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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. Need Printing? Call 706-367-5233 r c Gary’s 4860 Atlanta Highway. Bogart-Athens | One Mile West of Sam’s Club 770-725-1977 | Carhartt for women Authentic Carhartt Workwear Fit for a Woman Ladies Long-Sleeve Crew-Neck Shirt 100% Cotton 20% off with this Ad $22.00 www.marystackfeedpet.com j 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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