Squawk Talk - April 2019

A product of the middle school journalism class

Go Eagles!

Co-editors, Ryan Murphy & Keith Attard

C H A R A C T E R

FMCS Grandparents’ Day After some technical difficulties, Squawk Talk is back! Read on to see what you missed in February and March.

P A R A D E

Elementary kids dressed up as their favorite storybook character for the annual FMCS Character Parade. Congratulations to Alivia Williams, Landon Tinklepaugh, and Davi De Souza for their outstanding costumes!

Grandparents are awesome!

Both the boys’ and the girls’ basketball teams WON their respective championships!

Grandparents were invited to a breakfast, a concert, and a special day filled with activities with their grandchildren.

Middle School

District Spelling Bee Elementary

Auction Update Click below-L to watch Bailey explaining the build to the judges.

Thank you to everyone who supported the FMCS Annual Banquet and Auction!

Click below-R to watch a time-lapse video of the build.

r’s a e y s i h T red a e l c n auctio 959! $45, Explanation—Rube Goldb…

Congratulations to Bailey Erp, Kason Sublett, Josh Ferreira, Kaydi Baxter, and Carissa Repetto on their 1st-place victory at the Rube Goldberg Competition. Their team, “Under Construction,” used household items to build a series of ramps and turns.

When asked about the secret behind their success, Bailey stated, “Duct tape!”

Time Lapse—Rube Goldberg

Click left to hear the 6th graders read you their poem.

The Man Who Lived in a Zoo—6th grade

Congratulations to the cast and crew of “The Great American Talent Show� on a great performance!

Thank you, Miss Smith and Miss Earp, for your direction and leadership in our drama department.

MATH CLASS

Staff Spotlight

By Keith Attard

Mrs. Swearingen

LOVES Pi Day!

Students were allowed to bring in their favorite pie to share and wear their “Pi” shirts. After hearing a mini lesson on circumference, students got to play a Pi-themed card game— AND—of course, EAT PIE!

Mrs. Swearingen is our middle school math teacher. She has worked at FMCS for a total of 13 years. Her favorite part of working at FMCS is the support that she receives from the administration and parents. Mrs. Swearingen appreciates when parents stand behind the teachers, and everyone works together for what’s best for the kids. When I asked Mrs. Swearingen why she became a math teacher, she stated, “I love math, kids, and teaching, so they all three fit together.” Mrs. Swearingen enjoys teaching algebra the most because that’s when it “really starts getting fun.” She is looking forward to going on vacation to Seattle with her husband this summer.

Mrs. Swearingen recently announced that she will be retiring from teaching at the end of this school year. Thank you, Mrs. Swearingen, for being an awesome math teacher that we could count on for all these years. We will miss you, and we wish you the best in your retirement!

Spanish Class

Hola!

The 8th graders had an Easter egg hunt and breakfast with Señora Gonzales.

April 15-17 The third-grade class will be selling candy-filled eggs for $1. The eggs will be delivered on Thursday, April 18th, to the respective students’ classrooms. The eggs can be purchased in the middle school office or from the third graders before or after school.

Proceeds from the sale will benefit kids that are being abused within the United States.

I wonder what the 2nd graders are learning

The 2nd graders are currently learning about how God designed the weather to work in the atmosphere.

They are also comparing an explanatory paragraph to an explanatory essay and publishing it on their own.

Science Expo Prep Students in K-5th are working hard to prepare for the upcoming science expo. They will be presenting their experiments and results to the students on April 18th.

You sometimes may wonder why Good Friday is good. Historically, the word good comes from the word holy. In other words, it is a “Holy Friday.” Some also believe that the good in Good Friday comes from the word God as in “God’s Friday.”

For me, Good Friday is good for another meaning. It is the day that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Now that doesn’t sound good, but it is. It is not good because he died, it’s about why he died. He died for us and our sins, and that makes it very good!

Have you re-registered for next year?

Click the link below or call the school office today to reserve your spot! #youbelonghere Registration is Open for 19-20 – Fort My…

The third-grade class (pictured above) visits the middle school lab for experimentation.

“On our trip to Rookery Bay, we learned that plankton drifts across the ocean oor. We got to look at different types of plankton through a microscope. This gave me insight on what plankton looks like. I enjoyed our trip to Rookery Bay.” —Nick Interbartolo

7th-grade Field Trip to Rookery Bay

“My favorite part of the missions trip was when we split up into groups and went from door to door in valleys. We invited them to come to the street ministry, and [we got to] play with the kids when they came.”

—Sam Attard

Thank you for your prayers!

Click below to watch a video clip about their trip.

Teacher Appreciation Banquet & Concert Please join us for the annual FMCS Teacher Appreciation Banquet & Concert on Friday, April 12th. Enjoy a delicious meal from Carrabba’s Italian Grill and listen to our children’s choir while honoring our dedicated teachers.

Child care is also available at an additional cost. To purchase tickets to the event, please click the link below.

First-grade field trip to publix First grade took a trip to Publix as part of their “Community Helpers” unit. They learned about how different departments work together to help customers get what they need.

2019 Teacher Appreciation Banqu…

Community Service Hours Need community service hours? Please consider helping out at First Assembly’s Eggstravaganza on April 20th (9:30-12:30). If you are helping, please plan on arriving by 8:30. If interested, contact Alyssa Dillon at adillon@famfm.com.

Community service hours, along with your written essay, are due by May 17th.

On this day in history...

By Keith Attard Did you know that on April 19th, 230 years ago, the Revolutionary War started? Besides this, there are many other things that occur in April that most people don’t know. For example, National Pillow Fight Day was celebrated on April 6th, and massive pillow fights occurred around the world. Also, the Royal Air Force was founded on April 1st, 1918.

Something that is fascinating is on April 1st, 1513, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce De Leon discovered Florida.

In addition to these events, a record was also broken. Did you know that in 1974, on April 8th, Henry Aaron hit 715 home runs against the Dodgers, breaking Babe Ruth’s record? This along with many other events happened in April.

Elaine Sarlo, SWFL regional director for Senator Rubio, came to read to our elementary students.

Dot Lee from the Wildlife Education Project brought “Trouper the Raccoon” to visit our kindergarten and first-grade students. They enjoyed getting to pet the raccoon and learn about its habitat.

Tommy Thompson and Ben Masella from the Florida Everblades came to read to our students.

Jaymin Davis’s grandma came in to talk to PK4 about NASA and the International Space Station.

They enjoyed reading and learning about space together!

Brag Board Mrs. Mitchell reported that Bailey Erp, 8th grade, earned a “Superior” rating on her creative writing selection. Her work has been sent on to the next level of competition and is currently in consideration for being published. Congratulations, Bailey!

Our students are Amazing!

Our fourth-grade teacher was bragging to Squawk Talk about Damian Snyder. Mrs. Carouthers raved, “Damian never has an unkind word to say about any of his classmates or does any unkind deed towards them.” Thanks for building others up, Damian!

Mrs. Davis is one proud teacher! Her entire first-grade class made the “Accelerated Math Wall of Fame” (we’re going to need a longer hallway)!

Miss Welborn reported that Zion Merricks just came to our school in the third quarter. The math here was completely di erent from what she did in her last school. Zion had to work really hard to be able to do the math program at FMCS. She showed great determination and endurance! Miss Welborn stated, “Zion is doing amazing and has made so much progress in her math.” Way to go, Zion!

Suspended for Singing the National Anthem?

The 7th-grade ELA class participated in a debate surrounding the events in the book Nothing But the Truth. In the book, a student named Philip Malloy disrespected his English teacher, Miss Narwin, by humming the national anthem, despite repeated requests for him to stand at “silent, respectful attention.” Students were assigned a person to defend—either Philip or Miss Narwin—in a courtroom setting. The class was further challenged to discuss di cult topics such as First Amendment rights (i.e., freedom of speech) and morality vs. legality.

Feeling patriotic?

Click below to hear the Star-Spangled Banner played by Squawk Talk’s own Keith Attard (also an FMCS band member).

Keith—trumpet solo

History

Ethan Cole made an exceptional mask!

Mr. Broome challenged the 6thgrade class to create a mask that represented an emotion that would have been used in Greek theatre.

Come out and support the girls’ and boys’ soccer teams. Check out the school website for the schedule.

Blake Dillon, 8th grade

This school gives you a chance to have your own responsibilities like helping out in the elementary building.

FMCS can change your life spiritually and academically with each class having many di erent things to learn.

Tyler Swartz, 4th grade

I love FMCS because I get good grades here. They have good books. You get to learn about God’s creation. You are also allowed to drink water in class.

FMCS is really cool. we can praise God and learn more about him. Another reason I love FMCS is my friends and being able to play Elizabeth Wigginton, sports.

Raniyah Usher, 3rd grade

Jeremy Nahuel, 6th grade

5th grade

I like doing fun science projects in class.

Leonardo Rigazio, 1st grade

I love FMCS because we get to learn about God.

Laila Mecko, 8th grade

When I came here in 5th grade, I thought that I wouldn’t make any friends, but I was proven wrong, Everyone was so welcoming and nice. They made me feel like I had been here forever.

Logan Petrey, 2nd grade

I love FMCS because we get to learn about God, and I think that it is important that we can learn about God so we can go to heaven.

There are so many good teachers! There’s very good students and friends here, too. Our class recently did an experiment where we were powering a clock with potatoes. We also tried using lemons and then Coke. All of them worked. I love learning at FMCS!

—Feb 03—Jiamu Pei, K4 —Feb 08—Gisela Stutman, 8th —Feb 16—Rebekah Leslie, 7th —Feb 19—Eden Cole, 8th —Feb 19—Joshua Grauer, 5th —Feb 19—Enzo DeCicco, K5 —Feb 20—Abraham Lopes, K4 —Feb 21—Kason Sublett, 8th —Feb 22—Ana Plascides, 3rd —Feb 23—Morgan Franklin, 7th —Feb 26—Zion Merricks, 3rd

Happy Belated Birthday

—March 01—Allisha Long, 6th —March 05—Sam Attard, 8th —March 15—Connor Thompson, 3rd —March 18—Grant Letteri, K4 —March 23—Nathan Nellans, 1st —March 25—AnnaBella Murphy, K4 —March 27—James Carroll, 3rd —March 30—Jeremy Nahuel, 6th —March 31—Abraham Zuckerberg, K5

Happy Belated Birthday

—April 03—Jullien Zeferino, 5th —April 04—Dominic Oswald, 8th —April 09—Taylor Esway, K4 —April 09—Nicholas Petrey, 7th —April 12—Ethan Smith, 8th —April 12—Porter Douberly, K5 —April 13—Tyler Swartz, 4th —April 17—Samuel Snyder, K4 —April 18—Elijah Smith, K5 —April 19—Ryan Murphy, 8th —April 22—Cody Swartz, K4 —April 25—Davi De Souza, 1st —April 25—Ethan Cole, 6th —April 27—Andre Fernandes, 5th

Happy Birthday

Looking Ahead Music Recital & Art Show

Wax Museum

April 26th Watch out for the annual 4th-grade history project.

Science Expo April 18th The elementary kids will showcase their science experiments.

Field Day May 3rd Let the games begin!

Click below for your invite.

May 3rd @ 7:00

Spring Music Reci…

Sports Camps

FMCS will be offering various sports camps over the summer. Whether your student is a beginner or just wants to improve his or her athletic skills, attending a sports camp is a good way to prepare for next year’s season.

Click below for more info on our summer sports camps.

Summer Sports Camp Info

NJHS/NEHS The spring induction for NJHS/NEHS will be Tuesday, May 7th, at noon in the Colonial Chapel. This event is for grades 4-8 and the families of the inductees. We will be honoring those students that meet the high qualifications of both national organizations.

Field Trips —May 9-10—3rd, 4th, & 5th grade to Florida Aquarium —May 17th—1st & 2nd grade to Naples Zoo