January/February 2019

Welcome to the second half of the 2018-2019 school year!! This is a very exciting time of year as we continue our focus on highest student achievement and making adequate yearly progress (AYP). Students will continue to be challenged academically, learning new material in all their courses. State testing will start with writing on April 2nd. ELA, math and science will begin the first week in May and our End of Course (EOC) exams will start May 16th. Our next PTSO/SAC meeting is scheduled for March 12th starting at 5pm in our media center.

Please be reminded student arrival and dismissal always present safety challenges. Students should not be dropped off before 8:45 am and supervision begins at 9:00 am when the gate goes up.

Please use the parent loop for all car riders. Please be patient and pull as far forward as possible when dropping off or picking up students. Please refrain from letting off students on River Club Blvd. or in the bus loop area. Your cooperation with this safety issue is greatly appreciated.

We are asking all parents to activate a FOCUS account. It’s easy to do, and you can find the link on our BRMS web page. Progress reports and report cards are all sent out to you electronically. You can review your child’s progress at anytime using the FOCUS parent portal.

Remember, Panthers are the “Keys to the Future.” We are looking forward to a great second half of the school year. If, at anytime, you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Randall J. Petrilla Principal

Braden River Middle School

BRMS School Advisory Council (SAC) The BRMS School Advisory Council (SAC) is a team of people who help with the preparation and evaluation of the school improvement plan. SAC meetings are open to anyone who would like to attend. For more information, visit the school website at http://www.schools.manatee.k12.fl.us/652BRMWEB/brmsweb/ and click on the SAC page.

PTSO/SAC date: 3/12/19 at 5:00 pm in the Media Center

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Report of Out-of-Field Teachers

Per the State of Florida and district guidelines, schools must report to parents teachers who are teaching Out Of Field (OOF). Braden River Middle School has the following teachers teaching out of field:

Name Qualified OOF

Ryan Mayer 3 year Temporary Cert Math

Ann Bowers ESE / Reading ESOL

Jessica DePriest 3 year Temporary Cert. ESOL

Megan Klein Elem Ed / English ESOL

If you have any questions please call the school at 751-7080.

#WeManatee stands for "We are the School District of Manatee County."

That saying represents the belief that public education is a reflection of the community it serves, and that it takes an entire community to support our students and teachers in the art of teaching and learning.

No matter what challenges we face, we strengthen each other when we stand together.

This site celebrates people in Manatee County who make a difference in public education, as well as those who benefit from it.

WE are the School District of Manatee County.

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Braden River Middle FCCLA F is for Family: Our chapter has formed this year with 37 members. We like to think of ourselves as the FCCLA family. We work together to plan activities and so far we have enjoyed many fun social events including a fall party and a winter party where we exchanged holiday gifts and participated in various activities. We are currently planning a family fun night of games.

C is for Career: In September, twelve of our members attended the district CTSO (Career and Technical Student Organization) leadership rally at Braden River High School. The guest speaker, Nick Tokman from Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch” was very entertaining as he spoke about his many careers.

C is for Community: Our service project during first quarter included assisting our school with the Adopt a Family program. We were able to raise funds to fill up seven laundry baskets with necessary supplies for each family and included a stocking of fun gifts for each child in the family. This was a very fulfilling activity for all involved.

L is for Leaders: Our chapter elected and installed the following officers: President: Kelsey Wilson, First Vice President & Parliamentarian: Skylar Rattana, VP of Chapter Activities: Lily Vazquez, Secretary: Vanessa Dong, Treasurer: Josh Schwab, VP of Community Service: Skylar Armstrong, VP of Chapter Finance: Alexandria Williams, VP of Recreation: Jade Lippincott and Cynthia Medina, VP of Public Relations: Lexie Scialfa, and Historian: Mason Kaufman. These officers have been leading the meetings and assisting to make important decisions. A is for America: Although we have not traveled across America yet we have big plans for this year. We have started out with our district meeting which was held at DaySpring Conference Center in Parrish this past November. At this meeting we received an award for being the largest chapter in attendance. Brooke Boydston also won the talent competition with her dance routine. We were also excited to have the District Historian, Kelsey Wilson, serve at this meeting and represent our chapter. Kelsey decided to run again for a district office and was elected to serve as district historian one more year. She made us very proud. Also at this meeting, Lily Vazquez was selected to run for a state office in April, we wish her luck in her next step in Leadership. We are currently preparing for our district competitive events which will be held in February. All members who win at this level will advance on to the state competitive events in Orlando and when they win at State Conference they will earn the privilege of traveling across America to Anaheim, California and will compete at the National level in June. The FCCLA family wishes everyone good luck..

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FUTURE BUSINESS LEADERS OF AMERICA

This has been a productive year for the BRMS FBLA. We started out the school year by attending the CTSO Leadership Rally at Braden River High School in September and got to listen to Nick Tokman from the “Deadlist Catch.” Nick’s presentation is geared at helping students overcome the difficulties and negative distractions that prevent them from connecting with who they are, so they can achieve THEIR definition of success. It was a great learning experience for all of us.

Officers were elected for the 2018-2019 school year. The President is Skylar Rattana; Vice President is Will Hegedus; Secretary is Mason Kaufman and the Reporter is Yousef Traish. They are a great group of leaders.

In December we did a service project called “Socks of Love.” We partnered with the Key Club at Braden River High and a former student, Pal Khan, to collect socks and toiletries for homeless people in our area. The project was a huge success and we hope to do it again.

We recently competed in the District 18 FBLA Leadership Conference and we came away with many awards. The following students were recognized at the awards ceremony held at Southeast High School on January 11th:

Yousef Traish First Place in Business Communications William Hegedus & Third Place in Desktop Publishing Mason Kaufman Gianna Talerico Third Place in Business Etiquette Andrew Scott Fourth Place in Multimedia & Website Development Ciara Melendez Fifth Place in Elevator Speech The students that placed in the top four spots are now eligible to go to the State

Conference that will be held in Orlando in March.

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Braden River Middle School YMCA The YMCA before & afterschool Programs provide a safe & fun environment for BRMS students! Homework help is provided in all subjects and textbooks will be available for YMCA students to use. The cost of the program is only $70 per month with a $25 registration fee! Fee adjusted with Direct Deposit or free lunch applicants. If you are interested in joining the program, simply pick up a registration packet in the front office and return it along with your payment. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. McClellan, Site Director, at 751-7080 ext. 2101. During program hours, questions can be addressed by calling 751-7080 ext. 2083.

BRMS ESOL Classes In Mrs. Dacosta’s ESOL classes students begin their days jumping rope for 2 minutes. After that, students document how many jumps they did, analyze their performance, and make a plan to do better next time. Jumping rope has been an everyday activity that relaxes students, promotes engagement, and fosters the learning process.

These 7th grade students worked hard in groups, on a project about “Strike” – Why Workers go on a Strike. They shared their projects with their classmates and had a group discussion.

These students from Language Development, were learning about “What is History.” They used books, computers, and dictionaries to enhance their learning.

All English Language Learners know the importance of being bilingual. Students, YOU ARE GREAT!!!

En las clases de ESOL de la Sra. Dacosta, los estudiantes comienzan sus días saltando la cuerda por 2 minutos. Luego, los estudiantes documentan los saltos que hicieron, analizan su rendimiento y hacen un plan para hacerlo mejor la próxima vez. Saltar la cuerda ha sido una actividad cotidiana que relaja a los estudiantes y promueve el compromiso fomentando el proceso de aprendizaje.

Los estudiantes de séptimo grado trabajaron arduamente en grupos, en un proyecto sobre "Huelga": por qué los trabajadores realizan una huelga. Compartieron sus proyectos con sus compañeros y tuvieron una discusión grupal.

Los estudiantes de Desarrollo del Lenguaje, estaban aprendiendo sobre "Qué es la historia". Usaron libros, computadoras y diccionarios para mejorar su aprendizaje.

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Science Fair This year we had 202 students participate in our fair. There were 11 first prizes awarded, 16 second prizes and 10 third places ranging across 13 different categories and 3 different grades. In addition we had 33 students invited to apply for the Manatee District STEM Fair where Braden River is known to bring home many of the top prizes. We look forward to cheering on these

1 - Animal Sciences

1st Remy Lewis

2nd Brynn Kvederis, Devyn Hoff & Gabrielle Madrid

3rd Audrey Cummins & Sydney Wilcher

2 -Behavioral & Social Sciences

1st Hope Tudor

2nd Victoria Medina, Liz Reinaldo & Carla Puentes

3rd Wagner, Jessica

3- Biomedical & Health Sciences

1st Nyah Platt

2nd Ben Schappacher

3rd Lilly Pramuka

4- Cellular/Molecular Biology & Biochemistry

1st Isabella Santana,

2nd Britlee Yant

3rd Maribel Torres

5 - Chemistry

1st Joshua Jackson

2nd Christian Bell, & Connor Hoffman

3rd Kyle Dong

6 - Earth & Environmental Sciences

1st Benjamin Schuyler

7 - Engineering

1st Jada Phillips

2nd Isaiah Jackson

3rd Shelby McGrew

8-Environmental Engineering

1st Vanessa Dong

2nd Sadie Henderson

11- Microbiology

1st Peyton Jackson

2nd Brooke DePasquale & Madilyn Gemme

3rd Matthew Bowers

12 - Physics and Astronomy

1st Cestero, Sara

2nd Fletcher; Jack Somerled

3rd Lugo, John

13 - Plant Science

1st Lilly Lynch

2nd Liliana Vazquez

3rd Kiana Foroughi

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DIGITAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Students in Ms. Gulsby’s DIT class have been working hard toward earning their Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certificate. The MOS certificate is the leading industry credential that proves the user has exemplary skills in Microsoft Office and puts them on the fast track towards advancing their career goals.

The following students have successfully passed both the Microsoft Word and PowerPoint exams.

Daniel Berry, Violet Bowling, Aaliyah Capers, Mitchell Castleman, Neil Dong, Emily Ellis, Ryan Goudreau, Klae Hochstetler, Mason Kaufman, Jace Long, Avidan Miguel, Jack Mowrey, Jerry O’Donovan, Julizabeth Ortiz-Ruiz, Carla Puentes Valencia, Jacob Riedel, Natalie Rodrigues, Andrew Scott, Frankie Wischki.

I would like to congratulate Neil Dong on receiving a perfect score of 1000 on his PowerPoint exam. The students must pass one more exam, Microsoft Excel, and then they will earn the MOS Certification. Congratulations on how far you have already come!

Upcoming Events Basketball Season Join us for our first home Basketball game Tuesday Feb. 5th at 5:30 Volleyball and Flag Football Season Join us for our first home games Tuesday March 26th at 5:30 GradVenture and 8th Grade Dance GradVenture is scheduled for May 17th 8th Grade Dance is scheduled for May 24th

End of Year Participation Requirements

Just to remind our students, especially our 8th graders, in order to participate in end of year activities (including GradVenture and the 8th Grade Dance), students must: • Have no more than 21 periods of ISS or Timeout • Have no OSS • Have no monies owed to the Media Center or Café’ • Have no 4s in citizenship • Have no more than 10 Unexcused absences ***in 2nd semester of the school year

6215 River Club Boulevard

Bradenton, FL 34202-9675

Phone: 941-751-7080

Fax: 941-751-7085

Principal: Randall J. Petrilla

BRMS

We’re on the web at http://www.schools.manatee.k12.fl.us/652BRMWEB/brmsweb/index.html

BRMS Mission Statement Braden River Middle School, an innovative community of engaged learners, embraces the quest to use new ideas, models respectful behavior, and communicates effectively to create dynamic leaders.

Manatee School District Mission The mission of the Manatee School District is to inspire students with a passion for learning, empower them to pursue their dreams confidently and creatively while contributing to their community, nation, and world.