Our grade eight students will be having presentations Friday morning, November 22. The boys will have the Safe Teen presentation and the girls will have the Keep it Wise presentation. The letters explaining thee programs are attached here. This is our second year offering these program=s to help prepare our students for their next stages in life.
All students are able to collect orders for our Winter Fundraiser. The money earned will be credited to their account and can be used for school fees, trips and activities! Click on the link below for the order form! https://lenwoodmiddle.growingsmilesfundraising.com/home
On November 7th, our Leadership students, under the direction of Ms. Hamilton, hosted a very powerful assembly. We were joined by the Royal Canadian Legion and three of our students also joined in their cadet outfits. Cody Weaver, Simon Turnbull and Stephen Freel each proudly carried a flag . As well, Cole Aarestad played the bagpipes and our Ms. Woolnough played the trumpet. Earlier in the week, every student had written a reflective comment on a poppy and student reps placed poppies on a bulletin board. In addition, students read poems about Remembrance day, did a candle light walk and showed a slide show containing student comments about their family and the war. We were very proud of the thought provoking assembly. Our LWMS students in the audience were silent during the assembly and staff was very proud of everyone. It was a powerful experience!
LWMS students will be having a presentation, October 21, from the district leadership students on this years Toonie Tuesday fundraising efforts. This year the funds will support a building of a school in Tanzania as well as local projects. students can donate throughout the week.
Order form Len Wood Middle School Order Form 2019
In the front foyer we have a bulletin board of the spirit wear samples and a few different sizes for people to see the fit. Order forms are on the bulletin board as well and we are asking for one form per family. The orders will be due NOVEMBER 1, 2019. This allows delivery before Christmas. The spirit wear is very reasonably priced!
The annual Dance is on the afternoon of October 31! Students are excited about this social event! Teachers will be reviewing the following expectations around costumes….no weapons, no dripping fake blood (dried), face coverings are ok but uncovered in class during lessons, costumes follow our dress code, candy is ok for Nov. 1, but the following week we would hope we can get back to healthy eating to promote learning. Thank you for your support!
We have 8 x-country runners. Two grade 8’s and the rest of the team are in grades 6 and 7. In the fall, only the grade 8 students can race in the fall races. The team is coached by Mr. Hryniw The fall season runs until end of October and then reconvenes in the spring when the grade 6/7 students can participate in district meets.
We have 2 grade 6/7 girls teams coached by Mr. Matthews, 1 boys grade 6/7 team coached by Mr. Riemersma (a parent) as well as grade 8 girls team coached by Ms. Moore. We needed 9 boys for our grade 8 team, but only 6 boys showed up to commit. (we tried multiple sign ups). We are grateful our staff/parent coaches so our students have this opportunity.
On September 30th, PAC will honor all the volunteers and community sponsors that allowed our playground to become a reality! It truly is a symbol of team work.
PAC has also purchased a bench which will have a plaque thanking all the volunteers and community sponsors. The bench will be exactly like the buddy bench, which was donated by Chris Pieper in memory of his wife Anita Pieper. Chris is supplying the bench to PAC at a very reasonable price and donating his time, along with Jim Martin. We feel we are representing the quote, “It takes a village to raise a child”. We are so grateful for all the support. LWMS is transforming! In the spring, we will install the 3 tether balls that were part of the playground purchase.
At the ceremony it will be officially announced that LWMS is receiving a $15, 000.00 Fortis Community grant. These funds will be utilized to build an outdoor classroom, with picnic tables, and also to include more benches. At middle, students are looking for areas to socialize. WOW! Thank you to our amazing community!
Wednesday is Picture day and in the afternoon there is a Cultural Performance. The performer is STEPHANIE MORIN-ROBERT and her performance is titled, BLINDSIDE.
Stephanie writes about her performance: “The show starts off with me standing in front of a camera, with a close up of my face projected on a screen. I move from the
camera to centre stage and share all true comedic stories about my 7-year-old self changing schools in the middle of the third grade and trying to fit in as a one-eyed cancer survivor. Throughout the performance, I move back and forth from the camera to
centre stage. There is a shadow dance section that represents my countless hospital visits and near the end of the show I gently take out my prosthetic eye. I talk about how the eye is made and about the type of cancer that I had. I use comedy to enlist the audience in understanding the details of my disability without becoming overwhelmed. I take care to ensure audience safety throughout the arc of my story.”
On Thursday we have our Terry Fox run. We will start with a short assembly at 11 am and then the students will run or walk a route. We are encouraging students to participate with a cancer victim or survivor in mind. Students are gathering donations and if we exceed 2000.00 as a collective group, Mr Hyrniv will shave his head!!!
On Friday at 9 am, students and staff will gather for an Orange Shirt Day Assembly. We are encouraging family to join us and for all to wear an orange shirt or ribbon. Students have been watching a video and song performed by Gord Downy called The Stranger and have been asked to imagine the feelings the residential school students would have experienced. Students have written one word on a feather and some class reps will share these words at the assembly.
In June, teaching staff spent time thinking about “WHY WE TEACH”. We participated in a collaborative effort creating art work . This experience was led by Michelle Howe, one of LWMS Staff members. She encouraged us to think about Why We teach. As we reflected, we started to create a painting. We then moved around and added detail to other staff members art work. By the end of the process we had all painted on each other’s art work. We tried to use the direction we saw and add to the artwork to make it even better. The artwork became a metaphor for the students we all share at LWMS. We like to think that there are no walls in our building, but rather the students are the collective responsibility of all of us. They benefit from the energy and wisdom of our group.
The process reminded us of how connected we are as we work with LWMS students. Together, we make a difference and of course our parents and community are part of this unified effort. Our CEAs also completed this process, a week ago, as they are highly valued team members at LWMS! Their words and art work have been added to the display inside the office. A huge thank you to Michelle Howe.
It was wonderful to spend the first week with our students building community! Students spent the first week in last year’s classes and the grade 6 students were in groupings with a grade 8 teacher. We focused on school expectations, Numeracy and X-Block. We spent time building our LWMS Extreme Team! We thought about a school Mascot and also worked on what it means to try to EXCEED OUR BEST this year!
We continue to be focused on improving student achievement. As parents, your role is important. Parents that are involved and supportive of their children’s education have a huge impact. Your support can increase your student’s achievement by more than one year’s expected growth! Collectively, you as guardians, and we as educators, have many years of experience and creative talents and the students of LWMS will be the benefactors of our energy and wisdom. We look forward to our year with optimism, confidence, and enthusiasm. Please let us know how we can help and be supportive for your child and family!
Wentworth music will be at LWMS Thursday September 5th from 6-7pm in the LWMS bandroom! Attend if needed…thank you
Private Vehicle Use Regulation – current as of April 11
Staff is looking forward to the year, supporting the traditions, community and strengthening established relationships and creating new relationships with all of you. We look forward to the first day together as a school community and welcoming our students.
We will have an exciting year ahead as we work towards the LWMS we all envision. Collectively, we have many years of experience and creative talents and the students of LWMS will be the benefactors of our energy and wisdom. We look forward to our year with optimism, confidence, and enthusiasm. Please- let us know how we can be supportive.
Classes will be back in session on September 3rd , 2019 with an early dismissal at 11:14 am. First week only class lists are posted. THESE ARE NOT CLASS LISTS FOR THE YEAR! For the first week, returning students will go to one of their last year CORE teacher. All grade six students will meet in the gym. All new students in grades 7 and 8 please go to the welcome table in the foyer. THE LISTS POSTED ARE NOT THEIR CLASS FOR THE YEAR -THEY ARE FOR THE FIRST WEEK ONLY!
The first week students will review expectations and work on building team spirit. As well, we will be spending time on Numeracy and an X-Block Fair. (students will hear about the X-Block offerings for the first half of the year) Once we have determined if any students have moved away and welcomed all our new families, the Director of Instruction will give permission to place students in their new classes. We anticipate posting the classes on Friday after dismissal. The rest of the week are normal hours of instruction.
We are looking forward to the year ahead and feel grateful to be working with your child and family at Len Wood Middle School, Extreme Team 2019!
Our amazing PAC and volunteers have been working hard all summer to get our new playground open for September 3 and they DID IT! What a collective effort and living proof of how a focused team can make things happen! We are so grateful to the many hands that helped accomplish this feat. We will be planning a ribbon cutting ceremony. More info and details on the volunteers and the team work…to follow!
School Supply list Gr 7 & 8
Staples Pre-Packaged Gr 6 School Supplies
Staples pre-packaged Gr 7 School Supplies
At 8:30 we will be hosting our final assembly. At this time we will giving out our achievement certificates, saying goodbye to the staff that are leaving LWMS, watching a slide show of the year’s memories and at the end saying good bye to our Grade 8 students who will be at PVSS next year.
Recognition Program
Awards are given to recognize student achievement in the following categories at the end of the year:
Principal’s List
Awarded to students who receive an “A” or “EX” and a “G” (for work habits) in all subjects taken.
Honour Roll/Achievement List
Awarded to students who receive a “B” or “ME” or better and a “G” in all subjects taken.
Effort List
Awarded to students who receive a “G” for work habits in all subjects taken.
We hope you can join us! Report cards will go home June 27 and the students are dismissed at 10:15!
An Indigenous Storyteller, Paul Michel, will be visiting LWMS on Tuesday June 18 to share stories. Students have been using a website called First Voices which allows the students to practice hearing and saying words in the language the storyteller will use.
On Friday we will be hosting a luncheon and having a display board in our front foyer to honor our hardworking, compassionate and caring CEAS! They are the at the Heart of LWMS and support our students and staff in more ways than we can count! We are so grateful for each and everyone one of our CEAS!!!!
12 students from grades 6-8 competed in the LWMS Extreme Speech Festival on May 31st, 2019. The first place finishers at LWMS , Chloe Silver, Avrielle Gervais and Alexander Lukas, also won first place at the District Competition at Silver Creek Elementary on June 5th, 2019. At our festival our three judges Cora-Lee Baker, Abbas El Gazzar and Tenille Lachmuth had a difficult task to choose the winners. All participants received lots of applause for their efforts.
Track and Field team continue to practice in anticipation of the District Track meet on June 4th. The team has 16 members and they have been involved with after school practices to improve their skills. Teacher sponsors are Ms. Moore, Ms. Woolnough, Mr. Matthews and Mr. Fazan.
Grade 6-8 students from across the district were invited to attend the 2nd Annual SD83 Math Olympics. This event is on June 6th at Shuswap Middle School in Salmon Arm from 9:00am to 1:30pm. LWMS is taking a team of 60 students to the event!
At 10:30 on May 31, we will be hosting our LWMS Speech Festival. We have three judges for the event: Cora-Lee Baker, one of our LRT, Abbas El Gazzar, PVSS Principal, and Tenille Lachmuth, our Trustee. We will be sending one LWMS representative per grade to the Zone Competition on June 5 at Silver Creek Elementary School. Not all classes are particpating this year, but next year we are hoping to have the Speech Festival as a school wide activity.
On Wednesday, our grade 7/8 students will be heading out to Eagle Bay Camp. A huge thank you to the parent volunteers. This trip could not happen without your support! Students not attending the trip are expected at school where we have planned academic and other activities. Eagle Bay has a quote about their camp!
Below is a schedule of the camp activities
Below is a map of the a portion of the camp!
For more information click on the link below!
We have started to transition our new grade 5 students to LWMS. Last week, 5 students from both AES and HPE spent the morning in a grade 6 or grade 6/7 class and recorded their reflections to share with their class when they returned. This week, 5 LWMS Ambassadors and Ms Brown will be sharing a power point about LWMS with both schools. The following week all the grade 5 students spend a few hours at our school! We are excited to welcome our new Extreme Team members!
As well as planting trees to do our part for Earth Day, the seniors from PV Manor visited which allowed our students made some inter-generational connections. This project is part of our Habitat Fund Grant and also Communities In Bloom. In May, some classes will also plant Marigolds as another component of Communities In Bloom.
Last year, 131 BC workers died from a workplace injury or disease. We are lowering our flags in honor of Sunday April 28, 2019, the Day of Mourning. This is to promote safe and healthy workplaces.
Class reps, along with Kim Fulton, our WILD BC Scientist, who will be working with our school for three years -thanks to a Grant we obtained, have planned Earth week activities. Every LWMS student completed a detailed drawing of the Earth and each class created or chose an Earth day slogan. We used respectful, specific and encouraging feedback in critique groups after each draft of the drawings, to produce quality work. Students completed 3-4 drafts before their final drawing. We are utilizing the project to teach the power of feedback and reinforce having a growth mindset! The end products are all on our bulletin boards!
On April 25th, Kim Fulton, our scientist, is helping us plant 350 fir tree plugs at PV Manor. We are very excited about this Community project. As well, on April 26th some of our students will participate in a community garbage clean up and some are also watching the movie “Plastic Island” at Centennial Theater. Class reps are also working with their classes to plan extra projects to contribute as well!
PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, AND FAMILY MEMBERS ARE INVITED TO JOIN IN THE PLANTING ON THURSDAY. BRING GLOVES, A SHOVEL AND SUNSHINE!
SEE BELOW FOR THE CLASS SCHEDULE.
| 8:15-8:45 | Grade 6 Team |
| 8:45-9:15 | O’Brien/Irvine |
| 9:15-9:45 | Fazan/Hamilton |
| 10:15-10:45 | Ganzeveld /K Piorier |
| 10:45-11:15 | Matthew/Moore/Clinaz |
| 11:15-11:45 | Caves/Lutes |
Here is an online copy of the Spring Fundraiser that is open to all students. All classes were given a dozen paper copies to hand out.
PLEASE ENSURE STUDENT NAMES ARE ON THE FORMS! 😊
Andi Silver is the lady who deserves the credit for the organization behind this amazing showcase of learning. As well, Ms. Silver also created this wonderful wing display. Each student made two feathers with “I can…” statements focused on the Core Competencies. We did a photo shoot Friday so each student was able to get their photo taken.
On April 4th, at the LWMS Studio Tour, many students presented to the visitors about their learning. It was amazing to hear and witness the passion for learning, the understanding of their learning and to see how confident our students are communicating about their learning! It was a very proud evening for LWMS!
Are you wondering about the new curriculum and graduation exams?
Or what about new terminology being bandied about such as Know, Do and Understand? Core Competencies of Communication, Critical Thinking and Personal Responsibility? How about Big Ideas, Content and Curricular Competencies?
YOU are invited to attend a presentation and discussion being hosted by our SD83 District Curriculum team at any of five different schools!
Please attend the session which fits your schedule and bring all of your questions!
Curriculum & Graduation Discussion Sessions
Mr. Fazan and Ms. Brown have been hosting pizza and carrot lunches for a different class each week. The purpose of the lunches is to connect with each class and also to ask for feedback from the students about their year.
We are at that point of the year where we start thinking about next year. It is the perfect time to ask for feedback from our students about what they love about LWMS and things they think could be improved.
The feedback will be compiled and shared with staff as we work toward planning our 2019-2020 school year for LWMS.
The Food and Feedback started with Grade 6 classes and then will include the Grade 7 and 8 students.
We are encouraging our students to wear pink shirts on Wednesday to support Pink shirt Day. On Feb 27th we will host a Pink Shirt Day Assembly. We are encouraging students to wear their pink shirts to raise awareness around the importance of kindness and anti-bullying. As a school, we have been focusing on the hurtful effects of gossip and rumors. Kindness and anti-bullying will continue to be a LWMS focus!
Our grade 7/8 students are in Salmon Arm at the Sullivan Campus to explore careers and businesses showcasing their Technology. It is a hands on field trip. At LWMS, we teach Applied Design Skills Technology through our Tech and Foods Program and some of our X Blocks.
Parents please read the link below for information about our Carnaval on
February 14th!
On February 12th, starting after school from 2:30-5:30pm in 20 minute time slots, students will be displaying their learning to their families. These conferences are a chance for families to see the learning, growth and goals that their son or daughter has been striving to achieve. You will see samples of work and be able to view their classroom and school in action!
PAC will be present, selling tickets to their big Fundraiser at the Royal York Golf Club on Saturday March 2nd.
For some of our Grade 8 students, their first Exploration ended at the end of January. The culmination of Tech was a self directed project. The students rose to the occasion. A few examples are: Cassidy Munro created a box that locked by a battery. Parker Kitzman made a portable phone charger out of 10 lithum batteries with the capacity of 3400 Milliamps. Lucius McJannet made a hover craft the size of an ipad. He used a fan which he attached to an RC motor. In Foods, students used phyllo pastry to create appetizers. Some were sweet and some were savory but all were creative and the result of great team work. Explorations allow students to focus on their Core competencies and ADST (Applied Design Skills Technology).
If parents have more questions…please watch this you tube video and read the letter. If you still have questions do not hesitate to contact the school. Thank you
Staff is looking at the minutes of instruction for each subject area. We are comparing the recommendations to our current minutes per subject. Staff are considering an increase to the curriculum time for the core subjects of numeracy and language arts, in particular. Our Numeracy scores as a district are needing improvement and we have focused on Numeracy in our School Improvement Plan as well. Staff has been doing professional development in the area of numeracy throughout the year and focusing on critical concepts in numeracy for each grade.
As staff looks at the minutes and increasing curriculum time, we will be creating a timetable to reflect an increase in curriculum time. We will present this information at PAC meetings. As well, we will continue to write updates on our website.
We hosted an assembly on January 8th to celebrate our successful fall adn to look ahead to the next term. In addition, we showed the video in the link below which focused on 7 Things We can Control. The video was inspiring for all of us.
School starts on January 7th. We hope you will join us January 7th at 6 pm for our PAC meeting in the library.
We will be starting X-Block January 15th and our first Winter Recreation is January 18th! Please ensure your school fees are paid as well as your winter recreation amounts. We will be having an assembly to review our successful fall and to set up the next term for more Extreme Team Accomplishments. There were many exciting events that occurred during our first term: volleyball, basketball, No Talent Talent Show, We day, Orange Shirt and Remembrance Day, Halloween Dance and costume competitions, Spirit wear orders, Parent and Teacher Interviews,Door decoration and recycled wreath creations, Teens Count Too Fundraising, Toiletry Fundraising, Food Bank collections, Report cards, Break Dancing Lessons……the list goes on…… We are looking forward to a productive second term- with a focus on academics!
We are decorating classroom doors and making wreaths out of recycled materials!
December 12 was the Band Concert at PVSS. Our grade 7 students and X-Block Grade 8 students did a fantastic job under the direction of Mrs. de Dood and Mr. Majerech. It was amazing to hear the progress from grade 7 to grade 8. We had a wonderful audience for the concert as well. Good job musicians. You make us proud!
A huge thank you to PAC as they are funding our Break dancing lessons which began on Friday December 14. Lessons will be in teams and it is a fun experience for our students. Dance is part of the Curriculum.
The New Hot Lunch Winter Schedule is up. Ordering can start December 4, 2018. If you are currently a hot lunch recipient, then please go to the login box on the right on the main page. Login using your username and password. Once in, click on orders (Winter Hot Lunch). Please print the payment remittance to be delivered to the school with payment. If you DO NOT have a printer that is okay. Just sent in your payment with a note saying student and classroom.
If you have not already signed up for your hot lunch go to
click “REGISTER”, Enter your school access code LWHL (case sensitive). Enter all personal information. Please choose a user ID that is easy to remember.
Once registered click on the profile tab to proceed. Enter child’s name, class and select “YES” to be included in the class list. Once in click on “ORDER”. Print off remittance (if able) send in with payment to the school.
The 2019 Winter Hot Lunches will be available to order from December 4 – December 17, 2018.
The first hot lunch day will be Wednesday, January 9, 2019.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call the school (250 546-3476) and leave a message for Ms. Leupin.
Thank you.
We had a great first week! Our opening day assembly focused on very powerful messages! Firstly, we are all a team and we are focused on being the most successful team we can be! One of our cheers from Friday’s end of day Team presentations said, “We are the dream…the LWMS Extreme team!” Secondly, as individuals we need to focus on our goals and believing in ourselves- this can double our success rate! As well, we need to set ourselves up for success by ensuring everything we do during our day will lead us to a successful tomorrow! (ex. getting enough sleep, good nutrition, family/friend time, outdoor time….) Thirdly, we need to believe in each other. When staff and students believe in each other it can increase our success rate up to 4 times! We then made a rain storm together and learned that we have synergy when we all focus together on the same goal. It was inspiring and led to a celebration Friday afternoon, where teams shared their amazing cheers and the physical spelling of the word team. This celebration of our LWMS Extreme Team occurred outside Friday afternoon. Oh and we also had a pancake breakfast Friday morning…..the feeling of community was strong as the week ended.
The class lists are posted. We added a division as we have many new students. We have three grade 6 classrooms, two grade 6/7 classrooms and eight grade 7/8 classrooms. Many written parent requests were made and our team tried to honor at least a portion of most of the requests. The classes configurations are very tricky as we endeavor to create a balance for the needs of all. If your student is not feeling super positive about their placement, please remember that your reaction will affect their acceptance. The team did their utmost to ensure we have successful teams! Thank you for embracing your student’s placement and remember that in the future you can submit a request for the following school year before June 1, 2019.
Looking forward to meeting parents at the PAC Meeting and Elections September 10th at 6pm in the library. Terry Fox run on the horizon and Orange Shirt Day!
Staff is looking forward to the year, supporting the traditions, community and strengthening established relationships and creating new relationships with all of you. We look forward to the first day together as a school community and welcoming our students.
We will have an exciting year ahead as we work towards the LWMS we all envision. Collectively, we have many years of experience and creative talents and the students of LWMS will be the benefactors of our energy and wisdom. We look forward to our year with optimism, confidence, and enthusiasm. Please- let us know how we can be supportive.
Classes will be back in session on September 4th, 2018 with an early dismissal at 11:15 am. Class lists will NOT BE POSTED PRIOR to September 4th, 2018 as our numbers are very high and we are anticipating obtaining another classroom. For the first week, returning students will go to one of their last year CORE teacher. (lists will be posted on the window and a bulletin board) Grade six students and new students will meet in the gym. THE LISTS POSTED ARE NOT THEIR CLASS FOR THE YEAR -THEY ARE FOR THE FIRST WEEK ONLY!
The first week students will review expectations and work on building team spirit. As well, we will be spending time on Numeracy. Once we have determined if any students have moved away and welcomed all our new families, the Director of Instruction will give permission to place students in their new classes. We anticipate posting the classes on Friday after dismissal. The rest of the week are normal hours of instruction.
We are looking forward to the year ahead and feel grateful to be working with your child and family at Len Wood Middle School, Extreme Team 2018!
