NMS Holiday Music Concerts

NMS 2014 Holiday Concerts

Please come and support the Nichols Middle School Choral, Band, and Orchestra Music students as they perform our 2014 Holiday Concerts.

The NMS Music Department will perform our annual December concerts in the Alan R. Lindsay auditorium on December 9th & 10th.

The 6th, 7th & 8th grade Orchestras will perform a concert of holiday favorites at 6:30PM on Tuesday, December 9th.

The 6th, 7th & 8th grade Chorus will sing a program of holiday music from around the world at 7:30PM on Tuesday, December 9th.

The 6th, 7th & 8th grade Bands will explore the sounds of the season on Wednesday, December 10th, at 6:30PM.

Students are asked to arrive 30 minutes prior to their concert and report to the cafeteria to warm-up. Students should wear concert attire of black pants/skirt and a white shirt.

Please contact Mrs. Santos, msantos@middleboro.k12.ma.us, or Mrs. Young, byoung@middleboro.k12.ma.us, with any questions. 

November/Movember -- A Great Month to Reflect On

A Month of Thankfulness

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  I hope all a relaxing, restful time with family and friends.

There are many things I am thankful for.  Having a school run smoothly is not an easy task, and believe me, I do not do much in making sure it is done well.

We have an excellent Assistant Principal in Mr. McLaughlin.  He connects with the students; talks with parents all the time; and has a tremendous relationship with our faculty and staff.  It is a difficult job but he does it so well.

Our administrative assistants in the Main Office:  Ms. Emond and Ms. Cavanaugh do the yeoman's work of really making sure the school is running well.

Our faculty and staff are phenomenal.  Each day they are asked to do more and each day they answer the call to make sure our NMS students are being prepared for the world they will be living.

As Dr. Weiss always comments on, it is also our support staff that do so much for the running of our school, the custodians, kitchen staff, bus drivers, crossing guards, PTA volunteers, and more.  

And I don' t want to leave out our parents and community members.  We need all of you for as the saying goes, "It does take a village."

This past month has been a helpful and fun one here at NMS.  We have hopefully made Movember the start of a wonderful tradition here at NMS.  The male teachers who have participated have all dealt with some itchy faces and/or some upset significant others, but it has been for a great cause.

Our Finalist, Mr. Leonard

With Our Other Finalist, Mr. Minarovich

Taking things to another level.

With the Money raised too close to call at posting.

At this time, our Movember Champion has yet to be named, but we had much fun.  Thank you to all who participated.

All of our Movember participants with our Final Four in front.

 

With even our principal getting in the Movember spirit.

We have also sported our College gear pointing our students in the right direction for their future and showing them the reason for their diligence in the classroom.

Our Student Council has raised money and canned food all month for the people in need in our community.

We are members of a village and we know we all need to work together to make sure we do our best, and so we give thanks for what we have.

The Nichols Middle School faculty, staff and I wish all of our parents and guardians the happiest and healthiest of Thanksgivings.  Enjoy the special time that a holiday like this creates among our families.  See you in December.

 

Thank you,

M. R. Geoghegan

Ms. Dyer's ELA Classes Visit the K at MECC

Nichols Students Read Their Own Stories to Students at MECC

 

On November 25, Ms. Dyer's students, in grades 6, 7 and 8, visited some of the MECC's Kindergarten classes. Our NMS students worked diligently for several weeks, creating original stories and placed them in a book format, to share with our younger students at the MECC during their library time. 

 

The auditorium was used to pair students together and the Kindergarten children rotated around so they could listen to and enjoy several different stories with the "authors." Our Nichols Middle School students engaged the younger children by asking them questions about their story: "Did you have a favorite part?"; "What was the problem in the story?"; and "What was the theme of the story?" 

 

After they read aloud, the students gathered together and shared the process of writing:  how they had to brainstorm ideas, come up with characters and the problem of the story, and use their imagination to create a solution to the problem. The Kindergarten students shared ideas for what types of characters they like to see in books: Fairies, Princesses, horses, Ninja Turtles, Superheroes and more. The Nichols Middle School students will now focus on the younger students' interests and come back to share stories with the MECC again!

 

The K students greatly enjoyed the experience! After their first visit, the MECC students left the library saying:  "Can they come back tomorrow?" and "I wish they could come every day!"

 

It was a great experience for all.  For our students writing for a real audience helped them to see what and why they were engaged in the writing process.

Thank you to Ms. Dyer, Ms. McGuire, Ms. Healy, Ms. Berger, Ms. Stevenson, and Mr. Breault for all helping and working together to make this possible.

Movember Down to the Final Four

Leonard, Minarovich, Redpath, & Rothemich = Final Four Beards

In stunning fashion the NMS Movember Final Four Beard Brackets have been decided.

Teams Geoghegan, McLaughlin, Brandon, Kuder, Luppino, Perry, Rader, Eddy, Jesman, and Thompson all were knocked out in the first round of voting.

And so the Final Four field finds ...

The dapper Mr. Leonard

versus

Grizzly Adams Minarovich

 versus

 Our very own Mr. Redpath

 versus

Mr. Rothemich (don't make him angry ... the claws might come out)

No facial hairs were hurt in this contest.  

All money raised will go to cancer research based on the winner's choice.

Bring some spare change in on Monday for the Final Four and then Tuesday and Wednesday for the Championship Finals.

Teaching our Next Generation at NMS

Views of Learning at NMS

This afternoon as I was walking around doing my typical walk-throughs, I again, saw learning here at the Nichols as something very different than one might guess.

Yes, we have classes with the teacher standing in the front delivering the information.

... But that is at times, where they are needing to do so.  This is not the norm for 57 minutes or for more than an extended amount of time, for our teachers know our students learn best when they are the ones doing the learning.

More typically ...

One will see the students in the front ...

Giving a presentation or talking his/her fellow students through a problem.

 Or students working together, trying to figure out the best way to learn.

Or interacting with technology as a tool to help them learn.

Or even using paper and pencil as they work through their Digits online with their tablets.

More often than not, you will find our teachers as guides at the side of our students than the one in front of them.

When you do find them in front, they will be engaged in their lesson with the students guiding them through a discussion with their peers and with their teacher.

Like this one where we see a discussion where the students were doing the leading as Mr. Rothemich helped them through their thinking.

Or even ...

A guest speaker, Mr. Barry, from the community explaining for our students how what they are learning in STEM is what he is doing in his work.

I continue to be amazed at the ways and means we are able to educate our Nichols' students for the 21st Century they are going to be living.

It might not look like when we went to school, but it shouldn't; it should be made with their future in mind, not our past.