Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The Braselton News
Page 5B
School
Math changes to be discussed
Thursday evening at WJMS
West Jackson Middle School
will hold an “informative and
entertaining night” for parents and
students on Thursday, Oct. 18.
The evening will include a book
fair, patriotic music, pizza, report
card pickup, and the PTO. The
evening will also feature an expla
nation of the mathematics chang
es and the Georgia Performance
Standards, and information to help
parents access the Infinite Campus
parent portal.
The book fair will be held from
6-8 p.m. in room 809 at WJMS.
Patriotic music in the atrium will
be provided by WJMS students
from 6-6:30 p.m.
Parents will go to the child’s
math teacher for a brief PTO meet
ing and general information, from
6:30-7 p.m.
Math presentations in the class
rooms will be held from 7-7:25
p.m. Parent portal training for
Infinite Campus will be held from
7-7:25 p.m.
Math presentations in the class
rooms will also be conducted from
7:25-7:50 p.m., along with parent
portal training for Infinite Campus
at the same time.
Report cards may be pick up in
the atrium from 6-7:30 p.m.
Pizzas, desserts and drinks will
be provided by the PTO.
WJPS fall festival set Oct. 26
West Jackson Primary School will hold its fall festival on Friday, Oct.
26, from 6-9 p.m.
The event will feature fun for the whole family. The WJPS PTO is
seeking volunteers. Donations of prizes, canned drinks, candy and
bottled water for the event are also requested.
Gwinnett seeking community
input for AKS curriculum review
Gwinnett County Public Schools
is seeking community participa
tion in the annual review of the
Academic Knowledge and Skills
(AKS) curriculum now through
Nov. 9.
The annual review ensures that
the school system’s curriculum
covers state requirements, as well
as community and educator expec
tations for learning.
Community members can make
suggestions on the AKS curricu
lum by filling out the AKS review
form, available on the school sys
tem’s web site at www.gwinnett.
kl2.ga.us.
The form may be submitted by
Friday, Nov. 9, to the school’s
system’s curriculum development
office at: Instructional Support
Center, 437 Old Peachtree Road,
NW, Suwanee, GA 30024-2978.
Forms may also be e-mailed to
AKS_Review@gwinnett.kl2.
ga.us.
Schools may submit news
Educators may submit announcements and photos for school-related
activities to MainStreet Newspapers.
Each photo should be clear and in focus, and include a description
of the events happening in the photo. Photos of poor quality may not
be published. Educators are asked to submit no more than two quality
photos for each event.
Photos should not be attached to a Microsoft Word document, but
attached within an e-mail. When using a digital camera, please ensure
the camera is set at a medium quality setting to produce the best quality
photos. Photos taken at a low resolution may not publish well.
The first and last names of those shown in the photo, including adults,
must be submitted. Please ensure that all names are spelled correctly.
Educators may also submit announcements, such as special events and
learning activities.
Honor rolls and perfect attendance lists may also be submitted accord
ing to the format preferred by MainStreet Newspapers.
School news will be published according to available space.
For more information, or to submit school news, call Amy McKown at
706-387-5400 e-mail her at amy@mainstreetnews.com. Fax announce
ments to 706-387-5409.
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Mill Creek clubs go beyond the
ordinary
CHEVY CLUB AT MILL CREEK
Among the members of the Chevy Club at Mill Creek High School are: (from left to right) Robbie Miller
(secretary), Mandy Cash, Daniel Kemph, CJ Lambert (vice president), Steven Gilland, Marshall Daum
(president), Maggie Zayas and Josh Horton.
MILITARY TACTICS GAME
Dylan Girard, Brandon Lutz and Anthony Zanow play Battlecry,
a military tactics game. The Military Club is one of more than 75
clubs at Mill Creek High School.
BY KRISTI REED
With over 75 clubs to choose
from, Mill Creek students have no
shortage of options when it comes
to extracurricular activities. The
school offers the traditional ser
vice clubs and honor societies, but
also has clubs catering to a wide
variety of student interests. From
rock climbing to knitting, Mill
Creek has a club for everyone.
Ian Martin is the advisor for Mill
Creek’s Military History Club.
The club studies military history
and the application of military
theory through strategy games.
Martin has been playing strategic
and tactical war games for 25
years. Martin said his club teaches
students planning and problem
solving.
“There are a lot of after high
school life skills involved in these
games,” Martin said.
The club also emphasizes vet
eran appreciation. Martin said he
believes clubs should show civic
responsibility. Since the club’s
focus is military history, Martin
thought it would be appropriate
to honor veterans. Club members
have held luncheons for veterans
working at the school and sponsor
other veteran appreciation activi
ties.
One of the newer clubs at Mill
Creek High School is the Chevy
Club. Club president Marshall
Daum said he started the Chevy
Club because a lot of his friends
wanted to participate in a school
activity, but were having difficulty
finding a club that matched their
interests.
“A lot of my friends enjoy
Chevys and we wanted to expand
our knowledge of cars,” Daum
said.
Daum approached teacher,
Patrick Bates, for help in getting
the club organized.
By the time the club was
approved, more than 30 students
had joined. Bates said the club is
taking the students’ interest in cars
and trucks and turning it into com
munity service.
Club members are currently
organizing a car show for next
spring. The students are look
ing for sponsors as well as people
wanting to display their classic
cars and newer vehicles. Car
show participants will pay an
entry fee with the proceeds going
to charity.
Daum said the car show will
help the Invisible Children United
charity, an organization which
works to improve the lives of the
Ugandan children affected by a
decades long war in that country.
Daum also plans to organize a
car wash to raise funds for the
school.
Bates said the Chevy Club is
important for his students because
it gives them a sense of belonging
at school.
“It gives them the opportunity
to take an interest they have and
funnel it into something positive,”
he said.
Members of the Girl Talk Club
are also working to make a dif
ference in the lives of others.
Girl Talk is a national organiza
tion that teaches high school girls
to mentor girls still in middle
school. Mentors are taught how to
help younger girls deal with issues
such as cyber-bullying, friend
ships, Internet safety and making
the transition to high school.
“The idea is that high school
girls have been there recently,”
club advisor Lisa Rodriguez said.
“They remember those feelings
and are there to help [the younger
girls] get through it.”
Rodriguez organized the club
with her daughter, Tori. Tori is
the club president and plans to
become a middle school teacher
one day. Tori believes a teacher’s
job is not only to teach the cur
riculum, but also to teach life
lessons.
“It is really exciting to know
that there are girls out there inter
ested in this,” Tori said. “Our goal
is to reach out to those girls.”
Rodriguez said the program
requires that participants complete
10 hours of community service.
Club participants are also busy
recruiting members for a Guy Talk
club to reach out to middle school
boys.
“I cannot believe the quality and
diversity of this group,” Rodriguez
said. “There are girls who want to
do this and are very committed
to it.”
ENCOURAGES
PARTICIPATION
Mill Creek principal Jim
Markham encourages club partici
pation. During his tenure at Mill
Creek, Markham has approved
scores of clubs and even started one
of his own, the President’s Society.
Markham said club involvement is
important because it involves stu
dents in their school.
Markham’s club currently
has approximately 35 members.
Students meet regularly with
Markham to discuss school related
issues. The idea behind the club
was to solicit feedback from the
students and give them a voice.
Markham said his club has only
one rule: “You say what you think
and I won’t get offended.”
Markham estimates that 70 per
cent of Mill Creek students partic
ipate in extracurricular activities
at some point during the year with
approximately 50 percent partici
pating on a regular basis.
This spring, Markham plans to
introduce an intramural program
which will provide additional
opportunities for school involve
ment. Markham hopes to reach
a thousand Mill Creek students
through the program.
“I would like to have an oppor
tunity for every kid to have some
thing to do every day,” Markham
said. “The more engaged and
the more active they are, the less
trouble they’ll get in.”
Submit your school or social news from Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Mill Creek, South Hall or West Jackson by
e-mailing news@mainstreetnews.com, faxing items to 706-387-5421 or calling 706-367-5986.
Feature story ideas are also welcomed.
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