In This Issue

Quick Links

The O Ambassador Club is a joint effort of the Oprah Angel Network and Free the Children. This club was formed in January, 2008 at HCMS. Our mission statement is to "inspire students to give of themselves, to appreciate their talents and good fortunes, and to develop an understanding of what life is like for other people in the world." We have approximately 30 members now and have been meeting to learn about how children live in other parts of the world.

It is our belief that the students of Hampton Cove have been educated with an abundance of resources. There are currently 120 million children in the world who have no access to an education. We believe we have a responsibility to give back to children who are less fortunate and have set an ultimate fundraising goal of $8500 to sponsor the building of a school in Ecuador. As of this date, HCMS O Ambassadors has raised $1379 toward this goal.

Our fundraising campaign is called "Brick by Brick," and we are offering parents the opportunity to reserve a brick that will be engraved with your child's name at a cost of $50. We will ultimately landscape these in an area in the front of the school indicating HCMS sponsorship of a school in Ecuador through the organization Free the Children (see freethechildren.org for more information). Checks can be made payable to HCMS, and one check will be cut to Free the Children at the end of the year.

A brick could be reserved in honor of an 8^th grade student graduating, former graduates, in memory of someone, business sponsorship, or any HCMS family who would like to take advantage of this opportunity to give from our abundance to an area in desperate need.

Donor

Name to be engraved (please print)

Donation

**The O Ambassadors would like to express their appreciation for the beautiful landscaping donated by Signature Landscapes. This area will showcase the bricks purchased by families of HCMS to raise money for the school we are sponsoring in Ecuador. The bricks will be installed soon.

Congratulations to the 2009-2010 HCMS Future City Competition Team.

Their entry, "Taaza Pur" (green city) was recognized as one of the top six finalists among 22 schools in the National Engineers Week Alabama Regional Future City Competition on January 16^th, 2010 at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
In addition to placing in the top six and having the honor of making a presentation for the entire audience, our team was selected for two special awards...

Most Innovative Use of Water Systems -

a plaque and check for $150 presented by local chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Best Use of Symbiotic or System Safety -

a plaque and check for $150 presented by the System Safety Society, Tennessee Valley Chapter

Team members worked together daily in their gifted elective class, Building For the Future, to complete this award winning entry. Throughout the first semester they researched a wide range of engineering topics related to urban planning, sustainable/affordable housing, innovative energy resources, unique building materials, stormwater management techniques to address a potential monsoon flood typical of the area they chose to represent near Mumbai, India and much, much more. They designed and build a complex computer simulation model of a city 150 years in the future using SIMCity4 software. Then they worked together to write an essay and a narrative describing the technologies and engineering practices included in their city design. Finally they built a tabletop scale model of their affordable, sustainable future urban center, Taaza Pur, and developed a creative news broadcast presentation to present the city to judges at the competition. They were assisted by our volunteer team engineering mentor, Bill Fain, a senior Civil Engineering student from UAB.

Taaza Pur team members enjoyed the day of competition and did a fabulous job presenting their project and responding to the rigorous questions posed by many teams of local engineers who judged various aspect of the competition and to those questions posed by their peer teams and guests. They also enjoyed seeing other team models, guest speakers from our engineering community as well as the Provost and President of UAH.

We're so proud of our team!!!

Austin Turner, Sayantoni Dhar, Mauhaun Taheri (Presentation Team) Jordan Berry, Mark Chodaba, Trey Wintzinger, Leiron Bayless, Austin Turner, Sayantoni Dhar, Mauhaun Teheri and Reid Sisk (Future City Planning and Creation Team) Bill Fain, Engineer Mentor, Jane Fain, Gifted Ed Specialist and Team Sponsor

Taaz Pur

***Pictured in the photo are Bill Fain (mentor), Mauhaun Taheri, Austin Turner, Leiron Bayless and Sayantoni Dhar

School News

The yearbook sales continue until this Friday, January 29 for $45.00. After this date the price will be $50.00 and personalization will no longer be available.

Other News:It is time again for Sci-Quest's monthly Career Quest program, and we would appreciate your help in reminding your students (and parents) of this program! The February program - Tuesday, Feb. 2, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. - will focus on careers in Aerospace Engineering. These programs are designed to introduce middle, high school and early college-aged students to the high-growth career fields in the Tennessee Valley by providing them an opportunity to meet career professionals in these focus areas. We also have invited representatives of area colleges and universities to attend each event and talk with the students regarding related courses available through their campus. There is no cost to attend this program; however, we do ask that students register so that we may plan accordingly. To register, please call 256-837-0606, ext. 252. For more information, you can visit our web site at http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102960054980&s=634&e=001bTdVlJT_oQBtpQgYqfiJC_lPZBgi_hvAPZ82eJNYUTjyYS9uQTzUjwlbi0yAwuCNx4fdeU1jZWuFF9tDTLXAcTKk-R5s7gM0x2KPZE1ufORxNQepnCPJzw==. Please help us reach the students in your school/area by forwarding this message and by posting the attached fliers in visible spots throughout your school and community.Congratulations to our school Spelling Bee champions. Hyunjee Lee won first place and Maliha Lubna won second place. Both students will attend the County Regional Spelling Bee at the Academy for Academics and Arts later this month.

Congratulations to HCMS students who won the Huntsville Council of PTA's Reflections contest this year. These students will be recognized for their achievement at the Reflections Awards Reception on January 28 at the HHS cafeteria from 6:30 to 7:30 pm.
Photography     Brianna Studer
Visual Arts John Stephens     Emerald Summar
Film/Video Production          Alex Vroom
Musical Composition        Clayton Brown

HCMS Chess Club meets every Thursday at 7:00am in Mr. Carroll's classroom (rm. 236). Every HCMS student is welcome to participate in this club.

King Arthur Bread and The CARE Center thanks to all students and their families who where able to bake bread for the New Hope Care Center before Christmas. HCMS was able to provide over 50 loaves of fresh baked bread to be distributed to local families just in time for the holidays. It's not to late to participate for the first time or bake more loaves! We will be collecting bread throughout the month of January for the Care Center and have set up the following collection dates. Please remember that any day that is convenient for your family will work for us. Please have your child deliver their loaf of bread directly to Mrs. Stahl in the Family and Consumer Sciences room. Bread collection dates are January 6, 11, 19, 25 and February 1.

Other News:

UA Huntsville and the United Way of Madison County are pleased to sponsor FREE INCOME TAX PREPARATION and FAST ELECTRONIC FILING for households earning less than $49,000/year with one or more kids or $20,000/year without kids. For appointments, call 1-888-99-TAX-AL.

rfl

Counselors Corner

We are currently registering the 8^th grade class for high school registration. Please note that the orange registration forms are due to your child's counselor on Friday, February 5^th. For more information, please visit www.counselorschronicle.webs.com.

Mark your calendars! The PTA and the Guidance Department will sponsor the next Parent Brown Bag lunch on Friday, February 26^th, in the HCMS library from 11:30-12:30. Our speaker will be Mrs. Kathie Gillies from COLLEGEPLAN. She will be speaking with parents about the college-preparation process. Although this program is designed for current 8^th grade parents, all grade-level parents are invited. Please bring your lunch and join us as we explore the road to college.

Cyberbullying is bullying or harassment that happens online. It can happen in an email, a text message, an online game, or comments on a social networking site. It might involve rumors or images posted on someone's profile or passed around for others to see, or creating a group or page to make a personal feel left out.
Parents, talk with your kids about cyberbullying.

Tell your kids that they can't hide behind the words they type and the images they post. Hurtful messages not only make the target feel bad, but they also make the sender look bad-and sometimes can bring scorn from peers and/or punishment from authorities.

Yvette Coley-Smith, M.Ed.
Crystal Wright
Guidance Counselor
Hampton Cove Middle School
261B Old Hwy 431
Hampton Cove, AL 35763
(256) 428-8380 ext. 242 (phone)
(256) 428-8383 (fax)

Nurses Station

Parents,

H1N1 (Swine Flu) packets are due by January 28^th, this Thursday. Students will not be allowed to get the H1N1 injection unless the paperwork is completely filled out and signed by a parent. The Health Department is scheduled to be here February 2^nd to administer the vaccines. If your child is allergic to eggs, egg products or has ever had an allergic reaction to a vaccine, it is NOT recommended that they receive this injection.

There will be no cost for the vaccine.

The Health Department is still looking for at least 5 parents to volunteer on February 2^nd for the vaccination clinic. Anyone that has a health/nursing background would be beneficial but is not necessary. They will not be required/asked to administer vaccines. I will need them here by 8 am, and it is uncertain what time they will finish. Please contact me as soon as possible if you are willing to help us with this clinic.

Please go to the CDC website for an information flyer.

Thank you so much for encouraging and facilitating your children to participate in our Haiti First Aid Drive last week. It was a huge success. We collected 15 plus boxes of medical supplies for the victims of the Haiti Earthquake.

Thank you,

Stacy M. Copeland R.N.

HCMS Nurse

Many Thanks to Our Sponsors

Pacesetters:

Publix

Fleet Feet Athletic Landscaping

Signature Landscaping

D & F Equipment, Dawn Knox Family

Mail Pro

Becky Hall, Averbuch Realty

Platinum:

Pools Plus

Johnson and Hayes Physical Therapists

Jeff Benton Homes

Short Stop Printing

Fauld's Chiropractic

S. Clint Hudson, D.M.D., M.D.

Alexander's Martial Arts

Cazadores

American Overhead Door

Reflectives, Frame and Art Gallery

First Jackson Bank

Dominos Pizza

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

Hampton Cove Animal Hospital,

Chris Herring, DVM

Gold:

Tim Howard, M.D.

Tortora's

CB&S Bank

Salon Studio Nails

Zazzy's

Crye Leike Realtors -

Yvette Melkerson & Elaine Abston abston_e@bellsouth.net / Yvette@betonyvette.net

Hampton Cove Christian Academy

The Johnston Agency - Cotton States

Greg Parker, Raintree Sprinkler Systems

Around Your Table

Yard Perfect, Harry Stokes

Silver:

Huhtamaki Food Service

Pope Family Dentistry

The Hughes Family

Huntsville Decorating

Briggs Chiropractic

Across the Pond

Community Sponsor:

John and Ashley Clark

Creekside Family Practice

Ret. Lt. Col. George Kitchens

Westmark Construction, Inc.

Rob Hall, Music Studio

Hampton Cove Garden Club

Visit Our Sponsor

Bull Pen

Greetings!

****We hope by now you have noticed the new "No Cell Phone Zone" signs in front of the school. We have had several "near misses" in the past month. In order to provide a safe environment for all of our students, we ask that you refrain from using your cell phone while operating a vehicle anytime you are on the school campus. Thank you for the cooperation, our students are depending on you! *******

We continue to collect information from every department or activity that impacts HCMS. Please contact Dr. Edwards with any information that you would like to share with our school. Explore the entire newsletter, as you can see it is still under construction.

Our PTA Board Nominating Committee is diligently working to prepare our board for the next school year. If you would be interested in serving please contact Darlene Dailey or Renee Kozar.

Please remember to vote for your teacher of the month.

Thank you sponsors, parents and teachers for all of your generous support and great feedback.

It is my privilege to serve as part of your PTA Board. Please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely

Cindy Lewis

PTA President

539-5812

montylewis5@comcast.net

A Message From Our Principal

January 27, 2010

Congratulations to the winners of the HCMS 2010 Geography Bee, sponsored by National Geographic Society.

1^st place Luke Damian, 8th grade

2^nd place Einam Alim, 7^th grade

3^rd place   Mark Chodaba, 8^th grade

Luke completed a rigorous, lengthy written test today and his paper will be submitted for competition in the State Geography Bee. The winning question was "The Dry Tortugas, named by Ponce de Leon after the numerous sea turtles found there, is now a national park in what state?" The answer is 'Florida'.



**Special thanks to Senator Paul Sanford for his generous donation of $2,000.00 to HCMS.

Congratulations to the 2009-2010 HCMS Science Fair Winners.

                        Eighth                 Seventh

Grand Place Kevin Matis            Rayn Burkard First Place   Kyle Wolfe             Austin Turner Second Place Teddy Rotenberger Owen Clarke

Third Place   Chris Upp       Amy Baer-Peckham

Fourth Place Parker Baldwin John Baudendistel

Honorable     Julia Dailey      Justin Jones

Mention    Michael Owens          Connor Bell

                Mark Chodaba           Pamela Hudsey

                Jon Clegg                  Blair Mathis

            Brianna Studer   Matthew Castleberry

             Chris Coleman   Delaney Inman

              Rene Melkerson         Gus Arnold

              Andrew Farris           Steven Owens

               Isabel Runge             CJ Hansen

               Jaclyn Silies              Will Cook

        Winners have been invited to enter their projects in the Regional Science Fair at UAH on March 4.

Congratulations to the HCMS 2009-2010 Future City Team for their big wins at the Future City Competition this past week-end. The team of students came away with two awards for their future city named Taaza Pur, India, an urban haven designed to withstand the hydrological disasters of monsoon flooding. The city was created on land that was once a national forest near the Asian metropolis of Mumbai, a thriving community for very low income families who exist on less than $350. a year.

"Most Innovative Use of Water Systems"

"Best Use of Symbiotic or System Safety"

Members of the Future City Team are Austin Turner, Sayantoni Dhar, Trey Wintzinger, Mauhaun Taheri, Leiron Bayless, Jordan Berry and Mark Chodaba.



To date, HCMS students have donated 69 loaves of bread to the New Hope Care Center! With one more week to go, students may send in donated loaves to Mrs. Stahl's classroom by February 1^st.

        The HCMS Winter Dance has been planned for:

                Friday, Feb. 5

Sixth Grade              6:00 - 7:30

Seventh/Eighth         7:00 - 9:00

Admission                 $5.00 per person

Dress        Boys        khakis and nice shirts

                Girls        dressy but not formal

Have a great week!

Debi Edwards, EdD

Principal, HCMS

GO BULLS!

(256) 428-8380

- If you have information you'd like us to include, please email it to me by Tuesday morning every week.

Notes from PTA

We are working hard to prepare our "new" Newsletter. We hope you find the information easier to locate in our new format.

We welcome any announcements you or your group would like to share, please provide them to Dr. Edwards no later than Tuesday mornings. As we continue to improve this newsletter please feel free to provide feedback, it will only make us better. Please follow the directions that will be provided soon, this will allow everyone the opportunity to share in this great tool.

As always thank you so much for all of your support.

HCMS PTA Board Nominating Committeeis searching for those interested in serving our school as a member of the PTA Board next school year. For more information contact Darlene Dailey at (256) 518-9301 or Renee Kozar at (256) 536-9768.

Become a Corporate Sponsor Just call, we will bring all the information to you!(See our links below)

Contact Janet Carter @ janetw.carter@gmail.com or 532-0584

HCMS Directory

Be on the lookout for times to pick up your directory.

Box Tops for Education

and

Campbell's Soup Labels

Do you participate in the Box Tops program? Thanks! Every Box Top collected earns 10 cents for our school, and those savings add up quickly.

Did you know that there's also an online aspect of the Box Tops program? If you register at BoxTops within the next month and if you choose Hampton Cove Elementary as your designated school, we will earn an additional 5 Box Tops for each new person registered. That's 50 cents for our school for each new person who registers . . . just for taking a minute of your time! During this promotional campaign, if we get 50 new registrations, our school will be entered into a drawing for 5,000 additional Box Tops (valued at $500). Please help us by registering online today; thanks for your support!

log onto

BoxTopsforEducation@emails.BoxTops4Education.com Who will win next? Our next deadline is Feb 26^th.Make sure when you send in your Box Tops to mark them with your name and grade. Contact Lisa McClelland @ mcclellandhouse@yahoo.com

"Invest in your Child"

Please consider this most worthwhile program. Contact Sheryl Darrow @ sldarrow@aol.com or 539-5022. Please be sure to print the email you received from PTA for your tax contribution records.

Reflections

This years theme "Beauty Is"

If you need further information please contact Tricia Hyde @ pthyde@bellsouth.net

Publix Cards

Remember to use your cards, can't find it - new ones available in office.

Math Mania

happens on Friday mornings. If you would like to volunteer or have questions contact Shelley Corbett at sugarpuppyinkwaj@yahoo.com

PTA MEMBERSHIP

Our goal is 100 %!

You still have time!We are almost there, we can make it together! Contact Jennie Davis @ davbjee@comcast.net or 533-7280.

Band Notes

Dear Band Parents,

**This is just a reminder to be getting your tickets NOW for the upcoming "Night of Jazz" event on Friday, February 19th at the Hampton House. Ticket sales will be limited to the first 100 buyers, so don't wait too long if you want to be a part of this fun night! I have attached the flyer again so that you can get all the details. Here are a couple of important updates from Suzanne Erickson that will hopefully answer some questions that have been coming up:

1. We're getting lots of questions as to which student jazz bands will be playing that night. Mr. Swanner would like students from BOTH jazz bands (last semester and this semester) to play that night. We would like the students to be at the Hampton House at 5:30pm to set up their equipment. Then we will move them to the old Hampton House building and feed them dinner (pizza, brownies, drinks). The plan is to have the student bands play for the adults during the adult dinner (after they have gotten their food). Our professional musicians will play after dinner.

2. Table sponsorships are available for $100 and sponsors will receive a tent card advertisement on the table. So far we have one sponsorship and can take 9 more. Please let me (Suzanne) know if you have anyone who would like to sponsor a table.

If you have any questions, please contact Suzanne. Hopefully many of you will be able to make it out to this event. It promises to be a very entertaining night and it's a great opportunity to raise money for the band. Thank you for your support!

Kay Carter
BPA President

6th Grade News

SCIENCE

Sixth grade science

classes are finishing

up the catastrophic

events unit with the

study of oceans.
After the winter
break, they will start the AMSTI unit on Earth and space. If there are any parents who work at NASA or in the space industry that would like to come talk to our students please e-mail Mrs. Givens at hgivens@hsv.k12.al.us

MATH

Sixth Grade math students are well into their study of fractions and will then study percent. The next unit they will study is measurement. In this unit, students will study both the customary system and the metric system. This is typically a challenging unit for students.

In sixth grade honors math, students are finishing two units on algebra. Second semester will begin with a unit on geometry that will include angles, perimeter, area, and the Pythagorean Theorem.

ENGLISH

A Shurley English parent help booklet can be found at the Shurley website at the by following the link below.

http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102960054980&s=634&e=001bTdVlJT_oQBkfybRQs4d2meU3lthaWnwb9rFQ1ihjpVApHt7wqE7yXGnOs4cNVEP5tegmjr2j0fk1D1KySH0X-UWeEXgSRSnq9oVcZhsJRx-GVFYN-vPOibsjOERtlMAvtYlZJyZDWab6STYCC3J6VNMqQn7PaDrnPGOuHmRGSUYLW27ITX1e_jwinMoD141

(Corrected Link)

Mrs. Hall's English classes have begun their research papers on a catastrophic event. Students are working hard in the library on their papers. All information about the paper can be found on STI under Monday, December 7.

Mrs. Justice's English classes just completed their catastrophic event research paper. All of the students worked hard on the papers and enjoyed sharing them in English and science. Next, they will begin chapter six in Shurley, which is sentence structure.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Dr. Roberts' social studies class is finishing "Life in the New World". They have had an in-depth look at immigration through Ellis Island and how the new Americans created their lives in the northeast cities. This study will lead into the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Era. During this study, which will be through the middle of January, they will learn about the exciting life of Teddy Roosevelt and how his background affected politics in the early 20th century.

Mrs. Hall's social studies classes just completed a unit on World War I. They are preparing to begin a unit on the Roaring Twenties.

Mrs. Hester's Social Studies classes are working on timelines reflecting the major events of the Jazz Age. Following this, they will begin a unit on the Depression era.

READING

Mrs. Hester's reading classes are reading together A Christmas Carol. We will be doing a variety of activities in connection with this, including a Victorian party. Parents should have already received a separate e-mail describing our needs for that day.

Dr. Roberts' reading class is enjoying a Chris Van Allsburg study. They are reading all of his books, then selecting their favorites to test on and complete short activities. They will also compare the books to the movies derived from his books. In addition, the students are presenting their second nine weeks independent reading.

Next, we will start the Greek mythology unit with the book, The Lightning Thief. The December edition of Scholastic book orders offers the book for just $4.00. Exciting news - in February, The Lightning Thief will be in theaters. In addition, students will read a WWII book for part of the independent reading requirement.

In January, all grade level classes will begin a unit on the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. We have been able to purchase two class sets of this book for students to use, and we will be reading it together. We will be doing a variety of notebook activities in connection with this book. We will wrap up by watching the movie and comparing it to the book. Watch for upcoming requests for our "Over the Rainbow" celebration. In addition, The Wizard of Oz will be brought to Huntsville by the Broadway Theater League March 5-7. This will not be offered as a field trip during school, but we are looking into the possibility of getting a group ticket order together.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

Parents, please check with your student and see if any of his or her school supplies need replenishing. Each day we are seeing more and more students who do not have the needed pencils, paper, notebooks, and other supplies in class.

Upcoming Events

Dr. Roberts' and Mrs. Hester's reading classes have begun a unit on the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and we're very excited about sharing this story with your children.

The Broadway Theater League is bringing the stage version of this story to Huntsville March 5^th -7^th. We have reserved a block of 35 tickets in the orchestra section (rows Q-T) for the 2:00 matinée on Sunday, March 7^th. This is not a field trip, but meant to be something you would enjoy with your child. In other words, we will be attending but all students must come with an adult chaperone. Prices are high at $39 for students and $54 for adults, so we certainly understand that not all families will want to participate. We were able to reserve this block until the end of January without payment. If you would like to attend, please send a check payable to Broadway Theater League to Mrs. Hester by January 25^th. There is a possibility of adding tickets if more are interested, but you would probably be in a different location. Feel free to e-mail Mrs. Hester at dhester@hsv.k12.al.us with questions.

Thanks you for your support,

Dr. Roberts and Mrs. Hester

Teacher of the Month Nominations:

Next week we will begin accepting nominations for Teacher of the Month.

Please write a short paragraph explaining your Teacher nomination, providing your name and grade. We will select a teacher each month and provide them with an appreciation gift.
Please send entries to:
dedwards@hsv.k12.al.us

Stay tuned for more information!

Cindy Lewis
Hampton Cove Middle School
PTA