Spelling Bee Buzzes at LMS

On Friday, January 17th, LMS held its annual Buffalo News Spelling Bee. Mrs. Cap's

room was buzzing with excitement as the top spellers in the building were hoping to have the

highest score on the written test. Congratulations Andrew Martin and Alexander Powers! An-

drew came in first place. Alexander was the runner-up. Both students are 7th graders.

The next step for Andrew was an on-line test that he took on February 5th. The top

spellers of that test from Erie County and other counties throughout NYS will go on to the Na-

tional Spelling Bee near Washington, D.C. Best wishes go out to Andrew as we await the results!

All of the participants are spectacular spellers!

Jordan Burton Amanda Marafino Andrew Martin

Makenzie Castiglione Steven Zagaria Billy Mackey

Louis Dawes Maria Wild Kaitlyn Kozak

Jared Dembski Zachary Skowronski Tyler Kowal

Jacob Kaska Alexander Powers Brooke Klein

NATIONAL SCIENCE OLYMPIAD This year 12 dedicated 7th and 8th grade students participated in the New

York State Regional Science Olympiad on March 1st at Waterfront Elemen-

tary School. The competition is comprised of various events in the areas of

Life, Earth and Physical Sciences. The Lancaster Science Olympiad team

placed 8 th overall! A special thanks to Mrs. Tracey Jordan and Bob Giza for

their time and assistance as students prepared for the competition and to

Tom Reidy the Regional coordinator.

The following students received Honorable Mention and placed:

Molly Hewett, Andrew Smith Jon Sweitzer, Patrick Murphy

5th Place – “Rocks & Minerals” 3rd Place “Helicopters”

Caleb Schmid, Jessica Clark Molly Hewett, Beatrice Goldthwait, Noah Schmid

4th Place “Solar Systems” 1st Place “Rotor Egg Drop”

Heather Thoman, Talia Dalfonso

3rd Place “Metric Mastery”

Top 15 Spellers at LMS:

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Lancaster Middle School Newsletter

Volume 14 Issue 4 March/April 2014

March 3 & 4 Wellness Days

7 Mid quarter ends

11 HSA Mtg. 7 PM

14 Jr. SADD Activity Night

21 Staff Development Day – No School

April 1 - 3 NYS ELA Assessments

9 Quarter ends

10 NJHS Induction Ceremony 7 PM

14 – 18 April Break – No School

29 Spring concert 7 PM

30 – May 2 NYS Math Assessments

DECEMBER JANUARY/FEBRUARY

7 Red Ryan Glasser Sydney Graap

7 White Kayliana Mock Joseph Darone

7 Blue Abigail Brudz Andrew Miles

7 Green Tyler Fix Emma Randall

8 Language Arts Timothy Martin Zachary Drayer

8 Math Miah Gnagnarelli Jenna Jaworowicz

8 Science Brynn Johnson Elliot Walsh

8 Social Studies Hayley Gleason Ryan Ostermeier

Health Jenna Jaworowicz Raelea Derylak

Music Samantha Kamats Aline Weber

Art Shannon Lewandowski Heather Thomson

Citizenship Stephen Wojtowicz James Wilkowski

Alexa Laska Liam McManus

River Pease Ryan O’Hara

Physical Education Jillian Kolis Matthew Cress

Technology Trevor Folsom Marlaina Voelker

Home & Careers Morgan Gardner Courtney Johnson

Foreign Language Madison Rachiele Jillian Blas

IMPORTANT DATES

STUDENTS OF THE MONTH

NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY INDUCTION CEREMONY

National Junior Honor Society will be holding its induction ceremony on Thursday, April 10th, at 7:00 p.m. The ceremony will be held in the auditorium followed by a brief reception in the cafeteria. Students who earned a 92% or higher for both quarters 1 and 2 received an invitation to apply to NJHS. In addition to academics, students are asked to write an essay and complete an application which de-tails any service activities and leadership roles they may hold. The Faculty Council, which is a team made up of core area teachers as well as special area teachers, decides upon entry to National Junior Honor Society based upon teacher rating scales, completion of the application, and quality of the es-say. Good luck to all that are invited to apply.

March 3 & 4 Wellness Days

7 Mid quarter ends

11 HSA Mtg. 7 PM

14 Jr. SADD Activity Night

21 Staff Development Day – No School

April 1 - 3 NYS ELA Assessments

9 Quarter ends

10 NJHS Induction Ceremony 7 PM

14 – 18 April Break – No School

29 Spring concert 7 PM

30 – May 2 NYS Math Assessments

This year, LMS’s “Win Breakfast for your Homeroom Box Top Contest” was more successful than last year! 7th grade – Mr. Masters homeroom collected 1993 Box Tops!! 8th grade – Mrs. Manley’s homeroom collected 607 Box Tops!!

But best of all, the whole school collected 5800 Box Tops. LMS will receive $580 that will support school events, dances and much more. Thank you to all who participated. Please feel free to continue to collect your Box Tops and give them to

the HSA. We have a box in the Main Office where you can deposit them.

Alert!!! The HSA will be sizing 8th grade students for their T-Shirts on

Wednesday, March 5 during lunch periods.

Please listen for a reminder on the announcements !

Please visit our website for information, updates and

editions of the Middle Years newsletter.

You can find it from the Middle School webpage

through Our School and then select Counseling Center

http://www.lancasterschools.org/domain/416

Please call your child’s school counselor with questions or concerns.

Vision / SECOND NOTICES have been mailed home . Your child should have an examination by your physician or appropriate provider. The notice should then be returned to the Health Office

Spring Sports Sign Up meetings took place on March 4th. If your child is interested in any sport listed below and missed the meeting, he/she must stop by the Health Office to pick up information ASAP. Try outs will be starting March 17, 2014.

MODIFIED BASEBALL BOYS MODIFIED LACROSSE BOYS MODIFIED TRACK GIRLS MODIFIED LACROSSE MODIFIED SOFTBALL GIRLS MODIFIED TRACK

INFORMATION ABOUT STUDENT PHYSICALS

Students interested in participating in interscholastic sports MUST have a current physical on file in the health office prior to the start of each season. Physicals are offered prior to each sport season as well as several dates in the spring. Parents must contact the health office between February 1

st and March

10th

if they want their child to obtain a physical at school. Please contact the LMS Health Office with any questions, concerns, or to schedule your child’s physical. Contact us at 686-3225 or jdavis@lancaster.wnyric.org before 3/10/14.

NEWS FROM HEALTH OFFICE

NYS ELA Assessment

This year it is scheduled for April 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

Here is some information to give you a better

understanding of the 2014 English Language Arts

New York State Assessment:

Day 1 April 1st (90 minutes) Reading For this portion, your child can expect to do the following:

Read literary and informational passages and answer 42 multiple-choice questions.

This will assess your child’s ability to read and comprehend.

Day 2 April 2nd (90 minutes) Reading/Writing For this portion, your child can expect to do the following:

Read literary and informational passages, answer 7 multiple-choice questions, write

three short responses, and write 1 extended response. This will assess your child’s

ability to read, comprehend, and write.

Day 3 April 3rd (90 minutes) Reading/Writing

For this portion, your child can expect to do the

following:

Read literary and informational passages, write

five short responses, and write one extended

response. This will assess your child’s ability to

read, comprehend, and write.

Stay focused and keep a steady pace.

Use your best handwriting.

Preview the questions.

Utilize the planning pages to make a web, to outline, or to jot down notes.

Feel free to write in the margins, underline key phrases, circle words, or cross out words if

you think this will help you to answer the questions.

Be a strategic test-taker. Go back to the passages to seek answers.

Judge the length of an answer by the amount of space given.

All answers require a topic sentence and a concluding sentence.

Extended responses require an introduction, body, and conclusion.

If you copy an exact line or sentence from a passage, use quotation marks.

Make sure you use the 5 C’s of Writing: Clear, Considerate, Concise, Correct, and Complete

Proofread and edit. Make sure you have answered ALL parts of the question. Check for

spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Bring two #2 pencils to the test.

Do not leave blanks.

Sleep well the night before the test.

Eat breakfast the morning of the test.

Try your best. Don’t worry. Be happy!