TRI-VALLEY MIDDLE
SCHOOL / PACE
NEWSLETTER
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Volume 8, Issue 4
Mr. Bob Lishka, Principal
November 2001
Mrs. Sandee Hoffman, PACE President
to do!!!!!
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S
DESK….
Autumn Greetings to all Tri-Valley
families;
Band and Chorus members had all
district tryouts and several TriValley Students performed very
well and received distinguished
honors.
As we enter into the season of
Thanksgiving, we reflect on how
we have been so blessed here in
our community. I want to express
how grateful my family and I are
to all of you for making us feel so
welcome!
STARS assembly will be held on
Nov. 6th to recognize the academic
achievements of the middle school
students. 7th and 8th grade will
begin at 8:15 a.m.
4th, 5th, 6th grade will begin at 9:00
a.m.
We congratulate the students on so
many achievements accomplished
already in the early stages of the
school year.
Band and Chorus concert will be
on Nov. 7th at 7:00 p.m.
The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe:
was a wonderfully
presented program. It was evident
to everyone who attended, that
students involved and Mr. Mitchell
had worked very hard to make it a
presentation of excellence! Well
done to all who contributed.
Activities around the Middle
School are in full swing. The
school is a busy place! It’s hard to
believe it is already Parent/Teacher
Conference time.
The boys’ baseball team had a
great season qualifying for the
state tournament. They played
strongly in the first round but were
outscored by Bradley Bourbonnais.
Congratulations
boys,
and
coaches!
The Cross-country team again
qualified for the state meet in the
boys division, and two young
ladies from Tri-Valley qualified.
Great work everyone!
PACE PRESIDENT NEWS…
P.A.C.E.
parents
are
busy
coordinating food for Harvest Day
activities as well as the upcoming
conferences. Please say “Yes”
when you get that call to help. We
couldn’t do it without all of your
help. Thank you to all the parents
who have volunteered their time
and skills to help make these
events a success.
P.A.C.E. is trying hard to get as
many different people involved in
activities as possible. So, if you
haven't been called to help yet and
you want to, just call one of us. I'm
sure we can find something for you
Within this newsletter you can find
class activities as well as school
activities. Don’t forget to check
the calendar for upcoming school
assemblies, music performances
(11/7) and even the P.A.C.E.
meeting to be held on MONDAY,
11/5 at 7:00. We really try to hold
the meeting to an hour. Feel free
to come.
Thanks, and see you there,
Sandee Hoffman
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
November
5-12
Spirit Week – See posters
And daily announcements
5
MSGBB @ home vs.
Deland Weldon, 6:00 p.m.
PACE Mtg., 7:00 p.m.
6
Community Fitness, 4:15
7
MS Boys Viking Night,
7:00 p.m.
MS Band & Chorus
Concert, 7:00 p.m.
8
Community Fitness, 4:15
MSBBB @ Home vs.
Epiphany, 6:00 p.m.
12
MSBBB vs. Gridley
at Gridley
13
Community Fitness, 4:15
15
Community Fitness, 4:15
19
6BBB @ Home vs.
Clinton, 6:00 p.m.
20
Community Fitness, 4:15
MSBBB @ Home vs.
Lincoln Carroll
21
Early Dismissal, 2:10 p.m.
22
NO SCHOOL
23
NO SCHOOL
27
Community Fitness, 4:15
29
Community Fitness, 4:15
Page 2
PACE Newsletter
NO SMOKING ON SCHOOL
GROUNDS
In previous years smoking had
been banned from all public school
buildings in Illinois and people
were aware of and cooperated with
this law. Several years ago the
state legislature passed a new
ordinance prohibiting people from
smoking on all public school
campuses, which includes outside
the gymnasiums along with the
spectator areas at baseball,
football, and softball games during
the week or during weekend
activities.
Many people are not aware of this
new law that prohibits smoking
anywhere on school grounds at any
time.
Tri-Valley asks for the
cooperation of all our people in
keeping Tri-Valley campus smoke
free.
CASH FOR TRASH
Yes!
Please keep
bringing in those
empty cartridges.
We have sent in
two
large
boxes
already this year and are beginning
to fill another large box. Your ink
cartridges can be recycled! No
matter what brand, we will take it!
Please try and send it in the
original packaging if possible.
MARKET DAY
Market Day for PACE has been a
great success these first two
months.
Our profit from
September's sale was about $150.
Although I don't have the profit
figures for October's sale yet, we
significantly increased the number
of orders. Thank you for helping
to make this a success!
A huge thanks to the volunteers
who have come out to help with
unloading the truck, sorting
through the products, and filling
orders. This is a great way to get
involved with PACE if your time
is limited. We need volunteers
from 3:15 - 5:30. We can use your
help...even if it's just for an hour.
A great way to get involved if your
time is limited. Give me a call and
let me know when you can help
out!
Don't forget...we have our monthly
sales promotion. Simply order and
pick up 5 items and you are
entered into a drawing for a $10
gift certificate to a local merchant.
Congratulations to our September
winner: Tammy West, and to our
October winner: Dawn Thilmony!
And as if that's not enough, simply
order and pick up just one item for
7 out of the 10 month's we have
Market Day (September through
June) and you'll be entered into a
drawing for a $200 gift certificate
from Best Buy or a freezer.
Sheryl Murphy
NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY
During National School Lunch
Week (October 15-19), members
of NJHS supported the national
theme, Lunch by the Book, and
sponsored a book drive. Members
collected new and slightly used
books during all three-lunch
periods. Because of the middle
school students' generosity, we are
able to give 367 books to various
agencies in Bloomington. Thank
you to everyone who donated. We
appreciate your helping us with
this worthy cause.
MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS
BASKETBALL
Sixth, seventh and eighth
grade girls have been
practicing for some time
now. In fact the sixth
grade team consists of
eighteen players and end
their season October 25.
The seventh and eighth
grade teams are midway
through their seasons with the
SVC
tournament
beginning
November 9 and regionals
November 17. This year we have
thirteen players on the seventh
grade team and ten players on the
eighth grade team. All of the girls
have worked extremely hard this
season and have made tremendous
progress.
Sixth Grade Players: Blanca
Alvaraz, Lyndsie Bane, Brittany
Beecher, Carly Benjamin, Ashley
Cline, Michelle Composto, Taylor
Dirks Anna Fogel, Jackie Gibson,
Molly Hathaway, Brennin Kelley,
Catherine Ludwig, Kate McNeese,
Shelbi Miller, Kristin Palmer, Erin
Vogel, Paige Wey, Jill Wilsey.
Seventh Grade Players: Erin Dirks,
Courtney Eads, Sam Eads, Bailey
Fitzgerald,
Marcie
Germann,
Amanda
Givens,
Jayden
Hinthorne, Taylor Iseminger,
Sabrina Owens, Shayla Pelo,
Brittany Roop, Katie Shepard,
Janelle VanGundy.
Eighth Grade Players: Danielle
Alpers, Cayla Comens, Kelsey
Epping, Jenna Hardin, Karen
Jackson, Morgan Johnson, Emily
Lewis, Megan Manley, Jeree
Moss, Morgan Wilson.
PACE NEWSLETTER
BOYS BASKETBALL
Introducing this year’s teams: (8th
Grade) Ryan Ash, Matt Castleman,
David Cripe, Joey Fitzwater, Ryan
Fogel, Danny Gibson, Kyler
Hardy, Brent Harper, Justin
Haynes, Grant Jones, Andy
McNaught, Charlie Prochnow, Ben
Ritter, Jeff Turnbull, Randy Wert;
and Managers, Kevin Goveia,
Braden James, Steve Stark.
(7th Grade) Jared Bardwell, Bryan
Benjamin,
Jacob
Gendron,
Zachary
Hasselbring,
Casey
Hoffman, Mike Hull, Jake Nalley,
Aaron Newman, Taylor Springer,
Brian Stenger, Seth Wagner, Cole
Wells, Cody Wickenhauser, and
Justin Wilfley.
(6th Grade) Jeff Boward, Jackson
Edwards, Eric Fisher, Logan Fox,
Jason Gendron, Brandon Hott,
Chase Johnson, Luke Kaiser,
Andrew Lauritson, Jacob Lewis,
Jim Nearhoff, Zach Patton,
Brandon Sajovec, Travis Stone,
B.J. Willan, Dustin Winterland.
Our 1st game is Thursday,
November 8 at 6:00 and it is a
HOME game.
This has been
changed. Check out the web site
for our schedule and come out and
enjoy a couple games!
FINE ARTS BOOSTER NOTES
Tri-Valley
Middle
School
and High School
have a record
number
of
students
performing at the I.M.E.A.
sponsored All-District festival this
year. There are six high school
students and nineteen middle
school students. The Festival takes
place at the Braden Auditorium on
Page 3
ISU campus on November 17 with
the middle school concert at 3:00
p.m. and the high school concert at
5:30 p.m. Admission is free and
there are thirty-eight middle
schools represented and fifty high
school represented in the concert
band.
Middle School All-District Chorus
members are: Danielle Alpers,
Heather Miller, Rachel Pinson,
Colin Rogers, Chelsie Tallon, Julie
Wilkinson, and Alyssa Rathbun.
The Middle School band members
are: Cassie Colclasure, Kelsey
Epping, Jessica Ludwig, Karen
Jackson, Stuart Wallace, Courtney
Eads, Sammy Eads, Maddy
Hayden,
Taylor
Iseminger,
Stephanie Sidak, Elizabeth Sparks,
and Tyler Willey.
The
Middle
School concert
band, directed
by Mr. Dan
Marcotte and
Middle School
chorus, directed by Mr. Bob
Mitchell will be performing on
Wednesday, November 7th at 7:00
p.m. in the Middle School
gymnasium. Come and enjoy a
wonderful night of music.
WEBSITE FOR INFO – Check our Web
site for school weather closings, daily
announcements, sport schedules, and
school extracurricular activities and lunch
menu. You can find this at http://www.trivalley.k12.il.us
4TH-6TH GRADE TMD
PROGRAM
It is hard to believe that we are
finishing up the first quarter of the
year. We have been busy building
on the TMD program started last
year and I feel we have a great
year ahead of us.
The class has been exploring the
community as well as the different
job opportunities available. Pizza
Hut, McDonald's and the fire
station are just a sampling of
places we have visited.
The
students get a tour and a chance to
use the skills they learn in the
classroom out in the community.
Some students may be identifying
survival signs and others may be
using their communication devices
to let their "voice" be heard. We
are also working on our "domestic
skills". The students have Home
Ec. once a week where we work on
cooking skills, hygiene, and
nutrition.
The students are also working on
Pre-vocational skills and we are
looking for small, simple jobs for
the students to perform. Examples
are folding letters and stuffing
envelopes, putting a few items in a
bag or box, or sorting. If you need
any of these types of jobs done,
Please call Anne Portz at 3783414. We are also looking for art
supplies, such as tuna cans, Altoid
tins, yarn and material scraps, etc.
FOURTH GRADE
Fall is here and our fourth graders
are into many exciting projects and
great happenings. We had a super
field trip to the Staerkle
Planetarium in October. The
students really enjoyed the stars
and planets presentation. We were
proud that they had a chance to
show off their knowledge, as well
as ask many excellent questions. A
BIG thanks to those parents who
hopped in and helped behind the
counter of the "gift shop". Without
you, we wouldn't have made it
back here in time!
Reading & AR - Whew! Our first
unit of reading is officially behind
Page 4
us. Now we are moving on to
some stories with animals as the
focus. We'll journey with seals and
find out where frog and snake like
to play. Accelerated Reader for the
first nine weeks is also behind us.
We are asking for a minimum of 6
points for 2nd nine weeks. Keep in
mind
that
the
student's
comprehension score is part of
their reading grade. We do want
them reading for meaning! Every
year the students have to adjust
when learning a new system. A.R.
is no different. For you parents
who worry, keep in mind that we
have your student's best interests at
heart. Reading is fundamental!
Accelerated Reader allows us to
set a minimum goal for all
students, while letting each student
read independently and grow at
their own pace. It is a wonderful
system with both external and
intrinsic rewards. We are truly
lucky to have such a system in
place. On a final note, congrats to
those students who have reached
100 points and beyond........our AR
100 CLUB : Jeff Ash and Emily
Woerly!!! Great Job!
Science & Math - We are
continuing our study of Life
Science. Another subject where
there are animals in our midst.
However, this time we are
studying the function and structure
of animals. We get to learn about
their characteristics and then
organize the information with
graphs. Wow! Worms, worms, ask
your fourth grader about worms. In
math we are currently studying
addition and subtraction of whole
numbers. We are also trying hard
to improve our estimation and
mental math skills. Soon, we'll be
off to the races with multiplication.
Dig out those flash cards, we've
got to move right through to 2 and
3 digit multiplication!!!
PACE Newsletter
Social Studies & Language - We
are wrapping up landforms and
moving ...into immigration. Some
students had a great time making
landform dioramas and sharing
them with the class. They looked
wonderful!
Look for great
Veteran's Day activities. There is
no better time for us to show our
patriotism and thankfulness. Run,
skip, and jump your way into
verbs. While continuing to work
on our daily language activities,
we are also tackling our next part
of speech - verbs! Can a noodle be
a question mark? Yes, it can. Some
students have had the opportunity
to do pasta punctuation. Great
idea, Mrs. McCready! Please
continue to help your students
study for the Friday DOL quizzes,
they are an important way to
constantly remind them about
proper language usage.
As always, thanks for your
continued support in the home.
SCHOOLPOP – Sign up and
shop on-line with over 300
Stores! Start your Holiday
Shopping by logging on to:
(www.schoolpop.com)
FIFTH GRADE
The first nine weeks has come to a
close. Our frazzled youngsters are
starting to show the wear and tear
of not having any days off. And
the students are worn down too!!!
We were lucky enough to finish
our third chapter just as the end of
the nine weeks crept upon us. So
far, the students are doing a great
job with all the new and review
material. The end of the nine
weeks found us talking about how
living things have adapted to live
in their respective environments.
The new nine weeks will find the
fifth graders discovering different
things about ecology. What makes
up an ecosystem.
Where our
energy comes from.
And the
different cycles in the ecosystem
that makes our world go 'round.
We will also get into our physical
science unit. In this unit we will
disclose the wonderful properties
of matter. We should also find
time to get to the exquisite world
of motion. I wouldn't be surprised
to find us chatting about different
forms of energy by the end of the
month.
SIXTH GRADE
Have you ever been in the
Doldrums? Have you ever been to
the land of expectations? Well, the
students in 6H are reading the
Phantom Tollbooth, a wonderful
humorous metaphor on how to be
your best and avoid life's little
pitfalls. In it, a young boy named
Milo cannot see the point of
school,
life, or thinking in general when he
is visited by a magical tollbooth
which takes him to the imaginary
Kingdom of Wisdom where the
Princesses of Rhyme and Reason
have been lost so nothing makes
sense anymore. Of course, Milo
goes on an adventure to save
Rhyme and Reason. In this story,
the students are expanding their
vocabulary and spelling ability
with
such
words
as
misapprehension,
conciliatory,
lethargic, and effusive. They've
also learned about expectations
("expectations is the place you
must always go, before you get to
where you are going") and using
too many words ("...words are only
confusing when you use a lot to
say a little"). These a just a few of
the gems of wisdom scattered
PACE NEWSLETTER
Page 5
throughout the Phantom Tollbooth,
by Norton Juster.
are learning about Ancient India
and China.
Math classes have been continuing
their studies of decimals and their
operations. We will be finishing
chapter 3 as of October 31 and
moving into chapter 4 after
parent/teacher conferences. Please
contact me (Dave Holliday) by
email through the Tri-Valley
website if you have any questions.
Reading - Miss Feinholz's class is
working on Number the Stars by
Lois Lowry and The Westing
Game by Ellen Raskin. We are
enjoying both books very much. If
you haven't read them, ask your
child. One of the books is a great
mystery and another is a
wonderful, historical tale of
bravery and friendship.
Science - We are still working in
our Astronomy unit. We finished
Chapter 23 about the Earth and the
moon. We learned about Earth's
rotation, revolution, and the
seasons. The moon also has
interesting features. We just
completed Chapter 24 on the Solar
System. We learned a lot of
interesting facts about the nine
planets and other objects in the
solar system.
Reading - Mrs. Lueschen's class
has been reading the novel Snow
Treasure by Marie McSwigan. It
has been a very interesting book
about children who are trying to
protect Norway's gold. In order to
do this the children need to
smuggle the gold by German
soldiers and onto a ship that will
take it to America.
Social Studies - Throughout
October we studied Ancient Egypt
and Nubia.
There is lots of
interesting information on ancient
Egypt. The Egyptians built
amazing pyramids where they
buried their dead. We also found
out that Egyptians believe in the
afterlife and do a lot of things to
prepare for it. We conducted
group projects where we studied
six different Egyptian monuments,
created a paper, and created a
replica of the monument. We are
now at the beginning of Ch. 5 and
SEVENTH GRADE
The seventh grade teachers hope
everyone is off to a good start in
our new school year. The first
nine weeks is nearly over. We
have parent / teacher conferences
coming up on November 1st (1:00
to 8:00 PM) and November 2nd
(8:00 AM to 12:00 Noon). If you
have any concerns please arrange
an appointment to meet us on those
days or during our team time at the
end of the school day (2:40 to
3:15). Please check our homework
hotline after school to keep
informed on upcoming activities,
assignments, projects, quizzes, or
tests. Call 829-9000 and hook-up
to Cityline. Our extension number
for the seventh grade is 4654.
The seventh grade students
recently completed two field trip
activities in the Bloomington area.
The first was on October 10th to
the Evergreen Cemetery Discovery
Walk.
Eight former McLean
County History makers, that are
buried in the cemetery, were
portrayed by actors and actresses
dressed in costume from their time
period. These people included: Dr.
Eugene Covington (1873-1929)
the first African-American doctor
at St. Joseph Hospital, Mary Elder
(1835-1889) one of hundreds of
wives left to maintain the home
front during the Civil War, C.W.
Klemm (1845-1930) department
store
owner
and
German
immigrant, Edith Neville (18851935) philanthropist and society
maven, T.J. Bunn (1838-1915)
controversial former mayor and
school board member, Dr.
Margaret MacGillivray (18441892) Scottish immigrant and
qualified homeopathic physician,
Reuben Moore Benjamin (18331917) Quaker attorney and antimonopoly legal thinker, and Mary
Gridley (1818-1900) her husband
(Asahel) was the richest and
meanest man in McLean County
and they had six children.
The seventh grade just came back,
on October 17th, from a series of
plays performed at the Scottish
Rite Temple. The students were
able to enjoy "The Telltale Heart",
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow",
"The Monkey's Paw", "The
Necklace", and "The Celebrated
Jumping Frog of Calaveras
County". A Mystery Hunt is being
planned by Mrs. Lanier to be held
on Wednesday, October 31st. The
teachers will be acting out part, as
the students will be traveling
through the streets of Downs (led
by chaperones of course) looking
for clues to solve the mystery. It
should be fun. Hope for good
weather.
In Mrs. Bartlett's writing class, we
just finished putting together our
writing toolboxes. Ask your child
to show you what they did. Also,
in all of Mrs. Bartlett's classes, she
has asked her students to keep
"Points Total Sheets". As parents,
you should be able to get your
child's grade at anytime. They get
their work back graded and are
instructed to put it on their sheets
so they have a running total of
their grade.
Page 6
PACE Newsletter
Coming up in November will be a
Food Fair Project. The students in
Mr. Roberts' classes will be asked
to cover a region of the United
States and create posters and
reports on geography, agriculture,
and transportation. Also, for some
fun, a day will be set aside to
display all the work for a grade
and to share a small food
sampling, representative of their
region in the U.S., that can be
shared by the whole class. More
details and information will be
forthcoming.
Have a great
November!!!
EIGHTH GRADE
Mrs. Hill's language arts class was
transformed into Mount Olympus
as several Greek and Roman gods
and goddesses appeared to share
information not only about
themselves but also about how
they would solve a particular
middle school problem based on
their personalities and powers.
Many dressed in togas complete
with sandals and laurel wreaths
and dined on ambrosia while
watching the presentations. Please
ask your students how mythology
ties into our lives today. You may
be surprised by how Demeter
(Ceres), Hermes, and Achilles are
still with us.
In just a few days, our
mythological
characters
transformed
themselves
into
famous Americans and Europeans
as the students presented their
biographical book reports. It was
fascinating to watch the students
become famous people such as
Queen Eleanor of Aquitane, Helen
Keller, Kit Carson, Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., and Albert
Einstein.
We all learned
interesting information about each
person
as
another
student
interviewed him or her.
The
amount of information in their
responses was incredible.
We
learned a lot as we were being
entertained during an awesome
week of interviews.
All four eighth grade social studies
classes went on a field trip in
October. Mrs. Norin's class visited
the McLean County Law and
Justice Center where they observed
our Constitution in action. Mr.
Carter's class was able to see the
Peace Garden at Eureka College.
The garden houses a section of the
Berlin Wall. Mrs. Rustemeyer's
class returned to another era at
Funk's Prairie Home, and Mrs.
Hill's class was able to view many
original items from World War II
and listen to several fascinating
facts as Mr. Gary Simpkins spoke
to the class at the Heyworth War
Museum.
NOVEMBER IS CHOKING,
SUFFOCATION AND
STRANGULATION
PREVENTION MONTH
(Submitted by Becky Marcotte)
The students will be learning about
the
following
Risk
Watch
suggestions with their classrooms:
1. Eating is serious business.
Always eat only small bites of
food, and eat only while sitting
down. Know how to respond
in an emergency.
Adults
should take a first-aid course
that includes the Heimlich
maneuver
and
cardiopulmonary resuscitation
(CPR).
2. Avoid wearing drawstrings,
necklaces, or other items
around your neck that could
get caught when playing or
riding the school bus.
The typical entanglement
situation
occurs
because
something a child is wearing
gets caught on playground
equipment. In addition, cut
window blind cords and tie
them up out of reach of
children.
3. Teach children never to play
with plastic bags or inside
small places where there is
not enough air to breathe
(such
as
refrigerators,
freezers, dishwashers, toy
boxes, and trunks).
By the end of the month, your
child should be able to answer
most of these questions:
1. Identify two ways to prevent
choking,
suffocation
or
strangulation.
2. Recognize items that should
not be worn around the neck
when playing.
3. List two things that are safe
and two unsafe things to put in
your mouth.
AMOCO GAS – Please show your
support by purchasing gas at the
Amoco Gas Station in Downs on
the first and last Wednesdays of
the month!