December 2009

The slideshow below displays the 8th grade field trip to the Holocost Museum, our 6th graders particpating in EVHS version of "A Christmas Carol", and the Band and Chorus Winter Concert.

Sixth Grade Visit to Montpelier

Our sixth graders recently took a visit to the newly restored home of James Madison, the Father of the Constitution. The home is in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Orange County Virginia. Please enjoy the slideshow below of their visit.

London Ambassadors Spaghetti Dinner

911 Ceremony

Every year the chorus and band departments present a small ceremony is memory of those who lost their lives on 911.

Digimemo

Mr. El-Nemr is using a DigiMemo in class to interact with his PC and his students. He writes down the notes, drawings, equations, graphs or anything onto the notepad, and they instantly are displayed to the class via the LCD projector. Even better he can pass the notepad around for students to write down their responses. After they're done he attaches the DigiMemo via a usb to his PC and his students see the results. Wow, and just think all of this is done with a special pen, legal notebook paper, and an electronic clipboard!



Way to go Mr. El-Nemr!

Power Team Visit

The Power Team is a group of world-class athletes who came to perform feats of strength for our students, while sharing and connecting to our students through motivational messages. The messages expressed that great personal achievement in education can from making positives choices, such as staying drug and alcohol free. For more information feel free to visit their website: http://www.powerteamschools.com/

Pictures from the 8th Grade Dance

American History Museum

Our seventh graders traveled to visit the American History Museum this month in Washington, DC.

National Junior Honor Society Induction Ceremony

The Floyd T. Binns National Junior Honor Society Induction Ceremony was held Monday, April 27th during first block. The new inductees were welcomed during the traditional candle lighting ceremony, and the 2008 - 2009 officers tapped in the new officers for the 2009 - 2010 school year.

(Pictured from left to right: Treasurer Tanvi Tyagi, Secretary Destiny Rodriguez, President Tanae Holmes, and Vice President Tyeshia Tibbs. Not pictured Historian Bryan Fox)

Click here for a complete list of members

National School Scrabble Tournament

Floyd T. Binns Middle School would like to congratulate the Blackhawks Scrabble Team on a job well done at nationals. There was a lot of tough competition and more than one hundred teams participating. President Barack Obama and Shaquille O'Neal gave prizes to the competition and there were lots of scrabble winners. Our school placed 34th in the nation overall. Congratulations goes out to: Michael Bayne and Preston Shaw with a high score of 305, and Courney Dalimonte and Jordan Smith with a high score of 294.

In the picture from left to right: Mrs. Garton, Preston Shaw, Michael Bayne, Jordan Smith, Courney Dalimonte and Mrs. Beachboard

Links to team information from the tournament:

http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2009/nssc/build/player/1/033.html

http://www.scrabble-assoc.com/tourneys/2009/nssc/build/player/1/034.html

2008 - 2009 D.A.R.E Graduation

(Top Row: Sheriff Branch, Deputy Clatterbuck Binns SRO, Sergent Owen Bullard Bottom Row: Paige Hockman, Jace Cook, Danya Abutaleb)

Culpeper County Sheriff's office presented the 2008 - 2009 D.A.R.E. Graduation on Friday, April 24th. The Drug Abuse Resistance program (D.A.R.E.) is a five week program that 6th grade P.E. students participate in. The program teaches students realistic ways to think through, plan, act and reflect on their actions when faced with tobacco, alcohol or illegal drugs. The program is designed to help students develop the skills that are needed when faced with potentially violent situations. The program was taught by our school resource office Deputy Gail Clatterbuck during their PE time. Each year students in the county compete in an essay contest. In the essay students are to share what they've learned in D.A.R.E and how they can apply it to their life. Each middle school in the county has a girl and boy winner and then one overall winner is picked for the county. The Binns girls essay winner was Danya Abutaleb and the boys winner was Jace Cook. The overall essay winner receives the Sergent Marjorie J. Scott Memorial D.A.R.E Award and the 2008 - 2009 recipient was Paige Hockman a student from Binns Middle School.

Faculty vs. Student Basketball game

A Celebration of Poets

42 students in Miss McFarland's 6th grade English class recently found out that their poetry was selected to be published int he anthology, A Celebration of Poets, put together by Creative Communications.

Less than 50% of the poems submitted are selected to be published. Our school stands out and will be recognized in the anthology as receiving a "Poetic Achievement Award." This honor is given to the top 10% of the schools who enter the contest. The schools are chosen based on the number and quality of the entries accepted.

Click here to read some of the poetry

Blackhawks soar at wordplay!

On Friday, February 13th Floyd T. Binns middle school held a state Scrabble tournament; the first in 25 years. Our 18 students were among the 22 students in fifth, sixth and seventh grades that teamed in pairs to compete in the tournament. Our students walked away with second and third places, where they received trophies along with department store gift cards. The second place team now gets to advance to the National School Scrabble Championship on April 24 and 25 in Providence, R.I. When talking with students they agreed that a lot of the game is really just luck of the draw, but there is skill involved. While playing they use strategic planning, mathematical skills, spelling, team work, collaboration, and creativity. You also have to factor in that they know lots, and lots of words. When the students were asked to use one word to describe their experience at the Scrabble tournament, here is what they said:

Preston: Stressful

Jordan: Frightening

Lakin: Callous

Katie: Remorseless

Michael: Energizing

All of the above students contributed to the writing of this post.

Overwhelming Response

The first posting was a big hit with the 8th grade art students, so much that others wanted to post their work. I have added a slideshow on the side showcasing more student art work. The slideshow was created using a gadget within Blogger. I uploaded the pictures to our Picasa school account and then I am able to add the slideshow gadget to our blog.

Be sure to check back soon, we will have some poetry coming and a student report on the Scrabble Tournament this Friday.

Breaking Down Inhibitions

A new semester for some feels like the first day of school all over again, even for 8th graders. Lisa Allen teaches Advanced 8th grade Art and finds that her students are very nervous about showing off their artistic ability at the beginning of the semester. The first exercise she uses with her advanced students is designed to break down these inhibitions. Using a mirror student’s sketch their facial features using a technique called gradation and it was done with graphite. After their faces were complete they let their creative juices flow and created a new body for emselves. Do you recognize any of your classmates?