Giving of Ourselves

While sitting in an English class earlier in the week the following quote was posted on the Promethean Board as part of the warm-up activity to activate student thinking: 

 "Someday you will find out that there is far more happiness in another's happiness than in your own"

This was a terrific way to start the lesson and connect to the theme of the story, 'The Gift of the Magi', which students read and analyzed during class. But beyond the nuts and bolts of the lesson were the incredible connections that students made between the story and the real world. People giving of themselves and taking joy in the happiness of others is a principle that we should all strive to live by. I want to take an opportunity to share some of the ways that our West Genesee Middle School community has given their time and energy in an effort to support and bring happiness to others.

 

Make A Wish: On Friday December 21, 18 students from the cast of "Yes Virginia" presented Macy's and Make-A-Wish with over 400 letters to Santa on National Believe Day. Because it was National Believe Day, the value of the letters double and the West Genesee community donated over $800 to Make-A-Wish! The students were able to perform a few numbers from the show for the shoppers at Macy's, helping to spread the message of "Yes Virginia" and Macy's - BELIEVE - and to show the power of a Wish!

Student Council Candy Cane Sales
Our student council sold candy canes during our lunch periods over the last few weeks and raised $600. (that's a lot of candy canes!) With the money we were able to purchase gift cards to help out eight WGMS families in need and hopefully help make their holiday season a little bit brighter. The entire student population was involved in this effort and all had bright red tongues to prove it!

Yahtzee!! Having fun at Game Club.

Teacher Time

Our teachers continue to give their time and energy to our students in a variety of ways outside of the school day. The many sports, clubs, and activities that occur at West Genesee Middle School are too many to even begin to mention. It is our students who benefit from these opportunities and we greatly appreciate the efforts of our staff to make them possible.

As we head into the new year I want to wish all of you and your families a wonderful holiday season and a happy and healthy 2013. Thank you for your continued involvement and support. Together we continue to improve and make West Genesee Middle School a very special place. It's going to be a great year to be a Wildcat!

Continued Success,
Steve Dunham

All of the little things that seemed so important last week in preparation for the holiday season suddenly seem a lot less significant given the tragic events of this past Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, the survivors, their families, the first responders and the entire Newtown, Connecticut community. It doesn't matter where you are from, what your background is, or what your faith is, seeing those images and hearing the stories from Sandy Hook is heartbreaking. As parents, the thought never crosses your mind when you send your kids off to school that they may not come home. As a father of four, two of whom are in school and attend Stonehedge, the events from this past Friday were very difficult to digest.

It is very natural for all of us to now question the safety of our own children. I can assure you that we do everything possible at West Genesee Middle School to keep your children safe. WGMS has a buzzer system to gain access to the building during the school day, along with a sign-in system, and cameras. As a building, we practice a variety of drills throughout the year, including fire drills, lock down drills, stay-in-place drills, and various evacuation drills. In addition, our Building Safety Team, District Safety Team and administrators coordinate routinely with law enforcement, create scenarios and conduct tabletop exercises all in an effort to be as prepared as possible. Our number one priority has been and continues to be maintaining the safety of our students and staff. 

We will have school counselors, school psychologists, and other trained staff members available for any students who need to talk with someone. If anyone has any specific questions or concerns please contact me directly at sdunham@westgenesee.org or at 487-4615.

Steve Dunham

Much to Be Thankful For

Turkey and stuffing and pies, oh my! It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is only a few days away. With the excitement of the holidays in the air, a lot of terrific and exciting things are happening at WGMS.

Parents getting the CCLS overview.

Curriculum Night

On November 15^th we had a terrific turnout for our first ever Curriculum Night at West Genesee Middle School. Parents were given an overview of the changes that the adoption of the Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS) have brought into all content areas. The focus was an overview of the Six ELA/Literacy Shifts, the Six Shifts in Mathematics, and what impact those shifts have in terms of what students will be doing in classes and what they will be asked to do on the State assessments. In addition, parents were given some excellent resources to help better support students at home. We will get those resources posted on the WGMS homepage for anyone who was unable to attend. The following link provides a nice overview of the Shifts for parents:  http://engageny.org/resource/shifts-for-students-and-parents/. In addition to the CCLS, parents were able to get an overview of the many resources our library has to offer to support our students both at school and at home. Many of those resources can be accessed through the library Blackboard site which you can get to from the WGMS homepage.

Curtain call for the cast of Yes Virginia

Yes, Virginia

West Genesee Middle School was proud to have Macy’s Presents: Yes Virginia, The Musical on November 16^th and 17^th. The scenes were incredible, the costumes were amazing, and our middle school students were spectacular. In every facet of production this was truly professional execution and a dynamic show. We should all be very proud of each and every student who was involved in this musical. For those of you like me who believe, we had a special guest from the North Pole help to make this a very special event. (hint: he was in a red suit...had a sleigh...see picture below for answer)

Students lending a helpful hand

Hurricane Relief

We were able to do our part as a building and help the district create 229 complete relief kits and 197 partial kits to be shipped to our neighbors in the New York City and Tri-State area that were affected by Hurricane Sandy. Many students were able to bring in supplies and some of them were able to work at assembling the relief kits. I think the experience helped to give them a sense of ownership and a community service experience that should really become a part of everyone’s educational experience.  Thank you to everyone who was able to help contribute to this worthy cause.

Staying Connected

Our special guest at Yes Virginia: Santa Claus

Many of you are now following us through SNN. If you are not yet doing so I would encourage you to take the time and sign-up by clicking on the SNN logo in the upper right hand corner of our homepage. In addition, I have been making an effort to give you an inside look at the many wonderful things happening in our classrooms and at WGMS in general on a daily basis through Twitter. If you are not following me at @Sdunhamwgms I would encourage you to go to twitter.com, create an account, and get a behind the scenes look into our school.

As always, thank you for your continued involvement and support. Take some extra time this holiday to enjoy your family and friends. Relax, eat some turkey, watch some football, and I hope that you and your family have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

Celebrate Success!

Things are hopping at West Genesee Middle School. In addition to be being Halloween and having the end of the first ten weeks upon us, there is a lot going on as we head into November. Our students and faculty are working very hard, adjusting instruction and learning to match some of the changes brought on by the adoption of the Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS). I am seeing incredible things going on instructionally in classroom tied to teaching tiered vocabulary, reading and writing in the content area, and putting students in situations in which they have to communicate, collaborate, think critically, and use technology seamlessly as part of their learning. Those are keys to college and career readiness as our students move onto the high school and into the real world. Kudos to our faculty and staff for their collective efforts at working through the many changes that have come our way!

Our fall sports seasons are coming to an end, rehearsal for the musical “Yes, Virginia” is in high gear, and concert season is underway as students in band, orchestra, and chorus will be performing on a stage near you. We are very proud of all of our students for their effort and commitment to extracurricular activities. We should all take great pride in the incredible talents that our young people have.

Here are some other successes that I want to celebrate:

Camillus Optimist Youth Award 

Every year we recognize two of our students who exemplify the qualities of responsibility, character, school spirit, dedication, academic achievement, and involvement in middle school. Students are nominated by teachers and nominations are then carefully reviewed before selecting our recipients. This year the 2012-2013 Camillus Optimist Students of the Year for West Genesee Middle School are Johna Halko and Mark Kopp. These two outstanding young people will be recognized at Gilfillan’s restaurant during an awards ceremony on November 13^th. Congratulations and well deserved!

District Spelling Bee

Congratulations and good luck to ten of our students who will be representing WGMS at the District Spelling Bee on Tuesday, November 6^th. Our fantastic ‘Wildcat Spellers’ are:

Noah Annable

Nick Cantello

Sarah Church

Brennan Costello

Russell Graziano

Kenny Holmes

Zac Kowalski

Jason Loustaunau

Collin Puchta

Thi Tran

Teacher in Space

West Genesee Middle School Technology teacher Dan Howard was one of 200 teachers chosen to participate June 24^th  to June 28^th  in the Honeywell Educators at the Space Academy at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama this past summer. Mr. Howard has already been able to bring back some of his experiences and infuse them into his instructional practices in technology class. Click on the link to read a very well written article on Mr. Howard’s experience: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/10/space_center_program_inspires.html

SAVE THESE DATES

Family Fun Night

This Friday, November 2^nd we will have our annual PTA Family Fun Night at West Genesee Middle School from 7:00 PM until 8:30 PM. This year features an entertaining and high-flying basketball game between the WGMS Faculty and members of the Camillus Police Department. In addition to the basketball game, the PTA is also sponsoring a book fair. This is a great opportunity to support our PTA and thank the Camillus Police Department for their service to our community. Practices have been going well and I think ‘Team Wildcat’ is ready.

Curriculum Night

On Thursday, November 15^th we will be having our first Curriculum Night at West Genesee Middle School. The purpose of the evening is to provide parents with an overview of the changes in Mathematics and ELA tied to the adoption of the Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS). This is not the math class that you and I sat in! In addition, parents will experience the Olweus kick-off event that our students went through earlier in October. This evening will provide parents with an inside look at what your children are experiencing at school, as well as offering parents suggestions and tools to help them better support their students at home. This is going to be a very worthwhile evening.

‘Yes, Virginia!’ Musical

Friday, November 16^th at 7:00 PM and Saturday, November 17^th at 2:00 PM will be the two showings of our middle school musical ‘Yes, Virginia!’. Our students have been working very hard and the show is coming together very nicely. This will be a wonderful showcase for the many talented students who are involved both on stage and behind the scenes.

As I mentioned, there is a lot going on at WGMS and a lot for us to celebrate and be thankful for. Thank you for your continued involvement and support. I hope to see you at Family Fun Night, Curriculum Night and at one of the showings of our musical. Be safe out there tonight ‘trick or treating’.

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

Moving Forward

Olweus Classroom Meeting

This week we had our second Olweus Classroom Meeting at West Genesee Middle School. As I have mentioned before, our students were outstanding during our kick-off event last week and they were just as incredible during this week’s classroom meetings. Our Classroom Meetings are an opportunity for all of our students and staff to connect, to share, to listen, and to support one another. The focus of everything that we are doing is to get everyone in the school community to embrace the concept: No More Standing By. It is about each individual deciding not only how they are going to interact with other people, but also how they are going to respond to situations that they see and hear. To help keep that in their thoughts we have ended many of our morning announcements this year with the following:

“Be positive, lift people up, speak up for what is right, stand up and refuse to stand by when you see something wrong. Take some personal responsibility…you’ll be surprised at how well it works!

That message is consistent and it is being heard and embraced by our kids. Thank you for all of the support and reinforcement that takes place at home. Together we can help to make taking personal responsibility the norm and not the exception.

6th Grade Students During Olweus Classroom Meeting

Family Fun Night

On November 2^nd members of our West Genesee Middle School faculty and staff will be playing members of the Camillus Police Department in what will be an entertaining, competitive, and  high-flying basketball game. ‘Team Wildcat’ vs. the Camillus Police is a wonderful opportunity to bring our school community together and to thank the Camillus Police Department for their service to our community. Doors open at 6:40 PM and the action starts at 7:00 PM. The WGMS team is on a strict training regimen that should help give us a competitive edge and give you something to cheer about.

Staying Connected

If you follow me on Twitter at @Sdunhamwgms you will be able to get an inside look at some of the wonderful things that are happening at West Genesee Middle School. And there are a lot of wonderful things happening with our students and staff. Stay connected.

I hope to see you at some of the wonderful school events that will be taking place over the next few weeks.

Continued Success,
Steve Dunham

"No More Standing By"

This morning our students and staff at West Genesee Middle School had an incredible experience coming together to kick-off the Olweus Anti-Bullying Program in our building as part of the larger district-wide initiative to implement this program.  The half-day event included our first series of classroom meetings in homeroom and a large assembly in the gym. The focus of this initial event was on defining what bullying behavior is, explaining the roles that students play in bullying situations (it isn’t just about the student who bullies and the student who is being bullied), and establishing and discussing the four building (and district) rules associated with bullying.

Students Performing Bully-Circle Skit

To say that today’s event went well would be an enormous understatement. Today was spectacular! We couldn’t be more proud of our students in terms of how they handled themselves, how they listened to and respected the views of others, and what amazing attention they gave to some very serious and important topics.

 

 As we move forward from today it is important that all of us are speaking the same language, both here at school and at home. Bullying behavior is defined as:   “Bullying is when someone repeatedly and on purpose says or does mean or hurtful things to another person who has a hard time defending himself or herself.” Every negative situation that may happen at school, on the bus, or at home may not be bullying. But, if it is on purpose, is repeated, and involves an imbalance of power then it is bullying.

Our own Wildcat mascot taking part in a "Trust Run"

The rules that we introduced and began to discuss today are as follows:

  

       1. We will not bully others

       2. We will try to help students who are bullied

       3. We will include students who are easily left out

       4. When we know somebody is being bullied, we will tell an adult at school and an adult at home.

The rules apply to us all. As adults we have a powerful influence over our young people in terms of how we interact with them and how we interact with one another. The major shift that needs to occur in bullying situations is moving people from their roles in the bullying circle away from the student who bullies to the student who is being bullied. This shift will take time, effort, and education to empower students and help give them the tools and resources necessary to put this into practice.

One the most important messages of the day was that we all have a personal responsibility in all situations we are either involved in or witness. It isn’t about what another student said, or what others were doing; it’s about me as an individual. What did I do or say? What didn’t I do or say? I encourage you to talk with your child or children about bullying, the rules mentioned above, and the role that we all play in different situations, just as I will discuss these things with my own children. 

I was inspired by the honesty, enthusiasm, and maturity that our students demonstrated today. You should all be very proud. Our next classroom meeting is Tuesday, October 16th and we will continue to push on.

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham