SWMS Encore Newsletter

Weeks of May 24-28 & June 1-3:

Hello Parents, Guardians, and SWMS staff –

During the Weeks of May 24-28 and June 1-3, we will continue EOC/EOG testing. For more information, click HERE. On Wednesday, May 26 and June 2 – in-person students will have an asynchronous remote day so that Remote Students can come in and take their tests. Please note that class times for in-person AND remote students will be adjusted on Testing days (Monday, May 24 and Thursday, May 27)! Tuesday, May 25, Friday, May 28, Tuesday, June 1, and Thursday, June 3, are also reserved for make-up testing.

There will be a virtual ceremony for 6^th and 7^th Grade on Friday May 28, and a drive-thru ceremony for 8^th Grade on Thursday, June 3. Please see core team newsletters for more detailed information!

Please find your student’s Encore courses below to see what we are working on through the end of the year. Thank you for all you are doing to support us at SWMS. WE HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!

-Your SWMS Encore Team

CTE:

Career Exploration & Employment – with Ms. Fails – Students will finish working on an interactive learning site called Everfi. Students will be allowed to choose 4 out of 8 modules to work on and complete before the quarter ends. These modules will be self-paced and students will be graded based off the mission they attempt when completing the modules. Each module has roughly 3 missions each that must be completed in order to finish the module. The modules will allow students to learn concepts about Financial Literacy/Dependency, STEM in the workplace, College & Career Readiness, High School Pathways & Goal Setting. Have a great summer!

Computer Skills & Applications – with Mrs. Foreman – 6th Grade students will finish learning how to format word documents (margins, headers and footers, line spacing, alignment, change font, font size, color, insert pictures, bold, underline, italicize, cut, copy, and paste. 7th Grade students will finish learning about Basic Spreadsheet Formatting (Formulas and Basic Functions). 8th Grade interns will finish learning about “Professionalism.” It has been an interesting school year. Thank you for entrusting me with your child’s education. Have a blessed and relaxing summer!

CS Discoveries – with Ms. Apple – CS Discoveries I continue to get a taste of Python, an interpreted high-level programming language. If you’d like to read/experience what Python looks like for yourself, you can visit https://www.python.org/. Students have completed drawing shapes and scenes and will begin programming basic animations this week. CS Discoveries II students have completed drawing shapes and scenes and started learning basic animations. Once students complete Unit 2: Basic Animations, they will move to something a bit more challenging: conditionals. CS Discoveries III students continue with TestOut. With TestOut, students use multiple learning formats to learn how to install, manage, and secure computer hardware and master home and corporate OS environments. This week’s focus is how to create and use Access Databases.

Family & Consumer Science “Life Skills” – Week of May 24th – 28th & June 1st-3rd: Greetings, from Family and Consumer Science “Life Skills.” During the last two weeks, 6th Grade Nutrition students will finalize their Recipe/complete the “Top Chef” Challenge. 7th Grade Apparel students will finish applying Hand Sewing Skills to create a recycle product. 8th Grade Finance students will finish budgeting responsibilities for Independent Living such as paying for college, finding a place to live and maintaining employment. Enjoy your summer, Thank you- Mrs. Gidderon

Technology – with Mr. McGinnis – 6th, 7th & 8th Grades will all continue the module “Lego Mindstorm Robots.” Students are reminded to check Canvas daily and attend all live classes. Thank you for your continued support! Have a great summer.

Visual & Performing Arts:

Band – with Mrs. Linville – All school owned band instruments should have been returned to the band room at this point. If your child still has a school owned instrument at home, please make sure to get it back to Mrs. Linville this week at the latest. All school instruments must be returned before the last day of school and preferably earlier so that inventory can be completed, and instruments can be sent out for the summer to be cleaned and repaired. Please contact Mrs. Linville with any questions.

Chorus – with Mrs. Lowder – Keep an eye out for performances. Please see Canvas for more information. Have a great summer.

Orchestra – with Mr. Wenger – Keep an eye out for the 8th Grade video that will be released soon. Please remind your child to turn in practice logs every Monday. Have a great summer.

Visual Art – with Mrs. Minoski – As we wind down the year and finish out testing, we will continue the Digital Collaborative Art Project and Artist Statement. Students who finish early may complete anything posted in Other Resources. These are due May 30^th – look out for this completed project and our Spring Arts Showcase on social media! Congratulations to our 8^th Graders and I hope everyone has a wonderful summer!

Language:

ESL – with Mrs. Taylor – Students will take the End of Grade tests this week. Students will also have time during my classes to complete final assignments for core and encore classes.

Spanish – with Profesora Haas – Students will be incorporating their Spanish knowledge in reading, speaking, listening and writing activities. Please be certain to check PowerSchool for missing assignments.

Health & PE:

The Health and Physical Education classes will focus on the following this week:

Coach Forrest: Our classes will embrace a Character Education focus during the final two weeks of school as we examine the role of sports in social change. We will use video and an open discussion forum as we seek greater understanding. Please review your grades on PowerSchool and contact me if you have questions. No assignments will be re-opened so be sure to turn everything in when due.

Coach Jay: We will continue PE activities and our fitness videos. Students are learning a new game/skill each week.

Coach Marsh: Outdoor Recreational Games/Team Sports. Please think about wearing comfortable clothes and appropriate shoes to be able to participate fully in physical education. Also, consider bringing a water container of some kind to fill up so you can hydrate yourself after activity.

Coach Sloan: This week Coach Sloan’s class will continue playing modified sports.

Remember we are Southwest Strong!!!

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: “It is not in how you start, but how you finish. FINISH STRONG!”

The enCorner is put together by Visual Arts teacher, Mrs. Minoski. If you have any errors, changes, or additional information you would like to see here, please contact her at minoskc@gcsnc.com. Thank you!