African American Club ¡V Latanya Elias & Annie Kotokpo

African American Club ¡V Latanya Elias & Annie Kotokpo

The goal of the African American Club is to create a cultural awareness to the African American experience in United States and New Jersey .   Students will gain awareness of the African Americans presence while creating safe, fun, and educational atmosphere.   The African American Club participates in community events throughout Atlantic City and Pleasantville.   The African American Club presents the African American experience through song, music, dance, poetry, and dramatic reading/recitation.   They will participate in the following events throughout the year:   Martin Luther King Celebration at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church , Zeta Amicae King Breakfast Celebration, and a Black History Program at the Middle School, New York Ave Apartments¡¦ African American Program, and any other community events they are invited to.   

Band ¡V Kathy Syvarth

This band is designed for students who are more proficient at their instruments. The band members are capable of producing more mature sound and can play more difficult band arrangements. The music contains more complex harmonic and rhythmic patterns and teaches band members to depend on each other musically. This band prepares its members to be successful in the High School Band.

Book & Gardening Club ¡V Lois Saathoff

  The purpose of this club is to give students the opportunity to learn of the joy of reading and a safe place to share this joy. It is also to help them to understand what it is that they are reading and to share both implied and inferred meaning with others.

Choir ¡V Douglass Clayton  

I hope to give our students experiences in performance as well as helping them build their critiquing skills. A goal is to be able to become better audiences intelligently and properly as well as performers.   I also hope that this experience will encourage them to become life-long singers and to carry these skills on into their high school and hopefully college careers.

 

Cotillion ¡V Victoria R. Williamson

The Cotillion Club is designed to afford 7 ^th and 8 ^th grade female students the opportunity to develop skills in etiquette and self-actualization. Students are also taught the art of living a productive life.

As members, students will experience various workshops geared toward the continued growth of becoming a positive citizen in our society.  

Students who successfully take part in this club will experience participating in the Middle School of Pleasantville ¡¦s Cotillion. This culminating activity not only compliments the goals addressed throughout the year, but encourages students to become involved in other community events.

Cultivating Society Club ¡V Jeanette Brown Reed

 

The Cultivating Society Club is designed to afford 7 ^th and 8 ^th grade female students the opportunity to develop skills in etiquette and self-actualization. Students are also taught the art of living a productive life.

As members, students will experience various workshops geared toward the continued growth of becoming a positive citizen in our society.

 

Drama ¡V Renee Gensamer & Elizabeth DuBose

Drama Club at the Middle School will expose the students to all aspects of theater. Students will learn stage directions, acting techniques and choreography. Students will work cooperatively to convey a story to their audience. The Middle School Drama will do at least one full drama production each year. The goal of the club is to develop young talent and to build confidence in our students.

The Drama club at the middle school has now celebrated our 5th season and our 8th show. Students are taught all aspects of the theater and perform in two full productions. All CCS for Performing arts are taught and evaluated. In addition the students have been involved in the Teen Arts Festival. They enter the theatrical performance category and soloists. Also the students perform in the Showcase theater at Six Flags. There they are welcomed guests and are well received by the public and staff. We in addition go as a group to see a Broadway play as well as have our end of the year Academy Awards Banquet. This year we had over 120 parents, teachers and students.

   We are at this time urging the board to look at the stipend for this club. The student contact time unlike the 36 hours required extends to over 160 hours plus preparation. We do not ask the board for supplies for sets, costumes, or activities. We raise these funds from our second show and the rest comes out of our own pockets.

   The Drama Club has over 60 active members. 40% being males. At this time they are very heartbroken when they leave because there isn't any follow up Drama program in the High School due to lack of funds.

   We thank you for your continued support and for providing transportation for the students and we ask that you look at the continued success of the club. We thank the board members who have made themselves a part of encouragement and support for our students. You all are very much appreciated.

 

Library Club AM & PM ¡V Allison Abbate

MSP Library Club is offered from 8 am to 8:30 am daily. Students may work in the library doing homework or study island. The club offers students free choice among a variety of literacy activities. The club is offered to all grade levels. Students may decide daily as they come off the bus to attend; records are kept through a daily sign in sheet.;

 

     During 2006-2007 school year, the library club averaged 22 students daily. The club activities address NJCCCS for technological literacy and NJCCCS for Career Education and Consumer, Family, and Life Skills. Besides study island, electronic databases, and the library electronic card catalog, students also have access to a variety of monthly periodicals. Library club students check books out and share their likes and dislikes of books with each other. The library club is based on a model determined by the Center for Early Adolescence that exemplifies literacy programming and includes enrichment, encouragement, and remediation.

Gifted & Talented ¡V Karla Carmichael & Patricia Varallo

Gifted & Talented helps to prepare students for the Think Day Competition in March, 2006.   It also serves to make students aware of current events and to share academic knowledge with peers.   Finally, this club offers students a place to interact with others in grades 6-8.

  Homework Club ¡V Karla Carmichael, Angela Davis & Susan Chiginsky

 

Homework Club is being offered for any and all students who need help with their homework.  It is available for all subjects for grades 6-8.  Even though one hour is available, students may come for one hour or any part of that hour.  Individual help is available and so is computer availability if the Computer Use Policy paper has been turned in for that student.  

  Intermediate Band ¡V Kathy Syvarth

 

This band is designed for students who never participated in this kind of activity and are at the beginning stage of their instrument playing skills. The band members learn to follow band director¡¦s baton, start and end musical piece together, and listen to other instruments playing different parts of music at the same time. Band arrangements are very simple, which allow students to be introduced to these concepts and prepare them to be successful in the Middle School Concert Band.

  Leaders of Tomorrow Career Club ¡V Rayna K. Hendricks & Indra L. Abdullah

The purpose of the Career Club is to expose students to various professions and prepare them for college/trade school, and the workforce. This preparation takes place through various activities and training courses. The club is geared towards 8 ^th grade students. The career club is beneficial to students because it provides them with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in their future endeavors.

      Multi-Cultural Club ¡V Renee Gensamer

Multi-Cultural club at the Middle School is used as a tool for cultural awareness. Students come together and through dance and song appreciate and enjoy other cultures. The Multi-cultural club will perform an assembly for the student body to share what they have learned. Multi-Cultural club will act as a vehicle to the community and student body to spark an interest in diverse cultures. The Multicultural Club at the Middle School is a high energy Spanish dance troupe. The students perform in school assemblies as well as being invited by the community to perform. Our end of the year program will be a full assembly at the Middle School to share different cultures with the students. We have also been invited by the ASPIRA Hispanic leadership organization to perform our entire show at their scholarship event.

   The multicultural club addresses the CCS for performing arts as well as those in World Language. The club has over 50 members. This club attracts both boys and girls of all cultures coming together to dance.

   The multicultural club performs at the Teen Arts festival in dance. This year they scored a 4 out of 5. They have been invited guests to Six Flags to perform at their multicultural festival.

   The multicultural club sponsored the Educational Foundation tour to Europe last August. Students went to France , Italy and Switzerland on a 13 day tour. This is a once in a lifetime eye opening experience. We hope to gain support from the board to continue this life changing experience.

   The multicultural club has over 50 performers but not a budget to costume these students. The financial burden rests with the advisor. We thank you for your part in the continued success of the multicultural club.

Newspaper Club ¡V Rita Taylor

                           

The Pleasantville Middle School ¡¦s school newspaper provides students an opportunity to analyze the world around us and decide what news is. Students are instructed in how to write in journalism style and to create a newspaper layout. Photography and graphics are covered, also. Working on the news staff teaches students how to work as part of a team, how to make decisions, and how to interact with others. Critical thinking, speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills all come together in a real world environment. Students also view media and discuss how it affects its viewers, how it shares information, and what kind of information is included.

  NJ Jr. Honor¡¦s Society ¡V Annie Graves & Nicola Tasoff

    The purpose of National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) is to promote appropriate recognition for students who reflect outstanding accomplishments in the areas of scholarship, character, leadership, citizenship, and service in grades seven and eight.  The main goal of the society will be to function within the school community as a service organization while allowing students the opportunity to further develop their talents and skills essential to citizens in a democratic society.  In addition, students who are selected to participate in NJHS, will build a strong sense of competence while strengthening their character development.

     The NJHS plans to sponsor some/all of the following projects throughout the 2007-08 school year:

„h         New student orientation projects

„h         Teacher appreciation projects

„h         Volunteer services for the senior citizens

„h         Begin a building-wide recycling program at the MSP

  Peace Zone Club ¡V Jane Milak

  We teach our children not to do this and not to do that, but we sometimes fall short of showing them what TO do. The Peace Zone Club emphasizes how a truly powerful person acts and reacts to have the most success in life.

 

            In the Peace Zone Club, students learn that a Peace Zone is a space where everyone is in a ¡§Win-Win¡¨ situation that is safe, peaceful, and productive. They learn that a Peace Zone is a place that is full of positive energy only, and that everyone in that space must contribute to the atmosphere with only positive, kind, polite ways of speaking, acting, and re-acting.

 

            Within the Peace Zone is the Peace Zone Exercise, which is a breathing exercise. Students learned that this breathing exercise to focus themselves and to put themselves in a peaceful place internally. They can use it wherever and whenever they want, to calm themselves, to always be in control of themselves, and to avoid negative responses. Students breathe in positive emotions and breathe out negative emotions, listening to calm music. Students chose their own positive emotions like: calm, sweet dreams, peace, joy and also chose the negative emotions to breathe out, like: anger, nightmares, destruction, and sadness. Then, students pictured positive things, like A¡¦s and B¡¦s on their report cards and being proud of themselves and their parents being proud of them. We do this every week, so students practice it and make it part of their

¡§Emotional Toolbox.¡¨

 

            Students also take practical situations of the school day and volunteer to discuss how the same situation could have been handled in a different way. There is a formula with a step-by-step process of exactly how students can handle conflict appropriately and powerful. In addition, students learn about powerful, historical heroes that were peaceful, like Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Mahatma Ghandi.

 

    Peer Mediation ¡V Mary L. Gillespie

  The Peer Mediation club at the Middle School is a club that trains students to be able to work together, with other students, in order to settle disputes and disagreements in a respectful, mature manner. It teaches students the vocabulary and the body posture that is non-aggressive yet firm and affords them the chance to be involved in solutions instead of problems. Students who participate in this program show a much greater aptitude for success in school due to the ability to mediate and even head-off focus and attention diverting issues.   This club is available to all students.

  SADD ¡V Ninette Philips & Annie Graves

Background Information:

Originally, the mission of the SADD chapter was to help young people say "No" to drinking and driving. Today, the mission has expanded.  Positive peer pressure, role models and other strategies can help students say "No" to more than drinking and driving.  SADD has become a peer leadership organization dedicated to preventing destructive decisions, particularly underage drinking, other drug use, impaired driving, teen violence and teen depression and suicide. SADD is an inclusive, not an exclusive, organization. SADD recognizes that the pressures on young people to drink, use illicit drugs and engage in other unhealthy behaviors are strong. SADD seeks not to punish or alienate those students who make unfortunate choices but rather aims to inform, educate, support and empower young people to make positive decisions in their lives

SADD's mission:

To provide students with the best prevention and intervention tools possible to deal with the issues of underage drinking, other drug use, impaired driving and other destructive decisions

  Boys stepping On Solid Ground ¡V Aaron Washington

  This program is designed to assist young men in attaining higher levels of excellence and success. The program will be held once or twice a week after school, and once a week

during school. The program will emphasize respect, confidence, accountability and leadership. Every two weeks the students¡¦ academic and behavioral progress will be evaluated. Anyone who is found to be struggling or not working to their fullest ability will be assigned to tutoring sessions. The program will be approximately 20 weeks. It will culminate with year end performances, and community outreach.

  Target Group :

 

• Young Men who seek to become leaders (individual sign ups)
• Young Men recommended by the principle, assistant principles & counselors

 

Goals :

 

• Help participants develop good character
• Help participants develop respect for self, others, adults, authority and rules
• Help participants identify and develop leadership skills
• Help participants to identify and address weaknesses until they become strengths

 

  Student Council ¡V Ninette Philips

Student council is a group of elected students from each grade who gather to address student affairs and concerns.  The purpose of Student Government is to:

1.  Improve communication between the student body and staff

2. Involve all students in sharing ideas to improve our school.

3.  Develop and maintain high standards of conduct and leadership, and

4.  To give all students practice in democracy in action.

Each 7th and 8th grade homeroom will elect 2 representatives (including one alternate) to serve on Student Council.  Representatives will be responsible for: 

1.  Sharing and discussing the ideas and concerns of their classmates.

2. Implementing plans that appropriately address the needs of the student body.

3.  Working to enhance the educational experience of the student body.

4.  Establishing and maintaining interest between the school and the community.

5.  Supporting school related activities.

Technology/Web Design Club ¡V J. Robinson

The Technology Club provides an opportunity for students

to work with technology outside the classroom.  The club deals with issues of ethical technology use and helps students develop skills in working with the digital world.   The club works with digital cameras, both still and video and also digital music. The club will also work with the students to instruct them in learning how to begin to create their own web pages.

 

Yearbook ¡V Candy Wesley, Patricia L. Davis & Tamera Stafford

The Yearbook Club would compile an annual book to record, highlight and commemorate the past year of Pleasantville Middle School .   It will be compiled by the advisors, staff and a student committee.  

 

The yearbook advisors¡¦ duties will include but are not limited to:

 

• Management of the overall creation of the yearbook
• Instruct staff on all aspects of production
• Administer the sales campaigns
• Plans and controls the budget
• Collects payment, keeps records of sales, distributes receipts
• Assigns photo shoots at school events
• Conducts final edit

 

The yearbook committee will consist of editors, photographers, staff members, and students.

 

      Young Engineers & Scientists Club ¡V Sydney Simpson & Craig Polite

 

The Young Engineers & Scientists Club will work with young students in creating a workplace for these students to develop and enhance their scientific skills in a setting with like-minded students. The club will offer projects and think-tank type activities which will allow students to grow and to achieve in the areas of science and engineering.