March 3, 2014, Issue 24 Irmo Middle School 6051 Wescott Road Columbia, SC 29212 (803) 476-3600 www.lexrich5.

org/ims School Hours: 8:20 a.m.-3:35 p.m.

The Buzz at Irmo Middle School Creating successful students for the challenges of tomorrow
Robert S. Jackson, Ed.S., Principal rsjackso@lexrich5.org https://twitter.com/IMS_Principal

Inside this issue:3

Girls Night Out iNSIDE iAM Chinese Bridge SC PASS 2 2 3 4-6

One Man's Trash is Another's Treasure: 7th Grade

Science Students Provide Food and Water to African Communities through Terracycling! Students in Mrs. Moore's 7th

Dates to Remember: Black Week

Tues March 4 -Stud Govt 7:45-8:15 Room 713 Thurs March 6 -Jr. Beta Club Induction 7:35 AM Media Center Fri March 7 -FCA 7:35-8:05 Room 603 -Girls Night Out 5:30-8 IMS Cafe

grade science class at Irmo Middle School have been collecting Terracycle. Terracycle is quite easy to find - in fact, there is probably some in your house right now! Terracycle, itself, is a company. If you've ever seen the wallets made from Capris Sun juice packets, then you may have actually seen some of the items collected by Mrs. Moore's students. They send their collected terracycle (specified items of trash) to the Terracycle company, who transforms it into something consumers will buy. But it's what happens after the terracycle is delivered that really excites Mrs. Moore's students! Each time you give terracycle materials, the company provides the donor with terracycle points. The donor can then use those points to support important causes, such as: planting a tree, giving geese to a family, or supplying someone with clean water. Mrs. Moore's class chose to give water to 20 people for a year. Each supply helps one person for one year. Mrs. Moore's class had enough points to give twenty supplies of water to Sub-Saharan Africa! Another one of Mrs. Moore's classes gave a gaggle of geese to a family. The classes hope that other teachers at Irmo Middle School will follow Mrs. Moore's example and collect terra cycle, so that more people in Sub-Saharan Africa will have access to what they need. In Mrs. Moore's science classes, we are doing global work that MATTERS!

************************************************************ Notices: CHP will NOT be operating the week of March 10-14. Jr. Beta Club completed a successful coat and jeans drive for Columbias
underprivileged and are welcoming members meeting the criteria with induction Thursday, March 6th at 7:35 A.M. in the Media Center.

Congrats to the IMS Steppazz for placing 3rd at the Step Competition in Sumter.

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If you have any news you would like to see in the Buzz, email Allison Redick at aredick@lexrich5.org.

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Irmo Middle School Presents -Girls

Night Out -Dinner and a Movie!

Please feel free to bring a blanket or lounge chair. We will be watching a movie and discussing female relationships between girls and how we can promote a better school community.

Friday, March 7, 2014, 5:30pm-8:00pm All Irmo Middle School Girls & their Mothers, Grandmothers, Aunts, Sisters (All Special Women in the lives of IMS Girls) Where: Irmo Middle School Cafeteria

Door Prizes, Food, Special Treats , Make Meaningful Lasting Connections

**************************************************************************** Dear Students, Parents, and Guardians,

Irmo Middle School hosted our iNSIDE iAM Showcase a few nights ago. We provided the 400+ parents and community members in attendance with detailed information regarding our amazing magnet school. Sarah Boddy (Expeditionary Learning School Designer) and Matt Frankenbury (Vice President from PITSCO Education) were on hand to provide a glimpse into the exciting and engaging world of Expeditionary Learning and our planned STEM Systems and Algebra Readiness labs. By participating in activities like shooting straw rockets, listening to the music of our first-chair orchestra members, and posing in front of the green screen with our new media arts students, and speaking/ writing in mandarin chinese, participants were allowed to experience "in a hands on manner" the amazing learning products that will be created in all classes next year. In addition to a formal presentation, students and parents were able to visit instructional booths in order to experience first hand the high quality work that students are creating in core and encore classes. We invite you to view our recruitment video: AM Recruitment Video 2014 from Robert on Vimeo. Also, witness first hand in the excitement in everyones eyes INSIDE iAM! For those parents that were unable to attend, we are enclosing the presentation from last night: Inside iAM 22514 by irmomiddle. If you have any questions, please email any member of the event staff below.
Caitlin McKenzie, Lead Teacher - cmckenzi@lexrich5.org Glenn Hutto, Asst. Principal for Inst. - ghutto@lexrich5.org Richard Schedler, Site Coordinator - rschedle@lexrich5.org Sheila Inabinet, Guidance Director - sinabine@lexrich5.org

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2014 Chinese Bridge-Summer Camp for U.S. High School Students will be held in China from 17 th July to 1st August. This year, we headquarters would like to invite 800 American high school students and chaperons to participate in the summer camp and open 10-30 places for each Confucius Institute/Classroom (student-chaperon ratio is about 10:1). During the summer camp, students will go to different provinces or cities to have Chinese language classes and Chinese culture experience in groups. We headquarters will be responsible for their cost in China including food, accommodation and group activities. Students and chaperons will be responsible for international travel fees, international insurance, visa application fees and so on. All students and chaperons should meet the following criteria: Students: 1. American citizen; 2. High school students; age between 14 and 18; grades from 9 to 12; current 8th gr. Chinese students 3. Non-Chinese learning background and less than three years of Chinese learning experiences; 4. Have great interests in Chinese language and culture; 5. Healthy enough for international travel. Chaperons: 1. Respect and understand Chinese culture; 2.Good at communication and adaptable to new environments; 3.With K-12 teaching experiences; 4.Highly experienced in student management; 5.Healthy enough for international travel; 6. Under 50 years old. Chaperons also need to perform the following duties: 1. Assist Confucius Institutes/Classrooms in pre-departure training for students; 2.Participate in all summer camp activities with students and comply with requirements; 3. Take the primary responsibilities for the safety of students during summer camp; 4. Help students adapt the environment and provide guidance for them; 5. Accompany students in emergency situation and provide help to contact their families; 6. Collect students feedbacks and hand in reports to Confucius Institutes/Classrooms. Confucius Institutes/Classrooms can start recruitment from today and send us back application forms, recommendations, CVs to our division (liuyun@hanban.org) by 12 th March. Please refer to Appendix 1, 2, 3 for application forms. We will send invitations to students in early April if they are verified. On the occasion of arrival of Chinese New Year, we take this opportunity to thank all Confucius Institutes/Classrooms directors for your support and wish all of you a happy New Year and good luck for everything! Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have questions. Contact: Ms. LIU Yun, Program Coordinator, Division of International Exchanges Tel: +86 (0) 10-58595972, E-mail:liuyun@hanban.org Appendix: Student Application Form Chaperon Application Form Confirmation Form Division of International Exchanges Confucius Institute Headquarters 23rd January 2014

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