Language Arts
We will be providing a writing tutorial program starting January 25th. Students who will be participating have been notified and will be working with either Ms. Griffith (4th hour) or Ms. Cummings (6th hour). Students in the tutorial will attend two days per week for five weeks. We provided a similar tutorial last year, and it was very successful.
Band/Chorus News
By Ms. Roggen and Mrs. Butterfield
Congratulations to Sean Hartman (first chair trumpet), Carson White (third chair trombone), and Marcus Joseph (fifth chair trombone) for auditioning and being selected for the 2016 All-State Band! This is the highest honor that a student can achieve in band. This is also the most Duncan band students that have ever made the All-State Band. These three students traveled to Tampa January 16 to rehearse with the all-state band and give a concert in front of all the music educators in the state of Florida. They did a great job representing Duncan Middle School!
Pre-Finance Academy
By Ms. Joyner/Academies Coordinator
The 6th and 7th grade Pre-Academy of Finance students had the pleasure of receiving a presentation on Financial Literacy from D.E.C.A. students at Jupiter Community High School. The two female students along with their teacher, Mr. Johnnie Hubbard, partnered up with Velocity Community Credit Union to create this amazing Financial Literacy project. Mrs. Joyner's students really enjoyed the event and especially the game of financial football at the end!
Art Academy News
Tolerance...Understanding...
Uniqueness...Pride
Hands Across Campus
By Ms. Ahearn
"Hands Across Campus" an honorary organization made up of a diverse group of students who display characteristics that enhance the confidence in not only yourself, but in others as well. This organization, brand new to DMS is a place to learn about others, make new friends and share ways to make life great. Some activities included will be: Stand Up for Yourself, Candy Confessions, Fears in a Hat, and Balloon Burst, to name a few. Meetings begin in January, contact Ms. Ahearn for more information.
A Note From Our Principal
Ms. Roggen organized our 15th annual Veterans Day Program with the participation of our band and chorus students, along with our 6th grade class, local dignitaries and veterans representing all branches of the Armed Forces. Palm Beach Gardens High School Navy ROTC Color Guard presented the colors. All the veterans were recognized and given a certificate in appreciation of their service
Ms. Levinson and SGA put on quite a fall dance. There was a deejay, photo booth, inflatables, costumes, and lots of good food. Great fun was had by all!
To complement the program on campus our Florida Future Educators of America (FFEA) students led by Mr. DeFilippo organized a Forgotten Soldier’s Supply Drive. The students in Mr. McCann, Ms. Hope and Mrs. Joyner’s classes will be enjoying donut parties for collecting the most supplies to send to our troops abroad.
In addition to their performance at the Veterans Day Ceremonies our band and choral students were busy excelling in competition. Three of our band students were chosen for the All State Middle School Band. Sean Hartman, Carson White and Marcus Joseph will travel to Tampa and play with the best middle school musicians in our state. Also, Melodee Brookman, made the Florida All-State Chorus. These are the highest honors a band or choral student can receive.
The Choice Programs Open House was a great success. Over 600 people attended to learn about the academy programs offered at WBDMS as well as other academic and extracurricular opportunities on campus.
The Academy Programs annual trip is to New York City on Wednesday, November 18. They are going to visit both financial and cultural sites.
Athletics continue to shine, baseball and softball teams both closed out successful seasons. They both clinched their division and were given trophies for their efforts. The boys soccer team and girls volleyball are starting their season and we wish them all the success.
Please remember to relax and enjoy time with family and friends as you celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday Break!
Special Olympics News
By Mrs. Chatfield
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On January 20, members of our Special Olympics team went to the Publix at Garden Square to support their Torch Campaign. Publix is the biggest supporter to Special Olympics in Florida. We encouraged shoppers to make a donation to Special Olympics and the students worked on their social skills out in public. We had a very successful day!
Drama News
by Ms. Hess
Junior Thespians Troupe 89207 raised over $100 for Broadway Cares on 1st ever "Charity Night" performance.
From the Physical
Education Department
Our DMS students are getting into the swing of the new semester with energy and enthusiasm. Students learning the overall benefits of target heart rate training to maximize their cardiovascular fitness, how to safely apply training principles in the fitness center, and kicking off activity time with cooperative games and fitness testing. Students will also be evaluated on their one mile walk run times. Student are going to track and record their progress on a weekly basis and eventually be participating in an inter-class competition over the course of the semester. GO Panthers!
Foreign Language Department News
By Ms. Hope
Ms. Hope's Beginning Spanish students did a scavenger hunt to find and review useful phrases in Spanish. The search was in the new textbook "Realidades" and the classes shared answers to fill in the scavenger hunt worksheet, practicing basic conversation while confirming the answers. On the flip side of the scavenger hunt activity they found another treasure: the Spanish alphabet. The Beginning Spanish students recite the alphabet daily at the start of class, and will soon have it memorized. It's fabuloso!
Profesora Bollinger's more advanced Spanish classes made full-course menus and ordered in Spanish while presenting their colorful projects. Students shared their favorite foods and practiced polite phrases. In the process, students learned names for desserts, entrees and many Latin foods. They recently finished a cultural unit on Spain and are starting to learn about Puerto Rico.
Following the splendor of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Mr. Xia's Chinese students presented plays with shadow puppets, a fun aspect of traditional Chinese theatre. A new semester of students is taking Chinese and they are learning introductions in the target language and how to write their names with beautiful Chinese calligraphy.