WGOM: Loy Norrix Concert Band treats Milwood Magnet School to a Holiday Concert!

Students were able to enjoy the music of Loy Norrix's concert band on Thursday, December 18, 2008. The band came over during 6th hour and performed several holiday-themed songs for students' enjoyment.

(Due to technical difficulties uploading the video to our viddler account, we are unable to share the video! We apologize for the inconvenience.)

We are enjoying our holiday break! See you back again on Monday, January 5th, 2009!

Q&A: Biotechnology Across the Core Curriculum

Ms. Cook's 7th grade English class recently sent persuasive letters out to local stores urging managers to invest in Fair Trade coffee. Preparation included watching the powerful documentary, Black Gold, which was filmed in Ethiopia. It showed the plight of coffee farmers fighting to get a fair price for their crops.

Planning for the letter included a Persuasion Map Planning Sheet where students developed a thesis statement, main reasons to support their claim, and examples to validate the argument.

Black Gold:

Tech Tuesday: Using the Drawing Toolbar in MS Word

Did you know that you can use the drawing toolbar in MS Word to do many things? You can also use this toolbar in other Microsoft Office programs, such as PowerPoint, but this slideshow focuses on MS Word for consistency.

WGOM: Holiday Concert

Did you miss the concert on Tuesday, December 9 at LNHS Kasdorf Auditorium? Our orchestra, choir, and concert band performed for parents, staff, students, and community members who were in attendance. If you were not able to make it, you're in luck, because we recorded the performance for your viewing pleasure!

Q&A: More about Global Food Chain

7th Grade Science Classes raise salmon from egg to release!

See where they are at on their project as of this week and stay tuned for further updates!

Why salmon in the classroom?

In our state, we face many challenges in the management of our Great Lakes fishery. Salmon in the Classroom can be a great educational tool and some Michigan educators have participated for many years. Yet, the ecology of the Great Lakes is changing at an astounding rate. We all remember when water pollution was on the news every day. Today, a new pollution, biological pollution, may prove to be our greatest challenge.

- Excerpt from Salmon in the Classroom Introduction, MDNR Publication 

Students will continually monitor, care for, and maintain the salmon's environment. When the salmon are big enough, they will be released into the wild and will help contribute to the food chain, which ultimately ties in with our Unit 2 Curriculum this school year.

Tech Tuesday: Microsoft Photo Story 3

This week's Tech Tuesday was a recap on the original session that taught Photo Story 3. Due to popular request, the class was offered once again. Please view the slideshow for a closer look at what was taught.

WGOM: Milwood Magnet School Contributes to the Global Food Chain!

Milwood Magnet School Contributes to the Global Food Chain

MMS will meet the immediate food needs of our community by collecting can and dry goods for the Greater Kalamazoo Food Drive.  We will meet the long-term needs of hunger by contributing money to Heifer International.

The Greater Kalamazoo Area Holiday Food Drive is West Michigan's largest holiday food distribution program. 1,500 families will receive food for a week!  The Student Advisory Council will use a friendly Canned Good/Non-perishable food item competition to get students and staff to contribute to the GK Food Drive.  Grade levels will compete against each other.  The competition will begin on December 1st and run through December 18th. 

Heifer International:  Ending Hunger, Caring for the Earth

Heifer's Mission to end World Hunger (http://www.heifer.org)

A world of communities living together in peace and equitably sharing the resources of a healthy planet.  

To work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth.  

To “pass on the gift.” As people share their animals’ offspring with others - along with their knowledge, resources, and skills - an expanding network of hope, dignity, and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe. This simple idea of giving families a source of food rather than short-term relief caught on and has continued for over 60 years. Today, millions of families in 128 countries have been given the gifts of self-reliance and hope.

The Student Advisory Council will use a friendly penny war as a fundraiser for Heifer International.  The End Hunger & Care for the Earth Penny War will take place during each lunch hour.  Grade levels will compete against each other. The competition will being on December 5th and run through December 19th.  Morning Announcements and the December 4th Advisory will be used to help introduce Heifer International and the Penny War. 

Rules of the Penny War

The GOAL of the Penny War is to collect as many PENNIES as possible in your jar and put as many NON-PENNIES in everyone else’s jar. Each team (grade level) will have its own labeled container jar in the cafeteria during lunch. Money is worth “points” based on its monetary value.

Pennies = +1 point 

Nickels = -5 points 

Dimes = -10 points 

Quarters = -25 points

Pennies give your team positive points while nickels, dimes, quarters, and any dollar bills take points AWAY from the team’s total. Therefore, you want to put PENNIES in YOUR TEAM’S jar (positive points) & nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar bills (negative points) in the jars of OTHER TEAMS. Whichever team has THE MOST POINTS at the end of the Penny Drive, wins!

Also be on the lookout! The December edition of the mailed Lancer Letter should be making it to your mailboxes in the next few days! 

WGOM: Field Trips for 6th and 8th Graders

Our sixth graders recently took a trip to a dairy farm to see what life is like for the farmers and the cows. They were able to ask questions and tour each area of the farm. Each group, over the Wednesday and Thursday, were able to witness the birth of at least one calf, as well as the milking room, and each area where different groups of cows or calves are housed. Students gained a lot of knowledge of the current unit of our biotechnology curriculum (Global Food Chain) as well as an understanding of the work that goes into running a farming business.





Ms. Kidman and her eighth grade Spanish class also took a day trip to Chicago. While there, they were able to receive a lesson in salsa dancing, visit a pastry and candy store, and tour the National Museum of Mexican Art.

Q&A: Uglies in the Curriculum

How has The Uglies helped to reinforce the biotechnology curriculum?

Mr. Koch's 7th Grade Science class completed their final project for Unit 1: Technological Innovations by designing several of the technologies available to the characters in The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Students were graded on several different aspects of the project, including the amount of detail, the quality, the color, and the labels they used in order to describe their technology and how it worked. Please be sure to check out the sample of projects!

This is a list of items and the page numbers where they were described in the book:

Technology Tuesday: MS PowerPoint

Technology Tuesday recap for our session on using MS PowerPoint:



There is also a PowerPoint brochure viewable via Acrobat Reader that offers step-by-step instructions on how to do many of the things discussed during our Tech Tuesday session.

WGOM: Career Day and fun!

Wednesday, November 12 was Career Day at Milwood Magnet School. Guest speakers came to the school to talk to eighth grade students about their professions and the education that was required in order to be successful in their given professions. Speakers included:

Tim Terrentine, Community Services
Cyndi Trobeck, Bank Manager
Ervin Armstrong, Goal Setting
Tisha Yance and Shannon Coleman, Kellogg Manufacturing
Douglas Davidson, WMU Professor
Stacey Allison and Cynthia Weessies, Nurses
Joy Bailey and JoAnn Muncy, AntiRacism Organizers
Jerry Paul from Kalamazoo Air Zoo, Aviator
Delores Rawling, Nurse

Students on both eighth grade teams were able to receive presentations from four speakers.



And just for fun, Ms. Kidman's 6th grade Spanish Class sings the days of the week:

How to: Student login and network storage

Attention Milwood students!

The computers and computer network at every school in the Kalamazoo Public School district is protected by network software. In order to use the computers and computer network, students are now required to login to the workstation before having access to it. Logging in not only provides you access to the computers functions, but also the functions of the network. Each student login account is created with storage space on the network servers.

At the beginning of the year, every student received a letter that included information about their username and password.

When you turn on a computer at Milwood, the first thing you see will be the Novell login screen. This is where you will enter your username and password every time
you wish to use the computers. The first time you login, you will be notified that your password has expired and asked if you want to change it. Click "Yes" and choose a password that is at least five characters long, preferably a combination of letters and numbers. You will be prompted every forty days thereafter to change your password.

DO NOT SHARE YOUR PASSWORD WITH ANYONE!

When you are logged on to the KPS network, you will have additional drive letters available to your computer, most notably, the H: drive. This drive is your "home" on the server. You are the only student with access to it, and it is backed up every night. This drive is limited to 150 MB per student and is intended for homework and school-related projects only. KPS Technology Services will delete, without notice, any files not related to school work found on your H: drive.

WGOM: Magnet Fair & More

Saturday was the Kalamazoo Public Schools Magnet Fair, where all KPS Magnet Schools gathered to provide information to interested students and families. Milwood Magnet School provided a full stock of technology available to students, featuring the 2Know! Classroom Response System, a Nintendo Wii with the Wii Fit, science experiments, a Make-And-Take Inheritance Bracelet, and a audio stream of The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.



Previous to the Magnet Fair, Milwood Magnet School staff and students participated in the Kalamazoo Holiday Parade, along with the Milwood Magnet School Drum Line, who played cadences along with the Loy Norrix High School Marching Band, who preceded the MMS group in the parade. It was cold, with temperatures in the mid-30's to low-40's and mixtures of rain, snow, and sunshine, but everyone had a great time.

Q&A: Unit 1 of Biotechnology Curriculum, Technological Innovations

Unit 1 of the Biotechnology Curriculum at Milwood Magnet School focuses on Technological Innovations. Each core area has essential questions to help guide lesson plans to focus on curriculum content.

Questions for Unit 1 include:

Grade 6
Math: How do technological innovations affect the efficient use of our resources?
Social Studies: How do we understand our place in the world?
ELA: How does our changing world affect your life?
Science: How does research and technology improve society?

Grade 7
Math: How have technological innovations affected the society in which you live?
Social Studies: How do we understand other cultures' place in the world?
ELA: How does interacting with others help construct meaning and promote innovation?
Science: How does research and technology improve our quality of life?

Grade 8
Math: How has technology changed the movement of people?
Social Studies: How do we understand our country's place in the world?
ELA: How do interactions with others help you contribute to society?
Science: How does research and technology improve our understanding of the world?

Students complete assignments and projects based on the curriculum. One example is in seventh grade science, students experimented with calcium chloride (CaCl) to see if it could have been what was used to heat "Spagbol" in The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, which Milwood Magnet is using as the all-school read this school year to reinforce the Biotechnology theme. Students used different amounts in water (H2O) and measured the temperature change. Their response: "The more chemical we added, the hotter the water got. So it could have been used to heat the 'Spagbol'."

As we begin to wrap up the first unit, more completed projects will be featured from Unit 1.

Tech Tuesday: Digital Media & Content

Do you have a digital camera or one of the newer Flip Mino cameras and would like to know how to use it? Check out this short video about how to transfer digital content to your PC from digital media such as a digital camera or a digital video recorder.

If you're interested in the presentation, you can view it without the voice-over:

Here are a few images to help you navigate around Picasa and Windows Movie Maker, which are both programs we discuss in the lesson:

WGOM: Spirit Week and Science Lab!

Last week was School Spirit Week at Milwood. We love teaching students a sense of community and participation through fun events like this. Spirit week included:

Monday: Pajama Day

Tuesday: Mis-match Day

Wednesday: Professional Dress Day

Thursday: 80's Day

Friday: School Colors Spirit Day

Both students and staff were invited to participate and everyone who was able to had a wonderful time!

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Mr. Koch's Science Classes were in the lab this week learning weights and measurements, using both standard and digital scales in order to help reinforce our current unit on technological innovations.

Q&A: What is a Magnet School? The Kalamazoo Promise? What about Biotechnology?

Every Wednesday we will try to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about Milwood and Kalamazoo Public Schools in detail. This week, we will focus on the three most important questions that encompass the Milwood Magnet experience for those who are interested in knowing more about the school.

What is a Magnet School and what are the advantages of sending my student to a magnet school?

A magnet school is a school which offers specialized curriculum and offers a school of choice for the district in which it resides. Historically, magnet schools began as a way for the government to aide in the desegregation of school districts. Today, magnet schools provide students an opportunity to succeed academically while learning in a diverse environment.

Your student would benefit in attending a magnet school for many reasons, including improved academic achievement, diversity in enrollment, higher attendance rates, higher graduation rates, and lower drop-out rates. Magnet schools obtain a higher level of parental involvement, more personalization through theme-based education, and specialized programs that provide a safer environment for learning. Teachers are better prepared to teach students through a focused curriculum and are more developed professionally than in a traditional school.

What is the Kalamazoo Promise?

The Kalamazoo Promise is a pledge by a group of anonymous doners to pay up to 100 percent of tuition at 4-year college programs for any high school graduates of Kalamazoo Public Schools. In order to qualify, students must be a student within the Kalamazoo Public Schools district lines and have attended a Kalamazoo Public Schools school from at least the 9th grade. Students who enroll at Milwood Magnet School in the 6th grade, not having previously attended a Kalamazoo Public School, are eligible to receive 80 percent of their tuition expenses covered by the Promise when they graduate from a Kalamazoo Public Schools high school. For more information, visit http://www.kalamazoopromise.com/.

What is Biotechnology and why is it the focus of curriculum at Milwood Magnet School?

Biotechnology is technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science and medicine. It encompasses everything from genetic engineering to alternative fuels and many other avenues of science. Milwood Magnet School chose this theme because of the emerging biotechnology-based companies emerging in the southwest-Michigan region, who Milwood Magnet School is currently working with to develop a relationship with as a Biotechnology Partner.

The Biotechnology Curriculum is taught in six different units that include biofuel energy, environmental protection, global foodchain, medical technology, sustainable industries, and technological innovations. Milwood Magnet School is trying to further the understanding of the theme through an all-school read of The Uglies by Scott Westerfield.

Here are a few examples of how well our students are embracing the understanding of Biotechnology in our world and in our school:

Tech Tuesday: Link the Lancer Letter Blog from your Desktop!

Make a shortcut to the Lancer Letter on your desktop! Not sure how? Watch this short video on making an Internet shortcut on your desktop!

Next week's Technology Tuesday will focus on transferring files from your digital and other cameras, so be sure to check back with us!

Tomorrow we will answer some of the frequently asked questions about Milwood Magnet School and Kalamazoo Public Schools. See you then!

WGOM: Student-Led Conferences

What's Going On @ Milwood Magnet School

We've wrapped up a busy couple of weeks! With student-led parent conferences and MEAP testing, both students and teachers have been feeling the crunch! We start off our first of regular Lancer Letter segments with a video clip:

Student-led Parent Conferences allows students to learn the core expectations of Milwood Magnet School - Respect, Responsibility, Caring, and Honesty. They learn to respect the work that goes into their education. They become responsible for themselves by being accountable for the work they've done. They learn to care about the hard work that they do in their classrooms and about the grades that they receive. And they learn honesty by having open conversations with both their parents and teachers about their strengths and weaknesses. Students and teachers alike experienced the benefits of student-led parent conferences on October 15 & 16, 2008.

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Today, we celebrate the launch of our interactive edition of the Lancer Letter. We have a lot of fun planned for the newsletter, including regularly-scheduled weekly articles:

What's Going on @ Milwood

Technology Tuesday

Question & Answers

On Mondays, we plan to share something you can't get via the Lancer Letter, be it sound clips, videos, photos, or all of the above!

Tuesdays are reserved to honoring the technology that encompasses our biotechnology theme. Each Tuesday, we will present a tutorial or short clip about how to utilize the technology that is also available to students and teachers in the classroom.

Wednesdays will allow us to answer questions given to us via the blog or email.

Please check back with us tomorrow!

Coming Monday, October 27!

Find out more about Milwood Magnet School! Our new, interactive edition of the Lancer Letter will roll out Monday!

Stay tuned!