Parent Night Well Attended

Thanks to Detective Tim Toomey for his program at Friday night's parent forum. Over eighty parents attended and response has been very positive.

Optimist Essay Contest Winners Announced

Winners in the annual Optimist Essay Contest are pictured front, left to right, Seventh Grade: Kirsten Hanson, 6th place; Logan Kludt 5th; Erin Briggs 4th; Baily Lear 3rd; Erica Thyen, 2nd; Sabrina Schram 1st; Middle , left to right, Eighth Grade: 5th Erica Endres; 4th Audra Kjetland; 3rd Shayniah Dahle; 2nd Catrina West; 1st Darian Verdouw; overall winner: Sarah Larson. Representatives from local charities that received donations from the students were back, left to right: Chelsea Popham, Special Olympics; Jody Shaeffer, Make A Wish; Gary Cole, Salvation Army; Cole Davidson, Watertown Area Diabetes Coalition; Lisa Fuhrer, Watertown Resource Center; Cheryl Wasland, Dianne Herrmann, Lynn McGrath, Codington County Cares; Ann Brown, American Cancer Society; Waneen Polly, Arrow Education Foundation. Not pictured was eighth grader in 6th place, Ashton Foust.

Optimist Essay Winners Are Announced

The Watertown Optimist’s Club announced winners in the annual essay contest at an evening event on February 17. The winners were presented with a monetary award. Each were also given an opportunity to donate to a charity of their choice. The overall winner was Sarah Larson. She won $75 and gave $75 to the Salvation Army.

Other winners and their respective charities were: Eighth Grade: 1st Darin VerDouw $50, (Codington County Cares $50); 2nd Catrina West $50 (Make A Wish $40); 3rd Shayniah Dahle $40 (Juvenile Diabetest $35); 4th Audra Kjetland $40 (Salvation Army $30); 5th Erica Endres $30 (Special Olympics $25); 6th Ashton Foust $30 (Watertown Education Foundation $20). Seventh: 1st Sabrina Schram $50 (Salvation Army $50); 2nd Erica Thyen $50 (Make A Wish $40); 3rd Baily Lear $40 (American Cancer Society $35); 4th Erin Briggs $40 (Women’s Resource Center $30); 5th Logan Kludt $30 (Humane Society $25); 6th Kirsten Hanson $30 (Women’s Resource Center $20).
This year’s prompt was “The Power of Youth”. Larson’s essay will now be entered in an international competition, where she will compete for scholarship dollars.

DANCE & PARENT FORUM -- NOTE CHANGE IN DATE!!

There will be a WMS dance from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20. This is a change in date due to a conflict with another school function. A parent forum "Being Mean Without Being Seen" (on cyberbullying) will be held the same evening beginning at 6:30 in Casa 4. The speaker will be Sergeant Tim Toomey of the Watertown Police Dept. Attend and you will help your child gain 5 bonus points for one class! (2nd or 3rd trimester—teacher’s option) (Exceptions: 2 pts. in Mrs. Carson’s class, none in FACS, & 3rd trimester for Mr. Jacobson).
Come with questions! Gain information! Sign up for Door Prizes!
Refreshments following the forum.
For more information contact:
Jo Kjetland at 882-6370 or jo.kjetland@k12.sd.us

Thanks to WMS Parents

The WMS staff would like to extend a special thank you to all parents who have helped with conference meals and staff appreciation treats this year. The past two evening meals were wonderful, as were the meals for November conferences.

Conferences were well attended. If you were unable to keep your scheduled conference time, and want to reschedule, please call your child's advisor. You are also invited and encouraged to attend team meetings when you have concerns or want to share information. If you do not know your team meeting time, please call the middle school at 882-6370.

SPAC - SCHOOL, PARENTS & COMMUNITY

Our parent advisory group, SPAC, meets the first Wednesday of every month. February's meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 4 at 11:53 a.m. We are done by 12:30. We meet in the room behind Mrs. Weber's office in CASA 4. All middle school parents are invited to attend meetings.