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Vol. 16—Issue 3

January/February 2016

Lancaster Middle School

Drama Club Presents

“THE ADDAMS FAMILY”

February 5th

, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

February 6th

, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

February 7th

, 2016 @ 2:00 pm

Tickets Go On Sale January 11th

, 2016

Tickets Available at LMS Main Office

Between 10:15 am & 1:00 pm

$ 10.00 Each / All Ticket Sales Are Final

Cash or Checks Made Out To LMS Drama Club

IN AN EFFORT TO REDUCE CLASSROOM DISRUP-

TIONS, WE WILL NOT CONTACT CLASSROOMS OR

DELIVER MESSAGES TO STUDENTS WHEN ITEMS ARE

DROPPED OFF IN THE MAIN OFFICE. PLEASE REMIND

YOUR CHILD TO CHECK IN THE MAIN OFFICE DURING

THE CHANGE OF CLASSES TO RETRIEVE ITEMS. THANK YOU.

If you do not have access to the parent portal

and need a copy of your child’s report card

mailed home, please contact the Counseling

Center at 686-3247.

Page 2

LA NCAST ER MI DDLE S CHOOL

V OL. 16—ISS UE 3 Page 3

IMPORTANT DATES

STUDENTS OF THE MONTH

National Junior Honor Society students have been work-ing hard for the community by completing the following activities:

In November we made Thanksgiving cards for Meals on Wheels recipients. We also donated coloring books and made birthday signs for the patients of Children’s Hospital, as well as crafting snowflake decorations to brighten up their halls.

We kicked off the Gloves for Love campaign in December. Faculty and students donated gloves, scarves, hats, and winter wear which will be donated to the “Clothes Closet,” a program run by the Lancaster Depew Youth Bureau in time for holiday distribution. Our officers took part in the Lancaster Youth Bureau Day of Giving on Friday, December 18th.

In January we will finish making fleece blankets for Children’s Hospital, and in February we will be making Valentine placemats for Meals on Wheels.

Student Council organized two social activities to have Student Council members get acquainted and become more involved in the club.

The first event was a Pajama Jam. Approximately 30 students spent an evening at school in their pj’s and enjoyed pizza and wings. Then we headed down to the gym to do some fun team building games and got to know each other better.

The next activity was a trip to the “Get Air” trampoline park for an hour session of fun. The bouncing dodge ball was intense!

Overall, these events raised spirit for Student Council members and helped us get to know people we didn't know before.

STUDENT COUNCIL

NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY

Historical Fiction Author Spends the Day at Lancaster Middle School

Young adult author William Durbin spent a day at Lancaster Middle School with 100 sev-

enth- and eighth-graders in November to teach them the craft of writing. Durbin, who lives

in northeastern Minnesota and has used the locale in several of his historical fiction novels,

bases his novels on true events, old journals, diaries and other historical documents.

His visit on Nov. 13 was coordinated through the Monkey See Monkey Do bookstore which was hosting its

annual children's book expo at Kleinhan’s on Nov. 14. The middle school orders books from the bookstore

and was offered the chance to have one of the book expo authors visit the school.

“We chose Mr. Durbin for his strong historical fiction titles that focused on such eras as the Great Depression,

World War II and immigration,” said middle school librarian Christine Stockslader.

The students chosen to attend the workshop were either selected by their ELA teachers or have shown a

strong interest in writing.

“I was thrilled with the level of writing that was produced. The students all took the writing tasks seriously

and produced meaningful work that was filled with imagination,” said Mrs. Stockslader.

Durbin focused on several areas, in particular on how to start a story. He gave the students an opportunity in

each session to write several opening sentences. Then the students picked one and he guided them through the

beginning stages of writing a full story. He also shared his writing process and how he researches his charac-

ters and content.

“I could not have asked for a better response from the students.”

Durbin noticed the students’ response as well and complimented the middle school students in an email to

Mrs. Stockslader. “Thanks so much for inviting me to your school, and for being so welcoming and well-

organized,” wrote Durbin. “I was impressed with the attentiveness of the students and with the quality of the

writing they produced. A couple of students from my workshops stopped by the Book Expo on Saturday and

said hi. One sweet girl introduced me to her mother, who told me that her daughter was so excited about the

workshop that she told her whole family in detail and then called her grandparents and told them.”

Best-Selling Young Adult Author Rick Yancey Skype’s with Students

Over 250 Lancaster Middle School students had the privilege of Skyping with author Rick

Yancey in the middle school library. Mr. Yancey is the author of over 15 novels including

the best-selling novel The 5th Wave. The 5th Wave has been made into a major motion pic-

ture with a release date of 1/15/2016. Students were able to ask Mr. Yancey questions

about his writing, influences, and how it felt to have one of his novels come to life in a

movie. Mr. Yancey spent the day with the students and shared numerous stories of his life and how he creates

his characters. Students were thrilled to be able to spend time with such a prolific and notable author.