Panther Pulse

Greetings Panther families! The weekly Panther Pulse from Parcells Middle School appears below. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Ken Milch, Principal

Debbie Redlin, Assistant Principal

Samantha McGrath, Assistant Principal

School safety is always our priority, each and every day. Please encourage children to talk to a trusted adult. If your child sees or hears something that doesn’t seem right, they can also submit a confidential tip to OK2SAY. OK2SAY allows anyone to confidentially report tips on criminal activities or potential harm directed to Michigan students, school employees, or schools. Call 855-565-2729; text 652729; or email OK2SAY@mi.gov. For emergencies, dial 911. The OK2SAY link is available at http://www.michigan.gov/ok2say.

Support Parcells PTO with our annual Parcells Mr. C's Holiday Car Wash Fundraiser 2021 by purchasing $30 Gift Cards. They make GREAT gifts and you, or your grateful recipient, will drive a beautifully cleaned car this winter! Mr. C's has multiple locations (GP, St. Clair Shores, Clinton Twp, Orion, Washington, Rochester) and make a perfect gift for the person with everything. Who wouldn't love a clean car!? All cards will be delivered to YOU, contact free, for you to distribute to family and friends. Cards can be delivered as early as this week! https://forms.gle/j8guZzazEEYUdC5PA

The following is taken from a larger article being shared by the school district.

This year, global edtech company, SMART Technologies, surveyed more than 1,000 teachers from across the country. The teachers’ biggest concern? The mental health of their students.

This echoes research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association which found that the incidence of depression and anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents doubled during COVID-19, compared with pre-pandemic estimates.

But, teachers have been determined to foster strong connections with their students using

innovative methodologies that allow for more classroom interaction. And Parcells Middle School’s efforts have received international attention and recognition.

At the end of October, SMART Technologies sent a professional film and photography team to

Parcells Middle School to create case study content for its international library, open to teachers and administrators from around the world, featuring not only stories but lessons and resources. They spent time with Alexis Lecznar, a Social Studies teacher and district Technology Coach, who was selected because, as Chris Stanley, the district’s Director of Instructional Technology, noted, “Alexis is not only an innovative educator but focuses her instruction around student voice and experience.”

Stanley continued: “I do not think that there has ever been a time that I have walked by her

classroom and didn't hear joyful noise. Collaboration is key in student learning, and learning

requires talking and grappling with new material, which is something the students always do in Alexis’s classes.” However, innovative instruction is not unique to Lecznar’s classes at Parcells. It’s a commitment and cornerstone of the entire district.

“All of our schools are SMART schools and we’ve made a concentrated effort to ensure our

teachers have the tools and training they need to connect with students in their classrooms,”

added Stanley. It’s because of this incredible commitment to strengthening connections between students and educators, in addition to the school’s demonstrated innovation in learning and technology that SMART selected Parcells not only for its international Lumio library’s Connections The Matter program, but also inducted Parcells into its 2021-22 cohort of Exemplary Schools, a global network of educational institutions advancing learning through professional development, collaboration with peers and technology.

“Our promise as a company is to help enable and to celebrate Connections that Matter, and we have seen the most incredible stories of creativity and determination of educators over the last 18 months. This gives us the opportunity to recognize the outstanding educators and schools and showcase their commitment to their students, their communities, and their profession,” said CEO Nicholas Svensson.

Schools selected to the Exemplary Schools program participate in unique professional

development and peer learning communities and receive early access to SMART products.

Parcells will also open-source lesson plans and learning activities that strengthen connections among peers, between educators and students and between families and the classroom.

"We know our teachers are 'SMART,' but it is always an honor when an outside organization

recognizes our dedicated staff,” shared Grosse Pointe Public School Superintendent Dr. M. Jon Dean. “I thank our teachers for not only being innovative in their instruction, but also in how they connect and engage students in the classroom. Parcells being named a SMART Exemplary School is an opportunity to not only provide the very best for our students, but to lead by example across the country and globe."

To learn more about SMART, its products and services, please visit www.smarttech.com.

About SMART Technologies Inc.

SMART is a world leader in education technology, providing interconnected solutions to help

every person discover and develop the greatness within them. The first SMART Board launched in 1991, the same year the world’s first website went live. Since then, SMART has continued to innovate through SMART Notebook®, the world's most popular collaborative learning software, and through Lumio, the award-winning cloud-based learning software. With a full range of products used by millions of educators and students around the world, SMART creates connections that matter. To learn more, visit smarttech.com.

As part of SMART’s suite of tools and products designed to help teachers and school leaders

navigate the pandemic, SMART recently partnered with GLUU, a UK mental health education

organization, to create a series of free, mental wellbeing activities that teachers can integrate into their lessons. Using the SMART Lumio platform, teachers can create interactive lessons that foster critical thinking and promote strong mental health. In addition, SMART’s Funterra for grades K-6 is an online destination filled with engaging and fun games, videos and activities designed to inspire curious minds and develop skills for life-long learning including creativity, resourcefulness, perseverance, grit and empathy.

We have our winners of the November raffle! Congratulations to our 4 Amazon Card winners - Charlotte Torrento (5), Semaj McFolley (5), Maria Foster (5), and Cole Champine (8). And to our 2 students that won the Principal for the Day raffle - Sofia Garvey (5) and Gabe Mahoney (6) and finally to our 4 students who won a “Pick a Prize” from our treasure box - Gabby Buford (6), Ryker Hunter (5), Mia Wilhelm (5), and Rhys Ragland (5).

In December, we will be doing our banking and candy canes during Advisory classes on Tuesday, December 21st. Students are looking forward to the December raffles which are:

• A Jimmy John’s lunch delivered for you and 3 friends. (One per grade level)

• A $10.00 Amazon Gift Card (One per grade level)

• Pick-a-Prize from our treasure box (One per grade level).

If you haven’t seen our December Panther Bucks yet, be sure to check them out. This month they are red and have a photo of Ms. Lesher, our staff member of the month on them! She is a fabulous part of our staff and we are grateful to have her at Parcells!

We are running low on our monthly treats so any help you can be is greatly appreciated! It’s not too late to donate snacks for the reward day! You can sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0C4AA9AF29A6FE3-pbis

PANTHERPALOOZA - New date has been set to May 12th! Stay tuned for more details!

STUDENT COUNCIL- StuCo is proud to be sponsoring an all school “Eight Days of Kindness” leading up to the holiday break. Students will be invited to participate in Kindness Matters Challenges, Spirit Days and make a donation to our Winter Warming Drive to benefit the Motor City Mitten Mission. Please see the attached flyers for more information!

This week Foods students participated in a “Free Cook” activity where they were able to make anything that sounded good to them, and could be completed in 20 minutes. Thank you families for allowing students to make such a range of delicious foods! We had everything from hot cocoa cookies, to seared ribeye steak...it was a fun and memorable day!

Sixth grade students are preparing to enter the kitchens and worked on mastering their kitchen safety and spent some time exploring the kitchens to find out where everything is! On Friday they completed their first cooking lab- omelettes in a mug!

Students completed a “Bucket List Project” where they learned how to use formulas in Google Sheets, import their data from a Google Sheet into a Google Map, and then presented them on their “bucket list trip.” They are now working on building a bridge made out of toothpicks and Elmer's Glue. Their challenge is to see if their bridge can hold the weight of a brick!

5th Grade - Your child has completed their first unit on Growth Mindset and Goal Setting. This last week we spent some time reviewing rules and expectations for Parcells. Next week we will enjoy some time with our WEB leaders to help build a strong Panther community.

6th Grade -Your child has brought it all together and created an action plan to help them accomplish one of the goals they chose at the beginning of the unit. To reinforce this concept at home, ask your child what their goal is, how they broke it down into smaller goals, and their plans for achieving it. Discuss how you can support them if things at home or in school slow them down or stand in their way and about how you can celebrate when they achieve their goal.

7th Grade -Your child has put their knowledge about overcoming roadblocks into action by giving advice to a sixth-grader who is struggling to learn something new. Try telling your child about a time you had to try something new to overcome a roadblock, such as asking someone for help or looking at a problem with a different viewpoint. Tell your child what eventually helped you overcome that roadblock.

8th Grade- In this week’s lesson, your child will envision a path to become their best self by using strengths and skills they already have. Continue this lesson at home by asking your child what skills, interests, or abilities they want to develop and how you can help.

From Mrs. Saroli, to families of students in Mrs. Bolen’s, Mrs. Hool’s, Mrs. Porada’s and Mrs. Gallagher’s class - here is a new reminder about our Winter Vocal Concert at Parcells on Wednesday, January 12. See this link for more information.

ELA classes have been haunted by the ghosts of Christmas! These ghosts are teaching us about foreshadowing, irony, flashbacks, and the differences between static and dynamic characters. It is a lot of work and students are stepping up to the challenge. You should be seeing an increased workload at home.

Keeping in mind recent events, the teachers would like to thank you for your support and kindness as we do our best to support the students both academically and emotionally. Please reach out to us if you have any concerns. The “see something/say something” message combined with “Okay2Say” should be discussed at home.

Students have been hard at work! Students need many reminders about wearing their masks properly. Please know that none of us would choose to wear masks for enjoyment, but it is a requirement! Please help us by reminding your students that, for now, they must cover their nose and mouth anytime they aren’t eating.

In math, we have begun working in our new pilot - Maneuvering the Middle! The students seem to be challenged and are enjoying the new note taking methods. Please ask your students about the new material and what their thoughts are. We will work in this pilot for the remainder of the quarter (the end of January). At the end of the quarter students, parents and math teachers will complete surveys to help narrow down our new curriculum.

Thank you to Mrs. Palffy and Ms. Hawkins for joining our social studies class this week to talk about career opportunities. Students completed a lesson using Naviance and Roadtrip Nation. In science classes, students are learning about forces and motion in order to design cell phone cases that prevent breaks. Our mathematicians are finishing the Real Number System, and will be starting scientific notation next week! 8th grade English classes continue their deep dive into poetry. Students recently completed poems called "Where I'm From," which draw on their own experiences, as well as those of a trusted adult. Up next, they will write poems about their dreams and goals. Please remember that your student should be reading their independent reading book every night, for at least 20 minutes.

All choir families - please see this link for a reminder about our upcoming Winter Vocal Concert. Our next concert is on Wednesday, January 12. All of our singers are working hard in our daily rehearsals to prepare for an entertaining program next month. We hope to see many families in our audience.

In addition to rehearsing our concert music, we spend time working on music theory. 6th graders are continuing to improve their identification of bass clef line and space notes; 7th graders are exploring musical road maps, such as repeat signs, D.C., D.S., and coda; 8th graders are learning tricks to identify “do” in a variety of key signatures. Our singers are well on their way to becoming well-rounded musicians.

Parcells Counseling met with students this week for our Naviance Career lessons for Grades 6-8. (Grade 5 will be in the spring). Naviance is the GPPSS platform for student self-discovery.

In middle school, we engage our students each year, beginning in 6th grade to help them develop confidence and lay the foundation for their future. By uncovering strengths and unique skills via the Naviance platform lessons/assessments, our students will discover strengths, connect their interests to careers, set goals, and gain confidence in their plans.
Parents can log in after our Naviance sessions at school and review (view only) their student’s experience. Naviance Parent Sign In . Students will always have access to their Naviance page and can interact with the career tools at their fingertips.

Counselors will be going into Social Studies classes on the following tentative dates:

Dec 14: Make up day for any missing students if they don't complete remotely.

Ms. Gina Hawkins is our counselor for students with last names A-K.

Mrs. Carla Palffy is our counselor for studenst with last names L-Z.

Here is a link to our Parcells Counseling page.

Parcells Middle School is a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) school. Click here for information about BYOD. At Parcells, chromebooks are available for students who demonstrate financial need. Please email your counselor to receive the required paperwork. All information will be kept confidential.

The Parcells Homework Station is open for business. It's located in room 108 and runs from 3:18 - 4:18, Monday through Thursday. The Homework Station is a place where students can get help with homework, just work on assignments or borrow supplies to finish projects. There is no sign-up needed, and students do not have to stay for the entire hour.

Our Community-led Diversity Group meets monthly. These meetings are led by Ginni Winters who is the School Culture & Equity Consultant from Wayne Resa. Ginni has supported our diversity efforts as a district for many years. These meetings are intended for adults who have students at any level within our school district.

Students who arrive late to school must enter through the secure entrance (Vernier side of building). Students will not be admitted through the Mack Avenue doors after 8:15 AM.

Late start Mondays: Every Monday, school begins at 9:00am. Doors open at 8:45am. Tuesday through Friday, school begins at 8:15am. Doors open at 8:00am.

Water bottles: We encourage our students to stay hydrated by bringing a refillable water bottle to school every day. Water filling stations are located around the building.

Morning Basketball takes place at 7:45am Tuesday - Friday. Students may enter through the Gym doors off Sunningdale to participate.

The Parcells Chess Club is open to all students. All you need is a desire to learn and play chess! No prior experience needed-we'll teach you! We meet on Wednesdays to play games from 3:25pm until 4:10pm in room 103.

Reminder: Cell phones/electronic devices are to be turned off and out of sight at school. This includes all devices associated with cell phone usage such as Apple Watches or similar devices.

Student drop off: Student safety is our number one priority, especially in the morning. In the back entrance of our building (Sunningdale), please be mindful of Drop Off & Pick Up procedures. The employee parking lot is active and is not a drop off or pedestrian zone for students. Students should not cross through the lot to access the building at any time. For their safety, please refrain from dropping students off any place other than the loop around the parking lot.

Please note:

• The parking lot is reserved for 5th grade families drop off/pick up only.
• When dropping your student off, please pull up as close to the end of the ramp outside the 5th grade door as possible. Do not stop directly in front of the doors.
• Students should be prepared to exit your vehicle quickly.
• Parents must exit the parking lot as soon as your child is out of the car. No U-Turns or cutting through aisles. Please drive around the loop and exit with the flow of traffic.
• Parking spots/rows are reserved for staff only and are not for drop off or pickup before or after school.
• Please do not park/stop/wait between entrance and exit driveways along Sunningdale.
• Refrain from making left turns out of the school parking lot off Sunningdale during drop off times (8-9 AM and 3-4 PM).

Along Mack Ave (front of building):

• Students must be dropped off in the school driveway. Do not exit a car while on Mack Avenue.
• Please keep traffic moving. Students should be prepared to exit your vehicle quickly. Exit the driveway as soon as your child is out of the car.

We have been asked by Summit Oral Surgery to ask parents to please not use their parking lot as a pick-up spot. Their parking lot is small and is reserved for patients only. Thank you!