TILDEN MIDDLE SCHOOL
11211 OLD GEORGETOWN ROAD
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND
301-230-5930 (OFFICE) • 301-230-5991 (FAX)
PTSA NEWSLETTER 2011-2012
Vol. 13, No. 4, December 2011
President’s Letter
Principal’s Message
I hope all of our Tilden families had a
wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and a
long, restful Thanksgiving weekend.
OK, everyone reading this has middle
school children, but we can still hope
for rest!
The best part about being the
principal at Tilden Middle School is that
I have an opportunity every single day
to interact with students, staff, and
parents, to go into the classrooms and
enjoy wonderful lessons, and engage
with teachers in meaningful conversations about the
curriculum. During this busy time of the year, I decided to
slow down for a moment and take in all the wonderful
things that are happening at Tilden, both inside and outside
the classroom, and as a simple, yet meaningful gift, share
it with you.
Our third PTSA meeting this year is Thursday night,
December 15 at 6:30 in the Media Center. This is NOT a
traditional PTSA meeting, but a holiday DESSERT
reception prior to the Tilden Winter Concert. Please join us
for an evening of good food and near-professional
entertainment. (Alright, I am prejudiced – my son is in the
Advanced Band. But, this group of performers includes
many students who received multiple first place awards at
the Hershey Park Band Festival last Spring.)
Please join me in continuing to thank all of our PTSA
volunteers. Leona Hiraoka has distributed the spirit wear
ordered for our students, teachers, administrators, and
parents. The Directory was completed by Tiffini Lucas
and has been distributed. Thanks to Jodi Rose and Linda
Brown for coordinating those parents who chaperoned the
first school dance and set up and monitored the game room
during the dance. A huge thanks to Adrianne Davis Leal
and her committee for running the Scholastic Book Fair
December 8-14. This is a very big time commitment and
we are grateful for their generosity. The students love
visiting the fair, and it is great to see their enthusiasm as
they shop. And I am sure there is a lot more going on
without my guidance.
Here is a snapshot of just a few fantastic things that have been
happening at Tilden: students are enjoying The Animal Farm
in their English classes and they are starting their persuasive
speeches, and others are working on parts of figurative
language. Some of the science classes are growing basil as
part of their hydroponics unit, so you might want to look into
recipes that require an abundance of fresh basil. There is a
buzz in the building surrounding the Geography Bee that will
take place on January 3, 2012 in the cafeteria and is open to
everyone. Students are focused and they are getting ready.
Please join us as we support our top ten finalists and cheer
them through this rigorous competition. If you are interested
in lending a helping hand, please email Mr. David Cochran.
In other classes, students have been exploring modern and
ancient African cultures and are using Glogster to conduct
research.
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Tilden PTSA Newsletter December 2011
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Principal’s Message Continued
(continued from page 1)
The 6th graders, in particular, have become experts
on ancient Egypt as they have examined all aspects of that
rich culture. Numerous students in the ESOL classes have
created stunning autobiographies capturing their transition
to the United Sates and their initial impressions and
experiences as they had to learn to navigate through the
new culture and language. A group of students have just
ended an eight week unit of water aerobics that brought an
endless number of smiles and giggles as students
discovered, once again, that exercise can indeed be a lot of
fun. In art classes, students have been working on
Impressionist acrylic paintings, they have been making
winter theme projects out of clay and gingerbread style
houses, as well as manipulating graphics of various fonts.
Students are also doing an in-depth analysis of the
Constitution and the Bill of Rights in their world studies
classes, and others taking Spanish II are successfully
battling adjective and noun agreements through a creative
unit on vocabulary development that looks at the materials,
colors, and shapes of clothing. Additionally, five of our
incredibly creative 7th graders, also known as the Birk
Brothers, competed in the First Lego League and took
home 2nd place out of 16 teams and won the Core Values
trophy for exemplifying the best “team.” They will be at
the state tournament at UMBC in January. I hope you will
be able to join me in supporting and cheering them on!
December is a month filled with celebrations and
excitement. Here are some upcoming events: Our entire
eighth graders will be going on a field trip this month to
the Air and Space Museum to see the Hubble Space Craft
and IMAX 3D movie. This is a fantastic opportunity for
our students to make a direct correlation between the
classroom and the world around them. The fieldtrip has
been a success over the years and I am certain that this
year will be no exception.
all the parents who have been here to support (and feed)
them until all hours of the night!
If you get a chance, we hope you will stop by the
Media Center and enjoy all the books and goodies at our
wonderful PTSA-sponsored Scholastic Book Fair running
through December 14th. Students have been coming down
throughout the week and teachers have put together a wish
list of books that would enrich their classrooms. Once
again, a very special thank you to the PTSA for their
dedication and the insurmountable amount of hours that it
took to plan and organize an event of this magnitude.
Our annual Winter Concert will take place on
Thursday, December 15th at 7:00 p.m. Our students will
once again showcase their hard work through an
instrumental and choral performance that will take your
breath away. I hope you will be able to join us for our
annual PTSA reception held in the Media Center at 6:30
p.m. prior to the Winter Concert.
One of the great things about this season is our
ability to put a smile on another person’s face through
kindness and generosity. I have been so impressed by our
entire community’s willingness to improve the lives of
others. Our staff has organized the Tilden Families Fund
that works closely with our own families through this
holiday season. At this time, there are lots of holiday
wishes left on the board and the team’s goal is to have the
wishes returned by the 16th of December. If you are
interested in helping, please contact Mrs. Cindy Gilman at
301-230-5996.
As we approach the first half of the school year, I
am able to reflect on all that I have learned about the
Tilden family: we work hard, we truly care about each
other, we are always willing to lend a helping hand and we
celebrate and cherish our diverse community. I wish
everyone all the best this holiday season.
Warmest Regards,
This season, the theater department has been
relentlessly preparing for our fall production. For weeks,
our incredibly diligent and dedicated students, under the
guidance of Mr. Tory Shaw, have been rehearsing for “A
Musical Cabaret.” There were two performances, with
the first one taking place on Friday, December 9th. More
details to follow in my next letter. A special thank you to
Tilden PTSA Newsletter December 2011
Irina LaGrange
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President’s Letter Continued
(continued from page 1)
I can tell you it is wonderful to have such an enthusiastic
and dedicated group of committee chairs who just go
ahead and do the jobs for which they volunteered!
The Parent-Teacher conferences were held on November
10. My wife and I had a long meeting with one teacher
and I was very pleased with the content and ideas
expressed. Please share your experiences with Ms.
LaGrange and me.
Did you attend the Restaurant Night fund raiser at
California Tortilla on November 29? My family and I did,
as did Ms. LaGrange. Many of you must have attended as
we raised $179.39! The next opportunity to eat with your
Tilden friends and raise money for your PTSA is January
12, 2012, at Noodles and Company at Montgomery Mall.
Please go!
Important Numbers:
Tilden Middle School Main Office: 301-230-5930
Guidance Department: 301-230-5940
www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/school/tildenms
I am looking for ideas for PTSA programs during PTSA
meetings after the first of the year. If you know of
someone with a topic of interest to middle school parents,
please contact me.
As 2012 approaches and you consider making a new set of
resolutions, we hope you will resolve to participate in at
least one PTSA activity in 2012. In the meantime, all the
best to you and your family during this holiday season and
in the new year.
Joe Piff
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Be sure to receive important emails from the school, the PTSA, and the parent community by joining the
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Tilden PTSA Newsletter December 2011
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TILDEN MIDDLE SCHOOL
Direct Appeal & Membership Campaign
THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR CONTRIBUTORS!
(as of December 8, 2011)
Tilden Supporters -- up to $99
Moira & Kevin Anderson
Emily Hofmann
Nelia & Danilo Orino
Niki Andrews
Emily Horick
Holly & Jerry Pannullo
Kristin Armstrong
Cheryl Hughes
Steve & Barbara Phillips
Ariane Bloch
Gillian & Sierra Hunter
Carlo & Valentina Pierpaoli
Laura Bonetta
Jane de Winter & Fred Joutz
Malgorzata Polinski
Syamsu Budiman
Stacey Jungreis
Maria Dabatos & Jerry Potts
Anita & Dirk Burgdorf
Melissa Keller
Nicole & Preston Calhoun
Teri Kinsella
Shari & Eggerton Campbell
Suzanne Kinzer
Michael Casassa & Joanne Schmas
Tatyana Knyreshko
Laura Church
Caroline Cooksey
Amy & John Bader DeLouise
Jinhui Ding
Peggy Ellett
Duncan & Laura Ferguson
Carole Kuritzky
Michael & Elizabeth Lebrun
Elizabeth & Denis Leverson
Missy Maloney
Angie & Mark Melton
Marnie Metzman
Barbara & John Ferry
Bill Miller & Kristen Zeller
Gail & Kevin Gleeson
Abbe Lynn Milstein
Barbara Gorin
Masha Minster-Katz
Karin Green & Sam Hirsch
Marina Mirmotahari
Dina & Jay Gruber
Cheryl Morris
Patrica & Michael Hickey
Patricia Morris
Leona Hiraoka
Heather Watts & Bob Nugent
Heather & Evan Hochberg
Takashi & Hazuki Ohama
Jennifer Rabin
Ilene Reid
Mike Reid
Denise & Eric Reiffenstein
Beth & Jim Resnick
Richard Schule
Vanessa Sciarra
Irina Selya
Christine & Don Shapiro
Mir Shariat
Yuko Shirota
Carolyn Skinner
Renee & Eric Sklarew
Hillary Sloate
Ilene Steinberg
Lisa Strauss
Mike Tilkin & Maria Perozek
Tilden PTSA Newsletter December 2011
Gideon & Dorit Weiss
Page 4
Friends of Tilden -- $100 - $249
Carol & Bill Alderson
Nancy & Guy Harper
Kathleen Nardella
David Beede
Debbie Kobernick
Jonathan Nevett & Karen Post
Liz Brinker
Joel & Elenora Lindsey
Lucia & ZacharyNovak
Wendy & Michael Cutler
Cheryl Lopez
Adriana Pavletic
Christian & Aurora Doring
Kevin Maguire & Lisa Pearse
Joseph Piff
Allan Eisendrath & May Guo
Kathy & David Moffett
Gabrielle Roth
Laurie Flyer
Dori & Mike Morper
Charlotte Runci
Karen & Keith Grymes
Suzanne Mozayeni
Timberwolves -- $249 - $499
Anne Ackerman
Tiffini Lucas
Francis Flomerfelt & Emanuela Lacana
Emily & Griff Lindsay
Lisa & Larry Spiwak
Melissa Williamson
Wolf Pack -- $500 and above
Tracy & Barry Liden
The Tilden Middle School PTSA wishes all
Tilden Families, teachers and staff a very
happy and healthy Holiday Season!
Tilden PTSA Newsletter December 2011
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To all our Students, Faculty and Families,
Book shopping & PTSA fundraising in one effort!
Our Scholastic Book Fair will be held between Thursday, December 8th and
Wednesday, December 14th. It will be in the Media Center/Library and
includes two special evening openings on Friday and Saturday night
before the Music Cabaret.
New this season: Online sales will also be available until Friday, December 16th.
These purchases will be delivered the following week directly to Tilden.
Online sales generate spending credits for the school
but not cash income for the PTSA.
Volunteers are welcome for any shift at anytime! Please contact:
Adrienne Davis-Leal (301) 933-9257 [email protected]
Log on to our unique Book Fair web page:
http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/tildenms
Tilden PTSA Newsletter December 2011
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