Panther Tracks

Hilsman Orientation

2009-07-30T13:42:00.002-05:00

Just a reminder of the student orientations set next week at Hilsman.

Orientation for 7th and 8th graders is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 5th from 10:00 am - 11:30 am.

Orientation for 6th graders is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 5th from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm.

Please mark your calendars to attend and don't forget to stop by the PTO table in the main hallway.

Middle School Advanced Content Course Parent Meeting

2009-03-18T19:52:00.000-05:00

Parents are invited to attend a CCSD Middle School Advanced Content Course Parent Meeting that will be held at the CCSD Board Office on March 19, 2009 or March 26, 2009 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm. Parents may attend either meeting since the same information will be presented at both meetings. This meeting will review the Middle School Advanced Content information with parents and provide an opportunity to ask any questions you may have.

For more info on the meeting, in case your kids didn't bring them home:

http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/Parent_Letter_for_Advanced_Courses_F.pdf

For more info on placement criteria for Math and English/Language Arts:

http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/MS_Placement_FY10_Criteria.pdf

Oratory, Math and Baseball

2009-03-06T08:14:00.000-05:00

Oratorical Winners

Saturday, 2-28-09, the three Optimist Oratorical clubs in Athens held their annual oratorical contest at the courthouse downtown. We were fortunate to have four contestants at the competition, two boys and two girls.

Asher Hill (grade 8) was one of three first place winners in the boys' competition, and Timmy Huang (gr. 6) was one of three second place winners in the boys' arena.

Mariah Pettis (gr. 7) and Isabella Manoguerra (gr.7) both received honorable mentions in the girls' competition.

Please congratulate these students when you see them this week. They worked very hard and were excellent ambassadors for Hilsman Middle School.

Baseball

Below is the link for the Cedar Shoals Baseball website. Here, you can find our schedules, etc. We have upcoming games this Friday (@ North Oconee) and Saturday (HOME vs. South Effingham and Oconee). All home games are FREE w/school ID. Please come support your students.

CEDAR SHOALS BASEBALL SITE: http://www.eteamz.com/CedarShoalsJaguars/index.cfm?subsite=4964521

Math Scholar

If you see Akshay Hariani in the halls please congratulate him on making the highest score that anyone has ever achieved at the Regional Mathcounts Contests in its 25 year history. He scored 45 out of a possible 46 eclipsing 42 by Boris, David, Phillip, and 43 by Cathy Deng.

Art Decko and Lice

2009-02-24T14:09:00.001-05:00

Hilsman students are part of the new public art being installed in the College Ave parking garage as part of the Art Decko project. An opening reception is March 1, 2-3pm in the garage. More info here:

http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/ArtDecko.jpg

Recently Hilsman sent home a letter about Lice since there was a case found at school. In case you didn't get that letter it is available here:

http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/HMS_Lice_Letter.doc

Hilsman Success at Regional Science Fair

2009-02-24T13:43:00.000-05:00

Hilsman students made us all proud at the regional Science Fair held at Athens Tech. Hilsman is the only CCSD middle school to be sending students to the state fair to be held in April. Seven of our 10 students placed. Six will advance to the state level. The winners were:

Grand prize:Daniel Harrison

1st place
Erin Hollander

2nd place
Anna Staddon
Jeremy Mote
Evan Knox
Jeff Bellah

3rd place
Virgille Sonon

Regional Ricoh Sustainable Development Award
Erin Hollander

US Navy/Marine Corps
Anna Staddon

All 1st and 2nd prize winners will go to the state finals.

Fundraisers

2009-02-17T21:22:00.000-05:00

Publix fundraiser

If you or your friends or family shop at Publix you can help donate money to Hilsman without costing you a penny. Hilsman has received keychain cards that you can use every time you go to Publix. These cards are different from the ones at Kroger in that they are printed especially for Hilsman and are not linked to any individual so big brother can not track you! Cards are available in the school office and will be distributed at other events. These cards never expire and can be used at any Publix in Georgia, AL, SC and TN.

Box Tops for Education

Remember that the Box Tops for Education is a year-round activity. Tops can be brought in at any time. Put in a baggie or envelope with the Homeroom teacher's name on it. The school has already made a couple hundred dollars from this already.

School Supplies

Last year the PTO sponsored a program where you could pre-buy school supplies for the next school year at the end of this school year. Supplies were delivered the first day of classes. The kits were based on Hilsman teachers' official supplies lists. We are considering offering this service again this year, but we need to see if there is any interest. Please let us know your opinion. More info about the vendor is at http://www.schoolkidz.com

Hilsman News

2009-02-11T14:55:00.001-05:00

ROTC

The Hilsman Middle School JROTC Drill Team will be participating in two competitions within the next 30 days. On February 28th the team will travel with the Cedar Shoals High School team to Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville. On March 7 they will again join the CSHS team at North Georgia College and State University in Dahlonega to compete. Our drill team has represented HMS extremely well this year and has more than held its own against drill teams from established, high school JROTC programs.

High School Registration – It’s Sooner Than You Think!

Rising 9th Grade Parent Advisement Night
February 19, 2009
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.Hilsman Middle School
Agenda
· Welcome – Dr. Anthony Price, Hilsman Middle School
· Transition to High School – Ron Jones, CSHS Counselor
· Questions and Answers
· Advisement – Discuss course recommendations with teachers, choose electives, meet with high school counselors
· Refreshments

CCSD Spelling Bee

Congratulations, Andrew Bryant! Andrew, an 8th grade HMS student, placed 2nd in the CCDS Spelling Bee.

Winter News

2009-02-03T14:54:00.001-05:00

PTO Meeting and Title 1 Meeting

The next scheduled PTO meeting is Monday, February 9 at 6pm. Prior to that there will be a Title 1 meeting at 5:30. The Title 1 meeting will discuss the ways that Hilsman utilizes its Title 1 funds, etc. Meet in the Media Center

Competition Cheerleading

For any rising freshman interested in Competition Cheerleading @ CSHS:Mandatory Information Meeting February 17, @ 5 p.m. in the CSHS cafeteria. All tryout information will be given at that time. Any questions; email Kari Speakman: speakmank@clarke.k12.ga.us

Foundation for Excellence in Public Education

There are many fine teachers at Hilsman who deserve to be nominated for one of these awards; unfortunately last year HMS had only one nominee. One of our trustees, Dr. Maxine Easom, is making an appointment with Dr. Price to see how the FFE can help make sure that our faculty and staff are well represented. There are three particular awards that we simply must have nominees for: the Kilpatrick Middle School Teaching award, the Teacher of Promise Award for those teaching less than four years, and the Teacher of Excellence Award for those teaching four years or more.

See the press release here:
http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/FFE2009.pdf

University of Virginia Summer Programs

University of Virginia Summer Programs - In conjunction with the Curry School of Education, the University of Virginia announces the 30th year of its residential summer program for gifted and/or high ability students. Students enrolled in grades 4-10 during the 2008-2009 school year may apply to attend a twelve day session. Applications can be submitted on-line at http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/sep or by mailing a paper application to us. The applications are available on our website. If you have any questions please contact us at 434-924-3182 or curry-sep@virginia.edu.

Science Fair Winners

2009-01-20T21:12:00.002-05:00

SCIENCE FAIR WINNERS – 6th GRADE
BEHAVIORAL/ SOCIAL SCIENCES
1. Garrison Hefner
2. Claudia Davis/ Jayleen Serrano
3. Addie Young & Maya Stagg > Third Place tie

CHEMISTRY
1. Andrew Buxton
2. Shelby Marquardt/ Cassie Ryan
3. Alex Caudill & Timmy Huang > Third Place tie

EARTH SCIENCE
1. Michael Ohana

ENGINEERING
1. Alex Smith
2. Xavier Arnold
3. Corynne Gamboa

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
1. Shelton Pittman

MEDICINE/ HEALTH
1. Matt Owensby/ Zach Finnan
2. Jake Babendrier
3. Shelesa Seay

MICROBIOLOGY
1. Erin Jarboe
2. Dacia Daniel
3. Brantley Summers

PHYSICS
1. Savanna Crane
2. Caley Rentz
3. Christina Turner

PLANT SCIENCE
1. Virgile Sonon
2. Elizabeth Ratajczak
3. Grace Yuh & Amber Jones > Third Place tie

PROJECTS GOING on to DISTRICT SCIENCE FAIR:
1. Virgile Sonon
2. Erin Jarboe
3. Andrew Buxton
4. Shelby Marquardt/ Cassie Ryan
5. Elizabeth Ratajczak

SEVENTH GRADE SCIENCE FAIR WINNERS

ANIMAL SCIENCE
1ST JAMIA JOHNSON/BRIDGETT DAVID

BEHVIORAL SCIENCE
** 1ST CHRISTINE JAHNG
** 2ND LIZZY REECE
3RD ADAM NIBBLELINK
AUDREY SMITH

BIOCHEMISTRY
1ST TORI MARVIN/ MARIAH PETTIS
2ND TATIARA COUSAR/ ERICA CRUTCHFIELD

COMPUTER SCIENCE
1ST ASH HART EARTH SCIENCE
** 1ST EVAN KNOX

ENVIRONMENTAL
** 1ST ANNA SCHRAMSKI/VICTORIA MASON
2ND JONAH BRUXTON
3RD JOEY SNAVELY

MATHEMATICS
** 1ST KENNETH ADAMS

MEDICINE AND HEALTH
** 1ST MADISON HOGAN
2ND ISBELLA MANOGUERRA
3RD SHAYLEE POKOSKI

MICROBIOLOGY
1ST SAM MANANDHAR
2ND JOSE HEREDIA
3RD DREW MINER

PHYSICS
***1ST LOGAN GLENN
2ND MANUEL FIGUERO
3RD KEUNDRA BRISCOE/BRANDRIKA WATKINS

PLANT
1ST HALEY DAVIS
2ND BRIAN HEREDIA
2ND ZOE BOLEN
3RD MIRNA MORALES/MAYRA BARRIENTOS

**** going to the district science fair

HMS EIGHTH GRADE SCIENCE FAIR WINNERS

Mathematics
1st place-Sam Flexner/Bo Lane

Microbiology
1st place-Daniel Harrison
2nd place-Jeremy Mote
3rd place Richard Dunham

Animal Science
1st place-Narda Davenport

Behavioral Science
1st place-Lauren Warrenfeltz
2nd place-Yeji Lee
3rd place-Cody Milsap
3rd place Raven James

Physics
1st place-Anna Staddon
2nd place-Veronoka Rzucidlo/Maya Klos-Gromadzka
3rd place-Marcus Winston
3rd place-Sam Eberhart

Biochemistry
1st place-Andrew Bryant

Chemistry
1st place Jeff Bellah
2nd place-Micaela Johnson
2nd place-Joao Franca
3rd place-Tien-Tien Cheng
3rd place—Akshay Hariani
3rd place-Dhruv Patel

Engineering
1st place-Asher Hill
2nd place-Mary Carson Brown/Alicia Micheletti
3rd place Cecilia Villaveces/
3rd place- Zach Huberty

Environmental Science
1st place-Erin Hollander
2nd place-Duncan Robertson
3rd place-Shane Smith

PROJECTS GOING on to DISTRICT SCIENCE FAIR

Erin Hollander
Jeff Bellah
Daniel Harrison
Lauren Warrenfeltz
Asher Hill
Veronika Rzucidlo/ Maya Klos- Gromadzka
Jeremy Mote
Anna Staddon

2009-01-13T22:26:00.001-05:00

MLK "I Have a Dream" winners from Hilsman

Two seventh graders at HMS took the prize in the annual MLK writing competition - Lizzy Reece and David Virgo. They were filmed reading their pieces and will be honored later this week at the MLK breakfast at UGA

Academic Bowl

I hope you will be as proud as I am of our Hilsman Academic Team as they took first place at the Page Regional Academic Competition last Saturday. They will now compete at the State Semifinal on January 24th. This is really a great accomplishment for our team as 80% of our team members are participating in this type of competition for the first time.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your help and support to make the Academic Bowl at Hilsman a great success. The competition went very smoothly and without any glitches. All the participents, parents, coaches and others present seemed to enjoy the event very much.

Ms. Srivastiva

Team Members are:
Akshay Hariani, Jordan Coleman, Jonah Buxton, Madison Hogan, Evan Knox, Timmy Huang, Jose Heredia, Brian Heredia,Tien-Tien Cheng, Sean Zhang.

Geography Bee

Congratulations go out to Jonan Buxton, 7th grade, who won first place in our Geography Bee today. Second place was Evan Knox, 7th grade, and 3rd place went to Dhruv Patel, 8th grade. A special thanks to Mary Quinn for all her hard work in getting this done…Also, thanks to Lucille Srivastava and Cindi Clark for their help, as well.It was a well organized and exciting contest!!!!

Volunteer

Just a reminder as the second half of the school year commences that parents are welcome to volunteer in the school as hall monitors or in other roles. Go to the school office for more information about needs and requirements.

2009-01-09T15:58:00.000-05:00

Upcoming events at Hilsman:

PAGE Academic Bowl – 1/10
Spelling Bee – 1/15
Geography Bee & Science Fair – 1/15
Writing Test – 1/21
District Science Fair -- Jan. 24th
Basketball vs Coile - Jan 15th

Again, this year, Hilsman has swept the DAR Essay Competition

Congratulations to the following winners of the District DAR Essay contest:
8th grade: Jeff Bellah
7th grade: Madison Hogan
6th grade Claudia Davis

Writing Assessment and Little League

2009-01-07T11:18:00.001-05:00

Writing Assessment

January 21, 2009 - 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade Writing Assessment

The 8th Grade Writing Assessment is a state mandated standardized test. The Clarke County School District also administers a similar type of writing assessment to sixth and seventh grade students on the same day.

The writing assessments will be given the morning of January 21, 2009 so please make sure students arrive on time that morning.

Little League

Below there is a link to a flyer with information about baseball signups for Athens International Little League. This flyer was supposed to have been sent to homes on the eastside last week; however, because of a mix up at mailing services, the flyers were sent to the westside of town. We hope to still get them mailed, but we weren’t sure if they would get to homes in time for this weekend’s signups. Please look the flyer over and sign your child up during one of the registration times. Note: the flyer mentions that boys will be drafted after tryouts, but girls’ softball is available for middle school aged kids. If you have any questions, you can email me at buz.amason@uscm.org. Thanks.

http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/EastSideLL2009.pdf

2009-01-06T20:12:00.002-05:00

PTO Hospitality

HMS PTO Hospitality will be providing lunch for the HMS Faculty and Staff on Friday, January 9th (the week we get back from winter break). PTO will provide pots of pinto beans and/or black eyed peas and turnip or collard greens, condiments,utensils, plates and cups.

We need donations of packs of beef smoked sausage (like kielbasa), cornbread muffins, desserts and drinks. Donations can be dropped off Jan. 9 before 9:00 a.m. in the HMS office or Conference Room.

If you can donate any of these items please contact Kelly Sanders at jukso@aol.com or Anna Steffl at annasteffl@aol.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jaguar Caper

Cedar Shoals High School is proud to present the 22nd Jaguar Caper 5K. The race start/finish is located at Cedar Shoals High School which is located at 1300 Cedar Shoals Drive, Athens, GA 30605. Start time will be 8:30AM, Saturday, January 24, 2009. Registration will open at 7:30AM.

Course: The 5 kilometer course is run throughout the school grounds and in Green Acres subdivision. The start will be in the upper parking lot of the school and the finish will be at the amphitheater. Finish line management provided by Classic Race Services with complete results posted online to www.runningintheusa.com, www.coolrunning.com, and www.active.com.

Awards: Awards will be presented to the Overall Male/Female, Masters Male/Female, and Grand Masters Male/Female. The top three male/female in age groups beginning at 10 and under through 75 and over will be given awards. Awards presentations will be made at 9:45AM.
Goodies: All pre-registered participants will receive a long sleeved tee shirt and as available to race day registration. There will be plenty of food, fruit, and fluids for post race refreshments.

Information: Additional information, please call Roger Edmonds at (706) 546-5375 ext 21203 or Will Chamberlin at (706) 769-6593 or email at gwi ...@bellsouth.net.

Registration: $15.00 postmarked by 1/17/09, afterwards $18.00. Family registration (pre-register only) is $45.00. No Shirt Option - $10.00.

Make checks payable and mail to:
2009 Jaguar Caper 5K
Cedar Shoals High School
1300 Cedar Shoals Drive
Athens, GA 30605

Science Fair

2009-01-06T20:10:00.000-05:00

Hilsman Science Fair will be Thursday, Jan. 15th in the HMS lunchroom.

Projects will be setup at 8:30 am and will be judged throughout the day.

Parents are welcome to drop-by during the day to look at the projects.

Coming Events:
Geography Bee
Spelling Bee
Oratorical Contest

2008-12-21T14:13:00.001-05:00

Tardy Policy

New Tardy Policy for Hilsman starts in January:
http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/tardy_policy.pdf

I Have a Dream

6th Annual Clarke County School District “I Have A Dream” writing contest - Rules: Students can submit essays, poetry, song lyrics, photographs with descriptions, or artwork with descriptions that detail their dreams for the future. Prizes will be awarded to all winners on January 19th at the Lyndon House. Essays, poetry, and song lyrics should not exceed 250 words. Writing samples may be written in English, Spanish, or any other language. Photographs and artwork must have a brief (no more than 50 words) description. All projects should be submitted to Monica Knight at the CCSD Board of Education Office on Mitchell Bridge Road by email at knightm@clarke.k12.ga.us or by fax at 706-208-1190 no later than January 9, 2009.

December News

2008-12-01T14:41:00.001-05:00

Toys for Tots

We will be holding our annual Toys for Tots Program again this year with a slight change. All toys brought in will be given ONLY to Hilsman families.. We are looking for toys to be used by kids from 3-16yrs. of age. Also, Dr. Price will provide a pizza party for the homeroom that brings in the most toys. Toys can be placed in the box at the front office. We will begin our drive on Tue Dec. 2 and it will go until Dec. 19th. Thank you for your support with this cause.

Book Fair

The Book-Fair will run next week, Dec. 8 – 12th.
Hours will be 8:00 to 4:00 Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday
Wednesday from 8:00 to 6:00
Friday from 8:00 to 3:30
It is located in the Media Center

Mrs. Settle

Dear Parents,
I wanted to take this time to inform you that Mrs. Gwen Settle, one of our 7th grade science teachers, will be out on medical leave until after the New Year. She has left all necessary lesson plans for the substitute teacher who will be in the classroom until she returns.

Please be assured that the students will be receiving the Georgia Performance Curriculum as mandated and our current Instructional Lead Teacher, Mrs. Kim Reynolds-Manglitz who is the former Science Specialist for the Clarke County School District will monitor the classes closely.

In closing, we wish Mrs. Settle a speedy recovery and look forward to her return to Hilsman. As always, thank you for your tremendous support.

Sincerely,
Tony Price, Ed.D
Principal

Fundraiser, PTO meeting, basketball

2008-11-04T15:36:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder that the cookie dough fundraiser needs to wrap up this week. The official deadline was Wed 11/5 but we may need an extra day after the long break. Please wrap things up and get your orders in tomorrow if at all possible. We have several volunteers to help out on Friday morning with order collation, etc. If you can help, please drop us a line.

Next PTO meeting is next Monday Nov 10 at 6pm in the Media Center

First basketball games of the season are on 11/20 at Hilsman (vs Coile). Girls play at 4:30 and boys play right after.

Principal's Coffee

2008-10-23T19:44:00.001-05:00

It's the first Principal's Coffee of the school year. Please come and join Dr. Tony Price in an informal venue to share and exchange information. This is your opportunity to speak to an administrator at your child's school and share ideas and hear his ideas and vision for the students of Hilsman.

Tuesday, October 28
5:30 PM
Cups Coffee Cafe
1911 Barnett Shoals Rd
706-208-8131

Fundraiser, conferences and rezoning

2008-10-20T11:07:00.000-05:00

All Hilsman students were to receive fundraising packets today in their ELT classes. The PTO will be selling cookie dough as the main fundraiser this year. Dough will be delivered in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. There are many prizes and awards. Funds go to a variety of needs at the school that are not fulfilled through normal funding channels.

This is conference week at Hilsman. Students will be released at 1:30pm Tue, Wed and Thu. Parents, you should already be signed up for a conference but if not, please contact your child's homeroom teacher.

CCSD Attendance Area Rezoning - A public forum will be held at Hilsman Middle School on Thursday, October 23rd, at 6:30 p.m.

HMS faculty Grand Slam Dinner

2008-10-08T19:19:00.002-05:00

Dear Parents,

HMS PTO Hospitality will be providing HMS faculty with a GRAND SLAM Dinner on Tuesday, October 21.We always serve the teachers during late conference nights. Dinner will be served at 4:00. On our menu we will be serving Chili Dogs, Nachos, Cole Slaw, Veggie Dogs (for the vegetarians) and we are requesting that Publix donate a sheet cake for dessert.

Here's what we need from you.

On Monday, Oct 20, Anna and I will be at HMS early in the morning to collect the following donations:
ALL BEEF Hotdogs
Packs of buns
Veggie Dogs (only 1-2 packs)
Bags of Tortilla Chips

We need the hotdogs a day in advance so we know how much has been donated and how much we have to supplement.If you can donate any of the items listed please email me...that way I'll know who and what to look for on Monday.
Thanks for your help!
Kelly Sanders
jukso@aol.com

CRCT Workshop for Eighth graders

2008-10-08T14:29:00.000-05:00

Hilsman will hold a CRCT workshop for Eighth Graders and their parents on Thursday 10/16 from 6-8 pm with pizza dinner at 5:30 pm. Venue is Hilsman.

The workshop will also focus on transition from middle school to high school. See the flyer here: http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/crct_workshop.pdf

School District News

2008-09-29T07:28:00.001-05:00

The Clarke County Board of Education has approved, in concept, a plan to create individual attendance areas for each of the school district's elementary schools. The proposal is designed to help the school district better manage rising transportation costs, balance enrollment at elementary schools, and provide more certainty to families in the enrollment process. The school district will open a new elementary school under construction on Danielsville Road at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. Tentative plans include opening two additional elementary schools, possibly as early as the 2011-2012 school year. Please go to the following website for more detailed information:

http://www.clarke.k12.ga.us/district.cfm?subpage=33863

Options to share your feedback on the plan are listed on the web page! Make your voice heard about this important change in the attendance areas for the elementary schools!

Candidate Forum

Save the Date! Monday, October 20th, there will be a school board candidate forum in the evening for school district candidates running for office in Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8. More specific details will be forthcoming. A map of the Clarke County school district zones is located at:

http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/documents/pdf/boardofelections/school_board_2006.pdf

Check this resource to see in which district you reside.

Parent Volunteers Neede for Newsletter

2008-09-24T10:34:00.000-05:00

Dr. Price is looking for two parent volunteers to collaborate on developing a bimonthly newsletter for Hilsman Middle School. The newsletter would include dates and events and happenings at Hilsman.

Although we have an email list, only about half the student body is represented on the list.

Please contact Dr. Price directly at: pricet@clarke.k12.ga.us

Letter to seventh grade parents re: science teacher

2008-09-22T07:41:00.000-05:00

Dear Parents,
In an effort to keep you informed about the changes in your child’s classroom, I am sending this letter to advise you of recent events in our Science Department at Hilsman Middle School. You may or may not be aware that very recently Mr.Rozier, one of our 7th grade science teachers, decided that teaching middle school was not the right career choice; therefore, he decided to resign his position. Needless to say, this has put us in a bind. We are diligently searching for a replacement that will provide consistency and longevity in this position. We currently have a long-term substitute teacher in the class and during this process we will have other science teachers support the substitute with lesson plans including, but not limited to, the state standards. Please know that I have begun interviewing candidates and hope to fill this position with a qualified teacher as soon as possible.
In closing, I want to thank you for your patience and certainly if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact either myself or Mrs. Kim Reynolds-Manglitz, our Instructional Lead Teacher.
Sincerely yours,
Dr.Tony Price

Superintendent Search

2008-09-13T12:10:00.000-05:00

A public community forum with search consulting team will be held in the Cedar Shoals High School auditorium on Monday, September 15th, at 7:00. Parents and teachers, PLEASE attend and give your input. Board members will not be attending so as to encourage freedom of expression. The consultants will pose questions about the strengths of the district, the challenges the district faces, and the characteristics sought in the next superintendent. Childcare and Spanish translation will be provided. Please go to www.clarke.k12.ga.us and complete the leadership profile survey online. There is a place to submit names of potential candidates for the position.

Hilsman fundraiser

2008-09-01T10:38:00.001-05:00

Students were supposed to receive permission slips in their homerooms last week for the Pampered Chef fundraiser. These slips were to allow parents/kids to opt-in to the fundraiser. Some kids did not receive these slips so if you didn't get the slip, please see our fundraising page to opt-in:

http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/fundraisers

You can also send an email directly to Jodi Gross to opt-in: jodiga1@yahoo.com

All profits go to the Hilsman PTO and the leading classroom will get a pizza party.

Open House, etc

2008-08-21T13:43:00.001-05:00

Hilsman Open House

Open House will be Tuesday August 26 from 6:30 pm. Everyone will meet in the cafeteria for a brief presentation and introduction of the staff, then you can follow an abbreviated schedule of your children's classes that will allow you to meet their teachers and hear about curriculum,etc.

FBLA

Future Business Leaders of America will hold their first meeting on Aug 26 from 4-5:30. You may download an application form at http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/schoolactivities. For questions, please contact Mr. Dorsey at dorseyr@clarke.k12.ga.us

Math Counts

Math Counts has begun training. It meets every morning at 7:15 in Mr. Bacchus' room

Fundraisers

The PTO has a number of fundraisers planned for the year that you can help with. Funds collected go to support various needs in the school that can not be met by traditional budgets.

Kroger Earning Plus Learning - be sure to get your scan sheet (available at http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/fundraisers) and have it scanned with your Plus card to get credit for Hilsman whenever you shop at Kroger
Publix- Coming soon, we will have a similar scan card for use at Publix
Pampered Chef - Items will be on display at Open House. All profits will go to the Hilsman PTO
Cookie Dough - A great holiday item, the PTO will do a joint fundraiser with the band in November
Box Tops for Education - Bring in your Box top labels from General Mills Brand foods. Bring them to your homeroom - the class with the most coupons will win a pizza party.

Still to come: We will be adding more info about other school clubs and activities to the website as they become available. We will also have an updated teacher email list. There is a list from last year on our website that has many of the teachers and staff but none of the new ones.

First Week of School

2008-08-12T21:31:00.001-05:00

We hope you and your kids are surviving the first week of school. Here are a few items of interest:

First PTO meeting

The first PTO meeting of the year will be held Monday, August 18 at 6pm in the Hilsman Media Center. The PTO will outline plans for the year and Dr. Price and a number of teachers and staff will be on hand to go over some of the changes this year and answer your questions.

Chorus Concert Dates

Thursday, Nov. 6 Fall Concert 7:00 P.M.

Thursday, Dec. 11 Winter/Holiday Concert 7:00 P.M.

TBA (Feb. 2009) African American History Program 7:00 P.M.

Thursday, Apr. 16 Spring Showcase Chorus Concert 7:00 P.M.

Sports Schedules

Many of the sports schedules are now available online at the PTO website. Please go to http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/schoolactivities to view the schedules

Kroger Earning Plus Learning

Do you shop at Kroger? Do you have a Plus card? If so, you absolutely must get connected to the Earning Plus Learning program. Even if you participated last year, you must sign up again. All you have to do is take our flyer to Kroger one time and they will scan the barcode on the flyer and the bar code on your Plus card and then all purchases you make between then and the end of May will add credit to the Hilsman account. You can download/print the form from our webpage: http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/fundraisers

Open House

Stay tuned for the date of Open House where you can visit your children's classrooms and meet the teachers.

Hilsman School Supplies for 2008-09

2008-07-30T17:44:00.001-05:00

For those of you who didn't order your supplies already, here are the school supply lists as presented to the PTO at the end of last year:

Sixth Grade

All students will need:
Two combination locks
One Trapper Keeper type notebook
Notebook dividers- 1 set
1 pencil bag that goes in the Trapper KeeperNotebook
paper-loose leaf to be kept in Trapper Keeper
Pencils for math
A hand-held pencil sharpener with a cover for shavings
2 blue ink pens
2 black ink pens
2 red ink pens
1 red paper folder with brads in the middle and pockets
1 yellow paper folder with brads in the middle and pockets
1 green paper folder with brads in the middle and pockets
1 blue paper folder with brads in the middle and pockets
1 pkg highlighters in yellow (Two highlighters is enough)
1 pkg colored pencils
All book bags must fit into the lockers and remain there during the day. We suggest buying the smallest book bag a Trapper Keeper and two books would fit into.

Wish list for teachers:
1 ream of computer paper
1 pkg dry erase markers
1 box tissues
1 bottle hand sanitizer

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Seventh Grade

4 – 1” binders each a different color
blue and black pens
regular pencils (not mechanical)
erasers
wide rule notebook paper
graph paper (1/2”)
compass
10 dividers
enclosed pencil sharpener
markers
colored pencils
highlighter
4 pencil bags which clips into each notebook
memo size (2”) sticky notes – 4 pack
inexpensive scientific calculator
rulers (need metric and standard measurements)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Eighth Grade

3 ring binders (2 to 3)
Composition Notebooks (black & white marbled or colored ones)- paper is hard to tear out
Colored Pencils
Colored Marker
Rulers
Index Cards (2 packs)
Filler Paper
Spiral Notebooks (2)
Graph Paper
Scientific Calculator
Pencils
Pens (Black & Blue)

Teachers request:

Boxes of Tissue
Reams of Paper
Hand Sanitizer

Orientation and other startup activities

2008-07-30T17:33:00.000-05:00

I have had a few questions about these items. I have added a note.

Transition Camp for 6th Grade – Tuesday, August 5th, 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. This is for students only.
Orientation – 6th Grade, Wednesday, August 6th , 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 This is for students and their parents
Orientation – 7th and 8th Grade, Wednesday, August 6th , 1:00 p.m.- 2:30 p.m. This is for students and their parents
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Band Registration is Monday, Aug 4, 2-7 pm in the Hilsman Band Room. Students can come play all the different band instruments. Instruments will also be available for lease or purchase.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
School starts Thursday Aug 7.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
First PTO meeting is Monday, Aug 18 at 6pm in the Media Center

August Orientation

2008-07-18T21:11:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to Hilsman!

The following is the plan for orientation in early August

1. August 6- Grades 6-8 Orientation. 9:30 AM- 11:00 AM 6th grade and 7-8 will be from 1:00 PM- 2:30 PM. Parents will briefly meet staff and receive schedules, a similar format we have used in prior years.

2. August 5- (Tentative date) still working on time for Transition Camp for 6th graders only. Will finalize early next week and let community/parents know finalized dates, times and other pertinent information. Stay tuned for further information.

You will also be getting a mailing from the school.

Summer Reading

2008-05-23T10:13:00.000-05:00

Updated Summer Reading List

This is an updated list with specific titles for each grade. There is also a reading log.

Please encourage your child to read over the summer and record his/her reading on the reading log. Any completed logs should be turned in to his/her Language Arts teacher for the 2008-2009 school year for a quiz grade. Included is also the list for next year’s Battle of the Books.

List and Log are available at:

http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/resources

Summer Activities

2008-05-15T10:22:00.002-05:00

Here are some summer activities to consider

Summer reading list

We have posted the summer reading list on our webpage: http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/resources

The list includes next year's Battle of the Books selection. Hilsman has been the County Champ for the last four years so plan on next year and start your reading early.

Summer swimming

East Athens Swim Team
SUMMER 2008
Where: Green Acres/Crestwood Pool
635 Brookwood Drive
Athens, GA 30605
Who: boys and girls ages 4-18
When: Mid May thru July
For more information please visit our websitewww.greenacrespool.org or 706-354-4412

Parents meeting on Monday May 19 at 6pm at the pool

• Come join the fun this summer, while learning and improving your swim skills
• Quality coaching, supervised, and safe for all ages.
• Promote a positive attitude and good sportsmanship.
• Encourage family involvement
• Swim a thon to earn swim prizes such as goggles and swim suits
• Practices in the mornings and evenings Monday thru Friday. Come to as many as you can. You are not required to attend all practices.
• You do not need to be a member of the Green Acres Pool to join the swim team
• Come and make new friends and join old ones.
• Strive for healthy competition while having fun

The Athens Farmers' Market: Local and Sustainable

I want to invite you to come visit a new bigger, better farmers'market as it opens this Saturday at Bishop Park. It will feature our farmers' best pick of fresh sustainably-grown produce as well as local hand-made and home-made crafts, direct-trade coffee, freshly baked breads and other treats. The market will run every Saturday from May17th to the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Hours of operation will be8am to 1pm.

In honor of its opening we will have a Grand Opening Celebration onMay 17th and we invite you to attend!

Interested in selling produce or local hand-made/home-made crafts at the market? Need a map to Bishop Park? Visit http://www.athensfarmersmarket.net for more information!

Next Year's Math, end of this year, summer fun

2008-05-13T12:51:00.000-05:00

Next Year's Math Curriculum

We will have an informational meeting about the Middle School Mathematics Curriculum for next year on Monday, May 19 at 6:00 PM in the Media Center. You will find out from Instructional Services background information and detail as we prepare for next year. This will be informative and will last about 1 hour. This is for Hilsman Parents as the school requested this meeting for the families of Hilsman.

Band Concert

There is a Band Concert tonight (May 13) in the school gym

End of Year Ceremonies

End of the year ceremonies will be held the first of next week. Sixth grade on Monday, Seventh grade on Tuesday and Eighth grade on Wednesday. Details later this week.

Swim Team

If your student is interested in learning to swim better and to compete as well, please consider joining the East Athens Swim Team for the summer. Parent meeting is Monday May 19 at 6pm at the Green Acres Pool, 650 Brookwood Dr. For more information see greenacrespool.org or call 706-354-4412

Hilsman News, etc

2008-04-30T12:37:00.001-05:00

History Essay

Mike Xiao, one of Hilsman’s 8th graders, is one of four finalists in the state for the Georgia history essay contest hosted by Georgia Voyager Magazine. He has been invited to an award ceremony at the Capitol with Gov. Perdue. Please congratulate Mike. Also, many thanks to Ms. Turner who helped review the essays submitted by our students.

Yearbooks

The deadline for ordering Hilsman Yearbooks is TOMORROW - May 1. Cost is $30.

Dress Code Policy

The Board of Education wants to hear from you! On May 8, the BOE will make a final decision regarding a dress code for students and teachers in Clarke County Schools and they want parent input. To let the BOE know your opinions, go to www.clarke.k12.ga.us/home/, click on "In the News: BOE Seeks Input on Dress Codes," click "Proposed Student Dress Code Policy" to read the dress code, and then type and submit your response in the space provided.

School Supplies

Order forms for next year's school supplies went home with current sixth and seventh graders. Please turn in your completed orders asap. Deadline is next Fri May 9.

2008-04-28T12:28:00.001-05:00

Academic Team

The academic team spent the day Saturday in Eatonton at an invitational academic bowl tournament.There were 18 teams from Georgia and Hilsman captured 1st place. They won all 7 roounds and scored the highest number of points. Please congratulate the following students when you see them:
Cathy Deng
Xing Gao
Mike Xiao
Morgan Smith
Anise Crane
Maggie Bergmann
Jonathan Williams
Evan Knox
Akshay Hariani

C-Team Baseball

We wrapped up our season on Saturday by losing 3-1 to Oconee’s 9th grade/JV team in the first game and defeating them 8-5 in the second game by scoring 5 runs in the sixth inning. These kids fought all day and I am very proud of them. These 7th and 8th graders from Hilsman and Coile played exceptionally well despite facing 9th and 10th graders all season. With that in mind, an overall 5-8 record is a huge accomplishment. If you were not able to see these guys, you missed some really good baseball. We thank you all for your support and encouragement. Please congratulate the guys when you see them

Dress Code Survey

The Board of Education wants to hear from you!On May 8, the BOE will make a final decision regarding a dress code for students and teachers in Clarke County Schools and they want parent input. To let the BOE know your opinions, go to www.clarke.k12.ga.us/home/, click on "In the News: BOE Seeks Input on Dress Codes," click "Proposed Student Dress Code Policy" to read the dress code, and then type and submit your response in the space provided.

School Supplies

School supply order forms were due to go home with current sixth and seventh grade students today. Deadline for orders is Friday May 9.

Recognition and lots more

2008-04-25T09:41:00.001-05:00

Battle of the Books

I want to thank the wonderful 8th grade team, The Dittos, for bringing the battle trophy back to Hilsman for the 4th year in a row…..
The Dittos are: Erica Carlson, Anise Crane, Morgan Smith, Cathy Deng, and Rae Kretzer.
These young ladies were so awesome! They kept their cool through some tough questions, and even challenged a question with success. I am so proud of this team! I will miss them next year!!!
Congratulate these students when you see them (from CeCe Layson)

Oratorical winner

Asher Hill, a 7th grader, placed 2nd at the district level of the
Optimist Oratorical Contest.

Dress Code Policy

The Board of Education wants to hear from you!
On May 8, the BOE will make a final decision regarding a dress code for students and teachers in Clarke County Schools and they want parent input. To let the BOE know your opinions, go to www.clarke.k12.ga.us/home/, click on "In the News: BOE Seeks Input on Dress Codes," click "Proposed Student Dress Code Policy" to read the dress code, and then type and submit your response in the space provided.

Yearbooks

The deadline for ordering Hilsman Yearbooks is May 1. Cost is $30.

Youth Conference

Solid Foundation: Climbing the Rock to Success

Barrow County Youth Conference 2008
WHAT: A one day conference for middle and high school students. Topics focus on making healthy choices in all areas of life. Event includes keynote speakers and workshops on topics such as healthy relationships, dating violence, STDS/HIV education, the effects and consequences of drugs and alcohol, fitness and nutrition, career planning, goals, and teen laws.

WHEN: Thursday, June 12, 2008
8:45AM-3:30 PM (Registration starts at 8:00 AM)
Pre-registration encouraged.

WHERE: Westside Middle School, 240 Matthews School Road, Winder

COST: Free including lunch and lots of gift packs for early registrants

Students from any county welcome. call 770/307-3011, EXT. 232 OR 770/868-4035

School Supplies

Order forms for next year's school supplies will be distributed to current 6th and 7th grade students in their language arts classes next Monday. Deadline for return of orders is May 9. Your 6th graders will get a form labeled as 7th grade and your 7th graders will receive forms labeled as 8th grade since these supplies will be delivered to them on the first day of the next school year.

Track results

2008-04-17T13:03:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to the Hilsman Track team

Results of the Athen's Area Event held 4/14 at Athens Christian

Area Champions

GIRLS
100 meter – Breeana Taylor
200 meter – Breeana Taylor
Shot put – Fredrea Gilbert

BOYS
100 meter – Kiuan Dean
110 hurdles – Davon Carter
4x100 relay – Atavious Foster, Maurice Stephens, D’shun Johnson, Kiuan Dean

Area Finalists

GIRLS
100 meter – 2nd, Brittany Howard
400 meter – 3rd, Brittany Taylor
4x100 relay – 2nd, Breeana Taylor, Brittany Howard, Brittany Taylor, Timuia Smith
4x 400 relay – 3rd, Amber Cox, Timuia Smith, Breeana Taylor, Brittany Taylor
Long Jump – 3rd, Brittany Howard
Shot Put – 2nd, Phileadra Minor

Area Finalists

BOYS
200 meter – 2nd, Kiuan Dean
400 meter – 3rd, Jason Ye
800 meter – 2nd, Jason Ye
3200 meter – 2nd, Jason Ye
4x400 relay – 2nd, Jason Ye, Ben Sims, Maurice Stephens, Kiuan Dean

PTO Meeting Monday April 14

2008-04-12T09:36:00.001-05:00

PTO Meeting

The Hilsman PTO will have its final meeting of the school year at 6pm on Monday April 14 in the Media Center. Some items of discussion:
1)Upcoming School Supply Sale
2)Next Year's Officers
3)School updates
4)Ideas for next year's major project
5)Financial status
etc

Cedar Shoals Volleyball Tryouts

Attention eighth grade volleyballers. There will be spring volleyball try-outs at Cedar Shoals on April 30th and May 1st. Interested students should email Mr. Hammett-Bregger at breggera@clarke.k12.ga.us to sign up for a 45 minute time slot. There will be limited spaces so first come first served.

Ongoing Fundraisers

You can still purchase coffee to benefit Hilsman PTO at the Village Herb Shop or online at http://www.1000facescoffee.com/fundraising.php. You can also enter various contests related to the BoxTops for education at http://www.boxtops4education.com/promotions/sweetstakes/

Various Reminders

2008-04-07T21:17:00.002-05:00

Next PTO Meeting

The last PTO meeting of the school year is next Monday April 14 in the Media Center

State Science Fair Winners

Jason Ye 1st place Botany
Sigma Xi Award ($75)
UGA Plant Science Award

Maggie Bergmann 1st place Animal Science
UGA Entymology Award

Madison Hogan 3rd place Behavioral/Social Sciences

Please congratulate these students when you see them.

Hilsman Football Fundraiser at Beef O'Brady's

Tuesday April 8 from 5-9pm at Beef O'Brady's in the Publix Shopping Center. All receipts left in the fishbowl at the entrance will be tallied and the Hilsman football team will get 10%. Come out and enjoy a night out and help the football team.

School Supplies

Due to near unanimous support we will go ahead with a spring fundraiser/service. We will pre-sell a kit of required school supplies for next year. The lists have been made and all but one grade finalized so that we should be able to launch the last week of April. More details to follow.

Parent/Teacher Input Requested

2008-03-30T12:20:00.001-05:00

In an attempt to find new and relevant fundraisers for the Hilsman PTO we are looking at a fundraiser that would have value for the students and families and make some money for the PTO. We would like to get some parent feedback on the following opportunity.

We are considering selling School Supply Sets. What this would involve is selling a set list of supplies recommended for each grade. Hilsman teachers have already supplied the lists and the fundraising company (which is affiliated with Staples) has already quoted us on each grades' list. The final price is up to the PTO so not set 100% yet but would be around $35 for the 6th and 8th grade and $40 for the seventh grade sets. We would have to sell them now before the end of this school year and then take delivery the first week of school in August. These prices are comparable to what you would pay for all the supplies on your own.

Some questions that need to be considered:

Are parents interested in this sort of thing?
Would parents be willing to spend the money now in Spring?
Is the price too high? (Many fundraising activities involve lower amounts)
Are there enough people willing to volunteer to help with this?
Would we get adequate support from teachers in distributing order sheets, etc?

Please reply back to this mail with your feedback and help us make a decision on whether to pursue this. Time is of the essence.

Football Fundraiser and Spring Physicals

2008-03-30T11:58:00.000-05:00

Hilsman Football will be having a Beef O' Brady's night on Tuesday April 8 from 5-9. Hilsman Football will receive 10% of all receipts that are dropped in the fishbowl at the front door. Be sure to eat dinner at Beef O' Brady's that night and show your support for your Hilsman Panther football team. If you have any questions please contact Britt Swilley at dawgfiend@charter.net.

Free Physicals for athletes currently in grades 8-11 will be given on Sat 4/26. This is the only free physical for the next school year so if you intend to take part in high school sports next year you should plan on this. There will be bus service from Cedar to the clinic. More details as they become available

Events off-campus

2008-03-26T15:47:00.000-05:00

Wildlife Art

Athens Clarke Leisure Services invites all contestants who entered the 29th Annual Wildlife Art Contest to come to the Grand Opening on Saturday, March 29th , from 2:30 – 3:30. Doors will open at 2:30 to view art work. Prizes will be awarded at 3:00. All entries will be hung in the exhibit hall (building in the zoo)
Refreshments will be served. Please call 706-613-3616 ext.22 for more information….

Cedar Shoals Baseball Clinic Rescheduled

IMPORTANT NEWS..............The camp has been rescheduled for Saturday, March 29th, 8AM-11AM....no longer 9AM-12PM.

We are excited to announce that there will be a Jaguar Baseball Players Clinic - The CSHS staff and team will host the Jaguar Players Clinic on Saturday, March 29th, from 8-11 at the Cedar baseball field. Players can attend for $10 and coaches are FREE. Cash or checks made out to Cedar Shoals Dugout Club will be accepted. The following topics will be covered: fundamental defensive drills, practice scheduling and preparation, basic hitting tactics, and how to get the most out of this great experience called BASEBALL! For more info contact CSHS head coach Bret Greene at greeneb@clarke.k12.ga.us or by calling 706/254-5444.

You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown

Come see talented Cedar Shoals students as the Peanuts gang in a musical romp. The show is intended for all audiences, definitely G-rated. Enjoy singing, dancing, AND comedy. The show will run under 2 hours--probably closer to an hour and a half--so it should be a perfect fit for younger audience members. Mark your calendars now for performances Friday and Saturday, March 28th and 29th, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 30th, at 2:30 p.m. in the CSHS Fine Arts Theatre. Student tickets are $4 and adult tickets are $6. Contact English teacher/production director Derek Adams at adamsg@clarke.k12.ga.us with questions or for more info.

Animation Workshop and Congratulations

2008-03-23T10:03:00.002-05:00

Oratorical Winner

Another success for Hilsman: Asher Hill, 7th grader won the zone levelcompetition of the Optimist Oratorical Contest. He will compete in the regional level next.

Animation Workshop

We are proud to announce that Hilsman Middle School will be the host for a Shortstop Animation Workshop between 27th and 28th of March. Our special guest, Mr. José Luis Farias from Spain will teach the students the basics of shortstop animation. They will play with different materials, and they will create a very short movie.

Cachivache (Performance in Spanish) group members from University of Georgia will help to organize the activities. Attached you can find details about the program and our special guest.

José Luis Farias Gomez

José Luis Farias created the International Short Film Festival of Segovia (Spain). The Festival showcased a wide array of Films from Spain, Latin American, and Europe. He is here to show to Athens and the University community a sample of the short films screened last year in Segovia. These screenings will take place at the Student Learning Center on March 31st, April 1st and April 2nd. Screenings will be followed by discussions about the films. José Luis Farias will lead the discussions. This event is made possible with the support of the following people and institutions:Contraplano, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute, Department of Romance Languages, Dr. John Ross, Cachivache (Performance in Spanish), Cali’ n’ Titos, Espresso Royale, Little Kings.

This is a brief summary of José Luis Farias professional life:

Cofounder of Contraplano International Short Film Festival in Segovia (April 2007)
Stop-motion animation teacher at Arts Animation School.
Director- He has made several commercials for TV, and short films, such as:

Agua (2006)

35mm color

Summary: A reflection on the lack of water as a result of the weather change.9 min.Directors: Alfonso Fulgencio y José Luis Farias,

Mandos (2002)

Animation Short Film with play dough. 35mm color

Summary: Two remote controls fight over the programs they want to see on TV.9 min.Directors: Alfonso Fulgencio y José Luis Farias,and others. Cofounder of Paramotion Films (Film Company)

Paramotion Films

It was founded in 2002 with the objective of producing, acquiring and distributing film materials for movies, TV productions, and advertising. It specializes in animation with materials like play dough. They also work on digital post-production. Paramotion also is interested in teaching these techniques in different workshops.

Cathy Deng wins State Spelling Bee

2008-03-21T21:06:00.001-05:00

Cathy Deng, an eighth grader at Hilsman Middle School, won the State Spelling Bee today at Georgia Student University in Atlanta.

A news release from the Georgia Association of Educators follows:

One hundred and twenty-four words over seven rounds. That’s how long it took 13-year-old Cathy (Qian) Deng from Hilsman Middle School in Clarke County to overcome what she thought was an elimination early on to become the winner of the 47th Annual Georgia Association of Educators State Spelling Bee. In round six, Cathy was initially eliminated after spelling the word “concomitant” but was reinstated by the panel of judges after discussion about pronunciation. “I was so happy to get back in that I didn’t remember anything,” Cathy exclaimed.

Cathy fought off a challenge by 13-year-old Logan Austin from Bennett’s Mill Middle School in Fayette County. The two both missed some very challenging words such as pettifoggery, cornichon, ochlophobia, and elision. Logan then misspelled the word “tergiversate,” which Cathy then spelled correctly. She then received and correctly spelled the word “chrestomathy,” which means “a selection of passages from various authors complied as an aid to learning a language.”

Cathy will now represent Georgia in the Scripps National Spelling Bee Championships in Washington, D.C., May 25 – May 31, 2008. Should Cathy, for any reason, be unable to represent Georgia at the nationals, Logan would take her place. “I can’t say enough about what these young people have accomplished,” said GAE President Jeff Hubbard. “Everyone associated with their efforts should be very proud and on behalf of GAE I congratulate each and every one of them. And our thoughts and prayers are with Cathy and her family as they travel to Washington to represent Georgia and hopefully bring back the national championship.” In addition to her first place trophy and an all expense paid trip to the national championship and $400 (GAE), Cathy also took home a dictionary (Merriam-Webster), an Amazon.com gift certificate (Scripps National Spelling Bee), a one-year online subscription (Encyclopaedia Britannica), $100 (Mr. and Mrs. Barry Gray from Metro Atlanta), and one $100 U.S. Savings Bond (Samuel L. Sugarman Award). Logan, as runner-up, took home a second place trophy, $100 (GAE), a dictionary (Merriam-Webster), and a one-year online subscription (Encyclopaedia Britannica). All contestants received $25, a certificate of participation, and a GAE State Bee lapel pin. Order of elimination-
County/word/Round:
Chilneshia Welch - Putnam/Concerto/1
Kristin Towe- Floyd/Oregano/1
Mary Kate Vian – Atlanta/Lariat/2
Katherine Burden - Gwinnett/Myriad/2
Taylor Rinberger -Berrien/Impetuous/2
Eryn D. Smith - Appling/Cedilla/3
Kevin Figlewicz – Cobb/Backstein/4
Thomas Carden - Chatham/Lederhosen/4
Jessica King –Thomaston-Upson/Virgule/4
Jaire Duncan – Rockdale/Repertoire/5
Sarah Cover – Cobb/Azimuth/5
Orin Lincoln –Muscogee/Prosciutto/5
Erin Barnett - Cobb/Commissar/5
Korie Shetter – Floyd/Wedel/5
Jonathan Lee Casas – Hall/Mynheer/6
Eron Frances Smith –Decatur City/Pompadour/6
Micah Stewart – Valdosta City/Jocosity/6
Todd Jones – Fulton/Integument/6
Logan Austin - Fayette/Tergiversate/7
Cathy Deng – ClarkeChampion/Chrestomathy

Updates and Congratulations

2008-03-19T08:47:00.002-05:00

MathCounts

Hilsman's team competed at the Statewide finals for MathCounts last Saturday. The team took home sixth place in the State and Cathy Deng took fifth in the individual event. Congratulations to the whole team for a great season.

Geography Bee

Hilsman’s own Evan Knox (6th grade) has qualified to represent our school at the state National Geographic Bee. It will be held on April 4th in Milledgeville, GA. Both his teachers and his family are extremely proud of Evan and cannot wait for him to represent our school and the Clarke County School District!!!

Book Fair

Hilsman’s Book-Fair will take place March 24th – 28th. The Book-Fair will run during the school day as well as during parent conferences (including the evening conferences). Students who want to purchase books will have the opportunity to come to the fair during their Language Arts class times. Please plan on supporting your Hilsman Media Center with purchases made at the Fair.

Weight Training

After school weight training for middle school students will be held beginning today from 4:-5:30 in the Cedar Shoals Field House. It will be held every day this week and beginning next week will be held only on Mondays and Wednesdays Anyone who is not playing a spring sport and is interested in playing football next year should attend. Lifting sessions will continue up until the start of spring football practice which will begin on May 1. Please make sure that you have a ride there to pick you up at 5:30 when the work out is over.

Box Tops

In addition to bringing in Box Tops for education you can enter a daily contest to win points for the school to help them get equipment. If you are willing to sign up for this, you can find out more at:http://www.boxtops4education.com/Promotions/ExtremeDream/

Parent/Teacher Conferences

You should be getting a notice to sign up for conferences next week Mar 25-27

Teacher Appreciation

The PTO will provide a dinner for teachers on Tue Mar 25. If you are willing to help out, please contact Kelly at jukso@aol.com

News and Congrats

2008-03-14T13:34:00.001-05:00

Oration

Please congratulate Asher Hill and Inesha Carruth for their performance at the Optimist Oratorical Contest.
Asher -1st place
Inesha- 3rd place

Soccer

Soccer season opened yesterday for both Boys’ and Girls’ teams. Boys lost to Coile by one goal (3-2). Coile was fortunate to score early in the game. After which David Ontaneda scored two goals with two assists from Eduardo Mancia. Asher Hill also deserves a nod for outstanding defense during the contest. Our girls brought home a win from Coile with a score of 1-0. Ali Minning scored the only goal. The awesome defensive line was anchored by Alicia Micheletti at sweeper and Katie Roberts at stopper with Morgan Wurst and Katie Siemion. Please congratulate all these students when you see them.

Anne Frank

The Anne Frank exhibit is moving from the Oconee Library to the Athens Regional Library on March 16th. It will be set up for the rest of the month during normal library hours. SInce "The Diary of Anne Frank" is studied extensively in eighth grade this is a good opportunity to enhance those studies.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Conferences will be scheduled for 3/25-27

Spring Sports Schedule

2008-03-05T13:59:00.003-05:00

GIRLS SOCCER

DATE TEAMS SITE TIME
03/06/08 (Tues) HMS @ WRC WRC 5:30(make up)

03/20/08 (Thurs) CMS @ HMS HMS 5:30
03/27/08 (Thurs) HMS @ BHL BHL 5:30
04/03/08 (Thurs) WRC @ HMS HMS 5:30

04/10/08 (Thurs) HMS @ CMS CMS 5:30
04/17/08 (Thurs) BHL @ HMS HMS 5:30

BOYS SOCCER

DATE TEAMS SITE TIME
03/06/08 HMS @ WRC WRC 4:30

03/20/08 CMS @ HMS HMS 4:30
03/27/08 HMS @ BHL BHL 4:30
04/03/08 WRC @ HMS HMS 4:30

04/10/08 HMS @ CMS CMS 4:30
04/17/08 BHL @ HMS HMS 4:30

TRACK

DATE HOST SITE TIME
03/06/08 OCMS OCHS 4:30

03/18/08 ACS ACS 4:30

03/26/08 CMS/BHL CCHS 4:30
04/02/08 WRC/HMS CSHS 4:30

HMS track team will be competing against the host school and surrounding county schools, who have been invited to the meets.

2008-03-03T15:09:00.002-05:00

Anne Frank

Ms. Jones, eighth grade language arts teacher, suggested this tie in since one of the reading topics for eighth grade is "The Diary of Anne Frank".
The Oconee County Library will host the traveling exhibit "Anne Frank: A History for Today" from Sunday through March 14.The exhibit, sponsored by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust, features 17 panels of photographs and text that chronicle the Holocaust through the eyes of Anne Frank and her family, showing the effects of National Socialism on the lives of a typical Jewish family.Photographs include family pictures and text includes entries from her famous diary. Accompanying the main exhibit are the smaller exhibits of "The Anne Frank Secret Hiding Place" and "Witness to the Holocaust: World War II Veteran William A Scott III at the Liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp." There will also be a couple related films.
For more information about the programs, call Alice Rossiter at (706) 769-3950.

March is Youth Art Month

Works by the Clarke County Schools are on exhibit at the Athens Regional Library in the Children’s section. Please go by and take a look at Success!!!

Baseball

Hilsman doesn't have its own team but the boys play as Cedar Shoals' C team
DATE:TEAM:LOCATION:TIME:Games:
Fri. 2/29Prince Avenueat Prince Ave.5:30 1 (7 innings)
Sat. 3/1Newton Co.CEDAR SHOALS12:00 2 (5 inning games)
Sat. 3/8Madison Co.CEDAR SHOALS12:00 DH
Sat. 3/15HabershamCEDAR SHOALS12:00 DH
Sat. 3/22Jackson Co.at Jackson12:00 DH
Sat. 3/29Madison Co.at Madison12:00 DH
Sat. 4/5Habersham at Habersham12:00 DH
Sat. 4/12Jackson Co.CEDAR SHOALS12:00 DH
Sat. 4/19Newton Co.at Newton12:00 2 (5 inning games)
Sat. 4/26Oconee Co.CEDAR SHOALS12:00 DH

Future Business Leaders of America

FBLA State Leadership Conference trip and competition results. The students attended the GA Music Hall of Fame, the Macon Arts & Sciences Museum, and Mercer University. We hope to attend the FBLA National Leadership Conference in June. These students placed at the State level in their competition events:

Aubrey Bullock 8th place Business Concepts
Cathy Deng 1st place Business Spelling
2nd place Business Computations
Gilbert Dominguez 4th place Business Concepts
9th place Computer Literacy

Please congratulate these students when you see them.

Box Tops for Education

One of our parents, Joyce McHan has set up Hilsman with the Box Tops for Education fundraising program. Clip the Box Top labels from any General Mills foods that you have. We will collect them in the main office.One student in Mrs Varnum's class has already turned in 100 which translates to $10.

School District News

2008-02-26T14:01:00.002-05:00

CCSD Academic Calendar Options

http://ccspub.objectwareinc.com/do/pageView?id=113098

Click on the link above to read about the proposed calendar options for 2008-09 and 2009-10 for CCSD! Follow the instructions on the link and submit your feedback to the Board of Education no later than March 5th. The Board meets March 6th to vote on these proposals. 2008-09 is a challenging year to schedule with the Presidential election in November and so many schools serving as polling places. This is your chance to give feedback on an important issue.

Call to Action

Please read the attachment for information about Speaker of the House Bill RIchardson's proposed legislation in the Georgia Legislature to eliminate property taxes for local schools. The Georgia School Board Association is opposed to this legislation and encourages everyone to contact your representative! Read the "Call to Action" attachment for more information. A listing of local legislators is also included.

Georgia Performance Standards in Mathematics

If you have questions and want more information about the new performance standards, go to http://www.georgiastandards.org/mathframework.aspx for details about the standards at all grade levels.

2008-02-25T12:08:00.001-05:00

Parent Workshop

Tuesday, Feb 26, 7-9pm
This is a Parent Support Workshop run by Mr. and Mrs. Daniel to give parents tools for help with homework, behavior,etc., also some assistance with High School issues.

MANY HONORS

Math Counts

It is my privilege and honor to inform you that Hilsman swept all before them at the Northeast Georgia Mathcounts competition last Friday. As a teacher at Hilsman I felt very proud of our students who performed with wonderful professionalism at the contest. Not only did we finish first in the team competition, Cathy Deng also managed to perform well enough to win the top place for individual excellence. To top it all, three out of the four members of the second team won places to compete in the state finals. So now Hilsman has more than half of the students who will compete in the State finals. If you see these students in the hall please congratulate them – they represented our school with class.
Cathy Deng
Jason Ye
John Bolen
Mike Xiao
Xing Gao
Akshay Hariani
Anise Crane

Shareef Bacchus
Mathematics Tutor

Spelling Bee Regional Competition

1st place: Cathy Deng (she will compete in the state tournament in Atlanta in March)

Regional Science Fair

Best of Show in Middle School: Jason Ye

1st place:
Logan Glenn
Madison Hogan
Daniel Harrison

2nd place:
Xing Gao
Erin Hollander
Cathy Deng
Maggie Bergmann

3rd place:
Aubrey Bullock

Regional Ricoh Sustainable Development Award: Xing Gao
Society for Science and the Public Award: Maggie Bergmann, Jason Ye, Erin Hollander
Jackson EMC Award: Jason Ye

1st and 2nd place winners will go on to the state competition in April

Basketball

The girl's basketball team fell to Clarke Middle in the championship game, however it was their only loss of the season. Great season everyone.

Panic at Hilsman

Sonny Ortiz, Justus Ortiz’s father, is coming in to share with 7th grade social studies classes on Friday, Feb. 29th. Mr. Ortiz is the percussionist for Widespread Panic. He will be bringing in a number of percussion instruments, especially drums, from various African and Asian cultures. This will serve as the culminating activity for a study of African and Asian cultures and a great way to end our celebration of Black History Month.

New Signs

In case you haven't noticed, Hilsman is getting new signs at the entrance. If conditions allow there is also a landscaping plan to go with them. The signs are being funded via SPLOST.

PTO Meeting and Congratulations

2008-02-10T08:51:00.000-05:00

PTO Meeting

There will be a PTO meeting next Monday, Feb 11 at 6pm in the MediaCenter. Meetings usually last one hour and include reports on schoolactivities and programs as well as use of PTO finances and other issues

Title I Explanation

Hilsman has become classified as a Title I school and is thereforeeligible for some additional funding. District representative MonicaKnight will hold an informational meeting Monday, Feb 11 at 5:30 pm inthe Media Center. This is just before the PTO meeting

County Spelling Bee

Congratulations to Cathy Deng, a Hilsman 8th grader for winning the County Spelling Bee. She will compete in Eatonton on Feb. 23rd in the regional competition.

2008-02-07T11:05:00.000-05:00

Teacher Appreciation

Thanks to everyone who helped out with the Teacher Appreciation Lunch this Tuesday

PTO Meeting

There will be a PTO meeting next Monday, Feb 11 at 6pm in the Media Center. Meetings usually last one hour and include reports on school activities and programs as well as use of PTO finances and other issues

Title I Explanation

Hilsman has become classified as a Title I school and is therefore eligible for some additional funding. District representative Monica Knight will hold an informational meeting Monday, Feb 11 at 5:30 pm in the Media Center. This is just before the PTO meeting

Coffee Fundraiser

Our coffee fundraiser is year-round so please remember to stop by the Village Herb Shop to pick up your favorite beans.

UGA "Pink Out"

On Thursday, February 14th, the UGA Athletic Association plans to "Pink Out" Stegeman Coliseum for the women's basketball game against rival Florida at 7 p.m. They are using the Pink Out promotion to raise awareness for breast cancer research, and encourage everyone attending to wear pink to the game (pink t-shirts will also be on sale at the game). They are also offering $1 admission to the game using the coupon posted under the Promotions section of georgiadogs.com. This is a benefit for breast cancer research in conjunction with Athens Regional. For more information, please visit www.georgiadogs.com and click on the Promotions tab to the left of your screen

Sports News and FBLA Congrats

2008-02-01T11:37:00.000-05:00

FBLA

Hilsman Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) members attended the Region Leadership Conference on Wednesday. These are the students who placed and were recognized in their competition events at the Region level:
Cathy Deng 1st place Business Spelling
3rd place Business Computations
Mike Xiao 1st place Business Computations
Jason Ye 2nd place Business Computations
Morgan Smith 3rd place Business Spelling
Shaq Siddiqui 2nd place Business Concepts
Gilbert Dominguez 2nd place Computer Literacy
Maggie Bergman 3rd place Career Exploration

Please congratulate these students when you see them!

Sports News

Basketball

Girls - Congratulations to our girls team for finishing the season with a perfect 6-0 record. Now their challenge is to keep the winning streak going in hopes to capture the Clarke County Middle School Championship. Their first game in the tournament will be played at BHL. Our girls will be playing CMS on Wednesday February the 6th at 5:45. Please come out and support our Lady Panthers.

Boys - Our boys have suffered a very trying season this year. Please let them know that we are proud of them. However come tournament time every year a Cinderella story is possible. If they can pull two wins together, it is possible our boys can claim the championship. Our boys will play BHL in the first round of the boy’s tournament. The game will be at BHL on Thursday February the 7th at 5:45. Please come out and show our support for the boys.

Soccer and Track

For those who are in need of physical and are interested in playing soccer or running track for Hilsman Middle School please pick up a physical form in the main office. All students who plan on trying out for these or any teams must have a physical.

February Important Dates and more Congratulations

2008-01-30T11:03:00.000-05:00

February Dates to note

Friday, February 8th End of progress report period
Monday, February 11th: PTO Meeting, 6pm in HMS Media Center
Thursday, February 14th: Adopt-A-Class
Friday, February 15th: Progress Reports Distributed
Monday, February 18 -- Professional Learning Day
Saturday, February 23rd: Regional Science Fair at Athens Tech

Congratulations to Hilsman 4-H CPA participants

Hilsman students fared especially well at the 4H CPA competition on Saturday, January 26. We are
very proud of all the students who competed.

Except as noted, all received first place in their respective categories:
Adrian Haynes - Conservation and Recycling
Valeria Bermeo - Dog Care and Training
Kemarcis Howard - Food Safety and Preservation
Hannah Sanders - Health
Breanna Derricotte - Ocean Ecology
Christine Jahng - Performing Arts Instrumental
Brison Brown - Time and Money Management (Sweepstakes Winner)
Jamia Johnson - Time and Money Management
Audrey Smith - Using Water Wisely

For more info about the 4H program, please contact the County 4H agent at ebarber@uga.edu

Volunteers Needed

2008-01-30T10:47:00.000-05:00

Teacher appreciation

HMS PTO will be sponsoring a faculty/staff luncheon on Tuesday, Feb. 5 (Fat Tuesday). We are serving a Cajun Menu and need your help. If you'd like to help by cooking or donating an item please contact us at jukso@aol.com
LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE WILLING TO COOK SOMETHING OR PURCHASE AN ITEM FORTHE LUNCHEON. WE'LL GET BACK IN TOUCH WITH YOU VIA EMAIL TO LET YOU KNOWWHAT ITEMS ARE NEEDED.
This will avoid getting too many of one item and not enough of another. We need all nonperishable store bought items by Monday, Feb. 4(you can give them to Mrs. Smith in the office). Food items need to be in the conference room before 9:00am on Tues, Feb. 5. People that are willing to make a dish for the luncheon we have receipes...we just need volunteers. Some of the dishes include, red beans and rice, sweet potato souffle, cornbread, bread pudding, pecan pies, corn maque choux (don't forget we have receipes for all of these dishes if you need them). Please contact Kelly directly at jukso@aol.comAnna Steffl and Kelly Sanders - PTO food coordinators

Volunteer Hosts for Principal's coffees needed

Once again, Dr. Price would like to hold Principal's coffees in the homes of parents that live in neighborhoods that feed Hilsman. Parents in the general vicinity would be invited to attend and to ask questions of Dr. Price and his administrative staff. Coffees usually last about an hour and a half and a light dessert could be served. He would like to hold a meeting once a month through the end of the school year and then pick it up again when we start back to school. This is just another way of having a dialogue with the parents of the children served by Hilsman. We need a parent/guardian willing to step up and kick things off by holding the first coffee in March. Please contact Dr. Pice at pricet@clarke.k12.ga.us or reply back to this email.

Test Monitors needed

Parent volunteers are needed to help with hall monitoring for the CRCT test (April 8,9,10, 14 and 15 from 8:30-11:30). Last year we had about six volunteers. Anyone who volunteers in the building will have to have a background check unless they were checked last year. Please contact Georgie Bullock at bullockg2@clarke.k12.ga.us or 706-548-7281 ext. 29240 or just reply back to this email

Congratulations Students!

2008-01-28T16:32:00.000-05:00

Science Fair
Hilsman Students had a great showing at the School District Science Fair competition this past Saturday. An asterick (*) indicates that they will go on to regional competition.

Animal Science
1st Maggie Bergmann*
3rd Jeff Bellah Behavioral
Science
1st Anna Schramski*
2nd Madison Hogan*
Biochemistry
1st Cathy Deng*
3rd Taylor Hallenbeck
Chemistry
1st Logan Glenn*
3rd Zoe Bolen
Environmental Science
1st Xing Gao*
Mathematics
1st John Bolen*
Medicine & Health
1st Justus Ortiz*
2nd Kidron Bullock/Mariah Pettis*
Microbiology
1st Daniel Harrison*
2nd Aubrey Bullock*
2nd Erin Hollander*
Plant Science
1st Jason Ye*
3rd Christine Jahng

Academic Team
The Hilsman Academic team placed Second at the recent PAGE Academic Bowl. They were the only undefeated team going into the finals and the overall points leader, but fell in the finals. The team will be competing again at other events.

Welcome back!

2008-01-13T11:49:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to school everyone!

Parents of Eighth Graders - Cedar Shoals is hosting an important meeting for parents of students rising to ninth grade next year. The registration process and other important aspects of high school will be presented. Thursday, January 24th, 6:00 p.m., Cedar Shoals Auditorium.

Congratulations to the Spelling Bee winners:Cathy Deng - 1st placeJay Morris - runner up

Science Fair is January 17

Next Basketball dates are:
1/17 at Clarke Middle
1/24 at Home against Burney-Harris
Tip off at 4:30

Don't forget to pick up your funraiser coffee at the Village Herb Shoppe

End of term news

2007-12-19T21:04:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to the DAR essay winners:

Grade 6: Madison Hogan
Grade 7: Jeffrey Bellah
Grade 8: Kara Keen

These students will be invited to a luncheon with their parents and teacher in January.

Thanks to all the parents who bought coffee at the recent Holiday concert. Remember you can purchase coffee at the Village Herb Shop in the Food Lion shopping center and the PTO will get a portion of sales

Friday is the end of the term. Report cards will be mailed out, but I'm not sure when.

School will start again on January 8th. Have a great holiday!!

Holiday Concert and other News

2007-12-12T13:46:00.000-05:00

Band/Chorus concert at Hilsman on Monday, Dec17, 7pm

The PTO will also be selling Oor Shared Forests coffee before and after the concert - great stocking stuffer for your coffee-drinking friends and family. Just $10 for a 12oz bag. Of that, $3 goes to the PTO.Alternatively, you can purchase coffee online at http://www.1000facescoffee.com/ (There will be a small delivery fee if you order online.) Or...you can purchase coffee at the Village Herb Shop in the Food Lion shopping center at the corner of Cedar Shoals Dr and Gaines School Rd.

Next basketball game is Thur 12/13 at Burney Harris starting at 4:30

PSP will not meet next week and will resume on 1/8

Thanks to everyone for donations to the Can-a-thon and the Bear Hollow plastic bag campaign.

Band/Chorus Concert Date Change

2007-12-05T11:38:00.001-05:00

The Band and Chorus Concert date has been changed from Dec 13 to Dec 17 at 7pm

Please continue to bring in your empty plastic bags for recycling

Can-a-thon

2007-11-29T16:07:00.000-05:00

Hilsman is participating in the 27th annual Can-a-thon to benefit the Athens Emergency Food Bank on Barber St. All donations stay in Clarke Co. The goal for the school is to collect at least one can per student as a total. Any homeroom that brings in over 50 cans will be eligible for a pizza or breakfast party. Rummage through your pantries and come up with some cans.
Thanks

Update of Upcoming Events

2007-11-28T10:58:00.000-05:00

Please note the corrected date for the Band Concert

December 13th - Band Concert @7:00
December 13th - Chorus Concert @7:00

Basketball (all starting at 4:30pm)
11/28 @ Coile
12/6 Clarke Middle @ HMS
12/13 @ Burney Harris Lyons

Ongoing:

Canned Food Drive until Dec 4th

Plastic bag collection for Bear Hollow - Bring your plastic grocery bags to be recycled into plastic lumber for use at the Bear Hollow zoo.

Toys for Tots until Dec. 17th - Bring new toys for distribution to the needy

Coffee Fundraiser - Coffee is available at the Village Herb Shop next to Food Lion. Hilsman gets $3 for every bag of coffee that you purchase.

Fundraising stuff arriving this week

2007-11-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

Fundraising Items - We expect to have all the items ordered as part of the fundraiser ready to go home with your kids this Friday

The BETA Club is holding a canned food drive starting Monday 11/19 and going through 12/4. The drive is to benefit the Athens Area Emergency Food Bank.

Ongoing reminders:

Bring in your plastic grocery bags to help build things at Bear Hollow

Pick up coffee at the Village Herb Shop to benefit the PTO

Update for October 22

2007-10-22T13:31:00.000-05:00

Conferences

This week is early release at 1:30 pm Tue-Thu for parent conferences.

The PTO is supplying a meal for teachers on Tuesday thanks to Barbaritos for a deep discount and to Kelly, Anna and the other parent volunteers who organize these support activities. Due to the great response for the last meal we have enough left over drinks, paper goods, etc to not need anything extra this time.

Hispanic Month activites

Picasso exhibition in the Conference room all week - Open from 8am to 8pm. An exhibit of several of Picasso's masterpieces: Guernica, Night Fishing in Antibes, and The Dream. Parents are welcome to come on by. Students in a number of classes will also be tying in with the exhibition.

El Gran Carnival is Thursday with Food and exhibitions from around the Hispanic world. The students have been working very hard to put on a great exhibition for everyone. Please come from 6-8 pm.

Book Fair

The Book Fair will continue all week in the Media Center and will be open Tuesday evening as well. Many books available at a discount.

PTO

The PTO will meet on Monday Nov 12 at 6pm in the Media Center

Hilsman updates

2007-10-17T20:21:00.001-05:00

Fundraiser
The fundraiser has finally wrapped up. We will give final results after a few minor issues are tied up. We will turn in QSP orders next Monday and then it will take a few weeks to get the items delivered. We turned in the coffee orders today and expect to deliver those to the students on Monday or Tuesday next week.

Coffee

We now have a convenient retail outlet for purchasing coffee and crediting the Hilsman PTO. The Village Herb Shop in the Food Lion shopping center at the corner of Gaines School and Cedar Shoals has the same coffee that we sold in the fundraiser. It is still $10/bag of which $3 goes to the school. Be sure to mention that you are buying for Hilsman PTO. Their hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 1-6 p.m. Sunday

Parent Workshop

Just in case you didn't get the letter - There will be a parent workshop this Saturday, Oct 20, from 10am-noon entitled "Homework 21st Century Style". It is meant to help parents assist their children with homework and class studies. Contact Shirley Daniel at Hilsman for more information.

Hispanic Heritage Month

Spanish students are engaged in a number of activities that will
culminate in EL Gran Carnival at Hilsman on Thursday October 25 from
6-8 pm. Come view the student's projects, nosh on a wide variety of
foods from Hispanic countries, enjoy the demonstrations, costumes,
dances and parade.

Book-Fair

The Book Fair will be open during parent conferences and during school hours. Lots of great
books at great prices. Media Center. October 22nd - 26th.

Canned Food Drive

Bring in your canned goods for the NE Georgia Food Bank

Upcoming Activities

2007-10-08T20:48:00.000-05:00

Fundraiser

We have extended the final day to turn in orders to this Friday
October Oct 12. We only raised about half the money we expected. If
you haven't ordered or made a donation, please consider doing so this
week. Send packets in with your child or drop at the office.

Hispanic Heritage Month

Spanish students are engaged in a number of activities that will
culminate in EL Gran Carnival at Hilsman on Thursday October 25 from
6-8 pm. Come view the student's projects, nosh on a wide variety of
foods from Hispanic countries, enjoy the demonstrations, costumes,
dances and parade.

Book-Fair

The Book Fair will be open during parent conferences. Lots of great
books at great prices. Media Center. October 22nd - 26th.

Reach Out and Touch Club

Now taking applications for the 2007-2008 school year. Reverend David
Nunnally, Sr., is the founder. The Reach Out and Touch Club offers
participation in:

Career and Professional Awareness Day
Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service
College and Career Awareness Day
And the Beautillion Scholarship Dinner

Please pick up an application in Mrs. Gantt's Room #311
There are only 12 applications available.
First Come - First Served

Canned Food Drive

Bring in your canned goods for the NE Georgia Food Bank

After School Program

Plans are still being finalized for this program.

Hilsman Fundraiser Reminder

2007-09-26T15:55:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder that this is the final week for the Hilsman PTO fundraiser. Packets are due back in school on Tuesday October 2. Please encourage your children to participate and help support the school. There is the traditional QSP packet with magazines, wrapping paper, etc and there is our new locally based coffee fundraiser. I hope you can find something worth buying, however if you really don't want to buy anything, please consider making a donation of $20 or so to the Hislman PTO. Checks can be sent in with the packets.

Fundraising, Scholars Institute

2007-09-12T21:23:00.000-05:00

Open House

There was a good crowd at Open House last night. Thanks to Anna Steffl and Kelly Sanders and the other volunteers for making a great meal for the school staff. This is one of the many activities supported by you, the PTO, through volunteerism and a bit of cash.

Fundraising

Your children all received a fundraising packet yesterday. If you have not seen it, you might want to ask about it. Two separate fundraisers were bundled into one envelope. There was the main envelope from QSP, but stuck inside was a smaller set of papers related to the coffee sale. If you have not participated in the fundraiser in the past, please take a look at the coffee. It is an excellent alternative if the QSP items are not to your taste. The sale continues until Oct 2.

Hilsman Scholars Institute

Mrs Srivastiva (srivastaval@clarke.k12.ga.us) and Mrs. Clark (clarkc@clarke.k12.ga.us) have revived a program aimed at promoting academic excellence, community service and self-improvement. For a better explanation, please see the slide show available on our website:
http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/HilsmanScholarsInsttute.ppt

Sex Education

Dr. Price is seeking a parent interested in serving on the School District Sex Education Committee. For details please contact Dr. Price at: pricet@clarke.k12.ga.us

Open House and Fundraisers

2007-09-10T13:49:00.000-05:00

Hilsman Open House is on Tuesday Sept 11, 6-7:30 pm

Parents will have an opportunity to follow their children through their daily classes and meet their teachers.

Fundraiser Kickoff

Your children will receive a fundraising packet at school on Tuesday. It will contain info, order forms, etc for two of our fundraisers: QSP/Reader's Digest and 1000 Faces Coffee. Please support the school by ordering some items. 30-50% of proceeds go directly to the PTO which distributes the funds for a wide variety of school projects and activities. Deadline to return the packets is Oct 2.

Kroger Fundraiser

Don't forget our easiest fundraiser - the Kroger Plus Card. We only have 37 families signed up so far. I'm sure many more of you shop at Kroger. All you have to do is take our form to Kroger one time and link it with your Plus card at the register. It's that easy. If you still need the form, find it at our website: http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/Kroger_07_08.pdf

Hilsman phone extensions are now available on our web page:

http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/HILSMAN_TEL_DIRECTORY.pdf

Upcoming sporting events:

Thursday: Football at BHL 5:00

Volleyball: at HMS on 9/12 at 4:30

Cross-country meet Saturday at Athens Academy 8:45

Hilsman Open House - Staff Dinner Assistance

2007-09-06T15:15:00.000-05:00

Hi all,
Anna Steffl and I are on board once again to coordinate the Hilsman Faculty/Staff dinners and luncheons. PTO funds some of this, but we also need help from HMS parents to feed all faculty and staff members. Some of you helped last year by bringing in store bought goods and/or homemade items (thanks!).

Our first dinner is HMS Open House (Tues, 9/11). Most teachers stay late on Open House days so we thought we'd show them how appreciative we are by offering them dinner. We'll begin feeding faculty at 4:30 that afternoon.Anna and I usually plan a theme dinner or luncheon, ask parents for the things that aren't too perishable (items their child can bring in) and we do the rest. Some of you like baking and preparing food so let us know if you're interested in making something instead of bringing in a store bought item. We love your help! There are currently 70 faculty members and approx 90 faculty/staff. We feed a lot of people! Usually, we sponsor a luncheon 3 times a year as well as pizza 2 times a year on Tues. Conference Nights. We try to provide the faculty with a really nice meal. We ran out of money last year due to large numbers and quality luncheons. Thus, we decided to hold 2 really nice luncheons/dinners and 2 pizza Conference dinners. FYI...we put out 2 huge baskets of snacks welcoming everyone back to school at the beginning of the year.

We are asking that parents donate the following for the dinner Tuesday night.
We need the following items:

Sturdy Paper Plates (dinner and dessert)
Plastic Forks,Spoons/Knives
Paper Napkins
12 pks of canned drinks or bottled water

Whatever is left over we store and use for the next luncheon/dinner

We also need the following for the dinner on Tuesday (some are homemade if you'd like to make something):

Sugar cookies (with sprinkles for fun!) and/or Biscotti
Green salad with vinaigrette dressing
focaccia bread(Kroger has a nice one in their bakery section)
tomatoes
fresh basil
Parmesan Cheese (only one person needs to provide this)

Let me know if you can donate any of the above. All items are to be dropped off Tues. morning before 10 a.m. in the Conference Room at Hilsman (first door on the right when you walk in the building).

You can email me at jukso@aol.com

Thanks for helping!

Kelly Sanders

PS Our menu for Tuesday night's dinner is as follows:

Green Salad with vinaigrette dressing
Caprese Salad (tomatoes, basil, mozzarella drizzled with olive oil and balsamic)
Italian Sausage, Peppers and Onions in Marinara
Plain Marinara Sauce w/o meatSpinach Lasagna
2 types of cooked pasta (probably spaghetti and penne)
Focaccia Bread
Dessert-Sugar Cookies/Biscotti

August 26, 2007 Update

2007-08-26T16:32:00.000-05:00

Picture Day is Friday, August 31

Science Fair has been scheduled for Jan 17, 2008 - time to start
planning

Open House Tuesday, September 11

After School Program offerings and schedules still not firmed up by
the District yet. A schedule should be available by Open House

Hilsman Cross Country Team

This is the team's second year at HMS. As a result our goals will be
to build on our successful first year, introduce our new student-
athletes to the sport, develop our runners' conditioning, as well as
our ability to compete as a team at meets.

Schedule:
· Information meeting during homeroom on Wednesday, 8/22 from 8:20 to
8:40.
· Will run from 8/27 to 10/13 (longer if we are able to participate in
the City Championships at the end of the season).
· Tryouts will be conducted as part of regular practices. The final
team roster will be posted on 8/31.
· Practices:
o Monday (4:00 to 5:15)
o Tuesday (4:00 to 5:15)
o Thursday (4:00 to 5:15)
o Additional practices will be added as needed to prepare for
scheduled meets.

Equipment
· Running shorts, not basketball shorts.
· Running shoes, not basketball shoes - Bulldog sports has a good
selection and will offer HMS Cross Country team members a 20% team
discount. Saucony is a good, reasonably priced running shoe.
· A light shirt, water bottle, sunscreen, etc.

Transportation
· Students will need to be picked up by a parent at 5:15pm. No student
will be allowed to ride with a friend without written and signed
permission from their parent. These letters will be kept on file.

Meets:
Date Day Place Time
9/6 th Cedar Shoals H.S. 4:15
9/15 sa Athens Academy 8:45am
9/25 th Athens Academy 4:15pm
10/4 th Athens Academy 4:15pm
10/13 sa Oglethorpe County H.S. 9am
10/23 tu * Athens Academy *TBD City Championships

Team performance:
· The policy of Hilsman Cross Country Team is that every team member
will be expected to maintain good behavior and grades. All team
members are "student athletes". Therefore, team members must do their
best, both in terms of grades and behavior, in practice and in school.
Poor behavior, insufficient participation or failing grades will
result in dismissal from the team.
· All team members must have a completed physical and be academically
eligible in order to participate.
· All team members must have signed parent permission to practice off
of the HMS campus.

Team Member Expectations:
All team members will be expected to -
· Dress out and be on time for all practices and meets
· Encourage and support all team members
· Practice sportsmanship
· Do their best during practice and in school

More Information:
For more information about the Hilsman XC Team please contact Coach
Oulevey at (706) 207-9412.

First PTO meeting this Monday, August 20

2007-08-19T10:33:00.000-05:00

The first Hilsman PTO meeting will be held this Monday, August 20 at
6pm in the Hilsman Media Center. We will discuss PTO initiatives for
the coming year, go over funding, and the administration will report
on the first week of school and upcoming items of importance. We hope
to have coffee provided by one of our fundraising partners.

Please plan on attending!

Welcome to the 2007-08 School Year

2007-08-06T14:41:00.000-05:00

As you probably know, school begins Monday, Aug 13. There are a couple of activities this week for preparation:

Thursday Aug 9

Sixth Grade Transition Camp, 2:30-5:30 (Students Only)
Sixth Grade Orientation 5:30-6:30 (Parents Included)

Friday Aug 10

Sixth Grade Orientation Backup 9-10 am (Parents Included)
Seventh & Eighth Grade Orientation 10:30-11:30 (Parents Included)

We need a few parent volunteers to help prepare and serve hot dogs, etc for the Sixth Grade Camp. If you can help, please contact Laura Trammell asap at trammelll@clarke.k12.ga.us Parents of seventh & eighth grade students are requested.

Kroger Fundraiser

Please go to our web page (http://hilsmanpto.googlepages.com/fundraisers) and print out the Kroger fundraiser page. The page has a bar code on it that you have scanned at Kroger and linked to your Kroger Plus Card. If you did this last year, you still have to do it fresh this year. This is the easiest fundraiser ever!Printouts will also be available at orientation.

First PTO Meeting
First PTO meeting of the year will be on Monday August 20 at 6pm in the Media Center.

If you have anything to send out or want to add a friend to this list, please send an email to hilsmanpto@gmail.com