Dear Glen Meadow Parents and Guardians:

Although this year looks a little different for all of us, I am so impressed with our students’ resiliency each day.  Our students have adapted to wearing masks, following new procedures, following the one-way hallways and stairwells, and utilizing their technology skills to stay up-to-date and involved in their classes, and so much more. We are in the middle of marking period one with the marking period ending on November 12th. It is always our intention to partner with you so that your child will have a successful in-person or virtual learning experience this year. Please be sure you are checking your child’s Genesis and Schoology accounts on a regular basis. Teachers are continually posting & updating information that is instrumental to your child’s academic progress. In addition, teachers may be holding virtual class meetings where your child’s attendance is required.  You will read information below about our upcoming Virtual Parent Conferences held at the end of the month.

 

 

Congratulations to Maureen Lovett! Maureen is a Scope Magazine winner of their Superfans, February 2020 contest. While Maureen Lovett was a 6th grader in Mrs. Mitchell’s Language Arts class, the class was assigned the topic “Discuss how fan culture can be both positive and negative”. Reading two articles, the students had to synthesize information in two articles and study the author’s craft, text, and structure. Maureen was one of five national winners of the Scope Magazine contest! Maureen won the book The Perfect Star by Rob Buyea. The Perfect Star is the third book in The Perfect Score series.

 

 

Boys and Girls Cross Country News: GM’s First Cross Country Meet of the season at Kittatinny was a huge success. Our boys, led by Tim Pallis in first place, Rick Bennett, Dan Arroyo, Lake Doughty, Otto DeJager, and Robert Vazquez, took the top 6 spots in their run. As awesome as that is, our ladies paralleled the awesomeness, led by Micah Delelio in first place with Sue Mentone and Lauren Goolsby helping fill the top spots in the girls’ division. Tuesday’s meet was a phenomenal start to the season as all runners made a great effort in this contest.

 


Eagle Scout Project at Glen Meadow: Boy Scout Yorgo Liaros with Troop 912 completed his Eagle Scout Project at Glen Meadow Middle School. Yorgo rebuilt the retaining wall garden bed and designed a new garden. The new wall and garden help brighten and makes the front entrance of  Glen Meadow School welcoming and inviting. Thank you, Yorgo!

 

Virtual Wednesdays: As a reminder, every Wednesday through early November are virtual learning days for all VTSD students. Our virtual Wednesday schedule is below. Please encourage your child to follow his or her schedule. Some teachers will have an open Zoom meeting for the class or to receive help on work, others will post pre-recorded lessons, and others will post work for the day. As I have recommended to many parents, it is a good idea to have your child follow his or her daily schedule on the days home whether an Exclusively Virtual student or a Hybrid Learner.

Wednesday for ALL Students
Period 1: 9:00 – 9:20
Period 2: 9:25 – 9:45
Period 3: 9:50 – 10:10
Period 4: 10:15 – 10:35
Period 5: 10:40 – 11:00
Period 6: 11:05 – 11:25
Period 7: 11:30 – 11:50
Period 8: 11:55 – 12:15
Period 9: 12:20 – 12:40
Office Time: 12:40 – 1:00 

 

Parent Conferences: Virtual Parent Conferences will run the week of October 19 AND the week of October 26. THE WINDOW TO SIGN UP FOR A VIRTUAL CONFERENCE  WILL OPEN ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, AT 4:00 PM, AND WILL CLOSE ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23. Conference times and availability will vary teacher-by-teacher during the two week period. You will select a time you would like to see your child’s teachers in Genesis. Due to present COVID circumstances, please know that conferences for each teacher are not required; however, you can schedule conferences for classes in which you have any concerns or questions.  Also, please feel free to schedule a meeting with your child’s teacher throughout the school year as need be. Your child’s teacher will be giving you information on the class Schoology page on signing up for a conference.

 

 

Fall Book Fair: Ms. Yost will be hosting a Scholastic Book Fair during the weeks of October 19 and 26. Your child will have the opportunity to purchase books during his or her Language Arts class.

 

Sussex County Middle School Summit:

This year, the Center for Prevention and Counseling celebrates its 20th annual Taking Flight to Change Middle School Summit. Due to COVID-19, the Summit will be a virtual event that will have an opportunity to make a larger impact than ever before as it will become a week-long event, with daily 20-minute pre-recorded videos including motivational speakers, activities, and energizers. Since it is virtual, all students in Glen Meadow will be able to experience the event. Students will be hearing from various speakers who will provide a motivational message tailored to Sussex County students incorporating empathy, the power of one, and resiliency. Students will be viewing the video messages during lunch, gym, and health classes.

 

 

Builder’s Club Virtual Costume Contest: All Glen Meadow students are invited to participate in a VIRTUAL costume contest. Participating students are requested to donate a dollar or two to participate. A slide show using WeVideo will be produced so everyone can see all costumes. There will be three winners selected. The winners will be able to select where the donation collected will go; all proceeds will go to Vernon charities. In addition…the top three winners will be winning an Amazon Gift Card, the top prize will be a $20.00 gift card!! Get creative students!!

 

 

Mindfulness Training for Middle Schooler: Mr. Brian Thomasberger, certified Yoga Instructor, will be holding a virtual mindfulness training for our pre-teens and teens on Tuesday, October 20th and Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020, from 1:30 – 2:15 pm.  The following topics may be shared with your children:

  • Mindful Breathing
  • Brain Science
  • Body Awareness
  • Mindfulness of Thinking
  • Mindful Movement
  • Mindfulness of Emotions
  • Relaxation Techniques
  • Meditation Techniques

 

Mr. Thomasberger’s goal is to provide students with a comprehensive, fun, educational, and experiential class to release pent up energy, deal with stress, and learn new ways of self-regulation.

Below are the Zoom links for both sessions. All students are encouraged to attend.

 

Link for October 20th   Meeting ID: 811 5510 5660 Passcode: 664781

Link for Nov. 3rd  Meeting ID: 812 3273 4908 Passcode: 634335   

 

Blood Drive: This year Glen Meadow will be hosting our blood drives off-campus. Thank you to St. Frances DeSales Church for opening its doors for our blood drive that will take place on Thursday, November 5, 2020, from 3:00 to 7:30 pm. Please click here for the flyer.

 

 

Our Middle School Strings Program: While students are learning virtually and are practicing their instrument in the strings program, students are submitting videos of themselves practicing. Below are videos showing one of the warm-up/skill exercises Mrs. Krott and Mrs. Berls are using in the orchestra this year called Bornoff Finger Patterns. The teachers are able to work on things such as intonation (playing in tune), finger placement on the instrument, and bow control at a level that is appropriate for the students.

 

 

The Vernon Coalition: The Vernon Coalition will be offering Lunch and Fun meetings during lunch periods. The goal of the meetings is to develop student leadership and join the movement for young people to recognize and face the influences around them while having fun. The meeting schedule is listed on the flier below. This is a great way for students to get involved and hang out with like-minded teens. Click here for the flyer for the Lunch and Fun program. In addition to this daytime program, the Vernon Coalition also is holding “Above the Influence” early evening in-person meetings at Walnut Ridge/Vernon Board Office. Click here for the flyer for the Above the Influence program. This is a great program for middle schoolers!

 

Project Self-Sufficiency Annual “Stuff the Stocking” Program: Annually Project Self-Sufficiency requests children’s toys for their annual “Stuff the Stocking” Program. Glen Meadow will be a proud participant of this program and will be collecting gifts for Project Self-Sufficiency in November. Thank you for considering donating a gift for a child in need. Here is the link to the flyer.

 

Wave Learning Online Tutoring Program from UPenn: As you read in previous Glen Meadow blogs the University of Pennsylvania, UPenn, offers extensive online tutoring and classes for students across a wide variety of topics. Check out the programs offered this month. 

  1. STEMtober: Every Saturday in October, Wave Learning be focusing on a different STEM field for interested students who may not have had much exposure to STEM to explore! Details can be found at www.wavelf.org/event-stemey.
  2. Academic tutoring begins on October 5. Students can drop in to receive curricular support from high-achieving high school and college students specializing in whatever subject is needed! www.wavelf.org/tutoring contains all the information for students to get involved.
  3. If you’re interested, Wave Learning recently put together a Wave Learning Festival Facebook community group for students, parents, and educators! Here’s the Facebook link: www.facebook.com/groups/wavelearningfestival

 

4-H Programs available for Middle Schoolers:

Have you heard about 4-H?

What is 4‑H? 4‑H is delivered by Cooperative Extension—a community of more than 100 public universities across the nation that provides experiences where young people learn by doing. For more than 100 years, 4‑H has welcomed young people of all beliefs and backgrounds, giving kids a voice to express who they are and how they make their lives and communities better.

Through life-changing 4‑H programs, nearly six million kids and teens have taken on critical societal issues, such as addressing community health inequities, engaging in civil discourse, and advocating for equity and inclusion for all.

4‑H believes in the power of young people. 4-H sees that every child has valuable strengths and real influence to improve the world around us.

Here are two programs offered by the 4-H…

4-H Dogs and Paws and the 4-H Dinosaur Fun Fact clubs…Clubs are open to any student grades 2 – 8.

Love dogs? Would you like to know how to care for and train your pet? Then check out the Dogs and Paws club. We will be learning to care for our pets, how to do basic training, and learning facts about each breed. We will also work on a project that will be displayed at the Sussex County Fair in August 2021! To sign up please follow this link

https://forms.gle/NQvLdcE3K68GbSbG6

Are you a fan of Dinosaurs? Join the Dino fun fact club! Learn about Herbivore and Carnivore dinosaurs We will also work on a project that will be displayed at the Sussex County Fair in August 2021! To sign up please follow this link

https://forms.gle/mMpMGjCSiRxCYMor6

 

Schoology: Marking Period One ends on Thursday, November 12, 2020. Please be sure you are checking your child’s Genesis and Schoology accounts on a regular basis. Teachers are continually posting & updating information that is instrumental to your child’s academic progress. If your child is not attending Zoom meetings, your child will be losing class participation credit in that class.

In addition, teachers may be holding virtual class meetings where your child’s attendance is required. 

You can always see what is going on in each class. You will always land on the Updates page. There you will see the message for the day and highlights of the day’s/week’s work. Next, click on the Materials folder that is right above the Updates folder. There you will find all of the work for the week in a weekly labeled folder. Look for a checklist of work your child needs to complete for the week. This is created by each teacher to help your child stay organized.

 

October Virtual SCA meeting will take place via Zoom on Wednesday, October 21, at 9:45 am. We had a great September meeting. We love our parent volunteers. Please check out the Glen Meadow SCA link where our minutes will be posted to keep you up to date if you missed a meeting. Stay connected with the SCA by visiting their page.

 

Teacher of the Year Program: You are invited to nominate a teacher for the annual NJ Department of Education Governor’s Teacher of the Year and Governor’s Educational Services Professional of the Year. Please use this form to nominate a teacher at Glen Meadow. Our building selection will be made in early December. There are so many outstanding professionals in Glen Meadow for you to consider! Last year’s recipients were Mrs. Renee Kepfinger, special education math teacher, and Ms. Terri, Librarian

Each candidate should:

  • Inspire students of all backgrounds and abilities to learn;
  • Serves as an exceptionally skilled and dedicated educator in a public or charter school;
  • Expresses themselves in an engaging and articulate way;
  • Plays an active role in the community as well as the school;
  • Demonstrates leadership and innovation in and outside the classroom;
  • Has the respect and admiration of students, parents, and colleagues

 

Reminder: Vernon Township School District schools will be closed for the NJ Education Association Annual Teachers Convention on Thursday and Friday, November 5-6, 2020. There will be no in-person or virtual teaching on these days.

 

Sincerely,

Mrs. Rosemary Gebhardt      Eric Kosek, Ed. D

Principal                                               Assistant Principal