Week of January 17, 2011

Hello all,

It's hard to believe that we have avoided the snow days so far this year and that we get today, Friday, January 14th, and Monday, January 17th, off from school! I hope that doesn't mean that we are saving up all the snow for February!

It was a short week but we seemed to get quite a bit accomplished. It's always fun to get out into the classrooms to see what the kids are doing in class. This week I observed many different learning topics in our school including; geometry (6th grade), DNA (7th grade), student research papers (8th grade), vocabulary building (6th grade), and observation of many kids READING (all grades).

Below I will update several different topics and upcoming events in our school.

Leadership Study Group
One of the critical elements of success in school and beyond is leadership. At our middle school we have some great young leaders. In order to foster these leadership skills Mr. Bandy and I are starting a leadership study group with some of our 8th grade students. We hope to be able to involve all 8th graders that are interested in this opportunity sometime this school year.

The backbone of our leadership study group will be reading the book, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. This book is written by John C. Maxwell. Because we only have 15 copies of the book we will be focusing this class on 15 students each session. The group will focus on charisma, courage, problem solving, being teachable, and vision. If you have any questions about this study group, contact me.

CCAMS Drama Production
This year our middle school drama production will be Hillbilly Reunion. The cast has been set and Ms. Jessica Sauer, the director, has started practices. I believe we have nearly 60 middle school students involved in one or another way with this performance! The show will be held on March 11th.

Boys Basketball
The 7th and 8th grade boys basketball teams had games this last week. Both teams faced Vinton-Shellsburg with the 7th grade at home and the 8th grade on the road. Both of the teams came out victorious.

8th Grade Ski Trip
On January 28th our 8th graders will be going on a ski trip to Des Moines. 8th grade students were given an informational note on Thursday to take home and share with parents. If you did not receive a note, please contact Mrs. Koster at ckoster@cca.k12.ia.us.

Upcoming Events
Monday, January 17, NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, January 18, 7th/8th Boys Basketball vs. Williamsburg, 7-Home, 8- Away, 4:15 PM
Thursday, January 20, 7th/8th Boys Basketball vs. CPU, 7- Urbana, 8- H, 4:15 PM

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable four day weekend!

Brad