Parents as Partners - December 7th @ 5:30 in the CMS Library

Dear Parents,

Chadron Middle School is planning a Parents as Partners meeting on December 7th at 5:30 PM in the CMS library.  CMS staff, public library staff, and UNL Extension have also been invited to attend. 

The intended outcomes of this meeting are:

1. Enhance parents' voices and engagement at CMS.

2. Develop strategies to: "witness the good" in our students, grow leadership opportunities for students and parents, enhance school/parent/community communication, identify barriers to better partnerships with school/parent/community and ideas to overcome them.

3. Develop a core parent advisory team to disaggregate data from the meeting and help plan next steps.

Agenda:

5:30 - Introduction

5:35 - Setting the Stage - confronting the past and moving forward

5:45 - World Cafe Discussion - What do we want our school/community culture to be?

6:35 - Debrief World Cafe Discussion

7:00 - Closure 

I'm looking forward to this meeting and I hope that you are able to attend.  

Best,

Nick Dressel

Chadron Middle School Principal

(308) 432-0708

nichlas.dressel@chadronschools.net

Caring for Sharing Food Drive

The Chadron Middle School Student Council kicked off the 2016 Caring for Sharing Food Drive on November 28th.  Students are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to school through December 13th.  All of the collected food items will be donated to the Shepard's Pantry at the Chadron Immanuel Lutheran Church.

2014 and 2015 Results

As in years past, the Caring for Sharing Food Drive is a grade level competition.  The grade that collects the most non-perishable food items will compete against the staff in the "Nothing But Net" games on December 21st, which is the last day of school for the semester.  This has been a really fun event that students and staff look forward to. Parents are welcomed to attend the games and we will also do end of the quarter student awards including Cardinal Effort and Perfect Attendance.

NPPD Makerspace Arrives at CMS

NPPD set up 11 Makerspace labs in the CMS library on 11/28.   Mrs. Waugh's 4th block, 8th grade class was the first to try out the labs and it looked like a lot of fun!  CMS will have the Makerspace labs available for student use until December 16th.  We invite parents to stop by and check it out.  I think that you will be amazed at the technology that students have the opportunity to work with.

Kelton, Vince, Wyatt and Tom working in the electronics lab

Vince and Nathan programming robots

Becca and Emily working on coding

Keagan and Dylan working on wiring a speaker

Zach getting some instruction on how to run the laser cutter

Cobie and Aidan working on the 3D printer

Mrs. Kaus Receives $500 Grant for CMS Library Makerspace

Mrs. Kaus wrote and received a $500 grant from the Western Library System.  The grant was written to create a Makerspace lab in the CMS Library.  The grant money will be added to the $1300 donation from the Chadron High School class of 1966 to purchase Makerspace furniture and supplies.

We are excited to move forward with the CMS Library Makerspace and we look forward to students enjoying the space and seeing them create and explore.

UNWNRD Poster Contest Winners

I shared an earlier post with the names of the students that won the Upper Niobrara White NRD Poster Contest.  Here are the pictures of the students with their award checks and awesome art work!

Aspen with her 2nd place poster

Riley and Jacee with their 1st place posters 

NPPD Makerspace

*Retrieved from CPS Website on 11/17/16

We are excited to welcome the NPPD Makerspace to Chadron.  The Makerspace is set to arrive on November 28, 2016 and we will have it for a few weeks.

There are 11 different stations for students to explore the world of "making" as well as a bunch of resources available to help them get started and give them ideas of what can be built with the equipment "on-hand" and then create their own material.  There are a few stations that we don't have great descriptions for at the moment, but as the stations are set up we will have videos of each station as well as some projects and samples that will be linked at the left.

Each station has also has several project numbers that are part of the station and students can search on NPPD Pathways for that project and a guide will help them get started.

Click here to visit the NPPD Makerspace blog for more details including videos of the stations.

Mrs. Smith's 8th Grade Cardinal Block Mannequin Challenge

As a reward for their hard work, Mrs. Smith's 8th grade Cardinal Block did the Mannequin Challenge.  They did a really good job!

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner!

Jacki Dailey, from Keep Chadron Beautiful, announced that Chadron Middle School has won the 2016 Recycle Bowl by collecting 2542.6 lbs. of recyclable items!  The middle school edged out the Chadron Primary School by just 30 lbs.  It is amazing to think that between the two school over 2.5 tons of what would have been landfill trash, was recycled!

Thank you to all of the students, families and community members who supported the 2016 Recycle Bowl at all of the schools.

Quinton Aaron Brings Anti-Bullying Message to Chadron Public Schools

Quinton Aaron, the star of the hit movie The Blind Side, spoke to Chadron Public School students on November 14th, 2016.  Quinton is the head of the Quinton Aaron Foundation which allows him to bring his anti-bullying message to students across the country.

Quinton talked to students in grades 3-8 during the morning program and high school students during the afternoon assembly.  During the program, Quinton weaved his personal story of bulling into a larger message whereby he challenged students to "be nice to each other" and to never give the bully their power.  He encouraged students to talk to an adult to if they are being bullied.

At the end of the assembly, Quinton took time to take pictures with all of the students.  Many of the students gave him high fives, fist bumps and hugs.  We even had a few dabs.  Many students sold $10 tickets to win the opportunity to have dinner with Quinton and his staff.  The dinner will
take place on November 18th and a member of the foundation will contact the winner.

Quinton Aaron will wrap up his visit to Chadron with a presentation at Chadron State College on 11/14/16 at 7 PM in the Chicoine Center.

Veteran's Day Celebration

CMS 8th graders with Lt. Reicks

Chadron Middle School celebrated Veteran's Day with the community on Friday, November 11th during our annual Veteran's Day Program.  The program was planned and MC'ed by 8th graders in Mrs. Traphagan's 8th grade Social Studies class.  The keynote speaker was Lt. Nathan Reicks who spoke to students about his experiences in Iraq and the why it is important that we continue to honor our veterans.

Thank you to Mrs. Traphagan and all of the 8th graders who made the program possible.

Chadron HS Cedar Street Singers

Allie at the Mic.

Students and community gather at the end of the program

for a firing tribute and Taps.

7th and 8th Grade Students Hear Powerful Anti-Bullying and Online Safety Message

On November 9th, Trooper Chuck Elly (retired) spoke to Chadron Middle School 7th and 8th grade students about sexting, online predators, bullying and cyberbullying.  He spoke candidly about the dangerous realities and consequences of these topics while driving home a positive, anti-bullying message.  Chadron Middle School thanks Mr. Elly for coming to Chadron and talking to our students about these issues.  We encourage parents to talk to their children about what they learned during the presentation and to keep a close eye on their children's online activity. 

This was Mr. Elly's second visit to Chadron Middle School.  He was here during the 2013-14
school year and shared a similar presentation with that group of 7th and 8th grade students.  

Thank You, NRD

A big thank you to the Upper Niobrara White NRD for the 40 water bottles! They will be given out to students as a part of our Cardinal Pride rewards system.

Information Regarding Upcoming Assemblies

November 7th, 2016

Dear Parents,

I wanted to inform you about a few assemblies that are coming up during the week of November 7th and November 14th.  In an effort to protect instructional time, we typically don’t have many assemblies during the school year, however we had the opportunity to bring a couple of outstanding presenters into the school this month and I felt it was a good opportunity for our students.

On Wednesday, November 9th, our 7th and 8th grade students will attend a presentation from Trooper Chuck Elly (retired).  Trooper Elly presented to our 7th and 8th grade students two years ago on cyberbullying, sexting and online predators.  He did an amazing job then and will present on the same topics this year.  The presentation will be at 10 AM in the CHS auditorium.

Also, Chadron Middle School will host our annual Veteran’s Day assembly on Friday, November 11th.  The program will begin at 10 AM in the CHS auditorium and it is open to the public.  As in years past, 8th grade students from Mrs. Traphagan’s social studies class will MC the hour-long assembly.  

Last, Quinton Aaron, who played “Big Mike” in the movie The Blind Side, will be here on Monday, November 14th to talk to our students about bullying.  The 3rd-8th grade presentation will begin at 10 AM in the CHS auditorium.  There is no direct cost to the school, however they ask that students try to sell one $10 ticket to help cover travel costs and to support the foundation.  Tickets will be entered into a drawing and the winner will win a dinner with Quinton Aaron on Friday, November 18th.  Students should bring the money and the ticket stub to the office by Thursday, November 10th.  Tickets were sent home with students today (November 7th).

We are excited to provide our students with these opportunities and we encourage parents to talk to their students about what they learned during the assemblies.  If you have any questions about any of the upcoming events, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Nick Dressel

Chadron Middle School Principal

nichlas.dressel@chadronschools.net

(308) 432-0708

Change to CMS Wrestling Schedule (November 5th Meet)

Chadron Middle School wrestlers will not go to the meet in Valentine on November 5th.  Instead, they will attend the meet in Scottsbluff on November 5th.  The change in schedule is due to Valentine's State Football Playoff game.