BAMS NEWS
November 2018
A MESSAGE FROM PRINCIPAL LYMAN
Dear BAMS Parents and Families,
I hope you enjoy this format for our BAMS Newsletter. Although we are emailing and using our School Messenger software on a regular basis, we will send bi-monthly newsletters in addition to periodic email updates. It is important to me to send a regular message out regarding our important events and information regarding the direction of the school. I hope you will take the time to review the important information provided in these publications.
On Wednesday evening, the music department hosted our annual fall concert in the high school auditorium. I was incredibly impressed with the quality of the music. Our students worked very hard in preparation for the performance and I could not have been happier with the results. Our music program is strong and I am proud of the size and quality of the program. I would like to commend Mr. Goodemote and Ms. Wadsworth for their hard work and dedication to making the program so successful!
The 1st dance was a huge success! It was well attended and the students had a blast. While the students were dancing, a great group of parents stayed and participated in a Community Connections event. Parents were introduced to a fun "multiplayer solitaire" card game. It was quite an enjoyable evening, and many parents requested another Game Night in the future. The next "Game Night" is on February 8.
Please mark your calendar for the next upcoming BAMS Community Connections events:
COFFEE MORNINGS: 8-9am
* November 30 * January 25 * March 29 * April 26
PARENT SOCIALS: 7-9PM
* December 14 * February 8 * April 26 * May 31
December 14: Guest presenter (TBA)
February 8: "GAME NIGHT 2.0!"
The student leadership (under the direction of Rob O’Connor and Jessica Montenieri) ran our 1st pep rally in many years. Student Leadership recognized fall athletes, BEAMS participants and other student accomplishments. The students had a lot of fun- one of the most memorable activities was human hungry, hungry hippos!
BAMS had an excellent staff meeting on October 2 with local fire and police. Captain Mark Carignan, Chief Michael Bucossi and Assistant Chief Lenny Howard presented Supervisory-wide plans for responding to emergencies at school and in the community.
Finally, I would like to remind you that students will have the week of November 19 off to celebrate Thanksgiving. I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday!
Sincerely,
Keith Lyman- BAMS Principal
TEAM DRACO NEWS
Draco Social Studies has been focusing on the mid-term election and geography. We are presently creating learning goals and will be creating our Personal Learning Plans for our two years at BAMS. After we establish our PLP’s the focus will shift back to world geography.
Draco English is continuing to build our foundation of grammar skills and have mastered linking verbs and are moving on to helping verbs. The ability to identify verbs and verb phrases will allow us to move on to phrases and clauses, the key to unlocking sentence variety with simple, compound, and complex sentences.
In the Draco Science Lab we have completed our study of Thermal Energy and are making a connection to Fluid Dynamics and Pressure. Rest assured - it is still all about collisions...
Students in Draco math class are working to expand their knowledge of number systems. We have been focused on adding and subtracting integers and will continue our work with integers by exploring multiplication and division.
Draco Flag Contest Finalists
Zach E, Eben W, Sheala H, Ryan Y, Evie K, Anni K, Gabe J-B
Congratulations to Evie K, the winner of our Draco Flag Contest!
TEAM LEO NEWS
Below is a gallery of photos from our team toilet paper mummy challenge. Enjoy!
Science:
In science we have gained a solid understanding of atoms and molecules. Students have been observing how how molecular motion and thermal energy relate to to phase change. As we move into November, students will be investigating how gases behave, looking at the relationship between temperature, volume and pressure of gasses. All of this will serve as background understanding in order to uncover what drives our changing weather and climate.
English:
This year, our focus is on telling our stories, and listening to others while they do the same. We just finished our short story unit, which was based around learning the elements of a story (plot, theme, conflict, etc.) and how they enhance a story. We also took some time to answer the question: “How do we make older literature more accessible?” by translating Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven into modern text. For the next quarter, we will be focusing on our own memories and stories, and using The Giver as our guiding text for telling vivid stories and memories.
Math:
The end of first quarter also saw the end of our Shapes and Designs unit. We have since moved on to the Accentuate the Negative unit. This unit focuses on developing student understanding and skill with integers (positive and negative number relationships). We extend these concepts to rational numbers, a.k.a. Fractions and decimals, order of operations, as well as the commutative, associative, and distributive properties. Students on Team Leo came in with prior knowledge that varied pretty widely and, as a result, students are progressing through this unit at far different paces, with some students learning to apply their content knowledge in additional directions.
Social Studies:
In Social Studies we have just finished our unit on geography. Students also completed their first presentation. Presentations are an important part of the Social Studies curriculum and students will have several more opportunities to present as the year goes on. We are moving into our unit on economics. We will begin with basic ideas about supply and demand and then move to a unit on Fair Trade chocolate. We will look at how geography, economics, and government all influence the way cocao beans are grown and harvested, including the use of child slave labor in Africa. We will also study the effect of cocoa plantations on the rainforest and the environment.
TEAM TAURUS NEWS
Overall Taurus Team News
Taurkey Day is coming! November 15th! The students will be participating in a team celebration and sharing traditional harvest foods. Each advisory will be contributing to the shared experience. More information will be sent home next week.
Bullseye Awards - given to students who have set an outstanding example of the social contract and being a positive student team member.
- Alexis A
- Lily B
- Gabby B
- Ava C
- Madyson D
- Chloe E
- Marcella G
- Ayoub L
- Sage P
- Skyla R
- Brinly W
- Katly Z
Core Information
In Mathematics students are discovering mathematical patterns related to linear and non-linear relationships. Students are learning through experiences and by doing investigations, some of the essential parts of Algebra. Students can identify a linear relationship from a data table of values, an equation or from a graph. Students will also be able to identify non-linear relationships from a table, equation or graph as well.
Science class began the year discovering the characteristics of living things, then how they are organized based on specific attributes. We now are looking at ecology and how organisms interact with each other and their habitats.
Social Studies: The students just finished essays in which they compared the account of Columbus’s expeditions from three different sources. They were using quotes from the books to support their statements, and properly citing those quotes. This week and next week we will be examining the political process and elections.
In English Language Arts, students have completed three units of study: appropriate email writing, figurative language, and narrative short stories. At the end of the first quarter, they were completing a short personal narrative piece using figurative language and plot structures from the narrative short stories. Students will be moving into more complex critical thinking skills and creative writing using fairy tales as their models.
In Ms. Artessa’s small group math class students are finishing a unit on statistics and data. We just completed a study of the United States Census as part of the population and sampling portion of our studies. When we finish up this unit we will begin our study of linear and non-linear relationships.
TEAM CANIS NEWS
Team NewsTeam Canis successfully hosted the first dance of the year this past Friday. The dance was Halloween themed, well attended, and raised money for Canis events and field trips later this year. We also just finished the Yankee Candle Fundraiser. Thanks to all who participated in helping us raise close to $1,500.
Science -
In science, students wrapped up our ecology unit by researching an invasive species. Students then took their research to produce a variety of projects with the goal of educating others about threats to our native organisms. Throughout, our ecology unit, students have investigated how the living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) parts of an ecosystem interact and how changes to these parts affect the system as a whole. Up next, we will take a closer look at how energy is transformed by plants and animals in their need survive. We will examine the cell structures and processes involved, review chemical reactions, along with designing and performing fair experiments using yeast.
English - In English, we recently finished novels that focused on young people with disabilities. During that unit, students focused on writing reflection journals and discussing the characters’ challenges. Now, students are working diligently on writing a literary analysis essay focused on the theme of the novel they read. b
Math - In math, we are being introduced to irrational numbers, through the concepts of the area and side length of squares. Students will be doing work with right triangles and squares, leading them to discovery and exploration of the Pythagorean Theorem. Students are being exposed to new vocabulary that is essential to their understanding of how and why the Pythagorean Theorem works and how irrational side lengths can be solved for and communicated. Within the next two weeks, students will use the theorem to find the missing side length of right triangles.
Social Studies - In Social Studies, we are currently researching political parties to be ready for the upcoming elections. We took a quiz to see where our views placed us on the political spectrum, found the party platforms, and compared the two. Students tried to find candidates who matched their ideologies. When the election ends, we will go back to studying history in the Americas, focusing on colonization.
UFO TEAM NEWS
Ms. Linny and Mr. Brewer's Skills Block:
Students in WSESU, including Mr. Brewer and Ms. Linney's skills block classes, were lucky enough to attend a talk given by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, a graphic novelist who lives in western Massachusetts. This is the annual school-event sponsored by the Brattleboro Literary Festival in mid-October.
Ms. Frederick- Tech and Design:
8th graders in Tech and Design class were charged with designing small structures to
serve a classroom need. After interviewing their 'client', they proceeded with the design process, first building prototypes and then doing lots of measuring before cutting and assembling their projects. Some of the useful things they built included tabletop desks, cubbie system, easel stand, bookshelf, coat hanger and hat rack. Throughout the process, they engaged in team-building, problem-solving and hands-on learning, as they met with several challenges along the way. It was a true learning experience for all of us, and the teachers were really impressed with their persistence and hard work!
Mr. Johnson's Spanish Classes
Day of the Dead activities in Spanish classes in the last week of October: making decorations for the classroom (paper flowers and skulls), making and enjoying skull cookies, Mexican hot chocolate and face painting.
ATTENDANCE NEWS- From Ms.Petrovsky, Registrar
Many thanks to the parents and guardians who call the school to report an absence or tardy. When a student is marked absent and we have no word from home, our concern is for your child’s safety; we want to be sure they are safe and accounted for. There are three ways to report attendance at BAMS;
- the attendance hotline number is 802-451-3501
- my direct line is 802-451-3533
- my email is dpetrovsky@wsesu.org
You can leave a message at any time to report an absence or tardy. If you are planning a family trip or vacation it is very important to notify me, as well as your student’s teachers.
Here are a few tips for success
- Good attendance starts the night before. Children need about 9-11 hours of sleep according to the National Sleep Foundation. When the lights go out, so should the cell phones, video games and computers.
- Establish positive evening routines that allow time for your child to complete homework. Being prepared can help lessen any anxieties when it comes to attending school the next day.
- Don’t promote or tolerate your child being absent from school. Talk to your child about the importance of attending school every day. Attendance is an important life skill that will help your child graduate from high school/college and keep a job.
- If your child is missing 2 or 3 days of school per month, he or she is already on the wrong track. This will end up totaling more than one month of lost school by the end of the year.
- Finally, don’t forget—sending your child to school is required by law.
NEWS & TIPS FROM OUR HEALTH OFFICE
Vermont Health Connect is gearing up for open enrollment. Help students access care! 2019 open enrollment runs from November 1st to December 15th, 2018. Their plan comparison tool will launched on October 16th. For more information, click here VHC Landing Page or go to info.healthconnect.vermont.gov
BAMS WINTER SPORTS
BAMS WINTER SPORTS will start on MONDAY NOVEMBER 26th with an orientation meeting for all interested student-athletes in the GYM from 3:30-4:15----PRACTICES will start on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27th. (Schedule to follow)
IMPORTANT DATES
To view the BAMS calendar, click here.
Monday, November 12, Veteran's Day-No School
Thursday, November 15, 9-10:45 am, Draco Field Trip, Memorial Park Skating Rink
Friday, November 16, 7:30-8:25 am, BAMS Jazz Band Rehearsal
Friday, November 16-17,District Fall Festival, Hosted at BUHS and BAMS
Monday, November 19, 10-11 am, Vermont Foodbank Drop @ The BUHS Student Parking Lot
Monday, November 19-20, Teacher In-Service- No School
Monday, November 19, 7-8:30 pm, BUHS #6 School Board Meeting, Cusick Conference Room
Wednesday, November 21-23rd, Thanksgiving Recess- No School
Friday, November 30, 7:30-8:25 am, BAMS Jazz Band Rehearsal
Friday, November 30, 8-9 am, BAMS Community Connections, Coffee Morning
Saturday, December 1, New England Music Festival Auditions, Hartford High School
Monday, December 3, District Winter Festival Auditions, Chester, VT
Monday, December 3, 10-11 am, Vermont Foodbank Drop @ The BUHS Student Parking Lot
Friday, December 7, 7:30-8:25 am, BAMS Jazz Band Rehearsal
Friday, December 14, 7:30-8:25 am, BAMS Jazz Band Rehearsal
Friday, December 14, 7-9 pm, Team Taurus Dance, BAMS Multipurpose Room
Friday, December 14, 7-9 pm, BAMS Community Connections Social, BAMS Cafe
Monday, December 17, 10-11 am, Vermont Foodbank Drop @ The BUHS Student Parking Lot
Monday, December 17, 7-8:30 pm, BUHS #6 School Board Meeting, Cusick Conference Room
Thursday, December 20, BEAMS Session 2 Ends
Friday, December 21, 7:30-8:25 am, BAMS Jazz Band Rehearsal
Friday, December 21, 12:30 pm- Early Release
Monday, December 24-31- December Recess
Monday, January 1, New Years Day- No School