Martin Cluster Community Service Project:

The Martin Cluster will be preparing meals for five families in our community who need some assistance during these difficult times.  This activity will take place during our house block on Friday, December 7th. We are asking students from each homeroom to bring in the ingredients and then we will use slow cookers to prepare the food.  The meals will be picked up by Parmenter on Friday afternoon.  Please help out by signing up for an item by going to Mr. Farley's website (instructions below).   The Martin Cluster appreciates your help and support with this project.

In addition to the meals, students will also have the opportunity to work with some "friends of our community" during this house block day.  Some residents from Sunrise Assisted Living and Traditions of Wayland will be visiting us to listen to some music, play games and tell stories.  Some of our middle school students will be visiting Kindergarten classes and will share a story and some crafts.  In addition, students will also be making friendship bracelets and origami boxes for children in the hospital, holiday cards for soldiers and sandwiches for the Salvation Army.  We are hopeful that these activities will enhance the students’ awareness of the importance of community service.

Thanks in advance for your help with this important project.  Please click on this link http://sites.google.com/a/wayland.k12.ma.us/farley/ to visit the sign up sheet.

Once at the site, please click on your child's homeroom teacher and select an item to bring to school on Friday, December 9th for our project.  The document will automatically update and save; however, you must wait approximately 5 seconds after you type for the changes to be officially updated.  If you have any questions or problems, please contact us.  We are all looking forward to our community service house block one week from Friday.  Thanks for your help.

The Martin Cluster Staff

Q1 Report Cards, Calendar Drive, Thanksgiving

Q1 Report Cards, Calendar Drive, Thanksgiving

Hello everyone,

  Just a few brief notes for Thanksgiving week for you, on behalf of your child's teachers we wish you all a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving break. Safe travels for those who will be on the road or in the air during the break!

1. Q1 Report Cards: 1st quarter report cards went home with your child this past Friday. If you have not yet done so please sign the front sheet stating you have seen and reviewed your child's 1st quarter grades. This sheet should be sent back through your child to their homeroom teacher by TUESDAY November 20th. Thank you for seeing to this.

2. Calendar Drive Fundraiser: Thanks to all parents and children who have been able to go out and sell raffle calendars for our annual fundraiser. We hope that many students will be able to make an effort to sell some calendars over the Thanksgiving break. We appreciate your support with this important fundraiser. All proceeds from our calendar raffle go to funding financial assistance packages for our students for middle school trips (Particularly the Washington DC 8th grade trip!). Thank you in advance for any efforts you have made to sell our raffle calendars!

3. Payment #1 for the Washington DC trip: A reminder that the 1st payment (if you are paying in installments) for the DC trip is Friday November 30th ($267.00). Payments can be made by check, over the phone or online at the Worldstrides website - please see the Worldstrides page  created at the top of this blog for directions for payments and registration.

4. Financial Assistance for the DC Trip: If you are in need of financial assistance for the DC trip please contact me directly (email is best :kevin_farley@wayland.k12.ma.us) or you can leave me a message at the middle school by phone 508-655-6670.

Thanks and have an enjoyable Thanksgiving,

Calendar Drive Fundraiser Begins!!!

Calendar Drive Fundraiser Begins!!!

Hello everyone,

  On Friday November 9th the Wayland Middle School's annual raffle calendar drive begins. This drive is our annual trip fundraiser with all money raised going to providing financial assistance (tripships) for families of students for our middle school trips (especially for the 8th grade Washington DC trip). As many of you know we can only provide an experience like the Washington DC trip if every student is given the opportunity to go, even if they cannot afford the cost of the trip. This fundraiser is vital to being able to continue this culminating middle school experience in our Wayland community.

  The calendar drive will run from November 9th through December 3rd. On Friday November 9th your child will be coming home with a packet of 5 raffle calendars and are encouraged to help support students who may be in need of financial assistance for our DC trip by selling raffle calendars. More raffle calendars are available through each child's homeroom teacher.

Raffle Calendars are $10.00 each. The raffle calendar enters the buyer of the calendar into 31 chances to win a different gift card seen on the calendar. Entrants can win multiple times throughout the raffle. The raffle will occur each day in January. Calendar sales and selling tips will be explained to students on Friday through their homeroom teachers.

  Thank you in advance for any support you can give to your child with this fundraiser.

Below are some safe selling tips for children

Gift Calendar: Selling and Safety Tips

Please post on your refrigerator at home

You are responsible for your calendars. Keep them in a safe place and do not lose them. Bring in your returns daily.

Selling tips

·      Be polite, cheerful, and have some fun. Say thank you to all of your customers, even if they don’t buy a calendar.

·      Tell them the sale is a Wayland Middle School Fundraiser for student trips.

·      The cost is $10.00 per calendar; customers may purchase as many calendars as they wish.

·      Donations are accepted. Encourage customers to write checks to Wayland Middle School.

Safety Tips

·     Go around with a friend.

·      Tell your parents where you are going, or ask them to take you around on your selling route.

·     Sell in your neighborhood and go to houses where you know the people.

·      Sell calendars at your parents’ work place (when possible)

·     Cross streets cautiously; use intersections and crosswalks

·     Never enter anyone’s house.

Do not give your phone number. Use the WMS number 508-655-6670

Thanks and enjoy the long weekend!

A message from Ms. Peirce and More DC Info...

Dear Families,

As part of our reading and study of Bruiser, students have been thinking and talking about the role of empathy in our lives.  In support of this exploration, we are reaching out to the community with a food drive for Parmenter Food Pantry.  Each of our ten English classrooms will collect non-perishable food and household items for the next week, until November 8^th.  We have begun a lively and friendly competition among the classes, with class co-captains encouraging their classmates and organizing the donations.

Below is a list of food and household items Parmenter Food Pantry needs for local families. 

Non-perishable food items: ▪   Canned Fruits and Vegetables ▪   Canned Soup ▪   Cereals and Baking Mixes ▪   Ground Coffee and Tea ▪   Pasta and Spaghetti Sauce ▪   Peanut Butter and Jelly ▪   Tuna and other Canned   Meats

Non-food items: ▪   Dish and Laundry Detergent ▪   Mouthwash ▪   Napkins ▪   Paper Towels ▪   Soap ▪   Toilet Paper ▪   Toothpaste

We appreciate any donations you can provide.  Thank you for your generosity.

Meeghan Peirce

Grade 8 English Teacher

DC Registration and 1st Payment for trip

  Thank you to all the families who have registered your child with Worldstrides for our Washington DC Trip. If you have not yet registered your child for the trip please do so as soon as possible as we were hoping to get everyone registered by October 29th. Students must be registered for the trip in order for us to be able to get train tickets, hotel rooms, meal allotments for each individual.

  You can register by mail using the registration form in your DC folder you picked up at Back to School Night or was brought home by your child the day after back to school night.

  Online registration is also available and it is fast and easy. You can pay the $99.00 registration fee which goes to your child's trip by credit card. Follow the directions on the Worldstrides page I set up at the top of this blog: WORLDSTRIDES REGISTRATION

  A reminder that the 1st payment for the trip (if you are paying in installments) is November 30th ($267). You can do this by mail or online on the Worldstrides website.

 

Thanks

Final Cave Notes

Final NY Trip Updates

Hi everyone,

  Just a few final reminders for this week's NY Geology Trips on Thursday and Friday.


1. Drop off is at 5:45 AM at WMS: When you drop off your child in the morning please park in the teacher parking lot. DO NOT drive up the bus driveway. Students will be loading their bags onto the bays under the bus on both sides of the bus and we do not want any traffic coming up the driveway at this time

2. Snacks and Food: Please remember as you are packing your child's food for the day to not pack any foods with peanuts or any kind of nuts as well as any shellfish. We have children on the bus with food allergies and would like to avoid any emergencies due to food allergies. Thank you for your cooperation with this. Please also remember that your child must bring with them their food for breakfast, snacks, and lunch. Students must also bring their own drinks and a water bottle. No Caffeinated beverages allowed.

3. Cave clothing: Please remember that if your child is going into the cave they must be wearing long pants, a long sleeve shirt, and a helmet with a light attached. There are no exceptions to this rule - safety is of the utmost importance. Please also remember that they must wear gym shorts and a t-shirt underneath their clothes so they can change outside the bus after exiting the cave.

4. Dinner: Dinner is at the Lee rest area on the Mass. Pike. Students may bring their own dinner or no more than $10.00 for fast food at the rest area.

5. Phone chain: Your child has brought home a copy of the phone chain for you. It is in their science class folder. I will activate the phone chain upon leaving dinner - we will be approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes away at this point.

6. Pick up at the end of the trip at WMS: When you pick up your child please again park your car in the teacher lot and do not drive up the bus driveway. Same as the morning kids will be going around to both sides of the bus to get their bags from underneath the bus when they return.

Thanks for your support from home, trips like this cannot happen without parent support.

Cave Trip Info...

Phone Chains -   Ms. Nichols sent home a copy of the cave trip phone chain list today with all students (except black block students who will receive the list on Tuesday).  Please check in with your child about the list so that everyone will be contacted when we are on our way home from NY.  If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Nichols.  Thanks.

Cave Trip Information

Hi All,

Your child has an extra copy of the packing list for the NY geology trip which is next Thursday or Friday.  Please check over the packing list and make sure you have all the materials necessary.  When planning food for your child, please DO NOT pack anything with NUTS or PEANUTS.  We have children with life threatening allergies on the bus.  Thank you for your help.

Your child will need breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and either money for dinner at the Lee Rest Area or a brown bag dinner.

Also your child must have a helmet with two small flashlights or headlamp attached for the trip.  No helmet, No cave.  Safety matters.  We have extra helmets if you need one.

Your child must dress for the trip in shorts and t-shirt under sweats because when we leave the cave we strip off our outer clothing and put it in a trash bag under the bus and take out clean clothing to wear on the bus ride home.  We change in an open parking lot and so no privacy is available.