'Bullying Is Not Pono':  Bullying Prevention 101

A reggae hit song embedded with Hawai'is core value of ALOHA, called “Bullying Is Not Pono” by the Sons of Yeshua, kicked off a Bullying Prevention 101 lesson for all WMS students this past week by Principal Janice English.  

This high energy interactive lesson explored what bullying is (and is not), why it’s hurtful, how to stop/prevent it -- and how kindness and becoming an "upstander" can make everyone feel safe and be a school that "lives" our IKAIR core values.

The lesson also explored differences between “conflict” and “bullying” and concluded with a reminder that not only does bullying hurt people and cause them to not feel safe, but can get a student suspended.  

The lesson concluded with students answering questions with white board paddles plus a round of online Kahoot! to check for understanding, and the first to respond received Campus Cash as prizes. 

Here are several lines of the “Bullying Is Not Pono” lyrics by Sons of Yeshua:

“Now letʻs go take a trip right down to memory lane

and remember what Braddah IZ was saying.

“When I was a keiki my tūtū come and say to me.

She said, "help your friends and neighbors.

Live in harmony.

Its not pono, to make somebody feel like they amount to nothing.

Itʻs not pono,

when you bully somebody to deal with your own insecurities.

Cut it out!”   

Mahalo to this reggae group for sharing these thoughts.

Click here to review the PowerPoint that accompanied the Principal's talk-story.

WMS Recruiting for a STEAM Program Coordinator & STEAM IT Services

“Full STEAM Ahead!” said the 2018 Hawai’i State Legislature as they authorized a substantial $298,000 Grant In Aid (GIA) to help Waimea Middle School (WMS) more fully embrace 21^st century teaching and learning in its new $15 million, 9-classroom Keaoakea STEAM Learning Center. 

Now, Gov. David Ige has released this GIA funding to the State Department of Education and a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is in place with WMS, so the school is recruiting a STEAM Program Coordinator to collaborate closely with teachers and staff to more fully meet the needs of students and the wider community including educators from throughout the region.

For more details about the position, please see links at the bottom of this page. 

Startling Facts About Vaping, Health & Good Choices!  

The LAW says Hawai’i youth must be 21 or older to smoke or vape (that is, use an e-cigarette) but many perceive vaping as not as harmful as cigarettes. Yes, there is no tar in e-cigs, but there are other harmful ingredients and effects to consider, according to a growing body of scientific research. Inhaling e-cigs can cause damage to the lungs, such as “popcorn lung.” And what’s worse, most e-cigs, especially juul pods, deliver extremely high levels of harmful, addictive nicotine and some contain heavy metals.

Also, the hundreds of appealing flavors and fragrances available – from berries, bubble gum, cinnamon and mango to butter, seem fully intended to target youth.

So what do our kids need to know about vaping to help them make better choices?

WMS Principal Janice English decided it was time to inform students about the facts, in part because being caught vaping or with vaping items at school can result in a 92-day suspension. Serious business.

So, in a fast-paced, high energy series of experiences, classes of students at WMS have explored the data together.

A quick “pre-test” launched the lesson with every student given a personal whiteboard shaped as paddles to be engaged, non-verbally, in checking for understanding. Students were asked questions to find out how much they actually knew about vaping (some did, some didn’t). Same was true, in fact, for teachers participating in the lesson.

Using a lesson plan from The Standord Medical toolkit, https://med.stanford.edu/tobaccopreventiontoolk…/E-Cigs.html , Ms. English then shared a video clip and visuals about e-cigs. The magic was in the science. Students were taught that 59 mg of nicotine delivered instantly in a juul is equivalent to 13 drops of food coloring in 1 milliliter of water. 1 milliliter of water is about the volume of the first digit of your baby finger - it's really very little water to which students carefully added 13 drops of food coloring. This hands-on experiment let students immediately see how dark - or intense - the concentration was -- a powerful moment of realization.

No one really knows what the long term effect vaping has on the body, but it is known that inhaling heated steam and vapors can cause “popcorn lung.” So what’s that?

Miss English first explained diseases such as emphysema and COPD, then turned to "popcorn lung disease." To make the point about how damaging this can be, students were given a line drawing of human lungs and a heaping pile of freshly popped popcorn to entirely cover up one of the lungs.

“That’s what “popcorn disease” is like – all of the tiny cells in your lungs are damaged.” Students could see this very clearly. Moving on, kids were told they could eat the popcorn and did. Quickly.

After the mini lesson, students did a partner read and played an online game called Kahoot to test and reiterate wha they had learned from the presentation, their reading and hands-on experiences.

Concluding the class, students were asked to reflect on the lesson – was it helpful? Did they learn something? They were ask to evaluate the lesson by giving it 10 fingers – if it was great, and 1 or a fist if it was not. Almost all rated the lesson an exuberant 10. And the bell rang ending the class.

Archaeoastronomy:  A Fascinating Approach To Social Studies!

All WMS 6^th grade social studies classes just finished crafting notebooks that they will use during a Project-Based Learning (PBL) unit on Archaeoastronomy. During this study, students will learn about where, why and how people of ancient cultures around the world built structures to better understand their natural surroundings. An integral part of this study will be learning about the heiau that the ancient Hawaiians built to mark the seasons. Guest speakers from around the community will be coming to enrich lessons around topics related to archaeoastronomy and students will visit fascinating, restored heiau at waters’ edge in Kailua-Kona.   

Our Career Exploration Day Was A Great Day For Students!  

These are the winning student costumes!  

·         Weekly - M-W-Fr:          Hot Chocolate Club!  7-7:50 a.m.

·         Weekly - T-Th:                  Homework Help+  2:15-3:45 p.m.

·         Mon., Jan. 21:                   Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday - No school.

·         Mon., Jan. 21:                   Mala'ai Garden "Day of Service" Work Day - 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.  

·         Tues., Jan. 22:                  3rd Qtr 21st Century After-School Classes begin. 

·         Tues., Jan. 29:                  NAEP National Student Assessment – Selected 8^th graders

·         Wed., Jan. 30:                  K(Arts) begins - still time to sign up

·         Sat., Feb, 9:                       Track & Field Meet – Konawaena High School Track Oval  

·         Tues., Feb. 12:                 Teacher Institute Day - No school

·         Sat., Feb. 16:                     Mala'ai Workshop - Making Food For the Wa'a - 9 - 4.   L-04 

·         Mon., Feb. 18:                  Presidents' Day - No school

·         Tues., Feb. 19:                 WMS Local Advisory Panel (LAP) Meeting - 4:30-6:30 p.m.  Z105 

·         Sat, Feb, 23:                      Track & Field Meet – Konawaena High School Track Oval  

                                                                 Mala'ai Workshop on Seeds & Seed Saving - 10 - 1.  In garden. 

·         Thurs., March 7:             WMS Humanities/Multi Cultural Family Night Ho'ike - 5 p.m. 

·         Sat., March 9:                   Mala'ai Workshop - Making Food For the Wa'a - 9-4 -  L-04 

·         March 11-13:                      HSA Science Assessment – 1^st Round – 8^th grade; Makeup 3/14

·         Wed., March 13:              Incoming 6th Grade Family Orientation - 5 p.m.  

·         Sat., March 16:                 Mala'ai Workshop - Making Food For the Wa'a - 9-4 -  L-04 

·         March 18-26:                     Extended Spring Break - Now includes 3/25/19 Teacher-Staff

                                                                   Professional Development Day & March 26:  Kuhio Day

·         Fri., April 19:                      Good Friday - No school

·         April 22-26:                        Math SBA (CAT & PT) – Schoolwide – mornings

·         April 29-May 3:                 ELA SBA (CAT) – Schoolwide - mornings

·         May 6-10:                             ELA SBA (PT) – Schoolwide – mornings

·         May 6-10:                             National Teacher-Staff Appreciation Week

·         May 13-15:                            HSA Science Assessment – 2nd Round – 8^th grade; Makeup 5/16

·         Fri., May 17:                        WMS May Day Ho’ike – Performance begins at 9:30 a.m. in gym

·         Saturday, May 18:          Mala'ai Garden - Wa'a Send Off Celebration - 9-Noon.  Garden 

·         Mon., May 20:                  Algebra Assessment – 8^th grade only

·         Fri., May 31:                       8th Grade Exit and Final Day of the school year