Weldon E. Howitt Middle School

Today is Tuesday, March 9th, 2010. It is an "A" day.

Congratulations to all the students who participated in the All District Concert Tuesday night. The audience loved the music from the moment it started until the last moment of the grand finale. Everyone worked very hard and produced an incredible concert.

All 7th & 8th grade boys and girls are invited to attend a short Track and Field sign-up meeting on Wednesday after school in the E. Café. Please see Mr. Messina or Mr. Santamaria if you have any questions.

Ms. Morra’s ESL tutoring will meet after school tomorrow in Room 103.

Mr. Glanz, Director of Science, Ms Sluszka and Mr. Bianca would like to congratulate all the students who participated in the New York State Science Olympiad on Saturday, March 6th, which was held in Port Washington, New York. Our Howitt team finished in 18th place, out of 43 schools, up from last years 29th place finish. Outstanding performances and medal winners were contributed by Shane Gordon, with a First place finish in the Battery Buggy, a Third place finish, by Carley Looney & Emily Grote in the Junk Yard Wars, and a Fourth place finish by Chris Pyzynski & Ryan Odabasi. Again, congratulations to all the remaining student competitors, without you our team could not have been a success.

Congratulations and many thanks to the Honor Society who raised over $1,500 for the United Cerebral Palsy Center of Nassau County.

Angelo Venuto is coming to Howitt's La Fiesta on March 18th. 7th and 8th grade students can participate in this celebration by purchasing tickets for $5.00 from their language teachers. Tickets are running low, so don’t wait. Pizza will be served.

Using Publisher, students in Mrs. Grassel's 8th grade Computer Skills classes, designed Posters for the upcoming school play. The top five were chosen by the Art Department. Click here to view.

Howitt’s play, Little Shop of Horrors, will be held this Thursday and Friday at 7:00 pm. in the auditorium. Tickets can be purchased during lunch periods in both cafeterias at a cost of $4.00 for students and $6.00 for adults. Payment must be in cash; no checks will be accepted. Tickets will sell quickly, so buy them early; very few will be sold at the door.

The organization called, Green My Parents, has developed a book teaching kids how to help their parents save money by being Green. By participating in this program, parents can save at least $100.00 by reducing energy, water, waste and fuel. They are trying to win a $250,000.00 grant from Pepsi and need people to VOTE for Green My Parents at http://www.refresheverything.com/greenmyparents. You must be 13 to register to vote. Just by turning off lights when not in a room, doing a full load of laundry, not using the dryer, having tires correctly inflated, taking a five minute or less shower and not letting the water run when you brush your teeth, can save electricity, fuel and water.
Wouldn't it be great if one million kids save the planet and the economy just by educating their parents! Please sign up and vote for this kid powered project.

Try out this exciting new website!

To nominate someone for Farmingdale High School's Wall of Fame, click here.

Ms. Paget - Students' Crafty Essays Click here

Precautions being taken at Howitt to limit the spread of the flu...for more information,
click on the poster.

The Computer Lab will be open after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 2:45 to 3:30 p.m. in room 302 for students who need to do school work. Sign in as soon as you arrive.
Online typing test tutorials to help you learn the basic keystrokes. Practice and improve your keyboarding skills using Nimblefingers.com
Looking for a great way to save money – and help our students at the same time? Buy a Calloway Value Card from the Howitt PTA. For just $10, it offers discounts at nearly a dozen local retailers – bagels, bowling, pizza, ice cream, donuts, shoes and more – ALL YEAR LONG. Contact Margaret Hroch at myseahorse5@optonline.net or (516)454-2878 to order yours. See the flyer for a complete list of retailers. Click on the Calloway Card for more information.
HOWITT HAPPENINGS

WORLD LANGUAGE WEEK
March 1 - 7, 2010
Howitt Middle School is preparing for World Language Week 2010. We are very excited to offer a variety of special events here at Howitt Middle School in March 2010.

Poster Contest: Long Island Language Teachers of Long Island's, (LILT) Poster contest theme for this year is "Languages Connect Us". 6th, 7th and 8th graders will be participating in this contest and will display their work around the school to honor the various languages around us. There will be 6th, 7th and 8th grade winners.
Music Contest: Stay tuned to your homeroom class every morning for World Language Week. Students will guess what song is being played each morning of World Language Week.
World Language Week Performances:

March 17th - SALSA Performance: Period 7 for 8th grade, Period 9 for 6th grade.
March 18th - La FIESTA after school for 7th and 8th grade students. Activities will include Angelo Venuto, student performances and a dance instructor.
March 19th - American Pops Performance: Period 1 for 6th grade.

Mrs. Pietronigro, Mr. Finlay, and Mr. Browaski's classes became part of the Young Physicians Program. All the health classes learned about blood and why donating is important. The students also learned about facts and misconceptions regarding blood.

DON'T FORGET.....The Spring Book Fair will be a buy one, get one (BOGO) free on May 12th and May 13th.
On Tuesday, February 2, Cynthia Sucich, a representative from the Interfaith Nutrition Network, visited Howitt to speak to Mrs. Castellane and Ms. Walsh's classes about the many services provided to Long Islanders by the INN. There was a question and answer period at the end followed by a special presentation of 219 brown bag lunches prepared by the students. Thanks to the students and their families, over 200 people will have a delicious sandwich and snack to eat. Students have been fundraising for the INN both in and out of school all year and will continue to do so until their Dance Marathon in April.

VIDEOCONFERENCING AT HOWITT!
Howitt Middle School Students learn the Flamenco. On November 13th, 6th grade students in Mrs. Caracappa's classes had the opportunity to attend a videoconference discussing the history and music of Flamenco in Spain. Students recreated the sounds of Flamenco music with a four-clap rhythm and a 12-clap rhythm. Students enjoyed participating in this accessible art and music event. Sixth grade students expressed the desire to see a live Flamenco performance in the future.

Ms. Pietronigro's 7th grade Health class interacted with actors from the Act Out Ensemble from Indianapolis, in a videoconference entitled, "Try to Fit In". This videoconference examined the various pressures experienced by young teens.
In May, Mr. Marzillier and Ms. Ribeiro's Wildlife Warriors Club visited the Madagascar Exhibit at the Bronx Zoo and observed lemurs, fossas, and a ring tailed mongoose and made decisions on how best to protect them and their native habitats.