170 Roadrunner Lane
Destrehan, LA 70047
Ph: 985-764-6367
Fax: 985-764-2678
http:stcharles.k12.la.us/hurst
ROADRUNNER NEWS
Principal’s Message:
Dear Hurst Families,
As we move into the New Year, I
want to wish you and your families a Happy
New Year! I am excited to see what 2017
has in store at Harry Hurst Middle School.
We had a great first semester and
we are ready to start the third quarter after
a relaxing break. Continuing working
towards this year’s motto of “#iAchieve”,
our teachers team up and design the best
lessons they can in order to push our
students to learn at their highest levels. As
a school, one of our top priorities is to
provide high quality educational
opportunities that promote academic
exploration.
Please continue to check in with
your children daily, view teacher websites,
look for grade updates on Powerschool,
and encourage your children to ask
questions.
I would like to thank you for your
support the first semester and look forward
to the second semester working together.
As always if you have any questions
or concerns please call me at (985) 7646367 or via email at
[email protected].
Sincerely,
Jason Madere
Principal
www.stcharles.k12.la.us
Congratulations Hurst
Teacher of the Year 2016 - 2017
Mrs. Johnel Robinson
Congratulations to Ms. Johnel Robinson on being named
Harry Hurst Middle School's 2016-2017 Teacher of the Year!
This is Ms. Robinson's 17th year teaching and her 6th year at
Hurst where she has taught a variety of 7th and 8th grade
math classes as well as Algebra classes. She serves on the
School Improvement Team and also participates regularly in
planning portions of late take-in professional development for
teachers and serves in other leadership roles on campus.
When it comes to teaching her content, Ms. Robinson
chooses to create hands-on, interactive challenges to keep her
students engaged in the skills they are learning. She utilizes
technology often to encourage her students to collaborate and
practice their skills in new, engaging ways; and she often lets
students work collaboratively to help them understand and
practice concepts they are learning in class. When it comes to
teaching as her career, Ms. Robinson sees it as so much more
than just that. "In my opinion what set great teachers apart
from good teachers is that great teachers acknowledge
teaching as their calling, and therefore, they treat it as such."
Ms. Robinson maintains high expectations of all of her
students, both academically and socially, and uses every
opportunity to remind them that those expectations can be met
by each one of them.
Ms. Robinson is a
teacher who is greatly
respected by her peers,
her students, and her
administrators, and we
know she will represent
Hurst and our core values
well at the district level as
she moves on to compete
for the district title of
Middle School Teacher
of the Year.
Pictured - Johnel Robinson
with Principal Jason Madere
HMS January, 2017
Page 2
HMS CHOIR AND BAND NEWS . . .
CHOIR NEWS: The choir under the direction of Mr. Karl Harrod, assisted by Ms. Charlotte
Farris, presented their Holiday Concert on Dec. 6th. The combined 6th, 7th, and 8th grade
choirs performed a variety of music to help kick off the holiday season. The 8th Graders opened
the concert with “The Star Spangled Banner”, accompanied by a Brass Quintet.
The Choir opened their part of the concert with a candlelight processional, performing Silent
Night sung in German, and the 8th Graders singing “Night of Silence”. They were accompanied
by Calie Frangella and Ms. Farris on flute and Jillian Hollier on piano. The 6th Grade sang a two
part song titled Winter Fantasy, combining the well known melody of Jingle Bells with a different
melody. The 7th and 8th Grade combined to sing “ We Need a Little Christmas”, directed by Ms.
Farris. The combined choirs then performed “The 12 Days of Groovy Christmas”, which took the
melody of the traditional 12 Days of Christmas and substituted the words with items from the
1970's. Things such as 8 tracks, platform shoes and disco balls were used. Truly a walk down
memory lane for some of us!
The Choir, accompanied by Zoe Levert on marimba, and former members of the HMS Choir,
performed “Carol of the Bells”.
Members of the HMS Choir that will be participating in the 2017 District Honor Choir will be:
6th Grade: Breny Barrios, Lilly Frey, Amelia_Grace Holmes, Katrina Jones, Caylee Landry, and
Ashton Levert. 7th Grade: Grace Ayton, Calie Frangella, Emma Loup, and AnnaSophia Owens.
8th Grade Jonathan Dahl, Rachael Hovis. They will travel to Nicholls State University
throughout the month of January for rehearsals and then give a final concert at H.L. Bourgeois
H.S. on Feb. 4th.
BAND NEWS: Parish Honor Band Auditions
are coming on January 17th & 18th. The dates
for the Parish Honor Band are as follows:
Rehearsals : Jan. 30, Feb. 6,20,22
Parish Honor Band Concert Feb. 23rd
HMS January, 2017
Page 3
What’s Happening in class . . .
The sixth grade visual art students with Dr. Plasczyk have completed their preliminary design of a
multiple perspective composition that incorporates their names. Students will create their final
composition using a variety of optical illusion techniques they learned throughout the semester. Other
grade levels are completing different final projects, too. If time permits you, please pass through the
Arts Building "Hallway Gallery" to view a variety of projects done by the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders during
the fall semester 2016.
GENETICS WITH A SMILE . . .
Dauenhauer's and Ramon's
7th grade life science students
did an assigment creating their
own babies. It was called
"Genetics with a Smile". They
had to flip a coin to represent the
male chromosome and another
coin to represent the female
chromosome. If the coin landed
on heads, their baby received
the dominant form of the trait. If it
landed on tails, they received the
recessive form. They did this for
several traits to create the faces.
They did a fabulous job!
HMS January, 2017
Page 4
4-H NEWS . . .
Hurst 4H Club represented well at District Project Day at RK Smith. Congratulations to all of the 4H
students who participated. Below is a list of award winners!
BEEF POSTERS:
st
1 Bethany Cantrelle
2nd Rachael Hovis
BEEF COOKERY:
Low Calorie:
2nd Michael Love
*Outstanding Beef Poster: Bethany Cantrelle
going to the state competition.
QUICK & EASY:
GOOD GROOMING:
DUCT TAPE CHALLENGE:
st
1 Rachael Hovis
2nd Bethany Cantrelle
PUBLIC SPEAKING:
1st Bethany Cantrelle
2nd Rachael Hovis
AMBASSADOR TALKS:
Beef:
1st Michael Love
Seafood:
1st Michael Love
CONSUMER FOODS JUDGING:
(4-6) Blue Ribbon: Christopher Wilson
(7-12) 1st Michael Love
Blue Ribbon: Bethany Cantrelle
Rachael Hovis
SEAFOOD COOKERY:
Crab:
3rd Michael Love
Shrimp:
2nd Michael Love
1st Michael Love
Accessories:
2nd Katrina Jones
3rd Christian Green
OTHER:
2nd Kailee Ocmond
3rd Katrina Jones
Blue Ribbons:
Gavin Bunch
Kaitlyn Roberts
HMS January, 2017
Page 5
EGG DROP… Will it break or not?
During the 2nd quarter 6th grade science classes studied force and motion. As a culminating
project, students were challenged to build a device that would allow an egg to be dropped from a
ladder without breaking. They were required to build a container and a parachute for their devices.
Students went through the design process and had to use their knowledge of force, motion, and
Newton's First Law of Motion in order to create and execute their devices. The students whose eggs
survived the fall in the shortest amount of time were chosen as winners. These are pictures of some
of Ms. Waguespack's and Ms. Dufrene’s science classes that participated in the assignment.
HMS January, 2017
Page 6
HURST SCIENCE FAIR . . .
As part of the St. Charles Parish Middle school curriculum, all 8th grade students are required to complete a science fair
project and participate in the science fair. The science fair gives students the opportunity to create, investigate, and
explore a problem based on their personal interests with a basis in life science, environmental science, earth science, and
physical science concepts. Over 40 volunteers from our community served as Science Fair Judges and interviewed every
participating student to select the top 3 projects in each category. Great job by all of the 200 students who participated in
the fair and congratulations to all of the students whose projects were selected to move on to the district level
competition!
Animal Science:
1st place: Corinne Marcel
2nd place: Tori Cambre
3rd place: Riley Frechou
Behavioral Social:
1st place: Mekhi Graham
2nd place: Aidan Eiler
3rd place: Andrea Rozas
Honorable Mention: Rachael Hovis
Biomedical and Health:
1st place: Michael Perez
2nd place: Mia Gaudet
3rd place: Terrell Turner
Honorable Mention:
Morgan Roussel
Biochemistry:
1st place: Shelton Simoneaux
2nd place: Devin Acker
3rd place: Alexander Madere
Honorable Mention:
Cameron McKinney
Chemistry:
1st place: Shaina Vicknair
2nd place: Chelsea Franck
3rd place: Dylan Free
Honorable Mention:
Zoe Levert
Earth and Environmental:
1st place: Raquel Perry
2nd place: Alyssa Avocato
3rd place: Jayden Kirsch
Honorable Mention:
Alexis Bonstaff
Collin Zeringue
Energy Chemical:
1st place: Destiny Santiago
2nd place: Ashlyn Allsop
3rd place: Tyrian Anderson
Honorable Mention:
Miesha Taylor
Energy Physical:
Plant Science:
st
1 place: Logan Coates
1st place: Trinity Rue
2nd place: Bailey Eddings
2nd place: Kennedy Haley
rd
3 place:
3rd place: Riley Cardinal
Honorable Mention:
Honorable Mention:
Anastasia Wade
Isaiah Charles
Materials Science:
Robotics:
st
1 place: Cole Coffee
1st place: Justin LeJeune
nd
2 place: Landen Jackson Engineering Mechanical:
3rd place: Emma Rome
1st Place: Michael Mollere
Honorable Mention:
2nd Place: Merritt Tompkins
Diavian Ceasar
3rd Place: Cameron Williams
Seth Kenney
Honorable Mention:
Gileonni Malave
Kate Beske
Dominic Hyde
Ty Yoes
Avery Duplessis
Aaron Tabora
Michelle Smith
Da’Lajh Sterling
First Place Winners
Mathematics:
1st place: Adrian Garcia
2nd place: Kendall Washington
3rd place: N/A for publication
Physics and Astronomy:
1st place: Cameron Dufrene
1st place: Thomas Stratton
2nd place: Nicholas Morrow
Honorable Mention:
Addison Benefield
Lance DeFrisco
All Winners
Moriah Ocmond
Rebecca Rodrigue
Sean Simoneaux
Jacob Fernandez
Riley Naquin
Emma Pfeifer
Cody Reech
Tyler Oubre
Jonathan Dahl
HMS January, 2017
Page 7
HMS WETLAND SCIENCE NIGHTS . . .
Harry Hurst 6th, 7th, and 8th graders volunteer to present animals and facilitate activities at
nearly all of St. Charles Parish Elementary schools each year as part of the Wetland Watchers
Family Night events. These events average about 300 student and family members in attendance.
They are joined by student volunteers from 8 other schools that share similar interests in wildlife
education and wetland conservation.
Norco Elementary
Family Science Night
"As usual, Mr. Guillot, his students, and
the other creatures were the highlight of
the night!" said Norco Principal Mrs.
Becky Weber. "Everyone enjoyed
visiting with the animals and the
students were knowledgeable and
gracious as they were sharing out with
our families. It is always a pleasure to
have your Wetland Watchers group as
a part of our event!"
Luling Elementary Family
Science Night
"Mr. Barry Guillot and his talented and knowledgeable
Wetland Watchers staff always make science and
learning fun," said Luling Elementary Mrs. Jaqueline
Sperrier." The knowledge that my students gained from
the hands on activities that were led by Mr. Guillot's
middle school and high school aged students was
inspiring and memorable. Not only did my PK - 5th
grade students learn about various Louisiana wildlife by
watching the Wetland Watchers crew demonstrate how
to hold and take care of these local animals, our
students were also inspired to learn more about the
world in which we live and to take care of our
environment. What Mr. Guillot does every year still
amazes me, and we are lucky to call him one of our
own in St. Charles Parish."
HMS January, 2017
Page 8
Students of the Month
Student of the Month
DECEMBER, 2016
TEAM 1:
TEAM 2:
TEAM 3:
TEAM 4:
TEAM 5:
TEAM 6:
Emma Rome
Terrell Turner
Alia Hamed
Andrew Bouler
Bryce Fincher
Madison Mollere
Counselor’s Corner
January-2017
Greetings, Parents and GuardiansWe hope that you and your family were able to enjoy the holiday break. We look forward to the
start of a new year and a new semester. With that, we do have some important information that you
should be aware of.
Mrs. Duplessis will be working on Individual Graduation Plans with all 8th grade students beginning
the week we return to school. She will be in Mrs. Zeringue’s classes January 10 th and 11th, and she will
be in Mrs. Windmann’s classes January 12th and 13th. Please see the letter on page 9 that explains
Individual Graduation Plans further.
Mrs. Chaisson, Mrs. Duplessis, and Mrs. Naquin are continuing to work on building our
Community Mentoring Program. We will hold a training session for all interested mentors on January 20 th
from 11:30-12:30 to further explain the program. Please see the flyer page 10 for more information.
If we can assist you or your child in any way, please contact us through the main office at (985)764-6367 or via email at:
[email protected] or [email protected]
Thank you,
Meghan Duplessis and Tina Chaisson
HMS January, 2017
Harry M. Hurst Middle School
Individual Graduation Plans (IGP)
January 10, 2017
Dear Parents/Guardians,
State law says that all eighth grade students must have an Individual
Graduation Plan (IGP) on file signed by the student, parent, and school
counselor. According to what your child has informed me of as their future
career goal, we have set up a possible schedule of classes for them to follow at
Destrehan High School in order for him/ her to achieve that goal. Please
remember that this is a plan, and it can be changed. The IGP will be reviewed
and amended as needed every year at Destrehan High School.
Your child’s final schedule will be created during the Destrehan High School
registration process. More information about that process will be given at a later
date. You will receive an updated copy of the DHS Course Catalog in order to
prepare for registration. The IGP will be used as a guide to help create your
child’s schedule at that time.
It is necessary for you to sign and date your child’s individual graduation plan,
and return it as soon as possible. The Plan will be placed in your child’s
Educational and Career Portfolio. This portfolio will follow them through high
school graduation.
Please only sign and date the 9th grade section at the bottom of the first page.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 985-7646367 or via email at [email protected]
Sincerely,
Meghan M. Duplessis, M.Ed, NCC
Professional School Counselor
Harry Hurst Middle School
Page 9
HMS January, 2017
Page 10
HARRY HURST
MIDDLE SCHOOL
MENTORING
PROGRAM
DATES
We are looking for community
January 27th
February 17th
March 10th
members who...
*are positive role models.
*are good listeners who reinforce student success.
April 7th
May 12th
*have a flexible schedule and are able to meet at
least once a month.
(2:30-3:00)
*want to give back to their community and make a
difference in a child’s life.
To Volunteer Please Contact :
Meghan Duplessis
Tina Chaisson
Karen Naquin
985-764-6367
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
MENTOR TRAINING SESSION
JANUARY 20, 2017
*11:30 A.M. – 12:30 P.M.*
SNACKS & REFRESHMENTS
HARRY HURST MIDDLE SCHOOL
170 ROADRUNNER LANE
HMS January, 2017
Page 11
Wetland Watchers Pelicans Night
What an incredible job by all of our Hurst squads representing our school last at the Hurst Wetland
Watchers Night With the Pelicans! Congratulations to the choir, cheerleaders, and Runnerettes for
showing everyone why Hurst Middle school is the best around! 248 members of our Hurst family
were in attendance!
HMS January, 2017
Sunday
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
1
2
8
9
Begin 3
Quarter
15
16
Saturday
3
4
5
6
7
10
11
12
13
14
rd
HMS
Social
Studies
Fair
Report
cards
17
18
19
School
Closed
Martin
Luther
King
Holiday
22
Friday
Page 12
20
21
Early
Runnerettes
Dismissal @
American
All Star
Competition
23
24
30
31
25
26
27
28
Runnerettes
@
American
All Star
Competition
29
Talented Theatre News
The Choir, Talented Theatre and Talented Art Department are putting on the Spring Musical,
Shrek Jr. Show dates are February 13th &14th at 6pm. Come out and see this romantic comedy
about Shrek the ogre and his daring rescue of the lovely Princess Fiona. The adventures they
face include a fire breathing dragon, a talking donkey, and some of the liveliest fairy tale
creatures you've ever seen! Come join the fun on the Harry Hurst Middle School stage.