IMPORTANT DATES:

November 19 – 20        Schools close 3 hours early for Parent Conferences
November 21, 22, 23    No school for students.
December 14                Progress reports issued.
December 24 – Jan 1    Winter Break—schools closed.
January 2                     Schools reopen

January 17 End of marking period, schools close 3 hours early.

January 18                   Professional Work Day—schools closed for students
January 21                   Martin Luther King, Jr. Day—schools and office closed.

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 12/11; 1/8; 2/5; 2/26; 4/15; 5/20 and 6/10
Coed Basketball 1/11; 1/29; 1/31 and 2/7

Please note: Intramurals are from 3:10 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.

Dear Friends and Families of Lime Kiln Middle School,

Report cards were sent home on Tuesday. Congratulations to all of our students who achieved Honor Roll status this quarter. We are extremely proud of their efforts.
Gold Honor Roll requires all A’s and Silver Honor Roll is all A’s and B’s. Thanks to our PTA who provided pizza celebrations for our deserving students.

Grade        Gold Honor Roll      Silver Honor Roll
    6                        32                          111
    7                        50                          120
  8                        20                            80

This week, as we continue through the 25 Rules of Civility from the book, Choosing Civility by P. M. Forni, we focus on Rule 11: Mind Your Body. Highlights from that chapter are listed below.

Last Thursday, Lime Kiln students under the supervision of Mr. Shifflett, Mr. Keddell, and Mrs. Mundy planted our first project to improve our school’s ecosystem. This project is a culmination of seventh grader, Jack Siglin’s research on rain gardens. Thank you to our parents—Laura Mattejat, Jane McLaughlin, Gwen, Tyrie, Mary Ann Guthier, Lisa Goheen, Moira Monk, Mindy Shinn, and Randi Chidekel—who were a great help to us!

Lime Kiln is applying for Green School status this year. Mr. Keddell will be working with a committee on the application. Please let him know if you would like to participate. Please look for his updates on what is happening in environmental education and extended learning opportunities in the Leopard’s Tale each week.

Thank you for your tremendous support of our Harvest for the Hungry drive this year. We were able to top last year’s efforts with 5, 232 lbs. of food—130 lbs. more than last year. Thanks to your generosity many families are most appreciative.

Next week is Parent Conference Week. We look forward to seeing so many of our parents. Thanks to the PTA who provides a delicious dinner for the staff on Monday afternoon! Due to the brevity of the week, there will not be an edition of the Leopard’s Tale. Have a special holiday with your families!
Sincerely,
Brenda Thomas

Our students of the week are: Ju Yeon Chung, Joe Bentz, Taylor Pepe, Ben Morgan, Jamie Williams, Allen Warthen, Christina Eshelman, Marley Christain, Tara Thompson, and Gyeongchan Park.

THE RULES OF CIVILITY:

11. Mind your body.

When we take good care of ourselves and our appearance, we implicitly validate who we are. We look at ourselves as deserving of attention and act upon that feeling. We also show that we consider other important. Behind the attention to grooming are the goals of appearing at our best on the stage of everyday life and of being as pleasant a presence for others as we can.

When we are well groomed, we often experience a sense of both physical and psychological well-being. We feel good, and we feel good about ourselves. When this happens, we are better disposed toward others, treat them better, and are thus better treated in return.

Congratulations to Taylor Paek for making the 2008 Maryland Jr. All State Orchestra on cello. Taylor is one of 16 cellos that were selected from participants from across the state of Maryland. The All-State Jr. Orchestra will give a performance in March. Well done Taylor!

Patrick Walls
Program Director, Elementary GT/Enrichment Orchestras
Music Director, Elementary GT Orchestra

Harvest for the Hungry

Many thanks to the Lime Kiln and Cedar Lane families that contributed to the Harvest for the Hungry “Kids Helping Kids” food drive. The last collection day was Monday, November 12. Lime Kiln collected 5,232 pounds of food. I would like to thank the 8th and 7th grade town council members: Marissa Babazadeh, Joann Brent, Riley Davis, Raheed Khan, Nikhil Khanna, Zach Michels, Valerie Obisesan, Ife Olujobi, Ashley Selby, Aspen Shackleford, Toyin Ajayi, Melanie Berger, Michael Burgen, Reid Butler, Tim Fisher, Brian Glueck, Michaela Hennessy, Melissa Hooper, Hannah Keating, Scott Lee, Katherine Malanoski, Graham Mathieson, Katie Mooney, Nicole Moy, Luke Park, Jackson Philips, Joey Porter, T. J. Smith, and Laura Yawney for coming during core plus to help separate and pack the food, as well as, divide the food for the 6 family baskets. They did a fabulous job! The 8th grade collected 1174 pounds of food. The winning homeroom in 8th grade was Mr. McMullin with 205.5 pounds. The 7th grade collected 1489.5 pounds and the winning homeroom in 7th grade was Mrs. Colbert with 288 pounds. In 6th grade Mr Jackowski’s homeroom was the winner with 384 pounds of food. The 6th grade class collected 1983.5 pounds. Congratulations to our homeroom winners! The grade winners for the I Tunes Card will be held after Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving baskets for 6 families in our school community will be delivered on Nov. 20 along with 3 boxes of non- perishable food. A big thank-you to Mr. Iager at Maple Lawn farm for donating the turkeys and to Mr. and Mrs. Toeneboehn for donating 6 Edible arrangements to be included with the dinners. We are very fortunate to have such supportive, generous families in our school community. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Cindy Dupski

Winter Concert
Please join the LKMS Instrumental Music Department at the Winter Concert on December 10th at 7:00pm in the school cafeteria. Groups to perform include Orchestra, Full Orchestra, Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, and Jazz Band. Please join us for a night of festive and holiday music.

John M. Jackowski
Director of Bands, Lime Kiln Middle School

Sixth Grade News-
The sixth grade student service learning program is up and running! This past Friday the sixth graders participated in our fun but educational kickoff assembly. Students saw a Powerpoint presentation, listened to a narrated story about the demise of Rocky Rockfish and witnessed the amount of pollution that ends up in the Chesapeake Bay everyday. The highlight of the assembly involved our students participating in a mock trial with the craziest of guilty characters: Ronny Rockfish played by Quinton Armacost, Solvent Sally played by Kalen Breland along with her posse of Taylor Lawrence, Marley Christian, Dani Schwab, Helena Brader, and Alexis Michel, Izzy Ichthyologist played by Nick Carson, Danielle Debris played by Taylor Peterson, Hot Water Harry played by Logan Kirby, and Ozzy Osprey played by James Bagley. Ms. Mundy's 2B and 3A/B served as the jury. The mock trial was conducted by Mr. K (otherwise known as Mr. Keddell our Aqua Havens/Rain Garden expert)...students in the sixth grade listened to the evidence presented and voted on who they believed was guilty of killing Rocky Rockfish. It was a unanimous vote - the JUDGE was guilty! After the fun, it was presented to the students that "all of us" are guilty in regards to adding pollutants to the Chesapeake Bay and that we all need to pitch in a DO something about it!

Tonight, Friday, November 16th our student actors and juries will be recreating our mock trial at the Maple Lawn community center at 7:30 p.m. Please come out and join in the fun, the learning, and support our wonderful cast and jury. Student involved in the production are to report at 7:00.

Ms. Mundy will also be in touch with parent chaperones for our upcoming field trip either this weekend or the beginning of the week.

It's been a great first quarter...thanks for all your support! If you are in for conferences next week, be sure to check out our new 6th grade bulletin boards created by Ms. Dixon - "All About Me" and "Sixth Grade Happenings"...

Cathy Mundy
6th Grade Team Leader/Reading Teacher

GT Information…Mrs. Spillman is still looking for a parent who is willing to serves as the Gifted and Talented parent representative for Lime Kiln Middle School. The parent representative serves as an advocate for the GT program and a liaison and contact for other GT parents in the Lime Kiln community. For additional information please contact Mrs. Spillman at tracy_spillman@hcpss.org or call 410-880-5988.

The Howard County G&T Education Program Parent Academy will hold a meeting on Tuesday, November 27 from 7:00 – 8:30 pm at Hammond High School, 8800 Guilford Road, Columbia. Lisa Boarman, Facilitator for the Howard County Public School System’s School Counseling Program, will present an overview of high school offerings for advanced-level learners, as well as suggestions for scheduling these various options. A pane of Howard County students and educators will also highlight G/T and AP coursework at the high school level. For more information, please contact GTAdvisoryHCPSS@verizon.net or call 410-313-6800.

Leopard News- Seventh Grade Team!

Social Studies:

Mr. White:
We are learning about Russia and the former Soviet Union. We have divided the classes into "castles" and the students are competing via points earned on grades to builkd the biggest "kingdom" possible. (We will be doing the Middle Ages later...) The current project is the E. Europe/Russia map.

Mr. Kelly:
In Mr. Kelly's Social Studies classes students are currently learning about the geography of Northern Eurasia. They are working on a map of the region and learning about selected countries, cities, and major geographic and climatic features. After Thanksgiving Break, students will begin learning about the Middle Ages. They will focus on topics like feudalism, the Crusades, and the Renaissance period.

Math:

Mrs. Gluck:
Mrs. Gluck's 7th grade MSM II class have just ended a unit on order of operations. When they get back from Thanksgiving break we will start solving equations. Students are doing an excellent job and will continue working with integers.

Mrs. Gluck's 7th grade pre-algebra classes are finishing up a unit on inequalities. After Thanksgiving break they will begin a unit on linear equations. This is a difficult topic so make sure your student stays on top of all assignments!

Reading:

Ms. Eckstein:
Ms. Eckstein's challenge reading classes are entering a Letters About Literature contest, in which students will reflect upon which book and author has affected their lives most. Entries are due 11/28.

Mrs. Colbert:
7th graders have completed the Careers Exploration research, and their knowledge of challenging Greek and Latin roots has expanded through the Classical Roots text. Soon Agatha Christie's novel, And Then There Were None will be on our agenda as we continue to learn the five types of paragraphs that are used in texts.

8th graders are reading S. E. Hinton's page turner, The Outsiders, while they learn characterization, flashback and foreshadowing. Vocabulary for Achievement motivates students to acquire and apply sophisticated vocabulary. Students have completed their University research as well as their Careers Exploration research.

Mrs. Yarn:
Mrs. Yarn's reading class is working on identifying text structure and learning to get the most out of our textbooks. Students are asked to look for different text structures in their reading. For example, problem/solution can be found through a science experiment or comparing/contrasting different cultures in Social Studies. In addition, keep working on using the vocabulary that is introduced through the vocabulary book. We have found many ways to use the words "irksome" and "cordial" in our reading class. Finally, keep making connections between what you are learning in class to what is going on around you in the world. Those real world connections make learning more meaningful.

English:

Mrs. Barrett:
Seventh Grade English Students are diving in to the Romance Archetype. No, it’s not above love. It involves a brave main character who goes through a journey which contains significant obstacles. But, you know that the hero always prevails! Have fun Star Wars fans! Look out for persuasive writing. Keep encouraging your child to review their grammar skills. The students are learning the coveted Barrett Formula. It will help them to successfully craft a well-written response in English.

GT students have been working very hard at writing poetry. The poems have been amazing! Ask them about their experiences in Café Barrett! Currently, they are taking on, “The Raven” and have been doing a wonderful job of analyzing the poem. Keep up the great work! They will continue to work with the poem and perform tableaux scenes. Every body loves to act!

Science:
Ms. Derreth’s second quarter science classes will be exploring the Human Body. Students will learn how the various organ systems work together in our bodies to help us survive. Students can look forward to dissecting a pig's foot, a sheep's heart, and frogs!

Shifflett 6th:
The students this week have been experimenting with observations, only they weren't allowed to use their eyes. In class the students created mystery boxes for their classmates to investigate and to figure out what was on the inside of the box. Only they could not open the box. This teaches the students two valuable lessons: 1) an observation uses all 5 senses, not just sight and 2) scientists need to perform these types of observations when figuring out what makes up the inside of the Earth.

Shifflett 7th:
The student's have moved past the skin and onto muscles and bones. This week the students did an experiment to test why bones are shaped like a cylinder, ask them why. They will also be experimenting with how their life would be without the different types of joints in their bodies. And finally the students will be look at a replica arm or knee to determine how they function so well.

Shifflett Core-plus:
The excitement continues!!!! On Tuesday as the students worked on their tanks, Mr. Shifflett heard many wonderful things mostly around BABIES!!! That's right many of the students found that there were baby convict cichlids now swimming in their tanks. They also noticed at how aggressive the parents are at defending those babies--at least for a while. Parents I know you know what that is all about.

GREEN SCHOOLS INFORMATION COLUMN
The Rain Garden is being fenced this week to frame the very successful planting that occurred last week. Fortunately too, the rain is coming on a regular basis, which will only help the plants as they extend their root systems and ready themselves for their dormant stage.
The full Green Schools initiative will begin to develop its master plan for application beginning in January, 2008. Watch this column for how you can join this important committee or support new and exciting student projects. Also, hats off to Caitlin Rodgers for starting the weekly student news show called GREEN CENTRAL STATION.

SERVICE LEARING NEWS
Service Learning at Lime Kiln Middle School is being integrated into the Green Schools initiative and CORE + Learning for students. Grade 6 this week kicked off the Service Learning campaign for the Chesapeake Bay with a grade level assembly that featured the teachers presenting and placing some of the problems into our “Chesapeake Bay aquarium”. The play was great and our hats off to the sixth grade performers. However, the Chesapeake Bay Aquarium was not a pretty sight as we dumped and polluted it in full view of the sixth grade students.

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER (YDC)
Aqua Havens is winding down its first quarter work and a new student sign up will begin after the Thanksgiving break. The Aqua Havens team is now slated to go behind the scenes at the National Aquarium in January to work with National Aquarium in Baltimore staff. They will then meet with Aquarium staff and share projects.
Other YDC news includes the fact that Maryland Sea Grant has helped us start our “RAISE AND RELEASE” rockfish program. We now have two large Chesapeake Bay Aquariums with spartina alernaflora grasses, rockfish, white perch, two very ornery blue crabs and some mummichug minnows born this year at the YDC. With the maturity of the aquariums now beginning to happen all over the building, the students are getting to observe exciting and real world behaviors. Congratulations to the student aquarium curators.

STOP! Don't throw that empty ink cartridge away, send it to school. Don't throw that unused cell phone away, either. We'll take empty ink cartridges and old cell phones for recycling...and we'll earn some money for LKMS while we're at it. Send in your empty inkjet, laser & toner cartridges and cell phones today. There's a collection box in the lobby...close to the Labels for Education Box. Each cartridge you recycle from home or work will help us earn money for PTA programs. Questions? Contact Elaine_Gaither@hcpss.org. Thanks for your participation in this painless fundraiser! Thanks for helping our environment by recycling!

Reservoir's Parent Orientation Evening will be January 9th in our auditorium at 7:00 PM for all parents of incoming 9th graders. Our tradition is to make it Parents Only! Please feel free to advise your communities!!! We look forward to seeing all of you on November 28th at RHS for our articulation, as well!!!! We will have lunch for principals, ITL's, and counselors at 1:00 in Student Services. All schools have agreed to send their teachers to the media center by 2:30 to articulate!!!
Have a great day, Diane
Diane McCarthy
9th Grade Counselor (G-Z)
Reservoir High School

JROTC TIMING/PROCEDURES
2008/2009 REGISTRATIONS

DECEMBER 3, 2007, Monday- Out-of-district requests for JROTC may be accepted.

DECEMBER 3 – FEBRUARY 22, 2008 (4pm)

Parent requests interview with JROTC Instructor and Administration of AHS, HOHS, or OMHS.
Parent sends Student Reassignment form to Student Reassignment Office.
JROTC Instructor give recommendation to Administration.
Administration sends recommendations to Student Reassignment office via pony or e-mail. (kay_brooke@HCPSS.org)

FEBRUARY 22, 2008, Friday

Forms AND recommendations MUST be in the Student Reassignment Office by 4pm.

MARCH 7, 2008, Friday

Letters of approval/denial will be sent to the parent and schools by Friday, March 7, 2008.

Parent will be notified that they are:

Required to call the receiving school to request an appointment to do a full registration (showing proof of residency, immunization, Birth Certificate, etc.)
To contact the sending school (current school) to change course selection to reflect JROTC.

From the PTA:

Spiritwear – Spiritwear should be arriving in the next 2 weeks! It will be distributed through the student’s homeroom unless other arrangements have been made.

PTA Coat drive - The PTA Coat Drive is now over. Thank you to the Lime Kiln Community for supporting this community service activity. LKMS collected over 50 coats, hats, scarves, mittens and gloves. These items will be given to Howard County students and their families who have financial needs. You should have a warm spot in your heart, knowing you helped out those in need this winter.

RIVER HILL HIGH SCHOOL POMS CLINIC - The RHHS POMS Squad invites students grades 2 thru 8 to attend their exciting ANNUAL POMS CLINIC. This is a great opportunity to learn dance and pom skills from the nationally ranked RHHS POMS Squad members!

The clinic is on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17th from 9 AM until 1:30 PM at
RHHS. The cost is $35 per student and includes dance and pom
instruction, t-shirt, snack and participation in the half time show
during a RHHS Varsity Boys Basketball game on Wednesday, December 5th.

Early registration is recommended although walk-ins are welcome if
space permits. Students should bring their own bag lunch.

To register or for more information, contact POMS Coaches: Christie
Ficke at 443-831-9525, csquared-aggies@att.net OR Diana Alvarado at
301-706-9412, dpalvarado@gmail.com

REFLECTIONS CONTEST DEADLINE FAST APPROACHING! - All Reflection entries must be received no later than December 10th to participate in the contest and to get extra credit from your teachers. The rules, entry form and entry drop box are in the front office. We can't wait to see all your creative entries in Literature, Art, Photography, Dance, Video and Music. All participants and their families will be informed of the Awards Ceremony date. It's not too late to participate ... start getting creative now!

Reflections Chair, Judi Neckritz
443-535-8632 jneckritz@comcast.net

Join the LKMS Hospitality Committee! The next big event for our committee is the Teacher and Staff Conference Dinner on November 19, 2007. We plan to serve dinner to the teachers and staff who are still at school for parent/teacher conferences. This allows the teachers and staff to take a nice dinner break and still accommodate as many parents as possible on the first night of conferences. If you have not already been contacted to help, and would like to help by setting up, cleaning up or providing some food, please email Moira Monk at mdmonks@comcast.net or call her at (410) 531-6752. Thank you.

Family Night at The Fulton Pottery Studio:

November 30, Lime Kiln will host another family pottery night at The Studio in Fulton. The Studio will donate 15% of the proceeds to LKMS so stop by with your friends and family on Friday, November 30 from 4:00- 8:30 to paint your own pottery. What a great way to get a jump on your holiday shopping, help LKMS and have fun with your friends. Visit the Studio anytime to preview your pottery options. For an online visit go to www.fultonpottery.com

FRIDGE NOTE – SAVE THE DATES:

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

Watch for details regarding these no-pain/all gain fundraisers in upcoming Leopard’s Tale issues.

PTA MEMBERSHIP NEWS

If you have not joined the PTA, you missed out on winning the Flypen. The drawing was held last Thursday during the morning announcements. The PTA would like to congratulate PATRICIA WHEELER for winning the Pen. Patricia received her Flypen last Saturday. Thank you to all of you who have joined. We still are seeking members, so if you have not sent in your dues, please do it right away. It's not too late. Any questions regarding membership, contact Jeanne Lineberry at jeanne_lineberry@verizon.net or (301) 317-1766.

Thank You:
On Thursday afternoon, November 1st, 83 of our the sixth graders stayed after school to participate in the One Team-One Heart Celebration sponsored by the LKMS PTA. Sherri Tatum and I were the organizers for this event. Sherri did a fantastic job preparing a fun-filled afternoon for our sixth graders. She also did a superb job getting volunteers to help make this a great time for the students. Sherri and I would like to thank all the 6th grade parent volunteers who generously gave their time and talents to make this event successful.

They were: Jackie Coberly, Lisa Goheen, Ilene Fox, Richard Kaiser, Paula Smiraglia, Sue Holley, Katie Deblasis, Maggie Deblasis, Sunithi Khanna, Tracey Mellion, Jessica Rinaldi, Coleen Reiff, Emily Michael, Carol Zimmerman, Michele Santos, Yvona Ward, Cheri Knight, Susan Evans, Jennifer Baker, Melinda Locke, Debbie Tayman, Cheryl Bowley, Kevin Groner, Donna Collins, Nancy Collins, Barb Moseman, Mary Ellen Miller, Keri Teodori, Adriana Quintero, Inga Swanner, and Randi Chidekel. We also want to thank our great administration, teachers and staff at LKMS: Ms. Thomas, Ms. Ober, Ms. Spadin, Ms. Lange, Mr. Belden, Ms. Emmons, Ms. Roepcke, the custodians, and the entire 6th grade team. A special thank you to the LKMS PTA for supporting this 6th grade event.
-Jeanne Lineberry

Box Top$ for Education – The first submission was October 31st and it looks like LKMS raised over $200. So keep clipping those box tops and dropping them in the box in the entry way near the office.

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.

From HC DrugFree:
Below is a link to a short article on Yahoo's front page on what's in energy drinks, with amounts of caffeine, and commentary on combining energy drinks with alcohol. Along the same lines as the energy drinks article in the Fall 2007 issue of the HC DrugFree newsletter (which you can view at www.hcdrugfree.org.)

The Downsides of Bottled Water and Energy Drinks
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/healthnews/12252/the-downsides-of-bottled-water-and-energy-drinks

PTA Events for October through December:

2007

NOVEMBER

19 4:00 Staff Conference Dinner
26 3:15 SIT Meeting

DECEMBER

19 7:00 PTA Meeting

COMMUNITY INFORMATION

RESERVOIR HIGHSCHOOL PRESENTS: "Little Shop of Horrors!" a zany,fun-filled musical about a nerdy plantkeeper, a sadistic dentist and his ditsy blonde girlfriend whose lives are turned upside down bya man-eating plant! Great for the whole family-maybe a little bit scary, but in a silly sort of way! November 15,16,and 17 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, Nov. 18 at 2:00 PM. Tickets are available during lunch the week of the play or at the door. Prices are $10 for adult, $6 for students with school ID, and $3 for kids under 12.

School Board Reschedules Public Hearing and Work Session

The Board of Education has moved the public hearing and work session on the Long Range Attendance Area Plan from Thursday, November 8 to Thursday, November 29 at 7:30 PM. At that time the Board will hear public testimony and discuss the comprehensive attendance area adjustments proposed for all high schools in 2010 and whether or not to continue the long standing attendance exception for high school students in the Greenbridge neighborhood. Action, if necessary, is scheduled for December 13.

Persons interested in speaking at the public hearing are asked to sign up in advance by calling the Board of Education office at 410-313-7194.