Poetry Out Loud

The Yearbook Staff has finished their work on the 2013-2014 yearbook. Reserve your copy! We do not want you to miss the chance to purchase a yearbook for your child!

Congratulations to all participants and winners in Reeves’ 2014 Poetry Out Loud Competition held Thursday, March 27, from 7:00-8:00 in our library. First place went to 8th grader Sidney Hufford with her dramatic rendition of “Oh Captain, My Captain.” Aurora Strauss-Reeves finished in a close second with the poem “Identity.” Honorable Mention went to Alice Tammetta, who recited two short poems All participants worked hard during OT and after school to prepare for the big event. We plan to involve all 7th and 8th graders next year. Again, fine work by all!

Some parents & students were unable to purchase a copy last year because they waited too long. Don’t wait until the last minute! Go online TODAY at http://jostensyearbooks.com/? REF=A09053250 to order your copy. There are limited copies available. The cost is $30 until they are sold out. Electronic volume 61

Reeves Raiders

Yearbooks– 2nd notice

Upcoming events

April 2014 Raider mascot

 April 2: 6th grade Musical in RMS Gym at 7:30 PM  April 4: End of 3rd Quarter!  April 16: PTA meeting— 5:30 PM in Library  April 17,18,21,22,23,24: Musicals in RMS Gym at 7:30 PM  April 18: MS Band festival in Shelton  April 21: Spring Book Fair in RMS library— all week  April 25: Spirit Day & Recognition Assembly  May 1: Parent Info. Night for NEW 6th graders: 6 PM  May 7: Collaboration Day… 1 hour late start

~ Science MSP test— 8th grade May is MSP TESTING month. See articles on pgs. 2 & 5

P I D ay at R M S Pi day is an unofficial holiday to celebrate the mathematical constant pi, which is roughly equal to 3.14. This year it was celebrated on Friday, March 14th— Albert Einstein’s birthday. Math teachers at each grade level celebrated Pi . Activities included: ~ finding the area and circumference of pies ~ having a pi recitation contest to see who could memorize the most digits of pi ~ reciting Pi poems and songs ~ eating fruit pies during both lunches

This was a fun way to celebrate this famous mathematical constant. Thank you if you were one of the families that donated a pie for this activity. Special thanks also to our volunteers who helped serve the pie!

S p r i n g b o o k fa i r Our spring book-fair will run from April 21st-25th. This is our buy-one getone-free fair. If you are able to help with set up after school on Friday, April 18th, packing up on Friday, April 25th, or working before school from 8-8:25 M-F, at OT time 10:20-10:47 M-F, or at either the 1st or 2nd lunch shift on any of those days, please contact our librarian— Katie Quimby at kquimby@osd,wednet.edu or call 596-3402.

REEVES MIDDLE SCHOOL 2200 Quince Street NE Olympia, WA 98506 Phone #: (360) 596-3400 Fax #: (360) 596-3401

School Hours

8:30 a.m. - 3:02 p.m.

Office Hours:

8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Aaron Davis Principal Gordon Chamberlain Vice-Principal Michele Weber Counselor

Please call in your student’s absence by 9:30 each morning at 596-3403. The voice messaging system is an effective tool when you call late in the evening or early in the morning before school begins. Requests for assignments must be made by 9:00 AM if you would like the work by that afternoon. STUDENT ATTIRE

Student clothing needs to be appropriate for the school setting. Bare midriffs, low necklines, short shorts, tank tops, or “short” shirts are not allowed. Skirts and shorts must be at least fingertip length when the arms are held to the side, and shoulders must be covered. Thank you for your help with this issue.

Dogs on campus

MSP TESTING in may

Please remember that our students use our fields for physical education classes, lunch break, and sporting events. We adore the animals; unfortunately we cannot say the same for the little gifts that they leave behind. Thank you for keeping our grounds clean and our kids safe from potty pathogens by picking up after your animal and properly disposing of the waste.

The annual state test, called the MSP— Measure of Student Progress, is almost here. We will be testing all of our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students in May. Please review the teacher recommended TEST TAKING TIPS provided on page 5.

For the safety of our students please refrain from walking pets on school grounds during the following hours on school days— 8:00 AM to 5 PM.

Thank You S.F. Bakery For the second year in a row the San Francisco Street Bakery has been generous enough to donate loaves of bread to our sixth grade science classes for study purposes. Students chose different locations within the classroom in which to inoculate the bread for potential spore samples. We learned about mold as a type of fungus as we searched for evidence that it is a living organism. Thanks to our local bakery for providing the preservative-free bread!

Test Dates for MSP: 6th grade: Reading: May 13 Math– May 20 7th grade: Writing: May 6 & 8 Reading: May 14 Math– May 21 One exception: all ALKI students (grades 6-8) will take the Reading test on May 9 8th grade tests: Science– May 7 Reading: May 15 Math– May 22 Testing will begin at the start of each day. All tests are on-line except for the writing and Science tests, which are paper & pencil. Please be on time and do not schedule appointments or vacations on these testing dates. Students score better and feel better when they take the test at the same time as their peers rather than during a make-up session. Our school theme each year is BEST EFFORT. We are confident that RMS students are well prepared for this year’s MSP and will continue to show they are above state testing averages.

Did you know?

I n t ra m u ra l Tra c k



We have a lost and found in our cafeteria with coats, lunch bags, shirts, shoes and other items. Please check to see if your child has a missing item before we donate these materials to a local charity.



We have a Reeves Foundation for community members that would like to donate funds to enhance student learning opportunities at RMS. Please look for a brochure in the office



All balloons and flowers brought to the school to celebrate birthdays or special occasions will be kept in the office. These are a distraction to students and disrupt classrooms.

Reeves Middle School is offering an opportunity for 6th, 7th and 8th grade students to participate in an intramural track program this spring. The 7th and 8th grade participants will practice from Monday, April 21 until their meet at Ingersoll Stadium (OHS) on May 21. 6th graders will have practice days from Tuesday, May 27 until their track meet at Olympia High School on June 6.

Uniforms are not available, so students will need to provide appropriate wear for this intramural track opportunity. Parents will be required to sign permission forms before students can participate. An announcement regarding sign-ups, along with other information, will be available in the near future. There is no pay-to-play fee since this is an intramural activity.

Science News…

from the desk of Ms. Hudson

Congratulations to Science Club participants! All 6 individual and group researchers entered into the South Sound Regional Science and Engineering Fair on March 22nd at the PLU campus in Parkland, WA. Student work from science club will be on display during the STEM Expo at RMS on April 30th 2014. Science Club meets during OT once a week from October through March and is open to all grade levels. Come join us next year! Come one come all to the Reeves STEM Expo on April 30th from 6-7:30pm. This whole family affair will include hands on science, math, engineering, and technology activities, including balloon car races, robotics, dry ice activities, stomp rockets and more! Refreshments will be available for purchase ($1) at the event. Be a part of it!

Information for current 8th grade Parents Dear parents of Soon-To-Be Olympia High School (OHS) 9th graders, Listed below are dates and times for upcoming 8th grade to OHS transition activities. Two of the events are evening events (one for parents only) and the other two are important dates involving OHS enrollment in courses, both which take place here at RMS. Thursday, April 3rd

OHS Counselors visit RMS to talk about High School courses (Groenewal classes/ALKI classes). Enrollment paperwork goes home for course selection.

**Wednesday, APRIL 23rd OHS COURSE SELECTION PAPERWORK IS DUE (Please return to Mr. G.)**

Wednesday, April 16th

8th grade Parent Welcome Night in the OHS Performing Arts Center. 6:30pm -8:00pm (parents only)

Tuesday, April 29th

OHS Counselors visit RMS to help students add course requests to Skyward. (Mrs. Henderson classes/ALKI classes)

Monday, May 12th

OHS Activity Fair in the OHS Commons: 6:30-8:00pm (students and parents)

Michele Weber, RMS Counselor

N e w s F r o m t h e L i b r a ry We have only two to three remaining battles in our Battle of the Books double elimination tournament. I have been very proud of all of the teams as they showcased their amazing abilities to remember so many exact details from twelve different books. I have also witnessed superb sportsmanship amongst the competitors. As of 3/31, we have the following three teams remaining in the tournament: The Page Turners, The Antagonists, and Awesomer Than You. These three teams will test their wits against each other over the next couple of days to determine a Reeves champion team. Our school champions will go on to battle against the other middle school teams here at Reeves this Thursday, April 3, at 5 p.m., right here in our Reeves Library. Friends and family members are welcome to attend and cheer for our champions. The tournament lasts about one hour, so any team members who also play in the band should have no problem participating in the 7 p.m. band concert.

Congratulations to all of the following students who qualified and participated in our 2014 Battle of the Books Double Elimination Tournament: The Page Turners Charlotte Kline Bethany Hermann Aurora Strauss Reeves Brynn Dunbeck Hannah Turlove

The Gladiators Reborn Seth Harper Owen Brodie Trew McCully Bennett Olsen J.C. Kauffman

Walrus Sabrina Hwang Madeline Renfrow Daniel Sparkman Savante Givens Eden Comstock

The Antagonists Miriam Silverman Hanna DeVries Lillian Anderson Alexis Neely Leah Ramiah

BOOOOOKs Alex Rubi Riley Lackey Seth Autry Chase Scobee

M.A.A.N.S. (pronounced “mans”) Nathan Hermann Aiden Sommerville Ashton Sippel-Edwards Sean Cushman Mason Meconi

Awesomer Than You Lily Storbeck Patrick Tang Kaya Ridpath Mara Neary Dahlia Scher

The Dream Team Emily Whitney Isa Holtz Natalie Eucker Christina Spinharney Emily Lackey

Ms. Quimby RMS Teacher-Librarian

MAY is MSP testing Month… Please review these teacher recommended TEST TAKING TIPS with your child 1. Get plenty of rest. 2. Eat a good breakfast and drink plenty of water. 3. Stay cool! Dress in layers. If you are too warm, you will get sleepy and be less focused. 4. Use scratch paper to solve all math problems… especially when taking the test on a computer! 5. Write your rough draft essay on scratch paper before doing the final draft in the test book. ~ Re-check your work and make clerical corrections (spelling, punctuation & word selection). 6. Use all of the space provided for short answer responses. More is better for short answers.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS 1. Read the entire question BEFORE you look at the answers. 2. Come up with the answer in your head before looking at the possible answers. This way the choices given on the test won’t throw you off or trick you. 3. When the answer is a statement/sentence, there will be two answers that are similar, only one is correct. Pick the more detailed, best answer. 4. Read all the choices before choosing your answer. 5. If in doubt… do not change your answer on multiple choice questions. Your first answer is most likely correct.

TRUE AND FALSE QUESTIONS 1. If any part of the statement is NOT true, then the answer is always FALSE. 2. EVERY part of the statement must be true for the answer to be TRUE. 3. Choose TRUE for statements with details like OFTEN or USUALLY 4. Choose FALSE for statements that are shorter with absolutes like ALWAYS or NEVER. 5. When guessing, choose true because there are usually more true answers than false.

TRICKS… IF YOU JUST DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER 1. Cover the answer choices then read the test questions. You are less likely to be confused by decoys. 2. Cross off choices that are clearly incorrect. This increases the odds for choosing the correct answer. 3. If there is a range of numbers to choose from, choose answers in the middle. Most decoy answers are at the top or the bottom. 4. When an answer choice is “All of the above” choose it, if two or more of the choices are true. 5. When the answer choice is “None of the above” do not choose it if at least one of the answers is true. 6. Always take an educated guess and select an answer. Never leave the question without an answer. 7. A positive choice is more likely to be true than a negative one. 8. If you get stuck on a question and just can’t come up with the answer, skip it and go onto the next question, then COME BACK to the skipped questions, later. Sometimes reading the other questions helps you with the answer to the skipped question.

2013 – 2014 Calendar Dates April 2: Collaboration Day… one hour late start. School starts at 9:30 AM ~ 6th Grade Musical in RMS gym… starts at 7:30 PM April 3: Battle of the Books—finals at RMS at 5 PM in the RMS library ~ Band concert in RMS gym with 5th graders… starts at 7 PM ~ OHS counselors at RMS to share power point and distribute enrollment packets for 2014-15 April 4: End of 3rd Quarter April 7 – 11: Spring Break… No School. April 16: REVISED DATE— Incoming Freshman Parent Welcome Night at OHS: 6:30pm-8:00pm (current 8th grade parents) ~ Site Council meeting in the RMS Library- 5:00 to 6:30 PM April 18: Band Festival (all day) in Shelton ~ 6th grade Greek Festival in the cafeteria starts at 12:30 PM April 17 & 18 7th/8th (3rd period) Musical in RMS gym start time: all performances start at 7:30 PM 21 & 22 7th/8th (2nd period) Musical in RMS gym 23 & 24 7th/8th (1st period) Musical in RMS gym April 25: Spirit day with Recognition Assembly in the PM April 29: OHS counselors at RMS to register 8th graders for music or elective selection for 2014-15 April 30: STEM EXPO night at Reeves from 6:00 to 7:30 PM MAY is MSP testing month: PLEASE do not plan family vacations during the month of May. May 1-- 5th Grade Parent Information Night in the RMS Library- 6:00 to 7:30 PM May 06-- 7th grade Writing-- day 1 (Paper & Pencil) May 07-- Collaboration Day… one hour late start. School starts at 9:30 AM ~ 8th grade Science (Paper & Pencil) May 08-- 7th grade Writing-- day 2 (Paper & Pencil) May 9-- ALKI program (grades 6,7,8) Reading May 12-- ADDED— OHS Activity Fair in the OHS Commons: 6:30-8:00pm May 13-- 6th grade Reading May 14-- 7th grade Reading May 15-- 8th grade Reading May 20-- 6th grade Math May 21-- 7th grade Math May 22-- 8th grade Math May 26: Memorial Day… No School March 27: Site Council meeting in the RMS Library- 5:00 to 6:30 PM May 30: MSP reward day for all students that gave “Best Effort”—starts at 1:15 PM ~ Orchestra concert at OHS… starts at 7 PM June 4: Collaboration Day… one hour late start. School starts at 9:30 AM ~ End of Course Exam (EOC) for all Algebra students June 5: Band Concert at RMS… starts at 7 PM ~ tentative: 5th grade move-up day. Feeder school 5th graders visit RMS from 10-11 AM June 9: Yearbook distribution day ~ Choir Concert at OHS… starts at 7:30 PM June 10th: 8th graders to Wild Waves at 9 AM June 12: Last Day of School – Early Dismissal ~ 8th grade breakfast & all school dance Please note: some of these dates may be subject to change. Please check for updates on each monthly newsletter.