Minisink Valley Middle School

Today, March 14, is the All District Choral Festival, which was held at the High School! Fifth-grade, eighth-grade and high school choral students gathered to make music and share their choral experiences. Part of the day included rehearsing for their performance of "Connected," which will be performed on Tuesday, March 18 as part of the Music in our Schools Concert at the High School! Be sure to be there to see the results of their hard work! This large ensemble sounds magnificent! Thank you to everyone who played a role in today's event!

IT'S π DAY! It's a big day for π fans, who love the number 3.14159, rounded to 3.14, and like to commemorate the day in different ways! To mark today, Victoria Ingrassia's Middle School FACS students made peach, cherry, apple, sugar-free pumpkin and lemon meringue pies from scratch earlier this week, in preparation for today! Middle School faculty and staff were invited to stop by for a piece of their favorite π/pi/pie! •The history of pi dates back thousands of years to the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Babylon. The Babylonians approximated pi to be around 3.125; while the Egyptians used a value of about 3.16045. •The history of pie stretches back to ancient Egypt, with early versions being flat, crusty cakes filled with honey and grains, and evolving into both savory and sweet forms across various cultures.

“C-O-N-G-R-A-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N-S” to eighth-grader Amaan Ali who earned second-place honors at the March 13 Orange-Ulster BOCES Regional Spelling Bee! While Amaan does not advance to the next level of competition, he is always a true ‘W-I-N-N-E-R” in our eyes! #MINISINKProud Amaan previously said he felt spelling was important because “it’s how we express ourselves as people” and advised future spellers was to focus on oneself when studying, adding: ”Do not hope for other people to make mistakes.” Spelling bees are important because they foster a love for language, improve spelling and vocabulary, boost confidence, and enhance reading comprehension and memory, all while providing a fun and engaging learning experience.

The sixth-grade teaching team recently led their students in an in-class apple mummification project, as part of their studies on Ancient Egypt! Students studied the ancient process of embalming, which was a 40 to 70 day preservation process that included removing organs, soaking the body in natron, and wrapping it with linen. The ancient Egyptians did this because they believed the body would reunite with the soul in the afterlife. Students soaked their apples in a mixture of salt and baking soda for one week to recreate the process. This mixture lifts the moisture out of the apple, leaving it to look like a mummy! •Salt and baking soda are “desiccants,” or substances that remove water from materials they come in contact with. Covering an apple with these desiccants for a week removed all of the apples’ moisture, resulting in a shriveled, lighter, mummified apple. •Mummifying, or embalming, something helps preserve it for weeks, months, or even thousands of years! The mummification process was practiced throughout Ancient Egyptian culture. It was thought to prepare the dead for a happy afterlife, so everyone—rich or poor—received some type of embalming after death. •Egyptians used a special type of salt called natron, found along the banks of the Nile River, as their primary desiccant, which worked to preserve bodies for a very long time. •Mummified bodies were then wrapped in linen and placed in a sarcophagus—a large stone coffin that was often lavishly decorated. Ancient Egyptians’ extensive use of the mummification process has allowed modern-day archaeologists to better understand their lives and culture. •Archaeologists study the human past through material remains. They study the ancient past as well as the recent past. Archaeology helps us understand where people lived, how they survived, and how cultures have changed over time.

REMINDER: HAVE YOU SIGNED UP? OPEN TO ALL AGES....DON'T MISS OUT, there's limited seating and a similar program held last fall SOLD OUT! The High School Art Club is hosting a Spring fundraiser called “Printing” on Tuesday, March 25 at 4:30 p.m. in Room 217 at the high school. In this workshop, participants will learn the art of printmaking on fabric. They will create stamps and use ink as a medium to make beautiful, handmade, wearable pr hangable art. Participants will be guided by a talented Minisink Valley Art Club student to create one-of-a-kind artwork. Reservations are required by scanning the QR code on the flyer below. Refreshments and snacks are included in the admission price: Adults: $12 Children/students: $10 Siblings discount: $5 per additional sibling Cash only, payable at the door. All proceeds will go toward art scholarships, museum field trips for art students, additional supplies for our art club studio, and other events.

The Middle School marked Foreign Language Week this week by inviting bilingual students to read during the morning announcements in the language that they speak at home during morning announcements! The intent was to highlight the importance of studying another language and to give these students an opportunity to showcase their bilingualism. Information on interesting language facts and trivia was also shared along with a reminder about the importance of studying a foreign language. Thank you to the students who shared their native languages: • Amaan Ali/Urdu • Danny Wang/Mandarin Chinese • Alfonso Matute and Janely Morocho/Spanish • Christel Toussaint/French • Maxymilian Bochenek/Polish Students read this message in their native language: Good morning. My name is _______________ and I am a student in 6/7/8th grade here at Minisink. I speak English and also _(language)_. To celebrate Foreign Language Week, I am going to speak in _(language)_. I am going to tell you about today's weather and to 'have a great day and make it a great day for everyone around you' in __(language)__. See if you can understand what I am saying!" ....

Kelsie Doller’s Modified Girls Basketball team recently went on the road for an amazing workout at The Pilates Club in Middletown, NY! The girls loved trying a new form of strength training that challenged them in new ways while improving flexibility, core strength, and overall athletic performance! Take a look! Pilates is a type of exercise that focuses on controlled, precise movements designed to strengthen one’s core muscles, improve flexibility, posture, and balance. It’s considered a full-body workout with a primary emphasis on core engagement and can be adapted to different fitness levels. Often, pilates is performed on a mat using specialized equipment like reformers. It was developed by Joseph Pilates in the early 20th century.

WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER! Today, March 5, was ACT 1 PREVIEW/DRESS REHEARSAL DAY for the Middle School Drama Club's production of Disney's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL JR.! The cast and crew presented two shows featuring the first-half of the production to student and faculty audiences! WHAT A SHOW! Remember, opening is tomorrow, March 6 at 7 p.m. at the Middle School Auditorium! Don't miss out! Tickets: https://www.onthestage.tickets/.../678076f055ebc03250cd5693

DID YOU KNOW that Odyssey of the Mind ()M) teams must create their own props on a very small, limited budget? Often times, teams choose to not reveal their props prior to competition to keep everything "under wraps" until competition day! Now. take a peek at the work the Middle School OM team did to prepare for its presentation of Problem 1/Vehicle: “The OM-Mazing Race.” Technology teacher Jonathan Clemmons simply gave them a few tips and the use of his classroom for them to build and operate an all-terrain vehicle that transports riders on a race for a prize and he shared these photos! Their performance included a race to three original, team-created destinations. Each leg of the race included an obstacle that the rider and vehicle had to overcome. Their performance included a host who narrated the action and concluded with the realization that the prize for finishing the race wasn't as exciting as the odyssey they took along the way.

Congratulations to the district’s Odyssey of the Mind teams, who creatively, confidently and joyfully represented the district at this past weekend’s New York State Odyssey of the Mind Region 5 competition at Orange-Ulster BOCES in Goshen! Here’s how they fared: •High School/Division III --- Fourth-place for “AstronOMical Odyssey!” with 253.38 points out of 350! •Middle School/Division II --- Third place for “The OM-Mazing Race” with 313.20 points out of 350! •Otisville Elementary/Division I --- Seventh-place for “AstronOMical Odyssey! “with 295.36 points out of 350! While the teams do not advance to the next round of competition, they are all winners for their dedication and commitment to this very unique and imaginative competition! Please join us in congratulating them for their accomplishments! Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. The Odyssey of the Mind program

In recognition of National Chili Day (Feb. 27) Victoria Ingrassia’s sixth-grade FACS students prepared beef and bean chili from scratch. Today…they ate it! Sorry, there’s no leftovers. But, they’re happy to share the recipe! And parents, these kids definitely do know how to clean up in the kitchen!

Nichole Gaucher’s eighth-grade science students are studying the systems of the human body. Their recent focus was on the excretory system, the biological system in the body responsible for removing waste products and excess substances from the bloodstream, primarily through the organs like the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. This system filters blood and produces urine to eliminate waste from the body to maintain internal homeostasis (the process by which the body maintains a stable internal environment, or balance, despite changes in the external environment). As part of their studies, students made a kidney model using coffee filters in order to understand how the kidneys work in a body to filter out waste. In this lab, “the water” represented water, “the red dye” represented blood, and “the glitter” mixed in with the colored water represented waste such as urea and creatinine. By making a kidney model, students were able to observe how a healthy kidney works by filtering waste in a body. In the second portion of the lab, they poked holes through a coffee filter to represent a diseased kidney. This allowed them to compare the filtration process of a healthy versus a disease kidney. Afterward, students completed an activity where they reviewed excretory system vocabulary and labeled a system diagram. WHAT A CREATIVE SCIENCE LAB! Coffee filters are useful in excretory system labs because they effectively mimic the function of the kidneys, acting as a visual filtration mechanism to separate waste products from a liquid mixture, just like the kidneys filter waste from blood to produce urine.

Girls Modified Basketball Coach Kelsie Doller is proud to tell everyone about her teams’ work, passion and drive this season! “What makes this team truly stand out is their coachability—they’re always ready to learn, improve, and support each other,” she said. “That kind of mentality doesn’t just make great basketball players; it builds strong, determined young women who will go far in whatever they do. I have no doubt that their futures—both on and off the court—are bright.”

Take a peek at rehearsals of the Middle School Drama Club's production of Disney's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL JR.! do you have your tickets yet? GET THEM HERE: https://www.onthestage.tickets/.../678076f055ebc03250cd5693

Reminder! Minisink Valley has partnered with Paper, an online tutoring service, to provide students in Grades 6 through 12 with the ability to access live tutors seven days a week, 24 hours a day. High School students and family members have unlimited access to trained tutors so every student can ask questions, work through problems and grow their confidence at no cost to families. Learn more: https://www.minisink.com/page/paper-online-tutoring-for-grades-6-12

Bailey Riley’s seventh-grade science students, like their peers, are learning about kinetic and potential energy. As part of their studies, students recently completed a lab where they were tasked with observing different factors that affect amounts of energy. What better way to do this than with tennis, golf and ping pong balls? Students “dropped” these three balls at different heights and observed how much they each bounced. The balls which bounced the most had the most energy. Studying kinetic and potential energy in seventh-grade science is important because it provides a foundational understanding of how energy exists in different forms, how it can be transferred between objects, and how this concept applies to everyday situations, laying the groundwork for further exploration of more complex physics concepts later on. It helps students grasp the basic idea of energy in motion (kinetic) and stored energy (potential) which are crucial for understanding many natural phenomena around them. • Kinetic energy is the energy of motion, meaning it's the energy an object has due to its movement • Potential energy is stored energy that an object has due to its position or arrangement, ready to be released as kinetic energy when conditions change

Nicole Van Pelt’s seventh-grade physical education classes are jumping into their floor hockey unit! Students are ready to learn new skills with their protective goggles and hockey sticks! From stickhandling and passing to teamwork and gameplay, students are developing their abilities while having a blast with their classmates. This unit is all about energy, laughter, and building a love for staying active. Some believe floor hockey evolved from ice hockey, while others think it evolved from field hockey.

Middle School art teacher Brian Maione’s eighth-grade students have created some beautiful lanterns, and with some tea lights, they will glow brightly! We bet these can become some beautiful gifts!

In recognition of Asian Lunar New Year, Victoria Ingrassia’s eighth-grade FACS students completed their delicious Chinese dumplings assignment! On Monday, they wrapped a specially seasoned and marinated chicken filling in a thin layer of dough. Yesterday, students boiled the dumplings and fried them in a wok for a tasty treat! Truth be told: These dumplings were just as good, if not better, than what you'd get with a takeout order! Ask them to make this at home! •The history of Chinese dumplings, or jiaozi, dates back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). They originated in northern China as a staple food for the Han people. •Dumplings are a symbol of wealth and prosperity. •Dumplings are often eaten during special occasions, such as Chinese New Year. •The word jiaozi sounds similar to an expression that means "transition from old to new."

Students in Jennifer Pagnanella's eighth-grade ELA class are learning about Vietnamese culture while reading Thanhha Lai’s “Inside Out and Back Again.” This Newbery Honor award winning book is a coming-of-age novel told in verse and is about a child's-eye view of her Vietnamese family and its immigration to America during the Vietnam War. As part of this, students spent time reading about Vietnam, its people, culture and geographical features, taking time to also understand the holiday of Tết, (or Tet Nguyen Dan, which is Vietnam's Lunar New Year. It's a major public holiday that celebrates the start of spring and the new year) as well as the Asian Lunar New Year. Students designed traditional dragon masks and worked on maps of Vietnam. Throughout the remainder of the unit, students will study aspects of the Vietnam War, examine several first-hand accounts of refugees fleeing the war-torn country for a better life and the beauty of literature written in poetic form.