We are thrilled to be back in school after staying home a few days due to weather. We have missed our classroom and building routines, and we look forward to continuing our work with all our students. Even though the weather caused anxiety within the WMS learning community, our staff is cool, calm, collected and “can do” as they monitor and adjust. We have decided to follow the WHS semester change and will now end 1st semester 1.27.17.
As a follow-up to the December 2016 report, I have asked the rest of the WMS departments for input for WMS Board Reports. There are many unique things going on, and we are so proud of the dynamic work by students and staff. The following departments have put together a brief report in more detail below:
Art Classes
6th Art -- We reviewed the elements of art while learning about the profession of a comic book artist. As a break, these two days before Thanksgiving, we are creating kinetic sculptures as a group that will be used in a mannequin challenge in the art room to create the feeling of a moment in time.
7-8 Art -- We are finishing up our first painting that involved learning how to draw using positive and negative space as well as paintbrush types and blending techniques.
Advanced Art -- We are finishing up a two (2) piece clay planter which combines pinch pots, coil pots, and subtractive sculpting methods. We also started designing a mural for the overflow cafeteria seating in collaboration with the horticulture class.
Art History -- We just started a voyage through American art by looking at the artist Gilbert Stuart who painted George Washington's portrait that was copied on the dollar bill.
Contemporary Art -- We started off the quarter learning the meaning colors can hold and are creating a self-portrait collage that expresses an emotion.
5th Grade Science
We just finished up the Earth and Sun science kits in fifth grade. Students learned all about our place in the universe as well as interesting facts about other planets, the moon, and the sun. We have also been learning more about the design process and the scientific method by participating in some engaging STEM activities and investigations.
Lego Robotics
The Lego Robotics team has been working hard to get their research done on bats with White Nose Syndrome. After three meetings with bat experts, a working solution has been proposed by the team and a 5-minute presentations been made. The Engineering Challenge requires the team to build a robot to complete several tasks which are designed to improve human interactions with animals. We recently placed 2nd in several categories at a scrimmage over at Washougal middle school. Our big competition was held at Caitlin Gable school in Portland on December 3rd. WMS students came in 1st place overall out of 18 schools!
The HI-C class has been working hard to build their own “Wright Stuff” rubber-band-powered airplane and bottle rockets designed to carry an egg safely in the air the longest. Science Olympiads competitions are coming up soon.
Band
The Instrumental Music Program is intended to prepare students to participate in band at the high school level and beyond, equipping them to become independent musicians capable of walking into any community band or college ensemble and participating freely.
Currently, we have 5 different ensembles in the Woodland School District. These include Beginning Band (5/6), Trojan Band (6/7/8), Percussion Ensemble (9-12), Beaver Band (9-12), and Jazz Ensemble (Audition required). It is my goal to continue to grow our program until over 10% of the student population participates in instrumental music, to have 70 students enrolled in the High School Beaver Band five years from now. We have nearly doubled the amount of students in WMS band this year than last year as well as more interest in band overall! Also, we are building a powerful partnership with music stores to make sure any student who wants to be in band may do so without family finances precluding them.