were ready to deploy to the

6th grade and the day the

lockers were flagged was a

great day for 6th grade. Last

week, the students were fi-

nally ready to deploy in 7th

grade hall. It really made

them happy to know that so

many students smiled and

wondered “who did this?”

when seeing the positive

notes. Notes said things like

“you’re awesome,” “never

give up,” and “stay positive”.

7th Grade teacher, Rachel

Wysong said “I can’t love this

enough!”

The thing that made the girls

the happiest was knowing

that most of the notes are

still on the lockers in the 7th

grade hall. This week they

are finishing for 8th grade hall

and as they near the end,

they said they don’t regret

any of the time they spent on

the project.

It all started with a lunch con-

versation. Neelah Anousone

was telling her friend and

classmate, AVID student

Adriana Amato, how at her

other school, students often

performed random acts of

kindness throughout the

school. At the time of the

conversation, both girls felt

like the class was in a bad

emotional place. “There was

a lot of drama in the 8th

grade,” said Amato. “We

wanted to encourage people

to be nice.”

This sparked an idea for both

girls. They decided to try a

large scale kindness blitz.

The first adult they ap-

proached was Mr. Kealey.

He was for it, but suggested

they run it by Ms. Sinclair

also. On October 28, the

girls met with Ms. Sinclair

during their lunch period to

pitch the idea. She was on

board and provided the need-

ed supplies for the girls to get

started on their plan.

Writing an encouraging post-

card to all staff members was

their first mission. They

started with a staff roster,

glitter pens and a stack of

blank postcards. That project

didn’t take long, but the sec-

ond phase took way longer

than anyone expected. The

plan sounded simple: Write

an encouraging note on a

post-it note and stick it to

each locker in the grade level

pods. The girls were so well

planned and detailed they

even cross referenced a list

of lockers not in use so no

note would go unnoticed.

Every day during recess for

more than 5 weeks the two

8th grade students, along with

some great help, wrote note

after note after note. Some-

times the number of friends

willing to help was as many as

5 or 6, but regardless of who

helped, Neelah and Adriana

faithfully pursued the project

every day until it was com-

plete.

After a couple of weeks, they

Students Secretly Perform Random Acts of Kindness

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

6th Grade

News 2

7th Grade

News 3

Exploratory

News

3

8th Grade

News

4

8th Grade

Open House

4

Exploratory

News

5

AVID

Infographics

6

Technology

News

7

Calendar of

Events

8

Parent

Toolkit

9

Drama

Photos

10

W I C H I T A P U B L I C

S C H O O L S

Stucky Storm Watch D E C E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 6 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6

The

Clockwise

from lower

left: Jameelah

Rounds, Kemyra

Haines, Tayanna

Bonner, Neelah

Anousone and

Adriana Amato

Winter Break

December 16

Through January 3

Students Return

January 4, 2017

P A G E 2

6th Grade News Resources for Parents

of 6th Graders

Mathematics

Fractions, fractions, frac-

tions! Fractions are literally

everywhere and that’s what

our current unit is

about. We are comparing,

adding, subtracting, multi-

plying, and dividing frac-

tions. We’ve been using

area models, number lines

and computation structures

to understand and explain

how to manipulate pieces

of numbers (…fractions).

We’ll continue our journey

into fractions as we explore

our next unit, Decimals!

Social Studies

At left sixth graders Troy

Rayborn, Asher

Blevins, Molly Osterkamp,

Jeremiah Rees, and Jashun-

da Hall put the finishing

touches on a mummy dur-

ing studies on Egypt. Un-

der the wraps is Alex Jones.

English Language Arts

Students in Mrs. Coats' and

Mrs. Woodward's language

arts classes are discussing

fairness. What is fairness?

How should we respond

when treated unfairly? We

have read multiple stories

and articles finding evidence

supporting our claim that

“fair is not always

equal.” Fair is everyone

getting what they need in

order to be successful. The

next unit focuses on

“success,” which will be a

great starter and motivator

for the New Year.

Science

Mrs. Medlam’s science class

completed the chemistry

portion by working through

eight physical/chemical

change lab stations. These

stations included: steel

wool and a large battery,

sawdust with metal filings

and a magnetic wand, vari-

ous chemical reactions us-

ing acetic acid (vinegar) to

make accurate observa-

tions. Chemistry in a Baggie

was our last experiment in

which we used Baking soda,

citric acid, and phenol red

solution. This created a

chemical reaction that pro-

duced a gas and a color

change and gave off both

heat and cold. Thereby,

perfectly illustrating a

chemical change and a

physical change and also the

Law of Conservation of

Matter (Matter is neither

created or destroyed.) We

always followed the safety

regulations by wearing our

goggles. See below at left..

The students in Mrs. Over-

stake’s sixth grade science

class learned about ecosys-

tems and how organisms

interact. The students were

each given a secret vocabu-

lary word or words to illus-

trate. After the students

carefully illustrated their

word, the class went on a

gallery walk to view their

classmates’ illustrations and

write down the words they

thought the illustration

showed. Pictured below in

the center and on the right

are a few of the whiteboard

vocabulary lesson illustra-

tions.

S T U C K Y S T O R M W A T C H

Left to right: Colby Skeeters & Ella O’Neal; Teyah Groves illustrates

vocabulary; Camron Plummer shows his vocabulary illustration.

Khairi Price earned

a ticket to see

Shark Tank entre-

preneur Daymond

John.

7th Grade News

P A G E 3 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6

Social Studies

7th grade Social Studies classes

are rounding out the semester

with units on Europe and Rus-

sia. Students will explore the

ways that different styles of

government affect citizens’ lives,

and complete a small research

project of their own choosing.

Resources for Parents of

7th Graders

NAL is 4-1 for the Season The National Academic League

team is now 4 – 1 for the sea-

son. Ms. Brown, their coach,

continues to welcome new

players to the team and invites

you to join practices after

school in the library.

Below the team plays as hard as

they work! Come join the

team.

Drama News Combining costume and use

of body language, Ms. Good-

son demonstrates how to

communicate character. She

was dressed as Supreme

Court Justice Ruth Bader

Ginsburg for “Dress as Who

You Want to Be When You

Grow Up” day!

P A G E 4

Heights HS to Host 8th Grade Open House

8th Grade News Resources for Parents

of 8th Graders

Mathematics

8th grade math classes are

studying geometry, in par-

ticular the relationships

between two or more an-

gles and also studying 3D

figures. We’ll wrap up first

semester with a project and

a final exam, then start

fresh for second semester

with linear functions. Have

a wonderful holiday break

with your families!

Social Studies

8th graders celebrated Vet-

erans Day by learning about

the history of military

equipment and uniforms.

They even got to try on

some of the uniforms.

Jaden York, 6th grade social

studies, demonstrates for

8th graders putting on body

armor and helmet with his

dad, who visited and dis-

cussed veterans issue with

students. (See p. 5)

English Language Arts

As the semester winds to a

close, students are finishing

up projects and units with

flare. Mrs. Causey’s

Honor’s classes have creat-

ed game board projects to

showcase vocabulary they

have learned throughout

the year. Games will be

played, then voted on by

their peers to decide the

best overall game. All Lan-

guage Arts classes are fin-

ishing up the last of our

grammar review as we pre-

pare for the next phrase of

writing. Students will learn

to “step up” their writing

game using William Van

Cleave’s “Writing Matters”

next semester. All Lan-

guage Arts students will

come back from winter

break and get started on

novels that focus on Minor-

ities and their successes

throughout history. Stu-

dents will spend much of

January talking about sever-

al cultures, recognizing and

celebrating their similarities

and differences.

Science

In science students have

just finished their trebuchet

(a type of catapult) pro-

jects. As we finish up the

calendar year students will

continue to investigate

physics and laws of motion.

8th Grade Open House Heights High School

5301 N. Hillside

January 9, 2017

6:30-7:30

Questions? Call 316.973-1400

S T U C K Y S T O R M W A T C H

9th Grade

Pre-enrollment

Counselors from Heights

will visit Social Studies

classes on the following.

January 13th—

Overview & Practice

form. Look for infor-

mation coming home this

day.

January 17th—

Fill out the

pre-enrollment form in

Social Studies class. Learn

about Graduation

Requirements.

More Exploratory News

P A G E 5 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6

Spanish

Spanish students will be work-

ing hard to get as much practice

as possible in before the semes-

ter break. Your child should be

studying their vocabulary for at

least an hour each week. They

have a pink vocabulary log for

you to sign to confirm that they

have done so. These are due

every Tuesday as they have a

vocabulary quiz every Tuesday.

Second year eighth grade Span-

ish students are using food and

exercise vocabulary to talk

about healthy habits. First year

eighth grade and seventh grade

students are studying personali-

ty adjectives and how to de-

scribe themselves and others.

The sixth grade nine weeks

Spanish class is still practicing

their alphabet, numbers, greet-

ings & goodbyes, and calendar &

weather phrases. Next week

they will learn how Christmas is

celebrated in Mexico.

AVID

The AVID continues to make

plans for college visits. Stu-

dents will be visiting colleges in

the tri-county area to learn

about post-secondary options

available to them. See the

infographics on page 6 for data

on how college can help you.

Mary Sumner, Library Clerk,

sends holiday greetings to all,

and hopes for a peaceful and

blessed break. Give a student a

great book to read, in order to

encourage and nurture their

love of reading. By doing so you

will be teaching them how to

educate themselves. Happy

Holidays.

Library Sends Greetings to All

Jaden York & his Dad, a veteran Abigail Hulsopple shows off

Army style.

Darryon Frierson (Left) and Aaron

Johnson try on Army uniforms as they

learn about Veteran’s Day.

P A G E 6

AVID Presents College Data

S T U C K Y S T O R M W A T C H

Technology News

P A G E 7 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6

Explorations in Technology

1 (computer basics)

Students have been learning

how to use Microsoft Office

2013 suite of software and are

doing great. Students recently

finished several projects on

Microsoft PowerPoint. The last

Microsoft Office software stu-

dents will use will be Microsoft

Publisher and Excel. Some

hands on activities from Project

Lead the Way (PLTW) will in-

troduce them to topics of study

for subsequent Technology

courses (Technology 2 & Tech-

nology 3.) 90% of the activities

in these classes are from

PLTW. These are used so stu-

dents know what to expect in

these classes.

Explorations in Technology

2 (PLTW)

Students are planning their

Rube Goldberg machines. They

are to use at least 5 different

simple machines to complete a

simple task, such as pop a bal-

loon, open a book, or flip a

switch. They will bring these

machines to life before our

break for the holidays.

Below is an example of what

Ruben “Rube” Goldberg creat-

ed on paper. This is the self-

operating napkin. Start with

“A” to see how simple ma-

chines can be strung together

to accomplish a simple task.

Explorations in Technology

3 (PLTW)

Students are learning about

VEX robotics by building differ-

ent things and creating new

ideas. They just finished Activi-

ty 2.2.4 VEX Pull Toy in which

they created a pull toy that

used power generated by

wheels and a gear system to

make something additional hap-

pen on top of the toy. See the

photos below of some of their

creations.

Video Productions

Students just finished their

SCARY movies and are now

creating a Lip-sync video to a

song of their choice. The last

production will be about them-

selves.

Right Column top

to bottom:

Jay, Hevyn, Sanai,

Cakia- Pac Man

Brennan, Luke, Cole,

Alfredo- USA Tank

Nic, Jaiden, Austin-

Dragon Fire

Daze, Alister-

Jousting Knight

Top row far left:

Emily and Esma-

Pink Piggy Bank

Jayden, Cierra, and

Tor’Rae- Hoopster

Bottom row far left:

Olivia and Regan–

Windmill Farm

Matt and Coby-

Field Goal!

Official Calendar of Events

Click Here or on the calen-

dar below to see the most

current calendar of events.

Click Here to Like

Check out the fun on FB. See pictures of your teachers, friends,

sports events and much more!

S T U C K Y S T O R M W A T C H

P A G E 8

Photos from Disney Lion King, Jr. & Drama Class

From top, l. to R Cast takes the

stage for an ensemble song. Open-

ing number, "Circle of Life." Simba

(Amery Day) Rafiki (Trenyce No-

lan) and Nala (Aaliyah Henderson)

take places on Pride Rock. A back-

stage view of the finale. Tamara

Butler poses in costume as Scar.

Mufasa (Genevieve Howard) Rafiki

(Trenyce Nolan) and Sarabi

(Citiara Comfort-Johnson) cele-

brate the birth of Simba during

"Circle of Life"

8th Grade Drama students, Lindsay

Dewitt (left) and Marc Jamail &

Thomas Nguyen (left to right) per-

form the infamous radio play "War

of the Worlds." Students rehearsed

in class and then recorded their

performances using microphones

and school laptops.

P A G E 9

A One-stop Shop for Parents The Parent Toolkit is a

website and a mobile app

that puts grade level, con-

tent specific advice at your

fingertips.

Growth Charts for each

grade level provide support

for Academics (Math &

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velopment, and Social &

Emotional Development.

The Academic Growth

Charts include major topics

taught at that grade level

and examples of what that

looks like in the real world.

For example, in 6th Grade

math a topic taught is Solv-

ing Unit Rate & Rate Prob-

lems. The information pro-

vided includes the following

real world examples:

Unit pricing: An 8-

ounce can of beans

costs $1.36. What is

the unit price (dollars

per ounce)? Illustrate

or explain your reason-

ing. Conversions from

one unit to anoth-

er: A half-gallon of

milk costs $2.48. How

much does a cup of

milk cost? Illustrate or

explain your reasoning.

Studies show children

whose parents are involved

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developer’s hope is to pro-

vide parents with useful tips

and tools to support their

growing child at all ages.

The Parent Toolkit is a one

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oped with parents in mind.

The toolkit focuses on

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Parent Toolkit has worked

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sors, pediatricians, dieti-

cians, psychologists, and

parents, to make the re-

source as robust and useful

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We highly recommend this

site to you.

P A G E 1 0

S T U C K Y S T O R M W A T C H

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6