The Panther Post Webber Middle School Newsletter February 2018 Principal Bryan Davis 488-7801 Address 4201 Seneca Street Fort Collins CO 80526 Phone 970-488-7800 Fax 970-488-7811 Upcoming Dates Feb. 2 Feb. 5 & 6 Spirit Day Color War 6-White, 7- Red, 8- Black 7th grade Solo & Ensemble Festival (during classes at Webber) Feb. 8 Parent Teacher Conference 3:30-6:00 Teens and Tech presentation by FC Police Dept. 6:15 (media center) Feb. 15 Talent Show Dress Rehearsal 6:00 p.m. Feb. 16 Talent Show during Period 5 Feb. 19 NO SCHOOL President s Day Feb. 23 Webber Night Out 5:30-7:30 Feb. 27 Intermediate Groups Concert Attendance Line 970-490-3089 Mar. 1 Advanced Groups Concert Advertising in this newsletter does not imply endorsement by Poudre School District.
PAGE 2 Principal s Pen Happy New Year, We have had a great start to the second semester. The second semester will be very busy. It is a time of year that we have one foot in this year and one foot in next year. Here are a few highlights from the first two weeks of the 2nd semester: Webber GT student attended a conference at CSU on Friday, January 12. Girls Basketball start their season on January 25 Wrestling starts the season on Friday, January 26 Webber had an all-school assembly. John Register, para-olympian, spoke to our students about overcoming fear and resilience. Science Bowl had a competition on Saturday, January 20 at Webber. Webber s Geography Bee Winner was Andrew Young Webber s Spelling Bee winner was The Webber Open House for incoming 6th graders was held on Tuesday, January 16. The gym was packed with excited incoming 6th graders and parents. On Thursday, February 8 Webber will be hosting the 2nd-semester Parent-Teacher Conferences from 3:30 to 6:00 PM. This event is a great time to check in on the progress of your child and plan for the remainder of the year. Please know that the parking lot will be full. The set up for the event is the same as the 1st semester conferences. Teachers will be in both gyms and the lunchroom. Each conference is intended to be a quick check in with the teacher. We encourage the conferences to last no more than five minutes. If you need more time to discuss your child s progress or needs you can set up a separate meeting with the teacher. After parent-teacher conferences, Webber will be hosting a parent class, Tech with Teens. Fort Collins Police Officer, Keith Maynard, will be at Webber to talk with parents about how to ensure their child is making safe decisions when using social media, texting, and any other online access. I encourage parents to attend so that we can support kids as they try to navigate the ever-changing world of technology. Registration for the 2018-2019 school year is coming up. The counselors will be speaking to current 6th and 7thgrade students on February 7th about registration for the 2018-2019 school year at a grade level assembly. The registration sheets will be coming home that day. Please make sure and review the sheets carefully with your child. The selection sheets should be returned to the Language Arts teachers on February 14. The sheets need to be signed by the student and a guardian. 8th-grade students have begun their transition to High School. Rocky Mountian held their transition night on Tuesday, January 10. If you missed this night, please remember the high school transition guide for all high schools in Poudre School district is available in the Webber front office. If you have any questions about transitions to high school, you can contact the Webber counseling department or the counseling department for the high school your child will attend. Finally, please do not forget that the second semester is the time we are completing state testing. Webber will be completing the CMAS testing for Language Arts, Math, and Science on April 11, 12 and 18. I will be providing more information regarding the testing schedule as we get closer to the date. Sincerely, Bryan Davis
PAGE 3 Spelling Bee Webber MS hosted a Spelling Bee on Friday, 1/12. Sixteen students participated in hopes of up showing off their spelling skills. While each speller was undoubtedly intelligent and talented, Ananya Mahapatra, a seventh grader, came out on top and is Webber's Spelling Bee champion! Ananya will go on to compete at the district level- GOOD LUCK ANANYA! Counseling Corner Registration for the 2018-2019 school year: Can you believe it s already time to choose classes for next school year? Current 6th and 7th graders will receive registration information on February Wednesday 5th. Registration course selection sheets will go home with the student for families to review, make selections, and get signatures. All students will receive a course selection sheet that includes all the choices for next school year and requires a parent signature. These forms need to be returned to your English teacher by Wednesday February 14th. Counselors will visit classes again the week of February 20th to help students enter their course requests online through Student Vue. 8th graders will visit Rocky Mountain High School on Thursday, February 15th for their high school transition day. They will receive all registration materials and information at that time. Rocky/High School counselors (mostly Rocky, unless we have students attending some of the other HS.) counselors will come to Webber February 26th to collect registration forms and meet individually with each 8th grader to help them enroll for 9th grade classes. If your student plans to attend a different high school in PSD, he/ she is welcome to attend that school s transition day, but you must provide transportation. Counselors from all PSD high schools will be present on Feb. 27th to collect registration forms. Feel free to contact your student s counselor if you have questions about the process.
PAGE 4 Geography Bee Our annual Geography Bee was held Tuesday, January 16, 2018. After a hard-fought battle, our Geography Bee 3rd place contestant is Leo Johnson, 2nd place contestant is Sophia Suda. Please congratulate our Geography Bee champion Andrew Young! Thanks to all contestants and staff. Panther of the Quarter Congratulations to the Panthers of the Quarter: The following students were selected by their teachers for demonstrating the 6 P s of Webber. 6th-Gretta Tucker 7th- Chihiro Ishii 8th Spencer Henry
PAGE 5 Music Department Congratulations to the Webber 8th Grade Symphonic Band, Concert and Symphony Orchestra, and Velocity for an outstanding job being terrific stewards of Webber on the Elementary Schools Tour, January 16. These students not only demonstrated terrific musical skill, but were great leaders and role models for the students at Johnson, Beattie, McGraw, and Lopez. Afterwards, more than two dozen students returned to school that same evening to help with the Open House in their music classrooms!
PAGE 6 Defy Expectations We had a fantastic day at the January 12th GT conference "Defy Expectations." Our Webber students demonstrated excellent, respectful behavior and were engaged and courteous. The speakers represented a variety of topics from careers in engineering, to learning about city government, to artificial intelligence, to mindfulness, to the lessons we can learn from music education. Truly something for everyone! We were especially proud of our six eighth graders who auditioned and were chosen as emcees for the event; they were incredibly professional and articulate! Advertising in this newsletter does not imply endorsement by Poudre School District.
PAGE 7 Science Olympiad The Webber Science Olympiad team is preparing for their first competition of the year. The kids are building, testing, conducting experiments, and laughing- a lot! Wish us luck as we take on Northern Colorado schools at Regionals in February. Math Two things from the math department. All math teachers at Webber are working hard to ensure that all students in grade level math are taking common chapter tests. We collaborate at grade level to ensure that we all use the same tests. For example, a 6th grade student in Mr. Morris s class will take the same exam as a student in Mr. Gills s 6th grade math class. That said, there are classes like geometry which may look a bit different. Second, I would like to remind parents that there are great resources out there to help students on a daily basis. One of my favorite resources is Khan Academy. In addition, there are numerous phone apps with are extremely useful, such as my math teacher. Most good phone apps are free, so check them out, search for free math apps and read the descriptions to see which app may be worth trying out.
PAGE 8 Rotary Teacher of the Month January is the Month that Webber gets to select a teacher of the Month. Congratulations to Geoff Schroeder who received this honor. Outdoor Living Students make igloo survival shelter in Mr. Bono s outdoor living class.
PAGE 9 Gifted and Talented Chasing Coral Service Learning Fundraiser The 2018 Webber service learning trip to Belize is launching in June with 40 excited travelers who will participate in several service learning projects and cultural immersion experiences. To help raise money for trip costs, travelers are hosting a special screening of the acclaimed documentary Chasing Coral. Join us on Wednesday, February 21 at 6 pm at Webber to witness a tale of beauty, hope and adventure that the New York Times calls an emotional race against time. This event is open to ALL Webber students and families and is a unique educational opportunity. Concessions will be sold in addition to the movie screening. Suggested donation of $5/pp or $10/family. Winter Activity Flier Packet available now! Looking for something to do this winter? The Poudre School District Winter Activity Flier Packet offers a listing of fun activities and classes for kids of all ages. Access the Winter Activity Flier Packet here The latest packet includes fliers from local businesses and organizations including: Local government and non-profits Dance and culture clubs Sports Tutoring, academic support and much more! Find more information about fliers and advertising in PSD here.
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