Aquinas Middle School
Middle Schoolers Brooke A., Eighth Grader Trey S. fights to get
Kirby P., and Anna F. watch a touchdown during the Lincoln
Freshman Nathan R. play his electric guitar Lutheran game.
during Brushing Up on the Arts Day.
Aquinas/St. Mary's Catholic Schools work to provide a Christ-centered, learning environment to prepare students to deal with future involvement in church, family, and civic relationships.
MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS AND EVENTS
Support Makes Positive Difference
Science Opportunities at Aquinas
Allison Timoney's First Place Pro-Life Essay
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| Boys Basketball | Girls Basketball |
| Wrestling | Track |
It is recommend at least one hour a night be spent on homework. There will always be some homework each evening since there are continuous assignment in some subjects such as Reading.
Each student is asked to read at least 30 minutes a school night, and this can be part of that one hour minimum of homework. Our middle school reading scores have been good, and one reason for that is our consistent encouragement of the practice of reading for understanding as well as for enjoyment.
One practice that we require is the completion of an assignment book (student planner) provided by the school. Ask to see your students planner
Parents, here are two recommendations that we have found really assist your middle schooler to be successful for school.
We recommend at least one hour a night be spent on homework. There will always be some homework each evening since there are continuous assignments in some subjects, such as reading. We ask that each student read at least 30 minutes each evening (usually included in the one hour of homework). Also when a student does not have any other homework, strongly encourage your child to review material so he/she actually learns the material and it becomes a part of his/her long-term knowledge. Encourage your students to take good notes and test or review him from these notes.
Another practice that we require is the completion of an assignment book provided by the school (“Student Planner”). For each class, your student is to write the assignment or activity. If the student did not have homework in a certain class, he should NOT write “No Homework” but instead is asked to write down what was done in that class.
In the middle school, the teachers expect the students to demonstrate appropriate life skills in the classroom as well as outside the classroom and outside of school. These skills should be demonstrated by the students at home too. Parents, as you read through these skills, you will see how important they are to the students’ success and, if your student demonstrates the skills at home, they can be helpful to you too. They eliminate such things as arguing and whining. In some of the following, it seems obvious, but for adolescents, these are skills that they need to practice:
How to Greet Someone:
How to Follow Instructions:
How to Make a Request
How to Accept “No” for an Answer
How to Disagree
Support Makes Positive Difference
One of the very positive factors of Aquinas-St. Mary's School System is the consistent support of you parents. Many things that you do, especially at home, make a major difference in your children's educations. An article in a recent issue of the magazine Catholic Teacher identified elements of this SUPPORT.
Science Opportunities at Aquinas
1. Who discovered cells by looking at a piece of cork under the microscope?
W. Anton van Leeuwenhoek Y. Robert Hooke
X. Gregor Mendel Z. Alfred Wagner
Yes, you guessed it. It's time again for Science Quiz Bowl!
Grades 7 and 8 Aquinas Middle Schoolers have an opportunity again this year to be a part of the Science Quiz Bowl Team. Five students and math concepts in hopes of taking state in Lincoln on January 26, 2008. If the team wins there, they will advance to Nationals and compete not only by quizzing off but by building a hydrogen fuel cell car. The five students are seventh grader Marissa D. and eighth graders Allison A., Phillip H., Jill T., and Tyler S.
2. Build a robot capable of rolling a bowling ball in a straight line for three meters.
If quizzing off over science information is not for you then how about actively doing science?! Science Olympiad is another opportunity for students to get involved. There are over twenty competitive events for students ranging from building a robot to identifying frogs. Each school can bring a team of fifteen students to the state competition held in Lincoln on April 5, 2008. The students for most events can be in teams of two and may enter into 3-4 events. Student interest forms can be picked up from Miss Gilger and also are due November 2. Practices will vary for each events. thanks for supporting science at Aquinas.
CONGRATULATIONS to Allison Timoney, grade 8, for her first place in the Diocesan Pro-Life Essay contest. below is her essay, "The Sacred Life":
Our faith teaches us that life is sacred. The Bible even proves that. So many different events happened to numerous people from the time of Jesus's conception to His birth that shows us life is sacred.
It all started when God decided to send us a Savior. He sent the angel Gabriel to our Mother Mary, and God have her two options. Either to say yes to god and accept a child even though she was unmarried, or to back out because of embarrassment, shame, and ridicule from what other people would give her. Mary made the ultimate choice and said yes, even if it would mean for her to be persecuted and mocked by others.
Not only did Mary make the ultimate choice, but Joseph too made an awesome decision. He accepted Mary, even though many people looked down on her and believed that she had relations with another man. He did have to be persuaded though. An angel came to him in a dream and told him that Mary wasn't lying and that the child she carried was really the Son of God.
Also, around this time, Elizabeth, Mary's cousin, was pregnant with a son. When Mary heard of this wonderful news, she went to visit her cousin. When Mary arrived, Elizabeth's baby jumped for joy. This proves to us that a baby really is a human person; not just something that is inside a woman.
When Elizabeth gave birth to her baby, she name him John. Later on, he became known as John the Baptist, his goal was to try to lead people towards following God's Law, and to repent their sins and be baptized. When Mary gave birth to Jesus, He later became known as Jesus of Nazareth, He went all throughout Galilee teaching a new type of religion known as Christianity.
When a woman aborts her baby, she takes away a precious life. She has two choices, just like Mary. She can say yes to new life and accept a child even though she may go through hard times and people may jeer at and ridicule her, or she can say no to new life and pretend that she was never pregnant even though it would be on her conscience forever. She should follow in Mary's footsteps and have the baby. if she still doesn't want the baby even after giving birth, she should make the right choice and give the child up for adoption.
Everyone should accept life. When you think about Mary and all the decisions she had, you could think, "Why did she say yes? Why did she decide to do that?" Mary is the perfect image of God because she accepted new life and she put her entire trust in God. She accepted God's plan and look at how spectacular it turned out! Accepting life and following the path that God made for each and every one of us is the best choice anyone can ever make.
Eat, Sleep and Science
That's right; after eating and sleeping, next on your list of priorities is science! Well, at least that was the theme of this year's Science Quiz Bowl competition. Five of Aquinas Middle School students were able to compete Saturday, January 26. These highly enthusiastic students were Zech C, Phillip H, Jill T (team captain), Alison T, and Tyler S.
Even though the team had a difficult day of competition leaving with one tied match, they definitely demonstrated the Aquinas Monarch Spirit. As Phillip announced that they as a team should strive to "take out LUX" (a Lincoln school known for either winning the competition or getting 2nd place). I was very proud that they kept battling on throughout the competition.
Of course as a science teacher, no matter if the students win or lose at the competition, it is always a WIN to have kids excited about learning and studying more. It is also always a WIN to work with such fun, hardworking, and wonderful students as well as their parents. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Miss Elissa G., Science teacher
The Aquinas Middle School band took several honors at the Malcolm Music Contest, March 13. The complete Band received a 1 rating (superior) and several of the small groups and soloists also took top scores. The following were the Aquinas soloists' results:
Middle School soloist for Malcom Music Contest
Brooke Hough Trumpet solo 1
Antonia Fiala Trumpet solo 1
Marissa DeWispelare French Horn solo 1
Jeff Witter Timpani solo 1
Torri Osantowski Snare Drum solo 1
Phillip Holland Trumpet solo 1
Ethan Heermann Baritone solo 2+
Allan Hilfiker Trombone solo 1
Clayton Hartman Trombone solo 2+
Jill Topil Flute solo 1
Brittany Hilger Snare Drum solo 1
Alyssa Eller Flute solo 1
Groups: Sax duet 1
Trumpet duet 1
Flute duet 1