Twenhofel News November, 2009

Cheryl Jones, Principal Travis Caudill, Asst. Principal Dates To Remember: PRINCIPAL POINTS As we quickly approach the end of the first semester and the holiday season, it is very apparent that time is Thanksgiving Break moving much quicker each day. Halloween and Christmas move closer together each year, it seems! Nov. 25-27 After school tutoring is going very well this year. Many students are taking advantage of the after school time to complete assignments, work on common assessment corrections and remediate deficient skills. As we try to cre- Holiday Help Deadline ate an academically strong student, we are also building strong citizens who make contributions to their community Dec. 1 through time, service, and knowledge.

Our BEST partner is the Northern Kentucky Health Dept. We are currently working with them on making up SBDM shoeboxes for AIDS patients. We need donations of toiletries for those shoeboxes. We need shampoo, Dec. 14 4:00 p.m. conditioner, toothbrushes/paste, razors, shave crème, combs/brushes, mouthwash, lotions. Please send in any donations for this cause by Tuesday, Nov. 24th. Theater Dinner Dec.11 Our teachers have been very busy with the teaching of the core content, following the developed curriculum maps, administering common assessments, remediating the core content that students didn’t master during that unit and moving onto the next unit of study while continuing to revisit previously taught core content. Ask your child 2nd Quarter Ends what he/she is studying, what they did today. “Nothing” is not an acceptable answer. Push them to verbalize what Dec. 18th they are learning.

We will continue to meet with students in small RTI groups, focusing on Reading and Math skills. Students are Winter Break grouped according to their needs in specific skill areas and our advanced kids are pushed to think deeper and December 21st—January 3rd “outside the box”. Our teachers are focusing on their strategies and presentation of core content material. Your teachers spend many hours in professional development activities to enhance their teaching which translates into increased student learning. District Spelling Bee January 5, 2010 I am very proud of the increased communication that our teachers have been doing this year through emails, phone calls and notes home. If you are not on the distribution list for your child’s team, please make sure that the teachers have an updated email address. If your child is failing any subject for 2nd quarter, please be expecting a Work Ethic Award Ceremony phone call to set up a parent conference. January 28 , 2010 Have a wonderful holiday season. Enjoy your children and your families. In the end, it's all about family anyway.

October Students of the Month Veteran’s Day Program - Congratulations to all of those who participated in, planned and coordinated This month’s characteristic was Positive Attitude. the Veterans Day Program. It was an awesome pro- 6th Grade gram with a moment of silence, vocal tributes by the – Taylor G. chorus, musical tributes by the band (both Simon Kenton and Twenhofel Bands), a speech by Con- - Madison M. gressman Davis and the ceremonial folding of the flag - Paige W. by the Success Academy. Veterans, families and community members were welcomed to the program 7th Grade at the entrance by the Success Academy students. - Luke S. Thank you to all veterans past and present for your service to our country. - Autumn D. Congressman Davis said, “I was pleased to join - Carley A. Twenhofel Middle School for their Veterans Day pro- 8th Grade gram. The students and faculty organized an outstanding event to honor our nation’s veterans. I - .Jessica H. would like to specially thank Twenhofel for presenting Man O’War- Nick P. me with an American flag – it was a thoughtful and Iron Liege- J. J. S. much appreciated gesture.”

3rd Annual Walk-a-Thon Congratulations to Annalise P! She is the November “Artist of the Month”. Annalise is a talented 6th grader Thanks to everyone that participated in the Youth who works hard every day in art class. Keep up the Service Center Walk-a-thon. We raised $2825.50 to great art, Annalise! help the Youth Service Center provide services for It’s time for Wrappapolooza! our Twenhofel students and families. “Wrappapolooza” is a Student Y event where the th Costume winners were: 6 grade – Ashley Martin members wrap the teachers’ gifts for the holi- th th 7 grade – Alsatia C; 8 grade – Brent R days! This gift-wrapping service will be offered to all Students with the highest pledges per grade level: faculty through a silent auction this year. Faculty th 6 grade – Mikayla H - $132 members may bid on “elf teams” that will be responsi- th 7 grade – David S - $80 ble for wrapping up to 20 items. All proceeds from th 8 grade – Nathaniel B - $40 the silent auction will be donated to the Brighton Cen- (All 6 students received a $25 gift card) ter’s food bank. The following students raised $50 or more. They will receive their Walk-a-thon T-shirt this week. They Parents or faculty members, if you would like to do- are: Hanna B, Chelsea C, Kelsey H, Mikayla H, Alli- nate old or new Christmas wrapping paper, gift tags, son M, Daniel H, Glen B, Morgan C, Matthew H, bows or tape for this event, we would gladly welcome David S, Jonathan W, and Jocelyn G. them! Donations need to be given to Mrs. Plummer. The winning home room that collected the most money for two years running is Ms. Meier. They raised a total of $350. They received a pizza party last week. DINNER THEATER Coming soon to a theater near you....the members of Thanks again to the administration, faculty, and the 7th grade chorus will be presenting "The Best staff that counted money, made announcements, su- Christmas Pageant Ever" as a dinner theater on Fri- pervised walkers and non-walkers, and made several day, Dec. 11th. Ticket reservations will go on sale trips around the school. Your efforts will benefit many starting, Monday, Nov. 30th. Tickets will be $10 per Twenhofel families through the Youth Service Center! adult and $7 for children 9 and under. (Children un- der the age of 5 are not recommended as there are Holiday Assistance- If you feel you may be no accommodations for younger children.) The ticket in need of Holiday Assistance, please contact Jamie includes a nice meal and the performance. You can Gastright or Becky Darnell in the Youth call the school at 356-5559 ext. 6903 to make a res- Service Center at 859-957-0044 or see the ervation beginning, Nov. 30th. Seating will be limited Holiday Assistance form on the Youth Service Center so make your reservation quickly. You won't want to link from the Twenhofel Website. miss this exciting dinner theater!

Artist of the Month for November Midterms Parents please remember to sign the midterm and Holiday Concert and Meal return to your child’s homeroom teacher by Friday. If Hickory Grove Baptist Church will be holding a concert for you would like to see assignment details, please log families in need at 11:00AM on Saturday, on to Infinite Campus parent portal. If you do not November 21. You and your family will be served a have a password , please make a note on the pro- gress report and it will be sent home with your child. delicious Thanksgiving meal in their fellowship hall. Following the meal, they will have food and toiletry items Save Boxtops for Education ready for you to take home. They will also have a variety of gently used and new clothes and household items for your Turn them in to Mrs. Graydon in the library. Our family to look through and take as you need. Please call school receives $ .10 from each Boxtop for Jamie Gastright or Becky Darnell at the Twenhofel Youth Education label. Service Center at 957.0042 if you would like attend. Space is limited. Honor Roll Breakfast Each term our PTSA provides a breakfast for our Honor Roll Students. These are the students that have all ―A’s or A’s & B’s‖ on their report cards. Along with Donuts & milk/juice students also have the chance to win gift cards to Walmart. Our PTSA also provides two gift cards per grade level to students with Perfect Attendance. Names of the students are put into a bucket, pulled out and announced at the breakfast. Thanks to our PTSA we are able to show our appreciation for the hard work that our students are committed to. The following students won a gift card at the first breakfast………..keep up the good work and the next winner could be you!!!!!! All A’s: *$25.00 (1 per grade level) 6th Grade 7th Grade: 8th Grade: Brad W Yin C Daniel C

A/B $10.00 (5 per grade level) 6th Grade—Aubrey M, Joshua M, Alyssa A, Haley W, & Charles W 7th Grade—Sarah R, Nicolas P, Kyndel H, Stephen P, and Noah R 8th Grade: - Daniel C, Michea S, Abigail O, Kevin H, Paul H, & Sarah M, & Madison L

Save Empty Ink/Recycle Please save empty Print Cartridges and turn them in to Mrs. Graydon in the library. Our school earns money for them that is used to buy computer equipment for our classes. Thank you for your support in the past.

Teach Your Teen “Mind Mapping” to help with their studies

Minds work like websites. From one main idea, our brains tend to branch off to other ideas. Those are linked to still more ideas.

A great way to learn something new is to create a link to something you already know. Here, a mind map can be helpful.

How can your teen improve learning with a mind map? She’ll need a pencil, an eraser and a sheet of blank pa- per. In the center of the paper, have her write down the most important word or short phrase of the subject she’s learning. Circle it.

Around the circle, write other important words. Use overlapping circles or arrows to connect items. At this point, your teen should work quickly. Don’t analyze. The goal is to get as many ideas down on paper as possible.

Now edit. She might move some items close to related ideas. Color can help organize ideas.

Then work outward, adding new information to what she already knew. As the map expands, your teen will get more and more specific.

When it is finished, your teen will have a personal map of what she already knew with what she has learned.