IMPORTANT DATES:

November 12 – 16         American Education Week—come visit the classrooms
November 13                Report Cards issued
November 14                COFFEE WITH THE ADMINISTRATION, 9:00 a.m.
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

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 11/13; 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,

Next week is American Education Week. Please feel free to visit our classrooms any time. On Wednesday morning at 9:30, Mrs. Ober and I will host our annual Coffee and Conversation. Discussion topics include the most recent backpack recommendations, the civility policy, and extended learning opportunities for students.

Parent conferences are being scheduled for the following week, November 19-21, using the online program, Pick-A-Time. Until November 14th, parents may schedule up to three conferences. If teachers’ schedules are open, more conferences may be scheduled.

This week, as we continue through the 25 Rules of Civility from the book, Choosing Civility by P. M. Forni, we focus on Rule 10: Respect others’ opinions. Below are some highlights from that chapter.

On Tuesday evening, the Council of Elders sponsored a recognition program for outstanding African-American students. Students were honored for scoring advanced on the Maryland School Assessment. Twenty-seven students were selected for this honor. We are extremely proud of their accomplishments.

Sincerely,
Brenda Thomas

Our students of the week are: Heather Konstanzer, Deep Singh, Kyle Drumheller, Ben Sachs, Mallory Jordan, Madeeha Lughmani, James Tatum, Maureen Monk, Quinton Aramacost, Simone Hall, Mackenzie Camp0bell, and Jessica Rodriquez.

THE RULES OF CIVILITY:

Respect Others’ Opinions

Respecting others’ opinions is part of a larger attitude of respect—respect for the whole person—we are expected to develop. It is not an easy art. It requires self-esteem, self-control, sensitivity, tolerance, fairness and generosity.

Those with views different from yours may refrain from revealing them to preserve the harmony of the conversation or they may feel too intimidated to challenge you.

Present your opinions as just opinions, rather than transcendental truths. Make room for disagreement. Invite feedback. Among the most civil utterances is the simple question, “What do you think?” Let’s use it generously. We may learn something by listening in earnest to an opposing view. We may even discover our opinion in not as good as we thought and that it may be time for us to change, time to expand our horizons.

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES…Lime Kiln Middle School will once again be using the Pick A Time program for scheduling conferences on November 19, 20 and 21. A letter was sent home with the students explaining how to access the program. In order to schedule conferences you will need your students’ ID number, which is located on the top of the conference letter.

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 cal 410-880-5988.

In other GT news, the Gifted and Talented Parent Academy offers meetings on a variety of interesting and informative topics. On Tuesday, November 27, 2007 from 7:00-8:30 at Hammomd High school the topic is High School Scheduling for advanced level learners. Interested parents and students are invited to attend. For more information, please contact GTAdvisoryHCPSS@veriaon.net or call 410-313-6800.

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.

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

The following students were recognized at a MSA Celebration by the Council of Elders on November 6th at Oakland Mills High School:

            Imani Adams                Toyin Ajayi                   Nike Awotunde
            Taylor Bradford           Joanne Brent                Diane Brown
            Alden Dyson                 Chaz Gladden               Raeshad Jones
            Leah Ndenecho             Nkemka Obineche         Valerie Obisesan
            Ifeoluwa Olujobi          Stephan Osong             Noah Owens
            Keyon Pinnock               Aspen Shackleford       Kristen Smith
            Jasper Spires              Julian Spires                James Tatum
            Margaret Tatum          Taylor Thomas             Brandon VanGennip
            Javier Ward-Cantori    Desiree Williams          Orukama Wonodi

Mr. Shifflett's 7th Grade:
Working the state and county government, on Thursday the students are going to be taking an active role in changing the environment around their school by planting a rain garden. A rain garden is designed to act as a natural way for water runoff to percolate into the ground water. This will help with the school's erosion problem.

Mr. Shifflett's 6th Grade:
This week starts the beginning of second quarter materials. In the quarter, look for you students to start talking about how they make different types of rocks using a crayon, experiments with what happens when gases build up inside of a volcano and how they built a grid to excavate dinosaur fossils. These are just a few of the exciting labs that will be taking place this quarter.

Mr. Shifflett's Core Plus:
The cichlid projects are under way. This week the students will be assigned their experiment tanks. They are already showing their tanks maintenance skills by collecting base-line data on the chemicals in their tanks and completing water changes to assure proper water chemistry.

AN EXTRACURRICULAR ALERT!!
Mr. Jackson will offer an opportunity to learn all about the weather in a “Wild Weather” after school program. The facts behind the opportunity are as follows.
Dates: Nov. 12, 26; Dec. 4,10, 17; Jan. 8,15, 22 Time: 3:15 – 4:30
Cost: $35.00 Checks payable to the PTA
Topics: Clouds to Storms; Winter Storms; Hurricanes: Tornadoes; Heliophysics
Potential Field Trips: Howard University Weather Center and the NASA Center at Goddard
Contact Mr. Jackson at LKMS for further applications and information
support.

MovieMaker to Macintosh

When your teacher gives you the option to create a movie at home, many students with a PC, use the program MovieMaker. To save a movie created with MovieMaker, so that there is a good likelihood that it will open on a Mac, use the notes below, from a high school teacher whose classes do a lot of filmmaking.

Saving in a Compatible File

“My theory is that the movies that open on your school Macintosh computers will be AVI files whereas the ones that don’t may be WMV files. AVI is an uncompressed video file format that plays in the newest versions of Quicktime. WMV is "Windows Media Video," which only plays in Windows Media Player on PCs. Microsoft Movie Maker exports to WMV by default, so the only way to save as an AVI is to select File > Save Movie File > My Computer and choose "Show More Choices" to select AVI from the "Other Settings" pulldown menu.

As you can probably tell, it's not very intuitive. Also, even when saving to AVI in other programs, there still may be problems opening it in QuickTime, so it's hit or miss.

Burning a DVD

Burning a DVD can also be hit or miss. Depending on the speed of the DVD burner or the way it's burned, it might not work. Also, different DVD players have different amounts of success playing burned DVDs. It's never a sure thing, and I always tell my students to test it out before the due date just to make sure. It's just a limitation of the current technology; there's not much you can do other than burning at a slower speed (say, 2x or 4x) to insure a better burn. Macintosh computers read DVD-R (minus R) dvds.

Summary

• Students working on a PC to create a movie, must have AVI or QuickTime (.mov) files only (no MPGs or WMVs).
• If a student is burning a movie to a DVD, he/she must test the DVD ahead of time.
• Word to the wise: “I use the ratio of up to 1 hour of editing for every ones minute of final product. “ Try to keep your project to a reasonable length. Plan it out; use a storyboard. Monitor the sound. Be creative but include accurate facts; make your point, and wrap up.

Avoid Problems!

Tips for Successful Projects That Involve Technology

In order to make projects created at home run on school equipment, we have found that a few tweaks save a lot of frustration. Here are some suggestions:

A student who creates a PowerPoint project (Word or Excel spread sheet) at home, using the Vista version of Microsoft Office, should be careful to save as 97-2003 compatible files.

When saving to a CD, if at all possible, do not use the small size. Mini CDs will not work on the computers that hook up to the school’s LCD projectors.

File Formats. Our computers have Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) installed on the hard drives. Documents created at home that end with .doc, .xls and .ppt should open on our Macs. If a home computer uses a different application, the documents will not open, unless saved as an RTF (Rich Text Format).

GREEN SCHOOLS INFORMATION COLUMN
This is an exciting week for the LKMS Green Schools initiative as we are moving into place student outdoor gardening equipment and then planting our first bio-remediation Rain Garden. This is a great investment! Our project advisor from the Chesapeake Ecology Center has taught us that a rain garden is a planted depression that is designed to absorb rainwater runoff from water impervious urban areas like roofs, driveways, walkways, and compacted lawn areas. This reduces rain runoff by allowing storm water to soak into the ground (as opposed to flowing into storm drains and surface waters which causes erosion, water pollution, flooding, and diminished groundwater). Rain gardens can cut down on the amount of pollution reaching our creeks and streams by up to 30%. Please stop by and see the garden development located just off the basketball courts.

SERVICE LEARING NEWS
The sixth grade team is kicking off its Chesapeake Bay service-learning action this week and next with its in-school production of “Who Killed Rocky Rockfish?” We will then continue the kickoff with the same production occurring Friday November 16th at 7:30 pm at the Maple Lawn Community Center. The module will culminate in an end of the year outdoor education experience.
Service Learning units of study and service hours are now part of the teaching requirements for Maryland Schools and Lime Kiln Middle is building a service-learning ethic by developing full involvement in all three grades.

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER (YDC)
The turkeys on the farm behind the school are becoming witnesses to outstanding launches and flying rockets as Mr. Garner’s Rocket Group was flying high behind the school this past Monday. This exciting program features 7th and 8th graders studying rocketry to launch their own vehicles to prepare themselves to be mentors to 6th graders who will join the club mid-year. This service learning initiative teaches rocketry and the value of giving back to your school community to build traditions and opportunity for fellow students.
On the fish front, we will be shipping our first species at risk fry born here at LKMS to the New York City Public Aquarium. Fish, what a great service learning present for Thanksgiving.

From the PTA:

FRIDGE NOTE – SAVE THE DATES:

Tues, Nov. 13th Cheeburger, Cheeburger “Gotta Eat” Night – (Bring the flyer that was sent home in the backpacks or print the one on the last page of the Leopards Tale to donate 15% of your sale to LKMS!!!)

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.

The following request was made from the wife of one of our heroic vets...
When you are preparing your Holiday cards or any other items to mail this year, please send a card or letter of thanks to the address listed below:

                        Recovering American soldier
                        c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
                        6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
                        Washington, D.C. 20307-5001

If we pass this on and everyone sends one card or letter, think of how many cards and letters these wonderful special people who have sacrificed so much would get

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.

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

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

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

STUDENTS GET CREATIVE WITH THE 2007-2008 REFLECTIONS PROGRAM
"I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY"... is the inspiring theme for the National Reflections Program. Participating students can interpret this theme in 6 creative categories: LITERATURE, PHOTOGRAPHY, VISUAL ARTS (Example: drawing, painting, collage and printmaking), FILM/VIDEO, DANCE and MUSIC! Don't limit yourself to just 1 category! Last year we had a record breaking number of Reflections entries. Each one was unique and they were all phenomenal creative efforts. The judges for our school entries are all professionals in those fields and they were highly impressed by the efforts last year. There are 4 levels of competition where the 4 winners in each category proceed to the next level: first is your school, then county, state and finally national. Award ceremonies and certificates of participation and winner placement are given out at each level. Those dates will be announced. Along with those honors is the extra credit that your teachers give for completed entries by the deadline date. Please ask ALL your teachers whether they are giving extra credit. Simple rule/participation forms will be available in the front office along with a drop box for completed entries and forms. It is extremely important to fill out your Title and brief Artist Statement on your forms. START DATE: OCTOBER 8TH/DEADLINE: DECEMBER 10TH.

Don't hesitate to call with any questions. Be sure to visit: www.pta.org/local_leadership_subprogram_1116958614281.html for more information and to view last years winning entries. The Reflections Committee is looking forward to seeing all your creativity in interpreting the theme "I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY"...
REFLECTIONS COMMITTEE CHAIR, Judi Neckritz
H443-535-8632 OR jneckritz @comcast.net

PTA Events for October through December:

2007

NOVEMBER

Education Week
Gotta Eat Night ‘CheeburgerCheeburger”

            14 9:30 Coffee with Admin.
            14    2:15 6th Grade Honor Roll
14    7:00 PTA Meeting
15    2:15 7th Grade Honor Roll
16    2:15 8th Grade Honor Roll
            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.

CONEXIONES…On November 10, Conexiones, a non-profit organization supporting Hispanic student achievement, will sponsor a college financing workshop.. The worshop is entitled “Financing the Education of Our Hispanic Children” and will be held at Oakland Mills High School from 9 a.m. until noon. If yu wan more information please write to feli@conexionesch.org or go to the website at www.conexioneshc