April 18, 2008
mountviewmiddleschool.org

In This Issue ...

School Calendar

Drama Club Presents ...

Zoo Crew - Name the Elephant

Teacher Notes - Mrs. Quinn, GT Resource

Teacher Notes - Mrs. Mako, Foreign Language

PTA

Community News

Message from the Principal, Kathy McKinley

The Story of the Five Balls

It's spring and the common exclamation is, "Play ball!" That phrase flies across baseball fields, through our open windows, across the blacktop at recess, and throughout the classroom activities. Why? Well, it's that time of year when we are all beginning to think of playing outdoors and yet we need to remember what ball we are tossing around. Take a minute to think about the short story that follows:

Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, community, others, and self. As you juggle, the goal is to keep all five of the balls in the air. What happens when you finally discover that one of the balls - maybe work (or maybe it is something different in your specific situation) - is rubber. If you drop it, say at 6 pm, it will bounce back the next day. The other four balls are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it may be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, or perhaps even shattered.

The moral of the story is that once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of an A+ life.

At this time of the school year, none of us can drop the ball for our family and children. Learning is still bouncing around with valuable content, high stakes tests, meaningful homework, and daily routines. At some points during each and every day, the ball is in your court and at other points, the ball is bouncing through the school, and at every point our children are "playing ball." Let's make sure they don't strike out and they make the full run from first base to home base every time!

At this time of the school year, none of us can drop the ball for our school community and all of the others in our school lives, either. As I work with our dedicated volunteers and parents, I am awed at their dedication to juggling so many balls so that all of our Mount View children can benefit. Our PTA and our school community need your commitment. Please consider volunteering for a committee or for a school event so that we keep having winning seasons.

At this time of the school year, take care of yourselves as well. With spring, we all seem to get motivated to eat healthy meals, to enjoy the fresh air, to exercise, and to revitalize ourselves. So here's your final exam review:

The principal stood before the school community for the final PTA meeting of the year. "I know you have all worked extremely hard as parents and as school volunteers. Soon you will be enjoying summer, every day and all day, with your adolescent children. We know you are busy juggling so many aspects of family life so if you need to opt out of tonight's assembly, you can pick up your child's report card tonight and you and your child will automatically receive a satisfactory for the year. There was much rejoicing as most of the parents thanked the principal and signed out their report cards. As the principal looked out over the handful of remaining parents, she asked, "Anyone else?" One more parent left the room.

The principal closed the door and passed around a sign-in sheet for the few remaining parents. "I'm glad to see you believe in yourselves and your children. As parents you earn an A for the year. Thank you for not dropping the ball."

Kathryn McKinley

Drama Club Presents ...

Come see your friends sing and dance their way through the magical land of Oz this Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 PM in the Mount View Cafeteria. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for MVMS students and younger. Tickets may be purchased at the door, or by logging on to: www.uhltheater.com and clicking on "Now on Sale: OZ tickets." All groups of Mount View students attending the performances MUST be accompanied by an adult. Marriotts Ridge High School students receive a discount price of $3 with their MRHS student ID.

Zoo Crew - Name the Elephant

He's three weeks old, weighs in at 300 lbs, is grey all over and remains very close to his mother. But, he doesn't have a name! The first ever African elephant was born at the Maryland Zoo. Out of 1,630 names submitted by the public, the zoo staff has narrowed the list of names. Our Mount View Middle School Zoo Crew chose their top 5 names from the list. A panel of state and local zoo enthusiasts, including the First Lady of Maryland, Katie O'Malley, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith, and the Zoo Crew kids at The Stadium School, William S. Paca Elementary School, and The Jemicy School selected their top five names, also. The final list of five names are posted online at www.wbaltv.com, www.wbal.com and www.98online.com through April 23rd, where the public is able to cast their votes and choose a name for the "big" baby! His name will be unveiled, and he will make his public debut on Saturday, April 26th. Check out the website and cast your vote for the name of the baby elephant.

Teacher Notes

From Mrs. Quinn, GT Resource Teacher:

The GT Enrichment Fair is on Thursday, May 8th from 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM in the GT Room, Computer Lab, and Media Center. Students who worked on GT enrichment projects will showcase their work and demonstrate programs using technology. Any parents who can volunteer their time at the GT Fair, should contact Mrs. Quinn at
Lorraine_Quinn@hcpss.org.

From Mrs. Mako, World Languages Teacher:

It's Linguistic! A Celebration of World Languages! An event in game show format where beginning French and Spanish students from across the district demonstrate their knowledge of the target language and culture. It will be held at Burleigh Manor Middle School on Saturday, April 19th, 8:30 AM -1:00 PM. Please RSVP Brenda Myrick at 410-313-6841. We are hoping to bring home a great victory for Mount View, and we would like to invite you to join us at the competition.

PTA

MVMS PTA Sponsored Spring Spiritwear Sale: April 16th - May 2nd Come See Our Exciting All New Collegiate Look! Samples are on display in the Mount View Office. Spiritwear order forms were sent home with report cards on Wednesday. Forms may also be downloaded from

http://www.mountviewmiddleschool.org/pdf/spiritwear08.pdf
Please note that the price for sweatpants is $18 (price inadvertently omitted on printed order forms).

MVMS PTA is recruiting officers and committee chairs for the 2008/2009 school years. Please contact Lori Ferraro at ferrarofamily4@verizon.net or 410-489-2577 or Tracy German at jgerman@comcast.net or 410-489-6245 if you would like to become more active in the PTA. It is a great way to stay involved in your child's education.

Community News

Transition Fair for Middle School Families -- Want to know more about transition and community supports for people with disabilities? HCPSS Middle and High School staff will provide information about high school and community programs available to your child after graduation. Meeting will be held April 23rd from 6-7:30 PM at the Faulkner Ridge Center in Columbia. Call 410-637-4950 or 410-313-5640 for more information.

Korean American Health Fair will be held Saturday, April 26 at Centennial High School from 12 Noon to 4:30 PM. Services will be offered FREE of charge for hearing and vision screening, clinical breast exam, skin analyzer screening, blood pressure screening, dental screenng for children, bone density screenng glucose and cholesterol screening. Health education information will be available on mental health and diabetes. Health Fair is sponsored by Howard County General Hospital with co-sponsorships from Ellicott City Horizon Council, Howard County Health Department and the Korean American Community Association.

AFS Intercultural Programs will hold a public information meeting about:

The meeting will be held on Monday, April 14th from 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM at the East Columbia Library, in Columbia. For more information, call 301-604-7739.

Candlelight Concerts will present the Pavel Haas Quartet at 7:30 PM on Saturday, April 26th at the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center in Columbia. Students up to age 17 will receive one free ticket when accompanied by a paying adult. For details and tickets call 443-367-3122.

The Columbia Association's Teen Advisory Committee is sponsoring a College Fair on Saturday, May 3rd from 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM. The event will be held at Kahler Hall in Columbia. Representatives from colleges and universities across the country will be present to help area teens explore the wide range of options available to them after high school. Admission is free and light refreshments will be available. For more information, contact Carol Wasser at 410-715-5523.

The Columbia Association's Middle School Advisory Committee will host Spring Fling, a free middle school social open to all Howard County middle school students on Friday, May 2, 2008, from 7 - 9 p.m. The event will take place at Kahler Hall in Harper's Choice, 5440 Old Tucker Row in Columbia. Participants can dance, hear music, play games, eat food and have lots of fun! Register by April 25, 2008 by calling 410-715-5523.

The Columbia Association will hold a Teen Talent Contest on Friday, April 25th from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM at the Teen Center in Oakland Mills in Columbia. Middle and high school student participants may sing, dance, model, or play an instrument. Celebrity judges will be there and great prizes will be given. Call 410-715-5523 to register. Tickets will be $3 at the door.

EduSerc - Educators Serving the Community, is hosting its summer Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics program open house on Wednesday, April 30th from 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM. Parents and educators are welcome to attend. Programs will be available for elementary, middle and high school students. Several sessions are being offered from June 7th - August 23rd The programs will take place at the EduSerc Training and Learning Institute in Laurel. To register or to obtain more information, go to www.eduserc.org/programs. For information call Yvette Smith at 301-498-2899 X105.

The Girl Scouts of Central Maryland will hold their Daisy Day Program on Saturday, May 17th from 12:30 PM -4:00 PM at Clementine Peterson Activity Center/GS Camp Ilchester. Activities will include songs, games, crafts, learning about the Girl Scouts and about how to join a Girl Scout Troop in the fall. The event is open to girls who are 5 years old or currently in kindergarten and not a registered girl scout. For more information, contact Maria Pezzella at mpezzella@gscm.org or 410-358-9711, X217.

Girl Scout Troop #3316 and the Pointers Run ES PTA will hold a blood drive on May 1st from 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM in the school's cafeteria in Clarksville. Trauma victims, premature infants, cancer patients and many others rely on a safe and adequate blood supply to survive. It is important for the community blood supply to be constantly replenished to ensure that blood is available for every patient when they need it. To make an appointment to donate, call 1-800-Give-Life.

Howard County Animal Control will hold a Be Kind to Animals celebration on Saturday, May 10th from 11:00 AM- 1:00 PM in Columbia. The event will feature discussions on animal care, animal displays, handouts, craft projects, agility demonstrations, etc. For more information, contact Sheri Fox at 410-313-2780.

The Howard County Poetry and Literature Society will present a free panel discussion called "Racism in America: 1968 - 2008" commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. The panel will include distinguished authors and activists as well as a decade-by-decade account of African-American history. The event will take place at 2:00 PM on Sunday, April 27th at the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center in Columbia.

The National Kidney Foundation of Maryland will hold a two-mile walk around Lake Elkhorn in Columbia, on Sunday, May 4th. Registration will begin at 8:00 AM and the walk will start at 9:00 AM. Dogs are welcome to participate. The fundraising event is free and open to the public. Register online at www.kidneymd.org. For more information, contact Kelly Meltzer, Director of Special Events, at 443-322-0378 or kmeltzer@kidneymd.org.

Calendar