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AMS Art: What Matters To Me

10/30/2017

 
In the eighth grade art class, students are working on their ‘What Matters To Me’ project. It's a themed project where students make what they care about. Students made a list of what matters to them and narrowed it down to one specific thing. The students then looked at art that makes a difference and has a deeper meaning behind it. This gave them ideas of what art that makes a difference is. “They are finding out what they care about and reflecting it through their art” says Kathryn Meinert, the Asheville Middle School art teacher. One student's project was about books and incorporated many artistic details about books and expressed how much she cares about them. She chose books because she feels they make a difference. All students projects were made to show off what they feel makes a difference. There is a lot of talent here at AMS! Nice job, 8th graders. 
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Drawing by Banks Totten of the future of cars.
Story by Aislinn Nash

Things Are Getting Shaky in The Science Lab: 6th Graders Eat Tectonic Plates

10/25/2017

 
PictureMs. Zlatkin in the lab.
Every year, sixth graders simulate the movement of tectonics using graham crackers, frosting, and fruit by the foot. Using these items, they create 3 different types of boundaries: divergent, convergent, and transform, as well as a subduction zone. Students learned about these plates in science class in the prior week.

​We went in during Ms. Zlatkin’s second block to get an inside view. We saw students engaged in learning with the hands on experiment. We even got a quote from a sixth grader. ¨It was fun!” said Anny Chen, ¨we got to stick our hands in food!¨. We look forward to more hands on learning here at Asheville Middle to benefit student learning. Great job, 6th graders!
 
Story by Erin Chen and Iris Schreiner

Buy Your Cougar Wear: Journalism, Theatre, Cougar Pride, Cross Country

10/24/2017

 
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Interested in some new Cougar Wear?
We have a lot of great options! Check out the website to place your order today! We have options for Journalism, Theatre, Cross Country, #CougarPrideAVL, Cougar Pride, and even a hat!

Orders are filled within a few weeks of order, and given to your child in their HR!
Not at AMS and still want Cougar Wear? No worries! We can hold it for you in the
​Journalism classroom until you can pick up :)

Halloween Playlist

10/23/2017

 
Check out this Spotify playlist to get in the mood for Halloween! Disclaimer: This is all opinionated! 
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List by Virginia Pharr

Safety Tips from Officer Lackey

10/23/2017

 

YWCA Swim Club: Learning to be a better swimmer

10/23/2017

 
You walk in, it’s hot, humid, and loud. You see the chlorine filled blue water and kids waiting eagerly on the bench. The YWCA has created their first partnership with AMS. Students who are in the swim club can walk over to YWCA during club times on Tuesday and Thursday and learn to swim. The club is for students who would not normally have an opportunity to learn how to swim in their daily lives. “We want all children to learn how to swim”, Lifeguard Valinda says. Valinda grew up in Florida and has been swimming all of her life, she wants other kids to experience what she did. “We can save one life” Valinda says, “teaching these kids to swim will save many”.

​The CEO of the YWCA, Beth Maczka, went to City Council and got the grant to do this swim program. The YWCA provides swimsuits and goggles to kids who don't have access to them at home. Currently the program has a student to adult ratio of 3:1, there are 9 kids participating in this club and they split into ability groups. Swimmers work on breathing exercises, basic swim skills and how to be safe while swimming. Swim coaches work hard to give specific instructions and lots of demonstrations.

Swimmers warm up first and then get to have fun jumping off the diving board. The club is currently made up of all boys and lasts for 45 minutes. The boys will continue until Spring and then the boys and girls will switch out. One student says “My favorite part is getting to jump off the diving board”. Another one says “I like getting to learn how to swim”. A parent of one of the students says “My son loves to swim, when I found out that he was doing this program I thought it was amazing, he has never had swim lessons before, when he joined this program it was his first time ever learning to swim.” The YWCA thrives to make important things like swimming possible to people who would not have a chance to do it otherwise.

One of the swim coaches, Brooks Wallace, says “I love helping with this program because I like to see kids improve. Swimming is an important life skill in my opinion.” The YWCA hopes that Asheville Middle School will continue their partnership together, teaching kids to swim.                                                                                                                                                                                  
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Story by Kate Buys and Ginger Hanlon   ​

Teacher Feature: Ms. Jefferson

10/18/2017

 

“I want my students to own their education.” - Ms. Jefferson

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Ms. Jefferson is a special education teacher and an inclusion teacher for ELA and Science. She has been teaching at AMS for 3 years and before that, she taught at AHS for 17 years. Ms. Jefferson loves watching her students grow into responsible leaders. Ms. Jefferson loves coming to work and seeing all of her students, different personalities. “I smile every day because of my students”, Ms. Jefferson says. Ms. Jefferson teaches students that struggle like she struggled in school. “I know that everyone can learn”, she says. “You just have to find out how they learn and teach them to apply their way of learning to the subjects that they struggle in”. Ms. Jefferson wants her students to look at their writing as a strength. “I want my students to change the world with their writing”, Ms. Jefferson says. “I want my students to own their education.”.

Currently, Ms. Jefferson is teaching her students journalistic writing. “It’s a difficult type of writing, but I believe that once the unit is finished, students will benefit from the writing”. Students have been creating websites where they will eventually publish the stories they write.

Ms. Jefferson had teachers that changed her life in High School, and she wanted to change the lives of students like her teachers did. Ms. Jefferson grew up in Asheville and graduated from Asheville High. She is certified to teach K-12 special education.

Ms. Jefferson's favorite teaching moment was when she was driving a bus load of her student back from a field trip and a turkey flew across the interstate. Ms. Jefferson hit the turkey and the students quickly took sides on whether or not she hit the turkey on purpose. After she realized that this would be an incredible learning opportunity, she decided that students should write a court case on whether she was guilty or innocent. Students spent many weeks working on their paper, and Ms. Jefferson set up a courtroom in her classroom. There were judges, lawyers, defendants and more. The case was called the Turkeycide! One student who participated in the case as a lawyer says “It made an important skill fun to learn, I finally understand persuasive writing“. Ms. Jefferson always finds fun ways to teach challenging and important subjects. 

Story by Kate Buys

AMS Clubs: An inside look

10/12/2017

 
PictureEva Anderson(8) and Mr Nichols posing with mugs that represent them.
On Monday and Thursday afternoons, seventh and eighth graders enjoy an hour of club time. Sadly, you can only experience one club at a time. To bring you the pleasure of learning about other clubs, I took time out of my Monday to explore three of the many different clubs.
Tea Club
Tea club was one of many student’s first choice. The idea is simple, come in, drink tea, eat cookies, relax. The first thing one may notice when they walk in is how great it smells. The scent of the tea combined with the sweet sweet ginger snaps instantly makes you feel at home. In the classroom, you can hear the sound of students chatting amongst friends. Students bring mugs that represents themselves into tea club for a cup of black tea with cream and sugar. After they receive their tea, they sit and talk in an inside voice with their friends. Laughter filled the room, and even though I was only in there for five minutes, I came out with a smile on my face and relaxed.



PictureA group of students dancing to the music in Zumba club.
Zumba Club
Unlike tea club, the energy in Zumba was exciting and fun. In this club, students enjoy the popular dance game, Just Dance. This class is student centered and student led. Students in this class are respectful to others and have fun without judgement. If you don't want to dance, you can sit down and chat with friends.

​Minecraft and Computer Games
In Minecraft and Computer Games, students socialize while playing, well, you guessed it, minecraft and computer games. To be in this class you need to abide by this class’s only rule, play well with each other. Tons of people join this club because of their natural love for computer games.

Story by Erin Chen

Showering Mrs. Rice with Love

10/5/2017

 
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Mrs. Rice at the baby shower.
​On October 4th, the Pirates pod threw a surprise baby shower for Mrs. Rice. Mrs. Rice is an seventh grade english teacher on the team of Mr. Dewhirst, Ms. Biggar, and Ms. Larrick. The event was held on Wednesday during mindfulness moments. It was a surprise party: teachers and students alike have been keeping the secret for the past week. The pirates pod room was set up with baby pink tablecloths with cookies and cupcakes (brought in by student) on the table.

 When asked what she was most excited for being a mom, Mrs. Rice responded “I guess seeing the baby learn."  Mrs. Rice is going on maternity leave from October 9th to January 2nd. We wish her the best on being a new mom, and cannot wait to meet baby Emma!
Story by Erin Chen

Don't forget to buy a yearbook!

10/5/2017

 

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