Volume 2015, Issue 3 November 2015

Hickory Creek Middle School

22150 S. 116th AveFrankfort, IL 60423

815-469-4474

Stripes Winners

Congrats to our Students of the Month!

October

Ryan BallJacob ProvisAdam PaulHannah NewtonSam WardenburgGabriella ThomasKayla Walsh

Jack WillsSara AlexanderCade TurnerAnmarie D’OrtenzioVeronica SzafoniParker Anderson

Leyla Eames Reece Parchem Brett Gardner

Zach Montrose John Kristoff Olivia Jacobs

Connor Morale Jacob Truesdale Bryce Spearing

Sean Dore Cali Burns AJ Wasso

Kate Mitchell Ainsley McKay Gavin Benenati

Dylan O'Connell Alyssa Vegter Abby Fox

Lyndsey Golaszewski Hailey Malito Meaghan Baker

Dylan Low Kaitlyn Szott Whitney Moore

Emma Johnson Alison Ristich Dillon Ruzich

Joey Wittrock Anthony Brown John McMahon

Ryan Ball McKenna Stasukewicz Veronica Szafoni

Jenny McKerran Joseph Duchee Emma Gill

Dorthy Sargent Nyah Lindsey Kayla Piv

Alex Mackey Destiny Hollis Brian Wassall

Megan Phillips Paige Knecht Jocelyn Sargent

Ashley White Emily Butkowski Weronika Pieta

Social Media Presenter

With a background in marketing at Disney and a love for all things technology, Josh Ochs combines both to help teens use social media as a portfolio of positive accomplishments. Josh travels the nation speaking to over 30,000 kids each year sharing with them tips they can use to create a positive online presence. Josh’s book: “Light, Bright and Polite for Teens” teaches kids of all ages that everything they post on social media will eventually be discovered by their parents, teachers, their school Principal and someday colleges and employers. He shows families and teenagers practical examples they can use to always keep it “Light, Bright and Polite” on by posting photos of community volunteer projects that will help them shine online. Watch some of his videos at SafeSmartSocial.com

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT CAME OUT! We will post a link to the video early November.

Nurse’s NotesVision and Hearing screening is scheduled for November 5th and 17th at Hickory Creek Middle School.

Vision: Screening will be done on all eighth grade students as well as any student who is new to the district, all Special Education students and any teacher referrals.Hearing: Screening will be done on students new to district, all Special Education students and any teacher referrals.

In accordance with the rules and regulations of the State of Illinois Department of Public Health, “a vision screening is not a substitute for a complete vision evaluation by an eye doctor.” In lieu of the state required vision screening here at school, a completed and signed report form, indicating that an examination by an Optometrist or Ophthalmologist has been administered within the past 12 months, is acceptable.The purpose of the screenings is to separate those children who do not have vision or hearing problems from those who are suspect for vision or hearing impairment and are in need of further evaluation by a healthcare professional. If your child is screened and there are any difficulties, you will be notified in writing and encouraged to follow up with your healthcare provider.

The state of Illinois requires that all sixth grade students have a dental examination form completed by a dentist and turned in to the school nurse. IF you have not turned in your sixth grade dental form, please do so as soon as possible.

Susan Schipiour, RNHCMS-815-469-4474

Guidance and Counseling

Image Source: Erin’s Law Websitehttp://www.erinmerryn.net/erins-law.html

Book Notes from the Library

HCMS is reading! Books are going out and being returned at a furious pace. There’s more traffic through the library than ever before! Yay for us!

In order to ensure your student can check out the book he/she has been looking for, please

keep these policies in mind: --all library books are loaned out for 2 weeks.

--If books are returned late a fine of five cents per school day and per book will be assessed. --

an overdue book not returned and/or an outstanding fine of $1 or more will prevent

check out--students should return overdue materials asap, regardless of whether they can pay the fine. Once the book is returned, the fine stops!

Students can return to pay the fine at their earliest convenience.

The library is still looking for volunteers to reshelve books once a week for one month of the school year (if we get more volunteers!)

Please contact Marybeth Raynes atmraynes@fsd157c.org if you are interested in

helping.Happy Reading!

7th grader Rebekah Stryjewski helps out in the library

7th graders Maxton Polad and Jimmy Ferneau use one of the 10 new stand alone laptops available in the

library.

Student Council

Student Council will meet from 2:30-3:30 on the following dates:

November 5th & 19th*** this is a change on the original schedule it said Monday November 16th.

“Theme Thursdays”Nov. 5--”Bandana Day” Bandanas can not cover your face.Nov. 12-- “Crazy Hair Day”Nov. 19--”Twin Day”SAVE THE DATE:Friday, December 4th 4:30-6:30 is our

Winter Social--dancing, open gym, concessions

and more.

8th Grade Happenings!

In November HCMS is collecting candy for Operation Gratitude. 8th

grade students are in charge of this service project. We are encouraging

students to bring their leftover or extra candy to school. Please do not go out and buy any candy for this! After the candy is collected, we will be donating it to a local dentist that will be shipping the candy overseas

to our troops.Last year alone Team 8C collected

over 70 pounds of candy! With your help, we hope to beat that this year!

Social Studies: We have just finished up our Road to the Civil War unit and have now entered the Civil War. Reconstruction of the South and the nation will be the final unit we study before our long Thanksgiving break.

ELA: Right now we are working on comparing texts; both Literary and Informational. Students are learning how to cite from the text to support the inferences they are making.

8th Grade “Hoppenings!”

Ask your child about our Veteran’s Day Service Project!

…

Team 7AMrs. DeHaan, Mr. Finan, Mrs. Gatsios,

Mrs. Niendorf, and Mr. Stein

TEAMGOLD

Team 7B "Lucky Stars”, along with the other Seventh Grade teams, were excited to kick off our Veterans’ Day Service Project on October 13th. The students watched a video about Honor Flight Chicago and learned about our fundraising program - "Pennies for Veterans." We have started participating in numerous activities to help students better appreciate what it is to truly sacrifice and serve one’s country. Seventh graders will be asked to bring change in and compete in a friendly competition between all of the Seventh Grade Teams. Grades six and eight can also visit the seventh grade wing to join in the competition. We will conclude our unit with a wonderful assembly on November 11th. We invite all Veterans to join us on that day starting at 8:00 A.M. We will present Honor Flight Chicago with a donation check that morning. The proceeds from the “Pennies for Veterans” collections, novelty t-shirts, stars and stripes recognition, and lunchtime pizza and popsicle sales money will be donated to Honor Flight.

Team 7B “Lucky Stars” has had a very busy and fun-filled first quarter! The students should definitely be celebrating their many successes and setting new goals for the second quarter.

Team 7BMrs. Bunnell, Ms. Dyokas, Mrs. O’Hea, Mrs. Rutovic, Mrs. Swierczewski

Team winners from left to right: Morgan Kerrigan, Anthony Ostrowski, Matt Klawitter, and Madison Petrishe.

In science class, students had to build a tower that was at least 18" tall and could support a tennis ball without blowing over in front of a fan. Students created a company and bought supplies with designated prices by filling out purchase orders. The team meeting the criteria by spending the least amount of money was the team winner.

Team 7C Sequencing the Road to the Revolution in Social Studies.

Pajama Day!

Tower Building in Science.

SIX

TH G

RA

DE

NEW

S Kool Katz

Mrs. BrendlingerMrs. MillsMs. GradyMrs. O’BrienMrs. Kazmierczak

Roaring Tigers Mrs. KlineMrs. SandowskiMrs. FletcherMrs. SteeleMr. Ferraro

Top Tigers Mrs. Bohms Mrs. JeglinskiMrs. GiammarcoMrs. Bouck

Fridays are

Team Spirit

Day Wear :

Black Shirts

Fridays are

Team Spirit

Day Wear :

Maroon & Gold

Tie-dye Shirts

Fridays are

Team Spirit

Day Wear :

Blue Shirts

Science: Students are looking at the Earth in a different

way as we learn about various biomes. Perfect

timing…our biome, the temperate deciduous forest, is

really starting to show its true colors!

Social Studies: Students used their critical thinking

skills during the Mesopotamian unit. They had to support their argument regarding Hammurabi Code of Laws.

Math: Math classes have been working on decimals and

will soon be solving authentic problems using ratios.

Don’t forget to participate in Theme Thursdays!

B a n d

Chorus Show Choir rehearses “Roar”

All of the HCMS choirs have worked hard for the past two months and there are lots of events and performances coming soon:*November 6 - Drury Lane trip*November 19 - Fall HCMS Chorus Concert, 7:00 p.m. **All family and friends are welcome to come to this concert featuring all of the HCMS choral groups!*November 20 - IGSMA Solo-Ensemble meeting, 2;30-4:00 p.m.*December 3 - Frankfort Tree Lighting, 6:30 p.m.*December 10 - “Holidays Around The World” event*December 11 - Holiday Choral Tour and Winter Bowling Social

Chorus parents should check the weekly chorus e-mails and Mrs. Walton’s teacher page for specific information on each of these events.

Any questions? Contact Mrs. Walton at lwalton@fsd157c.org

Las Clases de Español

BienvenidosThe 7th graders created Family trees as a final

project to use all the vocabulary and knowledge

they have learned this quarter!

The 8th Graders enjoyed playing Battleship (La Batalla) to practice the verb “querer” (to want).

They sunk each others ships while using learned vocabulary and sentence structures in Spanish!!

7th Grade

8th Grade

The 6th Graders learned the parts of

the body and labeled their very own self-portrait or drawing

of someone they look up to. They used 19 vocabulary words in

all!

6th Grade

Art

General Music

8th Grade Instrumental Music: The new quarter is off to a great start! It has been amazing to see this class grow as musicians. We are currently working on

● How to read read notes on the e,b,g, and e string of the guitar

● How to play the G, C, D7, Em chords on the guitar

● How to play multiple rhythm and lead parts● How to construct cscales and chord

progressions

8th Grade Music Production: Each project I am amazed at how creative and intricate each of these 8th grade production projects are. We are currently working on creating a soundtrack to small films.

7th Grade General Music: We are having a blast, currently using drums and rhythm instruments from around the world to learn how to read and write rhythms.

6th Grade General Music: We are diving in head first this quarter with learning rhythm and playing in small ensembles using world drums and percussion instruments

Physical Education BOX TOPS!!!Hickory Creek Middle School collects Box

Tops just as Chelsea and Grand Prairie do.

Each box top collected is worth 10 cents.

Last year Hickory Creek Middle School

students collected 20,000 box tops. This

provided the school with an extra $2,000.

Please make sure you cut the Box Tops out

neatly and put them in a clear plastic bag.

Please write the number of Box Tops you

collected on the bag. Ask friends and

family members to save their Box Tops for

you to help raise money and make our

school that much better!

PE classes will now be inside for the next several

months. The first unit, for all classes, will be Team

Handball. This sport includes elements of soccer,

water polo, hockey and basketball. Please follow the

link below to learn more about this fast paced and

high scoring team sport.

Health EducationMr. Purpura’s classes started Health on

October 26th. They will be in Health

until the middle of December.

TEAM HANDBALL!!!!Click here to see team

handball video

Tech TimeSchool Logo Design

By: Joe Pustis

6th Grade: At the end of the Quarter students were collaborating to create a Middle School Survival Guide using Google Slides. They are having fun adding teacher tips and photos. We will begin the 2nd Quarter with Word Bootcamp, acquainting new tech students with using toolbars, adding graphics, and other important features found in Microsoft Word.

7th Grade: Students ended the quarter by designing and creating a maze video game using Jumpcraft. Students enjoyed adding levels and challenges to their programming design. We will begin Quarter Two by with a new class of 7th graders learning about creating tables for data collection. Some upcoming projects include: Interview Table, Table of 10, and a US Weather Data Table.

8th Grade:Advanced Tech:

Students finished off the quarter with a Career Project which involved taking an interest survey, researching a career, creating &

presenting using Google Slides, and offering students feedback. Students are now creating

marketing materials: flyer, t-shirt or hats to promote their business.

Computer Design:Many graphic design projects involved using Photoshop skills and tools this quarter. Students have worked with filters, shadow effects, and creating layers to build upon backgrounds. They will use these tools to help design school logos, showcase research of past and present figures, and with creating comic book designs.

Mrs. Samalea & Mrs. Vega

Athletics

Cross country at State!On Saturday, October 17th, four of our HCMS runners traveled to Normal, IL for

the state meet. They all ran an awesome race - all four runners ran their best time!

Brett Gardner 10:37---6th place

Maguire Pallissard 11:18

Cameron Kavanaugh 11:35

Oliva Jacobs 12:51

UPCOMING TRYOUT DATES

Girls Volleyball

Mon. Nov. 30th

Wed. Dec. 2nd

Fri. Dec. 4th

Every day from 2:30-4:30

Please see Mr. Talaga or Mrs. Rodgers for more information.

***New this season***

6th graders will be eligible to tryout for the teams as well.

Athletics

Cross Country State Meet

FSP REMINDERS

PARENT / TEACHER CONFERENCE DINNER FOR THE TEACHERS

The teachers at Grand Prairie, Chelsea, and Hickory Creek will have a long day of parent-teacher conferences on Monday, November 23rd. When they break for dinner, each school, with the help of the FSP (Family School Partnership), has a tradition of providing dinner for them. The school provides the main dish, and the rest comes from generous food and drink donations from you, the parents!

If you are willing to donate a side dish, dessert, or beverage (water, pop), please sign up!

All donations will be accepted on Monday, November 23rd, 7:30AM until 4PM at the front office of each school. If you have any questions, please contact your Building Chair.

Hickory Creek Chairperson: Cindy Blau clblau@aol.com

To sign up for Hickory Creek, please click the following link:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4BAFAE2EA3F85-hickory

NEXT FSP MEETING

Our next FSP Meeting will be November 3rd, at 9:30am at GP. Please come join us. As you can see we have a lot coming up. We are a Parent Teacher Organization that needs parents and teachers to participate.

MANNA SCRIP PROGRAM

Orders will be due back Wednesday, November 4th.Checks for payment should be made out to “FSP 157C”.

Your gift cards that you purchase will be distributed during Parent/Teacher conferences on November 23rd, & 24th.If you want to choose from some additional gift cards please see the order form in the virtual backpack on the 157c website. Tri-fold forms were sent out in a brown envelope to the youngest child in each family. Please return your order in the envelope! We would like to save the envelopes for the next sale. If you are not placing an order we still need the envelope back.

HOLIDAYS AROUND THE WORLD

SAVE THE DATE - This year’s FSP Annual Holidays Around the World 2015 will be held Thursday, December 10th at Hickory Creek from 530-8pm!

This event was created for our district families to celebrate and share the many cultures and traditions with one another. This event is hosted by our district families for our district families! Teachers, students, families - All are welcome!

We are looking for more families to participate in this event by hosting a "country-table" - please share your ethnic background/your culture and your family’s Holiday traditions!

This event is FREE to enter with FREE raffle tickets for all attending students K-8th. Give-a-ways and Prizes available! Come to learn about our Holidays Around the World. Food for individual purchase will be available, live entertainment, support our troops, and more!

Please contact KrisMcGuire - FSP chairperson for Holidays Around the World Kkmacfsp@yahoo.com