September 18, 2011


Dear BCS Families,

It is uncommon these days for someone to not have some sort of GPS (global positioning system). Many cars are now equipped with this service, there are numerous brands of GPS devices for us to purchase, and now many phones have GPS capabilities. It is almost impossible for us to get lost. Directions to our destinations are only one click away. Depending on the GPS device you own, you hear a voice, see a map, or both. Rarely do these directions steer you in the wrong direction. Overtime, many of us become dependent on our GPS devices and do not leave home without it!

Recently, I drove to Alpena, Michigan. I, of course, sat in my car and typed in the address to my destination. The GPS quickly showed the safest and quickest route…4 hours and 14 minutes. Leaving at 7:30 a.m. gave me enough time to make my 12:00 p.m. meeting. 2 hours into my drive I realized the GPS was taking me in a direction different than what I planned. I wanted to take I-75 to 23 and drive through Tawas, a place where I spent many summer days as a child. My GPS was directing me to drive past 23 and take 65 to Alpena. Knowing the GPS was programmed to take me in the safest, quickest route, I contemplated going with its directions and ignoring the route I wanted to take. It was a long 20 miles going north on 75 trying to decide what to do.

As I approached 23 North and had to make a decision, I realized that the GPS in my car was a lot like the GPS in our lives. We all have destinations in our lives we want to reach and there are always voices or maps that are available to help us get there. These voices and maps come in many different forms, such as parents, friends, college entrance exams, or our careers to name a few. All of our destinations in life have a road map and we often find ourselves contemplating whether to follow the directions or not. In some cases, it makes sense to follow the safest and quickest route, especially since these directions have been researched, tested, and proven to work. There are times in our life, however, where the safest and quickest route will just not do. Driving north on 75 I realized that if I didn’t turn right onto 23, I would miss my opportunity to visit a destination that continues to be an important part of my childhood memories. It certainly was not my final destination that day, but was worth veering off the road map for a short time. Turning onto 23, my GPS reminded me I was off route. I pressed recalculate and it continued to give me routes to go back on 75. It became clear I was on my own if I decided to stick with my plan. When it was all said and done, I made my destination. I was a little late for my 12:00 p.m. meeting and used more gas than what the original route predicted. The GPS was right, the route I took was not the quickest, but as I stood there in Alpena to begin my meeting, I was confident that the route I took was the right route for me.


I was reminded that in life we should use our GPS devices, but let’s not rely on them! Sometimes we have to go our own way!

Have a great week,


Adam



WEEK AT A GLANCE – Week of September 19-23, 2011

(Disclaimer: Please check all your calendars and bcsonline.info in case we missed something)


Ø To submit an item for next week’s “WAG”, email mz07bps@birmingham.k12.mi.us by THURSDAY 11PM







Monday, September 19



· 6:45 -8 AM Girls Basketball Practice



· 7-8 AM Cross Country Practice



· 4:05-6 PM First Lego Robotics Club Meeting - Media Center



4:05-6PM-7-8 Boys Soccer Practice

Tuesday, September 20



· 4:00 PM Cross Country Exhibition Meet-Beverly Park



4:00PM Girls basketball game @ West Hills Middle School, 8th grade game starts after 7th grade game is finished. Check highschoolsports.net for directions to the school.

· 4:00 PM Boys Soccer @ HOME v. Bloomfield Hills Middle School



· 7:00 PM Blast Committee Meeting-Media Center



· 7: PM Board of Education Meeting



Wednesday, September 21



· 6:45 -8 AM Girls Basketball Practice



· 7-8 AM Cross Country Practice



· Fresh Popcorn sold during Choice Hour



4:05-6PM-7-8 Boys Soccer Practice

· 6:30 PM Technology Committee Meeting-Media Center



Thursday, September 22



· 6:45 -8 AM Girls Basketball Practice



· 12:30 PM Lunch with the Principals-bring a lunch and join the PTSA in Digital Video West(next to Room 100)



· 1:15 PM PTSA Clearinghouse Meeting immediately following lunch



3:15-5:15 7-8 Boys Soccer Practice

· 4:00 PM Cross Country Meet (Home) at Beverly Park v.WHMS and Berkley



6:00pm PTSA Curriculum Refreshments & Chat for 7 /8

6:30pm 7 /8 Back to School Night - Curriculum Presentations

· Market Day Internet orders due by Midnight



Friday, September 23



· 6:45 -8 AM Girls Basketball Practice



· 4:05-6PM-7-8 Boys Soccer Practice



Saturday, September 24



· 6 PM Proud Dads tennis-Birmingham Racquet Club



Hot Entrée menu for the week: (subject to change, if necessary)



- Available everyday: Salad Bar, Hamburgers, Chicken Patties, Pizza & Cheese Breadsticks



Monday – Baked Chicken Nuggets, Baked Potato Rounds, Steamed Broccoli, Mexican pizza



Tuesday – Roasted Beef Grinder on Wheat Bun, Scalloped Potatoes, Coleslaw, Cheese Quesadilla



Wednesday – General Tso’s Chicken, Steamed Brown Rice, Steamed Carrots, Supreme Pizza



Thursday – French Bread Pizza, Small Fresh Garden Salad, Fresh Fruit Cup, Zesty Beef Burrito



Friday – Meatballs and Gravy, Tossed Noodles, Steamed Green Beans, Mea Lover’s Pizza











PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR IMPORTANT FAMILY, SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY INFORMATION























NOTES:







3/4 SWIM & GYM SCHEDULE for 1st Marking Period



Harvath and Maliszewski homerooms will be in SWIM CLASS until Thursday, Oct 6th students should be prepared with swimsuits and towels.



Butzin, Frishman, Davis, Seley, Parkin, and Wallington will be in GYM CLASS until Thursday, Oct 6th – students should be prepared with gym shoes .



ATHLETICS UPDATES



Basketball heats up on Tuesday, 9/20 as our BCS Lady Cobras take on West Hills Middle School in the first away games of the season! Students will depart from BCS at approximately 3:00 PM and the games will start at 4:00 PM. Please check the girls basketball website for further information (http://bcsonline.info/Athletics/GBasketball.html) on this year’s season.



Cross Country runs their first meet(Exhibition) on Tuesday, 9/20 against Derby and Berkley at Beverly Park at 4:00 PM! Please be sure to see the cross country website (http://bcsonline.info/Athletics/CrossCountry.html) for a listing of the upcoming meets. Home meets will be held at Beverly Park. If you were not able to make it to the parent meeting last week, please be sure to contact Coach Geisler for more information.



Soccer kicks off their first game at home Tuesday, 9/20 at 4:00 PM against Bloomfield Hills Middle School ! Be sure to check out the schedule for this season online (http://bcsonline.info/Athletics/BSoccer.html) and come to root on our BCS Boys Soccer Team.



YEARBOOK ORDERING INFORMATION



Yearbooks AND Proud Parent ads can be ordered online this year. Go to http://bcsonline.info/Parent_Resources/Yearbooks.html for more information. Online price of only $35 for a yearbook ends November 18, 2011. Deadline for Proud Parent ads is January 22, 2012



MATH TOOLS ORDER INFORMATION



The BCS Math department offers families the opportunity to purchase calculators, geotemplates and everyday math games for your child's personal use. Please take a moment to review the “BCS Math Tools Order Form” at bcsonline.info, to see if you are interested in any of the items listed. Each item includes the 6% sales tax required by the state of Michigan. Please contact your child’s math teacher if you need more details.



To place an order, please download the order form, complete it and attach payment and return to your child's math teacher or Laurie Huff by 4:00PM Friday, September 23.



Math tools that are ordered should be available to be delivered to each student in mid October.



News from the Green Committee



Now that school is back in session the Green Committee would like to invite you all to participate in out Green Committee .Our purpose is to brainstorm ways to help our students become better environmental stewards.Last year we had great success with parent suggestions like the lunch time gardening club and bottle cap mural. If you would like to particpate please contact Pauline Roberts at pr05bps@birmingham.k12.mi.us



3 /4 Engage INFORMATION



Your students will be using the software Audacity for several projects. Many students really enjoy this software and love to record their voice and hear it playback. We would like your child to be able to play with this software at home to become familiar with it. It's a free download from:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ (You want to download the application and the LAME MP3 encoder.)

If you would like to know more about using this program, just search Google with the keywords “audacity tutorial” and you will find a bunch. Or, visit our howto wiki.

http://howto.wikis.birmingham.k12.mi.us/Audacity



BCS BLAST MEETING

The BCS Blast committee will be having our first meeting on Tuesday, September 20th at 7:00PM in the media center. The BCS Blast is the biggest fund raiser of the year for our school. The BCS Blast is a fun filled afternoon and early evening of carnival games, bouncy inflatables, delicious food, prizes for the kids, cake walk, raffle and silent auction. If you're new to BCS, this is an event you won't want to miss.

The Blast has several committees and we invite all who would like to attend our meeting to join us. We have several openings that need to be filled for this year's event. This is a fun opportunity to meet and work with other BCS parents while helping our school raise much needed funds. Please get involved and join us this Tuesday.







Choice Hour Information



Just wanted to share an interesting tidbit with you! Jennifer Brown has processed close to 300 choice hour changes so far this quarter. Please understand that with this amount of paperwork there are bound to be problems. If for some reason we still haven’t “fixed” your child’s choice hour schedule let us know so that we can get it right. Thank you for your patience with some of these changes !!! Thank you Jennifer! (Jennifer is new to BCS and has done an amazing job. It is not an easy task, and it is not her only responsibility!) We are no longer accepting choice hour changes but you can drop your child from a choice hour class at any time during the quarter. Drop forms are available in the office or at bcsonline.info.



There are several procedures that you can follow if your child is unable to attend choice hour.



· You can call 248-203-4625 to leave a message.



· You can send a note to the office with your child.



· You can email Linda Stone at ls06bps@birmingham.k12.mi.us



· You can stop by the office to sign them out. If you will be picking up your child during the choice hour period, please come into the building to sign them out. You will be asked to present identification, issued a pink slip and then you will be directed to the Choice Hour desk where the 7th and 8th grade Choice Hour assistants will be happy to locate your child for you.



Students that do not have Choice Hour need to be picked up by 3:20 PM. If they are not in a Choice Hour class and are not picked up by 3:30 PM you will be charged a $5.00 fee.







If your child does not have a Choice Hour class on any given day but needs to stay please contact Linda Stone so that proper arrangements can be made. There is a $5.00 fee for this service!







Questions regarding the Choice Hour program should be directed to Linda Stone at 248-203-4625 or ls06bps@birmingham.k12.mi.us. Questions regarding Choice Hour scheduling should be directed to Jennifer Brown at 248-203-4426 or jb18bps@birmingham.k12.mi.us .



First Lego League Club



It will be meeting at 4:05, after choice hour, on Monday September 19. We will gather in the Media Center and walk down to the Lego Robotics classroom. Please be sure to send an extra snack and make arrangements for getting home at 6pm. Any questions, please email newdawnagain@yahoo.com



BCS Proud Dads Tennis Lessons



Lessons will be again offered at the Birmingham Racquet Club

Saturday classes will run at 6pm from September 24 to November 12

The cost is $96

These classes are for beginning and intermediate players grades 3-6

Capacity is limited. Students will be registered when they return form(on bcsonline.info) , payment and waiver



BCS MULCH DAY (DATE CHANGE) - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1st



Summer is officially on the wane and it’s time for a bit of Summer is officially on the wane and it’s time for a bit of gardening at BCS. We pride ourselves on being the school where parents give more than almost anywhere else. Sometimes that involves putting on work gloves and getting wood chips in our shoes. Don't look now, but it’s one of those times once again.



We need volunteers (at least 20!) to come out at 9:00am on Saturday, October 1 with rakes, brooms and wheelbarrows to spread mulch on our two gardens. With a decent turnout (did I mention that at least 20 would be good?), we should be done by noon. Just in time to watch your favorite team play football.



Please reply to Mike Anderson with your intentions to come out and help at mike@mccanco.com. Please don't leave it to the other guy to do all the heavy lifting. Let's show up, share the load and get it done for BCS. Look forward to seeing you there.



NOTE TO BCS/BPS FAMILY AND FRIENDS



Comcast has introduced a program called Comcast Internet Essentials. This offer is for any BPS students receiving free lunches (not reduced lunches) through the National School Lunch Program. In an effort to bridge the “Digital Divide” it provides:



Home Internet Access for $9.95 per month



An Optional Netbook Computer for $149.00



Free Internet Training – Online, Print







Comcast has launched the program and is now accepting applications.



For more information, see the Comcast website:



http://internetessentials.com/







Food Service Reaches Out to the Community…



During these challenging economic times we want to continue our commitment to the nutritional lunch meal that each student receives at Birmingham Public Schools. If a student or family lunch account becomes behind we will continue to provide students with a meal of milk, cheese and fruit – meeting all of the nutritive guidelines for dairy, protein and fruit / vegetable. Our goal is not to minimize what we are offering but to give the student foods with nutrition value for a limited time while we work with their parents to bring their accounts up to date or pack a lunch for them if necessary.



We offer several alternatives for families to pay for meals at Birmingham Public Schools. Online pre-payment through www.mymealtime.com is an excellent alternative and is now available without a surcharge. Through an account at the mymealtime site you can also receive an email notification when your students’ account is low.



If you would like to investigate the federal programs for providing student meals for free or at a reduced cost, the forms are available at any school office and as well at the www.mymealtime.com site.



If you have any questions about the foodservices program at Birmingham Public Schools, please contact our foodservice department at 248-203-3966 or 203-3965.







BCS and Berkshire 8th grade Soccer Players – 8th grade soccer players are invited to a Groves Varsity Soccer Game against Royal Oak on Friday, September 23. The game starts at 7 pm at Groves Stadium. In order to get a free pass to the game, please sign up your name by visiting the Groves Soccer Website, www.grovessoccer.com. Click “invitation to BPS 8th graders” on the page and follow the directions. First 20 8th graders who show at the game will get spirit-items!