BEAR TRACKS WEEKLY NEWS & UPDATES
Monday, November 28, 2016
UPCOMING EVENTS at RMS

Tuesday, November 29   

Boys and Girls Basketball Jamboree - JV & Varsity RMS & Evergreen MS @ Inglewood MS Gymnasim (3:20 - 5:40 pm)
Thursday, December 1   
Lake Washington District PTSA Council General Meeting
at Lake Washington School District Resource Center (9:30 - 11:00 am)  Open to all PTSA members.  Please visit http://lwptsa.net  to see what's happening in the district!
Friday, December 2  
Boys Regional Basketball : Kirkland MS @ RMS Gymnasium (3:30 - 5:30 pm)
Girls Regional Basketball: RMS @ Kirkland MS Gymnasium (3:30 - 5:30 pm)

  To see all school events, see the online 
REMEMBER TO DO THIS WEEK

Check out the Scholarship Basket Auction Gift Baskets (and maybe place a bid!) 
          Baskets are located at the LWSD Resource Center - More info immediately below (LWPTSA Council)

Donate baby food jars for a science experiment - See Academic News

Congratulate the 7th & 8th grade Math Teams and the Reflections Art winners!!  Well done!

CHECK LOST AND FOUND! 

LWPTSA Council Silent Auction to Support Student & Staff Scholarships

The basket auction in support of the LWPTSA Council Scholarship fund has begun!  Every school in the district has donated a basket so there is something for everyone - RMS PTSA's theme is "As Seen on TV."  Please stop by weekdays 7:30 am to 4:30 pm to see it and perhaps make a bid!  Prefer to come by in the evening? 
The building is open many evenings, so please call the front desk to check on specific evening availability. (425) 936-1200

Bidding closes the morning of December 1, 2016 around 10:30 am.

Baskets are on display at the Lake Washington School District offices in downtown Redmond Town Center (16250 NE 74th St, Redmond, WA 98052)  
YOU'RE INVITED to the LWPTSA Council Auction Reception

Join us for the 2016 Lake Washington PTSA Council Scholarship Basket Auction Reception and close of bidding on December 1, 2016, 11 am-12 pm at the Lake Washington Resource Center.
·       Complementary barista espresso drinks
·       Raffle
·       Door prizes
·       Dessert
Proceeds benefit the LWPTSA Council Scholarship Fund to provide scholarships for continuing education to staff and students in the LWSD.  

ACADEMIC NEWS
Absences / Vacations

If your student will be missing school between now and the end of the year (due to traveling, vacations, etc), please call the Safe Arrival Line @ (425) 936-2441 and leave a message.

You may also have your student pick up and bring home an absence form from the Attendance Desk.

Pre-Arranged Absence Form

Baby Food Jars Needed

One of our science teachers is in need of 30 baby food jars for a science lab.  Please drop off empty, clean jars in the Main Office.  
THANK YOU!!!  
For the NEW BOOKS and GAMES in the Library!

The kids and librarians are excited about the new books and games that have been purchased and donated to the library through the Amazon wish list and Marbles the Brain Store.  Each item has received a bookplate (shown here thanking the Goodsell family), and they have been flying off the shelves ever since!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Remind your kids to check out the "What's New" shelf in the library frequently and see what other fascinating things have arrived!

Check out the RMS Library Book Wish List at Amazon

Remember, if your purchase is made through Amazon Smile, credit can be given to Redmond Middle School PTSA 2 8 80, which means that more funds will go towards supporting classroom grants!
ASB CLUBS / EVENTS
  • YEARBOOK CLUB - No news this week 
  • SAFE SCHOOL AMBASSADORS - Please email or see Ms. Morris if you have questions about being involved.
  • DR. WHO CLUB - No news this week
  • CURRENT NJHS MEMBERS - The voting just closed for NJHS Officers.  President - Ankita Menon, Vice-President - Ashley Chiu, Secretary - Amelie Sharples , Public Relations - Ron Levy, Hours Tracker - Kavya Karunakaran, and Treasurer - Parum Misri! Congratulations to our new NJHS officers, and thank you to all students who ran. We look forward to all the great work NJHS will do this year.  Email Ms. Morris with questions.
  • LGBTQ+ CLUB - No news this week. 
  • D&D & OTHER GAMES CLUB - No news this week.
ACADEMIC CLUBS
National History Day Club

National History Day (NHD) Club is for all 8
th graders who want to compete with their National History Day project. We meet every Tuesday before or after school in Mrs. Dunsire's room (222) from either 7-7:30 or 2:30-3:30. It's a chance for kids to get feedback and help on how to make their NHD project competition ready.  Come join the fun!

Questions? Email Mrs. Dunsire 
Grade 7 and 8 Math Teams Qualify for Math is Cool (MIC) Masters

34 students from Grade 7 and 8 represented 10 teams from RMS in Math is Cool Regionals held at Redmond High on November 12, 2016. 500 students from 28 schools participated in this day long competition.
 
Students were tested in multiple sections involving an individual exam, a team exam, a mental round and a college bowl round. In the college bowl round teams competed directly with teams from three other schools.
 
Our Grade 7 and 8 teams did quite well and both these teams were placed 4th in their division.
Raghav Narula and Arnav Narula, our Grade 8 students, won the 6th and 9th place individual award trophy respectively in Geometry section.
 
Both Grade 7 and 8 teams have qualified for MIC Masters where they will compete with Top 10 teams within WA State. MIC Masters will be held in Moses Lake, WA on December 10 and the following teams will represent RMS at this competition:
 
Grade 7 team
Andrea Wu
Conor Kennedy
Julia Liu
Krish Jain

Grade 8 team
Arnav Narula
Raghav Narula
Shrey Srivastava
Shreyas Bhoir


Best wishes to RMS teams for MIC Masters and we hope that they have an enjoyable time at Moses Lake besides bringing laurels for RMS!
Battle of the Books

If you have not chosen a captain and gotten the form back to Ms. Metcalf, you need to do so immediately.

 

E XTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
No News this week.
SPORTS 
UPCOMING RMS SPORTING EVENTS 

Tuesday, November 29  
Boys and Girls Basketball Jamboree - JV & Varsity
RMS & Evergreen MS @ Inglewood MS Gymnasim (3:20 - 5:40 pm)

Friday, December 2  
Boys Regional Basketball: Kirkland MS @ RMS Gymnasium (3:30 - 5:30 pm)
Girls Regional Basketball: RMS @ Kirkland MS Gymnasium (3:30 - 5:30 pm)

Sports and Activities in Redmond (Non-School Sponsored)
Baseball & Softball Registration is Open
     RedWest Little League

Spring 2017 player registration is open!

Softball and baseball registration is open to boys and girls 5-16 years old. Go to Redmond West Little League's newly-designed website at http://www.redwestll.org to register.

Redmond Lacrosse 

Registration Spring registration  is open. Please take advantage of the early bird discount ($100 off at each level!)  If you are looking to buy new equipment (starter kits, and/or helmets) reach out to me ( Coach Rob ) directly. I am going to work with our vendor to offer some more discounted gear.
 
Redmond Lacrosse
Student News Summary

STUDENT ANNOUNCEMENTS (Week of November 21 - 23, 2016):
  • The National Junior Honor Society Executive Board for 2016-2017 will be: President - Ankita Menon, Vice-President - Ashley Chiu, Secretary - Amelie Sharples , Public Relations - Ron Levy, Hours Tracker - Kavya Karunakaran, and Treasurer - Parum Misri! Congratulations to our new NJHS officers, and thank you to all students who ran. We look forward to all the great work NJHS will do this year.
  • Hey 8th graders in NHD Club! Check the NHD Club Haiku/PowerSchool page for information about what you need to be doing for NHD Club. You can still attend Tuesday morning at 7am. Email Ms. Dunsire if you have questions!
  • INCENTIVE DAY: Did you hear the announcement about incentive day? Well, the bad news is incentive day has been postponed to the end of first semester. But, the good news is you have more time to focus on your work, more time to earn awesome pawsomes, and we have more time to make our Grizzly fun day is even bigger and better than before. More information will be coming in the announcements and during PACE. In the meantime, keep living that Grizzly way and saving your awesome pawsomes!
  • Be Kind, Be Honest, and Be Proud.
Did you lose $100?  We found it!

Just kidding.  We do however have an overflowing lost and found area in the back corner of the Commons.  All unclaimed items will be donated on December 16.  Please peruse the picture below to get an idea of what was there on Tuesday, November 15.
LOST AND FOUND PICTURE BELOW 
PTSA NEWS / EVENTS

RMS PTSA
RMS PTSA General Meeting Updates

STUDENT DIRECTORIES  are on their way to PTSA members. Didn't join yet? Don't worry! We did print some extra copies for future members.  Simply go to the  PTSA website   and join now!
NEW ASB TEAM:  T he me mbership voted to approve a new National Geographic Bee team , stay tuned for more information.  
SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE: Minh Nguyen has stepped up to lead the School of Excellence team and you can contact her at  [email protected]   ** Help is needed **to deliver on our roadmap to excellence.   Thank you Minh for volunteering! 
STUDENT ANXIETY: There will be a parent education session on Student Anxiety on December 6 th at 7:00 pm. All parents are welcome. 
NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, January 10th
**Save the date for the RMS Career Exploration Night: April 11th 
 

Thank You
November Staff Appreciation THANK YOU!!

A huge thank you to the parents who brought in donations of food and gave of their time. Without you, the RMS Thanksgiving feast in honor of our teachers and staff would not have been possible. It is always such a pleasure having the teachers eat together and leave smiling, knowing that they are appreciated. Thank you all and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Please see pictures at the very end of the email.

Staff Appreciation/Hospitality 
Upcoming Parent Education - Student Anxiety and Advocacy

Save the date for a 7 pm presentation on Tuesday, December 6 at Redmond Middle School open to all families.  Topics include: What is anxiety? What does it look like? What is developmentally normal, and at what point would a family see further assistance? Strategies for support - how can we avoid anxiety and/or mitigate its effects? Self-advocacy / advocacy for students.  More information coming soon!

LWSD PTSA
No news this week.
WA STATE PTSA
Legislative Focus Day - January 16th

Come advocate with us in Olympia on January 16th           Registration is open now!       $0-$12 depending on if you order a lunch for yourself and/or your children.

NATIONAL PTSA
REFLECTIONS ART WINNERS!

We are excited to announce the winners of PTSA Reflections Art Program Contest 2016-2017 at Redmond Middle School! First, congratulations to all the students who participated in this program this year. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our judges for taking valuable time out their day to judge our student entries and support our Reflections Program.

We are proud to announce that we had entries in all categories this year.  A few of these entries scored high enough to advance to the next level of Judging and have made it to the LWPTSA council!

Qualifying entries that made their way into the Council are:    

VISUAL ARTS
1st Place- Maya Adelman - "Scattered Pages"
2nd Place- Neerja Natu - "Your Story is Written by You"

Kaylor Ariel - "Colorful World"
Maya Adelman - "Unpublished Story"
Owen Johnson  - "Rising Sun"

FILM
1st Place- Varun Wescott - "Flower Life"   

PHOTOGRAPHY
1st Place- Maya Adelman - "Journey Into Your Story"     2nd Place- Maya Adelman - "Reading Someone's Story"    

MUSIC
1st Place- Ian Craig- "Expectations of Me"

DANCE
1st Place- Maya Adelman - "Write Your Own Story" 

LITERATURE
1st Place- Tanvi Dalvi - "Kate's Special Project" 2nd Place- Varun Wescott - "Flower Life" 

 The Reflections Open House date at the LWSD Resource Center will be announced later. 
November 2016 Featured PTSA Benefit
Sylvan Learning and the   PTA  are teaming up to offer free and discounted educational resources for both students and parents. All PTA members can receive 50% off a Sylvan Insight Assessment , which identifies a child's academic strengths and weaknesses as well as his or her attitudes about school and learning. The assessment is designed to help families and educators determine the right support a child needs to excel. In addition to the discount, for every student who takes an assessment, the local Sylvan center will donate $10 to the student's local PTA. Members can email [email protected] for the coupon to take advantage of this partnership.
As a member of RMS PTSA you are also a member of the Washington State PTA and National PTA .  Not a member yet? Join online or by sending in this form
CITY OF REDMOND EVENTS / ACTIVITIES
Teen Programs
City of Redmond Programs
 
S tudy Lab:  Need help with homework?
S
tudy Lab is a 
free, homework help, drop-in program 
 run in partnership with the City of Redmond and RMS.   Students can receive assistance from staff, volunteer tutors, and peers as they work on homework and projects in the RMS Library.
         Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 2:20-3:30 pm and 
Wednesdays 1:00-3:00pm (bus available on Wednesdays).
Contact  [email protected]   with questions.

The links in the After Hours section below are NOT active.  
Please use these instead.

City of Redmond After Hours program                                     email: [email protected]
Questions?  e[email protected]

LAKE WASHINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
UPCOMING Lake Washington School District EVENTS

Redmond High School News and Events
Mustang Holiday Bazaar                                   
Saturday, December 10, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm    in  RHS Cafeteria

Looking for some unique gifts?  Then join us for the 2nd Annual Mustang Holiday Bazaar on Saturday 10 December from 10am to 4pm in the cafeteria.  There will be 70 vendors selling a variety of goodies ranging from jewelry, fragrant soaps, lotions, candles, RHS spirit wear, clothing, home and garden decor, delicious baked goods, fused glass art, papercrafts, wood crafts ....... The list is endless.  Purchase raffle tickets for over 70 prizes donated by the vendors.  Want to catch up with friends while shopping?  We will have food trucks, hot drinks and freshly popped kettle corn on site and an area where you can sit and chat!  Hope you will join us!
.
Animal Shelter Supply Drive

ANIMAL SHELTER SUPPLY DRIVE GOING ON NOW!!  The RHS Animal Club is collecting pet food for the Seattle Humane Society.   All donations will go to Seattle Humane's Community Outreach program which helps provide 16,000 lbs of food monthly to over 2,000 pets whose owners are no longer able to provide for them. Any and all donations help, thank you!   

Did you know that . . . Each year, about 3.7 million animals are euthanized. 5 in 10 dogs and 7 in 10 cats in shelters are euthanized simply because there is no one to adopt them! 25% of shelter dogs are purebred. ONLY 10 to 20% of dogs and cats owned are adopted from shelters.

Pet food may be dropped off in the Main Office at Redmond High School
FUNDRAISING NEWS
You shop.  Amazon gives!

Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice.  ( Redmond Middle School PTSA 2 8 80, of course!)   Support your charitable organization by starting your shopping at 
 
$48.88 from AmazonSmile 
 
podium_man.jpg
Deadline for Bear Tracks Entries is Thursday! 

Got something to say? Shout it from email inboxes with the RMS Bear Tracks newsletter! At the discretion of the editor, this newsletter accepts articles from parents, students and staff on a variety of subjects for our school and community. 

For Monday morning publication, please submit articles by the preceding Thursday!

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