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| Walden Middle School Newsletter
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CALENDAR
M12/14 - 7/8 Language Arts mid-year exams
- last day to donate items for Wayside Christian Mission T12/15 -
W12/16 - Band Rehearsals
Grade 7- 3:30-4:25
Grade 5- 4:30-5:15
Grade 6- 5:20-6:15
- 7/8 Math mid-year exams
T12/17 - College Panel for grades 7-8 @ 9 AM
- Field Trip to Ten Pin, with lunch first at Golden Corral
- Band Concert @ 6:30 PM
- 8th grade Social Studies assignment due.
F12/18 - Extended day closes @ 3:00 PM
12/19/09 - 1/3/2010
Winter Break
M1/4 - No School/Teacher work day
T1/5 - Classes resume
W1/6 -
T1/7 - Middle School National Geographic Geography Bee, 9 AM in TAH
F1/8 -
S1/9 - Scholarship Testing for incoming 5th, 6th, & 9th graders
M1/11 -
T1/12 -
W1/13 -
T1/14 - Chess Club, 3-4 PM
F1/15 - Jr. Beta Club meeting during lunch
- LISC dance @ Collegiate, 7-10 PM (more information below).
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Congratulations to our classroom geography bee winners:
5th grade - Shannon Archibald & Erik Sorensson and alternate Isabelle Geller
6th grade - Alec Diaz & Henry Mankowski and alternates Sydney Brenzel & Emma Rosenberg
7th grade - Brian Brennan & Will Mandrola and alternate Evan Randall
8th grade - Eric Elder & Julia Mellen and alternate Priya Nair These students will compete in the National Geographic Middle School Geography Bee on Thursday, January 7, @ 9 AM in TAH.
Jr. KYA - Thirteen Walden middle school students last week participated in the country's largest Youth in Government program by attending the Central Jr. Kentucky Youth Assembly (KYA) conference. With 900 peers, the students spent Sunday through Tuesday presenting and debating legislation they had written. Bills were ranked and voted upon based on five criteria: debatability, creativity, feasibility, importance to Kentucky, and the bill authors' presentation and preparation. Over 130 student-written bills were presented in multiple committees over the two days. The bill written by our premiere (sixth grade) delegates passed committee, which only happened for approximately 15% of presented bills. Eric Elder, an 8th grade member of our delegation, received an Outstanding Speaker award, granted to 2-3% of participants for exceptional participation in all aspects of the conference.
Please join Mrs. Farmer in congratulating all of this year's participants! Stop by the middle school hallway after Monday this week to see the education boards prepared by our bill authors on their legislation.
Legislative Bill Authors:
Eric Elder, Alex Geller, Mary King, & Jai Nigam
Alternate Legislative Bill Authors:
Olivia Beres & Sarah Holloway
Legislative Delegates:
Michelle Brudner, Kathryn Curtis, Nakita Dittmeier & Priya Nair
Premiere Authors:
Rosemary DeMarco, Alexis Kinslow & Rachel Wise 
Spot light on
Mrs. Epstein (below) | |
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Cross Country Accolades
- 8th grader Mary King was named to the All-Area 3 Class A High School Team. (Area 3 consists of Jefferson County and parts of Bullitt County.) This team was limited to the top ten runners in the area.
- 8th grader Jacob Wunsch was named to the 2009 All-Jefferson County Middle School Cross Country Team. This team is picked by the coaches and
consists of the best eight runners in Jefferson County.
- 8th graders Conor O'Daniel, Lily Carothers, Mary, and Jacob all qualified to compete in the KHSAA championships.
- Jacob and 7th grader CJ Burton both had a fine showing in last week's AAU National Championships in Orlando.
Attention Extended Day Parents: Extended Day will close at 3:00 on Friday, December 18, 2009. Please make a note of this and plan accordingly to pick up your child/children from extended day by 3:00.
Field Trip: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Students will be going to Golden Corral for lunch and then on to Ten Pin Bowling Alley. We will leave Walden School at 11:00 a.m. and will arrive back on campus about 2:30. The students will need to bring $6 for lunch, (bowling and shoe rental at Ten Pin is covered by Walden). Students go bowling in December to finish up their bowling unit in P.E. classes. Permission slips were emailed home. If you haven't already done so, please return the signed permission slip along with payment of $6 (cash or check) to Ms. Fry. Checks can be made payable to Walden School.
Spotlight on Debbie Epstein
This is Debbie Epstein's third year at Walden teaching 7th and 8th grade Science. Mrs. Epstein earned her BS in Education from Union University (Jackson, TN), and taught elementary school in Mississippi (1975-79), and middle school science and social studies in Ohio (1979-84), before moving to Louisville. Mrs. Epstein focused on raising her family in Louisville, working part-time as a substitute teacher for JCPS and Walden for ten years, before joining our faculty full time.
Teaching is part of the Epstein family tradition; both of Mrs. Epstein's parents were educators, as well as her daughter Jessica, who teaches 3rd grade in our Lower School. Mrs. Epstein's mother was a teacher and her father was a principal; the importance of a strong education was stressed at home.
One of Mrs. Epstein's favorite quotes is from Confucius: "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." This philosophy is evident in Mrs. Epstein's classroom - students are encouraged to revise and resubmit lab-activity analyses, in order to build on their comprehension and knowledge and improve their assessment results to strive towards excellence.
Last summer, Mrs. Epstein spent several days in Colorado for enrichment training for our Walden science program, SEPUP (Science Education for Public Understanding Program). SEPUP is an innovative, hands-on, inquiry-based curriculum. The chance to attend these sessions allowed Mrs. Epstein "to bring home techniques and strategies that continue to assist students' understanding and experience of what science is all about."
Chaperones needed for LISC dance on Friday, January 15, from 7-10 PM. Students must follow the Walden dress code (see handbook page 46). Any student not picked up promptly at 10:00 PM will not be permitted to attend the next LISC dance. Admission is $5. If you are able to chaperone, please contact Mrs. Elder: melder@walden-school.org.
Edline is an on-line program which permits parents to view their student's grades (with itemized assignment lists), which are regularly posted by their subject-area teachers. In order to access your child's grades, you need to register. Information is sent home each fall to new middle school parents. Parents only need to register once (for 4 years of MS). Parents who have formerly registered for an Edline account should use their original user name and password. If you have misplaced that information and/or need assistance setting up your account, please email Mr. Raymond at: craymond@walden-school.org.
Please note that teachers regularly send email grades, personal memos, and missing assignment lists to parents via Edline and assume that parents have accounts. Please let your child's teachers know to communicate via mail if Edline is not an option for you.
Walden School's International Theme - Check out Mr. Kimbrough's weekly Geoquiz question. Mr. Kimbrough is one of our high school social studies teachers, and at each Monday morning assembly this year, he will present a geography question, which students can research and email their answer by 1:00 PM on Friday. All students who answer correctly will be eligible to have their name placed in a random drawing to receive a special t-shirt commemorating this year's international theme. Here's the link to check out this week's question:
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