Digital Nativity

Watch this (Click on the words Digital Nativity) for a creative look at the nativity.  Hope everyone has a blessed Christmas and New Year - remember to focus on Christ!

Cool Message for a Busy Week!

Subject: 1 Corinthians 13, Christmas Version
If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
 preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at
 mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.
If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata, but do not focus on those I love the most, I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
 Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband (wife).
 Love is kind, though harried and tired.
 Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and
 table linens. 
Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they
 are there to be in the way.
 Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but
 rejoices in giving to those who can't.
 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures
 all things. 
Love never fails.
 Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, and golf clubs will
 rust. But the gift of love will endure.
Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year to all.

Back to School

Welcome back - lots to do between now and Christmas break - including tests!  We will have an Algebra Chapter 6 Test on Tuesday.  7th and 8th Grade Science will both have chapter (6 and 7) Tests on Thursday - and 6th Grade Science will have a Chapter C3 Test on Thursday or Friday as well!

Thanksgiving

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving break.  I am very thankful for our school and all of my students and their awesome families!

Last Week of Quarter - TESTS

This is the last week of the quarter.  All three science classes will have a chapter test this week:  7th grade and 6th grade on Wednesday and 8th grade on Thursday.

Willy Wonka Casting

I apologize this wasn't up sooner - I had no internet over the weekend, so had to wait until I got back in town to post.

I am so excited about this play.  I appreciate everyone's enthusiasm and the fact that so many of you were willing to step out of your comfort zone and try out even when it meant doing so would make you a little vulnerable!  That being said - this has been one of the most difficult plays to cast.  Lots of parts and lots of talented students.  I apologize if you did not get your first choice - but lots of thought and prayer has gone into this to try and make it the best production possible and put everyone in the right spot.  The person in parenthesis will be the understudy  - meaning, they should at least become familiar with the songs and lines in case something happens and the person cast can't perform...

Willy Wonka - Devin Cruse  (Daniel Kelton)
Narrators - Maya Kidd, Sierra Mirtsching, Alison Plueckhahn, Layne Smith, Kristin Stuewe
Candy Man Kids / Squirrels:  5th and 6th Grade Girls
Candy "Man" - Anne-Marie Berg
Oompa Loompas - 5th and 6th Grade Boys
Charlie Bucket - William Dabney ( Ronnie Stringer )
James - Dakota Hernandez (says the lines)
Jamie - Natalie Stewart (sings Jame's parts)
Matilda - Emily Thompson
Mrs. Bucket - Breanna Pavel (Emily Thompson)
Mr. Bucket - Daniel Kelton (Andrew Knippa)
Grandma Josephina -  Brynna Bunte
Grandma Georgina - Anna Henry
Grandpa George - Antoni Bruno
Grandpa Joe - Ronnie Stringer (Antoni Bruno)
Phineous Trout - Haley Boatright (Andrew Knippa)
Augustus Gloop - Cody Stephens (Drew Killingsworth)
Mrs. Gloop - Arianna Kozitza (Mrs. Brown)
Veruca Salt - Niki Brabandt (Arianna Kozitza)
Mr. Salt - Drew Killingsworth
Violet Beauregarde - Abbie Johnson (Niki Brabandt)
Mrs. Beauregarde - Macey Heald (Haley Boatright)
Mike Teavee - Ryann Thiele (Cody Stephens)
Ms. Teavee - Anne-Marie Berg (Brynna Bunte)
Chorus - Townspeople, etc:   Emily Breckenridge,  Ashley Brooks, Caitlyn Cavalier, Olivia Guitierez, Maya Kidd, Andrew Knippa,  Lissy Martinez, Sierra Mirtsching, Alison Plueckhahn,  Evan Peterson, Layne Smith, Abigail Sullivan, and Kristin Stuewe

Production Jobs:
Student Director  - Abbie Johnson (Assistant:  Olivia G)
Student Choreographers - Brynna Bunte, Macey Heald, and Alison Plueckhahn
Stage Manager - Mr. Menke (Assistant:  Evan Peterson)
Sets - Emily Breckenridge, Haley Boatright, Kristin Stuewe (anyone else who wants to help)
Sound Technician:  Andrew Knippa
Stage Hands:  Antoni Bruno, Dakota Hernandez, and Oompa Loompas
Costume Assistants:  Ashley Brooks, Lissy Martinez
Props:  Natalie Stewart, Evan Peterson
Light Technicians:  Daniel Kelton, Evan Peterson, Caitlyn Cavalier

6th Grade Science Test on Thursday 8th Grade on Friday

6th Grade will have their Chatper A3 Test on Thursday and 8th Grade will have the Chapter 4 Test on Friday.

7th Grade Science Test

7th Grade Science Test will have a test over Chapter 3 on Tuesday.  6th grade and 8th grade science might have a test before the end of the week...we will see how the week goes and let them know asap.

Willy Wonka - Coming Soon!

A note is coming home today or tomorrow about the Fall Musical for 5th - 8th grade. The musical is Sunday, November 14th. I am looking for parent volunteers to help with costumes and sets and someone to help with the silent auction that day. Click on the link below to read the note...just in case the paper copy didn't make it home.


Fall Musical Letter

6th grade science test on Wednesday

We will move the Chapter A2 Test to Wednesday. Students need to finish the written review for homework tonight (Monday). We will go over the review and play a review game on Tuesday.

Busy, busy, busy!

Sorry - have not had time to update this for a few days.

Algebra students - I will put the keys to the practice worksheets on the Algebra page so you can check them over the weekend.

We will have several tests next week:

8th Grade Science Chapter 3 Test will be on Tuesday
6th Grade Science Chapter A2 Test will be on Tuesday
Algebra Chapter 3 Test will be on Wednesday

7th and 8th Grade music auditions for Willy Wonka will be next week. I am not sure how many days of class the auditions will take - once we see how that goes, I can tell you when I will have the cast list posted. Don't forget the link to audition central is posted under "useful links" if you want to practice lines or songs for a part

Wonka-mania!

I announced this past week to the 5th -8th graders that the fall musical will be "Willy Wonka" - and they seem very excited. Parents - I will need lots of help to create the chocolate factory for the play. Thanks to Mrs. Winkelman for already starting a plan for the oompa loompa costumes!The 5th and 6th grade boys will be featured as the famous Oompa Loompas - and the 5th and 6th grade girls will be both kids in the candy shop and the "squirrels" :)
The 7th and 8th graders will audition for the main parts and also sign up for behind the scenes jobs like student director, student choreographer, stage manager, props master, etc...
Below is the link to "audition central" so you can look up each character and study the audition lines and songs for them. I will put it in the "links" area of the blog as well. Good luck!

audition central:
http://www.broadwayjr.com/audition/auditionlist.asp?ID=17

A New Week

No holidays or tropical storms this week (as far as we know). We do have an early release on Tuesday - don't forget.

TESTS this week:
Algebra Chapter 2 Test - Wednesday (may move to Thursday if needed)
8th Grade Science Chapter 2 Test - Thursday
6th Grade Chapter A1 Test - Wednesday

7th Grade Science Test on Friday

7th Grade Chapter 1 Science Test will be on Friday instead of Thursday. This will give us a chance to review a little more before the test. 8th grade test will still be on Thursday,

7th and 8th Grade Science Tests

7th and 8th grade will both have tests over Chapter 1 this week on Thursday. See 7th grade Science page for today's (Tuesday's) homework.

New Week Reminders

Ready for a new week! A few reminders

• This week our "grace period" for detentions is over. Students in will be assigned detention if behaviors continue after warnings
• Tuesday afternoon the varsity girls have a home VB game against Grace Brenham at 3:30
• Wednesday is our first turn-in day for box tops
• Thursday is a turn-in day for magazine sales
• Friday afternoon the football and volleyball players will travel to Giddings for games

Whatever....

Our Champions for Christ building block this month is "Think the right kinds of thoughts." Yesterday in chapel, Pastor Jim shared with us what those right kinds of thoughts might be:
"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Phillipians 4:8

This week in music we will talk about listening to music that helps us think the right kinds of thoughts. There are a lot of messages in worldly music that are not focussing our thoughts on the right kinds of things. Spend some of your listening time listening to music that focusses on God and gets us out of "our own little world."!

6th Grade Science Assignment

See the 6th Science page for a link to our lesson and worksheet. Students should be finishing this tonight. They can check their work with the key on the last page.

First Whole Week

We have our first full week of school this week as our friends in public school head back. Hopefully we are starting to get into a routine. A few families still have some paperwork to get in --- Discipline Policy form, etc. Please turn everything in as soon as possible. Check the class pages for assignments and updates.

Thank Goodness it's Friday!

We had a great first week of school!
A few people still need to turn in their $5 art fee (this is to buy special supplies for the middle school artists to use) or their Discipline Policy Form, sports forms, emergency contact forms, ptl, etc. Let's get everything in as soon as possible. Thanks.

Learning more and more about the blog. I now have a video posted on the Music page and Algebra lessons on the Algebra page. Make sure you check them out...especially the Muppets video :-P Being able to post a link to presentations or documents will be a great tool when someone is absent and needs to look at the notes we took in class.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I will try and get some of the sports information posted on here soon. There are a lot of tournaments and games coming up in the next week. For now check the Sports Calendar on http://www.zionwalburg.org/

Go Trailblazers !!!!

2nd Day Down!

Another good day.

All my class pages on this blog now include up-to-date assignments.
We are trying to learn how to do more - link documents from class, etc.
For now it is a fun way to communicate to you!

5th and 6th Grade Boys have PE tomorrow.

New Year, New Technology

New year, new technology. I am learning this as I go... so bear with me. Not very pretty just yet.

We had a great first day of school. Looking forward to tomorrow!