Trask Newsletter
February 2015
Black History Month
The Trask Black History Month Planning Committee has been working diligently to devise activities for
Black History Month in February. We are very excited about what we have created thus far. Our 2015 theme
is "The Art of Community, Inspired by Minnie Evans." As you may know, Ms. Evans was a visionary artist
who was born in Pender County; therefore we thought it fitting to highlight a local contributor to Black
History.
We have involvement on several levels school-wide that will promote reading and support literacy in
alignment with our School Improvement Plan:
Minnie Evans Presentation - Mrs. Coley (Media Center Specialist) has prepared an awesome
PowerPoint to be presented to students next week (the week of January 26th) during Enrichment.
Teachers can teach the lesson which highlights important facts and information about Minnie
Evans. The PowerPoint also contains instructions on how to create a symmetrical design inspired by
her style. After the lesson, the students will create a piece of artwork on the pie-shaped paper
cutouts. These cutouts will be used on a school-wide bulletin board.
Bulletin Boards - illustrating our theme - the primary one on Minnie Evans - (back hallway outside
media center); others will be located on hallways throughout the school; students will use these
bulletin boards to search for the answers to weekly Trivia Questions. Mrs. Coley has so graciously
agreed to facilitate the bulletin board displays.
Trivia Contest - this activity is back by popular demand! A trivia question regarding Black History
will be read on each Tuesday and Thursday during February. Ms. Mills (School Counselor) will
compose eight questions using the vocabulary words provided by the County.
Week of February 3rd - Respond and Determined
Week of February 10th - Clarify and Reveal
Week of February 17th - Require and Modify
Week of February 24th - Significant and Process
Students will have the opportunity to submit their answers to the media center. Prize packets will be
distributed on each Wednesday and Friday throughout the month. Among the correct submissions, the
committee will randomly select three winners, one per grade level.
Article of the Week (AOW) - Mrs. Rappold will do research and create two AOWs - one on a famous local
event and the other one - depicting a famous local African-American. The first article will be distributed
on February 9thand will be due February 13th; the second article will be distributed on 2/23 and due on
2/27.
We look forward to an educational, exciting, and all-encompassing celebration of Black History Month 2015. In the words of
an unknown author, "Black History is American History, and American History is Black History."
February 2015
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Band News
We had 5 students from Trask audition for the NCBA Eastern District All-District Band Clinic on January 10,
2015. Three students were selected, based on their audition to return to Greenville, NC on February 6 and
7, 2015
All-District students from Trask:
Laney Larkins - Flute - Middle School Concert Band
Josh Minkler - Trumpet - Middle School Concert Band
Mason Cockrell - French Horn - Middle School Symphonic Band
February 27-28, 2015
New Hanover County All County Band Clinic
Students from each middle school will be selected to participate in the NHCS All-County Band Clinic. Mr.
Kyle Lanier from Onslow County will be the guest clinician. The clinic will be held at Minnie Evans Performing Arts Center. A public concert will be presented on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 2:00PM.
Math
Best Foot Forward
Our students will be performing in Best Foot Forward on March 13, 2015 at 7:30 pm at Brogden
Hall, New Hanover High School. Purchase your
tickets from Ms. Williams or Mrs. Gemach. They
will be $10.00. Come out and support Trask in this
big community event.
The 6th grade math students are ready for
their 3rd nine weeks! They will be studying
ratios and proportions, solving one step equations and inequalities, and begin their geometry unit, which will focus on the area of right
triangles, special quadrilaterals, and polygons
by composing into rectangles or decomposing
into triangles and other shapes. We are hoping
for a successful 3rd nine weeks.
Relay for Life
Dear Trask Parents,
The Trask Bears Relay for Life team is gearing up for another great fundraising event! (We would love for
any of you and your students to join our team! You can sign up online at the New Hanover Relay for Life site
& join the Trask Bears team.)
This year, we would like to have a fantastic raffle--a gift card gift basket! If any of you could contribute a $10
or more gift card from any of the wonderful stores or restaurants in Wilmington, we would really appreciate it.
Just bring them to the office in an envelope labeled Relay for Life Raffle. Please put your name on the outside as well. We will plan to draw for the raffle at the annual Relay for Life Trask's Got Talent Show which will
be held this year on Thursday, April 23. (Be sure to mark your calendars!) Thank you so much for all your
generous support.
If you have questions, call Ms. Kearney at 910-350-2142, ext. 235
Calling all Trask Superstar Students:
Tryouts for the annual Trask's Got Talent Show will be held Tuesday & Wednesday, March 24-25, after
school in the cafeteria. Get ready with your act! We want to put on another fabulous show! The talent show
will be held on Thursday, April 23. See you at the tryouts!
Ms. Kearney & Ms. Williams
February 2015
Athletics
Girls’ Basketball and Boys’ Soccer
2/2/15 – Trask at Virgo – Basketball Only
2/11/15 – Trask vs. Myrtle Grove
2/12/15 – Trask vs. Murray
2/16/15 – Trask at Noble
2/19/15 – Trask vs. Williston
2/23/15 – Trask vs. Holly Shelter
2/26/15 – Trask vs. Roland Grise
Page 3
GFBC
Mark Your Calendars!
Grizzly Family Book Club is back for the
spring and will meet on Tuesday, March
3rd and Tuesday, April 7th from 6:00-7:30.
GFBC is a free event that provides your
family with dinner, a copy of the selected novel, and fun activities! Sign-up
sheets will be sent home in midFebruary. For more information please
visit the Trask website. We hope to see
you there!
Words of the Week
FBLA
During the month of January, students participated in a creative writing contest that challenged them to compose a story, poem, or
article that incorporated as many vocabulary
words as possible. Congratulations to our
winners Nyla Mae Durham, Hallie-Claire
Weems, Abigail Batt, and Cassie Burnette!
FBLA
has increased in membership. We are in
.
the planning stages for the State Leadership
Conference. February 9-13 is FBLA-PLB Week.
The schedule is as follows:
2/2-2/6: Respond & Determine
If you are interested in FBLA-PBL, please ask our
members or advisors about information on the
organization. FBLA-PBL is a national leadership
organization that students can be a part of
through college.
2/9—2/13: Clarify & Reveal
2/16-2/20: Require & Modify
2/23-2/27: Significant & Process
February 11-Professional Attire Day
February 12- Career Awareness Day
February 13-FBLA-PBL Pride Day
February 14-Community Service Day
February 2015
Page 4
What’s going on in Social Studies?
Sixth grade social studies classes are finishing up our study of early river valley civilizations with ancient
China. We will be studying ancient Greece, Rome, and the Middle Ages for the remainder of the third nine
week period.
7th grade social studies classes will covering the huge topic of WWII. Lessons will include the ins and outs of
WWII, the Holocaust, and the decision to use atomic weapons by President Truman. Also, in honor of
African American History Month we will spend several days discussing a famous WWII African American
fighter pilot group, the Tuskegee Airmen. Students will be learning about the history of this historic group by
watching interviews with these pilots and designing their own plane paint job like the airmen did. We will
collect these designs and display them on our classroom door.
In Mr. Spencer’s 8th grade Social Studies we are completing the U.S. Civil War unit and are transitioning
through the Gilded Age into the Progressive Era and then up to the end of World War I. Students will
explore how the many economic, political, and cultural changes the United States went through during this
time period. The focus will be on the key people involved as the driving force behind this great change, the
struggles they overcame and the contributions made to move the United States into a position to become a
world power. Students will work on several projects during the next nine weeks. One project will including
researching prominent inventors and their inventions as well creating an idea for their own 21 st century and
beyond invention. Students will also continue to break down Primary Sources from the 19th and 20th
centuries in order to better understand historic concepts and thematic threads.
In Mr. Michael’s Eighth Grade Social Studies, we are currently studying the American Civil War through the
eyes of photographer Mathew Brady and the use of other primary sources. Students explored oft forgotten
aspects of the war such as naval battles across the Atlantic to wars with Native Americans in western
territories. Lyrics of a song which "got into the mind" of a North Carolinian infantryman during the Siege of
Richmond were also analyzed. Many students came to see the Civil War in a new light. No longer was it a
glorious adventure. The realities of war were brought to life by the use of primary sources.