Spartans in the Middle

Iowa Assessments enter math portion

2012-02-22T07:06:00.000-06:00

As the Iowa Assessments enter the math phase of the testing students will have two options to choose from, one dealing with adversity and one with effort. Good luck kids, do work!

IA Assessments Day 3 - Science

2012-02-17T07:30:00.003-06:00

Good luck to the Spartans today on their science Iowa Assessment - we have the utmost confidence in you and your ability to put forth you maximum effort.

Iowa Assessment Schedule

2012-02-08T07:53:00.000-06:00

We will be conducting goal meetings this Friday as part of your Advisor Meetings. Please remind students to check the list on the walls to ensure they are where they need to be.

Wednesday, Feb 15 –Reading I
Thursday, Feb 16 –Reading II
Friday, Feb 17 – Science
Wednesday, Feb 22 - Math I
Thursday, Feb 23 - Math II

*We are not testing Monday, Feb 20^th because we do not have school and didn’t want to test Tuesday, Feb 21^st coming off of a three day weekend.

West Monona’s Collaborative Efforts in Anti-bullying Measures

2012-02-06T12:32:00.000-06:00

Throughout the news media, both nationally and locally, there has been coverage of different bullying issues, ranging of hazing to bullying and harassment. Even prior to all of the publicity and attention to the most recent incidences in the media, the West Monona Community School District was taking very proactive steps towards making the process of reporting bullying more conducive for students and more available as well.

During the month of September, the West Monona Community Schools administration, particularly grades 6-12, began seeking ways to make reporting bullying more conducive to students and to keep better documentation of bullying and harassment reports and founding of those reports. They sought out what other schools were doing and through this process the administration combined some of what they felt were the best reporting forms and created the form you can see at the following link: WMCSD Bullying Reporting Form. This form provides a detailed explanation of what bullying is and isn’t, as well as plenty of opportunities for students to provide instances of bullying/harassment that may or may not be occurring within the school.

As a school we have given our students lessons on how to fill this form our and have practiced filling the form out so we are sure students can access the form and fill it out correct if necessary. This form is available on our main school webpage under “student resources” and whenever a form is submitted it sends an email alert to the administrator of that particular building.

While the school has been working on this most recent addition to our bullying/harassment prevention, it is critical to understand that schools by themselves cannot end bullying/harassment, it is a community effort. The school has been very active in this process and the discussion below is a detailed description of past and present efforts to combat bullying/harassment at West Monona Schools and in our greater community.

By definition, the West Monona Middle School (WMMS) defines bullying through the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, as “a person is bullied when he or she is exposed , repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty defending himself or herself” (Olweus, 2012). The WMMS handbook (p. 12, 2011) outlines that one or more of the following elements must be present as well:

· Imbalance of power: The bully can be older, bigger, stronger, more verbally adept, higher up on the social ladder, of a different race, or of the opposite sex. Sheer numbers of kids banded together to bully can create the imbalance.

· Intent to harm: The means to inflict emotional and/or physical pain, expects the action to hurt, and takes pleasure in witnessing the hurt.

· Threat of further aggression: Both the bully and the victim know that bullying can and probably will occur again.

· Terror: Bullying is systematic violence used to intimidate and maintain dominance. Once terror is created, the bully can act without fear of recrimination or retaliation. The victim is rendered so powerless that s/he is likely to fight back or tell anyone about the bullying.

The student handbook goes on to explain the definition of assault and harassment and lists examples of these. These definitions as well as the WMMS Anti-Bullying Rules as applied from Olweus Bullying Prevention System and as seen below are all explained and discussed in detail at the beginning of the school year for all students.

WEST MONONA MIDDLE SCHOOL ANTI-BULLYING RULES

1. We will not bully other students.

2. We will help students who are bullied.

3. We will make it a point to include ALL students who are easily left out.

4. When we know someone is being bullied, we will report to a teacher or an adult at home.

The creation and implementation of the above-mentioned definitions and anti-bullying rules were completed for the 2011-12 school year as a proactive step towards decreasing the incidents of bullying and harassment. The entire West Monona Community School District has been active for over the past year and a half in researching bullying/harassment in our school community, below is a small sampling of some of the efforts of our students and staff.

December 2010 – Results from student surveys were analyzed during December by staff where they identified positives and concerns as a result of the survey answers. Concerns will served as a launching point for focused efforts in our anti-bullying efforts in planning and implementation.
December 2010 – Administrators and NWAEA attended Positive Behavior Intervention Supports conference to combat bullying through teaching positive behaviors to students.
January 2011 – Began implementation of Boomerang mentoring group with the help of HS/MS Counselor Mrs. Cindy King, Cherie Hardison & ISU Extension Office
February 2011 - Initial professional development with Jill Helm/Tiffany Schneider at MS/HS group defining bullying, discussing the different types and corresponding levels of severity, outlining Olweus program elements to the staff, potential school rules for bullying, and the bullying circle to include the roles of bystanders.
March 2011 - Neighborhood Networking Grant during Parent-Teacher Conferences with stations that educated children on the dangers of abuse and bullying.
March 2011 – Hosted the Bullying Prevention Seminar entitled, “When Girls Hurt Girls” conducted through the Extension office
April 2011 - Scheduled part of all-day professional development with goals of 1) defining bullying 2) Discuss Parent/Community Members role in the Anti-Bullying Group and 3) Review Questionnaire Results
June 2011 – Student handbook revisions outline the bullying/harassment policy, anti-bullying rules, bullying reporting procedures, and bullying investigation procedures. Components of the consequences of bullying include discipline and also teaching of social skills with the school counselor and administration.
August 2011 – Implementation of Olweus Anti-Bullying Curriculum during 9^th period Advisor periods in the middle school so students are more aware of what bullying/harassment is, what it is not, how to intervene and be an advocate rather than just a bystander, and how to prevent and report bullying, this has resulted in some small group counseling sessions with students to provide them all of the necessary tools to become a strong advocate for students.
October 2011 – Creation and activation of online bullying/harassment reporting form up and running, linked to school’s website to provide an anonymous manner for students to use when they may or may not feel comfortable speaking to school officials about their specific concern.

Spartans in the Middle: Iowa Assessments– Mathematics Format

2012-02-03T08:48:00.000-06:00

Iowa Assessments – Math Test Format

Over the last few years West Monona had limited the number of tests the students have taken with the goal of students putting their maximum effort into the tests they take. Currently, West Monona Middle School students take the Reading Comprehension, Mathematics, and Science. The remainder of the article will go into detail about the different parts of the test and how students have been prepared for these types of tests; the information below has been adapted from the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills: Directions for Administration.

The Mathematics test is administered in two 30 minute segments and includes word problems that require one or more steps to solve, with between 65 and 75 total questions in length. The real world stories that are in this test may serve as the background for three or four math questions, but each question may require a different skill in order to solve. This test requires students to demonstrate an understanding of math ideas, relationships, and visual representations. Additionally the test focuses on number sense and operations, algebraic patterns and connections, data analysis, probability, and statistics, geometry, and measurement.

Preparation: Students have been through all of this material obviously prior to the test, but our math teachers have been practicing and will continue to put students in situation that mirrors the test. Additionally the math teachers have utilized the Skills Iowa Assessment Center to create Iowa Assessment-like assessments that serve as excellent practice for the real Iowa Assessment in the past and also have practice Iowa Assessments to administer to the students. Students have had many different examples of story problems throughout their instruction, including different story problems with data, even in classes besides math.

The West Monona School District puts forth its maximum effort to increase the likelihood of our students to be successful in school and after they graduate. Student performance on the Iowa Assessments is not only a reflection of the school, but to a greater effect their entire communities involved, including alumni. As leaders in the community, and as citizens of the West Monona Community, please encourage and support your students in every way, shape or form as they prepare for the Iowa Assessments.

Be sure to follow more news, events, and celebrations on the Middle School Blog at http://spartansinthemiddle.blogspot.com/ and on twitter @spartansNmiddle, you can also search West Monona news on twitter by using #westmonona.

Iowa Assessments– Reading Comprehension Format

2012-01-27T14:28:00.000-06:00

As you read last week in this column, the Middle School staff and students are hard at work in a variety of interventions and instructional methods preparing for the Iowa Assessments. Last week the discussion was centered on the different perceptions of the Iowa Assessments and what is a myth and what is the reality of the testing situation. In the next three weeks, I will be highlighting each of the three Iowa Assessments subtests; reading comprehension, mathematics and science. This week’s focus turns to the nuts and bolts of the Iowa Assessments Reading Comprehension and the format of the testing process.

The Reading Comprehension test is broken into two sections, each of them 30 minutes long. There are between 44 and 46 questions, depending on which grade level your student is in. The reading comprehension tests require students to read several passages that can range between a few lines to a full page. These passages include different types of reading, including fiction, fables, tales, poetry, interviews, diaries, biographical sketches, science and social studies materials, and other nonfiction. Nearly 2/3 of the questions ask the students to generalize about what they have read or draw inferences.

Preparation: Students have been exposed to a wide-variety of reading passages in their reading classes and in their reading interventions. Teachers have used over 47 different informational and nonfiction passages during the school year in their reading classes, as well as around 10 passages each from the following categories: biography/autobiography, poetry, letters, interviews, global stories including fables and customs, and social science, sports and fine arts. This varied background of reading passages as well as using the Question-Answer-Relationship instructional strategies utilized over 82% of the time through weekly instructional strategies.

Jeremiah McCarthy Declared Champion in National Geographic Geography Bee

2012-01-27T07:30:00.000-06:00

Article by Mr. Mark Mussack, Social Studies Instructor

The final rounds of the annual West Monona Geography Bee, sponsored by National Geographic magazine were held in the Calvin C. Ooten auditorium of the high school on Friday, January 2oth. After several rounds of very challenging questions, 8^th grader Jeremiah McCarthy was declared the winner and new school champion. Jeremiah has already taken a qualifying exam from National Geographic Magazine which will be sent to Washington, D.C. for scoring to determine if he is eligible to compete in state-wide competition in Des Moines in March.

2^nd place winner in the competition was 4^th grader Janie Koenig, and 3^rd place went to E.J. Nagel, a 6^th grader at West Monona Middle school. Also competing in the earlier rounds of the final competition were; Joshua Heather (4^th grade), Jada Barker and Dylan Kuhlman (5^th grade), Dalton Teeters (6^th grade), Seth Holverson and Nic Hartman (7^th grade), and Amy Humrichouse (8^th grade). Congratulations to all finalists and best of luck to Jeremiah from all students, staff and administration at West Monona.

Mr. Mark Mussack (Geography Bee coordinator)

Mrs. Cindy Gries (Assistant coordinator)

Iowa Assessment prep ongoing

2012-01-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

While the Iowa Assessments, formerly the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, are only once a year, the preparation for these is ongoing for our Middle School. Among other things students are currently working through practice exams to familiarize themselves with the format of the test and answer sheets, as well as the new style of the test. This Friday the middle school students begin their goal setting process in their advisor groups using the goal sheet seen below.

They will fill this sheet out with their performance from last year included already for them, unless they were not in the district last year. One of the things to stress to students is that if they earned a 41 percentile last year, and they earn a 41 percentile this year, they made one year's growth. If they are able to increase from a 41 to a 61, they not only made one year's academic growth, but essentially out grew or out performed 20% of their peers across the state of Iowa and/or nation.

As a community it is critical to encourage our students to perform to their absolute best ability and work hard at the assessment but also understand it is one measure of our students' abilities. WM Middle School utilizes many other measures of assessment that allow us to measure student growth over time and student achievement over time. Parents/guardians please review these goal sheets with your students and if students bring this goal sheet back signed they will be able to take off one pink slip or one tardy, or bank it for the end of 2nd trimester.

Iowa Assessments: Myth versus Reality

2012-01-22T17:09:00.000-06:00

The start of the New Year means many things, and for the West Monona Middle School it means a renewed focus on the Iowa Assessments (known formerly as the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills-ITBS), as they will be administered from Feb 15-Feb 24. West Monona Middle School students will be tremendously prepared for the state testing in February as a result of the outstanding efforts their teachers put forth every week in their classrooms. The research- and evidence-based teaching strategies our teachers use provide the communities students with all of the tools necessary to be successful on the Iowa Assessments. The New Year provides our teachers the opportunity to remind our students of the format of the test, the timed nature of the testing, and to decrease the anxiety level going into the test. Much of January and February is looked at like the practices before a big game, the students have been learning all of the strategies they will need in order to be successful, and in February they put it to the test.

Over the last few weeks you have seen the tremendous efforts the Middle School staff and students have been making through a multitude of different efforts from communication to reading interventions. Your students are prepared, and over the next few weeks we will spend some time explaining the Iowa Assessments format, how it has changed over the years, and what it means for our schools and this community. This week’s focus is on the myths of the Iowa Assessment versus the reality of the testing.

Myth: Students spend all week taking every test.

Reality: West Monona Middle School students only take the Reading Comprehension, Math, and Science tests as a part of their testing. Our staff does a phenomenal job tracking our students’ progress through a variety of means that have been well documented. The staff that serves your students tracks their progress through daily work, formative assessments, project- based learning and a variety of other methods, and therefore it is not necessary to overload your students with testing that week. With that being said, it is critical that our students are in school those days to keep their learning environment as normal and comfortable as possible.

Myth: The scores and tests do not matter.

Reality: The Iowa Test results are far reaching and the above statement could not be farther from the truth. The Iowa Assessments testing are used in dozens of ways including:

determining grade level competency
placement in Reading and Math Academies (interventions for student needing extra assistance)
use in career and educational planning
as a practice test for the ACT and SAT, not to mention future testing in college
as a communication to the Federal and State governments as to the student’s ability and subsequently the school’s ability to meet the standards put forth by both government levels, which could ultimately lead to a loss of money and potentially loss of local control
as a tool to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our students and curriculum instruction

Myth: The Iowa Tests are a waste of time.

Reality: As documented above, they are a great tool for students to test their abilities with, and as a practice device for their future. Putting effort into a one-time event in life will not just happen in school. As adults we can think of many times where a one-time interview, or meeting, or appointment had long-lasting effects on additional choices. The Iowa Assessments provides the students this opportunity as practice for their future. Through informal questioning of several students in the middle school, they explained that they actually enjoy the comparison of their abilities versus other students in their state and nation.

The West Monona School District puts forth its maximum effort to increase the likelihood of our students to be successful in school and after they graduate. Student performance on the Iowa Assessments is not only a reflection of the school, but to a greater effect their entire communities involved, including alumni. As leaders in the community, and as citizens of the West Monona Community, please encourage and support your students in every way, shape or form as they prepare for the Iowa Assessments.

PPEL vote on February 7th, 2012

2012-01-22T16:42:00.002-06:00

PPEL vote on February 7th, 2012

The West Monona Community School District has a Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) that is used to keep our facilities and buildings in good condition. It has been in place for a long time but needs to be renewed every ten years. The current levy will expire on June 30, 2012 if it is not renewed by our district’s voters. It is now a combination of property tax and income surtax, and we are proposing the renewed levy to continue as a combination of property tax and income surtax. More information on PPEL can be found here

Iowa Assessments Scheduled

2012-01-17T07:07:00.001-06:00

The Iowa Assessments (known formerly as the ITBS and ITED) will be administered with the corresponding subject areas as noted below at West Monona Middle School.

Wednesday, Feb 15th - Reading I
Thursday, Feb 16th - Reading II
Friday, Feb 17th - Science
Wednesday, Feb 22 - Math I
Thursday, Feb 23 - Math II

*We are not testing Monday, Feb 20^th because we do not have school and didn’t want to test Tuesday, Feb 21^st coming off of a three day weekend.*

Students will be taking their Iowa Assessments within their normal school schedule with their regular math, science, and/or reading teacher to assist in comfort and familiarity of the testing environment.

Please also note in your calendars that the following week of February 27th is the week of Parent Teacher Conferences on Feb 28 and March 1.

Reading for Success at WM Middle School

2012-01-09T16:06:00.000-06:00

The West Monona Middle School students received a tremendous early holiday surprise when Reading For Success, with financial support from Stangel Pharmacy, Williams and Company, WMEA, Onawa Women’s Club, Fiesta Foods, and the Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS), as they were given $5.00 to spend towards the purchase of a new book from a Scholastic Book order. The students got to choose a book of their own individual interest, one they can keep at home and read at the leisure. This is a tremendous opportunity for students and families to increase their own libraries, but Reading For Success made another sizeable contribution, but this time to the 6^th grade classroom library. Reading For Success provided updated and hard bound copies of the 6^th grade reading curriculum to replace the worn out softcover editions the school had previously.

The West Monona Middle School is extremely thankful for the continued positive support of our students and their continued efforts to improve and making reading a lifelong activity.

Reading Focus Continues at the Middle School

2012-01-09T12:52:00.000-06:00

The focus on improved reading comprehension is still very evident at the West Monona Middle School, regardless of the fact that the school improved their scores so they are no longer a School In Need of Assistance. Mrs. Holiday’s reading class focused on improving their fluency and comprehension during the final weeks before the holiday break and celebrated their accomplishments with a pizza party in the class.

Their goal was to create a holiday paper chain from one end of the classroom to the other. Students could earn a link to the chain whenever they reaching their reading goal on a particular story. This could be earned by reading and re-reading a story as a part of the Read Naturally reading program. Several students surpassed their goals and even advanced to a higher reading level within the program. This was a combination of 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders within Mrs. Holiday’s classroom.

Mrs. Holiday and her students are to be commended for the continual focus on improving their skills, even leading up to a holiday break in the calendar.

WM 6th Grade Google It Up!!

2011-12-12T11:08:00.003-06:00

6th grade students collaborate using Google Docs to compare and contrast world religions in their Geography class at West Monona Middle School.

Just as most of the world is using Google to search for their selected topic, movie time, or vacation destination; the West Monona 6th grade Geography class used Google for a different purpose this past week. Mrs. Gries 6th grade Geography class was working a group project which required them to work as a collaborative team and compare and contrast the similarities and differences amongst the world religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.

Google comes into play because using the Google Doc technology all of the students work together simultaneously on one document. They each can type at the same time and the document updates in real time and they can see each other's contributions. This is not the first time this technology has been utilized within the middle school, as they have used it within their 6th grade science classes and use it for their 7/8 grade language arts classes as well. As more and more technology is available for our students, the collaborative and team work situations for them to learn to learn in the world in which they live will only increase in frequency.

Mrs. Gries, 6th Grade Geography teacher at West Monona Middle School, monitors student collaboration during a recent lesson using Google Docs to facilitate teamwork as part of a compare and contrast assignment.

Middle School Student Council sponsors dance to fight hunger

2011-12-12T10:47:00.000-06:00

West Monona middle school students enter the dance and give their contributions to the food drive upon their arrival.

Nothing cures the winter blues like a middle school dance. A normally busy high school commons on a Friday night during the winter, usually filled with wrestling and basketball fans supporting their local teams was turned into a dance-dance-revolution for West Monona middle school students. Their gracious chaperones, Mrs. King, Mrs. Brewer, Mrs. Hillyer, and Mr. Braden hosted the middle school students as they sponsored a dance in conjunction with Mrs. Mann and the high school Future Career Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) food drive. When the students arrived at the dance they had the choice of paying $3.00 for admission or bringing 2 cans of non-perishable food towards the FCCLA food drive. The proceeds from the dance will go towards purchasing reading books for the Middle School students as part of a 2^nd Trimester reward trip based on no late homework or on arriving to class on time.

Middle School is Rolling Along…

2011-12-12T10:09:00.000-06:00

The school year at West Monona Middle School is rolling right along, and at the end of every Trimester the middle school takes a rewards trip based on each student’s responsibility, behavior, and citizenship throughout the previous trimester. The most recent reward trip took 79 students and a few chaperones to Ida Grove and the Skate Palace. The students skated until they could not skate anymore, for several of the students it was their first experience skating. For lunch the students enjoyed Pizza Hut pizza, both the pizza and the skating are made possible by the generous donations and patronage to the Middle School Tailgate during the football season.

8th Graders take a break from their skating to pose for a picture.

Middle school students enjoy the skating during their 1st Trimester Reward Trip at the Skate Palace in Ida Grove, IA.

WM Middle School a SINA school no longer...

2011-11-16T22:01:00.005-06:00

West Monona Middle School a SINA school no longer...

During the 2009-10 school year West Monona Middle School was designated as a “school in need of assistance” by the state of Iowa. The Iowa Department of Education explains this designation as follows from their website (www.educateiowa.gov - direct link http://bit.ly/oAMCJn )...

Under NCLB, public school districts and public schools must report the academic progress of all students in grades 3 to 8 and 11 and students by subgroups and their test participation rates in the subject areas of reading and mathematics. Public elementary and middle school average daily attendance (ADA) rates and public high school graduation rates are the additional indicators for public school districts.

If a school does not meet the annual AYP state participation goals or state Annual Measurable Objectives (AMO) in reading or mathematics assessment in either the “all students” group or any one of the subgroups for two consecutive years, it is designated as a school in need of assistance, which is also referred to as SINA.

Once designated in this manner the West Monona Middle School quickly got to the business of improving our students abilities in Reading comprehension. Since WM MS was designated as a school in need of assistance based on reading comprehension, they jumped into improving this area with both feet. During the next two years, it was evident the reforms and changes made by staff and administration and the incredible support of the school board were effective as the Middle School is no longer listed as a SINA school by the state of Iowa.

It is especially impressive that while the WM Middle School has risen above their pressure laden environment during the high-stakes SINA process to improve student’s abilities in reading comprehension, but also make innovations with dedicated faculty in math and science, as well as other areas. They have done this as peer school districts in the surrounding area have fallen into the designation of a School In Need of Assistance, complete lists are posted below. So while some schools saw their test scores fall and not meet state of Iowa trajectories, the WM MS scores rose during this time. The WM MS staff, students, parents, school board, and community should be EXTREMELY proud of to be a Spartan and to be associated with our school district.

While the Middle School is no longer on the SINA list, as a result of that experience they are continuing to seek student-centered, research based, and active learning environments for our communities’ students to be successful. Please pass on your congratulations to the staff, students, and yourselves for the outstanding accomplishment our school district learned of this past summer. It is important to celebrate our successes and highlights of being apart of the Spartan Family.

Current SINA Schools 2011-12

Current Title I SINA Schools 2011-12

Thank you WM Community!!!

2011-11-02T07:55:00.000-05:00

A huge thank you to the West Monona Community for their partnership in Tuesday, November 1st School Improvement Advisory Committee meeting held at the Onawa Public Library at 7pm. Everyone from teachers, parents, business persons, students, and administrators gathered in one place to brainstorm, reflect, and collaborate on how we can learn from what we are doing and brainstorm improved and alternative ways to meet the needs of our ever-changing community and students. The experience was very valuable for administrators as were were able to interact and share ideas and comments with parents, students, teachers, and business persons as a team all at the same table at the same time. The school is extremely appreciative of the time and talent of the community members who took their valued time away from their families to become part of the West Monona Community Team as we aim to move our school forward and to the front of the pack.

FEMA Assistance for Monona County Information

2011-10-27T16:06:00.000-05:00

The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) visited with school officials today and wanted to pass on the following information as follows. There is a Disaster Recovery Center run by FEMA will be open beginning Friday, October 28, 2011 at the Public Safety Building at 909 7th Street, Onawa, IA on Monday-Friday from 9am to 7pm and on Saturday from 9am to 1pm. You must register before visiting the Disaster Recovery Center by calling 1-800-621-3362 or TTY 1-800-462-7587 or by going online at www.disasterassistance.gov, and additional assistance can be found at www.fema.gov

FEMA information pdf - Disaster Recovery Center info

FEMA General Assistance Information pdf

Parent Presentation during Healthy Choices Week

2011-10-22T14:14:00.000-05:00

Greetings

I want to take this opportunity to invite you to attend a seminar provided by Barb Dreyer on October 26^th at 7:00pm in the WM High School Auditorium as she speaks about the dangers of playing what is commonly referred to as the “choking game.” The middle school administration, teachers, nurses, and guidance counselors feel this is an extremely important seminar to due have heard students talk about this activity and have concerns related to it. You can view a flyer here but have also included some information below that explains the parent seminar but also details about the seminar the WM Middle School students will hear on October 27^th in the morning.

The following information is provided from the speaker Barb Dreyer, who son was killed in 2007 while playing the choking game near the Quad City area in eastern Iowa.

· Factual information about the dangers of the choking game.

What it does to the body and try to help kids make the connection between action and consequence
Try to put a positive spin where we can and tell kids that knowledge is power
Tell them that they have the power to make healthy decisions and after learning what they learn in the presentation they now have the power to help others - friends, family etc.
What they really like is that we tell them they can possibly teach the adults in their lives something new and that they can possibly save a life by passing this information on to others.
There are some emotionally charged parts where we talk about consequences (ranging from the possibility of broken bones, heart attack, coma and death). That is an unfortunate reality and it needs to be discussed. We try to get the teens to look outside themselves for a bit to see how their actions can affect those around them (how would you feel or your friends feel if the person sitting next to you never showed up to school again, etc.)

· Some of the facts we focus on is that every time a person participates in the choking game, millions of brain cells die. Brain cells don't grow back so the damage builds up. Eventually, the damage becomes so severe that it results in loss of intelligence, strokes, behavioral problems, personality changes, etc. We tell the kids that injury and possible death can occur the very first time they try it. We tell them that it has an addictive component and we tell them what they can do if they have trouble stopping.

· Communication is the key to stopping this. It's our hope to provide others with information so that an informed, healthy decision can be made.

If you have any questions regarding this seminar please contact me at the Middle School at 712-433-9098. Thank you as always for your continued positive support of West Monona Community Schools.

Healthy Choices/Red Ribbon Week

2011-10-18T11:35:00.000-05:00

Healthy Choices/Red Ribbon Week will be celebrated in the Middle School next week, October 24-27, with multiple opportunities for students to be involved. The days listed below is just a beginning.

Monday- The Redder the Better (Dress in Red)

Tuesday- Team up for Fitness (Favorite sports team)
Wednesday- Take a Stand Lend a Hand (Crazy color day)
Thursday- Peace Out to Drugs (Wear peace signs, 70’s style)

P/T Conferences just around the corner

2011-10-18T08:49:00.001-05:00

Reminder to Middle School families that the 2011 Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences are next week, Oct 25 and 27th at West Monona Middle School from 4pm-8pm on each day. If you have questions/concerns please do not hesitate to call the Middle School at 712-433-9098

SpartansNMiddle Launches

2011-10-17T18:27:00.000-05:00

This will be the first post in what will be a weekly updates regarding the ongoings at the West Monona Middle School, but also a connection between the middle school and our greater school community. Through this site I hope to provide timely and substantitive feedback to our community, links to access more information, twitter updates and positive and consistent news about the tremendous acheivements at West Monona Middle School academic acheivement, extra-curriculars, activities, and many more.

This communication will be a learning experience for all individuals involved, but the goal will be to build a following amongst this blog, twitter feeds, and maybe even a facebook page to build a positive groundswell of support for our community and look to this blog as the information source for YOUR Spartan Middle School. Duplicates of these posts will also make their way to the newspapers for our print media, but the most timely news will be able to be accessed here as well as pictures of our events.

For example, did you know that as of October 17, 2011, over 54% of the middle school students have received a written positive postcard home. 54% of our student is 75 students, and 98 total postcards have been sent out as more and more students are receiving multiple postcards.

I have included many links on this page and will be adding more and more as time goes on so please stop back and visit frequently as we add calendars and various other items of information.