(maintained by Mr. Berry)
(maintained by Mr. Berry)
I think that more of our children
would grow up happier and more stable if they were acquiring a conviction, all
through childhood, that the most important thing that human beings can do is
serve humanity in some function and to live by their ideals.
Benjamin Spock (1903-1998)
Pediatrician and writer
It is a pleasure to work with your children. Please send any feedback about our website to: pberry@galwaycsd.org
All
the best for a great week ahead,
---Paul
Berry,
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It’s that time
of year! Snow
or weather emergency days can be fun or hectic. Having a plan can help.
All of the district’s school closings, delays or emergency early
dismissals due to weather conditions and/or power outages will be
announced on radio stations WGY 810 (AM), WROW 590 (AM) and FLY 92 (FM) as
well as TV channels 6,10, and 13. Announcements will normally be given
between 6:15 – 6:45 am. Our district also uses Connect
Ed to contact the school community via telephone. It is important that
all students have correct contact numbers listed in the school’s
database. If a number changes, that information should be provided to the
ms office. Please note that when school is closed all afternoon and
evening activities are cancelled for that day. |
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Recreation Night
and MSAB programs receive grant support Recently,
the Recreation Night Program received a $600 grant from the Town of Galway
Youth Commission 2007 Community Youth Prevention Investment Project Grant.
These funds will be used to purchase a new table game and equipment for
the program. In addition, the MSAB received a $500 grant to support its
annual goals including the career fair, literacy gift basket project, and
the creation of an internet safety and research program for middle level
students and families. This grant was received from the Mobil Education
Alliance Program. Our local Mobil Gas Station, Dick and Jerry’s at the
corner of Routes 29 and 147, sponsored our grant application. |
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Two Assemblies to
note:
1.
Anti-Smoking and
Tobacco Assembly-December 5 (1-2PM -8th Graders only) Rick Stoddard is the presenter; this is an anti-tobacco program. Rick has his own web site for more information, www.rickstoddard.com . The message will be blunt and direct. Smoking and tobacco use cause cancer and will shorten your life.
2.
Green
Assembly-December 6 (1:55-2:22) A brief all middle school assembly will be held to introduce the
district wide recycling program. George Johnson will be making the
presentation. He is the recycling coordinator for the firm, Green Fiber.
For more information visit www.greenfiber.com
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Holiday
Gift Shop-The
Galway PTSA |
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Immunizations- Please be certain that our school
nurse has updated immunization information for your child. All sixth
graders have until November 30 to have a DPT immunization on record. For
more information, please contact the school nurse at 882-1056. |
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Homework Lab/What is it?
Homework lab is an after school program intended to help
students complete homework and improve classroom performance. One teacher
for each grade level supervises the lab on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and
Thursdays of each week from 2:30-4:30 PM. Students who are placed on the
academic ineligibility list are required to attend for the two week period
of ineligibility. Other students (up to a total of 15) can also join in
with a teacher, parent and counselor communication. |
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Searching for
Money Here’s how to
start earning money for new computers, smart boards and other technology
for our classrooms. Visit www.searchandgive.com
, sign up for a Windows Live ID and select |
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Homework Central
Wouldn’t it be great to know exactly what your student has for homework
each night? Your middle school provides two tools to help you have this
information. The first is the daily planner or agenda. The second is
Homework Central. Link to the Galway Website at www.galwaycsd.org
and follow the link for middle school and Homework Central. You’ll see
all the information you need to make certain that your student has
completed their assignments. |
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Middle School
Research Websites: Have
your students visit the following links when asked to do research by a
classroom teacher. Each site is specifically geared toward education
issues and research. This will be much faster than using Google or another
search engine: www.awesomelibrary.org
www.yakscorner.com http://www.rcls.org/ksearch.htm http://search.ebscohost.com
(See librarian for password) http://www.onekey.com/
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Here are great things
happening in our middle school this week… q 12/4 MS Staff Mtg. 2:40 Rm. 909B (Mrs. Trask’s Rm.) Hosts: Special Ed./Remedial Ed. q
12/7
MS In the not too distant
future… q 12/14 MS Rec Night 7-9 PM q
12/15
Galway Cares-Salvation Army q 12/18 MSAB Meeting Cancelled (members sent agenda to participate virtually) q 12/18 MS Winter Concert 7PM q 12/19 BOE Mtg. 7PM q
12/24-1/1
q 1/2 Classes resume q 1/5 Science Saturday q 1/8 MS Staff Mtg. 2:40 Rm. 702 (Mrs. Wasserman’s Rm.) Host: Art & PE q 1/13 Galway Players auditions 1PM q 1/14 PTSA Mtg. 7PM q 1/15 MSAB Mtg. 7PM (ms office) q 1/15-17 NYS ELA Assessment q 1/16 BOE Mtg. 7PM q 1/21 No School-Martin Luther King, Jr. Day q 1/25 MS Rec Night 7-9 PM q 1/28 Second Semester Begins |
Focus
On…He
Said, She Said: How to respond
We
have all heard the phrase “sticks and stones will break my bones but names
will never hurt me.” Some of us may have even encouraged our kids to
reconsider how name calling and perceived rumors impact our kids. Those of us
who have tried to help our kids understand know that the hurt can be real. Why
this hurt happens has a great deal to do with the developmental stage that our
middle level students are in: adolescence. During this period, our students are
going to have a heightened awareness of self and how others perceive them. In
addition, for some students, increased levels of self-doubt, lack of self
confidence or esteem can also heighten the impact of name calling. How
can we help our kids? Here are three suggestions that have proven successful for
many kids: 1.
Take
control.
By explaining to our students what they do and do not have control over can help
them to understand that the comments of others are beyond their control;
however, what they can control is their reaction to the comments. To extend the
example, we can work with our student to decide how they would like to respond
to a person that calls them a name: Walk away, make a comment back, talk to a
responsible adult, talk to a friend. We want our student to “control” their
reaction to the negative comment. Role playing with our students can help them
build confidence in their control tactic. For example, if your student is going
to make an assertive comment in response to the name calling they might practice
saying: “Do you think you’re being funny? I don’t. I don’t know about
you, but I don’t like it when people call me names.” 2.
Do
the math.
Another great way for us to help our kids respond to the hurt caused by name
calling is to do the math. I ask kids to give “care about” point values
adding up to 100% for each of our friends and family. For example, of the 100%
of care that I can have about anything, I give 50% of that care to my family.
Using this method, your student can determine exactly how important the
offending student or person is to them. In most cases, the offending student is
not high on the “care about” list. The logic then follows that since we do
really have a significant level of care about the offending person, we can have
a similar level of care about what they said. The proof of this strategy is how
hurt we all become when a loved one says something mean or hurtful to us. These
hurts are remembered and often create deep wounds. 3.
Fill
up the tank.
While every one of us can be negatively impacted by the comments of others,
people with strong self confidence tend to be able to bounce back very quickly.
We know that students that are self confident get that way because they feel
loved, supported and successful. Being loved and supported certainly starts at
home. Being successful has broad applications. Every person is worthy and every
person has interests and skills that can become the foundation of life success.
Helping our children to discover these interests and skills is an important
supportive role for every adult that works with young people. When a student
feels loved, supported and successful, their self esteem fuel tank is full. When
a negative comment comes their way, they can quickly refill their tank by
reminding themselves or being reminded that they are a person of great worth,
talent, ability and uniqueness. |