HLWW Middle School Newsletter

Welcome to the HLWW Middle School Monthly Newsletter! We hope this will provide additional insight on the many activities and events taking place at HLWW.

If you wish to be added to the mailing list, please email adamlakerpride@hlww.k12.mn.us

February 9th - 2 Hour Late Start

February 19th - Presidents Day, no school

February 22, 26 Student-led Conferences and Book Fair

March 22nd-31st - Spring Break

Congratulations to our November Students of the Month Carlos Barrientos-Tucker, Shane Peterson, Brandon Dowling and Natalie Eastiling!

Congratulations to our December Students of the Month Hunter Olson, Kyra Hendrickson, Rylie Decker and Corbyn Swanson!

What better way to learn about decimals than to go to a restaurant? 5th grade students went to Ms. Long’s restaurant to learn and practice decimals. Every student had the opportunity to learn how to be a server at the restaurant. They even had their own ideas to add to the menu for next time!

By Sophia Hintz, 7th Grade

Choir is a fun class that you can take in middle school! Choir is for grades 6-8. We have two teachers that teach our middle school choirs. Our sixth grade choir is taught by Mrs. Porter, our seventh through eighth grade choir is taught by Mrs. Aldrich. There are two concerts that happen during our school year, our holiday and spring show. You can find our livestreams on Youtube, the channel is HLWW fine arts.

Mrs. Porter had been teaching choir for three years now, Mrs. Porter also teaches band. This is Mrs. Aldrich’s first year teaching at HLWW. In choir, you get to sing many cool songs, some even in a different language! Some of these songs have movement, which betters the telling of the story. One of my favorite songs we performed was Firefly. It has a bright, cheery tune with lots of suspense. “Our 7th grade choir is what gets me to work everyday.” Mrs. Aldrich stated.

Choir is an exciting and thrilling experience, I hope you think about joining!

By Olivia Veiths, 8th Grade

In 8th grade Forensics, we are learning about blood typing. We are doing a blood typing lab on Tuesday, January 16th, 2024. Mrs. Baxter teaches this class she does her best to make sure we are all caught up and that we understand the classwork. In forensics we learn about how to solve crimes, the steps of a crime scene, and the people that are on and respond to the crime scene. We have learned so far is eye witness and why its not reliable, steps to a crime which are securing the scene, spearting witness, scanning the scene, seeing the scene, skeatching the scene, searching the scene, and securing and packaging evidence, then we learned about the chain of custody. We also learned about blood types and how to find out someones blood type. The last thing that we are going to learn is fingerprinting.

By McKenna Kloos, 5th Grade

My article is going to be about what grade 5 is doing in social studies class . We are doing a topic on debating. There is a loyalist side and a patriot side and we debate . I like this topic because we get to actually debate like we are in court . It was really.................. interesting I'll say seeing everybody's props . Some had hats , fake hair , and even a mustache . If the main speaker does not know what to say, that person turns to their team And it's a 30 second back and forth chat .But it wasn't easy , we couldn't just practice debating and call it good . We had to prepare by reading , taking notes , and studying our characters . Each group was assigned their own patriot or loyalist . All of the groups go around the room studying each component . Everybody studies their components to learn their strengths and weaknesses . Then we all debate , all main speakers have a script for some questions and some of their own . As the debate goes on the questions get harder . When someone gets their opponent stumped and doesn't know what to say , then the crown rises and then that's when the other speakers get to come in . They whisper in their ear and they work together to figure out what to say . Then they come to an end and now each person has learned something new , about their character , or about the other characters . Thanks for reading!!

By Sophia Hintz, 7th Grade

Honor band is an amazing opportunity that our young musicians get a chance to sign up for. Eight students including myself had the opportunity to go to the CMBDA honor band. This year's CMBDA honor band was held at Elk river, in the Zabee auditorium, on January 13th. One of my favorite songs that we rehearsed was Brace for impact, it was a thrilling piece that gave our musical sections each a chance to shine. The CMBDA honor band brings in guest conductors, this years grade 6-10 conductor was Mrs. Terri Svec. The 9-10th conductor was Mr. Benjamin Faugstad.

One of my favorite songs that we rehearsed was Brace for impact, it was a thrilling piece that gave our musical sections each a chance to shine. All of us had a blast and I hope you think about trying out next year!

List of the the kids that attended the CMBDA honor band:

Elizabeth Heuer 7th grade

Sophia Hintz 7th grade

Maria Koch 7th grade

Martin Koch 9th grade

Maggie Burau 7th grade

Korrigan Thomas 7th grade

Christine Decker 8th grade

Brycen Diers 8th grade

HLWW 6th Graders travelled to Deep Portage from January 10th-12th. The Deep Portage Learning Center, located in Hackensack, Minnesota is a residential environmental learning center, fully accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Thousands of students from more than a hundred schools all over Minnesota visit Deep Portage each year to take part in environmental and conservation education programs.

Students engage in many fun educational activites , both indoors and outdoors. A favorite activity, Charley to Base, teaches students how to use a compass and read maps. Students are divided into groups and given 2 compasses, a map, and a two-way radio. They work together to navigate their way through the forest. It is a great opportunity for team building and working well with others.

Survival, another group activity, teaches outdoor safety. Students learn how to build a shelter and start a fire. They are also taught hypothermia awareness and how to navigate the woods if you become lost. In Tools Through Time, students engage in a variety of events based on ancient a. Students take a step back in time to consider how tools have evolved over time and the impact on our history. Activities include: rabbit stick throwing, spear throwing, axe throwing, and cross cut saw. This culminates in a visit to the very popular gift shop.

At night, students participated in a game night and bunked in groups. For many students, this is the first time they have gone to a campground. Deep Portage provides memories that will last a lifetime.

6th Grader Jamie Collins stated: “Some of the activities we did include rock climbing, Charlie to Base, survival, and tools through time. We were there for three days and two nights and the food there was really good, they gave you fruit, water or milk, and the main meal which was always really good. One of my favorite activities was Charlie to Base where you get a walkie talkie, a map, and a compass to navigate different OR markers in the woods. Another fun activity was survival and the goal was to build a shelter and start a fire as if you had to survive in the woods. Overall I think Deep Portage was a really fun place to visit.”

HLWW Middle School would like to thank the Howard Lake Sportsmen's Club and Zahler Photography for donations that were used to provide scholarships. It has always been the goal of HLWW Middle School that every student who wants to attend the Deep Portage trip is able to attend. With these generous donations, we have been able to achieve this goal every year. We would also like to thank the parent chaperones and our 6th grade teachers. Without their willingness to donate many extra hours the Deep Portage trip would not be possible.