Parker Middle School

Dear Parker Families,

8th Grade Dance

We are so very excited to celebrate the class of 2022 and wish you fond farewell as you prepare to enter high school and create new and exciting memories.  This celebration is for both Parker Middle School and Highlander Way 8th grade students.  This celebration will take place on May 11th from 6:30-8:30pm at the Howell High School Freshman Campus.  All tickets are $10 and must be pre-purchased.  They will not be available at the door. They will be on sale in the cafeteria during 8th grade lunches on May 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10.  Attire is semi-formal and students must adhere to the Parker Middle School dress code.  Please see the dress code listed on the flyer for more information. All students are asked to keep their shoes on.  There will be a DJ and Photo Booth as well as light snacks and water. This is a wonderful night to reconnect with friends from Highlander Way as well as celebrate your friendships here at Parker. Students may enter the dance at 6:30 and parents/guardians are asked to pick up at the Freshman Campus by 8:30 sharp.  If you are interested in volunteering please contact Leya Carstensen at leya.carstensen@gmail.comPlease see the attached flyer for more information.  8th grade dance flyer

7th Grade Parents

We have some exciting news to share.  Our current 7th Grade students will have the opportunity to experience their U.S. History Curriculum by traveling to Washington D.C. on May 8-11, 2019.  The trip would include touring important historical locations such as Gettysburg and Mount Vernon as well as touring the major monuments and sites in Washington D.C. itself.  We are partnering with Student Adventures, a Michigan based tour company, to help provide the best opportunity possible. They have worked with schools all over the state to provide safe and memorable experiences to groups like ours.  We are looking forward to presenting more details about the trip at an informational parent meeting on May 14, 2018 in the Freshman Campus Auditorium at 6:00pm. We hope you can attend! Hope to see you there as we begin this tradition for our Howell students!

 Patriot Time Updates

During Patriot Time we continued listening to Wonder.  Last week the students read the section on Miranda and focused on healthy friendships as well as maintaining friendships.  Classes talked about characteristics of real, or true, friends and what those friendships look like.  They applied this information to Miranda and the characters in Wonder as well as in their own life experiences.  Students then talked about maintaining friendships and how to keep these relationships strong.  You can ask your child what characteristics they feel makes a true friend.  Classes then read Part Eight on August. The focus of this section was on standing up for others and stopping mean behavior by using bystander strategies.  This includes:

C = CREATE a solution to the problem

A = ASK an adult for help

R = RELATE and Join

E = EMPATHIZE

S = STAND UP and SPEAK OUT

Students were also encouraged in their Patriot Times to sign “The No Taunting Pledge.”  This pledge was written by Tennessee high school students after the shooting incident at Columbine High School in April of 2000.  Patriot Times read through the pledge together stopping throughout the reading to discuss the meaning of each line. Words that were focused on included:  taunting, encourage, sensitive, caring, profanity, part of the solution. After the discussion, students talked in small groups about what they thought Parker would look like as a result of people following the pledge.  Ask your child what their group imagined.

6th and 7th Grade MSTEP

It is that time of year again for our state of Michigan academic assessments.  6th graders will take their English exam on Tuesday, May 1st and their Math exam on Wednesday, May 2nd.  7th graders will take their English exam on Tuesday, May 8th and their Math exam on Wednesday, May 9th. In order for students to learn and function at their highest potential it is important that they have a good night’s rest and eat a quality breakfast.  While this is true everyday, it is especially true during testing as they will be asked to focus on tests longer than usual. Your supportive and positive words about the testing go a long way. We use achievement data to build our school improvement plans, create focuses for the following year, and continue to work to provide support for all of our students.  

Schedule Change on May 8th and 9th

On May 8th and 9th the 7th graders will be taking their MSTEP exams in the morning.  Because 7th graders have Encore classes in the morning we change the schedule for those two days.  All students will go to Patriot Time for first hour like they do every day. After Patriot Time all students will report to 4th hour. The schedule and times are listed.  We will review this with students for several days so that they are prepared for the change.

 Upcoming Calendar Items

A friendly reminder that Friday, May 11 is a half day of school. On this day, our students will be released at 10:51 a.m. Superintendent MacGregor’s final Coffee Chat of the school year will be held on Thursday, May 17 from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the Howell Chamber of Commerce. Lastly, please remember that the last day of school has been changed to Thursday, June 14 to accommodate a make-up day that is required as the district exceeded its allowed inclement weather days.

Vaping 101 Workshop

Howell Public Schools has partnered with Saint Joseph Mercy Health System to provide an informational workshop titled Vaping: 101, What’s Important to Know. The workshop will share current trends and issues surrounding vaping. The workshop will be held on Tuesday, May 15 from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Parker Middle School commons. To learn more about the workshop, please visit https://goo.gl/x6ZHSQ.

Parker Happenings

• Aerospace- We tested the concept of lift by creating hot air balloons and “flying” them in the commons, we are currently building parachutes and will test the variables of mass of payload, and wind.

• 8th Graders will be doing the annual Greaser/Soc dress up day on Friday, June 1st.

• 8th Graders are going to the College Decision Day at the high school on Tuesday, May 1st.

• Grace Fyke took 5th place in the state for the Citizens Writing Contest. She will be attending a celebration for the top ten winners in Lansing, MI on Tuesday, May 15th.

• Star Wars Week is next week.  The library has many Star Wars books on display and will have Star wars activities everyday at lunch.  Stars Wars Day is on Friday, May the Fourth. Students & Staff can dress up as their favorite Star Wars character; no masks or weapons please.  Those students who participate on Friday can enter to win 2 movie tickets to the upcoming movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story.

• In the choir room we are saying goodbye to our student teacher Ms. Stine.  She has done a great job and will be missed!

• The all school musical The Little Mermaid was outstanding.  It was so fun to see all of the hard work and commitment of our students demonstrated in such an amazing way!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs. Poelke