Casimir Weekly Cougar Updates

All Lost and Found items must be claimed by next Thursday, the last day of school. Any items remaining after that date will be donated.

Throughout quarter 4, Drama class has been creating their own play! The class first wrote their own scripts in small groups and pitched them to the class. The class chose The Prophecy of King Aethelos by Bradyn and Harlow, who became our directors and led the way through every part of the production. Caleb, Wallace, Jordan, and Alex designed the sound. Justin did the lights. Julia did the curtain and Liliana made the programs. Abby, Caroline, and Karleen headed the prop and set design team that also included Julia, Ruby, Darling, Jayla, and Ivy. Wallace was King Aethelos, Caleb was Prince Aethelos, and the entire class, including Alex, Joe, Ivy, James, Alex, Thomas, Jayla, Jordan, Ruby, Justin, Pepa, Derek, Liliana, Bradyn, Darling, Elliot, Seiki, Harlow, and Scott put on a fabulous show! Period 2 Drama, thank you for all of the hard work you all put into this production! Parents, thank you for coming to the performance today and supporting the class! - Ms. Beasley

Casimir hosted a public forum debate on Saturday and it was a huge success! Five middle schools competed in a tournament style debate. Though Casimir didn't win the tournament, we grew as debaters and enjoyed the experience. It was also great seeing alumni Casimir students (a.k.a high school students) as judges and helpers for the debate. Another shout out goes to Thomas and Christopher for winning two out of three rounds with some really fierce competition. Please enjoy these pictures from the event.

Casimir PTSA is making one final fundraising push to help support the many field trips and student programs our students have enjoyed this year. We are still working to close a significant funding gap, and every car wash membership signup helps bring valuable funds back to our students activities.

With the rain behind us, now is the perfect time to get your car cleaned while supporting Casimir students at the same time. Thank you for helping us make a difference for our Cougar community!

https://www.thebubblecarwash.com/casimir

🏓 Join the Ping-Pong Club! 🏓

Looking for something fun to do after school? Come join the Ping-Pong Club every Thursday from 3:30 to 4:30 PM in the school cafeteria!

Enjoy a great time with friends while learning and playing the amazing sport of ping-pong. Whether you're a beginner or a pro, everyone is welcome!

Bring your friends, have fun, and make Thursdays your favorite day of the week!

Yearbook Club - What do we do? We create the yearbook--we write the stories, take the pictures, and design the yearbook. All grades are welcome. Meets Mondays and Tuesdays (you don’t need to come both days) from 3:25-4:15 PM. Permission slips are available in the front office.

Torrance Unified is now enrolling students in Transitional Kindergarten through Grade 12 for the 2026–27 school year, and we are also accepting incoming permit applications.

We encourage families to complete enrollment early and explore the many programs and opportunities available across our schools.

Learn more and begin the enrollment process at: https://www.tusd.org/enrollment/index

Summer is almost here, and we are getting ready for a season of learning, growth, and fun! Torrance Unified and our community partners have several opportunities to keep your kiddos engaged and learning this summer. We hope this initial overview makes it easy to choose the best summer option for your family. You can visit www.tusd.org/summer to click on the options that have registration available or coming soon.

*These programs operate independently from Torrance Unified. Contact providers directly for registration details and updated pricing.

Students will explore experiments, build projects, and collaborate with peers in a fun and supportive environment that makes learning exciting. Courses take place at Calle Mayor Middle School.

Grades: 6-8

Where: Calle Mayor Middle School

When: June 22 - July 17

Morning Session: $790

Afternoon Session: $160 Weekly

Classes We Provide:

• Rocketry
• Dissection Labs
• Cooking and Baking
• AI Literacy
• Art - painting, clay, etc.
• Archery
• and so much more!

Contact Us: sbea@tef4kids.org

To quickly overview the program, the Youth Institute is a seven-week program.

We will open the program with a Wilderness Retreat and follow that with six weeks of programming at North High School in Torrance.

The Wilderness Retreat is a camp week designed to bring together the group for the summer.

The camp week sets the tone and builds up the group to collaborate for the remainder of the program.

For the six weeks that we are at North High School, we will meet Monday through Friday from 9am to 3pm. Over these six weeks, participants will learn about graphic design and filmmaking and they will complete two program projects. The first project is a group magazine that will be compiled and printed. The second and final project is a short film. During this time as well, we will go on a few field trips!

To close out the program and to showcase the work participants completed over the course of the program, we have a film festival planned for Saturday, August 1.

The film festival brings together all Youth Institute programs in our YMCA of Los Angeles Association, and it has been an amazing community event over the last few years.

Grade Requirement

Open To All Teens Entering Grades 9 - 12

Enrollment

2026 Summer Youth Institute Sign Up

FREE BRACES

JUST FOR KIDS!

WHO QUALIFIES?

Any person without insurance, no proof of Immigration status needed

Medi-Cal: California residents

Healthy Families: California residents, low income, no proof of Immigration status needed

Healthy Kids: California residents, low income, no proof of Immigration status needed

What services are provided?

• Braces (Orthodontica care)

What is the cost?

• Free! No cost for braces for qualified participants

For more information, please call:
Hawthorne Dental & Braces
(310) 973-6428

_________________________________________

FRENOS GRATIS

SOLO PARA NINOS!

QUIENES CALIFICAN?

Cualquier persona sin seguro denta, no importa su situacion migratoria

Medi-Cal: Residentes de California

Healthy Families: Residentes de California, bajos recursos, No necessita pruebas migratorias

Healthy Kids: Residentes de California, bajos recursos, No necessita pruebas migratorias

Cuales son los servicios disponibles?

• Frenos (Cuidado de Ortodoncia)

Cual es el costo?

• Gratis! No hay costo para los ninos que califiquen

Para mac informacion, por favor llame a:
Hawthorne Dental & Braces
(310) 973-6428

• FREE Childhood immunizations for children 2-18
• FREE FLU SHOTS FOR ADULTS AND CHILDREN
• Medi-Cal, Uninsured, American Indian, or Alaskan Native descent eligible

• Van Visits the TUSD Family Welcome Enrollmnent Center the 2nd Thursday of each month
• 2336 PLAZA DEL AMO, TORRANCE CA 90501
• TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT PLEASE CALL: 424-210-7024 or 310-427-0271

• TUSD FWEC VAN VISIT DATES: Sept 11th, Oct. 9th, Nov. 13th, Dec 11th, Jan 8th, Feb 12th, Mar.12th, Apr.9th, May 14th, and June 11th

• VACUNAS GRATIS PARA NIÑOS DE 2 A 18 AÑOS DE EDAD
• VACUNA PARA LA GRIPE GRATIS PARA ADULTOS Y NIÑOS
• GRATIS Para, Medi-Cal, o aquellos que no tienen seguro médico, Indios Nativos Americanos o Nativos de Alaska
• *Van Visita: 2.o Jueves cada mes
• TUSD Family Welcome Enrollment Center: 2336 PLAZA DEL AMO, TORRANCE CA 90501
• PARA HACER UNA CITA FAVOR DE LLAMAR AL 424-210-7024 o 310-427-0271
• FECHAS DE VISITA DE LA VAN A TUSD/FWEC: Sept 11th, Oct. 9th, Nov. 13th, Dec 11th, Jan 8th, Feb 12th, Mar.12th, Apr.9th, May 14th, y June 11th

Each month, TUSD families receive two helpful newsletters designed to support student success. The Daily Learning Planner offers families simple, research-based activities to do with students at home (one for each day of the month) that build skills, spark curiosity, and strengthen school-home connections. The Helping Students Learn newsletter shares practical tips, strategies, and inspiration for middle school success, from fostering responsibility to developing strong study habits. Together, these resources provide families with easy, meaningful ways to support learning outside the classroom. To learn more and access these resources, visit our Casimir website:

https://www.tusd.org/schools/casimir/resources/helping-students-learn-newsletters

Please check out the Summer Learning Spotlight links below for articles about using math to promote healthy summer habits, encouraging entrepreneurship, combining summer science with math, and more.

Please check out the Summer Learning Spotlight links below for articles about helping your teen achieve summer reading goals, building reading into summer routines, offering your teen some different reading options, and more.

Click the button below to see the monthly lunch menu.

Quick Guide to Reporting Student Absences

If/When your student is absent please notify us via email by sending an absence note with the following information to cook.lindsay@tusd.org

Absence Notes should include:

1. Date

2. Name of your Child

3. Date of absence

4. Reason for absence (if out due to illness please specify what symptoms your child is having)

5. Parent/Guardian Name & Relationship (absence notes can only be accepted from Primary Guardians listed in PowerSchool)

6. Phone Number where you can be reached

If you have any questions or concerns you can always reach out to Ms. Lindsay our Attendance Clerk @ (310) 533-4498 ext. 4782

Yesterday was our last Gotcha Store of the year and the students had a blast! Thank you to all of Student Council, especially the Gotcha Store Team of John, Amber, and Mason, our 6th Grade Leadership Class volunteers, Mr. Cho, and all of our staff volunteers for helping put on the Gotchas Store in two different rooms, 4 times this year! We offered walking field trips for the first time which were a huge hit and for the last store, all staff received a Front of the Line pass that they could give out to one student who exemplified the Cougar Code this year! For We are already planning for our stores for next year! Also, a huge thank you to everyone who donated items for the stores this year!

I would like to give a big thank you to our PBIS team that has volunteered their time to help guide Casimir with positive choices, feedback, and new ideas through the year! Thank you Mrs. Beppu, Mrs. Sanada, Mrs. Smith, Ms. Kaiser, Mr. Britt, Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Cook, Ms. Beck, Ms. Hunnel, Mr. Sampson, and Mrs. Rojas!

Referral Data:

Overall, referrals were down and behavior improved this year! I have included two triangle data images with our yearly minor and major referral numbers for this year and last year for comparison. The more green on the triangle, the better. The number of students who received 6+ referrals went from 4.03% last year to .66% this year! The number of students who received 2-5 referrals went from 12.72% last year down to 7.11% this year! The number of students who received 0-1 referrals rose from 83.25% to 92.23%! Keep up the great behavior, Casimir!!! - Ms. Beasley

Dear Parent and Guardian,

This year, school staff are working to teach students about mental health and how to seek help if they are worried about themselves or a friend. We are using a program called SOS Signs of Suicide. The program educates students about this challenging topic and encourages them to seek assistance.

Thousands of schools have used SOS for over 20 years. Studies have shown that it effectively teaches students about depression and suicide while reducing the number of students’ self-reported suicide attempts.

Through the program, students learn:

• Depression is treatable, so they are encouraged to seek help

• How to identify depression and potential suicide risk in oneself or a friend

• to ACT (Acknowledge, Care, and Tell a trusted adult) if concerned about themselves or a friend

• who they can turn to at school for help

Students will watch age-appropriate video clips and participate in a guided discussion about depression, suicide, and what to do if they are concerned about a friend.

At the end of class, students will complete an exit slip that asks whether they would like to discuss any concerns with an adult. School staff will conduct brief meetings with any student who asks to talk.

We encourage you to visit www.mindwise.org/parents for information on warning signs for youth suicide, valuable resources, and some of the key messages students will learn.

If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s participation in this program, please contact Stephanie Hunnel(school counselor) or Janet Liu(school therapist).

Sincerely,

Stephanie Hunnel

Janet Liu

Hi students and families,

This is Mrs. Liu, your Casimir Middle School Mental Health Counselor, and I am also very excited to support you this year! I am here to help students address issues related to daily stress, anxiety, depression, healthy coping skills, peer relationships, grief and loss, and more.

Come by my office (RM42) during snack or lunch, and we can set up a meeting.
Families, feel free to email or call me regarding your student.
liu.janet@tusd.org

If you need any help with this transition or with any other mental health difficulties, please reach out to the mental health team at Casimir:

Stephanie Hunnel - School Counselor

(310) 533-4498 ext. 4711

hunnel.stephanie@tusd.org

Janet Liu, AMFT
School Based Mental Health Therapist

liu.janet@tusd.org
(310) 533-4498 x4784

Now - 6/5 - Car Wash Fundraiser

6/11 - End of Q4 - Last Day of School

Website: https://www.tusd.org/schools/casimir
Location: 17220 Casimir Avenue, Torrance, CA, USA
Phone: (310) 533-4498
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CasimirMiddle/