January 15, 2025
Dear Middle School Parents,
Happy New Year--and best wishes that your 2025 will be filled with memorable experiences with friends and family! Just a few announcements for the start of the new year, so please read all the way through.
Middle School Parent/Teacher Conferences – 1/23, 4:30 – 6:00pm
Our Trimester 2 Parent/Teacher Conferences are next week on Thursday, November 23rd. We will be hosting in-person conferences from 4:30 - 6pm by APPOINTMENT ONLY. We will not be allowing walk-in conference opportunities—you must have an appointment to meet with the teachers. The link for signing up will be posted on our Middle School Website at the end of the school day this Friday, 1/17. We also understand that we only have limited sign-up spaces due to the time constraints that we have to work within. If you are not able to get a time slot, but need to discuss a pertinent issue with a teacher, please email them directly and they will work with you to find an alternative meeting time.
8th grade History Civil Disobedience Project
8th graders have been learning about how people in the 1950’s and 60’s have used Civil Disobedience to try to attain more equality for people of their time. Ms. Shaffer and I came up with a project for them to use their persuasive skills, and what they learned about how to impact change, to make some changes in our middle school community. Each class prepared a proposal around this topic: one rule that they would like to see lifted for one day, and had to present their proposal to Ms. Buresh and me. On Thursday, December 19th, we heard the proposals from each 8th grade class, and had to consider each proposal to determine which proposal best serves the wants/needs of the student body. If chosen, it would mean a rule would be eliminated/adjusted for one day upon returning from winter break. The three proposed changes were:
- More Dress of Choice days for MS students.
- Allowing students to wear crocs and slippers to school.
- Allowing snacks to be eaten in the classroom anytime during the school day.
Each class did a great job creating a visual presentation to go along with their verbal presentation. They had four days to work together to meet the requirements and guidelines set forth by Ms. Shaffer. Ms. Shaffer said it was quite the experience for her to stand back and let students to try to figure out how to work together to agree on a topic, and then do the research and create their presentation. It was such a real life exercise for them to realize and make the connection that there wasn't a road map back then to create change, nor was there a road map for them to follow to get what they wanted to change in our current time.
After the presentations, Ms. Buresh and I discussed each one and decided on allowing more DOC days for middle school students. Therefore, students will be granted four extra DOC days on the following dates:
- Friday, January 17th
- Friday, February 21st
- Friday, April 4th
- Friday, May 2nd
(Please note that the extra DOC days are ONLY FOR MS STUDENTS)
Squid Game Series on Netflix–BEWARE!
Squid Game is a South Korean dystopian survival thriller horror television series created for Netflix. The series revolves around a secret contest where 456 players, all of whom are in deep financial hardship, risk their lives to play a series of deadly children's games for the chance to win a large cash prize. When contestants don’t win the game, they are brutally and viciously killed in various horrific and graphic ways. The series is Rated 16+, but even that’s a stretch for an appropriate age for viewing.
Why am I including this in my newsletter? One of my teachers overheard several students talking about it on Monday morning, sharing that they had been watching it and that Season 3 just came out. This teacher said that he had watched an episode when it first came out and he was horrified and disgusted by what he saw. He said that no children, or even young adults, should be watching this series, and its exposure to violence. Just FYI, so you can make decisions that are best for your family.
Wizards vs. AA Basketball Event - Sunday, January 26th at Legend HS
Join us for the high-flying and entertaining school-wide Wizards event! Last year was a blast, and this year looks to be even better! The game begins at 4:00 PM and the doors will open at 3:00 PM. Be sure to purchase your tickets in advance. Prices will be higher at the door if tickets are still available. And to support our Make a Wish child, Audrey, all sales from our concession stand will go to Make a Wish Fund! Hope to see you there!!
VOLUNTEER to get in free!
See additional information on the AA Website and in the most recent Dean’s Digest, for details on planned spirit days and fundraising opportunities for Wish Week!
Save the Date - LM Spring Gala on March 8th
Our PTO has been working hard to organize and plan our Gala fundraiser, which will take place at Colorado Golf Club from 5:30 to 11:30pm on March 8th, 2025. The theme is "Leaders in Bloom - the Trailblazers of Tomorrow", and the attire is semi formal western wear. It is such a fun night to enjoy good food, mingle with friends and AA staff, supporting AA through the silent and live auction, and dancing to close out the evening. Our PTO will send out more information in the coming weeks for purchasing tickets, and how to participate in the auctions. We hope to see you there!
And finally, a friendly reminder that we don’t have school on Monday, January 20th, which is the MLK Holiday. Thank goodness for the extra day home because it is going to be CHILLY this weekend and into early next week—so stay inside and keep warm!
Take care,
Laurie Neil, M. Ed.
Middle School Principal, Lincoln Meadows