Hero Happenings!

Hellstern Middle School Newsletter, Springdale, AR

October 9, 2023

Congratualtions Mr. Tapee!

We were so excited to surprise Mr. Michael Tapee with the Milken Educator Award this past Tuesday. We had many, many special guests in our building for the ceremony and big reveal, including Governor Sanders, Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva, Superintendent Cleveland, our entire school board, representatives, senators, ....and the list goes on and on. This award is "like the Oscars" of teaching. You cannot be nominated for the award, the Milken Foundation finds the teachers.

Here is a link to Michael’s MEA Web Profile. Please also see the reaction video and photos from today, as well as Michael’s remarks, an interview with Michael, and a video of Michael calling his parents with Lowell Milken.

Incidentally, Hellstern is lucky to also have Kamisha Burlingame in our building. Kamisha won the award in 2021. You can see her educator profile here.

Keep'em talkin'!!

Do you ever ask your child about his/her day and you get a shoulder shrug? or "it was fine"? If this is the case, use these questions to ask your child about school - let's get them talking!

History 7 - What was the first successful English colony in North America? What present day state is it in?

History 6 - Why does the Nile River flow from South to North?

ELA 7- What do authors use to create a visualization in your mind?

Acc. Math 7 - When are you working on Check Your Understanding practice?

Language Lab 7 - What part were you most excited about when designing and describing your space for the HGTV project? Why were prepositions important to use in this project?

Science 7 - What happens to molecules movement, the molecules when you increase thermal energy and decrease thermal energy?

Science 6 - What are the three types of heat energy transfer?

Art 6 - Tell me about your digital drawing. Why did you choose the person you are creating?

Adv. Art 7 - What is the status of your current project? What are the next steps?

Stagecraft - Tell me about your papier mache project.

Health 6 - Identify several specific strategies you can use to help yourself when you are stressed, worried, or anxious.

Math 6 - What are some strategies you have learned for calculating equivalent ratios and staying organized with your work?

Math 7 - What is additive inverse?

ELA 6 - What point of view is Iqbal written in?

Careers 6 - What do people in the marketing career cluster do? What are some examples of job titles in this cluster?

Band - What belt level are you on the Ningenius Game?

Students should be completing their yellow belt for 1st quarter.
They can show you their achievements on their chromebook.
This game drills them on note naming, music vocabulary, and fingerings for their specific instrument.

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End of Quarter Celebration this Friday!

Friday is a special day. We pause as a school and celebrate all the good work we have done thus far. Friday students will be "on team" all day. We kick off the day with a 7th grade awards assembly and a 6th grade awards assembly where we pass out some lanyard flair and recognize students.

We then launch into CLUBS! Students will sign up for two clubs on Monday. Clubs are non-academic and a great way for teachers and students to just connect and share in something they both enjoy. Here is a slideshow to share what clubs we are offering this first semester.

Students will eat lunch together as teams, enjoy some social time and do some team-building activities throughout the day. We also knock out our bus evacuation drills on this day too.

In the afternoon, our PTO sponsors the Hero Hangout. Each grade level gets time in the Hero Hangout. They can listen and dance with a live DJ, purchase snacks, play games outside and just hang! We will end the day with a full-school pep rally at HBHS stadium...unless it gets rained out to the cafeteria. Whew! What a day!!

**Please note - if you are checking your student out on Friday, allow for extra time as we are not in our usual places.

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Pilot Test on Monday

We are one of 176 schools in Arkansas giving the ATLAS Writing assessment on Monday. We are piloting the exam for the state. We will not get any feedback from the assessment, but we will run the test as a secure testing environment.

Please avoid check-outs on Monday morning if at all possible. Students will start testing at approximately 9:10am.

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Secret messaging apps...

Click here to read the article...

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Pancake Breakfast

This event benefits CJHS & HMS cross-country runners!

Central/Hellstern Basketball Gear - Basketball fundraiser

Click here to see what Boy's Basketball fundraiser gear is being offered.

HBHS Boys Basketball also has gear for sale, click here.

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From PTO

Please consider donating for the Hero Hangout, which is an event completely coordinated by our PTO. The Hero Hangout is on October 13th and donations will need to be brought to Hellstern by October 11th.

The next PTO meeting has been moved to October 10th.

Soccer Practice

You must have a current physical to practice and try-out for the team. If you plan to attend these optional practices, you must complete the following form.

Girls will practice on Mondays from 3:30-4:45 beginning on Sept. 11. We will not practice on 9/25 because of parent-teacher conferences. If you have any questions, please contact Karen LaMendola, klamendola@sdale.org
Boys will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 13 from 2:10-3:45 For more information contact Jax Gutierrez, jgutierrez@sdale.org

Tryouts will be the last week of November or the first week of December.

GIRLS practices will begin in January on Monday and Thursday, 3:30-5:30.
BOYS practices will begin in January on Wednesday (2:10-4:15) and second day TBD.