West Ottawa Public Schools
Preparing Students to Be College, Career and Life Ready!
Macatawa Bay Newsletter
November 7, 2014
3700 140th Ave., Holland, MI 49424
Phone: 616-786-2000 / Fax: 616-786-2091
ATTENTION ALL WALKERS
Calendar of Events
Just a few reminders for the safety of all students that walk to or
from school or any other time that you are walking.
November
5-8pm
Be Careful at Crossings: Look before you step
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Cross streets at marked crosswalks or intersections, if
possible.
Obey traffic signals such as WALK/DON'T WALK signs.
Look left, right, and left again before crossing a street.
Watch for turning vehicles. Make sure the driver sees you
and will stop for you.
Look across ALL lanes you must cross and visually clear
each lane before proceeding.
Don't wear headphones or talk on a cell phone while
crossing.
Be Safe and Be Seen: Make yourself visible to drivers
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Wear bright/light colored clothing and reflective materials.
Carry a flashlight when walking at night.
Cross the street in a well-lit area at night.
Think Safe, Be Safe!
11—Parent Teacher Conferences
13—NO SCHOOL
13—Parent Teacher Conferences
8-11am & 1-4pm
14—Anchor Function Night
18—Parent Teacher Conferences
5-8pm
19—BBYA HL Library
26-28—Thanksgiving Recess
Cash for Class
Please shop at Family Fare and D&W
on the following dates and raise money
for Macatawa Bay. Use your YES
rewards card and your purchase will
automatically be credited to the school
account. Thank you for your continued support.
November 23-29
PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES
November 11—Conferences 5-8 pm
November 13—NO SCHOOL
November 13—Conferences 8-11 am and 1-4 pm
See page 2 for
ensuring successful
Parent Teacher
Conferences
November 18—Conferences 5-8 pm
All Conferences are held in the Gymnasium. A Spanish translator will be available at all conferences.
Dear Parents of Macatawa Bay Middle School:
The 2014-2015 school-year is in full swing! One of the most important dates for you and your student occur
during the month of November. It is Parent – Teacher Conferences. The dates and times of the conferences are
listed on the front page of this newsletter. We are including a checklist, for you as parents to use as a guide, to
ensure the conference with your student’s instructors is highly successful and interactive.
Typically conferences are brief, just five or ten minutes with each teacher. Conferences are designed to update
parents on how their students are doing in each class and where improvements can be made. Parents are
welcome to schedule a more in-depth conference with individual teachers at a different time if more discussion is
needed about their student.
We hope to have a great turnout to talk about the most important component of Macatawa Bay Middle School,
your student!
Tip #1
Do talk with your student about their classes before attending a conference. Get their assessment of how they’re
doing, strengths and weaknesses, amount of time actually spent on homework, and where they think they can do
better.
Tip #2
Emphasize to your student that you and the teachers work together as a team to help ensure his or her academic
success.
Tip #3
Do have discussions about your student’s social and organizational skills, how he or she gets along with other
students, and what you can do to help by supplementing homework or organizing homework time.
Tip #4
Make sure to share information with teachers that may help them to better understand his or her likes and dislikes, unusual home circumstances that may be causing stress, or if your child takes medication that might affect
schoolwork.
Tip #5
Most importantly, if your student is having a problem in a particular subject area, don’t wait until a regularly scheduled conference to address it. Educators say that the sooner you discuss your concerns with the teacher, the
better for your student’s academic success.
Macatawa Bay Middle School Parent Teacher Conferences
Tuesday, November 11, 5-8pm and Thursday, November 13, 8-11am & 1-4pm
and Tuesday, November 18, 5-8pm
Class
Teacher Name___________________________
1st hour
2nd hour
3rd hour
4th hour
5th hour
6th hour
7th hour
Return after conferences to be entered in a prize drawing.
Student’s Name: _____________________________________________ Grade ____________________
Volunteer Opportunities
AND THE WINNER IS!
R.O.C.K.S.
The R.O.C.K.S. winners for the week of 10/27 were:
6th grade - Conner McBride
7th grade - Asiia Sok
8th grade - Dylan Hill
The R.O.C.K.S. winners for the week of 11/3 were:
6th grade - Mackenzie Mitts
7th grade - Mauricio Montgomery
8th grade - Victoria Prado
Congratulations to all the students who received R.O.C.K.S. tickets!
Congratulations to Megan Johnson in
7th grade for her winning entry for the
2014-15 yearbook cover. Megan’s drawing was one of many entries received
and voted on by Mac Bay staff. Thank
you to everyone who participated.
Michigan College Application Week
For the week of November 3rd, Macatawa Bay Middle School students celebrated Michigan College
Application Week. This is a state movement to get all seniors in high school to complete at least one
college application. Macatawa Bay Middle school students celebrated by working with their homerooms
to complete a college themed door, answering trivia questions, participating in college apparel day,
filming a video on what college means to them, and by hearing stories from teachers about their personal
experience with college. Below are a few pictures of the classrooms.
Why Go to College?
Whether you are uncertain about going to college or you just need some reassurance you're on the
right track, here are a few reasons to go to college:
Every bit of education you get after high school increases the chances you'll earn good pay. Most college
graduates earn more money during their working years than people who stop their education at high school
earn.
The more education you get the more likely it is you will always have a job. According to one estimate, by
the year 2028 there will be 19 million more jobs for educated workers than there are qualified people to fill
them.
Continuing education after high school is much more important for your generation than it was for your
parents' generation. Today most good jobs require more than a high school diploma. Businesses want to
hire people who know how to think and solve problems.
Education beyond high school gives you a lot of other benefits, including meeting new people, taking part in
new opportunities to explore your interests, and experiencing success.
Advantage: Preparation for Tougher Job Requirements
Throughout most of the 21st century a high school diploma was sufficient to obtain a job. Many companies
had their own training programs and employed their workers for many years. Because of changes in the global
job market, employers are looking for hires that come fully trained in the profession. Jobs are changing
constantly and top jobs ten years from now don't even exist yet. A college education will help you meet these
tougher job requirements.
Macatawa Bay Students Demonstrate
RESPECT!
Macatawa Bay Middle School is proud of building strong character among all of its student body. Each month we
have a character building theme. The theme for the month of October was Showing Respect Toward Everyone.
Homeroom teachers discussed and used video clips to show what respectful behavior looks and feels like not only at
school but at home and in the community.
Each homeroom was asked to create a poster or display outside of their classroom, using the letters of RESPECT as
acronyms or as a phrase describing what RESPECT means to them. The displays were judged by Student Council
Members, Ms. Pyrett and Mrs. Pinkham. The top three homeroom displays earned a donut party!
Our students excelled in this competition! The winning displays were original, expressive and captured the RESPECT
theme. Some of the displays were extravagant, with blinking lights and mobiles hanging from the ceiling. The winning homerooms were Mr. Kingma, Mr. Olson and Ms. Pyrett. We were so proud of all the displays we wanted to
leave them up long after the contest was over! At Macatawa Bay we are committed to preparing students to be
College, Career and Life ready by instilling our students with strong character traits!
1st Place—Mr. Kingma’s 1st hour class
2nd place—Ms. Pyrett’s 1st hour class
3rd
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