Chief Umtuch Middle School
Wolverine Wire
Volume 1, Issue 6 / May 2009
700 NW 9th Street (360) 885-6350 phone Linda Allen, Principal
Battle Ground, WA 98604 (360) 885-6355 fax David Cresap, Asst. Principal
http://www.bgsd.k12.wa.us/cms/ Jane Widlund, Secretary
From the Principal...
Dear Parents, Grandparents, and Guardians,
We are in the midst of the final trimester with just six weeks left in the school year. There are many
events planned for this last term, but there is also a tremendous amount of material to cover and many more ob-
jectives to learn. Our goal is to continue teaching up to the very last day of school.
Each grade level will be having some special field trips and activities for the end of the year. Fifth grade is
planning a trip to Mt. St. Helens, sixth grade is going to OMSI, seventh graders will spend the day in Portland on
the math field trip, and eighth grade is going to a baseball game at PGE Park for a math and science day organ-
ized by OMSI. Some announcements for parents will be included on Skyward, which is convenient as you are
checking your student’s progress.
Chief Umtuch bands in grades five through eight will perform their final concert of the year on Thursday,
May 28 at 7:00 pm. There are several activities planned for band students between now and the end of the year
including field trips and parades. The Chief MS marching band will be performing in the Hazel Dell Parade of
Bands on Saturday, May 16. The parade begins at 10:30 am. The band will also march in the Junior Rose Parade
on Wednesday, June 3 at 1:00 pm. More information can be found about this parade at www.rosefestival.org/
events/juniorparade. Band parents, please watch for information that Mrs. Armstrong will be sending home.
Our next PTO meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19 at 7:00 pm, in the media center. Please join us
to celebrate the great things this group of dedicated parents has done for our students this year and to plan for
next year.
For parents of incoming 5th grade students next fall, there will be an informational meeting the last week
in May or first week in June. We intend to have specific information at that time on schedules and staffing for the
2009-2010 school year. Fourth grade students will have the opportunity to visit the Chief Umtuch campus for a
tour and visit with 5th grade teachers during an afternoon in late May or early June too. Watch for flyers sent
home with students for the specific dates and information.
Lastly, health care workers are working vigilantly to keep schools aware of the latest news regarding the
H1N1 flu virus. Battle Ground Public Schools has posted information on the district website
www.bgsd.k12.wa.edu. Experts continue to stress the importance for all of us -- certainly including our children -
- to frequently and thoroughly wash our hands with soap and warm water, to cough or sneeze into a handker-
chief, tissue or a sleeve, to avoid "community" snacks that are not individually wrapped, and to stay home if ex-
periencing flu-like symptoms.
The school year has gone by quickly. The staff is looking forward to a summer without having to worry
about packing up classrooms to move to a new campus. Students and staff feel fortunate and continue to enjoy
this beautiful new campus. If you have thoughts, ideas, or concerns about how the year went and things we
might do differently next year, please stop by. My door is always open.
Sincerely,
Linda Allen
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PTO NEWS
May 16
The next Chief Umtuch PTO Meeting will be held
Hazel Dell Parade of Bands on Tuesday, May 19, 2009, at 7:00 PM in the Media
Center.
May 22
Now is the time to start thinking about how you can help next year with
Snow Make-Up Day the Chief Umtuch PTO. All Chief Umtuch parents, guardians and staff
THERE WILL BE SCHOOL! are members of the PTO and are welcome to participate. Because offi-
cers and committee members move on every few years, the PTO contin-
ues to be in need of new volunteers. We still need PTO Board members
for the 2009-2010 school year. If you are interested or have questions
May 25
about what we do, please attend this meeting.
No School—Memorial Day
The PTO wants to thank all the students, parents, and staff who have
supported us this year. Some of the things we’ve accomplished with
May 28 your help this year:
Final Band Concert—7:00 PM
· Donated funds to help offset the cost of field trips:
$1000 for the 5th grade trip to Mt. St. Helens
$1200 for the 6th grade trip to OMSI
June 3 $800 for the 7th grade Portland Math trip
Jr. Rose Parade—6-8 Band $1200 for the 8th grade trip to PGE Park
· Donated funds to support student activities such as band,
June 4 Field Day, the 8th grade end of year celebration, and
Chief Barbecue after school clubs.
· Raised money for books for the Media Center by running 2
Book Fairs
June 10 · Hosted a school-wide Pizza Party to show our appreciation to
6th Grade—Field Day all of our student, staff, and parent volunteers for their
efforts this year.
June 11 With your help we can do even more next year.
6th Grade-Literacy Day
WOW! We had a great time at the book fair in March! We made over
June 12 $1500.00 for books for our library. A big thank you goes to the Captain
Strong PTO. Thank you for letting us advertise on your a-frame board
6th Grade—OMSI Trip at the front of the school for the week of the book fair. Josey was also
5th Grade—Field Day a great addition this year. Thank you Josey for supporting reading.
June 16 Another thank you to all the volunteers that helped: Sandy Kiser, Heidi
8th Grade Celebration Gregg, Karen Stoker, Erica Young, Leslie Daniels, Marya Ferris, Melissa
Young, Laurie Howard, Heather Hanna, Kariann Holbrook, Kristine Sark-
kinen, Kamin Mode, Debi Trevino, Wendy McKin-
June 16-18
ney, Lynn Farmer, Bryan Mullinex, Wendy Mullinex,
Carolyn Bergren, Carrie O’Donnell and Chris Smith.
Early Release at 11:15 Without all this help, the book fair would not have
been possible.
June 18
Last Day of School
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We had great student judges and Mrs. Blackman. Yahoo and thank you.
The winners are:
1st Place – Lucia Sarkinan / Flowers in a Vase
2nd Place – Devon LaBato / Reclining Horse
Honorable Mentions- Alice Emch and Alex Young
The winning pieces are on display in the display case as you enter the library.
“ASPIRE”ing WRITERS and SPEAKERS in Mrs. Alexander’s
Fifth-Sixth Class
Writing metaphors can sometimes be difficult for students. But like anything else, the more you prac-
tice, the better you become. Here are a few great metaphors coming out of the ASPIRE magnet kiddos:
I am sometimes cruel:
I am a rodeo bull with a tight harness.
I am sometimes a wolverine.
I am sometimes a heartless tiger.
Sometimes the devil shines his shadow on me.
James was wrong.
James was a baseball player shooting baskets.
James was cooling with cumin instead of cinnamon.
James used Crisco instead of butter.
Melanie was excited about her gift.
Melanie was a dog salivating over his bone.
When Melanie saw her gift, she was an exploding firecracker.
Students in the magnet are also learning the delicate art of de-
bate, as they consider topics relevant to the current life science unit, “Diversity of Life”.
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5th Grade News
Fifth graders have been Trail of Two Forests. The
learning about rocks and fifth graders will be look-
minerals in science ing for the three rock
classes this spring. We groups, sedimentary,
are planning on a field metamorphic and igne-
trip to Mt. St. Helens. We ous rocks, as well as
will visit the mountain on learning about plant and
June 11, leaving the animal life. A big thank
school at 7:45 returning you needs to be given to
about 2:00. Fifth graders Chief’s PTO for a gener-
will have an opportunity ously helping with the
to visit two site loca- bus costs.
tions: Ape Caves and
Sixth Grade Field Trip to OMSI!
The Sixth Grade goes to OMSI for a science field trip on Wednesday, June
10. We leave by school bus, at 8:30AM, and return at 1:45PM. We plan to
enjoy some wonders of the scientific world and some special OMSI fea-
tures as well. We will view the film, Human Body, in the OMNIMAX thea-
tre, and hope to investigate the special exhibit on crime investigation.
Students need to wear nice school clothes and bring a
sack lunch. We will need 29 parent chaperones who are
cleared through the school district to volunteer at
school. Sixth grade looks forward
to a great OMSI trip!!
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7th Grade News
The 7th grade is gearing working with probability
up for the Portland Field and soon will be learning
Trip on May 19th. If any about linear equations in
parents are interested in math. The Renaissance is
chaperoning, please con- the focus of social studies
tact the office to get and students are reading
cleared. Other events and writing poetry in lan-
that are coming up in- guage arts. The 7th grade
clude the 7th grade spell- is exploring the periodic
ing bee that is already in table and all of the ele-
progress and a walking ments that make up this
field trip to Kiwanis world in science.
Park. The students are
8th Grade News
Well we are down to the last six weeks of school and we have accomplished a lot this year. The year has really
gone by fast and your students have done well.
All students should have completed their high school schedules and turned those into the high school Counseling
Office. This will allow the high school to set schedules for next year.
We have finished the WASL and are awaiting their results which should be in at the beginning of September.
These tests will impact the types of classes your student will take as a freshman, particularly math and reading classes.
There are tests that students can take over the summer that will allow them to “test out” of certain math and science
classes. If your child is interested, you should contact their Counselor at the high school about setting up a time these
tests will be given.
Your students will go on a field trip on June 9, 2009 to watch the Portland Beavers play a baseball game. This is
an event put on by the Beavers and involves the students in not just baseball but also teaches them about Art and Sci-
ence. The Chief, PTO is subsidizing this trip and we thank them for that! Everyone has signed up, chaperones have
been identified and we are ready to go.
The last item on our agenda is the 8th Grade Celebration on June 18th. We will recognize everyone and give out
achievement awards in various academic areas to those deserving students. The celebration will begin at 9:45 AM so
please put the date and time on your calendar and plan to attend if your schedule permits.
Thanks for all your support this year! 8th Grade Staff Mrs. Doughty, Mr. Gahagan, Mr. Kleiner, Mr. Rakoz
CHIEF TEACHERS WIN JEFFERSON FELLOWSHIPS
Imparting a Love for History: Chief Umtuch Middle School history teachers Mi-
chael Kleiner and Beth Doughty have been named winners of the Barringer Research
Fellowship for two weeks’ study in Monticello, VA. They’ll each get a $1,500 stipend
plus expenses paid to study at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson
Studies.
Only three teachers from across the nation won these 2009 fellowships. One is a high
school teacher from New Hampshire. Doughty and Kleiner are the other two.
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ORDER FORM FOR
CHIEF UMTUCH MIDDLE SCHOOL
YEARBOOK
Quantity limited to 300!
Final Notice! Time is running out!
Student Name:________________________
YEARBOOK
Grade: ________ Teacher __________________
Price: $30.00
PAYMENT OPTIONS:
1. Check payable to Chief Umtuch Middle School
2. Cash
Chief Competes in First
Ever Math Olympiad
The Chief Umtuch math team recently competed in its first Math
Olympiad. The contest was sponsored by the Washington State
Math Council and was held at Hockinson Middle School on Satur-
day, May 2. The “mathletes” competed in group and individual con-
tests involving problem solving, number sense, measurement, geo-
metric sense, probability and statistics, and algebraic sense. We
came home with two second place ribbons – very good for our first
contest! Math team members that competed in the contest were
Brendan Groat, Chelsea Ward, Samantha Ihrig, Rebekah Boucher,
William Shannon, Katarina Kubiniec, Zachary John, and Kailey
Groat.
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JORDAN HAMANN
Placed 5th in the state geography bee!
Zachary john—first place
Rowyn lea—second place
Finalists: Emily McKinney, Brennan Griffin, Alex Yarwood,
Savannah Hamann, Emma Schlecht, Jamie Smith, Heather Ek,
Veronika blomquist, andy santa maria, mattias tyni,
Mariah sumner, nathaniaL young
Sixth grade science fair winners!
Emily ek
Kimberly snow
Art contest winners!
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PUSH THE BUTTON AND CROSS WITH CAUTION!
The new flashing warning lights being installed at 3rd and Main St (in front of BGHS) tell
traffic a pedestrian is entering the crosswalk. Pedestrians should still look both ways and
make sure that traffic has stopped before entering the crosswalk. Pedestrians should use
care when crossing. These lights will not stop traffic!
A big thank you goes to the GFWC-Battle Ground
club, the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.
Thank you for helping our school with your generous
donations of box tops and used ink cartridges.
Don't forget that this is an easy way to earn money
for our school without buying a thing.
An online survey will be emailed
Survey to parents to gather information
and ideas regarding potential after
says!!! school activities for students at
Chief Umtuch Middle School. If
you are unable to access the sur-
vey through email, copies of the
survey are available in the office
Due May 15th! to be completed and returned by
May 15th.
The Battle Ground School District complies with all Federal and state rules and regulations and does not discriminate on the basis of race,
color, national origin, gender or disability. This holds true for all students who are interested in participating in educational programs and/or
extracurricular activities. Harassment of any employee/student with regard to race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, including
gender identity, or disability is strictly prohibited. Inquiries regarding compliance and/or grievance procedures may be directed to the District*s
Title IX Sexual Harassment Officer, Marcia Christian, 360-885-5306; Title IX Equity Coordinator; Pam Judd, 360-885-5395; Section 504/ADA
Coordinator, Jane Mercier, 360-885-5413; or submitted in writing to the designated coordinator at PO Box 200, Battle Ground, WA 98604.