ITUFSD

ITUFSD

Friday, February 27, 2015

Tunnel Boar

A tunnel boar is a future piece of mining equipment. It is the size of 19 aircraft carriers. It is currently in use to mine an underground railroad in England and Scotland. Workers take 6 month shifts each that's how long and big this thing is.

Let's talk about what's in it there are everyday things like offices roam cafeteria labs drills and more. Right now it is under London, England. It was designed by British and American scientists. It takes 100 million dollars 10,000 fuel barrels to run every day. The person who pays for this London's biggest gold vault the vault holds 578 trillion dollars. It uses nuclear engineers to run. It has storage enough storage to hold 1095 days worth of food miners work 8 hours a day. The pay is 600,000 dollars every six months. Youre probably wondering where all the rock and ore go. Every 3 weeks they dump it but it goes in a huge barrel and 4 helicopters take it away. That is the tunnel boar.  




Wednesday, February 18, 2015

History Bee Winners

During the months of December and January, students at Memorial Middle School participated in the prestigious History Bee Competition. All students competed in the first round of the event in their social studies classes. Students with the top ten school-wide scores qualified for the semi-final round which took place on Thursday, January 8, 2015. At the conclusion of the last round, five students qualified as finalists:

·       Nicholas Basile, 8th grade
·       Anthony Fasano, 8th grade
·       Kellyann Lettis, 8th grade
·       David Wendt, 8th grade
·       Thomas Zamroz, 8th grade


Next week the five students will take an online test which will be graded by the History Bee administrators.  A select number of students in the region will qualify for the local competition.  Winners from the local competition will qualify for the national contest.  Congratulations to our students for their outstanding participation in the Geography Bee. Thank you to Mrs. Danielle Azar, Mrs. Amanda Steele, and the grades 5-8 social studies teachers for coordinating this worthwhile and rewarding event.



Spelling Bee Champion




During the months of December and January, students at Memorial Middle School participated in the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee. All students competed in the first round of the competition in their English Language Arts classes. The winners from each class qualified for the final round which took place on Tuesday, January 6, 2015. At the conclusion of the twentieth round of the finals, Sheryl Lin, a seventh grader, was named the winner of the school competition by correctly spelling the final word misfortune.  Enayah Khan, a fifth grader, lasted through the twentieth round to be crowned the school's runner up winner.  Sheryl moves on to the Long Island regional competition at Hofstra University in mid-March. The winner of the Long Island regional competition will qualify for the spelling bee finals in Washington D.C. (event to air on ESPN).  Thank you to Mrs. Rebecca Benjamin and Mrs. Lindsay Cain (MMS Spelling Bee Co-Coordinators), for coordinating the entire competition, and to Mrs. Cara Lauber, for helping to facilitate the final round of the competition.  Thank you to all of the MMS Language Arts teachers for promoting this prestigious competition for our students.
Featured in the photograph are Enayah Khan, runner-up winner, and Sheryl Lin, the overall school champion.  Congratulations to Sheryl for winning the MMS Scripps Spelling Bee and best of luck in the regional competition.


- Dr. Roger Bloom, Principal, Island Trees Memorial Middle School

ITMMS English Department Received Professional Development Training

Recently, members of the ITMMS English Department received professional development to hone their skills in utilizing their new Collections program used in the Reading and Writing Workshop courses for our 7th and 8th graders.
Developed around rigorous state standards, Collections offers a wonderful blend of both digital and print resources designed to provide students with a rich reading and writing experience. Organized by topic, each "collection" of resources contains both nonfiction and fiction pieces relating to the theme. With a focus on argumentation, engaging activities promote evidence-based writing and critical thinking as students exercise their abilities to write claims and counterclaims, reason thoughtfully, and contribute to collaborative conversations.
With their students always in mind, the department has done an outstanding job of tailoring a program to maintain student interest while raising skill levels.

Caption: Pictured above are Rebecca Benjamin, Michelle Friedman, Christine Raskind, and Amanda Steele with trainer Glen Diedrich.

Submitted by Elizabeth Roemer, Administrator for Educational Programs, Literacy, and Staff Development




Monday, February 16, 2015

The Little Mermaid Jr.




On February 10th, 11th, and 12th, Island Trees Memorial Middle School

preformed a play called the “Little Mermaid Jr.” The in school plays were on

Tuesday, February 10th and Thursday, February 12th and they performed it

for the 5th and 6th grade. Island Trees had such a talented group of

students that they had double casts for the parts of Ariel, Ursula, and

Prince Eric. The following students listed had main parts in the play.

 Ariel: Jessie Najdek & Madison Tierney, King Triton: Tim Gunderson,

Prince Eric: Russell Macias & James Fazio, Ursula: Faith Bentivegna &

Marisa Giammanco, Sebastian: Ricky Trezza, Grimsby: Mike Manfra,

Scuttle: Kellyann Lettis, Flounder: Joe Carruba, Flotsam: Molly Johnston,

Jetsam: Becky Johnston, Pilot: Thomas Koenig, Carolotta: Victoria Lavelle,

Chef Louis: Sam Barcia, Allana: Sarah Agosta, Aquata: Jessica Avery,

Adella: Lauren Kennedy, Arista: Rebecca Gersbeck, Andrina: Alexa

Marmolejo, Atina: Megan Dufresne, Seahorse: Alyssa Usuriello, Gull #1:

Logan Sobolow, Gull #2: Nadia Othman, Gull #3: Emma Rochanakit,

Princess #1: Megan Clifford, Princess #2: Kelly Butler, Princess #3: Jojo

Arana, Princess #4: Brianna Fitzgerald, Princess #5: Kayla Creighton,

Princess #6: Jenna Jekins.

 The Ensemble was such a big group that unfortunately I can’t list

everyones name. The Ensemble were sailors, princesses, merfolk, sea

creatures, chefs, and lagoon animals. Unfortunately, Madison Tierney was

ill and she could not perform. Everyone hopes that she feels better. The

Little Mermaid Jr. had fabulous actors and actresses and it was performed

so well that it could of been on Broadway! I can’t wait to see what they

come up with next year!

BY: MELISSA CUNNINGHAM 6TH GRADE

Friday, February 13, 2015

Lego League Robotics Team


As part of the Island Trees School District's commitment to advancing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), the Memorial Middle School formed its first ever Lego League Robotics team.  This new endeavor was coordinated by Mr. Daniel Cava, one of our extremely talented technology teachers.  Prior to the regional competition, Mr. Cava spent countless hours working the members of the team to brainstorm Lego robotics and practice building these creations.

On Saturday, January 31, 2015, the ITMMS Lego League Robotics team competed in the FLL qualifying tournament at Mineola High School.  The middle school team of 14 eighth graders was challenged to construct a robot out of Legos and programmed the robot using the Lego Mindstorm software.  The "Jr. Robo Dawgs" worked collaboratively to engineer the robot to complete a number of tasks autonomously without a remote control.  For our first time competing in a Lego League tournament, the Memorial Middle School team had an impressive showing and our program grew tremendously.

Thank you to Mr. Cava for his impressive work in preparing the team for the competition and to the students who did an amazing job participating in the practices and competition.  We can't wait to compete in next year's tournament!
-Dr. Roger Bloom

The Little Mermaid - Review

"It's a...Dinglehopper!"-Scuttle (As Played by Kelly Ann Lettis)

Hello Everyone. My name is Hugo Zevallos, and today, I will review the Drama Club's School play of The Little Mermaid Junior. The play has already finished its run for Tuesday 7pm, Wednesday 4pm, and Thursday 7pm. The play is a great one, as on all nights, it was a full house. It runs from 7:00 to 8:10.  I say if you love the original movie by Disney, you should have watched it. I mean, I saw a little girl who came here on Wednesday dressed as Ariel and holding a Ariel doll. I give it 4 1/2 stars. Its musical numbers are one of best parts of the play. Did I forget my favorite part? when Flounder breaks the Fourth Wall by saying "I wasn't here till the second chorus!" Love that part. It must be the only time when the cast breaks the fourth wall. Thank you for reading.


 Now, I will say something. I am also the creator and producer of "Two Best Friends". If you are wondering where's the 7th one? Well, it will come on 2/24/15. Thank you.


-Hugo Zevallos, 7th grade Bulldog Jr. Reporter and Cartoonist.

The Little Mermaid Jr.




In 2015, the Island Trees Memorial Middle School's drama cast put on the production The Little Mermaid Jr. The drama did a great job this year! 
The main people in the cast were:
•Jessica Najdek   and Madison Tierney as Ariel
•James Fazio and Russell Macias as Prince Eric
•Timothy Gundersen as King Triton
•Ricky Trezza as Sebastian 
•Joseph Carrubba as Flounder
•KellyAnn Lettis as Scuttle
•Marisa Giammanco and Faith Bentivegna as Ursula
•Molly Johnston as Flotsam
•Rebecca Johnston as Jetsam
•Samuel Barcia as Chef Louis
•Michael Manfra as Grimsby
•Alyssa Usuriello as Seahorse
There was singing and dancing, and even sitting in the audience I had a great time. Everyone in the ensemble did a great job too. I enjoyed it very much! There was not a part that I did not enjoy. I cannot wait until next year's drama. Can you?

-Alyssa Sandez



Friday, February 6, 2015

The Polar Bear Plunge, 2015





(Pictured above from left to right is Jack Rochanakit, Tara Schroeder, Olivia Christiano, Meghan Schroeder, Kyra Ehrlinger, and Olivia Grabher)


    Many attended the Long Beach Polar Plunge including many Island Trees National Junior Honor Society Members. Those who attended participated in an icy ocean dip mid-day in the 30 degree cold. The Polar Plunge isn't just for a great time but rather for a great cause. The plunge proceeds go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The National Junior Honor Society joined in on the fun to support Jack Rochanakit; an annual polar plunger.
    Along with the generous donations of many and the National Junior Honor Society selling bracelets to raise money to donate the Island Trees National Junior Honor Society sold 300 bracelets.  In total the National Junior Honor Society raised approximately $1,000 to be donated to The Make-A-Wish-Foundation!
    Thank you to all who donated! Hope you see you next year at the Polar Plunge! 

-Olivia Grabher, 8th Grade