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.
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| Parents getting the CCLS overview. |
Curriculum Night
On November 15th 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.
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| 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 16th and 17th.
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)
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| 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
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| 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
