Bold Parents=Bold Schools

January 8, 2012

Dear BCS Families,

I hope you enjoyed the warmer weather this weekend.  I recently read an article titled, Are you a Bold School or an Old School?, (http://www.districtadministration.com/article/are-you-old-school-or-bold-school) by Will Richardson.  It posed a valid question for principals and teachers while presenting a solid case for all of us to continue forging ahead to make sure education is relevant to our learners.  The author lays out the realties in today’s world making the case that we must be bold in order to not be “old”. 

Some key points:

Bold schools are places of questions, not answers.

Bold schools are steeped in cultures where everyone, both educators and students, are seen as learners first.

Bold schools are innovating and inventing in the classroom and curriculum, poking the box of traditional education in ways that make sense for kids.

To be fully able to seize the opportunities that access provides, the adults need to be engaged in the learning process as much if not more than the kids in our classrooms.

Bold schools are those that are actively educating around and advocating for meaningful change in their local and state communities.

I would like to add a key point that was not included in the article.  A bold school encourages and embraces bold parents.  The word bold holds a variety of definitions but the most prominent is:

a : fearless before danger 

b : showing or requiring a fearless daring spirit

These characteristics have been rich across our parent community throughout the history of BCS and continue to allow us to preserve our great traditions while consistently placing us on the cutting edge of education.  Behind every great school is a community of bold parents.  BCS parents provide leadership for programs, provide resources for extra curricular activities, and work side by side with teachers to provide relevant and rigorous learning opportunities.  They have always been and continue to be bold!

Knowing we have bold parents, I am excited about the fact we have many leadership positions opened that are crucial in keeping BCS on the cutting edge.  In the three years I have been Principal, I have watched one bold parent give his or her leadership opportunity to another bold parent, allowing us to maintain the quality programs and resources our students are accustomed to.  These seamless transitions will need to occur this year, and soon, as we have many parents “graduating” out of BCS.  Below is a list of leadership opportunities we MUST fill quickly to ensure BCS continues to be bold and not old.  Please contact me, Mrs. Chinn, or PTSA co-chairs, Gina Herdegen (royalherd@comcast.net) and Brier Neel (neel_bg@yahoo.com) if you are ready to be bold in 2012.  Please go to the PTSA link to see more details. (http://bcsonline.info/PTSA.html)

Leadership Opportunities (2012-2013)

Co-Chair (share leadership with Brier Neel)

Technology/Webmasters (http://bcsonline.info/PTSA/Technology.html)

Blast Co-Chair (Next meeting Tuesday, Jan.10th at 7:00 p.m. BCS)                                                       

Contact either Karen Best or Ken Gilbert at BlastChair@bcsonline.info for more information.

Proud Dad Co-Chair (http://bcsonline.info/PTSA/Proud_Dads.html)

Social (http://bcsonline.info/PTSA/Social.html)

Facilities (http://bcsonline.info/PTSA/Facility_Improvements.html)

Recording Secretary

These positions are crucial to our success- If you want any information regarding what the positions entail, contact us!

G.E.E.K.ed about a Bold Parent Community,

Adam

WEEK AT A GLANCE –   Week of January 9-13, 2011

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

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

Monday, January 9***CHOICE  HOUR  SELECTION SHEETS DUE BY 4PM***(with applicable payment)

• 8 AM-5PM BCS Lottery Registration-Administration Building
• 3:15-5:00 PM-GIRLS  SWIM TEAM PRACTICE
• 4;00 PM BOYS BASKETBALL –HOME v. Berkshire Middle School
• 7PM- Battle program at Baldwin- Meet Helen Frost, our Battle author for Diamond Willow.

Tuesday, January 10

• 8 AM-7PM BCS Lottery Registration-Administration Building
• VISION SCREENIN BEGINS for 3^rd,5^th,7^th grade students
• 6:45-8 AM GIRLS SWIM  TEAM PRACTICE
• 6:45-8 AM BOYS BASKETBALL PRACTICE
• 8 AM BAGELS for Sale- for $1.25 (cream cheese .25 cents)in front of the Media Center
• GEOGRAPHY BEE for 4-8^th grades
• 3:15 PM-SCHOOL STORE  OPEN DURING CHOICE HOUR
• 7 PM- BLAST Committee Meeting-Media Center –see announcement below

Wednesday, January 11

• 8 AM-5PM Lottery Registration-Administration Building
• 6:45-8 AM BOYS BASKETBALL PRACTICE
• 8:30-11:30 AM-BLUE LAKE AUDITIONS-BAND ROOM
• 8:30-9:15.AM-The Groves Counselors will be coming to speak to our 8^th graders in the media center
• 4:15 PM-Girls Swim MEET  -away v. Derby mIDDLE sCHOOL
• 7PM Web Team Meeting

Thursday, January 12 

• 8 AM-5PM BCS Lottery Registration-Administration Building
• 8AM-2PM-Religious Diversity Journey (nine 7^th grade students)
• 8:30-11:30 AM-BLUE LAKE AUDITIONS-BAND ROOM
• 9:30-10:30AM. Seaholm Counselors  will be coming to speak to our 8^th graders in the media center
• 12:30-1PM-Lunch with the Principal-Digital Video West
• 1:15-3PM-PTSA Meeting-Digital Video West
• 4;00 PM BOYS BASKETBALL –HOME v. Orchard Lake Middle School
• 4:15-6 PM-Girls Swim Team practice

Friday, January 13

•  8 AM-5PM BCS Lottery Registration-Administration Building
• 6:45-8 AM GIRLS SWIM  TEAM PRACTICE
• 6:45-8 AM BOYS BASKETBALL PRACTICE
• 9 AM-1:30 PM -3 /4 Field Trip-Detroit Historical Museum-(Parkin,Wallington,Frishman,Butzin)

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

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

Monday – Whole Grain Pancakes. Sausage, Hashbrown  Patty, Fresh Fruit Cup, BBQ Chicken Pizza

Tuesday – Chicken Parmesan, Garlic breadstick, Steamed Broccoli, Chicken Quesadilla,

Wednesday – Chicken Fajitas, Corn and Peppers, Refried Beans, Hawaiian Pizza

Thursday – Baked Chicken Drumstick, Au Gratin Potatoes, Whole Wheat roll, Zesty Beef Burrito

Friday – Baked Mac and Cheese, California Blend, Fresh Grapes, Meat Lovers Pizza

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR IMPORTANT FAMILY, SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY INFORMATION

See below for BATTLE AND 8^TH GRADE PHOTO INFORMATION

ATHLETICS UPDATES FOR WINTER II

Winter 2 athletics season registration is open!  Please visit the BCS athletics page to register your athlete for either Girls Volleyball (7^th/8^th grade) or Boys Swim (6^th/7^th/8^th grade).-please remember your student can not participate in tryouts until all paper work is submitted.

Choice Hour Information for quarter iii

Selection sheets were distributed last week.  Selections can be viewed online at www.bsconline.info and are due back no later than Monday January 9^th at 4:00PM.   Students who do not turn in a selection sheet will not be placed in any Choice Hour classes.  Students who do not turn in a selection sheet with payment for the optional 4^th or 5^th day, by the deadline, will not be allowed to make a change in their schedule. Do not include payment for classes with materials fees or pay to play fees, you will be billed  separately once students have been placed in their Choice Hour classes.

Important information  for  3^rd quarter:

Mrs. Stephenson is offering a Forensics I Choice Hour class on Mondays for students in grades 5-7.  This class is a pre-requisite for the competitive Forensics II team.   Students must be enrolled in this class to be eligible to audition for the team in the spring of 2012.  

The 3-4 and 5-8 Robotech classes are being offered to new students only!!  These are not continuing classes. 

The 5-8 Zon class will give priority placement to new students.  Students currently enrolled in the Zon choice hour and co-curricular classes may have an opportunity to take this class if there are openings.  A lottery process will be used to determine student placement if this occurs.

Students interested in applying for the BCS Now Choice Hour class need to have their applications to Mr. Joseph no later than Monday January 9^th at 4:00PM.  The application is included in with the choice hour selection sheet!  Please read the instructions very carefully!!  This class meets every day but students are not expected to be available every day!  

6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade boys interested in participating in the BCS swim team program are encouraged to sign up for the Monday/Wednesday swim team Choice Hour class.

Choice Hour reminders – please call (248-203-4625), send in a note, or email Linda Stone at ls06bps@birmingham.k12.mi.us  if your child is going to be absent from Choice Hour for any reason!  Students that do not have Choice Hour on any given day need to be picked up by 3:20 PM.  Students that do not have a Choice Hour class and are not picked up by 3:30 PM will be charged a $5.00 fee.

Thank you for always supporting the Choice Hour program!

Important   infoRMATION  for 8^TH grade families

If you have not turned in your High School Selection Forms to the counseling Department we must know the school your child is planning on attending before they can have their scheduling appointment.

Attention 8^th graders attending Seaholm

If you are interested in visiting the FLEX program at Seaholm please email Kyle Hall at kh01bps@birmingham.k12.mi.us to reserve a space. Available dates are January 10, 17, 19, 24, and 26.

BCS KIDS AGAINST HUNGER

If you are interested in making an online donation to help our kids reach their goal of $5600, enabling them to package 20,000 meals for the hungry, please visit http://www.kidsagainsthungercoalition.com/ and follow the link to the BCS Hunger Fundraiser.  Thank you for your support!!

BCS BLAST MEETING
The BCS Blast committee will be having our monthly meeting this coming Tuesday, January 10th at 7:00PM in the media center. The BCS Blast is the biggest fund raiser of the year for our school. This year's theme is 2012 BCS iBLAST! 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 one committee opening that needs to be filled for this year's event and need 1 parent for the Boutique (face painting and fun things to buy).
This is also the last year for the existing Co-Chairs, Karen Best and Ken Gilbert. We are looking for 2 volunteers to shadow Karen and Ken this year so they can take over next year. This is the biggest and most important event of the year and we need our BCS Community to STEP UP TO THE PLATE.
 This is a great opportunity to meet and work with other BCS parents while helping our school raise much needed funds. WE NEED YOUR HELP. Please get involved and join us on Tuesday, January 10th.
 Co-Chairs: Karen Best  kbestMI@mac.com   Ken Gilbert   kjginbham@hotmail.com

Junior Great Books is returning to BCS! ***Attention Third and Fourth Graders ***

We will meet once a week at lunch time, for lively, fun, and thought-provoking discussions about stories contained in the Junior Great Book readers. If you LOVE to read, and share your thoughts and opinions with others - you will love this program!. Great Books provides a forum for open ended discussions and challenging ideas to promote personal growth. Students will read engaging stories and have question driven discussions with the group to search for meaning in the stories and challenge yourself and those around you. 

The program is open to the first 15 students in 3rd and 4th grade who sign up. Students will be provided with a reader, that will be turned back in after the program has ended. They will be expected to read a story weekly, and come prepared to share thoughts and ideas. Also, bringing a lunch from home would help to maximize discussion time on the days the group meets, but is not mandatory. 

To register, please send an email to Chris Graham at christinag123@sbcglobal.net. Please provide name of student and parents, an email address, and their teacher. The first 15 students will be contacted with further details. 

Blue Lake Scholarship Auditions information for summer camp 2012 will take place in the BCS band room on Wednesday, January 11^th & Thursday, January 12. The auditions will run from 8:30 to 11:30am each day. A representative from the camp will be on hand to evaluate student performances and portfolios. Students with special talents in instrumental music (including piano), vocal music, drama and art are invited to present a brief demonstration of their skills for scholarship considerations to Blue Lake. Interested students who do not have band or orchestra classes on Wednesday or Thursday should make arrangements with their classroom teachers to be released during the audition times.

7^th & 8^th Grade Band Parents: The registration deadline for the 2012 Spring Solo & Ensemble Festival is Friday, January 27, 2012. This year’s S&E festival will take place on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at Lake Orion Oakview Middle School,. This is a volunteer activity available to all 7^th & 8^th grade band students. Participation details have been presented to the band students during their class meeting times.

7^th & 8^th Grade Band Parents : The BCS Mid-Winter Band Concert for the 7^th & 8^th grade bands will take place on Wednesday, February 8, 2012. The concert will be held from 7:00-8:00pm in the BCS cafeteria. Students should arrive at BCS no later than 6:30pm. 

all BCS Band Parents: Private lessons for band instruments are now available at Groves High School! Please visit the Groves Band website http://www.grovesband.com for more information. This is a fantastic opportunity for our young musicians

SAVE THE BEES PETITION

The petition is to pollinate Birmingham. We are taking part in the Disney Planet Challenge, we are trying to save the honey bees from extinction. CCD is causing extinction. The more signatures we get on the petition the better!  Please consider signing This website is to the petition that the Fitzgerald/Brown class room made: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/222/574/307/..From: The Fitz/Brown Homeroom

INFORMATION ABOUT A SPECIAL STUDENT RUN FUNDRAISER TO BENEFIT CITY MISSION

Hello Friends!

We're raising funds for City Mission's laptop carts and need your help to attain our goal.
You can purchase or renew subscriptions to your favorite magazines (like People, All You, TIME and Sports Illustrated) at up to 85% off, or enjoy exclusive offers on cookie dough and Restaurant.com eCertificates.
Each time you make a purchase, we'll receive up to 40%. 

You can also support us by sharing this page and spreading the word to friends and family.

Also, we are holding a book drive to help the kids at City Mission as well. Please bring in New or Gently Used Books to the Cubby near the 200 Hallway with the City Mission banner (across from the lunch line) Below is our wiki explaining more about our project
http://globalliteracies.wikis.birmingham.k12.mi.us/Internet+Survey-+Helping+City+MissionThank You!
Meaghan and Jackie
Join our online fundraising campaign- you can earn great prizes too!
Therese F.
City Mission Laptop Cart
P.S. You can buy something for yourself! This will also help our cause.

Calling all 8th Grade Parents and Guardians!!! Photos are due January 20th, 2011.
It's time to submit a baby photo (up to age 2) and a current photo of your 8th grader for the Farewell video!
Shortly you will receive the invitation to share your photos on our Grade 8 2012 Google Picasa Web Album. Below you will find directions on how to upload your photos to this album. Please print these directions and have them available for when your invitation arrives.
How to Upload Your Photos:

Click on “Contribute Photos to this Album” in the invitation box 

• Login as follows:
• Email: bcs8thgradevideo 
• Password: Photos4U (password is case sensitive)

• Click on the box that reads “Select Photos from Your Computer” 
• Select your photo 
• If the picture you have added needs to be rotated, scroll your mouse over the photo to rotate the image right or left 
• Click the box that reads “Okay” 
• Repeat for your second photo 
• Once you have uploaded both photos, click on the tab that reads “Birmingham Covington’s Gallery” 
• Click on the “Grade 8 2012” Album (your pictures should appear in the album) 
• Click on the first photo you loaded. Underneath the photo you will have the option to add a caption. 
• Click on “Add a Caption” and type in your child’s name. Click on the “Save Caption” Button. 
• Click on the left or right arrow to find your child’s second photo and add a caption to that photo as well. 
• Log out of g-mail – you’re done!

Digital/scanned images are preferred, however, if you are unable to upload your images, you may drop off your photos in the turn-in basket in the BCS office. Please be sure to include your name on the back of the photos so that they can be returned to you. Or, alternately, you may also e-mail your photos to Rob Lawrence, fellow BCS parent and 8th grade celebration committee member, at rob1lawrence@gmail.com and he will upload your images for you.

Battle News and Dates 

Mark your calendars for the BCS Battle Dates below

 Regarding Battle Team s---Buddy list will start after break for students who have already read six books. Pair of buddies will put on teams together, three if possible .depending on number of students participating and books read.   Teams will be formed the week after January 27, 2012, qualifying day. Battle teams will consist of 4^th and 5^th graders.

January &  February        Battle Book Clubs during 4^th and 5^th grade lunch (dates TBD)

January 9, 2012                 Battle program at Baldwin-, 7:00pm Meet Helen Frost, our Battle author for Diamond Willow.

January 19, 2012               Cosmic Breakfast 7:45-8:20 with BCS Proud Dads (or Moms) and Battlers; featured Battle Book is Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce in BCS Cafeteria.  Mark your Calendars Anticipated breakfast cost is -$6 (includes parent and child) Pre-registration starts after break. If you want a personal copy of Cosmic, you can order from Amazon, via the BEF Amazon website link and help our Foundation (http://supportbef.org/ 

January 27, 2012               Battle Qualifying day by end of day to make a Battle Team   (Students need to have read 6 books and passed 6 AR Tests) 

Feb 7, 2012                 Battle Rush at BCS Cafeteria (right after choice hour—we will start promptly at 4:30-5:30. Students meet their teammates; choose team name, motto, and design of a Team Crest for Battle Day in March. Will need parent volunteers and donations of drink and ready to eat snack with little clean-up. A Parent volunteer is needed for each team and a photographer to take pictures of team crest. Watch for separate email. 

February 8, 2012-             Battle program at Baldwin 6:30 pm.-Learn to Finger Talk like Goldie and  

                                            Toadspit from the Battle book Museum of Thieves 

Feb 15, 2012                       Gold Medal Qualifying Day (must turn in AR tests for all ten books by end of day to get a gold medal) 

March 2, 2012                    District-Wide Battle Day.

ARE YOU  IN FOURTH GRADE?? THEN HIT THE SLOPES…FOURTH GRADE KIDS SKI FREE

The Michigan Snowsports Industries Association (MSIA) wants to give Michigan kids an opportunity to get out, have fun and get healthy this winter. MSIA has established a state-wide program which provides every fourth grader in Michigan the opportunity to ski for free. Fourth graders can obtain a “Cold is Cool” Ski & Ride Passport that gives them up to three free lift tickets or trail passes at 20 participating ski areas.  In order for fourth graders to use the free lift or trail pass coupons, a paying adult must accompany them.

Although the skiing is free, MSIA charges a $15 printing and shipping fee for each passport ordered.  For more information and a list of participating ski resorts, please visit: http://www.goskimichigan.com/cold-is-cool.html