Parker Middle School

Patriot Time Parent Survey

This week our students took a student survey about Patriot Time.  The staff has put a great deal of time and effort to make this time valuable for students and our school culture.  As we continue to work to improve this class and begin planning for next year we would appreciate your feedback from a parent’s perspective.  We ask that you please take this 7 question survey to help us continually improve.  Thank you in advance for your feedback.  Survey Link

The Little Mermaid

The cast is set!  Parker Middle School’s all school musical Disney’s The Little Mermaid cast have already begun rehearsals!  The musical that closely follows the movie will be a hit with audiences.  The performances will be at the Rod Bushey Howell High School Auditorium April 19, 20 & 21, 2018 at 7:00pm.  Saturday there will also be a matinee performance at 2:00pm. Come see our amazing student performers.  Ariel - 6th Kendall Derocher, Eric - 7th Aidan Bradley, Triton - 8th George Rosenberry III, Flounder - 6th Selah Luethy, Ursula - 8th Kati Chapman, Scuttle - 8th Annika Seruga, Flotsom - 8th Josie Madzik, Jetsam - 6th Alexa Zielkowski

LOC Credit Union

The LOC Credit Union will be coming to Parker on Wednesday February 7th, 2018. This will be a student run operation of LOC that will operate every Wednesday of the 3rd and 4th quarter. During lunch time, students with saving accounts at LOC will be able to deposit and withdraw money from their own accounts. To sign up for a savings account, see Ms. Spadoni in room C201 to get a form or go to your local LOC Federal Credit Union branch.

Interact Club

Clean out your house of used books and used eyeglasses in this new year!

The Parker Interact Club is supporting the Livingston United Way’s Community Connect by collecting used books for this event.  Please bringin books by Feb. 3rd to Parker and put them in the bins outside the main office. Clean out your house of used fiction & non-fiction books,cookbooks, children’s books, picture books, self-help books, etc.  Any books you think others might enjoy! These books will be made available to those in need at the Community Connect event on Feb. 4th at Parker Middle School.

Many of us have eyeglasses in our house that are no longer being used.  That same pair of eyeglasses can change another person's life.  The Parker Interact Club is collecting used eyeglasses during the month of Januaryand February.  Please drop off these used eyeglasses to the inside of the Parker Main office.   This usable eyewear will be taken to the Lion's Club sponsored collection boxes in our community and will go to those people in need.

Join us for the next Parker Interact Meeting on Jan. 22nd after school from 2:15-3:15 in the Commons.

Girls on the Run

Our brand NEW middle school program at Parker Middle School is open to all 6th - 8th-grade girls and will meet after school on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:20pm – 3:50pm March 5th through May 14th. Registration opens January 22nd to Heart & Sole online! All registered participants will receive a healthy snack at each lesson, along with a program t-shirt, water bottle, a parent guidebook, and entry into the incredible Girls on the Run 5k on Saturday, May 12th at 1pm at Rolling Hills Metro Park (families are welcome to register and come run/walk with our girls!).

Heart & Sole’s curriculum-based program is much more than a running program. Click here to learn more and to register. Space is limited and registration ends February 21st. Financial assistance is available and volunteer coaches may receive financial assistance if needed for their daughters. The more volunteer coaches we have them more girls we can reach. Email  [email protected] for more information.

Kindergarten Registration

Howell Public schools will hold its Kindergarten Registration event will be held on Tuesday, March 6 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4 to 6:30 p.m. Students should register at the attendance area school. During the registration event, there will be tours of the school, an opportunity to explore a school bus and meet their school’s principal. Information packets and registrations will be available on the district’s website soon. For more information, please contact Helen at 517.548.6232. In the event of a snow day on March 6, the Kindergarten Registration event will be held on Tuesday, March 20.

Free and Reduced Price School Meals

Did you know that eligible students can receive a healthy and tasty school meal for 40 cents or less? Through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) students that meet the eligibility criteria qualify for free or reduced-price school meals each day. This includes both breakfast and lunch. To learn more, please visit https://goo.gl/njiCsX.

Parker Happenings

• Part One of the TIES program is ending for the semester. The TIES and their buddies have created a wonderful bond. They have been not only mentors to their buddies, but also their friends. Next week we will be having our celebration to conclude the semester. We will be somber to see these TIES move on, but the saying always goes, “Once a TIE always a TIE”. We are looking forward to next semester and another round of 50 students to have an impact on another student's daily life at Parker.

• In Aerospace we are starting our final project where students take all the information they have learned and design and build a glider from a piece of balsa wood and some styrofoam.  They write directions and create a troubleshooting page for the person who would purchase and  build this (created like a model car)

• In Medical Detectives, we have been learning about how the body responds to sensory receptors.  Today we are going to complete our brain dissection so students will be able to see where the sensory receptors transmit information.  

• In the Media Center/Library we circulated over 700 books a month to students in the first quarter! However, students have not been returning their library books promptly, though they get weekly notices from their ELA teachers and email reminders. To address this, we are now assessing fines of $.05/day for any overdue library book. Having a fine restricts a students’ use of the library; once the fine is paid, they will have full access to the library.

• Fooseball Club is going very well. In the club students are not just learning rules, shots and passing but more importantly they establish a feeling of belonging to a group of friendly people. Our tournaments will start soon and there is still room for a few more members. See Mr. Deadman for more information.

• Mrs. Downer’s Writer’s Studio students have wrapped up researching a country from their heritage.  Through the use of online and print resources, along with family interviews, students learned more about their country's location, languages, land, climate, history, religions, customs/traditions, holidays/celebrations, and popular food dishes. They are now creating slideshows, which will be presented to their classmates starting next week, Tuesday. We are all excited to learn more about each other’s countries through these presentations!   

• 8th Graders from Parker took five of the seven places in the True Grit writing content offered through the Hartland Public Library over Winter Break. This contest was open to all middle and high school students in the area. Congratulations Trey Stone, Alex Alesso, Josie Madzik, Leah Steele, and Ellie Bonanni.

• 8th graders are beginning their individual, multi-genre Holocaust research project next week. Students will select a topic of interest to them, draft their own research questions, and spend multiple days collecting information from print and digital sources to answer their questions. Students will then use the research collected to create four different genre pieces to present to the class. This will give our 8th graders the background knowledge necessary to understand why it is important to study and remember the past so that it does not happen again. They will be attending the Holocaust Museum on March 12th and 13th.

• Student Council is hosting their next Dance and open gym on February 14th from 2:20-4pm. The Amazing Rodney Page will be our DJ.  Admission is $4. Pizza and refreshments will be served at additional costs. Students must have a ride to pick them up promptly at 4PM at the pick up area near the Rock. Student Council is starting their next fundraiser which is for the Hydrocephalus Foundation. More details on this soon.

• On Thursday, January 25th nine singers from Parker Middle School will sing their final concert as part of the STATE Honors Choir supported by MSVMA Michigan School Vocal Music Association.  The conert is the kick off to the state music educator conference held in Grand Rapids.  The nine singers will perform their concert at DeVoss Hall.  These singers auditioned to represent PMS at the Disctict Honors Choir which encompases all of southeast lower Michigan and made the State ensemble.  Please congratulate these fine singers on their major accomplishment: Hailey Douglas, Ally Johnson, Lola Dombrowski, Audrey Davey, Noah Walters, Aubrey Nemeth, Kirsten Patterson, and Kendall Derocher.  This is the largest honor middle school singers can receive in the state!