September 23rd: Picture Day is next Friday, September 28th!
Your 6th grade student should have brought home a picture order form from Lifetouch last week. You can send in your order and payment with your child to give to their Language Arts teacher now. Or, you can wait till next Friday and send the form and payment with your student on picture day. Checks should be made out to Lifetouch!

• From the Cafeteria:  Tired of Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches? - Chic-fil-a Day and Papa John's Pizza Day in the LTMS Cafeteria Every Monday, your student can purchase a Chic-fil-a sandwich, ala cart for $3.00. Every Wednesday is Papa John's Pizza Day which is sold for $1.85 per slice.
• Viewing Your Student's Grades On-line If you would like to check how your 6th grader is REALLY handling middle school - you can sign up on "Parent Connection" on the LTISD website. You will need your student's I.D. # which is on their lunch card or any old report card from LTISD. With your permission, your student can also see check how each test is impacting their overall grade. A good clue whether that missed homework might need to be made-up in Homework Hall!
• Was your Child Involved in Student Council Last Year? Then Gov Club may be what they are looking for at LTMS! There is a Gov Club Meeting open to all LTMS students on Wednesday @ 8AM in room #112!

September 30th:  What are On-Line Lockers?
If your child does any work on-line during school, they have the ability to access this work through their on-line locker. According to Ms. Reesing, 6th Grade Language Arts Teacher, sixth graders will be instructed how to use their on-line lockers during their LA classes. Though they are a great on-line tool, she encourages her students to also learn to back-up their work on a flashdrive, which they can purchase at the LTMS school store. Please go to Debi Reesing's website for additional details

October 7th: What Your Student Should Aim For To Be Eligible for National Junior Honor Society
It is an honor to be inducted into the NJHS! Every grade in your student's core courses for the first 3 semesters counts towards a weighted cumulative grade average - a 90* is needed to be eligible to apply NJHS. Please read the attached document which details the application process for NJHS. If your student meets the scholastic requirements, then they may proceed to Phase 2 which takes other factors such as overall behavior and character into consideration. Please contact Leslie Meaders, meadersl@ltisdschools.org or Sheri Hanslik, hansliks@ltisdschools.org, NJHS Sponsors for additional questions.

October 21st: Students Will Be Recognized for their Community Service Hours - How to Keep Track! All students who perform any community service hours should fill out a Knights in Service form! Forms for tracking community hours for Knights in Service can be downloaded from Ms. Hanslik's website in the NJHS section - hansliks@ltisdschools.org. Turn in the completed forms to Lisa Leyva at the front office at LTMS. If your student is inducted into the National Junior Honor Society, they will need to perform 12 hours of community service. Your student does not have to be in NJHS, though! All students are recognized - Knights in Service is for everyone!

November 11th: I can make a difference by... Art Reflections Entries due November 30th.
The Reflections program is a national PTA contest that challenges students in different creative categories-- visual arts, photography, literature, music composition, film/video production and dance  More information can be found on our webpage.

November 18th: SAVE THE DATE! HOLIDAY KAZAAM - Friday, Nov 30th, 4-6 pm, LTMS Cafeteria
Please make sure your 6th grader knows that ALL 6th grade students are invited to this after school get-together! It is a chance to hang with their friends, eat pizza and snacks, play some fun games and dance only it they want to! There may be an appearance of a few football players, Cavalettes or cheerleaders to lend to the excitement.   Parents will have to arrange for transportation home! All students will be released from the cafeteria at 6pm to be picked up in the usual car-rider line in the front of the school. Please know that no child will be permitted to leave the Kazaam early unless they are escorted by a parent. That means the parent would have come to the cafeteria to get their student if it is before 6 pm. We still need a few volunteers for our decorating committee. Please contact demerson1@austin.rr.com if you can help!

December 9th: The 6th Grade Field Trip is coming up!

• When - Thursday, December 20, 8:30 - 2:30 (The last day of school before the Holiday Break!)
• Where - Bob Bullock Museum & Texas Natural Science Museum in downtown Austin
• What to bring - A disposable brown bag lunch, snack and drink. NO coolers or items that cannot be thrown away after lunch. There are no snack machines available to use!
• Do NOT BRING - School rules apply the entire trip so no iPods, Gameboys or electrical devices!

Your 6th grade should have brought home a green permission form to request your signature and $15.00 to be sent in to their Language Arts teacher. The students will view the IMAX movie Sea Monsters, tour the Bob Bullock Museum and eat a brown bag lunch in one of the local parks. After lunch, they will discover 4,000 rare fossil specimens found in Texas at the Texas Natural Science Museum.

January 6th: The 6th Grade Kazaam is Back -- Friday January 11th
Get ready for a fun get-together so our 6th graders can catch up on all the cool things they did over their school break! Music, pizza, games and fun!  4-6pm in the LTMS cafeteria

February 4th:   An Invitation To LTMS Students:  Join an Academic UIL Team!!!
All students are invited and encouraged to join one of our 2008 Academic UIL teams. Each year, our school participates in this event designed to recognize the outstanding academic abilities of our students. This event is sponsored by the University of Texas Interscholastic League (UIL) and will take place at Dripping Springs Middle School on: Tuesday, April 1: Ready Writing and Editorial Writing Contests (during the morning)
Saturday, April 5: All other Academic UIL Events (from 8:30 am - 1:00 pm)

Teams are currently forming and will be starting practice in February. Practice schedules will be determined by the individual event coach, but every effort will be made to include students wishing to participate. Generally, practices are held before and/or after school about once a week. Students joining a UIL team are expected to commit to practices as well as attend the meet in April. Sign-ups will take place in the front office through February 8. Feel free to contact the individual coach or the campus UIL coordinator for further information and to ensure your child's place on a team.

• Calculator Applications (grades 6-8) Coach: Lori Wristers
• Dictionary Skills (grades 6-8) -Coach: to be announced
• Editorial Writing (grades 7 and 8)  Coach: Martha Medlock
• Impromptu Speaking (grades 7 and 8) Coach: Dionne Burnett
• Listening Skills (grades 6-8)  Coach: Dionne Burnett
• Maps, Graphs, and Charts (grades 6-8) Coach: Elisa Garrett
• Mathematics (grades 6-8) - Coach: Susan Jones
• Modern Oratory (grades 7 and 8) Coach: Melinda Smith
• Music Memory (grade 6 only) Coach: Andrea Snouffer
• Number Sense (grades 6-8) Coach: Cindy Simar
• Oral Reading (grades 6-8) Coach: Melinda Smith
• Ready Writing (grades 6-8) Coach: Martha Medlock
• Science (grades 6-8) Coach: Beth Young
• Social Studies (grades 6-8) Coach: Elisa Garrett
• Spelling (grades 6-8)  Coach: Candi Petersma

Would you like more information? Please contact: Andrea Snouffer, LTMS Academic UIL Coordinator snouffera@ltisdschools.org You may also visit the official UIL website for general information. http://www.utexas.edu/admin/uil

February 10th: Kazaam Pictures Were Delivered to your 6th Grader!
Pictures were delivered on Friday to all 6th graders that attended the Kazaam and went to the free Photo Booth. Be sure to ask your 6th grader if you haven't seen the picture yet since it may be in the bottom of their backpack! A big thank you goes out to Tracey Guttes, Amelia Irsik and Amy Still since it was a big job for these PTA volunteers to sort, print, match the faces with the names, and finally deliver the Kazaam pictures to all the students!

February 24th: 6^th Graders Become “Citizens” of An Ancient Greek City-State in Language Arts! 
6^th Graders recently made felt banners representing an Ancient Greek city-state and hung them from the ceiling in their Language Arts classrooms.  This is part of the study of Greek mythology which includes a National Greek Mythology Exam on March 5^th   for all 6^th graders. Students will be using the D’Aulaires Book of Greek Mythology to prepare for the exam. Please go to your LA teachers’ website for a description of the projects that are included in the theme which cumulates in an Olympic Track and Field Day on May 9^th at the high school field. More information to come about Olympic Day where parents will be invited to watch from the stands…

February 24th: 2008-2009 Course Selections
Anne Brown, our 6th Grade Counselor, will meet with current 6th graders next week, February 26th-29th , to discuss their choices for next year. The due date for the 6th graders to turn in their choice sheets for the 2008-2009 school year will be March 7th.

March 3rd: Reminders
National Mythology Exam is the morning of March 5th. All sixth graders will take it during 1st period that day. 2008-2009 Course Selections The due date for the 6th graders to turn in their choice sheets for the 2008-2009 school year is March 7th.

March 23rd: LTMS Student Clubs Give Students Opportunities To Share Similar Interests -
Students will have their second club meeting this Wednesday, March 26th during school. There are 16 different clubs - ranging from fashion to yoga and running to robotics. The intention is to give the students an opportunity to connect with other students that have similar interests. The club classes are teacher supervised, but student led. There will be two more meetings on April 23rd and May 28th. Next year, we will hope to see twice a month meetings and an increase in clubs as students share interest in other areas. No grades are attached, just a connection for students!

March 30th NJHS Applications Will Be Hand Delivered to Qualifying LTMS Students on April 8th - Completed Application Due April 16th -  All students who meet the grade average requirements will receive a National Junior Honor Society Application and letter after the 3rd quarter is completed. Please read the attached letter for the details of how your students are eligible and what is required on the application. Please contact Leslie Meaders, meadersl@ltisdschools.org. ,or Sheri Hanslik, hansliks@ltisdschools.org. if you have further questions.

April 6th: 6th Grade Olympic Day - May 9th -- Parent Volunteers Needed --
The LTMS PTA is supplying the food and volunteers for the concession stand at this fun track and field event for all 6th graders on May 9th. Olympic Day events take place at the LT High school track field. The day opens with a parade of flags from each class' Greek City-State.

Parents are invited to watch from the stands as the friendly competition between the Greek City-states takes place with modified track events and fun games later in the day. Students will sign-up for their events during their PE classes prior to Olympic Day. It is a full-day event and the 6th grade students will be able to purchase lunch items such as pizza, Chic-fil-a sandwiches, drinks and snacks at the concession stand sponsored by the LTMS PTA!

Be on the look-out for a blue letter coming home with your 6th grade student that explains the details of Olympic Day. Please see the hours below for the shifts needed to man the concession stand and email me, Dyan Emerson, at demerson1@austin.rr.com with the shift time you are interested in.

• 8:30 - 10:00 am - 3 volunteers
• 10:00 -11:30 am - 4 volunteers
• 11:30 - 1:00 pm - 5 volunteers
• 1:00 - 2:30 pm - 4 volunteers
• 2:30 - 3:30pm - 3 volunteers