Maple Creek Middle School
April 2014
4 25 Un io n Chapel Ro ad
Fort Wayne, In 46845
Phon e: 260-338-0802/Fax: 260-338-0369
M a r k S e el e , P r i n c i p a l / B i l l T o l e r , As s i s t a n t P r i n c i p a l / A D
From Mr. Toler’s Desk
Volume 1, Issue 1
Newsletter Date
Inside this issue:
8th Grade News
2
7th Grade News
3
6th Grade News
4
RAT/PE New
5
RAT Music
46
Drama News
8
Athletics
9/10
It is hard to believe that March has already come and gone. The students are
excited for spring break, and we hope that families are able to use it as a time to enjoy one
another’s company, get some rest, and prepare for the final stretch into summer. The Maple Creek staff still has a great deal they would like to accomplish this year, and we want
students to be ready to give their best as we move through this final quarter of the school
year.
One major event in April is the second round of ISTEP. Starting on April 24 th,
students will take the multiple-choice portion of this state-wide assessment. Please be
sure that your child is getting adequate rest and nutrition during this time and help him/
her arrive to school on-time and ready to go. All of our students will be taking the test online, and we want them to be prepared to do their best and show what they are really capable of doing.
Thinking about ISTEP and its impact on our school and community reminds me of
another area of accountability for our school, attendance. As we near the end of the
school year, keeping our attendance rate high is vitally important. We typically have an
excellent attendance rate due to our high-level of parent involvement, and the saying “If
you miss school, then you miss out,” continues to hold true for the general well-being of our
students. Teachers are doing exciting things in their classrooms on a daily basis, and when
students miss those lessons, they may be able to complete make-up work, but they cannot
make-up the classroom experience that they have missed.
In addition to the regular school-day happenings at Maple Creek, we have entered
the spring extra-curricular season. Our wrestlers and swimmers recently finished-off exciting seasons, but now it is time for our student athletes to move outside with track and
soccer getting into full swing. Hopefully, we will have a warm and sunny spring, so parents
and students can cheer on these athletes. It is also important to note that our second play
of the year, Grease, will be performed at Maple Creek on May 9, and we want to wish our
Academic Super Bowl team good luck as they move closer to their big competition at the
end of April. There are many group experiences for students to get involved in, and we
hope that these opportunities make school more meaningful for our kids.
Our students are anxious for a break, and summer is just around the corner.
Working together we can keep our students on track to finish the year strong, and I hope
all of our Maple Creek families have a safe, restful, and enjoyable spring break.
Page 2
Maple Creek Middle School
8th Grade News
Pre-Algebra/Mrs. Davis
After Spring Break we will
be finishing up Chapter 11
on our first peek at geometry working with distance
and angles. From there we
will move into geometry
concepts with one, two,
and three dimensional figures. We will work with
area, volume, and distance.
Language Arts/Mrs. Davis
“After Spring Break
we will be reading the
novel Across Five
Aprils, a story about
a young boy whose
family is caught in
the middle of the
Civil War.”
After Spring Break we will
be reading the novel
Across Five Aprils, a story
about a young boy whose
family is caught in the middle of the Civil War. Part
of his family sides with the
Union and part sides with
the Confederates. As we
finish up this unit, the social studies classes will
soon be into their study of
the Civil War. With this
novel, students will work on
building vocabulary using
context clues, reading
comprehension, theme, oral
fluency, and writing.
Science/Rowland
Time is flying! During the
month of April, we will
wrap-up our earth science
studies and enter our final
unit of life science. Topics
included in the unit are
living organisms, taxonomy,
heredity and traits. Students should be conscientious about filling in their
planners and checking the
homework board daily! As
always grades and assign-
ments can be checked utilizing the NACS website.
Social Studies/Mrs. Tigulis
8th grade Social Studies
Students have been working hard looking at primary
and secondary sources. We
are sure you’ve heard the
term DBQ being thrown
around at home. DBQ’s are
Document Based Questions
which are a way of using
primary and secondary
sources about events we
are studying within the
context of an essay they
write. This is a skill that
they will use in High School
and in college, so we are
doing our best to get them
started early. These
DBQ’s really made them
think and they responded
well!!
Also before Spring Break
we did a map packet that
was based on each individual student’s areas of
weakness like capitals, or
physical features. This is
to help prepare us for the
States & Capitals test
coming up after Spring
Break. While you are driving down to Florida, quiz
your kiddo on the capital
of the state you are driving through. As the days
get warmer (hopefully)
and the school days shorter,
continue to encourage your
kids to work on homework
and studying for tests in
small chunks, to stay organized, and stay the course
with their school work. As
always, if you have concerns or questions, please
contact Mrs. Tigulis
Math/Mr. McBride
Algebra students are
finishing chapter 9,
Quadratic Functions,
and we will be moving
into Chapter 10 after
spring break. We will
be learning about radical functions. Geometry
students have just finished chapter 10, circles. We will be starting chapter 11 learning
about area. Pre-algebra
students have just finished chapter nine, exponents. We will be
moving into chapter 10
learning about real numbers and triangles.
Volume 1, Issue 1
Page 3
7th Grade News
Pre-Algebra/Math
After Spring Break we
will be finishing up
Chapter 11 on our first
peek at geometry working with distance and
angles. From there we
will be moving into geometry concepts with
one, two, and three dimensional figures. We
will work with area, volume, and distance.
Social Studies/Mrs.
Tigulis/Mrs. Etter
7th grade Social Studies
Students have been working hard looking at primary
and secondary sources. We
are sure you’ve heard the
term DBQ being thrown
around at home. DBQ’s are
Document Based Questions
which are a way of using
primary and secondary
sources about events we
are studying within the
context of an essay they
write. This is a skill that
they will use in 8th grade,
in High School and in college, so we are doing our
best to get them started
early. A BIG Thanks to
Dana Tomeah who came in
to speak to our students
about what life is like living
in the UAE. Her stories
about school, daily life, and
even rock concerts
shocked the kids and we
are betting you heard all
about them at home
too. As the days get
warmer (hopefully) and the
school days shorter, con-
tinue to encourage your
kids to work on homework
and studying for tests in
small chunks, to stay organized, and stay the course
with their school work. As
always, if you have concerns or questions, please
contact Mrs. Etter or Mrs.
Tigulis
Science/Mrs. Shoup/Mrs.
Rowland
In science classes, 7th
graders are finishing up
their study of Earth and
the process that shapes it.
We have studied the rock
cycle and now have some
great Rock Cycle Cartoons
on display in the 7th grade
wing! After studying the
formation of soil, followed
by the Geologic Time
Scale, we will finish off
the year in the area of
Life Science, looking at
cells and how they function.
Math/Mr. McBride
Algebra students are finishing chapter 9, Quadratic Functions, and we will be
moving into Chapter 10
after spring break. We
will be learning about radical functions. Geometry
students have just finished chapter 10, circles. We will be starting
chapter 11 learning about
area. Pre-algebra students
have just finished chapter
nine, exponents. We will
be moving into chapter 10
learning about real numbers and triangles.
“We have studied the
rock cycle and now
have some great Rock
Cycle Cartoons on
display in the 7th
grade wing!”
Page 4
Maple Creek Middle School
6th Grade News
Social Studies /Mrs.
Hausfeld/ Mr. Motz
“Students will enjoy meeting
characters from the past,
learning medieval dances,
seeing how to understand
heraldry, learning about
different types of weapons
and armor, experiencing the
daily life of a young person
in the medieval world,
shooting a bow and arrow,
practicing their catapult
skills, and finally enjoying a
feast medieval style.”
Social Studies students just
completed a mapping review
activity centered on the
NCAA March Madness interdisciplinary unit. The students got a review of the coordinate plane, geography and
the elements of a good
map. Now, students will move
their studies to the Dark Ages of Europe following the fall
of the Holy Roman Empire. We will kick this unit off
with the Tenth Annual Maple
Creek Middle School Medieval
Festival. Students will enjoy
meeting characters from the
past, learning medieval dances,
seeing how to understand
heraldry, learning about different types of weapons and
armor, experiencing the daily
life of a young person in the
medieval world, shooting a bow
and arrow, practicing their
catapult skills, and finally
enjoying a feast medieval
style. We welcome visitors
and will post the date as soon
as possible. Students will
continue studying European
history for the remainder of
the school year until we actually make it to the present. We will study
the Middle Ages, Renaissance,
Restoration, Age of Exploration, Industrial Revolution,
World War One, World, War
Two, and the history of Europe from 1945 to the present. We will then do regional
studies of Europe and will
divide our studies accordingly:
Russia, Eastern Europe,
Northern Europe, and WestCentral Europe. If you have
travel or business experiences
in these areas of the world
please feel free to contact
us. We would love to have you
come into class and share with
the children, or at least send
some pictures our way with
captions. Thank you in advance!
Language /Arts Mrs.
Hausfeld/Mrs. Miller/Mrs.
Niemeyer/Mrs. Thomas
Hopefully everyone had a safe
and relaxing spring break! In
the month of April we will be
tackling conventions and the
writing genre we will be working on is Compare/Contrast.
The end of the month of April
we will be taking the next
installment of Istep +.
Science/ Mrs. Miller/Mr.
Bushong
In Mrs. Miller and Mr.
Bushong’s Science classes we
will be getting into our last
two chapters of our book
dealing with the topic of Ecology. We will be learning about
what living things need from
their habitats to survive, what
role organisms play in their
environment, and how living
organisms have made adaptations to help them be successful in their habitats. Later in
chapter 9 we will be learning
about how energy flows
through ecosystems by looking
at Food Chains and Food
Webs. Students will be creating their own creatures that
have adapted to a specific
location and then create a
Food Web poster with a group
showing the different parts
of a Food Web in an ecosystem. **Also (weather permitting) we will be going to the
NACS Nature Center to explore and relate it to our final
two chapters**
Math/Mrs. Burrough/Mr.
Ousley
The 6th grade math classes
have just finished their work
on the March Madness activities along with Chapter 10.
These worksheets introduced
students to real-life problem
solving skills dealing with computation in everyday life situations. Students also created
scale drawings of the basketball court.
As we move into April, the 6th
grade Math classes will be
introduced to the world of
probability. We will learn the
basics of theoretical probability, outcomes, and other probability concepts during this
chapter.
Accelerated Math Mrs. Burrough
The Accelerated Math classes
will also jump back into the
book as we begin the month of
April. The March Madness
packets introduced the students to the game of basketball with a fun twist of reallife situations involving math.
We will now be focusing on the
many different areas of Geometry and Measurement as
we move forward this final 9
weeks. We will also continue to
prepare students for ISTEP
as well as introduce concepts
to help prepare students for
Pre-Algebra and Algebra classes.
Page 5
Maple Creek Middle School
RAT NEWS/PE
The following students achieved Ironman/Ironwoman this month:
Airdyne
Georgia Givens
Elliptical
Gracie Ohman
Madison Jones
Stepper
Anna Jamicich
40 mile club (rode 40 miles this quarter)
Kaitlyn Sagan
Tallia Bowie
Ruby Meyer
Elise Jones
Alexis Harper
Maple Creek Middle School
Page 6
RAT News/Music
ISSMA Results
Congratulations to all the MCMS Music Students that participated in the ISSMA Organizational Contest at Garrett High School!! Each group received the following for their performance:
6th Grade Band – Gold (1st Divisional Rating)
6th Grade Choir – Gold (1st Divisional Rating)
7th and 8th Grade Band (Combined) – Gold (1st Divisional Rating)
Concert Choir – Gold (1st Divisional Rating)
Congratulations to All!!
Other Concert Info
Fine Arts Concert
Monday, May 19
Choir e-mail newsletter
The music e-mail system (for choir) is in place and has been sending out messages about each grade
levels activities and up-coming test schedules. If you are a MCMS choir parent and not receiving the
information, and still would like to be added to the list, please send a message to Mr. Teeple’s e-mail
address ([email protected]) stating your e-mail address.
Maple Creek Middle School
Page 7
RAT News/Music
MC Singers Travel to King’s Island
The MC Singers, a group of 7th and 8th grade choir students from Maple Creek, have been working very
hard since October to create a 15 minute choral presentation consisting of singing and dancing which
they will be presenting for two judges at Loveland Middle School in Loveland, OH, on Saturday, April
26th. The event which they will be participating in is a music festival where various choirs from all over
the Mid-West compete against each other for the title of Top Choral Group. The choir participated
last year in this festival and received top honors and came in 1st overall. The group hopes once again to
do as well. After the MC Singers complete their portion of the festival, they will be traveling to King’s
Island, which is down the road from Loveland MS, to spend the rest of the day riding rides and having
fun. The following is a list of the singers in the group:
Annie Nietert
Alauna Keeley
Carson Watkins
Audrey Thomas
Anna Frey
Gumersindo Nino
Becca Rollings
Ashley Adelsperger
James Boulton
Carissa Winger
Dani Cummings
Jason Wendt
Carlee McKenzie
Devon Parsons
Justin Becker
Dahlia Slater
Hannah Larrabee-Walcutt
Montana Singer
Kaili Palmer
Jasmine Kalonji
Nick Hipskind
Katie Beier
Katie Gray
Peter Stilwell
Madeline Hickey
Lauren Monasa
Reid Evans
Madelyn Koehl
Lauren Mullins
Marisa Featherston
Lauren Pontenberg
Sam Berry
Bruck Digby
Meredyth Mee
Lauren Reed
Olivia McQueen
Lindsay Kent
Reilly Shull
Lydia Martin
Sierra Nysetvold
Emily West
Maddie Carr
McKenzie Nadeau
Caitlin Miller
Hayden Mullett
Jacob Farlow
Kayla Sylvester
Logan Richmond
Maddie Ridgeway
Ryan Walker
Page 8
Maple Creek Middle School
Drama/Music News
The cast and crew for the Spring Musical, “Grease” has been created. Each student is quickly learning their lines and places on stage for the great performance which will take place on the MCMS
stage on Friday, May 9th beginning at 6:00pm. Make plans now to attend this very exciting production.
The April Rehearsal Schedule is posted outside of the Choir Room and on the Drama Web Page.
Choir e-mail newsletter
The music e-mail system (for choir) is in place and has been sending out messages about each grade
levels activities and up-coming test schedules. If you are a MCMS choir parent and not receiving
the information, and still would like to be added to the list, please send a message to Mr. Teeple’s email address ([email protected]) stating your e-mail address.
Talent Show Results
On Friday, March 21, 108 MCMS students participated in the 3rd annual “Bobcat Idol” with the hope
of being selected as the best performance of the evening. The show was a huge success and the
results of the contest are as follows:
1st Place – Elliot Shelton-Magic Tricks
2nd Place – Lauren Monasa & Olivia Strait-Tap Dance Duet
3rd Place – Kevin Wang-Piano Solo
Congratulations to all on a very exciting show!!
Redi-Med Physicals for current 5th, 6th, & 7th graders
will take place on
Friday, May 2nd @ Maple Creek Middle School ~ 3:20 –
6:00
The cost will be $15.00.
Physicals MUST be performed AFTER April 1st to be good
for the entire 2014-2015 school year. You need to have the
parent portion filled out before attending; this includes the
ENTIRE insurance section, including company name and
group or policy number and the concussion page.
Please contact Mrs. Abbott if you have any questions @
338.0802 (10:00 – 4:00)
AVAILABLE TO CURRENT NACS 8th-11th Grade Students
Fort Wayne Orthopedics and the Orthopedic Hospital have teamed once again with Carroll High School to
provide FREE physicals that will be valid for the 2014-15 school year. Carroll High School requires that
ALL athletes have a valid physical to participate in ANY summer conditioning/open gyms/etc. If you
THINK you might try out or have a use of a physical, use this opportunity to meet that requirement and have
your physical complete for next school year.
April 12, 2014
9:30 am
FWO 7601 W. Jefferson Blvd. Fort Wayne, IN 46804
Bring a physical form with you with your medical history completed.
Please note that a VALID physical requires insurance information and the last page of the attached physical file to be signed acknowledging that you received the Parent/Athlete information pages.
*** If you get your physical form from your Doctor or the IHSAA website, you will need to have the concussion waiver form filled out. Physical Forms with the concussion waiver for MC 8th Graders will be available in the Maple Creek office.
**** FWO will not make copies of your physical. You should always make a copy and turn one copy into
the Athletic Department at Carroll.
Take advantage of this great opportunity. It save you money and our Athletic Department a tremendous
amount of headache as we are unable to allow participation without a valid physical. It is the law.