'Tis the Season!

As we begin this busy and often stressful holiday season, I want to let each of you know how very thankful I am to have the opportunity to work with your children! This year has brought some new challenges and I am extremely proud of the team work and positive attitudes that have been displayed by our teachers, students, parents and community. I am a true believer that we choose our attitude. One of my favorite Chinese Proverbs states: “To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind.”

How do you do that? Prayer works for me. I also believe in acknowledging and managing my stress. Many people see the holiday season as one of the most stressful periods of the year. Although, that is not my perception, I can certainly see how others could view it as such. Crowded shopping centers, parties, cold weather, shorter days…the list could go on!

In the words of our own, Kysha Garrett, “I’m about solutions!” I shop online and only party with people I like! I drink coffee or hot chocolate and have a true appreciation for a beautiful 5pm sunset. What about you?

During the holiday season, I hope that everyone has an opportunity to enjoy the company of close friends and family. As you are doing so, please remember those who are less fortunate and our men and women of the Armed Forces who are serving overseas. Happy Thanksgiving to each of you!

HAPPY VETERANS DAY!

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Happy Veterans Day. Thank you to all those who serve and who have fought and stood for the freedoms that we so often take for granted. Many blessings to all our veterans and their families! We honor you and salute you for your courage and for the selfless sacrifices you have made for the sake of "liberty and justice for all!"

1st Annual Rummage Sale

Donations are now being accepted for the Williams Middle School PTSA 1st Annual Rummage Sale. It will be held at the school on Saturday November 6th from 7am to 1pm. All proceeds will go to our PTSA so with every purchase, you are helping our kids and teachers! Please bring your donations to the school this week. Call our office for more details or to volunteer to work. We thank you for your continued support!

Congrats to our Athletes!!!

We won our Homecoming game!! Go Hawks! This was a great game and our team excelled by defeating Providence Middle School. Congratulations to our outstanding athletes and a big thanks to Coach Petty, Coach Friend, Coach Hampton and their staff members. As a new program, we have plenty to be proud of and certainly lots to be excited about for the future. Check the school website for the basketball schedule and be ready to support those teams as well. The season starts November 2nd!

Homecoming - Go Hawks!!

Please come out and support our athletes and coaches at our final football game on Tuesday October 26th at 4:30 (Milton Frank Stadium). The Williams Middle School Hawks will take on Providence Middle School in our game designated as our Homecoming. In conjunction with this, our Football Booster Club is sponsoring our Homecoming Dance right after school on Monday and we will have a Pep Rally on Tuesday. This has been such an exciting year! Let's end our football season on a high note. Come out and show the team how proud we are of them. Go Hawks!!!

Fall Break!

I hope and pray that everyone has a safe and happy Fall Break! It's difficult to conceive that the first quarter of the school year is nearly over, yet here we are! The grading period ends on October 15th, after we return from the break. Report cards go home on the 25th.

Enjoy the break but check in with this blog for updates and announcements!

Autumn Chase Fun Run

On Tuesday, September 28th all students are invited to participate in the Annual Autumn Chase Fun Run! Any child, preschool through eigth grade, may run and receive a T-shirt. The one-mile fun run course is located at the Jaycees Building on the north end of the runway of the Old Huntsville Airport. Participants should enter the area via Airport Road on South Memorial Parkway and exit using Johnson Road and Leeman Ferry Road. There is no registration fee! Middle school boys will run at 6:20pm and girls at 6:30pm. Each runner will receive a T-shirt! On Wednesday, the day following the Fun Run, students may wear their T-shirt to school (with proper uniform bottoms). Students will receive registration forms in their PE classes and the forms should be turned in at the race. Hope to see lots of runners on the 28th! Go Hawks!

Join PTSA!

Earlier this month, we had our PTSA Membership Drive Kickoff meeting! In addition to promoting PTSA membership, we also highlighted our student athletes and coaches. What an exciting time to be a Williams Middle School Hawk! Our first football team went on to win our first game against Davis Hills Middle School! Please be sure to support our student athletes and of course join PTSA. Membership is $6 per person and students are encouraged to join as well. Membership forms are available in our front office.

In other PTSA news, we will begin our fall fundraiser this week. Student and parents are asked to participate as we sell $10 discount cards that may be used at a variety of local restaurants and stores. The PTSA will receive 50% profit! Please look for more information this week. Our goal is to wrap up the fundraiser by Fall Break. Top sellers will be eligible for $200 cash and a variety of other prizes. We appreciate your support! Go Hawks!!

Hawk Time

I believe that learning should be fun and engaging! This is especially true for middle school kids. Last year, we decided that we wanted to find time in our daily schedule for an activity period that would not interfere with instructional time but would allow our students to participate in learning activities/clubs during the school day. Hence, the creation of Hawk Time!

Beginning at 7:55 each morning, all students have to the opportunity for enrichment. Hawk Time classes include Chess Club, Debate Team and Book Club to name a few. Mondays and Wednesdays are reserved for the Hawk Time activity. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we Drop Everything and Read (DEAR Time) and Fridays are reserved for character education.

We look forward to hearing feedback about Hawk Time! Our Hawk Time is intended to provide enrichment activities while also allowing our students and teachers to develop positive relationships. Just another way that we want to "Link Learning to Life!!"

New Team Members

We are off to wonderful start of the New School Year and I am pleased to introduce to you our new WMS Team Members! Dr. Hambrick is our assistant principal and he has enjoyed meeting and greeting many our students this week. Ms. Garrett is our new English teacher and yearbook advisor. She is already actively involved in our school and as a military wife she looks forward to working closely with our children who are military connected. Officer Lehman is our new School Resource Officer. He is a welcomed addition to the WMS team and his top priority is to ensure that our students are safe. Mr. Pierce is our new 8th grade science teacher. He has an interest in forensic science and will certainly do a great job of challenging our students. Ms. Robinson teaches 6th grade science and she too looks forward to working together with the 6th grade team to include Ms. Bock our new 6th grade reading teacher. Our 6th graders are in store for a year of exploring exciting new learning oportunities! Ms. Jerkins is our wonderful new 7th grade math teacher and Ms. Williams is our new choir director. Both are excited to work with the students of Williams Middle School. Finally, Ms. Anderson is an excellent addition to our special education department. She and her team of assistants round our listing of new team members.

We welcome all of our new families as well and look forward to making this school year a success for all. Life's good @ WMS! We're Linking Learning to Life! Go Hawks!!

Welcome Back to School!

Ready or not, the First Day of School is here!! I am so excited about the possibilities that the 2010-2011 school year holds. Last week, we had our Open House and I believe that it was a great start to the year. Thank you to all who attended and we certainly look forward to working with you in the future. On that note, I invite any parent who is interested in serving in our PTSA to please email me your area(s) of interest and I will pass it along to our PTSA officers.

At our Open House, several parents had questions about bus routes. We were able to get some route information. Bus stops are usually at the nearest corner and the bus numbers should be the same as last year. If you are new to us, please let our office know if there is a problem after the first school day.

Students, get plenty of rest and we will see you tomorrow!

Go Hawks!

Greetings! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer break. I certainly enjoyed mine! However, it is now time to prepare for a new year. Our summer office hours are 8:30 to 2:30 pm. We have our PTSA Open House scheduled for August 5th beginning at 5pm for New Student Orientation (in the Lecture Hall) and Open House at 5:30 in the gymnasium. You will have an opportunity to join PTSA and meet our teachers, staff and administrators. Also, as a special treat we will have a performance by our Williams Middle School Lady Hawks Cheerleaders!

As a reminder, all students must be in school uniforms beginning August 9th. Please check our school website for the complete listing of our School Uniform Policy. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your summer and Go Hawks!!

School-Wide Attention to Tolerance Kick-off

On Friday May 21st, we had our SWAT assembly to introduce this student-led program. It was a fabulous assembly that consisted of skits, a PowerPoint presentation on cyber-bullying and an awesome video titled "The Middle". A special thanks goes out to Mrs. Peterson and her 2nd period Keyboarding class for their work, research and dedication to making Williams Middle a safe, bully-freee and tolerant environment. This statement in the brochure sums it all up: "Our goal at Williams Middle School is to help kids get ready to live, learn, and work in a diverse world where everyone is treated with respect. We want to live in a world where our differences are appreciated and even celebrated."

I look forward to working with our SWAT Team and our Peer Mediators next year. Go Hawks!

First Annual Science Fair

This week Williams Middle School will have its First Annual Science Fair. Please come out and take a look at our students' excellent work! All classes and grade levels participated and I am excited about seeing their final products. Judging will take place on Thursday May 12th from 9am to 12noon. After that time the winning projects along with several honorable mentions will be on display in the library. What a wonderful way to wrap up our school year! Celebrating student successes and continuing to encourage excellence is what Williams Middle School is all about. Go Hawks!!

Teacher Appreciation Week

Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week. Let's show our teachers how much we value them by providing Duty Free Lunch on Thursday. Please call our office if you can help out. You may come from 11:45 to 12:30 or 12:30 to 1:15 or you are also welcomed to come for the entire period! We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you next Thursday. Our office number is 428-7330. Thank you!!

Administrative Professionals Day

Wednesday April 21, 2010 is designated as Administrative Professionals Day! Since 1952, the International Association of Administrative Professionals has honored office workers by sponsoring administrative professionals week. To date, it is one of the largest workplace observances other than employee birthdays and major holidays. On this special day, I want to recognize our fabulous office staff. Mrs. Cook, our clerical assistant, greets visitors with a smile and is always welcoming and helpful to our guests. Mr. Friend, our systems operator, takes the time to get to know our students and is dedicated to working closely with the teachers to ensure smooth daily operations. Mrs. Hampton, our secretary/bookkeeper is always proficient and professional and is extremely knowledgeable and innovative. Each of them makes coming to work a joy! So please join me in wishing them all a Happy Administrative Professionals Day!!

ACTE Technology Fair

Congratulations to our students who participated and placed in this year's ACTE Technology Fair! I am so proud of how well they represented Williams Middle School. Jennifer Jones and Stephanie Duncan received Honorable Mention for their Multimedia Group Project. Dustin Acreman and Franklin Ramirez also placed with Honorable Mention for their Web-Page Creation Group Project. Mae Aida and Adrian Hudson placed 2nd and 3rd place respectively in Individual Programming. John Butler and Jordan Kearns placed 1st in the Level 2 Programming Group Project. We swept the Level 3 Group Progamming division! Jonique Robinson and Katelyn Matthews placed 3rd, Adrian Hudson and Mae Aida placed 2nd and Jennifer Jones and Vivian Tran placed 1st! I am so proud of all our students and we are all very excited that the students who placed 1st and 2nd now qualify for the Regional Competition in Montgomery next month. Go Hawks!

Spring Updates

Spring has sprung! We are now in our last quarter of the 2009-2010 school year! During these final weeks there will be many awards programs and celebrations of student success. With that in mind, it is a great time to remind our students that while school is ALMOST over, it is currently still in session! We have begun to see more student dress code violations and also horse-playing. Please help us by reminding your students about proper school attire and respecting all school rules.

Recently, we sent home a School Uniform Questionnaire to the parents of current 6th and 7th grade students. Although we received less than 30% back, most responders (69%) answered favorably about uniforms at Williams Middle School. An updated School Uniform Policy will be sent home and posted online later this month and parents will have a final opportunity to receive vouchers to purchase uniforms.

We need parent volunteers for our next Duty Free Lunch for teachers. It is scheduled for Thursday, April 8th. You may come from 11:45 to 12:30 or from 12:30 to 1:15. Of course you may also stay the entire period if you wish! Please call the office at 428-7330 to volunteer and we thank you for your support!

Welcome Back!

Welcome Back! I hope everyone enjoyed their Spring Break and is coming back refreshed and recharged for our last quarter of the school year!

Beginning on Wednesday March 24th, all students will participate in our Spring Testing. This includes the Alabama Reading and Math Test and the SAT10. We know that our students are smart and more than capable so we ask that they get plenty of rest at night and eat a healthy breakfast each morning. Test scores are often used to determine class placements as well as future leadership opportunities and even more importantly, they will help prepare our students for college entrance exams.

On another note, we hope to see you all at our PTSA meeting this Thursday at 6pm in the middle school library. We will vote on officers for our 2010-2011 PTSA!

And finally before Spring Break, each student was given a Safe Schools Hotline card that includes a phone number and email address. This hotline is set up so that students or parents can anonymously report incidents that create safety concerns. Creating and maintaining a safe and orderly learning environment is our primary goal! The Safe Schools Hotline phone number is 428-7233 and the email is safe-schools@hsv.k12.al.us

See you all Thursday at 6 for our PTSA meeting!

Happy Spring Break!

I hope you all enjoy a wonderful and safe Spring Break! It's hard to believe that there is only one more quarter of school remaining. During our last quarter we will continue on with our winning Boys and Girls Track Season - Go Hawks!!! We will also have our spring testing and numerous award programs and celebrations. Don't miss out on the excitement! In the meantime, Happy Spring Break to all!!

Let's Thank our Teachers!

Beginning on Thursday March 11th and continuing on the 2nd Thursday of each month, the Parent Advisory Council will sponsor Duty-Free Lunch for our teachers. Additionally, I am working with our business partners to provide lunch for everyone on those days. Our teachers work hard and are dedicated to providing a quality education to all children! Show your appreciation by volunteering to monitor students in the cafeteria so that teachers may relax a bit and have a Duty-Free lunch period. Your presence is needed at the school and this is one way to get involved! Please call the office and let us know what time you are able to help (11:45 to 12:30 or 12:30 to 1:15). Thank you in advance for your support!! Our office number is 428-7330.

Morning Quiet Time

In an effort to provide options for our students as they arrive to school each morning, we will now offer Quiet Time in our Lecture Hall. Instead of going into the gym, students who are not eating breakfast may bring a book to read or material to study and take advantage of Quiet Time. We hope that this will encourage students to not only read more but also to better prepare for their academic day. A teacher will be available in the Lecture Hall and will serve as a monitor. We must emphasize that this is Quiet Time so disruptive students will not be allowed to remain. We hope that many of our students will take advantage of this special time and use it to ease into their day! Our wonderful new library is now open for student use, so please encourage your child to check out a book and join other readers for Morning Quiet Time.

Williams Middle School PTSA

I hope to see everyone on Thursday for our PTSA meeting! We will meet at 6:00 pm in the middle school library. The meeting will feature "Math Night" where our math teachers will share some of the engaging activities from their classes. They will also address math skills needed for various classes and answer any questions that you may have.

Additionally, we will be accepting nominations for our 2010-2011 PTSA officers. Please be present if you are interested in holding an office next year. Elections will take place in March. Hope to see you all on Thursday!

School Safety

Today I met with all students in grade-level assemblies to review our safety procedures and to address the issue of bullying. The students were quite receptive. I appreciate that several parents attended the meetings as well.

It is unfortuate that we have a number of students who engage in bullying and harassing behaviors. This was addressed during the assemblies. Our guidance counselor, Dr. Grimaud advised students of their options if when they feel uncomfortable with the way other students treated them. We encouraged students to treat others as they would like to be treated and to not take matters into their own hands.

Keeping our school safe requires all of us working together. Soon, students will begin working with teachers and myself in our School-Wide Attention to Tolerance program. Look for more information about this in the coming weeks and months. As always, please let me know if you have any concerns about safety or other issues.

Business and Community Partnerships

We are so pleased at the number of businesses and organizations that have chosen to support Williams Middle School in various capacities. I am particularly excited about the math tutors joining our team from Lockheed Martin. Their suppport will allow us to address student needs and work towards meeting our goals sited on our Continous Improvement Plan. We are also working with members of the U.S. Army Educational Outreach to form science clubs and ultimately teams to compete in the eCybermission program next year. These wonderful volunteers have also agreed to work with us in an effort to have our first Science Fair this Spring.

As we continue through this semester, please let me know if there are any programs that you would like to see in place for next school year. We are currently in the preliminary stages of planning and scheduling for next year and your ideas are welcome!

Blood and Marrow Drive

We need your support! On Wednesday 3 Feb, Williams Middle School is partnering with Leadership Huntsville/Madison County, Connect Class 10, HEALS, and Life South in hosting a blood and marrow drive. The event will take place from noon to 7pm in the Middle School gym. Students are learning about the local needs as it relates to blood and marrow donating. They are encouraging their parents and other adults to participate. This is such an exciting time in our community as we form partnerships and work to make a difference. Please join us!!

Help for Haiti

In light of the devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti, we would like to help. During this week, please send non-perishable food items to school to be collected in homeroom. Items may include cases of bottled water. All donations should be sent by Monday January 25th. We thank you in advance for your assistance in providing aide in the aftermath of this tragedy. We can make a difference!

The Global Achievement Gap

I invite all parents and friends to join our teachers as we study the book, The Global Achievement Gap, by Tony Wagner. Please purchase the book at a local bookstore or online and join us beginning Wednesday January 20th at 3:15. We want to explore ways to ensure that our students are prepared to be successful in high school, college and in the 21st century workforce. Come share with us! Call me or email me if you have any questions and I hope to see you next week. Please join us even if you have not yet purchased or read the book! We value your input and want to hear your thoughts!