The middle school teachers and affiliated specialists have a series of after-school time academic clubs for students to participate in. The goal of these clubs will be to provide an extension of the curriculum and related enrichment activities as an addition to the students’ regular school day. The students meet twice each week on Tuesdays and Thursdays during 3:31 to 4:10. All students are required to choose a club to participate in and the clubs would be run through the third and fourth quarters.

A brief summary of the clubs is as follows:

Newspaper Club (Ms. Daniewicz and Ms. Zweber) 

The student newspaper is an important vehicle for communicating school news to students and to the larger community. In Newspaper Club, students will engage in the writing process. As reporters, they will generate story ideas, prepare questions for interviews, photograph breaking news, write articles and editorials, and create comic strips that integrate writing and illustration. Students will also learn how to layout the newspaper using Microsoft Publisher. They will be responsible for distribution to classrooms in the middle school and elementary school. Standards addressed: Language Arts, Strand II. Writing: A. Types of Writing; B. Elements of Composition; C. Spelling, Grammar, and Usage; Strand III. Speaking, Listening and Viewing: A. Speaking, C. Media Literacy

 

 Physics and Engineering Club (Mr. Greenhagen and Mr. Reichel)  

Engineering Club will work to integrate math and science concepts into one. Students will face design and building challenges based on mathematical calculations of results. As students analyze their designs, they will be required to make improvements based on recorded data they take while testing the effectiveness. Some ideas will be drawn from activities similar to those found on PBSkids.org. The activities in Physics and Engineering Club will align with both the math and science state standards.

 

 Student Council/Government (Mr. Knudsen) 

Student Government will be an after school activity designed to teach students state standards and skills useful in their education. Over-all, Student Government will teach students how to be participatory citizens, how to be leaders, and how to be organized and productive problem solvers. These are all valuable skills needed in American Society. The activities in Student Government will reflect the state content standards as well as language standards such as: VII.A2 (responsibilities of people living in a democracy), VII.A.1,2,3 (engaged citizen, civic life, identifying problems and solutions) and many others. Types of activities students will engage in will be volunteering at school and in the community, fundraisers, special events (dances, spirit weeks…) and activities to promote positive changes for students at school. 

 

Team Sports Club (Mr. Giel) 

Team Sports will be held from 3:30-4:00 in the cafeteria. The objective of Team Sports will be to teach the students how to play games using cooperation and teamwork. The students will eat snack after the activities for the day. Activities in the Team Sports Club will align with the National Standards for Physical Education.

 

 Drama/Theater Club (Asian Media Access)

This club will be sponsored by Asian Media Access. Please see the attached brochure.

 

 Computer Programming – SCRATCH Club (Asian Media Access)   

This club will be sponsored by Asian Media Access. Please see the attached brochure.

 

 Hmong Club (Ms. Xia and Mr. Leng Vang) 

The Hmong Club is open to all middle school students who are interested in learning more about the Hmong culture. It teaches cooking, crafts, songs, dances, and numerous other things of cultural significance to the Hmong tradition. By involving students in this club, they will learn to value Hmong culture and come to understand their heritage. Students will participate and learn through hands on activities. Students will have the opportunity to show their talents to their parents and their fellow students. This club is beneficial to middle school students because it help students maintain their Hmong heritage background.