PTSA Newsletter 2008­09 Volume 9, April 2009 President’s Letter I hope everyone has had a much needed spring break! Hard to believe that the school year is approaching an end already. Kathy Moffett I was so glad to see so many in the school community turn out for our second annual International Night. Thanks to the efforts of Eva Winer and her capable volunteer army of parents, students and staff volunteers, we had an amazing night of entertain­
ment, fabulous foods from around the world and the opportunity to explore dif­
ferent cultures. We are so fortunate to have such a di­
verse community in our own backyard. I am so impressed by the enthusiasm that went into this event. Thank you all for a wonderful evening. (Photos on page 6) As the school year draws closer to the summer, there are two more annual events that are on the horizon. The an­
nual Scholastic Book Fair will be held the week of May 11 and the eighth grade promotion celebration will be held June 5. Don't forget to mark your calendars! The Tilden student drama club will be presenting the spring musical "Cats" on Friday, May 29, and Saturday, May 30. . (Continued on page 2) Principal’s Message I hope you and your family had a chance to enjoy your­
selves over the break and acquire some well­deserved rest and rejuvenation. We are pleased that your chil­
dren have completed the Jennifer Baker Maryland State Assessments (MSAs). We anticipate a strong showing in stu­
dent performance this year on the MSA according to one of our data analysis tools, Performance Matters, and last year’s excellent results. I will let every­
one know Tilden’s outcome as soon as I hear the news. Individual student scores will be sent home when we receive them in the summer. Attendance was very good for the tests and I truly appreciate your support. As fourth quarter commences, we look forward to a strong finish for the year with many fun and exciting events to help everyone bring the year to a close. Our eighth grade students will be partici­
pating in our annual Career Day on April 17. Thank you to all of the presenters (Continued on page 3) ________________________________ April PTSA Meeting
Tuesday, April 14, 7 p.m. Tilden Media Center ``The Challenges of Adolescence’’ PTSA Officers President Kathy Moffett 301­929­8828 Mark your calendars! Spring is here and [email protected] Vice President Susan Verner 301­984­5942 [email protected] Vice President Melissa Keller 301­881­2837 [email protected] Treasurer Suzanne Fanaroff 301­231­5949
[email protected]
Secretary Kelly Ann Dorfman 301­717­4160
[email protected] MCCPTA Ted Feifer 301­468­5680 Delegate/Special Needs Liaison [email protected] MCCPTA Cate Hammaker 301­770­3048 Delegate [email protected] ____________________________________________ Newsletter Editors: Cynthia Suen, Jonathan D. Salant [email protected], [email protected] President’s Column (Continued) Mr. Shaw and the drama club students have been working tirelessly so please come out and show your support that weekend. For our PTSA meeting this month, guest speaker Molly Jackman from P.E.P. is returning for Part Two of our lively discussion on tweens. The meet­
ing will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, in the Media Center. The topic is, ``The Challenges of Adoles­
cence.’’ The program description: Adolescence begins with puberty and ends when the tasks of adolescence are completed. Explore each task in detail: independ­
ence and autonomy, the development of abstract thinking, and identity forma­
tion–social and spiritual. — Kathy Moffett, PTSA President 2 Physical Education Dept. News the annual Mile of Champions is around the corner. On May 22, we will be show­
casing our fastest, fittest students in an all­
school assembly. If your child qualifies, he or she will run a mile race in front of hun­
dreds of cheering fans. The students, staff and parents fill our stadium to witness the big event. All parents are welcome to come out and support our athletes. Congratulations to our illustrious March students of the month! Our sincere grati­
tude goes out to those who contribute to the success of our program. Please con­
gratulate these young people on their out­
standing leadership, sportsmanship, and dedication to fitness and sport. We appre­
ciate their efforts. Keep up the good work! The students of the month are Jackson Beach, Shiri Bendelac, Nicolas Feng, Janie Hammaker, Ofir Maimon, Fatima Martinez­Aviel, Imani McNealy, Ofir Ravin, Daniel Roh and Kasey Yamashita. —Charlene Jehle, PE/ARTS Specialist Family and Consumer Sciences The second semester has started off won­
derfully! The sixth and seventh grade stu­
dents are starting the baking unit. We will be making homemade scones, muffins, cookies, cakes etc. Please feel free to send in any favorite recipes from home. As the semester progresses, we will be doing more comparison shopping, budget­
ing and nutrition comparison.The eighth graders have been progressing on meal preparation and recipe analysis. I look for­
ward to introducing the banking and budg­
eting unit when returning from break. —Amy Tucker, FACS Teacher Principal’s Message (Continued) and the planning committee. This is an im­
portant day for the eighth grade students as they begin to think about life beyond their school years. Your efforts to help our students broaden their thinking are much appreciated. Also, for the second time, we will host an eighth grade promotion ceremony on Fri­
day, June 5. The event will include a rec­
ognition ceremony for the students and their families, then pizza and a dance for the soon­to­be ninth grade students. Stu­
dents will receive more information through their English and ESOL classes very soon. The planning committee has been working very hard to assure a very exciting and memorable evening for every­
one involved. Look for other events this spring like our musical, Cats, which is sure to wow audi­
ences. Our music and choral students will also have the chance to shine in the up­
coming spring performances. Finally, on June 15, our eighth grade will travel to Kings Dominion and our sixth and seventh grade students will participate in a field day that is sure to please everyone. As the year winds to a close, we are also thinking about summer school opportuni­
ties for our students who may want to ex­
tend their school year and gain an extra edge on their upcoming classes for next year. This year, our summer school will once again be held at North Bethesda Mid­
dle School. We will be offering five classes: Lights, Camera, Literacy!; Focus on Algebra; Support Math 7; Support Reading 7 and Support Reading 8. Classes will be held from Thursday, July 6, through Monday, July 31. More in­
formation will be coming out very soon. Please contact Ms. Angela Hammie­
Bonner or Ms. Sylvia Wright if you have any questions. Newspaper columnist Doug Larson once said, ``Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.” As we break out of our long and cold winter, I hope that everyone is able to shake off the slush and enjoy the up­
coming warm weather and full beauty of spring. ­­Jennifer Baker, Tilden Principal Tilden Student Wins Award Tilden Seventh Grader Sophie Collé won second place in Chemistry­Junior Division, at the 53rd annual Montgomery Area Sci­
ence Fair, an Intel International Science and Engineering Fair­affiliated regional event, on March 22. Sophie was the only participant from Tilden, and competed against over 300 middle school finalists from 33 public and private schools in the region. Her project was on “The Effect of Surfactants on the Surface Tension of Water.” In addition to Sophie’s second prize, she also received awards and special recogni­
tions from the United States Metric Associa­
tion (honorable mention for the preparation and presentation of scientific results), the Washington Statistical Association (second place for excellence in the use of statistical methods), and the Chemical Society of Washington (certificate of excellence in chemistry). Other fair award winners can be found at . http://www.sciencemontgomery.org/File/
pdf%20files/2009%20WINNERS%
20FINAL%20list2.pdf . 3 Student Service Learning (SSL) Tips Give a Little Time...Make a Big Difference Students develop a commitment to the community. — Documentation of the completion of 75, 150 or 225 hours for the Superintendent's SSL Award must be in the records of middle school students by May 1. — Explore serving and learning in your own community: Check http://www.mcpsssl.org by interest and location for organizations and opportunities tagged as SSL­approved. — Serve and learn by getting involved in school­sponsored clubs and organizations that have a service focus. Address a real need in the community and earn SSL hours through specific projects. — Find out details of the county school system’s SSL program by referring to the bro­
chure, ``Give a Little Time...Make a Big Difference,’’ at http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/ssl. — Plan now to be involved in SSL activities this summer. Consider ways to address a recognized need. Determine who could benefit from your service and what could be learned about yourself. Student Government Association Raises More than $20,000 The SGA has been very busy! We wrapped up the Pennies for Patients charity drive to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Tilden raised more than $2,000! Congratulations to Ms. Broderick's first­period class for raising over $500 and to Mr. Patrie's class for raising over $400. Way to go, Tilden! The SGA officers are working hard to get ready for the election of the student mem­
ber of the Board of Education. We will be turning the Media Center into a polling place on April 29. All the students will have the opportunity to hear the two candi­
dates’ speeches and cast their vote to elect the new student member of the board. This is a wonderful experience for all the students to see how the voting system works. Our spring dance is Friday, April 17; the cost is $4 in advance and $5 at the door. Tickets will be sold during all three lunches from April 14­16. Parents, we always need chaperones; if interested, please contact Ms. Tucker at 301­230­5930 ext. 128. As always, all students are welcome and encouraged to participate in SGA. —­­Amy Tucker and Michelle Cassels, SGA Sponsors 4 A monthly feature for information, strategies, and/or tips that will help your children enhance their literacy skills. More Gross Books
for Reluctant Readers
They Ate What?! The Weird History of Food
by Richard Platt, Two-Can Publishing, 2006
Toothworms and Spider Juice: An Illustrated
History of Dentistry by Loretta Frances Ichord,
Millbrook, 1999
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about
Brain Science by John Fleischman, Houghton
Mifflin, 2002
Toilets, Bathtubs, Sinks, and Sewers: A History
of the Bathroom by Penny Colman, Atheneum,
1994 AVOIDING PLAGIARISM Copying words from a text without pro­
viding credit to the author is plagiarism and considered stealing. To avoid plagiarism: Paraphrase the text by putting it into your own words when you take notes. Place the author’s words in quotation marks and give him or her credit. One learns not by reading, but by thinking and reflecting upon what one has read. READING/WRITING
Checking Understanding
Good readers recognize when they
don’t understand what they are reading
and use a variety of strategies in order
to clarify the meaning.
Encourage your children to keep personal dictionaries of unknown words.
When they come across unfamiliar
words, have them copy the sentence
and guess at the meaning using any
context clues. (Remember, these can
occur in the sentences before or after
the sentence that contains the unknown
word.) Then check the actual definition
in a dictionary and copy that .
Read the same books your children are
reading and write questions and comments back and forth in a spiral notebook.
~ Adapted from Reading Connections
Creative Communications The Creative Communications class is completing the newspaper unit. The newspapers look very profes­
sional and are quite informative. They include local and national news as well as school information. What a wonderful read! When returning from break, the students will start the pop­up/memory book. Pictures can be included. I look forward to seeing all the books that are created as the quarter progresses. —Amy Tucker, Creative Communications Teacher 5 Second Annual Tilden International Night Draws a Crowd Tilden’s second annual interna­
tional night drew displays, food and activities showcasing the cul­
tures of the many different na­
tionalities represented at our school. To the right, parents and their children crowd the cafeteria. Be­
low, one of the myriad displays. Eva Winer coordinated a team of parents, students and staff volun­
teers to put on the event.