Harwood Middle School Newsletter

Everyone has their snow tires on, right?! When we have a snow-related closure or delay this winter, here is some helpful information:

• In the event of a snow day closure, the following school day will remain what it originally was going to be (snow day on a gold day? The next day is still a black day). If there is a pattern of snow days (i.e. three gold day snow days in a row), we will re-evaluate.

• The schedule for the following day will be communicated as a reminder to students and families through email.

• If there is a two-hour delay, the schedule will be adjusted for the day and communicated to teachers and students.

Welcome to Kaleigh Heath! Our new Athletic Trainer starting Nov. 30th

I am a VT native, growing up in Jericho and graduating from MMU. Throughout my life sports have always played an important role. While in high school I knew I wanted to stay involved in sports but also pursue a medical career. Becoming an athletic trainer is a good mix of both. I have been a Certified Athletic Trainer for the past 10 years in a few athletic training settings, with the most fulfilling being secondary school. Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of working with athletes, helping them navigate injuries, recover, and safely return to the activities they love. I truly enjoy building relationships with athletes, being a source of support during challenging times, and helping them reach their personal and athletic goals. I believe athletic training is about more than treating injuries; it is about building trust, providing encouragement, educating others, and making a positive difference in people's lives. I take great pride in what I do and feel fortunate to be part of a profession that allows me to combine my passion for sports, health, and helping others.

Reminder: Any student interested in applying to CVCC should be meeting with Jen or communicating about plans. The first round of applications opens on 11/19 and there is also an open house for interested families that day at CVCC.

Please reach out to Jen if you would like to connect about it jdreimiller@huusd.org

November’s Harvest of the Month is Winter Squash, featuring Delicata, Butternut and Pumpkin squash!

On Friday, November 20th, during lunch, Harwood’s Developing Sustainable Habits (DSH) courses, will prepare a taste test for all HU students featuring Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. Our featured ingredient was supplied by West Farm in Jeffersonville and the Farm Upstream in Jericho.

Here are other recipes featured in DSH class this month:

• Chili and Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash

• Butternut Squash & Blackbean Enchilada Skillet

• No Bake Whipped Pumpkin Cheesecake

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

We put on these monthly taste tests to help students better understand and appreciate their regional food system. Make sure to buy local and help support our VT farms!

English: Students are continuing to read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and focusing on understanding their chosen character. Reading homework is expected (some nights) throughout this unit; please ask your child if they are caught up with their reading and character log.

Social Studies: We spent this week learning about the Bill of Rights and scenarios where someone’s rights were violated. To further the real world application students are learning about Supreme Court cases that challenged rights outlined in the Bill of Rights. In groups, they will present their cases to the class.

Science: In science, students have started a new unit on cell biology. We have explored the various parts of a compound microscope. Students completed their first microscope lab where they learned to make wet mount slides of a printed letter E. Students will soon compare cheek cells and onion cells to view hands-on examples of the differences between animal and plant cells. Students have been learning the various organelles of cells and their specific functions.

Math: In math we are continuing to work on proportional relationships and the different representations, tables, equations and graphs.

Math: Students are working on solving equations. We introduced hanging diagrams to emphasize the importance of keeping each side of the equals sign balanced. We slowly moved away from the hanging diagram model in order to solve more complicated equations that include negative operations. This week we began working on the distributive property by expanding and factoring.

Social Studies: In Social Studies, students are continuing to work on our A New Nation project, where they are creating their own country and applying ideas from our government unit along the way. They recently finished the first part by writing a preamble that explains what they believe about human nature, rights, and the purpose of government. We are now moving into the geography and economy portion of the project.

At the same time, we have been learning about the three branches of government through simulations. After working through the legislative process, students took on Cabinet roles this week and advised “President Gordon” during a fictional national crisis involving a cyberattack, hurricane, and economic problems. Along the way, they had to think about what the President can do, what the President should do, and when presidential power might go too far. Some of the President’s decisions are now headed for a fictional court challenge, which will lead us into the Judicial Branch and Supreme Court.

Science: Students took to their experimental design summative in impressive ways. They had to determine something they wanted to change about normal plant growth to see what would happen. Some students decided to use different colored lights for their experimental setup while others wanted to test what would happen with Miracle Grow, compost, and even things like lemon juice and vinegar. Testing the different abiotic factors involved in plant growth required students to consider what a healthy plant needs in the first place, germinate and then plant the seeds, and keep organized measurements over time. They will compare their experimental setup with their control to see what happens!

7th Grade Art: Students have finished their career models and begun their penultimate unit of the semester, creating clay animal sculptures. First, students practiced working with the clay and attaching pieces together by creating worry stones. Those are getting finished up this week, and we’ll then move onto creating their summative sculptures of an animal of their choosing.

8th Grade Art: Students are almost finished with their clay food sculptures. Some may be done by the end of this week, while others may need some extra ELOs to finish up their very detailed work. Our next unit will be studying one-point perspective, and creating a scene using the skills that they learn. This should take us through the end of the semester until our January art show!

In Literacy WIN, we have begun our Lexigraphicology Unit Session. This unit explores word parts and their meanings, including prefixes, suffixes and roots. There will be four groups of 8 words which students will study and be quizzed on over the course of this WIN Session.

Here is our first List of word parts so you may help your child study their word part definitions, recognize them “in the wild,” or use these parts to create new words:

AQUA WORD PART LIST #1:

phon (sound), pan (all), mono (one), dorm (sleep), fer (to carry), vid (to look), pseudo (fake), tion (action, state of being, process)

TERRA WORD PART LIST #1:

Psych (mind), civil (people), ceed/cede (go/ move/ yield/ surrender), hyper (above/beyond), morph (shape), ex (out or away), poly (many), intro (into)

• 11/13 - MS Dance w/CBMS @ CBMS, 7 - 8:30pm

• 11/19 - MS (+HS) Family Conferences, 3:30 - 7pm

• 11/23 - 11/27 - No School, Thanksgiving break

• 12/04 - MS Musical, 7pm

• 12/06 - MS Musical, 2pm

• 12/09 - Early Release *Reminder: school will be dismissed at 12:20, right after lunch.

• 12/14 - MS PTO @ Lawson’s, 5:30pm

• 12/17 - Socrates Cafe, 5pm, Library

• 12/24 - 1/3/26 - No School, Holiday break