September 2008

Janet M. Zimmerman, Principal of Middle School Curriculum Andrew J. Hill, Principal

Crestwood Middle School

Andrew Hill

Principal

Janet Zimmerman

Principal of Curriculum

Welcome to the first edition of the Middle School Newsletter for the 2008-2009 school year. This newsletter will be distributed monthly, during school months, via email to parent/guardian(s). The newsletter will also be posted on our website, www.crestwood.sparcc.org It is our hope that this newsletter will be another avenue that will keep you current with the happenings of the students and faculty at the middle school. In each edition, you will see columns from Ms. Zimmerman, our Principal of Curriculum, Mrs. Morri-son, our Guidance Counselor, Mr. Vanags, our Athletic Director, and me. In addition, there will be information from teachers and others on different activities at the middle school.

We have created an email list serve from the information provided on the emergency medical authorization form that you re-turned. This will provide us the opportunity not only to email this news-letter monthly but also to send out emails about other pertinent school related information. We promise not to overuse the system and your email address will not be seen by others receiving the information.

Our school year has gotten off to a great start! Our students are busy in the classroom and with many extracurricular activities at our school. We have 19 girls in grades 7 and 8 who are part of our first CMS cheerleading squad. We thank Mrs. Sally Jeffries and Mrs. Melanie Warren who are volunteering their time to coach these girls and make this opportunity available. I would also like to thank the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) for their continued support of CMS. Throughout the year they provide many opportunities for our students through the various fundraisers that they do throughout the year. I encourage you to support our PAC this school year by participating in their fundraisers, volunteering your time to help out in school for PAC sponsored activities, and/or attend-ing their monthly meetings. Thank you for your continued support of CMS! We are here to serve you and your child(ren) so please do not hesitate to contact me at any time with questions you may have. I can be reached at 330-274-2249 or at hill@crestwood.sparcc.org.

Sincerely,

Andy Hill

It was a pleasure meeting many of you during our open house. At that time you received you child’s “OAT Report Card.” If you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Lynne Morrison, our school counselor, your child’s teacher, Mr. Hill, or myself. We will be very happy to explain any of the results.

Did you notice that the CMS staff was wearing “Gold Medals?” It was in honor of our Middle School students achieving an Excellent rating on our district report card. Thank you for all that you did to help make this goal a reality-- “Together Everyone Achieves More.” Needless to say, we are all extremely proud of this accomplishment.

Looking ahead to the spring OAT’s, the testing window will be from April 20-April 30, 2009. Please mark your calendars. It is extremely important that your child(ren) be present.

Last spring, the Crestwood Board of Education adopted a new math series. One of the benefits of this new series is that you and your child can go online for tutorial assistance. The steps are as follows:

Go to PHSchool.com Enter the Web Code

8th grade: ada-0775 7th grade: are-0775 6th grade: aqe-0775

Click Go! At the top of the page click onto Student Home Page

*Bookmark this page* Once on that page, select from the various support tutorials:

-Vocabulary Quizzes -Lesson Quizzes -Activity Lab Support -Chapter Project Support -Data Updates -Math at Work

If you do not have access to a home computer, please speak with your child’s teacher. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 330-274-2249 or through my email address of zimmerman@crestwood.sparcc.org. Yours in education, Janet Zimmerman

Page 2 Andrew J. Hill, Principal Janet M. Zimmerman, Principal of Curriculum

Lynne Morrison

School Counselor

John Vanags

Athletic Director

Welcome back to the 2008-2009 school year, with a special welcome to our new 6th grade class. After a few days of orientation it seems as though everyone has acclimated to the Middle School environ-ment successfully. We are looking forward to another exciting year at CMS. Please be on the lookout for information regarding extra curricular activi-ties, including clubs/organizations and athletics. Students develop a sense of pride and greater self esteem through their involvement in school activities. It is an opportunity for them to develop their interests and talents. Information is provided through our monthly newsletter, during our daily announcements, and in the vertical file posted by the main office. Something new this year is the Counselor Meet and Greet. Throughout the year, I will be offering a time to meet with parent/guardian(s) to discuss different topics of interest. Topics may include organization, testing, scheduling, friendship issues, and many more. These meetings will be held at different times throughout the year. Keep an eye on the monthly calendar for the next event. If you have a certain topic you would like me to address you can call or email me any time. I am excited to collaborate with all of the families in our school. Please become familiar with the CMS attendance policy. It is delineated in the student handbook for your reference. It has been shown that a student’s attendance in school directly impacts his/her academic performance. It is our goal to help your student maximize their academic potential. Being in school is the first step to working towards that goal. If you have any questions or concerns about our policy please contact me. I hope to meet all of you throughout the year. I am accessible by appointment, phone, and email. If you have any questions please let me know.

Lynne Morrison

The craziness of life in the sports lane is about to begin! Wel-come to a new sports school year at CMS! As we get into the swing of a new athletics season, things may get a little crazy.

I remember one fall in my family a few years back, my oldest son played high school soccer, my daughter played high school volley-ball, my youngest son played middle school soccer, and I coached mid-dle school volleyball. Add three open houses, booster club meetings, and working concessions to my schedule and doing homework and other activities to my young athletes’ routines. My sports family needed to find time for an already full schedule - daily full time work, making and eating meals, visiting with each other, buying groceries, mowing the grass, cleaning the house and if possible, sleeping. The start of that fall athletic team season was pretty crazy for my family. To keep our lives from getting out of control, any active sports family needs a plan:

• Divide and delegate the duties

-children need to take responsibility for their assigned chores

● Communicate consistently -daily and weekly plans must be discussed with the whole family

• Keep a coolheaded outlook, even when the schedule gets hectic

-parents who look composed, even when feeling anxious, help the family to stay calm

Life with a family of athletes might be hectic. Remember to have a plan, hand out responsibilities, and stay cool. Most of all, be encouraging and HAVE FUN!

John Vanags

State Rated Excellent

Mr. Nan was born in Shandon Province of China. He is married and has an eighteen month old daughter. His undergraduate education was at Qufu Normal University and postgraduate and masters degree was obtained at Shandong Normal University. Since 2003 he has worked at Weifant Uni-versity in Weifang City, where he taught Chinese to the international students and English to Chinese students. He also worked in the international department of the university to develop international co-operation with overseas universities and was in charge of the foreign teachers and international students.

As a guest teacher to the Crestwood Dis-trict, he hopes to bring understanding be-tween the young generations of the world.

Mr. Nan Mrs. Kimberly Judd

Mrs. Judd is a graduate of Otterbein College with a Bachelor of Music Edu-cation. She has taught for twelve years at various schools in Columbus and Northern Ohio, most recently for five years at Monroeville High School where she was choir director and band director. Mrs. Judd teaches music at the high school and middle school. She is very excited to be part of the Crestwood family.

Ms. Amanda Allie

Ms. Allie graduated with a BA in Physical Education and Health from Mount Union College. While attending Mount Union she was a member of the Purple Raiders swim team. She cur-rently is teaching health at the high school and the middle school. She enjoys working with the variety of age groups.

Ms. Jennifer Savitscus

Ms. Savitscus graduated from John Carrroll University and received her masters from the University of Akron. Previ-ously she has been an instructor at the University of Akron and taught at a private high school in Mexico City.

Ms. Savitscus will teach at the high school and the middle school as a Spanish instructor.

Mrs. Donna Roosa

Mrs. Roosa has been a custo-dian in the district for fourteen years. She has worked at Hiram Elementary and the Primary building. We welcome her as our head night custodian at CMS.

Mr. Jake Magalski

Mr. Magalski is a 2007 gradu-ate of Crestwood High School. He has worked for the district with the grounds crew for the past two sum-mers. He is now employed as the night custodian at CMS.

New Staff At CMS

Page 3

Andrew J. Hill, Principal Janet M. Zimmerman, Principal of Curriculum

很高兴加入到Crestwood这个大家庭！

Volleyball The middle school volleyball teams have been hard at work since early August. The teams are working to

keep up with the winning tradition.

The 7th grade team is coached by John Vanags. The 8th grade team is coached by Lesa Reed and Patty Welch.

Both teams are looking forward to an exciting season. The PTC Volleyball Tournament will be held at Field

Middle School this year.

Football The middle school football teams have been practicing since August 6, 2008. The 7th grade team, coached by

Don Lorence started out with a win over Ravenna.

Darin Cook with volunteers, David Miller and Todd Monroe, coach the 8th grade team. The team also had a

victory over Ravenna.

Both teams did well in their scrimmage with Kent and coaches feel very positive about the upcoming season.

ATHLETICS

Cross Country

The Crestwood Middle School cross country teams have been running since the beginning of July to prepare for their season. Their first race was on August 23,

2008, at McDonald’s Billy Goat Challenge. Derek Fenrich guided the boys’ team to their 8th place finish, while Kira Edic led the girls’ team to their 2nd

place finish overall.

In each of their meets and practices, the runners have been competing well and learning how to pace themselves. The teams hosted a mid-season Portage Trail Conference meet on Tuesday, September 16, 2008, with the girls’ team taking

1st place and the boys’ team placing 3rd.

Jessica Ragle is the coach, and she and the team would love for you to support and cheer on the dedicated athletes.

Page 4 Andrew J. Hill, Principal Janet M. Zimmerman, Principal of Curriculum

7th & 8th Grade cheerleaders under the

direction of Sally Jeffries and Melanie Warren have

been cheering our teams on to victories!

Heinen’s ABC School Donation Program

2008-2009 Giant Eagle Apples for Students Program

Beginning September 28, 2008 through March 18, 2009, supporters of Crestwood Middle School have 40 weeks to earn points for their school by shopping at Giant Eagle. These points will then be redeemed for educational materials or items. If supporters of CMS registered last year to participate, they will automatically be enrolled for the current program. New supporters of CMS must first register and assign their Giant Eagle Advantage Card® to Crestwood Middle School (four-digit school identification number is 0244). They may register online at www.gianteagle.com or by calling 1-800-474-4777. Each time their card is scanned while shopping at Giant Eagle, credit will be added to the CMS point total. CMS thanks those supporters who participated in this program last year. Their points were redeemed for two Canon color/photo printers. Students will be able to use these printers in the CMS Library Media Center for class assignments. Supporters of CMS are encouraged to ask family members, friends, and neighbors to take a moment and register their G.E. Advantage Card®, too. Go to www.gianteagle.com or call 1-800-474-4777. Don’t forget Crestwood Middle School’s identification number, 0244.

Page 5 Andrew J. Hill, Principal Janet M. Zimmerman, Principal of Curriculum

CMS ART PROGRAM Garden vegetables and drawing on the “right’ side of the brain go hand in hand for the sev-enth grade art students at the Middle School. The young artists began the school year learn-ing how to shift from the logical, systematic

left side of their brain over to the right, or vis-ual, perceptual side. Drawing objects from life can only be accurately accomplished by look-ing intently at them and trying to understand how to portray a real, three dimensional object

onto a two dimensional piece of paper.

The students practiced drawing symmetrical bottles by using guidelines and assessing direc-tion and size proportion. The garden vegeta-ble still life was the “test” drawing to see if

they could, indeed, draw from actual life and not take images stored in their left brains. Watercolor painting techniques were then practiced and the garden still life drawings

were painted using those techniques. The re-sults are both striking in their color and lovely

in their compositions. Now if we could only eat the vegetables, too!

This new program will allow for any Heinen’s shopper to enroll in the ABC School Donation program and select a school of their choice to receive a donation of 1% of qualifying purchase. Beginning September 15, 2008, grandparents, alumni, neighbors and friends can now take part to make a great school even better by going to www.heinensrewards.com to register their Heinen’s Preferred Customer card. Please select Crestwood Middle School to receive the benefits. Thank You!

Eleven Crestwood Instrumental Music students and two adult staff members from the Crestwood community attended the 2008 Wooster Music Camp July 13-17, 2008 held at The Col-lege of Wooster. These students enjoyed a week of activities of performances, rehearsals, master classes, recreation, and first-hand life on a college campus along with over three hundred other students in grades 6-11 from all over the United States. Students performed in one of three bands or two orchestras and in small ensembles. The camp culminated with a final concert.

Crestwood students were: Lena Baldwin, Nikki Nero, Breanne Travis, Brandon Houpt, Dawn Quinn, Rachel Morley, Taylor Stone, Emily Hromi, Zoe Kopp-Weber, and Kyle Turnbull, and Amanda Fosnight (not pictured). Mrs. Guegold was a member of the instructional staff and a “Dorm Mom.” Dr. Guegold was also a member of the camp staff.

Crestwood Middle School 10880 John Edward Drive Mantua, Ohio 44255

Phone: 330.274.2249 Fax: 330.274-3705

Picture Day Picture Day at CMS took place on

September 15, 2008. There were many smiling faces!

Retake Day will be scheduled in November.

September 2008

Once again the PAC is back in action at Crestwood Middle School. PAC began selling fabric book covers the first week of school. The students were excited over the many choices that were offered. They are having a spirit wear fund-

raiser and cookie dough fundraiser in September.

The officers for the Parent Advisory Committee this year are:

Co-President Karen Faust

Co-President Connie Edic

Co-President Jayne Nielsen

Secretary Debbie Mendiola

Treasurer Debbie Soltisz

Parent Advisory Committee

A Tradition in Quality

Visit us on the web: Crestwood.sparcc.

org