Irmo Middle School 6051 Wescott Road Columbia, SC 29212 (803) 476-3600 www.lexrich5.org/ims School Hours: 8:20 a.m.

-3:25 p.m.

The Buzz
Robert S. Jackson, Ed.S., Principal rsjackso@lexrich5.org
Week of March 11, 2013

at Irmo Middle School

Creating successful students for the challenges of tomorrow

https://twitter.com/IMS_Principal
Issue 19

Inside this issue: Get Connected: 2 IMS Blog, Facebook and Twitter Pass Testing Continued B-Team Baseball Schedule and Roster Spirit Night Out Battle of the Dam Steppazz Tdap Vaccination Kids Day Family Literacy Day Annual Garage Sale 3 4

Students, Parents, and Guardians, March 19th and 20th, all students at Irmo Middle will be administered the writing portion of the Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS). The writing test will begin each morning at promptly at 8:30 a.m. The writing portion is not timed but students generally take up to 3 hours to complete the tests. Therefore; parents are asked to schedule appointments after 12:00 pm on these dates. Students must finish a test (in one sitting) once they begin taking it. Parents should not ask for students to be dismissed during a testing period. We thank you for your cooperation and support as our students prepare to take the "PASS!" There are several steps parents can take to help maximize their childs performance on the "PASS" writing exam. Parents can make sure their student gets a good nights rest, eats a healthy breakfast, and reports to school early (before 8:00 a.m.) on these dates. It is also important for parents to talk with their child about the writing portion of the PASS exam to help reduce test anxiety, praise their child when he or she performs well on this portion, and encourage him or her to try harder and focus when they encounter difficult portions on the test. Students can also take steps to help them perform better on test day, such as arrive early on test day, be comfortable but alert, and stay relaxed and confident. When nerves take over, students should remember to take several slow, deep breaths and relax. During the test, students should try to answer questions in a strategic order;
Continued on Page 2 (PASS Testing)

Dates to Remember:
Monday, March 11 MAP Testing All Week Honor Band Rehearsal 3:30-5 p.m. Spirit Night at Travinia 4-10 p.m. B-Team Baseball @ Blythewood 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 12 Student Government 7:45-8:45 a.m. Girls JV Soccer @ Blythewood 5:30 p.m. Girls Varsity Soccer @ Blythewood 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 13 Unity Task Force 3:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14 Band Music FestivalOrlando through Sunday Dance Performance during lunches IMS Talent Show 6 p.m. B-Team Baseball @ Richland Northeast 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 15 FCA 7:35-8:05 a.m. Girls Varsity Soccer @ Richland Northeast 5:30 p.m. See page 2 for continuation...

IMS High School Guard 6 and Dance Team Allen University IT-ology IMS Teacher and Support Staff of the YEAR Career Day @ IMS 7

If you have any school or athletic news that you would like to see published in the IMS Buzz weekly newsletter, please contact Julie Taradash at Juliet@sc.rr.com.

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The Buzz at Irmo Middle School

Dates to Remember:
Continued from Page 1 Saturday, March 16 Family Literacy Day, 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Stomp the Yard Step Competition @ Camden Arena 11 a.m. B-Team Baseball 1:30 p.m. Monday, March 18 MAP Testing All Week Honor Band Rehearsal 3:30-5 p.m. B-Team Baseball 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 19 PASS Testing (Tues-Weds) Student Government 7:45-8:45 a.m. Girls JV Soccer 5:30 p.m. Girls Varsity Soccer 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 20 B-Team Baseball 6 p.m. Thursday, March 21 PASS Testing Make-up (Thru Tues) Girls Soccer Fundraiser Moes Band Evening Concert @ Midlands Tech Theater 7 p.m. Friday, March 22 FCA 7:33-8:05 a.m. SCMEA Concert Festival @ Keenan High School Band Concert 8:30 a.m. (Gym) Girls Soccer (See Schedule for JV and Varsity Games)

Get Connected and Stay Connected

Our goal is to have every student, parent, and staff member follow our blog, our Facebook page, twitter feed, and register to receive regular updates from our website and free text messaging program (Remind 101). Please sign up to follow the blog and receive updates. You haveto use the links to the right of the blogpost. To sign up for the free Remind 101 program, send a free text message to the following number: (702) 6758432 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting FREE (702) 6758432 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. In the body of the text, write @parentsa and press send. You will be automatically added to the distribution list. Get connected here:

Join us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/irmomiddle See what going on through our Blog: www.irmomiddleblogspot.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/irmomiddle

Continued from Page 1 (PASS Testing)

that is, answer the easy questions first to build confidence and tackle the difficult questions last. A final step for students is to review their tests after completion (double checking grammar, sentence structure, voice, and clarity), making sure they did not forget to answer any questions, miss-mark any answers, or made any other type of careless mistake. These few simple steps could help Irmo Middle School students demonstrate exemplary level writing skills on the writing portion of PASS. For more information about testing you can contact Mrs. Connie Johnson, Guidance Director at 476-3600 or Glenn Hutto, Assistant Principal for Instruction @ 476-3612. Additionally, you can visit the South Carolina Department of Education website http://www.ed.sc.gov/agency/programs-services/45/ March 19 - Writing Day 1 for grades 7 & 8. March 20 - Writing Day 2 for grades 7 & 8 March 21-26- Make-up Testing Help us continue our tradition of excellent student performance and show everyone that we remain IrmoSTRONG! Robert S. Jackson, Ed.S., Principal

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The Buzz at Irmo Middle School

Congratulations to the following students for making the Irmo B Team Baseball Team!
7th Graders
Samuel Boone, Will Galan, Winston Hill, Tyler Johnson, Jamie Karl, Mason Lassiter, Joseph Law, Patrick Parks, CJ Shiver, & Lance Wright

8th Graders
Bryce Allen, William Dukes, Cameron Felkel, Noah Loquist, Logan Mangum, Sully Mosley, Zach Smoot, Robert Stutts, & Alex Vinson

Come out and support our team throughout the season!

2013 Irmo B-Team Baseball Schedule Day Regular Season Friday Saturday Monday Thursday Saturday Monday Wednesday Saturday Monday Wednesday Date 8-Mar 9-Mar 11-Mar 14-Mar 16-Mar 18-Mar 20-Mar 23-Mar 25-Mar 27-Mar Opponent 50 Inning Game Dutch Fork Blythewood RNE Dutch Fork Ridge View River Bluff Chapin Spring Valley Blythewood Site Irmo Dutch Fork Blythewood RNE Irmo Irmo Irmo Chapin Spring Valley Irmo Time 4:00 11:00 5:00 6:30 1:30 6:00 6:00(DH) 12:00 5:00 5:00

RNE B-Team Invitational Monday 1-Apr Tuesday 2-Apr Wednesday 3-Apr Regular Season Monday Thursday Saturday Monday

Ridge View Dutch Fork Westwood

Ridge View RNE RNE

1:30 4:00 1:30

8-Apr 11-Apr 13-Apr 15-Apr

Ridge View RNE Chapin Spring Valley

Ridge View RNE Irmo Irmo

6:00 6:00 12:00 5:00

Week of March 11, 2013

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Attention Rising 7th Graders Pass it along...

Way to Go Irmo Middle School

At the Battle on the Dam held March 2nd, Irmo Middle School was recognized for having the highest percentage of participation of all the district's middle schools. Thanks to all the students and faculty who participated in this event we had a great time and look forward to seeing even more of you walking next year!

Congratulations IMS Steppazz

On Sat. March 9, the IMS Steppazz won 1st place at the Step Competition at Columbia High. The event was hosted by St. Andrew's Middle School 1st IMS STEPPAZZ 2nd DUTCH FORK MIDDLE 3rd E.L. WRIGHT MIDDLE

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The Buzz at Irmo Middle School

Annual Garage Sale

The IMS Special Education Department will hold a garage sale on Saturday March 23, 2012. Funds raised will defray costs of functional activities and projects for our students. We are in need of items to sell. If you would like to donate gently used items. Smaller, lightweight items may be sent to school with your child or dropped off at the front office during school hours any day before March 22. Larger, bulkier items should be dropped off at IMS between 4:00PM 6:00PM on Friday March 22 only Please contact any special education teacher or dkratzer@lexrich5.org with any questions. Thank you for your support.

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The Buzz at Irmo Middle School

IMS Teacher and Support Staff Persons of the Year Named!

One of the most exciting things we do each year is name our Teacher and Support Staff of the Year! After a lengthy process and initial balloting, we narrowed our list down to five finalists and voted to select the following two deserving employees as our school level winners. Teacher of the Year - Ms. April Garrett Ms. Garrett is a ten year veteran of public education. She has been at Irmo Middle all ten years. Ms. Garrett is a special education teacher who also doubles as a teacher technology teacher. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Special Education from Winthrop University and her Master's Degree in Educational Technology from the University of South Carolina. On a daily basis, you will find Ms. Garrett displaying the latest high tech instructional strategies in her classroom while holding planningperiod and after-school sessions to help teachers with their powerteacher gradebooks and strategies to incorporate research-based technology tools in the classroom. Support Staff of the Year - Mrs. Cheryl Cooley Mrs. Cooley is a twelve-year veteran social worker who has enjoyed the past eight years at Irmo Middle. Before coming to Irmo Middle, Mrs. Cooley worked for a program for children with special health care needs. She received her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Social Work and Public Health from the University of South Carolina. Mrs. Cooley is an amazing social worker that goes to great lengths (year-round) to serve the needs of our students and families. She works tirelessly in coordinating homeless situations, maintains our food pantry, and created the CHOICES Program to help students work on healthier ways to deal with conflict. Day in and out, Mrs. Cooley works to create a viable home-school-community connection so students are able to obtain the necessary services so they can demonstrate successful attributes. Irmo Middle School is very fortunate to have these two incredible employees on staff. We commend them on a job well done and congratulate them on this very deserving honor. On April 11th, the teacher of the year will be recognized at Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce Teacher Recognition Reception. Robert S. Jackson, Ed.S., Principal

Career Day at Irmo Middle School

Irmo Middle School will be hosting a Career Day on Friday, April 19th from 8 AM until 11 AM. Over 40 speakers representing many different career fields will be at IMS talking to students about their exciting careers. We are truly excited to be able to extend this learning opportunity to our students. Additionally, we are extremely grateful to all the parents/community members who are volunteering their time to work with our students. If any other parents/community members want to get involved, please contact Mrs. Reddick at 476-3600. Allison Redick,Career Development Facilitator