March 8 - Last day for STEAM Day kit pickup

March 9 - Kognito Mental Health Lesson (Adjusted Bell Schedule)

March 11- STEAM Day

March 11 - Last day for Quarter 3

March 12 - Student Holiday (Teacher Workday)

March 12 - Last day to take the 2021 Parent Survey

March 12-19 - Spring Break

March 15-18 - Spring Break Camp (9-1)

March 22 - Quarter 4 Begins

March 22 - Track Intramurals Begin

Algebra EOC Boot Camp – students who are in Algebra and want extra practice and review standards taught in Q1, Q2, and Q3 with an Algebra teacher to better prepare them for the Algebra EOC.

8th Grade Science FSA Boot Camp – students who are in 8th grade science and want extra practice with review prior standards taught in Q1, Q2, and Q3 through hands on practice with an 8th grade science teacher to better prepare them for the 8th grade Science FSA.

Grade Recovery Boot Camp – open to ALL 6-8th grade students who failed a class in Q3 and are NOT currently in Edgenuity. Students will complete lessons and assignments from Q3 to bring up their Q3 to avoid summer school.

Edgenuity Boot Camp – students who are currently in Edgenuity. They will continue working on their course recovery.

Our special virtual ceremony guest was Dr. Jackson who spoke to our students about the importance of knowing several languages. Then Mr. Mohammad Benbrahim gave the oath to the new members of the French Honor Society and Mrs. Alvarado and Mrs. Rivera swore in the students of La Sociedad Hispanica de Amistad capitulo Medieval.

Lake Nona Middle School is proud of our diversity. Congratulations to all new members!

This past week, 8th grade science classes studied the concept of using chemistry to identify a substance. One way to identify a salt is with a flame test. This actually isn’t a chemical change! The electrons of the metal ion move into higher energy levels using heat energy from the flame. Then they release light energy as they fall back into their original energy levels. Each metal releases a particular spectrum of light as the electrons move back into lower energy levels. We see strontium chloride as red flames!

This school year has been and continues to be challenging in so many ways, yet our teachers persevere and rise to the challenge daily. Students were asked to give a shout out to a teacher who deserves some extra recognition. Each week we will feature the comments from our students.

Mrs. Erickson- she makes class fun, exciting, great teacher, and caring. overall amazing teacher. GIVE THAT GIRL A PROMOTION!!!!

Mrs. Wilson- My teacher deserves special recognition because she has encouraged me and the class to do our best, she helps students that need help on a question. She needs a recognition because weeks ago she uplifted me when I felt like giving up and got questions wrong, she gave me motivating advice. Thank you Ms. Wilson!!

Mr. Harris- Mr.Harris has been an amazing teacher, even in online school he made learning really fun. He is nice and he cares about us.

Mrs. Molina- Because she has been a very patient teacher and has helped me and my class a lot throughout the year so I think she deserves a shout out.

Intramurals at LNMS is continuing to roll on here in the Kingdom! We began with volleyball at the beginning of quarter 3 and have since kept momentum into our current soccer season. Last week all seven of our intramural soccer teams concluded their regular season of play and are bound for the playoffs this week.

Team Predators, pictured below, finished in first place during the regular season with an undefeated record of 6-0. We are proud to host our second intramural season championship in response to the cancellation of our regular sports seasons.

We would like to extend an invitation to all of Knights to support your student athletes during intramural soccer playoffs. Soccer intramurals have been a tremendous success drawing well over 80 participants. The students' skills, excitement for the game, and level of play have been a joy to watch!

Since we are outdoors and easily able to social distance, we would love all to come out and support your Knight soccer players as they enter a single elimination playoff. Games will start on Monday 3/8 at 4:30pm and the championship game will be on Wednesday 3/10. Your presence would mean a great deal to our student-athletes and we hope to see you there!

Sixth grader Shannon McInerney is very well educated on this new pandemic. Due to Covid she has found it difficult to keep her mask on ever since the beginning of the year. “It’s frustrating to have to wear masks 24/7” and the social distancing makes it hard to talk to people and interact. Shannon does not attend any sports here, however. Her favorite class would be theatre with Ms. Warner, The assignments are fun to do, and I love to practice acting and do fun scenes with my friend and usual theatre partner Abby Kirkland.”

If she had the choice, Shannon would choose to stay F2F because she likes to have a hands-on experience instead of staying in front of a screen all day, and in her own words “I love being able to have more human interaction, stare at screens a little less, and be able to see my friends.”

In her free time, Shannon loves to read Harry Potter and go biking, and do other things such as baking, dancing, doing art, and most importantly watching Stranger Things. Shannon’s favorite shows and movies would have to be Harry Potter, Stranger Things, and The Hunger Games. One of her biggest fears would be being kidnapped, mostly because she would not be able to see her friend’s golden retriever every day.

Ms. McDowell shows plenty of interest in teaching history, probably because this is her first year teaching. Ms. McDowell is enjoying her teaching experience “I LOVE teaching at Lake Middle School. The students and staff here are so friendly and kind-hearted.” However, when she was in middle school, teaching was not part of her career path; “What I really wanted to do was become someone who just traveled the world.”

History seems to be a common interest within Ms. McDowell’s family “Both my grandfathers have always loved history. My grandparents on my mother’s side are immigrants to the United States.” In middle school, Ms. McDowell found history to be her favorite subject however, she has a different perspective on history, “Everyone thinks about history and they think about things that happened in the past. However, when I look at history I think about the present, the here and now! Sometimes even the future too! History can give us so much information about who we are and even who we want to become. As I teach my students we talk about the past, present, and future, that is probably my favorite part of teaching the subject that I do.”

In her free time, Ms. McDowell enjoys her time outdoors especially because of the scenery in Florida going to the amazing parks, or going kayaking out in the lake.

Attention 8th grade students: You may qualify for The Horizon Scholars program, a mentoring and scholarship college access program that culminates in a 2-year Florida prepaid scholarship that can be used at any college or university in Florida! The Valencia College Horizon Scholars Program will be selecting new students during the 2020-2021 school year. Selected students will begin the program in the fall of their freshman year. Students are selected based on:

1) Academic performance: unweighted GPA of at least 2.5

2) Family income level

3) An interview where they demonstrate a desire to pursue a post-secondary education

For any questions, please contact us at horizonscholars@valenciacollege.edu or Dean Thate at LNMS via her email chenia.thate@ocps.net

The Hispanic Scholarship Fund is pleased to announce the first-ever virtual HSF College 101 Series. Subject-matter experts will provide useful information, joined by Admissions and Financial Aid representatives from various universities.

This is a FREE, bilingual, webinar held on weekday evenings in various time zones for students in 6th – 12th grade and their parents, where you will receive valuable information about how to prepare, plan, and pay for a college education! You can choose to receive information in either English or Spanish, and people of all ethnicities and backgrounds are encouraged to attend.

This event is FREE and open to the public; however, space is limited. Registration will close once capacity has been reached. Secure your ticket by registering today! To learn more about the event, please visit bit.ly/hsfcollege101

This past week 91.6% of our Knights logged onto the Skyward system compared to . . .

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