NORTH NEWS

On Friday evening, both the JV girls and Varsity boys basketball teams ended their seasons with appearances in the championships! The Varsity boys team wishes to thank their coaches, parents, and everyone who supported them over the season. Though they came up a little short in the final game, it was an AMAZING season!

The JV girls team brought home the championship against Musselman Middle in Friday night's 31-29 thriller! NMS basketball has a great future with both of our JV teams making it to the championships this year! One of our boys basketball coaches, Mr. Callis said, "I couldn’t be more proud to be associated with these young people. They’re not just good players, they’re wonderful young men and women." We couldn't agree more, Mr. Callis!

Thank you to our devoted coaches, players, cheerleaders, parents, & spectators for representing NMS well with all of your hardwork! We can’t wait for next year!

Several NMS students participated in the Berkeley County Social Studies Fair on Saturday, February 10th. Congratulations to the students who placed in the competition! Several will be moving on to compete in the Regional Social Studies Fair:

• Olivia Butts - 1st place - Economics - "Why are Food Prices Inflating & How Does it Impact the US?"
• Andrew Bixler - 2nd place - State & Local - "My Haunted Hometown"
• Eva Sanita - 2nd place - Sociology - "The Impact of Cults"
• Severe Hatch, Kai Quevedo, Jeffrey Snow - 1st place - Economics Group - "ESports Gaming Economy"
• Ethan Greenburg, Aliyah Greenburg - 2nd place - US History Group - "Travis Kelce's Road to Success"
• Avery Reyes, Hank Plunkert - 1st place - World History Group - "The Anglo-Zanzibar War: The Shortest War in History"

NMS is SO proud of our social studies students!

Tuesday marked our 5th snow day of the school year which means snow days 6-10 will be remote learning days. There are many ways you can prepare NOW just in case we have additional winter weather days:

• Locate the remote class links on each of your teacher's Schoology pages.
• Take your iPad and chargers home daily; especially when winter weather is expected.
• Create a study space in your home where you can be free of distractions.
• Review the remote day schedule below.

Snow days 6-10 will be remote learning days, if we need them. It's best to be prepared now to avoid problems on our next snow day. If you have questions, please ask your teachers or contact our Technology Integration Specialist, Ms. Deavers.

STUDENTS! Make sure your iPad is charged (everyday) and updated by February 26th! Your homeroom teachers will be checking! If you have lost your charger, need a new sticker, damaged your iPad, can't login to your Apple ID or have ANY other iPad problem, scan the QR code or click the link below and fill out the form. Ms. Deavers will contact you this week! Remember, these QR codes are located ALL OVER THE BUILDING in case you ever need to report an issue with your device!

The West Virginia General Summative Assessment in writing will take place the morning of March 5th. Students should arrive at school ON TIME, with a CHARGED iPad for the assessment. In addition, students should be sure that their iPad is updated with the latest version of iOS 17.3.1.

To update an iPad, go to your settings wheel icon. Click General - Software Update. If you need an update it will allow you to update now or update later. Your iPad will not update unless it is charged to at least 20% and has the storage space to do so. You may find yourself having to delete a few apps (they will come back after the update) or pictures to make the update go through.

Ms. Deavers will continue visiting classes next week to check iPads. We will also have an iPAD CHECK on February 26th in homeroom!

If you are an 8th grade student interested in track & field and you will be attending Spring Mills High School next year, this message is for you! The first date of spring tryouts is Feb 26th and interested students will need their parent to fill out Family ID (see directions below) which will close on March 8th. If you are interested and need more information, please contact Spring Mills High School.

Attention, those interested in running freshman track at Hedgesville High School, practices start on February 26th! This opportunity is open to 8th & 9th graders! Students will meet in the cafeteria at HHS at 3pm and be picked up at the track at 4:30pm. Interested students should register on Family ID before Feb 24th (you must have physical). See Mrs. Burton if you need more information!

There is still time for students to apply for the 2024 Stanford Middle School Scholars Program (SMSSP). The application deadline is March 29, 2024, at 11:59 pm Pacific Time. When students become Stanford Middle School Scholars, they develop skills to thrive at academically rigorous high schools. Students engage with different academic disciplines and build community with instructors and scholars.

The program serves low-income students in grades 6 or 7 who reside in and attend school in the United States. SMSSP is tuition-free and there is no fee to apply.

Students and their families can visit our website to learn more. You and your students are welcome to contact us with any questions at precollegiate@stanford.edu.

Are you interested in learning a new language or about different cultures? If this interests you, and you are a current 4th -8th grade student, then the Berkeley County STARTALK program might be for you. Beginning in February through the end of May, students in this program will have the opportunity to learn about the Chinese Mandarin language. Participants will also have the opportunity to attend a two-week learning camp this summer through the BCS Summer SOLE program. There is NO COST to participate if accepted! If you are interested in this opportunity, check out the flyer below for more details. You can also email wvstartalk@gmail.com.

*Shepherd University TRiO Upward Bound Program - Available to rising 9th-12th grade students, this program serves students who are historically underrepresented in higher education. Students benefit from weekly tutoring, 6-week Summer Academy classes on the Shepherd University campus, leadership building, service learning opportunities, and more. Click on the flyer below to apply.

*KESEM at West Virginia University - Children 6-18 years old who have lost a parent to cancer or have a parent currently undergoing cancer treatment can join this camp to connect, heal and thrive. Check out the flyer below or contact wvu@kesem.org for more information.

FREE BCS virtual tutoring is available in Math, Science, English (Reading and Language Arts), and Social Studies for ALL BCS K-12 students Monday-Thursday from 5-7 pm by appointment. Tutoring sessions are approximately 30 minutes.

Please complete the form below and you will be contacted via email on your requested day prior to 5 p.m. with the information for your tutoring session. One of our tutors will call the number you provide between the hours of 5 - 7 p.m. Please be sure you select a date that you are available and able to attend. Also note that you will not have the tutor for the full 2 hours.

Also available daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at no cost for West Virginians, TutorWV provides support for patrons of all ages and stages. For students, the program offers online, on-demand, expert tutoring and homework help in more than 200 subjects, along with drop-off review services for essays and math problems. Tutoring included for AP, SAT and ACT. Read the press release.

Shenandoah Community Health visits our school every Thursday. Students can be seen for a variety of reasons, including immunizations and school sports physicals.

If you want your child to be seen in the mobile clinic by a medical professional, please contact the main office for more information!

As parents, it's essential to help our children understand the difference between friendly teasing and bullying. While teasing involves mutual laughter and enjoyment, bullying causes repeated distress and hurt feelings. Encourage open communication with your child about their experiences at school, and teach them to recognize when playful banter crosses the line into harmful behavior. Asking them questions like, "Who did you sit with at lunch today?" or "How did you feel when that situation occurred today?" can help parents get more information from their teens and help identify conflicts they may be facing.

If your child is repeatedly being bullied or harassed, there are several steps you can take to support them. First, listen attentively and validate their feelings. Help them understand that bullying is not their fault and that they deserve to feel safe and respected at school. Encourage them to confide in a trusted adult, such as a teacher or school counselor, and work together to develop strategies for dealing with the situation. Most importantly, if they need support, be there to provide it!

While it's important to empower teens to navigate conflicts independently, there are times when intervention is necessary. Keep an eye out for signs of distress or changes in behavior that may indicate your child is struggling with bullying.

• Withdrawal or Social Isolation: child suddenly becomes more withdrawn, avoids social activities, or spends more time alone
• Changes in Academic Performance: decline in academic performance, sudden reluctance to attend school, or frequent complaints about not wanting to go to school
• Physical Ailments: unexplained bruises, scratches, or other physical injuries, as well as frequent complaints of headaches, stomach aches, or other physical ailments
• Emotional Changes: mood swings, irritability, sudden outbursts of anger or sadness, or expressions of low self-esteem and worthlessness
• Changes in Eating or Sleeping Patterns: significant changes in eating habits, such as loss of appetite or overeating, as well as disruptions in sleeping patterns, such as difficulty falling asleep or frequent nightmares

Hey everyone! It's important for us to know the difference between friendly teasing among friends and harmful bullying. How can we tell the difference? Teasing is friendly and makes everyone feel happy, even the person being teased. It's like when we tease our friends about their favorite sports team or a funny thing they did. Teasing is when we playfully joke with our friends, and EVERYONE is laughing and having fun. During these times when we joke around with our friends, we need to make sure we're not hurting anyone's feelings in the process.

Bullying, on the other hand, is when someone feels repeatedly upset, scared, or hurt by what someone else says or does. It hurts someone's feelings, makes them feel bad about themselves, and can happen over and over again. If someone feels sad, angry, or scared because of what you said or did, it's important to say sorry and make sure you restore the person by being kind. Bullying is often a repeated behavior. One mean joke still isn't kind and isn't okay, but it's not bullying. Bullying is a repeated abusive behavior that hurts a person physically or emotionally.

Check out this real-life example:

(our students have given their permission for us to use their situation)

Kolby & DeSean are friends at our school. One day, Kolby thought it would be funny to hang a poster of DeSean on a locker. Before they knew it, other students were moving the picture around the building. DeSean's picture was on various lockers, in the stairwell; later it was even in the library! It was a real-life "Where's Waldo?" game! DeSean found it amusing and even posed with his picture (see below)! But what if DeSean had been hurt by this prank? What if instead of finding it funny, he was embarassed? You see, the same action or joke can be considered mean or funny based upon how the other person feels! You may intend something to be funny, and it is taken a different way. If you say that same hurtful things over and over again, now you are guilty of bullying. Luckily, in our example, DeSean was amused by Kolby's joke, but we always need to be aware of how our words and actions are actually affecting the emotions of the people around us.

REMEMBER, YOU HAVE THE CHOICE TO BE KNOWN FOR KINDNESS OR KNOWN FOR RUDENESS! Others will treat you the way you treat them. Building up our friends and classmates with kind words and actions makes our school a better place. Some of us may not come from homes where kind words are spoken; some people in our school have spirits that are broken by others' words & actions. Let's be mindful of how our words and actions affect others and choose to spread kindness and joy wherever we go, rather than negativity and rudeness. Together, we can create a school where everyone feels happy, safe, and respected.

**If you ever need help with a bullying situation, who can you trust? Your parents, teachers, counselors, and administrators NEVER want to see you harmed physically or emotionally. If you feel like someone is repeatedly making you feel bad, that is not okay. Tell a trusted adult immediately. If you don't have a trusted adult, our staff member volunteer to be those people in your life!

*Ms. Landerkin's students are completing their PBL Family Tree project, which they will then present to the class. This is a great way for students to learn how to look at real life records, research, and use critical thinking skills to solve the puzzle of their family connections.

*Ms. Long & Ms. Keppler, with a grant from faculty senate, were able to team up to create "Breadscapes" with their classes. Students created landscape art out of bread, onions, pepperoni, peppers and other ingredients. And WOW, did the hallways smell delicious!

"We at North Middle School are committed to doing WHATEVER IT TAKES to ensure that all student reach their highest potential!"

THE NORTH WAY

BE SAFE - BE RESPECTFUL - BE RESPONSIBLE

Email: rachel.deavers@k12.wv.us
Website: https://www.berkeleycountyschools.org/o/martinsburgnorth
Location: 250 East Road, Martinsburg, WV, USA
Phone: 304-267-3540
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialNMSpage
Twitter: @nmsteachers