Ben Reifel Middle School
https://www.facebook.com/brmsbison/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/brmsbisonEmail: SFSDBRMSOffice@k12.sd.us
Website: https://www.sf.k12.sd.us/ben-reifel/home
Location: 6700 East 41st Street, Sioux Falls, SD, USA
Phone: 605-371-4155
From the Principal's Desk
Ben Reifel Families, thank you for taking the time to attend conferences and meet with your teachers and students’ teachers. Open lines of communication are an essential component of a student’s learning and success. When parents, students, and teachers work together, great things can happen. We appreciate that you support the teachers and are involved in your students’ education. Conferences can be a great time to connect with your student’s teachers; however, please know that conferences don’t have to be the only time to connect with staff. Parents are always welcome to come in, email, and/or call. We invite you to be part of what is going on at Ben Refiel and with your student’s education. We value the partnership that we have with all our families and truly believe you are an integral part of the Ben Reifel Family.
A special thank you to Ben Reifel PTO and all the volunteers that provided the meals for our staff during conferences. We are very appreciative of the continued support that the PTO gives the Ben Reifel Family and community and our staff.
It always amazes me how fast the school year flies by. Amazingly enough, we only have a little over a quarter of school remaining for the 2021-2022 school year. For the remainder of the school year and beyond, we would like to challenge students and parents on the existing thought process of the purpose of grades. Unfortunately, many of our students and some parents get caught up with grades rather than learning. I propose this question for you to think about, “Do we want our students to be fixated on grades or on learning?” Do we want our students to be life-long learners and does concentrating on a grade facilitate the idea of life-long learning? I think most of us would say that concentrating on grades means that we have a product in mind rather than learning, which has no end.
One way that we can shift away from the fixation on grades and move the focus to learning is through the daily language that we use with our students. Rather than focusing on “How did you do on the test today?” and “How are your grades?”, change the format to “What did you learn today?”, “What did you learn today that excited you to learn more about the topic?”, or “How did you improve your proficiency level or demonstrate your learning in (pick a class)?” Do your students hear you pulling for them through your questions about their learning, or do they hear that their primary purpose is grades? Ultimately, grades should be a form of communication and they should communicate what the student has learned and not what they have earned. Learning should motivate and have no end! Remember that our words and questions have a very powerful message, and we want that message to be about learning and student success.
We hope you and your student have a wonderful remainder of the school year. Spring will be here before we know it. Please let us know if there is anything that we can do to help your student to be as successful as possible. Take care!
March is National Nutrition Month
Encouraging healthy nutrition for children is an important role of parents and guardians!
Benefits of Healthy Eating
- Promotes optimal growth and development of children
- Improves cholesterol, blood pressure and reduces the risk of developing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes
- Reduces risk for developing obesity, osteoporosis, and iron deficiency
Consequences of a Poor Diet
- Energy imbalance and increased risk for obesity
- Increased risk for lung, esophageal, stomach, colorectal, and prostate cancers
- Eating fast food one or more times per week increases the risk for weight gain, overweight, and obesity
- Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages can result in weight gain
- Undernutrition can negatively affect overall health, cognitive development, and school performance.
Eating Behaviors of Young People
- Most U.S. youth
- Do not meet the recommendations for eating 2½ cups to 6½ cups of fruits and vegetables daily
- Do not eat the minimum recommended amounts of whole grains (2–3 ounces daily)
- Eat more than the recommended maximum daily intake of sodium (1,500–2,300 mg daily).
-Empty calories from added sugars and solid fats contribute to 40% of daily calories for children and adolescents, affecting the overall quality of their diets.
-Adolescents drink more soda per day than milk. Adolescent males drink an average of 22 ounces of soda per day, more than twice their intake of fluid milk, and females drink an average of 14 ounces of soda daily and only 6 ounces of fluid milk.
Good nutrition habits, including eating a healthy breakfast every day, are associated with improved cognitive function, reduced absenteeism, and improved mood.
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/nutrition/facts.htm
Renae Peyton, RN
School Nurse
Ben Reifel Middle School PTO
Hello from the PTO!
Thank you all for helping with items and funds to provide meals for teachers during conferences. It was very appreciated! We are also thankful for the great turnout at the Skating party. Skate City counted over 200 skaters which means a $600 donation to support BRMS 6th, 7th, and 8th grade class activities.
By the time you read this newsletter, we will be down to just three PTO meetings remaining before the end of this school year. We'd love to have you join us, particularly as we discuss some fun upcoming events, including the Color-a-Thon Fun Run/Walk and the 8th Grade Party. If you are willing to help with either of those events, but can't attend a PTO meeting, feel free to let us know. If you can come after school on 5/13/22 for the Color-a-thon event, please plan to join us. We'll need many volunteers. Parents of 8th graders, we'll need volunteers on 5/24/22 for the 8th grade party, which starts at 1:30. We'll put out sign up sheets as it gets closer but wanted to ask you to save those dates.
Speaking of the 8th grade party, please keep your eyes open for a wish list of yard games and fun activities that can be used year after year for each 8th grade class. Since this is the first class of BRMS 8th graders, we'll need a little extra help this first year as we develop new traditions and fun activities.
We are so thankful to the businesses and BRMS family for supporting the "shirt for every student" initiative. We are moving forward with this awesome project and can't wait to see the student excitement. If you are a business owner and still want to sponsor, we have room for one or two more businesses to sponsor, but since we hope to send the shirts off to print soon, please contact us today if you are interested.
Greetings from Student Council!
Since 2011, the Special Olympics has inspired respect and acceptance by advocating for inclusive words and actions, working toward ending discrimination of people with intellectual disabilities through their Spread the Word: Inclusion campaign. The first Wednesday in March is the date celebrated world-wide. Student Council is honored to be a part of this annual campaign.
During the week of February 28th, Student Council is providing opportunities for BRMS students to take the pledge to include all people in our community. Buttons promoting Spread the Word will be given to students to promote Spread the Word: Inclusion.
Welcome to Ben Reifel Choir Department
Ben Reifel Night at Stampede
Connection, the BRMS 6th grade show choir, will be singing the Star-Spangled Banner at the Stampede game on March 11.
Friends, family, and BRMS staff can get discounted tickets ($13) through this special ticket offer (https://fevo.me/brconnection). Parent, family, and friend tickets will all be at the Will Call window. Doors open at 6 p.m. with puck drop at 7:05 p.m. The deadline to
order discounted tickets is 1:00 p.m. on March 11.
The Denny Sanford Premier Center is cashless so please plan accordingly for concessions.
Nothing Bundt Cakes
The choir department is doing a fundraiser through Nothing Bundt Cakes. Bundtlets are $5.00 each. Gift cards, which can be redeemed at a later date for a $5.00 bundtlet, are also available. Choir members will bring home order sheets March 3-4 and sales will run through March 25. Orders will be delivered to BRMS on April 8. If you do not have a student in choir but would like to order, please e-mail your order to Jennifer.Spencer@k12.sd.us or Pamela.Green@k12.sd.us.
Best of Show
Congratulations to our two BRMS show choirs, Connection and Unity, who performed at Best of Show on Friday, February 11. Connection won the award for Best Show Design and Unity won the award for Best Visual Effect. We are so proud of their performances and their behavior!
Spring Choir Concert ~ all choirs
April 26, 2022; 6th grade – 6:00 p.m.; 7th grade – 7:00 p.m.; 8th grade – 8:00 p.m.
Concert attendance is mandatory. Absences due to non-school activities of any kind will not be excused. Choir is a graded class, and performances are our main form of assessment. In addition, it is vital to the success of our program that students honor the commitment made to the BRMS choirs.
We ask that the students wear nice clothes and we do not specify colors. If they have black and white for other events or concerts that's fine, but we do not specify. Ideally, student performers would wear nice pants (not jeans) with a nice shirt. If there are questions or more specific clarification is needed, please e-mail Jennifer.Spencer@k12.sd.us or Pamela.Green@k12.sd.us.
More specific information about what time to report will be sent via e-mail as the event date gets closer.
Honor Choirs
Congratulations to the following students who performed in the American Choral Director Association Regional Honor Choirs: Yar Awuol, Harper Fonder, Elizabeth Morgans ~ Treble Honor Choir, and Easton Arbach, lMiddle Level Changed/Changing Voice Choir (Grades 6-9). These students were selected from students from South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. The Honor Choirs took place in Chicago February 16-19, 2022.
Facebook Page
BRMS Choirs are on Facebook! Stay up to date with information by liking and following our page. Click this link: https://www.facebook.com/Ben-Reifel-Middle-School-Choirs-102400049050456/
or search for Ben Reifel Middle School Choirs.
As always, if there are any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Spencer at Jennifer.Spencer@k12.sd.us or Ms. Green at Pamela.Green@k12.sd.us.
Band at BRMS!
6TH-8TH SPRING BAND CONCERT
Tuesday May 3rd, 2022
6th Grade - 6:00pm - Students Arrive by 5:40pm
7th Grade - 7:00pm - Students Arrive by 6:40pm
8th Grade - 8:00pm - Students Arrive by 7:40pm
Students should wear all black
7th & 8th Grade Solo & Ensemble Band Event
COMING UP SOON!
The Sioux Falls School District Solo & Ensemble Band Event for 7th and 8th grade band members is scheduled for Saturday, March 12 at Ben Reifel Middle School. Please mark that date on your calendar. All 7th & 8th graders participate in this event. We have assisted students in selecting solos and ensembles. Please let a band director know if your child needs a specific performance time that morning.
7th & 8th Grade Large Group Contest - April 8 (During School Day)
Memorial Middle School is hosting an event called the Large Group Contest. It is similar to the solo/ensemble event that 7th and 8th grade students participate in each year, but this one has an entire band (Large Group) perform for judges to receive helpful comments and a rating (Superior/excellent/good/etc.). There is also a scheduled time slot for one of the judges to comment live and/or work with the band after their performance. The Large Group Contest is scheduled for Friday, April 8 during the school day. The 7th and 8th Grade Bands from BRMS will perform. We hope to get a chance to hear some performances by other schools while we are there as well. As the event nears, we will send out the detailed schedule and ask for chaperones.
Summer Music Camp Opportunities
There are many excellent summer playing opportunities available in the region for middle school students. Opportunities range from summer band to various music camps. Look for more information to come or contact us if you are interested.
Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band News
The Jazz Band and Wind Ensemble will be performing a concert on Thursday, March 31 at 7 PM in the BRMS Auditorium. This concert will be preceded by a tour of various elementary schools on Wednesday, March 30 during the school day. Students should wear black pants and their red ensemble shirts for both performances.
Private Lessons
At BRMS, we have a number of students who study privately (take private band lessons) with someone who specializes in their instrument. Private lessons can really spark their enthusiasm and boost their playing ability. If you would like more information on private lessons or would like us to help connect you with a private teacher, please contact one of the band directors and we can help you with that.
Ali Dunbar
BRMS Head Band Director
Brooke Bigge
BRMS Assistant Band Director
Ben Reifel Orchestra
Congratulations All-City Orchestra Members!
Congratulations to Kinsley Stroh, Molly Steele, and Nora Green for being selected to perform in the Sioux Falls All-City orchestra! Kinsley Stroh, Molly Steele, and Nora Green will perform a concert on April 10th.
Upcoming Orchestra Events:
Thursday, March 3rd- Festival of Orchestras, Brandon (Ben’s Bows Only)
Friday, March 25th- Ben Reifel Middle School Orchestra Festival (Ben’s Bows Only)
Saturday, April 23rd- Solo and Ensemble (Optional for all 6-8 students)
Tuesday, May 17th- Spring Orchestra Concert (6-8 Grade Orchestras)
Solo and Ensemble:
6-8 grade orchestra students will soon begin working on either a solo or an ensemble during class. Students are encouraged to perform at the orchestra solo and ensemble event on Saturday, April 23rd at Susan B. Anthony Elementary. Students can choose a time to perform between 8 AM and 5 PM. This is a great opportunity for students to get both positive feedback and helpful suggestions to continue to grow as a musician. I hope your student will consider performing at this exciting event!
Ben Reifel Physical Education
This past month, students participated in both archery and floor hockey.
Injury and illnesses:
If your child is ill or injured and unable to participate in class, please send a note. If the illness or injury requires your child to sit out of 2 consecutive class periods, please provide us with a note from a doctor to excuse your child.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your child’s teacher:
Teacher Contact Information:
Mrs. Bergan - ginger.bergan@k12.sd.us
Mr. Egstad - peter.egstad@k12.sd.us
Mr. Ricketts - jim.ricketts@k12.sd.us
Mrs. Smith - julie.smith@k12.sd.us
