IMPORTANT DATES:

October 15                  Drama Rehearsals start
            October 17                  MSTA Convention--Schools closed for students.
            October 21                  GOTTA EAT…Kolby’s Smoke House
            November 6                 Picture Make-Up Day
            November 13                Report Cards issued.
            November 17 – 21         American Education Week
         November 24 & 25      Parent-teacher Conferences, Schools close 3 hours early
            November 26               Parent-teacher Conferences. Schools closed for students.
            November 27 *& 28     Thanksgiving Holiday. All schools and offices closed.
            December 2                  GOTTA EAT…Ledo’s Pizza, Fulton

INTRAMURALS

            Art Club                       In Progress.
            Bridge                          In Progress.
            Imani Club                    10/28. 12/02, 1/27, 2/24, 3/24, 4/28, and 5/26.

Dear Friends and Families of Lime Kiln Middle School,

What a great time we had on Tuesday when the Ravens and the American Heart Association came to kick off our second annual “What Moves U” event. Lime Kiln had the pleasure of welcoming two Ravens rookies, wide receiver Justin Harper and safety Haruki Nakamura. Also, Poe, the Ravens mascot, entertained the sixth graders with his humorous antics. Over the next five weeks, the students will keep a fitness calendar that will make them eligible for prizes, such as yoga mats, stopwatches, and jump ropes.
Students will be bringing home additional information today.

School visitation is certainly welcomed at Lime Kiln. However, classroom visits are guided by negotiated agreements. A twenty-four hour notification is requested prior to a visitation. The request, orally or in writing, is provided to an administrator and the teacher and must be approved by the administration. The teacher may request that the visit be rescheduled based on the instructional needs and the best interests of the students.
Traditionally, this has not been a concern at our school, but the school system asks that the policy be provided to the parents and community annually.

This month’s Principal Leadership had an excellent article on fostering self-discipline by students. While correcting misbehavior is often necessary and appropriate, the goal of developing self-discipline should always be kept in the forefront. Listed below are valuable tips for parents. Over the next few weeks, more tips will be highlighted.

TIP #1: Consistently show love, care and respect. Be a caring adult with whom your child can discuss concerns or problems.

TIP #2: Give positive attention to the things that your adolescents doing right, rather than just focusing on misbehavior. Recognize and praise good decisions.

TIP #3: Establish clear expectations and consequences for breaking the rules. Be firm and consistent when disciplining your child.

Sincerely,
Brenda Thomas

Our students of the week are: Brian Glenn, Jennifer Lucas, Sheila O’Malley, Tanner Oakes, Madeline Jones, Remi Frisby, Jade Dunhott, Remi Frisby, Jade Reinholtz, Carrie DeBlasis, and David Eninle.

From the PTA:

Box Top$ for Education – First collection will take place shortly and our collections have dropped off considerably from last year!!!! So clear out that clutter and drop your box tops in the box in the entry way near the office. Each box top is worth 10 cents and is an easy way to support our great school. For more information, and even money-saving coupons, go to: http://www.boxtops4education.com

LKMS PTA - Many thanks to all those parents and teachers who have signed up for the PTA. The early membership support has been outstanding. If you haven't signed up, please do so right away as we are less than 100 members short of our membership goal. If the chaos of the beginning of the year has left you confused about whether you signed up or not, please contact Carol Zimmerman, LKMS membership chairperson, wcrnsz@comcast.net.

Magazine Fundraiser - Thank you to everyone who participated in the magazine fundraiser this year. It was again very successful.

The PTA extends a tremendous THANK YOU to Kelly Cidre for taking the lead again this year. Also, thank you to Sherri Tatum and Gail Poole-Vaughn who took on numerous pieces of this fundraiser to help Kelly. Of course, we cannot forget to thank all the volunteers who were there on Wednesdays to count the magazine orders and those who were in the school on Fridays to give out the well-deserved prizes. This fundraiser could not have happened without all of you. So, again, thank you so much.

This event is the largest means of funds for the year and is what makes up the majority of the budget for the PTA. We cannot fund all the programs and events without this fundraiser. Next year, the PTA is in need of a group of people to head up the magazine drive. It is not a one-person job. Having 3 or 4 people take the lead makes it much less time consuming. Please consider stepping forward to help the PTA with this. Kelly has this job very well organized and is willing to train and help with the transition. Please contact me at jeanne_lineberry@verizon.net or (301) 317-1766 if you are willing to take this on.

Jeanne Lineberry, PTA President

The PTA would like to thank Janette Wilson, Virginia Bialick and Cheryl Bowley for taking their time to review the financial records from last school year and report their findings to the Executive Board. I am happy to report the records and finances are all in order, this year’s budget has been approved by the PTA's general membership, and we are looking forward to a successful and rewarding school year.

Jeanne Lineberry, PTA President

Family Fun Committee - If you know how to have fun, you’re the perfect person to chair the LKMS PTA’s Family Fun Committee. The Family Fun Committee Chair (or co-chair) is a great job that comes fully staffed with nearly two dozen volunteers and has a $1,000 budget to control.

This year’s family fun event is a movie night for the whole family held outdoors with the movie shown on a gigantic movie screen.

With advice and help from your fellow members, this committee will:

Select the movie.
Figure out how to keep the committee’s decision a secret from the kids (the movie vendor swears more kids will come if we don’t announce the movie beforehand).
Decide what snacks to sell and what to charge for those snacks.
Schedule the volunteers to sell the snacks.
Account for the expenses and profits.
Act as point of contact between PTA and movie vendor (PTA has already located the company for you).

Benefits of this position include:

Getting to know other wonderful LKMS parents.
Being known as the parent who brought fun to LKMS.
It’s a finite job that’s done once and over pretty quickly.
This job does not involve any classroom visits. Perfect for those whose children complain about the embarrassment of parents being “seen” at school J

If you prefer to work as a team to lighten the workload, two or even three co-chairs can share this position.

For more information, or to volunteer, contact PTA Vice President Sheri Tatum at 301-821-5400 and home is 301-854-1582 or Statum1@verizon.net.

EASY MONEY – “Gotta Eat” ‘Fridge Note

Come out and support your Lime Kiln PTA at this year’s “Gotta Eat” nights!

Kloby’s Smokehouse (7500 Montpelier Road-Laurel-301/362-1510): Tuesday, October 21st from 4pm-8pm (10% of all sales will be donated to the Lime Kiln PTA)

Ledo Pizza (11845 Route 216-Fulton-301/776-5336): Tuesday, December 2nd from 4pm-8pm (details to follow)

COMMUNITY INFORMATION

20th Annual Oakland Mills HS Craft Fair, Saturday November 8th from 10am-3pm...FREE ADMISSION
Over 80 vendors to shop from...jewelry, wood crafts, purses, paintings/photography, home decor, personalized items, and much more. Items are priced from $1.00 on up. Something for everyone. Get a jump on finding just the right gift for that special someone.
Delicious lunch items available from the Scorps Cafe and dessert from the home baked goods table. After you make a purchase enter a raffle to win gift certificates to "Let's Dish".
Janet Yarn, Laurel Woods ES, Technology Teacher

The Maryland Public Secondary School’s Athletic Association (MPSSAA) has opened up the 2008 Girl’s Golf Challenge Clinic to eighth grade middle school students. Eighth grade female students may only take part in the clinic portion of the girl’s golf challenge
to be held at Potomac Ridge Golf Course on October 18 at 2 p.m. All golfers shall bring a bagged set of clubs to use. Space is limited and priority will be given to high school athletes first. The attached form contains further information and an entry form to be sent to the MPSSAA office.

Andy Warner, MPSSAA Assistant Director, Phone: 410-767-0415 Fax: 410-333-3111

Psychologist and Best-Selling Author of
The Good Enough Child and The Good Enough Teen