IMPORTANT DATES:

January 30                   Reports cards issued.
February 1 & 2             Drama production, RHS, 7:00 p.m.
February 6 & 7             Schools close 3 hours early for conferences.
February 8                   Schools closed for students for conferences.
February 12                 Primary election day, schools and offices closed.
February 13                 6th grade parent meeting for Outdoor Ed, 7:00 p.m.
February 18                 Presidents’ Day, schools and office closed.
February 27                 GOTTA EAT, 3 Brothers, 5:00 p.m.
February 29                 Interim progress reports issued.
March 17 – 24              Spring Break
March 25                     School resumes.

INTRAMURAL SCHEDULE
STUDENTS MUST HAVE A SIGNED PERMISSION SLIP ON FILE IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE
SIGN-UP SHEETS ARE POSTED IN THE CAFETERIA

Imani Club                    2/5; 2/26; 4/15; 5/20 and 6/10
Coed Basketball            1/29; 1/31 and 2/7
Stepping Class              Thursdays, 3:15 – 4:45
Please note: Intramurals are from 3:10 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.

Dear Friends and Families of Lime Kiln Middle School,

Last Thursday, notices went home with all students on Pick-a-Time parent conference scheduling. Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held February 6th-8th. You will be able to sign up through February 1st. The student identification number on the notice is necessary for scheduling conferences.

Congratulations to Jayson Wang, eighth grader! Jayson entered the Champions of Courage Contest and is a semi-finalist. He will be honored at an Awards Luncheon in February. Thanks to Mrs. Johnson for her assistance.

On Wednesday, the LKMS Spelling Bee was held in the cafeteria. We are very proud to announce that the winner is Michelle Seu, grade 8, and the runner-up was Jonathon Cort, grade 7. The winning words were ‘rhetoric’ and ‘mediocre.’ Congratulations to our winners and a special thank you to Mrs. Barrett for sponsoring this activity.

This week, as we continue through the 25 Rules of Civility from the book, Choosing Civility by P. M. Forni, we focus on Rule 16: Apologize earnestly. Below are highlights from that chapter.

Our annual Mid-Year Social will be held this Friday, February 1st. For the final 90 minutes of the school day, students will be able to participate in many activities, including basketball, chess, board games, cards, a dance, and a movie. Some students will not be able to attend the entire social due to poor work habits and/or behavioral issues. These decisions will be made jointly by the administration and the teams.

Sincerely,
Brenda Thomas

THE RULES OF CIVILITY

Rule 16: Apologize earnestly.

    When we apologize, we acknowledge that we did something wrong & work at repairing the damage. Apologies should be thoughtfully conceived, clearly stated, and heartfelt.

     Muddying the waters of apology is common. How many times do we hear pseudo-apologies such as: “I’m sorry I yelled at you on the phone, but I’m under a lot of stress these days”? This is how a real apology sounds: “I want to apologize for yelling at you. There is no excuse for that. I can only say that it won’t happen again

Our students of the week are: Andrew Doyle, Nicole Moy, Kelechi Obenechi, McKenna Cahill, Nick Shinn, and Nike Awotunde.

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES…Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for February 7, 8 and 9. Letters were sent home on Wednesday, January 16 with instructions on how to schedule your conferences. If you need assistance, please call the Guidance Office at 410-880-5997.

Yearbooks are on sale now. You can purchase one for $22.00 before Jan. 31st. Starting in February the cost is $25.00. Checks can be made out to LKMS and forms can be printed from the front page of the LKMS website. ATTENTION 8TH GRADE PARENTS: If your child would like a baby photo included in the yearbook, please send it to school with a name on the back. All photos will be returned. You can also email the photo in a jpeg format to janet_yarn@hcpss.org. All photos need to be submitted by Friday, Feb. 1st.

Technology at Lime Kiln:

Many project options include technology. In an effort to avoid as many problems as possible, hand-outs on moving a Vista document from home to school, moving movie files from home to school and tips for creating PowerPoint projects are available from the media center and are also on my TeacherWeb page. There are also copies on the media center desk and on the table in the school’s front entrance. A few especially important details:

Our computers cannot read mini-CD disks. Please do not use them for any file or document that needs to be read at school.
Movies saved to a DVD must use a –R format. Files must end in .avi or .mov
Vista files will open at LK if saved as 97-2003 compatible files.

--Mary Roepcke

Hoops for HEART kickoff - ALL students received information and collection envelopes for the American Heart Association campaign. Mini lessons focused on controllable and uncoontrollable factors that affect risk of heart disease were addressed to many classes. Students were encouraged to share info at home with family members. Today, students will have an opportunity to sign names of friends/family affected by heart disease on our HEART WALL outside of the cafeteria. Last year, this generous community raised over $15,000 for prevention and research of heart disease. Many thank you gifts were donated to local schools in need. AND we donated our $800 certificate for athletic equipment to a youth center in New Orleans. Yes... we do make a difference. MONIES will be collected on Friday, Feb. 1st.

7th Grade Parent/Guardians…As many of you already know, MSDE requires that all students complete 75 hours of Student Service Learning in order to receive a high school diploma. We wanted to take this opportunity to inform you about the Student Service Learning opportunities that your 7th grader will have this year. In assisting 7th graders with this requirement, the 7th grade team will be building on the 6th grade Student Service Learning program that LKMS students completed last year. However, this year students will be focusing on World Environments (C.A.R.E.S/, the rainforest, and mountains/mountaineering). Our program will primarily be confined to the 3rd Quarter and will be completed in Science, Social Studies and English classes and Core Plus periods. Just like last year, Band students and other students who are not present in Core Plus will have an opportunity to complete activities as well even though they are not present in Core Plus each day. Our decision to focus our efforts into certain academic areas (Science, S.S. and English) will still enable students to receive additional prep time in Math for the upcoming MSA. Students will be provided with learning opportunities in the form of lessons, activities, labs, field trips, assemblies, etc.
We are excited about the upcoming learning and service opportunities. We hope you are as excited about this opportunity as we are and we appreciate your understanding and support as we get started. You can expect updates throughout the 3rd and 4th quarters in the Leopard’s Tale, so stay tuned!

Team 7 LKMS

6th Grade Parent Information Meeting for Outdoor Ed is Wednesday, February 13 at 7:00 p.m. in the cafeteria

Counselor’s Corner…Many Howard County students excel in the fine/performing arts, but not all of those students are necessarily currently enrolled in courses offered through their middle school. If your eighth grade student is interested in enrolling in a performing arts program next year in high school, please contact either the LKMS guidance department or the LKMS band director, Mr. Jackowski, for important information about available opportunities and auditions.

The first goal of the Howard County Public School System is to ensure that each student meets or exceeds rigorous performance and achievement standards. To ensure students are prepared for the academic rigors of high school and the Maryland Assessments, the Board of Education of Howard County has established requirements for promotion and student participation in interventions to address below grade/curriculum level student performance. For example, any student who is below grade level in reading and /or mathematics at the end of the 8th grade will be required to attend summer school and/or designated reading and/or mathematics intervention courses in 9th grade. Letters are being mailed to parents of students currently performing below grade/curriculum level in reading/and/or mathematics. Please refer to these letters for important information about the Howard County policy regarding promotion and required participation in intervention courses. If you have any concerns or questions, please contact the guidance department at 410-880-5997.

GREEN SCHOOLS INFORMATION COLUMN
Our Green Schools application is due in April. Between now and then there will be committee time available after school the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Mondays of each month beginning February 11th. At these meetings we will discuss the application process and continue the initiatives underway. Parents are welcome to join in these green school meetings. SOME NOTES:

LKMS has been visited in the past two weeks by members of the Green Schools Selection Board. We asked for their input and advice as well as an assessment of our progress. We were informed that we are on target with our initiatives and doing very well.
LKMS and the Youth Development Center has partnered with the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission’s “Patuxent Watershed Schools Mentoring Partnerships” initiative to build a Environmental Learning Trail for the Community. This trail could include such learning stations as a bluebird monitoring trail, a FROGWATCH USA survey station, an archaeology pit, a soil profile station, an airborne nitrate monitoring station and a Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem station. The concept is to have stations that can be used by teachers for curriculum hands on experiences and to provide an outlet for student leaders at LKMS to provide programs for Fulton Elementary, or run a Saturday environmental learning event for the Community at large.

SERVICE LEARING NEWS
The CORE + seventh grade Service Learning effort is working to take advantage of our partnership with the Earth Treks Climbing Centers’ “CLIMB FOR HOPE” occurring in early June this year. Cancer survivors and the Earth Treks leaders will be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa and communicating back to the school. In cooperation with the Johns Hopkins Cancer research and Earth Treks we are working to bring guest speakers to CORE+ and have a community panel evening event in late April featuring the Earth Treks Climbers, some of the cancer surviving climbers and researchers from Johns Hopkins. This event is just beginning to materialize and planning will continue in February. We would need parent support to turn this into a community at large event. Any parents who would like to be involved in helping to plan this event can join the meetings on Mondays beginning on January 28th and February 11th.

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER (YDC) – “YOUTH LEADERS IN ACTION”
Beginning January 28th and February 11th, the YDC will be offering a special Leadership After School Program for students. This Youth Leaders in Action Program will focus on working with students to lead projects “that make a difference.” Participants will look for ways that they can impact the environment, attempt to write a grant to support our Green School movement, and work closely with the Earth Treks’ Kilimanjaro Expedition. This team of students will be limited to 10 students and will occur on the second, third and fourth Monday of each month. Mr. Keddell will facilitate the meetings from 3:15 – 4:30. It will be an excellent program to prepare students for leadership in High School or for the management of their own chosen projects..

The Women’s Giving Circle is a community of women philanthropists addressing the needs of women and girls in Howard County. Among its goals is encouraging the healthy development and personal authority of young girls. With support from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and Math Engineering Science Achievement, the WGC is holding a free introduction to careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) for middle and high school girls on Sunday, February 10, 3-5 p.m. at the APL. In addition, the Women’s Giving Circle has founded a residential camp for middle and high school age girls, Journey, which will be held at Washington College in the summer of 2008. For more information about both of these programs contact womensgivingcircle@comcast.net or call 301-854-1107.

2008 Summer Camp for Middle and High School Girls
Sponsored by Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County

The Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County has expanded its residential summer camp, Journey, to include two groups of Howard County students: 25 girls entering eighth and ninth grade in the fall of 2008 and 25 girls entering tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade in the fall of 2008. Maryland Leadership Workshops, Inc. (MLW) will operate Journey, as it has for the past two years.
The Women’s Giving Circle is an organization of women philanthropists dedicated to addressing the needs of women and girls in Howard County. MLW has been providing leadership training programs for middle and high school students in the state of Maryland for over 50 years.
Journey will run from Sunday, July 20 through Saturday, July 26, at Washington College in Chestertown, MD. Student delegates to the program will live in the college dorms, eat in the college cafeteria, and experience a collegiate atmosphere during the week long program.

Journey’s Program Directors are MLW staff members Caroline Gifford, a Howard County native and teacher for Washington, D.C. Public Schools, and Kimberley Gordy, Admissions Officer for Goucher College. Atholton High School Principal Marcy Leonard is Outreach Program Facilitator and Policy Board Member of MLW.
The summer camp is the outgrowth of the Women’s Giving Circle’s efforts at supporting girls during a formative development period of their lives. Program components will include:

Workshops on empowerment and motivation, communication skills, decision making skills, group dynamics, self-awareness, goal setting, and conflict resolution
Small and large group projects for delegates to apply and get feedback on their leadership and interpersonal skills
One-on-one interactions between staff and delegates to address specific areas of growth for individual delegates and identify an action plan for post-site implementation
Recreational activities such as swimming and athletics and team building games and activities, including a Confidence Course

“The theme of womanhood and what it means to be a woman will be prevalent in every aspect of the program,” said Dorothy Harris, Chair of the Women’s Giving Circle Advisory Board. “Issues of feminism, women’s history, equity, gender differences, and female consciousness will be interwoven as the girls are challenged to think about the preconceived expectations that society has set forth for them and how to break those expectations to become their own individual person,” she added.
The camp will be restricted to girls who are living in Howard County and now attending seventh through eleventh grade. The cost of the camp is $550. Financial assistance is available. Applications can be obtained at www.womensgivingcircle.org and in guidance offices at local middle and high schools. Applications are due March 14.
For further information, contact Colleen Taggart-D’Agrosa, womensgivingcircle@comcast.net, 301-854-1107.

From the PTA:

An Opportunity to Reach Out to Those In Need…

Grassroots will be reopening its newly-expanded shelter doors to homeless individuals and families on or about February 1st. At this time the shelter is asking the community for help to provide much needed items. These items include pillows and pillow cases, single sheets, mattress pads, pillow protectors, twin blankets, bath towels and wash cloths, laundry bags, plastic toiletry totes, clothes hangers, small and large indoor trashcans, alarm clocks, night lights, silverware, dishes, plastic cups, coffee cups and glasses. New and gently used donated items will be picked up by Grassroots. Should you have any questions, please contact Bonnie Hudak, Grassroots’s Volunteer Coordinator, at 443-790-8862.

The Hospitality Committee is busy planning the February Staff Conference Dinner. If you have not already received an email with the detailed information and would like to contribute food or other goodies to the event; please contact Moira Monk at mdmonks@comcast.net or (410) 531-6752. The dinner will be held on February 6, 2008. Thank you for your generous response.

LKMS REFLECTION CONTEST RESULTS:
Here are the results of the 2007-2008 Reflections Contest. Congratulations to all the participants and winners. Extra credit will be assigned to you by your participating teachers. Please pick up your official Reflection Certificates and entries in the front office. LKMS teachers will receive gift baskets of appreciation for being most motivational toward the program. Results of the Howard County Winners will come out the 3rd week in January and I will inform the winners then.

Literature:
1ST PLACE: Alicia Settle
2ND PLACE: Aspen Shackleford
THIRD PLACE: Nicole Moy
4TH PLACE: Sylviane Alexion
PARTICIPANTS: Cassidy Davis, Michelle Seu, Kristen Smith, Theodore Willard

Visual Art:
1ST PLACE: Taylor Paek
2ND PLACE: Melissa Hooper
3RD PLACE: Ben Yumkas

Reflections Chair: Judi Neckritz, jneckritz@comcast.net

FRIDGE NOTE – SAVE THE DATES:

Weds, Feb. 27th Three Brothers “Gotta Eat” Night
Three Brothers Italian Restaurants

Print the flyer located after the PTA Calendar!!

Keeping our kids safe: Don’t forget to check out the Winter 08 Parent’s Bulletin @ http://www.hcdrugfree.org/WinterNewsletter08.pdf. When you read the articles, you’ll see that a lot of risky behavior can begin in middle school and even elementary, so it is never too early to become an aware parent.

Mark your calendars for the Annual Parents Social Event and Fundraiser that will be held on Friday, March 28th at The Gathering Hall in River Hill. If you would like to help volunteer in making this event a success or if you have a service, tickets or any other donation that you think would be helpful for an auction item, please contact Diane Thometz, dithometz@aol.com, 301-854-9730 or Leanne Glueck, lglueck@earthlink.net, 301-604-7150.

Box Tops for Education Here’s how it works: Every time you use a General Mills or Betty Crocker product please look on the product to see if they have a "Box Tops for Education" Logo on it (see sample below). If it does, then cut it out and send it in. Ask your friends and family to help. It costs you nothing and we get $.10 for each box top logo you bring in. The Campbell’s Soup “Labels for Education” are not part of the program.

Used Ink Cartridges - The Music Department is collecting used ink cartridges and cell phones. Please send them in and put them in the Box Top Box in the school foyer.

The PTA received an award for increasing membership by 25 members last year! It would be great to increase membership by 50 members this year. Have you joined the PTA yet? Let's make this a goal. Please place your dues ($7 per person) in an envelope providing your name, address, and phone number and send it in with your child to his homeroom teacher today! Questions? Contact Jeanne Lineberry at jeanne_lineberry@verizon.net or (301) 317-1766.

PTA Events for January through March:

2008

JANUARY

28 3:15 SIT Meeting

FEBURARY

School Drama Production

5     7:30 PTAC Meeting
         6     4:00 Staff Conference Dinner
         13    2:15 6TH Grade Honor Roll
            14    2:15 7th Grade Honor Roll
            15    2:15 8th Grade Honor Roll
            20    PTA Meeting
         25    3:15 SIT Meeting

Gotta Eat ‘Three Brothers”

MARCH

SPRING SOCIAL

             3    7:30 PTAC Meeting
12   7:00 PTA Meeting
28   Parents’ Social Night
         31   3:15 SIT Meeting

Three Brothers Italian Restaurants 7090 Deepage Drive – Columbia, MD 21045 - (410) 309-5944

LIME KILN MIDDLE SCHOOL

GOTTA EAT NIGHT

Tuesday, February 26th
4:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Treat yourself to a fantastic meal and a night off from cooking!
Three Brother will donate 25% of sales for the evening to Lime Kiln Middle School’s PTA. Three Brothers offers the finest and most authentic New York-style pizza in all of suburban Washington as well as the best hot and cold subs, calzones and Italian entrees in the area. Please plan to join us and support the PTA and the services it provides for the families and staff at Lime Kiln Middle School.
In a RUSH? Just call in your order and it’ll be ready when you arrive. The menu is available at www.threebrotherspizza.com.
(NOTE: Present flier when paying to ensure proper credit)

Thoroughly Modern Millie presented by the River Hill High School Theatre Arts Department

Thoroughly Modern Millie is a Tony Award-winning musical based on the 1967 film of the same name. Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of a small-town girl, Millie Dillmount, who comes to New York City to marry for money instead of love – a thoroughly modern aim in 1922, when women were just entering the workforce. Millie soon begins to take to delight in the flapper lifestyle, but problems arise when she checks into a hotel for young ladies run by the unsavory Mrs. Meers. The original production opened on Broadway on April 15, 2002 and subsequently won six 2002 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The RHHS production promises tons of singing and dancing, beautiful sets, and splashy costumes.
Performance Dates and Ticket Information
All performances take place in the River Hill auditorium. The performance dates are March 5,6,7, and 8 @ 7:30 p.m., and March 8 and 9 @ 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $9.00 in advance and $10.00 at the door. Advanced sale of tickets are as follows;

By Mail Order - a ticket order form can be downloaded (beginning January 14) on the RHHS website - http://www.howard.k12.md.us/rhhs/default.html
RHHS Media Center - beginning Monday, January 14 (Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.)
In Front of the RHHS Dining Hall - beginning Monday, February 25 (Monday – Friday from 10:15 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.)
Box Office (opens 90 minutes before curtain on performance nights)

If you have questions, or need further information contact Pam Land (pland@hcpss.org) or 410-313-7120.