   a   bit   about   the   resilience   of   nature.   We   will   create   a   simple  project  that  displays  all  of  our  ecology  studies  when  we  finish  ecological  succession.    Finally,   we   will   look   at   topographic/contour   maps   and   how   mapmakers   have  displayed  3D  terrain  on  2D  paper  maps.                    

BASE Program News

Students of grades 6, 7, and 8 BASE Programs participated in our first annual

Move Up Day on Thursday, June 2nd. Ms. Damiani spent the day with next

year's BASE 8 students, Mrs. Kenney with her soon to be BASE 7 kids, and Mrs.

Armoush threw it back to teach the current BASE 8 students. It was a great

success and we are all very excited to spend the 2016-17 school year with such

amazing groups of kids!

Have a safe and relaxing break!

Ms. Damiani, Mrs. Kenney, & Mrs. Armoush

8th Grade ELA - Anthologies

The Tempest, by WIlliam Shakespeare[1] The Tempest class notes: Thursday, January 22nd through Thursday, February 4th

Robert Strycharz

Betrayal is to double cross yourself, or another person. It is also referred to as stabbing someone in the back. And, among politicians, to exhibit duplication of behavior. A silly and lighthearted example would be holding a treat for a dog and then putting it back in the container. The owner of the dog has betrayed the dog. The dog may feel betrayed for a moment, and then simply go back to being it’s barking, playing, slightly annoying self. Betrayal can happen in scales both large and small. Small like the previous example, or large, as in the real life story, Unbroken.The main character, Luis Zamperini, was a WWII B-24 bombardier. As bombardier, Luis used the Norden Bombsight to hit his elected target. However, Luis and his crew did not only bombing runs, they also flew rescue missions to try and help those who had been shot down over the water. On the crew’s last rescue mission, they were assigned to fly in a new plane (It was new to them but used before) called The Green Hornet, this plane was notorious for being hard to fly, and straight up a really bad plane. Over the water, when they were searching for the lost souls before them, the engines in the plane gave out. The Pilot, Phil, did his best to not crash the plane and instead ditch it. Ditching the plane meant basically landing in the water and praying that they didn’t blow up or catch on fire. After floating on a raft for forty some odd days, the survivors were captured by the Japanese. They were then put into POW camps and spent the rest of the war there. At these camps, the captured POWs were not supposed to be used for labor involving the war effort. Also, they were supposed to be given red cross packages containing food and cigarettes. Instead, the POWs of Japan were used to build railroads, haul coal, etc. Also, the Red Cross packages were distributed to the guards and Japanese soldiers. The Pows were betrayed. Luis in particular was betrayed over and over by a specific guard the POWs called “The Bird”. He always was beating Luis and making fun of him. And then after every beating, he would beg for forgiveness and say that he was sorry. The man was a literal psychopath. In literature as in life, people betray other people. In The Tempest, Prospero is betrayed by his brother, Antonio who took his dukedom and then sent him and his three year old daughter, Miranda on a boat without sails. After days of drifting, they finally make it to an island. For years they are stranded there, on that island. This, gives Prospero plenty of time to think of a way to get back at Antonio. Eventually, Prospero will find out that revenge is not always the answer.

Freedom is having the choice to do what you want when you want, why you want , and how you want to do it. Confinement is not having a choice in what you want, also, you may be confined to a certain way of thinking. Most people want to be free, I don’t see why you wouldn’t though. Maybe it’s because people are scared to be free, to have a choice and not always be told how to think, why to think it, and so on. To be free or confined, which route to take, it all depends on the type of person you are. Free will is also known as freedom of choice. When you have the freedom of choice, you are free to choose what you want to wear and how you want to wear it. Freedom of choice also comes with how you want to act, if you want to be a stuck up snob, then act that way, if you want to be a kind, and friendly person the act that way. It’s not hard to choose, however it is hard to follow through, sometimes, the best way might not be the easiest way, but if it’s the best way, wouldn’t it be worth the challenge? Confinement is being confined to one way of thinking or acting. Even if you don’t want to be a stuck up snob, you may be confined to being that way because you are scared to try something different or to do something that will challenge you. Again, you ask yourself, “Wouldn’t it be worth it?” An example of freedom from my life is the ability to get up each morning and go to school. I don’t always appreciate this freedom, but knowing that it will one day be of great use to me, I try my best. Freedom gives me the right to an education. An example of confinement in my own life would be the fact that I am scared to talk to people that I don’t know. It is hard for me to make new friends because of this. I am confined to the friends I have (not saying that they are bad or anything) due to this fear. I try to be friendly but it just doesn’t always work, I get scared, but knowing that I try is enough for me. In The Tempest, Prospero is free to forgive his brother Antonio for stealing his dukedom. At first, Prospero does not like the idea of forgiving his little brother. However, he realizes that revenge may feel good for a short amount of time, but what will feel good forever is forgiveness. This is because revenge involves a lot of anger and angry people are generally not happy people and a happy person makes for a better person, and a better person generally feels better than an angry person. Therefore, we must choose the path that we will take, knowing our consequences and accepting them, hopefully we all make the decisions best for us and others. Forgiveness is when a person does not hold a grudge against another person or people any longer. They may not like the person they are forgiving, and they may not associate themselves with that person ever again. It’s just the fact of showing the person that they are forgiven that matters. Compassion is showing kindness to yourself and others. It is giving empathy to those who need it and having a genuine concern for humanity or not humanity. If everyone showed forgiveness and compassion, then the world would be a much more pleasant place to live in.

Forgiving someone generally makes a person feel better about themselves. And if someone feels better about themself, then they may be more inclined to feel better about others. One day a couple of weeks back, my brother, Christopher punched me in the stomach. (Now mind you he is my younger brother so he’s my parent’s little baby who they treat like one so if I hit him back, he would got to my parents crying, even if he wasn’t hurt, and I would get in trouble, so I did not hit him back.) I was mad at him, because he’s not as weak as he used to be and it actually hurt a little. Later though, we were downstairs playing Mario Kart together, acting like nothing had happened. I had officially forgiven him. An example of compassion from my own life is from when I was little. My family has a house up in New Hampshire in the lakes region. One day, we were on a bike ride around Franconia Notch, we were only a couple of minutes in, and I saw a veteran standing on the corner of the intersection holding a sign. The rest of the family was a little bit ahead, so I crossed the street to go over to him. The sign said that he was homeless and had a family to feed. i just so happened to have my wallet with me that day, so I dug out a five and handed it to him saying, “God bless you, and help you.” Now if he was one of those scammers, I’ll never know, but if he was, I hope my act of compassion towards him inspired him to do something similar. Doing that made me feel good, the fact that I helped someone in need, a veteran as a matter of fact, made me feel as though I was a better person.

Acts of forgiveness and compassion happen every day among people. However it does not happen enough. In The Tempest, Prospero found it in him to forgive his brother for everything. Though not loving him the same way as before, he forgave him. He also showed compassion towards Antonio by letting him loose from his trap. If more acts of forgiveness and compassion happened every day, then our world would definitely be a better place.

Artifact Watercolor by Katerina Mihailides

A Note To My Teachers

Dear Teachers,

As my middle school days quickly disappear I need to write a note to thank you for what you have done for me. Every teacher teaches a little bit different. I believe that this is why I learned something different in each class. This is also not just because different teachers teach different topics. Each teacher puts countless hours into planning a lesson and making work for their students. Not to mention they also grade everything. This is all so that my fellow peers and I can have a brighter future. Every teacher has taught me life lessons that will help me so much in the future. Sometime even when a teacher will lecture you it just shows how much more they care about you even if you don’t realize it yet. I can’t thank you enough for the hard work that you put in and out of the classroom to help me have a better future. I appreciate your creativity when planning ways for students to learn something and enjoy learning it at the same time. Also you chose to come to

school for more of your life after you graduated school. Thank you for your hard work and for teaching me everything that you have.

Sincerely, Maddy Bedrosian

Band News from Mrs. Grande Congratulations to all Band students for an awesome night of performances following our festival days. Today we celebrate at the Grist Mill Pool Club! Special thanks to Amelia Biggs for her winning t-shirt design. Look at this artistic talent!

 

             

 

   Congratulations  to  the  HMS  Baseball  Team  on  very  good  season!      Final  Record:   9-­5    Thank  you  Coach  Drew!  

   Congratulations  to  the  HMS  Lady  Softball  Warriors  on  a  very  good  season!    Final  Record:   10-­3    Tied  for  Best  Record!    Thank  you  Coach  Paulo!