HMS
September 2017 Newsletter
Welcome Back Hawks!
The start of the 2017-2018 has gone Swimmingly thanks to all of our dedicated staff and wonderful students! Please enjoy September events and activities and upcoming HMS happenings!
Our World Club
5th/6th grade
The Our World Club meets every Tuesday during lunch/recess and is open to all 5th and 6th graders at HMS. We are off to a fast start this year as we consider how we can assist in the relief efforts for victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
The Our World Club, now in its ninth year, maintains its belief that understanding diversity is the key to accepting diversity. To that end, we promote kindness activities, cultural exchanges, and are committed to participating in at least one major charitable act per year. Past acts include, but are not limited to: collecting school supplies for needy NH schools, collecting blankets, towels, and animal toys for the NH ASPCA, and sending gently used books to underprivileged schools in Mississippi.
Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. Handy are the co-advisors and welcome new members anytime! Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Library Happenings
Mr. Nason and 7th-grade students
Research Skills: Books, Databases and Website Evaluations
Book Tastings: What's new in fiction, non-fiction, e-books, and audiobooks
Save the Date: Book fair Oct. 24th
We are having a great start to the 2017-18 school year. All students in grades 6-8 have completed their first Food Lab where we made various quick bread - zucchini, banana, and pumpkin. In preparation for this lab, we learned about the various utensils and cookware used in cooking and where to find it in our kitchen. The students also were introduced to the abbreviations and equivalents used in recipes.
Our Quick Bread lab was very successful. Many of the students discovered that they like zucchini bread and that it tastes like cinnamon. Key terms and concepts learned were measuring and leveling dry ingredients, separating wet and dry ingredients, and greasing and flouring a loaf pan.
Hurricane Relief Efforts
The eighth-grade class in conjunction with our Hampstead Middle School community is organizing a fundraiser to help people whose lives have been disrupted by the catastrophic hurricanes Harvey and Irma. In addition to providing much-needed help for people impacted by these terrible storms, this program will provide HMS students the opportunity to learn about being contributing citizens by getting actively involved to raise money to help people recover.
The fundraiser will consist of a $12 per plate dinner at HMS on Wednesday, October 18th. Additional information about tickets and specifics about the dinner will be forthcoming as the students and teachers work on organizing this night of giving.
In addition to the fundraising dinner, the night will include a silent auction and raffle with items donated by local merchants and HMS families.
In addition to the fundraising dinner, the night will include a silent auction and raffle with items donated by local merchants and HMS families.
The students are requesting donations from local community businesses that can be used as raffle prizes and silent auction items. We are also hoping that HMS families will consider donating items. Please contact teachers Carol Randall (randallc@hampsteadschools.net) or Katie Wolff (wolffk@hampsteadschools.net ), if you are able to help support this worthy cause or have any questions. All proceeds from the fundraiser will be donated to the Red Cross and UNICEF USA.
Hampstead Middle School students will run the fundraising dinner: waiting tables, selling tickets, setting up and cleaning up after the event. They will conduct the raffle and the silent auction. This will be a kick-off event for future grade 8 student learning and activities where students identify issues, concerns, and topics they care about and take action to make a difference in our town, state, country, and the world!
We hope you’ll join us for the dinner and auction.
6th Grade News
On Friday, September 22nd, Sixth-grade students took a field trip to the Palace Theater to see the musical "Oliver". In preparation, students learned about the social issues novelist Charles Dickens wrote about and how these connections to his personal life influenced his writing. Students enjoyed performing their own version of "Oliver" in Ms.Cummings's reading classes.
News From The School Counseling Dept.
Mr. Mailloux & Mrs. Karpinsky
![C:\Users\sennotts\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\9NV4FLKP\200px-NewPALogo[1].jpg](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/eGk053e_PGhrd1JZQo68sbCf0r7EK9wHsKN0ZUjbVp5rmOKTM3K924Z_DuyTt0Q7dZ4fbavfMimvj-QX-zu-qMFE-FhN1UpqdDS9-N2VhHe5owBZrSThHjx4pB28UlMY9qFSOlz35l0IPHJzlw)
UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES (Exact dates and times to be determined by Pinkerton)
- October – Grade 8 students will be bringing home the “Student Data Sheets”
- November – CTE Career Planning Night (starts in Senior Café, then moves to the Stockbridge Theater)
- Parents return Data Sheets to Middle Schools by November.
- Late December/early January – Distribution of Course Catalogs and Course Selection Worksheets
- January, Time TBD – Preview Night for 8th-grade parents and students
- January – Information Day open house for all 8th-grade students
- February, Time TBD – Course Night
Sixth-grade art students showing off their rock star skills after the first day of school challenge.
Fifth-grade artists have been exploring color theory. They are finishing up Keith Haring-inspired watercolor paintings.
Sixth-grade artists are practicing their contour drawing skills and are in the beginning stages of Henri Matisse inspired still life acrylic paintings.
Seventh-grade artists have reviewed the elements of art, critique, and were up to the challenge of making clay whistles.
Eighth-grade artists have been busy expressing themselves with personal mandalas incorporating important concepts that directly connect to math and finishing up Jasper Johns inspired number paintings.
Back-to-School Child Safety Checklist
for Parents/Guardians
- If your child walks to school, walk the route with him/her to identify landmarks and safe places to go if he/she is being followed or needs help. Create a map with your child showing acceptable routes to and from school using main roads and avoiding shortcuts and isolated areas.
- If your child rides the bus, visit the bus stop with him/her and learn the bus number.This will help eliminate confusion for your child regarding which bus to ride.
- Make sure young children are properly supervised going to and from school, whether it is by you as a parent/guardian, an older sibling or another trusted adult. Remind older children to always take a friend when walking or riding their bikes to and from school.
- Discuss with your child what he/she should do if anyone follows, approaches or in any way bothers him/her. Include instructions to get away quickly and to tell a trusted adult.Teach your child that if anyone tries to take him/her away, he/she should yell loudly and make every effort to get away by kicking, screaming and resisting.
- Find opportunities or “teachable moments” to practice safety skills with your child.Create “what if” scenarios for your child to make sure he/she understands safety messages and how to use them in a real situation.
- If your child goes home alone, make sure the rules for safety at home are clearly understood. Prepare an emergency contact list (kept close to the telephone) that includes phone numbers for you, law enforcement, the fire department, ambulance service, doctor,poison-control center and at least one other trusted adult.
New this Year!
We are so excited that so many of our parents have utilized the SchoolMint online forms program that we've instituted this year. We are trying to complete this process as quickly as possible. If you have not received any emails or text notifications from SchoolMint, it may be because we do not have accurate contact information for you. If you have not received anything, please contact the school office and verify our information to make sure it is accurate. If you have received the information, we urge you to complete this process quickly or request paper copies from the school office.
Meadow Farms Fall Fundraiser
The Fall Fundraiser has begun! Information was sent home with students recently. We appreciate everyone’s participation and are excited to offer some wonderful incentives for sellers this year. More information is available on the PTSA website or Facebook page. Please contact Jaclyn at fundraiser@hampsteadptsa.
PTSA kids meeting:
Join us for our first PTSA kids meeting!
Our First PTSA kids meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 27th at 7:30am in the Hampstead Middle School Library.
If you know someone who is interested in joining - please feel free to bring them along!
Things we will be discussing at our first meeting:
- Fall enrichment classes
- 5th grade Halloween Social
- Fall Fundraiser
- Reflections
- Schedule of meetings and other upcoming events.
