It has been amazing to watch our six enrichment clubs enhance their learning and growth through a new opportunity during Panther Block. Special thanks to Sarah Elkalban and Jenni Maybury for their leadership to support this program, as well as our six teacher-leaders who have created a new meaningful learning experience for our students. I am so excited our Newspaper club created the first edition of the Panther News that students and staff can enjoy throughout this week. See below to read all about our six enrichment opportunities during Panther Block. 

We have enjoyed our first round of Enrichment Clubs at Stone Middle School so far this year and we are excited for round 2 to begin in January for students who were interested in a club. 

Students during round 1 expressed how much they enjoyed having time to be creative, learning something new, learning about themselves, connecting with teachers, making new friends, and helping others. We still have some spaces available in some of the clubs so stay tuned!

Students have been engaged and enjoying our new enrichment clubs that began in quarter 2. 

• The Cool Science Club has done experiments each class that build on physical science concepts. 
• The Microscope Club has learned how to use a microscope, looked at prepared slides, and learned how to make their own slides to view. 
• Our New School Club has made plans for upcoming changes in our building and is currently running a door decorating contest. 
• The Master Mind Club participants dove deep into getting to know themselves and how they can use that knowledge to excel. 
• The Service Club has partnered with our business partner, Grace Covenant, and has recently been busy packing donated supplies for people in need. 
• Our new school Newspaper Club is busy writing and editing and have published their first paper!

Session #2 will begin when we return to school in January.  Students participating in Session #2 will be notified before leaving for winter vacation through their Panther Block Part A teacher.  Sessions 3-5 will provide additional chances for students to participate.

Cool Science

Teacher Leader: Mr. Daugherty

Cool Science was a resounding success!  The kids were great, and they got to do some fun and engaging things that we wouldn’t normally have time to do within the daily jam-packed science curriculum.  The kids had fun AND learned something too.

"What I most appreciated about this first enrichment session was the enthusiastic willingness of the kids to express their curiosity.  They were all engaged and open to thinking outside the box.  That’s what science is all about.  Who knows… we may have planted the seeds that will grow into future doctors, researchers, or NASA engineers!"

Rethinking Schools

Teacher Leader: Mr. Gueltig

The New School Club has been focused on making improvements at Stone. Charged with the mission of keeping learning fun and Stone a place for everyone, they have been focused on adding color and light. Starting with a door decorating contest and moving towards updating the main lobby, they are working to change what school looks like for everyone.

Masterminds

Teacher Leader: Mrs. Nolan

Our Masterminds Club has grown into a more collaborative experience, and I am grateful to see this. 

One of the projects the kids created was a group slide show, where each group highlighted what they believed important for rising 7^th graders to know upon entering Stone Middle School.  The 7^th and 8^th grade students worked so well together.  These slides are to be used for 7^th grade Orientation later in the school year! 

The kids have learned how to “grow their brain power” through using what brain research tells us ~ not to have a “fixed mindset” and to use your learning style strengths to our advantage.  The silliest activity we did together was partnering up and having to pop a balloon without either partner using their hands!  Sound easy?  It wasn’t.  Our next goal is to show what we’ve learned about our own learning to write and then record Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) to share with all students during the morning news. 

This club truly has stretched the kids’ thinking ~ I am most proud of that!

Newspaper

Teacher Leader: Ms. Vinikoff

I am most proud of how hard working and focused my group was this session. 

The Panther Press collaborated, problem-solved, and created an exciting school newspaper!  While this was all completely new to me, I appreciated their understanding as we navigated creating a printed edition that reflected what was happening at Stone, in the news, and in the entertainment industry together.  It was neat to see their strengths and excitement come through in their content and discussions. 

We are excited for our first issue to come out and to continue improving as we provide Stone students, staff, and community the news they need to know! 

Service Club

Teacher Leader: Mrs. Mosgrove

The Service Club through our partnership with Grace Covenant has assembled over 400 bags of essential items for our community’s first responders. Our students are looking forward to continued projects to support our school and community as they make service an integral part of everyday life at Stone.

Microscope Club

Teacher Leader: Dr. Galvin

My first thought was that during the 3^rd session, after explaining what we were going to be doing during that session, I was able to stand back and just let them explore with almost no input from me.  They called me over to have me look at what they had focused in on and they were all engaged and exploring independently.  There is nothing better, as a teacher, then seeing independent learning.  I was also able to see a couple of friendships blossom right in front of my eyes.