Student Leadership and Service In Action!

CMS 6th grade student, Brooklyn Stack, thought the area around Chadron Middle School looked alittle trashy and decided to do something about it. So, she called on ten of her 5th and 6th grade friends to help clean it up on Wednesday, October 26th. After school, the students, Brooklyn's mother Jill, and Lorna Eliason spent 1hour 45 minutes picking up trash around the middle school and track. They also swept both front steps and sidewalk in front of CMS to create a better curb appeal.

Thank you for your leadership Brooklyn and for showing pride in our middle school. Also, thank you to Aubree Noble, Moriah Hastings, Alpine Hickstein, JashwaAlan Cummings, Cody Madsen, Jensen Lambert, Jake Lemmon, Cassie Boggs, Pamela Fisher, and Lance Cattin for taking pride in your school and volunteering your time to make your school a better place. Thank you to Keep Chadron Beautiful for providing supplies and equipment for the litter pick up.

1st Qtr. No Offense Pizza Party

1st Qtr. No Offense Pizza Party, a set on Flickr.

Chadron Middle School students that did not receive any offenses during the first quarter were treated to a pizza party last week during lunch as a thank you for their excellent behavior! There were 143 students that did not receive any offenses including 1st period and lunch period tardies!

Noon Dismissal on November 2nd, 2011

Dear Parents/Guardians:

On Wednesday, November 2^nd, 2011 we will dismiss school at 12:00pm due to the home high school football playoff game against Norfolk Catholic.  The game will begin at 1:30pm.  Chadron Middle School students will attend all of their classes on that day, but classes will be 24-minutes long instead of the usual 46-minutes.  Students will only have 24-minutes for lunch on that day, so if your student usually goes home for lunch, you may want to consider having your student eat at school because there may not be enough time for your student to walk home, eat, and be back in time for their next class.

Below is the class schedule for November 2^nd.  We will still run a 1:30 dismissal on Friday, November 4^th. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Nick Dressel

Chadron Middle School, Principal

(308) 430-2809

nichas.dressel@chadronschools.net

mr.dressel.blogspot.com

On Twitter @NickDressel

November 2^nd Schedule

24 Minute Class periods

Period 1 - 8:00 – 8:24

Period 2 - 8:27 – 8:51

Period 3 - 8:54 – 9:18

Period 4 - 9:21 – 9:45

Period  7 -9:48 – 10:12

Period 8 - 10:15 – 10:39

Period 5 - 10:42 – 11:06 - 7th/8th Lunch

Period 6 - 11:09 – 11:33 - 5th/6th Lunch

Period 9 - 11:36 – 12:00

Changes and Additions to Upcoming Events

There are a couple of changes and additions to the events schedule that was posted a couple of weeks ago:

Changes in Wrestling Schedule

• November 3rd @ Gordon Rushville - New Start Time is at 1:00
• November 15th @ Crawford has been cancelled 

 Additions to Events/Activities

• November 1st - 7th grade sciences classes will take a field trip to the waste water treatment facility during their respective class periods.
• November 1st - 6th-12th grade choir concert at 7pm in the HS Auditorium

CMS Upcoming Events/Activities

Up Coming Events/Activities:

October 14^th – End of 1^st Quarter

October 14^th – End of 1^st Quarter Awards Assembly 1:15 in MS Gym

October 14^th – 1:30 Dismissal

October 24^th and 25^th – 1:30 Dismissal for Primary and Intermediate School Students Only

October 28^th – NO SCHOOL

November 4^th – 1:30 Dismissal

November 11^th – Veteran’s Day Program 10:15 HS Auditorium

November 18^th – 1:30 Dismissal

November 23^rd – November 25^th – Thanksgiving Break

Athletics (Bus departure times will be posted on my blog page when they become available):

October 15^th – 7^th grade FB v. Gordon Rushville 9am

October 15^th – 8^th grade FB v. Gordon Rushville 10:30am

October 17^th – Wrestling interest meeting at 3:30pm in MS Gym

October 25^th – Girls’ Basketball interest meeting after school in MS Gym

November 3^rd – Wrestling @ Gordon Invite 3:00pm - Bus leaves at 11:45pm

November 10^th – 7^th grade Girls’ BB @ Alliance 4:00pm - Bus leaves at 2:15pm

November 10^th – 8^th grade Girls’ BB v. Alliance 4:00pm

November 5^th – Wrestling @ Scottsbluff 10:00am - Bus leaves at 6:30am

November 12^th – Wrestling Chadron MS Tournament 9:00am

November 15^th – Wrestling @ Crawford Triangular 5:30pm - Bus leaves at 4:30pm

November 17^th – 7^th grade Girls’ BB @ Scottsbluff 4:00pm - Bus leaves at 1:15pm

November 17^th – 8^th grade Girls’ BB v. Scottsbluff 4:00pm

November 19^th – Wrestling @ Alliance Invite 8:00am - Bus leaves at 6:30am
November 19th - 7th and 8th grade Girls' BB @ Valentine 11:00am- Bus leaves at 6:30am

November 21^st – 7^th grade Girls’ BB @ Gordon-Rushville 4:30pm - Bus leave at 3pm

November 21^st – 8^th grade Girls’ BB v. Gordon-Rushville 4:30pm

November 21^st – Wrestling @ Bridgeport Invite 12:00pm - Bus leaves at 9:45am

November 29^th – 7^th grade Girls’ BB v. Hot Springs 4:30pm

November 29^th – 8^th grade Girls’ BB v. Hot Springs 6:00pm

October Good News From School

Good News From CMS

Dear Parents/Guardians:

The end of the 1^st quarter is on October 14^th – I can’t believe how fast the time has passed!  We will have our end of the quarter awards assembly at 1:15 on Friday, October 14^th in the CMS gym.  Some of the awards that students will receive include:

• The Cardinal Effort Award, which is given to two students in each grade that have really put forth their best effort in their classes over the course of the quarter.  This award is special because the students’ teachers select the award winners.
• Perfect Attendance Awards, which are given to students that have not been tardy to class or missed a single day of school over the course of the quarter.
• The Cardinal Citizenship Award, which is given to students that did not receive a single offense over the course of the entire quarter.  This award includes a special lunch with principal!

Last week, students that did not receive Friday School for missing assignments during the month of September were awarded a “No Homework” ticket.  This ticket can be used in any class to “skip” one homework assignment.  The only catch is that the ticket must be used by the end of October and it cannot be used on major assignments or projects.

Service learning is alive and well at CMS!  Students in the CMS After-School Program took part in campus beautification projects that included painting outdoor trash barrels and oiling and priming the CMS Cardinal on the corner of 6^th and Ann Street before Ms. Mohr painted it.  Thank you the CMS After-School staff, all of the students that participated and to Ms. Mohr and Susan Hucke from Keep Chadron Beautiful for their contributions to these projects!  You can see the article and pictures on the school’s website (www.chadronschools.net) or at my Blog page (http://mrdressel.blogspot.com )

Congratulations to all of our student athletes on a great fall sports season!  I am very proud of the way that our student athletes represented our school and community.  Also, thank you to all of the parents for the outstanding support that you gave your student athletes and our fall athletic programs!

On November 11^th, at 10:15am, Mrs. Kaus’ 4^th period 8^th grade Social Studies class will host the 3^rd annual Veteran’s Day program at the HS Auditorium.  The program will include music, guest speakers, and ceremony designed to honor our Nation’s veterans.  The entire community is invited to attend the program and we hope to see you there.

 

As always, thank you for supporting your student and the programs at CMS.

Sincerely,

Nick Dressel

Chadron Middle School, Principal

432-0708

nichlas.dressel@chadronschools.net

On Twitter @NickDressel

http://mrdressel.blogspot.com

Think Different

Last week Steve Jobs passed away after a long battle with cancer.  Soon after his passing hit the media, social media sites were flooded with comments from people who wished to express their gratitude for the many innovative ideas that he, and the company that he co-founded, had over the last thirty years.

This YouTube clip is a slightly altered version of Apple's Think Different ad that premiered in 1997.  As I watched this clip, I could not help but think of how relevant its message is today given the turbulent, yet exciting times in which we live.

I truly believe that it is through education that we can live this message!  But we have to be willing to embrace technology, embrace change, and take risks.  Malcolm Forbes said, "Failure is success if we learn from it" and I believe that we can't allow the fear of failure to prevent us from trying new things.  So I challenge all teachers and students to be BOLD, take RISKS, and CHANGE the world to make it a better place.

CMS After-School Program Takes Part in Service Learning

Service-Learning is a method of teaching and learning that enriches an individuals life by engaging in meaningful hands on service to others or the community.

Students paint trashcans during the CMS After-School Program

CMS students and after-school staff painted outdoor trash barrels Cardinal red and black for Chadron Public Schools. Several students and staff oiled and primed the CMS Cardinal on 6th and Ann Street in preparation for painting by retired high school art teacher, Jeanine Mohr. The students and staff enjoyed the hands on experience to enhance their school appearance. Thank you to Susan Hucke, Keep Chadron Beautiful, the Chadron Public Schools maintenance team, and Jeanine Mohr for their assistance in completing the two projects.

What are MAPS Tests & Why Do Students Take Them?

Today, students all over the state of Nebraska will begin taking the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests.  These tests are written to the Nebraska standards and measure competency on the standards in Reading, Language Arts, Math, and Science.  Students at Chadron Middle School will be taking these tests on different days for the better part of the month of October, and the results of these tests will provide us with baseline data that will help us identify areas of deficiency in each of the testing strands.

An entire month of testing can become tiresome for students and teachers.  However, the data that we collect this fall really does help us identify areas that we need to focus on to ensure that our students are strong in all of the standards strands.  We also share the data with the students so that they know their areas of strength and the areas where they need to improve.  Having this knowledge helps students become more self-aware and with this knowledge we help students set personal growth goals for the spring tests that they will take in March.

So, as we move through the month of October and you have conversations with your students about school, please talk to them about testing.  Make sure that they are getting enough rest at night, that they are eating breakfast in the morning, and encourage them to do their best on all of the tests.  It is important to remind them that everyone has areas of strength and areas where we need to improve and that these tests are not the end-all be-all of their academic career.  It is one test that is give on one day and if they don't perform as well as they would have liked, encourage them to study hard and to give their best effort again in March.

As always, I sincerely thank you for the many ways that you support your student(s) and the school.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thank you,

Nick Dressel
Chadron Middle School, Principal