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2009 Middle School Supply List

Math: 2 composition books (black or blue) (sewn pages we will not pull pages out)

1 blue folder

20 pencils (to keep in classroom)

2" or 3" binder (to keep in classroom)

Choose 2 from the following list: (for the classroom)

Box of 10 crayola markers

Pack of 3x5 index cards

liquid hand soap

box of tissues

1 pack of college ruled paper

1 pack of colored paper (printer or construction)

Science: 1 spiral bound notebook (green) with perforated pages

1 green folder

20 pencils (to keep in classroom)

1 tri-fold display board

1 clear plastic report cover with side sleeve/binder

Language Arts/Social Studies:

1 spiral bound notebook (to keep in classroom)

1 red folder

20 pencils (to keep in classroom)

1 pack of loose leaf paper (to keep in classroom)

2 tri-fold display boards

2 glue sticks (to keep in classroom)

1 bottle of hand soap

1 box tissues

1 package of paper cups

1 package of paper bowls

4 packets of microwavable popcorn (not the full box)

1 packet of Trail Mix (only if not allergic to nuts)

$12 for Vocab/Spelling workbook - made payable to Randa Jobe or cash

*****Should you have any problem with funds for these items, please don't hesitate to tell Mrs. Jobe or one of the Middle School teachers as we can find help for you.******

Language Arts and Social Studies - Ms. Randa Jobe

We've had a great year together!!! I wish you all a wonderfull summer vacation! Take some time to enjoy some summer reading. Here is a list of suggested books for all Middle School students. This is the list from North Carolina's Battle of the Books for the 2008-2009 school year. I encourage any student interested in participating with our school next year to read as many of these novels as possible. They are all great. You can read a brief summary about them by typing the names in at BN.com.

I will post an updated letter by the 2nd week in August! See you when school starts!

“Every piece of knowledge is a tool; you never know when you may need it.”

The students of MDCS had a very successful year. I am proud of the progress the students made. I am looking forward to a new year with familiar faces and some new ones. Over the summer keep your thinking caps on and do math whenever you can. Help parents figure out gas mileage, bake, solve those real life problems.

Stay in shape this summer!!! Get up, get out and move. Being active is the best thing you can do and why not enjoy the nice sun shiny days while bettering your bodies. It will also help you be ready for the return of school. PE will be similiar to this past year. We will run the loop 3 days and sprint 1 after stretching and doing calisthenics. There will be a greater concentration and seriousness toward stretching to try to limit the wear and tear injuries.

I am really looking forward to teaching some new sports in '08-'09. Thanks to parent donations we ordered some awesome new equipment including lacrosse and floor hockey equipment.

Many great things have been said in the past, but most were repeated. Somebody said that. Anyway, here is a list of some of my favorite science quotes. Hope you like them.

“Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science.” ~Edwin Powell Hubble, The Nature of Science, 1954

“I think science has enjoyed an extraordinary success because it has such a limited and narrow realm in which to focus its efforts. Namely, the physical universe.” ~Ken Jenkins

“Nature composes some of her loveliest poems for the microscope and the telescope.” ~Theodore Roszak, Where the Wasteland Ends, 1972

“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but "That's funny..." ~Isaac Asimov

“A fact is a simple statement that everyone believes. It is innocent, unless found guilty. A hypothesis is a novel suggestion that no one wants to believe. It is guilty, until found effective.” ~Edward Teller

“Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing.” ~Wernher Von Braun

“The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them.” ~William Lawrence Bragg

At the 1968 triennial meeting of the IUCN, The World Conservation Union, Senegalese conservationist Baba Dioum observed, “In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.”

In addition to regular weekly electives, middle school students also have the opportunity to participate in mini-mesters as a form of electives. Some of the mini-mesters that have been offered are: murals, pottery, mosaics, photography, theater lighting, wilderness survival, sound and recording, writing, band and construction. Minimester classes are a minimum of 2 hours long and occur at least twice a week for the duration of the minimester. This "large-block" scheduling gives students the opportunity for in-depth, creative application of their core academic skills that simply would not be possible in a more standard length school period. read more>

Outdoor education and opportunities are another thing that the teachers at MDCS utilize regularly. With such a wonderful, secluded location the students spend a lot of time outside. Trail building, fieldwork, gardening, and PE are some of these activities that get them out of the classroom and into our larger, 11-acre learning environment.

Middle school students receive 30 minutes of PE daily, outdoors, throughout the school year. The students participate in calisthenics, running and games.