Friday, October 16, 2015

Lurgio News for October 16, 2015


LURGIO NEWS
October 16, 2015


Dear Parents,

We ended this week with an all school assembly to officially kick-off the Witch Way to the 5K, our Fall fundraiser that supports technology in our building.  If you are able, please join us on Halloween morning for this fun family event. If you are unable to attend, please consider making a donation toward our fundraising efforts.

Sincerely,

Ed

Important Dates

Oct. 16 (Friday)
First School Dance - 7PM - 10PM
Oct. 31 (Saturday)
Witch Way to the 5K Road Race
Nov. 3 (Tuesday)
Workshop Day (No School for Students)
Voting Day (Polls Open at BHS)
Nov. 10 (Tuesday)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUPERINTENDENT MCGEE!
Nov. 11 (Wednesday)
Veteran’s Day (No School)

6th Annual Witch Way to the 5K is almost here!


-2015 WW5K Sandwich Board Poster - Option 1.jpg

Join us for the 6th annual Witch Way to the 5K  on Saturday, October 31, 2015, Halloween day! Register by Thursday, October 8th to get the Early Bird Registration price!!   The kids 1K race starts at 9:30am and the adult race begins at 10am at Lurgio Middle School. For more information, visit http://www.sau25.net/ww5k - registration is now OPEN!

RAL Cub of the Week
Lurgio Middle School is starting a new tradition with the 2015/2016 academic year. Each week, teachers will nominate students for the Cub of the Week Award. Nominated students are those who have shown exceptional kindness, tolerance, and respect during the week. Each Friday, the Lurgio administration and guidance staff will review all nominees and will select the the “Cub of the Week.” The Cub will be announced in the Lurgio News.

This week’s Cub of the Week winner is Justin D’Amato from pod 8 North for going out of his way to be helpful during the 8th grade’s trip to Mt. Cardigan. He helped accommodate peers around the campsite and encouraged weary hikers. Congratulations, Justin!

Book Buzz

Neil from 7 West recommends Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton:

Everyone has to read this book! It explains so much more than the movie and Crichton is so great with details.  With a book, it's like your own movie in your head and you get to picture everything.  Crichton explains all about the main character, Ian Malcolm, like, why he wears black all the time.  Black does go with everything and any occasion.  I love all the scenes with the baby velociraptor and how the kids get to play with it.  It's harmless as a baby since it has no teeth.  This is totally a great read and then be sure to read the sequel Jurassic World.  The action is the best all the time!

Joshua from 7 South recommends The Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini:

This book series by Christopher Paolini is amazing fantasy.  It, for me, is better than fiction and non-fiction.  I do like some non-fiction, but fantasy is so fun, and with this, it's the dragons that make it so great.  It may start slowly, but that is only the author setting up all the action.  Then!  Then the action is set throughout the rest of the book and the series.  Start with Eragon, then read Eldest, then Brisinger, and finish the series with Inheritance.  It just gets better and better!

Maya from 7 East has been inspired to read by a student-created book trailer for Devil’s Pass by Sigmund Brouwer:

Mrs. Pepe showed book trailers that last year's students made, and I really liked the book trailer Devil's Pass.  It has an interesting start with lots of plot twists already.  The character Jim Webb is prepared for anything and happens to be searching for a pile of rocks on a mountain.  He is hiking alone and is looking for this clue.  I'm excited to see what he will find.  This book is in the Seven Series--meaning, that 7 grandsons are on 7 journeys and each of the 7 books are written by 7 authors connecting them all together.  I already know that I will have to read all 7 books!  This one is so good!  And I saw the book trailer that author Sigmund Brouwer made at Books for Breakfast today

Media Center Resouces
Lurgio’s Library Media Generalist, Mrs. Snow, invites you to visit the Digital Resources and Databases website and explore the variety of resources available to the Lurgio Middle School Community 24/7. Username and password for these resources is “lurgio”.

These databases are the kind of quality resources that the Library Media Center strives to provide the students of Lurgio Middle School as Mrs. Snow works to support the RAL curriculum, promotes information literacy and digital citizenship, and spreads the love of reading.

Fall Photos Wanted for Yearbook
Get your pictures in the yearbook! The Yearbook Staff invites students and parents to submit photos for the yearbook. If you have great photos of school events or you and your friends just having fun at school, we'd like to see them. Our photographers can't be everywhere. Help us get as many photos as possible to create a terrific book everyone will want to have.


If you have any questions or have a large number of photos you would like to contribute, please contact Mrs. Dennis (dennisd@sau25.net) or Mrs. Wells (wellsj@sau25.net)

Smarter Balanced Assessment Results
Last spring, schools throughout New Hampshire (and in many other states around the country) administered a new test known as "Smarter Balanced."  The tests, in language arts and math, were taken by students in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11.  They are computer-based tests that replaced the annual NECAP assessment.  

We have recently learned that the public release of the assessment results will occur in November.  This is a later release date than originally announced.  The delay was caused, in part, by the need to hand score those few tests that were taken using paper and pencil.  The results will include both school and state-wide summaries and individual student level results.  We will send more information as it becomes available to us.

Wrestling Coach Vacancy
Lurgio Middle School currently has a Wrestling Coach vacancy for the Winter Sports season. If you are interested, or know anyone who is, please use this LINK to complete an application.

Guidance Corner
Youth Counselor, Donna LaRue, MA, LADC, LCMHC posts a weekly, helpful parenting newsletter article, as well as other relevant material on her website.

This week's article discusses the internal asset, Cultural Competence.  Within the article it states in part "'Cultural competence' doesn’t mean that we all have to like each other. It does mean that we treat each other with respect, tolerance, and equality. It means we strive to understand other cultures, and perhaps come to appreciate and value them." One of the five required Real World Learning requirements at Bedford High School is cultural enrichment.  Supporting our youth's healthy curiosity is essential to their development.  Modeling open-mindedness as it relates to diversity is a lifelong gift your child will appreciate as they grow independently and move on to create their own lives as adults.

Click here for this week's article titled “Cultural Competence"

Check out Ms. LaRue’s webpage for more information about drug abuse prevention as well as past asset newsletters by clicking here.

Guidance Intern Sarah Demers will be posting information about social media apps that may be popular with students. These informational pages can be found weekly in the Lurgio News; you can also find a backlog of them on the Guidance webpage. Here is a link to this week’s app of interest. What's that App: Smart Hide Calculator

BEF Fall Fundraiser - Shake it Up for Education
Featuring Performances by the BHS Cast of Shake it Up!
Live Auction
Friday, November 6, 2015, 7 PM @ Manchester Country Club
For more information about BEF please check our our website, www.befnh.org.
For tickets to this FUNdraiser, please go to: http://www.seatyourself.biz/befnh

PTG Corner:

The Bedford PTG would like to announce the kickoff to our
2015 Holiday Gift Card Fundraiser
“2 Gifts for the Price of 1”
Finish your holiday shopping early this year by purchasing gift cards through the Bedford PTG to provide support for ALL the Bedford schools with no additional cost to you!  
How does it work? For every gift card you buy, a percentage of the value of the card is donated to ALL our schools while 100% of the value of the card that you purchased is available for you to spend!  

Order by Monday, November 9, 2015 for Pre-Thanksgiving and Hanukkah Delivery
Order by Friday, December 4th, 2015 for Pre-Christmas Delivery
Order forms were distributed to teachers this week and should be in your child's backpack.  Don't see your form?  Please email Lynne Natale at lynatale@aol.com for more information.  

Blue Ribbon Award Recipient

This week, the New Hampshire Partners in Education (NHPIE) awarded each of the Bedford Schools a Blue Ribbon Award for volunteer excellence.  Ross A. Lurgio Middle School alone was able to log more than 6,500 volunteer hours for the 2014-2015 school year.  A very special thank you to those who have volunteered and to those to continue to give of their time to the students and staff at RAL.  It is with your help and support, that we are able to make a difference in the lives and education of our children!

STAND BY ME: SAVE THE DATE - FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2016!!

Stand By Me at RAL is about to celebrate it's 27th year!  

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Stand By Me, it is a program for Ross A. Lurgio 7th grade students and their parents in Bedford, NH.  It is run by parent volunteers with support from the Lurgio Middle School staff and the Bedford community.  The event provides parents (or guardians) and their 7th grade students a unique opportunity to share time together, improve communication and get a better understanding of each other.   If you would like to help out or want to learn more about the Stand By Me program, please visit us at
www.sau25.net/standbyme ;or email Lisa Nash at lisa@eight-stars.com.  Better yet, come and join us at our next meeting scheduled for 9:15AM on Thursday, November 19, 2015 in the RAL Conference Room. We would love for you to come and see what we are all about!

Ski Program - Pats Peak​
Bedford students in grades 1 – 12 are invited to take advantage of discounted ski/snowboard lessons at Pat’s Peak Ski Area in Henniker, NH.  This parent run program is geared to give kids the opportunity to learn to ski and snowboard at a ski area perfect for all levels.  This five-week Friday night program includes 1-hour lessons and free ski time until closing each week and costs less than the price of a regular lift ticket.  Discounted lift tickets are available for students who do not need lessons.  The 2016 Bedford Ski Program begins on Friday, January 8th and runs for 5 weeks.  Go towww.patspeak.com.  Click on “Learn to Ski & Ride Program”, “Register Here”.  The username for the 3:30 lesson is bedfordski330 and for the 4:30lesson the username is bedfordski430.  The password is “carpool”.  More details are available at www.patspeak.com.  Please contact Carolyn John atekkoswife@comcast.net if you have questions.​

Ski Program - Crotched Mountain
Attention Skiers and Riders!  Registration for the Bedford Crotched Mountain Ski and Ride program is OPEN!
​To get your discounted lift passes to a mountain full of great skiing, check out Crotched’s website, www.crotchedmountain.com, and navigate over to Groups & Clubs, then click on school programs. After logging on (using BSD Ski & Ride Club as the club name and bsdmember as the password), you can click on “go shopping” to see the options offered this year.
​ ​
IMPORTANT! Season Pass prices increase Monday, October 12, 2015!
​ ​
Club Passes increase October 31, 2015!
​ ​
The Bedford Crotched Mountain Ski and Ride program is available to anyone interested. Our program’s designated night is Fridays, beginning the first Friday after New Year’s and running for 5 consecutive Fridays. Your passes will be available for pick up in December, just in time for gift giving! For more information, contact Isabelle Grenier at isabelleg@comcast.net.  ​

​Recreational Basketball​
​This is a friendly reminder that the 2015-2016 Recreational Basketball is NOW open for registration for Boys and Girls in grades 1st through 8th.  Bedford Recreational Basketball focuses on FUNdamentals of basketball and learning through game play.  This is a great way to keep busy during the winter and allow your child to learn the great game of basketball!  To register go to:  www.bedfordbl.com.  We look forward to seeing everyone on the court!  Also be sure to check your email regarding our “clinic series” that will be hosted on Saturdays leading up to the season!  Once registered you will receive emails on clinic schedule and times.​